INDEX

Anglican(ism) 62, 63 n17
Apocalypse 81
Argonauts 75
Aristotle 23 n16, 27, 41
Atman 51-52
Austria 60 n10

barakah 44 n7 & 8
Beatrice 77 n29
Benda, Julien 20 n8
Bhagavad Gītā 43 n5, 75 n24
bhakti 37
Brahma-Loka 72 n16
Brahmin(s) 9-10, 15, 18 n 6, 21-22, 30-43, 48, 50, 52, 66 n3, 71
Buddha 52 n7
Buddhi 71 n12
Buddhism 51-52
Buddhist(s) 19 n7, 51 n4

Catholic church 20 n8, 68 n7
Catholic esoterism 77 n29
Catholicism 20 n8, 68 n7, 75
Celestial Paradise 22 n13, 44 n 9, 65-78
Celts/Celtic 7 n 1, 10, 15, 58 n8
Center of the World 55, 76 n28
Charbonneau-Lassay, L. 66 n4
Charlemagne 65 n1
China 15 n1, 46
Christ 34, 35 n 4, 45 n 10, 51 n5, 66 n4, 69 n9
Christ-Janus figure 66
Christendom 44, 48, 60, 62, 64 n18, 65, 77

Christian 11, 47 n13, 66
Christianity 35 n 4, 66 n2, 71 n14
Chuang Tzu 8 n2
Church of England 63
Collegia Fabrorum 24 n17
Confucianism(ists) 15 n1, 46, 47 n15
Confucius 29, 47, 76 n 27

Dante 22 n13, 35 n 4, 44 n 9, 57-58, 67-71, 74-77, 80 n2, 81 n 4, 84 n 6
David-Neel, Alexandra 19 n7
de Maistre, Joseph 62
democratic 62, 83
De Monarchia 22 n13, 67-68, 74, 77
dharma 80 n2
Dharma-Shāstra 71
Divine Comedy 22 n13, 72 n16, 75 n22, 77 n29
Druidism 33 n1
Druid(s) 11 n6, 33, 58 n8

egalitarian(ism) 61 n13, 62, 83
Egypt(ians) 22 n 14, 33, 34 n 2, 35 n4
England 63
Europe(an) 15, 55-56, 60, 77

Far East 8 n2, 44 n8
Far-Eastern doctrine 80
Far-Eastern tradition 28, 47 n13
France 44, 56, 59-60, 63, 64 n18
Freemasonry 24
French nation 59
French Monarchy 63
French Revolution 30 n8, 59–61, 63–64

Gallicanism 62, 63 n17
Ganesha 42 n3
German princes 61
golden fleece 75 n22
Gospel(s) 39 n14, 60 n9, 72, 75 n21, 84 n6
greater mysteries 22–23, 44, 69, 72
Greece 51 n4
Greek(s) 10, 28 n5, 33 n1, 51, 53 n8
gunas 36

Hamsa 7
Harmakhis (Hormakhouti) 35 n4
Heavenly Jerusalem 81 n3
Henry VIII 62
Hermeticism 77 n29
Hindu doctrine 7, 19, 21 n10, 26 n1, 31 n11, 41, 43, 71, 80 n2
Holy Land 76
Holy Roman Empire 60 n10, 64 n18, 65 n1, 81 n4
Holy Spirit 67, 71
Hugo, Victor 66
Hyperborean 10

Imperator 66
India 8–10, 15, 20–23, 26 n2, 30–31, 35, 37, 41, 46 n12, 50, 55, 69, 75
Indian Buddhism 51
Initiation:
Royal 22–23, 28, 38, 69, 74
Sacerdotal 22–23, 38, 69
Ishvara 46 n12

Islam 48, 58 n7, 69 n9, 71 n14
Islamic esoterism 8 n2, 44 n8
Islamic tradition 44 n8
Itihasas 21 n10, 43 n5

Janus 24 n17, 44, 66, 72, 74, 75 n20
Jesus Christ 67
Jewish tradition 71 n14
Judah, royal tribe of 51 n5
Judeo-Christian tradition 34

Kali-Yuga 10–11, 21 n11, 27, 48, 81
Knights 11 n6
Kshatriya(s) 9–10, 15, 17–18, 21–22, 30–31, 33–43, 48–53, 56, 58–59, 66 n3, 69, 71–2, 74

Lamaism 15 n1
Lao Tzu 8 n2, 47
Latin 28 n5, 33 n1, 75
Leibnitz 54 n1
lesser mysteries 22 n13, 23 n15, 44, 69, 72
Levi 51 n5
Louis XI 59
Louis XIV 59, 62
Lucifer(ianism) 30 n9
Luther 61

