The subjects of climate change and global warming have, perhaps inevitably, become a very politicised issue. We wish to make clear that there is no political intention behind this article. Theosophy itself is, and must remain, entirely apolitical, although individual Theosophists are free to pursue and support whatever form of politics they may personally consider the best or most suitable.

The aim of this article is simply to highlight references to climate change and associated matters in the writings of H. P. Blavatsky, founder of the modern Theosophical Movement.

Although 99% of today’s scientists agree that global warming is an undeniable fact and a significant problem, there is of course 1% which disagrees, and we are aware that although the vast majority of Theosophists appear to believe in the existence of this issue, there are a few who do not. Any sincerely held belief or conviction should be respected, even if one happens to personally disagree with it. It is not surprising, however, that many Theosophists take the following statements from HPB to be early references to, descriptions of, and prophetic warnings about, climate change, for that is clearly spelt out by her.

We will see in her words two aspects to it:

(1) Climate change as a necessary feature and factor of human evolution and as something which happens cyclically in connection with the evolutionary unfoldment of this Earth and the beings on it.

This type of climate change is therefore ultimately something good and beneficent, even if it may prove uncomfortable and unpleasant for those living through it.

As for the material causes of this naturally occurring climate change, HPB suggests that a change in the Earth’s axis should be considered in this regard. The science of today is of the opinion that small changes in the Earth’s axis do cause a very slowly occurring type of climate change over a period of thousands of years but they believe that this is not what is causing today’s climate change. Almost all of today’s scientists claim that 100% or almost entirely 100% of the climate change and global warming seen today is manmade. They also say that it is this anthropogenic (manmade) global warming itself which is causing marked shifts in the Earth’s axis since the 1990s.

While the writer of this present article is in no way a scientist and cannot claim to be anything like an expert on these matters, it seems to us nonetheless that from the Theosophical perspective provided by H. P. Blavatsky – and provided to her by her Adept-Teachers, known as the Masters of Wisdom or Mahatmas – it would be erroneous to think that there is no, or barely any, naturally occurring climate change taking place at present. But we will see in these HPB quotes that she does make reference to . . .

(2) Climate change induced and brought about – unintentionally of course – through humans’ own unwise actions against the living Earth on which they live.

Interestingly, HPB points to the canal system, which was very popular and active in the UK during her era and had begun a century or so before, as a significant contributor to this. Today there are a few scientific and academic establishments who speak of the ecological damage caused by canals but it has not become widely recognised, perhaps partly because canals in most countries are no longer used in the way they once were. But she points more frequently to the dangers of deforestation and emphasises disastrous consequences that would arise from this.

In reading what follows, it is worth being aware that although today’s scientists believe that the Victorian era (in which H. P. Blavatsky lived) was when today’s global warming issue really began in any significant or major way, there was barely any awareness of even the possibility of such a thing during the Victorian era itself. Not until 1896-1899 were the first clear yet tentative hypotheses of today’s climate science presented in print by scientists. By this time, HPB was already deceased, as she was writing in the 1870s, 1880s, and very early 1890s, passing away in 1891.

Therefore, just as her article “Karmic Visions” provided prophetic descriptions of what we now know of as the First and Second World Wars, which were both still decades away when she wrote about them, so she appears to have clearly foreseen what was, in her opinion, the coming climate crisis. Even that portion of climate change which is naturally occurring and ultimately beneficent is still liable to pose a serious crisis for those people and nations caught up in the midst of it. But here is what HPB had to say . . .

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“On the law of parallel history and races, the majority of the future mankind will be composed of glorious Adepts. Humanity is the child of cyclic Destiny, and not one of its Units can escape its unconscious mission, or get rid of the burden of its co-operative work with nature. Thus will mankind, race after race, perform its appointed cycle-pilgrimage. Climates will, and have already begun, to change, each tropical year [Note: HPB uses the term “tropical year” as a synonym for Great Year, Sidereal Year, and Platonic Year, by all of which she typically means one vast period through all twelve zodiacal or astrological ages, i.e. a period recognised by astronomy as lasting approximately 25,920 years] after the other dropping one sub-race, but only to beget another higher race on the ascending cycle; while a series of other less favoured groups – the failures of nature – will, like some individual men, vanish from the human family without even leaving a trace behind.

