FUNDAMENTAL SYMBOLS

Rene Guenon may be known to a number of readers arguably the greatest perennial philosopher of the early to mid 20th century. This work is described on the cover by Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr as 'probably the most significant in a modern Western language concerning symbolism', a bold but justifiable claim. Guenon was a major influence not only on Nasr himself but on other perennial philosophers who followed him, for instance the great Frithjof Schuon. His book The Crisis of the Modern World is a penetrating indictment of the excesses of modernism and has considerably influenced my own thinking. Here too he points out that modern civilisation is an anomaly in not acknowledging any form of higher order. Symbolic illiteracy is a serious educational and spiritual condition that is a sign of the times but one that needs to be remedied if a real spiritual renaissance is to come about: symbolism is the language of the spirit, or, as the author himself puts it, 'the universal language of sacred science'. Here Guenon deals in short essays with many major themes of symbolism: symbols of the centre of the world, symbols of cyclic manifestation, the symbolism of forms of the cosmos, the symbolism of building, axial symbolism and the symbolism of the passage, and the symbolism of the heart. The word itself comes from the Greek sym –ballein meaning 'to throw together; significantly, the opposite word dia – ballein means to throw apart and is the origin of the word 'diabolical'. Naturally many of the themes interweave, for instance the cave and the heart, symbols of the cosmos and those of building. The book begins with some general considerations about the nature of language and symbols. Language is discursive and analytical while symbolism is synthetic and intuitive. This leads into one of the main themes of the book, the Centre and our relationship to it. The major section begins with an illustration of the rose and cross, both symbols of the centre and proceeds with some simple geometric illustration such as the circle with a point in the middle elaborated to its fourfold division (a symbol of cycles) then its six- and eight-fold form as a wheel. In addition, the Centre is the point of departure and finality. Other symbols explained include the Mountain and the Cave, complementary symbols of ascent and descent. The cave is also related to the labyrinth, and, as previously mentioned, to the heart. The cave is the place of initiation (as in the Cathar rituals in Ariege) while the labyrinth is the site of trials preceding initiation. And 'it is in the centre that the individual is united with the Universal'. The mountain and cave are illustrated in terms of two triangles, the mountain a large one pointing upwards and the cave literally within it and pointing down as in the figure of the heart and the cup. These can also be seen to represent masculine and feminine types of initiation. In all this Guenon's exposition is at once lucid and penetrating. The reader has the impression of learning something that they already knew. The section on the symbolism of building is equally illuminating. This has to be understood in terms of the relationship between macrocosm and microcosm, referring both to humans and the world at the same time. A dome on top of a structure is readily understood to represent heaven above earth, to which the circular and square forms correspond (it is interesting that the crown has the same function). The chapter on the keystone – or capstone - (not the more usual expression corner stone) is fascinating and makes sense of Christ being described in these terms as the point of manifestation and connection between heaven and earth. This stone is shaped like a diamond – another symbol of Christ – and is translated into alchemy as the philosopher's stone. One further theme is worth mentioning: the symbolism of bridges and their vertical equivalent – ladders. Ladders represent different levels or degrees of Universal Existence. The bridge is also related to the rainbow, which Guenon analyses in terms of its six (not seven) colours which he illustrates diagrammatically as points of Solomon's seal within a circle. The reason for insisting on six colours is the structure of the three primary colours and their complements, so that indigo is defined as an intermediary shade on the circle. If the ladder represents levels, this can be translated into a horizontal form as the chain of worlds symbolised by the rosary. Here the thread is the unmanifest (implicate as David Bohm would say) and the beads the manifest (or explicate) – a beautiful symbol. Moreover the early bridge would have been made of rope with knots and links two banks representing a transition between two states of being. Here the bridge both links the banks and, significantly, holds them apart. I hope that these illustrations convey a flavour of the richness of Guenon's insight. Readers will find their understanding of symbolism both extended with new links and deepened to new levels through a careful reading of this book. Symbols restructure one's cognitive capacities and enable one to link more closely the individual and the universal, the inner and the outer, the essence and the form. They also apply dynamically to the spiritual journey and our interaction with our surroundings. Guenon is a sure guide to these multifarious maps of existence.