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The name Eliphas Levi turns up in many texts regarding magic. He has influenced many of the great minds such as Crowley, Mathers, and Fortune to name a few. Levi was one of the premier occultists of the 19th century, and it is believed that he brought on this revival of magik which we have yet to see the end of.
Eliphas Levi was born in Paris in 1810 under the name Alphonse Louis Constant. He was educated by the church at an early age. He exhibited an interest in occult/magikal topics early, and as he grew, he showed tendancies which concerned many of his authorities. They believed that all magik was the work of the devil.
Levi was an active member of the church, and had many political views which by the standards of that time got him kicked out of the church. He was also arrested on 3 occasions due to his political views.
In the years following his exile from the church, Eliphas dedicated himself to many magikal paths including, but not limited to qabalah and necromancy. One of his first personal influences was Ganneau.
Ganneau was an eccentric old man who believed himself to be both a prophet, and the reincarnation of Louis XVII. Ganneau took Levi under his wing, and led him down the path of occultism.
In 1846, Eliphas got married to Noemie Cadot. the marriage lasted 19 years until it was annauled in 1865. During that time, Eliphas and Noemie had a daughter which died at a young age.
After the disintegration of his marriage, Eliphas Levi devoted some time to writing, and teaching others of the occult ways. It was during this period which he changed his name to Magus Elephas Levi, which is the hebrew equivellent of the combination of his first and middle names.
In 1854, Eliphas did his first necronamic work. He was asked by a mysterious old woman who claimed to be an adept to summon the spirit of Appolonius of Tyana. Levi went to great lengths to make sure that he was adequately prepared for the mission at hand. Amongst other things, he spent many hours meditating on a photo of Appolonius, and a one week fast directly before the ritual. The ritual lasted 12 hours, and at the end, Levi achieved his goal, but not in the sense which he was content with. At the end of the ritual, the answer that Levi recieved was "Death", but it was never specified by him what the question was. This was the first of many times that Levi would be in contact with the spirit of Appolonius.
Levi had his first magikal text "The Dogma and Ritual Of Magic" was published in1861, followed by "A History of Magic," "Transcendental Magic," "The Key to the Great Mysteries," and many other works of occult interest.
One of Levi's most widely accepted theories was "The Astral Light Theory." In this theory, he examined the nature of animal magnetism. He declared that the astral light, the root of animal magnetism filled all matter. He believed that if one could harness the power of animal magnetism, they could control all parts of existence. The will of the magician would become limitless.
One of the influences which Levi sited was that of Francis Barrett, the author of "The Magus." Levi in ture accomplished that which Barrett had thied, The magikal revival.
Levi was a great influence to The Order of The Golden Dawn. Many of thier original rituals were fashioned around methods which he had created.
Levi died in 1875, reasons unknown to me. But in his death, his legacy shall live on to influence.
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