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Vincit Omnia Veritas Collected Essays Vincit Omnia Veritas Collected Essays Edited by Renaud Fabbri & Timothy Scott Vincit Omnia Veritas: The journal of perennial studies was the online journal of Religio Perennis: A Gate to Quintessential Esoterism (www.religioperennis.org) founded and managed by Renaud Fabbri (editor), Patricia Reynaud and Charles Amir Perret. Vincit Omnia Veritas was published biannually and ran from January 2005 to July 2007. With the advent of several new journals in the field, including Eye of the Heart (La Trobe University), the decision was made to discontinue Vincit Omnia Veritas. The six issues produced included republications and original articles. Most of these are available through the online “library” of Religio Perennis. It was felt that the original articles produced for Vincit Omnia Veritas might be presented in a collected format. To that end, Religio Perennis, with the assistance of the Philosophy & Religious Studies program, La Trobe University, Bendigo, and Eye of the Heart: The Journal of Traditional Wisdom, is happy to offer the following collection of original essays, Vincit Omnia Veritas: Collected Essays. Editorial note: The text has been simplified for the sake of consistency. Vincit Omnia Veritas: Collected Essays is made available through Eye of the Heart: A Journal of Traditional Wisdom www.latrobe.edu.au/eyeoftheheart Copyright: Unless otherwise indicated, all materials published in this collection are copyrighted by Religioperennis and the respective authors and artists. No reproduction without express written permission, except in critical articles and reviews. The Black Madonna featured on the cover is used with the kind permission of the artist, Paul Heussenstamm (www.mandalas.com). The image on p.34 is a reproduction of a painting by Frithjof Schuon, used by kind permission of the estate of Frithjof Schuon. All other images are available free of copyright in the public domain. © 2010 Religioperennis Table of Contents Vincit Omnia Veritas 7 by Renaud Fabbri Quatrains from an Indian Notebook 11 by Barry McDonald Frithjof Schuon and the American Indian Spirit 13 an interview with Michael Fitzgerald One Word, many tongues 35 by Timothy Scott The Container and the Contained 59 by Timothy Scott A brief introduction to the “traditional doctrine of art” 71 by Timothy Scott Remarks on St. Christopher 79 by Timothy Scott Weaving the symbolism of light 91 by Timothy Scott Edom and Eden: remarks on cosmogonic symbolism 103 by Timothy Scott The Spangled Tortoise: The peculiar and unusual feature in 117 hermetic modes of exegesis by Rodney Blackhirst 1 The Diabolical Symbolism of the Automobile 125 by Rodney Blackhirst Evolutionism and Traditional Cosmology 137 by Rodney Blackhirst The transcendent connection and the problem of loneliness 143 by Rodney Blackhirst Notes on “Spirituality” 155 by Harry Oldmeadow The Cave of the Heart: The Life of Swami Abhishiktananda, 161 by Shirley du Boulay reviewed by Harry Oldmeadow Surrender and Realisation: Imam Ali on the Conditions for 167 True Religious Understanding by James Morris 2 Abbreviations Ibn al-’Arabi, Fusus Ibn al-’Arabi, Fusus al-hikam, tr. R. Austin, Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1980 B.T. Babylonian Talmud Burckhardt, Alchemy Titus Burckhardt, Alchemy, Baltimore: Penguin, 1974 Burckhardt, ISD Titus Burckhardt, An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine, Wellingborough: The Aquarian Press, 1976 Boethius, Consolation Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, tr. H. Chadwick, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1990 Dictionary of Symbols Chevalier & Gheerbrant, Dictionary of Symbols, tr. J. Buchanan-Brown, Penguin, Middlesex, 1996 Coomaraswamy, SP1 Ananda Coomaraswamy, Selected Papers Vol.1: ‘Traditional Art and Symbolism’, R. Lipsey ed., Surrey: Princeton University Press, 1977 Coomaraswamy, SP2 Ananda Coomaraswamy, Selected Papers Vol.2: ‘Metaphysics’, R. Lipsey ed., New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1977 Daniélou, GI Alain Daniélou, The Gods of India, New York: Inner Traditions, 1985 ET Etudes Traditionnelles Fitzgerald ed., Yellowtail Michael O. Fitzgerald ed., Yellowtail: Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991 Guénon, SC René Guénon, The Symbolism of the Cross, London: Luzac & Co. Ltd., 1975 Guénon, MB René Guénon, Man and his becoming, New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint, 1981 Guénon, RQ René Guénon, The Reign of Quantity & The Signs of the Times, New York: Sophia Perennis et Universalis, 1972 Guénon, LW René Guénon, The Lord of the World, Yorkshire: Coombe Springs Press, 1983 3 Guénon, GT René Guénon, The Great Triad, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1994 Guénon, FS René Guénon, Fundamental Symbols, Cambridge: Quinta Essentia, 1995 Guénon, MSB René Guénon, The Multiple States of the Being, New York: Sophia Perennis, 2001 JAAR Journal of the American Academy of Religion al-Jili, al-insan ‘Abd al-Karim al-Jili, al-insan