To Light a Thousand Lamps - The Theosophical Society

146 / TO LIGHT A THOUSAND LAMPS
Mme. de Fadeyev was a woman of rare wisdom and
scholastic attainment, a botanist respected throughout
Europe, versed in history and the natural sciences, including
archaeology. Her unusual endowments of mind and spirit,
plus an extensive library at the Fadeyev home, nurtured and
fortified Helena’s determination to find truth for herself,
whatever the risk. Married in 1849 in name only to Nikifor
Blavatsky, a man more than twice her age, Helena ran away
after three months, gaining the freedom she longed for.
Then began years of seemingly restless wanderings and
travels over the globe, encounters with the wise and the less
wise on every continent. Avidly she sought the Ariadne
thread that would lead her to those teachers and life experiences
that would sharpen her intuition and enlarge her
compassion.*
During this period HPB was being trained and prepared
to lead a spiritual movement that would shake the tree of
orthodoxy to its roots, and at the same time direct public
attention to the fruits of the tree of life that could be won by
all sincere seekers willing and ready to undergo the required
discipline.
HPB was in Paris in 1873 when her teachers ordered her
to go to America and begin her work. She left immediately
and arrived in New York City on July 7. In October of the
following year she met Henry Steel Olcott who had been
*See HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky
by Sylvia Cranston, 3rd rev. ed.; H. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical
Movement by Charles J. Ryan, 2nd rev. ed.; H. P. Blavatsky, Collected
Writings, 1874‒1878, ed. Boris de Zirko¤, 1:xxv–lii; and H. P. Blavatsky,
Tibet and Tulku by Geo¤rey A. Barborka, pp. 6‒41.