Tuesday, January 10, 2006
MARTINISM AT ASE
Officers for The Association for the Study of Esotericism (ASE), a 501(c)3 non-profit:
President Arthur Versluis (Michigan State University)
Vice President Lee Irwin (College of Charleston)
Director Allison Coudert (UC Davis)
Secretary Melinda Weinstein (Lawrence Technological University)
Treasurer John Richards (West Virginia State College)
On the Advisory Committee:
Christopher Celenza (Johns Hopkins University)
Claire Fanger (Societas Magica)
Lee Irwin (College of Charleston)
Geoffrey McVey (Miami University of Ohio)
Marsha Keith Schuchard (Emory University)
Nicholas Watson (Harvard University)
Melinda Weinstein (Lawrence Technical University)
I trust those academic credentials are sufficient to take these people seriously.
According to their webpage ASE is associated with the discipline of esoteric studies at Michigan State University. The university hosts the journal "Esoterica," and sponsored the first ASE conference in June, 2004. Papers from the Conference are online, among them one by Massimo Introvigne, well-known Catholic researcher on cults. His organization is named CESNUR.
There is another paper online at their website: "The Martinist Legacy" by Siobhán Houston.
Some quotes from the paper:
*** What is Martinism? Serge Caillet summarizes the word as denoting the doctrine and theurgical practices of Martinez de Pasqually,[1] as well as the theosophy[2] of Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin. It also may refer to Jean-Baptiste Willermozís Rectified Scottish Rite, a Masonic system that he established after the death of his teacher, Pasqually. Additionally the term is used to refer to the Martinist Order that Dr. GËrard Encausse founded in the late 1800s and its filial descendents, as well as to those who follow Louis-Claude Saint-Martinís teachings, whether or not they belong to an established Martinist order. ìTo be a Martinist means, above all . . . the adhesion to a tradition which, in its modern formulation, comes from Martinez de Pasqually and from Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, but which is, in fact, much older, since it involves nothing less than the primitive Judeo-Christianity. Every Martinist is a Judeo-Christian, and a theosophistî (Martinism Today).[on] a kabbalistic interpretation of portions of the Bible, primarily Genesis. Briefly outlined, humans are essentially divine in nature and potentiality and ranked above the angelic order in the original scheme of creation; God charged them to administer a peaceful, orderly universe and restrict the wicked. The angelic order, on the other hand, was created to praise Him and to relish a divine life; they did not have the elevated administrative responsibilities conferred upon humankind.
*** A practicing Catholic, Pasqually had his son baptized in the Roman Church and required that members of the Šlus Cohen be Catholic, although a very few exceptions were made for Protestant members (Martinism Today). During his life, however, Pasqually was thought by many to have Jewish Portuguese ancestry and modern scholars have acknowledged that he possessed Marrano roots (Wassterstrom 39).
*** There is speculation that he may have been trying to establish a more pure form of Judaism, based on his understanding of Kabbalah; hence the name of his order, the Šlus Cohen, a French appropriation of the Hebrew word, "cohanim" the temple high priests in the Aaronic lineage of ancient Judaism. John Cole, Grand Master Emeritus of the Ancient Martinist Order, notes that the concept of tikkun is comparable to Pasqually's doctrine of the Repairer (Jesus Christ) and reintegration with the divine plan. He posits a possible link of Pasqually with Jewish kabbalistic schools that may have survived underground after the Spanish Jews were exiled from Spain in 1492 (Cole).
Kabbalistic elements, including number mysticism, figure prominently in Pasqually's complex cosmology. He outlined his tenets in his only book, Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings into their own virtues, powers and qualities, a volume considered a modern theosophical tour de force. (Faivre, Access 73). The mythos underlying Pasqually's concepts is based
Then the plan went awry. The disobedient angels or "perverse beings," as Pasqually calls them, rebelled, resolving to exist in opposition to God. Subsequently, these insubordinate angels seduced humans into their nefarious design.
*** According to one Martinist, Pasqually considered one of the consequences of the Fall to have been a cessation of communication between humans and the Divine. Theurgic [magical invocation] operations were needed, therefore, in order to contact intermediaries who would connect the ritualist with Christ (Doctrines of Martinez de Pasqually).
*** Regaining the Adamic legacy that was abandoned in the Fall, they can resume their rightful cosmological standing. Once this is achieved, humans become dedicated to the reintegration of all beings, including the natural world, helping them return to their divinely ordained roles and conditions. This final state of restoration is similar to the doctrine championed by Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, among others, known as "apokatastasis panton."
*** Restivo also describes a secret grade within the Šlus Cohen, that of RÈau-Croix (not related to Rose-Croix). "In this degree of RÈau-Croix, the Initiate is put in touch with the spiritual planes beyond the physical, through Magical Invocation or Theurgy. He draws the Celestial powers into his and the earth's aura. Auditory and visual manifestations, called "signs", enables the RÈau-Croix to evaluate his own evolution and that of other "operators" and to determine thereby whether he or they have been re-integrated into Their original powers. The grand object of the Order was to obtain the Beatific Vision of the Repairer, Jesus Christ, in response to Magical Evocations (Martinez).
