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PAUL LE COUR called attention, in _Atlantis_ (July-August 1928), to a curious symbol on the druidic stone discovered about 1800 at Suèvres (Loir-et-Cher). It had been previously examined by E. C. Florance, president of the Society of Natural History and Anthropology of Loir-et-Cher. Florance thinks that the locality where the stone was found may have been the place of the Druids' annual reunion which, according to Caesar, was situated on the borders of the land of the Carnutes. His attention was drawn by the fact that the same sign is on a seal of a Gallo-Roman oculist, found about 1870 at Villefranche-sur-Cher (Loir-et-Cher); and he suggests that what is represented was a sacred triple precinct. For this symbol is, in fact, formed by three concentric squares, linked to one another by four lines at right angles (figure 7).

Figure 7

At the time when the article appeared in _Atlantis_, the same symbol was pointed out to Florance, cut into a large foundation stone of a buttress of the church of Saint Gemme (Loire-et-Cher), a stone, moreover, which appears to have a provenance from a time prior to the construction of this church and which could likewise go back even to Druidism. It is certain that like many other Celtic symbols, and especially that of the wheel, this figure remained in use until the Middle Ages, for Charbonneau-Lassay has mentioned it among the 'graffiti' of the dungeon of Chinon,^[2] together with another no less ancient figure, formed by eight rays and circumscribed by a square (figure 8), which is on the _baetyl_ of Kermaria studied by M. J. Loth^[3] and to which we have already had occasion to allude.^[4]

Figure 8

Le Cour indicates that the symbol of the triple square is to be found also at Rome, in the cloister of San Paolo, dating from the thirteenth century, and that it was known by others in antiquity as well as by the Celts, as he himself has pointed out several times in connection with the Acropolis of Athens, on the flagstones of the Parthenon and on those of the Erechtheion.

The interpretation of this symbol as representing a triple precinct seems to us very right, and Le Cour, in this connection, establishes a parallel with the remarks of Plato who, speaking of the mother city of the Atlanteans, describes the palace of Poseidon as built at the centre of three concentric enclosures linked together by canals which, in fact, form a figure analogous to the one here in question, though circular instead of square.

Now what can be the significance of these three precincts? We thought at once that it must be a question of three degrees of initiation, so that, taken all together, they would have been in some way a figure of the Druid hierarchy; and the fact that this same figure is to be found elsewhere and not merely with the Celts would indicate that there were in other traditions hierarchies formed on this same model, which is perfectly normal. The division of initiation into three grades is, moreover, the most frequent partition and, we may say, the most fundamental. All the others, generally speaking, represent only its subdivisions or more or less complicated developments. We reached this conclusion because previously we had knowledge of documents which in certain masonic systems of the higher grades describe these grades precisely as so many successive precincts drawn around a central point.^[5] It is true that these documents are incomparably less ancient than the monuments in question, but they nevertheless give us an echo of very much older traditions, and in any case, as regards our present theme, they have given us a starting point for interesting comparisons.

It should be noted that the explanation which we have just put forward is in no way incompatible with certain others, such as that of Le Cour, which relates the three precincts to the three circles of existence recognized by the Celtic tradition. These three circles, which are to be found under another form in Christianity, are the same as the 'three worlds' of Hinduism, which moreover sometimes represents the celestial circles as so many precincts around Meru, the sacred mountain that symbolises the 'Pole' or the World Axis _[axis mundi]_, and this is yet another most remarkable concordance. Far from being mutually exclusive, the two explanations harmonize perfectly; it can even be said that they coincide in a certain sense, for where genuine initiation is concerned, its degrees correspond to so many states of the being, and it is these states which in all traditions are described as so many different worlds, for it must be clearly understood that 'localisation' has only a purely symbolic character. We have already explained, in connection with Dante, that the heavens are strictly speaking 'spiritual hierarchies', that is, degrees of initiation;^[6] and it goes without saying that at the time they relate to the degrees of universal existence, for as we said then,^[7] in virtue of the constitutive analogy of the Macrocosm and Microcosm, the initiatic process rigorously reproduces the cosmogonic process. We will add that, generally speaking, genuine initiatic interpretation is never exclusive but, on the contrary, includes within itself synthetically all other possible interpretations; and this, moreover, is why symbolism, with its multiple and superimposed senses, is the normal means of expression of all true initiatic teaching.

