The Initiatic Hierarchy
What we have just indicated regarding the initiatic hierarchy still needs to be clarified in certain respects, for with this subject, as with so many others, confusions too often arise, not only in the profane world, which, after all, should cause no surprise, but also among those who for one reason or another normally ought to be better informed about the matter. It also seems that the notion of hierarchy, even outside of the initiatic domain, is particularly obscure in our day, for it is among those ideas against which the modern spirit is especially set, which, to tell the truth, is in perfect conformity with its essentially anti-traditional character, of which 'egalitarianism' in all its forms is merely one aspect. But it is no less strange and almost incredible to anyone not altogether incapable of reflection to see this 'egalitarianism' frankly admitted and even vociferously proclaimed by the members of initiatic organizations which, however diminished or even deviated they may be from many points of view, nonetheless necessarily preserve a certain hierarchical constitution without which they could not exist. [1] This is obviously something paradoxical and even contradictory that cannot be explained except by the extreme disorder that presently reigns everywhere; besides, without such disorder, profane ideas could never have invaded as they have a domain strictly closed to them by very definition and on which, under normal conditions,
they can exercise absolutely no influence. We need not dwell further on this, for we would of course never dream of addressing ourselves to those who, because of prejudice, deny all hierarchy. But what we would like to say above all is that, when things have reached such a point, it is not astonishing that at times the idea of hierarchy should be more or less poorly understood even by those who still hold to it, and that they should sometimes be mistaken about the different applications of which it is susceptible.
All initiatic organizations are by nature hierarchical, so much so that this can be seen as one of their fundamental characteristics, although of course this characteristic is not exclusive to them since it also exists in 'outward' traditional organizations, by which we mean those belonging to the exoteric order; and it can even still exist in a certain sense (for there are naturally degrees in every deviation) in profane organizations insofar as they are constituted, in their own order, according to normal rules, at least in the measure that these rules are compatible with the profane point of view itself. [2] The initiatic hicrarchy, however, is distinguished in a special way from all the others. It is formed essentially by degrees of 'knowledge', with all that is implied by this word taken in its true sense (which, when taken in its fullness, really means effective knowledge), for it is in this that the degrees of initiation themselves consist, and no other consideration should intervene. Some people have represented these degrees by a series of concentric enclosures that must be successively traversed, which is a very exact image, for here it is indeed a question of approaching closer and closer to a center until the last degree is finally reached. Others have compared the initiatic hierarchy to a pyramid the courses of which continually narrow as they rise from the base to the summit, here again ending at a unique point that plays the same role as the center does in the preceding figure. Whatever the symbolism adopted in this regard, it is precisely this hierarchy of degrees that we had in mind when speaking of the successive distinctions effected within the elite.
It must be clearly understood that these degrees may be indefinite in number, as are the states to which they correspond and which are essentially implied in their realization, for once knowledge is effective and no longer merely virtual, it is truly a question of different states, or at least of diffcrent modalities of one state, as long as the individual human possibilities have not yet been surpassed. Consequently, as we have already pointed out, the degrees within any initiatic organization never represent more than a sort of general classification that is, like all such classifications, necessarily schematic and limited to certain principal or clearly defined stages. According to the particular point of view adopted in establishing such a classification, the degrees so distinguished can naturally vary in number [3] without such differences being contradictory or incompatible, for this question bears on no doctrinal principle and merely relates to the special methods peculiar to each initiatic organization, be this within one and the same traditional form, or, and with all the more reason, in passing from one of these forms to another. Indeed, in all of this there is only one fundamental distinction to be made, that between the 'lesser mysteries' and the 'greater mysteries', that is to say, as we have already explained, between what relates respectively to the human state and to the higher states of the being. All the rest, in both domains, are only subdivisions that for contingent reasons can be developed to varying degrees.
On the other hand, one must also clearly understand that the allocation of the members of an initiatic organization among its different degrees is only 'symbolic' as it were with respect to the real hierarchy, because initiation at every degree can in many cases only be virtual, in which case naturally only degrees of theoretical knowledge would be in question, but that at least is what it should always be normally. If initiation were always effective, or had to become effective before the individual had access to a higher degree, the two hierarchies would entirely coincide; but even if this is perfectly conceivable in principle it must be recognized that it is hardly realizable in fact, and is even less likely in certain organizations that have
undergone a more or less marked degeneration and too easily admit, cven to all degrees, members of whom most are unfortunately little qualified to receive more than a merely virtual initiation. However, these defects, though inevitable to some extent, do not in any way affect the notion of initiatic hierarchy itself, which remains entirely independent of all circumstances of this kind. Matters of fact, however regrettable, are powerless against a principle and can do nothing to affect it; and the distinction we have just noted naturally resolves the objection that could occur to some readers who, in whatever initiatic organizations with which they may be familiar, have observed even at the higher degrees, not to mention the summit of the apparent hierarchy, individuals who all too obviously lack any effective initiation.
Another important point is that an initiatic organization includes not only a hierarchy of degrees but also a hierarchy of functions, and that these are two entirely distinct things that must never be confused, for the function with which someone may be invested at a given level does not confer upon him a new degree and does not modify in any way the one he already possesses. The function has so to speak only an 'accidental' character with respect to the degree; the exercise of a given function may require the possession of this or that degree, but it is never bound necessarily to that degree, however elevated this may be; and what is more, the function may be only temporary and thus can come to an end for a variety of reasons, whercas the degree always constitutes a permanent acquisition, one that is obtained once and for all and which can never be lost by any means regardless of whether it is a question of an effective initiation or merely of a virtual initiation.
This-let us say it again-serves to clarify the true significance that must be attributed to certain secondary qualifications we mentioned earlier, for in addition to the qualifications required for initiation itself, there can also be other more particular qualifications that are required only to fulfill this or that function within the initiatic organization. The aptitude to receive initiation, even at the highest degree, does not necessarily imply the capacity to exercise any function, even the simplest; but in all cases the only truly essential thing is the initiation itself, with its degrees, for it is this that
effectively influences the actual state of the being, whereas any function could never modify it or add anything at all to it.
The truly essential initiatic hierarchy is therefore the hierarchy of degrees, and furthermore it is this which in fact serves as the identifying mark of the constitution of initiatic organizations. Once it is clear that every initiation is properly a matter of knowledge, it becomes quite evident that the fact of being invested with a function has no importance in this respect, even with regard to merely theoretical knowledge, and with even more reason in regard to effective knowledge. A function may give one the faculty of transmitting the initiation to others for example, or again of directing certain works, but it cannot give one the power of attaining a higher state oneself. There can be no degree or spiritual state higher than that of the 'adept'; whether those who have reached this state in addition exercise certain functions, pedagogic or otherwise, or whether they exercise none at all, makes absolutely no difference in this respect; and what is true in this regard for the supreme degree holds equally for each of the lower degrees of the hierarchy. [4] Consequently, when the initiatic hicrarchy is spoken of without further qualification, it must be understood that it is always the hicrarchy of degrees that is in question; it is this and this alone, as we said above, that defines the successive 'elections', progressing gradually from a simple initiatic affiliation up to identification with the 'center', and not only, as at the completion of the 'lesser mysteries', with the center of the human individuality, but further, at the completion of the 'greater mysteries', with the very center of the whole being, that is to say the realization of the 'Supreme Identity'.