Perennial Philosophy and Traditionalist School - Wikipedia

Perennial philosophy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Perennial philosophy (Latin: philosophia perennis),[note 1] also referred to as Perennialism and
perennial wisdom, is a perspective in modern spirituality which views each of the world's religious traditions
as sharing a single, metaphysical truth or origin from which all esoteric and exoteric knowledge and doctrine
has grown.
The Perennial philosophy has its roots in the Renaissance interest in neo-Platonism and its idea of The One,
from which all existence emanates. Marsilio Ficino (14331499) sought to integrate Hermeticism with Greek
and Jewish-Christian thought,[1] discerning a Prisca theologia which could be found in all ages.[2] Giovanni
Pico della Mirandola (146394) suggested that truth could be found in many, rather than just two, traditions. He
proposed a harmony between the thought of Plato and Aristotle, and saw aspects of the Prisca theologia in
Averroes, the Koran, the Cabala and other sources.[3] Agostino Steuco (14971548) coined the term
philosophia perennis.[4]
A more popular interpretation argues for universalism, the idea that all religions, underneath seeming
differences point to the same Truth. In the early 19th century the Transcendentalists propagated the idea of a
metaphysical Truth and universalism, which inspired the Unitarians, who proselytized among Indian elites.
Towards the end of the 19th century the Theosophical Society further popularized universalism, not only in the
western world, but also in western colonies. In the 20th century universalism was further popularized in the
English-speaking world through the neo-Vedanta inspired Traditionalist School, which argues for a
metaphysical, single origin of the orthodox religions, and by Aldous Huxley and his book The Perennial
Philosophy, which was inspired by neo-Vedanta and the Traditionalist School, culminating in the New Age
movement.
Contents
1 Definition
1.1 Renaissance
1.2 Traditionalist School
1.3 Aldous Huxley and mystical universalism
2 Origins
2.1 Classical world
2.1.1 Hellenistic period - religious syncretism
2.1.2 Roman world - Philo of Alexandria
2.1.3 Neo-Platonism
2.2 Renaissance
2.2.1 Ficino and Pico della Mirandola
2.2.2 Steuco
2.2.2.1 De perenni philosophia libri X
2.2.2.2 Influence
3 Popularisation
3.1 Transcendentalism and Unitarian Universalism
3.2 Theosophical Society
3.3 Neo-Vedanta
3.4 Traditionalist School
3.5 Aldous Huxley
3.6 New Age
4 Academic discussions
4.1 Mystical experience
4.2 Religious pluralism
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 Sources
8.1 Printed sources
8.2 Web-sources
9 Further reading
10 External links
Definition
Renaissance
The idea of a Perennial philosophy originated with a number of renaissance theologians who were inspired by
neo-Platonism and the Theory of Forms. Marsilio Ficino (14331499) argued that there is an underlying unity
to the world, the soul or love, which has a counterpart in the realm of ideas.[2] According to Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola (146394), a student of Ficino, truth could be found in many, rather than just two, traditions.[3]
According to Agostino Steuco (14971548) there is "one principle of all things, of which there has always been
one and the same knowledge among all peoples."[5]
Traditionalist School
The contemporary, scholarly oriented Traditionalist School continues this metaphysical orientation. According
to the Traditionalist School, the Perennial Philosophy is "absolute Truth and infinite Presence."[6] Absolute
Truth is "the perennial wisdom (sophia perennis) that stands as the transcendent source of all the intrinsically
orthodox religions of humankind."[6] Infinite Presence is "the perennial religion (religio perennis) that lives
within the heart of all intrinsically orthodox religions."[6] The Traditionalist School discerns a transcendent and
an immanent dimension, namely the discernment of the Real or Absolute, c.q. that which is permanent; and the
intentional "mystical concentration on the Real."[7]
According to Soares de Azevedo, the Perennialist philosophy states that the universal truth is the same within
each of the world's orthodox religious traditions, and is the foundation of their religious knowledge and
doctrine. Each world religion is an interpretation of this universal truth, adapted to cater for the psychological,
intellectual, and social needs of a given culture of a given period of history. This perennial truth has been
rediscovered in each epoch by mystics of all kinds who have revived already existing religions, when they had
fallen into empty platitudes and hollow ceremonialism.[8]
Shipley further notes that the Traditionalist School is oriented on orthodox traditions, and rejects modern
syncretism and universalism, which creates new religions from older religions and compromise the standing
traditions.[9]
Aldous Huxley and mystical universalism
One such universalist was Aldous Huxley,[9] who propagated a universalist interpretation of the world
religions, inspired by Vivekananda's neo-Vedanta. According to Aldous Huxley, who popularized the idea of a
Perennial philosophy with a larger audience,
The Perennial Philosophy is expressed most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula, tat tvam asi ('That
thou art'); the Atman, or immanent eternal Self, is one with Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all
existence; and the last end of every human being, is to discover the fact for himself, to find out
who he really is.[10]
Jonathan Shear discerns four theses associated with the notion of a Perennial philosophy:
(1) The phenomenal world is the manifestation of a transcendental ground;
(2) human beings are capable of attaining immediate knowledge of that ground;
(3) in addition to their phenomenal egos, human beings possess a transcendental Self which is of
the same or like nature with that transcendental ground; and
(4) this identification is life's chief end or purpose.[11]
Origins
The Perennial philosophy originates from a blending of neo-Platonism and Christianity. Neo-Platonism itself
has diverse origins in the syncretic culture of the Hellenistic period, and was an influential philosophy
throughout the Middle Ages.
Classical world
Hellenistic period - religious syncretism
During the Hellenistic period, Alexander the Great's campaigns brought about exchange of cultural ideas on its
path throughout most of the known world of his era. The Greek Eleusinian Mysteries and Dionysian Mysteries
mixed with such influences as the Cult of Isis, Mithraism and Hinduism, along with some Persian influences.
Such cross-cultural exchange was not new to the Greeks; the Egyptian god Osiris and the Greek god Dionysus
had been equated as Osiris-Dionysus by the historian Herodotus as early as the 5th century BC (see
Interpretatio graeca).[12][13]
Roman world - Philo of Alexandria
Philo of Alexandria (c.25 BCE c.50 CE) attempted to reconcile Greek Rationalism with the Torah, which
helped pave the way for Christianity with Neo-Platonism, and the adoption of the Old Testament with
Christianity, as opposed to Gnostic Marcion roots of Christianity. Philo translated Judaism into terms of Stoic,
Platonic and Neopythagorean elements, and held that God is "supra rational" and can be reached only through
"ecstasy." He also held that the oracles of God supply the material of moral and religious knowledge.
Neo-Platonism
Neoplatonism arose in the 3rd century CE and persisted until shortly after the closing of the Platonic Academy
in Athens in AD 529 by Justinian I. Neoplatonists were heavily influenced by Plato, but also by the Platonic
tradition that thrived during the six centuries which separated the first of the Neoplatonists from Plato. The
work of Neoplatonic philosophy involved describing the derivation of the whole of reality from a single
principle, "the One." It was founded by Plotinus,[web 1] and has been very influential throughout history. In the
Middle Ages, Neoplatonic ideas were integrated into the philosophical and theological works of many of the
most important medieval Islamic, Christian, and Jewish thinkers.
Renaissance
Ficino and Pico della Mirandola
Marsilio Ficino (14331499) believed that Hermes Trismegistos, the supposed author of the Corpus
Hermeticum, was a contemporary of Mozes and the teacher of Pythagoras, and the source of both Greek and
Jewish-Christian thought.[1] He argued that there is an underlying unity to the world, the soul or love, which
has a counterpart in the realm of ideas. Platonic Philosophy and Christian theology both embody this truth.
Ficino was influenced by a variety of philosophers including Aristotelian Scholasticism and various
pseudonymous and mystical writings. Ficino saw his thought as part of a long development of philosophical
truth, of ancient pre-Platonic philosophers (including Zoroaster, Hermes Trismegistus, Orpheus, Aglaophemus
and Pythagoras) who reached their peak in Plato. The Prisca theologia, or venerable and ancient theology,
which embodied the truth and could be found in all ages, was a vitally important idea for Ficino.[2]
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (146394), a student of Ficino, went further than his teacher by suggesting that
truth could be found in many, rather than just two, traditions. This proposed a harmony between the thought of
Plato and Aristotle, and saw aspects of the Prisca theologia in Averroes, the Koran, the Cabala among other
sources.[3] After the deaths of Pico and Ficino this line of thought expanded, and included Symphorien
Champier, and Francesco Giorgio.
Steuco
De perenni philosophia libri X
The term perenni philosophia was first used by Agostino Steuco (14971548) who used it to title a treatise, De
perenni philosophia libri X, published in 1540.[4] De perenni philosophia was the most sustained attempt at
philosophical synthesis and harmony.[14] Steuco represents the liberal wing of 16th-century Biblical scholarship
and theology, although he rejected Luther and Calvin.[15] De perenni philosophia, is a complex work which
only contains the term philosophia perennis twice. It states that there is "one principle of all things, of which
there has always been one and the same knowledge among all peoples."[16] This single knowledge (or
sapientia) is the key element in his philosophy. In that he emphasises continuity over progress, Steuco's idea of
philosophy is not one conventionally associated with the Renaissance. Indeed, he tends to believe that the truth
is lost over time and is only preserved in the prisci theologica. Steuco preferred Plato to Aristotle and saw
greater congruence between the former and Christianity than the latter philosopher. He held that philosophy
works in harmony with religion and should lead to knowledge of God, and that truth flows from a single
source, more ancient than the Greeks. Steuco was strongly influenced by Iamblichus's statement that
knowledge of God is innate in all,[17] and also gave great importance to Hermes Trismegistus.
Influence
Steuco's perennial philosophy was highly regarded by some scholars for the two centuries after its publication,
then largely forgotten until it was rediscovered by Otto Willmann in the late part of the 19th century.[15]
Overall, De perenni philosophia wasn't particularly influential, and largely confined to those with a similar
orientation to himself. The work was not put on the Index of works banned by the Roman Catholic Church,
although his Cosmopoeia which expressed similar ideas was. Religious criticisms tended to the conservative
view that held Christian teachings should be understood as unique, rather than seeing them as perfect
expressions of truths that are found everywhere.[18] More generally, this philosophical syncretism was set out at
the expense of some of the doctrines included within it, and it is possible that Steuco's critical faculties were not
up to the task he had set himself. Further, placing so much confidence in the prisca theologia, turned out to be a
shortcoming as many of the texts used in this school of thought later turned out to be bogus.[19] In the
following two centuries the most favourable responses were largely Protestant and often in England.
Gottfried Leibniz later picked up on Steuco's term. The German philosopher stands in the tradition of this
concordistic philosophy; his philosophy of harmony especially had affinity with Steuco's ideas. Leibniz knew
about Steuco's work by 1687, but thought that De la Verite de la Religion Chretienne by Huguenot philosopher
Phillippe du Plessis-Mornay expressed the same truth better. Steuco's influence can be found throughout
Leibniz's works, but the German was the first philosopher to refer to the perennial philosophy without
mentioning the Italian.[20]
Popularisation
Transcendentalism and Unitaria n Universalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882) was a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field.[21] He was one
Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882) was a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field.[21] He was one
of the major figures in Transcendentalism, an early 19th-century liberal Protestant movement, which was
rooted in English and German Romanticism, the Biblical criticism of Herder and Schleiermacher, and the
skepticism of Hume.[web 2] The Transcendentalists emphasised an intuitive, experiential approach of
religion.[web 3] Following Schleiermacher,[22] an individual's intuition of truth was taken as the criterion for
truth.[web 3] In the late 18th and early 19th century, the first translations of Hindu texts appeared, which were
also read by the Transcendentalists, and influenced their thinking.[web 3] They also endorsed universalist and
Unitarianist ideas, leading to Unitarian Universalism, the idea that there must be truth in other religions as well,
since a loving God would redeem all living beings, not just Christians.[web 3][web 4]
Theosophical Society
By the end of the 19th century the idea of a Perennial Philosophy was popularized by leaders of the
Theosophical Society such as H. P. Blavatsky and Annie Besant, under the name of "Wisdom-Religion" or
"Ancient Wisdom".[23] The Theosophical Society took an active interest in Asian religions, subsequently not
only bringing those religions under the attention of a western audience,but also influencing Hinduism, and
Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Japan.
Neo-Vedanta
Many perennialist thinkers (including Armstrong, Huston Smith and Joseph Campbell) are influenced by Hindu
reformer Ram Mohan Roy and Hindu mystics Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda,[24] who themselves have
taken over western notions of universalism.[25] They regarded Hinduism to be a token of this Perennial
Philosophy. This notion has influenced thinkers who have proposed versions of the perennial philosophy in the
20th century.[25]
The unity of all religions was a central impulse among Hindu reformers in the 19th century, who in turn
influenced many 20th-century perennial philosophy-type thinkers. Key figures in this reforming movement
included two Bengali Brahmins. Ram Mohan Roy, a philosopher and the founder of the modernising Brahmo
Samaj religious organisation, reasoned that the divine was beyond description and thus that no religion could
claim a monopoly in their understanding of it.
The mystic Ramakrishna's spiritual ecstasies included experiencing the sameness of Christ, Mohammed and his
own Hindu deity. Ramakrishna's most famous disciple, Swami Vivekananda, travelled to the United States in
the 1890s where he formed the Vedanta Society.
Roy, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda were all influenced by the Hindu school of Advaita Vedanta,[26] which
they saw as the exemplification of a Universalist Hindu religiosity.[25]
The Traditionalist School was a group of 20th century thinkers concerned with what they considered to be the
demise of traditional forms of knowledge, both aesthetic and spiritual, within Western society. The principal
thinkers in this tradition are Ren Gunon, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon. Other important
thinkers in this tradition include Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, Jean-Louis Michon, Marco Pallis, Huston
Smith, Hossein Nasr, Jean Borella. According to the Traditionalist School, orthodox religions are based on a
singular metaphysical origin. According to the Traditionalist School, the "philosophia perennis" designates a
worldview that is opposed to the scientism of modern secular societies and which promotes the rediscovery of
the wisdom traditions of the pre-secular developed world. This view is exemplified by Rene Guenon in his
magnum opus and one of the founding works of the traditionalist school, The Reign of Quantity and The Sign of
the Times.
According to Frithjof Schuon:

