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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GENRE OF THE INITIATION NOVEL... of light and the symbols of the threadstring as the signs of the link between immanence and transcendence, a link which keeps human memory awake and will not let it sleep. It has been asserted by critics that the motif of the Moon can be understood as a symbol of intuition, but it must be added that it also reflects the difference in the understanding of this symbol by Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism. With its rationalism, Freemasonry is more oriented around the Sun and its light, while Rosicrucianism accents the nocturnal, irrational aspect of our existence. (This is why, in Bulgakov, motifs of dream function actively, and the Master exclaims: “I have guessed!” However, we should not forget that in the systems of the Rosicrucians, the Sun is also important, but mainly when it rises.) At the same time, the moonlit path as the connection between immanence and transcendence makes evident the possibility of ascent “up the staircase to the Moon” (ad realiora), a reward granted to Pilate. This possibility of ascent is inherent in different people to differing extents, as shown by Bulgakov in the final scenes of the novel. But Bulgakov’s novel also shows that transcendence is manifest in the text of the novel as such, the written text being an eternal entity in the collective memory of mankind. An ancient Egyptian text dating back to the 19" dynasty (the 13° century B.C.) expresses the same idea of life's transition into a text and memory preserved in a written text: A man died, his body turned into ashes, and his folk left the land. But his writings will be preserved in the memory and on the lips of the living. The book is more useful than a spacious house, [...] better than the palace of the rich, better than a gravestone in the temple... The wise have foretold what is to come... It is sealed in their dictums and books... Others’ children have become their inheritors... They passed away, but did not forget their names, and live in their writings and human memory. [...] A man is dead, his corpse is in the ground: when all his family are laid in the earth, it is his writing that lets him be remembered...’ Mikhail Bulgakov’s Work and the Tradition of Symbolism. The Problems of the Intiation Novel), Roma, Russica Romana X, 2003, 105-125. 12 Chester Beatty Papyri IV, sheet 4 recto 9-10-12 verso 1-3, 10684. Translation by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings, Volume II: The New Kingdom, Berkeley - London, 1976. + 281 ¢ Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 281 6 2020. 06.15. 11:04:24
