Український 
English (UK) Helena Blavatsky, a person who destroyed stereotypes, outdated forms of thinking and ideas all her life. In the early period of her life, she did it unconsciously, showing her free nature and endless desire for freedom.
In the mature period, having found the meaning and the aim in the serving to Theosophy, she consciously and persistently walked the thorny path to pure, unconditional truth, challenging society. Thanks to her will, which was spiritualized by the ideas of ancient wisdom, Blavatsky illuminated the evolutionary horizons of human development in the dogmatic darkness. Helena Blavatsky did this not only in theoretical writings, but also through an active life position, entering into correspondence with outstanding personalities of her time and openly discussing with religious concepts representatives, scientists and political figures. In whatever difficult conditions she had to exist, Helena Blavatsky strove to serve the truth all her life.
One of the effective forms of social dialogue was journalistic activity, through which Blavatsky expressed and substantiated her views, serving the ideals of Theosophy. Helena started several theosophical periodicals publication, which became a platform for the theosophical society and her personal views. One of these magazines was Lucifer, the name of which was intentionally chosen by the theosophist. Calling the magazine Lucifer, she challenges society and dogmatic Christianity, whose representatives are horrified by this name, associated with a fallen angel and Satan. Meanwhile, Blavatsky insists on this name. This is the very essence of Helena Blavatsky, who was never afraid to go against the generally accepted, outdated and dogmatic. She destroyed fixed ideas, taking upon herself the painful blows and condemnation of a dogmatic society.
Lucifer existed from 1887 to 1897 under the direct supervision of Blavatsky, where she regularly published her articles, had wider opportunities to freely express her thoughts and authorial explanations of important aspects of theosophical knowledge than in the official magazine The Theosophist. In Lucifer, Blavatsky actively responded to criticism of Theosophy and the Theosophical Society, vividly demonstrating her journalistic abilities. In the first issue of the magazine H.P.B. publishes the article "What's in a name? Why the magazine is called Lucifer", in which she explains the motivation behind the magazine name, which was fundamental for her, regardless the painful attacks from God by Christian figures and ordinary believers. “If one would fight prejudice, and brush off the ugly cobwebs of superstition and materialism alike from the noblest ideals of our forefathers, one has to prepare for opposition. "The crown of the reformer and the innovator is a crown of thorns" indeed. If one would rescue Truth in all her chaste nudity from the almost bottomless well, into which she has been. hurled by cant and hypocritical propriety, one should not hesitate to descend into the dark, gaping pit of that well. No matter how badly the blind bats-the dwellers in darkness, and the haters of light-may treat in their gloomy abode the intruder, unless one is the first to show the spirit and courage he preaches to others, he must be justly held as a hypocrite and a seceder from his own principles,” writes the theosophist [4, p.3].
In the article, Helena Blavatsky restores the true essence of the name Lucifer, refuting the interpretation formed in the context of late Christianity. Originally, the name Lucifer of Greek origin in ancient mythology was an epithet of the divinities of Diana and Aurora, who were responsible in the ancient pantheon for the heavenly bodies. In the Roman interpretation, Lucifer is an analogue of the morning star (Venus) - the harbinger of the dawn. In early Christianity, Lucifer is one of the epithets of Christ, the prophet of the new faith. And only in the late Middle Ages, as a result of theological reflections and exegesis of the holy scriptures, Lucifer became synonymic to the fallen angel, identified with Satan and the devil. H.P. Blavatsky relies on the ancient meaning of the name, asserting that "Lucifer", is the pale morning-star, the precursor of the full blaze of the noon-day sun—the "Eosphoros" of the Greeks." [4, p.3]. Based on the fact that "Lucifer" means "light-bearer", H.P. Blavatsky defines the mission of the magazine: "To tear the mask from every prejudice" [4, p.4].
H.P.B. strives to overcome moral flaws in the old, outmoded form - as a duty, obligation, debt recognized by society, as an action that must be performed within the limits of recognized norms. Blavatsky felt the survival of the old dogmatic morality, deprived of freedom of choice. Morality, which was measured by binary oppositions of good and evil within the limits of social conditioning. Helena Blavatsky, as a harbinger of new values, argued that good and evil should be determined in the context of an evolutionarily determined meaning of being, and not in a limited coordinate system of evaluative judgment. Accordingly, what promotes evolution is defined as good, and what opposes or inhibits evolution becoming is evil. In this sense, Lucifer is like a light bearer, illuminating the evolutionary horizons, serving good, almost through the faults of the existing, but in need of existence renewal.