With this explanation, the meaning of the four lines arranged in the form of a cross and connecting the three precincts immediately becomes very clear: they are the channels by which the teaching of the traditional doctrine is communicated downwards from above, from the supreme grade, which is its trustee, down to the other degrees, in hierarchic order. The central part of the figure therefore corresponds to the 'fountain of teaching' of which Dante and the Fedeli d'Amore speak, and the cruciform arrangement of the four channels which flow from it identifies them with the four rivers of Pardes.

In this connection it should be noted that between the circular and square forms of the triple precinct figure, there is an important nuance: they relate respectively to the earthly Paradise and the celestial Jerusalem, as has been explained in one of our books.^[8]^[9] There is always analogy and correspondence between the beginning and the end of any cycle; but at the end, the circle is replaced by the square, and this indicates the realisation of what the Hermetists designated symbolically as the 'squaring of the circle'.^[10] The sphere, which represents the development of possibilities by the expansion of the primordial point, is transformed into a cube when this development is completed and when the final equilibrium is attained by the cycle in question.^[11] To apply these considerations more particularly to our present theme, let us say that the circular form must represent the outset of a tradition, which is indeed the case where Atlantis is concerned,^[12] and the square form represents its terminal point, corresponding to the constitution of a derivative traditional form. In the first case, the centre of the figure then would be the source of doctrine, while in the second it would strictly speaking be the reservoir, the spiritual authority having here especially a role of conservation. But naturally, the symbolism of the 'fountain of teaching' is applicable in both cases.^[13]From the point of view of numerical symbolism it must also be noted that the three squares taken together form the duodenary. Arranged differently (figure 9), these three squares to which are added four crosswise linesFigure 9constitute the figure according to which the ancient astrologers inscribed the zodiac. This figure, in addition, was regarded as that of the celestial Jerusalem with its twelve gates, three on each side; and there is here an obvious relation with the meaning we have just pointed out for the square form. No doubt there would be still many more relationships to consider, but we think that these several notes, incomplete as they may be, will help shed some light on the mysterious question of the triple precinct of the Druids.## 13 § The Guardians of the Holy LandAMONG the prerogatives of the orders of chivalry, and especially of the Templars, one of the best known but generally not best understood, is that of 'guardians of the Holy Land'. Admittedly, if we restrict ourselves to its most outward meaning we find an immediate explanation in the connection between these orders and the Crusades, since for Christians as well as for Jews the 'Holy Land' seems to designate nothing other than Palestine.

Nevertheless, the question becomes more complex when we note that several oriental organisations, the initiatic character of which is not in doubt, such as the Assassins and the Druse, have also taken the same title of 'guardians' of the 'Holy Land'. In such a case it can in fact no longer be a question of Palestine; and it is, moreover, remarkable that these organisations have quite a large number of features in common with the Western orders of chivalry and that historically some of them have even had relations with those orders. What, then are we really to understand by 'Holy Land', and what does this function of 'guard-ian' correspond to, seeming, as it does, to be attached to a specific kind of initia-tion, one that can be described as 'chivalric' if we give this term a meaning which is wider than usual but amply justified by the analogies that exist between the different forms in question?

We have already shown elsewhere, especially in _The Lord of the World_, that the expression 'Holy Land' has several synonyms: 'Pure Land', 'Land of Saints', 'Land of the Blessed', 'Land of the Living', 'Land of Immortality', that these equivalent designations are to be found in the traditions of all peoples, and that they always apply essentially to a spiritual centre, the location of which in a given region can, according to circumstances, be understood literally or symbolically, or simultaneously in both the one and the other sense. Every 'Holy Land' is designated further by expressions such as 'Centre of the World' or 'Heart of the World', and this calls for some explanations, for these uniform appellations, although differently applied, can easily lead to certain confusions.

