ESOTERICISM AND SYMBOL
by deLubicz, R A Schwaller
ISBN: 0892810149
Publisher: Inner Traditions
ESOTERISM AND SYMBOL initiates the reader into the tone,
structure, and mentality of ancient Egyptian knowledge, the
wellspring of all Western theology and science.
Schwaller de Lubicz makes the distinction between two kinds
of human intelligence, one cerebral, the other innate. The
symbol is a conventional representation of cerebral intelligence.
The hieroglyph, on the other hand, is a direct, non-conventional
form of writing with the unique ability to transcribe the innate
`intelligence-of-the-heart.`
This intelligence is independent of the senses and belongs
to the vast totality called life. To the ancient Egyptians it is the
intelligence-of-the-heart which allows man to move toward the
divine.
All esoteric teaching is addressed to this intelligence. `Spirit
is found only with spirit,` and esoterism is the spiritual aspect
of the world, inaccessible to cerebral intelligence. It can be
neither written nor spoken, nor consequently betrayed. It has
nothing in common with deliberate concealment of truth.
However, the preparation needed to grasp it is not a matter of
learned knowledge, but of intuitive capacity.
ESOTERISM AND SYMBOL explores the `process of becom-
ing` as it relates to consciousness and is revealed in all of
nature; the relationship of `apparent life` and the life behind
appearances; the kinship between man and the mineral, plant,
and animal kingdoms; the mystery of the formation of
substance into matter; myth, Kabbalah, and the stages of
awareness leading to `Cosmic Consciousness.`
De Lubicz shows us that esoterism is not a `particular mean-
ing hidden in a text` but a `fusion` between the vital state of the
reader and the vital state of the author. This fusion evokes the
intelligence of the heart, our guide to the path of self-knowledge.
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