Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825 - 1875), an American occultist and author, is considered the first Rosicrucian in the United States and the founder of the modern sexual magical tradition in Western occultism. The novel presented here has been translated into German by Gustav Meyrink. In his preface, Meyrink writes: "... there is a strong allure in taking a glimpse into the thought world of a person who, a true enthusiast and a small-scale Cagliostro, without ever having received even the slightest formal education, suddenly takes up the pen and speaks to us unabashedly, like a half-wild and obsessed individual." This is a reprint of the original edition from 1922.