Bücher der Reihe Ésotérisme et Paranormal

"The fearefull aboundinge at this time in this countrie, of these detestable slaues of the Deuill, the Witches or enchaunters, hath moved me (beloued reader) to dispatch in post, this following treatise of mine, not in any wise (as I protest) to serue for a shew of my learning & ingine, but onely (mooued of conscience) to preasse thereby, so farre as I can, to resolue the doubting harts of many; both that such assaultes of Sathan are most certainly practized, & that the instrumentes thereof, merits most severly to be punished: against the damnable opinions of two principally in our age, wherof the one called SCOT an Englishman, is not ashamed in publike print to deny, that ther can be such a thing as Witch-craft: and so mainteines the old error of the Sadducees, in denying of spirits. The other called VVIERVS, a German Phisition, sets out a publick apologie for al these craftesfolkes, whereby, procuring for their impunitie, he plainely bewrayes himselfe to haue bene one of that Profession...."

" Seven years have passed since this essay was written, and the MSS. pages have been lent to many friends and students of mystic lore and occult meanings. It is only at the earnest request of these kindly critics that I have consented to publish this volume. The contents are necessarily of a fragmentary character, and have been collected from an immense number of sources; the original matter has been intentionally reduced to the least possible quantity, so as to obtain space for the inclusion of the utmost amount of ancient, quaint and occult learning. It is impossible to give even an approximate list of works which have been consulted; direct quotations have been acknowledged in numerous instances, and (perhaps naturally) many a statement might have been equally well quoted from the book of a contemporary author, a mediæval monk, a Roman historian, a Greek poet, or a Hindoo Adept: to give the credit to the modern author would not be fair to the ancient sage, to refer the reader to a Sanskrit tome would be in most cases only loss of time and waste of paper. My great difficulty has been to supply information mystic enough to match the ideal of the work, and yet not so esoteric as to convey truths which Adepts have still concealed.I must apologise for the barbarous appearance of foreign words, but it was not found practicable to supply Sanskrit, Coptic, Chaldee and Greek type, so the words have had to be transliterated. Hebrew and Chaldee should of course be read from right to left, and it was at first intended so to print them in their converted form, but the appearance of Hebrew in English letters reversed was too grotesque; ADNI is a representation of the Aleph, daleth, nun, yod, of "Adonai," but INDA would have been sheer barbarity: in the case of Hebrew words I have often added the pronunciation. The "Secret Doctrine" of H. P. Blavatsky, a work of erudition containing a vast fund of archaic doctrine, has supplied me with valuable quotations. If any readers desire a deeper insight into the analogies between numbers and ideas, I refer them in addition to the works of Eliphaz Lévi, Athanasius Kircher, Godfrey Higgins, Michael Maier, and John Heydon; I have quoted from each of these authorities, and Thomas Taylor's "theoretic Arithmetic" has supplied me with a great part of the purely arithmetical notions of the Pythagoreans, the elucidation of which was mainly due to him. In conclusion, I request my readers, Aut perlege et recte intellige, Aut abstine a censura.

" If ever a book should be written on the Romance of Symbolism, its hypothesis of interpretation, its traditional and imputed histories, a considerable space would be allotted assuredly to Tarot cards; while seeing that at this day there is more concern in the subject than was felt even in the past, there would be a call not only to survey that which lies behind us, a strange field of speculation and reverie, but the prospect extending in front, since every year brings forth some new proposition and provides material for future imaginative flights. It is very curious to contrast those comparatively sober terms in which Court de Gebelin introduced his discovery of the cards, though he sought to prove that their origin was in Ancient Egypt, with the fantastic declamations of Éliphas Lévi, who affirmed not only that they were the Alphabet of Enoch, Hermes Trismegistus and Cadmus but the Gospel of all Gospels, a synthesis of science and the universal key of the Kabbalah..."

" This work contains a collection of the customs, usages, and ceremonies current among gypsies, as regards fortune-telling, witch doctoring, love philtering, and other sorcery, illustrated by many anecdotes and instances, taken either from works as yet very little known to the English reader or from personal experiences. Within a very few years, since Ethnology and Archæology have received a great inspiration, and much enlarged their scope through Folklore, everything relating to such subjects is studied with far greater interest and to much greater profit than was the case when they were cultivated in a languid, half-believing, half-sceptical spirit which was in reality rather one of mere romance than reason. Now that we seek with resolution to find the whole truth, be it based on materialism, spiritualism, or their identity, we are amazed to find that the realm of marvel and mystery, of wonder and poetry, connected with what we vaguely call "magic," far from being explained away or exploded, enlarges before us as we proceed, and that not into a mere cloudland, gorgeous land, but into a country of reality in which men of science who would once have disdained the mere thought thereof are beginning to stray. Hypnotism has really revealed far greater wonders than were ever established by the fascinatores of old or by mesmerists of more modern times. Memory, the basis of thought according to PLATO, which was once held to be a determined quantity, has been proved, (the word is not too bold), by recent physiology, to be practically infinite, and its perfect development to be identical with that of intellect, so that we now see plainly before us the power to perform much which was once regarded as miraculous...."

