La Magie Dévoilée — Magnetism and Magic/en

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La Magie Dévoilée, ou Principes de Science Occulte is the most important philosophical work of Baron du Potet, published in Paris in 1852. It was translated into English in 1927 by A.H.E. Lee under the title Magnetism and Magic (George Allen & Unwin, London). It is the book in which du Potet most clearly expresses his vision: magnetism is not just a medical technique, it is magic.

The preface: the philosophical program

The preface of the Magie Dévoilée (OCR verified from the primary Drive source) opens with an extraordinary passage addressed directly to the «magical force»:

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Translation: «Borrowing your power, man can call himself the king of nature [...] Magical force, you are discovered — in vain did antiquity seek to hide you from all eyes! Seized by thinkers, you will be the foundation of a new philosophy that will rest on the mysterious facts contested by current science, on this new order of phenomena that reason still rejects and that time must soon establish.»

The preface continues by declaring that this force is «immortal» — the opinion of men does not touch it — and that it will give to those who master it «an almost limitless power to do good», while to others it «will give the secret of dark works». It is a radically dual vision: magic is neutral, it depends on who uses it.

The central thesis: magnetism = magic

Du Potet was explicit: the word «magnetism» was inadequate. As Dr. Paret reports in the History of Hypnotism, du Potet stated that «what he does is magic». For him, magnetism was the modern rediscovery of a force known since antiquity — the same force that Egyptian priests, medieval thaumaturges, and initiates of every tradition had used under different names.

This placed him in sharp contrast with the «scientistic» current of magnetism (Braid, then Charcot, Bernheim) which sought to explain everything through physiological mechanisms. Du Potet did not deny the phenomena — he amplified them — but connected them to a magical-initiatic tradition.

The Magic Telegraph: fundamental experiment

One of the most famous experiments described in the book and documented by Dr. Paret is the Magic Telegraph:

Du Potet traced two parallel lines on the floor with charcoal, about one and a half meters long, with a spiral at the end. He traced them slowly, with intense concentration, imagining that the lines led to a precipice. Then he asked someone to stand at the other end and look at the spiral.

The subject initially felt nothing. Then, progressively, his face assumed «an expression of anxiety, then of astonishment and fear»; he knelt down and advanced on all fours toward the spiral, «clinging to the ground», until he reached the end and looked over the spiral as if into an abyss, «with his hair standing on end and convulsive breathing». He finally fell unconscious.

According to Paret: «These figures traced by Dupotet on the floor exerted a powerful fascination.» The term «fascination» here is used by Paret in a technical sense — anticipating the method of Donato.

The magic mirror

Another key method of the Magie Dévoilée is the magic mirror, traced with charcoal on the floor. The subject who looked at it for a few minutes had visions — often terrifying, sometimes euphoric — of which he generally retained no memory.

What makes du Potet's experiment extraordinary: the subject was «a stranger called to the spot, who had never heard of Magnetism» — refuting the objection of imagination and suggestion.

In a variant, du Potet covered the mirror with earth from an ancient druidic monument: the subject saw a vision of five human victims sacrificed — and in that place five skeletons were actually found.

Donato's criticism

Donato in Le Magnétisme Triomphant does not spare du Potet: «he believed in double sight, somnambulistic prophecies, practiced the occult sciences and magic, and these fantasies considerably harmed his work as a magnetizer.» From Donato's point of view — who wanted to bring magnetism toward scientific legitimacy — the Magie Dévoilée was exactly the kind of book to avoid.

But this criticism is also, in its own way, a recognition: the Magie Dévoilée was influential enough to need criticizing.

Relevance to the 3 intertwined stories

Story 1 (Scientific Magnetism): the Magie Dévoilée is the opposing voice to «scientistic» magnetism — the fluidist-magical position taken to its extreme consequences
Story 2 (Fascination): the Magic Telegraph and the magic mirror are direct precursors of fascination as «power of the eye and intention»
Story 3 (Secret Societies): the book explicitly linked magnetism to initiatic traditions (Egypt, Druidism, medieval magic) — see Du Potet e le Società Segrete — Magia, Aristocrazia e Magnetismo

Experiences with the original diagrams

For the practical experiences described in the book, reproduced with the original diagrams drawn by du Potet (the magic lines, the magic mirror, the characters), see the dedicated page: Le Esperienze della Magie Dévoilée — Gli Schemi di du Potet.

Primary sources

Anti-hallucination system: every statement is traced back to the sources below. Dossier of verified extracts ISI-CNV (17/05/2026).

Texts by du Potet — Drive

Manuel de l'étudiant magnétiseur (Paris 1850) — 30 years of experience; includes Husson Academy Report
Thérapeutique Magnétique — clinical cases and methodology
La Magie Dévoilée (Paris 1852) — magical philosophy; verified OCR preface
Magnetism and Magic (English trans. Paret, .doc)
Drive folder: all books by du Potet

Testimonies about du Potet

Donato, Le Magnétisme Triomphant — Google Doc — sect. III «De Mesmer à Donato»: biog. + critical evaluation of du Potet | PDF gallica
Paret, History of Hypnotism — Google Doc — sect. «Dupotet and Lafontaine» (lines 1705-1775 in TXT) | Searchable TXT | PDF

Historical journals and periodicals

Donato, Journal de Psycho-Physiologie (162 pp., 290MB) — Donato's journal; meeting Donato-du Potet-Durville (OCR in progress — 51/162 pp. with readable text)
La Revue Magnétique Donato-Durville — PDF — secondary source