24 Prayer & Incantation
We have just seen that there are cases where the distinction between the exoteric and esoteric domains does not seem to be absolute, as a result of the particular way in which certain traditional forms are constituted, and this leads to a sort of continuity between them. There are other cases, on the contrary, where this distinction is perfectly clear, and this is particularly the case where exoterism has a specifically religious form. In order to give a precise and well-defined example of this latter we will consider the difference between prayer in the exoteric order and what in the esoteric order we will call 'incantation', using this word for lack of a clearer one in Western languages, and waiting until later to define it exactly. With regard to prayer, we must first of all note that although in current language the word is usually understood in a very vague way, to the point where it is sometimes taken as a synonym for 'orison' in all its generality, we think it appropriate to keep or to assign to it the much more special and restricted meaning that comes from its etymology, for the word 'prayer' properly and exclusively signifies 'petition' and cannot without abuse be used to designate anything else. It must therefore not be forgotten that it is in this sense alone that we will understand it in the course of the following considerations.
In order to indicate how prayer can be understood, let us first of all consider some collectivity, be it religious or merely 'social' in the outward or even wholly profane sense in which this word is usually
taken in our time. [2] Each member of this collectivity is bound to it to some degree, which is determined by the extent of its sphere of action, and in turn the member must logically participate to the same degree in certain benefits. In some instances these benefits are wholly material (as is the case with present-day nations, for example, or the many kinds of associations based on no more than a simple solidarity of interest, which associations needless to say are generally wholly profane), but in others they relate to extra-corporeal modalities of the individual, that is, to what can generally be called the psychic domain (such as consolations or other favors of a sentimental order, and sometimes even of a higher order); or again, to what, though material, is achieved by apparently immaterial means, or, to be more precise, by the intervention of elements that do not belong to the corporeal order but nonetheless act directly on it (obtaining a healing by prayer is a particularly clear example). In all of this we are speaking only of individual modalities, for these benefits can never transcend the individual domain, which is the only one attainable by any collectivity that is not an initiatic organization (for as we explained carlicr, the latter are the only organizations to have the express goal of transcending this domain), and which occupies itself with contingencies and special applications of some practical interest from one point of view or another, though of course not only in the grossly 'utilitarian' sense to which purely profane organizations limit themselves and of which the field of action does not extend beyond the corporeal domain.
Each collectivity can thus be regarded as possessing, in addition to means of action that are purely material in the ordinary sense of the word, that is, belonging solely to the corporeal order, a subtle force made up in a way of the contributions of all its members past and present, and which consequently is all the more powerful and able to produce greater effects as the collectivity is older and composed of a greater number of members. [3] It is evident, moreover,
that this 'quantitative' consideration essentially indicates that it is a question of the individual domain, beyond which this force can in no way intervene. Each of the members can at need use a part of this force to his own benefit, and for this it suffices that he put his individuality in harmony with the collectivity of which he forms a part, which he can do by conforming to the rules established by the latter for the purpose of addressing the different circumstances that may arise. Thus, if the individual formulates a petition, it is essentiallyat least most immediately-to what can be called the spirit of the collectivity that he addresses it, consciously or not (although the word 'spirit' is certainly inappropriate here since it is really only a psychic entity that is in question). However, it is appropriate to add that every case is not always limited to this alone, for with collectivitics of a regular and authentic traditional form, particularly with religious collectivities where the observation of the rules just mentioned consists in the accomplishment of certain rites, there is also the intervention of a truly 'non-human' element, that is, of what we have called a spiritual influence, which must be regarded as 'descending' into the individual domain and acting there by means of the collective force that it uses as a support. [4]
Sometimes the force we are speaking of, or more exactly the synthesis of the spiritual influence and the collective force in which it so to speak 'incorporates' itself, can focus on a corporeal 'support' such as a given place or object, which then plays the role of a 'condenser's and produces perceptible manifestations, such as those reported in the Hebrew Bible of the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple of Solomon. Places of pilgrimage and the tombs of saints or other persons venerated by the adherents of a given traditional form can also be cited as examples to some degrec or another. Here lies the principal cause of the 'miracles' occurring in the different religions, for these are facts of which the existence cannot be denied and which
are by no means limited to one religion. Moreover, it goes without saying that, despite common opinion, these facts must not be considered contrary to natural laws any more than, from another point of view, the 'supra-rational' can be taken for the 'irrational'. In reality-let us say it again-spiritual influences also have their laws, which, although of another order than those of natural forces, psychic as well as corporeal, are not without certain analogies to them; thus it is possible to determine the circumstances favorable to their action which can then be called forth and directed, given the necessary knowledge, by those who preside over them by reason of the functions with which they have been invested in a traditional organization. It must be noted that the 'miracles' in question here, in themselves and independently of their cause which alone has a 'transcendent' character, are purely physical phenomena, perceptible as such by one or more of the five external senses; such phenomena moreover are the only ones that can be witnessed without further distinction by the generality of ordinary 'believers', whose understanding does not go beyond the limits of the corporeal modality of the individuality.
