It is a law of the political world. God makes kings in the literal sense. He prepares royal races; maturing them under a cloud which conceals their origin. They appear at length crowned with glory and honour; they take their places; and this is the most certain sign of their legitimacy. —Joseph de Maistre
“There are, broadly speaking, two ways in which God makes kings. The lesser path is through mediation by a spiritual authority. In the Western Middle Ages this took the form of papal consecration. Although cloaked in sacred symbolism, such legitimacy was usually consolidated through force and political contingency. The greater path is of a different order entirely: the direct bestowal of regality through a transcendent intermediary. Here kingship does not derive from institutional religion but from a supra-human source, operating through initiatic transmission.” -
