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Bettina Knapp
'Igitur or Elbehnon's Folly":
The Depersonalization Process
and the Creative Encounter
All that is visible must grow beyond itself, extend into the realm of the invisible.
Therebyit receivesits true concentration
and
clarity and takes firm root in the cosmic
order.
(The I Ching.)
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Bettina Knapp
which delineatesthe steps leading to the tomb,certaincriticshave
interpretedthis work as Thanatos-oriented.But forMallarme death
does not mean an end in the sense of a finale,rather,the termination of a specificway and the beginningof a new orientation.His
descriptionof his willed introversionaccompanied by depression
indicates, from a psychologicalviewpoint,a withdrawalof libido
(psychic energy) from external objects or events. Psychic energy
is then driven into the unconscious. Such inner focus acts as a
compensatorydevice for the individual unable to cope with an
intenselycreativedrive.By turninginward,he represseshis psychic
energy,thus violating the ego and activatinglatent or dormant
factorswithinthe unconscious.A reshuffling
of these contentsvia
an introductionof renewedenergy,thrustsfreshforms,sensations
and images into consciousness,thus makingnew conceptualizations
available. Igitur,therefore,is not to be consideredMallarme's suicidal journey,as some critics have intuited,but ratheran iconographicand verbal expressionof the artist'sheroic struggleto give
birth to the unknown.
Probably writtenbetween 1867 and 1870, Igiturreveals Mallarme's obsessive fear of spiritual and literarysterility."Igitur," he
wrote"is a tale in whichI want to confoundthatold monsterImpotence ... If it is [the tale] completed, I shall be cured; simila
similibus" (C., p. 313). Mallarme's probings-his psychosis-drove
him deeply into his own "abyss," and blocked him for a while as
an artist.Unable to communicatewithotherson a meaningfullevel,
he went through months of insomnia, extreme fatigue,and the
tensionaccompanyingsuch an unnaturalstate.
Throughout the harrowing period of his descent into self,
Mallarme was terrorized by his own condition and described
himselfas living in a collectiveworld; as perhapsgoing insane. In
a letter to his friend Eugene Lefebure he wrote "(I have spent
moments approaching madness interspersed with equilibrating
189
Bettina Knapp
designed in part to arouse infinitesympatheticvibrationsin the
protagonistas well as in the reader,thus expandingconsciousness.
191
Midnight
He leaves the room and loses himselfin the stairwell
Igitur'slife
The Dice-Throw
He lies down in the tomb
1 Midnight
"Midnight"recountsthe protagonist'setat d'ame as he prepares
to descend the stairs leading into his tomb. He experiences the
objects around him (mirror,draperies,furniture,clock) as living
entities.Time is arrested in these presenceswhich, as mysterious
beings, reveal the interrelatednessof time, spirit,and space. An
open book lies on the table. Its "pallor" stands out as does the
enigma surroundingits existence. It is associated with night and
with the "silence of an ancient word." A dream (chime're)reflects
lightas does the now closed book. The lightof an ancientidea, not
yet born, seeks to come into being. The hour of Midnight sounds
like an echo. "Good-by,nightthatI was, yourown sepulcher,whose
survivingshadow was metamorphosedinto Eternity."
Midnightindicates the existence of an isomorphicrelationship
betweennumber,time,and psychicstate. Accordingto Pythagoras,
numbersare the basis of reality: that is, an awareness of reality
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BettinaKnapp
I Each number,
maybe expressedbynumbers.
therefore,
is notonly
significant
in itself,
butcorresponds
also to a wholeseriesofentities
I Thereis, then,a relationship
in the universe.
betweenthe visible
world(man's spatial-time
scheme)and abstracteventsunderstood
whenincorporated
mathematically
intosubstance.The nonperceptible continuum
thattranscendsman's three-dimensional
universe
5
maythusbe concretized
in numbers.