It has been said more than once that total Truth is inscribed in an eternal script in the very
substance of our spirit; what the different Revelations do is to "crystallize" and "actualize", in
different degrees according to the case, a nucleus of certitudes which not only abides forever in the
divine Omniscience, but also sleeps by refraction in the "naturally supernatural" kernel of the
individual, as well as in that of each ethnic or historical collectivity or of the human species as a
whole.[27]
Aldous Huxley
The term was popularized in more recent times by Aldous Huxley, who was profoundly influenced by
Vivekananda's Neo-Vedanta and Universalism.[28] In his 1945 book The Perennial Philosophy he defined the
Perennial philosophy as:
... the metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and
minds; the psychology that finds in the soul something similar to, or even identical to, divine
Reality; the ethic that places man's final end in the knowledge of the immanent and transcendent
Ground of all being; the thing is immemorial and universal. Rudiments of the perennial philosophy
may be found among the traditional lore of primitive peoples in every region of the world, and in
its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions.[29]
In contrast to the Traditionalist school, Huxley emphasized mystical experience over metaphysics:
The Buddha declined to make any statement in regard to the ultimate divine Reality. All he would
talk about was Nirvana, which is the name of the experience that comes to the totally selfless and
one-pointed [...] Maintaining, in this matter, the attitude of a strict operationalist, the Buddha
would speak only of the spiritual experience, not of the metaphysical entity presumed by the
theologians of other religions, as also of later Buddhism, to be the object and (since in
contemplation the knower, the known and the knowledge are all one) at the same time the subject
and substance of that experience.[10]
According to Aldous Huxley, in order to apprehend the divine reality, one must choose to fulfill certain
conditions: "making themselves loving, pure in heart and poor in spirit."[30] Huxley argues that very few people
can achieve this state. Those who have fulfilled these conditions, grasped the universal truth and interpreted it
have generally been given the name of saint, prophet, sage or enlightened one.[31] Huxley argues that those
who have, "modified their merely human mode of being," and have thus been able to comprehend "more than
merely human kind and amount of knowledge" have also achieved this enlightened state.[32]
New Age
The idea of a Perennial Philosophy is central to the New Age Movement. The New Age movement is a Western
spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been
described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and infusing them
with influences from self-help and motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness
research and quantum physics".[33] The term New Age refers to the coming astrological Age of Aquarius.[web 5]
The New Age aims to create "a spirituality without borders or confining dogmas" that is inclusive and
pluralistic.[34] It holds to "a holistic worldview",[35] emphasising that the Mind, Body and Spirit are
interrelated[web 5] and that there is a form of monism and unity throughout the universe.[36] It attempts to create
"a worldview that includes both science and spirituality"[37] and embraces a number of forms of mainstream
science as well as other forms of science that are considered fringe.
Academic discussions
Mystical experience
The idea of a perennial philosophy, sometimes called perennialism, is a key area of debate in the academic
discussion of mystical experience. Huston Smith notes that the Traditionalist School's vision of a Perennial
philosophy is not based on mystical experiences, but on metaphysical intuitions.[38] The discussion of mystical
experience has shifted the emphasis in the perennial philosophy from these metaphysical intuitions to religious
experience[38] and the notion of nonduality or altered state of consciousness.
William James popularized the use of the term "religious experience" in his The Varieties of Religious
Experience.[39] It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies
knowledge.[web 6] Writers such as WT Stace, Huston Smith, and Robert Forman argue that there are core
similarities to mystical experience across religions, cultures and eras.[40] For Stace the universality of this core
experience is a necessary, although not sufficient, condition for one to be able to trust the cognitive content of
any religious experience.[41]
Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion of "religious experience" further back to the German theologian
Friedrich Schleiermacher (17681834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion
of "religious experience" was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and
secular critique. It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most
influential.[42]
Critics point out that the emphasis on "experience" favours the atomic individual, instead of the community. It
also fails to distinguish between episodic experience, and mysticism as a process, embedded in a total religious
matrix of liturgy, scripture, worship, virtues, theology, rituals and practices.[43] Richard King also points to
disjunction between "mystical experience" and social justice:[44]
The privatisation of mysticism - that is, the increasing tendency to locate the mystical in the
psychological realm of personal experiences - serves to exclude it from political issues such as
social justice. Mysticism thus comes to be seen as a personal matter of cultivating inner states of
tranquility and equanimity, which, rather than serving to transform the world, reconcile the
individual to the status quo by alleviating anxiety and stress.[44]
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism holds that various world religions are limited by their distinctive historical and cultural
contexts and thus there is no single, true religion. There are only many equally valid religions. Each religion is
a direct result of humanity's attempt to grasp and understand the incomprehensible divine reality. Therefore,
each religion has an authentic but ultimately inadequate perception of divine reality, producing a partial
understanding of the universal truth, which requires syncretism to achieve a complete understanding as well as
a path towards salvation or spiritual enlightenment.[45]
Although perennial philosophy also holds that there is no single true religion, it differs when discussing divine
reality. Perennial philosophy states that the divine reality is what allows the universal truth to be understood.[46]
Each religion provides its own interpretation of the universal truth, based on its historical and cultural context.
Therefore, each religion provides everything required to observe the divine reality and achieve a state in which
one will be able to confirm the universal truth and achieve salvation or spiritual enlightenment.
See also
The Perennial Philosophy Rudolf Otto Ivan Aguli
Jean-Louis Michon Traditionalist School Religious experience
Julius Evola Transpersonal psychology Transcendentalism
Huston Smith Eternalist Wisdom tradition
William Stoddart Angus Macnab Syncretism
Archetypes Whitall Perry Michel de Montaigne
Evolutionism Hossein Nasr Edith Stein
Meaning of life Ren Gunon Wilbur Marshall Urban
The Teachings of the Henry Corbin
MysticsBook by W.T. Mateus Soares de Azevedo
Stace Olavo de Carvalho
Notes
1. more fully, philosophia perennis et universalis; sometimes shortened to sophia perennis or religio
perennis
References
1. Slavenburg & Glaudemans 1994, p. 395.
2. Schmitt 1966, p. 508.
3. Schmitt 1966, p. 513.
4. Schmitt 1966.
5. Schmitt 1966, p. 517.
6. Lings & Minnaar 2007, p. xii.
7. Lings & Minnaar 2007, p. xiii.
8. Soares de Azevedo 2005.
9. Shipley 2015, p. 84.
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11. Shear 1994, p. 319-320.
12. Durant & Durant 1966, p. 188-192.
13. McEvilley 2002.
14. Schmitt 1966, p. 515.
15. Schmitt 1966, p. 516.
16. De perenni philosophia Bk 1, Ch 1; folio 1 in Schmitt (1966) P.517
17. Jamblichi De mysteriis liber, ed. Gustavus Parthey (Berlin), I, 3; 7-10
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29. Huxley 1945, p. vii.
30. Huxley, Aldous. The perennial philosophy . [1st ed. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1945. p.2
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Smith, Huston (1987), "Is There a Perennial Philosophy?", Journal of the American Academy of Religion.
Vol. 55, No. 3 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 553-566
Soares de Azevedo, Mateus, ed. (2005), Ye Shall Know the Truth: Christianity and the Perennial
Web-sources
1. IEP (http://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/)
2. Stanford Encyclopdeia of Philosophy, Transcendentalism (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/transcendental
ism/)
3. Jone John Lewis, What is Transcendentalism?" (http://www.transcendentalists.com/what.htm)
4. Barry Andrews, THE ROOTS OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SPIRITUALITY IN NEW ENGLAND
TRANSCENDENTALISM (http://archive.uua.org/re/other/andrews.html)
5. Melton, J. Gordon Director Institute for the Study of American Religion. New Age Transformed (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20060614001357/religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/newage.html),
retrieved 2006-06
6. Gellman, Jerome, "Mysticism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition),
Edward N. Zalta (ed.) (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/)
Further reading
William W. Quinn, junior. The Only Tradition, in S.U.N.Y. Series in Western Esoteric Traditions. Albany,
N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1997. xix, 384 p. ISBN 0-7914-3214-9 pbk
Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion
(Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2013). ISBN 978-1-936597-20-8
Aldous Huxley
Huxley, Aldous (2004), The Perennial Philosophy (Harper Modern Classics 2004 ed.), Harper & Row,
ISBN 0-06-057058-X
Shipley, Morgan (2015), Psychedelic Mysticism: Transforming Consciousness, Religious Experiences,
and Voluntary Peasants in Postwar America, Lexington Books
External links
Kabbalah and the Perennial Philosophy
Slideshow on the Perennial Philosophy
The End of Philosophy by Swami Tripurari
Religious Pluralism and the Question of Religious Truth in Wilfred C. Smith
James S. Cutsinger Perennial Philosophy and Christianity
OSHO discourses on Philosophia Perennis
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perennial_philosophy&oldid=799499580"
This page was last edited on 8 September 2017, at 02:39.

