Another V Bros / Laura Gaie translation of an esoteric classic. This time the famous Traité Élémentaire de Science Occult of Gérard Encause (1865-1916), better known under the name “Papus”.
The Elementary Treatise is a mildly interesting book. In some parts Papus actually does explain “occult science”, but there are also parts in which he apparently only wants to display his knowledge (see how many esoteric authors I can name).
Papus writes about esotericism in the past, treats subjects such as Alchemy, Hermetism and Kabbalah. This is quite interesting, but halfway the book becomes more of a history of which there have been so many. The weirdest theories are presented and Papus keeps hammering on the fact that his thinking holds the middle between science and esotericism. He was obviously impressed by the new Theosophical movement that arose in his day.
The book is partly surprisingly interesting and partly surprisingly dull.
Again the book appears to have been translated automatically. There is a “glossary” at the end of Sédir and the author and some words are much different in English than they are in French, but this piece of text has just been translated, so you find English words under the wrong letter-lemet.
Anyway, thank you Laura Gaie for finally making such classic French texts available to a wider audience.
2024 V Bros, isbn 2487364564
