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Julius Evola and The 'Independent Theosophical Association of Rome'   Message List  
Reply Message #501 of 1563 |
Julius Evola and The 'Independent Theosophical Association of Rome'

It doesn't look like Theosophy attracted many ladies due to the
presence of Blavatsky. Her early followers, as you suspect, were
mostly males, at least in England, and it's only a generation later
that the Theosophical Society was dominated by females, and, as noted
by Joy Dixon in 'Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England',
a study of the relationship between the esoteric underground and the
feminist movement in England, "Theosophy had become a crucial part of
feminist political culture". As matter of fact, many females of the
Theosophical Society became suffragists and attempted to create a
political role for women.

If Besant was an avowed feminist, the form of spirituality offered
and advocated by Blavatsky did not made her influence less pernicious
than the former's with respect to the last remains of the European
traditional spirit ; those who have read and understood the chapter
on 'social chaos' of 'The Crisis of the Modern World' see exactly
why. True, Theosophists opposed, for example, scientists who attacked
traditional religious views of Earth as the centre of the universe,
and tried to restore humans as the most important products of divine
creation in a scheme of non-Darwinist evolution, but, precisely, the
idea of evolution was kept, that of 'humanity' took the upper hand on
that of race, matriarchy was considered as the original social and
political state of that 'humanity', so that it was like jumping from
the frying pan into the fire. As a tactic, it is the one which Evola,
examining the various instruments of the 'Occult War', calls
the 'substitutes''. Another tactic of the forces of subversion is to
alternate hot and cold on people's feelings through the words of bench
(wo)men who change their mind like the weather : Besant, before she
joined the Theosophical Society, was one of the most militant
feminist of her times ; during her split-second rise as leader of
that society, she changed towards more conservative views, and,
shortly before World War I, she began to defend somewhat more
progressive views again, both on the position of women in society and
on the question of suffrage and of women's education.

It ran and it may be still be runing in the family. Blavatsky's
mother was an established writer as was her grand Aunt, Countess Ida
Hahn-Hahn. In the second edition of her mother's Complete Works
published in 1905, it is stated that "In the thirties of last century
there appeared in France, Germany and Russia several novels, ... in
which were treated, for the first time in history, the questions
concerning the social position of women, in all its aspects. ... To
those novels one could actually trace the beginning of the so-called
feminist movement and women's suffrage in the Western World. Three
women-writers were responsible for it: the famous George Sand in
France, the Countess Ida H. Hahn-Hahn in Germany, and Helena
Andreyevna Hahn in Russia, writing under the nom-de-plume, Zenaida
Rva". As for
Blavatsky's grandmother, Princess Helena Pavlovna, she was also
concerned with those marginalised by society and was involved in
assisting those affected by poverty. Blavatsky's biographer, Sylvia
Cranston, credits Pavlovna with being "A benefactor to the poor".

Although that question has not been studied yet, there are strong
grounds for thinking that the rise of the femininist movement is
closely linked to the development of the charity movement, which was
launched at the end of the XVIIth century in England by females of
the bourgeoisie and by women of a certain aristocracy, namely the
Urban one, whose husbands were involved in the so-called
ongoing 'industrial revolution' and, therefore, in the uprooting and
in the pauperisation of the people. Here, it's not a case of the left
hand - the businessman's wife - giving back what the right hand - the
businessman - has taken away, or it is so only apparently : in fact,
the right hand takes away freedom, the relative and organic outer
freedom which the ancestors of the peasants and of the workers of
that time had, while the left hand gives handouts in return to them,
it being understood that 'handouts' is an euphemism for 'slavery' and
that the ancient slave had far more freedom in a generic sense than
the modern slave, be it only because it is the little inner freedom
that those individuals who accept charity may have which is taken
away from them. The whole thing has been running smoothly since the
beginning of the XIXth century. Left-right-left-right-let-right-left-
right-left-right. The whole thing is based on 8 and resentment. When
both hands meet, it's called 'charity business'.

Once again, the considerations developed on the feminine nature and
its consequences by Friedrich Nietzsche, Otto Weininger, as well as
by Baudelaire, Gustave Flaubert, by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, the last
offspring of one of the most ancient aristocratic Frank family,
in 'L'Eve future', and by other French novelists of the late XIXth
century, who, unlike their English counterparts, didn't have to rely
on the money of wealthy female intellectuals to be published, spring
to mind. "There seems to be a qualitative judgement formed by women,
that if something is written by another woman, then it must be of
merit", and, we would add, that if something is written by another
woman or by a male homosexual.

