The Paradoxes of the Highest Science

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Paradoxes of the Highest Science by Éliphas Lévi, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Éliphas Lévi ISBN: 9781465578716
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Éliphas Lévi
ISBN: 9781465578716
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
MANY paths lead to the mountain-top, and many and diverse are the rifts in the Veil, through which glimpses may be obtained of the secret things of the Universe. The Abbé Louis Constant, better known by his nom de plume of ÉLIPHAS LÉVI, was doubtless a seer; but, though his studies were by no means confined to this, he saw only through the medium of the kabala, the perfect sense of which is, now-a-days, hidden from all mere kabalists, and his visions were consequently always imperfect and often much distorted and confused. Moreover, he was for a considerable portion of his career a Roman Catholic priest, and as such had to keep terms, to a certain extent, with his church, and even later, when he was unfrocked, he hesitated to shock the prejudices of the public, and never succeeded in even wholly freeing himself from the bias of his early clerical training. Consequently he not only erred at times in good faith, not only constantly wrote ambiguously to avoid a direct collision with his ecclesiastical chiefs or current creeds, but he not unfrequently put forward Dogmas, which, taken in their obvious straightforward meanings, he certainly did not believe--nay, I may say, certainly knew to be false. It is quite true that, in many of these latter cases, an undercurrent of irony may be discerned by those who know the truth, and that in all the enlightened can sufficiently read between the lines to avoid misconceptions. But these defects, the ineradicable bias of his early training, the very narrow standpoint from which he regarded occultism, and the limitations to free expression imposed on him by his position and temperament, seriously detract from the value of all Éliphas Lévi's writings.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
MANY paths lead to the mountain-top, and many and diverse are the rifts in the Veil, through which glimpses may be obtained of the secret things of the Universe. The Abbé Louis Constant, better known by his nom de plume of ÉLIPHAS LÉVI, was doubtless a seer; but, though his studies were by no means confined to this, he saw only through the medium of the kabala, the perfect sense of which is, now-a-days, hidden from all mere kabalists, and his visions were consequently always imperfect and often much distorted and confused. Moreover, he was for a considerable portion of his career a Roman Catholic priest, and as such had to keep terms, to a certain extent, with his church, and even later, when he was unfrocked, he hesitated to shock the prejudices of the public, and never succeeded in even wholly freeing himself from the bias of his early clerical training. Consequently he not only erred at times in good faith, not only constantly wrote ambiguously to avoid a direct collision with his ecclesiastical chiefs or current creeds, but he not unfrequently put forward Dogmas, which, taken in their obvious straightforward meanings, he certainly did not believe--nay, I may say, certainly knew to be false. It is quite true that, in many of these latter cases, an undercurrent of irony may be discerned by those who know the truth, and that in all the enlightened can sufficiently read between the lines to avoid misconceptions. But these defects, the ineradicable bias of his early training, the very narrow standpoint from which he regarded occultism, and the limitations to free expression imposed on him by his position and temperament, seriously detract from the value of all Éliphas Lévi's writings.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book The Hindu Book of Astrology: Or Yogic Knowledge of the Stars and Planetary Forces and How to Control Them to Our Advantage by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book The Seat of Empire by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Poison Romance and Poison Mysteries by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919 by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Joseph Smith as Scientist: A Contribution to Mormon Philosophy by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book My First Book: The Experiences of Various Authors by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book The Story of My Life, Volumes 4-6 by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book A Book of German Lyrics by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Plutarch's Morals by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book The Man in Ratcatcher and Other Stories by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Suicida by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Berlin and Sans-Souci; Or Frederick the Great and His Friends by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Le Blé Qui Lève by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book Foes by Éliphas Lévi
Cover of the book English Embroidered Bookbindings by Éliphas Lévi
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy