Transcendental Magic — Éliphas Lévi
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1 p. 0pope or king : " On the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," said God Himself, as we see in the book of Genesis. What is taking place in the world, and why do priests and potentates tremble ? What secret power threatens tiaras and crowns ? A few madmen are roaming from land to land, concealing, as they say, the philosophical stone under their ragged vesture.
They can change earth into gold, and they are without food or lodging ! Their brows are encircled by an aureole of glory and by a shadow of ignominy ! One has discovered the universal science and goes vainly seeking death to escape the agonies of his triumph — he is the Majorcan Raymond Lully.
Another heals imaginary diseases by fantastic remedies, giving a formal denial in advance to the proverb which enforces the futility of a cautery on a wooden leg — he is the marvellous Paracelsus, always drunk and always lucid, like the heroes of Rabelais.
Here is William Postel writing naively to the fathers of the Council of Trent, informing them that he has discovered the absolute doctrine, hidden from the foundation of the world, and is longing to share it with them. The council does not concern itself with the maniac, does not condescend to condemn him, and proceeds to examine the weighty questions of efficacious grace and sufficing grace.
He whom we see perishing poor and abandoned is Cornelius Agrippa, less of a magician than any, though the vulgar persist in regarding him as a more potent sorcerer than all because he was sometimes a cynic and mystifier. What secret do these men bear with them to their tomb ? Why are they wondered at without being understood ? Why are they condemned unheard ?
Why are they initiates of those terrific secret sciences of which the Church and society are afraid ? Why are they acquainted with things of which others know nothing ? Why do they conceal what all men burn to know ? Why are they invested with a dread and unknown power ? The occult sciences ! Magic ! These words will reveal all and give food for further thought ! De omni re scibili et quibusdam aliis.
p. 11 But what, as a fact, was this magic ? What was the power of these men who were at once so proud and so persecuted ? If they were really strong, why did they not overcome their enemies ? But if they were weak and foolish, why did people honour them by fearing them ? Does magic exist ? Is there an occult knowledge which is truly a power, which works wonders fit to be compared with the miracles of authorised religions?
To these two palmary questions we make answer by an affirmation and a book. The book shall justify the affirmation, and the affirmation is this. Yes, there existed in the past, and there exists in the present, a potent and real magic ; yes, all that legends have said of it is true, but, in contrariety to what commonly happens, popular exaggerations are, in this case, not only beside but below the truth.
There is indeed a formidable secret, the revelation of which has once already transformed the world, as testified in Egyptian religious tradition, symbolically summarised by Moses at the beginning of Genesis. This secret constitutes the fatal science of good and evil, and the consequence of its revelation is death.
Moses depicts it under the figure of a tree which is in the centre of the Terrestrial Paradise, is in proximity to the tree of life and has a radical connection therewith ; at the foot of this tree is the source of the four mysterious rivers ; it is guarded by the sword of fire and by the four figures of the Biblical sphinx, the Cherubim of Ezekiel. . . . Here I must pause, and I fear already that I have said too much.
Yes, there is one sole, universal, and imperishable dogma, strong as the supreme reason ; simple, like all that is great; intelligible, like all that is universally and absolutely true; and this dogma has been the parent of all others.
Yes, there is a science which confers on man powers apparently superhuman ; I find them enumerated as follows in a Hebrew manuscript of the sixteenth century : — " These are the powers and privileges of the man who holds in his right hand the clavicles of Solomon, and in his left the branch of the blossoming almond. « Aleph. — He p. 12beholds God face to face, without dying, and converses familiarly with the seven genii who command the entire celestial army, n Beth. — He is above all afflictions and all fears. J Ghimel. — He reigns with all heaven and is served by all hell.
1 Daleth. — He disposes of his own health and life and can equally influence that of others, n He. — He can neither be surprised by misfortune, nor overwhelmed by disasters, nor conquered by his enemies. 1 Vau. — He knows the reason of the past, present, and future. ? Dzain. — He possesses the secret of the resurrection of the dead and the key of immortality.
" Such are the seven chief privileges, and those which rank next are as follows : — " n Cheth. — To find the philosophical stone. B Teth. — To enjoy the universal medicine. s lod. — To be acquainted with the laws of perpetual motion and in a position to demonstrate the quadrature of the circle. 3 Caph. — To change into gold not only all metals, but also the earth itself, and even the refuse of the earth. ?
Lamed. — To subdue the most ferocious animals and be able to pronounce the words which paralyse and charm serpents. » Mem. — To possess the Ars Notoria which gives the universal science. 3 Nun. — To speak learnedly on all subjects, without preparation and without study. " These, finally, are the seven least powers of the magus — " D Samech. — To know at first sight the deep things of the souls of men and the mysteries of the hearts of women.
V Gnain. — To force nature to make him free at his pleasure, a Phe. — To foresee all future events which do not depend on a superior free will, or on an undiscernible cause. V Tsade. — To give at once and to all the most efficacious consolations and the most wholesome counsels. P Copli. — To triumph over adversities. "» Resch. — To conquer love and hate. W Schin. — To have the secret of wealth, to be always its master and never its slave.
To know how to enjoy even poverty and never become abject or miserable, n Tau. — Let us add to these three septenaries that the wise man rules the elements, stills
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