Initiatic Rites

Des rites initiatiques, March 1933.

In our previous insights into the question of initiation, we have naturally been led to allusions to rites, since they are the essential element for the transmission of the 'spiritual influence' and the attachment to the initi- atic chain, so that we can say, without rites, there can be, in any way, no initiation. We must return to this subject again to point out some partic- ularly important points; of course, it is understood that we do not pretend to deal with rites completely in general here, their raison d'être, their role, the various types in which they are divided, for it would be necessary to complete, not an article, but an entire volume. It is important to note foremost that the presence of rites is a charac- ter common to all traditional institutions, of whatever order, exoteric as well as esoteric, taking these terms in their broadest meaning, following the distinction we have already indicated. This character is a conse- quence of the 'non-human' element involved in such institutions, be- cause it can be said that the rites are always intended to place the human being in a relationship, directly or indirectly, with something that goes beyond individuality and belonging to other states of existence; moreo- ver, it is evident that it is not necessary in all cases for the communication thus established to be conscious in order to be real, since it operates most commonly through certain subtle modes of the individual, in which most men are currently unable to transfer the center of their consciousness. In any event, whether or not the apparent effect is immediate or delayed, the rite is still effective in itself, provided, of course, that it is carried out in accordance with traditional rules which ensure its validity, and out of which it would be nothing more than an empty form and a vain simula- crum; this efficacity is not ‘marvelous' or 'magic,' as some people some- times say with an intention of degradation and negation, because it re- sults simply from the clearly defined laws according to the 'spiritual in- fluences,' whose ritual technique is only the application and implemen- tation.^[310] This consideration of the efficacy inherent within rites, and founded on laws which leave no room for fantasy or arbitrariness, is common to all cases without exception; this is true for exoteric rites as well as for initiatic rites, and with the former is true for traditional non-religious forms as well as for religious rites. We must again remember, for this is an important point, that, as already explained above, this efficacy is wholly independent of the worth of the individual who performs this rite; the function alone counts here, and as such not the individual; in other words, the necessary and sufficient condition is that he has regu- larly received the power to perform such a rite; it does not matter if he does not understand its meaning, and even if he does not believe in its efficacy, it cannot prevent the rite from being valid if all the prescribed rules have been properly observed. ^[311]

That being said, we can come to what especially concerns initiation, and we will first note that its ritual character highlights one of the fun- damental differences which separate it from mysticism, for which there is no such thing, which is hardly understandable if we refer to what we have said regarding its 'irregularity.' One may be tempted to object that mysticism sometimes appear to have a more or less direct link with the observance of certain rites; these do not belong to it in their own right, being nothing more nor else than ordinary religious rites; moreover, this link has no character of necessity, for in fact it is far from existing in all cases, whereas, we reiterate, there is no initiation without special and appropriate rites. Initiation, indeed, is not like mystical realizations, something that falls from the clouds, if one can say, without knowing how or why; on the contrary, it relies on positive scientific laws and rig- orous technical rules; this cannot be overemphasized to rule out any pos- sibility of misunderstanding its true nature. ^[312]

of which, if they have any, cannot in any case go beyond the 'psychological' domain, in the most profane sense of this word.

As for the distinction between initiatic rites and exoteric rites, for the time being at least we can only point this out summarily, for if this be- came a question of entering into detail, it would lead us too far astray. In particular, it would be appropriate to draw all the consequences from the fact that the former are reserved and concern only an elite with particular 'qualifications,' while the latter are published and apply without distinc- tion to all members of the group of a given social environment, which shows that, whatever apparent similarities may sometimes exist, their goal cannot be the same in reality.^[313] In fact, the purpose of exoteric rites is not, unlike initiatic rites, to open the being to certain possibilities of knowledge, to which all cannot fit; furthermore, it is essential to note that, although they necessarily also call upon the intervention of an ele- ment of a supra-individual order, their action is never intended to lead beyond the realm of individuality. This is very visible in the case of reli- gious rites, which we can take more specifically as a basis of comparison, because they are the only exoteric rites known in the West: every reli- gion proposes only to assure the 'salvation' of its adherents, which is an end of the individual order, and, by definition, its point of view does not extend beyond this; the mystics themselves always envisage only ‘salva- tion,' and never ‘Deliverance,' whereas this is, on the contrary, the final and supreme goal of initiation.^[314] Another point of crucial important is the following: initiation, to whatever degree, represents for the being who has received it a perma- nent acquisition, a state that, virtually or effectively, it has attained once and for all, and nothing henceforth may take it from him.^[315] We can note,

from profane science, is none the less ‘positive,' and is much more so if taken in the true meaning of this word.

