Bücher der Reihe Ésotérisme et Paranormal

"Depuis un siècle et demi, l¿histoire pré sente le spectacle d¿ un mouvement continu, qui emporte, tantôt dans des secousses violentes, tantôt par une action plus lente, les gouvernements nationaux, les institu tions sociales des peuples et les croyances religieuses elles¿ mêmes. Ce travail de destruction s¿ accomplit au nom des trois mots de Liberté, d¿Egalité, de Fraternité le Christianisme ; mais ils exercent sur les hommes de notre temps un empire inconnu auparavant et ils prennent un sens tout particulier dans la bouche des novateurs."

" Fruit de sa vaste érudition maçonnique et de ses discussions avec des maîtres maçons de stature internationale tels que le vénérable de la Loge Quator Coronati, membre de la Societas Rosicruciana, le fondateur de l'Ordre Hermétique de la Golden Dawn, ou encore avec le chef du Rite Primitif et Originel, Papus apporte avec cet ouvrage captivant plus qu'une introduction à la Science Maçonnique : ce livre est une véritable clef des diverses adaptations de la tradition maçonnique à travers une étude des mots de passe à la lumière de la kabbale, l'origine de l'Écossisme et des divers rites, des discours de réceptions aux trois premiers degrés, et une analyse symbolique et ésotérique de la Légende d'Hiram. Cet ouvrage passionnant pour l'initié comme pour le profane nous replonge dans les fondements de la franc-maçonnerie, son histoire et son idéologie en proposant dans un langage clair et concis une analyse fascinante de ses symboles et de ses rituels"

" L¿Occultisme se présente à travers les âges, comme un tout bien distinct, ayant ses théories, ses méthodes, et jusqüà ses procédés de diffusion et d¿enseignement personnels. De là la difficulté de bien connaître cette doctrine pour ceux qui n¿ont pas pénétré dans les centres où elle est enseignée et les erreurs nombreuses commises par les critiques qui l¿ont jugée sans la connaître.Avant d¿exposer l¿Occultisme dans ses détails, établissons rapidement ce qui le différencie des autres systèmes philosophiques. La théorie est renfermée dans les diverses sections de la Science occulte que nous sommes obligés de définir dès maintenant pour éviter les confusions avec les Arts divinatoires qüon nomme parfois « sciences occultes ».1° Alors que la Science, telle qüelle est conçue par les savants contemporains, étudie surtout les phénomènes physiques et la partie abordable et visible de la Nature et de l¿Homme, la Science occulte, grâce à sa méthode préférée : l¿Analogie, s¿efforce en partant des faits physiques, de s¿élever jusqüà l¿étude de la partie invisible, occulte de la Nature et de l¿Homme : de là sa première caractéristique de « Science du caché », Scientia occultati ."

" No study of occult philosophy is possible without an acquaintance with symbolism, for if the words occultism and symbolism are correctly used, they mean almost one and the same thing. Symbolism cannot be learned as one learns to build bridges or speak a foreign language, and for the interpretation of symbols a special cast of mind is necessary; in addition to knowledge, special faculties, the power of creative thought and a developed imagination are required. One who understands the use of symbolism in the arts, knows, in a general way, what is meant by occult symbolism. But even then a special training of the mind is necessary, in order to comprehend the "language of the Initiates", and to express in this language the intuitions as they arise."

" Belief in a Law that has ever been and must forever be the basic and fundamental principle of life has always existed. ¿inkers and philosophers in all ages have exerted their ingenuity and genius to discover this Law, which would solve the various and multiple manifestations called life, with divers degrees of success or failure. ¿e very effort to discover this Law is self- evident proof of its existence. Yet the great mass of mankind is asking this question at the beginning of the Twentieth Century: ¿What is the fundamental Law or Principle underlying the countless phenomena known as life."

