intended to form a complete course, divided into three parts. The first
part contains the Doctrine and Ritual of Transcendental Magic; the
second is The History of Magic; and the third will be published later
under the title of The Key to the Great Mysteries. Taken separately,
each of these parts gives a complete instruction and seems to contain
the whole science; but in order to a full understanding of one it is
indispensable to study the two others carefully.
The triadic division of our undertaking has been imposed by the science
itself, because our discovery of its great mysteries rests entirely
upon the significance which the old hierophants attached to numbers.
THREE was for them the generating number, and in the exposition of
every doctrine they had regard to (_a_) the theory on which it was
based, (_b_) its realisation and (_c_) its application to all possible
uses. Whether philosophical or religious, thus were dogmas formed; and
thus the dogmatic synthesis of that Christianity which was heir of the
magi imposes on our faith the recognition of Three Persons in one God
and three mysteries in universal religion.
We have followed in the arrangement of the two works already
published, and shall follow in the third work, the plan indicated by
the Kabalah—that is to say, by the purest tradition of occultism.
Our Doctrine and Ritual are each divided into twenty-two chapters
distinguished by the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We
have set at the head of each chapter the letter thereto belonging and
the Latin words which, according to the best writers, represent its
hieroglyphical meaning. For example, at the head of the first chapter
will be found:—
1 א A
THE RECIPIENT
Disciplina
Ensoph
Kether
The explanation is that the letter _Aleph_-equivalent to A in Latin,
and having the number 1 as its numerical value—signifies the Recipient,
the man who is called to initiation, the qualified personality,
corresponding to the Bachelor of the Tarot. It signifies also
_disciplina_, or dogmatic syllepsis; _Ensoph_, or being in its general
and primary conception; and finally, _Kether_, or the Crown, which,
in Kabalistic theology, is the first and obscure idea of Divinity.
The chapter in question is the development of the title and the title
contains hieroglyphically the whole chapter.
The History of Magic, which follows, narrates and explains, according
to the general theory of the science furnished in the Doctrine and
Ritual, the realisation of that science through the ages. As the
introduction explains, it is constituted in harmony with the number
seven—the septenary being the number of the creative week and of Divine
Realisation.
The Key to the Great Mysteries will be established on the number
four—which is that of the enigmatic forms of the sphinx and of
elementary manifestations. It is also the number of the square and
of force. In the book referred to, certitude will be established on
irremovable bases. The enigma of the sphinx will have its complete
solution and our readers will be provided with that Key of things kept
secret from the foundation of the world which the learned Postel only
dared to depict enigmatically in one of his most obscure books, giving
no satisfactory explanation.
The History of Magic explains the affirmations found in the Doctrine
and Ritual; the Key of the Great Mysteries will complete and explain
the History of Magic. In this manner, for the attentive reader at
least, we trust that nothing will be found wanting in our revelation
of the secrets of Jewish Kabalism and of Supreme Magic—whether that of
Zoroaster or of Hermes.
The writer of these books gives lessons willingly to serious and
interested persons in search of these; but once and for all he desires
to forewarn his readers that he tells no fortunes, does not teach
divination, makes no predictions, composes no philtres and lends
himself to no sorcery and no evocation. He is a man of science, not a
man of deception. He condemns energetically whatsoever is condemned by
religion, and hence he must not be confounded with persons who can be
approached without hesitation on a question of applying their knowledge
to a dangerous or illicit use. For the rest he welcomes honest
criticism, but he fails to understand certain hostilities. Serious
study and conscientious labour are superior to all attacks; and the
first blessings which they procure, for those who can appreciate them,
are profound peace and universal benevolence.
ÉLIPHAS LÉVI.
_September 1st, 1859._
INDEX
Abel, 21, 117
Abiram, 386
Abraham, 3, 48, 64, 101, 108, 146, 180, 219
Abraham the Jew, 331, 351, 353
Absolute, 2, 459, 500
_Acharat_, 410, 412, 414
Achilles, 133, 150
Adam, 11, 40, 41, 42, 46, 111, 188, 243, 244, 259, 301, 459
Adam, Book of the Penitence of, 41-43
_Adam Kadmon_, 51
_Adhi-Nari_, 64
Adolphus of Schleswig, 253
_Adonai_, 103, 229, 248, 249
Aeschylus, 86
Agamemnon, 150
Agde, Council of, 241
Agesilaus, 121
_Agla_, 103, 104, 248
Agrippa, H. Cornelius, 90, 335
_Ahih_, 103, 301
Ahriman, 9, 16, 25
_Al_, 300
Albertus Magnus, 89, 258, 261
Albigenses, 128, 424
Alchemy, 85, 143, 195-197, 259, 262, 263, 279, 327, 331-334, 355, 357,
411, 509, 510
Alcides, 86
Alcmene, 121
