THE LAMENT CONFIGURATION
"The Box of Sorrows"
.
|
LeMarchand's first and arguably most classic, puzzle construct. Its complexity was managed by expanding on the design of a similar box designed and constructed by Albertus Magnus in the thirteenth century. When operated properly, a pleasing melody issues from within which belies its true nature. - excerpted from "Tucker's Encyclopedia of Mass Murderers" |
|
"The boxes, known in
some
circles as LeMarchand Boxes, were each one of a kind creations which were
also puzzles, with the answer to one's ultimate hearts desire as their solution."
- excerpted from "Tucker's Encyclopedia of Mass Murderers" |
| "The box
is
itself more than just a key to a doorway to hell; the box
is a masterfully constructed puzzle box. It is the
embodiment of
forbidden knowledge; a
secret that can only be solved
through obsession.
With
it's secrets solved and it's pieces in final place the
puzzle reveals something that was not evident before -
the
reality
of hell." - Isadore Klauski "Of Hell" 1928, Leviathan Press |
.
| "Those
who follow the left-hand path, often called the black magicians or
Brothers of the Shadow, are workers of spiritual and intellectual and
psychical evil, and are therefore Vamacharins." - Bolinger's Encyclopedia of the Occult - Pinol Press, 1946 The circular dial, described in LeMarchand's notes as The Schetrum of the Vamacharins is now a movable/wind up feature in Pyramid-Gallery's musical replica of The Lament Configuration. |
.
|
"Each box is unique for each person, a different puzzle requiring a different solution, a solution that is a ritual. It can never be easy to solve the box; it is something someone has to work at, and something someone has to want." - excerpted from "Bolinger's Encyclopedia of the Occult" |
.
|
"It is believed that
LeMarchand
constructed more than 270 of his puzzle boxes before he
vanished.
These
boxes change hands
rapidly,
as is expected, though there are a few collectors, who are interested
in
the boxes
as objects of admiration, and have no interest in working
their
wonders." |
Photo by Alex Reed Images
|
"...By his 88th year, Phillip LeMarchand had gone far beyond that first small puzzle. He had become one of hell's most prolific prodigies, eventually returning to his architectural education to design entire buildings that were puzzles in themselves." - Valentina Sprague, Architect of the Damned. Pentacle, June 1967 |
.
|
Philip LeMarchand allegedly murdered fourteen persons in order to construct his first box. |
.
Photo by Alex Reed Images.
.
 |
Philip LeMarchand's Lament Configuration diagrams were annotated by Antoine Court de Gebelin in 1781 at La Loge des Neuf Soeurs (The Lodge of the Nine Sisters). He is the intellectual grandfather of much modern occultism. He advanced the theories of Franz Anton Mesmer's "animal magnetism" and initiated the interpretation of the Tarot as an arcane repository of timeless esoteric wisdom. He was found dead in a bath after undergoing Mesmer's magnetic treatment, apparently of an electrically induced heart attack. The Lodge of the Nine Sisters name referred to the nine Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne (Memory), patrons of the arts and sciences since antiquity, and long significant in French cultural circles. Benjamin Franklin served as Grand Master of the Paris lodge alongside brethren John Paul Jones and Voltaire. |
 |