Alex Craciun2007@yahoo.com 98 1925 The Esoterism Of Dante Text

Contents reni and Hidden Meaning cand Hermetic Parallels 3 VII The Symbolic Numbers ” Foreword is previously untranslated work by René Guénon is + of Guénon who cannot read the original French 1 ation i based on a first version by Mr. C.B. Bethell Gf Avira, to whom we express our appreciation, both for i. Mrs. FJ. Casewit, of Morocco, a frend of c mily and a language specialist long engaged în the x „diionalist works, was kind enough to read throug anuseript and to offer s number of valuable suggestions. F onsibliy for any imprecisions or infelicities must the general editor, who has made extensive ions. Though done with care, the translation is prow th ery effor will be made to further improve and to add supplementary notes. s will already be familiar with Guénon’s work, w works of such related writers as Frithjof Schuon, rckhardt, A.K. Coomaraswamy, Martin Lings, Mar pub tiles available by these authors point of orientation it may be remarked that Gutnon was the frst chef cole of the circle of traditionalist writers, and his works natural) sibations are a blindingly lu sodoxy and traditional meta- non’s writing is the need fe practice that might lea, at least in principle intuition of which he speaks Ie isa sad commentary on our times that so vital a sills as Guénon’s cen s should prove so Let us hope tha this very limited d as sudy-maceral, may awaken sul der, if you wish to this effort please do let your desire languish unvoiced, Apparent and Hidden Meaning O poi che avete gl’intelleti sani, Mirate la doterina che sas me del vers stranil nal, properly speaking) sign explicit way to id d cance of his work, a work whose external and apparent meaning is only a 4 significance that must be sought for by those who would fathom it. Elsewhere the poet goes stil further, sating all writings, not only sacred ones, can be understood— incipally according to four levels of meaning: „si possono intendere e debbonsi sponere massima indeed, the very existence diverse meanings cannot in any way cont e per quattro sensi.” I îs evident, moreover, that these adict or oppose each HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE following the established customs wh ever they happened to of a purely metaphysical order, are nonetheless esoteric in they were superimposed upon it? n the same way there were in the Middle Ages some organisstions whose character was those who have glimpsed the esoteric side of Dante’s y usualy ack a real understanding ofthese things, and their inerpretations are affected by prejudices that they cannot put ESOTERISM OF DANTE inikaticand not religious, but which had th heir roots in Ca icism. If Dante belonged to some of these organisations, which seems to ws indisputable, this isnot a reason to declare him a *heretic’ those who think so evince a alse or incom plete idea of the Middle Ages: the nly ee, so to speak, ‘outer aspect of things, because ultimately, fo her aspects, terms of comparison are no longer to be world Such being the real character of all initiate organisations, there ate o ication be leveled at some of them (or ai cases the charge is ected with disclosing masters—very real ones—that were their members) and in never meant to be expressed openly, and that must indulge în inopportune disclosures, risking a disturbance in minds as yet unprepared for knowledge of higher truths, and so provoking disorder at the socil level The authors of such disclosures er in encouraging a confusion of the esoteric and ‘the exoteric, a confusion that sufficiently justifies the reproach of heresy. This situation has arisen on a number of occasions in Islam’, where the esoteric schools do not however normally encounter any hostility a the han authorities representing exor same accusation is simply taken as a pretext by a politcal ism. In the second case, the power to destroy adversaries thought all the more formidab for being so difficult to reach by ordinary means. The destruc tion of the Order of the Temple” is the most celebr HAPTER 1 The “Fede Sa he Vienna Museum there are two medillions, one repre seating, Dante and the other the painter Peter of Pisa: on the ear the letters FS.KLP.ELT., which Aroux reverse side both Frater Templariue. Fr the first three letters this interpretation nvey any intelligible se Kadoreh. The Association of the Fede Sante, of which Dante se is obviously incorrect and does not ing the name Frater Templarins its dignitaries bore the title of Kadosch, a Hebrew word meaning ‘holy’ or ‘consecrated’, which has been preserved to our days in the high grades of Masonry. It is not without reason then that Dante takes St. Bernard, who established the rule of the Order of the Temple, 5 his guide for the completion of his own celestial journey”: he seems u teristic of his time, access to the highest possible degree ofthe pointing out that, given the spiritual hierarchy was only attainable inthis way HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE real initiate degrees is implied, have been attributed to the lib- eral ars, which were afterall aught publicly and officially in the schools? We think that they must have been to ways, the one exoteri and the other esoteric. Is possible e same object but looks at it from a higher view: point, and which is to that profane science what the higher meanings of the scriptures are to their literal meaning. One could also say that external sciences afford a means of expres- sion for higher truths since they themselves stand în the rela- tion of symbol to another order: as Plato ssid, the perceptible he intligible. The phenomena of nature and the events of history all have a symbolic value, for they express something of the principles upon which « quences. Through a suitable transposition, all science and all ar can assume a true esoteric values why then should the ‘expressions drawn from the iberal arts not have played in the initiations of the Middle Ages, a role comparable to that ar of the builders? We will go further: to look at things in this, way is, after all, to bring them back to their principles this not accidentally super-sdded; and if this is the case, could not origin ofthe sciences and ars, whereas the exclusively prof viewpoint preponderant in the modern age results only from forgetfulness of this tradition? We cannot deal here with this {question and all the developments that it would entail, bu let 1 see how Dante himself in the commentary he gives on his first Canzone, points out the way he applies to his own work the principles of some of the liberal ars: „O uomini, che ved tee la sentenza di questa Canzone, non la rifiutate tiene all grammat pari che si pertiene alli music.” Do we not heat an echo e Pythagorean tradition inthis way of relating music and snd is it not this same tradition, precisely, that makes possible în understanding of the “solar role aributed to arithme arithmetic isthe common center of al and also of the correspondences that unit Js and astronomy, through knowledge of the harmony of the ns (which finds its direc application in architect ‘We shall have ample opportunity later to see what funds- nif this 5 Dante’s work; and e olism îs not wniquely Pythagorean, and reappears in other doctrines for the simple sone, it is no less permissible to think that, from Pythagoras to Virgil and from Virgil to Dante, the ‘chain e tradition’ was undoubtedly unbroken on Italian sol. Masonic and Hermetic Parallels rom the general observations made thus far we return now and Hace isthe abode of eit zenith.. The celestial circle desribe lowest ranks of Heaven. Now, it 0 happens that some Templars, and of which Zerbino, the Scottish prince, and shite, andr like Beatrice i cad inthe three colors gre ESOTERISM OF DANTE Masonic and Hi Prince), carrying an arrow in his hind