About
Éliphas Lévi, born Alphonse Louis Constant in Paris in 1810, studied for the priesthood at the Saint-Sulpice seminary and was ordained a deacon in 1835, but left the Church the following year. He then became involved in utopian socialist circles, which led to two brief prison sentences. Turning to occultism, he published his major work, Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, in 1855, systematizing Western magical theory. He is regarded as the founder of French occultism and influenced many later esoteric movements. He died in Paris in 1875.
* 1810-02-08 — † 1875-05-28
Major works
- Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855)occult treatise
- Histoire de la Magie (1860)historical work
- La Clef des Grands Mystères (1861)occult treatise
- Fables et Symboles (1862)essay
- La Science des Esprits (1865)occult treatise
Key milestones
- 1835Ordained deacon at the Saint-Sulpice seminary.
- 1848Publication of his radical pamphlet Le Testament de la Liberté, which earned him two prison sentences.
- 1855Publication of Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, his major work.
Themes
Magic and occultismSymbolismTarotPentagramUtopian socialism
Sources: id.loc.gov · referenceworks.brill.com · data.bnf.fr