Esotericism and the Worldview of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Russian Freemasonry: Toward a Conceptualization Текст научной статьи по специальности «Философия, этика, религиоведение»

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Yury Khalturin

Esotericism and the Worldview of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Russian Freemasonry: Toward a Conceptualization

Translation by anonymous

Yury Khalturin — Independent Researcher; Member of the Association for the Study of Esotericism and Mysticism (Moscow, Russia). [email protected]

This article represents an attempt to characterize the worldview of Russian Freemasons of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Instead of relying on the concept of "Christian mysticism," which Khalturin finds to be highly problematic, it draws on the theory of "Western esotericism as a form of thought" developed by Antoine Faivre, applying it to the study of archival materials from the Masonic collections in the Russian State Library's Manuscript Division. The benefits of this new conceptualization are as follows: firstly, it helps to explain contradictions in the Masonic worldview; secondly, through reconstructing this worldview as an integral system, it provides a key to understanding certain enigmatic Masonic texts; thirdly, it can help us to situate Russian Freemasonry historically so that we can understand its role as the "third pillar" of Russian culture along with Orthodox Christianity and Enlightenment rationalism.

This text is a substantially revised version of an article first published in Russian: Khalturin, Yury. (2013). "Ezoterizm i mirovozzrenie russkogo masonstva XVIII - XIX vekov: popytka opredeleniia." Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom

31(4): 87-112.

Keywords: Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, esotericism, principle of correspondences, living nature, mediation, transmutation, practice of concordance.

RUSSIAN Freemasonry of the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries represents an exceedingly complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. In Russia, there existed many Masonic systems, regulations, disciplines, orders and the like (Serkov 2000; Vernadskii 2001; Melgunov and Sidorov 1991). However, the Rosicrucian Order, whose doctrine and practice were concentrated most intensely on mystical, esoteric and occult themes, offers the greatest interest for investigators of Russian religious life in this period (Kondakov 2012a; Kondakov 2012b). Actually, when referring to Russian Rosicrucians, this essay will have in view the entire esoteric tradition in Russia (at least for the designated period). In addition, the most noteworthy representatives of Freemasonry, who had direct influence on Russian culture, religious thought, and politics, belonged to that Masonic system, including N. I. Novikov, S. I. Gamaleia, I. G. Shvarts, I. V. Lopukhin, A. F. Labzin, I. A. Posdeev, and S. S. Lan-skoi, among many others. Moreover, the most substantial corpus of material preserved in Russian archives derives from the Rosicrucian Order (held first and foremost in the archives of the Russian National Library and the Russian State Library—this article relies on archival materials preserved in the manuscript division of the latter: NIOR RGB). Henceforward, this article will treat the terms "Russian Rosicrucianism" and "Russian Freemasonry" as synonyms. After all, the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross, which propounded Rosicrucian ideology, was organized as a Masonic system, and in their writings its members identified themselves as both "R. K." (rozenkreitsery, i. e., Rosicrucians) and "V. K." (vol'nye kamenshchiki, i. e., Free Masons).

An investigator of the intellectual and spiritual heritage of the Masonic Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross confronts many problems.

1. Empirical problems. On the one hand, abundant sources, exceeding the capacity of any single researcher, while on the other, their obvious inadequacy, especially for the history of the higher degrees of enlightenment and the esoteric aspects of Masonic doctrine.

2. Ideological problems. The long tradition of criticizing the mystical component of the Masonic worldview and its significance for Russian culture on the part of both liberal

pre-revolutionary historians and Soviet researchers, the various "conspiracy theories," and the like.

3. Hermeneutic problems. Contemporary scholars find many Masonic texts difficult to read and comprehend because the worldview they express is so distant, linguistically and historically, from the present.

4. However, the key problem is the fourth—the methodological problem. In the first place, a conceptual approach to the worldview of Russian Masons is lacking. Moreover, its various aspects are very poorly studied, and there is no precise definition of the Masonic worldview as a unified whole. As a result, complications arise in the analysis of Masonic texts, in the reconstruction of Masonic doctrine as a system, and in the evaluation of the role of Freemasonry in Russian culture. In this article, I would like to propose such a contextual approach.

Problems with the Conception of Russian Freemasonry as "Christian Mysticism"

Let me begin with a few words about how the most significant previous researchers of Freemasonry have defined the Masonic worldview. Practically all scholars who have studied Russian Freemasonry agree that Rosicrucianism (the most influential, long-lasting and well-developed system within the intellectual corpus of Russian Freemasonry) represented a variety of mysticism. This approach dates back to Nikolai Karamzin's well-known remarks about Nikolai Novikov:

Around 1785, he established a Masonic tie with the Berlin Theosophists, and in Moscow became the head of the so-called Martinists, who were (or in essence were) nothing other than Christian mystics. They interpreted nature and humanity, sought the secret meaning of the Old and New Testament, praised ancient traditions, belittled the wisdom taught in schools and the like. They also demanded of their students that they possess genuine Christian virtues and avoid involvement in politics. Their regulations required fealty to the tsar. (Karamzin 1964: 231)

This excerpt defines both the positive and negative dimensions of Freemasonry according to Karamzin's point of view. All subsequent investigators have repeated this evaluation, together with the conclusion that Freemasonry contributed to the development of the moral

consciousness of Russian society, but at the same time to the rejection of the role of science and reason in favor of faith, tradition, revelation and Holy Writ.

