"The whole earth, perpetually steeped in blood, is nothing but an immense altar on which every living thing must be sacrificed without end, without restraint, without respite until the consummation of the world, the extinction of evil, the death of death."

~Joseph de Maistre

Legionary life is beautiful, not because of riches, partying, or the acquisition of luxury, but because of the noble comradeship which binds all Legionnaires in the sacred brotherhood of struggle.

May God accept my suffering, for the well-being and prosperity of our Nation. Pain upon pain, suffering upon suffering, agony upon agony, wound upon wound in our bodies and in our souls, fall after fall: in this way shall we conquer.

Corneliu Zelea Codreanu

Finished the first three essays in Metaphysics of War. The main theme is heroism, used as a lens through which Evola describes war and the societies which wage them. He starts intriguingly with heroism as the justification for war;
"The moment the individual succeeds in living as a hero, even if it is the final moment of his earthly life, weighs infinitely more on the scale of values than a protracted existence spent consuming monotonously among the trivialities of cities. ... War makes one realise the relativity of human life and therefore also the law of a ‘more-than-life’, and thus war has always an anti-materialist value, a spiritual value."
Evola asserts this silences any liberal 'humanitarian' complaints about war, and to explain this precious sacrality of war, begins by envoking the eternal quadernity.
"This quadripartition – it must be recalled – is what, in all traditional civilisations, gave rise to four different castes: the slaves, the bourgeois middle-class, the warrior aristocracy, and bearers of a pure, spiritual authority. Here, ‘caste’ does not mean – as most assume – something artificial and arbitrary, but rather the ‘place’ where individuals, sharing the same nature, the same type of interest and vocation, the same primordial qualification, gather. A specific ‘truth’, a specific function, defines the castes
...
Only such cases, in which this straight and normal relationship of subordination and co-operation exists are healthy, as is made clear by the analogy of the human organism, which is unsound if, by some chance, the physical element (slaves) or the element of vegetative life (bourgeoisie) or that of the uncontrolled animal will (warriors) takes the primary and guiding place in the life of a man, and is sound only when spirit constitutes the central and ultimate point of reference for the remaining faculties – which, however, are not denied a partial autonomy
...
This process is paralleled by transitions from one type of civilisation to another, from one fundamental meaning of life to another. In each phase, every concept, every principle, every institution assumes a different meaning, reflecting the world-view of the predominant caste."

Therefore in the next essay Evola establishes the profound piety of Roman society and the religious foundation of their militarism, one likewise shared by the other Indo-European cultures of the Greeks, Nordics, and Persians as well as the Christianity they influenced. The extent to which the highest form of heroism is exhibited within the spiritually-focused societies transcends race which has "a secondary, contingent place to it."

The next essay then ties everything together:
"It was necessary to examine these traditions before considering the medieval world, since, as is generally recognised, the Middle Ages, as a culture, arose from the synthesis of three elements; firstly, Roman; secondly, Nordic; and thirdly, Christian.
...
In fact, the man of the Crusades was able to rise, to fight and to die for a purpose which, in its essence, was supra-political and supra-human, and to serve on a front defined no longer by what is particularistic, but rather by what is universal. This remains a value, an unshakeable point of reference.
Naturally, this must not be misunderstood to mean that the transcendent motive may be used as an excuse for the warrior to become indifferent, to forget the duties inherent in his belonging to a race and to a fatherland.
...
Secondly, the one who fights according to the sense of ‘sacred war’ is spontaneously beyond every particularism and exists in a spiritual climate which, at any given moment, may very well give rise and life to a supra-national unity of action. This is precisely what occurred in the Crusades when princes and dukes of every land gathered in the heroic and sacred enterprise, regardless of their particular utilitarian interests or political divisions, bringing about for the first time a great European unity, true to the common civilisation and to the very principle of the Holy Roman Empire."

We see in Evola's words a path towards the transcendent and universal within the 'sacred war.' This is not just any war but a war of High Cultures; a healthy society ultimately directed by the piety of its priest caste - by Tradition itself. Without this complete hierarchy a war waged by such a corrupted society loses a great deal of its sacred worth, simply because its warriors are no longer driven by transcendent principles.

Race, Evola reminds us, is not part of this Truth. Not that it is not real, but that it is material and therefore secondary to the supra-human realm. The man of the Crusades did not fight for his race, his nation, or his state; the Crusader fought as a holy warrior against the forces of evil itself. He did indeed end up fighting for his race, for his culture, for a united Europe, not because he had any conceptions of these ideas at all, but because his society was capable of calling him into a brotherhood to fight for everything that was Good and Right. There was no hotheaded pride or aggressive violence for violence's sake; only the righteous fury of pious men who sought salvation via heroism.

