Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (July 13, 1865 – 25 October 1916), whose
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a
French physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
hypnotist, and popularizer of
occultism, who founded the modern
Martinist Order.
Early life
Gerard Encausse was born at
A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
in Galicia (
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
) on July 13, 1865, of a Spanish mother and a French father, Louis Encausse, a
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
. His family moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
when he was four years old, and he received his education there.
As a young man, Encausse spent a great deal of time at the
Bibliothèque Nationale
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
studying the
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...
, occult
tarot
The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...
,
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
and
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
, and the writings of
Eliphas Lévi Eliphaz is one of Esau's sons in the Bible.
Eliphaz or Eliphas is also the given name of:
* Eliphaz (Job), another person in the Bible
* Eliphaz Dow (1705-1755), the first male executed in New Hampshire, for murder
* Eliphaz Fay (1797–1854), ...
. He joined the French
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...
shortly after it was founded by
Madame Blavatsky in 1884–1885, but he resigned soon after joining because he disliked the Society's emphasis on Eastern
occultism.
Career
Overview
In 1888, he co-founded his own group, the
Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix
The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross (french: Ordre kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix – O.K.R.C.) was France's first ever occult society, established by Stanislas de Guaita and Joséphin Péladan in 1888. Its structure and teaching had simila ...
. That same year, he and his friend Lucien Chamuel founded the ''Librarie du Merveilleux'' and its monthly revue ''L'Initiation'', which remained in publication until 1914.
Encausse was also a member of the
Hermetic Brotherhood of Light
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light was a Fraternity that descended from the Fratres Lucis in the late 18th century (in turn, derived from the German Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross), and was the seed from which Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) ('O ...
and the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...
temple in Paris, as well as
Memphis-Misraim
The Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraïm is a masonic rite founded in Naples, Italy in September 1881 by the merger of two older rites; the ''Rite of Misraïm'' and the ''Rite of Memphis''. Although founded in 1881, its predecessors ...
and probably other esoteric or
paramasonic organizations, as well as being an author of several occult books. Outside of his paramasonic and Martinist activities he was also a spiritual student of the French spiritualist healer,
Anthelme Nizier Philippe, "Maître Philippe de Lyon".
Despite his heavy involvement in occultism and occultist groups, Encausse managed to find time to pursue more conventional academic studies at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1894 upon submitting a dissertation on Philosophical Anatomy. He opened a clinic in the rue Rodin which was quite successful.
Encausse visited Russia three times, in 1901, 1905, and 1906, serving
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
and
Tsarina Alexandra both as physician and occult consultant. It has been incorrectly claimed that in October 1905, he conjured up the spirit of Alexander III (father of Tsar Nicholas), who prophesied that the Tsar would meet his downfall at the hands of revolutionaries. Encausse's followers allege that he informed the Tsar that he would be able to magically avert Alexander's prophesy so long as Encausse was alive. Nicholas kept his hold on the throne of Russia until 141 days after Papus' death.
Although Encausse seems to have served the Tsar and Tsarina in what was essentially the capacity of a mediumistic spiritual advisor, he was later curiously concerned about their heavy reliance on occultism to assist them in deciding questions of government. During their later correspondence, he warned them a number of times against the influence of
Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...
.
Involvement and influences
Levi, Tarot, and the Kabbalah
Encausse's early readings in tarot and the lore of the Kabbalah in translation was inspired by the occult writings of , whose translation of the ''Nuctemeron'' of
Apollonius of Tyana
Apollonius of Tyana ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεύς; c. 3 BC – c. 97 AD) was a Greek Neopythagorean philosopher from the town of Tyana in the Roman province of Cappadocia in Anatolia. He is the subject of '' ...
" printed as a supplement to ''Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie'' (1855), provided Encausse with his
pen name. "Papus" is the name of a Genius of the First Hour in th
''Nuctemeron'' and is translated in the text as "physician."
1888 Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix
Although Encausse claimed as his "spiritual master" the mysterious magician and healer known as "le Maitre Philippe" (Philippe Nizier), his first actual teacher in the intellectual aspects of occultism was the marquis
Joseph Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre (1842 - 1910). Saint-Yves had inherited the papers of one of the great founders of French occultism,
Antoine Fabre d'Olivet
Antoine Fabre d'Olivet (8 December 1767, Ganges, Hérault – 25 March 1825, Paris) was a French author, poet and composer whose Biblical and philosophical hermeneutics influenced many occultists, such as Eliphas Lévi, Gérard Encausse ("Papus") ...
(1762 - 1825), and it was probably Saint-Yves who introduced Papus to the marquis
Stanislas de Guaita (1861 - 1897).
In 1888, Encausse and de Guaita joined with
Joséphin Péladan and
Oswald Wirth
Joseph Paul Oswald Wirth (5 August 1860, Brienz, Canton of Bern – 9 March 1943) was a Swiss occultist, artist and author. He studied esotericism and symbolism with Stanislas de Guaita and in 1889 he created, under the guidance of de Guaita, ...
to found the
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...
''
Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross''.
