Le Mystère des Cathédrales

«Le Mystere des Cathedrales» — [portadilla de la primera parte] el título con que arranca el cuerpo del libro, sin acentos en la capa de texto.

«Since then, the vision has been transformed, but the original impression remains. And if custom has modified the spontaneous and moving character of my first contact, I have never acquired a» — [Fulcanelli] lo que dice haber conservado: transformada la visión, la impresión original permanece.

«I was immediately enraptured by it. I was in an ecstasy, struck with wonder, unable to tear myself away from the attraction of the marvellous, from the magic of such splendour, such immen» — [Fulcanelli] el arrebato con que describe ese primer contacto con la catedral gótica. El tramo se corta en el guion de fin de renglón de *immensity*, donde el troceo parte el chunk.

«sity, such intoxication expressed by this more divine than human work.» — [Fulcanelli] la continuación de ese renglón: la obra le parece más divina que humana.

«defence against a sort of rapture when faced with those beautiful picture books erected in our closes and raising to heaven their pages of sculptured stone.» — [Fulcanelli] la imagen que gobierna todo el libro: las catedrales como libros de estampas erigidos en los atrios, que levantan al cielo sus páginas de piedra esculpida.

«Without words and without voice? What am I saying! If those stone books have their sculptured letters-their phrases in bas-relief and their thoughts in pointed arches-nevertheless they speak also through the imperishable spirit which breathes from their pages. They are clearer than their younger brothers-the manuscripts and printed books. They have the advantage over them in being translateable only in a single, absolute sense. It is simple in expression, nayve and picturesque in interpretation; a sense purged of subtleties, of allusions, of literary ambiguities.» — [Fulcanelli] la ventaja que les adjudica sobre el manuscrito y el impreso: los libros de piedra solo se dejan traducir en un sentido único y absoluto, purgado de sutilezas y ambigüedades literarias. La grafía *nayve* es la de la capa de texto.

«The language of stones, spoken by this new art,' as J. F. Colfsl says with much truth 'is at the same time clear and sublime, speaking alike to the humblest and to the most cultured heart.» — [J. F. Colfs, citado por Fulcanelli] la fórmula que le toma para nombrar esa lengua: clara y sublime a la vez, y dicha igual al corazón más humilde que al más culto.

«What a moving language it is, this gothic of the stones! A language so moving, indeed, that the songs of Orlando, de Lassus or Palestrina, the organ music of Handel or Frescobaldi, the orchestral works of Beethoven or Cherubini, or, which is greater than all these, the simple and severe Gregorian chant, perhaps the only real chant there is, do nothing but add to the emotions, which the cathedral itself has already aroused. Woe to those who do not like gothic architecture, or at least let us pity them as those who are without heart.» — [Fulcanelli] pone la música de Lasso, Palestrina, Handel, Frescobaldi, Beethoven y Cherubini, y sobre todas el canto gregoriano, como añadidura a una emoción que la catedral ya provocó por sí sola.

«The gothic cathedral, that sanctuary of the Tradition, Science and Art, should not be regardkd as a work dedicated solely to the glory of Christianity, but rather as a vast concretion of ideas, of tendencies, of popular beliefs; a perfect whole, to which we can refer without fear, whenever we would penetrate the religious, secular, philosophic or social thoughts of our ancestors.» — [Fulcanelli] la tesis que ordena la lectura: la catedral gótica no es obra dedicada solo a la gloria del cristianismo, sino una concreción de ideas, tendencias y creencias populares.

«The bold vaulting, the nobility of form, the grandeur of the proportions and the beauty of the execution combine to make a cathedral an original work of incomparable harmony; but not one, it seems, concerned entirely with religious observance.» — [Fulcanelli] y su límite: la armonía de la obra no le parece enteramente ocupada en la observancia religiosa.

