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Sisyphus Press -- P.O. Box 10495 State College, Pa. 16805-0495 Morning of the Magicians: Secret Societies, Conspiracies, and Vanished Societies by Louis Pauwels & Jacques Bergier For Orders in U.S. only $16.99 plus $14.99 for S&H. AIR MAIL: For Canadian + International Orders (U.S. checks, money orders, or currency only - no Canadian checks, money orders, or currency) |
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This groundbreaking, international bestseller, first published in 1960, couples profound insights into the hidden history of humanity and our perceptions of reality with the scientific evidence that supports the existence of paranormal activity, telepathy, and extraterrestrial communications. The first book to explore in depth the Nazi fascination with the occult, Pauwels and Bergier also broke new ground with their study of pyramidology, alchemy and its close kinship with atomic energy, and the possibility of a widespread mutation of humanity that would herald the dawn of a new age for the earth. Their study of secret societies, starting with the Rosicrucians, suggests that such changes are actively being pursued in the present day by a 'conspiracy' of the most spiritually and intellectually advanced members of the human race. The Morning of the Magicians also explores the anomalous events collected by Charles Fort, the work of Gurdjieff, and the history of the mysterious Fulcanelli, who was widely believed to have manufactured the philosopher's stone - which provided the Nazis the motive for mounting an intensive search for him during their occupation of Paris. Much more than a collection of strange facts defying conventional wisdom, this book remains a sophisticated philosophical exploration of repressed phenomena and hidden histories that asks its readers to look at reality with ever 'awakened eyes.' ----------------- Certain ones in the know have said since the sixties, and are of this opinion still now over forty years later, that there is one work everyone ought to be familiar with when venturing into the subjects RMNers like to delve in. Le Matin Des Magiciens came out in French in Paris in 1960 and became an instant phenomenon there. Later, but more below the radar, the USA also got to see it in translated version. There is a book my readers probably know of or have even studied. It is a book you can either read or study, since it opens a path to more source material. Here a few snippets from different reviews, essays and editorials I found about it: Absolutely mind-expanding! In this book, the authors expound a thesis of "fantastic realism" and explore the mind, not in the subconscious or conscious states but in what they believe to be ultraconsciousness. The book is able to cover virtually every topic from atomic energy, to secret societies of alchemists, to the influence of the occult upon Hitler, to parapsychology and consciousness, and finally to the upcoming superman - a mutant capable of astounding intellectual feats. The authors cite numerous previous explorers: Rene Guenon, Teilhard de Chardin, Carl Jung, Charles Fort, Gurdjieff, and the work of mathematicians, especially Cantor's theory of the transfinite. Le Matin Des Magiciens "Bizarre theories are considered: Horbiger's theory of "eternal ice" (and it's influence on Hitler), Teed's theory that we live on the concave inner surface of a hollow earth, theories to explain the origins of civilization, the work of the alchemists and their possible knowledge of atomic physics, theories regarding mutation of the human species, and theories propounding alternative origins for life on this planet. The authors are able to consider all of this and put it together in a coherent whole, under the idea of "fantastic realism". They dare to ask such questions as: Are we all in a collective conspiracy to hide the truth, is science such a conspiracy? Do secret societies exist and do they have an influence upon history? What special knowledge did the ancients possess that we may not possess now? What role did secret societies play in the origins of Nazism, and in the Nazi Black Order? How were the Nazis able to rise to power and what did such a phenomenon represent amidst our modern world? What is the historical meaning of the atomic bomb? What does the future promise for our civilization? And, Do supermen live amongst us men, and if so, have they always? Hypotheses are put forth in answer to all these questions. The authors reject a magical worldview and they also reject the narrow confines of scientific positivism. However, they consider it necessary to keep an open mind when examining these phenomena, and they refer to themselves as "barbarians" seeking to search out a scientific explanation to be imposed on the fantastic. The book is simply amazing, and truly life-affirming. You MUST read it! Not just to understand yourself and your world, but also to understand your future. You will never be able to perceive things in the exact same light again. Get this book and discover the mysteries of the world for yourself!" :) Excerpts: Pauwels writes that MOTM is the result of "five years of questing, through all regions of consciousness, to the frontiers of science and tradition. I flung myself into this enterprise -- and, without adequate equipment-- because I could no longer deny this world of ours and its future, to which I so clearly belong." Pauwels then chronicles his search, which takes him from the existential malaise of current intellectualism, through his involvement with Hinduism and Gurdjieff, to a new excitement. Here, as the perceptive Jim Hougan noticed in Decadence (1974 entry), is one of the hallmarks of the early "counterculture" -- a rejection of pessimism, and a belief that change and evolution will bring something positive and superior. The difference between this new