and a heart within a ti pet coal); in sword, ofthe ithe Egyptians and which gave such power and breadth angle on his ches, iss personification of Love; and thatthe ” Tong its sojourn on earth.” I is principally în the number cighty one years, a muie (orm: ofthe center re precisely, the square) of Which the Christians have made the flamboyant symbol of th Trinitarian isthe This degree of Prince of Mery, or Se 26th of the Scottish Rite. Here is what the E. Bouily says lity. Therefor 19th 0 30%] qui representent les embleme: et les symbols des douze about it in his Explication der douze éeusons the rable Knights, let us not cease to remain corzi Ti tes the duties of man, and that reminds usa the grades phils ngraved on the columns of our Temples: Faith, H hose that compose this learned category: thsi why it takes the appellation Scouish Trinitarian” Indeed, everything în this allegory offers the emblem of the Trinity: the wicolored Truth 2 the bottom: sad fly the indiation everywhere of colosallude}, ofthe elements constitutive ofthe metals [sl ur, mercury and salt HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE Whi the grad presents a clearly Hermetic meaning”—in this particular ove all from this passage is that instance the relation of Hermeticism to the Orders of Chiv- alry Here is not the place to investigate the historical origin the high grades of Scottish Masonry, or to discuss the much debated theory of their descent from the Templars; but, whether there has been a real and direct filation or only a reconstitution, it is nonetheless certain that most of these organisations that formerly existed independently” most notably the ancient Orders of Chivalry, whose foundation was e history of the Crusades—that is to say, bound up with with an epoch when there were not hostile relations only (as West, active intellectual exchanges between East a exchanges implemented above all through the mediation of these same Orders. Should we accept that the latter borrowed Hermetic material from the East and then assimilated it; or should we not rather think that they possessed from the outset an esoterism of this kind, and that it was their own initiation ct with the Oriental în this domain? This again is a question we cannot claim to resolve but the second hypothesis, though less often entertained than the first, contains nothing implausible for those wh he existence, throughout the Middle Ages, of a ern initiate tradition; and what could lead ws further ever had dealings with the East also possessed hermetic sym e clearest possible allusion to this symbolism. However hat may be, in Dante’s time Hermeticism certainly existed in he Order of the Temple, as did knowledge of cert most surely of Arab origin—that Dan >have ignored either, and which were nu mi că to him in this way also—a point we shall undertake explain in due course. onry where Aroux believes he can see a perfec similar so the nine heavens traversed by Dante and Beatrice. Here are d, to Mercury avens: to the Moon corresponds the mini (26th; green, white, and red), to the Sun the Great Architect (12th) or the Noacbite der of Saint Andre 1st), to Mars the Great Scot of Patriarch ofthe Crusades (29th; red with a white cross), to Jupiter the Knight of the White and Black Eagle or Kadosch (30th) and to Satura the Golden Lad der of the same Kadoseh, Infact, some of these attributions scem doubtful to us, especially that of the first heaven as the abode of the uninitiated, for their place can only be in the THE ESOTERISM OF Hell that represents the profane world, while the different undergoing the initstc rials of Purgatory? It is well known also that the Sphere of the Moon has a special relationship to Limbo; but this îs an altogether different aspect of ics symbol sm and must not be confused with that under which it is rep ate2* The ancients have been Coeli and Janus Infern, Diana and Hi knew this very well, as did Dante, who could n 0 mistaken as to accord a celestial abode—even the very lo Far less subject to question is the identification ofthe sym: 3 în the heaven of Mars, the eagle in that of Jupiter, and the ladder in that of Saturn. The ss is evident bolic figures Dante saw the e related to that which, after having been the distinctive sign of the Orders of Chivalry, sll serves as the sphere of Mars, is this not through an allusion to the military character of these Orders—their apparent justfiction—and Tike expeditions of itis impossible ch Templar and the eagle tothe role they played externally in the we the Crusades?” As fort (classical antiquity Hindus to Vb atuributed the eagle to Jupiter, as did the Roman 1e vas the emblem of the ancie mpire (reminiscent of the presence of Trajan” in the eye of all those Dan res, isflly explicable + Tuedek, meaning Df the la ch ustice ( s summit by Faith als to th n biblical symbolism one fe Rosirucians:the Perfect THE ESOTERISM OF DANTE dom and professing the ‘evangelical doctrine’—the very ‘one of Luther—in opposition to Roman Catholic doctrine.” AArous’s interpretation here testifies to his frequent confusion of the domains of esoterism and exoterism: true esoterism ofane world; and if such movements are organisations, one can say that the latter dominate these movements without being part of them, in such 2 way as 10 particularly the exercise thei influence equally upon each of the op terms, [eis true that the Protestants, and mo Lutherans, often use the word ‘evangelical to describe their în the center of a rose and that the Rosicrucian organisation, which revealed itself to the public în 1604 (and which Des cartes sought without success to contact), declared itself ‘anti= papiat’, I mast be said however that at the beginning of the 17%h century the Rosicrucians were alr working. quite ‘openly—a farcry from the orginal and genuine Rosicrucians, ‘who never constituted an organisation inthe real sense of the word. As for Luther, he seems to ave been ony a kind of sub ordinate agent, no doubs scarcely conscious of the role he had to play. These various points, moreov pletely explained, have never bee i Ori of Hed of aig Be that as it may, the white robes of the Chosen On pe Perfect Ones, though clearly reminiscent of certain apocs: pui texts”, appear to allude ab mplars;and in this respect the following passage is particu ary significant This interpretation moreover makes it possible to give 2 very precise meaning to the expression ‘the holy mila’ that we find in some verses a litle further on, and that seems even, to hine atthe transformation of Templarism, after ts apparent To make better understood the symbolism involved in Aro last quotatior Rosicrucian, of the Order of Heredom of Kilwinning or the sof the Eagle and here is the description of the Celestial Royal Order of Scotland, also named HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE the Pelican: “At the back (of the last room) there îs picture grows a tree bearing twelve kinds of fruit. On the top of the in twelve tiers. On top of this plinth is golden square, and on the face of each side are three angels, each angel bearing the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In this square is a cross, at whose center lies a lamb.” This of course is apocs Iyptic symbolism, and we shall later show to what extent the very plan of Dante’s work. “In cantos XXIV and XXV of Paradiso, we find the triple kis of the orion in Prince, the pelican, the white gowns (the same as those of the elders in the Apocalypse), the sticks Chapters (Faith, Hope and Charity)” The symbolic lower of e Rosicrucians (the Rosa candida of cantos XXX and XXXI) of Rome asthe symbol of the has been adopted by the Mother of the Saviour (Ross mystica of the ltanies), and by at of Toulouse (the Albigenses) as the mysterious emblem of the general assembly of the Fedeli d’Amore. These meta- phors were already employed by the Pauliians, predecessors of the Cathars în the Xth and XIth centuries” ‘We have thought it useful to produce all these parallel, ne should not, except perhaps in the cases of th pars and the Rosicrucans, claim to draw ov or space to make plausible any immediate influenc 1 be necessary 40 go much further back în time than rok, such as Rosseti and Aroux, confine themselves în aspect that we would qualify as external; they hav ped at what could readily be called ritualistic forms— further, conceal rather than express their caning. As has justifiably been ssi, “i is natura chat mal or allegorical references, one must know the objet prehension of the mystical experiences through which tro iation causes the mysce and th to pass. For anyone existence in the Divine Comedy, andthe Aeneid, of meta Dante and Rosicrucianism he same reproach of insufficiency that we have levee i, who, while asserting a relationship myster. importar Levi ta frequently makes the mistake of assum studies on Dante’s work, but nobody, as far as we know, h pointed out its true character. The writings of the great Ghi ing revelation of the myst ost; there is a bold application ofthe diagrams and num bers of the Kabbalah to Christan dogmas, and a secret nega HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE journey through the supernatural worlds effects an initiation, Eleusis and Thebes. It m in the ci into the myst is Virgil who. cles of the new Tartar, ai je prophet of the destinies of the son of Pollo, were în the eyes tine poet the the Christian epic, Thanks to the pagan genius of Virgil, Dante escapes from the guides and protects hough Virgil, the sensitive and mela the Floren- legitimate but rel fat ink he had read a sentence of despair, he escapes by head in lace of bis fot and bis fet in place say by taking the opposite view to dogma), and reascends to the light by making use ofthe devil himself asa monstrous add he escapes the terrible by means of terror; the horrible by means of horror. Hell i seems, isa 0 cannot turn round and wriggle out. Dante rubs the devil the wrong way, i expression be permit J, and is set free by his audacity. This is estantism surpassed, and the poet of Rome’s ene dy already Pro reseen Faust ising to Heaven of the vanquished Mephistopheles.” n a thing were possible (which it is not, for there îs no real mys- y, the desire to ‘reveal the mysteries’ assuming s asalso the method adopted of isnot inexpressibl hing ‘the opposite view to dogma’—or of consciously reverse ing the meaning and value of symbols—would not betoken a very high initiation, Fortunately, we for 0 part do not see any evidence of ths in Dante, whose esoterism ison the con: trary shrouded by a veil rather diffcul to pierce, while at the ime resting on stricly traditional foundations. To make estantism, and per imply because he was an adversary of the Papacy on his thought or precursor of F also of the Rev cal grounds, so fil entirely to py thing ofthe spirit of his time. ereîs stil something else that seems to us hardly tenable he belief that Dante was a “kabbalit în the true sense of the nly too well how some of our contemporaries readily delude is subject, thinking they wll find e Kabbalah wherever there is ny kind of esoterism. Have we seen a Masonic writer solemnly asset that the Kabbalah ind Chivalry are one and the same thing, nd (lacking even ele entary linguistic knowledge) thatthe two words have a com on origin?! In view of such improbabilies, one will nderstand the necesity to exercise caution, and not satisfy ‘with some vague parallels in order to make such and so to. Kabbalist. Now the Kabbalah is essentially the Hebrew radition®, and we have no proof whatsoever that a Jewish luence was exerted directly on Dante.” What has given rise the use he makes ofthe science of. th abeliefis on ers; but even is în the He HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE Jsewhere. Will one also claim under As we nonetheless also found the same pretext that Pythagoras was a Kabbalst?” the Kabbalah that one could link Dante in this respect; for Dante very likely knew, and above all from Judaism, what Christianity had preserved from this source in its own doc ‘Let us also point out,” Eliphas Levi goes on to sy, “that Dante’s Hell is only a negaive Pargaory. Let us explain his ry seems to have formed itself in his Hell as in a Parga mould; it is the cover—o e bottomless pit stopper’—of 1 scaling Paradise, the Floren tine Titan would like to dispatch Purgatory into Hell with a and one can understand that, single kick.” Thisis true in 2 sense, since the Mount of Purga- tory was formed în the southern hemisphere out of material spewed from the heart of the earth when the abyss was dug by the fall of Lucifer; yet Hell has nine circles—an inver reflection of the nine heavens—whereas Purgatory has only seven: the symmetry is therefore not correct în all respects. “His Heaven is made up of a series of kabbalistic circles divided by a cross like Ezekiel’s pentacle; atthe center of this ‘rss blooms arose, and we ee he for the first time, publicly revealed and almost = the symbol of the Ro cians appear categorically explained.” At very symbol also appeared—though perhaps not so clearly in another famous poetic work, The Romance ofthe Rose. Eliphas Levi thinks that “The Romance of the Rose and The D Comedy are opposite forms [it would be more correct to say out the same time more complementary] of the same work initiation into îndepen- dence of the spirit while satiizing all conter jonss and formular allegorizing of the gre Rosicrucian Society” (which, in truth, did e yet bear this me, and which—we repeat—was never, but fo or less deviant branches late, a ‘society’ constituted with all the outer forms that this word implies) In any cas, ‘indepe dence of the spirit’, or, to put î bette, intelectual in dence, was not so exceptional thing in the Middle Ages asthe moderns usually imagine, and the monks themselves made no b manifested even in cathedral statuary. In al this there is noth mes about expressing their frank criticisms, as can be found ing truly esoteric: the two works in question contain some- thing far more profound liphas Li goes on: “These imporant manifestations cutism coincide withthe time of the fall of the Templars, since Jean de Meung or Clopinel, contemporary to Dante’s old age, flourished at the court of Philip the Far. This is a pro found book that pretends to be trifling”; i îs a reve scholarly as that of Apuleius on the mysteries of occultism. a of Jean de Meung, and that of Dante, are born of the same bush.” ‘The rose of Flamel ‘On this citation we have only one reservation to make: that the word ‘occultism’, invented by Eliphas Levi himself, is hardly suitable to designate what pre-dated him, especialy when one reflects on the course of coni which, in claiming to devote itself to the restoration of esote HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE in leaders have never been in possession of its true principles, ie Gf ite pecete, 10 46 00 a2 aR) fee to Kb apple or of any genuine initiation. Eliphas Levi would no doubt be the firs to disown his would-be successors, to whom he was enied some characteristics that al it with what is general certainly very much superior intllecwslly; nonetheless he was oe Pa sila. The hlasey- GF the Hemmetle uta îi far from being as profound as he wished to appear, and was ntimately connected with that of the Orders of Chivalry, an mistaken in viewing everything through the mentality of an 1848 rev was preserved atthe time in question by initiati organisations lationary. If we have spent some time discussing his such as the Fede Santa and the Fedeli d’Amore a also use we know how great his influence has Massenie ofthe Holy Grail. Of the later the historian Hens been, even