_Aleph_, 33, 34, 411
Alexandria, School of, 74, 110, 215-219
Alfarabius, 262
Alphabet, Hebrew, 78, 103, 104, 152, 211
Alphonso XI, 316
_Althotas_, 410, 412
Amasis, King, 92
Ammonius, 165, 215
Amphion, 82
Analogy, 20, 22, 176, 521
André, Françoise, 429, 432
Antichrist, 53
Apis, 80
Apocalypse, 44, 49, 101, 173, 174, 383, 522
Apocrypha, 174
Apollonius, of Tyana, 193-198, 515
Apuleius, 204-207
_Ararita_, 301
Arcanum, Great. _See_ Great Secret
Archedemus, 137
Aristeus, 262, 263, 377
Aristotle, 53, 123, 124, 261, 329
Arius, 213
Ark of the Covenant, 42
Aroux, Eugène, 346, 351
Art, Royal, 1, 77, 120
Art, Sacerdotal, 120, 121, 122
Artephius, 262
Asclepios, 115
Astarte, 61
Astrology, 88
Athanor, 196
Augury, 162
Augustine, St., 7, 207
Aupetit, Pierre, 363
Babel, 117, 118
Bacchantes, 126, 148, 161
Bacchus, 148, 152
Baldwin II, 265
Ballanche, 88
Balmes, James, 178
_Balneum Mariæ_, 196
Baphomet, 269
Bartolocci, 257
Beausoleil, Baron de, 357
Bel, 229
Belphegor, 119
Belshazzar, 157
Belus, 59, 62
Benjamin, Tribe of, 159
Bermechobus, 44
Bernard of Sienna, St., 316
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, Prince, 415
_Berthe au Grand Pied_, 233
Berthelot, 74
_Beth_, 33
_Binah_, 116
Blaquerne, Hermit, 329
_Boaz_, 21, 42, 179, 411
Bodinus, 349, 362, 363
Boguet, Henri, 363
Bohani, 64
Böhme, Jacob, 138, 357
Boismont, Brierre de, 131, 132, 191, 241
Bonaventura, St., 50
Boniface, Bishop of Mayence, 242
_Book of Ceremonial Magic_, 130, 214, 250, 298, 299
Bossuet, 6, 30
Bouche, Madame, 446
Brahma, 47
Brahmans, 198
Brennus, 228
Bryant, Jacob, 53, 136
Buddha, 66
Cadmus, 82, 83, 148, 149
Caduceus, 149, 517
Cagliostro, Count, 409-415, 417, 473
Cahagnet, 437
Cain, 21, 45, 47, 48, 64, 72, 85, 117, 139
Calchas, 150
Calf, Golden, 80
Calvin, John, 128
Camul, 229
Canaan, 46, 119
Cardan, Jerome, 217
Cartomancy, 151, 445. _See_ Tarot
Cazotte, Jacques, 416-421
Cebes, Table of, 142, 360, 470
Cedron, 42
Certon, Salomon, 162
Chamos, 119
Charistia, 158, 159
Charity, 178, 179
Charlemagne, 245, 246-251, 252, 254, 516
Charles Martel, 242
Charles the Bald, 256
Charles VI, 316
Charles VI, of Austria, 441
Charles VII, 271
Charles IX, 349
Charvoz, Abbé, 465
Chastity, 153, 154
Chateaubriand, 200, 232
Chilperic, 235, 236
_Chokmah_, 7, 116
Christ, 1, 11, 20, 29, 42, 43, 145, 157, 171, 173, 264, 266, 405, 454,
508, 515
Christian, P., 417
Church, Catholic, 13, 20, 35, 115, 145, 171, 287, 454, 455
Circe, 90
Clairvoyance, 18, 58, 70
Clavel, 441
Clement, St., 208
Clement V, Pope, 265
Cleopatra, 262
Clothilde, St., 234, 235
Clovis, 235, 236
Cocytus, 141
_Cœlum Sephiroticum_, 137
Comte, Auguste, 459, 461
Confucius, 3, 393
Constance of Provence, 256, 257
Cooper-Oakley, Isabel, 401
Corinth, Bride of, 223 _et seq._
Cornuphis, 121
Cosmopolite, _i.e._ Alexander Seton, 357
Cremer, John, 326
Crollius, Oswald, 356, 357
Cross of Eden, 208
Cuvier, 227
Cyprian, Prayer of St., 203
Daath, 116
Dacier, 176
_Daleth_, 33, 34
Damis, 195, 197
Daniel, 52, 92
Dante, 34, 142, 345 _et seq._, 347, 351
Darboy, Monsignor, 218
Davies, 136
_Dea, Bona_, 155
De Cauzons, P., 257
De Cossé Brissac, Duc, 423
De Gabalis, Comte, 245
De Genlis, Madame, 402
Dejanira, 133, 134
Delaage, Henri, 477, 478
Delancre, 362, 363
De Lerins, Blessed Vincent, 520, 521
Deleuze, 404, 417
De Luchet, Marquis, 403, 405, 438, 483
Delrio, 362
Deluge, 40, 46, 117
De Maistre, Comte Joseph, 5, 28, 106, 177, 240, 522
De Marnier, Duc, 423
De Médicis, Catharine, 349
De Mirville, Comte, 241, 285, 335, 475, 476
Democritus, 120
De Paul, St. Vincent, 179
Desbillons, 338, 339
Desmousseux, G., 375
D’Espagnet, 357
De Sombreuil, Mdlle., 420, 424
Deussen, 67
De Vatiguerro, Jean, 443
De Villanova, Arnaldus, 327
De Villars, Abbé, 109, 110, 401
Devil, 12, 13, 14, 15, 187 _et seq._, 281 _et seq._
Diana, 161
Dionysius, 217, 218, 219
Dionysius the Younger, 137
Diseases, Astral, 159
_Doctrine and Ritual of Transcendental Magic_, 13, 29, 116, 172, 230,
393
Dodona, Oaks of, 84
Dominic, St., 262, 292
Donatists, 128
D’Ourches, Comte, 479, 481, 482, 484
Dositheus, 180
Dreams, 163
Druids, 229-231, 232, 251
Duchesne, 257
Du Fresnoy, Lenglet, 327
Du Perron, Anquetil, 67
Du Potet, Baron, 57, 60, 71, 130, 471, 472, 473, 485
Dupuis, 3, 4
_Dzenioutha Sepher_, 393
Eckartshausen, Karl von, 436
Ecstasy, 71, 109, 132
Eden and Earthly Paradise, 41, 45, 115, 244
Edmond, 493, 494
Egeria, 152
Elementary Spirits, 111, 244
Eleusis, 134, 161, 345
Elizabeth, Mme., 424
_Elohim, Elohim Tzabaoth_, 135, 247, 283
_Empusæ_, 90
_Enchiridion_, 214, 247-250, 478
Enoch, 344
_Enoch, Book of_, 39, 40, 43, 44, 46
_Ensoph_, 44, 137
Equilibrium, 149, 165, 501, 503, 517, 518, 519
Erdan, A., 453, 472, 495, 499
Eros and Anteros, 179
Esquiros, Alphonse, 477, 495, 497
Etteilla, 77, 316, 445
Eucharist, 177, 178, 210
Eudoxus, 53
Euripides, 161
Eurydice, 87
Eve, 17, 117, 244, 301, 459
Evil, 13, 14
Ezekiel, 92, 265, 381
Faber, Rev. G. S., 136
Fabré-Palaprat, 423
Faith and Science, 10, 27, 178, 517, 518
Figuier, Louis, 74, 327, 409
Fire, Secret, 196
Flamel, Nicholas, 331-334, 347, 351, 353
Fludd, Robert, 357
Fo-Hi, 392
Fontenelle, 156
Fourier, 117, 286, 453
_Four Sons of Aymon_, 246
Franck, Adolphe, 49
Fredegonde, 235, 236, 237, 238
Frederick William, King, 435