The leading early researcher of Russian Freemasonry, Alexander Pypin (1833-1904), wrote: "Mysticism constitutes one of the main characteristics of our Freemasonry, just as it was also very widespread in eighteenth-century European society" (Pypin 1916: 204). Calling the worldview of Russian Freemasons nothing more than "dreamy mysticism" and "mysticism and pietism," Pypin held an exceedingly negative view of Freemasonry (Pypin 1916: 80, 84). In his eyes, it was a "strange, obscure, fantastic, in the final analysis, even ridiculous thing" (Pypin 1916: 85). However, more important than this appraisal was Pypin's definition of mysticism:

The name mysticism is generally applied to a moral and religious view that accepts that a clear conception of the divine being, nature and humanity is impossible for ordinary human comprehension, and that positive religion does not offer it, either. Instead, it is achieved through an unmediated approach to the divine being, a miraculous unity with the higher divine world that takes place without any participation by arid reason. (Pypin 1916: 204)

For Pypin, this contempt for reason and rational thought, the priority given to inner contemplation, emotion, fantasy and faith were the basic characteristics of mysticism. From his point of view, "mysticism leads very naturally to obscurantism" (Pypin 1916: 206). It is the very opposite of positive knowledge and science, and consequently must be either a delusion or charlatanism, a result either of ignorance or individual greed. In the Russian case, mysticism arose from delusion and ignorance, in Pypin's opinion. Russian Freemasons sought genuine ideals and values, but, because of the weak development of enlightenment and the dogmatism of the church, they became inclined to vague mysticism. By contrast, Germany, from which Russian Freemasons adopted the Rosicrucian Order, represented charlatanism, deceit and conscious intrigue. But one way or the other, mysticism for Pypin was superstition, not however, for the masses, but rather for educated society, the intelligentsia, the result of helplessness caused by its inadequate education (Pypin 2010: 202-16).

Many other scholars have repeated Pypin's and Karamzin's appraisal. For example, Nikolai Bulich, a nineteenth-century historian of Russian literature and a professor at Kazan University, reiterated many

of Pypin's clichés. Russian Freemasonry was "mysticism," "pietism," "a delusion," "an absurdity," "a fog" (Bulich 2010: 107-17). However, Stepan Eshevsky, a pre-revolutionary historian and professor at the same university who preserved for future researchers a large quantity of Masonic manuscripts (now fond 147 of the Manuscript Division of the Russian State Library), offered a more favorable evaluation. Concurring with the definition of Freemasonry as a "mystical science," he considered that the very appeal of mysticism to peoples' feelings and imagination provided a more beneficial moral influence on them than the skepticism and chilly rationalism of enlightenment ideology and science (Eshevskii 2010: 117-22). Pavel Miliukov put forth a similarly positive appraisal (Miliukov 2010: 130-31), as did other nineteenth-and early twentieth-century commentators including the activist, publicist, amateur historian and marshal of the nobility Nil Koliupanov (Koliupanov 2010: 136-40), and Vasily Sipovsky, historian of Russian literature and subsequently professor at Leningrad University and corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences (Sipovskii 2010: 140-45).

In other words, there appeared among the majority of pre-revo-lutionary researchers of the topic an unspoken agreement that the worldview of Russian Freemasons was nothing other than mysticism. The few Soviet historians of Masonic philosophy subscribed to this view as well (Boldyrev 1986: 155-74; Kurdiukov 1968: 7-12; Utki-na and Sukhov 1991: 157-72; Plimak 1957: 50-62; Shchipanov 1971: 80-89). Only appraisals differed. Some investigators regarded mysticism as superior to materialism, but the majority judged it from the standpoint of liberal enlightenment ideology or the standpoint of materialism and condemned it as a regressive and reactionary phenomenon in comparison to the philosophy of enlighteners. Alexander Nez-elenov, a late nineteenth-century historian of Russian literature at St. Petersburg University, summed up the situation very well: "our researchers of Freemasonry agree in recognizing that mysticism was one of its main characteristics" (Nezelenov 1875: 80). However, there are scholars who have attempted to transcend such a simplified and schematic view of Masonic ideology.

Georgy Vernadsky was one of the first to notice that not all the ideas of Russian Freemasons could be categorized under the broad umbrella of mysticism. In his 1917 study Russian Freemasonry during the Reign of Catherine II (Russkoe masonstvo v tsarstvovanie Ekat-eriny II), he defined the Masonic worldview not only through the term "mysticism," but also through a number of others: pietism, quietism,

hermeticism, mystical philosophy, hermetic science, religious philosophy, mystical-hermetic literature (Vernadskii 2001: 76, 78, 131-33). Unfortunately, while offering a more complex portrait of Masonic thought, Vernadsky neglected to provide more precise definitions of the terms he used, or to explore their interconnections in order to reconstruct Masonic philosophy as a single integral system. However, it remains very important that he paid attention to facts that contradict the definition of Russian Rosicrucianism as mysticism, and especially to the important role that Russian Freemasons attributed to reason, the intellect and science as among the various capacities that God granted to humans and even as forms of divine revelation (Ver-nadskii 2001: 111-14). Thus mysticism somehow meshed with rationalism among Russian Freemasons, but how, exactly, Vernadsky does not explain. He regarded rationalism as a stage through which Russian Freemasons passed and which they overcame in their quest for higher mystical understanding.