Magi-Kings 34, 45 n10
Mahābhārata 43 n5
Mary and Martha 84 n6
Melchizedek 34, 76 n28, 84 n6
Middle Ages 24, 27, 31, 42, 55–56, 58 n8, 59–60, 62, 66, 75 n22, 77 n29
Mount of Salvation 76
mufti 58 n7
Muslims 43 n5, 75 n24
Napoleonic 'Concordat' 61
Order of the Temple 56 n4, 58 n8
Ovid 75
Papacy 56, 60 n10, 65–66, 68, 71–72, 74–76
Papal Infallibility 58 n7
Parasurāma 10 n5
Philip the Fair 56, 58–59
Plutarch 22 n14, 34 n2
Pontifex Maximus 66 n2, 72
Pontiff 35, 67, 69, 72
Pontificate 35, 70
Pope 44, 58 n7, 65 n1, 66–67, 69, 73, 76 n28, 77 n29
Prakriti 46 n12, 50 n3
primordial state 69 n8, 82 n5
Protestants/ism 61–63, 64 n18
Purānas 21 n10
Purgatory 72 n16
Purusha 18 n6, 46 n12
Pythagoreans 70
Rāmāyana 43 n5
Reformation 62
Reghini, Arturo 74 n19
Renaissance 24, 56, 62
Richelieu 64 n18
Rig-Veda 18 n6
Roman(s) 10, 24 n17, 44, 75 n21
Roman Catholic Church 62
Roman emperor 66 n3
Roman Prince 68, 76
Rome 61–66, 72, 75 n21, 76 n28
Russia 62 n16
Saint Augustine 84 n6
Saint Bernard 35, 56 n4, 77 n29
Saint Paul 69 n9
Saint Peter 44, 74, 75 n21, 76
Saint Thomas Aquinas 42, 76
n27, 84 n6
Salem of Melchizedek 76 n28
Sangha 19 n7
Sankhya 46 n12
Sanskrit 8 n2, 33 n1, 35 n6
Satan(ism) 30 n9
Shakyamuni 51 n5
Shankarāchārya 75
shari'a 58 n7
Shekinah 76 n25
Shiva 42 n3
shruti and smriti 21 n10, 71–72
Shūdras 31, 52, 63, 74
Skanda 42
Sphinx 33–34, 35 n4
Ssu-Ma-Ch'ien 47
svadharma 80 n2
svaychāchari 8 n2
Ta-Hio 29 n7
Tao/Tao Te Ching 8 n2
Taoism 46, 47 n15
Taoist(s) 15 n1, 47
Terrestrial Paradise 22 n13, 44 n9, 65–78, 81 ns3&4
Tibet 15 n1, 19 n7
Torah 71 n14
Ulysses 75
Universal Man 18 n6, 69 n9
Vaishya(s) 23 n15, 30 n8, 31, 58–59, 63, 74
Valli, Luigi 68 n6
Veda 21 n10, 71
Virgil 75, 77 n29
Western Middle Ages 42, 55
world axis 73 n17
Made in the USA
San Bernardino, CA
04 June 2016
René Guénon (1886-1951) was one of the great luminaries of the twentieth century, whose critique of the modern world has stood fast against the shifting sands of intellectual fashion. His extensive writings, now finally available in English, are a providential treasure-trove for the modern seeker: while pointing ceaselessly to the perennial wisdom found in past cultures ranging from the Shamanistic to the Indian and Chinese, the Hellenic and Judaic, the Christian and Islamic, and including also Alchemy, Hermeticism, and other esoteric currents, they direct the reader also to the deepest level of religious praxis, emphasizing the need for affiliation with a revealed tradition even while acknowledging the final identity of all spiritual paths as they approach the summit of spiritual realization.

Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power is an analysis of cyclical manifestation, and more specifically of the relationship between royal and sacerdotal power. In accord with the Hindu doctrine of manvantaras and Plato's depiction of historical degeneration in the Republic, Guénon views history here as a series of 'revolts' of lower castes against the higher. The kshatriyas (warriors) revolt against the brahmins (priests), thus setting the stage for a revolt of the vaishyas (loosely, the bourgeoisie), as in the French revolution—and, finally, the shudras (the proletariat), as in the Russian revolution (which Guénon does not touch upon in this work). From one point of view, this is a progressive degeneration; from another it is entirely lawful, given the 'entropic' nature of manifestation itself. External, historical descent reflects an inner degeneration: knowledge (the celestial paradise) is eclipsed by heroic action (the terrestrial paradise), which is in turn overrun by the inertia and agitation of the passions. Yet the nadir of degeneration is also the point of renewal: the dawning of the Heavenly Jerusalem—spiritual Knowledge—which begins a new cycle of manifestation.

The Collected Works of René Guénon brings together the writings of one of the greatest prophets of our time, whose voice is even more important today than when he was alive.

Huston Smith, The World's Religions