Lucie Anne Grange ( Poujoulat; 1839 - 31 December 1908) was a French

medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

and feminist

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

, her mystic name being Habimélah. She was the founder and editor of a monthly spiritualist journal, ''La Lumière''.

Biography

Lucie Poujoulat was born in 1839, in

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

. During the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

, she was a Republican and her husband, Adolphe Grange, was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. Both joined the

spiritist Spiritism may refer to: Religion * Espiritismo, a Latin American and Caribbean belief that evolved and less evolved spirits can affect health, luck and other aspects of human life * Kardecist spiritism, a new religious movement established in m ...

movement in 1876, and in 1882, founded the monthly paper, ''La Lumière'', a type of Republican spiritist publication. Advertised as a journal set on covering spiritualism in all its aspects, it boasted that highly competent writers contributed to its pages. Readers could not become subscribers but could join a "knighthood" offering free subscriptions to the publication for those who were not able to pay. She was part of the governing body of the "Societe de Librairie Spirte". Grange also wrote articles for ''La Lumière'', such as "Dathan de Saint-Cyr, Publiciste, Poète, Explorateur." (February, 1904). After she was widowed in April 1886, Grange became a medium and created her own movement, a kind of religion for the communion of love based on fluidic energy. She then declared herself a prophet and affirmed that

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

, and

Saint John Saint John or St. John usually refers to either John the Baptist or John the Apostle. Saint John or St. John may also refer to: People Saints * John the Baptist ( – ), preacher, ascetic, and baptizer of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelis ...

had called her "Lumière" (Light) and charged her with guiding men using the mystic name, "Habimelah", or shortened to "Hab". Grange saw the poet

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

very distinctly, and published this account in the 25 September 1884 issue of her magazine:—"Virgil, crowned with laurels. A strong face, rather long, prominent nose with a lump on one side, dark grey eyes, dark brown hair. He is clothed in a long robe. Virgil has the appearance of a strong healthy man. As he appeared to me he repeated the Latin line: 'Tu Marcellus eris'." She believed in the coming of a "new

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

" responsible for restoring her primitive androgenism to God, and she campaigned for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

. She died 31 December 1908, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grange, Lucie 1839 births 1908 deaths 19th-century French newspaper founders 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French women writers People from Saint-Étienne French spiritual mediums Prophets Kardecist spiritism Women founders French newspaper editors French women newspaper editors Women mystics