Evola on the Fall of Rome

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According to Evola, the world will not end as long as the Roman empire exists.1 This is in contrast to Coomaraswamy who believes it is the Greek philosophy that must be returned to. For perhaps by returning to this philosophy, the “cosmos” will be restored through a restoration of the proper “supernatural” forces. Or perhaps the people’s imagination will shift the world back into a state of harmony. It is difficult to say anything for sure on this point except that all scientific developments would have to be simultaneously removed and there would be nowhere to turn for the rest of time. The other interpretation either relies on nonexistent forces or subliminal, modern forces and it is diifcult to say anything decisive on this point there again being no direction to turn for the rest of time.

Global warming is part of the Holy Roman Empire- with neutral monism. There are three forces according to neutral monism- the scientific, the philosoph8ical, and the religious- and the scientific or philosoph8ical force- whichever one you decide it is- may be partly or entirely responsible for what is going on. The religious force such as God creating natural disasters may not be the only cause and could remain in effect if the philosophical force is removed. At the same time, you don’t want to remove any philosophical force in existence unless it is 100% necessary. Once the philosophical forces start getting removed, all of the philosophical forces may start dropping off. It may have to be removed, but that has to be decided by the sciences as guided by the church and the church- a just church- has to ultimately decide whether Schelling’s organic idealism should be removed.  Indeed, there could be some benefit to letting the planet burn up just a little bit. It can be argued that the idealism of the moderns is a Bona fide force deriving from the Indians.

Traditionalism

Evola on Vodou

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In Julius Evola’s book Introduction to Magic Volume 2, he gives his interpretation of effigy magic. Here we discuss two closely related articles: the magic of effigies and the magic of Creation.

Effigy Magic

In effigy magic, one desires to act on a person, makes a statuette representing the person, or obtains something that belongs to him or her, draws certain signs on it and makes some invocations, and attempts to affect the person. The possibility of such a practice is based off of three laws: 1. Law of the power of the imagination. When an image is focused upon it tends to actualize. To optimize results, one must a. focus on one idea alone and this idea must be saturated with emotion b. one must neutralize the rational faculties. 2. law of transference of projection. Since an image has nothing corporeal about it, it is free from the spatial conditions essential to bodies. To optimize results, one must a. know how to objectivize the idea, releasing it from one’s own I. b. know the method of transmitting this state into the mind of another person. 3. Law of sympathy. When the mind takes the form of another mind, it can act on it through sympathy. Finished with the anatomy of effigy magic, it is time to move on to the physiology. The items work by adding a physical connection to the procedure through the law of sympathy. A material action will activate the will and complete the realization. Thus, we see that Haitian vodou, which is regarded by some to be a mere superstition, is more aligned with high magic than initially thought.1

Man participates in the higher magical form of creating. You will obtain knowledge of this act when you know thinking as something concrete, material, corporeal, and alive- not subject to all the laws of space. Know that every spiritual action causes a corresponding material reaction. Concentration is creating an energy flow that giving form top the thought force that comes from the depths of your body. It is an “entity” i.e. a being with a life of its own, a force of its own, that can act in space outside you. Suppose a magus wants a person to kill or kill himself: he forms the image of a violent action and in the fire of concentration that lasts for months saturates it with a force and develops around it a current of energy. He takes a suitable object, say as dagger, and binds his energy to it and delivers a thought impulse and this instantaneously discharges causing the chosen person to be possessed by the impulse to perform, that motion. You can induce an emotion on the soul of an entity by saturating an object with passion. There are cases in which meditation on an object causes peoples teeth to emanate light rays. By exalting these powers to a maximum, you can even obtain t6he supreme form of creation- the creation of a god.2

Analysis

In the standard interpretation of vodou, there are many supra-individual forces that underlie the cosmos. By performing a material action on an object, these forces will interact and cause an effect to occur. These forces are in the physical world and can cause effects in the world. This is regarded by Evola to be how lower forms of magic work, in its different lower grades of existence all the way down to mere superstitions.     