without departing from the current subject, that this is still a very clear difference with the 'mystic states,' which appear as something fleeting and even fugitive, whose beings goes out as he entered it, and he may never end find it again, which is explained by the 'phenomenal' character of these states, received from outside, as it were, instead of proceeding from an 'interiority.'^[316] What immediately results from this is the conse- quence, that the rites of initiation confer a definitive and ineffaceable character; it is also the same, in another order with certain religious rites, which, for this reason, can never be renewed for the same individual, and which are thereby those which present the most accentuated analogy with initiatic rites, so much so that one could, in a certain sense, consider them as a sort of transposition into the exoteric domain. ^[317] Another consequence of what we have just said is that the initiatic quality, once it has been received, is in no way attached to the fact of being an active member of this or that organization; since the attachment to a traditional organization has been carried out, it cannot be broken by anything, and it subsists even when the individual no longer has any ap- parent relationship with that organization, which is of a secondary im- portance. This alone would suffice, in the absence of any other consider- ation, to explain how initiatic organizations differ profoundly from pro- fane associations, to which they cannot be assimilated or compared in anyway: whoever withdraws from a profane association or who is ex- cluded from it has no connection to it and becomes exactly what he was before becoming a part of it; on the contrary, the link established by the initiatic character does not depend on contingencies such as resignation or exclusion, which are of a merely 'administrative' order and only affect 'external' relations; if they are all in the profane order, where an associ- ation has nothing else to give its members, they are in the initiatic order though an altogether incidental mean, which is in no way necessary, rel-ative to the internal realities which alone are of a true import. We believe it is sufficient to think that this is all perfectly obvious; what is astonish-ing to note, as we have had on many occasions to, the general ignorance of such simple and elementary notions.^[318] To complete these few notes on the question of rites, we have yet to speak more precisely of what are called 'initiatic trials;' this is only a special case, but it is important enough to be treated separately, espe-cially since it gives rise to many misconceptions which would be well to dispel at this opportunity; it will therefore be the subject of a future arti-cle.

Initiatic Trials Des épreuves initiatiques, April 1933.

We have concluded our previous article by saying that the question of 'initiatic trials,' or what is thus called, gives rise to many misconceptions; the very word 'trial,' which can mean multiple things, may have some- thing to do with these misunderstandings, unless some of the meanings it commonly adopts are already the result of prior confusions, which is also possible. Indeed, it is not clear why one commonly calls any painful event a 'test,' nor why one says of someone who suffers that he is 'tested;' if one thinks on this even a little, apart from any preconceived idea, it is difficult to see anything more than an abuse of language, of which it might be of some interest to search for the origin of this. Be that as it may, this vulgar idea of the 'trials of life' exists, even if it does not correspond to anything that is clearly defined, it is especially that which gave rise to a false assimilations with regards to 'initiatic trials,' to such an extent that some have even seen in them only a symbolic image, which, by an odd reversal, would lead us to suppose that it is the facts of the profane life which have an effective value and which really matter from the initiatic point of view. It would be too simple if it were so, and then all men would, without even suspecting it, be candidates for initia- tion; it would be enough for everyone to have gone through some diffi- cult circumstances, which happens more or less to everyone, to reach this initiation, one would have difficulty to say by whom and in whose name it would be conferred. We believe we have already spoken enough of the true nature of initiation to not insist on the absurdity of such con- sequences; the truth is, ordinary life has nothing to do with the initiatic order in itself; from a certain point of view, it is ordinary life that can, if we wish, be taken as a symbol and not the other way around.

This point merits our attention for a moment: we have often had oc- casion to point out that the symbol must always be of an inferior order than what is symbolized (which is enough to disregard all imagined ‘nat- uralistic' interpretations by the modern ones); the realities of the profane domain, being those of the most inferior order, cannot be symbolized by anything, moreover they do not even need it. On the contrary, any event or phenomenon, insignificant as it may be, can always be taken as a sym- bol of a reality of a superior order, of which it is, in a way, a sensory expression, by the very fact that it is derived from it as a consequence of its principle; as such, as devoid and interest as it is in itself, it can present a profound meaning to the one who is able to see beyond immediate ap- pearances. There is a transposition here which is the result of which has nothing in common with ordinary life, which has simply provided sup- port for a being endowed with a special aptitude to escape from his lim- itations; this point of support, we insist, may be anything depending on the nature of the being who will utilize it. Consequently, this brings us back to the idea of ‘trials, there is nothing that can be done that suffer- ing, in some particular cases, is the opportunity or starting point for a development of latent possibilities, just as anything else can act in other cases; let us say it is an opportunity, and nothing more; this would not allow us to ascribe suffering in itself as a special and privileged virtue, in spite of all the accustomed declamations on this subject. Moreover, let us remark that this contingent and accidental role of suffering, even reduced to its proper proportions, seems to be much more restricted in the initi- atic order than in certain other ‘realizations' of a more external character; it is especially among the mystics that it becomes habitual and seems to acquire an importance which can be deluded, which is probably due to considerations of a specifically religious nature. It must be appended that profane psychology has certainly contributed to spreading the most con- fused and erroneous ideas regarding this; but, in any case, whether sim- ple psychology or mysticism, all this has absolutely nothing in common with initiation.