Vladimir Tukalevsky, author of the book The Quests of Russian Freemasons (Iskaniia russkikh masonov) also observed the contradictory unity of rationalism and mysticism in the philosophy of Russian Freemasons. He viewed the contradiction between rationalism and mysticism as in fact the motive force behind these very quests. In explaining the strange combination of these two opposite modes of thought, Tukalevsky stressed differences in the particular world-views of various authors and in the historical stages of Masonic development (Tukalevskii 1911). However, this explanation is insufficient, since often both tendencies are present in one and the same text by one and the same author, or in various texts of one and the same historical period.

The late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historian of Freemasonry Alexander Semeka also remarked upon the presence of two tendencies in the Masonic worldview: Rosicrucian doctrine "is sharply divided into two parts: one of them can be called spiritual and moral, the other scientific and philosophical" (Semeka 1902: 7). Along with the epithet "mystical," when defining the Masonic worldview, the historian of Russian philosophy Vasily Zenkovsky used terms such as Gnostic, occult and esoteric. He emphasized that in Freemasonry, "besides religious and mystical tendencies, natural philosophical tendencies persistently stand out" (Zen'kovskii 1991: 100). In addition, he stressed that "Freemasonry called for the unity of faith and knowledge (Zen'kovskii 1991: 109). Thus, from Zenkovsky's perspective, the Masonic worldview in no way contradicted rationalism and enlighten-

ment, but was rather among the varieties of enlightenment ideology and even, still more broadly, contributed to the processes of Westernization and secularization. Moreover, from Zenkovsky's point of view, Freemasonry was not a marginal and erroneous Russian cultural phenomenon, but rather quite the opposite, a phenomenon that was typical and that anticipated the further development of Russian religious philosophy. This conception presents Masonic thought as both complex and multifaceted, but unfortunately the worldview of Russian Freemasons was not Zenkovsky's primary research subject.

It was Nezelenov who set forth the conception of Freemasonry that most radically diverged with its image as "Christian mysticism" . In his study of Novikov, he called Russian Freemasonry a "worldly monastic order" and a "collection of individuals with a mystical frame of mind," on the one hand (Nezelenov 1875: 79). But on the other, he wrote that "at the basis of Freemasonry lay an elevated idealism (...) which, however, descended (...) into the coarsest materialism" (Nezelenov 1875: 105). By materialism, Nezelenov had in mind the attraction of Freemasons to alchemy, the transformation of objects into gold, the deification of nature and "incarnation" of the divine, intercourse with spirits, magic and the like. Noting the Masonic conception of nature, God and humanity as essences consisting of male and female principles, Nezelenov concluded that Freemasons believed in the Mother of the World, "in a pagan goddess, the Mother of God of the Flagellators [Kh-lysty]," and concluded that "here, Freemasonry becomes paganism" (Nezelenov, 1875: 115). Nezelenov also saw Pagan materialism in Masonic rituals, which seemed to him to echo Pagan mysteries and sacrifices, in Masonic symbols with their baroque tableau that defied rational interpretation, in the Masonic striving to rule over nature and spirits, in the collection of payment for initiation and in much else. In other words, from Nezelenov's perspective, Freemasonry only seemed like Christian mysticism and idealism. In fact, it was Pagan materialism, not "worldly monasticism" at all, but rather a "flagellant sect" for the intelligentsia.

If one generalizes from criticism of approaches to the worldview of Russian Freemasonry as Christian mysticism, several problems or questions can be formulated:

1. If Russian Freemasons genuinely considered themselves to be "true Christians," and their order an "inner church" to be headed by Jesus Christ himself, how then can one explain the presence in their worldview of Pagan motifs, their attraction to Egyptian hermeticism and Jewish Kab-

balism and many other non-Christian mythologies and doctrines? How did they combine "true Christianity" with the teachings of Jakob Böhme and Emanuel Swedenborg, mesmerism and other occult theories?

2. How did Russian Freemasons combine their mysticism (that is, their renunciation of free will and reason in favor of tradition, revelation and faith) with their faith in the power of reason and human will, with the rationalistic and Gnostic elements of their doctrine, and with their struggle against fanaticism and fideism? How is it that mysticism, presupposing the passivity of humans in their unmediated union with the divine, their unique dissolution in the divine, was combined in Russian Freemasonry with the supernatural and occultism, which presuppose humans actively exerting influence on nature and the divine through the action of intermediaries (spirits, angels and demons)? How did the mystical worldview of Russian freemasonry coexist with enlightenment practices (publishing, the organizing of seminars on translation and pedagogy, of pharmacies, philanthropy and charity)?

3. The various formulations of the goals of Freemasonry offer an example of contradictions in the Masonic worldview that require special interpretation. How did Russian Freemasonry combine such diverse goals as: a) "to make people more virtuous and draw them together"; b) "experimentation with the nature of things and by that means to acquire the force and power needed to reform other people; medical science; the renewal of bodies; the transmutation of metals"; c) "merger with the divine (...), intercourse with spirits" (Nezelenov 1875: 88)?

