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( Part II )
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Looking at the outline of Dante’s journey we note how
evident are the symbols of the hermetic-alchemic
tradition: the centre of the Earth, the Mountain, the
Sky (the stars)
The beginning of the Divine Comedy describes how Dante,
at a certain point in his life, finds himself lost in
the dark woods.
This spiritual crisis is common to many searchers who,
having undertaken an inner journey by their own efforts,
sooner or later find themselves at a dead end, in a
situation of anguish and desperation.
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Dante says: “How first I entered it I scarce can say,
such sleepy dullness in that instant weighed my senses
down, when the true path I left” (Inf. I, 10-12)
Here, what is sleeping is his consciousness, a state in
which we normally live without realising it, indeed,
believing that we are awake.
After this terrible experience, Dante recovers a little,
but realises that he cannot proceed alone: he is
prevented from doing so by the three beasts that
represent the three poisons of the ego (lust, pride,
greed). Only with the help of a Master can he go on, and
in fact the meeting with Virgil takes place (when the
disciple is ready, the Master arrives).
With Virgil’s
guidance, Dante enters the Inferno, in other words, he
begins his journey to the centre of the Earth,
experiencing what the alchemists called VITRIOLVM (visit
the inside of the Earth, by rectifying you will find the
hidden stone, true medicine) [a Latin acronym – Tr.].
This is the hermetic black phase, a dangerous operation
whereby the structure of the individual, the personality,
must dissolve, the soul-essence must cut loose from the
individual body, tied to time and space (the world). In
order for this work to succeed, it must be undertaken
with a pure heart, with the right intention and
accompanied by a guide.
In this phase of the work on himself, the searcher must
face up to his own shadows, his inner demons, the
infernal side of his passions.
The historical characters that Dante meets during his
descent through the infernal rings symbolically
represent these aspects.
The damned are completely absorbed in the dimension of
their own sin, blocked in that one single sentiment and
psychological disposition, in an endless repetition of
that same situation.
All of these characters have been burned by their
passions, and that is not to be understood in a moral
sense, but existentially: we think, for example, of
Paolo and Francesca, who arouse sweetness and compassion
in Dante, not condemnation, but who nonetheless have
been overcome by a force that they have been unable to
transform.
So the inferno is the dimension of chaotic nature, and
if we look carefully we can see it around us every day,
both within and without ourselves, albeit with differing
tones and shades.
The episodes narrated in the thirty-four cantos of the
Inferno are innumerable, and we could go on recounting
them forever: we would like to emphasise the fact that
the devils, the monsters that Dante meets (Cerberus,
Minos, Pluto etc.), should from our point of view be
understood as psychic realities; they are our demons,
which we must recognise and gradually get over.
This perilous descent into the Inferno comes to a climax
in the meeting with Lucifer (the XVth Tarot): what does
he represent?
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 The
Devil is radical egotism, that part of each of us that
is the root of our ego, a point of extreme condensation;
indeed, Lucifer is surrounded by ice, and not fire.
And yet, right in the darkest corner of the Inferno the
transformation takes place, that rectification cited in
the VITRIOLVM formula.
In various traditions and in many fables, the Devil
often guards a treasure that the hero must succeed in
robbing from him.
He is the warden of the Mysteries (indeed, Lucifer means
bringer of light).
The Devil can only be faced with the deep humility that
comes from being aware of one’s natural imperfections,
otherwise we fall into our pride and get lost.
By passing the Devil’s test, Dante conquers the chaotic
force of matter: here we see a change of state, AN
OVERTURNING, which takes place tight at the centre of
the Earth, the place “where weights are drawn from all
sides”.
In the hermetic tradition it is said that at the end of
the black phase the Star comes into sight, announcing
the White phase.
We quote the closure of the Inferno… “we mounted up, he
first and I the second, till I beheld through a round
aperture Some of the beauteous things that heaven doth
bear; thence we came forth to rebehold the stars,” (Inf.
XXXIX, 136-139).
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Let us now look at what is represented by Purgatory: as
we have said, in Alchemy, the black phase is followed by
the white phase, the purification of the dross.
Dante describes this experience as climbing a mountain,
a highly important symbol in all traditions, the climb
that is initially exhausting, but gradually gets easier.
The climb is preceded by a baptism of water, significant
for both hermetic and Christian interpretation; later,
our poet will also experience a baptism of fire (canto
XXVII). It is the fire that does not burn, the Alchemic
Fire.
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Dante and his guide will have many
encounters along their journey: the souls in Purgatory
still retain a strong and complex tie with earthly life.
But now they fully see the sense of things, they
understand their human limits and aspire to heavenly
perfection.
The atmosphere here is completely
different from in the inferno, here, suffering assumes a
different meaning because it is the prelude to
liberation.
In the work on ourselves,
we call it voluntary suffering.