«If the tranquility in the ghostly, multi-coloured light from the tall stained-glass windows and the silence combine as an invitation to prayer, predisposing us to meditation; the trappings, on the other hand, the structure and the ornamentation, in their extraordinary power, release and reflect less edifying sensations, a more secular and, quite bluntly, an almost pagan spirit. Beside the fervent inspiration, born of a strong faith, the thousand and one preoccupations of the great heart of the people can be discerned there, the declaration of its conscience, of its will, the reflection of its thought at its most complex, abstract, essential and autocratic.» — [Fulcanelli] la doble impresión que describe: los vitrales invitan a la oración y, en cambio, la estructura y el ornato desprenden un espíritu seglar y casi pagano.

«If people go to the building to take part in religious services, if they enter it following a funeral corthge or the joyful procession of a high festival, they also throng there in many other circumstances. Political meetings are held there under the aegis of the bishop; the price of grain and livestock is discussed there; the drapers fix the price of their cloth there; people hurry there to seek comfort, to ask for advice, to beg for pardon. There is scarcely a guild which does not use the cathedral for the passing-out ceremony of its new journeyman, scarcely a guild which does not meet there once a year under the protection of its patron saint.» — [Fulcanelli] los usos civiles que enumera dentro de la catedral: asambleas políticas, precio del grano y del ganado, tasación del paño de los pañeros y las ceremonias de los gremios.

«the common people of the Middle Ages, noisy, frolicsome, jocular, bursting with vitality, enthusiasm and spirit, and spread through the town. . . . What a comedy it all was, with an ignorant clergy thus subjected to the authority of the disguised Science and crushed under the weight of undeniable superiority.» — [Fulcanelli] la lectura que hace de esa fiesta: un clero ignorante sometido a la autoridad de la Ciencia disfrazada.

«And what a Mass! It was composed by the initiate Pierre de Corbeil, Archbishop of Sens, and modelled on a pagan rite. Here a congregation of the year 1220 uttered the bacchanal cry of joy: Evoe! Evoe!-and scholars in ecstasy replied : Haec est clara dies clararum clara dierum! Haec est festa dies festarum festa dierum!» — [Fulcanelli] adjudica esa misa al iniciado Pierre de Corbeil, arzobispo de Sens, modelada sobre un rito pagano, con el grito báquico de 1220 y los dos versos latinos que responden los escolares.

«There was also the Feast of the Donkey, almost as gaudy as the one just mentioned, with the triumphal entry under the sacred archway of Master Aliboron, whose hoof (sabot) once trod the streets of Jerusalem. Thus our glorious Christ-bearer was celebrated in a special service, which praised him, in words recalling the epistle, as this asinine power, which was worth to the Church the gold of Arabia, the incense and the myrrh of the land of Saba.» — [Fulcanelli] la Fiesta del Asno y su entrada triunfal bajo el arco sagrado, con el elogio del poder asnal que valió a la Iglesia el oro de Arabia y el incienso y la mirra de Saba.

«The priest, being unable to understand this grotesque parody, had to accept it in silence, his head bent under the ridicule poured out by these mystifiers of the land of Saba or Cuba, that is the cabalists themselves.» — [Fulcanelli] la clave que da de esa parodia: los mistificadores de la tierra de Saba o Cuba serían los cabalistas mismos, lectura que sale de la cábala fonética.

«Indeed Witkowskia writes that in the nave of NotreDame of Strasbourg 'the bas-relief on one of the capitals of the great pillars represents a satirical procession, in which a pig may be seen carrying a holy stoup, followed by donkeys dressed in priestly clothes and monkeys bearing various religious attributes, together with a fox enclosed in a shrine. It is the Procession of the Fox or the Feast of the Donkey.» — [Witkowski, citado por Fulcanelli] el bajorrelieve de Notre-Dame de Estrasburgo con el cerdo que lleva la pila, los asnos vestidos de sacerdote, los monos con atributos religiosos y el zorro en el relicario.

«We may add that an identical scene is illuminated in folio 40 of manuscript no. 5055 in the Biblioth&que nationale.» — [Fulcanelli] el añadido con que respalda esa escena: una miniatura idéntica en el folio 40 del manuscrito 5055 de la Biblioteca Nacional.

