Christiane Trescens was born in Paris on April 26 1931 of a Spanish father and a French mother whose name, Buchholtz, indicates that her family originated from Luxembourg.
While still an adolescent in Crotoy in the Somme she made the acquaintance of Charles, her first spiritual godfather; he was to influence the direction she took and teach her the first rudiments of the high sciences.
At about the same time she met Gérard Buisset whom she married in 1954 and with whom she was to share a beautiful and loving relationship until Gérard’s death in 2002.
They developed spiritually together as they went through life hand in hand. Guided by Charles, they were drawn towards a Martinist group of which Philippe Encausse, son of Papus (the pseudonym of Gérard Encausse) was president at that time.
This is the context in which Christiane’s spiritualist gifts began to awaken and reveal themselves. One day Philippe Encausse asked her to do some work on the sephirot and it was along this path that Christiane began to take an interest in Eliphas Levi. On reading his work The Key to the Great Mysteries (La clef des grands mystères) she felt she was being taken over by a strange sensation and had the uncanny impression of rediscovering a text she herself had written long before.
From then on she sought out all the writings of Lévi that she could find and devoured them one after the other. As her reading progressed a kind of osmosis developed between her and the teachings of the master. She was completely in agreement with the ideas he expressed.
Some time later, when Philippe Encausse, grand master of the Martinist order, informed Christiane that her mission was to make known the work of Eliphas Lévi, she began to understand the mysterious link between herself and this man discarnate for almost a century.
In agreement with the supreme council of the Martinist order, Christiane created the ‘Eliphas Lévi Martinist Circle’ (registered under the number 22 at the Collège de Paris) on 8 November 1964. On 8 February 1965 the Eliphas Lévi Martinist Group emerged, number 41 at the Collège de Paris. The Circle was an outer circle and so open to all Martinists, while the Group was only for those who wished to do more initiatory work. The two complement one another.
Both prospered and all was well for a number of years. Then, for reasons it is not appropriate to go into here, Christiane had no choice but to establish herself independently from the Martinist order. Thus in 1968 she created the Initiatory Martinist Order (OMI) which in 1974 became the Independent Martinist Martinezist Order (OMMI) and then, in 1988, the Independent Eliphasian Martinist Martinezist Order (OEMMI).
This account of Martinism would not be complete without mention of Christiane’s admission to the heart of the order of Elus-Coen in 1963, an historic event since no other woman since Madame de Provensale, the sister of Jean-Baptiste Willermoz himself, had obtained this rank. With Christiane a new female link was forged and added to the chain.
The spiritual path of the ‘Little Buissets’, as the young couple was affectionately known at that time, was not limited to Martinism. They also went into freemasonry and were admitted to the respected lodge ‘Art et Pensée’ which is part of l’Obédience Mixte du Droit Humain. Later Christiane would become an active participant in the resurgence in France of the Ancient and Primitive Egyptian Rite, more familiarly known as Memphis Misraïm, which in concrete terms resulted in the creation and launch of a women’s lodge called Hathor. At this point the Droit Humain requested that the couple choose which lodge they belonged to since its members are not allowed to be part of two obediences at the same time. Faced with this dilemma Christiane and Gérard decided to leave the Droit Humain.
Now more active than ever within Memphis Misraïm, Christiane set up the Delta lodge at the orient of Neuilly in 1971, then in 1972 the Maat lodge at the orient of Saint-Germain en Laye.
With a view to helping a brother who wished to set up a mixed Mark masonic lodge in France, a branch of freemasonry functioning according to the Ancient and Accepted Rite, Christiane and Gérard readily set off to England to learn and so receive the transmission of knowledge at all degrees. Christiane attained the sublime degree of Holy Royal Arch of English freemasonry.
Lastly we must add to this great list of achievements the subsequent creation within the order of a mixed Martinist masonic lodge that functioned according to the Rectified Scottish Rite and took the name Martinez de Pasqually in reference to the aims of this master of the eighteenth century.
Another aspect of Christiane’s personality, and not the least, is her mystic qualities. She was a great mystic! Like Eliphas Lévi she was Catholic, though not always in agreement with Catholicism, that is to say with the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Thanks to an opportune meeting she discovered the Syro-Jacobite Church, formerly known as the Templar Church and rebaptised in the twentieth century under the name Church of the New Alliance and based at that time at Saint-Cyr sur Mer, near Toulon in the Var. As in the early centuries, women as well as men were admitted to service at the altar. It was a new adventure for Gérard and Christiane. Gérard was to become a bishop and Christiane a protonotary presbyter (a priest whose mission is to train future priests within the community).
Christiane had always wanted to help those near to her by relieving them of suffering, in other words to be able to heal. She learned first aid with the Red Cross and became part of a team providing first aid at public events. She also passed a teaching certificate with the Red Cross.
Later on she was to receive the various levels of Shinto ascetic teaching, the Mahikali, which were transmitted to her in two stages by Japanese masters who had come to Paris. Now she was able to practise and teach this ‘light of truth about the world’, an exact translation of the science of Mahikali, which is also known as Okiome.
In addition to this wealth of knowledge acquired for the purpose of healing, Christiane possessed the gift of thaumaturgy. Once aware that a person was in pain, she knew how to remove it and worked with great discretion and humility. Sometimes the person concerned was surprised the pain had disappeared, but Christiane did not reveal her hand, preferring instead to seek silence and prayer.
Christiane Buisset died 23 December 2012 in Marmande.
She dedicated her life to working, learning and discovering. Her purpose was tirelessly to pass on to all around her the knowledge for which she acted as a prism, both through her lectures and by means of the teaching that was her vocation.
In Paris on 1 April 1975 she launched the ‘Eliphas Lévi Circle’ which was open to all those wishing to learn about the philosopher and tackle the great esoteric questions. She delivered 83 lectures to the circle and 82 philosophical pamphlets were produced to publicize Lévi’s work.
In June 1991 she left the Paris region and moved to the Dordogne. This is when the Eliphas Lévi Circle changed its name and became, in 1992, the Circle (or Eliphasian Circle) for the Study of Sacred Language, known as C.L.S. Until June 2004 C.L.S. offered monthly lectures and published two information booklets a year.
C.L.S. gained new strength from 30 September 2007 with its move to Marmande. In addition to offering a conference every two months, Christiane organized short courses on the Kabbalah, astrology and the Tarot, amongst other subjects, as well as a session on the Okiome in 2009.
Until June 2012 Christiane had the strength to continue her activities against the odds. Nothing stood in her way and she never stopped, always maintaining her initiatory activities. She was simultaneously singular and multiple.
It is important to underline that she had been chosen as the depositary for the Russian and Ukrainian tradition associated with Jacob Boehme, as well as those of Martinez de Pasqually, Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin and Jean-Baptiste Willermoz. This means that she is a key link in the great chain of initiation.
Eliphas Lévi was the master of her thinking. She loved him intensely and she did all she could to bring him out of darkness and oblivion. In our turn we are humbly trying to continue the work begun by this Great Woman who, as a result of the humility and discretion that were characteristic of her, is insufficiently known.
The president, C.L.S.