Book: Geschichte Der Magie In German by Eliphas Levi
In German language. First published in 1913, this classic text is an invaluable source book on the history and practice of magic and occultism. The contents include: Magic of the Magi, Magic in Ancient Greece, the Kabalah, Primitive Symbolism, Mysticism, Oracles, Magical Monuments, Magic and Christianity, Pagan Magic, Kabalistic Paintings and Sacred Emblems, Sorcerers, Magic and Freemasonry, the Illuminati, and more.We are all intruigued by the mysteries of magic. But this book makes the most preposterous claims about magic, ritual, history and god knows what else, that I have ever seen. Far from the claim (in a review below) of his "empiricism," Levi does not seem to have been in the least informed by the sciences of his day. The real mystery is why the great esotericsit A.E. Waite bothered to translate it from the French at all. Need an example? India is described as "the Mother of all heresies" [laughable, were it not so pathetic an example of judeochristian resentiment]. And he seriously believes that the the books of the Old Testament describe the literal Anthropology & history of the peoples of the Mideast, Ishmael=Islam and all the rest [fundamentalism so naive it would make a Trent Lott blush!]. The book's organization reflects the author's romance with Quaballah, but the chapters themselves are random collections of "ideas" on topics unrelated to the chapter titles [a stream-of-consciousness style the anticipated the great Joyce by half a century, albeit to no effect, aesthetic or otherwise]. The single high point of the book is Levi's description of spiritual love: "The true man elevates himself not by trying to possess the object of his desire but by raising himself to Her through devotion" [its a pity he didn't know anything about Sufism or the key difference between magic and devotion]. Try Israel Regardie instead, who is at least steeped in Renaissance memory training, neo-Platonism and other worthies. Remember that it is but a small (backwards) step that separates dog from god. (Reader's review)
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