Surrealism and Operative Alchemy
The Secret Language at the Origins of the Surrealist Movement
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Product details:
- Publisher Inner Traditions
- Date of Publication 26 March 2026
- Number of Volumes Hardback
- ISBN 9798888501672
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages360 pages
- Size 228x152x27 mm
- Language English
- Illustrations Includes 8-page color insert 698
Categories
Short description:
Discover the links between European surrealism and the alchemical tradition
MoreLong description:
Discover the links between European surrealism and the alchemical tradition
• Draws on rare primary documents to reveal the connections between surrealism, 20th century alchemy, and 19th century occultism
• Explores Éliphas Lévi, Jewish and Christian Kabbalah, and Hermeticism to show how surrealist symbology contained an initiatory dimension or “secret teaching”
• Details collaborations between surrealists André Breton, Bernard Roger, and Salvador Dalí and alchemists René Alleau, Eugène Canseliet, and Fulcanelli
Over the last century the symbols and strangeness of the surrealists have become world-renowned, but what isn’t so well-known is the hidden relationship between surrealism and alchemy. The works of both traditions not only had a decisive influence on each other but created a unique path for alchemy to leave its underground workshops to shine in the light of popular culture.
Patrick Lepetit draws on rare primary documents to reveal the connections between surrealism, 20th-century alchemy, and 19th-century occultism. He examines the hidden subtleties of surrealism to see the esoteric messages embedded in its vision of the self and cosmos. Exploring the writings of Éliphas Lévi, Jewish and Christian Kabbalah, and Hermeticism, Lepetit shows how surrealist symbology contained an initiatory dimension, a “secret teaching” that was integral to its expression and deeply inspiring to the surrealists. Early alchemists used codes and word games, such as the perfect and divine “language of the birds,” to discuss the work in ways that would baffle the uninitiated and evade the suspicions of the church. Readers will learn about the artists André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Irene Hillel-Erlanger, Bernard Roger, and Jorge Camacho and how they worked with alchemists Fulcanelli, René Alleau, and Eugène Canseliet.
Surrealism and Operative Alchemy is a deeply researched study that situates the surrealists in their proper place as members of an age-old tradition of wisdom.
“Lepetit’s work is an invaluable contribution to understanding the history and practice of 20th-century alchemy in France and later elsewhere. Students of operative alchemy, particularly the writings of Fulcanelli, will find a tremendous amount of literary gold in these pages—and maybe even a few hints of the Stone as well. This is a book that readers will return to often.”
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Alchemy of the Word
1 Surrealism and Esotericism
2 Surrealism and Alchemy
3 Eugene Canseliet, F.C.H.
4 Kaleidoscopic Journeys
5 Andre Breton, Alchemist?
6 Rene Alleau, Fulcanelli’s Other Disciple?
7 The Mysterious Doctor Hunwald
and the Hermes Circle
8 Art and Alchemy
9 The Paris of Bernard Roger
10 Bernard Roger and the Lady of the Work
11 Jorge Camacho and Alain Gruger,
Surrealists and Operatives
12 The Open Books of the Artists
13 The New Alchemical Heraldry
14 Maurice Baskine, Fantasopher
15 Elie-Charles Flamand
16 Elie-Charles Flamand in the
Steps of the Daughter of the Sun
17 Ithell Colquhoun and the Goose of Hermogenes
Conclusion: Total Liberation of the Mind
Appendix: Documents of the Hermes Circle
Notes
Bibliography
Index
