Who was Eliphas Levi?
Lévi, Éliphas. The real name of this learned Kabalist was Abbé Alphonse Louis Constant. Eliphas Lévi Zahed was the author of several
works on philosophical magic. Member of the Fratres Lucis (Brothers of Light), he was also once upon a time a priest, an abbé of
the Roman Catholic Church, which promptly proceeded to unfrock him, when he acquired fame as a Kabalist.
He was born on February 8, 1810 in Paris, France. He died on May 31, 1875 (65 years old), leaving five famous works—Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1856); Histoire de la Magie
(1860); La Clef des grands Mystères (1861); Legendes et Symboles (1862); and La Science des Esprits (1865); besides some
other works of minor importance. His style is extremely light and fascinating; but with a rather too strong characteristic
of mockery and paradox in it to be the ideal of a serious Kabalist. (G.T. H.P.B.)
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