Freemasonry, Freemasons, 4, 9, 21, 29, 54, 266, 382-388
French Revolution, 190
Gaffarel, 280
Ganneau, 458, 495, 497, 499
Garden of Olives, 42
_Garden of Pomegranates_, 21
Garinet, Jules, 235, 243, 245, 252, 258, 371
Gaufridi, Louis, 364-366
Geber, 262
Genebrard, 329
Geoffrey de St. Omer, 265
Geomancy, 151
Gerle, Dom, 428-431, 497
Gilles de Laval, 272-280, 282, 361
_Gimel_, 34
Gipsies, 306-318
Girard, 373
Glauber, Richard, 357
Gnosis, Gnosticism, Gnostics, 4, 54, 65, 184, 198, 208, 209, 211, 264,
269, 291, 345, 388, 406, 415, 524
Goethe and the _Faust_, 200, 305, 320, 441, 442, 453, 458
_Göetia_, 64, 67, 89, 110, 153, 174
_Golden Ass_, 205, 206
Golden Fleece, 83, 84, 85
_Golden Legend_, 200, 204
Graces, Three, 159
Grandier, Urbain, 367-372
Gregory, St., 158
Gregory of Tours, 237, 242
Gregory XVI, Pope, 466
Grimoires, Various, 130, 279, 293, 297-305
Gringonneur, Jacques, 79
Guldenstubbé, Baron de, 286, 480, 483, 484
Gymnosophists, 66
Hagar, 48
Ham, 48, 85, 117, 118, 127
_He_, 74
Hecate, 161
Helena, 183
Helmont, J. B. van, 357
Hennequin, Victor, 474
Henry III, 349, 350
Heraclitus, 120
Hercules, 84, 123, 133
Hermanubis, 80
Hermes, 53, 73, 74, 75, 134, 260
Hiram, 383-387
Hierarchy, Descending, 191
Hierophants, 156
_Hod_, 21
Homer, 83, 133, 437
Honorius II, 298, 299
Honorius III, 292
Hugh de Payens, 265, 266, 268, 270
Hussites, 128
Hypatia, 215
Hyphasis, 194
Iao, 140
Iliad, 85
Illuminati, 4, 54, 148, 284, 435 _et seq._
Immortality, 99
Irminsul, 228
Isaac de Loria, 419
Isaiah, 11
Isis, 25, 80, 138, 233, 505
Ixion, 142
Iynx, 77, 78
Jachin, 21, 42, 179, 411
Jacob, 7, 8, 159
Jason, 84, 85
Jean d’Arras, 234
Jean de Meung, 346, 347
Jean Hachette, 230
Jechiel, Rabbi, 239, 240, 257, 258
Jehovah, 80, 103, 104, 105, 248, 249, 301, 304
Joachim, Abbé, 426
Joan, Pope, 28
Joan of Arc, 230, 234, 271, 272
Johannite Doctrine, 174, 266, 267, 268, 269, 345, 382, 424, 431
John, St., 29, 43, 44, 49, 101, 138, 208, 214, 264, 268, 328, 344,
405, 516
Jonah, 208
Joseph, 76
Josephine, Empress, 443, 444
Jude, St., 39
Julian the Apostate, 193, 198, 515
Juno, 83
Jupiter, 7, 86, 111, 152, 161;
Jupiter and Semele, 19
Justina, Legend of, 200-202
Juvenal, 154
Kabalah, 3, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 33, 34, 41, 43, 48, 49, 65, 77,
101-112, 136, 138, 143, 146, 171, 174, 192, 213, 229, 263, 265,
327, 330, 335, 354, 393, 395, 409, 413, 418, 419. _See_ Zohar
_Kether_, 7
Keturah, 64
Khnoubis, 140
Khunrath, Heinrich, 29, 263, 353-356
Kircher, Athanasius, 77, 156
Klodswinthe, 235
Kölmer, 412
Koran, 241
Kotzebue, 440
Koung-Tseu, 146
Krishna, 66
Krudener, Madame de, 446-448
Labarum, 250
Lacenaire, 467
Lactantius, 141
La Harpe, 417
Lamech, 72
_Lamiæ_, 90
Lamennais, Abbé, 496
Land, Promised, 159
_Larvæ_, 111, 112, 128, 141
Lascaris, 408, 409
Lavater, 437, 483
Laysis, 93
Leibnitz, 393, 394
_Lemures_, 141
Lenormand, 444, 445, 446, 493
Leo III, Pope, 214, 248
Leon-Tao-Yuan, 392
Lethe, 99, 141
L’Étoile, 350
_Liber Mirabilis_, 44
Light, Astral, 13, 16, 18, 19, 57, 59, 61, 71, 73, 98, 104, 109, 110,
127, 131, 157, 164, 175, 181, 185, 188, 189, 190, 195, 213, 279,
332, 342, 410, 468, 506
Lilith, 418
_Little Albert_, 160, 261
Loiseaut, 427
Lopukhin, 45
Louis, St., 239, 257
Louis the Pious, 245, 256
Louis XVI, 423, 424, 425, 433
Louis XVII, 433, 434, 446, 448, 461, 462, 467, 497
Louis XVIII, 448
Lucifer, 11, 12, 14, 187, 188, 192
Lucretia, 154
Lully, Raymund, 319-330
Luther, Martin, 28, 347-349
Macrocosm, 511, 512
Magi, 1, 55, 59, 62, 67, 147, 160, 180, 186, 228, 515
Magi, the Three, 1, 66, 146, 147
Magic: as the science of the ancient Magi, 1;
as certitude in philosophy and religion, 2;
its profanation, 4;
as the science of the devil, 9;
its Great Secret, 17;
opens the Temple of Nature, 30;
does not explain the mysteries of religion, 30;
its chief attraction, 31;
distinction between good and evil, 45;
spurious Magic of India, 45;
term of, 58;
its perfect doctrine in Egypt, 73;
its summary in the Emerald Tablet, 74;
miracles of Moses not referable to Magic, 79;
Magic of Light, 180;
Magic of the old sanctuaries, 193;
Magic of works, 262;
why Magic is proscribed by the Church, 524;
the future of Magic, 524, 525
Magic, Black, 17, 64, 71, 89, 90, 118, 126, 129, 130, 138, 190, 209,
223, 255, 260, 273, 291, 350, 361, 468, 476, 507, 515
Magnetism, 19, 20
Mahomet, 28, 241
Maia, 157
Maier, Michael, 357
Maimonides, 393
_Malkuth_, 21
Manes, 54, 144
Manicheans, 16, 198
_Mapah._ _See_ Ganneau
Marat, 47, 418, 439
Marcellinus, 198
Marcos, 210, 212
Mars, 85
Martin de Gallardon, 432, 462
Martinists, 16
Mary the Virgin, 10, 23, 24, 88, 149, 155, 157, 175, 176, 255, 517
Matter Jacques, 210, 269
Mead, G. R. S., 56, 57, 58, 77
Medea, 84, 85, 91
Medicine, Universal, 133, 414, 508
Mediums, 164, 427 _et seq._, 475, 479-483
Melchisedek, 180, 401
Melusine, 233, 234
Memphis, 121, 134
Menander, 186, 415
Mercury, 74, 104, 196, 332, 333, 358, 504;
Hymn of Mercury, 162;
Astral Mercury, 414
Mesmer, Anton, 57, 396-399
Methodius, St., 44, 45, 425
Mèves, Aug., 433
Microcosm, 263, 511, 512
Minerva, 83, 150
Minos, 161
Mithraic Mysteries, 117
Molay, Jacques de, 271, 422, 424
Moloch, 119
Montanists, 211
Mopses, Order of, 440, 441
Morien, 262
Moses, 8, 18, 42, 76, 77, 79, 80, 101, 115, 135, 145, 283, 331, 524;
