With a short history of Romanian ideology, a description and an analysis of the
worldview of Legionarism, an account of Codreanu's last trial and of his
assassination, a presentation of the two main characters of the Romanian
political Establishment at that time, King Carol II and Marshal Antonescu, a
review of `Mircea Eliade et la Garde de Fer' (Ars Magna, 2005), an insight of
the Cioran brothers' involvement in the Iron Guard, and, least but not all, an
article by J. Evola on ascetic Legionarism, this comprehensive file stands both
as a worthy introduction to the latter's six articles (actually, a seventh
article – `A notte in Bucarest' - was unearthed in the meantime) on C.Z.
Codreanu and as a continuation, a deepening, of these.
J.P. Lippi wonders how J. Evola could possibly see in the Iron Guard the only
traditionally-oriented political movement of the 1930's. First, if it is hardly
possible to doubt that C.Z. Codreanu was as strongly opposed to democratic
values as the Italian author himself was, this did not prevent the former from
resorting on several occasions to the polls to carry his ideas through, even
though Legionarism opposed the Machiavellianism that his members considered as
intrinsic to the electoral game. Then, "the Iron Guard may have meant to be a
spiritual movement, yet it was, first and foremost, a Christian movement.
Codreanu's activity is entirely based on the "belief in God", and, during his
incarceration in Jilava prison, he wrote : "We shall be resurrected in the name
of Christ and only by Christ, because, leaving aside those who have faith in
Christ, nobody will resurrect and nobody will be saved". However, we saw that
J. Evola held Christianity largely responsible for the process of decline which,
according to him, led to the modern world, going as far as to consider it as an
instrument of spiritual emasculation. The fact that the Christian inspiration of
this `envoy of the Archangel' Codreanu claimed to be refers, not to Catholicism,
but to Orthodoxy, logically, would not have made a big difference for J. Evola.
Then, this Christianity has an eminently mystical character, since Codreanu
refers in an explicit way to "the Christian mystic", whose finality, to him, is
"ecstasy". This is an aggravating circumstance according to Evolian criteria,
since, as one will remember, any mystical attitude is regarded as feminine by
the Italian metaphysician (…). Evola should thus have been led, still logically
and according to his own postulates, to classify the Iron Guard as one of the
movements that were more influenced by `lunar spirituality' than by `solar
spirituality'."
To refresh the reader's memory, and to show that Lippi's criticism is not
unfounded, this is what is said about mysticism in `The Concept of Initiation')
: "This point is generally neglected and confusion between the two domains
[mysticism and initiation] is common, therefore it will be a good idea to add a
few short considerations. To be accurate, in terms of mere etymology, mysticism
refers to the Initiatory world because the 'mystes' (hence 'mysticism') was the
follower of the ancient Mysteries. But, once again, we find ourselves in front
of a typical case of the corruption of language. In its now current
signification, the word 'mysticism' can legitimately be used only to designate a
phenomenon with a specific physiognomy of its own, namely the extreme limit of
the world of religion alone. First of all, this is a matter of fundamental
orientation. To use terms already mentioned, mysticism is under the sign of
ecstasy, Initiation under the sign of en-stasy; extroverted motion in the first
case, introverted motion in the second. In accordance with the structure of the
religious spirit, the position of the mystic with respect to transcendence is
essentially 'eccentric' (=decentred). Hence, the prevailing characteristic of
mysticism is passivity, and of the Initiatory state, activity. A very common
mystical symbol, especially in the West, is that of the spiritual wedding, in
which the human soul plays the feminine role of the bride, which would be absurd
on the initiatory plane. However, the passivity of the mystic is inherent in the
prevalence of the emotional element, emotional and sub-intellectual, and it is
reflected in the prevailing character of mystical experience, which chokes and
overwhelms the conscious principle of the I, rather than being controlled and
dominated by it. Thus the mystic, almost always, has no precise idea of the road
covered, and is unable to grasp or indicate the real and objective content of
his experiences. The subjective moment and elements of a purely human nature
prevail, the soul having ascendancy over the spirit (this is what renders the
reading of the texts, the monotonous emotional effusions, of the majority of
Christian mystics, almost unbearable - one can skim through, for example, the
anthology called 'The Mystics' published by E. Zolla). Thus one can legitimately
speak symbolically of the mystical path as an essentially damp one, as opposed
to the dry Initiatory one. It is undeniable that some mystics have occasionally
reached metaphysical heights, but without attaining true transparency, so to
speak, through flashes and raptures, through the momentary lifting up of a
curtain which immediately after fell down. "
As far as Lippi's first reservation is concerned, it should be stressed that, if
J. Evola strongly opposed the parliamentary system, he never expressly
criticised any right-wing movement, not even the NSDAP, for resorting to the
universal suffrage.
--- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, Lupus <phrasena@...> wrote:
>
> On the french blog Vouloir,
>
> there's a new french translation of "Legionarisme ascetico" (marzo 1938, about
the meeting with Codreanu).
>
> There are 2 texts on the same page that could be read too :
>
> • the short text of JP Lippi about this meeting (why Evola is interested in
Codreanu's movement whereas he considers mysticism as lunar/"feminine" ?)
> • the text "La garde de fer revisitée" about the Claudio Mutti's book about
Codreanu.
>
> About this meeting, you can read on internet in english :
>
> • Â
>
>
> Corneliu Codreanu and the New European Empire According to
> Julius Evola (Martin Schwarz)
> • Â
>
>
> The Tragedy of the Romanian 'Iron Guard' : Codreanu (Evola as he is)
>
> Evola has written 6 articles about Codreanu. In chronological order :
>
> • Legionarismo ascetico. Colloquio col capo delle
> "Guardie di Ferro" (Il Regime Fascista, 22 marzo 1938)
> • Nazionalismo e ascesi : la Guardia di Ferro (Il Corriere Padano, 14 aprile
1938, p. 1-2)
> • La tragedia della Guardia di Ferro (La Vita Italiana, XXVI-309, dicembre
1938)
> • Dopo l'assassinio di Codreanu : la tragedia del
> legionarismo romeno (Il Corriere Padano, 6 dicembre 1938, p. 1-2)
> • Nella tormenta romena : voce d'oltretomba (Quadrivio 11 dicembre 1938, p.
6)
> • Il mio incontro con Codreanu (Civilta, I, 2, sept-oct. 1973, pp. 51-54)
>