The Ancient Tradition

"...when one finds such concordances everywhere, is this not more than a mere indication of the existence of a primordial tradition?...only a little unprejudiced research is required to discover on all sides the signs of this essential doctrinal unity...And in proportion as one advances in this research, the points of comparison seem to multiply of their own accord and new proofs appear constantly..."

"The earliest known religion is a belief in the divinity of kings...[his transformation as] a young prince into a god on the day of his anointing...deifi[cation] while living." "The original function was to turn a man into a god." "A few of its dogmas...are fairly constant all over the world..." [The] coronation ceremonies...are made up of numerous rites and observances, some of which are remarkably constant." "I think enough evidence has been set out to justify us in deriving from one common source all the coronation rites..."

"...we everywhere find the symbolism of the Center of the World; an it is this symbolism which, in the majority of cases, explains religious behavior..."

"In the minds of all these ancient people, the central place was not only the center of the cosmos, it was where creation began, where order and life first emerged. It was also where heaven communicated with earth and where the world was renewed through celestial power....Temples were built there. Rituals were performed there. Rulers were enthroned there."

"...it is seen that the various strands of comparative evidence concerning the identity of the mythical travelers on the axis mundi neatly converge in the metaphysical doctrine of ancient Egypt, suggesting the ultimate unity of such concepts..."

"The supremely sacred places- altars and sanctuaries- were...constructed according to the traditional canons. But, in the last analysis, this construction was based on a primeval revelation which disclosed the archetype of the sacred space in ill tempore, an archetype which was then indefinitely copied and copied again with the erection of every new altar, temple or sanctuary. We find examples everywhere of the construction of a sacred place following an archetypal pattern."