¶4 Some people, who had doubtless not taken the trouble to read our books, thought they must reproach us for having said that all traditional doctrines had an Oriental origin, that Western antiquity itself, in all epochs, had always received its traditions from the East; we have never written anything of the kind, nor even anything that could suggest such an opinion, for the simple reason that we know very well that this is false.1 Indeed, it is precisely traditional data that clearly oppose an assertion of this kind: one finds everywhere the formal affirmation that the primordial tradition of the current cycle came from the Hyperborean regions;2 there then took place several secondary currents, corresponding to diverse periods, of which one of the most important, at least among those whose vestiges are still discernible, incontestably went from the West toward the East;3 But all this relates to very distant epochs, of those commonly called ‘prehistoric’, and that is not what we have in view; what we say is, first, that for a very long time already, the deposit of the primordial tradition has been transferred to the East,4 and that it is there that the doctrinal forms which derive most directly from it are now found; second, that in the present state of things, the true traditional spirit, with everything it implies, no longer has authentic representatives except in the East.5
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Summary

Guénon responds to those who wrongly reproach him for claiming that all traditional doctrines have an Oriental origin. He states that he has never written any such thing, because it is false. Traditional data themselves indicate that the primordial tradition of the current cycle came from the Hyperborean regions, and that some secondary currents went from the West toward the East. However, this concerns very distant, so-called ‘prehistoric’ epochs. What Guénon maintains is that for a very long time the deposit of the primordial tradition has been transferred to the East, where the most direct doctrinal forms are now found, and that in the present state of things, the true traditional spirit no longer has authentic representatives except in the East.

General notes

  1. cela est faux — Rendered as ‘this is false’. Guénon stresses that his detractors attribute to him a thesis he never upheld: the exclusively Oriental origin of all tradition. He recalls that the ‘primordial tradition’ predates any geographical distinction between East and West. ↩︎
  2. régions hyperboréennes — Rendered as ‘Hyperborean regions’. In sacred geography, Hyperborea designates the domain of the North Pole, considered the original spiritual centre from which tradition radiates throughout the human cycle. This place is not merely geographical but also symbolic, representing the ‘sacred island’ or the ‘summit of the world’. Guénon draws here on Indo-European and Hellenic mythological sources. ↩︎
  3. alla incontestablement de l'Occident vers l'Orient — Rendered as ‘incontestably went from the West toward the East’. Guénon here refers to real historical transmissions, such as those of certain pre-Hellenic or megalithic traditions, which would have travelled from west to east before settling in the East. The adverb ‘incontestably’ indicates that this is a traditionally established fact, not a mere hypothesis. This reverses the common assumption of a one-way East-to-West flow. ↩︎
  4. dépôt de la tradition primordiale a été transféré en Orient — Rendered as ‘the deposit of the primordial tradition has been transferred to the East’. By ‘deposit’ (dépôt), Guénon means the organised ensemble of doctrinal, ritual and symbolic forms that preserve primordial truth. This transfer, accomplished over very long periods, signifies that the East has gathered and preserved what the West has progressively lost. The term ‘deposit’ carries the sense of a sacred trust or treasure. ↩︎
  5. n'a plus de représentants authentiques qu'en Orient — Rendered as ‘no longer has authentic representatives except in the East’. Guénon clarifies the meaning of his thesis: it is not about an Oriental origin of all tradition, but about the present location of its living and authentic forms. The modern West, by contrast, has lost all effective connection with this tradition, while the East still possesses direct representatives of it. The phrase ‘authentic representatives’ excludes syncretic or revivalist movements lacking unbroken transmission. ↩︎