The Morning of the Magicians, first published as ‘Le Matin des magiciens’ was written by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier in 1960, it became a bestseller, first in French, then translated into English in 1963 as ‘The Dawn of Magic.’ A German edition was published with the title ‘Aufbruch ins dritte Jahrtausend’ (‘Departure into the third Millennium’).
In a generalized and wide ranging overview of the occult, the book speculates on a variety of Forteana (anomalous phenomena), mysticism, and conspiracy theories such as secret societies, ancient prophesies, alchemical transmutation, a giant race that once ruled the Earth, and the Nazca Lines. It also includes speculations such as Nazi occultism and supernatural phenomena conspiracy theory that the Vril Society and the Thule Society were the philosophical precursors to the NSDAP Nazi party.
The book has been credited with playing a significant role in bringing these kinds of ideas into the popular culture, spurring a revival of interest in the occult during the 1960s and 70s, and being a forerunner to the popularization of New Age ideas. In a 2004 article for Skeptic Magazine, Jason Colavito wrote that the book’s tales of ancient astronauts predated Erich von Däniken’s works on the topic, and that the ideas are so close to the works of H. P. Lovecraft such as ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ or ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ (published in the 1920s and 1930s) that Colavito claims it is probable that Lovecrafts fiction directly inspired the book.
The Daily Omnivore 
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