The Ritual of Transcendental Magic was published in 1856. It discusses the actual materials, processes, and settings for conducting ritual magic. The practitioner must purify himself through a temperate diet, regular sleep, and thorough attention to cleaning and hygiene. A complete description of tools like a magical lamp, rod, sword, and dagger follows, leaving the magician well equipped to perform ceremonies and rituals. Levi also added the Tarot to the tools of the magician, which was a new development in the occultism of the time.
This work explores the magician’s foundations for his spiritual beliefs, as well as his idea that an elite class of priests would be necessary to lead the people into both social and magical order. He writes, “Occult philosophy seems to have been the nurse and godmother of all intellectual forces, the key of all divine obscurities, and the absolute mistress of society, in those ages when it was exclusively reserved for the education of priests and of kings...Magic is the traditional science of the secrets of Nature which comes to us from the Magi.”
Although Levi didn’t enjoy much notoriety during his life, his works eventually became highly influential among other occultists, and he is now considered one of the fathers of modern mysticism. Famous occultist Aleister Crowley even claimed to be Levi himself in one of his past lives, as he was born less than six months after Levi’s death in 1875.
The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic was first published in 1854. This work establishes the concepts behind symbols like the tetragram and pentagram, the significance of Hebrew letters and numbers, and the relationship between science, occultism, and formal religion. Levi was the first to document the meaning of the points of the pentagram. He stated that a pentagram with only one point up and two down is a symbol of the Savior, and a pentagram with two points up and one down is a “symbol of evil and attracts sinister forces.”
This work explores the magician’s foundations for his spiritual beliefs, as well as his idea that an elite class of priests would be necessary to lead the people into both social and magical order. He writes, “Occult philosophy seems to have been the nurse and godmother of all intellectual forces, the key of all divine obscurities, and the absolute mistress of society, in those ages when it was exclusively reserved for the education of priests and of kings...Magic is the traditional science of the secrets of Nature which comes to us from the Magi.”
Although Levi didn’t enjoy much notoriety during his life, his works eventually became highly influential among other occultists, and he is now considered one of the fathers of modern mysticism. Famous occultist Aleister Crowley even claimed to be Levi himself in one of his past lives, as he was born less than six months after Levi’s death in 1875.
Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual by Éliphas Lévi explores magic, the 'esoteric science,' and its place between science and religion.
Born Alphonse Louis Constant in 1810, this French occultist originally planned for a career in the Catholic Church. Constant was educated at Saint Sulpice's seminary, and planned to become a priest. Yet just before he was to receive his ordination at age 26, Constant renounced his ecclesiastical goals and returned to civilian life.
The following years tested Constant's conscience and resilience. He was disowned by his family, and worked as a tutor to earn an income. Without the structure from the seminary, he found himself adrift.
Constant dedicated much of his early life to promoting the ideals of a utopian socialist society that worked for the economic improvement of all people. He shared these ideas in an early work called The Bible of Liberty. Within an hour of its release, the copies were seized by French authorities, and Constant spent the next six months in prison.
After a failed marriage and the death of his young daughter, Constant discovered the world of the occult and mysticism. He became a ceremonial magician, and developed a social circle of many of the occultists and Kabbalists of the time. Writing on the subject under the Hebrew name Éliphas Lévi, he began to share his ideas on magic with the public in the 1850s.
This work explores the magician's foundations for his spiritual beliefs, as well as his idea that an elite class of priests would be necessary to lead the people into both social and magical order. He writes, 'Occult philosophy seems to have been the nurse and godmother of all intellectual forces, the key of all divine obscurities, and the absolute mistress of society, in those ages when it was exclusively reserved for the education of priests and of kings ... Magic is the traditional science of the secrets of Nature which comes to us from the Magi.'
The Paradoxes of the Highest Science contains within it's pages not the paths to great wealth, the secrets to prosperity nor the call to power; on the contrary, this work will provide the uninitiated glimpses of the true nature of the occult, hints of universal truth and wisdom. How can one know God? Where do religion and science converge? Is man's true nature one with nature, through exuding love, acquiring knowledge and exercising reason? Paradoxes of the Highest Science prove to be just that, the macro- within the micro-cosm.
Filling a huge gap in our spiritual culture, here--at last--is a comprehensive and elegant translation of the 1854 French masterwork of occult philosophy.
The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic reignited the esoteric spiritual search in the West and led to the emergence of Madame Blavatsky, Manly P. Hall, and the New Age revolution.
Levi's study of magic is an absolute must for every seeker in occult, esoteric, and druidic realms; but this need has been frustrated by dated and inaccurate translations--until now. Greer, a respected occult scholar, and Mikituk, a masterful translator, collaborate to restore this landmark work--complete with its original illustrations and symbols--to the center of the alternative spiritual canon.
Translated by John Michael Greer, Mark Anthony Mikituk
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Eliphas Lévi, (Parigi, 1811-1878) è stato un esoterista e teosofo francese. Fu il più famoso studioso di esoterismo dell’ottocento. Intrattenne rapporti con adepti della Massoneria francese. Fu iniziato ai misteri della cabala da Wronski, che gli impose il nome magico di Eliphas, traduzione in ebraico del suo nome natale Alphonse Louis Constant.Si occupò di analizzare diverse branche dell’esoterismo antico e moderno, da lui definite scienze occulte, in particolare dei dogmi e rituali, dei Tarocchi, e divenne il punto di riferimento principale per gli studiosi di esoterismo.In questo libro, pubblicato nel 1860, si parte dalla culla dei tempi, quando scienza e fede erano unite, e si percorre poi la loro separazione progressiva, con la nascita della magia nera e del razionalismo ateo. Lo scrittore, fervente cattolico, auspica che in un futuro questi due pilastri del pensiero umano siano nuovamente uniti.Cornice musicale: Johann Sebastian Bach, toccata e fuga in re minore.
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