As is well-known, one of the best male-friends of Blavatsky, who
accompanied her to India on her first visit to that country and who
interpreted Tantric practices from an homosexual standpoint, was a
male homosexual. As is also well-known, it's been a long time since
the 'House of Commons', the 'Reichstag' and the 'Assemblée nationale'
have turned into - to be polite - a true 'birdcages'.




--- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, Savitar Devi
<savitar_devi@y...> wrote:
>
> Did not Theosophy in general, attract many ladies due to the
presence of Madame Blavatsky? There seems to be a qualitative
judgement formed by women, that if something is written by another
woman, then it must be of merit - this logic, unfortunately does not
take into account the accuracy or depth of the work. That being said
though, Blavatsky and Theosophy seemed to dupe a significant number
of males also. It is good to note that Evola was capable of spotting
the inherent flaws in the stanzas of Dyzan, amongst the other
forgeries.
>
> From this piece it sounds as if Vezzani did not have a good grasp
of Evola's theories if he thought it was 'applicable to humanity in
general'. Is it sound to assume that Evola noticed the philosophical
similarities between some of Nietzsche's works and Tantrism? That
would be quite an interesting angle of speculation to adopt,
especially as it seems to me the Dionysian/Apollonian dichotomy stems
from the Hindu/Vedic rivalry of Shiva/Rudra and Daksa/Prajapati,
which refer to two distinct 'esoteric pathways'.
>
> evola_as_he_is <evola_as_he_is@y...> wrote:
>
> The 'Independent Theosophical Association of Rome' was established
in
> 1897 by two groups of Roman Theosophists which existed since 1895
> over a lending library sponsored by Countess Constance
Watchmeister,
> and which had many ladies as members. It attracted straight away
> famous intellectuals, artists and writers, of whom Giovanni
> Armendola, who became later of one the main opponents to Mussolini.
> In 1807, Decio Calvari, the then leader of the 'Independent
> Theosophical Association of Rome', founded a review of spiritual
> studies and research called 'Ultra', whose editorial line managed
to
> keep its distance from the controversies between two of the main
> representatives of the spiritualist movement of that time, namely
> Rudolph Steiner and Blavatsky's favourite disciple, Annie Besant.
> Arturo Reghini was one of the collaborators of 'Ultra'. Evola
> considered Calvari as a "person of a real value" and to whom he
owed
> his "first contact with Tantrism".
>
> It's in a column of 'Ultra' that we learn that Julius Evola gave a
> lecture about 'Idealism, Occultism and the Problem of Modern
Spirit'
> under the aegis of that review on the 13th of December 1923. That
> lecture was based on an article published in it by Evola in August
of
> the same year as 'Idealism, Occultism and the Problem of
contemporary
> Spirit'. That essay followed the end of his dadaist experiences in
> the field of poetry and of painting. It is in line with the long
> philosophical thought which goes from Kant to German idealism,
> Nietzsche and Stirner's individualism. If Theosophy and
Anthroposophy
> are considered as "esoteric and magical" means by which man
> can "build immortality", "become God", in concrete reality, their
> flaw is that, on the theoretica plane, they are far below the
> speculative heights and the gnoseologic positions reached by the
> idealist tradition.
>
> In June 1924, 'Ultra' published the text of a lecture given by
Evola
> on the 10th of April at the 'Independent Theosophical Association
of
> Rome', namely 'Power as a metaphysical Value', in which the idea
that
> the ego consists only in will and that spirit and God are nothing
> more than autarchic and solipsist possibilities for the infinite
and
> absolute power of the individual aiming at becoming an "absolute
> individual" was reasserted. At the end of 1924, 'Ultra' published
an
> essay of Evola on the 'School of Wisdom' of H. Keyserling, in which
> he acknowledged that the work of this German philosopher and
> occultist has some merits, especially with respect to his views on
> the spiritual journey of the ego.
>
> It is at that time that he went deeper into his Tantric research.
He
> gave a lecture on it and worked out again his interpretation of
that
> tradition on the basis of his magical idealism. This led to the
> publication of 'L'Uomo come potenza' at the end of 1926. The first
> part was originally published in three successive issues of 'Ultra'
> as 'The Problem of East and West, and the Theory of knowledge
> according to the Tantra'. It was about trying to overcome the
> barriers between East and West on the basis of Tantric practice.
This
> approach was criticised immediately by Guénon, and, later, by Evola
> himself who rectified it in what was to become 'Lo Yoga della
> potenza'.
>
> The same year, the lectures on 'spiritual culture' organised by
> the 'Independent Theosophical Association of Rome' aroused an
> increasing interest. Besides Evola, Calvari, the famous
psychoanalyst
> Roberto Assagioli and the usual collaborators of 'Ultra', Colonna
di
> Cesaro, the eminent orientalist Giuseppe Tucci, the poet Arturo
> Onofri were involved in them. Another essay by Evola was published
in
> the last 1925 issue of 'Ultra' : 'L'individuo e il divenire del
> mondo'. It created so considerable a stir that it was translated in
> German and published in 1931 in the prestigious review 'Logos', to
> which Cassirer and Husserl collaborated. It was a presentation of
the
> solipsistic essence of 'Idealismo magico' and of 'Teoria
> dell'individuo assoluto', which the author offered as a spiritual-
> existentialist solution to the problems of the European soul in an
> epoch of decadence.
>
> The radically solipsistic line of his philosophy at that time was
> looking for a practical and theoretical development in religion,
