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Difference between revisions of "Éliphas Lévi"
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The thesis of magic propagated by Éliphas Lévi was of significant renown, especially after his death. That Spiritualism was popular on both sides of the Atlantic from the 1850s contributed to this success. However, Lévi diverged from spiritualism and criticized it, because he believed only mental images and "astral forces" persisted after an individual died, which could be freely manipulated by skilled magicians, unlike the autonomous spirits that Spiritualism posited. | The thesis of magic propagated by Éliphas Lévi was of significant renown, especially after his death. That Spiritualism was popular on both sides of the Atlantic from the 1850s contributed to this success. However, Lévi diverged from spiritualism and criticized it, because he believed only mental images and "astral forces" persisted after an individual died, which could be freely manipulated by skilled magicians, unlike the autonomous spirits that Spiritualism posited. | ||
He had a deep impact on the magic of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]] and later on the ex–Golden Dawn member [[Aleister Crowley]]. He was also the first to declare that a pentagram or five-pointed star with one point down and two points up represents evil, while a pentagram with one point up and two points down represents good. Lévi's ideas also influenced Helena Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society. | He had a deep impact on the magic of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]] and later on the ex–Golden Dawn member [[Aleister Crowley]]. He was also the first to declare that a pentagram or five-pointed star with one point down and two points up represents evil, while a pentagram with one point up and two points down represents good. Lévi's ideas also influenced [[Helena Blavatsky]] and the Theosophical Society. | ||
==Theory of magic== | ==Theory of magic== | ||