Even though Evola recommends putting vodou on high magical basis, I believe voodoo can still work under lower forms of magic. The understanding is that there are many subtle forces that underlie the cosmos and by performing a material action on an object, these forces can interact in unusual ways. This interpretation makes sense considering we do not exactly know how many of these forces there are and what kinds, and these forces may very well transcend rational explications as to how they operate. Thus, such extreme cases may occur such as bumping the doll into a doorknob and causing the individual to do the same. Evola does not disregard lower forms of magic. He regards his own species of magic- high magic- to be resembling initiatory knowledge the most, but Evola is accommodating of lower forms of magic and certainly does not disregard them. For example, Evola mentions in the magic of effigies a power under which a person would be under the influence of supra-individual forces, and that he may choose thew day and hour in which the forces with his goal are dominant coddling the object, wrapping it up, and having it ready for the opportune moment. In the same article Evola mentions hierarchies of invisible forces.3 Also, Evolas alludes to lower forms of magic in his article on the magic of creation

Traditionalism

Evola’s anti-perennialism

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The World of Tradition

Traditional civilizations are controlled by people that have access to a higher order and a transcendent, supernatural dimension. These civilizations ignored the strictly intellectual domain for a metaphysical character. Ultimately, the king received the highest metaphysical rank, although later there developed a different kingly and priestly caste. In traditional societies, the law was intimately connected to the metaphysical order. The state had a transcendent meaning and purpose that went beyond the intellect. the rite binded the kings, priestly castes, and the households. It was performed in a precise methodological way and was a cornerstone of the state. Through the rite, supernatural powers would free themselves, react against themselves, and ascend to a higher plane of being. People were absorbed into the priestly and kingly castes through initiation. Often the person will evoke a ritual action that will actualize and renew transcendent influences. In traditional societies there is a normal hierarchical relationship between the royal and priestly castes– normally royalty enjoying primacy over priesthood. However, even in civilizations characterized mainly by the priestly caste, there is as correct relationship between these two castes. Finally, there is a warrior caste that is subordinated to these two.1

Evola, here, is talking about the general structure of religious organizations and is not alluding to an underlying perennial structure behind all religions. Look at the way Evola talks about religion. He is emphasizing diversity without necessarily alluding to unity. For example, Evola mentions in the Hindu and Buddhist tradition the doctrine of samsara, which understands life as a blind yearning, while in Hellenism, nature is seen as an embodiment of deprivation revealing a radical lack of purpose. Evola also mentions that in the Egyptian tradition, the king was equated with the sun and light, just like Ra, and in the Persian tradition, the king is said to be the same stock of the gods and Mithras, lord of peace, and made of gold. In the Indo-Aryan tradition, the king is the radiant force who personifies the divine fire. Another example is the ashavan and the anashvan in the ancient Persian tradition- the ashavan being the pure ones, beings of light, lords of fire, and beings of war, and the anashvan being the impure ones who are without law and oppose the principle of light.2 Thus, it can be maintained that Evola places a greater emphasis on the exoteric domain of religion than Guenon.

The Genesis of the World

The first age was the golden age in which people were most in conformity with the traditional spirit and we find characteristics of the highest form of regality. In this age, people did not die and lived like gods; There was also no disease and there was spiritual stability.  This age was characterized by gold- characterizing what is incorruptible, solar, luminous, and bright. The location of this first era was said to be in the north- the island being a real location situated in the arctic. In the next age, a feminine symbol, portrayed by the mother, was introduced; this corresponds to the silver age where there is a mingling of north and south. This corresponds in western expositions to the age of Atlantis, where there is a lunar spirituality; technically, Atlantis corresponds to the west and Lemuria corresponds to the south. This era was characterized by the metaphysical view of the woman as the supreme principle and every other being as being subordinated. A feminine spirituality dominated; men regarded themselves to be free and equal, cast and class distinctions did not apply, and a general pleasure and promiscuity was widespread. The next age was the cycles of decadence and the heroic cycle in which a race of giants roamed.  This age was filled with violence and materialism- thus resulting in the catastrophe of the flood. The Titans refer to the spirit of a violent and materialistic race that no longer recognized the authority of spiritual principle. Thus rose the amazons, a group of feminine warriors, who attempted to reinstantiate the feminine, lunar principle. Finally arose the civilization of the heroes.3

