INITIATIC CENTERS
We consider our remarks sufficient to demonstrate the nccessity for initiatic transmission and to make clear that what we are dealing with is not at all nebulous but on the contrary extremely precise and well-defined, something in which dreams and fancy have no role, any more than does what current fashion calls 'subjective' and 'ideal'. In order to complete our consideration of this subject we still must speak of the spiritual centers from which all regular transmission directly or indirectly proceeds, centers themselves connected to the supreme center that preserves the immutable deposit of the primordial tradition from which each traditional form is derived through an adaptation to particular circumstances of time and place. In a previous work [1] we indicated how these spiritual centers are constituted in the image of the supreme center itself, of which they are, as it were, so many reflections; we will therefore not return to that here, but will limit ourselves to examining certain points more immediately related to our present subject.
To begin with, the link to the supreme center is clearly indispensable for the continuity of transmission of spiritual influences from the very origins of present humanity (or, rather, from beyond these origins, since what is involved is 'non-human') and throughout the entire duration of its cycle of existence. This is true for everything of a traditional character, even for exoteric organizations, religious or otherwise, at least regarding its point of departure, and it is all the more true for the initiatic order. In addition, this link maintains the inner and essential unity present under diverse formal appearances,
and is consequently the fundamental guarantee of 'orthodoxy' in the true sensc. But it must be understood that this link does not always remain conscious, something only too evident in the exoteric order; on the other hand, it would seem that it must always be conscious in initiatic organizations, one of the purposes of which is precisely to allow passage beyond a particular traditional form and thus to proceed from diversity to unity, while taking the specific forms as starting-point. Naturally, this does not mean that such a consciousness must exist among all the members of an initiatic organization, which is manifestly impossible and furthermore would render its hierarchy of degrees useless, though normally it would exist at the summit of that hierarchy if all who had attained it were truly 'adepts', that is, beings that have effectively realized the fullness of initiation; [2] for such 'adepts' would constitute an initiatic center in uninterrupted conscious communication with the supreme center. This is not always the case in fact, however, if only because a distancing from the origins permits a certain degeneration which, as we mentioned previously, can reach a point where an organization comes to include only what we have called 'virtual' initiates, yet continues all the same to transmit, albcit unknowingly, the spiritual influence of which it is the repository. The link subsists in that case despite everything, thanks to the fact of uninterrupted transmission, and this is sufficient to allow those who receive the spiritual influence under these conditions to recover the necessary consciousness of this link if they have the requisite potential for it. Even in this case, then, membership in an initiatic organization is far from a mere formality with no real import, as is the case with membership in some profane association, although this is all too willingly believed by those who, rather than looking further, prefer to let themselves be deccived by purely outward similarities which are
in fact due to the degeneration of the only initiatic organizations that they may know more or less superficially.
On the other hand, it is important to note that an initiatic organization can proceed from the supreme center not directly but through the intermediary of secondary and subordinate centers, and this is even the most usual situation. Just as within each organization there is a hierarchy of degrees, so among the organizations themselves there are what could be called degrees of relative 'interiority' and 'exteriority'; and clearly those most exterior, that is, most distant from the supreme center, are also those where an awareness of the link to this center is most easily lost. Although all initiatic organizations have essentially the same goal, they participate at different levels, as it were, in the primordial tradition, though this fact does not exclude certain members of each from reaching the same degree of effective knowledge; and this is no reason for surprise if one remembers that the various traditional forms are not immediately derived from the same original source, for the 'chain' can consist of a greater or lesser number of intermediate links without this implying for all that any break in continuity. This superposition is not among the least reasons for the difficulty and complexity of even a moderately detailed examination of how initiatic organizations are constituted; again, we should add that such a superposition can also be found within a single traditional form, as is particularly evident in the Far-Eastern tradition. This example, which we refer to only in passing, will perhaps allow us to understand better how continuity is assured across the many levels of superposed organizations, from those that, engaged in the domain of action, are only temporary formations meant to play a relatively external role, to those of a more profound order that, while remaining in principial 'non-action', or rather, precisely because of this, give to all the others their real direction. In this regard we must especially call attention to the fact that, even if certain of the former are sometimes opposed to each other, this in no way prevents an effective unity of direction, for this direction is beyond such opposition and outside its domain. In sum, what we have here is something comparable to the roles of various actors in the same play,
