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Evola on the Middle Ages

This an accurate summary of "Phratry of the Sentinels of the Future".
However, your views on the relationship between heathenism and
Christianity are disputable in various respects, as should be clear to
those who have read carefully our posts on this subject, not to
mention that those who have read just as carefully 'Revolt against the
Modern World' don't need to be reminded that, "despite Evola's
emphasis on solar spirituality, there is also a legitimate place for a
lunar spirituality". Evola has made it clear in various occasions that
lunar spirituality is legitimate, on its own plane, provided that it
is subordinate to solar spirituality, and that it acknowledges fully
this state of natural subordination.

What is disputable, for example, is the view that "the medieval Church
did not seek to eliminate pagan virtues but rather to perfect them and
make them her own". We fail to see how that very short essay by that
Catholic Brazilian philosopher substantiates it, and how the
"masculine nature of the Church" to which he is senstive is showed in
it. The manlihood of the Roman soldier, and of the Roman in general,
did not lie where he assumes it lied : Rome's great accomplishments"
are not "law, literary and artistic masterpieces", a limiting view
which feels the effect of that humanist mentality of the Renaissance
which he rightly criticises, and which was also criticised by Evola.
"Grace, which elevates and fortifies nature," and which ", far from
weakening the virtues of the Roman," would "render these same virtues
incomparably greater", does not belong to the "elementi di stile", the
virtues, which, to Evola, ranked among the characteristics of the
Roman and Aryo-Roman spirit (see 'Stile "Mediterraneo" e carattere
ario-romano', 'Carattere, rassegna del lavoro italiano', 1941). Nor do
the tendencies of the early Christians which can be inferred from the
description which Celsius gives us of their behaviour, in which there
was not much "grace", and of their beliefs.

Even though the set of ideals and of duties which chivalry was changed
throughout the Middle Ages, the following code summarises accurately
its spirit :

"Thou shalt believe all the church teaches and observe all its directions

Thou shalt defend the church

Thou shalt respect all weaknesses and shalt constitute thyself the
defender of them

Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born

Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy

Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without cessation and without
mercy

Thou shalt perform scrupulously the feudal duties, if they be not
contrary to the laws of God

Thou shalt never lie and remain faithful to thy pledged word

Thou shalt be generous and give largesse (?) to everyone

Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and Good
and the foe of Injustice and Evil"

If virtues such as courage and loyalty are indeed of a manly
character, the fact remains that, here, these are mixed with other
virtues which are of the opposite sign, such as respect towards all
weaknesses, an attitude which early Christians resented Romans for not
having had towards them, and which smacks of "Immortal principles" and
of their humanitarian applications, in short of the pathological fancy
for the 'human too human'. Just as only inferior beings can demand
equality, and can demand it only to crush superior beings under their
weight, once they have obtained it legally by subterranean means, so
only the weak can require the strong, or rather the great, to "respect
all weaknesses", and can require it only to crush the great under
their weight, once, through an inversion of values, weaknesses have
become synonymous of greatness. Weaknesses cannot be 'respected' by
any man worth of the name.

