. Magus Eliphas Levi
. (1810 - 1875)
A French Occultist and Author
. (1810 - 1875)
A French Occultist and Author
Eliphas Lévi, born Alphonse Louis Constant, (February 8, 1810 - May 31, 1875)
was a French author and magician.
"Eliphas Lévi," the name under which he published his books, was his attempt to
translate or transliterate his given names "Alphonse Louis" into Hebrew. A prolific
writer on Magical Freemasonry, he has been called, "the last of the Magi."
Lévi was the son of a shoemaker in Paris; he attended a seminary and began to study
to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood. However, while at the seminary he fell in love,
and left without being ordained. He wrote a number of minor religious works: Des
Moeurs et des Doctrines du Rationalisme en France ("Of the Moral Customs and
Doctrines of Rationalism in France", 1839) was a tract within the cultural stream of the
Counter-Enlightenment. La Mère de Dieu ("The Mother of God", 1844) followed and,
after leaving the seminary, two radical tracts, L'Evangile du Peuple ("The Gospel of
the People," 1840), and Le Testament de la Liberté ("The Testament of Liberty"),
published in the year of revolutions, 1848, led to two brief prison sentences.
In 1854, Lévi visited England, where he met the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who
was interested in Rosicrucianism as a literary theme and was the president of a minor
Rosicrucian order. With Bulwer-Lytton, Lévi conceived the notion of writing a treatise
on magic. This appeared in 1855 under the title Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie,
and was translated into English by Arthur Edward Waite as Transcendental Magic, it
Doctrine and Ritual. Its famous opening lines present the single essential theme of
Occultism and gives some of the flavor of its atmosphere:
Behind the veil of all the hieratic and mystical allegories of ancient doctrines, behind
the darkness and strange ordeals of all initiations, under the seal of all sacred
writings, in the ruins of Nineveh or Thebes, on the crumbling stones of old temples
and on the blackened visage of the Assyrian or Egyptian sphinx, in the monstrous or
marvelous paintings which interpret to the faithful of India the inspired pages of the
Vedas, in the cryptic emblems of our old books on alchemy, in the ceremonies
practiced at reception by all secret societies, there are found indications of a doctrine
which is everywhere the same and everywhere carefully concealed.
In 1861, he published a sequel, La Clef des Grandes Mystères (The Key to the Great
Mysteries). Further magical works by Lévi include Fables et Symboles (Stories and
Images), 1862, and La Science des Esprits (The Science of Spirits), 1865. In 1868, he
wrote Le Grand Arcane, ou l'Occultisme Dévoilé (The Great Secret, or Occultism
Unveiled); this, however, was only published posthumously in 1898.
Lévi's version of magic became a great success, especially after his death. The
Spiritualism fad was popular on both sides of the Atlantic from the 1850s and
contributed to his success. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms,
even if they remained rather murky; he had nothing to sell, and did not pretend to be
the inititate of some ancient or fictitious secret society. He incorporated the Tarot
cards into his magical system, and as a result the Tarot has been an important part of
the paraphernalia of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magic of the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and it was largely through this impact that Lévi is
remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magic.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_Levi
was a French author and magician.
"Eliphas Lévi," the name under which he published his books, was his attempt to
translate or transliterate his given names "Alphonse Louis" into Hebrew. A prolific
writer on Magical Freemasonry, he has been called, "the last of the Magi."
Lévi was the son of a shoemaker in Paris; he attended a seminary and began to study
to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood. However, while at the seminary he fell in love,
and left without being ordained. He wrote a number of minor religious works: Des
Moeurs et des Doctrines du Rationalisme en France ("Of the Moral Customs and
Doctrines of Rationalism in France", 1839) was a tract within the cultural stream of the
Counter-Enlightenment. La Mère de Dieu ("The Mother of God", 1844) followed and,
after leaving the seminary, two radical tracts, L'Evangile du Peuple ("The Gospel of
the People," 1840), and Le Testament de la Liberté ("The Testament of Liberty"),
published in the year of revolutions, 1848, led to two brief prison sentences.
In 1854, Lévi visited England, where he met the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who
was interested in Rosicrucianism as a literary theme and was the president of a minor
Rosicrucian order. With Bulwer-Lytton, Lévi conceived the notion of writing a treatise
on magic. This appeared in 1855 under the title Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie,
and was translated into English by Arthur Edward Waite as Transcendental Magic, it
Doctrine and Ritual. Its famous opening lines present the single essential theme of
Occultism and gives some of the flavor of its atmosphere:
Behind the veil of all the hieratic and mystical allegories of ancient doctrines, behind
the darkness and strange ordeals of all initiations, under the seal of all sacred
writings, in the ruins of Nineveh or Thebes, on the crumbling stones of old temples
and on the blackened visage of the Assyrian or Egyptian sphinx, in the monstrous or
marvelous paintings which interpret to the faithful of India the inspired pages of the
Vedas, in the cryptic emblems of our old books on alchemy, in the ceremonies
practiced at reception by all secret societies, there are found indications of a doctrine
which is everywhere the same and everywhere carefully concealed.
In 1861, he published a sequel, La Clef des Grandes Mystères (The Key to the Great
Mysteries). Further magical works by Lévi include Fables et Symboles (Stories and
Images), 1862, and La Science des Esprits (The Science of Spirits), 1865. In 1868, he
wrote Le Grand Arcane, ou l'Occultisme Dévoilé (The Great Secret, or Occultism
Unveiled); this, however, was only published posthumously in 1898.
Lévi's version of magic became a great success, especially after his death. The
Spiritualism fad was popular on both sides of the Atlantic from the 1850s and
contributed to his success. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms,
even if they remained rather murky; he had nothing to sell, and did not pretend to be
the inititate of some ancient or fictitious secret society. He incorporated the Tarot
cards into his magical system, and as a result the Tarot has been an important part of
the paraphernalia of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magic of the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and it was largely through this impact that Lévi is
remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magic.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_Levi
Baphomet,
or Goat of Mendes,
in Dogme et Rituel
de la Haute Magie
1855
or Goat of Mendes,
in Dogme et Rituel
de la Haute Magie
1855
The Pentagram From
Eliphas Levi's
(1810-1875)
Transcendental Magic
Eliphas Levi's
(1810-1875)
Transcendental Magic
Books, Gifts and More