The adherents of a mystical conception of Freemasonry overlook these contradictions or try to avoid noticing them, while their critics, although noticing these contradictions, explain neither the nature of the contradictions nor their interconnections. In both cases, the Masonic worldview disintegrates into separate pieces and fragments (mysticism, occultism, hermeticism, Gnosticism, enlightenment, rationalism, magic, alchemy, Kabbalah, theosophy, natural philosophy), turning into a chaotic tangle of ideas, images and symbols. Practically all researchers speak of the eclecticism of Masonic thought, which for them serves as one more argument for the marginality and insignificance of Freemasonry in Russian culture.

However, as early as 1916, in his critical essay on Pypin's book, Nikolai Berdyaev indicated the need to reconsider the key concepts that characterize the Masonic worldview, and to penetrate the "meaning" and "spirit" of Freemasonry, reevaluating its role in the "history of the Russian spirit" and granting Masonic mysticism an independent significance as a phenomenon of spiritual culture (Berdiaev 2004: 128-31). To carry out that task, a new approach, a new conception and a new definition of the Masonic worldview are required, one capable of changing the treatment of Freemasonry as a cultural phenomenon. To my mind, such an approach already exists in Western scholarship, and it is simply necessary to apply it to Russian Freemasonry. I have in mind the scholarly concept of "Western esotericism."

Esotericism as the Foundation of the Worldview of Russian Freemasons: Six Key Characteristics

I emphasize once more: mysticism, especially Christian mysticism, undoubtedly played an important part in the spiritual life of Russian Freemasons. Several contemporary researchers are investigating the theme of Masonic mysticism on the basis of new and interesting material (Kuchurin 2005). However, in my view, the term "esotericism" applies more accurately to the Masonic worldview. It is not mere terminological subtlety that is at stake here, but rather, which ideas and concepts offer the best possibility for understanding Russian Freemasonry.

It should be said that the concepts "esotericism," "esoterics" and "esoteric" have many meanings (Hanegraaf 2006: 336-40). Moreover, there are several different approaches to defining the concept "es-otericism" (Zhdanov 2008). The relationship between esotericism and Freemasonry is problematic and ill defined (Dachez 2006; Bogdan 2007). In light of these circumstances, I will limit myself to examining the esoteric foundations of only a single branch of Russian Masonic thought—Rosicrucianism. My understanding of esotericism relies on the concepts of Antoine Faivre, whose classic study has provided the basis for all scholarship on Western esotericism as an academic object of inquiry for more than 20 years (Faivre 1994).

Faivre defines esotericism as follows: "'Esotericism' is a form of thought identifiable by six fundamental characteristics or components distributed in varying proportions inside its vast, concrete, historical context" (Faivre 1994: 10). In other words, esotericism is not a kind of tradition concealed in exotic forms of this or that religion or of all

religion. It is a definite representation of the world, a worldview that can be present in the most varied traditions and texts, as for example alchemy, magic, Kabbalah, hermeticism, Gnosticism, Neo-Platonism, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. Below, the characteristics of esoter-icism as put forth by Faivre and their manifestations in the Masonic worldview will be examined in turn.

1. Thinking in Correspondences

Thinking in correspondences is the first feature of the esoteric type of worldview. Faivre explains this feature in the following way: "Symbolic and real correspondences (...) are said to exist among all parts of the universe, both seen and unseen" (Faivre 1994: 10). Everything in the world is interconnected. The universe is a system of mirrors, reflections, analogies and references, a collection of signs, symbols and hieroglyphs. There also are at minimum two distinct kinds of correspondence: 1) between the various parts of the universe (the earth and sky; the visible and invisible worlds; microcosm and macrocosm); and 2) between the universe and Holy Writ (Scripture includes the secrets of the universe and the universe is a kind of book).

This characteristic of esoteric thought is reflected in the worldview of Russian Freemasons. The idea of correspondences is in fact the point of departure for and basic principle of that worldview. In one Masonic text, this idea is formulated as follows: "The world below is a representation of the world above; and just as here one environment [stikhiia] lies above another, so it is there: and each [environment] has its own inhabitants" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 97, Izbrannye rechi po Teoreticheskomu gradusu, l. 25).

The idea of correspondences can be found not only in analogies between the higher and lower worlds, but also in the interconnection between the macrocosm and microcosm. "Thus the person, as the final creation of the essence, is drawn from everything visible and invisible, for this microcosm must have everything within itself that is in the macrocosm. Therefore, you must have within it both the seen and the unseen" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 682, Shvarts I. E., Lektsii po filosofii 1782 g., l. 4). Moreover, a person reflects in himself not only the universe, but the God who created it, and is therefore not only a microcosm but also a "micro-divinity": "So mankind, this Pure Extract and almost quintessence of all worlds, can justifiably be called not only a miniature world but also a miniature God" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 52, Nekotorye poniatiia pocherpnutyia iz pouchitel'noi 4-i stepeni, l. 8).

In other words, for Freemasons, God, nature and humanity were very closely connected through the system of correspondences.

