Carrithers, Walter Adley, Jr. (1924-)

Writer and commercial artist, member of the American Society for Psychical Research, Society for Psychical Research, London, and the American Federation of Astrologers. He investigated the question of alleged fraud with a view to improving reporting methods. He wrote articles for Fate magazine and various theosophical and astrological journals. His essay "Re-Appraising Astrological Concepts, Old and New" won first prize in an international essay contest held by the American Federation of Astrologers and was published in its Bulletin of March-April 1959.

Over the years Carrithers devoted a significant amount of time to investigating and defending Helena Petrovna Blavatsky against the charges of fraud that plagued her during the last years of her life and have haunted the Theosophical Society ever since. These efforts led to literary works, the first appearing in response to Gertrude Williams's Priestess of the Occult, which had appeared in 1946. In the early 1960s Carrithers focused his attention on the Hodgson Report of 1885, the key document that compiled the greatest amount of evidence against Blavatsky. He wrote a series of articles for the American Theosophist in 1961 that were later gathered in booklet form and published by the Theosophical Society. In 1962 he also wrote another article that countered the Hodgson Report, which appeared in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. Although he raised a few valid points, on the whole his attempt to refute Hodgson failed to convince many outside the theosophical movement.

Sources:

Carrithers, Walter A., Jr. "Madam Blavatsky: One of the World's Great Jokers." Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 56 (July 1962).

——. The Truth about Madame Blavatsky: An Open Letter to the Author of the Priestess of the Occult. Covina, Calif.: Theosophical University Press, 1947.

Waterman, Adlai E. [Walter A. Carrithers, Jr.]. Obituary: The "Hodgson Report" on Madame Blavatsky. Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1963.