«Finally there were some bizarre events in which a hermetic meaning, often a very precise one, was discernible. These were held every year, with the Gothic church as their theatre. Examples» — [Fulcanelli] las fiestas raras de sentido hermético preciso que se celebraban cada año con la iglesia gótica por teatro. La cita se corta aquí porque el troceo mete a continuación la traducción de los versos latinos y la nota al pie de Witkowski dentro del cuerpo.

«include the Flagellation of the Alleluia, in which the choirboys energetically whipped their humming-tops (sabots)" down the aisles of the cathedral of Langres; the Procession of the Shrovetide Carnival; the Devilry of Chaumont; the procession and banquets of the Znfanterie dijonnaise? The latter was the last echo of the Feast of Fools, with its Mad Mother, its bawdy diplomas, its banner on which two brothers, head to foot, delighted in uncovering their buttocks. Until 1538, when the custom died out, a strange Ball Game was played inside Saint-Etienne, the cathedral of Auxerre.» — [Fulcanelli] la lista misma al otro lado de la nota: la Flagelación del Aleluya con los trompos de los niños de coro en Langres, la Diablería de Chaumont y el Juego de Pelota en la catedral de Auxerre hasta 1538.

«Top with the outline of a Tau or Cross. In cabalistic language, sabot is the equivalent of cabot or chabot, the chat bottk (Puss-in-Boots) of the Tales of Mother Goose. The Epiphany cake sometimes contains a sabot instead of a bean.» — [Fulcanelli, en nota al pie] la cadena cabalística que traza a partir del trompo o *sabot*: equivale a *cabot* o *chabot*, el gato con botas de los cuentos de Mamá Oca, y a veces el roscón de Epifanía trae un zueco en lugar del haba.

«The cathedral was the hospitable refuge of all unfortunates. The sick, who came to Notre-Dame in Paris to pray to God for relief from their sufferings, used to stay on till they were cured. They were allotted a chapel lit by six lamps near the second door and there they spent the night. There the doctors would give their consultations round the holy-water stoup at the very entrance to the basilica. It was there too that the Faculty of Medicine, which left the University in the thirteenth century to continue independently, gave lectures. This continued to be the custom until 1454, when its last meeting took place, presided over by Jacques Desparts.» — [Fulcanelli] el uso hospitalario que documenta: los enfermos pasaban la noche en una capilla de Notre-Dame y los médicos consultaban junto a la pila, y la Facultad de Medicina dio lecciones ahí hasta 1454.

«The cathedral is the inviolable sanctuary of the hunted and the burial place of the illustrious dead. It is the city within a city, the intellectual and moral centre, the heart of public activity, the apotheosis of thought, knowledge and art.» — [Fulcanelli] la definición con que cierra el argumento: la catedral como ciudad dentro de la ciudad y centro intelectual y moral.

«This host of bristling monsters, of grotesques and comic figures, of masks, of menacing gargoyles, dragons, vampires and tarasques, all these were the secular guardians of an ancestral patrimony.» — [Fulcanelli] la función que asigna a gárgolas, máscaras, dragones y tarascas: guardianes seglares de un patrimonio ancestral.

«art and science, formerly concentrated in the great monasteries, have emerged from their seclusion and colonized the cathedral. They cling to the steeples, to the pinnacles, to the flying buttresses. They hang from the coving, fill the niches. They transform the windows into precious stones and endow the bells with sonorous vibrations. They expand on the church front into a glorious explosion of liberty and expression.» — [Fulcanelli] el desplazamiento que describe: arte y ciencia salen de la clausura monástica y colonizan la catedral.

«Above all there is nothing more captivating than the sybolism of the ancient alchemists, so ably translated by these modest medieval statues.» — [Fulcanelli] lo que le parece más cautivante de todo: el simbolismo de los antiguos alquimistas traducido por las estatuas medievales; la grafía *sybolism* es la de la capa de texto.