upon those who searcely understood him, and we Martin says”, with regard precisely to the tales of chivaln think it best to set the limits within which his ability can be acknowledged: his greatest shortcoming—and that of his time—was to put social preoccupations in the foreground and sof esoterism în the Middle Ages: “The legend of the reaches its final and splendid transfiguration in Tire to mix them indiscriminately with everything. In Dante’s day tr shetflanse Of iden thot le eppaiit’to ive one certainly had a better understanding of how to assign to taken from France, and particulari from the Templars in the cach thing is proper place within the universal hierarchy south of France. Its no longer n the British Isles but in Gaul ‘What i of particular interest in this fr the history of eso- n the borders of Spain, that the Grail is kept. A hero name Titurel founds a temple in order to deposit the holy Vessel manifestations these doctrines coincided (give or take a few ere, and its the prophet Merlin who directs this mysterious h of Arimathes had him- self initiated into the plan of the pre-eminent Temple, the T becomes the Masinie, ie, an ascetic Freemasonry, whose years) with the destruction of the Order of the Temple: there is construction—Merlin, whom Jos of the XIVth century, and doubtless already in the course of in France as well as the preceding century, there was embers called themselves Temps; and we can understand in Italy a secret tradition (‘occul if one likes, but not “occult= this context the intention to link to a common center—rep int), the very one that was to bear the name of Rosierucanism “The denomination Fratemitas Rose-Cruci appears for the fist ras ime in 1374, or, according to some (notably Michael Maier in 1413; and the legend of Christian Rotonkrewz, the supposed founder whose name and life are purely symbolic, was perhaps keen ies ly formed only in the XVIth century; but we have just seen thatthe Rosicrucian symbol is certainly much earlier i THE ESOTERISM OF DANTE resented by this ideal Temple—the O miere who were at that time e architecture of the Middle Ages. We catch a he slimpse here of many openings to what could be called underground history of those rious, and plex than is generally believed. What is rates can hardly be doubted, is that modern Freemasonry goes back Te would perhaps be unwise though toad Masonry with earlier organisations are themselves also extremely complex; nonetheless it i useful to take them into nd, the actual origins of Masonry, All this can help us under least to certain extent, the means by which esoteric trines were transmitted throughout the Middle Ages, as w he obscure filation of intitie organisations during this period when they truly were secretin the full sense of the mori. Extra-Terrestrial Journeys in Different Traditions One question that seems to have greatly preoscupied most Dante’s commentators is that of the sources to which itis fusing to link his conception of the descent into Helland this also one of the points that most clearly highlights the hose who have studied these questions only 2 quite ‘profane’ manner. This matter can only be under- siood in fact through actual knowledge of the stages of inita- sion, which we shall now try to explain. If Dante takes Virgil for his guide inthe first too parts his journey, the main reason doubtless—as everyone recog- the Aeneid (hich, we may say, is also no simple poeti fietion, but gives nizes—is his remembrance of the 6th canto ontestable proof of initiati knowledge). It is not without thatthe practice of sorter viglianae (casting lus) was so widespread in the Middle Ages; to make a magician of Vig and if people have want ly popular and likened his distortion of a profound truth, of which those who work to Holy Writ—even if they did so for divinatory usage only very relative interest—probably had more 4 feeling than an understanding chat they could clearly express. On the other hand, it î not difficult to see that Virgil him self, as far as we are concerned, had some predecessors among, the Greeks, and to recall in this connection the voyage of Ulysses to the country of the Cimmerians and the descent of Orpheus into the Underworld; but does the concordance we have noticed in all this prove nothing more than a series of b owings or successive imitations? Th uity, and that the various poetic and legendary acco he sprig of gold o pick up in the that Aeneas, guided by the Sibyl, goes firs forest (that very ‘seu seloaggia’ where Dante al beginning of bis poem) isthe same sprig that was carried by the Eleusnianinitiates—which reminds one again ofthe acacia m Mason ledge of resurrection and immortl- ind in Christian. ity’. What is more, similar symbolism is f ity in the Catholic liturgy its Palm Sunday” that opens Fioly Week, which encompasses the death of Christ, his descent into Hell, and his Resurrection—to be followed shorty there- after by his glorious Ascension; and itis precisely on Monday that în î in undertaking the quest of the mysterious sprig that hae loses his way in the dark forest where he meets Virgil; and his journey across the worlds will last until Easter Sunday— ‘thats to say, until the Day of Resurrection. ‘On the one hand, death and descent into the hells; on the other, resurrection and ascension to the heavens: these ae ike „o inverse and complementary phases, of which e necessary preparation for the second. din all for example we encounter the Work aditional doc the various Paradises or Celestial Spheres (ir). There isa strik the infernal regio 1g similarity between this ‘nocturnal journey’ and Dante’s poem, so much so that some have seen in it one ofthe princi pal sources of Dantes inspiration. Don Miguel Asin Palacios a shown the multiple relationships that exist in respect no the Die 3 form, becvee not to speak of some passages from the Viza Nuca and the ‘amvivio) on the one hand and both the Kitdb aim (Book of e Nocturnal Journey) and the Fitwbat el-Mekkiyah (The Meccan Revelations) of Muhyiddin ibn ‘Arabi on the other— works that were written about eighty years before Dante’s. He concludes that these analogies, tiken together, are more merous than those that other commentators have been able establish between Dante’s work and the literatures of all hee countries Here are some examples: pilgrim’s route; similarly, the panther, be on, and the she wolf force Dante vo draw back Heaven sends iri to Dante ellis modeled on the Musi during the journey he architecture of Danes THE ESOTERISM OF DANTE tek levels with circular steps or pats desce ing gradually tothe ‘those culpability and afiztion are worse the deeper they these Hells le various categories of sinners; finally, bo under the city ot Jerusalem. In order to purify himself once fut of Hell and to ascend to Paradise, Dante undergoes at zsively io the waters ofthe thee rivers that fenil the Garden of Abraham.» The arcitetute ofthe celenial spheres across which the ascension takes places identical inthe two according to thei respective merit, and are gathered filly in the Empyrean or ast sphere. Jus as Beatrice stands aside that Su Bernard may guide Dante during the fiul stages, so does Gabriel abandon Muhammad near the throne of God, te which he will be atracted by a ominous garland… The ial Zpotheosis of both asensins isthe seme: the two travelers concentric circles formed by intense light surrounded by rays: one of the circular ranks nearest to the centr is that ofthe Chersbim: each ctcle encloses the circle imme: eh below ity and all nin tarn unceasing around the divine cm. The infernal stages, the astronomical heavens, the ir enter of divine light, the three cles symbolizing the trinity poet from Mubyiddia în “Arabi Mubyiddin; but how could he have known of them? We have ived in Spain; but this hypothesis hardly se Miuhyiddin was bora in Murcia (hence his nicknam sb în Damascus; and though his disciples were sprea n he did not spend al his fe in Spain, dying in aghout the Islamic world primarily în Syria and Egypt— is unlikely that his works entered the public domain at tha ime; indeed, some have never yet been published. Mubyiddi was în fact anything but the ‘mystical poet’ that M. Asin Pal ios imagines. It is worth mentioning here that he is referred o in Islamic esoterism as a-Shaikh al-Akbar—that is to say he grestest of spiritual masters, the Master per excellence; tha is doctrine is purely metaphysical; and that several of th main initiatic Orders in Islam, among them the highest an east accessible, derive directly from him. We have already (Orders of Chivalry in the XIIIth cencury—shat is to say, in Mubhyiddin’s own era—and for us this explains the transmis: sion noted, Were it otherwise, and Dante had known of Muhy din through ‘profane’ channels, why did he never name him as he did two exoteri p Averrods?