Unlike Guenon who places the source of the perennial philosophy in Egypt, Evola places the source in the west and merges the Greek and Indian yuga periods– emphasizing the European variants. Evola will sometimes mention the primordial state. But this is the primordial state as it exists in the previous yuga periods according to Greek mythology. Evola treats the genesis of creation in Greek and Hindu myth as a real entity without necessarily relying on any scientific data. As examples of Evola adopting the Hindu variants into the Greek yuga periods, Evola refers to a lack of advanced technology and a lack of monsters. For example, Evola mentions the mistake of conceiving the existence of other races that because of some geophysical factor have left very few traces of their existence. Indeed man possessed an ancient science, but that science was very different from the one of today. And the ancient myths about a struggle with monstrous entities may represent struggles of the primordial man against animal potentialities.4

Traditionalism

Biography of Rene Guenon

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Rene Guenon (1886- 1951)

Early Days

Rene guenon was born November 15, 1886 to a 56-year-old father- Jean-Baptiste- and a 36-year-old mother in France. Guenon was entirely French in ancestory and his family owned a vineyard. however, by the time he was born, they were living in a small house in Bloise. When he was seven, they moved to a bigger house with a garden, which is where the formative years of guenon’s childhood were spent.  Guenon suffered ill health as a child and his family was very religious. Guenon was talented in school, always coming first or second in the class. This was obtained all while guenon was experiencing frequent bouts of ill health and consequent time off school. Guenon soon became a loner among his peers and believed his teachers had it in for him. Because of this, Guenon moved to a new school in 1902, which had an excellent reputation. At this school, despite continued bouts of ill health, he continued to do very well and was particularly good at math, philosophy, and religion. Guenon entered the College Rollin to study advanced math in 1904, but he fell behind due to ill health and homesickness to the extent that he needed supplementary coaching. He left in 1906 and established himself in a small flat in the Ile St. Louis in Paris. The Ile St. Louis was in the center of Paris surrounded on all sides by a river. The flat had an interior courtyard and winding staircases. Guenons’ room had a spacious kitchen and dining room lit by gas and two bedrooms all with simply furnished rooms.1

Middle Years

Guenon’s decision to not obtain an academic position was a crisis point in his life. His admiration for philosophy and religion had been instantiated back in school. Now guenon attempted to access a more attractive and immediate form of metaphysical knowledge which led him to attempt to access the occult societies of Paris. At this time, Guenon was initiated into the Martinist order lead by Papus (real name Gerard Encausse) an energetic read bearded man some twenty years older than Guenon of French and Spanish descent based on the works of the Eighteenth-century Spanish philosopher L.C. de Saint-Martin.  Guenon went to Papus’s school of occult studies based on a recommendation of a friend and Papus had himself been a student of the College Rollin. In 1908, Guenon began to fall out with Papus mainly because he wished to revive the Order of the Temple. There were three more main organizations which appealed to both the general public and the occultists of France: the theosophical society of America, the spiritualism of America and France, and the freemasonry of England. Guenon was attracted to certain fringe masonic groups and spiritualist movements but eventually turned away from them.2

By this time, Guenon began to fall out with Papus along with two of his close friends: Champrenaud and Pouvourville. Guenon founded a periodical called La Gnose with these two when he was initiated in 1912 into a Sufi order lead by al-Kabir. Guenon made translations of important Sufi mystical texts and continued to work on La Gnose. Guenon’s interest in the Hindu doctrines had been stimulated by his contacts with the theosophical society which is linked to Indian philosophical teachings though much adulterated by madame Blavatsky’s vision. However, the Vedanta was now somewhat popular in Europe. Guenon claims to have received his teachings directly from Hindu masters. Back in 1912, Guenon also married a young woman who was an assistant to his aunt. The marriage was Catholic as Guenon was still Catholic.3

