Émile Jules Grillot called Émile-Jules Grillot de Givry (or Émile-Angelo Grillot de Givry) (5 August 1874 in Paris – 16 February 1929 in Paris) was a French Catholic man of letters and

occultist The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

and

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, translator into French of numerous

alchemical Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

works including those of

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. H ...

. He may have been a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Biography

Son of Claude Grillot and Marie Louise Adenot he studied in Paris with the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

of the

Rue de Vaugirard ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially fo ...

. He studied music and oriental languages before becoming interested in Christian hermeticism. Working as a music teacher, he married Virginie Doco on 2 September 1905. He also made a living teaching French and, between 1910 and 1920, as an organist in a Parisian church. He came into contact with Parisian occult circles, with figures such as

Stanislas de Guaita Stanislas de Guaita (6 April 1861, Tarquimpol, Moselle – 19 December 1897, Tarquimpol) was a French poet based in Paris, an expert on esotericism and European mysticism, and an active member of the Rosicrucian Order. He was very celebrated and ...

Gérard Encausse Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (13 July 1865 – 25 October 1916), whose esoteric pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order. Early life ...

and Péladan, soon becoming, although young, one of the most famous and respected Hermetic scholars.

Works

It would be on reading "Là-bas" by

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel (1884, pub ...

that Émile-Jules Grillot de Givry became passionate about the occult: Huysmans considered him to be "the greatest expert in Christian symbolism". His taste for

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

, as well as his

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, led him, at a very young age, to enter the circle of Péladan's closest collaborators, in the ''Ordre de la Rose-Croix Catholique et Esthetique du Temple et du Graal'' (Order of the Catholic and Aesthetic Rosicrucian of the Temple and the Grail) which at that time acquired considerable fame with his '' Salons''. At the same time, he was initiated into the

Rite of Memphis-Misraim The Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraïm is a masonic rite combining Western esotericism, esoteric spirituality with humanitarian ideals. Created in Naples in September 1881, it emerged from the fusion of two distinct masonic systems ...

of which his friend Dr

(Papus) had become a grandmaster. But it is not certain that Grillot de Givry was initiated into the Memphis Israim rite. Some authors, themselves Freemasons, with whom he worked in the various magazines to which he contributed, have stated that he was not a member of Freemasonry. For example , who was also close to

René Guénon René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as Abdalwahid Yahia (; ), was a French intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from esoterici ...

, wrote in the journal Études Traditionnelles in 1959, on the occasion of the second edition of the work ''Lourdes, ville initiatique'' : . Jean Reyor then points out that Grillot was a practising Catholic. Therefore, according to him, the latter probably never joined Freemasonry, anxious to avoid the risk of

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

. In 1895–1896, he was part of the editorial board of the magazine ''La renaissance idéaliste'' (''The idealistic renaissance'') edited by René Albert Fleury and the Comte Léonce de Larmandie. In this magazine he began to develop

themes which he supported throughout his life and which he explained in his book, ''Le Christ et la Patrie''. In Masonic lodges, he met for whom he made, between 1888 and 1890, several translations of the ''Bibliothèque Rosicrucienne'' of Henri Chacornac, father of Paul Chacornac, Parisian publishers owners of the ''Éditions Traditionnelles''. Parallel to his work at the Rosicrucian Library, he began his translations: the ''Traité de la pierre philosophale'' (Treatise on the Philosopher's Stone) attributed to

Saint Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, the foremost Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition. A Doctor of the Church, he wa ...

, the ''Adumbratio kabbalae christianae'' of

Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (baptised 20 October 1614 – December 1698) was a Flemish alchemist and writer, the son of Jan Baptist van Helmont. He is now best known for his publication in the 1640s of his father's pioneer works on chemistry ...

followed by the translation of the famous ''Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae'' of

Khunrath Heinrich Khunrath (c. 1560 – 9 September 1605), or Dr. Henricus Khunrath as he was also called, was a German physician, hermetic philosopher, and alchemist. Frances Yates considered him to be a link between the philosophy of John Dee and Ros ...

He then translated ''Absconditorum clavis'' of

Guillaume Postel Guillaume Postel (25 March 1510 – 6 September 1581) was a French linguist, Orientalist, astronomer, Christian Kabbalist, diplomat, polyglot, professor, religious universalist, and writer. Born in the village of Barenton in Normandy, Post ...

then the

Savonarola Savonarola is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Italian Dominican friar and reformer * Michele Savonarola (1385–), Italian physician, humanist and historian {{Surname, 2=Italian-la ...

's ''Treatise of the Seven Degrees of Perfection'' and, a few months later, the ''Basilian Aphorisms''. In the following years, he published the translation of

' ''Traité des trois essences premières'' (Chacornac, Paris 1903), which was the beginning of the two volumes of the translation of Paracelsus' ''Complete Works''. In 1911, he published ''Le Christ et la Patrie''. A documented study on the theoretical and theological incompatibility between Christianity and

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

. Initially ignored, the text was suddenly popular after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1924, a second edition was published and the book became one of the cornerstones of French anti-militarist literature. In 1925 and 1926, he translated into French both the ''

Monas Hieroglyphica ''Monas Hieroglyphica'' (or ''The Hieroglyphic Monad'') is a book by John Dee, the Elizabethan magus and court astrologer of Elizabeth I of England, published in Antwerp in 1564. It is an exposition of the meaning of an esoteric symbol that he in ...

'' of

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...

and ''The Kabbalah of Jacques Casanova'' of Bernhard Marr. He collaborated with the magazine ''Le Voile d'Isis'', became a friend of

Léon Bloy Léon Bloy (; 11 July 1846 – 3 November 1917) was a French Catholic novelist, essayist, pamphleteer (or lampoonist), and satirist, known additionally for his eventual (and passionate) defense of Catholicism and for his influence within Frenc ...

and

and translated old lost texts from the ''

Corpus Hermeticum The is a collection of 17 Greek writings whose authorship is traditionally attributed to the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. The treatises were orig ...

'':

Nicolas Flamel Nicolas Flamel (; 1330 – 22 March 1418) was a French ''écrivain public'', a draftsman of public documents such as contracts, letters, agreements and requests. He and his wife also ran a school that taught this trade. Long after his death, ...

Basil Valentine Basil Valentine is the Anglicised version of the name Basilius Valentinus, ostensibly a 15th-century alchemist, possibly Canon of the Benedictine Priory of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Germany but more likely a pseudonym used by one or several 16th-c ...

, Dom Pernety. The ''Masonic precepts'' or ''Masonic code'' have been wrongly attributed to him insofar as they can be read in the ''Journal historique et littéraire'' (Historical and Literary Journal) of 1839

Bibliography

* , reissued in 1959, 214 p.; then by , 2009, 448 p.,. * * * * * His latest book: Translated by J. Courtenay Locke:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grillot de Givry, Emile Jules 1874 births 1929 deaths French alchemists French Freemasons French occultists French occult writers