The Masonic Magician: The Life and Death of Count Cagliostro and His Egyptian Rite

by Philipa Faulks, Robert Cooper

Overview

Miracle-worker or man of straw? Count Alessandro Cagliostro was a cult figure of European society in the tumultuous years leading to the French Revolution. An alchemist, healer and Freemason, he inspired both wild devotion and savage ridicule – as well as novels by Alexandre Dumas, a drama by Goethe and Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. 

Count Alessandro Cagliostro’s sincere belief in the magical powers, including immortality, conferred by his Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry won him fame, but made him dangerous enemies, too. His celebrated travels through the Middle East and the capitals of Europe ended abruptly in Rome in 1789, where he was arrested by the Inquisition and condemned to death for heresy.
The Masonic Magician tells Cagliostro’s extraordinary story, complete with the first English translation of his Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry ever published. The authors examine the case made against him, that he was an impostor as well as a heretic, and find that the Roman Church, and history itself, have done him a terrible injustice.

This engaging account, drawing on remarkable new documentary evidence, shows that the man condemned was a genuine visionary and true champion of Freemasonry. His teachings have much to reveal to us today, not just of the secrets of the movement, but of the mysterious hostility it continues to attract.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786780133
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	07/25/2017
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,061,982
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

PHILIPPA FAULKS is an author, ghost writer, freelance editor and journalist. She has written eight books, including the best-selling The Masonic Magician: the Life and Death of Count Cagliostro and his Egyptian Rite (Watkins Publishing, 2008) A Handbook for the Freemason's Wife, The Secrets of Meditation, Henna Magic, Modern Mantras and The Zen Diet ; also included are several other titles I was ghost writer for. She has edited many books in the course of her work as Publishing Manager of a medium sized publishing house.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements viii

List of Illustrations x

List of Plates xi

Introduction xiii

Part 1 The Life and Times of Cagliostro 1

1 The Early Years 2

2 The Masonic Magician 19

3 The Final Years 52

4 The Man, the Myths, the Legend 86

Part 2 The Origins and History of Freemasonry 101

5 The Philosopher's Stonemasons 102

6 The Making of Masonic History 130

7 A Legacy of Persecution 149

Part 3 Cagliostro's Egyptian Freemasonry 173

8 Egyptian Freemasonry 174

9 The Ritual of Egyptian Freemasonry 195

10 A Commentary on Cagliostro's Egyptian Ritual 237

Conclusion 276

Endnotes 282

Appendices 289

Glossary 294

Bibliography 298

Index 306