By Luis Balicas, PhD
In Memory of René Jean-Marie Joseph Guénon, the master of Blois, also known as Abd-al-Wahid Yahia, influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, and on topics ranging from esotericism, “sacred science” and “traditional studies” to symbolism and initiation. For some, the restorer of the Primordial Tradition in the Western World.
In memory of Fermin Vale Amesti, the Master of Caracas also known as Albanashar-Al Wali, my first and beloved instructor, whose works remain unpublished.
As with our work in Lodge, I would like to start this exposition with a little prayer:
My God: Lead me from the illusory to the real. Lead me from darkness to Light. Lead me from death to immortality!
Let’s remind us of the most fundamental Landmarks of freemasonry [1]:
WHEREAS, no Mason shall ever depart without loss of his identity as such, which precepts, principles, tenets, and beliefs are universally known and designated as “Landmarks”, among which are the following:
(1) A belief in the existence of one ever living and true God.
(2) A belief in the immortality of the human soul and a resurrection thereof to a Future Life,
The fundamental question that I want to start delving into is how can a Mason advance his soul towards resurrection? For most of this work, I will cite excerpts from the book of Renée Guénon, Perspectives on Initiation, an authority in the Primordial Tradition, and an obligatory study for those of us who aspired to be admitted into an Operative Masonic Order. Let’s start by defining Initiation:
According to Guénon “… initiation is essentially a transmission, adding that this can understood in two different ways: on the one hand, transmission of a Spiritual Influence, and on the other transmission of a Traditional teaching. It is the transmission of the Spiritual Influence that must be considered first, not only because it must logically precede any teaching, which is quite evident once one has understood the need for a traditional affiliation, but also and above all because it is this that essentially constitutes initiation in the strict sense, so much so that if it is only a question of virtual initiation, everything could stop here, without there being a need to add any subsequent teaching. Indeed, initiatic teaching, cannot be anything other an outward aid brought to the inner work of realization to support and guide it as much as possible.”
On the same Chapter 30 of Perspectives on Initiation, Guénon states that …” rites are essentially and above all the vehicle of Spiritual Influences, which cannot be transmitted in any way without them; but at the same time, by the very fact that their constituent elements possess a symbolic character, they also necessarily embody a teaching, since, symbols are precisely the sole language really suitable for the expression of truths of the initiatic order. Inversely, symbols are essentially a means of teaching, and not only of outward teaching but of something more insofar as they serve above all as “supports” for meditation, which is at the very least the beginning of the inner work. But as the constituent elements of rites, and by reason of their “non-human” character, these same symbols are also supports for the Spiritual Influence itself. Moreover, if one reflects that the inner work would be ineffective without the action, or if one prefers the collaboration of this Spiritual Influence, it will be understood that under certain conditions meditation on the symbols would itself take on the character of a true rite, a rite now conferring not only virtual initiation but permitting the attainment of a more or less advanced degree of effective initiation….
…Rather than using symbols in this way, one can on the contrary limit oneself to “speculating” about them without intending anything further, by which we certainly do not wish to say that it is illegitimate to explain symbols in the measure that this is possible and to seek to develop by appropriate commentaries the different meanings they contain; but we do wish to say that this would always have to be regarded as a mere preparation for something else, and it is just this “something else” that by definition escapes the “speculative point of view”. This latter point of view is limited to an outward study of symbols, which obviously cannot allow those who pursue it to pass from a virtual to an effective initiation. The speculative perspective usually stops at the most superficial meanings since to penetrate further already requires a degree of comprehension that presupposes something altogether different from mere “erudition” ….
…Mere “speculation”, even when it remains at the initiatic point of view and does not deviate from it in one way or another, leads as it were to a dead end, for by its means one can in no way go beyond virtual initiation; furthermore, virtual initiation would exist even without any “speculation” at all, since it is the immediate consequence of the transmission of the Spiritual Influence. The effect of the rite by which this transmission is carried out is deferred, and remain in a latent and “shrouded” state so long as it has not passed from the “speculative” to the “operative”, which is to say that theoretical considerations have no real value as proper initiatic work except as preparation for the “Realization”; they are in fact a necessary preparation for it, but this is something that the “speculative” point of view itself is incapable of recognizing and consequently of bringing to the consciousness of those who limit their horizon thereto….
