EDITORIAL NOTE

THE PAST CENTURY HAS WITNESSED an erosion of earlier cultural values as well as a blurring of the distinctive characteristics of the world's traditional civilizations, giving rise to philosophic and moral relativism, multiculturalism, and dangerous fundamentalist reactions. As early as the 1920s, the French metaphysician René Guénon (1886-1951) had diagnosed these tendencies and presented what he believed to be the only possible reconciliation of the legitimate, although apparently conflicting, demands of outward religious forms, 'exoterisms', with their essential core, 'esoterism'. His works are characterized by a foundational critique of the modern world coupled with a call for intellectual reform; a renewed examination of metaphysics, the traditional sciences, and symbolism, with special reference to the ultimate unanimity of all spiritual traditions; and finally, a call to the work of spiritual realization. Despite their wide influence, translation of Guénon's works into English has so far been piecemeal. The _Sophia Perennis_ edition is intended to fill the urgent need to present them in a more authoritative and systematic form. A complete list of Guénon's works, given in the order of their original publication in French, follows this note.

Many readers of Guénon's later doctrinal works have longed to hear the tale of his earlier entanglement, and disentanglement, from the luxuriant undergrowth of so-called esoteric societies in late nineteenth-century Paris and elsewhere. The present work documents in excoriating detail Guénon's findings on what did, and did not, lie behind the Theosophical Society founded by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in 1875. Much further information has of course come to light during the 80 years since this book was first published, but it has never been superseded as a fascinating record of the path of a master metaphysician through this maze. A particularly unusual feature is its extensive treatment of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, which has recently attracted the attention of scholars of the occult.

Guénon often uses words or expressions set off in 'scare quotes.' To avoid clutter, single quotation marks have been used throughout. As for transliterations, Guénon was more concerned with phonetic fidelity than academic usage. The system adopted here reflects the views of scholars familiar both with the languages and Guénon's writings. Brackets indicate editorial insertions, or, within citations, Guénon's additions. Wherever possible, references have been updated, and English editions substituted.

The translation is based on the work of Alvin Moore, Jr., and Dr. Hubert and Rohini Schiff. Careful revisions were made by Patrick Moore and Marie Hansen, with final editing by James Wetmore. For help with selected chapters and proofreading thanks go to John Champoux, John Ahmed Herlihy, Jay Kinney, and Cecil Bethell, to whom is due thanks also for providing the index. Cover design by Michael Buchino and Gray Henry, based on a drawing of Sagittarius from a Babylonian (Kassite) _kudurru_, ca. 1200 BC, Reign of Nebuchadnezzar, by Guénon's friend and collaborator Ananda K. Coomaraswamy.

THE WORKS OF RENÉ GUÉNON

Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines (1921) Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion (1921) The Spiritist Fallacy (1923) East and West (1924) Man and His Becoming according to the Vedānta (1925) The Esoterism of Dante (1925) The Crisis of the Modern World (1927) The King of the World (1927) Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power (1929) The Symbolism of the Cross (1931) The Multiple States of the Being (1932) The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times (1945) Perspectives on Initiation (1946) The Great Triad (1946) The Metaphysical Principles of the Infinitesimal Calculus (1946) Initiation and Spiritual Realization (1952) Insights into Christian Esoterism (1954) Symbols of Sacred Science (1962) Studies in Freemasonry and the Compagnonnage (1964) Studies in Hinduism (1966) Traditional Forms and Cosmic Cycles (1970) Insights into Islamic Esoterism and Taoism (1973) Reviews (1973) Miscellanea (1976)