Quotes:Papus

Zirkoff, Boris

Papus (pseud. of Gérard Analect Vincent Encausse). French mystic and occult writer, b. at La Corogne, Spain, July 13, 1865; d. in Paris, 1916. His father was a French chemist, Louis Encausse, and his mother a Spanish lady. After graduating in medicine and surgery, his attraction to the psychical and occult side of things was shown in his temporary association with the Theosophical Society in Paris. Early in life he discovered the inadequacy of the materialistic views of the medical profession, and came to the conclusion that life was based on sacrifice and not on the struggle for existence. His studies of magic and allied subjects led to his establishing groups for the study of these matters. 447 One of them was the Groupe Indépendant d’Études Ésotériques; another was the Ordre Martiniste; out of these grew his Faculté des Sciences Hermétiques. The Martinist Order was very successful and had branches in various parts of the world. Unlike so many organizations which assume in modern days a Masonic or kindred origin, it did not make any false claims regarding its source. The figure of Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin was merely revered in the Order as an outstanding personality. The Order came into possession of valuable documents concerning Saint-Martin, and the writings of Dr. Encausse, who wrote under the pseudonym of “Papus,” threw additional light upon a number of mystics connected with those times.

Dr. Encausse broke away alike from the tradition and practice of the orthodox medical school, earning the usual consequences in its open and secret hostility; nevertheless he was a successful and popular physician, and his clinic in the Rue Rodier in Paris is said to have been crowded. He died literally exhausted through his exertions on behalf of the wounded during the First World War.

Dr. Encausse was a voluminous writer. Among his many works mention should be made of the following: *Traité élémentaire de science occulte, etc., Paris: G. Carré, 1888. 219 pp.; 5th ed., 1898. 456 pp.—Traité méthodique de science occulte, ibid., 1891. 1092 pp.—Traité élémentaire de magie pratique, etc. Paris: Chaumil, 1893. 559 pp.—La Cabbale, etc., 2nd ed., Paris: Bibliothèque Chacornac, 1903, 357 pp.—A large number of pamphlets on occult themes, and a number of anatomical and medical works.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 9, pp. 446-447