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The Traditionalist School is a group of 20th and 21st century thinkers concerned with what they considered to
be the demise of traditional forms of knowledge, both aesthetic and spiritual, within Western society. The
principal thinkers in this tradition are Ren Gunon, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon. Other
important thinkers in this tradition include Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, Jean-Louis Michon, Marco Pallis,
Huston Smith, Hossein Nasr, Jean Borella, Julius Evola and William Chittick. A central belief of this school is
the existence of a perennial wisdom, or perennial philosophy, which says that there are primordial and universal
truths which form the source for, and are shared by all the major world religions.
Contents
1 Ideas
2 People
2.1 Ren Gunon
3 Influence
4 Association with far right movements
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 Sources
9 Further reading
10 External links
Ideas
According to the Traditionalists, there are primordial and universal religious truths which are at the foundations
of all major world religions. The Traditionalists speak of "absolute Truth and infinite Presence".[1] Absolute
Truth is "the perennial wisdom (sophia perennis) that stands as the transcendent source of all the intrinsically
orthodox religions of humankind."[1] According to Traditionalists, "the primordial and perennial truth" is
manifested in a variety of religious and spiritual traditions.[2] Infinite Presence is "the perennial religion (religio
perennis) that lives within the heart of all intrinsically orthodox religions."[1] According to Frithjof Schuon,
The term philosophia perennis, which has been current since the time of the Renaissance and of
which neo-scholasticism made much use, signifies the totality of the primordial and universal
truths and therefore of the metaphysical axioms whose formulation does not belong to any
particular system. One could speak in the same sense of a religio perennis, designating by this term
the essence of every religion; this means the essence of every form of worship, every form of
prayer, and every system of morality, just as the sophia perennis is the essence of all dogmas and
all expressions of wisdom.[3]
Although the Traditionalist school is often said to be a "perennial philosophy", its members prefer the term
sophia perennis ("perennial wisdom").[4] According to Frithjof Schuon,
We prefer the term sophia to that of philosophia, for the simple reason that the second term is less
direct and because it evokes in addition associations of ideas with a completely profane and all too
often aberrant system of thought.[3]
The Traditionalist vision of a perennial wisdom is not based on mystical experiences, but on metaphysical
intuitions.[5][6] It is "intuited directly through divine intellect."[4] This divine intellect is different from reason,
and makes it possible to discern "the sacred unity of reality that is attested in all authentic esoteric expressions
of tradition";[4] it is "the presence of divinity within each human waiting to be uncovered."[4] According to
Frithjof Schuon,
The key to the eternal sophia is pure intellection or in other words metaphysical discernment. To
"discern" is to "separate": to separate the Real and the illusory, the Absolute and the contingent, the
Necessary and the possible, Atma and Maya. Accompanying discernment, by way of complement
and operatively, is concentration, which unites: this means becoming fully aware from the
starting point of earthly and human Maya of Atma, which is both absolute and infinite.[3]
Traditionalists discern a transcendent and an immanent dimension, namely the discernment of the Real or
Absolute, c.q. that which is permanent; and the intentional "mystical concentration on the Real".[7]
According to the Traditionalists, this truth has been lost in the modern world through the rise of novel secular
philosophies stemming from the Enlightenment,[8] and modernity itself is considered as an "anomaly in the
history of mankind."[2] Traditionalists see their approach as a justifiable "nostalgia for the past".[9][note 1]
According to Frithjof Schuon,
... "traditionalism"; like "esoterism" [...] has nothing pejorative about it in itself [...] If to recognize
what is true and just is "nostalgia for the past," it is quite clearly a crime or a disgrace not to feel
this nostalgia.[9]
Traditionalists insist on the necessity for affiliation to one of the "normal traditions", or great ancient religions
of the world.[note 2] The regular affiliation to the ordinary life of a believer is crucial, since this could give
access to the esoterism of that given religious form.[10]
People
The ideas of the Traditionalist School are considered to begin with Ren Gunon. Other people considered
Traditionalists include Titus Burckhardt, Jean Borella, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Martin Lings, Jean-Louis
Michon, Marco Pallis, Huston Smith, Hossein Nasr, Frithjof Schuon and Julius Evola.[note 3]
Ren Gunon
A major theme in the works of Ren Gunon (1886-1951) is the contrast between traditional world views and
modernity, "which he considered to be an anomaly in the history of mankind."[2] For Gunon, the physical
world was a manifestation of metaphysical principles, which are preserved in the perennial teachings of the
world religions, but were lost to the modern world.[2] For Gunon, "the malaise of the modern world lies in its
relentless denial of the metaphysical realm."[2][note 4]
Early on, Gunon was attracted to Sufism, which he saw as a more accessible path of spiritual knowledge. In
1912 Gunon was initiated in the Shadhili order. He started writing after his doctoral dissertation was rejected,
and he left academia in 1923.[2] His works center on the return to these traditional world views,[2] trying to
reconstruct the Perennial Philosophy.[web 3]
In his first books and essays he envisaged a restoration of traditional "intellectualit" in the West on the basis of
Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry.[note 5] He gave up early on a purely Christian basis for a traditionalist
restoration of the West, searching for other traditions. He denounced the lure of Theosophy and neo-occultism
in the form of Spiritism,[note 6] two influential movements that were flourishing in his lifetime. In 1930 he
in the form of Spiritism,[note 6] two influential movements that were flourishing in his lifetime. In 1930 he
moved to Egypt, where he lived until his death in 1951.[2]
Influence
Traditionalism had a discrete impact in the field of comparative religion,[web 3] particularly on the young
Mircea Eliade, although he was not himself a member of this school. Contemporary scholars such as Huston
Smith, William Chittick, Harry Oldmeadow, James Cutsinger and Hossein Nasr have advocated Perennialism
as an alternative to secularist approach to religious phenomena.
Through the close affiliation with Sufism, the traditionalist perspective has been gaining ground in Asia and the
Islamic world at large.[note 7]
Association with far right movements

