The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum: Interpreted by the Tarot Trumps

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum: Interpreted by the Tarot Trumps
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Eliphas Levi
Edited and translated by W. Wynn Westcott
SeriesCambridge Library Collection - Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:134
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
Category/GenreWorship, rites and ceremonies
Magic, alchemy and hermetic thought
ISBN/Barcode 9781108044295
ClassificationsDewey:133.43
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 8 Plates, color

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 29 December 2011
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Eliphas Levi, born Alphonse Louis Constant, (1810-75) was instrumental in the revival of Western occultism in the nineteenth century, and published several influential books on magic that are also reissued in this series. This posthumous publication (1896) is a translation by William Wynn Westcott, co-founder of the 'Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn', of an unpublished French manuscript by Levi, then owned by the spiritualist Edward Maitland. It includes eight of the author's drawings. Each short chapter outlines the meaning of one of the twenty-two tarot trumps and is followed by a brief editor's note describing the card's iconography and summarising interpretations (sometimes deliberately misleading) given in Levi's earlier publications. The book ends with Kabbalistic prayers and rituals, praise of Jesus Christ as the great initiate, and a surprising assertion that Christianity has superseded ancient magic, revealing the life-long tension between Catholicism and magic in Levi's personality and thought.