If, for example, we consider the Hebraic tradition, we see that the _Sepher Ietsirah_ speaks of the 'Holy Palace' or 'Inner Palace', which is the veritable 'Centre of the World', in the cosmogonic sense of the term; and we also see that the 'Holy Palace' has its image in the human world by the abode of the _Shekinah_ in a particular place, the _Shekinah_ being the 'real Presence' of the Divinity. For the people of Israel, this abode of the _Shekinah_ was the Taber-nacle (_Mishkan_) which, for this reason, was considered by them as the 'Heart of the World' because it was in fact the spiritual centre of their own tradition. This centre, moreover, was not initially a fixed location; where nomads are con-cerned, as was the case here, their spiritual centre must move about with them, even while remaining always the same in the course of their peregrin-ations. 'The abode of the _Shekinah_', said Paul Vulliaud, 'was not fixed until the time the Temple was constructed, for which David had prepared the gold, the silver, and all that was necessary for Solomon to complete the work. The Tabernacle of the Holiness of Jehovah, ^[3] the abode of the _Shekinah_, is the Holy of Holies which is the Heart of the Temple, which is itself the Centre of Zion (Jerusalem), as holy Zion is centre of the Land of Israel, as the Land of Israel is the centre of the world'.^[4] It may be noted here that there is a series of extensions given gradually to the idea of the centre in the applications of it which are successively made, so that the appellation 'Centre of the World' or 'Heart of the World' is finally extended to the entire Land of Israel insofar as this is considered the 'Holy Land'; and it must be added that in the same respect it also receives, among other denominations, that of 'Land of the Living'. It is said that the 'Land of the Living Comprises seven Lands', and Vulliaud observes that 'this land is Canaan in which there were seven peoples'^[5], which is exact in a literal sense even though a symbolic interpretation is equally possible. This expression of 'Land of the Living' is equally synonymous with 'place of immortality', and the Catholic liturgy applies it to the celestial sojourn of the elect which was represented by the Promised Land, in that Israel, on entering this land, was to see the end of its tribulations. From yet another point of view, the Land of Israel, as spiritual centre, was an image of Heaven; for according to the Judaic tradition, 'all that the Israelites do on earth is accomplished according to the pattern of what takes place in the celestial world'.^[7]

What is said here of the Israelites can be said similarly of all peoples possessing a genuinely orthodox tradition; and in fact the Israelites are not the only people who have assimilated their country to the 'Heart of the World', and who have regarded it as an image of Heaven, two ideas which after all are only one in reality. The use of the same symbolism is found with other peoples who possess a 'Holy Land', that is, a country where a spiritual centre has been established which has for them a status comparable to that of the Temple of Jerusalem. In this respect, the 'Holy Land' is similar to the _Omphalos_ which was always the visible image of the 'Centre of the World' for the people inhabiting the region where it was placed.^[8]

The symbolism we are discussing is found especially among the Egyptians; in fact, according to Plutarch, 'the Egyptians give their country the name _Chemia_ and they compare it to a heart'.^[10] The reason given by this author is somewhat strange: 'This country is in fact warm, humid, lying in the southern parts of the inhabited lands, extended to the South as in the body of man the heart extends to the left', for 'the Egyptians consider the East as the face of the world, the North being the right and the South as the left'.^[11] These are rather superficial correspondences and the real reason must be quite different, as the same comparison with the heart has likewise been applied to every land held to be sacred and 'central' in the spiritual sense, whatever its geographic situation. Moreover, according to Plutarch himself, the heart which represented Egypt at the same time represented Heaven: 'The Egyptians', he said, 'represent Heaven, which cannot grow old as it is eternal, by a heart placed on a brazier, the flame of which maintains the vital warmth'.^[12] Thus, while the heart is itself represented by a vase which is not other than that which the legends of the Western Middle Ages designated as the 'Holy Grail', it is also simultaneously the hieroglyph of Egypt and of Heaven.