«In this connection Notre Dame of Paris, the Philosophers' church, is indisputably one of the most perfect specimens and, as Victor Hugo said, 'the most satisfying summary of the hermetic science, of which the church of Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie was such a complete hieroglyph.» — [Víctor Hugo, citado por Fulcanelli] llama a Notre-Dame de París la iglesia de los Filósofos y le toma a Hugo la fórmula del resumen más satisfactorio de la ciencia hermética.

«The alchemists of the fourteenth century used to meet there once a week on the day of Saturn, either at the main porch, at the Portal of St. Marcel or else at the little PorteRouge, all decorated with salamanders.» — [Fulcanelli] la reunión semanal que atribuye a los alquimistas del siglo XIV en el día de Saturno, en el pórtico mayor, el portal de San Marcelo o la Puerta Roja.

«Denys Zachaire tells us that this custom was followed until the year 1539 'on sundays and feast days'. Noel du Fail says that 'the great place for those academy meetings was Notre-Dame of Pari» — [Denys Zachaire y Noël du Fail, citados por Fulcanelli] los dos testimonios con que fecha esa costumbre hasta 1539 y llama a Notre-Dame el gran sitio de aquellas academias.

«In the cathedrals everything was gilded and painted in vivid colours. As proof of this we have the words of Martyrius, the fifteenth century Armenian bishop and traveller. This author says that the porch of Notre-Dame of Paris was as resplendent as the gates of Paradise. Purple, rose, azure, silver and gold were to be seen there. Traces of gilding may still be seen at the top of the tympanum of the great portal. The one at the church of Saint-Germain-I'Auxerrois has preserved its painting and its blue vault, starred with gold.» — [Fulcanelli, en nota al pie] el apoyo que da al color original: el obispo armenio Martyrius del siglo XV describía el pórtico de Notre-Dame resplandeciente como las puertas del Paraíso, con púrpura, rosa, azur, plata y oro.

«It was there that they assessed probabilities and discussed possibilities and studied on the spot the allegory of the Great Book. Not the least animated part of these gatherings was the abstruse explanation of the mysterious symbols all around them.» — [Fulcanelli] lo que dice que hacían ahí: estudiar sobre el terreno la alegoría del Gran Libro y explicar los símbolos que los rodeaban.

«In the steps of Gobineau de Montluisant, Cambriel and all the rest, we shall undertake the pious pilgrimage, speak to the stones and question them.» — [Fulcanelli] la genealogía en que se inscribe para su propia lectura: Gobineau de Montluisant y Cambriel, entre otros.

«During the great medieval period it was the scene of other ceremonies, very popular with the masses. There was the Feast of Fools» — [Fulcanelli] introduce las ceremonias medievales muy populares que se celebraban en la catedral, empezando por la Fiesta de los Locos. El tramo se corta ante el guion doble que el OCR pone antes de la aposición.

«processional hermetic fair, which used to set out from the church with its pope, its dignitaries, its enthusiasts and its crowds,» — [Fulcanelli] la continuación del mismo renglón: llama a esa fiesta feria hermética procesional, que salía de la iglesia con su papa, sus dignatarios y su multitud.

«Ah! the Feast of Fools, with its triumphal chariot of Bacchus, drawn by a male and a female centuar, naked as the god» — [Fulcanelli] la escena que describe: el carro triunfal de Baco tirado por un centauro y una centaura desnudos; la grafía *centuar* es la de la capa de texto.

«himself, and accompanied by the great Pan; an obscene carnival taking possession of a sacred building; nymphs and naiads emerging» — [Fulcanelli] el resto de la escena en el mismo renglón: el gran Pan, el carnaval obsceno apoderándose de un edificio sagrado y las ninfas y náyades saliendo del baño. El tramo se detiene en el cambio de plana.

«from the bath, gods of Olyrnpus minus their clouds and minus their clothes; Juno, Diana, Venus and Latona converging on a cathedral to hear Mass.» — [Fulcanelli] cómo sigue en la plana siguiente: Juno, Diana, Venus y Latona convergiendo en la catedral para oír misa; la grafía *Olyrnpus* es del OCR.

