While we're at it, it might not be uninteresting to note, as most of
you may already know, that Evola himself was interested in the
question of drugs, with which he himself had experimented in his early
years. Below are the passages in 'The Road of Cinnabar', roughly
translated from the French version and unedited, which allude to those
experiences:
"[...] At the term of my age of growth was intensified in me the
refusal of the normal life which I had, the sentiment of the
inconsistence and of the vanity of goals that usually engage human
activities. The congenital impulse towards transcendence manifested in
a confused, but intense manner. In this context, I must allude to the
effect of some inner experiences which I undertook initially without a
precise technique and without consciousness of the goal, using certain
substances that are not exactly the most popular narcotics, and the
use of which even requires, for most individuals, the overcoming of a
natural revolt of the organism and a particular control over it. By
this way, I would arrive to forms of consciousness partly detached
from the physical senses. I frequently came close to the sphere of
visionary hallucinations and perhaps even of madness. But being of
fundamentally sound constitution, the authentic character of the
impulse which had led me to these adventures and an intrepidity of the
spirit carried me farther.
These experiences, however, were not devoid of any positive fruits,
especially in regards to what would later happen to me. They provided
me with points of reference, to which I could have hardly arrived
differently, including in the doctrinal sphere, concerning the
understanding of the hidden background of certain forms of
neo-spiritualism and contemporary occultism.
The repercussions of these experiences, however, did only but
aggravate the crisis which I have mentioned above. In regards to this,
in certain traditions, we speak of the fact of "being bitten by the
snake". It is a need of intensity and of absolute to which no normal
object appears sufficient. Whence also a sort of cupio dissolvi, a
tendency to dissolve and to lose oneself.
[...] It might be useful to draw an observation on the experiences
mentioned already, obtained by the use of external auxiliaries. Such
means produce different effects depending on the individual
dispositions and the impulse which drives the latter to use them. Thus
even if alcohol itself could give place to experiences of an ecstatic
and sacred order of Thracian dionysism and other currents, it also
serves to the degradation and the spiritual anaesthetisation of a
regressive humanity, such as, for instance, the modern North-American
humanity. Among contemporaries, after the cases cited by William
James, the not so banal experiences obtained by Aldous Huxley with
mescaline, and assimilated by him to fundamental experiences of
mysticism, had an obvious link with his own preparation. Secondly, the
fact that in my case mere auxiliaries acted is proved by the fact that
these experiences took place and ended during my early years. I did
not become slave to those means, nor did I subsequently feel their
need or their lack; what could be derived from them was conserved in a
natural way for the rest of my life, because that was in relation to
something pre-existent and pre-congenital."
Also as most of you already know, Evola dealt with the question of
drugs in a chapter of 'Ride the Tiger', although briefly and rather
insufficiently for those with a particular interest in the
opportunities offered by the use of such substances, as he himself
admitted in the conclusion of that chapter.
As a fewer number of you may know, Evola also wrote an article early
on called 'Sulle Droghe' ('On Drugs'), which could later be found in
an anthology of his writings for UR&KRUR, which seems to have
become out-of-print now. While we haven't yet had the opportunity to
study that article, we can nonetheless confirm that it is much longer
than the aforementioned chapter in 'Ride the Tiger' -- so much so that
the latter can be seen as a mere outline of the former. That text
contains far more than just general orientations, as the subsequent
one has, but, it seems, specific instructions for a non-profane,
positive use of drugs.
Some people might suddenly feel excited at our mention of this rather
obscure interest of Evola - of the early Evola, at least - and may
want to justify with it their current habits with drugs, not
uncommon as we suspect them to be among our readers, or even to
justify their future ventures with such substances. Which is fine, as
long as they keep very firmly in mind that the three preliminary
points made by Evola in that article for a non-profane use of drugs
are all entirely related to the predisposition of the
individual. Such an unusual emphasis must have strong reasons. One
of which, we believe, despite what the individual might think to
justify himself, is precisely the fact that those predispositions
which are fit for such an undertaking are extremely rare. One needn't
look too far today to realise how true that is. At any rate, Evola's
final word on making use of drugs, regardless of one's aims and even
predisposition, is clearly stated `Ride the Tiger': `One should
substitute for drugs the power of attaining analogous states through
one's own means.'
Evola refers to Aleister Crowley's experiences with drugs in
his article -- and for a reason. We can only refer the interested
reader to Crowley's excellent novel 'Diary of a Drug Fiend'. As
for the affinities or so-called relationship between Evola and
Crowley, more is to come in due time.
P.S.: If a discussion is to come out of this, as we hope
it will, let us remind our readers that it should take place under the
general umbrella of Evola and within the boundaries of this list. We
mention this, not to replace the moderator's role, but because we are
aware where such a topic may lead to and are careful not to want to be
responsible for it.