13 The Initiatic Secret
Although we have just indicated the essential nature of the initiatic secret, [1] we must be even more precise in order to distinguish it without any possible ambiguity from all other kinds of more or less outward secrets that are encountered in the many organizations that can for this reason be qualified as 'secret' in a more general sense. We have said that, for us, this designation signifies only that such organizations possess a secret of some sort, and also that, depending on the goal they propose for themselves, this secret can naturally refer to the most diverse things and take the most varied forms; but in all cases, secrets of any kind other than the properly initiatic secret always have a conventional character, by which we mean that they are secrets only by virtue of a more or less formal convention and not by the very nature of things. The initiatic secret, on the contrary, is such because it cannot but be so, since it consists exclusively of the 'inexpressible', which consequently is necessarily also the 'incommunicable'; thus, if initiatic organizations are secret, this character has nothing artificial about it and does not result from a more or less arbitrary decision by anyone. This point is particularly important for distinguishing, on the one hand, initiatic organizations from all other secret organizations of whatever kind, and on the other, within initiatic organizations themselves, what is essential from all that might accidentally attach itself thereto. Let us therefore develop the consequences of this a little.
The first of these consequences, which we have already noted, is that whereas every secret of an exterior order can always be betrayed,
the initiatic secret can never be betrayed since in itself and in a way by definition it is inaccessible to and ungraspable by the profane and so cannot be penetrated by them, since knowledge of it can only be the consequence of initiation itself. In fact this secret is of such a nature that words cannot express it, which is why, as we shall explain more completely in what follows, the initiatic teaching can only use rites and symbols that suggest rather than express, in the ordinary sense of the word. Properly speaking, what is transmitted by initiation is not the secret itself, since this is incommunicable, but the spiritual influence that the rites vehicle and that makes possible the interior work by means of which, with the symbols as base and support, each one will attain that secret and penetrate it more or less completely, more or less profoundly, according to the measure of his own possibilities of comprehension and realization.
Whatever one may think of other secret organizations, initiatic organizations can in any case not be reproached for having this characier, since their secret is not something that they hide voluntarily for some reason, legitimate or otherwise, and always more or less subject to discussion and evaluation as is all that proceeds from the profane point of view, but is something no one is empowered to unveil and communicate to another, even should he so wish. As for the fact that these organizations are 'closed', that is, that they do not admit everyone indiscriminately, this is explained simply by the first condition of initiation described above, the necessity of possessing certain particular 'qualifications' lacking which no real benefit can be derived from attachment to such an organization. Moreover, when an initiatic organization becomes too 'open' and insufficiently strict in this respect, it runs the risk of degenerating through the incomprehension of those whom it thus thoughtlessly admits, who, especially when they become the majority, do not fail to introduce all sorts of profane opinions and to divert its activity toward goals that have nothing in common with the initiatic domain, as one sees only too often in what still remains of this kind of organization in the Western world today.
Thus a second consequence of what we stated at the beginning is that the initiatic secret in itself, and the 'closed' character of the
organizations that possess it (or, to speak more exactly, that possess the means whereby it is possible for those who are 'qualified' to gain access to it), are two completely different things and must never be confused. Concerning the first, its essence and importance are completely misunderstood if reasons of 'prudence' are invoked, as is sometimes done; as to the second, which pertains to the nature of men in general and not to that of initiatic organizations, one can, on the contrary, speak of 'prudence' up to a certain point in the sense of an organization defending itself, not against 'indiscretions', which are impossible in regard to its essential nature, but against that danger of degeneration of which we have just spoken. Still, this is not the primary reason, which is nothing other than the perfect uselessness of admitting individuals for whom initiation would never be anything but a 'dead letter' or empty formality without any real effect because they are, as it were, impervious to the spiritual influence. As for 'prudence' toward the outer world, as it is most often understood, this can only be an altogether accessory consideration, even though it may certainly be legitimate in the face of a more or less consciously hostile environment, for profane incomprehension rarely stops short at a kind of indifference and changes only too easily into a hatred of which the manifestations present a danger that certainly has nothing illusory about it. But this could not affect the initiatic organization itself, which, as we have said, is truly 'ungraspable' as such. Thus, precautions in this regard will impose themselves to the extent that the organization becomes more 'exteriorized' and therefore less purely initiatic; moreover, it is evident that it is only in this case that it can find itself in direct contact with the profane world, which otherwise would only ignore it purely and simply. We will not speak here of a danger of another order that can result from the existence of what we have called the counter-initiation and that mere external measures of prudence could not prevent in any case; such measures are effective only against the profane world, whose reactions, we repeat, are only to be feared to the extent that the organization has adopted an outward form such as that of a 'society', or has been drawn more or less completely into an activity exercised outside the initiatic domain, all of
which can only be regarded as having a merely accidental and contingent character. [2]
This brings us to yet another consequence of the nature of the initiatic secret. It can in fact happen that, besides the secret that alone is essential to it, an initiatic organization may also possess, secondarily and without in any way losing its own character, other secrets that are not of the same order but are more or less exterior and contingent; and it is these purely accessory secrets that, being perforce the only ones apparent to the outside observer, are most likely to provoke various confusions. These secrets can come from the 'contamination' we spoke of, understanding by this the accretion of goals having nothing to do with initiation and which may be given more or less importance since in this kind of degeneration all degrees are obviously possible; but this is not the only case, and it may just as well happen that such secrets are related to contingent though legitimate applications of the initiatic doctrine itself, applications that it is judged well to 'reserve' for reasons that can be very different and that would have to be determined for each particular case. The secrets we allude to here are more particularly those concerning the traditional arts and sciences, and what can be said most generally in this regard is that, since these arts and sciences cannot be truly understood outside of the initiation that constitutes their principle, their 'vulgarization' can only lead to problems, for it would amount inevitably to a deformation or even a denaturation of precisely the kind that gave birth to the profane arts and sciences, as we have explained on other occasions.