«Soufflot has to a large extent destroyed what the SoufFleurs7 could admire in the sixteenth century. And if art owes some gratitude to those eminent architects Toussaint, Geffroy Dechaume, Boeswillwald, Viollet-le-Duc and Lassus, who restored the basilica so odiously profaned, Science will never again find what it has» — [Fulcanelli] el reproche a las restauraciones: lo que Soufflot destruyó y lo que Toussaint, Geffroy Dechaume, Boeswillwald, Viollet-le-Duc y Lassus repusieron para el arte, la Ciencia no lo recupera.

«Souffleurs = 'puffers', vernacular word for alchemists, from the need to puff at their furnaces» — [Mary Sworder, en nota de traductora] explica el término *souffleurs* como palabra vernácula para los alquimistas, por la necesidad de soplar los hornos.

«However that may be, and in spite of these regrettable mutilations, the motifs still extant are sufficiently numerous to repay the time and trouble of a visit. Indeed I shall consider myself satisfied and amply rewarded if I have been able to awaken the curiosity of the reader, to hold the attention of the shrewd observer and to show to lovers of the occult that it is not impossible even now to rediscover the meaning of the secrets hidden under the petrified exterior of this wondrous book of magic.» — [Fulcanelli] declara su propósito: despertar la curiosidad del lector y mostrar que todavía es posible redescubrir el sentido escondido bajo el exterior petrificado de ese libro de magia.

«Metaphysical 1 Alchemy ISBN 0-914732-14-5 I S B N 0 9 L 4 7 3 2 - L 4 - 5 Brotherhood of Life» — [contracubierta] la clasificación editorial que la casa le pone al volumen y su ISBN, con la doble impresión del número que hace el OCR.

«Cfollows contents) .............................. Preface to the First Edition 5 ............................. Preface to the Second Edition 8 ................ Preface to the American Edition @llows page 18) Introduction .......................................... 19 .............................. Le Mystkre des Cathtdrales 33 Paris ................................................. 67 .............................................. Amiens 121 Bourges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 ............................. The Cyclic Cross of Hendaye 163 Conclusion» — [contenidos] el índice del volumen, que ordena las piezas y da sus folios impresos: dos prefacios de Canseliet, el prefacio a la edición norteamericana, la introducción, el cuerpo en cinco partes y la conclusión.

«The Sphinx protects and controls Science (Frontispiece) Our Lady-of-Confession. Black Virgin of the Crypts of St. Victor, Marseilles» — [láminas] la lista de ilustraciones abre con el frontispicio de la esfinge y sigue con la Virgen negra de las criptas de San Víctor de Marsella; las cuarenta y nueve láminas son de Julien Champagne.

«Porch of Judgement. The Alchemist protects the Athenor against external influences (facing page 78). Notre-Dame, Paris - Central Porch. The Crow-Putrefaction» — [láminas] dos pies de lámina del pórtico del Juicio y del pórtico central de Notre-Dame, que muestran el criterio de la serie: cada relieve se rotula ya con la operación alquímica que el libro le adjudica.

«Church of St. Trophime. Tympanum of the Porch (XIIth Century) (facing page 173).» — [láminas] el pie que cierra la lista, la última de las láminas, en Saint-Trophime de Arlés.

«while lamenting that he should so soon have departed. His numerous friends, those unknown brothers who hoped to obtain from him the solution to the mysterious Verbum dimissum (missing Word), will join with me in lamenting his loss.» — [Canseliet] el prefacio a la primera edición arranca en el troceo a media frase, lamentando la partida del maestro y nombrando a los amigos desconocidos que esperaban de él la solución del *Verbum dimissum*.