The conclusion to be drawn from these considerations is that there are as many particular 'Holy Lands' as there are regular traditional forms, since they represent the spiritual centres which correspond respectively to these different forms. But if the same symbolism applies uniformly to all these 'Holy Lands', it is because all these spiritual centres have an analogous con-stitution, often even in precise details, inasmuch as they are all images of one single supreme centre, which alone is the veritable 'Centre of the World', but the attributes of which they apply to themselves in virtue of participating in its nature by a direct communication, wherein lies their traditional ortho-doxy, ^[13] and in virtue of actually representing that Centre in a more or less outward way for particular times and places. In other words, there exists a 'Holy Land' _par excellence_, prototype of all the others, seat of the Primordial Tradition from which all the other particular traditions are derived by adaptation to such and such particular conditions which are those of a people or of an epoch. This 'Holy Land' _par excellence_ is the 'supreme country', following the sense of the Sanskrit term _Paradesha_, from which the Chaldeans have made _Pardes_ and the Westerners _Paradise_. It is in fact the 'terrestrial Paradise' which is indeed the point of departure of every tradition, having in its centre the one wellspring from which flow the four rivers towards the four cardinal points, ^[14] and which is also the 'sojourn of immortality' as can easily be seen by referring to the first chapters of _Genesis_. ^[15]

We cannot think of returning here to all the questions which concern the Supreme Centre, and which we have already treated very fully elsewhere: its conservation, in a more or less hidden way according to the period, from the beginning to the end of the cycle, that is, from the 'terrestrial Paradise' to the 'celestial Jerusalem' which represent its two extreme phases; the multiple names by which it is designated, such as _Tula_, _Luz_, _Salem_, _Agartha_; ^[16] the different symbols which represent it, such as the mountain, the cavern, the island and still many others, immediately connected for the most part with the symbolism of the 'Pole' or of the 'World Axis'. To these figurations, we could join those which make of it a city, a citadel, a temple or a palace, according to the particular aspect under which it is envisaged; and in this context it is relevant to mention not only the Temple of Solomon which relates more directly to our subject, but also the triple precinct of which we have recently spoken as representing the initiatic hierarchy of certain traditional centres, ^[17] as well as the mysterious labyrinth which, under a more complex form, pertains to a similar conception, with the difference that what is especially stressed here is the idea of an approach or advance towards the hidden centre. ^[18] We must now add that the symbolism of the 'Holy Land' has a double meaning: whether it may relate to the supreme Centre or to a subordinate centre, it represents not only that centre itself but also, by an association which is entirely natural, the tradition which emanates from it and which is there preserved, that is, in the first case, the Primordial Tradition, and in the second, a particular traditional form.^[19] This double meaning is likewise to be found, and in a particularly clear way, in the symbolism of the Holy Grail which is at once a vase (_grasale_) and a book (_gradale_ or _graduale_); this latter aspect manifestly designates the tradition while the other concerns more directly the state corresponding to the actual possession of this tradition, that is, the 'edenic state' if it is the Primordial Tradition that is in question; and he who has attained to this state is thereby reintegrated into _Pardes_ in such a way that his abode is henceforth in the 'Centre of the World'.^[20]

It is not without a motive that we bring together these two symbolisms, for their close resemblance shows that when one speaks of the 'knighthood of the Holy Grail' or of the 'guardians of the Holy Land', what must be understood by the two expressions is exactly the same thing. It remains for us to explain, as far as possible, exactly what is the function of these 'guardians', a function which belonged in particular to the Templars.^[21]

In order to understand clearly what is involved, we must distinguish between the custodians of the tradition whose function is to preserve and transmit it, and those who are only recipients, in one degree or another, of a communication of the tradition and, we might say, a participation in it.

The first, trustees and dispensers of the doctrine, remain at the source which is strictly the centre itself. From there, the doctrine is communicated and distributed hierarchically to the different initiatic degrees, according to the streams represented by the rivers of _Pardes_, or, to use the figuration which was the theme of the last chapter, by the channels which run from the inside towards the outside, linking together the successive precincts which correspond to the different degrees.

