Founded in 1754 by the enigmatic Martinez (Martinés) de Pasqually, the Order of Knight-Masons Elect Priests of the Universe (or Élus Coën) left an indelible impression on French Freemasonry and worldwide Martinism.

Pasqually's Élus Coëns worked tirelessly to restore man's inner divinity and eventual reintegration with God. The fraternity practised a white magic system (theurgy) to recover humanity's original, spiritual memory. Composed by Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, Jean-Baptiste Willermoz and Jean-Jacques Du Roy d'Hauterive, 'The Lessons of Lyons' (sometimes called 'A Course in Martinism from the 18th Century') is a contemporary commentary on the instructions given by Pasqually, reproduced here in English for the first time. A collection of teachings and notes taken during a period of three short years (1774 - 1776), 'The Lessons of Lyons' provide a fascinating insight into the small lodge of members of Pasqually's Order of Élus Coën meeting in that city at that time.

Since the Master himself was elusive and cryptic at best in his mailed instructions, the weekly - later more sporadic - meetings held by Jean-Baptiste Willermoz the local Lodge Master, Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin who was visiting and writing his first book, and Roy d'Hauterive would have been very instructive to the new members. Most of the source materials are limited to some letters, a few catechisms, Pasqually's monumental 'Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings' and the occasional discovery of lost documents in libraries and private collections, this collection of teachings provides invaluable insight into the working and especially the purpose of that spiritually-charged Masonico-theurgic rite.

This book is highly recommended to all those interested in early French Masonry, esoteric currents and a singular path of theurgic praxis which drew so heavily on the earlier European currents and set them against the atheistic tendencies of the Encyclopedists and Enlightenment forces of the time which threatened not only to separate science from belief but to overthrow belief in the numinous entirely.

Included in the book are many of Pasqually's surviving letters.

Volume 1 in The Élus Coëns Collection