René Schwaller De Lubicz

Although ridiculed by a number of "orthodox" Egyptologists, De Lubicz is probably one of the few who managed to grasp the secrets enclosed in the ancient Egyptian monuments. His major work, the fruit of many years of fieldwork at the Temple of Luxor, is collected in the two-volume The Temple of Man. Like all esoteric works, it is not easy to understand. In 1999, however, the Italian translation appeared of Serpent in the Sky by the independent American researcher John Anthony West, whose aim is to present Schwaller de Lubicz's complex and not very accessible doctrine in simplified form.

De Lubicz's esoteric training began at the age of 23 in Paris, where he was admitted to the studio of the great painter Henri Matisse and where he met Jean-Julien Champagne, a well-known painter and alchemist. Although their temperaments were not very compatible, the two worked closely together on the study of the majestic Gothic cathedrals, devoting themselves in particular to recreating, by alchemical means, their magnificent stained-glass windows. Their work was meant to remain secret; nevertheless in 1926, without De Lubicz's knowledge, The Mystery of the Cathedrals was published under the name of Fulcanelli, believed to be a pseudonym of Champagne himself, and based on a manuscript written by De Lubicz. This important book does not deal only with the alchemical symbols found in the architecture of the ancient Gothic cathedrals; above all it sets out to restore dignity to the alchemist's manual work in the laboratory, seen as an essential process for anyone who would be a true follower of the Great Work.

Bibliography:

1. Enciclopedia Dell'Esoterismo, Roberto Tresoldi, De Vecchi 2002
2. Il Serpente Celeste (Serpent in the Sky), John Anthony West, Corbaccio 1999
3. Il Mattino Dei Maghi (The Morning of the Magicians), Louis Pauwels - Jacques Bergier, Mondadori
4. Il Tempio Dell'Uomo (The Temple of Man), René Schwaller De Lubicz, Edizioni Mediterranee 2009