ABC illustré d'occultisme

by Papus

Réédition de cet ouvrage posthume du début du 20ème siècle, ce livre est une véritable synthèse des très nombreux travaux réalisés par Papus tout au long de sa vie. Il remonte le cours de l'histoire pour retracer l'évolution des traditions occultes, de l'Antiquité égyptienne à nos jours, en explorant les mystères, les origines de la Tradition, l'évolution des sciences occultes, les disciplines majeures (cosmogonie, astrologie etc.), le symbolisme, les arts divinatoires, la magie... et leur place au sein des différents courants initiatiques qui se sont succédés à travers les âges. Un ouvrage d'importance pour tous ceux qui aspirent à comprendre le passé et leurs disciplines pour mieux avancer sur leur propre chemin initiatique. A propos de l'auteur : Né le 13 juillet 1865 d'un père français et d'une mère espagnole, Gérard Encausse, dit Papus, passe sa jeunesse à Paris où il est reçu docteur en médecine en juillet 1894. Avant même de terminer ses études, il se donne pour tâche de lutter contre le scientisme de l'époque en diffusant une doctrine synthétisant divers aspects de l'ésotérisme occidental d'alors. Cofondateur de l'Ordre Martiniste, il a été une des figures pittoresques et hautes en couleur de la Belle Epoque.

468 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Gerard Encausse, whose esoteric pseudonym was Papus, was born at Corunna (La Coruña) in Spain on July 13, 1865, of a Spanish mother and a French father, Louis Encausse, a chemist. His family moved to Paris when he was four years old, and he received his education there.
As a young man, Encausse spent a great deal of time at the Bibliothèque Nationale studying the Kabbalah, occult tarot, the sciences of magic and alchemy, and the writings of Eliphas Lévi. He joined the French Theosophical Society shortly after it was founded by Madame Blavatsky in 1884 - 1885, but he resigned soon after joining because he disliked the Society's emphasis on Eastern occultism.

In 1888, he co-founded his own group, the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix. That same year, he and his friend Lucien Chamuel founded the Librarie du Merveilleux and its monthly revue L'Initiation, which remained in publication until 1914.
Encausse was also a member of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn temple in Paris, as well as Memphis-Misraim and probably other esoteric or paramasonic organizations, as well as being an author of several occult books. Outside of his paramasonic and Martinist activities he was also a spiritual student of the French spiritualist healer, Anthelme Nizier Philippe, "Maître Philippe de Lyon".
Despite his heavy involvement in occultism and occultist groups, Encausse managed to find time to pursue more conventional academic studies at the University of Paris. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1894 upon submitting a dissertation on Philosophical Anatomy. He opened a clinic in the rue Rodin which was quite successful.

When World War I broke out, Encausse joined the French army medical corps. While working in a military hospital, he contracted tuberculosis and died on October 25, 1916, at the age of 51.