Chivalry has three aspects : in relation to fellow Christians, towards
whom virtues such as mercy, courage, fairness, protection of the weak
and of the poor, are exercised, and towards countrymen, and more
particularly towards a lord, towards whom loyalty must be showed ; in
relation to God (this implies being the champion of good against evil,
being generous, obeying God (and the Pope), and obeying him above the
feudal lord.; in relation to women : the knight is required to place
himself in the service of a lady, and after all of all other ladies.
It appears that Evola, in his analysis of the spirit and of the rôle
of chivalry, has laid stress on the second part of the first aspect
(the servant-hood of the knight to his lord, which brings with it the
idea of unconditional fidelity, of being willing to give one's life
for another's, of self-sacrifice, in the Aryo-Roman context of a
higher and active heroism), while underestimating the two other
aspects : hence the fact that, if a romanisation did take place in the
Middle Ages, he may have been led to overestimate its influence, its
impact. In relation to God (and to the Pope), the knight became a
crusader, and we have already pointed out the reasons Evola's
interpretation of the Crusades, while being valid from a certain point
of view, loses to a large extent its validity when considered from
what we dare to call a higher point of view : while, in Greek and
Roman mythology, the North was the point of reference, this point of
reference shifted to the South-East as soon as Christian teachings
possessed the minds and the souls of Westerners. Jerusalem became the
centre of the European world and of Europeans' concerns, and a sort of
'idée fixe', just as, incidentally, as a coincidence, the Jew started
to become influential in European courts in the XIII th century and as
those courts had started to become emasculated by the deleterious
influence of the song of the sirens of the 'troubadours', which
originates in the Middle-East, and more precisely in Sufi circles.
Henceforth, the Westerner was, literally and spiritually, decentred.
Thule, his true centre, was replaced by the so-called 'Holy Land', a
holy hand which is not his. To criticise Evola's views on the
crusades, we thus look at things from a point of view he assumed
himself to study other subjects, but not this one, namely that of the
'occult war'..In relation to women, Evola rightly recalled that,
behind the knightly worship of woman, symbolic significations were
hidden. It is simply a matter of knowing whether these symbolic
significations are of the solar or of the lunar order. "The lady, as
he mentions in "The Phratry of the Sentinels of the Future", was the
only one who could judge the value and the honour of knights, and, he
adds, according to the theology of courtly love, there is no doubt
that the knight who fell for his Lady partook of the same destiny of
happy immortality as that of the Crusader who fell for the liberation
of the Temple".Given the considerations we have just made on the
Crusades, it goes without saying that we do not draw the same
conclusions as he did from this comparison. Let's go further : the
relationship between a lady and her knight(s) is closely akin to that
of Shakti and Shiva in Hindu Tantrism, and to that of Prajna and Upaya
in Buddhist Tantrism, apart from the fact that, in the latter,
liberation is supposed to be obtained in life, and that, still in the
latter, the presence of a woman in flesh and blood is not needed and
can even hinder the initiation process. Some of you have already seen
where we are getting at : the whole courtly attitude was likely to be
assumed, not on a pure spiritual plane, but on a more or less
sentimental and erotic plane, whether Rossetti, Valli and other
scholars who upheld a purely symbolic interpretation of this
phenomenon, like it or not. Evola had his doubts on the matter, and
they are formulated more or less explicitly in various of his
writings. In "The Phratry of the Sentinels of the Future", he wonders
: "Could there be a religious longing behind this whole feminine and
erotic symbolism?". If you also have doubts on this matter, but you
are not convinced by any of our arguments, put things in perspective
and ask yourself this simple question : why is it that, in the early
XII th century, a lady in flesh and blood became suddenly the symbolic
means to reach immortality among the warlike caste? Suddenly, since
this motif cannot be found in any Aryan tradition.

Now, when spiritual teachings are applied, whether consciously or not,
on a plane which is not theirs, this means an inversion. Diabolus deus
inversus.

In this case, what is the nature of the inversion? As showed by George
Duby, who, unfortunately, hasn't seen that this phenomenon originated
in the increasing Eastern influences to which Europe was subject at
that time, the feminisation of customs began in the early XII th
century. By then, very few churchmen still wondered whether "women
have a soul".

Plinio Correa de Oliveira recalls that, in the III rd century, "Saint
Sebastian served as the commander of the imperial bodyguard under the
Emperors Diocletian and Maximilian". Other Christians served in the
Roman legions. The 26 th of June 363, during the decisive battle
against the Perses, Emperor Julian was assassinated, hit by a spear
thrown from the rear : a Christian soldier avenged himself for the
'persecution' of Athanasius and made the latter's prophecy come true.
"The Carpenter has built a coffin for Julian", the patriarch of
Alexandria had shouted at the fanaticised crowds which visited him at
his church in the desert.


--- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, "Toni Ciopa" <hyperborean@...>
wrote:
>
> In "Sintesi di dottrina della razza", Evola listed three great Aryan
> civilisations:
>
>
>
> (1) The Vedic civilisation
>
> (2) The Roman civilisation
>
> (3) The Nordic-Roman Middle Ages
>
>
>
> The reasons for the inclusion of items (1) and (2) are obvious. (3)
may or
> may not be obvious, depending on the nature of the relationship of
> Christianity, and in particular the Catholic Church, with the feudal
society
> of the Middle Ages. Evola addresses this relationship in the 1934
issues of
> Vita Nova. The only on-line reference is a French translation at:
>
> <http://askesis.hautetfort.com/archive/2006/07/19/chevalerie.html>
> http://askesis.hautetfort.com/archive/2006/07/19/chevalerie.html
>
> I will provide a brief summary of its main points:
>
> The title in English is: "Phratry of the Sentinels of the Future".
>
> Now many Catholics look back at the Middle Ages and see it as the
high point
> in the history of the Church. However, Evola, in this article,
claims that,
> on the contrary, the Middle Ages at its core were pagan.
>
> First, he points to Feudalism as an hierarchical social arrangement
which he
> opposes to Christian sociality or collectivity. Feudalism is based
on two
> principles: (1) the free individual and (2) the loyalty of the
warrior. He
> goes in to characterise this system as masculine, while Christianity is
> feminine.
>
> Evola then claims that the system recalls the secret tradition of the
> Empire, where the spiritual and secular natures are united. The Church
> separated these domains, claiming spiritual authority to itself and the
> secular to the Empire. Evola points out that there cannot be two suns --
> feudalism brings back the idea of divine-royalty of the pagan
Nordic-Romans.
>
>
> The next section deals with the meaning of Chivalry which has the same
> relation to the Empire and the priesthood to the Church. From a
metaphysical
> point of view, Chivalry is an initiation into a type of ascesis --
of the
> warrior, the aristocrat, the hero. Evola then discusses the Templars and
> answers objections that the Knighthood was actually Christian.
>
> The final section deals with the Graal, which Evola claims is merely the
> Christian adaptation of a pre-Christian, pagan theme. Evola has
dealt with
> this legend more fully elsewhere.
>
> Evola concludes again by denying the Middle Ages were the Golden Age
of the
> Church but, quite to the contrary, they brought back the most
radiant mark
> of ancient civilisations. He quotes the Ghibelline Dante with approval:
> "Christ himself was a Roman."
>
> However, this is not the end of the story and a few more thoughts can be
> added to Evola's telling.
>
> We can start with Charles Maurras whose thesis is that the "classical
> edifice of Latin civilisation and Catholic hierarchical structure" is
> "attacked and upset by a new mentality". (Molnar, "The Decline of the
> Intellectual") So, although Evola ultimately rejects the Catholic Church
> because it is too Christian and Semitic, Maurras -- despite his
status as an
> unbeliever - promotes the Catholic Church because of it opposition to
> Semitic influence and closeness to Roman values. This is not
necessarily a
> contradiction, as Evola asserts: "The thesis of Charles Maurras is also
> ours: pagan Rome had created [emphasis in original] Catholicism as a
system
> of order in opposition to Christian anarchy ("Imperialismo Pagano",
Italian
> edition).
>
> In other words, the Nordic-Roman leaders created Catholicism out of
the raw
> materials of primitive Christianity. This, in effect, is identical
to the
> Church's claim to infallibility, which is no more and no less than
the right
> to define Christianity. In the Sorelian sense, this is the
power-idea that
> unifies a civilisation.
>
> So the feudal system and values may be inconsistent with primitive
> Christianity, but it is not so clear that they are inconsistent with
> Catholicism. The Catholic Brazilian philosopher, Plinio Correa de
Oliveira,
> is very sensitive to the masculine nature of the Church. For
example, look
> at this essay in praise of "pagan manliness" to see that the
medieval Church
> did not seek to eliminate pagan virtues but rather to perfect them
and make
> them her own.
>
> http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/PCO/pagan_manliness.htm
>
> This may be because de Oliveira is a layman, not a priest, but he
decries
> the feminising element that came into the Church with the
Renaissance. Also,
> chapter V of his "Revolution and Counter-Revolution" may be of
interest to
> some on this topic:
> <http://www.tfp.org/what_we_think/rcr_book_online/rcr_intro.html>
> http://www.tfp.org/what_we_think/rcr_book_online/rcr_intro.html
>
> We must also keep in mind that, despite Evola's emphasis on solar
> spirituality, there is also a legitimate place for a lunar spirituality.
> First of all, the priesthood is a valid caste in a Traditional
society and
> will embody lunar characteristics. Therefore, there is room both
for the
> hero and for the saint, since - as Evola has consistently asserted -
there
> is no one law valid for all castes. Furthermore, by the very nature of a
> hierarchy, the lower classes will necessarily be lunar - those who
believe,
> rather than those who know. Evola himself asserts that if you want
to know
> what pagan spirituality was like among the masses during the Roman
> civilisation, you need look no further than the Catholic Church,
which is a
> close approximation ("Imperialismo Pagano", German edition). It
should not
> be surprising that the spiritual beliefs and practices vary among the
> castes.
>
> So, the real issue is not whether the Middle Ages were pagan or
Catholic,
> but rather what is the proper relationship between the spiritual
authority
> and temporal power. It seems to me that Evola doesn't take into
account two
> assumptions; these are more a matter of definition than of
substance, and do
> not affect his ultimate conclusions.
>
> 1) The Church reserves right to define Christianity - recall that
> "pagan Rome had created Catholicism". Therefore, there is no higher
> standpoint from which to judge the Church, either to call it too
semitic or
> too pagan.
>
> 2) The knightly class decides whether they are Catholic or not.
Indeed,
> they regarded themselves as Christian and not pagan. If it appears
otherwise
> from our vantage point today, that is because we are seeing them in the
> light of the Renaissance and Reformation, not as they saw themselves
at the
> time.
>
> In the contest for control of the power-idea, the priestly caste was
> ultimately victorious with the destruction of the Templars. The rest is
> history.
>





Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:38 pm

evola_as_he_is
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In "Sintesi di dottrina della razza", Evola listed three great Aryan civilisations: (1) The Vedic civilisation (2) The Roman civilisation (3) The Nordic-Roman...
Toni Ciopa
hyperborean Offline Send Email
Mar 13, 2007
9:44 am

This an accurate summary of "Phratry of the Sentinels of the Future". However, your views on the relationship between heathenism and Christianity are...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Mar 13, 2007
5:41 pm

... On the same note, let us recall a footnote from the first part of Henry de Montherlant's 'Solstice de Juin': 'A true mockery, chivalry since the XIIIth...
larco_e_laclava Offline Send Email Mar 16, 2007
9:51 am

There is little to dispute in the realm of ideas, but some care must be taken in their interpretation. First of all, ideals can be compared to other ideals,...
Toni Ciopa
hyperborean Offline Send Email
Mar 17, 2007
8:48 pm

There is no such thing as a single 'code of chivalry', this code of conduct was clearly understood although it was never clearly formulated. In fact, there...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Mar 19, 2007
8:51 pm

I agree with this views, crualty is not worthy of a real Tradition , this kind of cynical thinking seems more like ultra-modern libéralism selfish way of life...
stephane.leperchois
stephane.lep... Offline Send Email
Jul 5, 2007
4:54 pm

I don’t recall very much from Evola on the specific details of public policy. However, in general, in an organic society policies arise in a natural way...
Toni Ciopa
hyperborean Offline Send Email
Jul 10, 2007
12:23 pm

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