BEDOUIN (Jean-Louis). - Lot 34

BEDOUIN (Jean-Louis). Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. 1929–1996. French literary critic, visual artist, and Surrealist poet. Autograph letter to René Alleau. No place, November 6, 1959. 2½ pages, large quarto A SUPERB LETTER TO HIS FRIEND RENÉ ALLEAU IN WHICH HE ADDRESSES THE CONCEPT OF ETERNITY......I can barely get my bearings again, (...). It would be in vain to seek here the equivalent of that faintly fragrant air, of that golden atmosphere (sic) that reminds every man there that he can be a companion of Dionysus. And if it is indeed in the power of gold to sanctify whatever it touches, what can be said of those last few days we spent in Provence, helping with our own hands to celebrate the sacrifice of the grapes in the wine press...The essence of your letter, so rich in meaning and so beautiful, harmonized perfectly with that of those splendid yet simple days. I would have replied to you at once, had the work being done (and not just in the vats!) not demanded as much vigilance on our part as it did favorable conditions from the stars and the rains (...).Now that this enchantment is nothing more than a memory, we find ourselves once again tossed about by the tarry waters (...). Eternity, you assure me, is the only thing that matters—not that future I thought I had to invoke as a miracle that is always possible (...). The fact remains, however, that the word—like others—is by no means free of connotations that, most likely, caused me to unconsciously reject it. (...), it evokes something static, restrictive, capable of stifling any upward momentum. Could we not speak of an eternity in motion, made up of all times, all births, and all deaths (I am not necessarily thinking of the “eternal return”)?...I write all this to express the deep interest I’ve taken in reading your work, rather than to discuss a problem that largely lies beyond my expertise, since I am more of a poet than a metaphysician. To be entirely sincere, however, I must add that poetry can, in my view, grasp certain spiritual realities more closely and more quickly than philosophy ever will (...). It is this conviction—perhaps a highly subjective one—that has sustained me throughout the text I am sending you in this envelope. I would not have delayed sending it to you so long had I not thought that Mr. Canseliet would forward it to you...René Alleau (1917–2013) was a historian of the occult sciences. He was a close associate of André Breton. A Freemason, he was a member of the Guénonian-oriented Paris lodge Thebah, belonging to the Grand Lodge of France. René Alleau’s book *Aspects of Traditional Alchemy* featured a preface by Eugène Léon Canseliet (1899–1982), an author and alchemist who was a disciple of Fulcanelli.