The benefits to be obtained by prayer and by practicing the rites of a social or religious collectivity (rites that are common to all its members without exception and thus of a purely exoteric order, and obviously having no initiatic character as long as they are not considered in respect of their ability to serve as the support for a spiritual 'realization') are cssentially relative and contingent, but they are nonetheless by no means negligible for the individual who, as such, is himself relative and contingent; the individual would therefore be wrong to deprive himself voluntarily of such benefits if he belongs to an organization that can provide them. Thus, as long as it is necessary to take into account the nature of the human being as he is in fact, that is to say in the order of reality to which he belongs, it is in no way blameworthy for one who is more than a mere 'believer' (making between 'belief' and 'knowledge' a distinction corresponding essentially to that between exoterism and esoterism) to comply with the outward prescriptions of a religion or a traditional legislation for the sake of some personal interest, precisely because it is an individual interest and thus outside any strictly doctrinal consideration, provided that he attributes to what he thus seeks only the
proper importance and legitimate place, and provided as well that the collectivity does not impose on this compliance conditions that, although commonly admissible, would constitute a real de facto impossibility in this particular case. With these sole reservations, prayer, whether addressed to a collective entity or, through its intermediation, to the spiritual influence that it transmits, is perfectly allowable even with regard to the most rigorous orthodoxy in the domain of pure doctrine. [6]
By the comparison they allow, these considerations will make it easier to understand what we will now say about 'incantation'. It is essential to note that what we designate by this name has absolutely nothing to do with the magical practices to which the name is sometimes given; [7] besides, we have already said enough about magic so that no confusion should be possible and no further comment necessary. In contrast to prayer, the incantation we spoke of is not a petition and does not even presuppose the existence of anything outward, which every petition necessarily supposes, because outwardness cannot be understood except in relation to the individual, which here is precisely surpassed. It is an aspiration of the being toward the Universal in order to obtain what we might call in somewhat 'theological' language a spiritual grace, that is, essentially an inward illumination that can naturally be more or less complete according to the case. Here the action of the spiritual influence must be seen in its pure state, if one can speak thus; instead of seeking to make it descend, as in prayer, the being tends on the contrary to rise toward it. The incantation thus defined as an entirely inward operation in principle can nonetheless in many cases be expressed and 'supported' outwardly by words or gestures that constitute initiatic rites, such as the mantra in the Hindu tradition or the dhikr in the Islamic tradition, which must be thought of as producing rhythmic
vibrations that reverberate throughout a more or less extensive domain in the indefinite series of the states of the being. Whether the result obtained be more or less complete, the final goal is always the realization in oneself of 'Universal Man' by the perfect communion of all these states in proper and harmonious hierarchy and in an integral expansion, both in 'amplitude' and 'exaltation', that is, both as to the horizontal expansion of the modalities of each state and the vertical superposition of the different states, according to the geometrical figuration that we have explained in detail elsewhere. [8]
This leads us to make another distinction in regard to the different degrees that can be attained depending on the extent of the result achieved in tending toward this goal. First, at the bottom and outside the hierarchy thus established, must be placed the host of the 'profane', that is, according to the meaning intended here, all those who, like simple religious believers, cannot obtain real results except through their corporeal individuality and within the limits of this portion or special modality of the individuality, because their effective consciousness goes no further or higher than the domain enclosed within these limits. Nonetheless, among these believers there are a small number who obtain something more (this is the case of certain mystics who can be considered in this sense more 'intellectual' than the others) and who, without leaving their individuality, but in 'prolongations' thereof, indirectly perceive realities of a higher order, not as they are in themselves, but expressed symbolically and clothed in psychic or mental forms. These are still phenomena (that is, etymologically, appearances, which are always relative and illusory insofar as they are formal), but they are suprasensible phenomena not ascertainable by everyone, and can lead those who perceive them to certitudes which, though always incomplete, fragmentary, and scattered, are nonetheless superior to the simple belief they replace. Moreover, this result is obtained passively, that is to say without the intervention of the will and merely by the ordinary means prescribed by the religions, particularly by prayer and the accomplishment of prescribed works, for all of this still remains in the domain of exoterism.
At a much higher degree, one already sharply distinct from the foregoing, are those who have extended their consciousness to the extreme limits of the integral individuality and have come to perceive the superior states of their being directly without, however, participating in them effectively. We are here in the initiatic domain, but this initiation, though real and effective with regard to the extension of the individuality in its extra-corporeal modalitics, is still only theoretical and virtual with regard to the higher states since it does not actually achieve possession of them. It produces certitudes incomparably more complete, more developed, and more coherent than in the preceding case, for it no longer belongs to the phenomenal domain, but the one who acquires them can nonetheless be compared to a man who does not know the light except by the rays that reach him (in the preceding case, by contrast, he knows it only by its reflections or by the shadows projected on the field of his restricted individual consciousness, as do the prisoners in Plato's allegory of the cave), whereas in order to know the light perfectly in its intimate and essential reality it is necessary to reascend to and identify oneself with its very source. [9] This last case corresponds to the fullness of real and effective initiation, that is, to the conscious and voluntary taking possession of the totality of the states of the being according to both senses indicated; this is the complete and final result of incantation, which, as can be seen, is very different from all that mystics can attain by prayer, for it is nothing other than the very perfection of fully realized metaphysical knowledge. The Yogis of the Hindu tradition or the Sufis of the Islamic tradition, if these words be taken in their strict and true meaning, are those who have arrived at this supreme degrec and who thus have realized in their being the total possibility of 'Universal Man'.