The Red Lion: The Elixir of Eternal Life [Paperback]

Maria Szepes (Author), Ardi Lawrence (Editor), Laszlo Vermes (Translator), Szepes Maria (Author), Gizella Jozsa (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 390 pages
• Publisher: Horus House Press; 2 edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965262189
• ISBN-13: 978-0965262187
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lion Roars, June 12, 2000

By 

Mark Stavish, The Institute for Hermetic Stud... (Wyoming, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Red Lion: The Elixir of Eternal Life (Paperback)

The Red Lion is one of those rare books that comes along once or twice in a generation. Written under the stress of constant terror and death, as Budapest was under siege during the final days of World War Two, the author brings to her readers a message of hope that surpasses the many New Age slogans about 'love and light' that are passed off as truth or 'occult novels' that are either psuedo-pornographic or just plain dull. If you are interested in reading about the nature of human evolution, the Western occult traditions, and the role of personal relationships across lifetimes, and how it all will come to make sense in the end, then The Red Lion is for you. The Red Lion is more than just an accurate book about alchemy and tantric mysticism, it is a book about life.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Major Rosicrucian Work, March 29, 2001

By 

A. Ali "Harkonnen" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Red Lion: The Elixir of Eternal Life (Paperback)

Though this work is a novel, no-one should be deceived into thinking that this is anything less than a major alchemical work. A whole range of philosophical and esoteric issues are discussed. This reviewer could only absorb the book in small doses; there was so much to mull over. It's amazing it took over 50 years for this book to be translated into English.

The writer does exhibit a Rosicrucian slant at places. For example, reference to the "Chemical Wedding". The emphasis on the Comte de St. Germaine. At other places Szepes refers to Eastern practices, e.g. the Tibetan practice of bringing to life an inanimate statue which subsequently has to be demolished. Thus the polarity between pyschological projection and 'external' reality is re-established, which tends to become blurred when one sets out on the esoteric path and realizes that there is no distinction between psychological and physical reality. The notion of the homunculus is discussed at length. The Emerald Tablet is given in both Latin and English. The list could go on. A spell-binding book that this reviewer found edifying.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the best ever books on the human condition ., September 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Red Lion: The Elixir of Eternal Life (Paperback)

The eternal verities of life unfold in this fast-paced, thrilling novel projected against the background of the last four centuries of European history with such astonishing accuracy as if it were an eye-witness account. As the main character evolves through several incarnations from "the lowest point of the deepest depth" to the pinacle of human achievement, he becomes a Magus, an Adept. Following his struggles, one is lead through the terrors of Gothic scenes of medieval Alchemy and through the full scale of human emotions from the basest sex and power-driven desires to the noblest, selfless service of humanity. One is moved through the tantalizing maze of the psychic world up to the calm and majestic realms of the highest mental worlds. His path takes him through the humble homes of peasants and laborers, through alchemical labratories, possession, exorcism, the inquisition and insane asylums, to royal courts and dark castles of nobility. He meets the Rosicrucians and Freemasons, lives through the French Revolution and World War II. His path crosses the paths of simple folks and kings and queens, fakers and seekers, great and small, the Count St. Germain and Cagliostro, Marie Antoinette and many others. Every one is portrayed with an amazingly clear vision. They become pyschological prototypes leaving the reader with the feeling of having personally known them. The author fullfils her promise as she says in the first chapter: "Come with me. Like a priest of the Orphic Mysteries, I will lead you into the darkness of night, through deep, moonless forrests, down the paths of the netherworld leading to the gates of Hades. Do not be afraid; I have a torch and I know my way. You will not get lost. And at dawn we come to the temple of the rising sun."