“Such is the course of Nature under the sway of KARMIC LAW: of the ever present and the ever-becoming Nature.”

(“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 446)

“Owing to the triumphant march and the invasion of civilization, Nature, as well as man and ethics, is sacrificed, and is fast becoming artificial. Climates are changing, and the face of the whole world will soon be altered. Under the murderous hand of the pioneers of civilization, the destruction of whole primeval forests is leading to the drying up of rivers, and the opening of the Canal of Suez has changed the climate of Egypt as that of Panama will divert the course of the Gulf Stream. Almost tropical countries are now becoming cold and rainy, and fertile lands threaten to be soon transformed into sandy deserts.”

(“Civilization, The Death of Art and Beauty”)

“Unconsciously, perhaps, in thinking of a plurality of inhabited “Worlds,” we imagine them to be like the globe we inhabit and peopled by beings more or less resembling ourselves. And in so doing we are only following a natural instinct. Indeed, so long as the enquiry is confined to the life-history of this globe we can speculate on this question with some profit, and ask ourselves what were the “Worlds” spoken of in all the ancient scriptures of Humanity, with some hope of at least asking an intelligible question. But how do we know (a) what kind of Beings inhabit the globes in general; and (b) whether those who rule planets superior to our own, do not exercise the same influence on our earth consciously, that we may exercise unconsciously – say on the small planets (planetoids or asteroids) in the long run, by our cutting the Earth to pieces, opening canals, and thereby entirely changing our climates.”

(“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 700)

“The cataclysm which destroyed the huge continent [i.e. known as Lemuria] of which Australia is the largest relic, was due to a series of subterranean convulsions and the breaking asunder of the ocean floors. That which put an end to its successor – the fourth continent – was brought on by successive disturbances in the axial rotation. It began during the earliest tertiary periods, and, continuing for long ages, carried away successively the last vestige of Atlantis, with the exception, perhaps, of Ceylon and a small portion of what is now Africa. It changed the face of the globe, and no memory of its flourishing continents and isles, of its civilizations and sciences, remained in the annals of history, save in the Sacred records of the East.

“Hence, Modern Science denies Atlantis and its existence. It even denies any violent shiftings of the Earth’s axis, and would attribute the reason for the change of climates to other causes. But this question is still an open one. If Dr. Croll will have it that all such alterations can be accounted for by the effects of nutation and the precession of the equinoxes, there are other men of Science, such as Sir H. James (Athenæum, Aug. 25, 1860), and Sir John Lubbock (ibid), who feel more inclined to accept the idea that they are due to a change in the position of the axis of rotation. Against this the majority of the astronomers are again arrayed. But then, what have they not denied before now, and what have they not denounced – only to accept it later on whenever the hypothesis became undeniable fact?”

(“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 314)

“The dark cycle of Kali Yug [i.e. Kali Yuga] has brought back a Babel of modern thought,compared with which the “confusion of tongues” itself appears a harmony. All is dark and uncertain; no argument in any department, neither in sciences, philosophy, law, nor even in religion. But, “woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness,” saith Isaiah. The very elements seem confused and climates shift, as if the celestial “upper ten” themselves had lost their heads. All one can do is to sit still and look on, sad and resigned, while

“The slack sail shifts from side to side;
The boat untrimm’d admits the tide;
Borne down adrift, at random toss’d,
The oar breaks short, . . . the rudder’s lost.”

(“The Babel of Modern Thought”)

“As stated in Book I., the humanities developed coördinately, and on parallel lines with the four Elements, every new Race being physiologically adapted to meet the additional element. Our Fifth Race is rapidly approaching the Fifth Element – call it interstellar ether, if you will – which has more to do, however, with psychology than with physics. We men have learned to live in every climate, whether frigid or tropical, but the first two Races had nought to do with climate, nor were they subservient to any temperature or change therein. And thus, we are taught, men lived down to the close of the Third Root-Race, when eternal spring reigned over the whole globe, . . .”

