Morning of Magicians [Paperback]

Louis Pauwels (Author), Jacques Bergier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1964

A classic of radical literature, this revolutionary study has challenged conventional knowledge and assumptions for decades, offering unique perspectives on everything from alchemy, politics, history, and supernatural phenomena to magic, Nazi occultism, and mankind’s place in the universe. Drawing from the work of Charles Fort and Carl Jung, among others, the authors explore the importance of history and its varied perceptions and propose new ways of interpreting reality. Through these visionary ideals, they assert that mankind can ultimately achieve cosmic interconnectedness.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Morning of the Magicians . . . taught me 'Live your life in the visible and the invisible world.' "  —Paulo Coelho, author, The Alchemist

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Stein & Day (January 1, 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812885325
• ISBN-13: 978-0812885323
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,404,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hearken! - A New Dawn. (The Rise of the Superman), April 13, 2001

By 

New Age of Barbarism "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Morning of the Magicians (Paperback)

Reality is not only stranger than we suppose but stranger than we can suppose. -J. B. S. Haldane

Quit thy childhood, my friend, and wake up! -Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Absolutely mind-expanding! In this book, the authors expound a thesis of "fantastic realism" and explore the mind, not in the subconscious or conscious states but in what they believe to be ultraconsciousness. The book is able to cover virtually every topic from atomic energy, to secret societies of alchemists, to the influence of the occult upon Hitler, to parapsychology and consciousness, and finally to the upcoming superman - a mutant capable of astounding intellectual feats. The authors cite numerous previous explorers: Rene Guenon, Teilhard de Chardin, Carl Jung, Charles Fort, Gurdjieff, and the work of mathematicians, especially Cantor's theory of the transfinite. Bizarre theories are considered: Horbiger's theory of "eternal ice" (and it's influence on Hitler), Teed's theory that we live on the concave inner surface of a hollow earth, theories to explain the origins of civilization, the work of the alchemists and their possible knowledge of atomic physics, theories regarding mutation of the human species, and theories propounding alternative origins for life on this planet. The authors are able to consider all of this and put it together in a coherent whole, under the idea of "fantastic realism". They dare to ask such questions as: Are we all in a collective conspiracy to hide the truth, is science such a conspiracy? Do secret societies exist and do they have an influence upon history? What special knowledge did the ancients possess that we may not possess now? What role did secret societies play in the origins of Nazism, and in the Nazi Black Order? How were the Nazis able to rise to power and what did such a phenomenon represent amidst our modern world? What is the historical meaning of the atomic bomb? What does the future promise for our civilization? And, Do supermen live amongst us men, and if so, have they always? Hypotheses are put forth in answer to all these questions. The authors reject a magical worldview and they also reject the narrow confines of scientific positivism. However, they consider it necessary to keep an open mind when examining these phenomena, and they refer to themselves as "barbarians" seeking to search out a scientific explanation to be imposed on the fantastic. The book is simply amazing, and truly life-affirming. You MUST read it! Not just to understand yourself and your world, but also to understand your future. You will never be able to perceive things in the exact same light again. Get this book and discover the mysteries of the world for yourself! :)

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best reference books ever written..., June 3, 2004

By 

Takis Tz. (InYourHead) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morning of Magicians (Paperback)

The least i could say about this wondrous book is that it's the closest you'll come to a mind-altering experience without chemical substances. From that on, this is a jaw-dropping read, and it's kinda difficult to summarise what it professes except if i put it on terms such as: "it examines all those sides of 'reality' for which we have solid evidence of the existence thereof but because of a variety of reasons we refuse to acknowledge".

Now, I know this sounds vague, but when you come across a book that deals with such a spectrum of topics such as alchemy, politics, the paranormal, history, secret societies, origins of certain philosophies, magic, the roots of nazism, UFOs, conspiracies, etc, there is no simpler way to surmise it.

This is easily one of those books that leave you a different person once you're done reading them, not in the way certain "self-help" books claim they do, but in the sense that it works like a massive curtain being pulled infront of you and a whole new picture being revealed behind it.

There's no bibliography included at the end of it (allthough, through its pages, several books are mentioned as sources) but for those well-delved into the topics it discusses it's obvious that the scholarship involved here is impeccable.

And apropos "sources", this is exactly the biggest contribution of this book, the fact that it actually functions like a tremendous reference book, leading you eventually to other books of which you'd probably remain unaware had you not seen the sourcing here. It's more or less like a simply coded lexicon for those interested in diving well below the surface, for restless minds who suspect that "this can't be all there is", a multi-key to unopened doors inside and outside ourminds.

Being all that (and more), you'd expect a "heavy read", a book written in wooden academic language, but this is far from being the case: " The Morning of the Magicians" is laid out in down-to-earth language and you won't be disturbed during your reading by trying to comprehend the sentences but instead you'll be left with the bare essence. You'll need only comprehend the concepts.

Published originally in the 60s, and having accomplished a notorious reputation since then, it reads like what Charles Fort would sound as, if he were a scientist. And, even that description doesn't do it complete justice.
Absolutely essential for those who search...

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "That Infinity Called Man...", June 6, 2003

By 

rampageous_cuss (Under Billy Penn's Hat) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Morning of the Magicians (Paperback)

This is a manifesto calling for a new conception of humanity's place in the universe. If that sounds pretty grand, well, this book appeared in the sixties... The French authors, columnist Louis Pauwels and physicist Jacques Bergier, feel that "Cartesian reason does not cover the whole of man or the whole of his knowledge" and are calling for an optimistic, mystical philosophy of modernism that they call Fantastic Realism.

This is one of my favorite books, and is the progenitor for most of the "New Age" literature that was to appear decades later, from the 1970's through the '90's. The authors (Pauwels, really) assert that homo sapiens is not a mechanistic clock-work operating within the limits of Nature, but is instead on a journey of progressive evolution towards cosmic interconnectedness. A key assertion is that it is possible to understand the most complex aspects of reality through an expanded state of awareness, without plodding through the limited and sometimes inaccurate scientific method.

The book presents a great deal of esoterica, which often obfuscates the authors' intention, which is to call for "Reason ... pushed to extreme limits ... operating on a higher level, linking up with the mysteries of the mind and spirit, the secrets of energy and universal harmony."

It's easy to confuse this book with compilations of the occult or unexplained, like "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World" or "Ripley's Believe It Or Not". Actually, like Colin Wilson's "The Occult", "Le Matin des Magiciens" is speculatively considering such ideas with the aim of inspiring the reader to question reductionist theories of reality. The book is non-clerical but spiritual call to embrace modernism, and all the possibilities it represents, rather than reject it.