Psychologically,
numbersare archetypal
contents:theyarouse
energy,
rhythms,
patterns,
and foment
a dynamic
process.Theyare
"idea forces,"thatis, the concretization
or development
of virtualities or possibilities
in space; theyare also experiences
or shapes
that lie latentin the unconsciousuntilconsciousness
experiences
them in the formof "images,thoughts,and typicalemotional
6 In the consciousdomainnumbers
modesof behavior."
are "quan" in theunconscious
titative;
theyare both"quantitative
and qualitative,"therebyarousingall kindsof sensationsand feelings.As
devicesused by mansincethebeginning
of time,numbers
ordering
are manifestations
ofhis desireto conquertheworldofcontingency
as well as the one thatlies beyondhis dominion.
In thatnumbers
lend orderto whatmightbe consideredchaotic,theygivea sense
of security
to thosein needof it,and in thisregardare considered
7 It is understandable
foundations
of the psyche."
"archetypal
that
an entirebook in the Old Testamentshouldbe called Numbers
becausewithinits pages are enclosedgenerations
of souls leading
back to the beginning
of time,thusgivinghistoricalcontinuity
to
the Jewishpeople.The tracingof Christ'slineageback to David
is likewisean attempton man's part to experiencehis ancestral
soul in its originalform.Thus in Igitur'squestto seekhis ancestors
3 Marie Louise von Franz, Numberand Time. (Evanston: Northwestern
UniversityPress, 1974), p. 11.
4 Edouard Schur6,The Great Initiates.(New York: St. GeorgesBooks,
1961), pp. 305, 311. The number1 is the numberof God "the Source of
universalHarmony"; number2 is an active force and is manifestedwhen
God became double, divisible,when He created the world. Plato considers
numbers as linking forces. In his descriptionof the monad which rises
this theoryis evidenced.
throughthe process of dairesis(division)to infinity
5 Ibid., p. 191.
6 Franz, pp. 204, 62, 18.
7 Ibid.
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to stabilizeand lend continuity
-"the race of poets"-he is trying
8
to a worlddominated
by chanceand disparity.
indicatesthecenterof thetwenty-four-hour
Midnight
cycle,the
the
halfwaymark,the end beforethe zero hour. Representing
twelvesigns of the zodiac, it standsfor a totality:the twelve
thefourseasonsoftheyear
monthsoftheyear,thetwelvedisciples,
and circular
multiplied
by three.In thattwelvein its semi-circular
it ushersin moods of reposeand
effectstandsforcompleteness,
and passivity,
the one and the two or God and
dynamism,
activity
his Creation,beingand nothingness,
the imageand its reflection.
contentsof the unconscious,
As unmanifested
twelveas a duality
existsin theformof"basicintuitions"
or an unexpressed
"aggregate
of all sense impressions
upon individuals."'Igitur'sverylife-his
intellect-depends
uponcertainphasesin whichnumbersare concretized: "Certainlya presenceof Midnightsubsists,"or "Reveor "And fromMidnightremainsthe presence
latoryof Midnight,"
of the visionof a chamberof time,"or "It is the pureDreamof
Midnight."Midnightbecomes,then,the pivotalpointon Igitur's
descent,his expanding
consciousness.
For Igiturtimeis concretized.
It existsin theobjectsinhabiting
his room: thefurniture,
clock,mirror,
draperies.
Timein thissense
meanstheeschatological
timeofthefiniteworld.Becausethiskind
of timecuts,divides,bruises,and is instrumental
in thedeath-andrebirthcycle,it is linkedwithemotionalcharacteristics.
In that
timeis an abstractnotion("It is thepureDreamofMidnight")
and
viewedcyclically,
it is, as Aristotleproclaimed,
circularand not
dividedinto arbitrary
schemessuch as past, present,and future,
numbersof hours,etc. Cyclicalor mythical
timeis fluidand expe8 As functionsof the mind and psyche,numbersare active forcessymbolizing contentsthat have not yet reached consciousness.They may take
the formand forceof energythat may then be transformed
into sensations
of pleasure or pain and will,thereforebe importantfactorsin shapingone's
destiny. See, Charles Ponc6, The Nature of the I Ching. (New York:
Award Books, 1970), p. 26. Numbershave been used in manticprocedures
in the I Ching,by throwingcoins or yarrowstacks; in geomancywhere
grains,pebbles,and otherobjectsare counted;in gamblinggames.See Franz,
p. 45.