It is my opinion that we are ALL pagan and Christian at the same time, and there's nothing we can do about it, but find ways to embrace it.

Priest and Warriors:
Something that must be recognized is the fact that Evola does NOT claim that the priestly nature is subordinate to the warrior nature. Neither does Guenon claim that the priestly nature should rule, in the real sense sense of the word, the warrior nature.

The preist is in a true hierarchy emboding the spiritual or contemplative principle, corresponding to the head or brain, whereas the warrior represents the virile or active principle, or the chest and heart.

In his natural state the warrior needs the priest in order to direct his actions towards spiritually benefitial results (holy war, victory/death), however, what Evola does say is that the ordering principle of this hierarchy, the regal nature, is OF the warrior nature, through a "purification", a heroic attainment , and a reintegration with those qualities that belong to the priest as well as retaining those of the warrior. The king becomes both priest and warrior, both temporally and spiritually superior, and thus the only principle fit to order everyone else inferior to him.

In the Islamic tradition a distinction is made between two holy wars, the "greater holy war" (el-jihadul-akbar) and the "lesser holy war" (el-jihadul-ashgar). This distinction originated from a saying (hadith) of the Prophet, who on the way back from a military expedition said: "You have returned from a lesser holy war to a great holy war." The greater holy war is of an inner and spiritual nature; the other is the material war waged externally against an enemy population with the particular intent of bringing "infidel" populations under the rule of "God's Law" (al-Islam). The relationship between the "greater" and "lesser holy war", however, mirrors the relationship between the soul and the body; in order to understand the heroic asceticism or "path of action", it is necessary to understand the situation in which the two paths merge, the "lesser holy war" becoming the means through which a "greater holy war" is carried out, and vice versa: the "little holy war", or the external one, becomes almost a ritual action that expresses and gives witness to the reality of the first. Originally, orthodox Islam conceived of a unitary form of asceticism: that which is connected to the jihad or "holy war".

Julius Evola

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, pt. 3

27. Think, before you act, that nothing stupid results;

28. To act inconsiderately is part of a fool;

29. Yet whatever later will not bring you repentance, that you should carry through.

30. Do nothing beyond what you know,

31. Yet learn what you may need; thus shall your life grow happy.

32. Do not neglect the health of the body;

33. Keep measure in eating and drinking, and every exercise of the body;

34. By measure, I mean what later will not induce pain;

35. Follow clean habits of life, but not the luxurious;

36. Avoid all things which will arouse envy.

37. At the wrong time, never be prodigal, as if you did not know what was proper;

38. Nor show yourself stingy, for a due measure is ever the best.  

39. Do only those things which will not harm thee, and deliberate before you act.

"The birth of Christ is the central event in the history of the Earth - the very thing the whole story has been about."

~C.S. Lewis

"See the Creator of man made man in order that he who governs the world of the stars might suck milk, that bread might be hungry, that the fount might be thirsty, that light might go to sleep, that the way might be tired by the trip, that Truth might be accused by false witnesses, and that the judge of the living and the dead might be examined by a temporal judge and that justice might be condemned by the unjust. That discipline might be lashed by a whip, that the bunch of grapes might be crowned with thorns, that the foundation stone might be hung on a tree, that virtue might become weak, health wounded, and life itself might die."

+Saint Augustine

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, pt. 4

40. Never let slumber approach thy wearied eye-lids,

41. Ere thrice you reviewed what this day you did;

42. Wherein have I sinned? What did I? What duty is neglected?

43. All, from the first to the last, review; and if you have erred, grieve in your spirit, rejoicing for all that was good.

45. With zeal and with industry, this, then repeat; and learn to repeat it with joy.

46. Thus wilt thou tread on the paths of heavenly virtue.

47. Surely, I swear it by him who into our souls has transmitted the Sacred Quaternary

48. The spring of eternal Nature.

49. Never start on your task until you have implored the blessing of the Gods.

50. If this you hold fast, soon will you recognize of Gods and mortal men

51. The true nature of existence, how everything passes and returns.

52. Then will you see what is true, how Nature in all is most equal,

53. So that you hope not for what has no hope, nor that anything should escape you.

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, pt. 5

54. Men shall you find whose sorrows themselves have created,

55. Wretches who see not the Good, that is too near, nothing they hear;

56. Few know how to help themselves in misfortune.

57. That is the Fate that blinds humanity; in circles,

58. Hither and yon they run in endless sorrows;

59. For they are followed by a grim companion, disunion within themselves;

60. Unnoticed; never rouse him, and fly from before him!

61. Father Zeus, O free them all from sufferings so great,

62. Or show unto each the Genius, who is their guide!

63. Yet, do not fear, for the mortals are divine by race,

64. To whom holy Nature everything will reveal and demonstrate;

65. Whereof if you have received, so keep what I teach you;

66. Healing your soul, you shall remain insured from manifold evil.

66. Healing your soul, you shall remain insured from manifold evil.

If you wish your children and your wife and your friends to live forever, you’re a fool because you wish things that aren’t up to you to be up to you and alien things to be your own. Likewise, if you wish your slave not to go wrong, you’re an idiot because you wish vice not to be vice but something else. But if you wish not to fail to attain what you desire, this you can do. So practice what you can do.

