Oldal 211 [211]
Is THE MYSTICISM OF GIORDANO BRUNO A FORM OF INITIATION
1. Close connection with a supernatural plane.
The idea of this type of initiation entails the difference between a natural
and a supernatural domain; between the plane of being and the reign of
becoming; between the level of the causes and the sphere of the things caused.
Initiation has a divine nature, and it provides for the connection of the effect
with its cause, of the human being with the divine cause.
2. Adaptation of the divine pole to the human level.
In order to realize the above-mentioned determining supernatural
connection, a preliminary feature of initiation lies with the adaptation
of the divine qualities to different times and spaces, i.e., the adaptation of
the unicity of the cause to the multiplicity of human beings. This kind of
adaptation does not overcome the hierarchical relationship between the cause
and the effect. Connection and adaptation represent the way in which access
is established from the natural to the supernatural domain.
3. The preliminary presence of the divine in man.
Initiation is not an act ofa divine cause on a human being who is completely
foreign, as compared to the divinity. In order to achieve radical ontological
transmutation, the human being has to be many-sided from the outset.
A divine element, if not a divine nature, must be present in humankind and is
required for the process of initiation.
4. Ritual death and second birth.
Radical ontological transmutation entails a crucial interruption of ordinary
life. It is possible to consider this mechanism as a ritual death. In this context,
death represents a clear rift between the condition of the initiate and his or
her ordinary life. This death relates to the individual who is able to reconnect
to his or her divine origin and make such a reconnection actual and operative.
The ritual death thus also represents a second birth, because it is the beginning
of a new kind of life, marked by the manifestation of a supernatural nature.
5. Ritual nature of the process of initiation.
Since it creates a new personality, initiation implies the passage to a new
temporal order, in which the articulation oftime does not represent a limitation
but is assumed asa field of expression for the individual. This kind of different
relationship to time implies, furthermore, a different conception of space: the
initiate is able to rule the spatio-temporal coordinates by virtue of a radical,
qualitative mutation. The moment of initiation represents the separation from
the ordinary articulation of time, a separation which is accomplished through
a series of normed ritual actions, permitting the instauration of an original
moment within a new spatio-temporal threshold.
6. Radical reformation of the human soul.
Initiation entails a radical transmutation on a gnoseological and ontological
level. The initiate reaches a metaphysical level which is different from her or
his ordinary status. Initiation is a condition which enables the activation of
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