Customer Reviews

Fulcanelli and the Alchemical Revival: The Man Behind the Mystery of the Cathedrals

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Do you ever read a book and feel like you need a long, hot shower when you're done? That is how I felt after finishing the original French version of this book. Dubois tries to make the case that Fulcanelli didn't really exist, that he was a "committee". The point of such an argument is to destroy the reality of the adept and give the credit for his work to Schwaller. Dubois takes great pleasure in the character assassinations of Jean-Julien Champagne and Eugène Canseliet.

Moreover the book is poorly written and goes off on tangents that have nothing to do with her "argument".

If you can read French, you will learn much more about the man known as Fulcanelli reading Patrick Rivière's book Fulcanelli in the Qui suis-je? series published by Pardès.

The book (at least the translation) is written in a haphazzard way. Although the material is interesting.

I came across Genevieve Dubois's book after searching for more information on the great alchemist of 20th century by the name of Fulcanelli. After reading this book, I found myself in a state of confusion and disgust. What Dubois has brought forth is the notion that Fulcanelli is nothing but a simple myth, as being "spread" by a number of individuals as stated in this book (p. 77):

"[Jean-Julien] Champagne devoted years to maintaining the fiction of Fulcanelli's vocation as an adept. He had launched this fiction, and it was maintained by the whole group around him, all of whom must have promoted the myth: Gaston Sauvage, the Chacornacs, Pierre Dujols, Canselist, Jules Boucher."

And, Dubois branded Eugene Canseliet, a real disciple of Fulcanelli, as "the pivot in manipulations of which he remained quite unaware - a kind of hoax that would take a turn its perpetrators did not perhaps foresee" and as a "key to the tenacious spreading of the legend" (p. 60-1).

Throughout the book, the author made a strong and an unchanged argument that Fulcanelli has never existed and remained only as a hoax. In sum, she attempted to hinder the reader from searching for the real truth about Fulcanelli and being indirectly encouraged to "look no further."

This book was written by a mind of misconceptions and a poor logic, and it would lead the reader on the road to a distorted knowledge.

For any sincere reader of the Fulcanelli subject, Dubois's book is to be avoided.

If we use the word "misconception", it is quite on purpose, for that word refers to "getting it wrong", which on the whole is not dishonourable. Nevertheless, within this particular misconception is also the deep and scarcely veiled contempt in which the author holds Fulcanellian alchemy. The authors listed above had undoubtedly shown respect for Fulcanelli and had considered him an Adept of hermetic philosophy, which he masterfully discussed in both of his published books. However, Genevi?ve Dubois not only appears to hold contempt for Fulcanellian alchemy, but for Fulcanelli himself, who is also disparaged, run down and betrayed in such a manner that her book would have been more appropriately entitled, "Fulcanelli d?voy? " rather than "Fulcanelli d?voil? "!

"L'Affaire Fulcanelli" , another work by said author, is a fallacious and partial book full of glaring errors of logic, transcription and date. It is, as far as I know, a book that few noticed (with the exception of Jean Laplace), and one which ridicules and describes a hoax cunningly orchestrated by the duplicity of two document looters - Pierre Dujols and Ren? Schwaller - and the ingenious ideas of Eug?ne Canseliet and his mentor Julien Champagne, in the manner of a novel by Flaubert: the "Bouvard and P?cuchet " of the Belle Epoque. However, under the pretence of making amends, Genevi?ve Dubois wished to make it clear at the end of the perfidious book that she thinks that young Canseliet had been the sport of Champagne, who thoroughly manipulated him.

Jean Laplace, therefore, justly expressed his indignation in the diatribe he published in La Tourbe des Philosophes , N?s 36-37:
[...] I was still very na?ve to think that those "questers" had only in mind to put a name on a pseudonym; I realized after some time that some of them were only trying, under the cover of that so-called "quest", to destroy the hated image of Eug?ne Canseliet, whom they so detested. [...].

The malevolence and intentional prejudice warned against by Eug?ne Canseliet, again produced a heap of nauseous nonsense entitled Fulcanelli d?voil?. Still, in his Alchimie expliqu?e, and on that same page 12, the philosopher foresaw that four centuries would not elapse, as in the case of Flamel, before his own life would be meticulously sifted through without any benevolence by yet another Villain.

[...] The new accusatory document that appeared in November 1992 (Fulcanelli d?voil?) goes even farther, insinuating that there never was an Adept Fulcanelli, since all of that had been a hoax of which Eug?ne Canseliet was the victim, unless he was a stakeholder in it. The hatred for Eug?ne Canseliet that emanates from that distasteful book is all the more easily released as the only one able to give answers has been dead for about ten years now. Still, when one realizes that the author is not even able to correctly read the original copy of the philosopher's published letter - so enormous are the mistakes - one is allowed to seriously doubt her insight.

