Transcendental Magic
Its Doctrine & Ritual
Éliphas Lévi 1910
translated by Arthur Edward Waite
Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual
Eliphas Lévi – translated by Arthur Edward Waite
Behind the veil of ruined temples, Kabbalistic diagrams, alchemical emblems and secret initiations, Eliphas Lévi discerned a single hidden doctrine running like a golden thread through the ages. In Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual, his most influential work, he sets out to reveal that doctrine – and to restore magic as the “traditional science of the secrets of nature”.
Born Alphonse Louis Constant in 1810, the shoemaker’s son who was educated for the priesthood at Saint Sulpice, expelled for unorthodox views and later reborn as Eliphas Lévi, drew on Christian symbolism, Hermetic philosophy, Kabbalah and alchemy to forge a new, modern esotericism. In these pages, Lévi explores the astral light, the pentagram and the tarot, the hierarchy of spirits, the nature of the magus, and the ethical demands of initiation, insisting that true magic is neither superstition nor stage trickery, but a disciplined, philosophical path of will, imagination and spiritual responsibility.
First published in mid-nineteenth-century France and presented here in Arthur Edward Waite’s classic English translation – together with his substantial biographical preface – Transcendental Magic became the cornerstone of modern ceremonial magic. Its ideas shaped the major occult revivals of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries; much of what is now taken for granted in Western ritual magic can be traced back to this book.
This freshly typeset Troy Books edition offers a carefully prepared text for the modern reader, while preserving the character and language of the original. Whether approached as a historical monument of the occult revival, or as a living manual for the sanctum regnum – the “holy kingdom” of the magus – this volume provides a powerful, demanding initiation into Lévi’s vision of magic as the meeting of reason, faith, and the will to transform.
Available in the following editions:
Paperback Edition: gloss laminate cover, Gloss dust jacket with gloss with cover, line drawings throughout, cream paper stock – to follow
Dust Jacketed Hardback Edition: dust jacket with gloss cover, Gloss dust jacket with gloss with cover, line drawings throughout, cream paper stock – to follow
Special Edition: a limited edition of 150 examples, bound in red faux leather, with gold foil blocking to the front and spine, 80gsm cream paper stock with colour images of he original colour plates, black endpapers, with black head and tail bands.
Size: All sizes – Royal 234 x 156mm.
Pagination: 456 pages
Front Matter
Biographical Preface
Explanation of the Figures
THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSCENDENT MAGIC
Introduction
Chapter I. The Candidate
Chapter II. The Pillars of the Temple
Chapter III. The Triangle of Solomon
Chapter IV. The Tetragram
Chapter V. The Pentagram
Chapter VI. Magical Equilibrium
Chapter VII. The Fiery Sword
Chapter VIII. Realisation
Chapter IX. Initiation
Chapter X. The Kabbalah
Chapter XI. The Magic Chain
Chapter XII. The Great Work
Chapter XIII. Necromancy
THE RITUAL OF TRANSCENDENT MAGIC
Introduction
Chapter I. Preparations
Chapter II. Magical Equilibrium
Chapter III. The Triangle of Pantacles
Chapter IV. The Conjuration of the Four
Chapter V. The Blazing Pentagram
Chapter VI. The Medium and Mediator
Chapter VII. The Septenary of Talismans
Chapter VIII. A Warning to the Imprudent
Chapter IX. The Ceremonial of Initiates
Chapter X. The Key of Occultism
Chapter XI. The Triple Chain
Chapter XII. The Great Work
Chapter XIII. Necromancy
Chapter XIV. Transmutations
Chapter XV. The Sabbath of the Sorcerers
Chapter XVI. Witchcraft and Spells
Chapter XVII. The Writing of the Stars
Chapter XVIII. Philters and Magnetism
Chapter XIX. The Mastery of the Sun
Chapter XX. The Thaumaturge
Chapter XXI. The Science of the Prophets
Chapter XXII. The Book of Hermes
SUPPLEMENT
The Nuctemeron of Apollonius of Tyana
The Nuctemeron according to the Hebrews
INDEX
EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES
Figure I. The Great Symbol of Solomon
Figure II. Sacerdotal Esotericism
Figure III. The Triangle of Solomon
Figure IV. The Four Great Kabbalistic Names
Figure V. The Pentagram of Faust
Figure VI. The Tetragram of the Zohar
Figure VII. Addha-Nari
Figure VIII. The Pantacles of Ezekiel and Pythagoras
Figure IX. The Sabbatic Goat (Baphomet of Mendes)
Figure X. The Triangle of Solomon
Figure XI. The Trident of Paracelsus
Figure XII. The Pentagram
Figure XIII. Magical Instruments
Figure XIV. The Key of Thoth
Figure XV. Goetic Circle of Evocations
Figures XVI–XVII. Infernal Characters
Figure XVIII. Kabbalistic Signs of Orion
Figure XIX. Infernal Characters of the Zodiac
Figure XX. Planetary Magic Squares
Figure XXI. The Chariot of Hermes
Figure XXII. The Ark of the Covenant
Figure XXIII. The Apocalyptic Key
Paperback Edition
To follow
Dust Jacketed Hardback Edition
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Special Edition
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