Wand of, 8, 42, 79, 80, 115
Muller, Philip, 357
Musæus, 86
Mustapha, Benjamin, 357
Mysteries, Greek, 135
Mysteries, Ancient, 8
Napoleon, 417, 443, 444
Naudé, Gabriel, 295, 358, 433, 434
Necromancy, 144
Nehamah, 418
Nero, 184, 185
_Netzach_, 7, 21
Nicholas IV, Pope, 328
Nicodemus, Gospel of, 43
Nicæa, Council of, 213
Nimrod, 59
Ninus, 61, 63
Noah, 40, 46
Norton, Thomas, 357
Nostradamus, Michael, 444
Numa, 55, 60, 92, 152, 155
Oberon, 246
Odyssey, 85
Œdipus, 86, 134, 515
Olivarius, 444
_Om_, 69
Omphale, 134
Oracles, 174, 175
Orléans, Council of, 241
Orpheus, 3, 82, 85, 87, 88, 126, 134, 148, 149, 152, 515
Ortelius, 357
Osiris, 25, 80, 208, 505
Ostanes, 262
_Oupnek’hat_, 67-72
Pan, 174
Pantacle of Mars, 167
Pantacle of Mercury, 167
Pantacle of Saturn, 167
Pantacle of Venus, 166
Pantacle of the Moon, 166
Pantacle of the Sun, 166
Pantacle of Jupiter, 167
Pantarba, 197
Pantheism, 66
Pantheus, 146, 152
Paracelsus, 111, 231, 263, 340, 341, 342, 344
Paradise, Earthly, 41, 115, 141
Paris the Deacon, 185
Parmenides, 155
Pascal, 50, 51, 439
Pasqually, Martines de, 17, 89, 416
Paths, Thirty-two, 78
Patricius, Franciscus, 54, 56, 57
Paul, St., 11
Penelope, 150
Pentagram, 2
Pentheus, 148
Pepin the Short, 242
Pernety, A. J., 85
Peter, St., 182, 183, 185, 214
Peter Lombard, 261
Peter the Venerable, 261
Petronius, 185
Pharamond, 238
Pharaoh and his Magicians, 17, 18, 79, 80
Philalethes, 357
Philip, St., 182
Philip the Fair, 265, 270, 422
Philostratus, 193, 194
Photius, 265
Physiognomy, 97
Picus de Mirandula, 109
Pignorius, L., 77
Pillars, 140
Pison, Lucius, 55
Pistorius, 78
Planis Campe, David, 357
Platina, 293, 296
Plato, 56, 86, 121, 122, 124, 135, 136, 138, 142, 143, 167, 214, 215,
519
Pliny, 55
Plotinus, 165, 215
Polonus, Martinus, 294
Polycrates, 92
Porphyry, 160, 161, 165, 215
Postel, William, 43, 335-340
Pot of Manna, 42
Poterius, 357
Prometheus, 85, 86, 111, 207, 260, 261
Proserpine, 152, 161
Protestantism, 145, 146, 179
_Protoplastes_, 110
Psyche, 205
Punishment, Eternal, 7
Puritans, 128
Pyramids, 173
Pyrrhos, 120
Pythagoras, 88, 92-100, 135, 140, 155, 523
Ragon, J. M., 70, 382
_Regnum Sanctum_, 1, 502
_Reichstheater_ of Müller, 254
Reincarnation, 99, 100
Reuchlin, John, 3
Richard Cœur de Lion, 270
Richemont, Baron de, 433
Robert the Pious, 256
Robespierre, 47, 430, 431, 432
Roland, 246, 247
_Romance of the Rose_, 115, 351
Romarius, 262
Rose-nobles, 326
Rosenroth, Baron Knorr von, 49, 419
Rosicrucians, 4, 29, 100, 116, 249, 346, 352, 353, 358, 359, 382, 401,
402, 405, 406
Rossetti, Gabriele, 346
Rousseau, 47, 125, 177, 422
Rulandus, Martinus, 74, 414
Saint-Foix, 229
Saint-Germain, Comte de, 234, 400, 406, 407, 408, 409
Saint-Martin, L. C. de, 16, 17, 416
Saint-Médard, 374
Saint-Simon, 26
Saint-Victor, Adam de, 44
Salic Laws, 238-241
Salmanas, 262
Salt, 45, 104, 196, 504
Samaria, 182, 204
Sand, Carl, 440
Sardanapalus, 62, 63
Satan, 12, 14, 15, 16, 139, 157, 192
Schroepfer, 436
Schuré, Edouard, 92
Second Birth, 133
Secret, Great, 2, 23, 143, 199, 411;
Great Magical Secret, 507
Secret Societies, 33
_Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, 265, 437
Semiramis, 59, 61
_Sephiroth_, 7, 21, 65, 103, 116, 137, 249
Sergius IV, Pope, 296
Seth, 41, 45, 46, 48, 101
Shelley, P. B., 162
Sibyls, 150, 151
Simon Magus, 180-186, 209, 415
Sisyphus, 142
Sixtus IV, 296
Sobrier, 498
Socrates, 64, 120
Solomon, 145, 384, 385, 386, 401, 516;
Keys of, 105, 393, 507, 510-513;
Ring of, 502, 507, 510, 511, 513;
Seal of, 507, 510, 511, 513;
Star of, 75, 249;
Pillars of, 21, 27;
Temple of, 145, 146, 167, 179, 265, 383, 384, 385, 387
Sphinx, 475, 506
Spirits, Return of, 106, 107, 108
Sprenger, 362
Star, Blazing, 1
Steinert, 435
Stone, Corner, 173;
Stone of the Philosophers, 196, 197;
Philosophical Stone, 262, 510
_Stryges_, 90, 144
Sulphur, 104, 196, 504
Superstition, 158
Swedenborg, Emmanuel, 51, 394-396, 433, 453, 456
Sword of the Cherubim, 117
Sylvester II, Pope, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296
Synesius, 208, 215, 216, 217, 515
Table of Bembo, 77;
Table of Emerald, 73, 74;
Table of Denderah, 4;
Tables of the Law, 42
Tabor, 420
Talleyrand, 297
_Talmud_, 20, 172, 239, 240
Tantalus, 142
Taranis, 228
Tarchon, 92
_Tarot_, 57, 58, 78, 79, 105, 151, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 416,
445;
Chinese, 391-393
Tavernier, 342
Telesma, 73, 74, 505
Templar, Knights, 8, 265-271, 291, 328, 406, 422, 423, 424, 425, 467
Temple, Second, 266
Temporal Power, 517, 518
Tenarus, 142
Teresa, St., 9
Tertullian, 10, 204, 211
Tetrad, 93, 95
Teutas, 228, 229
Thales, 140
Thebes, 3, 82, 83
Theoclet, 268
Theosophy, 138
Théot, Catherine, 429-432, 446, 497
Thomas Aquinas, St., 6, 259, 261, 523
Thoth, 229;
Book of, 43, 121. _See_ Tarot
Tieck, Ludwig, 361
Tigellinus, 185
Tiresias, 149, 150
Tissot, Hilarion, 189, 283, 360
_Toldoth Jeshu, Sepher_, 172, 268
Torneburg, John, 357
Torreblanca, F., 90, 190, 362
Tournefort, 489, 493
Tree of Knowledge, 41, 115, 116, 323
Tree of Life, 41
Trent, Council of, 336, 340
Trevisan, Bernard, 334
Tribunal, Secret, 250-254
Trigonum, 392
Trimalcyon, 184
Trithemius, Abbot, 334, 335, 352
Trois-Échelles, 349
Trophonius, 139
Tullus Hostilius, 55
Typhon, 25
Vaillant, 311, 313, 314, 315, 316
