Gérard Encausse

Spanish-born French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order (1865-1916)

The pseudonym Papus, taken by Gérard Encausse from the Nuctemeron of Apollonius of Tyana, signifies the genius of medicine. Born in A Coruña in 1865 to a Spanish mother and French father, he relocated to Paris as a child. He navigated a dual existence, balancing rigorous academic medical training with lifelong devotion to esoteric philosophy.

Medical and Esoteric Foundations

Encausse pursued conventional academic studies at the University of Paris, earning his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1894 with a dissertation on Philosophical Anatomy. He operated a successful clinic located on rue Rodin. Concurrently, his interest in occultism deepened through independent study at the Bibliothèque Nationale, where he analyzed the Kabbalah, alchemy, and the works of Éliphas Lévi. He was a practitioner of hypnosis and a student of the spiritualist healer Anthelme Nizier Philippe, known as Maître Philippe de Lyon.

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Order and Organization

In 1888, he co-founded the Librairie du Merveilleux and established the journal L’Initiation, which he edited for nearly two decades. His organizational activities were extensive; in 1888, he helped found the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross. By 1891, he claimed possession of the papers of Martinez Paschalis, leading him to establish l'Ordre des Supérieurs Inconnus, known as the Martinist Order. His reach extended into paramasonic circles, where he eventually became Grand Hierophant of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Memphis and Mizraim following the death of John Yarker in 1913.

International Influence and Imperial Connection

Encausse traveled to Russia in 1901, 1905, and 1906 to serve Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra as both a physician and an occult consultant. His involvement in Russian affairs sparked controversy, including allegations that he authored antisemitic articles under the pseudonym Niet in 1901 and rumors regarding his connection to the forgery of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Despite his high-level access, he eventually cautioned the imperial couple against the influence of Rasputin.