** Furthermore, itis recognised that there were som Islamic influences atthe beginnings of R his that the supposed journeys of Christian Rosenkreuz « he East allude. But the real origin of Rosierucanism, as we ave already stated, lies precisely in the Orders of Chivalry THE ESOTERISM OF DAN and it was these that formed the true intellectual ink between, Westin the Middle Ages. Modern Western critics, who regard Muhammad’s ‘noctut- East and ral journey” as nothing more than a poeti legend, claim that isnot specifically Islamic, or Arab, but of Persian o count of a similar journey exits in a Mazdean bs irda Vinsf Nameb.” Some think it necessary to go back mi further, 10 India, where infact one fiads—as much in Brahe manisn as in Buddhism—a mulizude of symbolic descriptions hie nized set of heavens and hells; and some even go #0 of the various states of existence under the faras 10 supp doctrines from India se that Dante may have been directly influenced „inerature such a way of looking at things is understandable, n the historical views although itis rather diffieul—even fr point—to admit that Dante could have known anything of India other than through the Arab 1s. For us however these sim- iarties prove nothing more than the unity of doctrine in all traditions. There is nothing astonishing in finding everywhere expressions of the same truths; but in order not to be aston- ished one must frst ofall know that these are truths, and not nore or less arbitrary fictions. We have identified sim ofa general order, but there is no reason te x there must have been direct communication of some kind: ‘wth Mubyiddin and Dante. Its certain that what we find Dante isin perfect harmony with Hindu theories of the worlds ind cosmic eyeles, though it is not clothed in properly Hindu ong al vi and this harmony necessarily obtain a conscious of the same truths, however th The Three Worlds The differentiation of the three worlds, which consti lan of the Divine Comedy, is common toa onal doctrines; but it takes diverse forms, and even in India here are two versions that, neither coinciding nor standing in diction, correspond simply to different points of view. ding to one version the three worlds are the Under. world, the Earth, and the Heavens; according to the other, no longer envisaged, they are the here (or intermediary region), and n the first, one must admit that the intermediary region îs here the Underworld is arth, the Au Jeaven sidered simply s an excension of the terrestrial world, in much the same way that Dante views Purgatory—which can e identified with this region, On the other hand, and taking his assimilation into account, the second division is strictly quivalent to the distinctions made in Catholic doctrine tween the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, and the hurch Triumphant. Here again there can be question of jell. Finally, a variable number of subdivisions is frequently envisaged for the Heavens and the Underworld but i all such ases itis question of a hierarchical apportionment of is of existence—which are reilly ofan indefinite multiplicity THE ESOTERISM OF DANTE The Fleavens are the superior states of the beings the Underworld, as the name itself indicates is the inferior sate feior this must be understood When we say ‘superior and în în relation to the human or terrestrial stat, which is naturally stand that real initation— starting point. It is e meaning tl this ascension must be preceded by a but one could ask vi descent to the Underworld. There are severa reas Jong digression and lead us too far from the special subject of. our present study. We will say only that this descent is on fone hand like a recapitulation of the states that logically pre be accomplished; on the other hand, the descent allows the ties of an inferior order thatthe being still aries in an unde- veloped state and that must be exhausted before it can atain the realization of the higher states. It must be emphasi moreover that there can be no question of the being actually turning to those states through which it has already passed; can only explore these states indirectly, by becoming aware ‘the traces they have left in the most obscure regions ofthe human state itself; and this is why the Underworld is repre- sented symbolically as situated in the interior of the Earth ‘The Heavens on the contrary are superior states (and not The Three World „ns constitute only the intermedi the mountain on whose summit Dante places the Ter al Paradise. The real object of initiation îs not merely the the ‘Edenie state” (which is only a stage on a the ‘celestial journey’ realy begins), but the active con: st of the ‘suprachuman’ states; for as Dante remarks, fl wing the Gospel, „Reg this is one of the essential differences that exist between si be brought to it fll development by the complete real- zation of its inherent possibilities (and this plenitude is what st be understood here by the ‘Edenic tate); however, far his will be ne being will have to stand in order to “sali alle stelle™*— rom being the e ly the foundation on which at is to say, t raise himself vo the higher states symbolize by the planetary and stellar spheres in the language of asrol- say. and by the angelic hierarchies in that of theology. There are therefore two stages to distinguish in the ascension, but imanity (the height of a mountain, whatever it may be, is JE ESOTERISM OF DANTE hing in comparison tothe distance that separates the Earth from the Heavens); in reality, itis more an extension, since it clopment of the human sate. The unfolds ing ofthe possibilities ofthe total being takes place first in the direction of ‘ullnes’, and then in that of ‘exahation” (10 use terms borrowed from Islamic esoterism); and we will add that this dstinetion of two stages corresponds to the ancient one. between the lesser mysteries’ and the ‘greater mysteries’ e three phas e qualities — a which all manie with which the three parts of the D the Hindu doctrine ofthe three gras: these are x the fundamental tende: fested being proceeds. Beings are arrayed hierarchically in the totality ofthe u universal existence—according to which tendency predomi worlds—that isto say, in all the degrees of rates in them. The three pas are: satzwa—conformity to the pure essence of Being Knowledge and is symbolized by the luminosity of the celese res that represent the higher states; rsjat—impulsion that provokes the expansion ofthe being in e unfolding ofthis being up nally, tamar—obscurty Which is identica to the Light of iven sate (such as the human), ori one wishes, ‘equated with ignorance, the dark root ofthe being considered in its lower states. Thus sata, which isa tendency, refers to the higher and luminous states, or to the Heavens and tamas, which is a downward tendency, refer Flor and dark states, orto the