Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin was originally a high initiate in Martinez de Pasqually's 'Ordre des Chevalier Macons Elus Cohen de L'Univers', better known as 'Elus Kohen', a theurgic order dedicated to human salvation through High Magic. The group maintained a Gnostic-like belief that human souls had become trapped in material bodies at the Fall, and that Jesus - the 'Great Repairer' - had come to return humanity to its original estate. While agreeing with the fallen state of Man and the material world, Saint-Martin became disillusioned with Elus Kohen magical practices, and formulated his own...