«Having reached the pinnacle of knowledge, could he refuse to obey the commands of Destiny? No man is a prophet in his own country. Perhaps this old saying gives the occult reason for the convulsion produced in the solitary and studious life of a philosopher by the flash of Revelation. Under the influence of that divine flame, the former man is entirely consumed. Name, family, native land, all the illusions, all the errors, all the vanities fall to dust. And, like the phoenix of the poets, a new personality is reborn from the a s p . That, at least, is how the philosophic Tradition would have it.» — [Canseliet] la razón que da de la desaparición: alcanzada la cumbre del saber, el hombre anterior se consume y renace una personalidad nueva como el ave fénix; lo atribuye expresamente a la Tradición filosófica, no a un hecho comprobado.

«Thanks to him, the Gothic cathedral has yielded up its secret.» — [Canseliet] lo que le adjudica al libro: que gracias a Fulcanelli la catedral gótica entregó su secreto.

«And it is not without surprise and emotion that we learn how our ancestors fashioned the first stone of its foundations, that dazzling gem, more precious than gold itself, on which Jesus built his Church.» — [Canseliet] y cómo lee ese secreto: los antepasados labraron la primera piedra del cimiento, gema más preciosa que el oro, sobre la cual Jesús edificó su Iglesia.

«All Truth, all Philosophy and all Religion rest on this unique and sacred Stone.» — [Canseliet] la extensión que le da a esa piedra única y sagrada: sobre ella descansan toda verdad, toda filosofía y toda religión.

«Many people, inflated with presumption, believe themselves capable of fashioning it; yet how rare are the elect, those who are sufficiently simple, learned and skilful to complete the task !» — [Canseliet] y su límite: muchos se creen capaces de labrarla y son rarísimos los elegidos bastante simples, doctos y hábiles para completar la tarea.

«It is enough for us to know that the wonders of the Middle Ages hold the same positive truth, the same scientific basis as the pyramids of Egypt, the temples of Greece, the Roman catacombs and the Byzantine basilicas.» — [Canseliet] equipara las maravillas de la Edad Media con las pirámides de Egipto, los templos de Grecia, las catacumbas romanas y las basílicas bizantinas: misma verdad positiva, misma base científica.

«This is the overall theme of FulcaneIli's book. The hermeticists-those at least who are worthy of the name-will discover other things here.» — [Canseliet] fija el tema del libro y, en seguida, aparta a los herméticos como lectores de otro orden; la grafía del nombre es la que imprime la capa de texto.

«I know, not from having discovered it myself, but because I was assured of it by the author more than ten years ago, that the key to the major arcanum is given quite openly in one of the figures, illustrating the present work.» — [Canseliet] la revelación que dice hacer por encargo: la clave del arcano mayor está dada abiertamente en una de las figuras que ilustran el libro, y él lo sabe porque el autor se lo aseguró hace más de diez años.

«And this key consists quite simply in a colour revealed to the artisan right from the first work. No Philosopher, to my knowledge, has emphasized the importance of this essential point.» — [Canseliet] y en qué consiste esa clave según él: un color que se le revela al artesano desde la primera obra, punto que ningún filósofo habría subrayado.

«And now may I be permitted, in the name of the Brothers of Heliopolis and in my own name, warmly to thank the artist, to whom my master has entrusted the illustration of his work. For it is indeed due to the sincere and scrupulous talent of the artist Julien Champagne that Le Myst2re des Cathkdrales is able to wrap its esotericism in a superb cloak of original plates.» — [Canseliet] cierra agradeciendo, en nombre de los Hermanos de Heliópolis y en el suyo, al artista Julien Champagne, a quien el maestro confió las láminas.

«Indeed, right from the time that his first writings were compiled, the Master expressed his absolute and unshakeable resolve to keep his real identity in the background and to insist that the label given him by society should be unequivocally exchanged for the pseudonym-already familiar in his case-required by Tradition.» — [Canseliet] el prefacio a la segunda edición declara el seudónimo como decisión del propio autor: el maestro resolvió mantener su identidad real en segundo plano y cambiar por completo la etiqueta social por el seudónimo que la Tradición exige.

