Eliphas Levi (1810-1875), born Alphonse Louis Constant in Paris, was a French writer and occultist whose books on "high magic" helped create the modern Western occult revival. A former seminarian and radical socialist, he linked the tarot with the Kabbalah, drew the famous image of Baphomet and taught a theory of the astral light that shaped the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley.
Eliphas Levi at a glance
| Birth name | Alphonse Louis Constant |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 February 1810, Paris, France |
| Died | 31 May 1875, Paris, France |
| Pen name | Eliphas Levi, a Hebraized form of his given names |
| Major works | Dogme et rituel de la haute magie (1854-1856); Histoire de la magie (1860); La Clef des grands mysteres (1861) |
| Known for | Baphomet drawing; tarot-Hebrew letter correspondences; astral light |
| Influenced | Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Papus, Aleister Crowley, A. E. Waite |
Early Life: Seminarian and Radical
Alphonse Louis Constant was born in Paris in 1810, the son of a shoemaker. A gifted pupil, he was educated for the Catholic priesthood and studied at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice. He was ordained a deacon but left before becoming a priest, later explaining that he could not accept the vow of celibacy.
In the 1840s Constant was a writer and illustrator in the circles of romantic socialism. His pamphlet La Bible de la liberte (1841) was judged seditious and earned him a prison sentence. He married the young Noemi Cadiot, later a sculptor, although the marriage eventually broke down. After the failure of the 1848 revolution, his interests turned from politics toward religion, esotericism and magic, encouraged in part by the Polish mystic and mathematician Jozef Hoene-Wronski.
The Books on High Magic
In the 1850s Constant adopted the pen name Eliphas Levi, a Hebrew rendering of his first names. His two-volume Dogme et rituel de la haute magie (Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, 1854-1856) presented magic not as superstition but as an ancient science of the will, hidden behind religious symbols. It was followed by Histoire de la magie (1860) and La Clef des grands mysteres (1861), and several later works.
At the heart of Levi's system is the astral light, a universal medium or "great magical agent" through which will and imagination can act. He related it to the magnetic fluid of the mesmerists and to animal magnetism. He also stressed the law of equilibrium, the balance of opposites, which he saw expressed in the Hermetic maxim "as above, so below".
Levi wrote in a dramatic, paradoxical style, mixing learned references with bold claims about ancient secret traditions. Historians note that much of his "history" of magic is imaginative, but his synthesis gave later occultists a vocabulary and a framework that they used for generations.
Tarot, Kabbalah and Baphomet
Levi was one of the first writers to systematically connect the 22 trumps of the tarot major arcana with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the symbolism of the Kabbalah. Although later occultists changed his attributions, the idea that the tarot is a book of esoteric wisdom became central to modern occultism.
His best-known image is the drawing of Baphomet, the winged, goat-headed androgynous figure that opens the second volume of Dogme et rituel. Levi used it as a symbol of the balance of opposites and of the astral light, not as a portrait of the Devil, although it later became widely associated with Satanism in popular culture. His discussion of the pentagram, upright as a sign of the spirit ruling the elements and inverted as a sign of disorder, was equally influential.
The Evocation of Apollonius
In Dogme et rituel Levi describes a visit to London in 1854, during which he performed a ceremonial evocation of the spirit of Apollonius of Tyana. He reports that a shadowy figure appeared, but he remained cautious about what he had seen and warned readers of the psychological dangers of such operations. The account became one of the most cited episodes in the literature of modern magic. During his visits to England he also met the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who shared his esoteric interests.
Later Years and Legacy
In his later years Levi lived modestly in Paris, supporting himself by writing and by teaching students, with whom he corresponded on Kabbalah and magic. Unlike many later occultists, he professed himself a Catholic to the end, presenting magic as the hidden key to religion rather than its rival. He died in Paris in 1875.
His influence was immense. French occultists such as Papus built on his work, and the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn adapted his tarot and Kabbalah correspondences. A. E. Waite translated his main book into English as Transcendental Magic (1896), and Aleister Crowley, born in the year Levi died, believed he was Levi's reincarnation. Encyclopaedia Britannica credits Levi with helping launch the occult revival of the nineteenth century. Images such as the Devil card in the Rider-Waite deck show the lasting mark of his Baphomet.
Related entries
On The Mystica today: The Devil tarot card · The Magician tarot card
Frequently asked questions
What was Eliphas Levi's real name?
Eliphas Levi was the pen name of Alphonse Louis Constant, a French writer born in Paris in 1810. He adopted the name in the 1850s as a Hebrew rendering of his given names, Alphonse Louis, and published his major books on magic and the Kabbalah under it.
Did Eliphas Levi create Baphomet?
The name Baphomet goes back to accusations made against the Knights Templar in the fourteenth century, but Levi created the famous image in 1856: a winged, goat-headed androgynous figure. He intended it as a symbol of balance and the astral light rather than a depiction of Satan.
What is the astral light in Levi's teaching?
For Levi, the astral light was a universal, invisible medium filling all space, a "great magical agent" that responds to trained will and imagination. It drew on mesmerist ideas of a magnetic fluid and became a key concept in later occult and Theosophical writings.
Sources and further reading
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.