al-kamil, tr. T. Burckhardt, Gloucester: Beshara Publications, 1983 Mails, FC Thomas Mails, Fools Crow, New York: Doubleday, 1979 Mathers, KU S. L. MacGregor Mathers tr., The Kabbalah Unveiled, Middlesex: Arkana Penguin Books, 1991 Metford, DCLL J. C. J. Metford, Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, London: Thames and Hudson, 1983 Nasr, IRI Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Ideals and Realities of Islam, London: Allen & Unwin, 1966 Nasr, KS Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Knowledge and the Sacred, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1981 Needleman ed., SG Jacob Needleman ed., The Sword of Gnosis, Baltimore: Penguin, 1974 Oldmeadow, Traditionalism Harry Oldmeadow, Traditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy, Colombo: Sri Lanka Institute of Traditional Studies, 2000 Perry, WB Whitall Perry, The Widening Breach, Cambridge: Quinta Essentia, 1995 Perry, TTW Whitall Perry, A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom, Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2000 Schaya, UMK Leo Schaya, The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah, tr. N. Pearson, Allen & Unwin, New Jersey, 1971 Scholem, MTJM Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, New York: Schocken Books, 1995 Schuon, SW Frithjof Schuon, Stations of Wisdom, London: John Murray/Perennial books, 1961 4 Schuon, LAW Frithjof Schuon, Light on the Ancient Worlds, London: Perennial Books, 1965 Schuon, LT Frithjof Schuon, Logic and Transcendence, London: Perennial Books, 1975 Schuon, UI Frithjof Schuon, Understanding Islam, London: Mandala Books, 1976 Schuon, IPP Frithjof Schuon, Islam and the Perennial Philosophy, London: World of Islam Festival Trust 1976 Schuon, EPW Frithjof Schuon, Esoterism as Principle and as Way, Middlesex: Perennial Books, 1981 Schuon, DH Frithjof Schuon, From the Divine to the Human, Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1982 Schuon, SPHF Frithjof Schuon, Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts, London: Perennial Books, 1987 Schuon, CR Frithjof Schuon, Castes and Races, Middlesex: Perennial Books, 1989 Schuon, ITFA Frithjof Schuon, In The Face Of The Absolute, Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1989 Schuon, G:DW Frithjof Schuon, Gnosis: Divine Wisdom, Middlesex: Perennial Books, 1990 Schuon, FS Frithjof Schuon, The Feathered Sun: Plains Indians in Art and Philosophy, Bloomington: World Wisdom, 1990 Schuon, TB Frithjof Schuon, Treasures of Buddhism, Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1993 Schuon, TUR Frithjof Schuon, The Transcendent Unity of Religions, Wheaton: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1993 Schuon, LS Frithjof Schuon, Language of the Self, Bloomington: World Wisdom Books, 1999 Schuon, SME Frithjof Schuon, Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism, World Wisdom Books, Indiana, 2000 Schuon, ASM Frithjof Schuon, Adastra & Stella Maris, Poems by Frithjof Schuon, tr. W. Stoddart, Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2003 5 Snodgrass, SS Adrian Snodgrass, The Symbolism of the Stupa, New York: South East Asia Program, 1985 Snodgrass, ATE (1 & 2) Adrian Snodgrass, Architecture, Time and Eternity 2 Vols., New Delhi: Sata-Pitaka Series, 1990 Steltenkamp, BE Michael Steltenkamp, Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993 Tishby, WZ (1, 2 & 3) Isaiah Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar 3 Vols., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991 Yellowtail, NS Thomas Yellowtail, Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way, Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007 6 Vincit Omnia Veritas Renaud Fabbri Discern what is good in God’s eyes, Whether thou be Jew, Christian or Moslem; Religion does no mean persecuting others, Religio is what binds us to God – And nothing else. The world needs many forms – In God alone are the norms of the Eternal Truth. From both sources thou canst obtain salvation: Heroic faith and divine Light from within. — Frithjof Schuon, ‘Religio’1 It is my pleasure to write this foreword to these collected essays from Vincit Omnia Veritas. I would like first to thank Dr Timothy Scott who, despite his time-consuming commitment with Eye of the Heart, has reviewed the essays and prepared this paper issue. These collected essays gather articles written for the most part by English speaking scholars whose perspective on religion has been informed by the works of René Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon. Whereas in continental Europe and especially in France, marked by an aggressive secularism, the Traditionalist approach to religion has remained relatively marginalised, despite its more or less discrete influence on well-known scholars such as Mircea Eliade or Henry Corbin in North America, England and now Australia, the Perennialist discourse has been introduced in the university and has been presented as an alternative to more reductionist approach by academics such as Huston Smith,
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