Transcendental Magic

Éliphas Lévi · 1896

5.0 · 6 ratings

About the book

The book that invented modern ceremonial magic almost single-handedly, and tied the tarot to the Hebrew alphabet for good. Lévi is grandiose, self-contradicting and endlessly quotable — the Golden Dawn and everyone after it started here.

Try the short course

Part 1 · The Magician’s Four Disciplines. The first six slides, free.

The Magician’s Four Disciplines

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“To know, to dare, to will, to keep silence-such are the four words of the Magus.” Lévi’s famous line can sound like an occult password. He means something more demanding: four capacities that must be trained together.

Knowledge gives the work a sound basis. Courage permits action. Will holds action to its chosen course. Silence prevents its force from leaking into chatter, fantasy, and display. These are four supporting disciplines, not four decorative virtues.

Remove any one and the others become distorted. Knowledge without action is sterile; courage without knowledge is rash. Will without restraint becomes obsession, while silence without understanding is merely ignorance kept quiet.

Inside the course

20 parts

To know, to dare, to will, to keep silent: Lévi's four rulesFree above
The candidate, and who Lévi says should go no further
Astral light — the substance the whole system runs on
The pillars, the triangle, and the shape of the temple
The tetragram, and the power kept inside a name
The pentagram, and the magic of the microcosm
Magical equilibrium, and the balance every operation needs
The fiery sword, realization, and initiation: the twenty-two keys of the tarot
The kabbalah as Lévi received it — and rearranged it
The magic chain: why magicians work in company
The great work, necromancy, and transmutations
Black magic, bewitchment, and Lévi's warnings
Astrology, charms and philtres, the stone and the universal medicine
Divination, and the summary of the doctrine
From doctrine to ritual: preparations, and what an operation involves
The conjuration of the four, the blazing pentagram, the medium and the mediator
Talismans, the ceremonial of initiates, and the key of occultism
The sabbath of sorcerers, witchcraft and spells — the ritual's dark chapters
The writing of the stars, philtres and magnetism, the mastery of the sun
The thaumaturge, the science of the prophets, and the book of Hermes

Questions

Is Transcendental Magic free to read in Astra Trainer?

Yes. The full book opens free in the app’s reader, in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.

What is the short course?

20 short parts that walk through the book’s key ideas in slides, each with a quick quiz. The first six slides are free to try on this page.

Where do I get the app?

Astra Trainer is free on the App Store and Google Play. Transcendental Magic is waiting in the app’s library.