Valentine, Basil, 210, 334
Vampires, 112, 144, 147, 489-493
_Vau_, 34
Vaudois, 128, 424
Vedas, 65
Velleda, 232
Venus, 61, 82, 157, 159
Vienna, Council of, 328
Vintras, Eugène, 212, 462-470
Virgil, 86
Vishnu, 64, 65, 66
Voltaire, 3, 106, 116, 155, 373, 374
Westcott, W. Wynn, 78
William of Brunswick, 253
William of Loris, 346, 351
William of Malmesbury, 295
Williams, Eleazar, 433
Woman, 22, 25, 232-237
Wonders, Seven, 166-168
Word, Sacred, &c., 3, 20, 76, 89, 124, 135, 137, 167, 171, 172, 173,
213, 283, 286, 337, 454, 508
Work, Great, 84, 85, 133, 195, 197, 259, 351, 355, 416, 501, 509
Wronski, Hoene, 459, 460, 461
Yetzirah, Sepher, 20, 43, 48, 49, 52, 77, 78, 173, 219, 331, 336, 355,
391, 504
_Y-Kim_, 392-394
Zain, 34
Zedekias, 243
Zerubbabel, 266, 383
_Zohar_, Sepher Ha, 20, 25, 27, 34, 40, 41, 46, 48, 50, 51, 52, 82,
98, 99, 109, 117, 137, 141, 146, 147, 173, 197, 207, 211, 249, 259,
336, 358, 383, 393, 420, 503
Zoroaster, 3, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 63, 66, 75, 76, 84, 180, 515,
522
THE END
_Printed wholly in England for the_ MUSTON COMPANY.
_By_ LOWE & BRYDONE, PRINTERS, LTD., PARK STREET, CAMDEN TOWN, LONDON,
N.W.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The word signifies reception, and in Rabbinical Hebrew it denotes
doctrine so communicated—that is to say, by a tradition handed down
or received from the past. John Reuchlin specifies it as symbolical
reception, signifying that the doctrine is not comprised simply in
its surface meaning. He says further that it is of Divine Revelation,
and that it belongs primarily to the life-giving contemplation
of God. This is in the universal sense, but it is concerned also
with secret teaching respecting particular things, meaning things
manifest—_contemplatio formarum separatarum_.
[2] The reference is to _L’Origine de tous les Cultes, ou Religion
Universelle_, 12 vols. in 8vo, together with an atlas in 4to. Paris,
1794. The work endeavoured to shew the unity of dogma under the
multiplicity of symbols and allegories. In other words, it explained
religion by astronomy, the cultus in the light of the calendar,
mysteries of grace by means of natural phenomena. An abridgment in a
small volume appeared about 1821. The Table of Denderah or Dendra was a
great zodiac sculptured on the ceiling of the portico belonging to the
Temple at that place, which was the ancient Tentyrio.
[3] _Sed omnia in mensura, et numero, et pondere disposuisti_: “But
Thou hast ordered all things in measure and number and weight.”—WISDOM,
xi. 21.
[4] The conventional Hexagram presents in pictorial symbolism the root
doctrine of the Hermetic Emerald Tablet: “That which is above is equal
to that which is below.” It is the sign of the interpenetration of
worlds.
[5] According to the _Zohar_, Pt. I., fol. 21_a_, 21_b_, it was with
the guardian angel of Esau that Jacob wrestled at the place which he
named Peniel. The angel could not prevail against Jacob because the
latter derived his strength from the Supreme Light, _Kether_, and from
_Chokmah_, which is the second hypostasis. He therefore smote Jacob on
the right thigh, which signifies the seventh _Sephira_, or _Netzach_.
[6] The more usual argument of high orthodox theology in the Latin
school is that a sin against the Infinite Being is one of infinite
culpability. If it were suggested in rejoinder that it must be one of
infinite inconsequence, so far as that Being is concerned, it might not
be more reasonable than the argument, but it would do less outrage to
logic.
[7] It is to be noted, however, that there was mockery of its kind in
the middle ages, that Satan and his emissaries in folk-lore appear
under ridiculous lights. There is the prototypical story of the devil
who gave a course of lectures on Black Magic at the University of
Salamanca and demanded, as a consideration, the soul of one of his
hearers; but he was cheated with the student’s shadow.
[8] In his earlier work, _The Doctrine and Ritual of Transcendental
Magic_, Éliphas Lévi affirms (_a_) on the authority of a writer whom
he does not name, that the devil is God, as understood by the wicked;
(_b_) on another authority, that the devil is composed of God’s ruins;
(_c_) that the devil is the Great Magical Agent employed for evil
purposes by a perverse will; (_d_) that he is death masquerading in the
cast-off garments of life; (_e_) that Satan, Beelzebub, Adramelek, &c.,
do not designate spiritual unities, but legions of impure spirits.
[9] In speaking of evil and a possible Prince of Darkness, it is
necessary to proceed carefully, if we are confined, like Éliphas Lévi,
within the measures of a theory of opposites. The definition of evil as
the absence of rectitude is entirely insufficient to cover the facts
of experience; it is that indeed, but it is also as much more as may
be necessary to account for its positive and active side. The truth is
that positive and negative are on both sides of the eternal balance of
things postulated by the theory. So far as it goes, evil is the absence
of rectitude, and, so far as it goes also, rectitude is the absence of
evil; but the vital aspects of good and bad have slipped between the
fingers of definition in both cases.
