When you have been enrolled among the Children of the Philosophers... you will straightaway discover that the Elements are inhabited by most perfect beings. Unhappy Adam's sin has deprived his unfortunate posterity of all knowledge of these beings and all intercourse with them. [T]he Element of Fire... was not created to remain useless and empty. -from "Discourse II" Sir Edward Lytton's based his strange novel Zanoni upon this esoteric work. Alexander Pope, in his dedication to The Rape of the Lock, sings its praises. But let the reader beware! This book "of hidden mystery and power" is not for the "gratification of a selfish intellectualism"! A classic of the occult, this philosophical treatise on the metaphysical secrets of the universe reveals the motives and magicks of the spirits known as Sylphs, Gnomes, Nymphs, and Salamanders. First published in Paris in 1670, this translation from the original French features extensive anonymous commentary, and is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the history of paranormal seeking for the meaning of life. French writer and priest N. DE MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1635-1673) was an advocate of liberty and religious tolerance and an influential thinker in the natural sciences; his writings are said to have inspired Lamarck and Darwin.