Ayant traversé les trois calamités du monde des transformations (Abred), ayant triomphé des trois nécessités qui s¿attachent à sa nature mortelle, ayant remporté les trois victoires qui justifient l¿état d¿humanité, l¿Homme pénètre dans le monde des Esprits purs ou Monde de la Blancheur et se crée une personnalité indestructible. La vérité, la volonté et la puissance accomplissent, par l¿union de leurs forces, tout ce qüelles désirent; elles commencent dans l¿état d¿humanité et durent ensuite toujours.Ce résumé de la doctrine druidique, fondé sur les Triades et le Barddas, a d¿abord été rédigé en breton par Kaledvouc¿h (Yves Berthou) sous le titre Dindan derw an drouized.Traduit en français par Philéas Lebesgue, Sous le chêne des druides a paru pour la première fois en 1931.Né à Pleubian (Côtes-d¿Armor) le 4 septembre 1861, Berthou suivit une formation technique qui le fit mécanicien dans la Marine, dessinateur au Havre et sous-ingénieur dans la construction navale à Rochefort. Il s¿agrégea à un cénacle littéraire rochefortais et publia ses premiers recueils (C¿ur breton, 1892 ; La Lande fleurie, 1894...). Il créa au Havre un mensuel littéraire catholique, La Trêve-Dieu (1896-1897), qui reçut des contributions de qualité (Frédéric Le Guyader, Georges Rodenbach, Francis Jammes, Paul Fort, Léon Bloy...). Les exigences du labeur le menèrent ensuite à Paris. Il s¿y lia à Le Fustec dont l¿influence ajouta à la découverte des poèmes de François Jaffrennou pour le convaincre de se consacrer à la cause bretonne. Aux côtés de Le Fustec et Jaffrennou il contribua à la fondation du Gorsedd breton (1900), adoptant le nom bardique d¿Alc¿houeder Treger (« Alouette du Trégor »). Il dirigea le Ti Kaniri Breiz (« Maison du chant de Bretagne »), société de propagande régionale et linguistique par la chanson. En 1902, il publia un recueil très hostile à la France, Dre an delen hag c¿horn-boud (« Par la harpe et le cor de guerre »).Élu grand-druide en remplacement de Le Fustec (1904), il se choisit pour pseudonyme Kaledvoulc¿h, nom breton d¿Excalibur, l¿épée d¿Arthur. Il présida les assemblées du Gorsedd tout en participant étroitement aux autres aspects du mouvement breton, notamment par sa collaboration aux journaux régionalistes.En 1917, il prit sa retraite à Pleubian mais vécut ses dernières années dans la misère, contraint de vendre son mobilier, sa bibliothèque puis sa maison. Il mourut de froid le 27 janvier 1933.

" An einem nebligen Spätherbstmorgen des Jahres 1849 rollte aus dem steirischen Alpenorte Obdach ein leichtes Steirerwäglein die Straße entlang ¿ in die weite Welt. Darauf saßen zwei Knaben in grauen Zeuggewändlein, wie es Bauernstudenten haben, wenn sie in die »Studie« gehen. Der eine blickte mit seinen braunen Augen, auf denen noch die Schatten des Abschiedes von daheim lagen, gegen den Himmel und sagte nach einer Weile betrübt: »Rudolf, es wird regnen!« »Hans, es wird nicht regnen!« gab der andere zurück, »morgen ist Vollmond, da regnet es nicht.« Und richtig war's. Als sie durch die Engschlucht unter der Ruine Eppenstein ins breite Murtal hinauskamen, löste sich der Nebel; als sie durch das alte Städtchen Judenburg fuhren, zeigte der Himmel die ersten blauen Scharten; als sie an der Felsenburg des streit- und sangeslustigen Ulrich von Lichtenstein vorüberrollten, blaute das ganze Firmament in herbstlicher Reine. So ging's zwischen den schönen Bergen dahin, und als es abendlich wurde, sind die jungen Reisenden eingezogen in das ehrwürdige Benediktinerstift zu St. Lambrecht. Daselbst waren sie aufgenommen, um als Schüler den Wissenschaften der Welt obzuliegen und als hellstimmige Chorknaben das Lob Gottes zu singen.