idea and traditional 19th century "progressivism" is that new thought (or heresy) suggests that evolutionary process can be accelerated. Pauwels tells how he and Bergier embarked on five years of study to arrive ...at a point of view which I believe is rich in its possibilities. This is how the surrealists worked thirty years ago. But unlike them we were exploring not the regions of sleep and the subconscious but their very opposites: We call our point of view fantastic realism. Pauwels' choice of words "ultra-consciousness" and "awakened state" are well worth noticing as he will return to these ideas, again and again. Fantastic realism, according to Pauwels, has nothing to do with the bizarre, the exotic, the merely picturesque. There was no attempt on our part to escape the times in which we live. We are not interested in the "outer suburbs" of reality: on the contrary we have tried to take up a position at its hub. There alone we believe, is the fantastic to be discovered--and not a fantastic leading to escapism but rather to a deeper participation in life. So, Pauwels explains, asking the reader to look at reality with new eyes or to be accurate, with "awakened eyes." I think that Pauwels' involvement with Gurdjieff is showing itself. Pauwels is best known, outside of France, for a book he wrote criticizing the Gurdjieff circle (Mr. Gurdjief, 1954, 1964 and 1975 entries). Pauwels continues his criticism of Gurdjieff in MOTM, but it is obvious to me that he has accepted the central Gurdjieffian notion that man is asleep, and must be shocked into an awakened state in order to perceive true reality. Gurdjieff's ideas and doctrines loom large in MOTM, and he is one of the first personalities mentioned in the work. This is perhaps the best time to mention one of the uncanny aspects of Morning of the Magicians. Any prominent mention in its pages seems to guarantee a revival of some significance in the 60's and 70's. This is especially true when it comes to some of the writers singled out for discussions in MOTM. Many of them were totally forgotten in 1960. For example, I suspet that MOTM had a large part in the rediscovery of G. I. Gurdjieff. Myth and magic In a world of human affairs where we tend to fashion gods with human attributes, the authors wish to point out that already man may be growing godly capabilities. They vote for the evolutionary theory but are not sure whether the evolution is leading to a benign future or hastening towards Talibanesque destruction. The phenomenon of man is incredible. It is true he is trapped within a few feet of matter, but apparently he can remember the vanished past and also predict the distant future. While the entire anthropology sector takes care of the former, science fiction has been proved to be almost accurate. The authors give us several striking examples when it comes to prediction. For instance, Morgan Robertson had published a novel in 1898 about the sinking of The Titan, a 800-feet long ship of 70,000 tons that had three propellers. Three thousand passengers went down with it on an April night: "The Titanic, which was wrecked in similar circumstances years later, displaced 66,000 tons, was 828 ½ feet long, carried 3,000 passengers and had three propellers. The catastrophe happened on a night in April." Innumerable parapsychological phenomena like this are cited by the authors and Hindu mythology gives them a big hand. The ancient myths speak of flying machines and automatic rifles, don't they? And what is the pestle in the Mausala Parva that destroyed the Vrishni tribe but the ancient brother of Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima and Fat Man dumped on Nagasaki? "... .It was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashes the entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas. The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognisable. Their hair and nails fell out; pottery broke without any apparent cause, and the birds turned white. After a few hours, all foodstuffs were infected. The thunderbolt was reduced to a fine dust." When there is a reference to "an incandescent column of smoke and flame, as bright as ten thousand Suns", naturally we are reminded of the mushroom cloud at Los Alamos. In all the uncertainties of their argument based on piles of catalogued information, the authors are certain of one thing: we are witnessing the birth of the Mutant myth, a transformation of the cells in our body. The radiation effects (through explosions, x-rays and radio-active chemical products) are already producing mutants. Maybe there would be a favourable mutant or two, and a child of genius may be born among them! Consider the pathologist, Sir Ernest Rock Carling's pompous announcement: "At the risk of shocking this distinguished company, I affirm that the mutation, that will give us an Aristotle, a Leonardo da Vinci, a Newton, a Pasteur or an Einstein will largely compensate for the ninety-nine others which will have much less fortunate effects." Well, It is certainly not the delight of existence, is it? Suppose the mutation produces "a race of tranquil men who would not know fear or have any negative sensations"? They would be robots that could kill without getting ruffled? However, according to the authors, there are more optimistic evaluators. There is a brief mention of 20th century intellectuals like Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo. Perhaps, the successors of the present day humanity are already here, say the authors but hasten to add that "we do not claim to know any mutants". All the same the book ends on an optimistic note. A disciple of Gurdjieff, Pauwels says there was one word he never heard in that philosopher's camp and which he has now learnt after being on his own and gathering all this polyglot information. PREMA NANDAKUMAR |
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