The Traditionalist School has been associated with some far right movements. Critics of Traditionalism cite its
popularity among the European Nouvelle Droite ("New Right"),[15] while Julius Evola's ideas were used by
Italian Fascists during the Years of Lead. Mark Sedgwick's Against the Modern World, published in 2004, gives
an analysis of the Traditionalist School and its influence.
A number of disenchanted intellectuals responded to Gunon's call with attempts to put theory into
practice. Some attempted without success to guide Fascism and Nazism along Traditionalist lines;
others later participated in political terror in Italy. Traditionalism finally provided the ideological
cement for the alliance of anti-democratic forces in post-Soviet Russia, and at the end of the
Twentieth Century began to enter the debate in the Islamic world about the desirable relationship
between Islam and modernity.[web 3]
In his book Gunon ou le renversement des clarts, the French scholar Xavier Accart questions the connection
sometimes made between the Traditionalist School and far-right politics. According to Accart, Ren Guenon
was highly critical of Evola's political involvements and was worried about the possible confusion between his
own ideas and Evola's. Accart finally claims that the assimilation of Gunon with Evola and the confusion
between Traditionalism and the New Right can be traced back to Louis Pauwels and Bergier's The Morning of
the Magicians (1960).[16]
Alain de Benoist, the founder of the Nouvelle Droite declared in 2013 that the influence of Gunon on his
political school was very weak and that he does not consider him as a major author.[note 8]
See also
Aleksandr Dugin
Ivan Aguli Integralism Michel Valsan
Kurt Almqvist Jean-Pierre Laurant Elmire Zolla
Olavo de Carvalho Tage Lindbom Bla Hamvas
Development criticism Koenraad Logghe Hasan Askari
Carl W. Ernst Jean-Louis Michon Suheyl Umar
Antoine Faivre Paleoconservatism Muhammad Ajmal
Yves Gurin-Srac Perennial philosophy Muhammed Amin Andrabi
Integral humanism Leo Schaya Dark Enlightenment
(Maritain) Philip Sherrard New traditionalism
Integral humanism (India) Wolfgang Smith
Aleksandr Dugin William Stoddart
Notes
1. Gunon rejected the term, because "it implies in his view a kind of sentimental attachment to a tradition
which, most of the time, has lost its metaphysical foundation.[web 1][web 2]
2. See Titus Burckhardt, "A Letter on Spiritual Method" in Mirror of the Intellect, Cambridge (UK), Quinta
Essentia, 1987 (ISBN 0-946621-08-X), where a rather strict list is given.
3. Renaud Fabbri argues that Evola should not be considered a member of the Perennialist School. See the
section Julius Evola and the Perennialist School in Fabbri's Introduction to the Perennialist School (htt
p://www.religioperennis.org/documents/Fabbri/Perennialism.pdf).
4. According to Wouter Hanegraaf, "modernity itself is in fact intertwined with the history of
esotericism."[11] Western esotericism had a profound influence on Hindu and Buddhist modernisers,
whose modernisations in turn had a deep impact on modern western spirituality. See:
*Michelis, Elizabeth De (2005). A History of Modern Yoga: Patanjali and Western Esotericism (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=4HTUAwAAQBAJ). A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-8264-8772-8.
[12][13][14]
5. Cf. among others his Aperus sur l'sotrisme chrtien (ditions Traditionnelles, Paris, 1954) and tudes
sur la Franc-maonnerie et le Compagnonnage (2 vols, ditions Traditionnelles, Paris, 1964-65) which
include many of his articles for the Catholic journal Regnabit.
6. Cf. his Le Thosophisme, histoire d'une pseudo-religion, Paris, Nouvelle Librairie Nationale, 1921, and
L'Erreur spirite, Paris, Marcel Rivire, 1923. Both books exist in English translation.
7. Witness the works by Mahmoud Bina at the Isfahan University of Technology, the Malay scholar Osman
Bakar, and the Ceylonese Ranjit Fernando. This is probably also related to the expansion of the
Maryamiyya branch of the Shadhili Sufi order, as studied by Sedgwick, Against the Modern World,
always within the pale of Sunni Islam. Cf. also a review by Carl W. Ernst: "Traditionalism, the Perennial
Philosophy, and Islamic Studies (http://www.unc.edu/~cernst/Traditionalism.htm)," Middle East Studies
Association Bulletin, vol. 28, no. 2 (December 1994), pp. 176-81.
8. On Radio Courtoisie (20 May 2013), during the programme Le Libre Journal de la resistance franaise
presented by Emmanuel Ratier and Pascal Lassalle.
References
1. Lings & Minnaar 2007, p. xii.
2. Kalin 2015.
3. Oldmeadow 2010.
4. Taylor 2008, p. 1270.
5. Smith 1987, p. 554.
6. Oldmeadow 2010, p. vii.
7. Lings & Minnaar 2007, p. xiii.
8. Daniel J Schwindt, The Case Against the Modern World: A Crash Course in Traditionalist Thought (http
s://www.amazon.com/Case-Against-Modern-World-Traditionalist/dp/153282534X/), 2016.
9. Schuon 1982, p. 8.
10. Gunon 2001, p. 48.
11. Sedgwick 2004, p. 13.
12. Sharf, Robert (1 January 1995). "Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience" (htt
p://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1995,%20Buddhist%20Modernis
m.pdf) (PDF). NUMEN. 42.
13. De Michelis, Elizabeth (2005), A History of Modern Yoga, Continuum
14. McMahan, David L. (2008). The Making of Buddhist Modernism (https://books.google.com/books?id=X
U6HNwlxhCAC). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-972029-3.
15. Davies & Lynch 2004, p. 322.
16. Accart 2005.
Sources
Primary
Coomaraswamy (1977), Lipsey, Roger, ed., Coomaraswamy Selected Papers 2: Metaphysics, Princeton
University Press
Gunon, Ren (2001), Perspectives on Initiation, New York: Sophia Perennis
Schuon, Frithjof (1982), From the Divine to the Human. French original edition: Du Divin l'humain,
Paris: Le Courrier du Livre, 1981, Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom
Secondary
Accart, Xavier (2005), Ren Gunon ou Le renversement des clarts, Paris, Milano: Arch, ISBN 978-2-
912770-03-5
Davies, Peter; Lynch, Derek (2004), The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right, Routledge,
ISBN 0-415-21494-7
Kalin, Ibrahim (2015), "Gunon, Rene (1886-1951)", in Leaman, Oliver, The Biographical Encyclopedia
of Islamic Philosophy, Bloomsbury Publishing
Lings, Martin; Minnaar, Clinton (2007), The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial
Oldmeadow, Harry (2011) Traditionalism: Religion in the light of the Perennial Philosophy. Sophia
Perennis. ISBN 1597311316
Schwindt, Daniel (2016), The Case Against the Modern World: A Crash Course in Traditionalist
Thought, ISBN 978-1532825347
Sedgwick, Mark (2004), Against the Modern World : Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History
of the Twentieth Century: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century,
Oxford University Press
Taylor, Bron (2008), Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, A&C Black
Web-sources
1. An Introduction to the Perennialist School (http://www.religioperennis.org/documents/Fabbri/Perennialis

