Encyclopedia Of Occult Scienses Vol. I Astrology

INTRODUCTION

I

THE author of this Encyclopaedia has begged me to tell the reader at the very start of the Introduction which he has been good enough to ask of me, that it does not constitute a complete treatise of the sciences called Occult (this would require ten volumes at the least), nor will it be found to be new to the initiated. It is a popular compendium having for its main object the collection in one volume, easy to read and convenient to consult, of the facts and theories in the numerous special treatises which relate to each of these sciences.

It is because his work has been that of popularising and not of creating (according to his account at least) that the author has desired to remain anonymous, and straightway I congratulate him on having so well succeeded with this vade-mecum which the scholar, the woman of the world, the man in the street, the priest and the little maidservant will have on their table, like a dictionary, or a cookery book—a perfect secretary in fact. The task which I have before me is at once less difficult and more delicate. Although in more than one passage our anonymous author shews originality, expresses his opinion, discusses, and sometimes sums up, nevertheless he asks me to explain beforehand what in fact the occult sciences are, to state their connection with one another, to relate briefly their general history, to try to explain them shortly, and, finally, to shew their usefulness.

This then is what I propose to attempt in a few pages—to shew why these sciences, which are no longer accursed and which less and less remain " occult,’’ form a whole which is venerable owing to its antiquity, curious owing to its tradition, solid owing to the idea which binds it, disturbing owing to its methods, marvellously interesting owing to its discoveries ; why above all these too much disdained sciences form an indispensable complement for the so-called official sciences which they strengthen in parts and in parts contradict; why they rise again vigorously after a long sleep ; why they provide thinking people with an excellent foundation for the conduct of life ; and why, finally, they enable a road to be found to a new kind of belief which is free from those dogmas, rites and puerilities which drove us away from the worn-out religions ; and why they bring a consoling serenity to souls tormented by the riddle of Fate and the aftermath of Death.

II

Before carrying out, to the extent of my modest knowledge and my humble reflections, this perhaps ambitious plan, I should like first of all to draw attention to the immense interest of the occult sciences and of the Occultism which is their synthesis, for is it not my duty, before speaking of them, to attract to them a notice which is refused to them by many through simple ignorance of their object and of their justification ? How many in fact mock at Astrology, Alchemy, Taroc or Chiromancy, even at Graphology which is surely as easy to understand as it is undeniable in its results 1 To how many does not the word Occultism suggest solely ideas of witchcraft or charlatanism, of secret or forbidden practices, or a return to Paganism, or even of obscure and dreaded Satanism 1

Ignorance, yes ; whence actually disdain, mockery, fear, sometimes indignation. But, whether Occultism loses itself in the labyrinths of Magic, or concerns itself with Spiritualism, it is at bottom only the study of natural phenomena which are, however, in the main understood and explained (although Physiognomony and Graphology are within the reach of all) only by our hyperphysical senses, by what Paracelsus in one word called the sixth sense. The occult sciences quite simply explore, farther than is usually done, the immense realm of the Visible and the Invisible, still so rich in mysteries. And Occultism sums up and binds into one whole this super-science traduced by many learned men or honest educated people because it upsets those who are content with University manuals, or because it has often been exploited by tricksters and charlatans.

But was it Christ’s fault that the Temple was defiled by traders ? Is it the fault of the chemist if a scamp becomes a poisoner ? Is it the fault of Occultism if there are false horoscopes and cheating fortunetellers ? One of the merits of the present book, I hasten to point out, is that it carefully distinguishes between the true, the possible, and the more or less magic trickeries quoted simply by way of reference. After having read it I think the distinguo necessary between arguments and clap-trap will have been established.

First of all then let us know what Occultism really is. When we know that we may still keep on the defensive, and even resist its teaching, for Criticism insists on its rights, and Intelligence varies according to temperament; but we no longer smile. And that is one point gained.

A second point. Occultism is worth studying. Not only is it not childishness reduced to formulae, but it is a real science which has been explored by hundreds of great minds, true scholars, lucid and cultured seekers, conscientious experimenters, serious writers. I am   anxious to reassure the reader, in this connection, as to the reliability of the information of this encyclopaedia, which is not a mere compilation consisting of the compressing of a dozen or so of old books bought second-hand. I have seen the piles—and I may say the hundreds— of volumes consulted by the author and signed by the most respected and best known names in this particular Pantheon: Papus, L6on Denis, Eliphas L£vi, Jollivet-Castelot, Gabriel Delanne, de Rochas, Myers, Annie Besant, Barlet, Chouasnard, Pierre Piobb, Johanny Bricaut, Ely Star, Desbarolles, Durville, Rem, Gastin, Jagot—I omit some and I forget many and these not the least important. References also load up the foot of more than one page. And I make the following observation :—

There is a catalogue by Albert Caillet, called Bibliographical Manual of Psychical and Occult Sciences, in three volumes, containing each more than six hundred pages of two columns, and which contains only the title and a summary of the subject matter of the books published on these questions. It bears date, I believe, of 1912, and names about twelve thousand volumes. To-day this number must be nearing twenty thousand ; it is surely a sign of a preoccupation from which we can at least draw the conclusion that if such subjects had no intellectual and even scientific interest, they would be allowed to fall into forgetfulness (whereas they arouse an increasing interest) at a period when less and less time is spent on simple curiosity.

And if I add that hundreds of well known men—doctors, eminent writers, scholars, professors—have pledged their intellectual honour by signing the greater part of these articles, it will be agreed, I am sure, that Occultism—the renascence of which during the last half-century remains undeniable—has in fact entered for good and all into our spiritual field.

It has entered this field so thoroughly that it has established a connection with official science on more than one side. The University has not yet dared—and L£on Denis strongly complains of it—to open to students the field of high Hermetic sciences. But already experimental psychism shows increasingly the work of men whose signatures are followed by learned titles and degrees. Already an International Metapsychical Institute, founded by Dr. Gelay, at present under the direction of Dr. Osty, has almost the standing of an Academy.[1]  Already the Sorbonne and many serious halls are open to lectures on sciences long believed to be more or less demoniac.

The door is opening. . . . The whole of Occultism will one day pass through.

III

It will pass through because, old as the World and sure to last as long, it renews itself from generation to generation ; it adapts itself; it is alive. Therefore it will live, whenas orthodoxies rebellious of rejuvenation risk death. We will now cast a glance at its history. It