While growing up in Los Angeles, I had numerable occasions to visit with
and hear Boris de Zirkoff lecture on various Theosophical subjects.
Most of these occasions were semi-private meetings at Lina Psaltis'
home, whom I was a student from 1963 until her passing in 1980. I do
recall Boris discussing HBP's "hermaphroditism" on several occasions.
However, I clearly recall that in each of these incidents, Boris was (to
my mind) speaking of HPB's "occult nature," not physical
characteristics. In the same discussions, Boris would sometimes mention
the Mennell and Oppenheim documents, which he had copies. Never, in my
presence, did he say, nor did he refer to documentation that HPB was a
hermaphrodite in the physical sense. If someone has evidence to the
contrary, I would be very interested in knowing about it.

Over the years, I have observed a very common tendency among
Theosophical students to misconstrue "occult" statements into their own
literalized conceptions. I suspect that this inclination may be the
source of these "rumors." HPB noted and commented on this tendency in
several places--S.D. I:298 para 2, for instance.

--j




-----Original Message-----
From: kpauljohnson <kpauljohnson@...>
[mailto:kpauljohnson@...]
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 8:31 AM
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Theos-World Alleged certificate re hermaphroditism

For what it's worth,

Some years ago I was told by a Theosophist that Boris de Zirkoff had
a certificate "proving" that HPB was a hermaphrodite. I did not have
the presence of mind to ask the source of this certificate and how
this person knew of its existence. (Might have been Rick Nurrie, not
sure, maybe Michael Revere-- one of the younger Theosophical Network
folks.) But years later someone at the Pasadena T.S. Headquarters
assured me that Boris did indeed have such a certificate. And AGAIN
I failed to ask its source, whether she had seen it, etc. Then, some
years after that, someone else told me he had seen the thing-- and
not only did I fail for the third time to ask the obvious questions,
I can't even remember who it was!

So rumor abounds on this subject. On the other hand, we have the
testimonial by Albert Rawson as to HPB's feminine charms in her
youth, the Witte memoirs about her having affairs with an unnamed
Englishman and Agardi Metrovitch, the mysterious child Yuri, and her
late marriage to Michael Betanelly to weigh in the balance. She
certainly lived as a woman for most of her life, if not all. Plus
there is the Oppenheim certificate testifying that she was a female
who had not borne children.

So who knows,

KPJ




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