" J¿ai admiré ce poète anonyme, auteur d¿un roman de chevalerie sur le Saint Graal, et j¿ai rêvé d¿être comme lui. C¿était, dit-il, la nuit du vendredi saint, sept cent dix-sept ans après la passion de Jésus et ilétait assis seul dans sa chambre, au fond d¿une des bourgades les plus perduesdelaBre tagne.Il s¿entendit soudain appelé par son nom et il vit devant lui, un jeune homme pâle aux yeux brillants et d¿une beauté surprenante. Il tomba à terre plein d¿émotion.Dans ces époques ,la sensibilité humaine était sans doute plus importante qüaujourd¿hui."

" For those intimidated by Madame Blavatsky's massive and complex tome, The Secret Doctrine, Annie Besant presents the basic tenets of Theosophical thought in a concise, easy to digest format. While a much easier read, this book still delivers the full spectrum and depth of the Theosophical philosophy."

" It seems rather of necessity than predilection in the sense of apologia that I should put on record in the first place a plain statement of my personal position, as one who for many years of literary life has been, subject to his spiritual and other limitations, an exponent of the higher mystic schools. It will be thought that I am acting strangely in concerning myself at this day with what appears at first sight and simply a well-known method of fortune telling. Now, the opinions of Mr. Smith, even in the literary reviews, are of no importance unless they happen to agree with our own, but in order to sanctify this doctrine we must take care that our opinions, and the subjects out of which they arise, are concerned only with the highest. Yet it is just this which may seem doubtful, in the present instance, not only to Mr. Smith, whom I respect within the proper measures of detachment, but to some of more real consequence, seeing that their dedications are mine. To these and to any I would say that after the most illuminated Frater Christian Rosy Cross had beheld the Chemical Marriage in the Secret Palace of Transmutation, his story breaks off abruptly, with an intimation that he expected next morning to be door-keeper. After the same manner, it happens more öen than might seem likely that those who have seen the King of Heaven through the most clearest veils of the sacraments are those who assume thereafter the humblest offices of all about the House of God. By such simple devices also are the Adepts and Great Masters in the secret orders distinguished from the cohort of Neophytes as servi servorum mysterii...."

The Prophecies of Paracelsus attracted my attention at an early stage of my studies in the Occult, which have now extended to over forty years, but I have only recently thought of bringing them to public notice, the extraordinary events of the present time acting as an incentive. The famous French Kabbalist, Alphonse Louis Constant, in La Clef des Grands Mystères, p. 378, wrote:'The Prophecy of Paracelsus, of which we here give the Preface, is composed of thirty-two chapters with allegorical figures. 'It is the most astounding monument and indisputable proof of the reality and existence of the gift of natural prophecy.' Abbé Constant (born 1809, died 1875), better known by his Hebraistic pseudonym, Eliphas Lévi Fahed, was a distinguished Adept, Magus, and Writer on the Occult. Most of his works have been ably translated by Mr. A. E. Waite. The Preface Eliphas Lévi refers to is not given here, but will be found preceding the Predictions.

" Though deeply sceptical with regard to spirits, I often wondered, whenever I saw an experiment of this kind, whether or not some natural force had not been brought into play, with which we were totally unacquainted. I merely state the facts without further comment. -on the "trick" of "the magic stick" Spirit forces that make leaves dance in still air and buoyant wooden sticks sink in water and fakirs who levitate themselves and induce plants to grow overnight. A European observer in mid-19th century India reports-in the straightforward and unsensational fashion of a religious skeptic-the seemingly wondrous feats of Indian mystics, offering a unique first-person perspective on extraordinary phenomenon that continues to be referenced today by modern spiritualists and those interested in the paranormal. First published in English in 1884, this intriguing book also includes a translation of esoteric works of Indian magic that have been likened to the Jewish Kabbalah. French writer and jurist Louis Jacolliot (1837-1890) served in French India as a government official. Among his extensive works on Indian culture are Voyage au pays des fakirs charmeurs (1881).."