Publishing of Main Works

From now von, Guenon’s life changed because he now had family responsibilities and had to earn a living, but also because he increasingly disapproved of the occultists of his time. He retained his interest in masonry and became affiliated with the Thebah lodge associated with La Grande Loge de France. The following year we find him associated with a leading anti-masonic writer: Abel Clarin de la Rive. Anti masonry was initiated into the public by Taxil some 40 years earlier. He revealed, for example satanic rites practiced by masons which in actuality may have had nothing to do with masonry. Guenon was initiated into an anti-masonic magazine through his contacts with La Gnose. Many have commented on Guenon’s writing for an anti-masonic magazine while being a member of a masonic organization, but Guenon’s approach to masonry was idealistic. guenon seems to have retained a belief in masonry as a preserver of the primordial tradition.4

During the first world war he was exempted from military service due to poor health and had to take up teaching in order to pay the rent. He taught at a high school during the 1915-16 years and after his mother died in 1917 was appointed lecturer in philosophy at Setif in Algeria.  In 1918, he returned to France and settled with his wife and aunt in his old family home in Bloise and was appointed lecturer in philosophy at his old school.  Guenon was introduced to a circle of young philosophy students who had gathered around the Institut catholique de Paris. By this time, Guenon had ceased to be the wild occult experimenter of his youth and was now an academic bourgeoise engaging in intellectualism. During this time, guenon wrote his first book Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines which was submitted for a doctorate but was rejected since it failed to display the sort of evenhanded documentation required for such theses. Nonetheless it was accepted for publication. In 1921, guenon published Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion. This book was exceedingly well documented although much more is now known about the ludicrous and fantastic side of the religion.5

Guenon life now began to change in that he now became increasingly absorbed in his writings. During this time guenon published several new books including The Spiritist Fallacy in 1923 and East and West in 1924. This helped Guenon gain some readers, but he was still being somewhat ignored by both the general public and academics. In 1924, Frederic Lefevre, editor and chief of a prestigious religious journal decided to hold a press conference with some leading religious experts of the time. Rene Grousset, an expert on China, Jacques Maritan, a Christian neo-Thomist, and Rene guenon, and expert on Hinduism, were invited to take part. One more event to be noted is Guenon’s relationship with the journal Regnabit– a Christian religious journal. Here, guenon developed some of his ideas on symbolism. From 1924 onwards, Guenon taught at a private all-girls school. However, in 1928 Guenon’s wife died and nine months later his aunt died. His supporters tried to keep him tied to the catholic religion but this double blow caused him to seek to eventually retreat into the safe haven of the east.6

Later Years

Guenon was not good at being a bachelor, and needed the support of a wife and a secure home background. He attempted a second marriage, but was refused.  Thus in 1930, he made the decision to travel to Egypt with a wealthy widow- madame Dina- planning to found a publishing house there to translate original texts illuminating the primordial tradition. Three months later, madame Dina returned to France and the plans for the publishing house folded. Guenon stayed and by 1931 was publishing in an Arab periodical. Guenon moved to a modest house opposite a university and abandoned western clothes for an Egyptian style of dress. In 1934, he married the daughter of a Muslim lawyer. The couple moved to a few different houses and settled in 1937 to a comfortable house in a suburb with a distant view of the pyramids but moved back to the center of Cairo in 1946 and had four children. His time in Cairo was mainly spent on study and writing. Guenon eventually converted to Islam but maintained that it doesn’t imply the superiority of one tradition over another as they all are reflections of the primordial tradition. During this time, Guenon published several new books including The Multiple States of Being in 1932, The Reign of Quantity and the Sign of the Times in 1945, and The Metaphysical Principles of the Infinitesimal Calculus in 1946. In 1945, Guenon developed a persistent cough and eventually died in 1951.7 More books from Guenon have been published posthumously.

