The Passion of Judas: A Mystery Play

by Carlo Suarès

A mystery play, translated from the French by Micheline and Vincent Stuart.

116 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Carlo Giuseppe Suarès (1892–1976) was a French writer, painter and Kabbalah author. He was born the 12 May 1892 in Alexandria, Egypt of a very old Sephardi family that arrived in Spain probably with the Arab conquest. The ancestors of his Sephardi Jewish family had been expelled from Spain in 1492 during the Inquisition and found refuge in Tuscany, Italy before emigrating to and settling in Egypt in the 18th century. Expelled from Egypt and dispossessed, he settled in Paris and became a French Citizen. He had a diploma in architecture from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and he painted a great deal, having "in true Kabbalistic spirit" sought to discover - and found - a synthesis of light. He died in Paris the 16 July 1976.

Reviews

[LMM Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Judged as a ribbing of the weirder aspects of the Judas story against Christian doctrine, it's no "Three Versions of Judas." But as a piece of occultism, it seems to be carrying an active and practical message that Borges isn't interested in. Yet as is common for occult texts, the practical takeaway is obscure. That leaves the pure aesthetic experience of reading it, which I found interesting enough, but not revelatory. Perhaps I don't have the theological background to be impressed.

[Hannah Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gnostic passion play.