‘The History of Magic’
Eliphas Levi Zahed
Written in France under the pseudonym ‘Eliphas Levi Zahed’ and first published in English by Golden Dawn adept A.E.Waite. Eliphas Levi (1810-1875) was one of the most important figures of the occult revival and was claimed by Aleister Crowley to be an earlier incarnation of himself. This text presents a classic history of magic and occultism, and is a book of which A.E. Waite said: “there is nothing in the occult literature to compare with it…”The History of Magic” is the most arresting, entertaining, and brilliant of all studies on the subject”. Alphonse Louis Constant, better known by his pen name Eliphas Levi, was a master of the traditional Rosicrucian interpretation of the Kabbalah. He was born in France in 1810, and through the offices of the parish priest, was educated for the church at Saint-Sulpice. He was later expelled from seminary for teaching doctrines contrary to those of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1824 Levi began studying the occult sciences and wrote about magic and the Kabbalah for the next three decades. His other books include Transcendental Magic, Mysteries of the Qabalah, and The Book of Splendours. A.E. Waite (1857-1942) is one of the best-known authors and translators of magic and the occult. He is the creator of the Rider-Waite tarot and is the author of several books including Book of Black Magic and Pictorial Keys to the Tarot. |