Jean-Baptiste Pitois, also known as Jean-Baptiste or Paul Christian (1811–1877), was a French author, known for ''The History and Practice of Magic'', first published in France in 1870.

Early life

Jean-Baptiste Pitois was born May 15, 1811, in

Remiremont Remiremont (; german: Romberg or ) is a town and commune in the Vosges department, northeastern France, situated in southern Grand Est. The town has been an abbatial centre since the 7th century, is an economic crossroads of the Moselle and Mos ...

, France. His family wanted him to become a priest and allowed him to be raised in a monastic community. However, he eventually decided against the priesthood. As a young man, he moved to Paris, where he became the associate of

Charles Nodier Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier (29 April 1780 – 27 January 1844) was a French author and librarian who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the ''conte fantastique'', gothic literature, and vampire tales. His dream related writings ...

, one of the leading literary lights of the Romantic movement, which was then emerging on the continent. Nodier's interest in 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 ...

transferred to Pitois.

Career

Pitois became a journalist and wrote largely under the pen name ''Paul Christian''. He co-wrote ''Historic Paris: Walks in the Streets of Paris'' (1837-1840), which was his first book, with Nodier. It was followed by his ''Studies of the Paris Revolution'' (1839). That same year he was appointed librarian of the Ministry of Public Education. Working with Nodier through the mass of uncatalogued material opened up a new level of interest in the occult, although it did not manifest for years. Meanwhile, he took his turn in the

French army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

from 1843–44 and wrote several historical texts. His most important were the ''History of the Terrors'' (1853) and the multi-volume ''Heroes of Christianity'' (1853–1857). A hint of what was to come appeared in 1844 with his ''Stories of the Marvelous from All Times and Lands''. Pitois had read about occultism and developed a strong anticlerical stance. During his life, many Eastern texts had been translated into French, as had the works of

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had a ...

. In 1859 Pitois turned his attention to writing ''Historie de la Magie, du monde Surnaturel et de la fatalité à travers les Temps et les Peuples'' (1870) (trs: History of Magic, the Supernatural World and Fate, through Times and Peoples). Carefully written so as not to offend his largely Catholic audience, it immediately became popular public reading. It surveyed the whole of the occult, explaining each element, and provided a history of occult practice in the West from ancient times. La Danse du Sabbat (no caption)

Death

Pitois wrote one additional book, ''The History of the War with Prussia and of the Two Sieges of Paris, 1870-71'' (1872–73). His health declined through the 1870s, and he died at

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

on July 12, 1877. He left behind a still-unpublished work on

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

that reportedly contains numerous allusions to contemporary events as proof of the value of the

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an as ...

Sourcees

*Christian, Paul ean-Baptiste Pitois Historie de la Magie, du monde Surnaturel et de la fatalité a travers les Temps et les Peuples. 1870. Translated by James Kirkup and Julian Shaw Edited and Revised by Ross Nichols as ''The History and Practice of Magic''. New York: Citadel Press, 1969 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitois, Jean-Baptiste 1811 births 1877 deaths French male writers Tarotologists