Fulcanelli
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Fulcanelli (dates of birth and death unknown) is almost certainly a pseudonym assumed, in the late 19th century, by a French alchemist and esoteric author, whose identity is still debated. He is also called the Master Alchemist. The appeal of Fulcanelli as a cultural phenomenon is partly due to the mystery that surrounds most aspects of his life and works; one of the anecdotes pertaining to his life retells, in particular, how his most devoted pupil Eugène Canseliet performed a successful transmutation of 100 grams of lead into gold in a laboratory near Sarcelles with the use of a small quantity of the "Projection Powder" given to him by his teacher, in the presence of several eyewitnesses.
Works
The two books by Fulcanelli are
- Le Mystère des Cathédrales (The Mystery of the Cathedrals), written in 1922 and published in Paris in 1929.
- Les Demeures Philosophales (Dwellings of the Philosophers), published in Paris in 1930.
The books are written in a cryptic and erudite manner, replete with Latin and Greek puns, alchemical symbolism, double entendres, and lectures on and in Argot and Cant, all of which serve to keep "puffers" in the dark.
A third book, Finis Gloriae Mundi (End of the World's Glory), was also reportedly being prepared for publication. The notes for the book were left for a time with his only student, Canseliet. Fulcanelli decided that the timing for publication of the book was not right and so it was never in fact published. However, a book by the same name, citing Fulcanelli as the author, was published in more recent times. That book has been shown to be a counterfeit.
