Evola on the Fall of Rome

Posted on by leyoucis

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

Posted on by leyoucis

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

Posted on by leyoucis

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

On Evola’s Philosophy of Race

Posted on by leyoucis

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

Posted on by leyoucis

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

Intellectual Biography of Julius Evola

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 Early Experiences

    Keeping in the spirit of his philosophy, Evola does not list autobiographical details from his youth. Perhaps there was some abuse in the family and perhaps there was not. Any ways, Evola was born into a Catholic family. However, from an early age, Evola found himself with a predisposition for and an interest in “transcendence.” The other thing was Evola initially found himself attracted to mathematics in his youth.

     In Evola’s early twenties he found himself attracted to the philosophical movement in Italy known as “futurism.” The futurists lead themselves to a rejection of both all things academic and all things Bourgeoise. Its main goal was progress and action. The futurists enjoyed things such as cars, airplanes, and youth. Meanwhile Evola was undergoing studies at an academic college as an electrical engineer. But Evola- true to the spirit of his philosophy- dropped out one year before the completion of his phd. He says there are two types of people: those that have degrees and those that do not. During this time, the first world war broke out of which Evola was assigned a spot as an artillery officer on the front line.

     After the war, Evola became involved in the Dadaism movement- another artistic movement in Italy during the early 1900s. Dadaism was one of the first artistic movements in Europe to move away from the realism found in medieval and early modern art into a form of abstract expression. Dadaism was an Avant guard movement which pushed traditional boundaries and disrupted traditional aesthetic categories. they affirmed a unity between order and disorder. Evola describes Dadaism as “sensorial idealism.” According to Evola, Dadaism made use of “pure means of expression,” removed from “all emphasis on content” in order to evoke absolute freedom. Evola was one of the main figures in the movement and personally knew many of the other leading figures of the movement. One of Evola’s main achievements was an exhibition of fifty-four paintings held in 1920 in Rome.

The Speculative period of magical idealism 

    It was around this time that Evola experienced an existential crisis. It was around this time that Evola began to experiment with mind altering drugs-particularly psychedelics- although they were not called that at the time. These experiences provided him with not only “inner phenomena,” but also certain understandings with regard to doctrinal matters that would have been hard to obtain otherwise without the use of alternative techniques. Rather than following the path of the existentialist, Evola found himself absorbed in transcendent issues. This began with his philosophical period of magical idealism- between 1921 and 1927. Evola started with a translation of the tao-te-ching by Lao Tzu. In the book, Evola wrote an introduction in which he interpreted Taoism as a form of idealism- and the rest of the book is clouded in idealist terminology. This decision, Evola later regretted- opting in later editions to see the tao-te-ching in Eastern spiritual contexts. After this, Evola turned his attention and began to systematically study post Kantian German idealism.  The Italian heads of this tradition: Giovanni Gentile and Benedetto Croce appeared to Evola to be endorsing a convoluted, academic, and bourgeoise version of this theory- so Evola turned his attention to the direct study of the original documents. Evola admits the influence also of Nietzsche on his thought but to a lesser extent than his predecessors. From these sources, Evola constructed his theory of magical idealism in which he posits four fundamental principles of the individual: (a) solipsism, (b) projection of the past from the present, (c) absolute freedom, and (d) oscillatory relationship between the subject and the physical world.

Evola’s Esoteric Phase

     Now begins Evola’s second distinct phase of his career. He had invented a new form of idealism which was arguably an inspiration behind Mussolini’s rise to power. That would be enough to make a great philosopher. However, Evola now begins his esoteric phase. Evola believes esoteric practices and the resulting customs and practices should be practiced exactly as they are handed down throughout history- making him a traditionalist. However, Evola does not necessarily believe in an underlying unity behind all religions, making him not a perennialist like Guenon.

Tantrism and the UR group

     In the mid-1920s, Evola found himself attracted to the works of tantrism- a controversial Hindu and Buddhist metaphysical doctrine in which the entirety of civilization is identified with a feminine goddess. Tantrism is rooted in metaphysics but is based on spiritual experiences. Even though the West is typically characterized by an affirmation of the will to live and the East a denial, tantrism focuses on harnessing metaphysical power in order to affirm “the transcendental affirmation of the I.” Shakti– the feminine principle- manifests itself in a form of cosmological magic with “transbiological energies.” On the practical side, Evola discusses many practical and taboo techniques of the practitioner in order to affirm the power of the “I” such as yoga, meditative exercises and ritual practices. Around this time, Evola also wrote his book Pagan Imperialism, in which he recommends infusion of spiritual and religious ideals into the fascist state.