> initiation and magic. His works on Tantrism and on Taoism are to be
> seen in this perspective. In search of points of reference to
support
> his ontological and spiritual solipsism, he kind of wandered from
> Tantrism to Graeco-Roman heathenism, from Taoism to the alchemy,
> interpreting everything in the cold light of the absolute
individual.
> He ended up clashing with Calvari and the other collaborators
> of 'Ultra'. In 'La via della realizzazione di sè secondo i misteri
di
> Mithra', he distinguished clearly his magical, initiatory,
masculine,
> spiritual path of self-realisation and of individual construction
> from the one which was advocated by the schools based on the
Vedanta,
> which tended to reduce the individual to a non-individual.. Now,
the
> Vedanta was at the root of theosophist spirituality. Because of
this,
> Calvari differentiated himself immediately from him.
>
> In 1926, the Indian poet and philosopher Tagore came to Italy and
was
> received by Mussolini and by Croce. During his stay, Tagore was
> accompanied by Assagioli, vice-president of the 'Independent
> Theosophical Association of Rome' and sub-editor of 'Ultra'. He
> managed to obtain from Tagore a contribution to the review and
> organised a meeting between him and the editorial staff of 'Ultra',
> of whom Evola. This didn't ease the crisis between him and
> the 'I.T.A.R.'. First, Evola started to contribute on a regular
basis
> to another paper, Botai's 'Critica fascista' and, in a way,
> he 'competed' with 'Ultra' by publishing in January 1927 the first
> issue of 'Ur', a monthly of "initiatory sciences".
>
> The definitive break came as a result of the review by Vezzani, one
> of the main collaborators of 'Ultra', of 'L'uomo come potenza',
> published in 1926. After having praised the "young writer of
genius"
> whom Evola was according to him, he criticised his anti-
Christianity
> and his magical idealism as being "neither moral, nor religious,
but
> far below a morality and a religion which he does not understand.
It
> is amoral and irreligious and thus constitutes a infra-human line
of
> development which can be tragically dangerous for whoever could
> follow him in particular and for humanity in general" (Evola,
> however, never thought of applying it to "humanity in general").
>
> Some of the criticisms made by Vezzani to 'L'uomo come potenza'
were
> resumed later by Evola himself who came to acknowledge that, if the
> Western man had assumed "directly such doctrines, this would have
> caused an unavoidable and destructive short-circuit, madness or
self-
> destruction", and, more generally, that he still hadn't fully
> fathomed the deep essence of traditional spirituality. Vezzani's
> article started a violent controversy between them which developed
in
> the following issues of 'Ultra' and which confirmed that their
> respective positions were irreconcilable. Evola, faithful to his
> concept of God as a mere possibility of the individual, affirmed
that
> the latter, while building immortality, must act "beyond good and
> evil", within a magical process similar to "the chemical process of
> the formation of dynamite, which is neither good nor bad, but
simply
> possible, since good and evil only concern the use which can be
made
> of dynamite". Vezzani, as for him, thought that morality is a
> fundamental aspect, not only of the religious path, but also of the
> esoteric and initiatory path, and contested any "autonomous
> development opposed to the divinity and aiming at breaking its
laws",
> while standing up for the values of love and charity which,
according
> to him, were the cornerstones of all traditions, to start with
> Mahâyâna Buddhism.
>
> The "transcendent experimentation" uphold by Evola in 'Ur' and in
his
> other writings at that time opposed logically the theosophical
> culture of 'Ultra' and of the society led by Calvari. In a long
essay
> published in 1927 in 'Bilychnis', Evola condemned Theosophy as the
> opposite of true occultism ("which is only a system of practical
and
> transcendent experiences") and as visionary and sentimental
ramblings
> mixed with a misunderstood Gnosticism.
>
> The break, however, was not total. Various collaborators of 'Ur'
were
> Anthroposophists, others referred to Kremmerz, to 'esoteric
> Christianity' or to 'Masonic tradition'. Evola, as for him, aimed
at
> condemning severely the irrational, modern and democratic aspects
of
> the theosophist and anthropologist culture, but, at the same time,
he
> could not deny some of its positive intellectual aspects. As he was
> still a member of the editorial staff of 'Ultra', in the June/July
> issue of 'Ignis', he came down strongly against Anthroposophy,
> created by Steiner in 1913, as most of his collaborators were about
> to become Steinerians. A few years later, in 1930, while still
> denouncing the intellectual pretensions of Theosophy, he
acknowledged
> the value of various personalities of the European theosophic
scene,
> of whom Calvari.
>
> From the particular events which marked the collaboration of Julius
> Evola to 'Ultra' and the 'Independent Theosophical Association of
> Rome' in the 1920's, it seems that a major element emerges : the
> experience of theosophical culture played a certain part in Evola's
> discovery of the "faces and masks of contemporary spirituality",
and
> not - as assumed by Marco Rossi, the author of the article which we
> have summarised here - "in the development of Evola's personal
ideal
> and spiritual panorama".
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
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>
> Three heavens there are; two Savitar's, adjacent:
> In Yama's world is one, home of heroes.
> As on a linch-pin, firm, rest things immortal:
> He who hath known it, let him here declare it.
>
> - Rig Veda I.35 (Griffith)
>
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Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:33 am