I wanted to focus on three points of great interest from
an esoteric point of view:
Firstly: in the beautiful Canto IX, the Angel
guarding the entrance to Purgatory lets Dante pass,
opening the door with two keys, one silver, the other
gold. A mysterious explanation is given of the meaning
of these two keys: “One is more precious but the other
needs much art and skill before it will unlock, that is
the key that must undo the knot” (Purg. IX, 124-126).
In terms of consciousness, what is represented by Silver
and Gold? The first is a symbol of consciousness that is
already detached from the material plane (which we could
match up with the experience of ecstasy) whilst Gold
represents complete rebirth, the birth of an
indivisible I.
Let us remember that in Alchemy the white phase leads to
the production of Silver, whilst the Red phase leads to
the production of Gold.
Gold is more valuable, but Silver is far more difficult
to obtain, by travelling through the centre of the Earth
and succeeding in separating one’s two natures (earthly
and heavenly).
Secondly: the angel marks Dante’s forehead with
seven ‘P’s, which are often interpreted as the symbol of
the seven deadly sins; but in a hermetic sense they
represent the seven levels of initiation, corresponding
to the seven planets and the seven metals of Alchemy. As
he climbs the seven cornices of the mountain, Dante is
purified, and the seven ‘P’s are removed one by one from
his face.
In the Enneagram we find the representation of this
symbolic and operative journey through the seven Planets
which leads us to discover and transform our inner
universe.
Thirdly: Having passed through the baptism of
fire, Dante enters the Garden of Eden.The imagery with
which he describes this experience is wonderful: here
his master Virgil leaves him, so that he can meet the
new guide who will lead him through the higher
dimensions: Beatrice.
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For Dante, the meeting with Beatrice is the return to
his Essence, to that divine spark found in every human
being, which the great poet had already recognised in
himself as a child (at the age of Nine), describing the
experience in La Vita Nova [“The New Life” – Tr.].
Unfortunately, our earthly life leads us all to
move away from the essence, whilst at the same time the
personality develops, and we then have to work hard on
ourselves in order to find our way back to the Path that
leads us to our true being.
Beatrice, the essence,
admonishes Dante for having gone away from her, despite
the fact that she, with her Voice, had tried to remind
him of the Love that he had felt in his youth.
Then he is
forgiven (in other words, reconciled with his essence)
and he bathes in the two rivers of Eden, the Lethe and
the Eunoe, concluding his journey through Purgatory
“Pure and made apt for mounting to the stars” (Purg.
Canto XXXIII). |
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Paradise, the red phase.
Dante begins this new experience by stating that: “I was
within the heaven that receives more of His light; and I
saw things that he who from that height descends,
forgets or can not tell” (Par. I, 4-6).
The spirit, which has by now become part of the divine
vital fluid, climbs to the highest levels of
consciousness. Paradise is the apotheosis of light, of
the expansion of the spirit that Dante describes using
words like “transhumanise” and “deifying” (becoming God),
inadmissible for official religion.
Paradise is all that lies above the sphere of fire; it
is divided into nine concentric heavens, gradually
increasing in size.
These are the contents of Empyrean, where God is found,
although his presence is also manifest throughout the
rest of the Universe.
The souls in Paradise are arranged in the Rose of the blessed: they all enjoy the vision of God, but not all
equally. There is an invisible hierarchy, determined by
the varying capacity to receive divine light.
Within the Empyrean is contained the ninth heaven (or
primum mobile) to which divine power is transmitted like
“the rapidest of movements”, differing gradually in
intensity in the other heavens.
In Gurdjieff’s teaching we are told that the two higher
centres (higher emotional and higher intellectual
centres) are extremely swift.
We could hypothesise that contact with the higher
emotional centre is described by Dante in the vision of
the Virgin (Canto XXXI), when divine Love is seen as an
indescribable joy.
Whereas contact with the higher intellectual centre
could coincide with the vision of God in canto XXXIII,
where Dante penetrates the mystery of the Trinity and of
Incarnation.
In these supreme experiences Dante is accompanied by a
new guide, Bernard of Chiaravalle, founder of the order
of the Knights Templar.
The first master, Virgilio, guided Dante through the
first fundamental stages of the inner work, until his
essence was freed.
The essence, in the form of Beatrice, guided the poet to
Divine knowledge, and finally Saint Bernard, symbol of
the supreme Master, brings him to the direct experience
of Totality.
In Paradise, Dante’s poetry transports us way beyond any
imagination, towards “that Love which moves the Sun and
other stars”.
In this subject there are innumerable matters meriting
closer investigation, and we have briefly touched upon
just a few of the most important aspects. We hope that
this brief study may awaken in some the desire to reread
this work, so fundamental to our cultural and spiritual
tradition.
To conclude I would like to make a wish, to all genuine
seekers of the true Self, that they may find along their
path of seeking the Way that leads to that Love which
moves the sun and other stars.
A.B.
Copyright Andrea Bertolini -
Jubal Editore 2004
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