m.pdf).
2. Saint Aidan Orthodox Church, The Problem with "isms" (http://www.saintaidan.ca/2011/04/problem-with
-isms.html)
3. Oxford University Press, Description: "Against the Modern World. Traditionalism and the Secret
Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century" (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/against-the-mod
ern-world-9780195396010?cc=nl&lang=en&#)
Further reading
Mark Sedgwick, Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the
Twentieth Century ISBN 0-19-515297-2
Harry Oldmeadow, Traditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy (2000) ISBN 955-
9028-04-9
Carl W. Ernst, "Traditionalism, the Perennial Philosophy and Islamic Studies" in the MESA Bulletin
(1994).
Ren Gunon
Xavier Accart, Ren Gunon ou Le renversement des clarts Paris, Milano: Arch, 2005 (ISBN 978-2-
912770-03-5).
Marie-France James, Esoterisme et Christianisme: autour de Ren Gunon (1981).
Jean-Pierre Laurant, "Le problme de Ren Gunon", Revue de l'histoire des religions (1971).
Jean-Pierre Laurant, Ren Gunon: Les enjeux d'une lecture (2006) ISBN 2-84454-423-1
Jean-Pierre Laurant and Paul Barbanegra, eds, Ren Gunon [Cahier de l'Herne] (1985).
Pierre-Marie Sigaud, ed., Rene Guenon [Dossiers H] (1984).
Julius Evola
Franco Ferraresi, "Julius Evola: Tradition, Reaction and the Radical Right" in Archives Europennes de
Sociologie (1987).
Roger Griffin, "Revolts Against the Modern World: The Blend of Literary and Historical Fantasy in the
Italian New Right" in Literature and History (1985).
Writings by members
Evola, Julius (2002). Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist. Inner
Traditions/Bear. ISBN 978-0-89281-905-8.
Nasr, Hossein (1989). Knowledge and the Sacred: Revisioning Academic Accountability. SUNY Press.
ISBN 978-0-7914-0176-7.
Andrew Rawlinson, The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions ISBN 0-
8126-9310-8
Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth: The Common Vision of the World's Religions (1976), reprint ed. 1992,
Harper SanFrancisco, ISBN 0-06-250787-7
Alice Lucy Trent, The Feminine Universe: An Exposition of the Ancient Wisdom from the Primordial
Feminine Perspective (2010) Golden Order Press, ISBN 1-4537-8952-9
William W. Quinn, Jr., The Only Tradition (1996) ISBN 0-7914-3213-0
Ranjit Fernando (1991). The Unanimous Tradition: Essays on the Essential Unity of All Religions. Sri
Lanka Institute of Traditional Studies. ISBN 978-955-9028-01-7.
Perennialism
Antoine Faivre, ed, Dossier on "Perennialisme" in Aries 11 (1990).
External links
Sacred Web A Traditional Journal
A Web Site on the Perennialist/Traditionalist School
Interview of Huston Smith on the primordial tradition
Integral Tradition
Review of "Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the
Twentieth Century"
World Wisdom Books
Fons Vitae Books
Revista de Estudios Tradicionales
Slideshow on the Perennial Philosophy
La Tradicin Textos Tradicionales (Spanish)
Traditionalists.org: A website for the Study of (Traditionalism and the Traditionalists)
The Matheson Trust for the study of comparative religion
An article on Muslim Perennialism
A review of some Traditionalist books by Carl W. Ernst "Traditionalism, the Perennial Philosophy, and
Islamic Studies", Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, vol. 28, no. 2 (December 1994), pp. 17681
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Traditionalist_School&oldid=798701133"

Ren Gunon
Ren-Jean-Marie-Joseph Gunon[1] (French pronunciation:

Ren-Jean-Marie-Joseph
[ne.an.maj.ozf en ]; 15 November 1886 7 January
1951), also known as Abd al-Wid Yay, was a French author Gunon
and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of (Abd al-W id Yay)
metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from "sacred
science"[2] and traditional studies,[3] to symbolism and initiation.
He wrote and published in French, and his works have been