Traditionalism

Guenon on the Free Masons

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Guenon on the Free Masons

The free masons hold high importance to both science and metaphysics. The free masons are related to carpentry and stone-cutting.1 Masonic initiation is divided into three successive phases: apprentice, fellow, And master.2 There are two types of masons: operative and speculative. The operative masons are workers and artisans and the speculative masons are related to philosophy, but this is hermetic philosophy and not profane philosophy. The free masons craft metaphysical symbolism into their works- be it architecture or something else.3 The free masons tend to hold no dogmatic assertions- either scientific or metaphysical. However, Guenon believes true metaphysics, which is suprarational contains nothing that could offend them. There is really according to Guenon no contradiction or incompatibility between science and religion.4

Guenon believes the Freemasons, to a certain extent like all traditions, alludes to something that has been lost. However, freemasonry- being the last of the traditions to come about, represents one of the most degraded forms of tradition. Throughout history, information has been lost constituting substitution, and more information has been lost constituting further substitutions. Freemasonry- being the last tradition to develop has the most substitutions ion place. Thus, freemasonry is simply a “corpse of the original tradition. This tradition has been distorted in do many ways to the point of becoming unrecognizable. The different grades of mastership do not in any way relate to how things were in their primordial state. There should really be no distinction between the different grades of mastership if things were the way they should be. These high grades are in reality far removed from the original tradition.5

Analysis

I am aware that the Freemasons are an esoteric organization, but I am also aware that they share some enlightenment ideals. That being said, I am only concerned with Freemasonry to the extent that it remains traditional. I’m not a free mason that has a slight interest in traditionalism, I am a traditionalist that has a slight interest in freemasonry. What I am interested in is tradition and traditional activities. Freemasonry is an interesting way to express these ideas. That being said, freemasonry constitutes a valid activity and can lead to some interesting results. A society without freemasonry can be boring and it should be retained at least in the West.

The metaphysical heritage of tradition has a greater variety and has a higher quality than anything that can be invented in contemporary times. There have been many religions invented in history and further esoteric traditions documented in the west: magic, alchemy, astrology.  Nothing today is as interesting as these ideas and it would take years to develop a new esoteric tradition at the same level as what came in the past. There has been invented for example, the idea that we live in a computer simulation as invented by the Swedish philosopher, but this is a lesser form of metaphysics having been developed over less time and leads to paradoxical consequences. Additionally, it can be further argued that the esoteric traditions are the only traditions that constitute a true facet of our reality. These traditions have been received through divine revelation and have been handed down throughout history. Additionally, the moral principles involved in moving out of tradition can be seen as a degeneration. The moral principles of tradition are far superior to anything that has come since. One should retain proper male female relations and proper familial relations by relying on tradition. The relationless monism of Bradley and Atkinson’s law of attraction can get out of hand if pushed to the extreme. These ideas should be retained but handled with caution while remaining in a traditional framework.

On Evola’s Philosophy of Race

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I have Julius Evola’s philosophy of race as a regular philosophy of race with one difference- it is nonbiological. When Evola says what is the most important is the race of the “spirit,” he is using this word in the Berkeleyan sense- meaning mind. Don’t be confused by the ordinary language movement and confuse this with zeitgeist. Berkeley used the word spirit as synonymous with mind, and this is carrying over to Evola which is using his theory as a replacement for the brain. Evola’s magical idealism is a form of subjective idealism and the dialectical procedure is deriving from the subject. Many contemporaries in today would interpret Evola’s theory in the latter sense using the ordinary language movement. However, the ordinary language movement is really to be seen as a degeneration and a misunderstanding of how philosophy is to be interpreted in the first place. So Evola’s philosophy of race is a regular philosophy of race, although he is not allowing the English to get into control with their biological methods.

