Paris, Center of Yeats' Occult Interests
By the end of the Nineteenth century Paris was a destination of note both for artists and those who were drawn to spiritual mysteries and experiments in the occult. Paris became a hub for occult societies and as such became a notable locale for W.B. Yeats, whose interest in the subject and membership in several secret societies is well-documented. According to R.F. Foster, in his biography W.B. Yeats: A Life, Yeats “needed to belong to organizations and, once attached, to shape them into the image he desired” (89). Foster is here explaining, in part, Yeats’ interest in the occult and in secret societies (the chapter in which he writes the above is titled “Secret Societies, 1889-1891”). Yeats became first a Theosophist and then a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult order which professes to practice ritual magic.
Yeats’ interest in the occult was “closely associated” with his meeting of and infatuation with Maude Gonne (Foster 101). Of course the phrase “closely associated” is an appropriate description for a whole cross-section of Yeats’ lifelong interests and obsessions: the occult, identity, nationalism, Celtic tradition, his art, Gonne; all begin or are made to intertwine in a gestalt assemblage of Yeats’ consciousness. It is difficult to isolate one part of his intellectual biography without inevitably having to encounter or confront others. For Yeats, and for the dutiful student of his work, any subdivisions are artificial.
Over the decades following their meeting, Yeats and Gonne developed a deep and mutual friendship, and they would eventually embark upon a “spiritual marriage” with one another. Despite Yeats’ many proposals, a more corporeal marriage never materialized. Gonne’s interest in the occult seems to have been spurred by her desire/belief in the reincarnation of her deceased son Georges, who died before the age of two; Yeats’ interest, though initiated on his own, was spurred by his desire/belief in Gonne as both romantic interest and symbol.
Yeats’ interest in the occult was perhaps a natural outgrowth of his interest in ancient Celtic myths. Foster notes that during his time spent as a child in the historic region of Sligo Yeats was inundated with stories of the supernatural; he later edited and published several collections of folklore, using the themes and personages of Celtic myth in his original writing. Gonne and Yeats adopted the iconography of Celtic myth as their own, and Yeats strove ultimately to merge his interests in occult magic and Celtic history and myth by conceptualizing and attempting to found an “Order of Celtic Mysteries” (180).
Yeats’ compulsion for entering into organizations and for contributing to their evolving visions with his personality goes hand in hand with his yearning to be in communion with a body of old tradition(s). And of course this yearning for tradition is easily connected to Yeats’ (and his contemporaries’) quest for a new (or at least a reclaimed, renewed, revised, and revitalized) Irish national identity; years of English colonialism had suppressed the Irish people (and the writers who sought to give them voice) and cut them off from their history and traditions.
Yeats’ life was in some sense wholly dedicated to wresting a collective identity and belonging for himself (and the Irish) from the forces that had disrupted that identity for centuries. As Foster notes of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’s membership: “Initiates saw themselves in a long tradition of priesthoods of inquiry, where hermetic adepts worked upwards through levels of magical study, emphasizing correspondences between colours, abstract qualities, mathematical numbers and various other aspects of life, according to cabbalistic subdivisions” (Foster 105). The Golden Dawn merged myths and ideas from across myriad cultures, and thereby dovetailed with Yeats’ apparent affection for cross-pollinating disparate intellectual interests.
Explore Yeats' Paris
This zoomable map shows important events in Yeats' life that happened in Paris. Hover over dots for more information about events and locations. (Please note that many locations in Paris were difficult to locate at exact coordinates.)
Yeats’ interest in the occult was “closely associated” with his meeting of and infatuation with Maude Gonne (Foster 101). Of course the phrase “closely associated” is an appropriate description for a whole cross-section of Yeats’ lifelong interests and obsessions: the occult, identity, nationalism, Celtic tradition, his art, Gonne; all begin or are made to intertwine in a gestalt assemblage of Yeats’ consciousness. It is difficult to isolate one part of his intellectual biography without inevitably having to encounter or confront others. For Yeats, and for the dutiful student of his work, any subdivisions are artificial.
Over the decades following their meeting, Yeats and Gonne developed a deep and mutual friendship, and they would eventually embark upon a “spiritual marriage” with one another. Despite Yeats’ many proposals, a more corporeal marriage never materialized. Gonne’s interest in the occult seems to have been spurred by her desire/belief in the reincarnation of her deceased son Georges, who died before the age of two; Yeats’ interest, though initiated on his own, was spurred by his desire/belief in Gonne as both romantic interest and symbol.
Yeats’ interest in the occult was perhaps a natural outgrowth of his interest in ancient Celtic myths. Foster notes that during his time spent as a child in the historic region of Sligo Yeats was inundated with stories of the supernatural; he later edited and published several collections of folklore, using the themes and personages of Celtic myth in his original writing. Gonne and Yeats adopted the iconography of Celtic myth as their own, and Yeats strove ultimately to merge his interests in occult magic and Celtic history and myth by conceptualizing and attempting to found an “Order of Celtic Mysteries” (180).
Yeats’ compulsion for entering into organizations and for contributing to their evolving visions with his personality goes hand in hand with his yearning to be in communion with a body of old tradition(s). And of course this yearning for tradition is easily connected to Yeats’ (and his contemporaries’) quest for a new (or at least a reclaimed, renewed, revised, and revitalized) Irish national identity; years of English colonialism had suppressed the Irish people (and the writers who sought to give them voice) and cut them off from their history and traditions.
Yeats’ life was in some sense wholly dedicated to wresting a collective identity and belonging for himself (and the Irish) from the forces that had disrupted that identity for centuries. As Foster notes of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’s membership: “Initiates saw themselves in a long tradition of priesthoods of inquiry, where hermetic adepts worked upwards through levels of magical study, emphasizing correspondences between colours, abstract qualities, mathematical numbers and various other aspects of life, according to cabbalistic subdivisions” (Foster 105). The Golden Dawn merged myths and ideas from across myriad cultures, and thereby dovetailed with Yeats’ apparent affection for cross-pollinating disparate intellectual interests.
Explore Yeats' Paris
This zoomable map shows important events in Yeats' life that happened in Paris. Hover over dots for more information about events and locations. (Please note that many locations in Paris were difficult to locate at exact coordinates.)
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