Alphonse Louis Constant - Revision history

Ash at 19:37, 29 January 2005

2005-01-29T19:37:56Z

New page

{{saint}}

'''Eliphas Lévi''', born '''Alphonse Louis Constant''', (1810-1875) was a French author and [[magick|magician]].

"Eliphas Lévi," the name under which he published his books, was his attempt to translate or transliterate his given names "Alphonse Constant" into [[Hebrew]].

Alphonse 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 and radical political tracts after leaving the seminary, to no great success.

In 1854, he visited England, where he met the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who was interested in [[Rosicrucian]]ism as a literary theme and was the president of a minor Rosicrucian order. With Lytton, Constant conceived the notion of writing a treatise on magick. 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''.

In 1861, he published a sequel, ''La Clef des Grandes Mystères'' (''The Key to the Great Mysteries''). Further magical works by Levi 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.

Constant's version of magick became a great success, especially after his death. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms; 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 technology of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magick of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], and it was largely through this impact that Eliphas Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magick.

[[Aleister Crowley]] translated Levi's ''La Clef des Grandes Mystères'' and included it as an appendix to the tenth number of ''The Equinox''. In ''Magick in Theory and Practice'', Crowley discussed in detail his belief that he was the reincarnation of Eliphas Levi, outlining eight points of evidence, and proposing the case as support for the theory of reincarnation.

==External links==

*[http://abrasax.dyndns.info/TM1.pdf ''The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic''] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file)
*[http://abrasax.dyndns.info/TM2.pdf ''The Ritual of Transcendental Magic''] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file)
*[http://www.geocities.com/cranesco/keymys/46con.html ''The Key to the Great Mysteries'']
*[http://abrasax.dyndns.info/sanctumregnum.pdf ''The Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum''] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file)

==References==

*Wikipedia. (2004). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_Levi Eliphas Levi].'' Retrieved Sept. 19, 2004.

[[Category:Occultists]]
[[Category:The Gnostic Saints]]

Ash at 23:28, 20 September 2004

2004-09-20T23:28:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:28, 20 September 2004
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	*Portions of this article were taken from Wikipedia. (2004). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_Levi Eliphas Levi].'' Retrieved Sept. 19, 2004.		*Portions of this article were taken from Wikipedia. (2004). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_Levi Eliphas Levi].'' Retrieved Sept. 19, 2004.

			[[Category:The Gnostic Saints]]

Paradoxosalpha at 03:35, 20 September 2004

2004-09-20T03:35:03Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:35, 20 September 2004
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	Constant's version of magick became a great success, especially after his death. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms; 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 technology of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magick of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], and it was largely through this impact that Eliphas Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magick.		Constant's version of magick became a great success, especially after his death. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms; 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 technology of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magick of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], and it was largely through this impact that Eliphas Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magick.

	Aleister Crowley ~~meant~~ that he was the ~~incarnation~~ of Eliphas ~~levi~~.		[[Aleister Crowley]] translated Levi's ''La Clef des Grandes Mystères'' and included it as an appendix to the tenth number of ''The Equinox''. In ''Magick in Theory and Practice'', Crowley discussed in detail his belief that he was the reincarnation of Eliphas Levi, outlining eight points of evidence, and proposing the case as support for the theory of reincarnation.

	====External links:====		====External links:====

Fr. Zabed at 01:55, 20 September 2004

2004-09-20T01:55:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:55, 20 September 2004
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	Constant's version of magick became a great success, especially after his death. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms; 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 technology of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magick of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], and it was largely through this impact that Eliphas Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magick.		Constant's version of magick became a great success, especially after his death. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms; 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 technology of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magick of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], and it was largely through this impact that Eliphas Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magick.

			Aleister Crowley meant that he was the incarnation of Eliphas levi.

	====External links:====		====External links:====

Ash at 12:33, 19 September 2004

2004-09-19T12:33:00Z

New page

'''Eliphas Lévi''', born '''Alphonse Louis Constant''', (1810-1875) was a French author and [[magick|magician]].

"Eliphas Lévi," the name under which he published his books, was his attempt to translate or transliterate his given names "Alphonse Constant" into [[Hebrew]].

Alphonse 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 and radical political tracts after leaving the seminary, to no great success.

In 1854, he visited England, where he met the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who was interested in [[Rosicrucian]]ism as a literary theme and was the president of a minor Rosicrucian order. With Lytton, Constant conceived the notion of writing a treatise on magick. 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''.

In 1861, he published a sequel, ''La Clef des Grandes Mystères'' (''The Key to the Great Mysteries''). Further magical works by Levi 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.

Constant's version of magick became a great success, especially after his death. His magical teachings were free from obvious fanaticisms; 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 technology of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magick of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], and it was largely through this impact that Eliphas Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magick.

====External links:====

*[http://abrasax.dyndns.info/TM1.pdf ''The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic''] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file)
*[http://abrasax.dyndns.info/TM2.pdf ''The Ritual of Transcendental Magic''] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file)
*[http://www.geocities.com/cranesco/keymys/46con.html ''The Key to the Great Mysteries'']
*[http://abrasax.dyndns.info/sanctumregnum.pdf ''The Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum''] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file)

==References==

*Portions of this article were taken from Wikipedia. (2004). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_Levi Eliphas Levi].'' Retrieved Sept. 19, 2004.