«This celebrated name is so firmly secured, even to the remotest future, that it would be absolutely impossible for any patronymic, even the most brilliant or most highly esteemed, to be substituted for it.» — [Canseliet] y sostiene que ningún patronímico, por brillante o estimado que sea, podría sustituir a ese nombre célebre.

«One should at least realize that the author of a work of such high quality would not abandon it the moment it came into the world, unless he had pertinent and compelling reasons, long pondered, for so doing.» — [Canseliet] la objeción que se adelanta: quien escribe una obra así no la abandona al nacer sin razones pertinentes y largamente meditadas.

«It should be said that the case of Fulcanelli is unique in the realm of Letters in our day, since it derives from an infinitely superior code of ethics.» — [Canseliet] llama único el caso de Fulcanelli en las letras de su tiempo y lo deriva de un código de ética infinitamente superior.

«When Le Mystbre des Cathddrales was written down in 1922, Fulcanelli had not yet received the Gift of God, but he was so close to supreme Illumination that he judged it necessary to wait and to keep the anonymity, which he had always observed-more, perhaps, from natural inclination than from strict regard for the rule of secrecy. We must say, certainly, that this man of another age, with his strange appearance, his old-fashioned manners and his unusual occupations, involuntarily attracted the attention of the idle, the curious and the foolish. *Much greater, however, was the attention he was to attract a little later by the complete disappearance of his common presence.» — [Canseliet] la fecha de redacción y el estado en que sitúa al autor: escrito en 1922, cuando Fulcanelli aún no había recibido el Don de Dios pero estaba tan cerca de la Iluminación suprema que juzgó necesario esperar y guardar el anonimato.

«appeared at their appointed time on the great highway like beacons of hope and mercy. What perfect filial duty, carried to the ultimate degree, in order that the eternal, universal and indivisible Truth might continually be reaffirmed in its double aspect, the spiritual and the scientific.» — [Canseliet] sitúa a Fulcanelli en una serie de adeptos que aparecen a su hora como faros, para que la Verdad se reafirme en su doble aspecto, el espiritual y el científico.

«Fulcanelli, like most- of the Adepts of old, in casting off the worn-out. husk of his former self, left nothing on the road but the phantom trace of his signature-a signature, whose aristocratic nature is amply shown by his visiting card.» — [Canseliet] la única huella que dice que quedó del maestro: el rastro fantasma de una firma, cuya nobleza probaría su tarjeta de visita; el guion suelto tras *most* es del OCR.

«Anyone with knowledge of the alchemical books of the past will accept as a basic premise that oral instruction from master to pupil is the most valuable of all.» — [Canseliet] la premisa que da por básica: la instrucción oral de maestro a discípulo es la más valiosa de todas.

«Fulcanelli received his own initiation in this way, as I myself received mine from him, although I owe it to myself to state that Cyliani had already opened wide for me the great door of the labyrinth during that week in 191 5, when the new edition of his little work was published.» — [Canseliet] declara su propia línea de iniciación y la anterior: Fulcanelli se inició así y él lo hizo por Fulcanelli, aunque Cyliani ya le había abierto la puerta del laberinto en 1915; la fecha sale partida por el OCR.

«At that time I did not know of the very moving letter, which I shall quote a little later, which owes its striking effect to the warm enthusiasm and fervent expression of» — [Canseliet] introduce así la carta anónima que reproduce en el prefacio y le adjudica su efecto al entusiasmo del que escribe.

«Both writer and recipient remain anonymous, because the signature bas been scratched out and there is no superscription. The recipient was undoubtedly Fulcanelli's master and Fulcanelli left this revealing letter among his own papers.» — [Canseliet] el estado material de la carta: sin firma ni sobrescrito, y el destinatario sería el maestro de Fulcanelli.

«It bears two crossed brown lines at the folds. from having been kept for a long time in his pocket book, which did not, however, protect it from the fine, greasy dust of the enormous stove going all the time.» — [Canseliet] la descripción física de la carta, que le sirve de prueba de uso: dos rayas pardas cruzadas en los dobleces y el polvo graso del horno encendido a toda hora.

