Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic
Lamp of Trismegistus
Lévi names the lamp of Trismegistus as one of three possessions of the initiate. He interprets it as reason illuminated by science, alongside a mantle of self-possession and a staff of natural forces. The lamp burns with a triple flame and accompanies the traveller through darkness. Its threefold form belongs to the broader numerical arrangement of the initiate’s emblems.
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In the sources
Principal account
InterpretationLévi names the lamp of Trismegistus as one of three possessions of the initiate. He interprets it as reason illuminated by science, alongside a mantle of self-possession and a staff of natural forces.
Further detail
InterpretationThe lamp burns with a triple flame and accompanies the traveller through darkness. Its threefold form belongs to the broader numerical arrangement of the initiate’s emblems.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Lévi’s argument in Waite’s English translation. The selected passage interprets the initiate’s object symbolically; the entry does not claim a surviving lamp with miraculous properties. The correspondences are attributed to this occult synthesis rather than presented as a universal account of every earlier tradition.
Original passages
Source 1
Transcendental Magic
reason illuminated by scienceOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic; active reader leaf 118
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0026-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0026-E001-P0118
- Original scan leaf
- 118
- Recorded leaf number
- 118
- Current Reader position
- 112
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Transcendental Magic
The lamp burns with a triple flameOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic; active reader leaf 119
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0026-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0026-E001-P0119
- Original scan leaf
- 119
- Recorded leaf number
- 119
- Current Reader position
- 113
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed