MARTINISTS. - They are the followers of the Masonic sect whose principal representatives are Martinez de Pasqually (b. at Grenoble in 1727, d. at S. Domingo on 20 Sept. 1774, author of the Traité de la réintégration des êtres [Paris 1819]), Louis-Claude de St-Martin (b. at Amboise on 18 Jan. 1743, d. at Annay on 13 Oct. 1803, author of numerous writings including Ecce homo [1792]), and Jean-Baptiste Willermoz (b. at Lyons on 10 July 1730, d. there on 20 May 1824).
This sect is of considerable importance for the study of the transition from rationalistic Enlightenment thought to Romantic mysticism; likewise within the sphere of Freemasonry, it represented a notable reaction against the humanitarianism and deism of eighteenth-century rationalistic Freemasonry. It attempted this by strangely mingling theism, Neo-Platonic mysticism, cabbalism, magic, and by maintaining that exorcisms themselves tend toward the definitive liberation of humanity. The principal mode of experiencing this is mystical in nature, because, the Martinists say, striving for and drawing near to the Absolute are not intellectual in nature. God, moreover, cannot be known, yet there nevertheless exists a sympathy in the universe, and between God and matter there are intermediary spirits. In the theory of this sect St-Martin sought to give prominence to the voie intérieure, insisting not only on the divine dignity of-
