Constant, Alphonse-Louis (1810-75). Educated for the priesthood, he first wrote religious poetry strongly marked by Marian devotion, then became politically involved with the socialist movement and combined religious themes with social protest, notably pro-feminist. La Mère de Dieu (1844), a prose epic, best represents this period of his career. After 1851 he published, under the name of Eliphas Lévi, widely read expositions of the occultist ‘metaphysical’ tradition and his own meditations on aspects thereof. His Dogme et rituel de la haute magie (1856) was much appreciated by many authors, including Villiers de l'Isle-Adam and Catulle Mendès.
[Frank Paul Bowman]
