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=== ... ad occultum ===
=== ... ad occultum ===
Is it allowed to judge a person, having come to know so little about him and in so compact a way? Maybe not, but one may have an impression of him, and this one may express. And if now, in 1850, Alphonse-Louis Constant were confronted with the notion that for all intents and purposes his life so far had been stranded he would flatly deny such a view, apalled perhaps and blustering, and yet all the while secretly suspecting that so completely wrong the thought might not have been. Because, what had he achieved as yet? His theological and (church) political scriptures had earned him not much more than troubles and the inconveniences of the penal system, his pastoral career wasn't worth much talking about, his political engagements remained without success, and all his artistical pursuit kept being a hobby-horse rather, if at all. One can imagine that all of this was beginning to prey on his mind.
Is it allowed to judge a person, having come to know so little about him and in so compact a way? Maybe not, but one may have an impression of him, and this one may express. And if now, in 1850, Alphonse-Louis Constant were confronted with the notion that for all intents and purposes his life so far had been stranded he would flatly deny such a view, apalled perhaps and blustering, and yet all the while secretly suspecting that so completely wrong the thought might not have been. Because, what had he achieved as yet? His theological and (church) political scriptures had earned him not much more than troubles and the inconveniences of the penal system, his pastoral career wasn't worth much talking about, his political engagements remained without success, and all his artistical pursuit kept being a hobby-horse rather, if at all. One can imagine that all of this was beginning to prey on his mind.
[[image:Baphomet.png|Baphomet, drawing in '' Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie'', 1856|left|thumb]]
[[image:Baphomet.png|Baphomet, drawing in '' Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie'', 1856|left|thumb]] But through all these years there existed another thread, woven into the fabric of his life. It started during his stay at Solesmes (1838-39), was spun a little longer by the convict's study of Swedenborg in 1841, nearly became extended with the almost achieved degree of Grand Master to the Rosicrucians at Evreux, strengthened itself just lately (1850/ 51) during a study of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Knorr_von_Rosenroth Rosenroth's] ''Kabbala denudata'', and now at last became visible for Alphonse himself as leitmotiv and anchor for his further life: [[mysticism]], [[theosophy]], in general the [[occultism|occult]] knowledge. He recalled the name Éliphas Lévi Zahed, once bestowed on him by the Rosicrucians and allegedly representing a translation of his name into Hebrew,<ref>That is, however, a rather questionable "translation". The name Alphonse roots in Germanic, although so far its origin couldn't be fully established. But Eliphas was as a matter of fact the son of Esau, this much for the saving of the Rosicrucians' honour.</ref> and chose it for his pseudonym. About this time he started the composition of his later opus magnum ''Dogme et rituel de la haute magie''. He had found his way.
In spring 1854 Lévi went on a journey to London where he made the acquaintance of the in his days famous writer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bulwer-Lytton,_1st_Baron_Lytton Edward Bulwer-Lytton]. Over their common interest in the occult they became friends.<ref>Bulwer-Lytton met in his fictional works the disposition of his times for the magical and super-natural, as well as the interest in archaeological discoveries. Both he knew to wrap into exciting stories which made him a well esteemed author in the salons of the bourgeosie, especially with the women. His late novel ''The Coming Race'' inspires adherents of the theory of Nazi UFOs up to the present day.</ref> Through Bulwer-Lytton's influence he comes again in contact with Rosicrucian circles, where he succeeds in several evocations, of which the most outstanding was that of [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonios_von_Tyana Apollonios of Tyana].<ref>Unfortunately the English Wikipedia contains no corresponding entry.</ref> During the London times his private affairs too came to an amicable settlement: the young woman he left in Choisy-le-Roi forgave him, and he accepted the illegitimate child as his own. At the same time Marie-Noémi left their common residence.
Back in Paris, he in 1854 published the first volume of ''Dogme et rituel de la haute magie''. His intensive occupation with the Kabbala he documented in a number of essays, all of which he published in the ''Revue philosophique et religieuse'', a periodical he founded in 1855 together with the Belgian writer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Lemonnier Camille Lemonnier] and the French philosopher [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fauvety Charles Fauvety], and which they co-productively managed over the three years of its existence. For his diversion he wrote a couple of chansons. In one of these he compared Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, meanwhile emperor Napoléon III, with Caligula. That - we know him by now - earned him another term in prison. (Anyway, some of the chansons he managed to place in ''Le Mousquetaire'', a magazine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Dumas Alexandre Dumas] published at that time.)
Then in 1859, at long last (he was 49 years old now), the economical breakthrough: the publication of his ''History of Magic'' brings a return of 1,000 Francs, at today's purchasing power an equivalent of more than 30,000 Euros. But ''l'Histoire de la magie'' isn't just the economical success, it also gets him recognition in wide sections of the "esoteric" France, among them the physician [[Fernand Rozier]] who would become a student of Lévi's.<ref>Rozier had studied not only medecine, but pharmacy, chemistry, and physics as well. That couldn't prevent him from financially salubrious performances as a clairvoyant.</ref> Eventually in March 1861 he was accepted in the Masonic Lodge ''La Rose du parfait silence'' who soon after grant him the degree of a Master. In the same year ''La Clef des grands mystères'' appears, last part of the trilogy that starts with ''Histoire de la magie'' and of which ''Dogme et rituel de la haute magie'' was conceived the second part. [[image:Eliphas_Levi_1872_Photo_Originale.jpg|Portrait photo, 1872|left|thumb]]
== References ==
== References ==
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