Martinism
This body of esoteric knowledge takes its name from a French nobleman named Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (1743-1803). He was greatly influenced by two Rosicrucians...
The Goal of Reintegration of Man
This body of esoteric knowledge takes its name from a French nobleman named Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (1743-1803). He was greatly influenced by two Rosicrucians: Martinez Pasquales, who initiated him into the esoteric arts; and Jacob Boehme, whose mystical writings strongly inspired him.
However, he did not formally found any group to study the mystical arts for the Holy Inquisition was still a force that was hard to contend with at that time. But he did meet and correspond with like-minded people, and he wrote a number of insightful books under the pen name, “The Unknown Philosopher”.
In turn, the teachings that Saint-Martin set forth gathered a large and rather distinguished following, which included Helena P. Blavatsky, Eliphas Levi, Count de Saint-Germain, Honore Balzac, and Czar Nicholas II of Russian.
An important feature of Martinism is Illuminism, which leads to the goal of reintegration of man into his original divine state. The process involves deep metaphysical study and some theurgic practice.