translated into more than twenty languages. He is considered to be
an important writer in the Traditionalist School.
Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Life in Egypt
2 Writings
3 Some key terms and ideas Gunon aged 38 (1925 studio photo).
4 Metaphysical core
4.1 Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines Born 15 November 1886
4.2 Man and his Becoming according to the Vdant
Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France
4.3 The Symbolism of the Cross
4.4 The Multiple States of Being Died 7 January 1951 (aged 64)
5 Other writings in metaphysics, hermeticism and Cairo, Egypt
cosmological sciences
5.1 Lesser and greater mysteries Era 20th-century philosophy
5.2 Hindu doctrine of cosmic cycles Region Western philosophy
5.3 Conditions of corporeal existence Eastern philosophy
5.4 Classical atomism and the continuum
6 Symbolism Esotericism
6.1 Symbolism and analogy School Advaita Vedanta Sufism
7 Contemporary "neo-spiritualism" Nondualism Platonism
8 Reception
9 Bibliography Main Metaphysics Esoterism
interests Initiation Symbolism
9.1 In English
9.1.1 Collected works Mythology Gnosis Gnosticism
9.2 In French Religious texts History
10 Notes Freemasonry Mathematics
11 References
Society Social criticism
12 Further reading
13 External links Comparative religion
Notable Critique of modernity
ideas from the perspective of
ancient wisdom traditions
Biography Refounding Western
esotericism using Eastern
Ren Gunon was born in Blois, a city in central France ideas
approximately 160 km (100 mi) from Paris. Gunon, like most Influences
Frenchmen of the time, was born into a Roman Catholic family. Adi Shankara Ibn Arabi Lao Tse
Little is known of his family, although it appears that his father was (Laozi) Plato Aristotle Joseph de
an architect. By 1904, Gunon was living as a student in Paris, Maistre
where his studies focused on mathematics and philosophy. He was Influenced
known as a brilliant student, notably in mathematics, in spite of his Mircea Eliade Frithjof Schuon
poor health. Michel Valsan Marco Pallis Julius
Evola Huston Smith Olavo de
As a young student in Paris, Gunon observed and became involved
with some students who were, at that time, under the supervision of Carvalho Mateus Soares de
Grard Encausse, alias Papus.[4] Gunon soon discovered that the Azevedo
Martinist order supervised by Papus was irregular. He joined the Ananda Coomaraswamy Seraphim
Gnostic Church founded by Fabre des Essarts-Synesius. Under the Rose Aleksander Dugin Carl
name "Tau Palingenius" Gunon became the founder and main Schmitt
contributor of a periodical review, La Gnose ("Gnosis"), writing Signature
articles for it until 1922. From his incursions into the French
occultist and pseudo-masonic orders, he despaired of the possibility
of ever gathering these diverse and often ill-assorted doctrines into a
"stable edifice".[5] In his book The Reign of Quantity and the Signs
of the Times he also pointed out what he saw as the intellectual vacuity of the French occultist movement,
which, he wrote, was utterly insignificant, and more importantly, had been compromised by the infiltration of
certain individuals of questionable motives and integrity.[6] Following his desire to join a regular masonic
obedience, he became a member of the Thebah Lodge of the Grande Loge de France following the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite[7]
Around this time (according to indications reproduced by his biographer Paul Chacornac),[8] it is possible that
Ren Gunon became acquainted with Hinduism, specifically via the initiatic lineage of Shankarchrya[9], and
with Taoism, due to his friendship with Georges-Albert Puyou de Pouvourville, alias Matgioi. It is likely that
Gunon learned to use opium from de Pouvourville, and Gunon later described the use of opium as an aid to
meditation[10]. He met Lon Champrenaud, alias Abdul-Haqq, and John-Gustav Ageli, alias Abdul-Hadi who
had been initiated by Abder-Rhaman el Kbir in Cairo. According to Paul Chacornac, Gunon chose a
conversion to Islam rather than to Hinduism because the Hindu ritual life is not compatible with the Western
way of life, whereas following Islamic rituals is compatible with modern Western life. He believed that Islam is
the only traditional religious world that is practically accessible to Westerners[11][12]. In 1910,[13] Gunon was
initiated into Sufism by Ivan Aguli; he took the name "Abd al-Wid Yay".
In 1917, Gunon began a one-year stay at Stif, Algeria, teaching philosophy to college students. After World
War I, he left teaching to dedicate his energies to writing; his first book, Introduction to the Study of the Hindu
Doctrines, was published in 1921. The book was first proposed as a thesis, but the thesis was rejected by
Indologist Sylvain Lvi. From 1925 Gunon became a contributor to a review edited by P. Chacornac, Le Voile
d'Isis ("The Veil of Isis"); after 1935 and under Gunon's influence, this periodical became known as Les
Etudes Traditionnelles ("Traditional Studies").
Although the exposition of Hindu doctrines to European audiences had already been attempted in piecemeal
fashion at that time by many orientalists, Gunon's Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines advanced
its subject in a uniquely insightful manner,[14] by referring to the concepts of metaphysics and Tradition in their
most general sense, which Gunon precisely defined, along with the necessary distinctions and definitions of
seemingly unambiguous terms such as religion, tradition, exoterism, esoterism and theology. Gunon explained
that his purpose was not to describe all aspects of Hinduism, but to give the necessary intellectual foundation
for a proper understanding of its spirit.[15] The book also stands as a harsh condemnation of works presented by
certain other European writers about Hinduism and Tradition in general; according to Gunon, such writers had
lacked any profound understanding of their subject matter and of its implications. The book also contains a
critical analysis of the political intrusions of the British Empire into the subject of Hinduism (and India itself)
through Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy.[16]
In September 1920, Pre Peillaube asked Gunon to write a book against the Theosophical Society.[17] In 1921,
Gunon debuted a series of articles in the French Revue de Philosophie, which, along with some supplements,
led to the book Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion. His critique of Theosophy was received positively by
conservative Catholics[18]. However his later book Orient et Occident distanced him from his Catholic
supporters[19]. His friend and erstwhile supporter Jacques Maritain argued that Gunon's views were "radically
supporters[19]. His friend and erstwhile supporter Jacques Maritain argued that Gunon's views were "radically
irreconcilable with the [Catholic] faith and called them a "Hinduist restoration of ancient Gnosis, mother of
heresies"[20]. Maritain later unsuccessfully tried to have Gunon's works put on the Catholic Index of
Prohibited Books[21]. During the decade 19201930, Gunon began to acquire a broader public reputation, and
his work was noted by various intellectual and artistic figures both within and outside of Paris. At this time also
were published some of his books explaining the "intellectual divide" between the East and West, and the
peculiar nature, according to him, of modern civilization: Crisis of the Modern World, and East and West. In
1927 was published the second major doctrinal book of his works: Man and His Becoming according to the
Vednta, and in 1929, Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power. The last book listed offers a general
explanation of what Gunon saw as the fundamental differences between "sacerdotal" (priestly or sacred) and
"royal" (governmental) powers, along with the negative consequences arising from the usurpation of the
prerogatives of the latter with regard to the former. From these considerations, Ren Gunon traces to its source
the origin of the modern deviation, which, according to him, is to be found in the destruction of the Templar
order in 1314.
Life in Egypt
In 1930, Gunon left Paris for Cairo. During his lengthy sojourn in Egypt, Ren Gunon carried on an austere
and simple life, entirely dedicated to his writings and spiritual development.[22] In 1949, he obtained Egyptian
citizenship. Sedgwick wrote about Gunon's life in Egypt that even though he continued his interest in
Hinduism and other religions, Gunon's own practice was purely Islamic. He is "not known ever to have
recommended anyone to become a Hindu, whereas he introduced many to Islam".[23]
Urged on by some of his friends and collaborators, Gunon agreed to establish a new Masonic Lodge in France
founded upon his "Traditional" ideals, purified of what he saw as the inauthentic accretions which so bedeviled
other lodges he had encountered during his early years in Paris. This lodge was called La Grande Triade ("The
Great Triad"), a name inspired by the title of one of Gunon's books. The first founders of the lodge, however,
separated a few years after its inception.[24] Nevertheless, this lodge, belonging to the Grande Loge de France,
remains active today.
Ren Gunon died on Sunday, January 7, 1951; his final word was "Allah".[25]
Writings
In 1921, Gunon published an Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines. His goal, as he writes it, is an
attempt at presenting to westerners eastern metaphysics and spirituality as they are understood and thought by
easterners themselves, while pointing at what Ren Gunon describes as all the erroneous interpretations and
misunderstandings of western orientalism and "neospiritualism" (for the latter, notably the proponents of
Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy). Right from that time, he presents a rigorous understanding, not only of
Hindu doctrines, but also of eastern metaphysics in general.[26]
His work comprises:
An exposition of fundamental metaphysical principles: Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines
which contains the general definition of the term "tradition" as Gunon defines it, Man and His
Becoming according to the Vednta, The Symbolism of the Cross, The Multiple States of Being, The
Metaphysical Principles of the Infinitesimal Calculus, Oriental Metaphysics.
Studies in symbolism (comprising many articles he wrote for the journal Le Voile d'Isis which became
later known under the name Etudes Traditionnelles). These studies in symbolism were later compiled by
Michel Valsan in the posthumous book Symbols of Sacred Science. The studies The Great Triad,
Traditional Forms & Cosmic Cycles, Insights into Islamic Esoterism & Taoism and The King of the
World (alternately translated as Lord of the World) are also mostly about symbolism.
Fundamental studies related to Initiation, a subject completely re-exposited by Gunon from the
traditional perspective: Perspectives on Initiation, Initiation and Spiritual Realisation, The Esoterism of
Dante.
Criticism of the modern world and of "neospiritualism": East and West, The Crisis of the Modern World,
Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power, Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion, The Spiritist Fallacy
and The Reign of Quantity & the Signs of the Times, the latter book being often considered as his
masterpiece as an explanation of the modern world from the traditional perspective.
Various studies in esoterism: Saint Bernard, Insights into Christian Esoterism, Studies in Freemasonry
and Compagnonnage, Studies in Hinduism, &c.
Some key terms and ideas

Gunon's writings make use of words and terms, of fundamental signification, which receive a precise
definition throughout his books. These terms and words, although receiving a usual meaning and being used in
many branches of human sciences, have, according to Ren Gunon, lost substantially their original
signification (e.g. words such as "metaphysics", "initiation", "mysticism", "personality", "form", "matter").[27]
He insisted notably on the danger represented by the perversion of the signification of words seen by him as
essential for the study of metaphysics; please refer to the main article for the definition given by Ren Gunon
to some of the words used extensively in his works.
Metaphysical core
The exposition of metaphysical doctrines, which forms the cornerstone of Gunon's work, consists of the
following books:[28]
Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines,