In justifying the name and mission of the magazine, Helena proceeded from the fundamental idea of Theosophy regarding Unity as the Transcendent core of all existence, in which all names and forms are united by a single essence. The entity that plunges into the unmanifested single, baseless, qualityless principle, which H.P.B. describes in the Secret Doctrine, commenting on Stanza Dziang "An Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless and Immutable PRINCIPLE, on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and can only be dwarfed by any human expression or similitude. It is beyond the range and reach of thought—in the words of the Mândûkya, "unthinkable and unspeakable" [2, p.60]. The loss of this absolute state or absolute Nothing takes place in the manifested world - the world of the multiplicity, or the illusory world, as Plato and the Upanishads call it. Therefore, all the symbols and names with which humanity seeks to get closer to the awareness of this unity are interpreted according to the level of culture and consciousness. Theosophy maintains the position of the world duality, as a state of mutual complementarity, mutual determination of the manifested and the unmanifested, the absolute and its emanations. The world in a state of involution (descent into matter), increasingly losing the depth of the transcendent, acquires specific, limited forms and correspondingly narrowed meanings. This narrowing is also reflected at the level of interpretations of concepts, symbols, and words, which lose their deep essential meaning.
The name Lucifer, too, narrowed down to a negative interpretation over time, and from about the 12th to the 14th century, began to be associated within Christianity with the devil or Satan. "...Once landed on, and having touched this planet of dense matter, no snow-white wings of the highest angel can remain immaculate, or the Avatar (or incarnation) be perfect, as every such Avatar as the fall of a God into generation. Nowhere is the metaphysical truth more clear, when explained esoterically, or more hidden from the average comprehension of those who instead of appreciating the sublimity of the idea can only degrade, than in the Upanishads, the esoteric glossaries of the Vedas" [3, p 483-484].
In the work "On Knowing Oneself", the modern French theosophist Danielle Audoin emphasizes: "The One becomes Two but, despite this, remains the One - manifested and at the same time unmanifested. But in its manifestation it has two poles, two ways of being, two aspects: the aspect of Consciousness and the aspect of Energy... The divine essence is completely present in all forms of life without exception" [1, p. 3]. That is, the essential unity is maintained at all manifested levels. This also applies to the meaning of the name Lucifer, which does not lose its light-bearing essence, passing through the prism of transllations and interpretations causing narrowed understanding. A name, a title, a word are the forms of essence manifestation. And the way it is limited in certain theological or ideological interpretations is already an indicator of this essence loss and a basis for distortion that generates evil.
In the article "The Origin of Evil", H. P. Blavatsky points out that in the European philosophers concepts, the cause of the evil origin is determined by the primary Unity loss as the birth of opposites. "Homogeneity having transformed itself into Heterogeneity, contrasts have naturally been created: hence sprang what we call Evil, which thenceforward reigned supreme in this "Vale of Tears"" - writes Blavatsky [6]. Based on the philosophy of Buddhism, she claims that "evil is immanent, not in matter which is eternal, but in the illusions created by it: through the changes and transformations of matter generating life—because these changes are conditioned and such life is ephemeral. At the same time those evils are shown to be not only unavoidable, but necessary. For if we would discern good from evil, light from darkness, and appreciate the former, we can do so only through the contrasts between the two" [6]. Thus, Lucifer, in a limited interpretation, can acquire negative characteristics that, by their opposite, emphasize the positive essence of the harbinger of new knowledge. Awareness of the new knowledge light always appears painfully, through suffering and overcoming the previous, stable, familiar, but already experienced, which bogs down the evolution path. H.P. Blavatsky played the role of such a Lucifer, because she illuminated the path of a new world understanding, which reflects the next branch of evolution, in which theosophy plays the role of Aurora - that is, the dawn of a new day.
Blavatsky attached special importance to the explanation of the meaning of the name Lucifer, which she reveals more thoroughly in the article "The history of a Planet", which was printed in the September issue of Lucifer in 1887. Penetrating into the deep interpretations of the name Lucifer, H.P.B., perhaps not noticing that he was defending her personal life and worldview position, demonstrated an attempt to overcome the rigid dogmas of her contemporaries. In the article, she says that Aphrodite (Venus), as a prototype of Lucifer, even before she was called that, was known in Greek mythology under two names: Eosphorus (Lucifer in Latin) - the morning star and Hesper - the evening star. Eosphorus or Phosphorus was translated as "morning heavenly body that glows" - he was preparing the appearance of Aurora, the goddess of the dawn. That is, the ontological mission of Phosphorus is to usher in the morning, to precede Aurora's chariot, to illuminate her path as the dawn of a new manifestation, and in the evening to turn into the evening star of Hesperus, to enter the darkness of the night, to remain unnoticed, saving light for the new dawn. This beautiful myth exposes the noble mission of Lucifer, who, remaining in the shadows (which gave rise to calling him a fallen angel in later Christian exegesis), brings the light of each new day, a new stage of evolution. "In the early morning, Phosphoros "issuing from the waters of the Ocean, raises in heaven his sacred head to announce the approach of divine light." (Iliad, X X III. 226 ; Odyss: X III. 93 ; Virg : yEneid, V III. 589 ; Myihol: de la Grece Antique. 247). He holds a torch in his hand and flies through space as he precedes the car of Aurora. In the evening he becomes Hesperos, "the most splendid of the stars that shine on the celestial vault" {Iliad, X X II. 317)" [5, p. 16-17]. These names were used in the Greek tradition to symbolically define the East - Eosphorus, or Phosphorus (Phosphoros - facet up) and the West - Hesper (Hesperos - torch down).