9 Franz, p. 19.
194
Bettina Knapp
rienced as psychic energyin its qualitative and quantitativeform.
For Igitur, therefore,"The hour has not disappeared in the mirror.. ." it has imposeditselfin the formof a visual image,a psychic
experience,a constantreminderof man's mortalityand his ephemeral nature.
Igiturhas not yet "disappearedinto the mirror,"that is, his goal
of dispersion or superconsciousnesshas not yet been achieved.
Duality still exists. The mirrorimage, used so frequentlyby Mallarme in Igiturand otherworks,is of greatsignificancehere. When
likened to the Narcissus mythit becomes a vehicle for self-contemplation.Mallarme spoke of it in a letter (May 17, 1867) as a
"dream pool where we never fish for anythingelse but our own
image, withoutthinkingabout the silveryscales of the fish!" (C.,
p. 245). The mirrormay also be considered a device that reflects
unconscious memories: a type of moon image as opposed to the
sun disk. As a dynamicforceit not onlyreproducesbut also absorbs
the image, distorts it, and underlines its feminine or passive
characteristics.
"Time," for Igitur, "has not been buried in the draperies."
Draperies,curtains,or wall coveringsin generalmay be regardedas
partitionsbetween two worlds (God and man), two states of being
(death and life), two existentialattitudes(illusion and reality),two
time schemes (eschatologicaland cyclical)two worlds(multipleand
the one), two charactertraits(passive and active) and two approaches toward the work of art (creative and sterile).As such they are
composites of opposites; divinitiesvested with immortality.The
mirrorand the drapeswere fetishesforIgitur,enclosingwithintheir
foldsor recesses certainmysteriouspowersthathe had to transcend
in his initiatoryprocess.
That time and the objects associated with it (mirror,draperies)
are experienced in terms of vacancy and sonorityindicate a differencein Igitur'slevels of consciousness.Igituris in the process of
these
absorbingthe various images he sees around him,integrating
into his being (soul), therebyincreasinghis understandingof their
impact upon him. The word ameublement(furnishings)is of para195
Yale FrenchStudies
ofaime(soul) and meuble(from
mountimportance.
It is a composite
The linkingof thesetwo
the word mobilemeaning"furniture").
indicatesa fluidity
worlds,the physicaland the spiritual,
in both
therefore
in levels
an interchangeability
theinnerand outerspheres,
of consciousness.
Segmentsof the past will be experienced
by Igituras eternal
presences in such words as recollect,gold, simulate,absence, null,
196
Bettina Knapp
the mind and psyche of the poet priorto the creativeact. It is the
realmin whichbeautyand purityexist in the raw,the dreambefore
it has taken form-the domain of mystery.If meditatedupon, the
jewel becomes a void, instrumentalin the Orphic descent. If gazed
into, it enables the individualto withdrawto the point of creation
withinhimself,experiencingdissassociationwiththe outside world.
197
Babylonianastrologersconsideredstars as fixedand
impersonalpowers that ruled the cosmos in a structuredand orderlymanner. Yet it is fromthese same regions that the Pythagoreansdetermined
the equivalent of astral order and the Stoics created their heimarmene
(fate and divine providence).
15 The Zohar, I (trans.MurraySperlingand Maurice Simon). (London:
The Soncino Press, 1933), p. 387. "Then the august and self-existent
Being,
he who never unfolded,having unfolded this (universe) under the form
of the great elementsand others,having shown his energy,appeared to
scatterthe shades of darkness."
198
Bettina Knapp
numbers (infinity,conjunctions,null), in the cosmos (marine and
stellar),and in the multipleand the simple.The word revelatoryis
particularlysignificant
forthe Gnosticand forhermeticphilosophers
whose works Mallarme had studied. Knowledge of divinityis revealed for membersof these sects by secret means or formulas.16
In Luke we read: "For there is nothingcoveted, that shall not be
revealed; neitherhid, that shall not be known." (12:2) The one
who struggles,digs, and sacrificesshall gain gnosis, and only he
will have understanding.The same may be said forIgitur'sascesis:
only by repeated effortsand a tortuousstrugglewill treasuresbe
revealed.