*** On the surface, there seems to be a discrepancy in the fact that [the] Catholic Church prohibited its congregants from Mason involvement and the vast majority of Šlus Cohen, including Pasqually himself, and later Saint-Martin, were Catholic. McIntosh clarified the curious situation; although Clement XII had issued a papal bull opposing Freemasonry in 1738, it was for the most part disregarded in France. Catholic laity and even Catholic priests were active in the French freemasonry movement (18-19).
Freemasonry enjoyed a huge degree of popularity in predominately Catholic France during the latter eighteenth century. The incredible growth of Masonic lodges may be traced in part to "the intellectuals who had initiated the revolt against the Christian Church, were, by the middle of the eighteenth century, already becoming tired of their own skepticism and were looking around for a new faith to replace the one they had abandoned" (McIntosh 18-19). (emphasis mine)
*** For Saint-Martin, following Pasqually's philosophy, human beings were of supreme importance in the divine plan. They possess godlike abilities and are Christs in potentio, but most people fritter away their lives as sleepwalkers, unaware of the latent powers within. Occasionally glints of these faculties may flare up and be glimpsed during times of great stress or great joy but most ignore these episodes (Wilson 320). Saint-Martin cites cowardice as the reason humans refuse to take up their responsibility to work for the restoration of God's plan. [Gurdjieff would also tell them to wake up. So, apparently, would the program "Awakenings" that is being offered to college students in the Austin diocese. - ct]
*** Greatly inspired by B–hme's theosophy, Saint-Martin learned German in the latter part of his life and was the first to translate the theosopher from G–rlitz into French. In 1800 he published the translation of Boehme's Aurora and two years later came out with the translation of Boehme's Three Principles.
*** The occult craze manifested in the formation of esoteric sects as well as an explosion of books on magic, sorcery, mysticism, Kabbalah, alchemy and Satanism. The leading occult writer of the time, Eliphas LÈvi, whose given name was Alphonse Charles [sic] Constant, had great success with his renowned occult tomes, Histoire de la magie ("History of Magic") and Dogma et ritual de la haute magie ("Dogma and Ritual of High Magic"). Formerly a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church, he came in contact with Martinism and became an avid supporter of Saint-Martinís philosophy, though LÈvi remained a devoted Catholic throughout his life (Smoley 36).
*** LíOrdre Martiniste ("The Martinist Order") whose official name was LíOrdre des SupËrieurs Inconnus ("Order of the Unknown Superiors"), consisted initially of a twelve-member "Supreme Council" with Papus as Grand Master and President (Laurant 285). The infamous occultists Josephin PÈladan and de Guaita were also original members of the tribunal. As the order grew, it attracted numerous occultists and visionaries, including RenÈ GuÈnon, who was affiliated with the Martinist Order between 1906 and 1912 (Wasserstrom 44).
*** In his correspondence, Saint-Martin alludes to the value that a physically transmitted initiation might be valuable; ultimately his position on initiation was specific:
"The only initiation which I preach and seek with all the ardour of my soul is that by which we may enter into the heart of God and make God's heart enter into us, there to form an indissoluble marriage, which will make us the friend, brother, and spouse of our Divine Redeemer. There is no other mystery to arrive at this holy initiation than to go more and more down into the depth of our being . . ." (Waite, Unknown 254).
*** Saint-Martin may have given them an informal initiation, possibly involving a transmission through laying on of hands...
*** Ralph Lewis, who was the Grandmaster of the Traditional Martinist Order in the United States, amalgamated this group within the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross (AMORC) organization, where it continues to this day.
*** Restivo trains RCMO students in Stoic and Neoplatonic philosophy and encourages them to employ spiritual and meditation practices that resonant [sic] with them as individuals rather than following a set program. Group work is important in that it is a forum for sharing experiences, socialization, and interacting with teaching exemplars. Initiation by laying on of hands, the traditional Martinism rite de passage, is awarded in person at the end of the formal curriculum (Restivo, Introduction).
*** "[C]an one link an initiatic path together with a religious--not to say an ecclesiastical--practice? Martines de Pasqually prescribed and recommended the Mass to his disciples. There was even an oath which required that the Elus CoÎns belong to the Roman Catholic Church . . . Today, I think that we must still ask ourselves whether initiatic paths, all by themselves, are enough for the seekers, or whether it is necessary to belong to the Church, whatever form it may take--or to a Church, let's say. That is another question, but it must at least be asked."
=============================
*** CCC 2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others -- even if this were for the sake of restoring their health -- are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.
=================
From the Douay Rheims:
*** You shall not eat with blood. You shall not divine nor observe dreams Leviticus 19:26
*** Go not aside after wizards, neither ask any thing of soothsayers, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:31
*** When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations. Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard, nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or fortune-tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming. Deuteronomy 18:9-12
*** And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain girl, possessed with a pythonical spirit, met us, who brought her masters much gain by divining. The same, following Paul and us, cried out, saying: These men are the servants of the most high God, who announce to you the way to salvation. And this she did many days. But Paul being grieved, turned, and said to the spirit: I command the, in the name of Jesus Christ, to go out of her. And he went out the same hour. Acts 16:16-18
