A good amount of my time has been spent studying occultism and art–and at the best of times the intersection of the two. One of the high points where occultism strongly influenced art was the French fin de sieclé. The end of the nineteenth century included several rich fusions of occultism and the arts. Such movements as the Symbolists come to mind immediately.
At the center of this intersection was Sar Joséphin Péladan the founder of the Salon de la Rose+Croix art and occult groups. He was a close associate of Erik Satie who composed music for his Salaons and his occult society.
Péladan was also a prolific writer both on occultism and fiction. Despite the importance of his place at the epicenter of French art and occultism, scant little of his writings have been available in English translation.
This has now begun to be rectified with the publication of K.K. Albert translation of How to Become a Mage; A Fin-de-Siecle Occult Manifesto.
A brilliant, cantankerous, challenging, and profoundly insightful guide to the hard work and astonishing possibilities of becoming a unique individual.
John Michael Grew, from his foreword
How to Become a Mage: A Fin-de-Siecle French Occult Manifesto
Joséphin Péladan, translated and annotated by John Michael Greer
(Llewellyn, 2018)