About the Author

Eliphas Levi (1810-1875) was the greatest innovator in the revival of Western occultism, most significantly with his great leap of imagination that linked the tarot trumps to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. He set out his tarot theory in his book Transcendental Magic, but never revealed its magical application. This was finally made public in 1896 when Dr. Westcott - creator of the Golden Dawn - translated and printed Levi's secret manuscript. It is this rare text that we are now re-issuing. This book aligns the major Arcana symbolism with a detailed description of the ritual of the sanctum regnum or kingdom of god. Eliphas Levi has gone on to influence many important occultists, in particular A. E. Waite and Aleister Crowley, who was born in the year Levi died and claimed to be his reincarnation.