Julius EvolaTraditionalist Visionary |
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War and Heroism (part one)In his early years, when he was involved with Italian Futurism, Evola perhaps saw war as a kind of aesthetic. As F.T. Marinetti (1876-1944) proclaims in the manifesto: “We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for women.” Nevertheless, Evola soon saw the limitations of this radical utterance. For him, the warrior’s endeavors have both an immanent and transcendent character; immanent in that militarism and conquest fulfill an existential need in man—overcoming challenges [as in mountain climbing], pushing yourself self to the edge, projecting yourself into the future, and transcendent in that behind these endeavors is the full sanction and authority of the sacred tradition.If war is for Evola a purely masculine pursuit [solar masculinity], in his ideal culture, women would be drawn to the presence of the warrior as Criseyde was drawn to Troilus upon seeing him ride into the city fresh with battle wounds: This Troilus sat on his baye stede, Al armed, save his heed, ful richely, And wounded was his hors, and gan to blede, On whiche he rood a pas, ful softely; But swych a knightly sighte, trewely, As was on him, was nought, with-outen faile, To loke on Mars, that god is of batayle. (Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde II.624-630) Here we find Evola’s consecrated warrior, a noble in character and action. There is no place for such a man in the modern world of the Kali Yuga. I think it is a mistake to assume that Evola’s embrace of the warrior is a simple endorsement of violence as an end in itself—the warrior is one who lives outside himself, not because he can find no solid spiritual ground in his inner being, but that his achievements are necessary to preserve the sacred tradition. In his ultimate state, the warrior can achieve a kind of ecstasy. Hindu mysticism calls this ananda; a blissful state of higher consciousness. In Christianity, this condition was felt by St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) and Meister Eckhart (1260-1328). But it is important to emphasize that for Evola’s consecrated warrior, such a condition is not achieved through pure contemplation (as in the monastic life for instance), but through action. C. Higgins 1-25-08
25 01 08 - 12:34
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