Man and His Becoming according to the Vednta,
The Multiple States of the Being,
Symbolism of the Cross,
Oriental Metaphysics.
Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines
Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines, published in 1921, on topics which were later included in the
lecture he gave at the Sorbonne on December 17, 1925 ("Oriental Metaphysics"), consists of four parts.
The first part ("preliminary questions") exposes the hurdles that prevented classical orientalism from a deep
understanding of eastern doctrines (without forgetting that Ren Gunon had of course in view the orientalism
of his time): the "classical prejudice" which "consists essentially in a predisposition to attribute the origin of all
civilization to the Greeks and Romans", the ignorance of certain types of relationships between the ancient
peoples, linguistic difficulties, and the confusions arising about certain questions related to chronology, these
confusions being made possible through the ignorance of the importance of oral transmission which can
precede, to a considerable and indeterminate extent, the written formulation. A fundamental example of that
latter mistake being found in the orientalist's attempts at providing a precise birth date to the Vedas sacred
scriptures.
The "general characters of eastern thought" part focuses on the principles of unity of the eastern civilizations,
on the definition of the notions of "tradition" and "metaphysics". Gunon also proposes a rigorous definition of
the term "religion", and states the proper differences between "tradition", "religion", "metaphysics" and
"philosophical system". The relations between "metaphysics" and "theology" are also explored, and the
fundamental terms of "esoterism" and "exoterism" are introduced. A chapter is devoted to the idea of
"metaphysical realization". The first two parts state, according to Ren Gunon, the necessary doctrinal
foundations for a correct understanding of Hindu doctrines.
Man and his Becoming according to the Vdant

The Introduction to the study of the Hindu doctrines had, among its
objectives, the purpose of giving the proper intellectual basis to
promote openness to the study of eastern intellectuality. The study of
Hindu doctrines is continued in his book Man and his Becoming
according to the Vedanta by taking the specific viewpoint of the human
being's constitution according to the Vdant: Ren Gunon states that
his goal is not to present a synthetic exposition of all vedic doctrines
"which would be quite an impossible task", but to consider "a particular
point of that doctrine", in that case the definition of the human being, in
order to contemplate afterwards other aspects of metaphysics.
The Symbolism of the Cross
The Symbolism of the Cross is a book "dedicated to the venerated

memory of Esh-Sheikh Abder-Rahman Elish El-Kebir". Its goal, as
Gunon states it, "is to explain a symbol that is common to almost all
Ganesh, "Lord of meditation and
traditions, a fact that would seem to indicate its direct attachment to the
mantras", "Lord of Knowledge", "Lord
great primordial tradition". To alleviate the hurdles bound to the
of Categories", will be displayed in the
interpretations of a symbol belonging to different traditions, Gunon front page cover of theSymbolism of the
distinguishes synthesis from syncretism: syncretism consists in cross's original edition
assembling from the outside a number of more or less incongruous
elements which, when so regarded, can never be truly unified.
Syncretism is something outward: the elements taken from any of its quarters and put together in this way can
never amount to anything more than borrowings that are effectively incapable of being integrated into a
doctrine "worthy of that name". To apply these criteria to the present context of the symbolism of the cross:
syncretism can be recognized wherever one finds elements borrowed from different traditional
forms and assembled together without any awareness that there is only one single doctrine of
which these forms are so many different expressions or so many adaptations related to particular
conditions related to given circumstances of time and place.
The Multiple States of Being
This book expands on the multiple states of Being, a doctrine already tackled in The Symbolism of the Cross,
leaving aside the geometrical representation exposed in that book "to bring out the full range of this altogether
fundamental theory".[29] First and foremost is asserted the necessity of the "metaphysical Infinity", envisaged
in its relationship with "universal Possibility". "The Infinite, according to the etymology of the term which
designates it, is that which has no limits", so it can only be applied to what has absolutely no limit, and not to
what is exempted from certain limitations while being subjected to others like space, time, quantity, in other
words all countless other things that fall within the indefinite, fate and nature. There is no distinction between
the Infinite and universal Possibility, simply the correlation between these terms indicates that in the case of the
Infinite, it is contemplated in its active aspect, while the universal Possibility refers to its passive aspect: these
are the two aspects of Brahma and its Shakti in the Hindu doctrines. From this results that "the distinction
between the possible and the real [...] has no metaphysical validity, for every possible is real in its way,
according to the mode befitting its own nature".[30] This leads to the metaphysical consideration of the "Being"
and "Non-Being":
If we [...] define Being in the universal sense as the principle

of manifestation, and at the same time as comprising in itself
the totality of possibilities of all manifestation, we must say
that Being is not infinite because it does not coincide with
total Possibility; and all the more so because Being, as the
principle of manifestation, although it does indeed comprise
all the possibilities of manifestation, does so only insofar as
they are actually manifested. Outside of Being, therefore, are
all the rest, that is all the possibilities of non-manifestation, as
well as the possibilities of manifestation themselves insofar
as they are in the unmanifested state; and included among
these is Being itself, which cannot belong to manifestation
since it is the principle thereof, and in consequence is itself
unmanifested. For want of any other term, we are obliged to
designate all that is thus outside and beyond Being as "Non-
Being", but for us this negative term is in no way synonym
for 'nothingness'.[31]
Narayana is one of the names of

Other writings in metaphysics, hermeticism Vishnu in the Hindu tradition,
and cosmological sciences signifies literally "He who walks on
the Waters", with an evident parallel
with the Gospel tradition. The
Lesser and greater mysteries "surface of the Waters", or their plane
of separation, is described as the plane
Hindu doctrine of cosmic cycles of reflection of the "Celestial Ray". It
marks the state in which the passage
Gunon introduces some preliminary aspects of a particular (and from the individual to the universal is
extremely complex) cosmological science: the Hindu doctrine of cosmic operative, and the well-known symbol
cycles, for instance in the article "Some remarks on the doctrine of cosmic of "walking on the Waters" represents
cycles".[32] He writes that giving an overview of this theory and its emancipation from form, or liberation
equivalents in different traditional forms is merely an impossible task "not from the individual condition (Ren
only because the question is very complex in itself, but specially owing to Gunon, The multiples states of the
the extreme difficulty of expressing these things in a European language, Being, chapter 12, "The two
and in a way that is intelligible to the present-day Western mentality, chaoses").
which has had no practice whatsoever with this kind of thinking". All that
is possible in this respect is to clarify a few points with remarks "which
can only raise suggestions about the meaning of the doctrine in question rather than really explaining it".[33]
Conditions of corpor eal existence
The doctrine of five elements, which plays an important role in some Vedic texts, in Advaita Vedanta, Islamic
esotericism, the Hebrew Kabbalah, in Christian Hermeticism, and other traditions, is partially exposed by Ren
Gunon in two articles: one entitled The conditions of corporeal existence, published in 1912 in the journal La
Gnose (Gnosis) (reprinted in the book Miscellanea) and another, published much later, in 1935: The Hindu
doctrine of five elements (reprinted in the book Studies in Hinduism). A missing part of the first article was
never published but Ren Gunon announced several times (The symbolism of the cross, The multiple states of
the being) his intention to write a more complete study on this issue. Some aspects of the doctrine of five
elements and conditions are used at many occurrences in all his work: in The symbolism of the cross, The
principles of infinitesimal calculus, The Great Triad (on the vital condition), in the first two chapters of The
Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times (on the notion of form) etc. However Gunon never wrote a
comprehensive introduction to the subject, something that prompted comments from some authors.[34]
In these two articles, he exposits the doctrine of elements and "the conditions of corporeal existence", starting
from the considerations taken from Samkhya of Kapila. The five elements or bhutas are the elementary
substances of the corporeal world. The names given to them in the Latin language ("fire", "air", "water" etc.)
are purely symbolic and they should not be confused with the things they designate: "we could consider the
elements as different vibratory modalities of physical matter, modalities under which it makes itself perceptible
successively (in purely logical succession, naturally) to each of the senses of our corporeal modality".[35] The
five bhutas are,
in their order of
production Hellenic Physics philosophy
(which is the
reverse of their
order of
resorption or
return to the
Hermes' caduceus: example of a

