Joséphin Péladan (28 March 1858 in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

– 27 June 1918 in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

) was a French novelist and

Martinist Martinism is a form of Christian mysticism and esoteric Christianity concerned with the fall of the first man, his state of material privation from his divine source, and the process of his return, called 'Reintegration'. As a mystical traditio ...

. His father was a journalist who had written on prophecies, and professed a philosophic-occult Catholicism. He established the

Salon de la Rose + Croix Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

for painters, writers, and musicians sharing his artistic ideals, the Symbolists in particular.

Biography

Péladan was born into a Lyon family that was devoutly Roman Catholic. He studied at Jesuit colleges at

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

and

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

. After he failed his baccalaureat, Péladan moved to Paris and became a literary and art critic. His older brother Adrien studied alchemy and occultism as well.

Career

In 1882 Lucie-Smith, Edward. (1972) ''Symbolist Art''. London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, p. 109. he came to Paris where Arsene Houssaye gave him a job on his artistic review, ''L'Artiste''. In 1884 he published his first novel, ''Le vice suprême'', which recommended the salvation of man through occult magic of the ancient East.Rudorff, Raymond, ''The Belle Epoque - Paris in the Nineties'', Saturday Review Press, New York, 1972. (pp. 185-195). His novel was an instant success with the French public, which was experiencing a revived interest in spirituality and mysticism. The novel went through several printings. He claimed that a

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

ian king left the title of "Sâr" to his family. Péladan's ''Le vice suprême'' was interwoven with

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

and

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

themes. After reading Péladan's novel, the French poet Stanislas de Guaita became interested in occultism. In Paris, De Guaita and Péladan became acquainted, and in 1884, the two decided to try to rebuild the medieval secret society, the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. Péladan was influenced by the teachings of

Eliphas Lévi Eliphaz is one of Esau's sons in the Bible. Eliphaz or Eliphas is also the given name of: * Eliphaz (Job), another person in the Bible * Eliphaz Dow (1705-1755), the first male executed in New Hampshire, for murder * Eliphaz Fay (1797–1854), ...

. De Guaita and Péladan recruited

Gérard Encausse Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (July 13, 1865 – 25 October 1916), whose esoteric pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order. Early li ...

to help rebuild the brotherhood. Encausse, who went by the pseudonym "Papus", was a Spanish-born French physician and occultist who had written books on

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

and the

Tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

. In 1888, De Guaita founded the ''

Cabalistic Order of the Rosicrucian The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross (french: Ordre kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix – O.K.R.C.) was France's first ever occult society, established by Stanislas de Guaita and Joséphin Péladan in 1888. Its structure and teaching had simila ...

''. The Rosicrucian Order is a legendary and secretive Order that was first publicly documented in the early 17th century. Guaita's Rosicrucian Order provided training in the

, an esoteric form of Jewish mysticism, which attempts to reveal hidden mystical insights in the Hebrew

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and divine nature. The order also conducted examinations and provided university degrees on Kabbalah topics. De Guaita had a large private library of books on metaphysical issues, magic, and the "hidden sciences." He was nicknamed the "Prince of the Rosicrucians" by his contemporaries for his broad learning on Rosicrucian issues. By the 1890s, De Guaita, Papus and Péladan's collaboration became increasingly strained by disagreements over strategy and doctrines. De Guaita and Papus lost the support of Péladan, who left to start a competing order. In June 1890, Péladan left the Martinist Order and created a quasi-Catholic

Ordre du Temple de la Rose + Croix A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

. Péladan was the leader of the new order, and he took the titles of "Imperator" and "Super Magician".

Ordre du Temple de la Rose + Croix and the Salon de la Rose + Croix

The

inspired Péladan to organise an outlet for his beliefs concerning the role of spirituality and idealism in art. As an art critic, Péladan had been vocal in critiquing the dominant trends in French art, which included officially sanctioned styles promoted by the academy, and the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. This resulted in a series of six exhibits of

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

artists and associated French avant-garde painters, writers, and musicians, as the

. The Salon was enormously popular with the press and public, but failed to succeed in revolutionising French art, as Péladan had hoped.

Publications

Marcellin Desboutin - Portrait du Sâr Mérodack Joséphin Péladan

* ''Le Vice suprême'', novel, 1884 * ''Curieuse'', 1885 * ''Femmes honnêtes!'', 1885 * ''L'Initiation sentimentale'', 1887 * ''Istar'', 1888 * ''A coeur perdu'', 1888 * ''Coeur en peine'', 1890 * ''Comment on devient mage'', 1891 * ''L'androgyne'', 1891 * ''La gynandre'', 1891 * ''La Typhonia'', 1892 * ''Le panthée'', 1892 * ''La queste du Graal - proses lyriques de l'éthopée - la décadence latine''; published "au salon de la Rose+Croix" (1892) * ''Comment on devient fée'', 1893 * ''Le théâtre complet de Wagner: les XI opéras scène par scène avec notes biographiques et critiques'', 1894 * ''L'art idéaliste et mystique: doctrine de l'ordre et du salon annuel des Rose + Croix '', 1894 * ''Babylone'', tragedy, 1895 * ''Mélusine'', 1895 * ''Le dernier Bourbon'', tragedy, 1895 * ''Le livre du sceptre: politics, 1895 * ''La Prométhéide : trilogie d'Eschyle en quatre tableaux'', 1895 * ''Le Prince de Byzance'', tragedy, 1896 * ''Le prochain conclave; instructions aux cardinaux'',

897 __NOTOC__ Year 897 ( DCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – King Lambert II travels to Rome with his mother, Queen Agelt ...

* ''Œdipe et le Sphinx'', tragedy in prose, 1903 * ''Sémiramis'', tragédie en prose,

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

* ''La Dernière Leçon de Léonard de Vinci'', essay, 1904 * ''La Clé de Rabelais'', 1905 * ''De Parsifal à don Quichotte'', essay, 1906 * ''La Doctrine de Dante'', 1908 * ''La philosophie de Léonard de Vinci d'après ses manuscrits'', essay, 1910 (rééd. Stalker, 2007) * ''De l'Androgyne. Théorie plastique'', essay 1910

References

External links