25 The City of Willows
At the beginning of this book we stated that we had no intention of analysing the symbolism found in the rituals of the T'ien Ti Huei. However, there is one particular point which we wish to draw attention to, because it concerns a 'polar' symbolism not unconnected with some of the subjects we have been considering.
The 'primordial' nature of such a polar symbolism, regardless of the particular forms which it happens to assume, should be apparent from our remarks earlier in this book on the subject of orientation. It can also be easily appreciated if we consider that while the centre is the 'place' corresponding to the 'primordial state', fundamentally centre and pole are one and the same thing: both are representations of the one and only point that remains fixed and unchanging throughout the turning of the 'wheel of becoming'. [1]
The centre of the human state can therefore be conceived of as the terrestrial pole and the centre of the universe as the celestial pole. The first can accordingly be described as the 'place' belonging to 'true man'; the second as the 'place' of 'transcendent man'. Furthermore, the terrestrial pole is as it were a reflection of the celestial pole. This is because the terrestrial pole, as representative of the centre, is the point at which the 'Activity of Heaven' manifests itself directly, and these two poles are linked to each other by the World Axis, along which the 'Activity of Heaven' exerts itself. [2] This is why certain stellar symbols which strictly speaking refer to the celestial pole can also be applied to the terrestrial pole, which is the point from which they are as it were
reflected by 'projection' into the corresponding domain. Putting to one side those cases where the two poles are expressly designated by different symbols, there are no real grounds for distinguishing between them. The same symbolism can with equal correctness be applied at two different degrees of universality. This means that the centre of the human state and the centre of the state of the total being are virtually identical; [3] and so we are brought back to our earlier conclusion that from the human point of view 'true man' is indistinguishable from the 'trace' of 'transcendent man'.
On initiation into the T'ien Ti Huei, the neophyte first of all passes through a number of preliminary stages, culminating in the stage called the 'Circle of Heaven and Earth' (T'ien Ti Ch'üan). After this he arrives finally at the 'City of Willows' (Mu Yang Ch'eng), which also has another name: 'House of the Great Peace' (Tai P'ing Chuang). [4] The first of these two names has a simple explanation: in China the willow is a symbol of immortality. It is therefore equivalent to the acacia in Freemasonry, or to the 'golden bough' in the ancient mysteries. [5] As a consequence of this meaning the 'City of Willows' is identical to the 'Abode of the Immortals'. [6]
As to the second of these two names, nothing could be more obvious than that it refers to a place considered as 'central'. [7] The 'Great Peace' (Es Sakinah in Arabic [8]) is identical to the Shekhinah of the Hebrew Kabbalah: that is to say, the 'divine presence' which is the manifestation of the 'Activity of Heaven' and as such can, as was said earlier, only possibly reside in a place of this
kind-or in a traditional sanctuary assimilated to it. In accordance with what we said above, this centre can be the centre either of the human world or of the entire Universe as a whole. The fact that it is beyond the 'Circle of Heaven and Earth' indicates that, in terms of the human world, whoever reaches it has escaped from the movement of the 'cosmic wheel' and the endless alternations of yin and yang. In other words he has escaped from the cycle of lives and deaths and can therefore truly be termed 'immortal'. [9] In terms of the entire Universe, the fact that it is beyond the 'Circle of Heaven and Earth' is a clear and explicit allusion to the fact that the 'pinnacle of Heaven' is situated 'outside' the Cosmos.
One additional point which is particularly striking is that the 'City of Willows' is represented in ritual by a dipping bowl filled with rice and planted with a number of symbolic emblems or standards. [10] This may seem rather strange, but it is easily understood by the fact that the 'Dipper' (Tou) is the name given in Chinese to the constellation of the Great Bear. [11] The importance traditionally attached to this constellation is well known; for example in the Hindu tradition the Great Bear (saptariksha) is
considered the abode of the seven Rishis, which identifies it clearly with the 'Abode of the Immortals'. Also, since the seven Rishis represent the 'supra-human' wisdom of the cycles prior to our own, the Great Bear is a kind of 'ark' in which the store of traditional knowledge is contained with a view to preserving and transmitting it from age to age. [12] This also makes it a symbol of the spiritual centres which actually perform this function and, beyond them, of the supreme centre which is the depository of the primordial Tradition.
While on this subject we will briefly mention one other instance of 'polar' symbolism which is equally interesting. In certain of the ancient rituals of Operative Masonry the letter G is depicted at the centre of the vault, at the very point which corresponds to the Polestar. [13] Suspended from this letter G is a plumbline which falls directly to the centre of a swastika traced out on the floor, which therefore represents the terrestrial pole. As to the plumbline, it is the 'plumbline of the Great Architect of the Universe', suspended from the geometrical point of the 'Great Unity' [14] and
descending-as an image of the World Axis-from the celestial pole to the terrestrial pole.
As we have referred to the letter G, it is appropriate to add that this letter should really be the Hebrew yod, for which it was substituted in England as a result of phonetic assimilation of yod to 'God'. In fact this substitution does not fundamentally change the meaning of the symbol. [15] The various interpretations usually given to this letter (the most important being the one that relates it to 'Geometry') are for the most part only possible in the context of modern Western languages and-whatever certain people may claim [16]-they represent purely secondary explanations that have incidentally gathered around the essential meaning just mentioned. [17]
As for the letter yod, it is the first letter of the Tetragrammaton and it represents the Principle, which means that it is considered a divine name in its own right. Also, its form makes it the principial element from which all the other letters of the Hebrew alphabet are derived. [18] It should be added that the equivalent letter I in the
Latin alphabet is also a symbol of Unity, both on account of its form and because of its value in Roman numerals. It is, to say the least, curious that the sound of this letter is identical to the sound of the Chinese letter i which-as we have noted already-is also symbolic of unity in both its arithmetical and its metaphysical sense. [19] But, if anything, even more remarkable is the fact that in his Divine Comedy Dante makes Adam say that the first name of God was I [20] and that he was later called El. Here we find yet another confirmation of the primordiality of the 'polar' symbolism mentioned above. And there is also the fact that, in his Tractatus Amoris, Francesco da Barberino had himself portrayed in an attitude of adoration in front of the letter I. [21] What this all means should by now be clear. Whether it is a case of the Hebrew yod or the Chinese i, this 'first name of God'-which in all probability was also the secret name of God for the Fedeli d'Amore-is none other than the very expression of the principial Oneness.