Éliphas Lévi and the French Occult Revival

Éliphas Lévi and the French Occult Revival by Christopher McIntosh

This classic study of the French magician Eliphas Lévi and the occult revival in France is at last available again after being out of print and highly sought after for many years. Its central focus is Lévi himself (1810–1875), would-be priest, revolutionary socialist, utopian visionary, artist, poet, and, above all, author of a number of seminal books on magic and occultism. It is largely thanks to Lévi that the Tarot is so widely used today as a divinatory method and a system of esoteric symbolism. The magicians of the Golden Dawn were strongly influenced by him, and Aleister Crowley even believed himself to be Lévi’s reincarnation. The book is not only about Lévi, but also covers the era of which he was a part and the remarkable figures who preceded and followed him—the esoteric Freemasons and Illuminati of the late eighteenth century, and later figures such as the Rosicrucian magus Joséphin Péladan, the occultist Papus (Gérard Encausse), the Counter-Pope Eugène Vintras, and the writer Joris-Karl Huysmans, whose work drew strongly on occult themes. These people were avatars of a set of traditions which are now seen as an important part of the western heritage and which are gaining increasing attention in the academy. Christopher McIntosh’s vivid account of this richly fascinating era in the history of occultism remains as fresh and compelling as ever.

Specifications
Artist/ Author:  Christopher McIntosh
Condition: Used, Good condition, minor scuff to the top spine, minor yellowing to pages due to age. Images of actual book.
Format: Paperback
Publication date:  first published 1972, this Edition 2^nd Impression 1975, Vintage
Number of Pages: 240
ISBN: ISBN 9780091122713
Publisher: Rider and Company
Dimensions: H21.6cm x W14cm x D1.8cm, approximately