Dear Max and Kolya,
I appreciate seeing EI's writing about the three steps. And in all the writings we are given the chance to see how she proceeded through these steps. It is quite wonderful for us to learn about the process of development that each of us will one day undergo. May it be so!
There are many evidences of mediumistic activity here at the museum: I have in my room one of the original Ouija boards (I think the equivalent that you know is the saucer on a table) that was used in the early seances. If you do not know what Ouija refers to, look it up in Google. The name comes from the two words for "yes" in French (oui) and in German (ja).
Nicholas Roerich's writings and drawings at the seances were often under the influence of the Teacher, in a more mediumistic way than we usually think. Gennady's description of the rolls of paper is correct. They are large rolls, the kind that artists used to buy in art supply shops for sketching. He wrote very large, four or five times larger than the way he would normally write. His writing and drawings are all described in the notebooks as "automatic writing". If one examines the two most important drawings that remain from those times, the portrait of Al lal Ming (the one that says underneath the face, "uchit' ") and the portrait of Buddha (the one that says "plakat' ne nada"), one can see that the portrait of Al lal Ming (or M, it is not clear) is the work of a conscious artist, whereas the one of Buddha is like a child's drawing, not the kind of thing NK would have done if fully, consciously aware. So there were at least two kinds of communication at work during those seances, the ones that are more mediumistic, and the ones that came to be called those of a conscious mediator. At the meeting, the students were all permitted to ask questions. NK would ask Master, and the replies would come through NK, who wrote them down. Sina used to go through the The Call with me, and point out which messages were for her, and why they were given, and who most of the others were for.
The most dramatic event from those times was told to me by two of the people who were there, Sina Lichtmann (later Fosdick) and Frances Grant. They were told that the wavering, not quite convinced students needed one miracle. But only one, because if that one did not achieve anything, more would not help. So one evening, when the entire group was seated around the large table that was used at the seances in New York, the table and all the people slowly were raised to the ceiling, and then slowly lowered back to the floor. At the same time, some Indian coins fell from the ceiling onto the table. This is precisely as it was related to me by people who witnessed it. And it is a classic mediumistic event.
There were many such things. It is correct to say that much of the content of the first book, The Call, was received by mediumistic means. When the Roerichs started their first meetings in Kensington, London, in 1920, the events were quite dramatic. There is an article about what took place at those meetings, written by Vladimir Shibaev, who later was Roerich's assistant and secretary in Kullu. He wrote about flying tables and knocking tables, among other events. The knocking table had a very specific method. If the group asked a question, or wanted to spell out something, the table would knock once for "yes", twice for "no", and three times for an emphatic "yes, yes, yes!" And now, when you read "yes, yes, yes !" in the first book, you know how that was communicated.
I appreciate that Max took the time and effort to put together the excerpts from EI's letter to George at Harvard. The open and intimate tone of the letters is striking. EI clearly shared with George all her experiences and feelings about her current stage of development and her attempts to learn more. Clearly, she knew about mediumistic techniques, but did not yet know much about their dangers. She mentions a book that the group bought to learn about mediumism. (That book is still available, by the way.) So when she went to hear a talk about mediumship, even though she did not like the speaker, she resolved to return to him, to talk with him and learn more. And her interesting story about the return of NK from Chicago, with his tales of mediumistic experiences, is both amusing and revealing.
After The Call, when the Roerichs left America to go to Europe and then to Asia, EI quickly changed the methods of communication, and moved into phase two. And soon after, the students in America, who had all been encouraged to explore their own mediumistic abilities, were now instructed to stop, and to await the development of clairaudience. They were assured that it did not mean that they would be cut off from help and instruction from Master. "Sophie will be your telephone", they were told. Sophie was Sina's mother, and she evidently had abilities beyond those of the other members of the group.
So yes, I certainly agree that they all went through the process of three stages that EI describes, to varying degrees of completion. We can certainly assume that EI succeeded in achieving all three levels, and NK too. From the things I was told by Sina (she knew George well and loved him dearly) he also achieved the same, but was very modest and quiet about it. Once, when I pointed out to Sina that NK had painted himself, EI, and George into the painting "Burning of Darkness," she at first denied that they were there. To her mind, I was exposing a great secret. She later acknowledged and spoke about George's almost-equal level with his parents. After all, he was with them during all their most spiritual and esoteric experiences.
If anyone wants to ask questions about any of the things I describe here, you are welcome to ask.
Daniel
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