It must be said that the principle of correspondences was not simply an abstract idea for Russian Freemasons. It was directly connected with the goals of the Order: "The duty and the aim of this degree is the comprehension of God and oneself through the examination of nature" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 227, Teoreticheskii gradus solomonovskikh nauk, l. 64). The comprehension of God, nature and humanity, in turn, was also no mere abstract, speculative task for Freemasonry. It was supposed to lead to more elevated, mystical goals. What were those goals?

In the first place, to locate in oneself the "inner man," that is, the elevated, eternal, and divine principle, the image and likeness of God: "The unseen is comprehended through the seen (...) which we accept into ourselves through feelings, which touch our reason and from there, our heart, the place where our eternal man is to be found" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 615, Tezisy iz besed I. A. Pozdeeva, Chast' per-vaia, l. 88). In the second, to comprehend Providence, God's will and intentions for mankind and the world: "By obeying genuinely, simply and sincerely the teachings of the Holy Order, you receive the hope, through observation in the light of this visible Creation, to learn in this very act the contemplation of the invisible, to apprehend wherein lies the benevolent and perfect will of God, and what is not the will of the Almighty Father" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 97, ll. 9-10). Third, to attain the Kingdom of God: "This is best accomplished through the apprehension of Nature, which through appearances displays inner reality, that is, the Kingdom of God" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 97, l. 11). Finally, to correct man's fallen state, to restore his original perfect state, salvation and rebirth: "Freemasonry is a kind of academy of the ancients, the chosen and the prophets, in which true Wisdom was implanted. Its elevated goal is to bring the worthy to the knowledge of God, nature and mankind, and thus to restore the threefold edifice of human perfection" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 434, P. S. Stepanov, Vysochaishee tain-stvo istinnogo masonstva, 1780 g., l. 2).

In addition to the correspondences between the various components of the universe, Russian Freemasons wrote of the correspondence between the universe and Holy Writ. They conceived of the universe itself as a book, consisting of symbols or hieroglyphs: "Therefore, dear brothers, the visible is for us simply a book, in which we would read the laws of the invisible, to which the invisible inner man must also conform" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 434, l. 13). Only the initiated could read and understand such a book, not everyone. From the point

of view of Freemasons, only by undergoing initiation into the Order did a person obtain the keys to perceiving the correspondences between the various levels of reality and Holy Writ: "three books are given to humanity for acquiring the light of truth. They are the Bible, Nature and the Person, which are so closely connected that what the one says, the others confirm. To the Brothers of the Order is given a fourth, secret book, that is, the documents that provide them with keys to comprehending the other three books" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 616, Tezisy iz besed I. A. Pozdeeva, Chast' vtoraia, l. 14).

Masonic self-consciousness, their perception of their orders and lodges, is also based on the principle of correspondences. Thus of the Temple of Solomon, with which Freemasons identified their lodges, it was said: "The Temple of Solomon and everything found in it depicted the power of Nature" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 616, Tezisy iz besed

1. A. Pozdeeva, Chast' tret'ia, l. 1). At the same time, lodges also reflect the loftier, invisible world: "And what, do you think, is the significance of the mysteries and all Masonic lodges? It is the image of the higher, Celestial Circles, which the wisdom of God established in this world, so as to fit men for living in it" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 671, Zapiski iz besed R. S. S., skonchavshogosia 1828 goda ianvaria 11-go dnia, l. 1).

The interconnection between the visible and invisible worlds is also reflected in the central element of a lodge's furnishings—the Masonic carpet: "The carpet is a book, depicting the process of rebirth of the spiritual and the corporeal, that is, of Spirit and substance, that is, of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 616, l. 163).

2. Living Nature

The criterion of esotericism as a form of thought discussed above— thinking in correspondences—presupposes that the world is a complex, multi-level, hierarchically ordered whole, that is, a kind of organism. If everything in the world is interconnected ("all in one" and "one in all"), that interconnection must have some kind of foundation—the Soul or Spirit of the World, the Primary Force, the Hidden Fire or Light and so forth. What is more, such a living, animated, feeling universe suffers just as humans do. Fallen alongside humanity, nature pines and thirsts for salvation (Faivre 1994: 11).

In fact, precisely this way of regarding the world is intrinsic to Russian Freemasonry. Freemasons even inscribed the conception of nature as a living entity in the instructions for their orders: "In the instructions it is said: Nature is an invisible, subtle spirit, manifest,

however, when acting through bodies and having its place in the will of God" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 247, Vybor iz besed T. G. S. K., l. 5 ob.). This spirit can take various forms: "And the light itself is a universal fire, which magicians jointly call nature, for the subject behind all wonders is the spirit—the motive force, the primary force, or the universal spirit" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 690, I. G. Shvarts, O Nature, l. 5 ob.)