which, although opposing one another, nonetheless cooperate in advancing the whole. Each organization likewise plays its appointed role in a larger plan; and this can be extended to include even the exoteric domain, where in such conditions the contending elements nonetheless yield, though perhaps unconsciously and involuntarily, to a sole direction, the existence of which is not even suspected. [3]
These considerations also explain how, within a single organization, a kind of double hierarchy can exist, especially when the apparent leaders are themselves unaware of any link to a spiritual center. In such cases there may exist beside the visible hierarchy made up by those apparent leaders, an invisible hierarchy of which the members may not fulfill any 'official' function but who, by their presence alone, nonetheless assure an effective liaison with this center. In the more exterior organizations these representatives of the spiritual centers obviously need not reveal themselves as such and can adopt the appearance most suitable to the action 'of presence' that they must exercise; they may be either ordinary members of the organization with a fixed and permanent role or, if it is a case of an influence that is temporary or that is to be communicated to different places, they may appear as those mysterious 'travelers' of whom history has preserved more than one example and whose outward pose is often chosen so as to best put off inquiry, cither by attracting attention for particular purposes, or on the contrary by passing
unnoticed. [4] From this one can recognize the identity of those who, without belonging to any known organization (by which we mean one clothed in sensible forms), nevertheless presided in certain instances over their formation or subsequently inspired and directed them invisibly. This was notably the role of the Brotherhood of the Rose-Cross during a certain period [5] in the West, and this was also the real meaning of what eighteenth-century Masonry called the 'Unknown Superiors'.
All this permits us to glimpse among the many possibilities of spiritual centers certain means of acting which are quite different from those ordinarily attributed to them, and which are especially evident in abnormal circumstances, that is to say circumstances that do not permit of more direct procedures and a more apparent regularity. Aside from an immediate intervention of the supreme center-which is always and everywhere possible-a spiritual center of any kind may thus also act outside its normal sphere of influence, whether in favor of individuals particularly 'qualified' but isolated in a milieu where the darkness has reached such a point that almost nothing of tradition remains and initiation is precluded, or in view of a more general but more exceptional goal, such as reforging an initiatic 'chain' that has been accidentally broken. When such an action occurs in a period or civilization where spirituality has almost entirely disappeared and where things pertaining to the initiatic order are consequently more hidden than cver, we should not be surprised if its modalities are extremely difficult to determine, all the more so since the ordinary conditions of place and sometimes even of time here become nonexistent so to speak. We need not dwell on this point, but it is essential to remember that even if an
apparently isolated individual succeeds in gaining a real initiation, this initiation is spontaneous in appearance only and will in fact always involve some kind of attachment to an effective center, [6] for outside of such an attachment the question of initiation cannot even be raised.
Returning to a consideration of normal cases, we must first forestall any misunderstanding by stating that when we referred above to certain oppositions, we did not have in mind the multiple paths that can be represented by as many particular initiatic organizations, whether among different traditional forms or within one and the same form. This multiplicity is made necessary by the difference in individual natures, and allows each to find a way conformable to his own nature and that permits the development of his own possibilities. If the goal is the same for all, the starting-points are nonetheless indefinitely diverse and comparable to the multitude of points on a circumference, from each of which proceeds a radius terminating in the unique center, which radii thus represent the very paths in question. Here there is no opposition, but, on the contrary, a perfect harmony; and indeed there could be no opposition except where for contingent reasons certain organizations are called upon to play an as it were accidental role, one that is therefore outside the essential goal of initiation and that does not affect it in any way.
Certain appearances make it possible to believe, as is often done, that some initiations are inherently opposed to each other; but this is an error, and it is rather easy to see why this could not really be the case. Since in principle there is but one unique Tradition from which every orthodox traditional form is derived, there can be only one initiation, equally unique in its essence although present under diverse forms and with multiple modalities; where 'regularity' is lacking, that is, where there is no attachment to an orthodox traditional center, there is no longer true initiation, and the word is abused when used of such a case. We are referring here not only to those pseudo-initiatic organizations touched upon previously, which are truly nothing, but there is something else that presents a
more serious character and which is precisely what gives a reasonable appearance to the illusion we have just noted. If there appear to be opposing initiations, this is because, outside of authentic initiation, there is what could be called 'counter-initiation' on condition that we specify the exact sense in which such an expression should be understood and the limits within which something can be truly opposed to initiation. But as we have explained the matter sufficiently elsewhere, it is unnecessary to devote special attention to it here. [7]