[10] Saint-Martin recognises the existence of an astral region, which
is apparently that of sidereal rule. There is, in his view a certain
science of this region, and of this the active branch is theurgic,
while the passive engenders somnambulism. These divisions constitute
the elementary science of the astral, but above these there is one
which is more fatal and dangerous, of which he refuses to speak. There
is no Martinistic doctrine concerning the Astral Light, understood
as an universal medium. Éliphas Lévi seems to have used the term
Martinism in a general sense, as if it included the school of Martines
de Pasqually. Pasqually, however, has no doctrine concerning the Astral
Light. Modern French Martinism has read it into Saint-Martin’s rather
ridiculous “epico-magical poem” or allegory, called _Le Crocodile_,
much as another school of experiment might find therein a veiled
account of the Akasic records and the mode of their study. I refer to
the story of Atlantis, which begins at _Chant 64_ and occupies a large
part of the book. The account of the Chair of Silence is very curious
in this connection.
[11] If the word is of Greek origin it seems to connect with the idea
of watchers rather than leaders. Cf. [Greek ho egrêgoros] = Vigil, in
the Septuagint.
[12] The Kabalistic explanation is (_a_) that Egyptian Magic was real
Magic; (_b_) that its wisdom was of the lowermost degree only; (_c_)
that it was overcome by the superior degrees, by which the serpent
above, or Metatron, dominates the serpent below, namely, Samael. See
_Zohar_, Part II., fol. 28_a_.
[13] Elsewhere Éliphas Lévi suggests that Pharaoh’s magicians refused
rather than failed and that the production of flies was beneath the
dignity of their Magic.
[14] It should be mentioned that this enumeration is in the reverse
order of chronology, and it is not, as it happens, even in accordance
with what may be called traditional chronology. Legend says—and Éliphas
Lévi himself mentions subsequently—that the _Sepher Yetzirah_ was the
work of Abraham and that the _Zohar_ is in its root-matter a literal
record of discourses delivered by R. Simeon Ben Jochai, after the fall
of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. The Jerusalem and Babylon Talmuds are admittedly
growths of some centuries.
[15] The meanings ascribed to the names and inscriptions on the two
Pillars of the Temple will be of curious interest to members of the
Masonic Fraternity, who will be reminded of variants with which they
are themselves familiar. It must be said, however, that the explanation
of Lévi corresponds neither to Masonic nor Kabalistic symbolism.
According to the latter _Boaz_ is the left-hand Pillar, being that of
Severity in the scheme of the Sephirotic Tree; it answers to _Hod_, and
the meaning attached to its name is Strength and Vigour. _Jachin_ is on
the right hand, answering to _Netzach_ on the Tree; it signifies the
state of becoming established. That which is made firm between _Hod_
and _Netzach_ is _Malkuth_, or the kingdom below. This is the late
Kabalism of the tract entitled _Garden of Pomegranates_.
[16] This is the particular construction which is placed by Lévi on the
texts with which he is assuming to deal, and it is not really justified
by these. The _Zohar_ has, however, a doctrine of the Unknown Darkness.
The Infinite is neither light nor splendour, though all lights emanate
therefrom. It is a Supreme Will, exceeding human comprehension, and
more mysterious than all mysteries. See _Zohar_, Part I., fol. 239_a_.
[17] Éliphas Lévi does not seem always to have made the most of his
opportunities as regards the texts of Kabalism and the literature
thereto belonging which were available at his period in Latin and
certain modern languages, including his own. He had otherwise little
opportunity of learning the real message of the Zoharic cycle. Taking
all the circumstances into consideration, his guesses were sometimes
very shrewd, and here and there carry with them the suggestion
of intuitions. The teaching of the _Zohar_ on the subject of sex
postulates, like so much of its doctrine, a secret tradition to which
it never gives expression in fulness, though it is incessantly lifting
now one and now another corner of the veil. It is, however, impossible
to speak of it within the limit of a note.
[18] It was not a master-word but a mode of greeting; it was neither
Masonic nor Kabalistic; it was a Rosicrucian formula. It may be added
that: “Peace profound, my brethren”—was answered by: “Emanuel; God is
with us.” It is a perfect and highly mystical mode of salutation.
[19] Perhaps the true explanation in respect of Henry Khunrath is that,
seemingly, he was of the Lutheran persuasion as one of the accidents
of his birth, but in the higher consciousness he was, as he could be
only, catholic. As regards the resolute protestantism, Éliphas Lévi
says in his _Ritual of Transcendental Magic_ that Khunrath “affects
Christianity in expressions and in signs, but it is easy to see that
his Christ is the Abraxas, the luminous pentagram radiating on the
astronomical cross, the incarnation in humanity of the sovereign sun
celebrated by the Emperor Julian.” See my translation of the _Doctrine
and Ritual of Transcendental Magic_, p. 257.
[20] Éliphas Lévi has said previously (_a_) that the Church ignores
Magic—for she must either ignore it or perish; (_b_) that Magic, as
understood by him, is absolute religion as well as absolute science;
(_c_) that it should regenerate all forms of worship.
[21] If it be worth while to say so the translation of this passage
does not follow the text, which suggests that the act of conception—on
the female side—involves suffering. The text reads: _C’est le plaisir
qui féconde, mais c’est la douleur qui conçoit et enfante_.
[22] According to the _Zohar_, the letter _Aleph_ is a sacrament of the
unity which is in God, and it is thereby and therein that man obtains
unity. _Beth_ is the basis of the work of creation, and in a sense also
its instrument. _Gimel_ represents the charity and beneficence which
are the help of poverty, designated by the letter _Daleth_. The letters
_He_ and _Vau_ are part of the mystery which is contained in the Divine
Name— יהוה. The letter _Zain_ is likened to a sharp sword or dagger.
[23] The account which follows may be compared with that which
is found, _s.v._ _Apocryphes_ in Éliphas Lévi’s _Dictionnaire de
Littérature Chrétienne_, mentioned in my preface to the present
translation. It describes the legend concerning the fall of certain
angels as _une assez singulière histoire_. He refers also to the
various extant versions of the book, and to those in particular which
differ from the “primitive” codex, being (_a_) that which he uses,
and (_b_) “that which St. Jude cites in his catholic epistle as an
authentic” work, actually composed by the prophet Enoch, to whom it is
attributed.
[24] The _Zohar_ says that the Ark of Noah was a symbol of the Ark of
the Covenant, that his entrance therein saved the world, and that this
mystery is in analogy with the Supreme Mystery. At this point there is
a sex-implicit throughout the Kabalistic commentary, and the nature of
the “unbridled appetite” which brought about the deluge is identified
with that sin which caused the destruction of Judah’s second son, as
told in Genesis c. xxxviii. See _Zohar_, Part I., section _Toldoth
Noah_. It is intimated also that the souls of those who perished in the
deluge were to be blotted out, like the remembrance of Amalek. Part
I., fol. 25_a_. They will not even be included in the resurrection
which shall go before the Last Judgment. Fol. 68_b_. At the same time
the chastisement would have been suspended had Noah prayed to God like
Moses, but the tradition supposes him to have asked only concerning
himself. _Zohar_, Part III., fol. 14_b_. The Holy Land was not covered
by the waters of the deluge. Part II., fol. 197_a_.