     In 1927, Evola joined the mysterious magical order: the “UR Group,” which was led by Evola and Reghini. The UR Group successively wrote “Introduction to Magic” in three volumes between 1927 and 1929- an esoteric magazine. The focus of the UR group was not on magic as it was popularly known throughout the medieval period and renaissance but focused instead on “high magic”- that form of magic that is conducive to initiatory wisdom. The aim was threefold: an outline of methods, disciplines and techniques, publishing of rare Eastern and Western texts, and critical investigation into the subject matter. One of the original ideas expounded in the magazine was the idea of “conditioned immortality”- which is the notion that the individual is not endowed with a soul that is by rights immortal. Evola’s work in the UR group would later form a basis for his later work.

The hermetic tradition and critique of contemporary spirituality

     In 1931, Evola published the book The Hermetic Tradition. In the book, Evola documents an original interpretation of hermeticism along traditionalist lines- focusing on alchemical Hermetica– which consists of those hermetic texts of mythical origin which originated with the Greeks, continued with the Arabs, and reached the European West during the renaissance. These texts discuss chemical and metallurgic operations- “particularly the production of gold, of the philosophers stone and the elixir of wisdom”- discussed at times in coded and symbolic language and incorporating the myths of antiquity. According to Evola, the singular importance of alchemy is the transformation of the individual, with secondary importance in the transforming of metals due to supranormal abilities in the self-transformed initiate. He particularly points out that substances mentioned in the texts are actually symbols embodying forces present in man and nature. 

     In Evola’s The Mask and Face of Contemporary Spiritualism, published 1932, Evola defends traditionalism against contemporary spirituality. He argues that two opposite realms into the transcendent exist which naturalism is situated between- that of the “subnatural” and “subpersonal,” and that of the “supernatural” and “super-personal.” The former process is inferior to it and is most commonly pursued in contemporary spiritualism. The latter process is superior to it and is pursued in the realm of tradition. Evola then goes on to critique several contemporary currents. He describes psychical research as self-transcendence by descent since it attempts to apply the scientific method to a realm where it cannot be applied. Steiner’s anthroposophy is dismissed due to its muddled, convoluted framework and its original insights which is typical of the subpersonal. The descent into the primitivism of savage people- which is typical of contemporary thought- is described as regressive. In one of Evola’s chapters, he gives a positive description of Catholicism. Catholicism is to be held in higher esteem than primitive Christianity and is full of traditional structure, which has a greater inner seriousness than profane philosophy and intellectualism.

Revolt Against the Modern World

     In 1934, Evola wrote his main book on traditionalism- Revolt against the Modern World. Revolt is a study of the decline of the West throughout history. The common error that causes this to arise is the mistaken optimism in “progress.” They thus regard degeneration to be achievement. Evola contrasts the “world of tradition” and the “modern world.” The world of tradition incorporates two opposing orders: the physical and the metaphysical. The latter order is superior while the former order is inferior. It is the goal of a traditional civilization to lead one to the superior mode of operating. This is initiated into the public through a higher authority. Evola outlines in a traditional civilization things such as law, ritual, relation between the warrior and priestly caste and relation between the sexes. Evola then outlines the morphology of civilization- beginning from prehistory. He contrasts the doctrine of evolutionism with the doctrine of devolution. In the book, Evola ends up merging the Western and Eastern yuga periods each of which number four. The modern period can be seen as the kali-yuga (dark age) of the Hindus. History is marked by a shift of power from the highest caste down slowly into the lowest castes- shifting from the spiritual authority into the warrior authority into the merchant class with the bourgeoise, and finally into the peasants. It is important to note that Evola does not necessarily mean by revolt a return to ancient paganism, but a return to ancient spirituality of the previous yuga periods. Also, Evola’s suggestion for a return to the past is non-Eurocentric- as he gives equal weight to all civilizations.

Mystery of the Grail and the Doctrine of Awakening

     In Evola’s The Mystery of the Grail, published 1938, the book contains an analysis of the myth of the holy grail from the medieval period which is rooted in Christian tradition but contains much that is not Christian.  This deals with King Author and his court within the Celtic and Nordic tradition. The king looses his strength and in order to regain it, must use the grail. The myth can be seen as containing an initiatory (as opposed to a mystical) character. Evola regards the myth as representing a precise historical moment. He sees the myth as an expression of the medieval attempt to unify Europe in contrast to the spiritual world of the church. Evola then describes those groups which are the inheritors of the myth of the grail such as the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians.

