33 § The Mountain and the Cave
W E have seen that there is a close relationship between the mountain and the cave in that both of them are taken as symbols of spiritual centres as are also, for obvious reasons, all axial or polar symbols, amongst which the mountain is in fact one of the most important. In this respect we will mention that the cave must be considered as situated beneath the mountain or inside it, so as to be likewise on the axis, which further reinforces the link between the two symbols, each of which is in a sense the complement of the other. It must be noted however, so that we can 'place' them exactly in relationship to one another, that the mountain is more primordial in its significance than the cave: it is so in virtue of being outwardly visible, we might even say of being the most visible object from all sides, whereas on the contrary the cave is, as we have said, a place that is essentially hidden and closed off. It can easily be deduced from this that the representation of the spiritual centre by the mountain corresponds to the original period of terrestrial humanity, during which the truth was wholly accessible to all (whence the name Satya-Yuga, the summit of the mountain being Satya-Loka, or 'place of truth'). But when, owing to the downward course of the cycle, this same truth was only within the scope of a more or less restricted élite (which coincides with the beginning of initiation in its strictest sense) and became hidden from the
majority of men, then the cave was a more fitting symbol for the spiritual centre and subsequently for the initiatic sanctuaries which are its images. By such a change, the centre did not forsake the mountain, so to speak, but only withdrew from its summit to its interior. On the other hand, this same change is in a way a reversal by which, as we have explained elsewhere, the 'celestial world', indicated by the elevation of the mountain above the surface of the earth, has become in a sense the 'subterranean world' (though in reality it is not the celestial world that has changed but the conditions of the outer world, and consequently the relationship between the two worlds) and this reversal is represented by the respective diagrammatic figures of the mountain and of the cave, which at the same time express their complementarity.
As has already been mentioned, the figure of the mountain, as well as that of the pyramid and the mound which are its equivalents, is a triangle with the summit pointed upwards. That of the cave, on the contrary, is a triangle the summit of which points downwards and which is therefore the inverse of the other. This inverted triangle is also the figure of the heart [1] and of the cup, to which the heart is generally assimilated in symbolism, as we have shown in connection the Holy Grail. [2] Let us add that these last symbols and their like refer, from a more general point of view, to the passive or feminine principle of universal manifestation or to one of its aspects, [3] while those represented by the upright triangle relate to the active or masculine principle, which all goes to bear out the complementarity in question. On the other hand, if the two triangles are placed one beneath the other, which corresponds to the position of the cave under the mountain, it will be noticed that the lower triangle can be considered as the reflection of the upper triangle; (Figure I3)
Figure 13
and this idea of reflection is most aptly expressive of a derived symbol's relationship with a primordial symbol, in accordance with the already mentioned relationship between the mountain and the cave as successive representations of the spiritual centre at different phases of cyclic development.
It may seem surprising that the inverted triangle should be represented in the figure as being smaller than the upright one whose reflection it is and whose equal in size it must therefore presumably be. But such a difference of proportion is not exceptional in symbolism: thus, in the Hebrew Kabbala, the 'Macroprosope' or 'Great Countenance' has as its reflection the 'Microprosope' or 'Little Countenance'. Moreover, in the present case there is a more special reason: as regards the relationship between the cave and the heart, we have recalled the text of the Upanishads where it is said that the Principle which resides at the 'centre of the being', is 'smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a grain of mustard, smaller than a grain of millet, smaller than the seed that is in a grain of millet', but also at the same time 'larger than the earth, larger than the atmosphere (or the intermediate world), larger than the heavens, larger than all the worlds together'. [4] Now in the inverse relationship of the two symbols we are considering, it is the mountain which here corresponds to the idea of 'largeness', and the cave (or the cavity in the heart) which corresponds to smallness. The aspect of 'largeness' refers to absolute reality, and that of 'smallness' to appearances relative to manifestation. It is perfectly normal, therefore, that the first should be represented in this context by the symbol that corresponds to a primordial condition, [5] and the second by that which corresponds to a later condition of 'obscuration' and spiritual 'envelopment'.
In order to represent the cave as being situated in the very interior (or in the heart, we might say) of the mountain, we need only place the inverted triangle inside the upright triangle so that their centres coincide (Figure 14);
Figure 14
the inverted triangle will then have to be smaller than the other so as to fit into it, but apart from this difference the whole of the figure thus obtained is clearly identical with the 'Seal of Solomon', where the two opposed triangles likewise represent two complementary principles, with all their different applications. On the other hand, if the sides of the inverted triangle are made equal to half those of the upright triangle (we have made them a little less in order that the two triangles might appear entirely separate from one another, but it is obvious that the entrance to the cave must be on the surface of the mountain and therefore that the triangle which represents the cave
ought actually to touch the outline of the mountain) [6] the smaller triangle will divide the surface of the larger one into four equal parts, of which one will be the inverted triangle itself while the three others will be upright triangles. This last consideration, as well as certain numerical considerations connected with it, has no really direct bearing on our present subject, but we will doubtless have occasion to come back to it later in the course of other studies.