Not all, therefore, of those who participate in the tradition have reached the same degree, nor do they fulfil the same function; it is necessary even to make a distinction between these last two things which, though corresponding in a general way, are not, strictly speaking, inseparable. For it can happen that a man may be intellectually qualified to attain to the highest degrees but may not thereby be apt to fulfill all the functions in the initiatic organisation. Here it is only the functions which we have to consider; and from this point of view we will say that the 'guardians' remain at the boundary of the spiritual centre, taken in its widest sense, or at the last precinct, by which the centre is both separated from the 'outer world' and placed in relationship with it. Consequently, these 'guardians' have a double function: on the one hand, they are indeed the defenders of the 'Holy Land' in the sense that they bar from access to it all who lack the requisite qualifications to enter, and they constitute what we have called its 'outer covering', that is, they conceal it from the eyes of the profane. On the other hand, they nevertheless assure certain regular relations with the outside, as we shall explain in what follows.

It is obvious that to act as defender is, to speak the language of Hinduism, a function of the Kshatriya; and all 'chivalric' initiation is in fact essentially adapted to the nature of men pertaining to the warrior caste, that is, the Kshatriyas. Hence the special characteristics of this initiation, the particular symbolism which it uses, and the intervention of an affective element very explicitly designated by the term 'Love'. As we have already explained this at some length, we need not dwell on it here.^[22] But in the case of the Templars, there is something more to be considered: even though their initiation was essentially 'chivalric', as suited their nature and function, they had two sides to their character, being both military and religious; and it had to be so if they were, as we have many reasons to think, among the 'guardians' of the supreme Centre, in which spiritual authority and temporal power are reunited in their common principle, and which as it were stamps the recognisable sign or mark of this reunion on all that is directly connected with it. In the Western world, where the spiritual takes a specifically religious form, the true 'guardians of the Holy Land', insofar as they had any 'official' existence, had to be knights, but knights who were monks at the same time, and in fact that indeed is what the Templars were.

This brings us directly to the second function of the 'guardians' of the supreme Centre, a function which, as we said just now, consists in ensuring certain outward relationships and above all in maintaining the bond between the Primordial Tradition and the secondary derived traditions. That this may be so, it is necessary that for each traditional form there should be one or more organisations to all appearances within the said form, but composed of men conscious of what lies beyond all forms, that is, of the one doctrine which is the source and essence of all the others and which is not other than the Primordial Tradition.

In the world of the Judeo-Christian tradition it would be natural enough for such an organisation to take as symbol the Temple of Solomon. This temple, moreover, having long since ceased to exist materially, could thus have only an altogether ideal signification, as being, like every subordinate spiritual centre, an image of the supreme Centre. The very _etymology_ of Jerusalem indicates clearly enough that it is only a visible image of the mysterious _Salem_ of Melchi-zedek. If the Templars were indeed what we believe them to have been, in order to fulfil their allotted function concerning the specific tradition, that of the West, they would have to remain attached outwardly to the form of this tradition, but at the same time they would need to have an inner consciousness of real doctrinal unity so as to be capable of communicating with the representa-tives of other traditions.^[23] It is this that explains their relations with certain Oriental organizations and especially, as is natural, with those that elsewhere played a similar part to their own.

These considerations make it clear, on the other hand, why the destruction of the Order of the Temple should have entailed for the West the rupture of regular relations with the 'Centre of the World'; and it is precisely from the fourteenth century that the deviation inevitably resulting from this rupture must be dated, a deviation which has gone on gradually becoming more and more accentuated down to our own time.

This is not to say, however, that all ties were broken with a single blow; it was possible to maintain some degree of relations for quite some time, but only in a hidden way, and by the intermediary of organizations such as the _Fidèles d'Amour_ or the _Frères de la Rose-Croix du Saint-Graal_ and doubtless many others as well, all inheritors of the spirit of the Order of the Temple, and for the most part attached to it by a more or less direct filiation. Those who kept that spirit alive and who inspired these organisations without ever forming themselves into any definite group were those who are called Rosicrucians^[24] as an essentially symbolic name. But the day came when these Rosicrucians them-selves had to leave the West in which conditions had become such that their action could no longer be exercised there, and it is said that they retired into Asia, reabsorbed as it were, towards the supreme centre of which they were an emanation. For the Western world there is no longer a 'Holy Land' to guard, in the way which leads to it is henceforth entirely lost. How much longer will this situation endure? That is a question which it is not for us to answer. Apart from the fact that we do not wish to hazard any prediction, the solution depends only on the West itself: for it is in returning to normal conditions and in recovering the spirit of its own tradition—if it still has it in this possibility—that the West may see open before it the way that leads to the 'Centre of the World'.

