Hopscotch

Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First of all, as a disclaimer, this essay sets forth a rather controversial interpretation of Julio Cortazar’s novel, Hopscotch. After reading and re-reading this text, it becomes increasingly clear this story is mostly concerned with alchemy. Alchemy is a medieval philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity; it is the method of searching for “the philosopher’s stone.” Though the practice of alchemy will be further developed later on, one must consider a quote by Gregorovius, one of the novel’s characters, who states, “My alchemy is much less subtle than what all of you practice; all that interests me is the philosopher’s stone” (Cortazar 181). Gregorovius is referring to the same philosopher’s stone of the ancient and medieval past. While in dialogue with Horacio, he speaks of “Something human . . . I suspect that Lucia [light] must have told you [about it] . . . you’ve got to see what kind of mileage people can get from the word human. But why didn’t La Maga [the magic] stay with you since you glow all over with humanity?” (Cortazar 182).

For the uninitiated, this passage may seem rather obscure or unimportant. However, for students of the ancient mystery schools and the occult, this passage is clearly an allusion to the “hu” that is heard by those who’ve transfigured into an Illuminati. It is a sound heard by those who’ve gone through the Ægyptian Rite of Passage, called the Secret of the Phoenix, wherein one fasts for forty days in order to eventually shed his material flesh and become a Being of Light ☼.

The “hu” is an intense internal sound that is actually heard by the transfigured individual caused by superconductivity of electro-luminescence. This is a scientific fact, which Cortazar’s novel affirms to be a true phenomenon. Though he realizes that most uninitiated readers will interpret his text very superficially, by totally ignoring or rejecting the special meaning, he occults this sweeter secret with various allusion, misdirection, concealment and symbol. He knows, perhaps an initiate into the mystery schools himself, that uninitiates will not comprehend the factual reality of the Secret of the Phoenix. Therefore, throughout the novel he creates a character, Morelli, who as a self-reflective writer, consistently plays with the philosophical verity of reality and surreality. For instance, Morelli comments, “This body that I am has the pre-science of a state in which, as it denies itself as such, and as it simultaneously denies the objective correlative as such, its own consciousness would accede to a state outside the body and outside the world, which would be the true accession of being” (Cortazar 359). The underlying meaning behind Morelli’s remarks carry on the ten-thousand year quest for the philosopher’s stone. He affirms the science that man actually has an innate ability to transfigure into a being of light when he writes, “My body will be, not mine, Morelli, not I, the one who in 1950 has already putrefied in 1980, my body will be because behind that door of light . . . being will be something other than bodies and, than bodies and souls” (Cortazar 359-60). One must not interpret this statement as figurative, for this essay will show that this seemingly absurd phenomenon is an actual human condition, and perhaps a postmodern one that challenges preconceived notions about reality.

Much of the path to get to the transfiguration lay in the novel’s structure. When the narrator, not Morelli, states, “you forget that in order to get to Heaven you have to have a pebble and a toe” (Cortazar 214), he is alluding to the use of the Kabbalistic system of magical meditation. He is also referring to the philosopher’s stone, which has been called “the pebble,” or the chemical element the Ægyptians called “mfkzt.” This magical chemical is what is needed, along with the mental and spiritual preparation in order to transform. Considering the fact that Paris is a city that attracts many secret societies, perhaps Cortazar knew something of this chemical from his journeys to Europe.

Julio Cortazar was born in 1914 and died in 1984 in Brussel, Belgium, and educated in Argentina. He was an Argentine writer who became well-known for his experimental surrealist literature. In 1951, though, he exiled himself to Paris, because he disapproved of Juan Peron’s increasingly tyrannical style of government. It has been said that Cortazar’s writing is surreal in that he depicts two simultaneous realities in his work; one of these being an objective world full of “phantasms.” It is this other reality wherein Cortazar, like a bored and bemused god, throws his characters on a quest through obscure labyrinths and mazes seemingly of their own creation, only to see if they make it to a dimension of transcendence. The primary objective of these characters is to escape into another, more divine reality, a parallel universe, or an other dimension of Being. In Hopscotch, Horacio’s goals is to escape into the Heavenly “kibbutz of desire.”