On the Nonbiological Nature of Race

Evola is simply attempting to maintain proper relationships statuses. What takes priority for Evola is the person’s race. Two people who are the most suited for each other are two people of the same race. If someone who is northern European subscribes to stoicism, for example, he is northern European who is subscribing to stoicism, and retains the features of a northern European, and not a person who is a member of the roman race. Thus, there are no hard feelings- everybody shares the most features with the race they belong to. And if that person gets in a relationship with that person she will notice features of the northern European showing up in his personality. There are two aspects of a person- the philosophy he expounds and his nature. Thus, two people who are the most suited for each other are two people of the same race. At the same time, it is permissible by Evola to move outside your race and invent some interesting concoctions in certain cases. If a Muslim marries a Catholic for example, that is somewhat risky metaphysically speaking, but can be surpassed if the love is strong enough. The child of these two people could consider himself Muslim or Catholic.

Where Evola’s theory is of most value is in cases where someone is in a part of a region that could be classified as ambiguous such as in Mesoamerica. Evola is not declaring the Mesoamericans to declare themselves indigenous because that is whe4re their sprit lies. What he is declaring is that it is impossible to tell through biological methods how indigenous or how Spanish the Mexican is. If a person has an ambiguous case such as he may have say 20 % indigenous in him it is up to the individuals understanding of his body and mind to understand what portion of it he is. In other words you eyeball it. Instead of the biological methods, this person and the community will have some leeway in regarding him to be perhaps 40% indigenous or perhaps 10 % indigenous.

On the Identicality of the Races

At the same time, it is important to note that Evola is removing the brain so he regards all the races to be near identical in ability. Evola’s theory if implemented properly, is really a very superior form of race because he is declaring all races to be about identical, although different. Thus, one should be preserving of the different racial relationships, but should at the same time create a society that emphasizes the identicality of all races. The society should try as hard as they can to emphasize all races while recognizing differences within the races. And this really makes sense. Thus, in a masonic society, everybody gets along in harmony, while recognizing differences in the individual races. The Africans for example have not had much of a philosophical history over the last 200 years, but they are the inventors of one of the greatest metaphysical theories in existence: Neoplatonism, and they are also home to the Egyptians, one of the greatest religions to have come into existence, and arguably originated shamanism, although there is no biological guarantee of this. The Mideasterners can be argued to have been derived from Africa.

Taditionalism

The Hermetic Caduceus and the Mirror

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In Julius Evola’s book Introduction to Magic Volume 1, he gives a description of several magical operations and rituals. Julius Evola’s book centers on high magic, that form of magic which is the closest to initiatory knowledge. In the book, Evola describes two rituals. One is the hermetic caduceus and the mirror and the other is instructions on ceremonial magic.

Two Rituals

Evola describes an operation to isolate the fluid body involving a mirror. This operation should be performed in the countryside outside of big cities or in a place where there is complete silence. This operation should be performed in a sealed off room on an empty stomach with open windows, burned myrrh, and a mirror. The mirror should be crystal, steel, copper, or bronze and should be concave to collect the light. Position the lamp not to be in the image of the mirror and to cast a dim light around you and the mirror. To perform the operation, stare at the central point of light in the mirror. Don’t blink, and do this until everything turns black. A black whole will arise in the center of your vision plane and this will eventually turn light blue and finally into a milky white aura.  Finally, this will produce a mirage of rapid bright light. One should stare at it in a concentrated yet effortless manner similar to that of sleep. First stare at it, then look away and try not to think about it. Appreciate the mirror until it becomes something that does not resist you, and then go deeper. You must resist the presence of something not subjected to you. This presence will try to obstruct you, but try to ride it and not become dissolved during the different stages of the operation. If you don’t ride it, you will be thrown back to the beginning of the operation. You will then experience a sort of fainting or lightness, and after shuddering you will be back at the starting point. The obstacles consist of an unbalance of mercury and sulfur.1

Evola’s book is filled with rituals of similar sorts. For example, Evola’s book also mentions instructions for ceremonial magic. This ritual should be performed in winter. One should eat only vegetables milk and similar products. One should not take alcohol or drugs and should drink only a little tea and coffee. the ritual should be performed in the early morning and one should dress in loose white garment. The belt and shoes should be of linen. Perform the ritual in a large underground room. Burn a fire of pine and laurel wood in a one-meter-high tripod. In another tripod, close the top with a hole. Insert a wick and inside place some virgin olive oil. Enter the room, light the fire, and burn some perfumes. In the center of the room draw a large equilateral triangle in gold with the vertex pointing east and inscribe a circle in it. The tripod should be on the right and the burning lamp on the left. Stand in the middle of the circle and recite the invocation given elsewhere in the book.2