     In the late 1930s, Evola concentrated on his most important Eastern texts- The Doctrine of Awakening and The Yoga of Power. However, these were not published until 1943 and 1949, respectively. The Yoga of Power is the definitive treatment of Evola’s work on Tantrism from the 1920s. In The Doctrine of Awakening, Evola reveals the initiatory character of Buddhism. This is expressed in the doctrine of awakening- a text written by Buddha which had supposedly been lost throughout the centuries until rediscovered by Buddha. Evola maintains that Buddhism transcends religion while retaining an initiatory aspect. Evola outlines the theoretical aspect of Buddhism but also concentrates on the practical aspect, that is asceticism.  The fundamental feature of Buddhism, according to Evola, is its practical aspect. Evola then goes on to treat later developments in Buddhism: Hinayana and Mahayana.

Issues in Race and Political Philosophy in Men among the Ruins

     Although racism has been associated with the more problematic features of the third Reich, Evola developed his own philosophy of race. Evola distinguishes between three types of race: the race of the body, the race of the character, and the race of the spirit. Evola argued that it is the inner race that is to be considered the most important. I think what Evola is getting at here is that he believes in racial differences but at the same time he believes in identicality of the intellect so there is relative uniformity among the races. At the same time, he is an idealist, so he is removing the brain, so there is no biological guarantee which race a person is. In other words, you should eyeball it. This gives the Hindu’s something to improve upon, for example. They should retain the castes but level out the equality of each caste. It is important to note that Evola’s philosophy of race is not anti-semitic in nature. Evola’s philosophy of race ended up becoming the philosophy of race of the Italian fascists- allowing them to adopt a philosophy of race similar to the Nazis but retain their own original impulse.

     Evola’s Men among the Ruins, published 1953, was Evola’s attempt at a genuine reestablishment of the Right. In it, Evola rejects liberalism as an attempt to subvert and control the world. However, Evola is not endorsing the “capitalist right,” but simply the religious and political right.  The true state is thus controlled by some kind of higher order which is embodied in an authority. This authority creates “stability” and “unity” in the political organization. This is best found like that in Rome with religious warrior ideals- used to “nourish,” “awaken” and “sustain” the individual’s ability to “act,” “think,” and “fight.” Thus, the state forms an organic unity with just inequality. This is in sharp contrast to the totalitarian state. In doing so, Evola distances himself from dictatorships. He also wishes to distance himself from any society that places economy first. So, Evola emphasizes an organic, hierarchical unity, rejecting purely economic considerations.

Metaphysics of Sex and Ride the Tiger

     In 1958, Evola published Metaphysics of Sex, in which Evola uses metaphysics in the broad sense of any claim about the fundamental nature of reality that transcends the physical. In it, Evola contrasts his metaphysical interpretation of sex from biological/psychoanalytical descriptions in which sub-personal instincts are aimed at the repropagation of the species. Evola argues that sex brings about a shift in consciousness that gives one a glimpse of the metaphysical.  Sex is also aimed at reintegration of the partner within himself, perhaps involving a merging of his soul with his partner.

     In Evola’s Ride the Tiger, he describes the path of the man of tradition in the present world. Nothing can be done to change the present situation in which a lack of tradition reigns supreme. This man, according to Evola, should not abandon the contemporary world altogether but should accept it while retaining an element of traditional character. This is precisely what “riding the tiger” means: allowing those forces which according to contemporary society foster destruction and allowing them to act in a way to cause liberation. Riding the tiger pertains only to the inner life of the individual and in no way applies to “external goals” and the future.  Even though the doctrine of cycles plays a crucial role in traditional doctrine, it should not be able to stop one’s inner life in the present. He points out areas of dissolution in contemporary society and explains how the man of tradition may handle it. However, Evola is again clear that he sees contemporary spirituality as a form of decomposition, which serves as a bad replacement for religion.

