Theosophist
With her views on life was Alma physical, mental and spiritual free woman, far ahead of its time. She was a prominent rebel against many women stereotypes and as such it is in the real world where she repeatedly failed many times. Therefore, she chose a different ideal: a spiritual being developed without gender.
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With Theosophy she has met in her student years in London, where she became a member of the Theosophical Society. Even later, she maintained contacts with Theosophists and read this kind of literature. In 1923/24 she was a member of the American Theosophical Society. Under the influence of theosophical books of Rudolf Steiner and other authors of the sunken continent of Atlantis and Lemuria she itself began to write similar work. The most important of such a file entitled Isolanthis she demonstrated high culture of inhabitants of Atlantis. She also came back to prehistory of China, Peru and Mexico. Theosophical elements are also reflected in her novels Der Götze, Erdgebunden and others.
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Photo: Alma Karlin’s membership card in the American Theosophical Society (source: www.rtvslo.si )
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Alma’s fundamental approach to life was already theosophical. Tended to overcome the limitations of her own body and the environment in which she was born and where she would be forced into a life of mediocrity, then dedicated to members of the fairer gender. She tended about learning about herself.
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So Thea Schreiber Gammelin said:
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»At Alma Karlin’s is all noble and illuminated with a soul and spirit. Despite the incredibly gentle figure she emants the almost superhuman power that enabled her to eight years of research trips around the world, full of danger and deprivation. This path can be traversed only by woman whose courage is bordered on contempt for death, and it is an art that meant everything to her..«
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She constantly endeavored to be recognized as a “serious” and not “only” travelogue author. In its second creative period, Karlin focused mainly on writing stories, novellas and novels with exotic and spiritual background, but that did not bring much success and literary awards. With her traveling experience to spill over onto the paper she wanted to contribute to peace and understanding among nations and to interpret it as a spiritual destiny and urgent task. In its mission she was firmly convinced and believed that there are many things in life set in advance and that people determine their own destiny often so heavily pushed in a certain direction, that they separate from it only by a dash.
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Her outdoor learning world was imbued with theosophical, the internal perception of interconnectedness of people. She also looked into meditation, which she was so excited about that she wanted to live in the Himalayan cliffs and meditate.
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»So long stay a human guest, until you learn to sacrifice. Why are the souls of the human stream so desperately lonely? Because they are less aware of interconnectedness of all created than souls of other streams. They close their heart and eyes and don’t suspect they walk surrounded with friends..«
(Angel na zemlji, A. Karlin)
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Alma Karlin was an extraordinary woman and certainly the most visible representative of Theosophy on Slovenian soil.
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»Through life goes alone and abandoned, who always thought only of himself; But he who knows how to adapt and happily turn all things, he who knows always where to jump to aid, and expending others, this life is flourishing meadow and even after his death remain behind traces of his works.«
(Pod košatim očesom, Alma Karlin)