Epictetus, The Handbook 14

Asceticism often brings to mind very extreme images, but we can get an accurate sense of the real meaning of asceticism by looking at the etymology of the word.

The word “ascetic” ultimately derives from the ancient Greek word “askein,” which means “to train for athletic competition.”

Therefore, genuine asceticism is spiritual exercise, with the aim of gaining mastery over your impulses and appetites. Just as you lift weights to become stronger and healthier, you should practice asceticism to strengthen your soul.

Asceticism does not need to be (and shouldn’t be) extreme. It can be as simple as abstaining from pornography, eating only enough food to be healthy and no more, and the like. Of course, you know your own vices best and should find ascetic practices that aid you in your most problematic areas.

Just as with physical exercise, the heavier the weight, the greater the benefit. But asceticism should never be taken to the point of serious bodily harm, and it certainly should not have masochistic undertones. Remember, Plato instructs us (in the Timaeus) to be balanced physically and mentally!

Another common misconception is that asceticism means that enjoying things is bad. No, it is exercise for the soul, nothing more. It is perfectly fine to enjoy pleasant things, but you should never be a slave to pleasant things. Asceticism helps you break free of any chains you might have that are keeping you enslaved.

In the next couple essays in Metaphysics of War, Evola digs deeper into both what it is to be heroic and how this relates to spiritual societies. First, a look into the two types of battles fought by warriors. One is the battle he fights against his foes and the other, more important battle is the one he fights within himself.

"The lesser war here corresponds to the exoteric war, the bloody battle which is fought with material arms against the enemy, against the ‘barbarian’, against an inferior race over whom a superior right is claimed, or, finally, when the event is motivated by a religious justification, against the ‘infidel’. ... The ‘greater’ or ‘holy war’ is, contrarily, of the interior and intangible order – it is the war which is fought against the enemy, the ‘barbarian’, the ‘infidel’, whom everyone bears in himself, or whom everyone can see arising in himself on every occasion that he tries to subject his whole being to a spiritual law. ... Appearing in the forms of craving, partiality, passion, instinctuality, weakness and inward cowardice, the enemy within the natural man must be vanquished, its resistance broken, chained and subjected to the spiritual man, this being the condition of reaching inner liberation, the ‘triumphant peace’ which allows one to participate in what is beyond both life and death. The greater, holy war is the ascesis which has always been a philosophical goal. It could be tempting to add as well: it is the path of those who wish to escape from the world and who, using the excuse of inner liberation, become a herd of pacifist cowards. This is not at all the way things are. ... It is a feature of heroic traditions that they prescribe the ‘lesser war’, that is to say the real, bloody war, as an instrument in the realisation of the ‘greater’ or ‘holy war’; so much so that, finally, both become one and the same thing."

Second, this triumphant peace of inner liberation corresponds also to the pax triumphalis of the great civilizations that cultivate such heroic souls. He invokes the Vedic tradition here to give exemplary examples of spiritual warrior culture.

" ‘Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat – and by so doing you shall never incur sin’ (2:38). We find therefore that the only fault or sin is the state of an incomplete will, of an action which, inwardly, is still far from the height from which one’s own life matters as little as those of others and no human measure has value any longer. ... We thus arrive at this general vision of life: like electrical bulbs too brightly lit, like circuits invested with too high a potential, human beings fall and die only because a power burns within them which transcends their finitude, which goes beyond everything they can do and want. This is why they develop, reach a peak, and then, as if overwhelmed by the wave which up to a given point had carried them forward, sink, dissolve, die and return to the unmanifest. But the one who does not fear death, the one who is able, so to speak, to assume the powers of death by becoming everything which it destroys, overwhelms and shatters – this one finally passes beyond limitation, he continues to remain upon the crest of the wave, he does not fall, and what is beyond life manifests itself within him. ... But we now have all the elements needed to specify, from all the varied ways of understanding, the heroic experience, which may be considered the supreme one, and which can make the identification of war with the ‘path of God’ really true, and can make one recognise, in the hero, a form of divine manifestation. Another previous consideration must be recalled, namely, that as the warrior’s vocation really approaches this metaphysical peak and reflects the impulse to what is universal, it cannot help but tend towards an equally universal manifestation and end for his race; that is to say, it cannot but predestine that race for empire. For only the empire as a superior order in which a pax triumphalis is in force,