Back to British and Continental Idealism; Back to Traditionalism

An Interview with Salvador Dali

Posted on by leyoucis

     I recently came across an interview from the 1950s which was an American television interview with Salvador Dali- the early twentieth century surrealist painter. I am not aware of who the interviewer is, but every professional talk show host in America probably knows exactly who he is. This came at a time in the fifties when, although usually seen as a reductionist and Freudian age, Atkinson and Evola were in full swing. It is interesting to see what happens when two heavyweights of philosophy go at it. The guy giving the interview is a law of attraction person; there looks like there is a magnet literally coming out of his head and his teeth are pearly white. He actually gives a commercial for a cigarette company himself right on the talk show- unlike the commercial cuts that happen today- and his last sentence comes straight from the law of attraction- “pay the rich because we like to pay them.” Meanwhile, Dali is sporting and Evolianism: he only cares about himself- a solipsist. He mentions his girlfriend who he tried to win over- taking very unusual and eccentric steps to winning her over- absolute freedom. Finally, he actually mentions how the fifties are a Freudian age and how he is the only surrealist left and surrealism coming from its height a decade ago has collapsed into a mere nonentity- the oscillatory relationship.

     So, Dali is the Evolian, and the talk show host is a law of attraction person. Atkinson treats Evola with suspicion and Evola treats Atkinson with suspicion. And this really goes on into the 21st century. Atkinson has control over the West, and Evola has some degree of control over the East- Evola treats Atkinson with suspicion and Atkinson treats Evola with suspicion. No one really tries to assume a philosophical role anymore with the continuing unfolding into reductionism. What was once obvious to the public has now become lost. What the public today often overlooks is that the four fundamental metaphysical principles layed down by Evola are in fact the basis behind that kind of eccentric mode of behavior found in so many southern Europeans throughout the 1900s. Many adopt a more watered down version of Evolianism than Dali. I will provide a link to the interview below.

Salvador Dali Interview with Mike Wallace (1958)

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Defense of Evola’s Oscillatory Relationship

Posted on by leyoucis

    Evola’s oscillatory relationship replaces prayer with wishing- a form of magic. However, Evola regards his oscillatory relationship to be a form of high magic, to be distinguished from graded lower forms of magic such as superstition.

     In relating the ensuing event to the wish at the very moment of the wish calls for a denial of the law of causality and goes beyond any potential planning on the individual’s part. For even though one could plan past this point and try as hard as he could to obtain the result, the chances that it would occur in the very moment of the wish could be very slim calling for a denial of the law of causality. For example, suppose one has just lost a tennis match to a 3.5 tennis player at the local country club at the age of 18 and then makes the wish that he will become a top ranked tennis player- and then it actually happens. Nothing at the moment of the wish would suggest that this is a genuine possibility- in this extreme hypothetical case. The chances could be 1%. Once it becomes true, it is only a 1 in 100 chance that the wish was not involved.  One thus, under this form of metaphysical realism gains a metaphysical intuition and attempts this again and if it happens again, he can assume it is working. What is really involved here is luck and Evola really gives a way of controlling luck. Luck means the exterior circumstances involved that are beyond one’s control. If there were no such thing as luck, this would seem to make less sense, although in actuality, it would still make sense. But once luck is involved, it is impossible to know at the moment of the wish whether he will be lucky or not without the wish. Evola was in fact working off of the I-Ching when he wrote the books.

Further considerations

     The law of causality still holds except at a singularity and so tables, maps, and so forth and other forms of discursive knowledge can still be used. However, Evola’s maneuver can still work even if it creates a hindrance to discursive reasoning. And this is what many people do not realize that a philosophy can still work even if it creates a disturbance to discursive reasoning. Many contemporary professionals deny that there is any amount of luck in an individual’s attempt at development and attempt to gain full control over the law of causality. However, this is really nonsense and denying luck if there is such thing as luck leads to as much of a cognitive error as affirming luck when there is no such thing as luck. What comes across as bizarre to the American pragmatist or realist sits real cozy to the European foundationalist and makes complete sense to the Chinese- the inventors of luck.

     Evola’s idea makes sense as a cognitive enhancer if even if claims to metaphysical realism are dismissed. The cognitive device found in many current self-help books was in fact invented by a metaphysical realist about 100 years ago and the original form of the claim was as a form of metaphysical realism. The cognitive version is that when you are at a low point, always believe you will be able to get to a high point again. Many cognitive devices found in self-help books were in fact invented by idealists- such as solipsism. What is the basis behind acting only for yourself and asserting yourself over others? – believing you are the only perception that exists. The metaphysical realism version of these claims has a harder edge, however, than the cognitive version. The realistic version is more akin to prayer and the individual truly believes that it is ontological that he will Get up when he is down and treats it as a real phenomenon.

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