Part I:
Hopscotch as Labyrinth

The labyrinthine journey through a maze is a theme. The maze is symbolic of this abstract journey, based on an ancient game of self-discovery via fantastic obstacles and dream-states. The metaphor used to communicate this journey is hopscotch. It is a game played on a pattern-chalked sidewalk. The pattern consists of several single squares or circles, which are often sequentially numbered. It begins when a player tosses an object (usually a rock) into the pattern, then hops into the pattern, careful not to skip the square containing the rock and to land without touching the lines in all the empty squares. Scholars believe the game may be as much as a thousand years old, based on the maze motif found among peoples in the iron age, and through which youth were required to walk during an initiation ceremony.

The game, hopscotch, may have begun in ancient Britain during the early Roman Empire, symbolizing a transformation in consciousness. The original courts were over 100 feet long and used for military training exercises. Roman children drew their own smaller versions in imitation of these soldiers, and this is how it evolved into the modern (post-modern) game. The object of the game is that each player should have a marker, a stone, which is symbolic of the necessary philosopher’s stone and the actual maze graphed upon the ground.

When the player reaches the end of the labyrinth (Heaven) the player is transfigured into a light being. “The squares open, the labyrinth unfolds . . . and [he] comes to the road leading to the kibbutz of desire . . . no longer rising up to Heaven . . . but walk[ing] along with the pace of a man on the same land of men towards the kibbutz far off there, but on the same level” (Cortazar 216). The narrator is describing the total transformation of the player into an Illuminati, a Being of Light, who is able to return to the material world where other men are, but in a different dimension, as a Being of Light.

Illuminati is a term used in the 15th century to signify adepts who possessed “light” from direct communication with a higher source. It has been associated with various occult groups such as the Rosicrucians and the Masons. Within these secret societies’, initiates undergo a labyrinthine journey through Kabbalistic meditation, while rising through a system of degrees. The Kabbalah serves a mental guide through this often confusing maze of transformation.

Part II:
Hopscotch as Kabbalah

In Cortazar’s novel, the reader becomes the hopscotch player who journeys into the Self via Kabbalah. Following the lead of one of Cortazar’s literary heros, Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Kabbalah is the underlying structural model for much of his writing. Kabbalah is the mystical teaching of classical Judaism. It derives from the Hebrew word, Qabbalah, which means “that which is received,” and refers to a secret oral tradition handed down from teacher to pupil. The purpose of Kabbalah is to pursue enlightenment, to seek union with God via transfiguration. According to legend, God taught Kabbalah to angels, but subsequent to their fall from Heaven, the angels taught their secrets to Adam in order to provide humankind a way back to God--the celestial Home. This tradition eventually passed on to Noah, who initiated seventy Elders. Furthermore, eventually Kabbalah passed through Abraham, who after teaching his own sons, told them to travel throughout the world sharing these secrets to worthy initiates. Thus, in the Orient, the term for the Buddhist deity, Brahman, derives from the same word, Abraham or Abram, meaning “father.”

Much like the Yogic system of the Far East, Kabbalah is a system of meditation that depends heavily upon imagination. The earliest form of mystical literature is found in the tradition of the Merkavah (God’s Throne-Chariot). This refers to the chariot of the prophet, Ezekiel’s imaginal vision. The goal of a Merkavah mystic is to enter “the throne world,” which is reached after passing through seven heavenly mansions, similar to the labyrinth of hopscotch. The Merkavah-rider, or Traveler, then sends his soul upward to pierce the veil around the Merkavah throne. Along the way, though, the soul is assailed by evil demons and spirits, and often by one’s own negative equal, such as Olivera’s doppelganger, Traveler. To protect the Merkavah-traveler on his journey, the mystic must prepare magical talismans, sigils, seals, and recite incantations.

