Alice Bailey – Theosophical writer
Alice Bailey became a real teacher for many people: her word was a law, and personality was an object for imitation. But Alice’s enemies questioned everything she said, wrote and did…
Much of her biography is surrounded by a veil of mystery, and today you cannot find out where the truth and the fiction are.
A certain fact: she was born in Manchester on June 16, 1880 in an old and noble family. When Alice LaTrobe Bateman (her full maiden name) was 6 years old, she was left without parents. At first the father died of tuberculosis, and soon the mother died. The girl was brought up by her grandparents. They were very strict. The girl was not allowed to communicate with other children. Her life was strictly regulated. Rhetoric, literature, music, dancing, riding, etiquette – the girl did not have a single free minute. If Alice did not cope with the task, she was punished. The girl tried to commit suicide three times. The first attempt was made at the age of 6 and the last when she was fifteen…
On June 30, 1895 there was nobody at home except for Alice and servants. The girl was reading in the living room. Suddenly the door opened and a tall middle-aged man in a European suit but with a turban on his head entered the room. The stranger silently walked over to Alice and sat down beside her. The man said that Alice’s mission was to serve humanity. He said that she would travel around the world, visit many different countries. Finally, the man added that he would periodically come into contact. Then he got up and left.
The girl was shocked and couldn’t understand what it was: a vision, a dream, a reality? Or maybe she had gone crazy? But the girl had a hope that her life, full of hard work and deprivation, had some sense.
According to Alice, since then she had miraculous visions: she participated in the mysteries in the Himalayas, where Buddhists celebrate the New Year during the May full moon. There she easily communicated with Jesus Christ and the Buddha! Teachers shared their secrets with her.
Alice preferred not to tell anyone about her secret life. The sixth sense told her: the world was not yet ready to accept her revelations. But she believed: such a moment would come!
At the age of 22, some voice drove Alice from her comfortable and wealthy home. Then she realized that a stranger in a turban had urged her to start off. Seven years had passed since their last meeting. From that moment Alice noticed that the teacher visited her at intervals of exactly seven years, up to her 35th birthday.
She worked in hospitals and took care of the wounded. And she spent her free time reading gospel, conducting Bible study classes. And when she had opportunity Alice went to India. There she tirelessly led a missionary work among the soldiers. In the same place she married Walter Evans, with whom she moved to the United States, where she gave birth to three daughters. But the marriage lasted 7 years. After parting with her husband, she had to work hard to feed three daughters. She had to agree to any job, even a laborer at a cannery. Every day thousands of sardines passed through her hands. Since then, Alice hated fish.
Once, at a meeting of the Theosophical Society, she saw a portrait of a man. It was that same stranger, teacher Koot Hoomi. Since then, Alice realized that her way was not traditional theology, but esotericism. At the time she met two students of Elena Blavatsky. They inspired Alice to create her own school, which was called Arcane School. Alice wrote a series of books.
In 1919, Alice met the Theosophist Foster Bailey. They got married and began to work hard for the good of her school.
The last thirty years Alice traveled a lot, because the branches of her esoteric school were scattered all over the world. She lectured and wrote books.
Many consider Alice Bailey the founder of the modern New Age movement.
Alice Bailey left our world on December 15, 1949.