Fulcanelli: Master Alchemist: Le Mystere des Cathedrales, Esoteric Intrepretation of the Hermetic Symbols of The Great Work (Le Mystere Des ... of the Hermetic Symbols of Great Work) [Paperback]

Fulcanelli (Author), Mary Sworder (Translator), Eugene Canseliet (Preface), Roy E. Thompson (Preface), Walter Lang (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Le Mystere Des Cathedrales Esoteric Interpretation of the Hermetic Symbols of Great Work | Publication Date: January 15, 1984

In 1926 the fabled alchemist Fulcanelli left his remarkable manuscript concerning the Hermetic Study of Gothic Cathedral Construction with a student. He than disappeared. The book decodes the symbology found upon and within the Gothic Cathedrals of Europe which have openly displayed the secrets of alchemy for 700 years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Brotherhood of Life (January 15, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914732145
• ISBN-13: 978-0914732143
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Witchcraft
  • #92 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Wicca

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liquid Sermons in stone, January 27, 2005

By 

Hakuyu "Ikeda" (Kyoto, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fulcanelli: Master Alchemist: Le Mystere des Cathedrales, Esoteric Intrepretation of the Hermetic Symbols of The Great Work (Le Mystere Des ... of the Hermetic Symbols of Great Work) (Paperback)

Many years ago, an artist friend of mine said "I'm not interested in Gothic stuff. Its been 'done.' I want to explore new things. " True - not everyone thinks like that, but it does underscore a serious illusion - that we know what 'Gothic' is - that we have somehow quantified it. In truth, we haven't. Gothic cathedrals are as mysterious as the pyramids. We all know that a cathedral is a religious centre or 'seat.' But the�@emergence of gothic cathedrals - all over Europe, with their soaring architectural forms and rhythmns, quite unlike anything around them - enshrines a great and rich mystery. This book explores something of that mystery.

Until of late, an appreciation of Fulcanelli's 'The Mystery of the Cathredals' has been restricted to a few estoric circles. Fulcanellihimself - remains something of an enigma. Born Paris, 1877, Fulcanelli's manum opus was first published in 1926 in a limited edition of 300 copies. It has attracted interest ever since - even though viewed askance by the more orthodox interpreters of Church history/architecture. Basically, Fulcanelli's book celebrates the 'hermetic' or 'masonic' mysteries enshrined in the great European cathedrals, the presence of a truly 'catholic' i.e. universal)and dynamic mystery tradition - at once concealed and revealed -within the very facade of 'stone' orthodoxy.

Fulcanelli devotes much attention to the facade of the Notre Dame de Paris, but what he had to say is true of all great European cathedrals, designed and built by master-masons who had access to the hermetic tradition. This makes 'Dan Brown' stuff look tame and provincial. Look at any genuine Gothic church architecture - carefully, and you will dis-cover what Fulcanelli was hinting at. The dynamic symbolism involved flows
like liquid - through every authentic Gothic edifice.

Taking its 'verticality' into account - more than a few art historians have condemned Gothic as 'artificial' and unnatural- compared to the earthy distribution of weight and horizontality of Graeco-Roman forms. But this is shallow. The secret of Gothic architecture lies in its emergence and unfoldment from a single pointless-point, and its regathering therein. It celebrates a two-way flow, from formlessness into form, and form into formlessness. The 'Gothic' primarily celebrates the mystery of spaceless-space, the space where mind, form and the divine energeia interact. Read this book, digest what it has to say - and you will rediscover the mystery enshrined in every form and the cathedral of life.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book but not for the faint hearted, February 2, 2006

By 

music fan (australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fulcanelli: Master Alchemist: Le Mystere des Cathedrales, Esoteric Intrepretation of the Hermetic Symbols of The Great Work (Le Mystere Des ... of the Hermetic Symbols of Great Work) (Paperback)

This book is very well researched and written and is an absolute classic in esoteric circles.

Fulcanelli introduces us to the art of reading the secrets of the gothis cathedrals. That the cathedrals themselves were repositories for Hermetic Science, specifically that of alchemy.

The first twelve chapters are relatively short and provide information about the "Green language" and the "Feast of the Fools".

The remaining chapters are much longer and go into extreme detail about specific alchemical engravings at Notre Dame and Amiens. There are photographs of the specific carvings along the way so that you know what Fulcanelli is refering to.

The final chapter is a very brief sketch of the symbolism of the Great Cross at hendaye, and there is some speculation as to whether the chapter was written by Fulcanelli, but it is an enlightening chapter and much more forthright in it's divulgence of secrets.

But be warned. This is not a book for the beginner in the area of alchemy as it dips into some extreme esoterica and at times can be frustratingly difficult to understand, due to the "density" of the text. But that being said, it does yield up some real rewards for those who are willing to make the time and effort.

Like the alchemical process itself, digestion of this book is slow and methodical but can lead to enlightening results.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A traditional classic, but not very helpfull, February 15, 2008

By 

Douglas J. Schmidt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fulcanelli: Master Alchemist: Le Mystere des Cathedrales, Esoteric Intrepretation of the Hermetic Symbols of The Great Work (Le Mystere Des ... of the Hermetic Symbols of Great Work) (Paperback)

Alchemy and Hermeticism, along with the Qaballah and numerous other esoteric disciplines are all part of the "Great Work". This great work is the ongoing study of the ancient philosophy of Egypt which they received at the hands of the Celtic Bards and Druids. This ancient philosophy sought to train the mind so that the conscious mind could interact freely with the subconscious mind. The purpose of this discipline was for the aspirant to gain mental abilities which today are seen only in autistic savants. The process of acomplishing this is not easy. The adept discussed the various steps in the process by using symbolic code which they referred to as Cant, the Green Language, the Language of the Birds, the True Celtic Language, etc. Interpreting this code is very similar to dream interpretation except that the masters further confused its images by using sometimes hundreds of different sumbols to refer to one single item. Herein lies the basic problem with Fulcanelli's book.

I rated this book five stars becuase of the rarity of modern Alchemical treatises. The style of writing is very easy to read but sadly, not very informative. All Hermetic authors subscribed to the requirement for secrecy. This is where the term: "Hermetically sealed" comes from. However, Fulcanelli takes this ancient admonition to greater lenghts than did even most of the ancient authors. His use of the Green Language is so abstruse that it took me some time to actually convince myself that he was the real deal and not just a wanna-be pretending to understand the code.

In spite of their propensity for obsfuscation most authors would bend the rules of secrecy in one or two specific areas thus being able to add some insight into the "Great Work" without revealing too much of the whole. A good example of this is in Eudoxus' "Six Keys" where he emphasizes the sequence of events prior to the Rite and the necessity of understanding the Fire symbol. Fulcanelli does this also in two areas. The first is when he mentions that the rule of secrecy is strictly enforced because Alchemists did not wish to disrupt the cause-effect flow of world destiny by revealing too much too soon and thereby negating the prophecies predicted for the end of the age. I have not seen this explanation in any other Hermetic document. The second revelation he makes is in emphasizing that there are two forms of the Rite, a damp method and a dry method. The Damp Method is a voluntary induction into the Lucid Dreaming state to break down the barrier (symbolized by Fire) between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind while the Dry Method was a forced induction that was a short cut that did not require the dedication and long years of study to understand the profound philosophy of the ancients.

All in all it is a valuable book but i would rather recommend Mary Atwood's "Suggestive Inquiry" which is a more difficult read but emminantly more informative and promises far more insight if seriously studied.