Own Experience

The operation with the mirror reminds me of an experiment I performed when I was a 15-year-old boy. I stood in front of a mirror and began to stare at it. I focused on my image in the mirror. Then I began to notice that my vision was directly cutting space in half. There was the part of space in front of me and there was the part of space in back of me which was directly being cut in half by my vision. This led me to my analysis of space: a point cuts a line in half which extends another line to form two dimensions. A line cuts a plane in half which extends another plane to form three dimensions. And finally, a plane must cut a cube in half to extend into four dimensions. Thus, the mind is the gateway into the fourth dimension. This is really the transcendental explication of what Blavatsky came up with in which the mind is the gateway into higher dimensional space in which lies the many different layers of the ego. But this makes me wonder: the first step in the procedure is to cut a line in half by a point. This means that a point is really a dimension between zero dimensions and one dimension. The progression therefore goes point, line, plane, cube. In my opinion, this might be a major breakthrough could lead to an entirely different type of mathematics. How could the world have overlooked this for 2,500 years?

Traditionalism

Guenon’s Conception of Heaven and Hell

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Guenon’s Conception of Heaven and Hell

Under a modified Guenonianism, Guenon believes in Heaven and Hell. I say a modified Guenonianism because Guenon sometimes alludes to the idea that the Hindus don’t really believe in either Heaven and Hell or reincarnation. But under the modified Guenonianism, he believes in Heaven and Hell because that is part of the generic esoteric domain that he believes belongs to all religions. However, the Muslims have a notion of Heaven and Hell that is permanent and the Hindus have a notion of heaven and hell that is temporary. What is guenon’s analysis of the matter?

Although I agree with Gornahoor that Guenon is essentially recognizing the identically of every religion in all that is essential, where I am diverging from his stance is that I believe Guenon recognizes the exoteric domain as a valid feature of religion and that the religions are different in the exoteric domain. Although Gunenon recognizes that there is one truth and that truth is incorporated in all religions, he recognizes differences within the individual religions and it is impossible to know which one is correct. This is evidenced by his seemingly arbitrary conversion to Islam. He would probably have stayed with Catholicism if he did not recognize differences in the religions. Therefore, Heaven and Hell might be temporary and might be permanent and it is impossible to know which one is correct. Guenon would probably lean towards Heaven and Hell being temporary states since he believes the esoteric tradition has a source and Hinduism came around first.

Heaven and Hell as permanent States

However, what if the Heaven and Hell of the Muslims and Christians is different than the Heaven and Hell of the Hindus? These are different revelations and different revelations call for different esotericisms. This would mean that one afterlife is temporary while the other is a permanent state.

The Hindus will probably now bring up the seeming metaphysical paradox in a permanent heaven. For how could a person not get bored living in the same place for eternity? Certainly, things would get boring with the same people for eternity. However, this can be sidestepped if we recognize that this permanent afterlife is similar to this life except better in most ways. Thus there is no less paradox in a permanent heaven than there would be in continual reincarnation on earth. This would mean that the earth is a short testing ground to determine the readiness of a person to make it into the real life. This now makes sense why the Muslims are so cautious. If you have the opportunity to make it into a permanent place that is infinitely better than this existence, you had better not move a muscle.

This alternative Heaven would be reached through initiation or perhaps through belief or through decent living. I think the main route to this heaven would be through initiation. The Catholics have multiple sacraments set up- the Eucharist, baptism confirmation, confession. However, I believe other people would be let in through living a decent life or wanting this and so forth. Some Hindus would make the cut and others would have to wait until they are reborn into a properly Christian family, while many would remain Hindu. This allows for a flexible framework in which there is reincarnation except for those lucky few are able to make it into a permanent afterlife through being initiated into the Christian faith.

Traditionalism