evola_as_he_is
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Message #501 of 1563 |
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The 'Independent Theosophical Association of Rome' was established in 1897 by two groups of Roman Theosophists which existed since 1895 over a lending library...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Dec 26, 2005
8:42 pm

Did not Theosophy in general, attract many ladies due to the presence of Madame Blavatsky? There seems to be a qualitative judgement formed by women, that if...
Savitar Devi
savitar_devi Offline Send Email
Dec 29, 2005
11:08 am

As early as 1925 in 'L'individuo e il divenire del mondo', an implicit reference was made by Evola to Nietzsche : "The I, basically, is not a thing, a 'fact',...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Dec 29, 2005
3:48 pm

It is ultimately very Nietzschean to disagree with Nietzsche, so paradoxically it is actually a far greater credit to Nietzsche that Evola plays by providing a...
Savitar Devi
savitar_devi Offline Send Email
Dec 31, 2005
9:37 am

... I read Nietzsche as emphasizing `the reality of chaos and of the irrational' not as a `ground' to replace the nihilistic otherworldly fictions of...
darklittleflame Offline Send Email Dec 31, 2005
11:16 pm

Alain Danielou links Shiva (male Tantric essence) directly with Dionysus in his work 'Gods of Love and Ecstasy'. If one reads it though, they should be aware...
Savitar Devi
savitar_devi Offline Send Email
Jan 1, 2006
11:39 pm

At this point, it may not be a luxury to say a few words about Nietzsche's views on woman. To do this, a convenient starting point is given to us by the...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Jan 3, 2006
9:39 pm

Interesting, I was not aware of that statement in the 'Unpublished Notebooks'. Maya, is of course also a woman - at once the demon architect, and the essence...
Savitar Devi
savitar_devi Offline Send Email
Jan 4, 2006
9:23 am

... More, directly from his works. "Man should be trained for war and woman for the recreation of the warrior : all else is folly..." (Thus Spake Zarathustra,...
kshonan88 Offline Send Email Jan 5, 2006
4:57 pm

What about this little extract? 'Will and willingness - Someone took a youth to a sage and said: "Look, he is being corrupted by women." The sage shook his...
Savitar Devi
savitar_devi Offline Send Email
Jan 5, 2006
10:31 pm

One should not have a fixation about the figure of the Nietzschean 'Superman', indeed. Spengler - if we are not mistaken, it was him - rightly noted that,...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Jan 2, 2006
11:09 am

That professor who coined the potent expression 'anti-Nazi sex-shop literature' to describe everything which is linked with the caricatural representation of...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Jan 3, 2006
9:48 am

It doesn't look like Theosophy attracted many ladies due to the presence of Blavatsky. Her early followers, as you suspect, were mostly males, at least in...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Dec 31, 2005
9:37 am

Your theory on the charity movement is interesting. I had once heard that the rise of feminism was linked with the philosophy of John Stuart Mill; however I...
Savitar Devi
savitar_devi Offline Send Email
Jan 1, 2006
11:41 pm

The description you make of Baudelaire can be applied to thousands of other men, to hundreds of other artists, whose work, however, was not quoted in...
evola_as_he_is Offline Send Email Jan 2, 2006
1:50 pm

Firstly, before continuing my problem with the inclusion of Baudelaire with the other writers cited, I must proclaim that I was at one, time an avid fan of...
Savitar Devi
savitar_devi Offline Send Email
Jan 3, 2006
9:41 am

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