" My honourable Patron and my good Friend, my humble service in the first place presented to you: At you earnest request I cannot but accomplish your desires, seeing you have a great love and affection, by experience to find out the Secrets of Nature, which at this time are known to few, and even wholly hid in darkness. Although many of the Ancients have written thereof, and their books dispersed, yet are they wri¿en in a Magick stile, and profitable to none but those who from their youth have been trained up in this Magick, or instructed by God in such Secrets. Therefore, these Secrets for which you humble yourself are in a deep pit, strongly locked up, so that no man can open unless he have received the Key from the Spirit of Truth. Of the Magical Antimony or of that Antimony of the Ancients will I speak no thing in this treatise, seeing that men will know nothing of it; but what they read of it they apply only to common Antimony; of the which you only desire a treatise which I will freely communicate to you and will write, What it is, Of what parts it is composed, Into what it may be resolved again. And you shall in this treatise understand me no otherwise then according to the Letter; for I will use here no Metaphors, Allegories, or Similitudes; only I will describe Antimony with a plain stile, that you may not be deceived, though you prepare it according to the Letter, and ye shall obtain that of which I write; by these, you may also judge whether in common Antimony that secret, or Chymical and Physical Mystery be or not, of the which Paracelsus and the Magicians have written..."

A collection of 11 short spiritual or occult tales including: A Weird Tale; A Curious Tale; The Serpent's Blood; The Magic Screen Of Time; The Wandering Eye; The Tell-Tale Picture Gallery; The Skin Of The Earth; True Progress; Where The Rishis Were; The Coming Of The Serpent; and, An Allegory.This partial story is written in accordance with a direction received from a source which I cannot disobey and in that alone must possess interest, because we are led to speculate why it is needed now...."It was an old and magic island. Many centuries before, the great good Adepts had landed on its shores from the West and established for a while the Truth. But even they could not stay the relentless tread of fate, and knew that this was only a halting place, a spot where should be concentrated spiritual power sufficiently strong to remain as a leaven for several cycles, and that should be a base upon which in long ages after ages might be erected again the spiritual temple of truth. These blessed beings remained there for centuries uncounted, and saw arise out of the adjoining seas other lands, first of soft mud that afterwards hardened into rocks and earth. They taught the people and found them apt students, and from their number drew many disciples who were full of zeal as well as patience and faith. Among the least of those I was, and toiled long and earnestly through successive lives upon the Island. And the Island came to be known as the Isle of Destiny, from mysterious future events foretold for it by the greatest of the Adepts and their seers.

" A Prejudate eye much lessens the noblenesse of the Subject. Bacons name may bring at the first an inconvenience to the Book, but Bacons ingenuity will recompence it ere he be solidly read. ¿is as an Apology is the usher to his other Workes, which may happily breath a more free Air hereäer, when once the World sees how clear he was, from loving Negromacy. 'Twas the Popes smoak which made the eyes of that Age so sore, as they could not discern any open hearted and clear headed soul from an heretical Phantasme. ¿e silly Fryers envying his too prying head, by their crä had almost got it off his shoulders. It's dangerous to be wiser than the multitude, for that unruly Beast will have every over- topping head to be lopped shorter, lest it plot, ruine, or stop the light, or shadow its extravagancies. How famous this Frier is in the judgment of both godly and wise men, I referre you to the Probatums of such men, whose single Authorities were of sufficiency to equallize a Jury of others; and as for the Book, I refer it to thy reading. As for myself, I refer me to him, whom I serve, and hope thou wilt adore...."

" ¿e work which we offer to the public must not be confused with a collection of reveries and errors to which their authors have tried to give credence by announcing supernatural feats; which the credulous and the ignorant siezed with avidity. We only quote the most respectable authorities and most dignified in faith. The principles which we present are based on the doctrines of the ancients and modern, who full of respect for the Divinity, were always the friends of mankind, endeavoured to recall them to virtue, by showing them vice in all its deformity. We have drawn from the most pure sources, having only in view the love of truth and the desire to enlighten those who desire to discover the secrets of Nature and the marvels which they unfold to those who never separate the darkness which surrounds them. It is only given to those who are favoured by the Great Being, to raise themselves above the terrestial sphere, and to plan a bold flight in the etheric regions; it is for these priviledged men that we write..."

