Fr. Patrick Mythen, about whom I’ve written in the past, also had a connection to a Theosophist pseudo-Christian body in California prior to becoming Orthodox. This group apparently was a rival to the New York pseudo-Christian group that the Johnstons were involved with. Mythen doesn’t seem to have had deep ties to Theosophy, but it’s another connection.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, though — after all, Theosophy was founded by a women from the Russian Empire, who was quite likely born Orthodox.

Back when HG had first come to Chicago in the late 40′s, the ecclesisatical situation was rather fluid and confused. A delegation of some purported parisioners came to the home where the bishop was, identifed themselves as a parish, and asked the bishop for a visitation, to which he agreed.

He came to the parish, and was vested with due ceremony. He was about to proceed with the service when someone told him “No, Vladika, we have to bring in the prophetess first.”

“The what?”

So in the midst of the Church HG saw them process in with a woman wearing some robes indicating some office, and install her in a place of honor near the iconostasis.

So, Archb. John of blessed memory said, HG could only follow biblical precedent. He rent and ripped his vestments off, took his miter and punched it, threw them down in disgust and stormed out.

A few days later, a box came in the mail with the vestments folded in them, with the miter on top.

What exactly they believed, Fr. Hillary didn’t say, but he identified them as Theosophists.