“The Astral Fire of the Most-Pure Divine Magic”: A Portrait of the Émigré Poet Boris Poplavskii as a Magus

Abstract

The paper focuses on the magical dimension of the poetic work of Boris Poplavskii (1903–1935), an emblematic figure of the “lost generation” of Russian émigrés in Paris. In his youth, Poplavskii was much influenced by anthroposophist and theosophist doctrines, and later manifested a deep interest in occult and magical writings. In this article, I analyze the magic in Poplavskii’s work from a number of perspectives, including those of concrete rituals and techniques (witchcraft, invocation, alchemy, meditation), as well as practical mysticism (Christian and Jewish) and different patterns of “divine-working” (theurgy) which have had an explicit or implicit impact on Poplavskii’s poetic and narrative texts. In particular, I highlight the visual component of various magical practices referenced by Poplavskii.