One of Evola’s most prescient suggestions is that the modern aspirant towards transcendence should “ride the tiger” – the individual (or the person, but not the personality) should use the negative energies of the modern world to advance himself, until they are exhausted, for opposing them directly would invite destruction. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Middle Ages
The Glory of God
“The essential American soul is hard, stoic, isolate, and a killer. It has never yet melted”. – DH Lawrence If it is true that the “Great Divide” was the Middle Ages, it might be worthwhile examining to what extent they remain with us, and how we might recover such. Ordinarily, … Continue reading
Continuity of Tradition
Tradition is not subject to any standard, on the contrary, it is the standard by which to judge a culture. Historical change, in the Traditional sense, is organic, since it develops according to the needs and nature of specific peoples. For example, the rupture between ancient Rome and Holy Rome … Continue reading
Action and Contemplation in Dante’s Divine Comedy
Titus Burckhardt, in his essay “Because Dante Was Right,” argues that one of the main themes of the Commedia is “the reciprocal relationship between knowledge and will.” Knowledge of the eternal truths is potentially present in the human spirit or intellect, but its unfolding is directly conditioned by the will, … Continue reading
Nine worthies: Champions of Chivalry
The Worthies are archetypal and the symmetry of the scheme reflects the Medieval view of history and destiny of European man. The Old Law prepared the way for the New. The Pagan law created the Pax Romana that allowed the spread of the New Law. Continue reading
The Symbolism of the Horse
Within a single organization, a kind of double hierarchy can exist, especially when the apparent leaders are themselves unaware of any link to a spiritual center. In such cases there may exist beside the visible hierarchy made up by those apparent leaders, an invisible hierarchy of which the members may not fulfil any ‘official’ function but who, by their presence alone, nonetheless assure an effective liaison with this center. In the more exterior organizations these representatives of the spiritual centers obviously need not reveal themselves as such Continue reading
Random thoughts on Chivalry
Classical ethics, classical jurisprudence and classical philosophy, though by no means irreconcilable with Christian thought and exercising a powerful influence upon it, belonged to a pre-Christian tradition. Chivalry was thus reminded, forcefully, of the separation of the origins of its institutions from those of the priesthood, and of the original independence of its function — within the broad framework of divine providence — from the priestly one. Continue reading