CHAPTER IX Errors of Systematic Interpretations
Some will perhaps think that this study raises more questions than it answers, and, to tell the truth, we can hardly protest against such a criticism (if indeed it is a criticism), for it could only come from those who are ignorant of how initiatic knowledge differs from all profane knowledge. For this reason we have been careful from the start to warn that it is not our intention to give a complete account, for the very nature of the subject precludes any such pretension; moreover, everything is so tightly interconnected in this domain that it would certainly require several volumes to develop, as they would warrant, the many questions to which we have alluded in the course of this work, not to mention all those we have not had occasion to consider, but to which this development, were we to undertake it, would inevitably lead.
In conclusion, so that no one misunderstand our intentions, we shall only say that the points of view we have expressed are by no means exclusive, and that there are doubtless many others where one could equally well position oneself, and whence no less important conclusions could be drawn-all these points of view complementing each other in perfect concordance within the unity of the total synthesis. It
is of the very essence of initiatic symbolism that it cannot be reduced to more or less narrowly systematic formulae, such as profane philosophy delights in, for symbols support conceptions whose possibilities of extension are truly unlimited. In the final analysis any expression is only a symbol, and one must therefore always make room for the inexpressible in what it expresses, which is really-in the order of pure meta-physic-what matters most.
Under these circumstances it will be readily understood that our claims are limited to providing only a point of departure for the reflection of those who, taking a genuine interest in these studies, are able to grasp their true import; and to pointing out for them the way to research from which we believe a quite particular benefit could be derived. If this work has the effect of stimulating similar studies, this alone will be a far from negligible result-so much so because, for us, it is not a question of more or less vain erudition, but of true comprehension; and without doubt it is only through such means that it will be possible some day to make our contemporaries aware of the narrow-mindedness and insufficiency of their customary ideas. The end we have in view is perhaps far distant, but even so we can neither forget nor cease striving after it, while for our part shedding some light-however feeble it may be-on an aspect of Dante's work that is far too little known.