Synopsis
The study of numbers from a philosophical, mystical or theosophical viewpoint has been pursued since the dawn of man. Many are familiar with the mapping of the Hebrew alphabet onto numbers to identify words which have an affinity with one another, for interpeting the Scriptures, and most particularly in gaining an understanding of the Kabbalah. Similarly, the importance of numbers has been emphasized by alchemists, astrologers, theurgists and numerologists through the centuries, and it forms a key part of the syllabus of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, among other Orders.
One such school is Martinism, which takes much of its teachings from the extraordinary system of Martines de Pasqually, the founder of the Masonic-Theurgic Order of Elect Cohens of the Universe. His book, 'Treatise on the Reintrgration of Beings', presented a theosophy based on numbers, drawing heavily from the Book of Wisdom: "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight." Saint-Martin continued to emphasize the importance of numbers in his several books, and devoted an entire tract to the subject, 'On Numbers', which was published posthumously. One hundred years later Papus (Dr. Gérard Encausse) assembled a book entitled 'The Science of Numbers', which was also published posthumously following his untimely death.
These two seminal books on the subject are now offered in English for the first time, with over 300 footnotes explaning the sources of the ideas, and assisting the reader to understand the extraordinary world of Martinist numerology and the concept of theological mathematics.
À propos des auteurs
Born in Coruña, Spain on July 13, 1865 to a French chemist and his Spanish wife, Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse, the family moved to Paris in 1859, and he was raised and educated as a Frenchman. Clearly affected by his father's profession, Encausse studied medicine, and after becoming Head of the Laboratory of the Laboratory of Hypnotherapy at La Charité Hospital, in Paris; and in 1894, received his Doctorate in Medicine following his presentation on Philosophical Anatomy. Indeed, throughout his career he used his extensive knowledge of physiology, neurology, physiology and hypnotherapy to underpin his esoteric 'experimentation'. He died on October 25, 1916, when he contracted tuberculosis while working at a field hospital during World War I. He is mainly remember under his nomen esotericum, Papus. A disciple and devotee of Eliphas Lévi', he took the name he took from that esoteric author's book "Nuctemeron of Apollonius of Tyana" the word translates as 'physician'. A lifelong student of the occult, he studied Kabbalah, Tarot, Hermeticism, Magic, Theurgy and Alchemy, before co-founding his own order, the Ordre Kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix in 1888. He also founded the monthly revue l'Initiation, which, with a few quiet period, continues to this day. He claimed Maître Philippe Nizier, the Lyonnais mystic, and the Marquis Joseph Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre among his mentors. His membership expanded to a number of organizations, including the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light, and his crowning achievement, the founding of the Order Martiniste in 1887, and became Grand Hierophant of the Antient & Primitive Rites of Memphis and Mizraïm in 1913, on the death of John Yarker. A critic of organized religion, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Église Gnostique of Jules Doinel, becoming a bishop of that church founded on the Cathar heritage in 1893. His written output was prodigious, both in his many articles for l'Initiation, La Voile d'Isis and other revues and pamphlets; and in his books, which included The Tarot of the Bohemians, The Devil and Occultism, The Science of the Mages, Contemporary Occultism, and this present book.
Louis-Claude was born into minor aristocracy in Amboise, in 1743. His mother had died shortly after his birth, but he formed a close relationship with his stepmother, reflected in his great enjoyment of ladies' company and the close positions some held in his groups, even though he never married. He studied law at his father's request, but finding it unsatisfying south a commission in the army, which, not being involved in war at the time, afforded him a lot of time to read. In 1768, while he was posted to the Regiment in Foix, near Bordeaux, he was introduced to Martines de Pasqually, the founder of an extraordinary variation of the early Scottish Rite, or Rite Ecossaise, called the Order of Elect Priests (or Cohen) or the Universe. What set this Order apart from mainstream Freemasonry at the time was that this Order was based on an extraordinary view of religion expressed in his Treatise of the Reintegration of Beings, and the theurgical or magical practices of his Order. Saint-Martin was enthralled, and soon left his Army position to become Pasqually's permanent secretary. Pasqually left France in 1782 to take up a legacy in Saint Domingo, and his Order fragmented in his absence. Meanwhile, Saint-Martin had become friends with Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, a businessman and prominent Mason in Lyon. While in his company, at the age of 32 in 1775, be published his first work, Of Errors & Truth. While closely reflecting his former Master's Treatise, it was written as a rebuttal of the Encyclopedists and the philosophers of the Enlightenment who, while rejecting the official Church, were also moving towards atheism in seeking all the answers to Science in man and earth alone, exclusion considerations of Higher Powers. He continued his work through his life, publishing a number of influential books - especially among Freemasons and the thinking classes - throughout his lifetime, under the pseudonym of the Unknown Philosopher. As an aristocrat, he was interned during the early day of the French Revolution, but was soon freed when it was realized his books has been put on the Index by the church. He ended his days as a teacher. His teachings - and possible initiations - led to the formation of an Order called Martinism which currently has many adherents of his Christian mystical philosophy around the world. However, so little of his actual books and teachings have made it to the English language that it is time the Anglophone world has an opportunity to experience this seminal Teacher's writings first-hand.
Piers Allfrey Vaughan was born in Brighton, England, and attended Brighton College, as well as Oxford and Cranfield Universities. He was an avid musician, singing in a local church, playing several instruments, conducting and composing; he was also a keen fencer, and enjoyed appearing in local plays. He even appeared as an extra in 'Star Wars' and 'Quadrophenia'!
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