Magic, or the Secret System

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...which shall be the subject of this work. Regardless of what one might think of their content, I have considered it worth the effort—for the benefit of a significant portion of my contemporaries, who well know what they are doing—to organize them under individual main articles Original: Hauptartikel; structural headings or thematic chapters used to categorize the complex ideas of the source text. for the sake of clarity and more convenient use, to explain them through notes and additions, to show their relationship or lack thereof to other secret teachings Original: geheimen Lehren; referring to esoteric or mystical traditions like Martinism, which were popular in the late 18th century., and to facilitate as much as to secure their use through many critical and literary observations. They are, to a certain extent, classical, as the only ones until now, wherein...

1. 1781. The translation that appeared in the year 1782 and is, on the whole, very well-executed, was authored by the amiable Matthias Claudius A famous German poet and journalist (1740–1815). His involvement in translating Saint-Martin's work highlights the intersection of mainstream German literature and esoteric mysticism during this period.. The title: Of Errors and Truth Original: Des Err. et de la Vér., referring to Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin's Des Erreurs et de la Vérité. would have been better rendered as: On Error and Truth.

2. Natural Table of the Relations existing between God, Man, and the Universe Original French: Tableau naturel des rapports qui existent entre Dieu, l'homme et l'Univers. This was Saint-Martin's second major work, exploring the interconnectedness of all creation.. Published at Edinburgh, 1782. Edinburgh was often used as a "false imprint" on the title pages of 18th-century mystical or controversial books to evade local censorship, even if they were actually printed in France or Germany.