1891 l'Ordre Martiniste
In 1891, Encausse claimed to have come into the possession of the original papers of
Martinez Paschalis, or de Pasqually (c. 1700-1774), and therewith founded an Order of
Martinists called l'Ordre des Supérieurs Inconnus. He claimed to have been given authority in the Rite of Saint-Martin by his friend Henri Vicomte de Laage, who claimed that his maternal grandfather had been initiated into the order by Saint-Martin himself, and who had attempted to revive the order in 1887. The Martinist Order was to become a primary focus for Encausse, and continues today as one of his most enduring legacies.
1893-1895 Bishop of l'Église Gnostique de France
In 1893, Encausse was consecrated a bishop of l'
Église Gnostique de France by
Jules Doinel, who had founded this Church as an attempt to revive the
Cathar
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
religion in 1890. In 1895, Doinel abdicated as Primate of the French Gnostic Church, leaving control of the Church to a synod of three of his former bishops, one of whom was Encausse.
1895 Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
In March 1895, Encausse joined the
Ahathoor Temple of the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...
in Paris.
1901 Anti-Semitic writings
In October 1901 Encausse collaborated with Jean Carrère in producing a series of articles in the ''
Écho de Paris'' under the pseudonym ''Niet'' ("no" in Russian). In the articles
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (; ), also known as Sergius Witte, was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian Empire, replacing the tsar as head of the government. Neither a liberal nor a conservative, he attract ...
and
Pyotr Rachkovsky
Pyotr Ivanovich Rachkovsky (russian: Пётр Иванович Рачковский; 1853 – 1 November 1910) was chief of Okhrana, the secret service in Imperial Russia. He was based in Paris from 1885 to 1902.
Activities in 1880s–1890s
Afte ...
were attacked, and it was suggested that there was a sinister financial syndicate trying to disrupt the Franco-Russian alliance. Encausse and Carrère predicted that this syndicate was a
Jewish conspiracy, and the
anti-Semitic nature of these articles, compounded by Encausse's known connection to the Tsar of Russia, may have contributed to the allegation that Papus was the author who forged
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...
.
1908 - 1913 Encausse, Reuss and paramasonry
Encausse never became a regular
Freemason. Despite this, he organized what was announced as an "International Masonic Conference" in Paris on June 24, 1908, and at this conference he first met
Theodor Reuss
Albert Karl Theodor Reuss (; June 28, 1855 – October 28, 1923) also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Carolus Albertus Theodorus Peregrinus was an Anglo-German tantric occultist, freemason, journalist, singer and head of Ordo T ...
, and the two men apparently exchanged patents:
Reuss elevated Encausse as X° of the
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Heinrich Klein, Franz Hartmann and T ...
as well as giving him license to establish a "Supreme Grand Council General of the Unified Rites of Ancient and Primitive Masonry for the Grand Orient of France and its Dependencies at Paris." For his part, Encausse assisted Reuss in the formation of the O.T.O.
Gnostic Catholic Church
Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is a Gnostic church organization. It is the ecclesiastical arm of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), an international fraternal initiatory organization devoted to promulgatin ...
as a child of l'Église Gnostique de France, thus forming the E.G.C. within the tradition of French neo-gnosticism.
When
John Yarker died in 1913, Encausse was elected as his successor to the office of Grand Hierophant (international head) of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Memphis and Mizraim.
Death
When
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out, Encausse joined the French army medical corps. While working in a military hospital, he contracted tuberculosis and died in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
on October 25, 1916, at the age of 51.
Bibliography
This is a partial list of written works of Papus (Gérard Encausse) include works in French:
* ''L'Occultisme Contemporain,'' 1887
from
Gallica
* ''Le Tarot des Bohémiens'', 1889.
* ''L'Occultisme,'' 1890.
* ''Traité méthodique de Science Occulte,'' 1891
PDF scansfrom
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
* ''La Science Des Mages,'' 1892
PDF scansfrom
Gallica
* ''Anarchie, Indolence et Synarchie,'' 1894
PDF scansfrom
Gallica
* ''Le Diable et l'Occultisme''. 1895.
* ''Traité Méthodique de La Magie Pratique,'' 1898
PDF scansfrom
Gallica
* ''La Kabbale,'' 1903.
* ''Le Tarot Divinatoire,'' 1909.
PDF scans from
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
With Jean Carrère
*Niet (Gérard Encausse and Jean Carrère), ''La Russie Aujourd'hui''. 1902.
Publications (translated in English)
* ''The Tarot of the Bohemians'', translated by A. P. Morton, London, George Redway 1896
* ''The Divinatory Arts,'' The Three Luminaries, 2020.
* ''Notebooks of the Order,'' The Three Luminaries, 2020.
* ''Inauguration of the Martinist Lodge Velléda'', The Three Luminaries, 2020.
References
External links
*
*T. Apiryon
Docteur Gérard Encausse(in French).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Encausse, Gerard
1865 births
1916 deaths
People from A Coruña
Spanish emigrants to France
French hypnotists
French occult writers
Gnostics
Martinism
Physicians from Paris
Tarotologists
Members of Ordo Templi Orientis
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
19th-century occultists