The Mysteries of Magic - A Digest of the Writings of Eliphas Levi

Arthur Edward Waite

Description

“The Mysteries Of Magic” is a 1927 work by A. E. Waite that explores the life and work of Éliphas Lévi Zahed (1810 – 1875), a French occult author and ceremonial magician. Arthur Edward Waite (1857 – 1942), more commonly referred to as A. E. Waite, was an American-born British mystic and poet. He wrote profusely on the subject of the occult and esoteric matters, and is famous for being the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. His work arguably constitutes the first attempt to systematically studying the history of western occultism, which he viewed more of a spiritual tradition than proto-science or pseudo-religion, as was the more common conception. Contents include: “Life of Alphonse Louis Constant", "Notes on the Mysteries of Magic as expounded in the Occult Philosophy of Eliphas Levi", "Threshold of Magical Science", "Doctrines of Occult Force", "Written Tradition of Magic", "Doctrine of Spiritual Essences, or Kabbalistic Pneumatics", "Ceremonial Magic", "Science of the Prophets”, etc. Other works by this author include: “The Alchemical Writings of Edward Kelly” (1893), “Turba Philsophorum” (1894), and “Devil-Worship in France” (1896). Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de l'esprit
• Religion
• Wicca
• Spirituality
• Witchcraft

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781528768856
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THE
MYSTERIES OF MAGIC
A DIGEST OF THE WRITINGS OF LIPHAS L VI
WITH BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL ESSAY
BY
ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE
Mon livre sera sans port e pour mon si cle . . . . mais que m importe? J ai vou ma vie la v rit , et je le dira pour qui voudra et saura l entendre. S I CE N EST PAS DANS UN JOUR, IL SERA DANS UN AN, SI CE N EST PAS DANS UN AN, SI CE N EST PAS DANS UN AN, CE SERA DANS UN SI CLE, MAIS JE SUIS TRANQUILLE CAR JE SAIS QU ON Y VIENDRA. - La Science des Esprits , p. 23.
Copyright 2018 Read Books Ltd. This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Folklore
Folklore, or often, simply lore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, popular beliefs, fairytales, stories and customs included in the traditions of a culture, subculture or group. The English antiquarian William Thoms was the first person to introduce the term folklore specifically, in a letter published in the London journal The Athenaeum in 1846. He invented this compound word to replace the various other terms used at the time, including popular antiquities or popular literature. In usage, folklore and mythology usually signify the same thing and there are four general areas of study; artefacts (such as voodoo dolls), describable and transmissible entity (oral tradition), culture, and behaviour (rituals). These areas do not stand alone however, as often a particular element may fit into more than one of these groupings.
While folklore can contain religious or mythic elements, such as the Icelandic skaldic poetry or the Christian stories of Saint George or Saint Christopher, it equally concerns itself with the sometimes mundane traditions of everyday life. Though many argue this is a successful method of demonstrating societal relationships, in the Jungian view, folklore pertains to unconscious psychological patterns; instincts or archetypes of the mind. These folktales may or may not emerge from a religious tradition, but nevertheless speak to deep psychological issues. The familiar folktale, Hansel and Gretel is an example of this fine line. The manifest purpose of the tale may primarily be one of mundane instruction regarding forest safety or secondarily a cautionary tale about the dangers of famine to large families, but its latent meaning may evoke a strong emotional response. This is largely due to the widely understood themes and motifs such as the terrible mother , death and atonement with the father.
The critical interpretation of myths and folklore goes as far back as the tales themselves. For instance, Sallustius (a fourth century Roman writer) divided myths into five categories; theological, physical (or concerning natural laws) animastic (or concerning soul), material and mixed. And although Plato famously condemned poetic myth when discussing the education of the young in the Republic , primarily on the grounds that there was a danger that the young and uneducated might take the stories of Gods and heroes literally, nevertheless he constantly refers to myths of all kinds throughout his writings. Interest in folkloric story telling continued well into the Renaissance, and notably during the nineteenth century, folktales and fairy tales were perceived as eroded fragments of earlier mythology (famously by the Brothers Grimm and Elias L nnrot). Mythological themes are also very often consciously employed in literature, beginning with Homer - and the foundational Iliad and the Odyssey .
Legends are very closely tied to the history of folklore and mythology, but they are generally narratives of human actions that are perceived by both teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Whilst legends will not include happenings outside the realm of possibility , they often contain miracles - believable in a specific religious context. The Brothers Grimm, the chief collectors of Germanic folk and fairy tales of the nineteenth century, defined legend as specifically historically grounded, as opposed to their own M rchen . Legends and folklore often both serve the purpose of romantic nationalism though; in which a people derive their legitimacy from a common culture, language, race and customs.