[25] It was the Rod of Aaron, not that of Moses, which, according to
Heb. ix. 4, was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, together with the
Tables of the Law and the Pot of Manna. It is said, however, most
clearly in I Kings, viii. 9, that “there was nothing in the ark save
the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb.”
[26] Whatever the date to which the _Book of the Penitence of Adam_
may be referable, it represents one form of a legend which was spread
widely in the Middle Ages. _The Gospel of Nicodemus_ seems to have
instituted the first analogy between the Tree of Knowledge and the
Tree of the Cross. “All ye who have died through the wood which this
man”—Adam—“hath touched: all of you I will make alive again by the
wood of the cross.” The legend of the triple branch, under a strange
transformation, reappears in that chronicle of the Holy Graal which has
been ascribed to the authorship of Walter Map. There is no end to the
stories which represent Christ dying upon a tree which was a cutting
from the Tree of Knowledge. This is how the Tree of Knowledge becomes
the Tree of Life in Christian legend.
[27] The _Clavis Absconditorum à Constitutione Mundi_, which is the
chief work of Postel, outside his translation of the _Sepher Yetzirah_,
affirms that Enoch was born at the time when Christ the Mediator would
have been manifested in the flesh as the incarnation of perfect Virtue,
supposing that man had remained in his first estate. There is no
reference to a _Genesis of Enoch_.
[28] _Hic intrat vivus foveam_—he, being still alive, enters the tomb,
says Adam of St. Victor in his third Sequence for Dec. 27.
[29] There were two canonised bishops bearing the name of Methodius
at widely different periods, and as both were writers it is an open
question to which of them the reference is intended. It is probably
to Methodius of Olympus, who was martyred about 311. Methodius, the
Patriarch of Constantinople, died in 846. There is not the least reason
to suppose that the Apocalypse under the name of Bermechobus was the
work of either.
[30] Compare Lopukhin’s _Quelques Traits de l’Eglise Intérieure_,
where the sanctuary which was inaugurated by Adam is connected more
especially with Abel, and was presumably maintained afterwards by Seth.
In opposition thereto was the Church of Cain, which was anti-Christian
from its beginning. See my introduction to Mr. Nicholson’s translation,
pp. 6, 7, and the text, p. 59—_Some Characteristics of the Interior
Church_, 1912.
[31] According to the _Zohar_, the intoxication of Noah contains a
mystery of wisdom. He was really sounding the depths of that sin which
was the downfall of the first man, and his object was to find a remedy.
In this he failed, and “was drunken,” seeking to lay bare the divine
essence, without the intellectual power to explore it. _Section Toldoth
Noah._
[32] The _Sepher Ha Zohar_ affirms in several places that the Law was
offered to the Gentiles, and was by them refused.
[33] The authority for this statement is wanting. The _Zohar_ dwells
on Genesis xxi. 9: “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar,” &c., implying
that she did not acknowledge him as the son of Abraham, but of the
Egyptian only. The Patriarch, however, regarded him as his own son.
Sarah’s desire to expel them is justified on the ground that she had
seen Ishmael worshipping the stars of heaven. See _Zohar_, Part I.,
fol. 118. There is no allusion to the alleged gifts of the father, the
scripture making it evident abundantly that the bread and bottle of
water are for once to be understood literally.
[34] Even at the period of Éliphas Lévi, it did not require a
rabbinical scholar or a knowledge of Aramaic to prevent any fairly
informed person from suggesting that the _Book of Concealed Mystery_,
being the text here referred to, is the beginning of the _Zohar_.
It follows the _Commentary on Exodus_, about midway in the whole
collection, which covers the entire Pentateuch. It so happens that the
little tract in question is the first of three sections rendered into
Latin by Rosenroth, and this must have deceived Lévi, as a consequence
of utterly careless reading. There was plenty of opportunity for
correction in the _Kabbala Denudata_, and so also in _La Kabbale_—an
interesting but very imperfect study by Adolphe Franck, which appeared
in 1843.
[35] There is no real analogy between the image attributed to Pascal
and that of the Zoharic _Book of Concealment_. I have not verified
the reference to Pascal, as the opportunity is not given by Lévi, but
I have explained elsewhere that the idea was probably drawn from S.
Bonaventura, who speaks of that _sphæra intelligibilis, cujus centrum
est ubique et circumferentia nusquam_. See _Itinerarium Mentis ad
Deum_. I have inferred that S. Bonaventura himself derived from a
Hermetic book. As regards the symbolism of the Balance, the _Book of
Concealed Mystery_ says (_a_) that in creating the world, God weighed
in the Balance what had not been weighed previously, (_b_) that the
Balance was suspended in a region where before there was no Balance,
(_c_) that it served for bodies as well as souls, for beings then in
existence and for those who would exist subsequently. These are the
only references to this subject found in the tract.
[36] As such it is old, and a monograph on the subject is included by
Jacob Bryant in his _Analysis of Antient Mythology_, vol. ii. p. 38 _et
seq._ Following the authorities of his period, and especially Huetius,
he says that “they have supposed a Zoroaster, wherever there was a
Zoroastrian: that is, wherever the religion of the Magi was adopted,
or revived.” The two Zoroasters of Lévi represent two principles of
religious philosophy.
[37] An English translation of the Chaldæan Oracles by Thomas Taylor,
the Platonist, claims to have added fifty oracles and fragments not
included in the collection of Fabricius. Mr. Mead says that the subject
was never treated scientifically till the appearance of J. Kroll’s _De
Oraculis Chaldaicis_ at Breslau, in 1894.
[38] It must be understood that this summary or digest is an
exceedingly free rendering, and it seems scarcely in accordance with
the text on which Éliphas Lévi worked. Following the text of Kroll, Mr.
Mead translates the first lines as follows: “Nature persuades us that
the Daimones are pure, and things that grow from evil matter useful and
good.” The last lines are rendered: “But when thou dost behold the very
sacred Fire with dancing radiance flashing formless through the depths
of the whole world, then hearken to the Voice of Fire.”
[39] See my _Key to the Tarot_, 1910, p. 32, and the cards which
accompany this handbook. See also my _Pictorial Key to the Tarot_,
1911, pp. 144-147.
[40] One of the Chaldæan Oracles has the following counsel: “Labour
thou around the _Strophalos_ of Hecate,” which Mr. G. R. S. Mead
translates: “Be active (or operative) round the Hecatic spinning
thing.” He adds by way of commentary that _Strophalos_ may sometimes
mean a top. “In the Mysteries tops were included among the playthings
of the young Bacchus, or Iacchus. They represented ... the fixed stars
(humming tops) and planets (whipping tops).”—_The Chaldæan Oracles_,
vol. ii. pp. 17, 18.