Darkness invades Igitur's room. Blackness is propitious to
growthaccording to ancient mysteryreligions(Eleusis, Pyramids,
Dionysus-Iacchos,Ortheus,Mithra,Christ)-light vanishes in caves
or in hidden rock formationsin order to give birth to a more
brilliantand rarefiedillumination.It is in the realm of darkness
that the seed takes root and germinates.It is also in the mysterious
ameublement(soul and mobile) of the brain that the idea comes
into being. In his room (his "Interior Palace") with its arcana
(furnishings,mirror,draperies) Igitur experiences the mysteryof
unity and exteriorizesit for the reader (or makes it conscious to
himself)in the finiteworld.17 Matter fuses (whetherin concrete
formor as an idea, sensation,or impulse)in the room; an intimacy
between the elements takes place-as in the vaulted areas of the
mind, the inner temple of the soul. In this circumscribeddomain,
Igitur'spure I emerges,that nonpersonaland mythologicalessence
floats into existence and takes on its funnel-likeor messengerof the infinite
orientedfunction.Igiturnow becomes the transmitter
into the finite,the eternal into the mortal sphere, the unwritten
poem into the fixedverse.
Igitur's thoughtshudders and trembles.Its motilitywill soon
diminish in amplitude when used in conjunction with deaden
(Frenchamortir,fromLatin mors,mortis).The emergenceof thought
16
17
Jonas,p. 45.
Rene' Gue'non,Le Symbolismede la croix.(Paris: 10/18,1957), p. 88.
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Yale FrenchStudies
(oubli),
worldwillsoonbe lost in forgetfulness
intothe manifested
recallingPlato's theoryof recollection:birthprecededby immerthus wipingaway the
sion in the River Lethe (forgetfulness),
memoryof anteriorexistencesand divestingman of immortality
For Plato and Mallarmethoughtconsistsof
-a divineattribute.
of one facetof a potentialcondition
recollections:the emergence
of matterfroma
Thoughtis a reshuffling
possibilities.
or infinite
or an exampleof what
intoa newcombination
structure
preformal
of
in Orphicmysticism:the "eternity
the god Phanesrepresented
18
principle."
the world-creating
Igituris no pantocrator.He needs the existentialworld of
to somnolence
a conditionantithetical
dualityto createopposition,
experiencein the
that he will later,in good Hegeliantradition,
in the idea, in the createdwork.Igituralso requires
synthesis,
hair" set around
anotherforce: the femalewithher "languishing
Hairis a sensualimage- a fetish
withmystery."
a "faceilluminated
a conflictbetweenthe real sensual
for Mallarme-representing
womanand the unrealor imaginedspiritualidealizationof the
femaleprinciplein all of her purityand beauty.Baudelaire'sassociationsto hair,whichMallarmeknewwell,bringto mindperrealm.The wordhair
fume,dream,and escapeintothe pleromatic
connotations:it is the
(chevelurein French)also has astronomical
the skies,or,
through
luminouswaya cometleaveswhentraveling
theidea shooting
lightpiercingdarkness,
expressedmetaphysically,
throughmatter.The hairthatsurroundsthe face in Igitur'sview
and is comparableto material
is madeup of strandsand filaments
used to makepaper,a book,or thewebofa spider,imagesMallarmd
Igitur.
uses throughout
femaleapparitionare describedas
The eyes of the mysterious
a mirror.
Eyes are doorsto the soul,to light,
null and resembling
Plato consideredeyes as the sourceof
spirit,and understanding.
intelligence:"The Mind's Eye."19The eye is man'ssun. It is the
Franz, p. 256.
19B. Jowett,The Works of Plato. (New York: Tudor PublishingCo.),
p. 270.
18
200
Bettina Knapp
"radiation"and "dissipation"of "spiritualconsciousness".Eyes may
also be viewed as in Redon's painting: depersonalized,transcendental, collective, and mythicalforces devoid of all individuality
except for theirpresencein time. In this respecttheyare terrifying
because they are beyond human comprehensionand control,resemblingstellarpowers that determineman's fate fromthe outside.
