Jakob Boehme

Saint-Martin traveled to England, Italy, and Germany to study humanity and nature and to compare the findings of others with his own. It was in Strasbourg, a city in northeast France, that he became acquainted with the works of Jakob Boehme (1575–1624), which revolutionized his whole mystical life. Jakob Boehme became for Saint-Martin his "second teacher."

In order to read Boehme's texts in their original language, Saint-Martin learned German at the age of forty-five. Through a study of Boehme, he realized that true initiation surpasses theurgic rituals; there is no need to call upon intermediary powers of creation through complex and often dangerous ceremonies. Initiation can only be produced with the heart. This is what is called "The Way of the Heart."

From this point until the end of his life, Saint-Martin made a daily task of translating the texts of Jakob Boehme. "I owe my entry into the higher truths to Martinès de Pasqually, and I owe the most important steps I have made into these truths to Jakob Boehme."

The Writings of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin

Saint-Martin published his first work in 1775 under the title Of Errors and Of Truth, or Humanity Recalled to the Universal Principle of Science. The book’s purpose was to combat the atheism of his time. As with all his other writings, this was published under the pseudonym of "The Unknown Philosopher."

During the many years of his literary activity, Louis Claude de Saint-Martin wrote numerous works, including The Natural View of the Connections Existing Between the Divine, Humanity, and the Universe; The Person of Desire; The New Person; The Spirit of Things; and The Ministry of the Human-Spirit. He also left to posterity a revealing and inspiring personal correspondence, as well as a few posthumous works. In addition, he published translations of the writings of the one he called his "most dear B" (Jakob Boehme): The Birth of Dawn; The Three Principles of the Divine Essence; Forty Questions on the Soul; The Triple Life of Humanity; and Six Points and Nine Texts. 

Society of Intimates

The philosophical works of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin aroused much interest. In order to study his teachings, a circle of disciples was formed, known by the name of Society of Intimates. This society was working for the purest forms of spirituality. Saint-Martin accepted very few men and women into his society, always exercising extreme prudence. 

Despite the political and social turbulence of the French Revolution, Louis Claude de Saint-Martin was never seriously harassed during the Reign of Terror, or at any other time during the Revolution. On October 13, 1803, at the age of sixty, Louis Claude de Saint-Martin went through transition following a stroke. 

Following Louis Claude de Saint-Martin’s death, the Martinist disciples were not very active. The traditional teachings and ceremonies were privately transmitted by groups of initiators, spreading principally throughout Italy, Germany, and France.

The Martinist Order

After a long period of secrecy, a great effort was undertaken in 1888 to restructure Martinism into an initiatic order. It is due to the efforts of Dr. Gérard Encausse (Papus) and Augustin Chaboseau that this order survived and took on the name Martinist Order. Their efforts were rewarded with success in 1891 with the formation of a  Supreme Council of the Martinist Order, consisting of twenty-one members with authority over all the lodges in the world. Papus, a well-known French esotericist, was elected the first President of the Supreme Council. Under his brilliant and tireless direction, the Order grew rapidly, and by 1900, it could account for several hundred members in most parts of the world.

Papus soon became an authority on Martinism, and his works constitute a precious source of information for Martinists and all those interested in the tradition. 

World War I (1914–1918) greatly affected the growth and activities of the Order. Papus died heroically carrying out his duties as a medical doctor, and many other leaders and members of the Order did not survive. It was finally revived in 1931 due to the efforts of Augustin Chaboseau, the co-founder of the Martinist Order with Papus. He, along with the two other remaining survivors of the 1891 Supreme Council, created the Traditional Martinist Order to distinguish it from several movements which wrongly claimed to be the successors of Papus. Augustin Chaboseau, who was a descendant of an uninterrupted filiation back to Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, served as Grand Master and President of the Supreme Council until his transition on January 2, 1946. 

The Traditional Martinist Order

Ralph Maxwell Lewis, Imperator of the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, was received into the Traditional Martinist Order on September 1, 1939. His Initiator was Georges Lagrèze, legate and representative of Augustin Chaboseau. Consequently, the charters, manifestos, and all other documents needed for the promotion and development of Martinism in the Americas were transmitted to Ralph M. Lewis just prior to the oppression which the Traditional Martinist Order had to endure in Europe during the Second World War. 

Currently, the Supreme Council of the Traditional Martinist Order is directed and presided over by the Sovereign Grand Master, Claudio Mazzucco, Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC. The Traditional Martinist Order goes back through an initiatic transmission that is absolutely authentic, to the purest sources of Martinism. Thus, the Martinist light has been able to shine and spread, without interruption, its original luster.