Footnotes

[3]In certain respects one could also relate this to the well known symbolism of the pelican.

[1]Caesar says: _in finibus Carnutum_; the interpretation seems to us a little doubtful, for _fines_ does not always signify borders, but often designates the country itself. On the other hand, it does not seem that anything has been found at Suèvres that recalls the _Omphalos_ which in the _Mediolanon_ or _Medionemeton_ of Gaul had to be represented by a menhir, according to the usages of the Celtic peoples.

[2]'Le Cœur rayonnant du donjon du Chinon'.

[3]'L'Omphalos chez les Celts' in Revue des Études anciennes, July-Sept. 1915 [For this significance of the baetyl see, below, 27, 'Thunderbolts'.]

[4]The Lord of the World, ch. 9; in Regnabit, June 1926. [This article was included by the author in The Lord of the World, but without certain points concerning the stone in question, whence the following quotation from it which is pertinent to the present study: 'A remarkable example of the Omphalos is the baetyl of Kermaria, near Pont-l'Abbé (Finistère), its general form being that of a regular cone rounded off at the top. There is a sinuous line on the lower part which may be only the stylised form of a serpent.... The summit is encircled with a Greek key design. On one side there is a swastika; and the presence of this sign (of which the Greek key is a derivative) would suffice to confirm as clearly as possible the meaning of this curious monument. On the other side there is another no less interesting symbol; this is a figure of eight rays circumscribed by a square instead of a circle as with the wheel. This design is therefore completely comparable to the British flag which, similarly, must be of Celtic origin. What is most strange is that this sign of the baetyl of Kermaria is exactly reproduced in several instances in the graffiti of the dungeon of Chinon And in the same graffiti, there is again the figure of eight rays drawn on the oval shield held by a kneeling person (note: this shield clearly recalls the wheel of eight spokes, just as that of the allegorical figure of Albion, having the same form, recalls the wheel of six spokes...). This sign must have played a large part in the symbolism of the Templars, for 'it is to be found also in ancient commanderies of the Temple (note: the same figure, moreover, has been preserved even up to modern Masonry, but there it is considered only as the "key of the numbers", and it is shown that it is in fact possible to break it down so as to obtain all the Arabic numerals in a more or less schematic form.) It is to be seen likewise as a heraldic sign on a great escutcheon at the head of a funerary statue of a Templar, from the thirteenth century, of the commandary of Roche-en-Cloué (Vienne) and on a carved stone in the commandery of Mauleon, near Châtillon-sur-Sèvre (Deux-Sèvres)' (Charbonneau-Lassay, 'Le Cœur rayonnant du donjon du Chinon', p. 16). This last figuration is, moreover, that of a wheel in the strict sense; and it is only one example among many others, of the continuation of the Celtic traditions throughout the Middle Ages. We have yet to point out, in connection with this symbol, that one of the chief significations of the number 8 is that of "justice" and "equilibrium", ideas which, as we have shown, are directly attached to that of the Centre (the importance of the Ogdoade for the Pythagoreans is also well known)'.

[5]Le Cour notes that the central point is marked on the greater number of the figures that he saw at the Acropolis of Athens.

[6]_L'Esotérisme de Dante_, ch. 2.

[7]_Ibid_, ch. 6.

[8]See our article in _Le Voile d'Isis_, February 1929, '_Le Langage Secret de Dante et des "Fidèles d'Amour"_'.

[9]_The Lord of the World_, ch. 11; on the relations between the earthly Paradise and the celestial Jerusalem, see also _L'Esotérisme de Dante_, ch. 8.

