Jean (or Joanny) Bricaud (11 February 1881,

Neuville-sur-Ain Neuville-sur-Ain (, literally ''Neuville on Ain'') is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following is a list of the 393 communes of the Ain department of France. ...

, Ain – 24 February 1934), also known as Tau Jean II, was a French student of the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

and esoteric matters. Bricaud was heavily involved in the French neo-Gnostic movement. He was consecrated a Gnostic bishop on 21 July 1913 by bishop Louis-Marie-François Giraud.Ecclesia Gnostica Position Paper Concerning the Thelemite or Crowleyan Gnostic Churches
by

Stephan A. Hoeller Stephan A. Hoeller is an American author, scholar, and neo-Gnostic bishop. Career An author and scholar of Gnosticism and Jungian psychology, Hoeller is Regionary Bishop of Ecclesia Gnostica. Hoeller was ordained to the priesthood of the Ameri ...

(written in the early 1980s) He was the Patriarch of the ''

Église Gnostique Universelle The Gnostic Church of France (french: Église gnostique de France) is a neo-Gnostic Christian organisation formed by Jules Doinel in 1890, in France. It is the first Gnostic church in modern times. History The esoteric Freemason Jules Doinel ...

'' (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for "Universal Gnostic Church") and a central figure in the various lines of the

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

of subsequent Gnostic churches, as well as a spiritual heir of Jules Doinel (Valentinus II). From 1916 he was head of the ''Ordre Martiniste''. He was a friend of the occultists Papus and

August Vandekerkhove August Vandekerkhove (Kanegem, 15 October 1838 - Mâcon, 24 March 1923) was a Belgian writer, art-painter and inventor. He wrote under the pseudonym S.U.Zanne. He started a movement he called Cosmosofie (Cosmosophy), which he claimed it to be th ...

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* * 1881 births 1934 deaths People from Ain French occultists Bishops of Independent Catholic denominations Gnosticism Martinism Place of death missing 20th-century occultists {{France-reli-bio-stub