René Guénon

René Guénon (1886-1951 was an esotericist and French metaphysician.
In spite of poor health, he was a brilliant student until his physical problems forced him to stop in 1906. At this point, he turned towards occultism, entering the Martinist Order and then Freemasonry. He published his first articles in the review “L’Initiation” founded by Papus and then worked to unify various initiation groups such as the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor and “L'Ordre du Temple Rénové” (Order of The Renovated Temple), eventually becoming their “Sovereign Grand Commander”. This led to an irrevocable break with Papus.

Now removed physically and intellectually from the occultist movement, he became ‘bishop’ of the Gnostic Church, leading to his excommunication by Rome. He then started a monthly review called ‘La Gnose’ (Gnosis), dedicated to the study of the esoteric sciences.
He was introduced to Léon Champrenaud, a student of the Eastern traditions. Both men became initiates of the Sufi master Abdul-Hâdi in 1912. He married Berthe Loury and took up his studies again at the University of Paris, only to find his theories and essays were in total opposition to what was being taught at the university. As a consequence, he returned to various works in progress of his own, and also began writing articles for ‘Le voile d'Isis’ (The Veil of Isis) review, which eventually became “Etudes traditionnelles” (Traditional Studies) in 1936.
Following the death of his wife, He left France for Egypt, where he lived in Cairo and remarried. There, he pursued his written work and adopted the traditional Egyptian dress and Arabic language of Sufism until his death.

He is the author of - amongst other things – “Aperçus sur l'initiation" (Perspectives on Initiation ), "La crise du monde moderne" (The Crisis of the Modern World), "La grande Triade" (The Great Triad), "Le règne de la quantité et les signes du temps"( The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times), "Le Roi du monde" (The King of the World), "Les états multiples de l'être" (The Multiple States of Being), etc.