Apparent and Hidden Meaning
O voi che avete gl'intelletti sani, Mirate la dottrina che s'asconde Sotto il velame delli versi strani!
With these words [^2] Dante points in a most explicit way to the hidden (or doctrinal, properly speaking) significance of his work, a work whose external and apparent meaning is only a veil; a significance that must be sought for by those who would fathom it. Elsewhere the poet goes still further, stating that all writings, not only sacred ones, can be understoodand must be explicated-principally according to four levels of meaning: "si possono intendere e debbonsi sponere massimamente per quattro sensi. [^3] It is evident, moreover, that these diverse meanings cannot in any way contradict or oppose each
other, but must on the contrary complete each other, harmonizing the parts within the whole as constituent elements of a unique synthesis.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the Divine Comedy in its entirety can be interpreted in several ways, for we have in this regard the testimony of its author, who is certainly better qualified than anyone else to inform us of his own intentions. The difficulty begins only when it comes to determining these different meanings, especially the highest or the most profound, and it is here that different points of view naturally arise among commentators. They all agree on a literal sense in poetic narrative, and generally agree in recognizing a philosophical (or rather, philosophical-theological) meaning, as well as a political and social one; however, counting the literal sense, this makes only three, and Dante advises us to look for a fourth meaning. What can it be? For us, it can only be a strictly initiatic sense, metaphysical in its essence; one to which numerous particulars are related which, though not all of a purely metaphysical order, are nonetheless esoteric in character. It is precisely owing to its esoteric character that this profounder level of meaning has escaped most commentators. Yet if one ignores it (or perhaps fails to recognize it) the other levels of meaning can only be partially understood; for this esoteric or initiatic sense stands to the others as their prin-ciple-within which their multiplicity is coordinated and unified.
Even those who have glimpsed the esoteric side of Dante's work make many a mistake with respect to its true nature, for they usually lack a real understanding of these things, and their interpretations are affected by prejudices that they cannot put aside. Thus it is that Rossetti and Aroux, the first to point out the existence of this esoterism, thought they could conclude
that Dante was guilty of "heresy", without realizing that they were introducing considerations applicable to wholly different domains; so that, though they knew certain facts, there were many others they did not know. All this we shall be pointing out, though without the least pretension of giving a thorough exposition of the subject, which indeed seems truly inexhaustible.
The question for Aroux was: is Dante Catholic or Albigensian? For others, it seems rather to be: is he Christian or pagan? [^4] For our part, we do not think it necessary to look at things in this way, for true esoterism is something quite different from the outward aspect of religion, and, if it has some relationship with it, this can only be in so far as it finds a symbolic mode of expression in religious forms. Moreover, it matters little whether these forms be of such and such a religion, since what is involved is the essential doctrinal unity hidden behind their apparent diversity. This is why initiates have always participated without scruple in all forms of worship, following the established customs wherever they happened to be. Dante understood this fundamental unity also, and for this reason-and not by virtue of any superficial 'syncretism'employed a terminology borrowed indifferently from Christianity and Greco-Roman antiquity, as circumstances required. Pure metaphysics is neither pagan nor Christian, but universal. The ancient mysteries were not paganism; on the contrary, they were superimposed upon it. [^5] In the same way there were in the Middle Ages some organisations whose character was