20 h 24 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 20 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the history of magic is, as Lévi claims, the story of one hidden tradition passing through the ages?
In The History of Magic, Éliphas Lévi follows what he sees as a secret teaching from ancient Persia and Egypt through Greece, Rome, and beyond. Zoroaster, Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato appear as carriers of this wisdom. His central question is how that knowledge survives as religions and societies change.
Lévi writes as a believer, not a detached observer. He argues that magic is a science of nature and human will, guarded by initiates. His account moves through the early church, the Middle Ages, and the age of Mesmer, bringing sages, sorcerers, and heretics into a history shaped by his convictions.
What you’ll discover
- One hidden tradition Explore Lévi’s claim that many religions and superstitions conceal a single body of secret knowledge.
- Sages of the East Meet the Magi of Persia and Zoroaster through Lévi’s account of magic’s ancient roots.
- The Kabbalah as key See why Lévi treats this Jewish mystical tradition as the clearest keeper of hidden wisdom.
- Faith and its quarrels Follow his mixed response to the early church and his claims about Christianity’s ties to magic.
- Alchemy and the soul Encounter Nicolas Flamel and Lévi’s reading of alchemy as inward change as well as transformed metals.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy occult lore, Kabalah, alchemy, Tarot, secret societies, and old legends told with conviction, or if you like to see one passionate writer join faith, history, and strange science.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Magic joins reason and faith
- Knowledge requires mastery of passion
- Ancient traditions veil a shared science
- Harmony keeps its opposites distinct
- Evil is not another god
- Fear turns symbols into accusations
- Modern wonders still need balance
- A shared force connects the history
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The History of Magic
by Éliphas Lévi · 1860
A Catholic occultist follows magic from fallen angels to Mesmer's tubs, and argues it joins science and faith.
Challenging10–20 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What if magic is not trickery at all but an exact science, as old as the Bible and loyal to the Church? That is the bold claim Éliphas Lévi makes in The History of Magic, written in nineteenth century France.
The History of Magic at a glance
- Reading time
- About 11 h 25 min9 h fast, 13 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 162,500 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1860by Éliphas Lévi
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Magic is presented as an exact science
Lévi begins by defining his subject against the common view. Magic, he says, is not the art of producing effects without causes. It is the science of the ancient magi, as exact as mathematics. The Christian religion silenced false oracles, yet it still honors the mystic kings who come from the East to adore the Savior in his cradle. Tradition calls them kings, he says, because magical initiation is a true royalty.
His central promise is a union of opposites. He presents magic as a bridge between reason and faith, belief and science, liberty and authority. It gives the mind a certainty as firm as arithmetic. Knowledge, in his view, requires hierarchy and self-mastery, though those who strive can gradually attain the rank of the elect. He compares the world to a man born blind who cannot grasp daylight until morning comes.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1860
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 13 h 20 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Lévi, Éliphas. The History of Magic. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-magic.
Lévi, É. (2026). The history of magic. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-magic (Original work published 1860)
Lévi, Éliphas. The History of Magic. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-magic.
@book{levi2026history,
author = {Lévi, Éliphas},
title = {The History of Magic},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-history-of-magic},
note = {First published 1860}
}
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What is The History of Magic by Éliphas Lévi about?
It follows magic from legendary beginnings with Enoch and the Magi through Egypt, Greece, the Middle Ages, the Revolution, and the nineteenth century. Lévi argues that magic is an ancient science of balance that joins reason and faith.
What does Lévi mean by the Astral Light?
The Astral Light is his name for a universal fluid and force that carries images and links every nervous system. He says wills can direct it, and he uses it to explain magnetism, visions, dreams, and wonders.
Is The History of Magic a factual history?
It is the author's own reading of history, mixing documented events, legends, and tradition with his beliefs. He tells real trials such as that of Urbain Grandier alongside tales such as the fall of Sardanapalus, so it shows how an occultist saw the past.
The author
Éliphas Lévi
1810–1875 · French occult writer
Éliphas Lévi was the pen name of Alphonse Louis Constant, a French occult writer and poet. He was born in Paris in 1810 and died there in 1875. He wrote Dogme et rituel de la haute magie, published in two volumes in 1854 and 1856, and The History of Magic, published in 1860.
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