The first English translation of Taoist occultist Matgiois seminal work
Shares a deep understanding of the I Chings cosmological foundation
Offers the meanings of the straight and broken lines of the 64 hexagrams
Explains how the symbol of the yin-yang represents the individuals destiny, including his emanation from, and reintegration into, Perfection
First published in French in 1905, and now translated into English for the first time, Matgiois book became the metaphysical core of the Traditionalist movement established by French occultist René Guénon, Julius Evola, and Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Translator Joscelyn Godwin tells how Matgioi was initiated into a Taoist secret society and was given rare access to the perennial wisdom of that tradition. His work reveals the great antiquity of Emperor Fohi, who set down the cosmogonic principles upon which the I Ching is based and lived more than 2,000 years before Moses. Matgioi regarded Fohi as representing a school of sages unbound to any century since their wisdom is as old as humanity itself. The I Ching crystallizes a first and truest insight into the nature of reality from which the ancients derived a practical philosophy. Chinese traditionalists regard the I Ching as the first monument of consciousnes, and Matgioi explores it and equally important treatises by Fohis successors. In this book, readers will discover the divine nature of Chinese script, the relationship of logos and symbol, and the multiple shapes of the universe. Matgioi also explains how the yin-yang symbolizes ones destiny and emanation from, and reintegration into, Perfection.
This key work echoes Emperor Fohis belief that the solutions to all questions can be found by bringing them back to their sources.
Arvustused
This is an awe-inspiring book on the Chinese Primordial Tradition, written by one of the few Europeans who was able to penetrate its profound wisdom. Admirably translated from French and introduced by Joscelyn Godwin, Matgiois text speaks to the reader with diamond-like clarity and force. * Christopher McIntosh, author of Occult Russia, Occult Germany, and The Call of the Old Gods * This is a fine translation of an important text, with a very helpful introduction. Anyone interested in René Guénon or Traditionalism should read it. * Mark Sedgwick, professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University and author of Traditionali * Through Joscelyn Godwins translation, we are introduced to the cornerstone of Traditionalist philosophy: Matgioi. His ideas on the Primordial Tradition are as relevant today as when they were written, with many of his writings being genuinely prophetic. Here we discover the influences of Daoism and Matgiois understanding of it as the doctrine of heroic adepts and their transcendent force, which expandsboth for themselves and othersas they participate in the Will of Heaven and experience the path of the Dragon in its most archaic form. * Mark Stavish, founder and director of the Institute for Hermetic Studies and author of The Path of F *
INTRODUCTION
The Masterpiece of a Warrior Metaphysician
JOSCELYN GODWIN
THE METAPHYSICAL WAY
Explanatory Note
(From the 1905 Edition)
1 The Primordial Tradition
2 The First Monument of Knowledge
3 The Graphics of God
4 The Symbols of the Word
5 The Forms of the Universe
6 The Laws of Evolution
7 The Destinies of Humanity
8 The Conditions of the Individual
9 The Instruments of Divination
Texts and Documents
Index
Eugène Albert Puyou, comte de Pouvourville (August 7, 1861December 30, 1939), known later by his Taoist name, Matgioi, was a French orientalist, warrior, novelist, and translator. He spent many years in Asia, studied with a Taoist master, and was initiated into a Taoist secret society.
Joscelyn Godwin is an emeritus professor of music at Colgate University and the author, editor, and translator of many books, including Cosmic Music, The Golden Thread, and Atlantis and the Cycles of Time. Known for his translations of Fabre dOlivet and Julius Evola, he lives in Hamilton, New York.