The telling of stories appears to be a cultural universal, common to basic and complex societies alike. Even the forms folktales take are similar from culture to culture, and comparative studies of their themes and narratives have been successful in showing these relationships. Although folktales are exceptionally similar to myths, mythology does differ slightly in that it will often refer to ideology. They have most famously been analysed by Roland Barthes (1950s, Mythologies ), who argued that modern culture explores religious experience in many more ways than we realise. He further posited that because it is not the job of science to define human morality, this is where myths (and to some extent folklore) come in - as pseudo-religious experiences attempting to connect the present with a perceived moral past.
There are many forms of contemporary folklore that are so common that most people do not realize they are folklore, such as riddles, children s rhymes and ghost stories, rumours (including conspiracy theories), ethnic stereotypes and holiday customs. Although myth was traditionally transmitted through the oral tradition on a small scale, the technology of the film industry has enabled filmmakers to transmit myths to large audiences via film dissemination. The basis of modern storytelling in both cinema and television lies deeply rooted in the mythological tradition. The Disney Corporation is notorious among cultural study scholars for reinventing traditional childhood myths. While many films are not as obvious as Disney fairy tales in respect to the employment of myth, the plots of many films are largely based on the rough structure of the myth such as the cautionary tale regarding the abuse of technology, battles between gods, and creation stories are often the subject of major film productions. Folklore, myths and legends are very much a part of our life today, and it is hoped that the current reader is inspired to find out more about this fascinating subject.
ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE
Arthur Edward Waite was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1857. His father died when he was very young, and his widowed mother returned t home country of England, where he was then raised. Waite wa cated at a small private school in North London, and St. Charles College. After school, he became a clerk, and wrote verse in his spare time.
In 1874, the death of Waite s sister saw him become deeply interested i psychical research. He began to read regularly in the Library of the Britis seum, studying many branches of esotericism. Not long later, Wait ame editor of an occultist magazine called The Unknown World , and 1891 joined Aleister Crowley s Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. A decade later, he became a Freemason, and entered the Societa Rosicruciana in Anglia. Waite had a lifelong rivalry with Aleister Crowley, who presented him as a villainous wizard in his novel Moonchild .
Waite was a prolific author, and many of his works were well received in academic circles. He wrote occult texts on subjects such as divination, esotericism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Kabbalism and alchemy; he also translated and reissued several important mystical and occultist works. His works on the Holy Grail rank amongst his finest publications.
However, Waite is best-remembered not for his scholarly work, but for his co-creation of the popular and widely used Rider-Waite Tarot deck, and his authoring of its companion volume, The Key to the Tarot . First published 1909, the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot was notable for being one of the first tarot decks to illustrate all 78 cards fully, in addition to the 22 major arcana cards. The work made him famous, and Waite spent much of the rest of his life lecturing and speaking on the topic of the Tarot. He died in 1942, aged 88.
To T HE S UBLIME S PIRIT OF ALPHONSE LOUIS CONSTANT, I Dedicate this Book.
CONTENTS.
B IOGRAPHICAL S KETCH OF A LPHONSE L OUIS C ONSTANT
C RITICAL E SSAY ON HIS W RITINGS
I NTRODUCTION
I NITIATORY E XERCISES AND P REPARATIONS
R ELIGIOUS AND P HILOSOPHICAL P ROBLEMS AND H YPOTHESES -
THE HERMETIC AXIOM
FAITH
THE TRUE GOD
THE CHRIST OF GOD
MYSTERIES OF THE LOGOS
THE TRUE RELIGION
THE REASON OF PRODIGIES, OR THE DEVIL BEFORE SCIENCE
S CIENTIFIC AND M AGICAL T HEOREMS -
ON NUMBERS AND THEIR VIRTUES
THEORY OF WILL-POWER
THE TRANSLUCID
THE GREAT MAGIC AGENT, OR THE MYSTERIES OF THE ASTRAL LIGHT
MAGICAL EQUILIBRIUM
THE MAGIC CHAIN
THE GREAT MAGIC ARCANUM
T HE D OCTRINE OF S PIRITUAL E SSENCES, OR K ABBALISTIC P NEUMATICS; WITH THE M YSTERIES OF E VOCATION , N ECROMANCY, AND B LACK M AGIC -
INTRODUCTION
IMMORTALITY
THE ASTRAL BODY
UNITY AND SOLIDARITY OF SPIRITS
THE GREAT ARCANUM OF DEATH, OR SPIRITUAL TRANSITION
HIERARCHY AND CLASSIFICATION OF SPIRITS
FLUIDIC PHANTOMS AND THEIR MYSTERIES
ELEMENTARY SPIRITS AND THE RITUAL OF THEIR C ONJURATION
NECROMANCY
MYSTERIES OF THE PENTAGRAM AND OTHER PANTACLES
MAGICAL CEREMONIAL AND CONSECRATION OF TALISMANS
BLACK MAGIC, AND THE SECRETS OF THE WITCHES SABBATH
WITCHCRAFT AND SPELLS
THE KEY OF MESMERISM
MODERN SPIRITISM
T HE G REAT P RACTICAL S ECRETS, OR R EALISATIONS OF M AGICAL S CIENCE -
INTRODUCTION
THE MAGNUM OPUS
THE UNIVERSAL MEDICINE
RENEWED YOUTH
TRANSFORMATIONS
DIVINATION
ASTROLOGY
THE TAROT, THE BOOK OF HERMES, OR OF THOTH
ETERNAL LIFE, OR PROFOUND PEACE
E PILOGUE -
1. THE VISION OF THE WANDERING JEW
2. THE FAREWELL TO CALVARY
3. THE REIGN OF THE MESSIAH
4. THE FINAL VISI