[10]This 'squaring' cannot be achieved in 'becoming' or in the movement of the cycle, as it expresses the fixation that results from the 'passage to the limit'. All cyclic movement is, strictly speaking, indefinite, so the limit cannot be reached successively and analytically by running through all the points that correspond to each moment of the development of manifestation.

[11]It would be easy to make a comparison here with the masonic symbol of the 'cubic stone' which is related also to the idea of achievement and perfection, that is the realisation of the plenitude of possibilities implicit in a certain state. [Cf., below, ch. 50, '*Black Stone, Cubic Stone*'].

[12]It must be pointed out that the Atlantean tradition is not, however, the Primordial Tradition for the present Maha Yuga and that it is itself only secondary in relation to the hyperborean tradition. It is only in a relative way that it can be taken as a starting point, to mark the onset of a certain period which is no more than one of the subdivisions of the Maha Yuga [In *The Lord of the World* Guénon gives Maha Yuga as synonym of Manvantara. But in fact, as he later learned, Manvantara denotes a much longer cycle. We have therefore replaced Manvantara here throughout by Maha Yuga, as no doubt he would have done, if he had been able to revise the contents of this book. Ed.]

[13]The other figure above (figure 8) often appears in a circular form; it is then one of the more common varieties of the wheel, and this wheel of eight spokes is in certain respects an equivalent of the lotus of eight petals peculiar to the oriental traditions, just as the wheel of six spokes is the equivalent of the lily which has six petals (see our article on '_Le Chrisme et le Cœur dans les anciennes marques corporatives_' [cf., '*Symbols of Analogy*', 52 below, and '*The Idea of the Centre in the Traditions of Antiquity*', 10 above.])

[1]See our articles on 'Le Cœur du Monde dans la Kabbale hébraïque' and 'La Terre sainte et le Cœur du Monde' in _Regnabit_, July-August and Sept-Oct 1926. [These articles are partly included in *The Lord of the World*, ch. 3 and 6, and partly in *The Symbolism of the Cross*, ch. 4 and 7.]

[2]It is well to note here the assimilation frequently established between the construction of the Temple, conceived in its ideal significance, and the 'Great Work' of the Hermetists.

[3][The word Jehovah is in fact an incorrect transliteration of the Tetragrammaton resulting from the addition of the vowel points of *Adonai* to the four Hebrew consonants (*yodh*, *he*, *vau*, *he*) which constitute the primary Divine Name of the Hebrews, *Yahweh*. Tr.]

[4]La Kabbale juive, 1, p. 509.

[5]Ibid., 2, p. 116.

[6][Needless to say, Guénon referred here to the Catholic liturgy as it existed prior to the modernist corruptions following in the wake of Vatican II. Tr.]

[7]Ibid, 1. p. 501

[8]See our article on "Thunderbolts', [27 below].

[9]_Kemi_, in Egyptian, signifies 'blackland', a designation also found among other peoples; the word alchemy comes from this word (al being only the article in Arabic), which originally designated the Hermetic science, i.e., the sacerdotal science of Egypt.

[10]_Isis et Osiris_, 33, translation of Mario Meunier, p. 116.

[11]Ibid., 32, p. 112. In India it is, on the contrary, the South that is designated as the 'right side' (dakshina); but notwithstanding the appearances, this amounts to the same thing, for one must understand thereby the side that is on one's right when one turns towards the East; and it is easy to represent the left side of the world as extending towards the right of the onlooker, and inversely, just as this occurs for two persons facing one another.

[12]Ibid., 10, p. 49. It will be noted that this symbol, with the meaning given it here, seems to admit of a comparison with the phœnix.