Like mirrors,eyes are also reflectorsand transmitters,
messenger
angelsbridgingthe gap betweeninnerand outerworlds-divine and
mortalrealms.
An "open book" lies on the table. This book, a coniunctioof
cosmic forces,encompasses everything.In his AutobiographyMallarme writes: "a book which is a book, architecturaland premeditated,and not a collectionof inspirationsdictatedby chance even
if these inclusionswere to be marvelous"(0. C., p. 663).
The book on Igitur's table is part of the decor; it is exterior
to him as are the curtains,clock, the furniture.
Yet, withinits pages
are containedthe secretsof existence: thoughopen it is closed and
embedded in night,thoughverbal it remainssilent,thoughpalpable
it is amorphous.The book in question is surelya hermeticwork
since it professes"ancient words." Mallarme may be referringto
the works of Thoth (the Tarot) or the book of magic by Albertus
Dominican philosopherwho was
Magnus, the thirteenth-century
consideredthe world's greatestmagician; or the innumerablevolumes of magical and mysticaltractsby Nicolas Flamel, Nicolas de
Cusa, Paracelsus, Orpheus,and more.20
The "ancient words" contained in the book althoughdescribed
as "pale" may have been an allusion to the Book of the Dead or
other religiousworks in which the words containedhad the power
to assist the dead in their night sea journey to the land of the
blessed. Each individual, the Egyptians believed, possessed two
names, an external and a hidden one. If the arcane name were
known, the individual could order it about and it would do its
bidding,ifnot,he remainedhelpless.Each word in the book likewise
20 Jerome-Antoine
Rony, La Magie. (Paris: Presses Universitairesde
France, 1968), p. 45.
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Yale FrenchStudies
has an innerand outervalue. Once the secretmessageis gleaned,
the word yieldsto the creator'swill, expandingin power and
significance.
BettinaKnapp
maternaland germinalforces,those preexisting
in primalchaos
(obscurumperobscurius),
the pathleadingback to the mystery
of
originbeforethefiatlux.The lightimages(diamond,scintillas,
fire,
glimmer)maybe equated withsolar lightor firesymbolism,
the
transformatory
agentforthealchemist;thebasis oflifeforHeraclitus and thelibidoforthepsychiatrist;
partofthepurification
ritual
forthe hierophant.
The battlebetweenlightand darkthatIgitur
now wagestransforms
him intoa kind of Promethean
figurewho
steals firefromZeus in an act of defiance.Or will Igiturtake
afterEmpedocleswho attemptedto transcendthe basic dualism
of the humanconditionby plungingintothe vitalheat and thus
puttingan end to his telluricexistence?
The doors to the tomb open, thus unlockingIgitur'spassage
to the primalrealm.Therehe will experiencematterin its undifferentiated
form,thatis, thefourelements:earth,water,fire,and
air-as one. Igiturdescendsand in so doingassertshimself;he
acts overtlyas had the Creatorwhenforming
earthfromthe void
and lightfromdarkness.Like "the Spiritof God" Igitur'sshadow,
now divestedof its personalaccoutrements
(his psychological
idenNot Igitur's
tityand physicalbody),passesintoanotherdimension.
voice remainsaudible,but its echo (its durationor prolongation);
its trajectory
in the finiteworld,its impersonal
and eternalspirit
as in thereflected
night.Mallarme'smetaphysics
maybe expressed
as follows:the shadowis to nightwhatthe wordis to the echo,
whatthe poet is to the poem,whatthe createdworldis to God's
domain.
204
Bettina Knapp
eidolons or visual perceptionswere likewise regarded as thought
perceptions; in either case they could influencethe person projecting upon them. Igitur encounters these atom-visual-thought
images in his descent; he confrontsthemin rhythmicand affective
encounters and is possessed by them in the emerging dream
visions.13
The spider web is the image Mallarme now uses to express,
in the ever-deepeningcircularjourney,Igitur'sgrowingdistastefor
the world of multiplicity.The mazelike appearance of the web has
frequentlybeen compared to matrices or thoughtpatterns,every
idea being reflectedand related to another in its concretenessformand substance. The spider,like the divine force,restructures
the universefromitself.Mallarme has comparedhimselfto a spider
in a letterto his friendTheodor Aubanel. He declared having experienced his own center "where, like a spider, I am master of
the principle threads leading out of my mind, and by means
of whichI shall weave marvelouslaces at each point of conjunction,
which I sense, and which already exist in the heart of Beauty"
(C., p. 225).