Now let’s expose how Guénon understood the evolution of freemasonry from operative to speculative and why it would matter [3]:
…The form of Masonic initiation is linked to a craft, which is far from exceptional, and because its symbols and rites, in a word its particular methods in all their “specificity”, rest essentially on the craft of building, people have come to confuse “operative” with “corporative”, stopping thus at the most outward and superficial aspect of things, as is natural for anyone who has no idea or even suspicion of initiatic “realization”. The most widespread opinion can therefore be formulated as follows: “operative” Masons were exclusively craftsmen; little by little they “accepted” as honorary members people unacquainted with the art of building; but finally, this second element came to predominate, so that “operative” Masonry was transformed into “speculative” Masonry having only a fictitious or “ideal” connection with the craft…
… In any case it appears to be the almost unanimous opinion that the change that gave rise to “speculative” Masonry marks a superiority with respect to that from which it derives, as if it represented a kind of “progress” in the “intellectual” sense and corresponded to a conception of a more elevated level; and they do not hesitate in this regard to oppose “speculations” of “thought” to the occupations of the craft…
… Having started with historical considerations for the convenience of our account, here we touch on the very root of the question: the passage from “operative” to “speculative”, far from representing “progress”, it is fact quite the opposite from the initiatic point of view. It does not necessarily imply a deviation properly speaking, but it implies at least a degeneration in the sense of a diminution; and this diminution consists in the neglect and forgetfulness of all that realization is – for it is this that is truly “operative” – leaving nothing more than a purely theoretical view of initiation….
…Speculation implies the idea of something that is only a “reflection”, like an image seen in a mirror or an indirect knowledge as opposed to the effective knowledge that is the immediate consequence of “realization”, or rather which is one with it. On the other hand, the word “operative” must not be taken as an exact equivalent of “practical”, for this latter term always refers to “action” and thus could not be employed here without equivocation or impropriety; in reality, it is a question of that of “accomplishment” of the being which is initiatic “realization”, with all the different means that can be used in view of this end…
… In the case of a speculative initiation, the initiatic transmission still exists, since the traditional “chain” has not been broken, but instead of the possibility of an effective initiation as long as some individual defect creates no obstacle, there remains no more than a virtual initiation that by the very nature of the things is condemned to remain so, since the speculative limitation signifies that this stage cannot be surpassed, as all that goes further belongs by the very definition to the “operative” order. This of course is not to say that the rites have no effect in such a case, for they always remain the vehicle of a Spiritual Influence even if those who accomplish them are no longer conscious of this; but this effect is so to speak “deferred” with respect to its development “in action” and is like a seed that lacks the conditions necessary to germinate, these conditions residing in the “operative” work by which alone the initiation can be made effective. …
…The terms “operative” and “speculative” can always be applied in a very exact way to any initiatic form whatsoever by referring them respectively to effective initiation and to virtual initiation.…
Dear Brothers, there is far more to the initiatic path than speculations. There is a real ritual work to be done with our symbols, which are the syntheses of realities at other, and higher planes of existence. Consider meditating on them, not with your rational but with your intuitive mind. Let’s climb the tree of life!
Please, let me finish this exposé with a fragment of a Hermetic Hymn:
“Oh, you Powers within me, sing to the One and the All. All you Powers that are within me, sing in unison with my will! Holy Gnosis, illuminated by Thee, through Thee I celebrate the spiritual light, I rejoice in the joy of the Noûs (the Mind). Oh, you Powers chant with me” [4].
[1] Masonic Digest
[2] René Guénon, Perspectives on Initiation, Chapter 30
[3] René Guénon, Perspectives on Initiation, Chapter 29
[4] Corpus Hermeticum: Hymnodia Krypte: the Secret Hymn.
Luis Balicas: FSU Research Professor at the FSU Physics Dpt., Mag lab Senior Scientist, PhD in Solid State Physics at the University of Paris Orsay. Raised to MM degree in the Grande-Lodge of France in 1996, initiated in Caracas in 1991 at Lodge Molay 119, member of Jackson Lodge #1, Scottish Rite Valley of Tallahassee, Florida Chapter, Seminole Council, and Commandery no 12.