" This is no doubt a strange book. An attempt to gather a meaning out of a few of the involved, crabbed, and mystical quatrains of the great seer of France, the greatest perhaps that the world has ever seen, must of necessity be strange. My treatment, too, may possibly seem to many no less strange than the subject-matter itself. I will speak specially as to this later point towards the close of the preface. In last December treating upon Nostradamus in the Gentleman's Magazine, I had occasion to remark that every honest man of awakened powers is a kind of prophet, and has to do with the future, or eternity, as it is usually styled. Since then I have come upon the same idea in the writings of Philo Judæus. He thinks that the Scriptures testify in some sort that every good man is a prophet: "For a prophet says nothing of his own, but everything that he says is strange, and prompted by some one else; and it is not lawful for a wicked man to be an interpreter of God, as also no wicked man can be properly said to be inspired; but this statement is only appropriate to the wise man alone, since he alone is a sounding instrument of God's voice."--PHILO, Heiro of Divine things , § 52, Bohn, ii. 146...."

" The following extraordinary account of the "Cause Célèbre" of Urbain Grandier, the Curé of Loudun, accused of Magic and of having caused the Nuns of the Convent of Saint Ursula to be possessed of devils, is written by an eye witness, and not only an eyewitness but an actor in the scenes he describes. It is printed at "Poitiers, chez J. Ftoreau et la veuve Ménier, Imprimeurs du Roi et de l¿Université 1634." I believe two copies only are known: my own, and the one in the National Library, Paris. The writer is Monsieur des Niau, Counsellor at la Flèche, evidently a firm believer in the absurd charges brought against Grandier.Magic appears to have had its origin on the plains of Assyria, and the worship of the stars was the creed of those pastoral tribes who, pouring down from the mountains of Kurdistan into the wide level where Babylon afterwards raised its thousand towers, founded the sacerdotal race of the Chasdim or Chaldeans. To these men were soon alloted peculiar privileges and ascribed peculiar attributes, until, under the name of Magi, they acquired a vast and permanent influence. Their temples were astronomical observatories as well as holy places; and the legendary tower of Babel, in the Book of Genesis, is probably but the mythical equivalent of a vast edifice consecrated to the study of the seven planets, or perhaps, as the Bab (court or palace) of Bel, to the brilliant star of good fortune alone. Availing themselves of the general adoration of the stars, they appear to have invented a system of astrology the apotelesmatic science by which they professed to decide upon the nature of coming events and the complexion of individual fortunes..."

" This Book is so rare and sought after in our country it has been called, by our Rabbis, the true Great Work. They were the ones who le¿ us this precious original that many charlatans uselessly wanted to counterfeit, attempting to imitate the truth that they never found, in order to swindle ingenuous individuals who have faith in initial encounters without seeking their true Source. This manuscript has been copied from various writings of the great King Solomon. This great king spent all of his days in the most difficult search and in the most obscure and unexpected secrets. In the end he succeeded in all of his endeavors and he reached his goal of penetrating the most profound dwelling of the spirits, whom he obliged to obey him by the power of his talisman, the clavicle, since who else but this powerful genius would have dared bring to light the thundering words that he made use of to constrain the rebel spirits to his will, having penetrated up to the celestial beings to learn more thoroughly the secrets and the powerful words that have the force of a terrible and respected God?..."

" The term ` occultism' is one which has been much misunderstood. In the mind of the ignorant it was, even recently, synonymous with magic, and its students were supposed to be practitioners of the black art, veiled in flowing robes of scarlet covered with cabalistic signs, sitting amidst uncanny surroundings with a black cat as a familiar, compounding unholy decoctions by the aid of satanic evocations. Even now, and among those whom education has raised above such superstition as this, there still remains a good deal of misapprehension. For them its derivation from the Latin word occultus ought to explain at once that it is the science of the hidden; but they often regard it contemptuously as nonsensical and unpractical, as connected with dreams and fortune-telling, with hysteria and necromancy, with the search for the elixir of life and the philosopher' s stone. Students, who should know better, perpetually speak as though the hidden side of things were intentionally concealed, as though knowledge with regard to it ought to be in the hands of all men, but was being deliberately withheld by the caprice or selfishness of a few; whereas the fact is that nothing is or can be hidden from us except by our own limitations, and that for every man as he evolves the world grows wider and wider, because he is able to see more and more of its grandeur and its loveliness..."