[41] Accepting this definition of the term of occult research, we can
discern after what manner it differs from the mystic term. The one, by
this hypothesis, is lucidity obtained in artificial sleep which stills
the senses, and the other is Divine Realisation in the spirit after the
images of material things and of the mind-world have been cast out, so
that the sanctified man is alone with God in the stillness.
[42] This was _La Magie Dévoilée_, which was circulated in great
secrecy. Later on, and probably after the decease of the author, it
appeared in the ordinary way, and in 1886 an English translation was
announced under the editorship of Mr. J. S. Farmer, but I believe that
it was never published.
[43] Éliphas Lévi adds in a note that, according to Suidas, Cedrenus
and the _Chronicle of Alexandria_ it was Zoroaster himself who, seated
in his palace, disappeared suddenly and by his own will, with all his
secrets and all his riches, in a great peal of thunder. He explains
that every king who exercised divine power passed for an incarnation of
Zoroaster, and that Sardanapalus converted his pyre into an apotheosis.
[44] The analysis of Éliphas Lévi requires to be checked at all
points. He followed the Latin version of Anquetil Duperron, made from
a Persian text, and this is so rare as to be almost unobtainable. I
shall therefore deserve well of my readers by furnishing the following
extract from Deussen’s _Religion and Philosophy of India_, regarding
the _Oupnek’hat_:
“A position apart from the 52 and the 108 Upanishads is occupied by
that collection of 50 Upanishads which, under the name of _Oupnek’hat_,
was translated from the Sanskrit into the Persian in the year 1656 at
the instance of the Sultan Mohammed Dara Shakoh, and from the Persian
into the Latin in 1801-2 by Anquetil Duperron. The _Oupnek’hat_
professes to be a general collection of Upanishads. It contains under
twelve divisions the Upanishads of the three older Vedas, and with
them 26 Atharva Upanishads that are known from other sources. It
further comprises eight treatises peculiar to itself, five of which
have not up to the present time been proved to exist elsewhere, and
of which therefore a rendering from the Persian-Latin of Anquetil
is alone possible. Finally the _Oupnek’hat_ contains four treatises
from the Vaj. Samh. 16, 31, 32, 34, of which the first is met with
in a shorter form in other collections also, as in the Nilarudra
Upanishad, while the three last have nowhere else found admission. The
reception of these treatises from the Samhita into the body of the
Upanishads, as though there were danger of their falling otherwise
into oblivion, makes us infer a comparatively later date for the
_Oupnek’hat_ collection itself, although as early as 1656 the Persian
translators made no claim to be the original compilers, but took the
collection over already complete. Owing to the excessive literality
with which Anquetil Duperron rendered these Upanishads word by word
from the Persian into Latin, while preserving the syntax of the former
language—a literality that stands in striking contrast to the freedom
with which the Persian translators treated the Sanskrit text—the
_Oupnek’hat_ is a very difficult book to read; and an insight as keen
as that of Schopenhauer was required in order to discover within this
repellant husk a kernel of invaluable philosophical significance,
and to turn it to account for his own system. An examination of
the material placed at our disposal in the _Oupnek’hat_ was first
undertaken by A. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, II, ix., on the basis of the
Sanskrit text. Meanwhile the original texts were published in the
_Bibliotheca Indica_ in part with elaborate commentaries, and again
in the Anandas’rama series. The two longest, and some of the shorter
treatises have appeared in a literal German rendering by O. Bohtlingk.
Max Müller translated the twelve oldest Upanishads in _Sacred Books
of the East_, vol. i. 15. And my own translation of the 60 Upanishads
contains complete texts of this character which, upon the strength
of their regular occurrence in the Indian collections and lists of
the Upanishads, may lay claim to a certain canonicity. The prefixed
introductions and the notes treat exhaustively of the matter and
composition of the several treatises.”
[45] This forms the second book of the collection entitled _Orthodoxie
Maçonnique_, which was published in 1853. The account of magical discs
and the planets corresponding to them will be found on pp. 498-501.
Ragon pretended that there was a system of Occult Masonry in three
Degrees.
[46] The legend concerning the Emerald Tablet is that it was found by
Alexander the Great in the tomb of Hermes, which was hidden by the
priests of Egypt in the depths of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. It was
supposed to have been written by Hermes on a large plate of emerald by
means of a pointed diamond. I believe that there is no Greek version
extant, and it is referred by Louis Figuier to the seventh century of
the Christian era, or thereabouts. See _L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes_,
p. 42.
[47] In his _Lexicon Alchemiæ_ Rulandus reminds us that “the old
astronomers dedicated the Emerald to Mercury,” and Berthelot says that
this was in conformity with Egyptian ideas, which classed the Emerald
and Sapphire in their list of metals. See _Collection des Anciens
Alchimistes Grecs, première livraison_, p. 269. The planet Mercury
was the planet Hermes and it may be that some mystical connection was
supposed between quicksilver and the precious stone. This would have
been in Græco-Alexandrian times, if ever, as ancient Egypt does not
seem to have been acquainted with quicksilver.
[48] The text says: _le triple binaire ou le mirage du triangle_, but
it is obvious that the reflected triad cannot be termed binary. The
expression is confused, but the meaning is that the first triangle
equals unity, or the number 1; the second triad corresponds to the
duad, or number 2; the third triad to the number 3, and so onward.
[49] The reference is to Athanasius Kircher’s _Œdipus Ægyptiacus_, 3
vols. in folio, bound usually in four, published at Rome, 1652-1654.
The _Mensa Isiaca_, being the Bembine Tablet, so called because its
discovery is connected with the name of Cardinal Bembo, is in the
third volume—a folding plate beautifully produced. The original is
exceedingly late and is roughly termed a forgery. In 1669 the Tablet
was reproduced on a larger scale by means of a number of folding
plates in the _Mensa Isiaca_ of Laurentius Pignorius. Both works are
exceedingly rare. I suppose that these are the only records of the
Tablet now extant, with the exception of a large copy in my possession
made from the above sources.
[50] Mr. G. R. S. Mead tells us that _Iynx_ in its root-meaning,
according to Proclus, signifies the “power of transmission” which is
said in the Chaldæan Oracles “to sustain the fountains.” Mr. Mead
thinks that the _Iyinges_ were reproduced (_a_) as Living Spheres and
(_b_) as Winged Globes. He thinks, also, that (_a_) the Mind on the
plane of reality put forth (_b_) the one _Iyinx_, (_c_) after this
three _Iyinges_, called paternal and ineffable, and finally (_d_)
there may have been hosts of subordinate _Iyinges_. They were “free
intelligences.” It seems to follow that the _Iynx_ was not “an emblem
of universal being,” but a product of the Eternal Mind.