The historical origin of the true Kabbalah centers on a short book, Sefir Yetzirah (the Book of Creation). Its exact date is unknown, but it presents a discussion of cosmogony and cosmology, and sets forth the central structure of the Kabbalah proper. It states that God created the world by means of thirty-two secret paths of wisdom, which are the ten sefirot and the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The sefirot derive from the same origin as sapphire, which is a semi-precious stone that occurs as a transparent, blue variety of mineral corundum. Although sapphire is often applied to gem-quality varieties of corundum of all other colors, the true sapphire is a deep blue-purple, the best tint being the blue-purple the color of Kashmir blue. The sefirot are emanations by which all reality is structured. The first sephirah emanated from God, and the following from each other. The rest of the sefirot represent dimensions of space.

Kabbalistic practice drew upon the Merkavah practices in that it was ecstatic, had magical rituals, and had as primary techniques prayer, contemplation, and imaginal meditation. The magical power of words assumed the greatest importance. One need only read Borges’ story “Aleph” for an example of this. Some Kabbalists held that God was too exalted for people to comprehend. However, mystics could perceive God’s presence in the form of a divine fire or light, which is the first creation, Shekinah, God’s feminine presence (also the model for La Maga and Talita). The traveler seeks to unite with this feminine glory, just as Olivera initiates his journey with the question, “Would I find La Maga?” (Cortazar 3). The sefirot are attributes of God; they are energy emanations that are described by the names of God; and they are language that substitutes as metaphor for God. The sefirot form the central image of Kabbalistic meditation, the Tree of Life, which, as shown above is Cortazar’s metaphorical guide for this alchemical transformation of the electromagnetic soul.

Just like the child’s game, the Tree of Life shows the descent of the divine from Heaven (Kether), into the material world called Malkuth, and the path by which people can ascend to the divine while still in the flesh. Each sephirah is a level of attainment in knowledge; they are different magnifications of consciousness. The seven lower sefirot stand for Sovereignly, Foundation, Endurance, Majesty, Beauty, Loving-Kindness and Judgement. Each corresponds to seven energy centers located along the spine within the human body, and the top three–Understanding, Wisdom, and Crown (Humility)–are mystical steps to complete unification with God. Each sefirah is divided into four sections in which operate the Four Worlds constituting the cosmos: Atziluth, the world of the archetypes, from which are derived all forms of manifestation; Briah, the world of creation, in which archetypal ideas become patterns; Yetzirah, the world of formation, in which the patterns are expressed; and Assiah, the world of the material.

Through contemplation and meditation, a Merkavah-traveler ascends the Tree of Life. The sefirot are contemplated by mentally visualizing (imagining) them vibrating with color. The colors represent various qualities, but together with images of their corresponding Hebrew letters, also the divine names of God and the energy centers therein. God is understood to be more like an abode, a home, or a state of Being, rather than a person with binoculars looking down out of the big black blanket of space. Hebrew letters have corresponding attributes and numerical values which when meditated upon, unify the mind and body and bring the mystic into contact with higher planes of consciousness. To meditate on the letters, as Borges shows, is to meditate on all of Creation, and to achieve one with the whole of everything. One of the most important elements in Cortazar’s novel is a very important element in the attainment of the magic; it is found in the symbol of a little snake called the “kundalini.”

Part III:
Kundalini Serpent Club

In the novel, Horacio and his friends gather in a lounge called “The Serpent Club,” which is an obvious allusion to the magical energy force, kundalini. “Gregorovius had always enjoyed meetings of the Club, because it was not really a club at all in the strictest sense,” (Cortazar 45) but a secret magical society, which probably conducted Kabbalistic meditation and Tantric Yoga rituals. Derived from the Sanskrit, meaning “snake” or “serpent power,” kundalini is so-called, because it is a psycho-spiritual energy that is said to lie coiled, like a serpent, in the root base of the spine. It is a metaphor for the very energy of consciousness that remains dormant within the body. It can be aroused either through spiritual discipline, such as meditation, or spontaneously via certain psychedelic plants. Ultimately, kundalini stimulation brings about new states of consciousness, including mystical illumination.