" It is the endeavour of this treatise to convey spiritual-scientific knowledge concerning the being of man. The method of representation is arranged in such a way that the reader may grow into what is depicted, so that, in the course of reading, it becomes for him a kind of self conference. If this soliloquy takes on such a form that thereby hitherto concealed forces, which can be awakened in every soul, reveal themselves, then the reading leads to a real inner work of the soul; and the latter can see itself gradually urged on to that soul journeying, which truly advances towards the beholding of the spiritual world. What has to be imparted, therefore, has been given in the form of eight Meditations, which can be actually practised. If this is done, they can be adapted for imparting to the soul, through its own inner deepening, that about which they speak. It has been my aim on the one hand, to give something to those readers who have already made themselves conversant with the literature dealing with the domain of the supersensible, as it is here understood....."

" One who undertakes to represent certain results of scientific spiritual research of the kind recorded in this book, must above all things be prepared to find that this kind of investigation is at the present time almost universally regarded as impossible. For things are related in the following pages about which those who are today esteemed exact thinkers, assert that they will probably remain altogether indeterminable by human intelligence. One who knows and can respect the reasons which prompt many a serious person to assert this impossibility, would fain make the attempt again and again to show what misunderstandings are really at the bottom of the belief that it is not given to human knowledge to penetrate into the superphysical worlds. For two things present themselves for consideration. First, no human being will, on deeper reflection, be able in the long run to shut his eyes to the fact that his most important questions as to the meaning and significance of life must remain unanswered, if there be no access to higher worlds. Theoretically we may delude ourselves concerning this fact and so get away from it; the depths of our soul-life, however, will not tolerate such self delusion. The person who will not listen to what comes from these depths of the soul will naturally reject any account of supersensible worlds. There are however people and their number is not small who find it impossible to remain deaf to the demands coming from the depths of the soul. They must always be knocking at the gates which, in the opinion of others, bar the way to what is¿incomprehensible..."

" The Hermetic Museum restored and enlarged was published in Latin at Frankfort, in the year 1678, and, as its title implies, it was an enlarged form of an anterior work which, appearing in 1625, is more scarce, but, intrinsically, of less value. Its design was apparently to supply in a compact form a representative collection of the more brief and less ancient alchemical writers; in this respect, it may be regarded as a supplement to those large storehouses of Hermetic learning such as the Theatrum Chemicum, and that scarcely less colossal of Mangetus, the Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa, which are largely concerned with the cream of the archaic literature, with the works of Geber and the adepts of the school of Arabia, with the writings attributed to Hermes, with those of Raymond Lully, Arnold de Villa Nova, Bernard Trevisan, and others..."

" For thousands of years the Hindu Astrologers have by their knowledge of the solar system been enabled to formulate a system of Astrology which enables them to speak with scientific authority and certainty with respect to the planetary influences upon mankind. Each person is born in or under one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac and is thus influenced more or less throughout life by the planetary conditions at time of birth. In this work I propose to state the natural tendencies of each person and in a certain way indicate what they should do and what they should not do to make their life a success. By referring to your sign, which is indicated by the date and month when you were born, you will see what your natural tendencies are, and what it is best for you to do to attract and use unseen forces and powers which are your birthright, and which will aid you to make your future bright. Each and every person is naturally endowed with peculiar and great powers which make for good, and also are born with tendencies which must be corrected in order that the higher and good powers and forces may be able to work to advantage. No matter how bad your lot may seem to you, and how difficult it is for you to get along in the world, you can readily change all darkness to the brightest sunshine if you only go about it in the right spirit..."

" Mr. Henry Morley, an eminent English scholar, in his Life of Cornelius Agrippa, makes these tributary statements: He secured the best honors attainable in art and arms; was acquainted with eight languages, being the master of six. His natural bent had been from early youth to a consideration of Divine Mysteries. To learn these and teach them to others had been at all times his chief ambition. He is distinguished among the learned for his cultivation of Occult Philosophy, upon which he has written a complete work..."