Contents

INTRODUCTION
EDITOR'S FOREWORD

Traditional Symbolism and Some of Its General Applications

1. The Reform of the Modern Mentality
2. Spirit and Intellect
3. The Eternal Ideas
4. Word and Symbol
5. The Sacred Heart and the Legend of the Holy Grail
6. The Holy Grail
7. Tradition and the Unconscious
8. The Science of Letters ('Ilm al-huruf)
9. The Language of the Birds

Symbols of the Centre and of the World

10. The Idea of the Centre in the Traditions of Antiquity
11. Symbolic Flowers
12. The Triple Enclosure of the Druids
13. The Guardians of the Holy Land
14. The Land of the Sun
15. The Zodiac and the Cardinal Points
16. The Tetraktys and the Square of Four
17. A Hieroglyph of the Pole
18. The Black Heads
19. The Letter G and the Swastika

Symbols of Cyclic Manifestation

20. Some Aspects of the Symbolism of Janus
21. The Hieroglyph of Cancer
22. Seth 98
23. On the Significance of Carnivals 101
24. Some Aspects of the Symbolism of the Fish 105
25. The Mysteries of the Letter Nūn 109
26. The Wild Boar and the Bear 113

Some Symbolic Weapons

27. Thunderbolts 121
28. Symbolic Weapons 124
29. The Sword of Islam (Sayf al-Islam) 128
30. The Symbolism of Horns 131

The Symbolism of the Forms of the Cosmos

31. The Cave and the Labyrinth 139
32. The Heart and the Cave 145
33. The Mountain and the Cave 148
34. The Heart and the World Egg 151
35. The Cave and the World Egg 153
36. The Exit from the Cave 156
37. The Solstitial Gates 159
38. The Symbolism of the Zodiac Among the Pythagoreans 162
39. The Solstitial Symbolism of Janus 166
40. Concerning the Two Saint Johns 168

The Symbolism of Building

41. The Symbolism of the Dome 175
42. The Dome and the Wheel 179
43. The Narrow Gate 182
44. The Octagon 184
45. The Cornerstone 187
46. 'Lapsit exillis' 198
47. Al-Arkān 201
48. Gathering What Is Scattered 204
49. The Black and the White 207
50. Black Stone and Cubic Stone 209
51. Brute Stone, Hewn Stone 212

Axial Symbolism and Symbolism of Passage

52. Symbols of Analogy 217
53. The World Tree 220
54. The Tree and the Vajra 224
55. The Tree of Life and the Draught of Immortality 225
56. The Symbolism of the Ladder 228
57. The Eye of the Needle 231
58. Traversing the Waters 233
59. The Seven Rays and the Rainbow 235
60. Janua Cæli 239
61. Kala-mukha 242
62. Light and Rain 245
63. The Chain of the Worlds 249
64. The Roots of Plants 256
65. The Symbolism of the Bridge 260
66. The Bridge and the Rainbow 263
67. The Chain of Union 266
68. Frameworks and Labyrinths 268
69. The 'Sign of Four' 273
70. Bonds and Knots 276

The Symbolism of the Heart

71. The Radiating Heart and the Flaming Heart 283
72. Heart and Brain 287
73. The All-Seeing Eye 294
74. The Mustard Seed 296
75. The Ether in the Heart 302
76. The Divine City 308

LIST OF ORIGINAL SOURCES 313
THE BOOKS OF RENÉ GUÉNON 314
INDEX 315