In this same category of accessory and non-essential secrets must be placed another kind, one very widespread in initiatic organizations and which most commonly occasions among the profane an error to which we have previously called attention. This is the secret that relates either to the entirety of the rites and symbols in use in
these organizations, or still more particularly, and also in a stricter manner than usual, to certain words and signs used as 'means of recognition' to permit members to distinguish one another from the profane. It goes without saying that any secret of this nature has only a conventional and wholly relative value, and that by the very fact that it concerns itself with exterior forms it can always be discovered or betrayed, a risk that naturally occurs all the more easily as the organization is less rigorously 'closed'. Thus we must emphasize not only that this secret can never be confused with the true initiatic secret except by those who lack even the slightest idea of its nature, but even that it has nothing essential about it, so much so that its presence or absence could not define an organization as either possessing or lacking an initiatic character. In fact, the same thing or something equivalent also exists in most other secret organizations that are in no way initiatic, although the reasons for this are then different. It may be a matter of imitating the most outward appearance of initiatic organizations, as with those organizations we have qualified as pscudo-initiatic and certain fantastic groups that do not even merit this name; or it may simply be a matter of safeguarding themselves against indiscretions in the most common sense of this word, as happens especially with political associations, something that can be understood without the least difficulty. On the other hand, the existence of a secret of this kind is in no way necessary for initiatic organizations, for which its importance is all the less to the degree that they have a purer and more elevated character because they are then the freer from all outward forms and from all that is not truly essential. Something thus occurs that might at first appear paradoxical, though it is really quite logical: an organization uses such 'means of recognition' because of its 'closed' character, but it is precisely in those organizations that are most 'closed' that these means are sometimes reduced to the point of disappearing altogether because they are no longer needed, their usefulness being directly linked to a certain degree of 'exteriority' in the organization having recourse to them. This usefulness attains its maximum, as it were, when the organization acquires a 'semi-profane' aspect, of which the form of a 'society' is the most typical example, for it is then that its occasions for contact with the exterior
world are most numerous and extensive, and, consequently, that it is most important for it to distinguish itself therefrom by means that are themselves outward.
The existence of such an exterior and secondary secret in the most widespread initiatic organizations is justified by yet other reasons. Some attribute to it above all a 'pedagogical' role, so to speak; in other words, the 'discipline of the secret' constitutes a sort of 'training' or exercise that is part of the method of these organizations - and this can be seen in a way as an attenuated and restricted form of the 'discipline of silence' that was used in certain ancient esoteric schools, particularly among the Pythagoreans. [3] This point of view is certainly correct, on condition that it not be exclusive; and it should be remarked that in this respect the value of the secret is completely independent of the value of the things it bears upon. As far as 'discipline' is concerned, keeping a secret about the most insignificant things will be just as efficacious as keeping a secret that is really important in itself. This should be a sufficient response to the profane who, in this connection, accuse initiatic organizations of 'puerility' since they fail to understand that the words or signs on which secrecy is imposed have their own symbolic value. If they cannot follow as far as this last consideration, at least the foregoing should be within their reach and certainly does not require a great effort to comprehend.
But in reality there is a deeper reason based precisely on the symbolic character just mentioned which makes what are called 'means of recognition' not merely this but also something more. They are truly symbols like any other, and their meaning must be meditated on and penelated in the same way; thus they form an integral part
of the initiatic teaching. It is the same, moreover, for all the forms used by initiatic organizations and, more generally yet, for all that have a traditional character (including religious forms): they are fundamentally always something other than they appear from the outside, and this is what essentially distinguishes them from profane forms, where the outward appearance is everything and does not conceal any reality of another order. From this point of view the secret in question is itself a symbol of the true initiatic secret, which is obviously much more than a mere 'pedagogical' means; [4] but here, of course, no less than elsewhere, the symbol must not be confused with what is symbolized, and this is the confusion effected by profane ignorance because it does not sce beyond appearances and does not even imagine that there can be anything besides what strikes the senses, which is practically equivalent to the pure and simple negation of all symbolism.
In conclusion, let us point out a final consideration that we may yet develop further. The outward secret, where it exists in initiatic organizations, is properly part of the ritual since its object is communicated, under the corresponding obligation of silence, in the very course of the initiation into or at the completion of each degree. Thus this secret is not only a symbol, as we have just said, but also a true rite, with all the virtue belonging to it as such; and besides, rite and symbol are in truth always closely linked by their very nature, as we shall explain more amply in what follows.