Underworld. Raja, whi be represented as an extension in the horizontal sense, refers could to the intermediary world (here the ‘world of man’, since î îs our level of existence that we are taking as term of compui= son), which we must regards consisting ofthe Earth together with Purgatory—that is to say, of the whole of the corporeal he paychic world. We soe that this corresponds exactly 4 rst of the two ways of looking atthe division of the three worlds that we m iotuly, and the passage fron to another of the worlds can be described as ng from a change in the general direction of the being a determines this direction. There is Vedi tex in wh hree gunas are presented in precisely this way, the one raging into the other in an ascending order: “All was temas [the Supreme Brabma] decreed a change, and tamas took the seen darkness and luminosity]; and aja, having bee ext outlines the organisation of the three worlds, sarting the primordial chaos of possiblities, a conforming to versal existence. Moreover, in order to realize al its possiil natre—through states that correspond, respectively, to these different cycles; and this is why initiation, which sims at the total realization of the being, must necessarily procee through these same phases: the initia ducea the cosmogonic process, according to the constitu e analogy of macroc The Symbolic Numbers Before passing on to some considerations regarding the about the role that the symbolism of numbers plays în Dante’s work. On this subject we have found some ver interesting indications in a work by Prof. Rodolfo Benini* he has not drawn all the conclusions these appear ly I is true that this work is study of the original pl of the Inferso—and thus primar the findings to which it can in fact lead have afar greater a literary undereaking— According to Mr. Benini, Dante saw symbolic signifi- 3 and 9, 7 and 22, mce in the following three pair of numbers and 666, With the fist ewo numbers weryone knows that the general dvi sion of the poem is ternary, and we have just explained the profound reasons for this; on the other hand, we have already recalled that 9 is the number of Beatrice, as seen în the Viza Nou Moreover, 1 9 is directly linked THE ESOTERISM OF DANTE to 3, whose square it îs, and could be called triple ternary the angelic hierarchies, and there- In îs also the number o [ for there isa certain e that of heavens and the underworld. As for the number 7, which we cially in the divisions of Purgatory, all traditions are agreed in regarding î as a sacred number, and we do not which it gives rise. We will ones: the configuration of the seven pla call only one of the principal a, which serves as (we e to the seven liber of thisin rele ‘which is the approximation of the ratio of the circumfer- have seen an exa ants). The numbe bug the rat ence tothe diameter ofa crcl, so that the combination of le, which Dante—no these two numbers stands for the ci less than the Pythagoreans—considered the most perfect rm (all the divisions of each of the three worlds have this circular form combines the symbols of two of the ‘elementary movements’ of Aristotelian physics: Tocomotion, represented by two, and alerazion, represented by 20, as Di last number. For our part, though acknowledging them to himself explains in the Comvivio. Such in ns given by Mr. Benin fr this be correct, we must say that this number does not seem to us so fundamental as he thinks, being derived în all likeli hood from another number, which the same author regards The Symbolic Numbe ificance is much greater: the number 11, of which 2 nly a multiple. Ve must in fat insist on this point, and say atthe outset at this omission by Mr. Benini appears to us al the more stonishing a his entire work rests upon the fact tha in the ferno most of the complete scenes or episodes into which ‘comprise exactly eleven, or wwenty-two, stanzas (some have only ten). There are also a somber of preludes and finales of seven st oportions have not always been respected, itis because the riginal plan of the Inferno has been subsequently modified. Under these cicrumstances, why should 11 not be a least as mportant a 2 again în the dimensions assigned These two numbers can be found associated he extremes of the ‘pit hell, the circumferences of which are 11 and 22 miles spectively. But 22 is not the only multiple of 11 that occurs n the poem: there is also 33, the number of eantos into which each ofthe three parts is divided, Only the Inferno has 4, but the first is more by way of 2 general introduction that ompletes the total number 100 forthe work as a whole. On he other hand, when we know how important rhythm was or Dante, we can reflect that is choice ofa line of eleven lab of three lines, reminisce: ‘was not an arbitra ‘of the temarye each stanza has 33 syllables, just as the sets of 11 nentioned contain 33 and 66 lines respectively and the vai us multiples of 11 that we find here all have a particular symbolic value. It is not satisfactory therefore to limit one: self, as does Mr. Benin, to introducing 10 and 11 between 7 ce to the Greek tet esembl and whose explana- E ESOTERISM OF DANTE “The truth î that the number 11 has played a considerable anisations; and, as i levters inthe Hebrew alphabet, and we know of their impor toiks multiples, we will recall simply this: 22 isthe numbe tance in the Kabbalah; 33 is the number of years of Chris’s terrestrial life, found again inthe symbolic age of Rosicrucian Masonry and the number of degrees of Scottish Masonry; 66 is in Arabic the total numeric value of the name of All, aributes while 99 is the number of the principal divi ding to the Islamic tradition; and many other parallels doubt be found, Apart from the diverse meanings that can be assigned to 11 and to its multiples, their use by real sense of this expression; and this îs where we find d firs d Benini envisages some changes in the chronological and hat are doubiless possible i. Among the reasons for these modifications, Mr, architectonic plan of the w but for which there does not appear to be any clear pro but he also mentions “the new facts that the poet wanted t0 take into account in the system of prophecies,” and itis here adds: “for example, the death of Pope Clement V, which tof the Inferno must cer to come close to the truth, especially when he ‘occurred in 1314, just when the first have been completed.” Infact the tue reason, in our opinion, is the series of events from 1300 to 1314 that I destruction of the Order of the Temple (and its ramifica- tions). Dante, moreover, was unable to refrain from point to these events when, in making Hugh Capet foretell the crimes of Philip the Fair (after having spoken of the outrage thatthe latter inflicted “upon Chris through his Vicar”), he ‘What is more astonishing, the following stanza” contains, in specific terms, the Nekam Adenai of the Kadosch Tem Signor mio, quando se i ito A vedere venders, che, nota These take into account, and this for reasons quite other than those re most surely the “new facts” that Dante had to jons to which he belonged. These organisations, which THE ESOTERISM OF proceeded from the Order of the Temple, and were to inherit ofits legacy, had to conceal themselves with far greater care than hitherto, especially after the death of their outer leader, Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg, whose seat in the highest of the Hleavens™ Beatrice had shown to Dante by non it was befitting to conceal way of anticipation. From the ‘sign of recognition’ to which we have referred: the dive em, where the number 11 appeared most con spicuously, had to be, not suppressed, but rendered less Visible, in such a way as to be rediscoverable only to those sions of th if we reflect that six centuries went by before ther existence ‘was revealed publicly, it must be admitted that the