This makes the goal of the order comprehensible—to penetrate precisely into the spiritual, vital, inner and secret side of nature: "One ought not to occupy oneself with the world, but rather, to observe attentively and investigate what is concealed in the world" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 97, l. 8 ob.). At the same time, by contrast with the profane, only the initiated possess the ability to perceive the living essence of the universe: "Our wise masters are in fact the only legitimate examiners of nature (...) because their science penetrates to its innermost being (...). By contrast, profane physicists, so called investigators of nature, (...) always bounce around on the surface of all three kingdoms of nature" (quoted in Pekarskii 1870: 68). The conception of the world as a living, inspirited organism leads to the formulation of a basic law of nature—the law of universal sympathy: "The invincible law of Nature, the common substance of all creatures, depicted in every inscrutable assembly of its multitudinous offspring is: 'like seeks like; the similar strives for the similar'" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 301, Rech', pri-nadlezhashchaia k shotlandskoi stepeni, l. 2).

The law of universal sympathy and magnetism is at the basis of the world as a unified whole, in which all things are interconnected. The unity of the world is the basic principle of Masonic philosophy, which in their self-perception distinguishes Freemasons from "secular scholars": "Secular scholars, unaware that the cause of all phenomena is one and the same universal world spirit, often assume these phenomenon are particular forces, and therefore get all tangled up in their many and various hypotheses or propositions" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 247, l. 34).

Thus, nature is a single, living, animate organism. But this organism is damaged by sin and vice, and, to follow Faivre's interpretation, nature suffers from this and thirsts for salvation: "That we would sigh like nature, thirsting for freedom! Oh! That our outer person would rot every day, in order that the inner might be renewed!" (NIOR RGB, f. 237, d. 2, Besedy s Teoreticheskimi Brat'iami, l. 14). The order and its initiates must facilitate the process of liberating and renewing nature. Their goal is not only to comprehend nature but also to save her: "The goal of the order's work is the liberation of the Spirit of Nature" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 616, l. 146).

3. Imagination and Mediations

When the world is presented as a living, animated system of correspondences, analogies, resemblances and interconnections, mediators are required to bring about and support these interconnections. These mediators might be, for example, heralds of the higher world in the lower—angels, demons, spirits. From another perspective, as Faivre notes, mediators might be symbols, images, magic talismans, or mandalas, which present the invisible by means of the visible and allow for influence on the higher world through the lower. Contact with mediators is possible with the help of the imagination. Imagination is understood as a kind of creative and cognitive force, magical by its nature (the very word imaginatio is linked to the word magia), and capable of capturing the hidden and secret correspondences within the esoteric universe. A mediator might also be a guru, a preceptor, a master who, initiating a person into secret knowledge, leads him along the steps of the cosmic hierarchy, and guides him from one world to the other, from the lower to the higher. Mediation and imagination differentiate esotericism from mysticism. A mystic seeks unity with the divine, a unity that exceeds the bounds of all forms of expression, whether verbal, symbolic, figurative or ritual. Mystical experience is inexpressible and immediate. By contrast, the esoteric strives for the most part for contact with intermediate essences and beings, evoking them in his imagination through meditation, prayer, magic ritual and so forth (Faivre 1994: 12-13).

This feature of the esoteric worldview corresponds to the world-view of Russian Freemasons. For example, Freemasons regarded their knowledge as deriving from angels: "The seven so-called free sciences were bestowed on or were released to this world from above by angels, and angels support them to this day" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 616, l. 91). Alchemy, as one of the "sciences of the order," also derived from angels: "Some maintain that angels taught this useful science to our forebears, and from them it passed down to us" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 681, Lektsii I. G. Shvartsa, l. 51). Angels were created to help humans along the path to knowledge, salvation and initiation: "And therefore, not only spirits below the moon, but also above the moon and in the heavens, and even the angelic spirits themselves are put in service to man, just as those who serve and are sent to save humanity" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 204, Ob izustnom predanii evreev, l. 16). For their part, people can appeal to angels, but only after they have purified their will, feelings and reason: "if the will is turned to God—he is a child of

God, accompanied by and having comrades among the Angels of God" (NIOR RGB, d. 14, f. 247, l. 35).

The knowledge of correspondences, which the acquisition of genuine wisdom requires, presupposes the knowledge of mediators: "And so if someone knows which herb, which stone, which animal, which human member and which creature in the sublunar world corresponds to which star in the celestial world and which mind in the angelic world, he must be considered someone who has found the key to perfect knowledge of all things and the path to bliss in this life" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 204, l. 17). In Masonic archives it is possible to find texts that describe in detail the correspondences, names and signs necessary for appealing to the angels (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 169, O kabale; f. 147, d. 204; f. 14, d. 1642, Smes'; f. 147, d. 98, Materialy dlia istorii masonstvo, ll. 164-90, 207-15). In addition to angels, Russian Freemasons often refer to Sofia, the Wisdom of God, as a mediator: "This wisdom, serving as mediator between humanity and God, opens the gate to the inner Temple of Nature and by revealing the three first principles and four elements, leads us up the seven steps to contemplation of the inscrutable power of the Almighty Creator" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 301, l. 14).

As noted above, contact with mediators is established through the activity of the imagination. For example, through meditating on the symbolism of the Masonic carpet, it is possible to achieve contact, even marriage with, Sofia, one of the goals of a Rosicrucian initiate: "The gaze is powerful. It is said: you have only to look upon your wife in order to have carnal relations. Consequently, the opposite is also true. If you gaze upon the carpet with pure and passionate love, then you will also be able to invisibly couple with Wisdom" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 616, l. 165). The role of mediation and imagination in Freemasonry can briefly be formulated in the following thesis: "The teachings of the order are also preparation for dealing with spiritual beings, so that it will not seem savage and tormenting to us, as it does to others" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 616, l. 159).