In addition to the ancient context of the name "Lucifer", Helena turns to early Christian analogues of the name and proves that the Virgin Mary, who was called the Sea Maiden, by analogy with Aphrodite, who was born from sea foam, had a related interpretation. In Christianity, the mission of the morning dawn, which becomes a symbol of a new beginning, was entrusted to the Mother of Jesus, who gave him life in a strange way and illuminated his spiritual path of service to humanity. In the early Middle Ages, namely in Greek patristics, the mission of the morning dawn relied on the appointment of Christ himself as the harbinger of a new era of humanity. Therefore, Lucifer's mission is to sanctify a new level of existence, to bring it out of darkness, to show the path of evolution by spiritualizing matter, to separate good from evil. According to the analogy of Lucifer, Blavatsky took a blow, especially from dogmatic Christianity. Challenging, she motivated through an opposing point of view, a desire for improvement through an endless search for truth.
Thus, an example with a thorough substantiation of the name Lucifer meaning and a stable position regarding the protection of its light-bearing essence acts as an analogue of the entire Helena Blavatsky life, who, like Lucifer, shone the light of theosophy. All H.P.B. life activity and creativity asserted knowledge of theosophical teachings through an active social position. H. P. Blavatsky activity and heritage contributed to radical changes in the theosophy status, which, pervading the entire history of mankind, was a closed teaching for the general public and was manifested indirectly through various forms of the spiritual culture of mankind.
Helena Blavatsky contributed to the fact that theosophy left the esoteric circle and became a self-sufficient direction of the theoretical and social space.
In the 19th century definitions of theosophy appear in dictionaries, scientific understandings of theosophy as a separate worldview begin to formulate, the scientific and theosophical discourse is activated.
Thanks to H. P. Blavatsky, in the 19th century, a social movement (Theosophical Society) was started - an association of people whose activities are aimed at implementing the values of Theosophy in life.
H.P. Blavatsky challenged science, with the goal of overcoming materialistic limitations both in methods and in the object of its study; religions that got lost in the delusion of dogmatics, losing the sacred, striving to show the common roots of all religions; morality, which has turned into false norms of social conditioning. Denial of opportunistic pragmatics due to the separation of material and spiritual values contributed to the formation of the foundations of practical theosophy as a form of implementation of theoretical teaching in the evolutionary development of humanity.
The stable theosophical position of H.P. Blavatsky contributed to the formation of the latest ideas and radical changes in the modern worldview, namely:
• Introduction of the idea of world unity into the ideological space of spiritual culture, which leads to a planetary culture formation;
• Accentuation of humanity's attention on the dual (material-spiritual) state of being, which contributes to the world and man holonomic awareness modern idea formation;
• World evolution and its universal laws infinity recognition;
• Identification of all human culture manifestations single source, which contributes to the world unity metahistorical essential dimension;
• Prediction of science transition into the field of studying subtle planes and their connection with manifested existence regularities reflected in modern science of the post-classical period.
We are entitled to treat Helena Blavatsky as the Lucifer of theosophy. H.P.B. is a person changed the world, which in the 21st century, being on the verge of self-destruction, begins to understand the need for the planetary humanity essential unity. French postmodern philosopher Jean-François Lyotard wrote: "Modernity, whenever it appears, does not occur without a shattering of belief, without a discovery of the lack of reality in reality – a discovery linked to the invention of 6 other realities" [7]. It was this new reality that was shown to the world by Helena Blavatsky, the Lucifer of Theosophy, who preceded the Aurora of the humanity spiritual dawn, bearing the brunt of the outdated world.
References:
1. Audoin D. On Knowing Oneself. – Adyar: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1995.
2. Blavatsky H. P. The Secret Doctrine. The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy / Volume I. Cosmogenesis. - London: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1999.
3. Blavatsky H. P. The Secret Doctrine. The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy / Volume IІ. Anthropogenesis - London: The Theosophical Publishing House, 2009.
4. Blavatsky H. P. What`s in a name? Why the magazine is called "Lucifer" / Lucifer Magazine, September, 1887. рр. 1-7
5. Blavatsky H. P. The history of a Planet / Lucifer Magazine, September, 1887. рр. 15-22
6. Blavatsky H. P. The Origin of Evil / Lucifer Magazine, October, 1887 / https://universaltheosophy.com/hpb/the-origin-of-evil
7. Lyotard J.-F. Answering the question: what is the postmodern? / The Postmodern Explained to Children, - Sydney: Power Publications, 1992 http://www.marginalutility.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/04/machete_reading_may1_c.pdf
Translated from Ukrainian by Lyudmila Kovtun
Yuliia Shabanova,
PhD, Doctor of Science of Philosophy, Professor.
Dnipro branch of TT in Ukraine
"Lodge named after O.P. Blavatsky"