Igitur,like the poet and the spider,is a spinnerof thoughts,a
weaver, an aggressiveforce, a performeror agent throughwhich
energyflows.He is not the source of the vibrationshe senses all
about him but the vessel, the garmentthroughwhich these networks or arrangementsmanifestthemselves.Like the spider,Igiturpoet uses his threads or filaments,those substances, objects, or
entitiescommon to all human beings, but he uses this qualitative
energyin his individual way. The manner in which his thoughts,
feelings,and sensations are aroused, their graphic arrangement,
makes for his originality.The spider web is a visualization of a
process of evolution from the point of creation to its developed
form; it resembles a mandala in that it encloses levels of energy
that heightenand diminish.Each intersectionof the web may act
23 Franz, p. 197. Let us recall that Paris and Helen (Faust, Part II)
were considered eidolons and as such were reincarnated.Such a feat is
explained today in scientificterminologyby nuclear fission.
205
206
Bettina Knapp
primal rhythm.Orphic musicians controlled the universe (stones,
animals, people) via music in its aural and rhythmicmanner.
The bird image may symbolizeman's spirit,his intuitivenature,
his soul. It has been evoked from time immemorial-fromCromagnon times in the Lascaux cave paintingsto Plato's concept of
it as "divine intelligence."26 Birds are mobile and ascend into the
In Igitur'ssphere
air, thus standingfor evolutionin enlightenment.
of existencetheycertainlysignifyall these things,but because they
emanate from a higher state of being, they indicate the entryof
the angel into the thickeningweb. Igitur feels the flutteringof
wingsbrushingagainsthim,a draggingqualitythatushersin moods
of joy, abandon, and constriction.Since wingscast shadows in their
flight,they endow the atmospherewith a kind of impressionism
and an excitementin the interplayof these light and dark forces.
Because wings are placed on the heels of the Greek god Mercury
(or the Egyptian Thoth) one might conclude that the knowledge
contained in The Book of Divination lying on Igitur's table (the
Book of Thoth or Tarot) is linked to the divine element(hermetic
philosophy)contained in the bird image. More important,perhaps,
in understandingIgitur's quest is the fact that the bird image is
linked to a myth that becomes a favoritewith alchemists: the
Phoenix that burns itself in a pyre and is reborn again fromits
own ashes.
Igitur's vision now floatsback into time. It becomes more explicit. He sees himselfliving in his own mind and experiencesa
growingawareness of self. The doors to the tomb become visible;
each one representsa differentaspect of gnosis-acquired knowledge and eternalknowledge(as containedin the book on the table,
which is a manifestationof the uncreatedor that which exists in
potential). Igitur hears the infinitevoid pulsatingabout him; he
sees apparitionshoveringaround and experiencestheirimpactupon
him. His vision grows so acute that it bothers him. Everything
26 In Ezekiel we read: "And when theywent,I heard the noise of their
wings,like the noise of great waters,as the voice of the Almighty,the
voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when theystood, theylet down
their wings" (1:24).
207
3 Igitur'slife
Beforeblowingout the candle that now becomes visible to the
reader Igitur tells his ancestors about his ennui-his quest for
the absolute. He has lived accordingto clock time. But because his
ancestors enabled him to become aware of another time-the
eternalor cyclical cosmic experience-he now considersclock time
a heavy,"stifling"force,an obstacle preventinghim fromattaining
his goal. The mirrorbecomes a way of measuringhis progressinto
transcendentaltime. He gazes at his image reflectedin the glass,
he watches it diffuseand die before him. He reworks this same
image in the objects about him by "opening" or seeing into them
so that theyin turnwill "pour out theirmystery,"theirmemories,
their silences. He stares at the clock and its vanishinghours. He
no longer feels bound by the fear of disappearinginto eternity.
