Frithjof Schuon Archive

The meaning of five — behold thy hand:Four fingers stand opposite a fifthWhich rules them, as if it were the center;This is a prototype, and thou see’st it again and again.Six — in this, two and three combine;Passivity and activity; on each sideAre three spiritual...

North, South, East, West — the first pattern of quaternity;Then cold, warmth, light, and darkness;Then reason, sentiment, imagination, and memory;Then the Pure Intellect, which liberates us.The powers of the soul — they are but symbolsOf the power of the Spirit,...

If Dante did not shrink from mentioning the dreadful,It is because he had in mind the right of punishmentWhen the sinner had grievously offended his Lord.As a noble man, Dante took pleasure in the beautiful —See how his heart burned with profound longing,And how his...

There are three outward animal and human types:First balanced, then light, then heavy;This gradation does not concern our spirit —In the spirit there is neither “less” nor “more.”However: the type can color the spirit’s expression —The word, the language, but not the...