Eliphas Levi ~ Magic, Mysteries & Man

Noting that transiting Neptune is still closely conjunct my natal Jupiter in Pisces, I decided I should be writing about something, or someone, mystical and magical. How about Eliphas Levi? I didn't find any natal chart for him online - I should remedy that, at least!

Who was he then?

His birth name was Alphonse Louis Constant - but he is better known by his pseudonym Eliphas Levi. He was born on February 8, 1810, in Paris, son of a shoemaker. He died in Paris on 31 May 1875. He studied for the priesthood before becoming a writer, mystic, magician, and prominent name in that foggy realm . He had links to various characters of his time, famous within their own circles: socialist and feminist Flora Tristan; fellow mystic M. Ganneau, "messianic mathematician" Jozef Maria Hoëhne-Wronski; British novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton; and French sculptress Marie-Noémi Cadiot. He married Cadiot in 1846. He wrote two books on the magical arts, they were later combined and translated into English by Arthur Edward Waite in 1896 and titled Transcendental Magic, its Doctrine and Ritual. Several more books followed, and in the prevailing atmosphere of the times were well received.

Wikipedia indicates that it was Levi who incorporated the Tarot into contemporary practice. He influenced other mystics and magicians of his time and later on, including Aleister Crowley. He was also originator of a famous "Sabbatic Goat" image and the idea that a pentagram pointing upwards represents good, while one pointing downwards represents evil. See HERE.

Natal chart of Eliphas Levi, Paris, France on 8 February 1810; it's set for 12 noon as no time of birth is available.

First thing I noticed was that Levi had no planet in an Earth sign (we can't know whether his rising sign was in Earth without a birth time). The possible absence of Earth translates to a lack of any "feet on the ground" feel in his nature; no small voice at the back of his mind whispering : "but are you sure that's not pure imagination and fantasy?" Manly P. Hall, another mystical character, born some 90 years later, did have a solid Capricorn anchor to his chart, along with a comparable mix of Aquarius and Pisces to that of Levi. I suppose good helpings of Aquarius and Pisces could be considered as "usual suspects" when considering magically mysterious characters: Aquarius' inquiring Airy mind mixed with Pisces' deep, dreamy creativity.

Levi had Neptune conjunct Saturn, so Pisces modern ruler was conjoined with his Aquarius Sun's traditional ruler! He also had his Sun's modern ruler Uranus in Pluto-ruled Scorpio, in harmonious trine to his Pluto/Mars conjunction in Pisces. This might be a pointer to his draw towards "the dark side".

Aries Moon doesn't strike quite the right note. Moon would have been in Aries, whatever Levi's time of birth. Moon could well have been conjunct Jupiter though; Jupiter relates to religion and philosophy - maybe a reflection of his early training for the priesthood? Another reflection of that can be seen in his Sagittarius (ruled by Jupiter) conjunction of Saturn/Neptune.


The illustration which led me to write this post appears in an old book of mine; to save scanning the image from the book I found a version of the illustration on line, this one in colour. My book states that the drawing was produced for Manly P. Hall, astrologer and metaphysician (see my post on him and his natal chart HERE)

 The Grand Man of the Zohar

Text beneath the black and white illustration my book, Best of the Illustrated National Astrological Journal 1933-35

Eliphas Levi thus describes the Great Prototypal Man: “That synthesis of the word, formulated by the human figure, ascended slowly and emerged from the water, like the sun in its rising. When the eyes appeared, light was made; when the mouth was manifested, there was the creation of spirits and the word passed into expression. The entire head was revealed, and this completed the first day of creation. The shoulders, the arms, the breast arose, and thereupon work began. With one hand the Divine Image put back the sea, while with the other it raised up continents and mountains. The Image grew and grew; the generative organs appeared, and all beings began to increase and multiply. The form stood at length erect, having one foot upon the earth and one upon the waters. Beholding itself at full length in the ocean of creation, it breathed on its own reflection and called its likeness into life. It said: Let us make man—and thus man was made. There is nothing so beautiful in the masterpiece of any poet as this vision of creation accomplished by the prototype of humanity. Hereby is man but the shadow of a shadow, and yet he is the image of divine power. He also can stretch forth his hands from East to West; to him is the earth given as a dominion. Such is Adam Kadmon, the primordial Adam of the Kabalists. Such is the sense in which he is depicted as a giant; and this is why Swedenborg, haunted in his dreams by reminiscences of the Kabalah, says that entire creation is only a titanic man and that we are made in the image of the universe.” (From The History of Magic)

And from HERE:

The symbol of Primordial Man, the first being to emerge with the creation of the cosmos is common to a number of religious and philosophical traditions. The Upanishads describe a primal man composed of the very elements which were to become the world. According to the Upanishads this "gigantic divine being" is both infinitely far and deposited near the innermost recesses of the human heart. Indeed, in the Hindu tradition, the Primordial Man is identified both with the entire Universe and the soul or essence of all things.

Interestingly, a similar image is found in Plutarch who relates that the entirety of the heavens is arranged in the form of a macroanthropos, a colossal human being who is conceived as a model for the human world. For Plutarch, the sun is at the heart of this being and the moon, the sun¹s androgynous messenger, is located in between the heart and belly.

The Primordial Man is also an important symbol in Gnosticism. The Gnostics inferred from the verse in Genesis "Let us make man in our own image" that the first earthly man was created on the model of a cosmic Adam on high.

I rather fancy an idea that, originally, before the Big Bang, there was one ginormous humanoid creature who disseminated - either accidentally or on purpose - to become us and our universe. Well...it's as believable as anything else on offer!