That being the case, we must still indicate the explanation of a fact which might appear to be able to give rise to objections: although the difficult or painful circumstances are certainly common to the life of all men as we have just said, it often happens that those who follow an ini- tiatic path see them multiple in an unusual way. This fact is simply due to a kind of unconscious hostility of the environment: it seems that this world, meaning the ensemble of beings and the very things that form the profane domain, strive to restrain the one who is close to escape; such relations are perfectly normal. These are properly obstacles created by opposing forces, and not, as is sometimes wrongly imagined, 'trials' ne- cessitated by the powers that preside over initiation; it is necessary to put an end to these fables, which are much closer to 'occultist' revelries than to initiatic realities.

What is called 'initiatic trials' is something quite different, and we will now need only one word to definitively put an end to any ambiguity: they are essentially rites, which the alleged 'trials of life' are not in any- way; they cannot exist without this ritual character, nor be replaced by something that does not possess this same character. It can be seen im-mediately that the aspects that are generally most emphasized are in fact quite secondary: if these 'trials' were really intended, according to the most 'simplistic' notions, to show whether a candidate for initiation pos-sesses the requisite qualities; it must be admitted that they would be most inefficacious, and we understand that those who hold to this view are tempted to regard them as worthless, but, normally, he who is admitted to undergo them must already have been recognized as 'well and duly qualified;' so there must be something else. It will then be said that these 'trials' form a teaching given in symbolic form, which are intended to be meditated on later; this is true, but the same can be said of any other ritual, because all of them also have a symbolic character, meaning that it is up to each to deepen according to the measure of their own abilities. The essential raison d'être of the rite is the efficacy inherent within it, as we have already explained; this efficacy is, of course, closely related to the symbolic meaning included in its form, nonetheless it is independent of the current understanding of the meaning among those who take part in the rite. Therefore, it is from this point of view of the direct efficacy of the rite that it is necessary to place oneself first; the rest, no matter how important, can only come second, and all that we have said so far in these studies does not require us to dwell on this further.

To be more specific, we will say that ‘trials' are preliminary or pre-paratory rites for proper initiation; they constitute the necessary pream-ble, so that initiation itself is like their conclusion or immediate result. It should be noted that they often take the form of symbolic ‘journeys;' we only note this point in passing, because enough has been said here re-garding the symbolism of the journey, on several occasion, so that it is not necessary to return to it. Let us only say, in this aspect, they present themselves as a 'quest' leading the being from the 'darkness' of the pro-fane world into the initiatic ‘light;' but this form, which is self-evident, however appropriate it may be for what is in question. ‘Trials' are essen-tially rites of purification; this is what gives the true explanation for the very word 'trials,' which here has a distinctly ‘alchemical' meaning, and not the vulgare meaning which has given rise to the misconceptions we have pointed out. What is important in understanding the fundamental principle of the rite, is to consider that the purification is done by the elements, the reason for this can be expressed in a few words: to say element is to say simple, to say simple is to say incorruptible. Therefore, the ritual purification will always have for 'material' support the bodies which symbolize the elements and which carry the designation (because it must be understood that the elements themselves are in no way sup-posedly 'simple' bodies, which is a contradiction, but rather that from which all bodies are formed), or at least one of these bodies; this also applies in the traditional exoteric order, especially with regard to reli- gious rites, where this mode of purification is used not only for human beings, but also for other living beings, for inanimate objects, and for places or buildings. Water seems to play a predominant role here com- pared to other representative bodies of the elements, it must be said that this role is not exclusive; perhaps one could explain this predominance by remarking that water is, in all traditions, the symbol of the 'universal substance.' Be that as it may, it is scarcely necessary to say that the rites in question, lustrations, ablutions, or others, as well as fasts and the pro- hibition of certain foods, which are equally ritualistic in character, has absolutely nothing to do with the prescriptions of hygiene or of corporeal cleanliness, according to the foolish conceptions of some modern people, who wish to bring all things back to a purely 'human' explanation, and who always like to choose the most gross interpretation that can be im- agined. It is true that the alleged 'psychological' explanations, if they are more subtle in appearance, are no better in their essence; all equally ne- glect to consider the only thing that truly matters, namely, the effective action of rites is not a ‘belief” or theoretical view, but a positive fact. We can now understand why, when 'trials' take the form of succes- sive 'journeys,' they are respectively related to the different elements; we only have to indicate in what sense, from the initiatic point of view, the very term 'purification' must be understood. It is a question of returning the being to a state of undifferentiated simplicity, comparable, as we said before, to that of the materia prima, so that it is fit to receive the vibration of the initiatic Fiat Lux; it is necessary that the ‘spiritual influence' whose transmission will give him the initial 'illumination' must meet no obsta- cle due to inharmonic ‘preformations' originating in the profane world; this is why he must first be reduced to this state of materia prima, which, if we are to reflect on this for a moment, shows quite clearly that the initiatic process and the Hermetic 'Great Work' are in reality one and the same thing: the conquest of the Divine Light which is the unique essence of all spirituality.