«So, for many years, the author of Le Mystbre des Cathkdrales kept as a talisman the written proof of the triumph of his true initiator, which nothing any longer prevents me from publishing;» — [Canseliet] lo que dice haber guardado Fulcanelli como talismán: la prueba escrita del triunfo de su verdadero iniciador.

«This time you have really had the Gift of God; it is a great blessing and, for the first time, I understand how rare this favour is.» — [carta anónima citada por Canseliet] la fórmula con que el corresponsal anuncia al destinatario que ha obtenido el Don de Dios.

«Indeed, I believe that, in its unfathomable depth of simplicity, the arcanum cannot be found by the force of reason alone, however subtle and well trained it may be.» — [carta anónima citada por Canseliet] y el límite que le pone a la razón: el arcano no se halla por la sola fuerza del razonamiento, por sutil y adiestrado que sea.

«what confirms me in my certainty is that the fire goes out only when the Work is accomplished and the whole tinctorial mass impregnates the glass, which, from decantation to decantation, remains absolutely saturated and becomes luminous like the sun.» — [carta anónima citada por Canseliet] la única seña operativa que da la carta: el fuego se apaga solo cuando la Obra está cumplida y la masa tintórea impregna el vidrio hasta volverlo luminoso.

«you are good, and it is for this great virtue that God has crowned you with the diadem of true royalty.» — [carta anónima citada por Canseliet] el elogio con que cierra: es la bondad, y no la elocuencia, lo que Dios corona con la diadema de la verdadera realeza.

«My wife, with the inexplicable intuition of sensitives, had a really strange dream. She saw a man enveloped in all the colours of the rainbow and raised up to the sun.» — [carta anónima citada por Canseliet] el sueño que el corresponsal atribuye a su mujer: un hombre envuelto en todos los colores del arcoíris y elevado hasta el sol.

«He who knows how to do the Work by the one and only mercury has found the most perfect thing-that is to say he has received the light and accomplished the Magistery.» — [carta anónima citada por Canseliet] la sentencia con que se cierra la epístola: quien sabe hacer la Obra por el único mercurio ha recibido la luz y cumplido el Magisterio.

«One passage may perhaps have disconcerted the attentive reader, who is already familiar with the main ideas of the hermetic problem. This was when the intimate and wise correspondent exclaimed : 'Ah! One can almost say that he, who has greeted the morning star has for ever lost the use of his sight and his reason, because he is fascinated by their false light and cast into the abyss.' Does not this phrase apparently contradict what I stated twenty years ago, in a study of the Golden Fleece,' namely that the star is the great sign of the Work;» — [Canseliet] señala él mismo la contradicción aparente entre esa advertencia y lo que él sostuvo veinte años antes sobre la estrella como gran signo de la Obra, y no la armoniza de entrada.

«It may have been noted that I specified briefly that the hermetic star is admired first of all in the mirror of the art or mercury, before being discovered in the chemical sky, where it shines in an infinitely more discreet manner.» — [Canseliet] la distinción con que responde: la estrella hermética se admira primero en el espejo del arte o mercurio y solo después se descubre en el cielo químico.

«Our star is single and yet it is double. Know how to distinguish its true imprint from its image and you will observe that it shines» — [Fulcanelli, en apuntes de sus pláticas que Canseliet copia] la fórmula de la estrella única y doble. La cita se corta aquí porque el troceo mete a continuación la nota al pie sobre *Alchimie* dentro del cuerpo.

«with more intensity in the light of day than in the darkness of night.» — [Fulcanelli, en apuntes que Canseliet copia] el remate al otro lado de la nota: esa estrella brillaría con más intensidad a la luz del día que en la oscuridad de la noche.

«Two stars have been granted to man by the Gods, in order to lead him to the great Wisdom: observe them. Oh man! and follow their light with constancy, because it is Wisdom.» — [Basilio Valentín, citado por Canseliet de los *Douze Clefs*] las dos estrellas concedidas al hombre por los dioses para llevarlo a la gran Sabiduría.