The power of kundalini is enormous. Individuals who’ve experienced kundalini ecstasy say it is beyond description; it is the very essence of transcendence. Also called “liquid fire” or “liquid light,” kundalini is the solar principle in man’s consciousness. When it is activated, one sees various kinds of light, including an inner light that rests within the pineal gland. For example, when “[Olivera] saw . . . the faint purple light . . . when [Talita] came in, [Olivera] was in the midst of a shamanistic trance” (Cortazar 317). This passage seems to allude to an invocation of a higher ecstatic state of consciousness by stimulating the kundalini energy force.
Another manifestation of the kundalini is “ego-death.” For example, “La Maga was waiting for Horacio to kill her and that hers would be a 6 phoenix death, entry into the council of philosophers, that is to say, the discussions of the Serpent Club” (Cortazar 29). The death being referred to here is ego-death of the material person, otherwise known as ego-dissolution, via psychedelic attainment of the kundalini power, and the transfiguration into a Being of Light (an Illuminati). Used as a metaphor for death and resurrection, “The only possibility of [Horacio] coming together [with the feminine] would be if Horacio were to kill her while making love, where she could get together with him in Heaven [Kether and the kibbutz of desire]. . . and there the resurrection of the phoenix could take place” (Cortazar 30). The mystery of the phoenix myth predates ancient civilization. Yet, recent discoveries in chemistry and alchemy have shown the myth of the phoenix to be a very real phenomenon with incredible philosophical implications. But first, one must understand the Myth of the Phoenix, before exploring its science.

Part IV:
Borges and the “Sect of the Phoenix”

Assuming Cortazar was generally influenced by Jorge Luis Borges, and his story called “The Sect of the Phoenix,” mention is made of “the secret of the phoenix” in Hopscotch. In his story, Borges writes, “The most ancient sources . . . speak only of the People of the Custom or the People of the Secret. Gregorovius had already observed . . . that any mention of the Phoenix was extremely rare in oral language” (Borges 131). Borges is alluding to the process of (ego) death and resurrection that is attained when the kundalini, or “liquid fire” of consciousness, unites with the Divine Light of Being. This Secret, though, is a very important aspect of Kabbalistic meditation, and has been known by secret societies for millennia. Furthermore, Borges writes that “Another believes that, while we are asleep here, we are awake somewhere else, and thus every man is two men,” (Borges 13) which corresponds to Horacio’s comment that “while I’m writing . . . the feeling that I’ve left my body behind comes back” (Cortazar 399). This mind-body dualism explains more clearly the mirror relationship betwixt Horacio and his doppelganger, Traveler. The narrator refers to a time when Horacio speaks with Traveler about their synchronicity with each other: “Talking about dreams, we realized, almost at the same time, that certain structures we dream could be current forms of madness, if we could just continue for a while when we’re awake. When we dream we give free reign to our aptitude for madness. At the same time we suspect that all madness is a dream that has taken root” (Cortazar 399-400). Drams are important for understanding the secret that Borges and Cortazar allude to, for it is said that the dream world is the other dimension whither the soul transcends after becoming the Phoenix, the being of light.
In Ægyptian mythology, the phoenix is a bird that lived in the desert for 500 years and then consumed itself by fire, which later rose renewed from its ashes. This myth represents what happens to an individual who engages in the alchemical transfiguration from flesh into a Being of Light. This process can is achieved via magical meditation and a rare chemical compound, called by the voweless Ægyptian word mfkzt, “what is it?” Curious enough the Ægyptian Book of the Dead receives mention when Horacio “started to think about Ægyptian phrases . . . about Thoth, significantly the god of magic and the inventor of language .

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