Guenon and Tradition

Tradition, in the Guenonian sense, has nothing to do with the past in itself. Just because it happened yesterday does not make it therefore traditional. And it is not a reaction against modernity, nor a nostalgia for the past. Its expression today may appear that way, but that is because a Traditional path either no longer exists in the West, or is accessible only to a few.

The method of Tradition has nothing at all to do with the study of comparative religion. One can be a so-called “Traditionalist” within the confines of one’s own religion alone, without any detailed knowledge of any other religion whatsoever. As a matter of fact, that is the way it has been for most of history, recorded and unrecorded. So it is not a process of somehow “distilling” the core teachings of several religions to end up with something remarkable. I don’t see what that even entails or how it could be accomplished, since it implies one can somehow have the inside (“esoteric”) without an outside (“exoteric”). Even worse, is syncretisim, that is, combining all the religions into some incompatible stew.

So that brings us to the next item: the relationship between the esoteric and exoteric sides of a religious tradition. In The Esoterism of Dante, Guenon responds to the question of whether Dante was Christian or pagan. Guenon explains:

we do not think that such a point of view is necessary, for true esoterism is something completely different from outward religions, and if it has some relationship with it, this can only be insofar as it finds a symbolic mode of expression in religious forms. Moreover, it matters little whether these forms be of this or that religion, since what is involved is the essential doctrinal unity concealed beneath their apparent diversity.

So this brings us to the crux of the matter, which few people seem to find palatable: “in the past, initiates participated in all forms of worship, following the customs established in whatever country they happened to be.” So let us make clear the necessary corollaries that follow from this.

Esoterism is neither pagan nor Christian. So whoever — and I have met many — believes that by rejecting Christianity and reverting to some pagan practice, whether Greek, Roman, or Germanic, he therefore is coming closer to Tradition, then he is quite mistaken. Guenon again:

The ancient mysteries were not paganism, but were superimposed upon it. In the same way there were in the Middle Ages some organizations of an initiatic, and not religious, character, but which took Catholicism as their base.

Since Catholicism has been, at least until recently, the Traditional form of worship in Europe, then we would expect Traditionalists to find their home there. The idea that we can “pick and choose” our religion comes from a modernist mindset and is alien to the Traditionalist. Unfortunately, Catholicism has lost much of its Traditional character, leaving Traditionalists without solid ground in the West; reenacting the lost forms of ancient paganisms is an even worse option.

5 thoughts on “Guenon and Tradition

  1. No, there is nothing magical about chromosomes. If there were, there would cease to be any metaphysical issues, they would all be reduced to easily solvable scientific problems. Genetics is secondary to race.

    In “Sintesi di dottrina della razza”, Evola writes:

    Two conditions define the Aryan quality: birth and initiation. An Aryan is born
    — such is the first condition. Arianity, on such a basis, is a property
    sanctioned by race, caste, and heredity, being transmitted by blood from father
    to son and nothing can substitute for it. … A particularly complicated code,
    developing a casuistic in minute detail, contained all the necessary measures
    to preserve and maintain this pure precious and irreplaceable heredity,
    considering not only the biologic aspect (race of the body), but also the
    ethical and social, the behaviour, a given style of life, rights and duties,
    therefore a whole tradition of “race of the soul”, differentiated for each one
    of the three Aryan castes.

    But, if birth is the necessary condition to be an Aryan, it is not yet
    sufficient; the innate quality must be confirmed by means of initiation,
    “upanayana”. …initiation represents the door through which one entered to
    become effectively part of the great Aryan family. Initiation determined the
    “second birth”, it created the dvija, the twice born. … with this one enters
    the metaphysical domain, the field of a race of the spirit. …

  2. Guenon writes:

    adaptation to a religious form, like the establishment of any other traditional form, is the responsibility of a true spiritual authority in the fullest sense of this term; and this authority, which then takes on a religious appearance, can at the same time also remain something else in itself so long as there are true Brahmins at its heart, by which we mean an intellectual elite that remains aware of what lies beyond all particular forms, that is to say of the profound essence of the tradition.

    So I urge this elite to create, or re-create, whatever spiritual form they feel is suitable.

  3. I just want to clarify something, I am not arguing that there is something magical about a certain Y chromosome, I stating that these experiences of the wide expanse in the Steppes of the all pervading one, the Sun(Dazbog) and Fire(Svarog)as spiritually liberating, along with the symbolism of the thunderbolt(Perun), and the magic stone (Alatyr)(Revolt p208), were experienced by these Proto-Slavic Aryans, and thus is in the deep forces of the blood (Revolt p.57). These “archetypes” need to be expressed, and Christianity will not be a good vehicle for this.

  4. I don’t think that going back to the old “paganisms” is a bad thing. Modern research has shown a common genetic ancestor(specific subclade of the R1a1 Y Chromosome) between Slavs and upper caste Hindus (Brahmins) that left Arkaim 4000 years ago. Those that moved south became the Brahmins. Rodnovery (Slavic paganism) is a Vedic system. As much as you might use the language of “Brahmin”, “Kshatriyah”, “Kali Yuga”, “Brahman/Atman”, etc., Christianity can never hold this Vedic spirit as well Rodnovery can.

    “There are two different groups of Indian R1a1
    haplotypes; one shows a good match with the Russian
    Slavic R1a1 group, having a common ancestor several
    hundred years “younger” than the Russian R1a common
    ancestor (4,050±500 vs. 4,750±500 ybp). This
    supports the idea that a proto-Slavic migration to India
    as Aryans occurred (mentioned in classic ancient Indian
    literature) around 3600 ybp. The other Indian R1a
    population is significantly older, with a common ancestor
    living 7,125±950 ybp; they could have migrated
    from South Siberia to South India.”

    From Anatole Klysov’s, “DNA Genealogy, Mutation Rates, and Some Historical Evidence Written in the Y Chromosome, Part II: Walking the Map”

  5. I agree completely except for the fact that the lost forms aren’t really lost. The myths, symbols, and gods, which make up the forms are still there. All one needs to do is reintroduce an intiatic art, yoga for example, and reapply universal principles to determine the true meanings of the gods, which perennialism has already managed. The only problem with this is that most “pagans” aren’t interested in true initiation and would rather believe whatever they want while dabbling in meaningless practices like lot casting and divination. Nor is there a big demand for initiation these days where all of the arts have become falsified and dominated by machines.

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