Surrealism and Operative Alchemy: The Secret Language at the Origins of the Surrealist Movement

Discover the links between European surrealism and the alchemical tradition

• Draws on rare primary documents to reveal the connections between surrealism, 20th century alchemy, and 19th century occultism

• Explores Éliphas Lévi, Jewish and Christian Kabbalah, and Hermeticism to show how surrealist symbology contained an initiatory dimension or “secret teaching”

• Details collaborations between surrealists André Breton, Bernard Roger, and Salvador Dalí and alchemists René Alleau, Eugène Canseliet, and Fulcanelli

Over the last century the symbols and strangeness of the surrealists have become world-renowned, but what isn’t so well-known is the hidden relationship between surrealism and alchemy. The works of both traditions not only had a decisive influence on each other but created a unique path for alchemy to leave its underground workshops to shine in the light of popular culture.

Patrick Lepetit draws on rare primary documents to reveal the connections between surrealism, 20th-century alchemy, and 19th-century occultism. He examines the hidden subtleties of surrealism to see the esoteric messages embedded in its vision of the self and cosmos. Exploring the writings of Éliphas Lévi, Jewish and Christian Kabbalah, and Hermeticism, Lepetit shows how surrealist symbology contained an initiatory dimension, a “secret teaching” that was integral to its expression and deeply inspiring to the surrealists. Early alchemists used codes and word games, such as the perfect and divine “language of the birds,” to discuss the work in ways that would baffle the uninitiated and evade the suspicions of the church. Readers will learn about the artists André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Irene Hillel-Erlanger, Bernard Roger, and Jorge Camacho and how they worked with alchemists Fulcanelli, René Alleau, and Eugène Canseliet.

Surrealism and Operative Alchemy is a deeply researched study that situates the surrealists in their proper place as members of an age-old tradition of wisdom.

Patrick Lepetit is the author of The Esoteric Secrets of Surrealism and has written several books in French on surrealism and esoteric traditions. He is a member of the Grand Orient de France and of the Mélusine Network of scholars interested in surrealism. He lives in Mons en Baroeul, France.