Eliphas Lévi and the French Occult Revival

15. The War of the Roses

IS The War of the Roses Peladan, like Eliphas Levi, combined his occultism with a strong adherence to Catholicism, and he soon found himself affronted by some of the more pagan activities of de Guaita's order. He was, in any case, too big a fish to swim for long in the same pond as de Guaita, and the inevitable split became public when he published an article in L'Initiation ofJune, 1890, announcing his departure from the Cabalistic Order. '.. . My adherence, fruitful until now, would henceforth become sterile. My absolutist nature isolates me from your eclectic work. I could not take occultism in its entirety with me to Mass, and I refuse to rub shoulders with spiritualism, masonry or Buddhism.' In stating his aversion to masonry, Peladan was no doubt thinking particularly of Oswald Wirth. Between the two men there was clearly no love lost, for Wirth in his memoirs is scathing about Peladan and gives the entirely erroneous impression that de Guaita was contemptuous of the Sar from the beginning. Peladan stated in his article that his intention was to establisha new 'triple intellectual order for Romans, Artists and women'. The new group was to be called the Order of the Catholic Rose Cross, the Temple and the Grail. Soon after the appearance of this announcement, Peladan departed for Nimes, having drawn up an impressive document on parchment appointing his friend Gary de Lacroze as his second-incommand with instructions to look for recruits. The document was headed with drawings of a tiara, a chalice, a standard and crosses of three different designs. The message, written in a flowery, archaic style in Peladan's decorative handwriting, read as follows: 172 Eliphas Levi andthe French Occult Revival Under the Tau, the Greek cross, the crux ansata and the Tiara of Chaldea, before the Grail, the Standard and the Rose Cross, We, Grand-Master of the Order of the Catholic Rose Cross, the Temple and the Grail, detained in Barbary to elaborate the constutution ofthe order, do hereby designate to you our friend Commander Gary de Lacroze as Archwarden of the Province of Paris for the reception and preliminary selection of candidates ... Do not forget, friend Commander, that only science or genius can compensate in our order for the absence ofworldly position. Given at Paris under our seal this day of ... etc. Sar Peladan! Through his order Peladan hoped to bring occultism back under the wing of Catholicism. The stated aim of the Catholic Rose Cross was the accomplishment of works of mercy, with a view to preparing for the reign ofthe Holy Spirit. The coming kingdom of the Paraclete was by now a familiar theme among occult groups. Every candidate for initiation had to appear before the Grand Master, who put to him the following ten questions: I. Who are you? 2 . What is your void? 3. To what does your will tend ? 4. How do you realise yourself? 5. By what force? 6. Declare your attractions and repulsions. 7. Define your glory. 8. State the hierarchy of beings. 9. Name happiness. 10. Name sorrow.s If, having passed through this interrogation satisfactorily, the candidate was judged to be suitable, he entered the lowest rank of the society which was divided, in ascending order, into the following grades: servants of work, equerries, knights and commanders. The commanders were assigned to the various Sephiroth ofthe cabalisticTree ofLife. De Lacroze, for example, was Commander of Tiphereth, while Comte Leonce de Larmandie was Commander ofGeburah. The War ofthe Roses 173 Peladan received his initiates in the large room in which he lived in the Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. He dressed in a monk's robe with a Rose Cross on his chest and addressed the faithful in a musical voice, gesturing energetically with his ring-laden hands. When de Guaita heard ofthese antics he immediately appealed to Peladan to cease his schismatic activities. His tone was at first concilatory, and on 13th August 1891, he wrote to Peladan the following letter, on paper headed with the symbol of the Cabalistic Order, a cross with four roses at the comers and a pentagram in the centre (see plate rsb). My dear friend, I hope that my book gives you as much pleasure as the androgyne gave to me: the reading of it reminded me of some of the most picturesque years of my life at college, apud patres jesuitas. Thank...