Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2006, Page 106
The author missed great opportunities to create suspense and sympathy. For example,
when the distraught wife of a gay parishioner drowns their son Willy, I felt removed from
the child. We have no insights into little Willy‘s character, whether he had friends, his hair
color, how he played. The author inserts sexual tension between characters, but not enough
for it to feel more important than creepy adult behavior. Exorcisms described in Chapter 7
offer little dramatic power. Occult activity amounts to eyes locked in trance and group
ecstasy with erotic touching. I was not convinced that the devil had anything to do with
what seemed more like loosened libidos. Descriptions I‘ve read about Umbanda or Macumba
dance rituals are far more interesting.
In the genre of fundamentalist Christian literature, cult and occult carry the same sinister
though equivocal spiritual warning—they both are ―of the devil.‖ However, there are other
ways to view cult behavior, and to portray occultism more realistically as not only deceptive,
but ridiculous, and sacredly sublime, as well. See my review of another novel, Imaginary
Friends, also based on a real cult experience.
Joseph Szimhart
Theosophy and Culture: Nicholas Roerich
Anita Stasulane, Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations Series, Volume 8,
2005. Gregorian Researche Centre on Cultures and Religions. (Editrice Pontificia
Universita Gregoriana, Piazza della Pilotta, 35 – 00187, Roma, Italia. Email:
editricepugpib-gi@biblico.it.) ISBN 88-7839-035-6 (trade paperback) $25.00. 336
pages.
If you look at an American one-dollar bill, you will find a pyramid with an ―eye‖ on top. The
Great Pyramid is often associated with Freemasonry, and many of the American founding
fathers were Freemasons. The symbol comes from the Great Seal of the United States
designed in 1782 by Charles Thompson. In 1934 the Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace
convinced Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morganthau to place it on the dollar. It appeared
in 1935. Morganthau did not know at the time that Wallace made the suggestion at the
behest of his guru Nicholas Roerich. To Roerich, the eye represented the gaze of mahatmas,
or super-evolved beings that guide the affairs and spiritual evolution of humanity. Roerich
(d 1947) and his wife Helena (d 1955) followed the Theosophy teachings of the colorful 19th
century occultist, Helena P. Blavatsky (1831–1891). By 1925, the Roerichs had established
a new theosophical group called Agni Yoga in New York and London, and later in Latvia,
Russia, and India. Like Blavatsky, the Roerichs believed that mahatmas had chosen them as
messengers to an elite core of mankind.
Roerich died the year I was born, so by the time I encountered his art and Agni Yoga
teachings in 1975, his legacy had faded considerably in America. For example, as late as the
mid-1980s, Agni Yoga did not make it into an impressive list of new religious movements
established by the Institute for the Study of American Religion. Roerich‘s greatest
achievement in America was, through President Franklin Roosevelt, to have 21 nations in
the Pan-American Union sign the Peace Pact, also known as the Roerich Pact, in 1935. The
Pact was intended to preserve cultural creativity in hospitals, museums, and significant
religious sites in time of war. For his effort, Roerich was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
he did not win.
In a way, Roerich, who was an accomplished artist, and his wife Helena, who ―transmitted‖
the Agni Yoga spiritual teachings, were my favored gurus from 1975 to 1982. I mention this
because I gained an intimate insight into their work, history, and devotees. I met with the
last two directors (both gracious individuals) of the Roerich Museum in New York many
The author missed great opportunities to create suspense and sympathy. For example,
when the distraught wife of a gay parishioner drowns their son Willy, I felt removed from
the child. We have no insights into little Willy‘s character, whether he had friends, his hair
color, how he played. The author inserts sexual tension between characters, but not enough
for it to feel more important than creepy adult behavior. Exorcisms described in Chapter 7
offer little dramatic power. Occult activity amounts to eyes locked in trance and group
ecstasy with erotic touching. I was not convinced that the devil had anything to do with
what seemed more like loosened libidos. Descriptions I‘ve read about Umbanda or Macumba
dance rituals are far more interesting.
In the genre of fundamentalist Christian literature, cult and occult carry the same sinister
though equivocal spiritual warning—they both are ―of the devil.‖ However, there are other
ways to view cult behavior, and to portray occultism more realistically as not only deceptive,
but ridiculous, and sacredly sublime, as well. See my review of another novel, Imaginary
Friends, also based on a real cult experience.
Joseph Szimhart
Theosophy and Culture: Nicholas Roerich
Anita Stasulane, Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations Series, Volume 8,
2005. Gregorian Researche Centre on Cultures and Religions. (Editrice Pontificia
Universita Gregoriana, Piazza della Pilotta, 35 – 00187, Roma, Italia. Email:
editricepugpib-gi@biblico.it.) ISBN 88-7839-035-6 (trade paperback) $25.00. 336
pages.
If you look at an American one-dollar bill, you will find a pyramid with an ―eye‖ on top. The
Great Pyramid is often associated with Freemasonry, and many of the American founding
fathers were Freemasons. The symbol comes from the Great Seal of the United States
designed in 1782 by Charles Thompson. In 1934 the Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace
convinced Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morganthau to place it on the dollar. It appeared
in 1935. Morganthau did not know at the time that Wallace made the suggestion at the
behest of his guru Nicholas Roerich. To Roerich, the eye represented the gaze of mahatmas,
or super-evolved beings that guide the affairs and spiritual evolution of humanity. Roerich
(d 1947) and his wife Helena (d 1955) followed the Theosophy teachings of the colorful 19th
century occultist, Helena P. Blavatsky (1831–1891). By 1925, the Roerichs had established
a new theosophical group called Agni Yoga in New York and London, and later in Latvia,
Russia, and India. Like Blavatsky, the Roerichs believed that mahatmas had chosen them as
messengers to an elite core of mankind.
Roerich died the year I was born, so by the time I encountered his art and Agni Yoga
teachings in 1975, his legacy had faded considerably in America. For example, as late as the
mid-1980s, Agni Yoga did not make it into an impressive list of new religious movements
established by the Institute for the Study of American Religion. Roerich‘s greatest
achievement in America was, through President Franklin Roosevelt, to have 21 nations in
the Pan-American Union sign the Peace Pact, also known as the Roerich Pact, in 1935. The
Pact was intended to preserve cultural creativity in hospitals, museums, and significant
religious sites in time of war. For his effort, Roerich was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
he did not win.
In a way, Roerich, who was an accomplished artist, and his wife Helena, who ―transmitted‖
the Agni Yoga spiritual teachings, were my favored gurus from 1975 to 1982. I mention this
because I gained an intimate insight into their work, history, and devotees. I met with the
last two directors (both gracious individuals) of the Roerich Museum in New York many
