THE GREAT INITIATES
A Study of the Secret History of Religions
BY ÉDOUARD SCHURÉ
Translated from the French by Gloria Rasberry
Introduction by Paul M. Allen
Authorized English Translation by permission of the Librairie Académique
Perrin, Paris, France
This book is published in France under the title Les Grands Initiés
THE GREAT INITIATES. Copyright © 1961 by Rudolf Steiner Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. Published simultaneously in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Limited, Toronto.
The text of this book is printed on 100% recycled paper.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Schuré, Édouard, 1841-1929.
The great initiates.
Translation of Les grands initiés.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Religions. I. Title.
BL80.S33 1980 291 79-3597
ISBN 0-06-067125-4
_________________________________________________________________________________
84 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Dedicated
to the Memory of
Margherita Albana Mignaty
by The Author
"The soul is the key to the Universe."
"I am convinced that the day will come when psychologists, poets and philosophers will speak the same language, and will understand one another."
—Claude Bernard
These words were chosen by Édouard Schuré as the motto for the Introduction to the first French edition of this book in 1889.