10/16/2016
We [1] have seen [2] that there is a close relationship
between the mountain and the cave, inasmuch as both are taken as symbols of the
spiritual centers, as are also, for obvious reasons, all the "axial"
or polar symbols, amongst which the mountain is in fact one of the most important.
In this respect the cave must be considered as being beneath the mountain or
inside it, so as to be also on the axis; and this reinforces the already
existing link between these two symbols, each of which is, in a sense, the
complement of the other. It must be mentioned, however, so that we can
"place" them in their exact mutual relationship, that the mountain is
more "primordial" in its significance than the cave: it is so in
virtue of being outwardly visible, we might even say of being the most visible
object from all sides, whereas the cave is, on the contrary, an essentially
hidden and closed place. It can easily be deduced from this that the
representation of the spiritual center by the mountain corresponds to the
original period of earthly humanity, during which the truth was wholly
accessible to all (whence the name Satya-Yuga, the summit of
the mountain being thus Satya-Loka or the "place of
truth"); but when, owing to the downward march of the cycle, this truth
was no longer within the scope of more than a fairly restricted
"élite" (which coincides with the beginning of initiation in its
strictest sense) and had become hidden from the majority, the cave was a more
fitting symbol of the spiritual center and therefore of the initiatic sanctuaries
which are its images. By such a change, the center could be said not to have
forsaken the mountain but merely to have withdrawn from its summit to its
interior; on the other hand, this same change is as it were a
"reversal", through which, as we have explained elsewhere, the
celestial world, indicated by the elevation of the mountain above the surface
of the earth, has become in a certain sense the "subterranean world"
(although in reality it is not this higher or inner world which has changed but
the conditions of the outer world and consequently the relationship between the
two worlds); and this “reversal” is shown in the respective figures which
represent the mountain and the cave, and which express at the same time their
complementarism.
As has already been mentioned, [3] the first of these two figures which
represents also the pyramid and the mound which are symbolically
equivalent to the mountain, is an up-pointing triangle; the figure of the cave
is, on the contrary, a down-pointing triangle, being thus the inverse of the
other. This inverted triangle is also the figure of the heart, [4] and of the cup which in symbolism is generally assimilated to the
heart as we have shown especially in connection with the Holy Grail. [5] Moreover these last symbols, and others like
them, from a more general point of view, refer to the passive or feminine
principle of universal manifestation, or to one of its aspects, [6] whereas the symbols which are figured by the
up-pointing triangle correspond to the active or masculine principle, which all
goes to bear out the complementarism in question. On the other hand, if the two
triangles are placed one beneath the other, which corresponds to the situation
of the cave beneath the mountain, it will be noticed that the lower triangle
can be considered as the reflection of the upper triangle (fig. 1); and this idea of
reflection is most apt as regards a symbol that is derived from a primordial
symbol, in accordance with the already mentioned relationship between the
mountain and the cave as successive representations of the spiritual center at
different phases of the unfolding of the cycle.
It may seem strange that the inverted triangle should be represented in the
figure as being smaller than the upright one whose reflection it is and whose
equal in size it should therefore presumably be; but such a difference of
proportion is not unusual in symbolism: thus, in the Hebrew Qabbala, the Macroprosope or
"Greater Countenance", has as its reflection the Microprosope or
"Lesser Countenance". Moreover, in the present case, there is a more
special reason: we have recalled, in connection with the relationship between
the cave and the heart, the text of the Upanishads where it is
said that the Principle, which resides at "the center of the being",
is "smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller
than a grain of mustard, smaller than a grain of millet, smaller than the seed
that is in a grain of millet", but also at the same time "larger than
the earth, larger than the atmosphere (or the intermediary world), larger than
the heavens, larger than all the worlds together"; [7] and
in the universe relationship between the two symbols which we are now
considering, it is the mountain which corresponds here to the idea of
"largeness" and the cave (or the cavity of the heart) to that of
"smallness". The aspect of "largeness" refers also to the
Absolute Reality, and that of "smallness" to what is apparent in
relation to manifestation; it is thus perfectly normal that the former aspect
should be represented here by the symbol which corresponds to a
"primordial" [8] condition, and the
latter by what corresponds to a subsequent condition of "obscuration"
and spiritual "envelopment".
In order to represent the cave as being situated inside the mountain (in
its heart, we might say), we need only bring the inverted triangle inside the
upright one, so that their centers coincide (fig. 2); the inverted triangle
will then have to be smaller than the other so as to fit into it, but apart
from this difference the resulting figure is clearly identical with the
"Seal of Solomon", where the two opposite triangles likewise
represent two complementary principles, with all their different applications.
On the other hand, if the sides of the inverted triangle are made equal to half
those of the upright one (we have here made them somewhat less, so that the two
triangles can be seen altogether detached from each other, but in fact the
entry to the cave must clearly be on the surface of the mountain, which means
that the triangle which stands for it ought actually to touch the outline of
the other), [9] the smaller triangle will divide
the surface of the larger one into four equal parts, one of which will be the
inverted triangle itself, whereas the three others will be upright triangles;
this last consideration, as also the question of certain numerical
relationships connected with it, has no real bearing on the theme of this
article, but we will no doubt have occasion to come back to it later.
NOTES
[1] Symboles Fondamentaux de la Science
Sacrée, ch. XXXI.
[2] In "The Heart and the Cave" (see the
last number of this journal).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Not unrelated to this figuration is the fact
that the Arabic word for heart (qalb) denotes that it is
"inverted" (maqlūb) (Cf. Titus Burckhardt, "Du Barzakh",
in Etudes Traditionnelles, décembre, 1937).
[5] In ancient Egypt the vase was the hieroglyphic
of the heart. The "cup" of the Tarot corresponds also to the
"heart" in ordinary cards.
[6] In India the inverted triangle is one of the chief
symbols of the Shakti, as also of the primordial waters.
[7] Chhāndogya Upanishad, Prapāthaka 3, Khanda
14, shruti 31.
[8] Dante represents the earthly Paradise as being
on the summit of a mountain, which confirms this situation as being that of the
spiritual center in the "primordial state" of humanity.
Posted in: cave,english,Guénon,heart,metaphysika,mountain,symbolism
