At this point, the following question must be put: in order that dissolution may be fully realized, is it sufficient that the movement by which the ‘reign of quantity’ asserts itself with ever-growing intensity should be more or less left to itself, and be allowed to pursue its own course right up to its final goal? The truth is that such a possibility, which has indeed already been suggested in what has been said about the contemporary conceptions of the physicists and the implications they carry as it were unconsciously (for it is obvious that modern ‘scientists’ have no idea where they are going), belongs rather to a theoretical outlook on the situation, a ‘unilateral’ outlook affording only a very partial view of what must really happen. Actually, in order to undo the ‘knots’ resulting from the ‘solidification’ that has been going on up till now (and the word ‘knots’ is used intentionally, as it suggests the effects of a certain kind of ‘coagulation’ particularly connected with the realm of magic) the intervention of something more directly effective for the purpose in view is required, and this something must no longer belong to the domain, the very restricted domain, to which the ‘reign of quantity’ itself properly belongs. It is easy to perceive, from the occasional indications already given, that the action of influences of the subtle order is involved; such action really began long ago to operate in the modern world, although at first it did so in no very apparent manner, and it has actually always co-existed with materialism from the very moment at which the latter was first constituted in a clearly defined form, as was indicated earlier when dealing with magnetism and spiritualism, and the borrowings they have made from the scientific ‘mythology’ of the period in which they came to birth. As has also been pointed out before, though it be true that the hold of materialism is slackening, there is no occasion to rejoice at the fact, for cyclical manifestation is not yet complete, and the ‘fissures’ then alluded to, the nature of which will shortly receive further consideration, can only be produced from below; in other words, that which ‘interferes’ with the sensible world through those ‘fissures’ can be nothing but an inferior ‘cosmic psychism’ in its most destructive and disorganizing forms, and it is moreover clear that influences of this kind are the only ones that are really suited for action having dissolution as its objective. It is not difficult to see that thenceforth everything that tends to favor and to extend these ‘interferences’ merely corresponds, whether consciously or otherwise, to a fresh phase of the deviation of which materialism in reality represented a less ‘advanced’ stage, even though the outward appearances of things may not seem to support this view, appearances often being highly deceptive.
While on this subject it seems desirable to point out that ill-informed ‘traditionalists’[113] thoughtlessly rejoice at seeing modern science in its various branches escaping to some extent from the narrow limits within which its conceptions have been enclosed up till now, and taking an attitude less grossly materialistic than that maintained in the last century; they are even ready to suppose that in some way or another profane science will in the end be reunited with traditional science (of which their knowledge is minimal in extent and singularly inaccurate, being chiefly based on modern deformations and ‘counterfeits’), but this, for reasons of principle that have often been insisted on, is quite impossible. These same ‘traditionalists’ also rejoice, perhaps even more unreservedly, at seeing certain manifestations of subtle influences coming more and more into the open, but it does not occur to them to wonder what in the end may prove to be the true ‘quality’ of these influences (perhaps they do not even suspect that there is any occasion to ask such a question); and they base great hopes on what today is called ‘metapsychics’ as the key to the cure of the ills of the modern world, which they are usually content to attribute exclusively to materialism as such, this again being a rather unfortunate delusion. What they do not see (and in this they are much more influenced than they think by the modern spirit with all the insufficiencies inherent in it) is that they are really faced with a fresh stage in the development, perfectly logical but of a logic truly ‘diabolical’, of the ‘plan’ according to which the progressive deviation of the modern world is brought about. In this ‘plan’ materialism has of course played its part, and undeniably a highly important part, but the mere negation that it represents has now become inadequate. It has given efficient service in denying to man access to possibilities of a superior order, but it has not the power to unchain the inferior forces that alone can bring to finality the work of disorder and dissolution.
The materialistic attitude, because of its inherent limitations, involves risks that are similarly limited; its ‘thickness’, figuratively speaking, protects anyone who persists in holding to it from all subtle influences without distinction, and confers on him a sort of immunity more or less like that of a mollusc living firmly enclosed in its shell, the materialist deriving from this immunity the impression of security previously referred to. The shell may be taken to represent the aggregate of conventionally recognized scientific conceptions and of the corresponding mental habits, together with the ‘hardening’ of the ‘psycho-physiological’ constitution of the individual which they produce,[114] and if an opening is made in this shell from below, as described earlier, the destructive subtle influences will at once make their way in, and they will do so all the more easily because, thanks to the negative work accomplished in the preceding phase, no element of a superior order will be able to intervene in such a way as to counteract them. It could also be said that the period of materialism constitutes no more than a sort of preparation, predominantly theoretical, whereas the period of inferior psychism introduces a ‘pseudo-realization’ leading in exactly the opposite direction to that of true spiritual realization, but a fuller explanation of this last point must await a later chapter. The paltry security of ‘ordinary life’, which was the inseparable accompaniment of materialism, is indeed from now onward seriously threatened, and it will no doubt soon be seen more and more clearly, and by more and more people, as having been a mere delusion; but what advantage can this perception bring, if its sole result is an immediate fall into another delusion, worse and more dangerous from every point of view, because it involves consequences much more extensive and more profound? This other delusion is that of an ‘inverted spirituality’, and the various ‘neo-spiritualist’ movements that have arisen and reached a certain development in our times, not excepting those which already show a more definitely ‘subversive’ character, still represent no more than a weak and tentative prelude to it.
113
The word ‘traditionalism’ denotes only a tendency that may be more or less vague and often wrongly applied, because it does not imply any effective knowledge of traditional truths; this matter will again be referred to later.
114
It is of interest to note that the expression ‘hardened materialist’ is freely used in current speech, doubtless without any suspicion that it is no mere figure of speech, but actually corresponds to something very real.