Cologne or Strasbourg?

Cologne ou Strasbourg?, January 1927.

The question which was posed and considered in the previous October issue of Le Voile d'Isis must, as we understand it, be divided in twain: a question of a historical order and a question of a symbolic order; the di- vergence of opinion resides, in fact, only on the first of these two points of view. Moreover, this contradiction is perhaps only apparent and not in essence: if the Strasbourg cathedral is indeed the 'official' center of a certain rite of compagnonnage, could it not be that the cathedral of Co- logne is a center of the same rite? And would it not make sense, precisely for this reason, that two separate Masonic charters, one originating in Strasbourg and the other Cologne, could have given rise to confusion? This would have to be investigated, and it would also become necessary to know whether the charters bear the same date or different dates. This point is especially interesting from the historical view; this is not of spe- cial important for us, but it is not without value either, because it is re- lated in a certain way to the symbolic point of view: it is not for arbitrary reasons that these places were chosen as a center by organizations such as those in question. In any event, we are in complete agreement with Mr. Albert Bérnet, when he says that the "sensory point" must exist in all cathedrals which have been built according to the true rules of art, and when he states that, most importantly, it must be analyzed from the symbolic point of view. There is, in this regard, a curious connection to be made: Wronski af- firmed that in every body there is such a point that, if it is taken away, the entire body is thereby broken up, volatilized in such a way that all of its molecules are dissipated; and he claimed to have found the means of determining the point of such a center of cohesion. Is that not, especially considering the symbolic as we believe must be done, the same as this “sensory point” of the cathedrals? The question, at its most general, is that of what can be labelled the 'vital knot.' The defining point relating to this issue is the same expres- sion as the famous 'Gordian knot' of antiquity; despite this, the modern Masons would be shocked if they were told that their sword can act, rit- ually, in the same respect, as the role of Alexander.

Or we can reiterate, once again, that the effective solution of the issue in question is related to the 'power of the keys' (potestas ligandi et solvendi), as it is extended in its Hermetic meaning, or, what corresponds to the second phase of the coagula, the solve of the Alchemists. It must not be forgotten that, as pointed out in the article in Regnabit to which Mr. Paul-Redonnel referred, Janus, being the god of initiation into the Mysteries for the Romans, was at the same time the patron of collegia fabrorum, the guilds of craftsmen and artisans that have continued through the Middle Ages, and even continued into modern times through the rite of compagnonnage. Few, no doubt, understand today any semblance of the profound symbolism of the 'Lodge of Saint John.'