Son of Prometheus
The Life and Work of Joséphin Péladan
by Sasha Chaitow
Sasha Chaitow’s Son of Prometheus is the first scholarly study of the life and work of Joséphin Péladan that succeeds in placing it in the context of the history of Western Esotericism while also providing a clear roadmap to the entirety of Péladan’s initiatory teachings and philosophy of the esoteric power of art. Responding to multiple cultural shifts in fin-de-siècle French society, Péladan authored over a hundred novels and monographs in an attempt to bring about the spiritual regeneration of society through mythopoetic art underpinned by esoteric thought.
Best remembered for organising the short-lived, though influential Salons de la Rose et Croix in the 1890s, that provided a focal point for Symbolist art and sought to unite the arts into a revival of initiatory drama, Péladan’s enormous oeuvre of over a hundred books and several thousand articles, slipped into oblivion and has been overlooked ever since. Previous accounts highlight his eccentricity, or isolated elements of his work, but until now, none have explored the breadth of his work in its cultural context. Sasha Chaitow undertook to do this over the course of the last 12 years, and has produced a study that offers a solid biographical introduction which corrects long-standing misperceptions, followed by accessible but robust thematic presentations of the many facets of Péladan’s work, including many unpublished translated excerpts of his work. He called himself a novelist, a playwright, a philosopher, an art critic, a savant and a zelator; he was all these and more, predicting in an unpublished autobiography that one day he would be the object of detailed study. After a century of oblivion, that day has come. His work is of undoubted interest to scholars, artists, and esoteric practitioners alike. Chaitow’s approach is both interdisciplinary and reader-friendly, ensuring that Péladan’s vision for changing society through art and authentic living is accessible to all.
Illustrated by Chaitow herself, who undertook several artistic explorations of Péladan’s work alongside her research, the book features forewords by Professors Per Faxneld and Christopher McIntosh, and is endorsed by Professor Christopher Partridge.
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Table of Contents (abridged)
Foreword by Christopher McIntosh
Foreword: An Occult Soothsayer and Prophet by Per Faxneld
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Who was the real Péladan?
Chapter 2: The Chevalier, the Doctor and the Sâr
Chapter 3: The History of Everything
Chapter 4: Péladan’s Platonic Legendarium
Chapter 5: Symbols and Myth-making
Chapter 6: Manifesting the Ideal - Péladan’s Plato
Chapter 7: From theory to practice: Péladan’s Initiatory system
Chapter 8: The Case for Esoteric Literature
Chapter 9: Quo vadis, Péladan?
Epilogue: Implications for our time
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9 greyscale images of original pen and ink freehand illustrations by the author.
Cloth Hardcover Edition - Limited to 710 copies
432 pages. Printed and bound in Germany. Lustrous deep-purple fine cloth-bound hardcover, gold embossing of an original design by the author, lettering on spine. Printed on printed on 115gsm wood-free, quality design paper in ivory. 125gsm gold endpapers, headbands and gold ribbon bookmark.
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“Previous studies of Péladan have failed to deliver a complete picture of the man and his achievements. Most art historians have little understanding of the esoteric and are even apt to be hostile towards esoteric interpretations of an artist. Scholars of esotericism, on the other hand, are often ignorant of art history. Sasha Chaitow is uniquely qualified to write this study, having a knowledge of art history as well as the esoteric context of Péladan’s work. She also has the insight that comes from being an artist herself. One of the great merits of the book is her very clear and detailed exposition of Péladan`s initiation system.
Not long ago the subject of Péladan would have been regarded as belonging to a minor side road in the history of art, esotericism or the Belle Epoque. Now, in an age when the arts are largely cut off from tradition and bereft of beauty or spiritual meaning, his message is perhaps more relevant than ever. In Sasha Chaitow he has at last found a biographer able to do him justice.”
Dr Christopher McIntosh, formerly Professor of History of Western Esotericism at Exeter University (EXESESO)
“Joséphin Péladan is one of those creative, original, and influential thinkers that deserves far more attention than he has so far received. Sasha Chaitow’s groundbreaking book, which is rooted in careful scholarship and insightful analysis, fills this lacuna in studies of Western esotericism. Whether you are interested in occult trajectories within modernism, fin-de-siècle esotericism, or Orientalist discourses during the French occult revival, you will profit from reading this lucid and engaging study of a truly fascinating thinker.”
Christopher Partridge, Professor of Religious Studies, Lancaster University
Author Talk by Sasha Chaitow at Watkins Books - watch on YouTube here
Book Review by Rodney Illustrations - watch on YouTube here
Book Review by Foolish Fish - watch on YouTube here
Interview with Sasha Chaitow on the Secret History of Western Esotericism podcast - listen here
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About the Author
Dr. Sasha Chaitow is a prolific lecturer, writer, and artist. One of the central foci of her research is the life and work of Josephin Péladan, one of the most important and colourful personalities of the French Occult revival. His importance for many modern esoteric movements including Rosicrucianism and Gnosticism cannot be underestimated – which makes the lack of available translations of Péladan’s work even more shocking.
Dr. Chaitow studied art, communication and English literature in Athens and after completing her Masters in Western Esotericism at the University of Exeter, she completed her PhD thesis on Joséphin Péladan. As a pre-eminent authority on Péladan, Dr. Chaitow has been instrumental in bringing him to the greater attention of a contemporary esoteric audience.
