New publications 2018

The monstrous Satan languishing in Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell and Milton’s disgraced rebel angel may be among the most familiar forms given to Lucifer in Western culture, but from the eighteenth century onwards, a more Promethean figure emerged, whom many Romantic poets, artists and authors sought to redeem. The phenomenon of “Literary” or “Romantic Satanism” was the product of sociocultural ferment throughout the “long eighteenth century” and the cultural impact of the French revolution. This Promethean Lucifer lay at the heart of much of the thought of visionary occult author Joséphin Péladan (1858-1918), who reinterpreted Scripture, conflating it with Platonic thought and ancient theogonies to produce his own syncretic cosmology in which it is the task of humanity to redeem and liberate a slandered and misunderstood Light-bringer along with his offspring. While very much in the spirit of his time, Péladan’s perspective clearly diverges from the Romantic Satanism and the heroic, revolutionary Lucifer of many of his contemporaries. He acknowledges that Lucifer and his angels sinned, but considers it to have been an error “made out of love,” going so far as to deny the existence of evil itself. He could fathom neither the concept of original sin as an immutable curse, nor the eternal condemnation of Satan or mankind. This preoccupation is central to his work, resting on his conviction that the true cause of the Fall was the misguided love of the creator-angels for their human creations. Believing that the great thinkers and artists of history were descendants of the fallen angels, Péladan’s approach is one of heartfelt Christian compassion and faith in liberation through repentance, drawing on diverse sources including apocryphal Scripture and Aeschylean drama to flesh out his theory. This paper untangles the complex, and often misperceived web of Péladan’s complex reimagining of a Promethean Lucifer as forefather of the arts and, by extension, his influence on the artists of the Salons de la Rose + Croix as well as other authors and occultists of his time.

 Paris 1900 is a collection of eight essays about different relevant cultural manifestations in the City of Light in the period approximately between 1880 and 1920. That short period of time illuminated novelties such as cinema, saw the birth of the Art Nouveau, the works of Auguste Rodin and produced spectacular displays thanks to the Universal Exhibition. Music is also present, with Satie and Wagner. And, of course, fashion. We also explore a relevant character in the dissemination of symbolist art, Joséphin Péladan, a Rosicrucian, dramatist and lover of art. This book is born from the first edition of the seminar series”A look at the end of the century” organized by the Autonomous University of Madrid and Heresy and Beauty Culture. This series began with the aim of highlighting the cities that were relevant at the end of the century and of course, the first of its milestones was the city of Paris. For this, we have professors from various Spanish universities as well as a foreign speaker. The course closed with a session at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, where Professor Guillermo Solana presented us with a lecture on Renoir and a visit to the artist’s exhibition that took place in the museum.

Joséphin Péladan (Sâr Merodack, 1858-1918) was a key figure in the inception and development of French Symbolism. Responding to multiple cultural shifts experienced by fin-de-siècle French society, he authored over a hundred novels and monographs in an attempt to bring about the spiritual regeneration of society through mythopoetic art underpinned by esoteric thought. Based on an eclectic esoteric cosmology, expressed through art, literature, and philosophical monographs, his vast, yet coherent oeuvre was intended to bring this call for regeneration to as wide an audience as possible, and thus to spark a social renaissance. Péladan’s intellectual pattern is embedded within the ideas formed at the intersections of Illuminism, Romanticism, and the anti-philosophe movement, drawing on numerous aspects of esoteric thought. The post-Enlightenment quest for a new understanding of human origins and history, informed by allegorical mythography and philosophical historiography coalesce in his oeuvre, which can also be shown to represent the act of stepping over the threshold of Modernism in response to the challenges of his time. Péladan’s originality lies in the synthesis and its highly individual—and individualistic—nature. However, vilified by his contemporaries, Péladan’s work slipped into oblivion. Extant scholarly accounts of his life and work have tended to focus on his eccentricity or decontextualised elements of his oeuvre. Until recently, scholarly studies had neither explored the content of his work, nor its cultural context and intellectual precedents, resulting in the perpetuation of misconceptions regarding his esoteric philosophy, its role in his work, and its relationship to the wider history of ideas within his historical context. Péladan’s output represents possibly the largest single body of “literary esotericism,” which is to say, the specific category of literature as an esoteric symbol and vehicle of esoteric praxis. Literary esotericism has never been fully mapped as a genre, since overtly occult works are frequently dismissed as insignificant, and those with more covert references are treated in more conventional ways. Literary studies of works influenced by esotericism have rarely incorporated the contextual material available from the field of Esoteric Studies, nor paid due attention to matters of historical context, definition and terminology, so that literary scholars dealing with notions of occultism, esotericism, and magic do not always grasp their nuances and significance. Simultaneously, the methodological toolboxes of historiography and sociology of religion may lack the specialised methodologies and vocabulary to approach literary material effectively. This has led to various lacunae in the understanding of many bodies of work, and in the case of Péladan, to his neglect and the perpetuation of severe misinterpretations. Nonetheless, sufficient contextualisation and the judicious use of interdisciplinary approaches may provide a foundation for the decipherment of such texts. In this chapter, following a brief survey of Péladan’s life and work, I highlight their points of interest alongside the methodological problems of working with such material from monodisciplinary perspectives. Following a justification of the term “literary esotericism” in the context of Modernist literature, I propose both possible ways forward in terms of methodology, as well as specific examples of potential future research in relation to Péladan that may hold import for the wider field.

Péladan Centenary Collection: Les Bijoux de Rose+Croix: a collection of fifteen art prints from the original coloured drawings and accompanying historical booklet, both by Sasha Chaitow PhD.Limited to 200 silk and black kidskin portfolios with fifteen giclee art prints from the ‘Les bijoux de Rose+Croix’ collection printed on superior quality 300gsm buttermilk laid paper.
Sasha Chaitow has rendered these designs freehand, adding her own design, colour, and textural elements, whilst staying true to the symbolic and aesthetic qualities of the originals. First done in pen and reproduction antique inks on handmade deckle paper, the original miniature paintings were then tipped in hand-marbled paper and mounted on wood. The original finished pieces were sealed with several coats of varnish to produce an enamel-like effect that nonetheless retained the paper texture. The finished pieces resembled jewels through their vibrant colouring, texture and weight.

This collection of high-quality prints includes 15 works from the “Bijoux” series, produced onto 300gsm buttermilk laid paper especially to mark the centenary.

Accompanying historical and biographical booklet by Sasha Chaitow, printed onto laid buttermilk paper, hand sewn with purple ribbon to match the binding of the portfolio.