intended precautions were well devised, and not lacking in effe ‘On the other hand, at the same time that he was making these changes to the first part of his poem, Dante was tak- ing the opportunity to insert into it some new references 10 other symbolic numbers; and here is what Mr. Benini says: Dante contrived, then, to arrange the intervals between the that they corresponded to one another cording to rom among the symbolic numbers. In short, Dante subs tuted forthe earlier pl e „ge spoken by beings who see the future Here the famous numbers $15 and 656 make their appear separate Ciacco’s prophecy from that of Virgil and 515 Far- nata’s prophecy from that of Cisccos 666 lines are inte tin between the prophecy of Brunetto Latini and hat of Farinata, and again 515 beton n the prophecy of Nicolas III and that of Master Brunetto.” These numbers e so regularly, stand ‘opposite each other în the symbolism adopted by Dante: we 515 and 666, which know in fact that 666 is the ‘number Ax nd that innumerable, and often fanciful, calcu- lations have been contrived to find therein the name of the Antichrist, of whom it must repre: for this number is a number of man.” On the other hand, 515 is expressly invested with a meaning directly contrary 4 666 in Beatrice’s prediction: „A cinguecento dece e cingue, messo di Dio.” Some have thought this 515 equivalent to the mysterious Veliro, enemy of the she-wolf, which later finds itself thus identified with the apocalyptic beasts and HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE that both these symbols point to has even been supă tenty of Luxembourg,” We do not intend to discuss the significance of the Veltro” here, but neither do we believe it ion to a particular person; for Ip aspects of the general caption that Dante forms of the Empire.Mr. Benini, in Wy king that the number 515 is transcribed in Latin ete ers by DXV, interprets these as initials designating Dante, di Cristo; but this interpretation is singularly far- wanted to identify himself with this ‘messenger of God’. In x of the numerie fact it suffices simply to change the or letters to arrive at DVX—that is, the word Dux, which is comprehensible without further explanation”; and we will add that the sum of the figures of $15 again gives the num xembourg, er 11.5 This Dux may very well be Henry o one wishes, but i is also, and by the same token, any jectives that they set themselves in the social which Scottish Masonry still calls ‘the reign of CHAPTER VII The Cosmic Cycles After these observations, which we believe appropriate for ling some important historical points, we come to what Mr. Benini cal the ‘chronology’ of Dante’s poem. We have recalled that in the poem the journey across the world takes place during Holy Week, that isto say atthe time in the ltue cr that corresponds tothe vernal equinox; and we have also seen that, according to Aroux, it was at this time that the Cathars performed their initiations. On the other hand, in the Masonic Rosicrucian Chapters the commemoration of the Last Supper is celebrated on Holy Thursday, and work sym- Friday at 3 o’lock in the afternoon, that bolicaly resum y isto say, on the day and atthe hour when Christ died. Final the commencement of Holy Week in year 1300 coincided ler to complete the coincidences reported by Aroux, that is alo at che fall moon thatthe Noacbites hold their meetings. “The year 1300 marks for Dante the middle of his life (he vas then 35), and î îs also for him the mid-point ofthe times pe middle ofthe world’s duration. The movement of the heavens by an extraordina tris, Dante set his vision at HE ESOTERISM OF DANTE The Cosmic Cyeles had lated 65 centuries before him, and would extend 65 more great year was actually regarded by the ancients as the elapsed meet aer him. By a skilful contrivance, he made the exact nnivere time between two renewals of the world, which must doub sari of some of the greatest events in history meet in three less be interpreted, in the history of terrestrial humanity, as kinds of astronomical years, and in fourth kind, the annivere the interval separating the great cataclysms during whi sary of the most important event of his ow life” What must entire continents disappeared (of which the last was the hold our attention here above al isthe calculation ofthe total struction of Atlantis). Acwually this is only a secondan duration of the world (we would rather say of the present cycle, which can be considered part of another more extended on a red be said of the n therefore at different degrees: hist ing of the secondary cycles reprod ed scale, phases seapsed since the begi years, of which 2 tenth, The numbe the Christian era form exact! remarkable moreover in jselfs through the addition ofits fig What can tures, itis reduced again to 11; and 11, conversely, is composed. applica ‘and 5, which ae the symbolic numbers of the Macrocosm geological eycles and true cosmic cycles—with divisions and and the Microcosm respectively, both of which Dante plical laws in gener ical cycles, Jorves subdivisions that again multiply these possibilities of spplics- n principial unity when he says „= Cos e deltan, tion. Besides, when one goes beyond the limits of the terres world, it can no longer be a question Roman numerals, as we have done for 515, we have LXV, or, duration of a eycle by a number of years un: and this may have a connection with the masonic era of the proportions rather than real durations. It is no less true, în Tine Light.” tindu cosmology, that all eyelical numbers are based essen But here îs what is most interesting: the duration of 13,000 tilly on the period of the precession of the equinoxes, wi years îs none other than the half-period of the precession of which they have some clearly determined relationships.” The Thence less than half a century) and representing therefore an upon which the astronomical application of eylical laws rests, expressed in centuries. The total period isin fact 25, analogical transpositions to which these laws give rite Limit The ‘great year’ of the Persians and the Grecks represents half space precludes our developing these considerations here, but this period (129 years), and was usvally estimated at itis remarkable that Dante adopted the sme basis for hi sym 2,000 years, which is far less exact chan Dante’s figure. This laced himself corresponded geographically choose the origin so as to position oneself ideally at the mide to Jerusalem, which represented for him what we can call the point of such a period. This yields two equal per piriual pole: Moreover, t the antipodes of Jerusalem, that anterior and the other posterior, in whose totality 4 is to say at the other pole, rises the Mount of Purgatory, ov f the heavens actually takes place, since all chings which shine the four stars that form the constellation of the finally find themselves in a position, not identcal (to aim so SoutheraCross.” This is the entrance to the Heavens, would be to fall into the error of Nietzsche’s ‘eternal return’), whereas the entrance to Hells found under Jerusalem but analogiclly corresponding to the one they had a and we find depicted în this opposition the aniithesis of beginning, This can be represented geometrically in the fl ‘Christ suffering’ and ‘Christ triumphant lowing way: if the cycle in question is the half-period of the Some will find it astonishing, at first sight, that we thus precession of the equinoxes, and if the entire cycle is repre draw a comparison between a chronological and a geographical sented by a circumference, it will suffice to trace a horizontal sm and yer this is where we wanted to arrive in order ameter to divide this circumference into two halves, each of o give to the preceding remarks thei real significance, for the which will represent a half-period whose beginning and end oral