Out on a Limb

To discuss H. P. Blavatsky alongside an article on Shirley MacLaine and thereby suggest parallels between them is as absurd as it is offensive. Madame Blavatsky never took money but instead gave away what she had. She preached against spiritualism and the inherent dangers of the mediumistic practices it relied upon--dangers that are no less real a century later under the name of trance channeling. She taught that wisdom comes through suffering, self-

sacrifice, humility and renunciation. Yet today we live in a nation in which many people turn to the purveyors of metaphysical materialism to find psychic titillation. And they get exactly what they deserve.

Keith Pritsker

Los Angeles