Madame New Age

"Madame Blavatsky: Spiritual Traveler" is a surprisingly objective but all-too-short documentary about Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society and the secret godmother of the West's infatuation with Eastern spirituality. Many things associated with the broad smorgasbord known as the New Age can be directly or indirectly traced back to Blavatsky.

The documentary, which is mildly critical of Blavatsky, features K Paul Johnson, the author of the interesting study "The Masters Revealed", biographer Marion Meade, comparative religion scholar James Santucci and Will Thackara of the Theosophical Society Pasadena. Oddly, the documentary mentions Annie Besant, who was an opponent of the Pasadena branch of Theosophy, yet no supporter of Besant's Adyar branch appears in the production.

"Spiritual Traveler" mentions Blavatsky's early life and background in Spiritualism, her meeting with Colonel Olcott, the controversy surrounding the Mahatma Letters and the SPR, her concept of "Masters", and the writing of "Isis Unveiled" and "The Secret Doctrine". However, there is very little information on the actual contents of her teachings, beyond the rather obvious fact that she was one of the few Westerners at the time to actually study Hinduism and Buddhism seriously.

That being said, I nevertheless liked "Spiritual Travaler". It's probably too lightweight for more serious seekers, but it could function as a kind of teaser trailer for the general public.