← Home
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) · 28 of 123 · tr. A.E. Waite

4. The Conjuration Of The Fourf

But we live in a century when no one has the courage to confess the wonders that he has witnessed, and did anyone say: “I have myself beheld or performed the things which I am describing,” he would be answered: “You are diverting yourself at our expense, or otherwise you are ill.” It is far better to be silent and to act. The metals which correspond to the four elementary forms are gold and silver for the air, mercury for water, iron and copper for fire, lead for earth. Talismans are composed from these, relative to the forces which they signify and to the effects which it is designed to obtain from them. Divination by the four elementary forms, respectively known as aeromancy, hydromancy, pyromancy and geomancy, is performed after various manners, which all depend on the will and the TRANSLUCID or imagination of the operator. In fact, the four elements are only instruments which assist second sight. Now, second sight is the faculty of seeing in the Astral Light, and it is as natural as the first or sensible and ordinary sight, but it can operate only by abstraction of the senses. Somnambulists and ecstatics enjoy second sight naturally, but this sight is more lucid when the abstraction is more complete. Abstraction is produced by astral intoxication, that is, by an excess of light which completely saturates, and hence stupefies, the nervous system. Sanguine temperaments are disposed to Aeromancy, the bilious to pyromancy, the phlegmatic to hydromancy and the melancholic to geomancy. Aeromancy is confirmed by oneiromancy, or divination by dreams; pyromancy is supplemented by magnetism; hydromancy by crystallomancy; and geomancy by cartomancy. These are transpositions and complements of methods. But divination, however operated, is dangerous, or to say the least useless, for it disheartens will, as a consequence impedes liberty and tires the nervous system.
Themes
◆Active Contemplationpraxis

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

Divination is stated to depend on the 'will and the TRANSLUCID or imagination,' indicating a contemplative practice using symbolic thought.

All passages →
◆Astral Lightcosmology

The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.

The 'Astral Light' is described as a medium of vision accessed through excess light, functioning as a luminous quality enabling higher perception. [Converted from divine_light reject to astral_light accept per operator decision 2026-07-15: chunk substantively expresses the Astral Light doctrine.]

All passages →
◆Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The passage explicitly details how metals correspond to elementary forms and how talismans are composed relative to these forces, embodying the Hermetic axiom of cosmic reflection.

All passages →
◆Divine Intoxicationpraxis

Ecstatic, non-rational receptivity to the divine figured as drunkenness — Plato's symposium wine, Rumi's sukr, Eckhart's 'sober drunkenness'; the passive/receptive metaphor for divine encounter, distinct from divine_madness's active possessing rapture.

The text explicitly defines abstraction as being produced by 'astral intoxication,' described as an excess of light that saturates and stupefies the nervous system.

All passages →
◆Meditationpraxis

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

The practice of 'abstraction of the senses' to achieve second sight functions as a disciplined inward attention or trance state.

All passages →
Related passages · 2 parallels · 1 contrast
◆renaissance_hermeticism|Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LVII — Of Geomancy, Hydromancy, Aeromancy, and Pyromancy, Four Divinations of Elements|Chapter LVII, Section 1a
“CHAPTER LVII. Of Geomancy, Hydromancy, Aeromancy, and Pyromancy, Four Divinations of Elements . Moreover , the Elements themselves teach us fatal events; whence those four famous kinds of divinations, Geomancy, Hydromancy, Aeromancy, and…”
Both passages discuss the four elemental forms of divination (aeromancy, hydromancy, pyromancy, and geomancy) and their respective methods and dangers. They share a conceptual framework around the use of these elements in divination practices, indicating a genuine parallel.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations|Section 1h
“These and the like, whereof there are some very far-fetched in Alchemy, are mere incumbrances of work; since even if Sol and Luna could be made by them they rather hinder and delay than further one’s purpose. But it is not from these – to…”
Both passages discuss the transformation and perfection of metals through alchemical processes, emphasizing the role of celestial bodies and elemental forces. They share a conceptual framework of transmutation and the use of symbolic elements to achieve higher states of being.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XVIIbCONTRASTS
“For, as he sometimes makes some stupid man to speak wisely, through which it becomes manifest to every one, that this is not a certain human but a divine work; thus, also, he reveals through things which are deprived of knowledge, conceptio…”
Both passages discuss the nature and practice of divination, emphasizing its supernatural and transcendent aspects. They share the concept of divination as a means to access higher knowledge or truth, though expressed in different terms and contexts.