[13][Very important in this connection is Guénon's remark below, in note 20, that 'in all traditions places essentially symbolise states'. In this connection he has made it clear that the Supreme Centre, which represents the Primordial Tradition, is a 'symbol of the Edenic state'; and all traditions teach that this state remains accessible to man, as a spiritual possibility, throughout the temporal cycle. It could also be said that a religion's maintenance of 'direct com-munication' with this state, that is, the fact that it continues to guide its adherents to or towards that state, is both a condition and a guarantee of its 'traditional orthodoxy'. But as regards what was spatially the Supreme Centre at the outset of the cycle, there would be no reason for it to con-tinue to remain accessible, since whatever may have been its authoritative and administrative function in the earliest times, each of the religions known to history is, almost by definition, totally independent of any earthly centre outside its own domain, which means, amongst other things, since its orthodoxy is conferred on it directly from Heaven, that it could not, for this purpose, stand in need of any less exalted communication. As to the latest of the religions, in the years during which I knew Guénon, 1939-51, that is, the last twelve years of his life, he would certainly have insisted that Islam derived its orthodoxy directly from the contact of the Archangel Gabriel with the Prophet, maintained throughout his mission, without any question of an intermediary between the two. Moreover, the article which forms this chapter was written over 20 years before Guénon's death. Once again, therefore, the impossibility of author's revisions is to be regretted. Ed.]

[14]This source is identical to the 'fountain of instruction', to which we have alluded, even here [in *Le Voile d'Isis*], more than once.

[15]This is why the 'fountain of instruction' is at the same time the 'fountain of youth' (_fons juventutis_), because whoever drinks of it is emancipated from the temporal condition. It is, moreover, located at the foot of the 'Tree of Life' (see our study on 'Le langage secret de Dante et des "Fidèles d'Amour"' in _Le Voile d'Isis_, February 1929) and its waters are obviously identical with the 'elixir of long life' of the Hermetists (the idea of 'Longevity' having here the same meaning as in the Oriental traditions) or to the 'draught of immortality', which is mentioned in all traditions, under various names.

[16][On *Agartha*, see Marco Pallis, '*Le Roi du Monde et le problème des sources d'Ossendowski*' in René Guénon, *Les Dossiers H*, L'Age d'Homme, Lausanne, 1984. See also the review, by Whitall N. Perry, of *The Lord of the World* in *Studies in Comparative Religion*, Summer-Autumn, 1983. Tr.]

[17]In the last chapter we pointed out the relation of this figure in its two forms, circular and square, with the symbolism of the terrestrial Paradise and the celestial Jerusalem.

[18]The Cretan labyrinth was the palace of Minos, a name identical with Manu, therefore designating the primordial legislator. On the other hand, one can understand, from what is said here, the reason why following the labyrinth traced on the pavement of certain churches in the Middle Ages was regarded as replacing the pilgrimage to the Holy Land for those unable to accomplish this journey. It must be remembered that the pilgrimage is precisely one of the figures representing initiation, so that 'pilgrimage to the Holy Land' is, in an esoteric sense, the same thing as the 'search for the lost Word' or the 'quest for the Holy Grail'.

[19]Analogically and from the cosmogonic point of view, the 'Centre of the World' is the original point at which is uttered the creative Word; and it is also that Word itself.

[20]In this connection it is important to recall that in all traditions places essentially symbolise states. On the other hand, there is an evident kinship between the symbolism of the vase and cup and that of the fountain mentioned above. We have also seen that, with the Egyptians, the vase was the hieroglyph of the heart, the vital centre of the being. We recall, finally, what we have said on other occasions on the subject of wine as substitute for the Vedic _soma_ and as symbol of hidden doctrine. In all this, under one form or another, it is always a question of the 'draught of immortality' and of the restoration of the 'primordial state'.

[21]St Yves d'Alveydre, to designate the 'guardians' of the supreme Centre, uses the expression 'Templars of Agartha'. The considerations which we set forth here will show the justice of this term, the full significance of which may have escaped the author himself.

[22]See 'Le langage secret de Dante et des "Fidèles d'Amour"', in Le Voile d'Isis, February 1929.

[23]This is related to what has been called, symbolically, 'the gift of tongues'. On this subject, we refer the reader to our article contained in the special issue of _Le Voile d'Isis_ devoted to the Rosicrucians and intended to appear on _Tishri_ 5691, ch. 2.

[24]Obviously those to whom Guénon refers here have nothing in common with certain contemporary occultist groups that have appropriated this name and who advertise their 'esoterism' in popular journals. (Tr.)

12 § The Triple Precinct of the Druids

Footnotes