Mellie Uyldert | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mellifica Uyldert (1908-05-31)31 May 1908 Blaricum, Netherlands |
| Died | 10 May 2009(2009-05-10) (aged 100) Bilthoven, Netherlands |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Esoteric and New Age writings |
| Movement | New Age,Theosophy |
Mellifica "Mellie"Uyldert (31 May 1908 inBlaricum – 10 May 2009 inBilthoven) was a DutchNew Age writer,alternative healer, occultist, and astrologer who published about 30 esoteric books, selling over a million copies,[2] making her a recognized person in the Netherlands. Of a conservative, peculiar, poetic, eccentric character, she was also controversial because of several unsettling claims that caused antagonism.[3][4] In the 1970s she became a celebrity on Dutch television. Her publications coverfairy tales,herbal medicine, stones, metals, health, andgnomes. She also wrote poems.
Uyldert was the daughter of Marie Calisch, a teacher, and Emil Uyldert, bothvegetarians who were followers of theback-to-natureChaste Life movement.[5] In 1912 her father Emil deserted the family, going to the United States and leaving Mellie's mother the task of raising their daughter.[6]
At eighteen years old she became interested inastrology, taking her first lessons with aFreemason called Mr. Ram inHilversum.[7] In 1928 she joined theDutch Philosophical Society (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Filosofie) but at age twenty-one she left it for lessons in esoteric philosophy includingTheosophy and Indian-style astrology.[8]
In 1928 she began teaching astrology,[7] and in 1934 she published her first book, the vegetarian cookbookHandleiding voor de moderne keuken (Manual for the Modern Kitchen).[5] In 1942 she started giving courses on herbs and lectures.[6]
From around 1947,[5][9] she began writing inDe Kaarsvlam (The Candle’s Flame), a bimonthly magazine produced in both English and German, and later published by the Mellie Uyldert Foundation. She was also a journalist forOnkruid, a widely read Dutch New Age magazine, and wrote for the magazineOverleven van de rechtse Ekologische Beweging (Surviving the right Ecological Movement).[10]
Meanwhile, she was a teacher atnaturopathic institutes such as theAcademie voor Natuurgeneeswijzen (Academy of Natural Treatment) andDe Kosmos inAmsterdam. However, in 1984 she was discredited by a booklet which accused her of alleged racist theories. Following these events,Onkruid magazine ended its relation with her.[citation needed]
Uyldert moved toKalmthout in Belgium, where eleven years earlier she had established theOasis Mellie Uyldert Foundation, a center for natural therapeutic treatments.[8]
At a country house belonging to her foundation, Uyldert continued to write books, teach courses, organize workshops and give lectures up to age 96. She spent her final years in theLeendert Meeshuis, ananthroposophical nursing home inBilthoven, where she lived until reaching the age of 100.[3]
By 2008, Uyldert registered about 30 books with a total circulation around one million, with translations in German, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Danish.[10]
Uyldert reveals that the major interest over her work came when theWorld War began, turning people's attention to spiritual issues, but in fact it dates from the nineteen sixties, helped by her involvement with environmental writings, and because it was a period of a belief in a new, peaceful, romantic world accompanied by numerous protests against the emergent and global mechanized world and belief in aNew Age.[6]
Early on, she discoveredesoteric astrology, claiming it as a base of all sciences and regularly citing the East as source of ancient wisdom. According to her, people have only a short free will, and most of time the celestial bodies rule their destinies.[7]
Uyldert commonly focuses on some aspects of physical and spiritual diseases, regarding them as consequences of neglect of ancient knowledge and of the estrangement between man and nature. For instance she asserts that Chinese have had rules by 6000 years for which place a house should be built because the soil must provide good energy.[5]
As for herself, she claims to remember things from her past lives and have psychic abilities since childhood, although she states "The important thing is the understanding coming from within - clairvoyance is just a trick".[5] However she claims esoteric knowledge for her writings about herbal medicine and nutrition[10] where she argues the influence of nature spirits over the plants.[11]
Uyldert writes about healing, mystical, cultural, and magic properties of metals, stones, colors, and their influence over religions and traditions.[12][13] She delivers her own interpretations of folkloric tales, human behavior, and many subjects, merging all with her astrologic knowledge. Sometimes producing very questionable assertions, she seems to balance the issue with many mystical verses and bucolic poems like those in her book "Het Levensritme" (The Rhythm of Life).[14] Ultimately she affirmed that her life was dedicated to rescuing contact between the occult world and living people.[7]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
