Arthur Edward Waite was a British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite tarot deck (also called the Rider-Waite-Smith or Waite-Smith deck). As his biographer R. A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of Western occultism-viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of protoscience or as the pathology of religion." He spent most of his life in or near London, connected to various publishing houses and editing a magazine, The Unknown World. He wrote texts on subjects including divination, esotericism, freemasonry, and ceremonial magic, Kabbalism and alchemy; he also translated and reissued several mystical works. He wrote about the Holy Grail, influenced by his friendship with Arthur Machen. A number of his volumes remain in print, including The Book of Ceremonial Magic (1911), The Holy Kabbalah (1929), A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry (1921), and his edited translation of Eliphas Levi's 1896 Transcendental Magic, its Doctrine and Ritual (1910), having been reprinted in recent years. Waite also wrote two allegorical fantasy novels, Prince Starbeam (1889) and The Quest of the Golden Stairs (1893), and edited Elfin Music, an anthology of poetry based on English fairy folklore. Contents: The Book of Ceremonial Magic The Occult Sciences The Pictorial Key To The Tarot The Real History Of The Rosicrucians Transcendental Magic

"... an alemaunde tre schal floure, a locuste schal be maad fat, and capparis schal be distried; for a man schal go in to the hous of his euerlastyngnesse..." - Eccl. xii, 5 . Traditionally composed by Solomon sometime around 950-970 BCE but dated on linguistic evidence somewhere in the third century, this meditation on the futility of mankind's striving can bring comfort to those of firm or fragile faith, or of no faith at all. The text used here is a revision of Wycliffe's original translation, made by his follower John Purvey in the mid-1390s. Wycliffe's chapter divisions in some cases differ from those of later versions . The Preacher, in his musings on the human condition, enlivens his melancholy observations with flashes of angry despair, resentment and even grim humour, all powerfully conveyed by Wycliffe's translation. Note: The King James Version avoids a direct reference to the aphrodisiac qualities of capparis in its rendering: "the Almond tree shall flourish, and the grashopper shall be a burden, and desire shall faile..."

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d'un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d'origine.

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d'un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d'origine.

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d'un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d'origine.