Notes on Louis-Claude de Saint Martin by Manly P. Hall.

(From "The Adepts in the Western Esoteric Tradition" - Vol. 4)

LOUIS-CLAUDE DE SAINT-MARTIN (1743-1803), French mystic and ritualist, was known as "le Philosophe Inconnu", and some of his works are published under this pseudonym. Saint-Martin came of a family of wealth and gentle breeding. His mother died when he was a small child, but he had a most generous and indulgent stepmother. He was educated in law at the Collège de Pontlevoy. Though physically frail and given to mental pursuits, he decided to change his career and selected the profession of soldiering. Before entering the army, he became a Freemason, and even as a young man was devoted to the study of religious philosophy.

While his regiment was stationed at Bordeaux, he contacted the new system of Masonic rites which had been introduced by Martines de Pasqually. Saint-Martin was initiated into the Elected Priesthood in 1768, and amplified his learning by intensive reading of Swedenborg. In 1771, he resigned from the army to become a teacher and leader in the field of mysticism. He traveled considerably, and his ideas were received with enthousiasm.

"It is to Martines de Pasqually," says Saint-Martin, "that I owe my introduction to the higher truth."

Although Saint-Martin had been raised a strict Roman Catholic and always remained sympathetic to the Church, however his first work, Of Errors and Truth, was placed on the list of condemned book named the Index. Saint-Martin's ideal society was "a natural and spiritual theocracy", in which God would raise up men of mark, who would regard themselves strictly as "divine commissioners" to guide the people.

The writings of Saint-Martin were brought to the consideration of Voltaire. In 1787, Saint-Martin went to Italy with Prince Galatzin, then journeyed to Strasbourg, where he further studied the writings of Boehme, translating parts of them into French. Back in Paris, he was arrested during the Revolution simply because he was of nobility by birth. His affiliations with the Freemasons saved him from the Reign of Terror.

He visited London, where he remained for several months, made the acquaintance of the astronomer Herschel, and contacted the writings of William Law, the great interpreter of Boehme. Saint-Martin never married, but had a wide circle of friends and admirers, including many leaders of the intellectual world.

The central concept of Saint-Martin's mystical philosophy is that man remains divine in spite of the "fall" reported in the Scriptures. Within the human being lies dormant a high spiritual quality of which man is not always conscious, and which he must develop or release by freeing himself from the illusion of materialism. Saint-Martin died suddenly, presumably of a stroke while at prayer.

Notes on Martinism by Papus (Dr. Gérard Encausse)

The Martinist Order is a Mystical Order.

Martinism is made of all the invisible energies that may be invoked in the search for the Truth.

The Martinist Order does not propose any material advantage: its only purpose is the spiritual world.

The Martinist Order is an active center for initiation. It was established with the purpose to disseminate widely the teachings of Occultism, according to the ways of the Western Christian tradition.

The principal attribute of Martinism is the respect of human freedom. Another particularity of the Martinist Order is to initiate man and woman equally. A woman is the complement of a man. "Has the soul of a woman not the same source as the one incarnated in a masculine body?" (L-C. de Saint-Martin). The third characteristic of Martinism is its deep tie with the Christian Tradition. It works for the Christ, who is the source of Light at all levels.

Notes on Martinism by H.P. Blavatsky

(From the "Theosophical Glossary")

A French movement established by the great mystic called the marquis (sic) of Saint-Martin, a pupil of Martines de Pasqually. The movement was first started in Lyon as an occult Masonic Society: le Rite rectifié de Saint-Martin. L-C de Saint-Martin began an officer's career and later became an ardent disciple of Jacob Boehme....... He was a true Theosophist.

Notes on Saint-Martin by Antoine Faivre, professor at the Toulouse State University.

(From the "Mystics of the XVIIIth century")

In countless thoughts of a depth rarely matched, he expresses his faith in Christ, his opposition to the sensualism and the materialism of his time. His style, at the same time original, solid and melodic, has made him one of the best French prosaists ever. If, in the few poems he wrote, Saint-Martin didn't display any great gift, he seems however unequaled, when he models his reflections on the rhythm of the Psalms; in this style "The Man of Desire" remains a masterpiece of the French literature. Only La Mennais, later Claudel will display such a strength, such a taste and such a quality.