EDITORIAL NOTE

 
     The past century has witnessed an erosion of earlier cultural values as well as a blurring of the distinctive characteristics of the world’s traditional civilizations, giving rise to philosophic and moral relativism, multiculturalism, and dangerous fundamentalist reactions. As early as the 1920s, the French metaphysician René Guénon (1886-1951) had diagnosed these tendencies and presented what he believed to be the only possible reconciliation of the legitimate, although apparently conflicting, demands of outward religious forms, ‘exoterisms’, with their essential core, ‘esoterism’. His works are characterized by a foundational critique of the modern world coupled with a call for intellectual reform; a renewed examination of metaphysics, the traditional sciences, and symbolism, with special reference to the ultimate unanimity of all spiritual traditions; and finally, a call to the work of spiritual realization. Despite their wide influence, translation of Guénon’s works into English has so far been piecemeal. The Sophia Perennis edition is intended to fill the urgent need to present them in a more authoritative and systematic form. [...]
 
     In the middle of the nineteenth century two scholars, Gabriele Rossetti and Eugène Aroux, pointed to a deeper level of meaning in Dante’s work, notably in The Divine Comedy. Although their views were radically opposed on religious and social matters, they shared the view that it was this deeper meaning that had made Dante appear to be both a heretic and a revolutionary. From their theses, which he reviews in the present book, Guénon retains only those elements that place beyond doubt the existence of such a hidden meaning – or rather, hidden meanings – in the writings of the great Florentine; but he also makes clear that esoterism is not the same as ‘heresy’ and that a doctrine reserved for an elite can be superimposed on the teaching given to the faithful without thereby standing in opposition to it. In the social domain likewise Dante is neither revolutionary nor ‘socialist’, but deeply traditional. He defends the idea of the Holy Empire, and the separation within Christianity of spiritual authority and temporal power, although they are found united in other traditional forms – a point Guénon returns to in later writings.
 
     In The Esoterism of Dante, Guénon undertakes to establish that the three divisions of The Divine Comedy represent stages of initiatic realization and testify to Dante’s knowledge of traditional sciences unknown to the moderns: the science of numbers, of cosmic cycles, and of sacred astrology. He also touches on the all important question of medieval esoterism, and corrects the errors of earlier scholars who had only glimpsed the deeper meaning of Dante’s work – providing an entirely new explanation of numerous points not previously elucidated. Some of the same themes are further developed in Guénon’s Insights into Christian Esoterism and elsewhere.
 
     Guénon often uses words or expressions set off in ‘scare quotes’. To avoid clutter, single quotation marks have been used throughout. As for transliterations, Guénon was more concerned with phonetic fidelity than academic usage. The system adopted here reflects the views of scholars familiar both with the languages and Guénon’s writings. Brackets indicate editorial insertions, or, within citations, Guénon’s additions. Wherever possible, references have been updated, and English editions substituted.
 
     The present translation is based on the work of Henry D. Fohr, edited by his son Samuel Fohr, and an earlier version done by Cecil Bethell with the help of Jacques Phillipe. The entire text was checked for accuracy and further revised by Marie Hansen. For help with selected chapters and proofreading thanks go to John Riess, John Champoux, John Ahmed Herlihy, and William Quinn. A special debt of thanks is owed to Cecil Bethell, who revised and proofread the text at several stages and provided the index. Cover design by Michael Buchino and Gray Henry, based on a drawing of Christ between two serpents from an ancient Irish motif, by Guénon’s friend and collaborator Ananda K. Coomaraswamy.