He had placed his hands beforehis eyes at firstso as to block out
the vision of his progressively
disintegrating
being.Now he removes
208
Bettina Knapp
his hands from his eyes and observes himselfunto his depths in
the mirror: his own "phantom" expands in size and power as it
absorbs "what remainedof sentimentand pain in the mirror."The
shadow, now immense,feeds on all the concrete objects in the
room; as for Igitur'sdecomposingform,it reaches out into the objects in the room and imposes its diffusedself into them. A
monstrousbeing emerges from these forms,which will be eternalized in his mind in an "isolated and severe attitude."
Igitur had become an acosmic, transmundanefigureliving in
an unearthlybody and world. His situationwas untenable.He had
reached an impasse.It is at this juncturethat he entersthe memory
of his ancestors,thus reactivatingsomethingthat had been dormant
withinhim and releasinghim by the same token fromhis telluric
existence.
It is Igitur's desire to recall his poet-ancestors,eitherin terms
of Platonic "idea-essences"or archetypes(inheritedformsof knowledge transmittedby images), thus linking the time-space factor
concretely.The proof that energy(idea is energy)cannot be destroyedis therebygiven.When thereforeIgiturviews the draperies
and furniturein his room as monstrouschimeras,they are not
only aspects of himselfhe sees in projection,but organismsliving
in a transformedstate in concreteobjects as well, therefore,particles of his own being.
The psychologicaltermappropriateforthe dissolutionof Igitur's
ego (identity) into exterior objects is schizophrenia.Verbal and
visual descriptionsof schizophrenicpatients in their rapportwith
state
the world outside of themselvesresemblesIgitur's terrifying
of depersonalization.It is no wonderthat Mallarme fearedinsanity.
4 The Dice-Throw
Igitur is still dissatisfied.Although he has blended into the
objects around him, he has not yet mergedwith the absolute. Only
by the act, by throwingthe dice, can he accomplishhis goal-to
209
210
Bettina Knapp
of his ancestors'ashes indicatesthe experiencingof the quintessence
of being. Ashes are regarded as matter rid of impurities,as the
stage following mortification,death, and the decomposition of
metals and chemicals-as "the seed of gold" that will germinate
and give birth to the new being-or the soul restored.Ashes also
representthe principle of continuityand permit man to contact
anteriorexistences throughthis entity.
The Orphics considered the tomb to be the body that acts as
the prison for the soul. Only afterdeath (the disintegrationof the
flesh)can the soul be liberated.In this sense Igiturhas been freed
frommatterand can experiencethe purityof eternity.In so doing
he knows the absolute but at the same time forgetshuman speech.
After consultingthe grimoire(the magic book) as well as human
thought(look at the lightreflectedin the chimera),he understands
that the casting of the dice was foretoldand resultedin the negation of chance. The fact that Igiturforgetsspeech duringhis transformatoryprocess is another indication of his vanishingidentity
(his individualmode of expression)and that he recalls the original
or primordiallanguage embedded in matterthroughthe grimoire
indicates his passage fromone phase of existence to another.For
the Pythagoreanand Kabbalist, the originalor primordiallanguage
is God's word before His spirit was embedded in matter. Such
words have divine qualities to them, unsuspectedpower that remains incomprehensible
for beings livingin the temporalrealm.
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Bettina Knapp
in the Occidental sense, but rather indifferentiation,
the sphere
where conflict,contrast,duality,and movementare absent.
Only when Igiturlies on his ancestors'ashes does he experience
the emptinessof nothingnessand purityof being. In this mental
form he knows absolute nonduality."Through the mind alone is
Brahman to be realized. There is in It no diversity."Such a state
of nothingnessshould not be considered a negativecondition,but
ratheras the experienceof fullness.-9
Igitur has attained superconsciousnessthat has put him in
harmonywith universalprinciples.The mysteryhas been revealed
to him in the tomb-his inner palace. Igitur has now become the
very substance of his great work; he has made himselfmaster of
his own being and destiny.
29 Boris Vysheslawzeff,
"Two Ways of Redemption,"Eranos Yearbooks
VI. (Princeton: PrincetonUniversityPress, 1970), p. 20.
213