4. The Experience of Transmutation

By transmutation, Faivre understands the passage of a person from one existential plane to another, his internal transformation and "second birth," the stages of which might be, for example, the three steps of the mystical path: "purification," "enlightenment," and "unity," which might correspond to the three steps of the alchemical Mag-

num Opus: nigredo, albedo, and rubedo (Faivre 1994: 13-14). Transmutation is the "Gnostic" element of esotericism, presupposing the transformation and salvation of humanity in the process of cognition, understood as the unity of experience, intellectual activity, active imagination and revelation. Without this element, esotericism might be equated with speculative philosophy and metaphysics, just as without the element of mediation and imagination, esotericism might blend into mysticism, or, without the idea of living nature, into some forms of poetry (for example Symbolism) or simply into the practices of magic and soothsaying. The necessity of transmutation is again closely connected with the other characteristics of esotericism. It is necessary for proceeding along the path to enlightenment in a hierarchal universe with many levels, and for establishing contact with the higher world, for which the purification, transformation and rebirth of the person are required.

As did alchemical ideas and practices more generally, the idea of transmutation occupied an important place in the Masonic worldview (Khalturin 2013: 181-93; Khalturin 2012, 50-64). The idea is evident, for example, in a letter of Prince Nikolai Nikitich Trubetskoi to Alex-ey Rzhevsky. Trubetskoi writes that it is the duty of the Freemason to "serve as a tincture for the transmutation of others from carnal, astral and bestial humans to spiritual, angelic and divine ones." Furthermore, Trubetskoi affirms that this is in fact "the aim of the true follower of the Rosy Cross of our Divine Brother-Master and Savior" (Bar-skov 1915: 265). The process that Faivre discusses is evident in this excerpt: alchemical terms, applicable to the process of transforming metals (tincture), acquire a more inward, spiritual, and mystical dimension, linked with the idea of the "inner man" (appropriated from the Apostle Paul). Thus, the alchemical process of transforming nature becomes similar to the process of regenerating man: "The operations of Nature do not cease with the transformation and ennoblement of metals, but in the process, show the path to regeneration" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 97, l. 4). The contrast of the spiritual and the carnal on the one hand, and on the other, the idea that they might be mutually transformed and unite into some sort of "spiritual body" is characteristic of Masonic thought. Thus, the Masonic portrait of the world was closer to the hermetic idea of likenesses than to the radical dualism of the Gnostics.

The rebirth of fallen humanity, the goal of Freemasonry and alchemy, leads to the discovery of the Kingdom of God, and in that way, corresponds to the goal of Christianity: "Thus, the discovery of the King-

dom of God is the sole object and most important cause for whomever seeks to establish a connection with the holy Order, and, once having joined, all our striving must be aimed at the destruction of decrepit Adam, of worldly man" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 97, l. 11 ob.).

5—6. The Praxis of the Concordance and the Transmission of Tradition

On Faivre's interpretation, the four signs of esotericism analyzed above are necessary and essential. Without their presence, a current of thought cannot be called "esoteric." However, in addition, Faivre identified two supplementary, relative characteristics, which are inherent in many but not in all esoteric teachings, practices and movements.

The first is the idea of concordance, that is, the search for a common denominator and source for all religious, scientific, and philosophic traditions, access to which allows the adept to rise to a higher level of comprehending reality. In a certain sense, this idea follows from the principle of correspondences: reality, with its multiple levels and complex structure, cannot be comprehended and grasped in its entirety within the framework of any single discourse; various teachings can and must supplement one another.

Russian Freemasons often resorted to a similar "practice of concordance." For example, Ivan Shvarts, the founder of the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross in Russia, reconstructed "the eternal philosophy" or the "ancient theology" as follows: "1) the philosophy of magicians from Zoroaster is the Chaldean; 2) the Jewish from Moses is the Biblical; 3) the Pythagorean Greek in Italy; 4) the Socrat-ic, Platonic and Aristotelian in Greece; and 5) the Rabbinic Kabbalah is a mixture of all" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 992, Kratkoe poniatie o kabbale, l. 8). All aspects of that tradition are connected by a common idea, which, according to Shvarts, was transmitted from them to Christianity as well: "hermetic Egypt = Indian Zoroastrianism = Pythagorianism = Platonic = Kabbalistic = philosophical = Christianity. Gnostics affirm that humanity was created as entirely spiritual beings and this coarse body is the consequence of sin" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 992, 7-7 ob.).

As the practice of concordance assumes the idea of a hidden tradition lying at the basis of all religious-philosophical teachings, it becomes very important to establish how that tradition is communicated and transmitted, and the degree to which this transmission is genuine,

authentic and "regular." Faivre dubbed this final, sixth characteristic of esotericism "transmission" (Faivre 1994: 14-15). It also played an important role in Russian Freemasonry. The Masonic Order was in fact the bearer of the tradition: "The original documents of the Order assure us that Freemasonry is the Science with which God inspired the first man ... that it is a tradition that will ensure humanity's well-being" (NIOR RGB, f. 147, d. 138, Materialy dlia vol'nykh kamenshchik-ov, l. 25). Freemasons regarded the transmission of that tradition to be the main goal of their order: "The most important aim and basis of the order, its reason for being (...) is the preservation and transmission to future generations of a certain important mystery that has come down to us from ancient times and even from the first man. The fate of all mankind may depend on this mystery" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 227, l. 15).

