This profound dimension of the spirit, which perceives itself as infinite, self-transcending, and beyond all manifest reality, is reawakened and shines forth—even though not entirely consciously-in the “insanity”of those who, in increasing numbers and without a specific reason, dare to challenge the mountain heights, led by a will that prevails over fears, exhaustion, and the primitive instincts of prudence and self-preservation.

Feeling left with only one’s resources, without help in a hopeless situation, clothed only in one’s strength or weakness, with no one to rely upon other than one’s self; to climb from rock to rock, from hold to hold, from ridge to ridge, inexorably, for hours and hours; with the feeling of the height and of imminent danger all around; and finally, after the harsh test of calling upon all one’s self-discipline, the feeling of an indescribable liberation, of a solar solitude and of silence; the end of the struggle, the subjugation of fears, and the revelation of a limitless horizon, for miles and miles, while everything else lies down below-in all of this one can truly find the real possibility of purification, of awakening, of the rebirth of something transcendent.

- Julius Evola, Meditations on the Peaks

The Germanic view of the forest is a similar act of Aryan spirituality. Jünger's Forest Passage obviously echoes an ancient tradition in which a man is to throw himself into the perils of nature, not to 're-wild' himself, but to overcome himself and nature. I would imagine the Greeks and Phoenicians had a similar view of sailing the seas, likewise perhaps the Steppe peoples of their conquering of the plains from far beyond one horizon to far beyond the other. Evola saw significance in this view of distance to the point that it became a key definition in the worldview of traditional man.

The vertical peaks reaching to the infinite skies and the forests of similarly tall upright trees point to transcendence. 'To see the forest for the trees' acquires a deeper meaning when one sets out to overcome the forest which is constituted by these vertical peaks. The 'infinite' horizons of the seas and the plains also represent transcendence. Of being the true self within boundless space versus becoming some construction of the ego, especially one within the bounds of finite time.

Impelled by time, a Brahmana named Kalki Vishnuyasha will be born. He will possess great energy, intelligence and prowess. He will be born at a village called Shambhala in a blessed Brahmana family. As soon as thought of, vehicles, weapons, warriors, and arms and armors will be at His command. He will be the imperial sovereign, ever victorious by the strength of His virtue. He will restore order and peace in this world, overcrowded with creatures and contradictory in its laws. That effulgent and greatly intelligent Brahmana will destroy all things. He will be the destroyer of all and He will be the maker of a new Yuga [Satya-Yuga]. That twice-born one surrounded by the Brahmanas, will exterminate all the low and despicable mlecchas wherever they will be found.

Mahabharatra (Vana Parva, 190.93-97)

But this is also a bit of a step too far in the opposite direction, as Schuon begins his The Meaning of Race thusly:

"Caste takes precedence over race because spirit has priority over form; race is a form while caste is a spirit. Even Hindu castes, which were in origin purely Indo-European, cannot be limited to a single race: there are Tamil, Balinese and Siamese brahmin. It is not possible, however, to hold that race is something devoid of meaning apart from physical characteristics, for, if it is true that formal constraints have nothing absolute about them, forms must nonetheless have their own sufficient reason; if races are not castes,2 they must all the same correspond to human differences of another order, rather as differences of style may express equivalence in the spiritual order while also marking divergencies of mode."

Evola further reinforces this view in Revolt Against the Modern World:

"The Middle Ages knew nationalities but not nationalisms. Nationality is a natural factor that encompasses a certain group of common elementary characteristics that are retained both in the hierarchical differentiation and in the hierarchical participation, which they do not oppose. Therefore, during the Middle Ages, castes, social bodies, and orders were articulated within various nationalities, and while the types of the warrior, noble, merchant, and artisan conformed to the characteristics of this or of that nation, these articulations represented at the same time wider, international units. Hence, the possibility for the members of the same caste who came from different nations to understand each other better than the members of different castes within the same nation. Modern nationalism represents, with regard to this, a movement in the opposite direction."

Nietzsche wrote "I write in order to be misunderstood". This means "I write so that the inferior man who agrees with me will only become more inferior, true to his nature, and that the superior man who agrees with me will become even more superior, true to his nature."

"I am a decadent: but I am also its antithesis."
~ Nietzsche, Ecce Homo

We will be taking a sabbatical for the next week. If you miss us take a look at all our old posts, but don't go too far back...

"In German idealism the spiritual evolution of mankind has taken up into itself the striving, through strengthening the powers of consciousness, to arrive at knowledge of the world riddles. But the natural-scientific way of picturing things, which has led many people into error about the carrying power of this idealistic stream, can also acquire enough freedom from bias to recognize the paths to knowledge of the real world that lie in the directions sought by this idealistic world view. One will misunderstand both the viewpoint of German idealism in world views and that of seeing consciousness if one hopes through them to acquire a so-called 'knowledge' that, through a sum of mental pictures, will lift the soul up out of all further questions and riddles and lead it into possession of a 'world view' in which it can rest from all further seeking. The viewpoint of seeing consciousness does not bring cognitive questions to a standstill; on the contrary, it brings them into further movement, and in a certain sense increases them, both in number and in liveliness."

- Rudolf Steiner

All too often people forget that spirituality is essentially a way of life, and that it’s measure does not consist of notions, theories, and ideas that have been stored in one’s head.

Spirituality is actually that which has been successfully actualized and translated into a sense of superiority which is experienced inside by the Soul, and a noble demeanor, which is expressed by the body.

Julius Evola, Meditations on the Peaks

My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten
Because my heart is pure.
-Sir Galahad

We seek to renew spirituality in its fullness as a way of life. The Way of the Warrior is one which affects change in accordance with higher principles. The Way of the Priest is one which requires absolute dedication to the very source of these principles. The warrior caste is a necessary counterpart to the priest caste because the priests, in their highest function, lead enlightened by the spiritual truths they learn in their life-work; the warriors, however, are required to embody these truths and realize them onto the lower castes as well as onto the rest of the world. The priest and the warrior are both aristocratic, but within the aristocracy one functions as the mind and the other the body. When the body seeks to make itself purely rational or the mind seeks to be what is physical and outside of itself, disorder is found. When united in their proper functions, mind and body together make possible the highest functions of the soul. When the priests and the warriors are united in action, a royal spirit is found. The royal super-race that forges empires is a synthesis of the warrior and priest castes, and in transcending the aristocracy reaches all the way into Divinity Itself.

Therefore, a warrior and a priest each has his proper lifestyle and neither, as Evola says, is made up of theories and ideas. The ancients all understood that the spiritual way of life is what makes true aristocrats and that a person, no matter how high-born by blood, was never truly Aryan until he was reborn into his caste—initiated into his full and proper relationship with God. We should seek out our proper relationships with God and remember we are doing something truly life-changing. Indeed it is world-changing as we also seek a divinely appointed king who will bring about our empire of Tradition—but we cannot wait silently. Warriors, fulfill your role as active ascetics, and keep honing yourselves and never stop fighting against yourself and the dark forces. Priests, contemplative ascetics, be ever focused on your target and remain pure, never accepting a drop of degeneracy in yourself or those beside you. We must make ourselves worthy of receiving a king. God wills it.