Helena Blavatsky part 1

Queens Podcast

Comedy, History

4.5 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, we dive into the chaotic, controversial, and extremely entertaining life of Helena Blavatsky — the 19th-century mystic, world traveler, occult celebrity, and eventual co-founder of the Theosophical Society. But before she became the founder (grifter?) of a major spiritual movement, she was just a kooky little girl born into the Russian aristocracy with a flair for folklore, drama, and telling everyone she could talk to ghosts. Whether you know her as a spiritual icon, a fraud, or the original chaos witch of the Victorian era, this episode explores the myths, scandals, astral projections, and truly unhinged adventures that shaped the occult revival, Victorian spiritualism, esoteric philosophy, and the early New Age movement. If you’re into messy historical women, occult weirdness, or “Ma’am, what are you doing?” energy… welcome home. Time stamps: 00:00 Introduction & chat 02:51 Introducing Helena Blavatsky 03:52 Mocktail Recipe: Black Magic Mocktail 05:55 Helena's Early Life and Family Background 28:34 Formative Years in Tiflis 30:36 Discovering Esoteric Knowledge 35:10 Helena's Paranormal Experiences 38:24 The Runaway Bride 49:14 Helena's Lost Decade 55:42 Introduction to Spiritualism Sources: Jules Evans, “Madame Blavatsky and the Perils of Mass Occultism” ⁠https://julesevans.medium.com/madame-blavatsky-and-the-perils-of-mass-occultism-333fcd765c43⁠ JSTOR Daily — “Spiritualism, Science, and the Mysterious Madame Blavatsky” ⁠https://daily.jstor.org/spiritualism-science-and-the-mysterious-madame-blavatsky/⁠ CBC Radio: Ideas — Madame Blavatsky episode ⁠https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/madame-blavatsky-a-seeker-of-truth-and-a-fraud-1.6478885⁠ Pro Theosophy Documentary ⁠https://youtu.be/WWEpVd2AaBo?si=7wPZ6MmmYE9ooSee⁠ Blavatsky & Theosophy Video Explainer ⁠https://youtu.be/WAVimQTTlgs?si=G1puAIJQwpDyApAu⁠ Queens podcast is part of Airwave Media podcast network. Please get in touch with advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Want more Queens? Head to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, check out our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ merch store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Never miss a Queens Podcast happening! Sign up for our newsletter: https://eepurl.com/gZ-nYf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:04.4	How's the business going?
0:05.7	We're busy than ever, but struggling to get the staff we need.
0:08.3	Recruiting can be such a distraction.
0:10.6	We gave Job Centre Plus a try, and they've really helped us out.
0:13.6	Really?
0:14.0	Yeah.
0:14.4	It was dead easy.
0:15.3	We got our own employer advisor, Julie, who helped advertise our jobs,
0:18.9	shortlisted candidates for us and letters
0:21.0	interview at the Job Centre. We've hired some great people, and Job Centre Plus really took
0:25.4	the hassle out of it, and there was no fee. Brilliant, that's straight on my to-do list.
0:29.7	Find out more at business.gov.uk.org. Slagroup. Eligibility criteria apply.
0:35.1	Hi, this is Katie. And this is Nathan.
0:41.0	And you're listening to Queens podcast, the show about women in history. Hey Nathan. Hey, Katie. How are you today? I kind of already know. I'm good. Don't do that. Nathan's making fun of me. I went out with some friends last night for a friend's birthday. And we had a very good time. And so Nathan's making fun of me. I went out with some friends last night for a friend's birthday,
1:12.1	and we had a very good time. And so Nathan's making fun at me because I'm, I'm not hungover.
1:18.6	No. I'm just tired. I'm just a little tired today. Yeah, but when you message me, you're like,
1:25.4	oh. But we had a lot of fun. There's this place in Austin,
1:30.0	the escape game. And so we did an escape room, which I let them know up front. I was like,
1:35.0	guys, I am not going to be an asset in this game. I am here for the vibes. I will be here to vibe the whole time. And I was correct. I did not help at all. I'm just escape rooms aren't my
1:51.3	strong suit, but I was there for moral support. Music history or feminist history, you're out.
1:56.8	History was no part of the escape room. It's puzzle solving and it's just not, it does just not how my brain works, but it was fun.
	...

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