The content of the tradition that lies at the basis of the Masonic Order turns out to be, essentially, just the very same "eternal philosophy" as knowledge of the triune nature of God, nature and mankind. Thus, in the "Forceful exhortation, drawn from the true writings of the lofty and consecrated Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross," that tradition is traced to Adam: "That Adam, our common Father, received directly from the creator his lofty Wisdom in knowing God and all Nature. The man who believes in God and his holy Word will surely never doubt it" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 195, l. 3). The most diverse personages are among the bearers of this tradition, which returns us again to the practice of concordance: "We know for certain that among those who radiated this genuine light and most lofty science were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Aaron, Joshua son of Nun, David, Solomon, Hiram Abiff, Hermes Trismegistus, and innumerable wise men of our times who have been enlightened by God" (NIOR RGB, f. 14, d. 195, l. 4).

Concluding Remarks

Thus, the analysis of the worldview of Russian Freemasons of the Rosicrucian Order has shown that this worldview can be classified as "esoteric" according to all six of the criteria set forth by Antoine Faivre. What does this classification add to our understanding of Russian Freemasonry? In the first place, the concept of esotericism helps to resolve the contradictions that arise when the Masonic worldview is understood as "Christian mysticism." So, for example, the practice of concordance explains the attraction of Russian Freemasons to non-Christian teachings. The idea of living nature and mediation explains their engagement with magic and occultism, with studying the

world of spirits and the means to influence them. The ideas of living nature and correspondences make clear that it is equally inappropriate to apply the concepts "idealism" and "materialism" to the Masonic worldview. Hylozoism should be used instead. The idea of transmutation and the principle of correspondences unify such diverse goals of Freemasonry as the "rebirth" of humanity, the transformation of society, and the "salvation" and "restoration" of nature by exerting magical powers over it. The respectful relation of Freemasons to the mind and to reason is explained by the idea of living nature, a "spirit" which can be attained only in the act of gnosis, and only by an initiate who has been enlightened and transformed by reason, who has undergone transmutation. Directed by faith, revelation and tradition, the intellect is capable of penetrating beneath the superficial shell of the visible world, assisted by "true chemistry" and "the order's physics," the "true," "lofty" and "secret" sciences.

Secondly, the concept of "esotericism" is the most general, and incorporates the characteristics that various researchers have attributed to the Masonic worldview, such as "gnosis," "occultism," "hermeticism," "natural philosophy," and "mysticism." As was partially demonstrated above, all these concepts are aspects of esotericism, in accordance with Faivre. (Faivre 1994: 19-35). In particular, Masonic mysticism, which is based on the concepts of the "inner man," "rebirth," "salvation," "resurrection" and a "second birth," is obviously linked with such aspects of esotericism as the experience of transmutation. It is no accident that Masons used esoteric and, more specifically, alchemical images when they described the events in the life of Christ essential to Christian mysticism (birth, baptism, transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension) as well as the most significant Christian rituals (the Eucharist, unction).

Thirdly, the concept of esotericism permits the Masonic world-view to be presented as a unitary system of interrelated principles. In turn, this facilitates the analysis of Masonic texts, which are fragmentary and written in complex esoteric language. Although the system is to a certain degree an "ideal type," a debatable scholarly construction, there are two bases for hypothesizing its existence. The first is the methodological necessity of linking the fragments of Masonic tradition that have come down to us. The second is that Мasons themselves considered holism the basic criterion for "true philosophy," "true religion," and esoteric tradition.

Fourthly and lastly, approaching Russian Freemasonry as one of the manifestations of esotericism makes it possible to include it within a

broader scholarly context and to assess it adequately. As the well-known scholar of Western esotericism and Freemasonry, Henrik Bogdan, has written: "Western esotericism can thus be viewed as a third pillar of Western culture, a form of thought that took a middle position between doctrinal faith and rationality" (Bogdan 2007: 7). Thus, the phenomenon certainly has an independent significance. It is a mistake to regard Russian Freemasonry as a reaction to the dogmatism of the Orthodox Church and the skepticism of the philosophers and encyclopedists of the Enlightenment, giving it a correspondingly positive or negative appraisal as something progressive or regressive. Russian Freemasonry represents a variant of the "third way" of Russian culture, together with the religious philosophy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and also the Gnostic strivings of Silver Age culture. Therefore, it is not a marginal part of Russian culture but quite the contrary, an integral one, and in turn, closely connected to the culture of Europe. At the same time, the esotericism of Russian Masons had its special features: a close connection with Orthodox tradition (its asceticism, ceremonial rites, dogmatism, symbolism); an emphasis on the spiritual dimensions of esotericism (as opposed to occult practices); and the secondary status of organizational aspects of esoteric association in comparison with ideological. However, these special features require separate study.

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