succession involved is itself only a mode of symbolic expression. Any eyele can be divided into two phases, which SOTERISM OF DANTE The form that we have considered them în the first . point that is truly the center of the terrestrial world, be two opposed and yet compl ditions that essentially characterize existence inthis world wed before, we see again that the vertical radius, going fr id-point of place oneself a ‘oneself at the point where these e surface of the earth to its center, corresponds to the firs place where contrasts and antinomies are reconcile’ d. The center of the earth is the lowest point, since itis ter of the ‘Wheel of Things’, according to the Hindu ex there that the forces of gravity exert themselves from all sides the fixed point around which the spheres rotate—the journey by following the ‘spiritual he wor so as to complete the vertical diameter; we then have thence, in truth, is it possib things in permanent ure ofa circle divided by a cross, namely the sign ®, whic s not oneself o change, and conse is the hermetic symbol for the vegetable kingdom, Now, if one hat is synthetic an re looks in a general way at the symbolic elements that play a oa profound truth: the being must abo see that they relate to the mineral and vegetable kingdoms all identify the center of his own the hear in traditional symbolism) with the cosmic center of, the first to the interior regions of the earth and only me which he takes asa foundation from which to rase himself to trial Paradise). One might expect this correspondence the higher states. It isin this center that perfect equilibrium bin also between the third phase and the animal kingdom sesses these possibilities virwally, andi, if one may putt so, al ly, through areal identific derelopme e being, This is why Dante in order to raise ” THE ESOTE he eycle But, forthe other, it must be noted thatthe Ter ‘We must still consider the points st the opposite extrem ication of the Terenul Parad wwe let these latter represent opposition according to time, and. peinovtlal ordersand ona can say thas x wil play the same re end of the of all things in their those of the vertical diameter represent opposition according, far the future eyce that the Terrestrial Paradise does for to space, we have then an expression of the complementary present one. In fac, the end of a ele is analogous to its world, asthe two conditions, time and space. The vertical pro loving eycle. What was only virwal a the stat of the eycle is jection could be regarded as a projection into the ‘intempora’, realized tfectvely a its end, and immediately engenders the wwe are permitted to use this expression, seeing that it is potentialities tha will develop in their turn in the course ofthe accomplished along the axis whence all things are envisaged in re eyele, however this w a matter on which we cannot permanent, not transitory, mode; the passing from the hori- dwell forther without geting away completely from our su zontal to the vertical diameter therefore really represents a ec We add only, for the sake of indicating yet anot But, one will ask, what isthe relationship between the two — = points în question and the extremities of the chronological 47: sme leap ceea d Tan Panda să e e ndu tra ccentuated differentiation; the other ascending, returning of Bra si sapa omard the principial sate. These two phases, which the apocalyptic description of the Celesti en wise in Hermetic doctrine, where they are called ‘coagulation end ig p he eyce, this alludes explicitly tere we can see the respective predominance of the opposing n lace în al encies tamas and sasea, which we have already define tra n which, rather remarkably, Islamic he first is manifested în ll forces of contraction and conden: esoteism and Ta 1 Isis question agai ns the second in all expansion and dilation. In this rear f the which we hav we have again a correspondence between the opposite proper b ed ond jes of heat and cold the first dilating bodies, while che second he being contracts them; and this s why the lat ciele of Heli frozen een the two extremities abou Lucifer symbolizes ‘the inverse attraction of nature” that isto ats d ay the tendency towards individualisation, with ll the limits pointed out, the lowest poin tions inherent init. His abode is therefore “il punto al qual si e cosmic eyele whe traggon d’ogni parte i pes, or, in other words, the center o retur to indifferentiation. Besides, the last hypothesis is contradiction to all traditional conceptions: it vas not only for teraclitus and the Stoics that the destruction of the world must coincide with its conflagration; the same affirmation is HE ESOTERISM OF DA in the Her d be s thin) expres he same univ apele sila ve struction of Dante’s metic ‘Great Work’ (which are esentialy o . ‘upon which, for us, rests the whole poem. Errors of Systematic Interpretations Some will perhaps think that this study raises more ques jons than it answers, and, to tll the truth, we can hardly pr st against such a critici ivicism), for i could only come from those who are ignorant of how inti knowledge differs from all profane knowledge. For this reason „we have been careful from the start to warn that i îs not intention to give a complete account, for the very nature of the subject precludes any such pretension; moreover, everything is so tightly interconnected inthis domain that it would cerainl require several volumes to develop, as they would warrant, the many questions to which we have alluded inthe course ofthis work, not to mention all those we have not had occasion 4 consider, but to which this development, were we to undertake it, would inevitably lead. In conclusion, so that no one misunderstand our inten- tions, we shall only say that the points of view we have ‘expressed are by no means exclusive, and that there are doubt: less many others where one could equally wel position one h dance within the unity of the total synthesis. I drawn—all these points of view complementing ca perfect cone THE ESOTERISM OF DAN reduced to more or less narrowly systematic formula, such as profane philosophy delights in, for symbols support concepe tions whose possibilities of extension are truly unlimited. In the final analysis any expression is only a symbol, and one sible in what must therefore always make room forthe inexp expresses, which is really—in the physic—what matters mos ‘Under these circumstances it will be readily that our claims are limited to providing în these studies, are able to grasp their true import; and to pointing out for them the way to research from which we believe a quit jar benefit could be derived. If this work has the ee far from negli much so because, for us, itis no vain erudition, but of true compre- tion of hension; and without doubt itis only through such means that i văl be possible some day to make our contemporaries aware of the narrow-mindedness and insufficiency of their custom: fry ideas. The end we have in view is perhaps far distant, but ven so we can neither forget nor cease striving after it, while for our part shedding some light n an aspect of Dante’s work tha is far to litle known 1921 192 1923 1 1946 1946 1946 by THE WORKS OF RENE GUENON Introduction Génrale3 Etude des De L’Ervenr Spirite Orient et Occident Hom LEsocérisme de Dance Le Roi du Mond: ‘AutoritéSpirituelle e: Poxcoir Tempore! Saint Berard Le Symbolisme de la Croix Les Etats Multiples de Bere La Méaphysique Orientale Le Rage de la Quantite et les Signes des Temp Les Principes du C La Grande Triade ul Infnitésimal COLLECTED WRITINGS PUBLISHED AFTER GUENON’S DEATH Apercus sur ‘Esocérieme Chrétien Symboles Fondamentanx de la Science Sacrée Etudes sur la Franc-Magonnerieet la Compagnonnage 2 vols) Etudes sur PHindouisme Formes Traditionnelles et Cycles Cosmiques Apergus sur ‘Esotérisme Islam Comptes Rendus Mal