May 8th- White Lotus Day (Theosophy)

Although this Sunday is Mother's Day in America, there is an additional holiday that is much lesser known held annually on May 8th. This holiday is called White Lotus Day, and it is celebrated to commemorate the passing of Madame Helena Patrovna Blavatsky (also referred to as HPB). Madame Blavatsky was born into a well-to-do Russian family in 1831. During her life, she travelled around the world never staying in any one place very long. Madame Blavatsky was known as a psychic and was one of the founding members of the Theosophical Society. She is credited with launching the Theosophical Movement and first introducing the knowledge of Eastern Religions to the West. 


White Lotus Day is a holiday that encourages meditation and observation of the metaphor of the lotus. The lotus's life begins in the mud and travels through the water to reach the clear air and warmth of the sun. Madame Blavatsky and her fellow members of Theosophy believed that life structured itself in a quite a similar way. White Lotus Day is celebrated in several ways: 


1. At noon, a commemorative meeting is held at headquarters in which excerpts from Theosophical works are read. 
2. Food is given in Madame Blavatsky's to the poor fishermen of Adyar, India.
3. The flag is half-masted from sunrise to sunset. 
4. The convention hall is adorned with white lotus flowers. 
5. All braches of Theosophy meet on this day and express their love for Madame Blavatsky "in some simple, unsectarian, yet dignified way, avoiding all slavish adulation and empty compliments [...] for her who brought us the chart of the climbing Path which leads to the summits of Knowledge". 

White Lotus

Madame Blavatsky

Sources: 
http://www.blavatsky.net/blavatsky/madame-blavatsky.htm
http://intuitivemeaning.com/2010/05/spotlight-white-lotus-day/
http://www.katinkahesselink.net/other/algeo-white-lotus.htm
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/b/blavatsky_helena_petrovna.html
Photos from: 
http://www.blavatsky.net/ and http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-6423201-white-lotus-floating-in-water.php