Hello,
It should be emphasised that it is not Evola, but some ancient
peoples themselves, who related this to the idea of "blood", through
expressions which the Italian author recalled in this chapter of 'The
Elements of Racial Education'. Generally speaking, it would be a
mistake to think that Evola built a racial theory ex nihilo. On the
contrary, this racial theory is based to a large extent on teachings
going back to Aryan antiquity, as is clear for those familiar with
ancient Rome and Vedic civilisation. For instance, the "race of the
soul" and the "race of the spirit" on one hand, the "race of the
body" on the other hand, can be referred respectively to the Roman
notions of "sanguis" and "cruor", two Latin words for "blood", which
mean respectively "gore" and "vigour, life, vital force; race,
lineage" and can both be found as a pair in the main works of most
Latin authors, from Ausonius to Ovid, from Caesar to Lucian. "Race
lives in blood [sanguis] or rather deeper than in blood, in a depth
where individual life communicates with a life more than individual",
to be understood "as an order in which spiritual forces are at work.
This the Ancients knew well in their veneration of the Lares, the
Penates, the archetypal heroes, the 'demon [see message 32] of a
gens, entities which conceal the whole mystery of blood and the
mystical forces of race".
This doesn't mean in any way that biological race is not important,
far from it. Anticipating on your review of the sixth chapter of 'The
Elements of Racial Education', it must be recalled that the Dharma is
considered also as a biological, eugenic principle in the Nyâya-
Sûtra, since it is defined as "what protects descendents by the non-
mixing of genetically different groups (asamkara)" (translation by
V.R. Talasikar, in "The sociological concept of dharma", Pr. Bh.,
September 1939, p.455)
Thompkins&Cariou
--- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, "Tony Ciopa"
<hyperborean@b...> wrote:
> The title of Chapter 2 is "Inner Meaning of Race".
>
> In this chapter, Evola wants to move beyond the abstract or
scientific
> definitions of race in order to determine what "race" means to the
> individual consciousness. He mentions the "thoroughbred" man, who
can arise
> out of any social class; this type of man stands out by his
superior,
> "noble" qualities.
>
> He then relates this to the idea of "blood". He points out that the
> instincts of the thoroughbred man, though they arise spontaneously
out of
> his nature, are of a different order from the animal instincts.
>
> The thoroughbred man sees things more deeply than the ordinary man.
It is on
> this plane -- not the biological plane -- where race must be
understood and
> lived. This racial consciousness arises from a depth deeper than the
> individual consciousness. This is what makes it a fundamental
choice of
> one's being. Evola then lists the causes of the extinguishing of
one's
> racial consciousness.