Affranchi, L'.
Hierarchie, fraternite, Liberte. Revue mensuelle Art et de Philosophie.
1917--1919 Monthly (10 issues per year)
Paris, France. Language: French. Publisher: Editions de l'Affranchi. Editor: Gaston Revel, Henri Mortier.
Succeeds: Le Theosophe (absorbed in starting this journal); L'Art; (1918-1919, absorbed); Le Veilleur Succeeded by: Le Veilleur (ceased in 1921)
1/1, September 1917-May 1919. 12 francs a year; 4-72 pp.

The journal occasionally carried nice woodcuts and charcoal line-drawings in the pages and margins. This was started by Gaston Revel (1880-1939) and absorbed his Theosophe and L'Art, and became in turn the short-lived Le Veilleur, all centered around the initiatic promises of Oscar Vladislav de Lubicz Milosz and Rene Schwaller [de Lubicz] and the group's separation from the staid French Theosophical Society centered on Charles Leadbeater and Annie Besant. The journal was in its origins a Theosophical Fourierist utopian venture (notable only because it occupied the house of Balzac for a time as its headquarters), but under the leadership of Milosz (under the pseudonym of "Pierre d'Elie") it moved in the direction of a ceremonial, ritualistic occultism with messianic tendencies. In 1917 or 1918 Schwaller formed Les Veilleurs with its revealing motto of "Hierarchie, fraternite, Liberte." Prominent members were Revel, Fernand Divoire, Carlos Larronde. and Vivian Postel du Mas. On the Veilleurs, see Joscelyn Godwin, "Schwaller de Lubicz, Les Veilleurs et la connexion nazie," in Politica Hermetica 1991. In February 1919 Revel and his associates, including Oscar Milosz, started the Centre Apostolic and its inner circle, Freres d'elie, devoted to spirituality and world peace, with a special emphasis on alchemy and Rosicrucianism. The two groups were consolidated in an unascertainable fashion by 1919 and this journal was continued as Le Veilleur.

Massimo Marra notes of these groups:

"Gaston Revel, together with the Lithuanian poet O. V. De Lubicz Milosz (1877-1939), Caros Larronde (1887- 1940), Rene Schwaller de Lubicz and Isha Schwaller de Lubicz, had a leading role in the experience of the Centre Apostolique. The Centre, at its birth, started as a part of the political plan developed by the theosophical power elite immediately after the First World War, in the atmosphere of loss and confusion that at that time affected entire generations of Europeans. Political lodges were founded in different countries, and the very active French branch started the Centre Apostolique project, that mixed theosophical-sociological points of view with Fourierist ideas, and recruited many followers, especially among artists and intellectuals. In the design of the ideological structure of this experience, a strong influence also came from the Bergsonian philosophy. Several branches of the movement were created throughout France, and the organization applied its own collectivist and solidaristic views to art, handcraft production, agriculture and education, starting an utopian experience in which a theosophical and Fourierist social ideology was practically experimented. The group grew, and set up its own general headquarters in the former house of Balzac, that was saved from demolition because of the activism of the group. A new ceremonial cult started, with the opening of several temples. The chief of this cult was Milosz (with the initiatic name of Pierre d'Elie) and the ceremonial aspects were inspired by the ancient cults of fire. The esthetical and artistic criticism of the group was expressed in another journal, edited by Carlos Larronde, L'Art: hiearchie, fraternite, liberte, while the political and social point of view of the group was also expressed by Le Drapeau Bleu. The group, animated by a strong internationalist and pacifist spirit (with special attention to the League of nations of president Wilson), also started the Revue Baltique, especially focused on the Baltic question. The theosophist project was evidently international, and in 1919 started an Italian branch (an ephemeral experience) that had its own journal, Il Vessillo, based in Genoa (Genoa was at the time an important theosophical centre, and at Genoa university Ottone Penzig, the former Italian president of the Theosophical Society, taught). The adepts of the Centre had an uniform, wore a ritual ring and at the same time also set up a more esoteric inner circle, the Fre eres de l'Ordre Mystique de la re esurrection, or Fre eres d'E elie, that worked probably under the direction of Rene e Schwaller. Esoteric ideology and practices was likely influenced by the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, which was widespread in France through its French delegate, F. Ch. Barlet, which disseminated the initiation among the Martinist and Theosophic milieu. Meanwhile, the Synarchy of Saint-Yves d'Alveydre was becoming more influential among the leading group of the organization, strongly supported by Martinist propaganda (especially by Barlet). Because of the ideological detachment from the original theosophical ideology, or just because of the need for complete independence, the group quit the Theosophical Society, evidently eliminating any residual relationship with its theosophical roots by changing name. Starting from 1919 they became Les Veilleurs, and also L'Affranchi became Le Veilleur. Les Veilleurs were a more ephemeral experience and ended after a couple of years, in 1921." BNF.

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