Secret_History

Chapter 12
Out of Time
Once Upon a Time
It is in the sense outlined in this book that I propose that the myths and rites of
the ancients are a dim reflection of ancient science, and that it is only due to the
advances of modern science that we have any hope of deciphering this technology,
this “science of the soul”, this Great Work of Alchemy. It does no one any good
for these matters to be consigned to the realms of magic and mysticism and
mumbo jumbo artists of all forms and sorts who only manage to embarrass
themselves, and drive legitimate scientists away with their nonsense, their silly
“sacred geometry” and Kabbalistic rants.
Fulcanelli tells us that the Gothic Cathedrals are an expression of the initiatory
power of a learned and transcendent philosophy. He points out that they are
“severe and austere productions, not the light, graceful, and pleasing motifs”, such
as the emotional art of the Renaissance. In saying this, he is making an important
point. And he drives his point home by remarking that:
While the latter aspire only to flatter the eye or to charm the senses, the artistic and
literary works of the Middle Ages are founded on higher thought, true and concrete,
the cornerstone of an immutable science, the indestructible basis of religion. 372
Right in these words, Fulcanelli has given us more evidence that our view of the
key is correct. He has said that “higher thought” is the “cornerstone”. And in many
other places, this “stone” is the same one that is described as the “first stone” of
the work. So we understand that “higher thought” is the means of achieving the
Stone. He then asks us playfully if we would like an example?
Well, sure!
Fulcanelli then directs us to look at a figure from a tympanum from the 12 th
century. The figure is of a master teaching a pupil, pointing a finger to the pages of
an open book. Beneath these figures there is a vigorous athlete strangling a
372 Fulcanelli, Dwellings, p. 35.