(“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2, p. 135)

“The abodes of Fohat [i.e. the essence of cosmic electricity or the electrifying animating power of Nature on its various planes] are many,” it is said. “He places his four fiery (electro-positive) Sons in the “Four circles”; these Circles are the Equator, the Ecliptic, and the two parallels of declination, or the tropics – to preside over the climates of which are placed the Four mystical Entities.”

(“The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 204)

Note: The two tropics are the areas close to or surrounding the equator; one is called the Tropic of Cancer and passes through 16 countries and several continents; the nearest city to its exact point is Udaipur in Northeast India, while the other, the Tropic of Capricorn, passes through 10 countries and several continents; the coast of Namibia in Southern Africa is said to be its starting point. The Equator, as most know, is the line or area around the Earth which separates our planet into its northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere. As for the Ecliptic, this is rather more complicated and relates to the sidereal or celestial rather than terrestrial. The most interesting aspect of the quote is the insinuation that the climates connected with these are presided over by the “four fiery (electro-positive) Sons” of Fohat. This must remain largely a mystery but a slightly clearer comprehension may be gained by carefully studying and reflecting on the quotes compiled in the article Fohat: The Cosmic Electricity.

“Nature is as dependent as a human being upon conditions before she can work, and her mighty breathing, so to say, can be as easily interfered with, impeded, and arrested, and the correlation of her forces destroyed in a given spot, as though she were a man. Not only climate, but also occult influences daily felt not only modify the physio-psychological nature of man, but even alter the constitution of so-called inorganic matter in a degree not fairly realized by European science.”

(“Isis Unveiled” Vol. 1, p. 211)

“While every patriot Hindu bewails the decadence of his country, few realize the real cause. It is neither in foreign rule, excessive taxation, nor crude and exhaustive husbandry, so much as in the destruction of its forests. The stripping of the hills and drainage-slopes of their vegetation is a positive crime against the nation, and will decimate the population more effectually than could the sword of any foreign conqueror. This question of forest conservancy has been thoroughly studied in Western countries under the lash of a dire necessity. In spite of the opposition of ignorant and selfish obstructionists, nation after nation has taken the first steps towards restoring the woods and jungles which had been ruthlessly extirpated, before meteorology and chemistry became developed, and political economy was raised to the dignity of a science. In America, where our observations have been chiefly made, the wanton destruction of forests has been appalling. Whole districts have been denuded of large timber, through the agency of fire, merely to obtain cleared land for tillage. The 90,000 miles of railway and 80,000 of telegraph lines have caused the denudation of vast tracts, to procure their supplies of ties and poles. Not a moment’s thought was given to the ulterior consequences until, recently, the advancement of statistical science rudely awoke American publicists from their careless apathy.

“We need only glance at the pages of history to see that the ruin and ultimate extinction of national power follow the extirpation of forests as surely as night follows day. Nature has provided the means for human development; and her laws can never be violated without disaster. . . . Our trip Northward last April, through 2,000 miles of scorched fields, through whose quivering air the dazzled eye was only refreshed here and there with the sight of a green tree, was a most painful experience. It required no poet’s fancy, but only the trained forecast of the statistician, to see in this treeless sun-parched waste the presage of doom, unless the necessary steps were at once taken to aid lavish Nature to re-clothe the mountain tops with vegetation.”

(“The Ruin of India”)

Note: Although in HPB’s time science was not speaking in such a way, scientists today say that deforestation causes around 10% of global warming and is a key contributor to human-induced climate change. It is hard to read this HPB quote and not conclude that she was well aware of that and that this is largely or at least partly what she was hinting at or referring to.

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For those not yet very familiar with Theosophy, many of the above quotes may have raised further questions. We invite you to take a look at the Articles page which lists, by general category, the over 300 articles on this site relating to all aspects of Theosophy and the Theosophical Movement, and also make use of the site search function via the magnifying glass symbol at the top of the page.

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