Not content with all that, Genevi?ve Dubois, who was at that time directing a line of alchemical writings for publisher Dervy, decided in 1995 to publish an odd book under the name of "Jean-Fran?ois Gibert" entitled Propos sur la Chrysop?e, avec en annexe le Manuscrit de Pierre Dujols-Fulcanelli traitant de la pratique alchimique , in which the author expresses, without beating around the bush, her negative intentions (p. 21):

Newton's case study now being almost completed, we will now talk about the case of Fulcanelli, one which is close to a hoax and represents the final form of pseudo-alchemical materialism, a blind alley in the hermetic labyrinth. To prove our statements we are going to present a still unheard of manuscript from Dujols-Fulcanelli on the Chrysopea. This will enable students of the philosophical art to get their own ideas on the Great Work considered in the manner of Le Myst?re des Cath?drales, written from the notes left by Dujols and Champagne, by the scholarly blower, the late Eug?ne Canseliet.

What an edifying document, indeed, is this text which, while correctly reflecting Pierre Dujols' style, is at the perfect opposite of the alchemical path followed and recommended by Fulcanelli.

The alchemist Fulcanelli was the most famous adept of the 20th century, the man who achieved the Great Work less than 100 years ago, but his true identity has always been shrouded in myth and uninformed speculation...until now.

Patrick Rivi?re reveals with profuse documentary evidence the true identity of the enigmatic and prestigious author of The Mystery of the Cathedrals and The Dwellings of the Philosophers. Beginning with an overview of French alchemical life at the turn of the 20th century, Rivi?re carefully builds his case step-by-step with facts, documents, and photographs, introducing us to the well-known physicist who was known as Fulcanelli. Rivi?re also demolishes the scurrilous hypotheses that suggest Fulcanelli never existed. Rivi?re is uniquely suited to solving this mystery as his teacher was Fulcanelli's sole student, Eug?ne Canseliet. (ISBN 1-897244-21-5 Red Pill Press)

Excellent piece of work for all those interested in the personalities that populated the era of Fulcanelli. Fascinating stuff on Schwaller, Champagne, Guenon, even Debussy and Matisse. Depends heavily on your interests, but it can certainly provide an entertaining break from heavier research.

Anticipating this book & finally reading it was a bit anticlimactic in that the promise did not quite meet my expectations. What I found in this book is a good overview of French alchemical occultism since the end of the 19th century through the mid-20th. A sound companion to Christopher McIntosh's "Eliphas Levi & the French Occult Revival". But as to throwing additional light onto identifying who was Fulcanelli- the usual suspects remain unchallenged. The translation appears a bit forced and choppy, and required me to go back and reread certain sections to see if I had missed something. Like Herman Hesse novels, the allure and promise of mystical insight is promised but never quite delivers.

Who was this enigmatic being, Fulcanelli, a twentieth century alchemist who allegedly discovered the secrets of immortality, or at very least a special elixir that extended his life long beyond life expectancy? His true identity is the subject of this book.

Fulcanelli is accredited with authoring two books, Le Mystère des Cathédreles (1926) and The Dwellings of the Philosophers in 1930. The former title by far is considered a masterpiece in modern alchemy, examining the sculptures in French gothic cathedrals, primarily Notre Dame of Paris, and linking them to the processes of alchemy, suggesting that these churches were used as but intended as learning centers for the ancient sciences. A curious "lost" chapter, The Cyclic Cross at Hendaye, is added to the 1957 edition of this book, a chapter which redirects Fulcanelli's work in an entirely different corner of the universe, a ten page examination of a stone cross near a parrish church in the center of a small town in the Basque country. The examination of the symbols on this cross, according to the author of this chapter, point to a prediction of the end of the world. This chapter has spawned an entire impulse based on Fulcanelli's book, that is very different than the rest of the book, and this topic (that chapter) is not the focus of this book, though the author does have some interesting remarks about it in a later chapter in her book. And being that it was added over thirty years after the original edition of this book, it is questionable whether it was even penned by the same hand that wrote the rest of the book. Le Mystère des Cathédreles is definitely about alchemy, not the end of the world.

This book will introduce the reader to the thriving Parisian occult activity between the periods of about 1910 and 1930. Major personalities are named and relationships established. Interest in the occult was acute during this period, and Paris was the center of a bustling community of artists, writers, poets, and others with an intense interest in this subject matter.

Dubois book presents quite a bit of compelling information suggesting exactly who was behind the Fulcanelli phenomena. She introduces the key players and presents how certain individuals were quite capable of producing this ground-breaking revival of the alchemical tradition. The clues Dubois are strong (and abundant) and the conclusion logical. The book is lavishly illustrated with portraits, fragments of handwriting samples, notes, obituaries, and even the natal charts of two of the key players (with brief analysis for both) in this drama.

Geneviève Dubois has written other text on themes Alchemical and has extensively studied this period of occult history. This book is a welcomed addition to the mystery of who Fulcanelli might (probably) was plus an excellent historical survey of the thriving occult community in Paris up to around 1930.

I haven't read this book yet, but i know i'll be satisfied with what lies within! I shall hope any person in their open mind would appreciate such a topic, on Fulcanelli, what could be more intriging?