symbol associated to the possession of
lesser mysteries, and showing an
example of horizontal duality (the two
snakes' heads are placed in the
horizontal dual position, hence
Classical elements; ether (not present in Hellenic referring to apparent dualities such as
Physics), would be located at the centre: the other life and death). In Studies in Hinduism,
bhutas originate from it. Gunon mentions a relation between
the symbol and the Kundalini shakti.
fire earth air water
undifferentiated state[36]):
1. ksha: ether,
2. vyu: air,
3. tjas: fire,
4. ap: water,
5. prithv, earth.
Due to the manifestation in our world of the duality "essence-substance", these five bhutas are in
correspondence with five "elementary essences" "which are given the names tanmatras [...] signifying literally
a 'measure' or an 'assignment' delimiting the proper domain of a certain quality or 'quiddity' in the universal
Existence. [...] these tanmatras, by the very fact that they are of subtle order, are in no way perceptibles to the
senses, unlike the corporeal elements and their combinations; they are only conceivable 'ideally'".[37] These
five essences are associated with the elementary sense qualities, as well as some organic faculties: auditive or
sonorous quality shabda ( ), tangible spara ( ), visible rpa ( ) ("with the double meaning of form
and color" ), sapid rasa (), olfactive gandha ( ). There is a correspondence between the five elements
and the five senses: to ether corresponds hearing (rotra); to air, touch (tvak); to fire, sight (cakus); to water,
taste (rasana); to earth, smell (ghra).
"Each bhuta, with the tanmatra to which it corresponds, and the faculties of sensation and action
that proceed from the latter, is resorbed in the one immediately preceding it in the order of
production in such a way that the order of resorption is as follows: first, earth (prithv) with the
olfactory quality (ghanda), the sense of smell (ghra), and the faculty of locomotion (pada);
second, water (ap) with the sapid quality, the sense of taste (rasana), and the faculty of prehension
(pani); third, fire (tjas) with the visual quality (rpa), the sense of sight (cakus), and the faculty
of excretion (payu); fourth, air (vyu) with the tactile quality (spara), the sense of touch (tvak),
and the faculty of generation (upashta); fifth, ether (ksha), with the sonorous quality (shabda),
the sense of hearing (rotra), and the faculty of speech (vach); and finally, at the last stage, the
whole is resorbed in the 'inner sense' (manas)".[38]
Classical atomism and the continuum
'Naturalistic' tendencies never developed and took an extension in India as they did in Greece under the
influence of physical philosophers.[39] In particular, atomism (not in the modern sense of "atoms" and
"elementary particles", but in the classical signification related to the existence of indivisible items from which
the entire corporeal world is supposedly built) is a conception formally opposed to the Veda, notably in
connection with the theory of five elements. Classical atomism states that "an atom, or anu, partakes,
potentially at least, the nature of one or other of the elements, and it is from the grouping together of atoms of
various kinds, under the action of a force said to be 'non perceptible' or adrishta that all bodies are supposed to
be formed".[40] The error of atomism comes from the fact that these atoms are supposed to exist within the
corporeal order whereas all that is bodily is necessarily composite "being always divisible by the fact that it is
extended, that is to say subject to the spatial condition"[41] (although in the corporeal domain, divisibility has
necessarily its limits).
in order to find something simple or indivisible it is necessary to pass outside space, and therefore
outside that special modality of manifestation which constitutes corporeal existence.[41]
In its true sense of 'indivisible' writes Gunon, an atom, having no parts, must be
without extension, and "the sum of elements devoid of extension can never form
an extension",[41] so that "atoms" cannot make up bodies. Gunon also reproduces
an argument coming from Shankaracharya for the refutation of atomism:
two things can come into contact with one another either by a part of
themselves or by the whole; for atoms, devoid as they are of parts, the
first hypothesis is inadmissible; thus only the second hypothesis
remains which amounts to saying that the aggregation of two atoms Devanagari Aum.
can only be realized by their coincidence [...] when it clearly follows
that two atoms when joined occupy no more space than a single atom
and so forth indefinitely.[41]
The issue will be included in The principles of the infinitesimal calculus in relation to the concept of a whole
understood as "logically prior to its parts" as well as in the conditions of corporeal existence and The symbolism
of the cross. In that latter book, he speaks of "the elementary distance between two points" and in The
principles of infinitesimal calculus he states that the ends of a segment are no longer in the domain of
extension. Applied to the corporeal world, this leads to introduce the "limits of spatial possibility by which
divisibility is conditioned" and to consider the "atoms" not in the corporeal world (which is properly the
concept designated as classical atomism). The process of "quintuplication" of the elements being universal and
coextensive to the whole manifestation,[42] a universalization is contemplated in The conditions of corporeal
existence:
"the point in itself is not contained in space and cannot in anyway be conditionned by it, because on the contrary it is the
point that creates out of its own 'ipseity' redoubled or polarized into essence and substance, which amounts to saying
that it contains space potentially. It is space that proceeds from the point, and not the point that is determined by space;
but secondarily (all manifestation or exterior modification being only contingent and accidental in relation to its
'intimate nature'), the point determines itself in space in order to realize the actual extension of its potentialities of
unlimited multiplication (of itself by itself) [...] [so that] extension already exists in the potential state in the point itself;
it starts to exists in the actual state only when this point, in its first manifestation, is in a way doubled in order to stand
face to face with itself, for one can then speak of the elementary distance between two points [...]. However one must
point out that the elementary distance is only what corresponds to this doubling in the domain of spatial or geometric
representation (which only has the character of symbol for us). Metaphysically, the point is considered to represent
Being in its unity and its principal identity, that is to say tma outside of any special condition (or determination) and
all differentiation; this point itself, its exteriorization [...] and the distance that joins them while at the same time
separating them (a relationship that implies causality [...]) corresponds respectively to the three terms of the ternary that
we have distinguished in Being considered as knowing itself (that is to say in Buddhi) [...], terms which [...] are
perfectly identical among themselves, and which are designated Sat, Chit, and Ananda."
The conditions of corporeal existence, in Miscellanea, pp. 97, 98.
In particular and in relation to these matters, The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times develops against
the theories of Descartes about the nature of time.
Symbolism
While it is acknowledged that symbolism refers to something very different from a mere 'code', an artificial or
arbitrary meaning, and that "it holds an essential and spontaneous echoing power",[43] for Ren Gunon, this
'echoing power' goes immensely farther than the psychological realm: symbolism is "the metaphysical language
at its highest",[44] capable of relating all degrees of universal Manifestation, and all the components of the
Being as well: symbolism is the means by which man is capable of "assenting" orders of reality that escape, by
their very nature, any description by ordinary language. This understanding of the profound nature of
symbolism, writes Ren Gunon, has never been lost by an intellectual (i.e. spiritual) elite in the East.[45] It is
inherent in the transmission of initiation which, he says, gives the real key to man to penetrate the deeper
meaning of the symbols; in this perspective, meditation on symbols (visual or heard, dhikr, repetition of the
Divine Names) is an integral part both of initiation and of spiritual realization.[46]
Symbolism and analogy
For Ren Gunon art is above all knowledge and understanding, rather than merely a matter of sensitivity.[47]
Similarly, the symbolism has a conceptual vastness "not exclusive to a mathematical rigor":[48] symbolism is
before all a science, and it is based, in its most general signification on "connections that exist between
different levels of reality ".[49] And, in particular, the analogy itself, understood following a formula used in
Hermeticism as the "relation of what is down with what is above" is likely to be symbolized: there are symbols
of the analogy (but every symbol is not necessarily the expression of an analogy, because there are
correspondences that are not analogical). The analogical relation essentially involves the consideration of an
"inverse direction of its two terms", and symbols of the analogy, which are generally built on the consideration
of the primitive six-spoke wheel, also called the chrism in the Christian iconography, indicate clearly the
consideration of these "inverse directions"; in the symbol of the Solomon's seal, the two triangles in opposition
represent two opposing ternaries, "one of which is like a reflection or mirror image the other"[50] and "this is
where this symbol is an exact representation of analogy".[50] This consideration of a "reverse meaning" allows
Ren Gunon to propose an explanation of some artistic depictions, such as that reported by Ananda
Coomaraswamy in his study "The inverted tree": some images of the "World Tree", a symbol of universal
Manifestation, represent the tree with its roots up and its branches down: the corresponding positions
correspond to two complementary points of view that can be contemplated: point of view of the manifestation
and of the Principle. This consideration of "reverse meaning" is one of the elements of a "science of
symbolism" in which Gunon refers to, and used by him in many occasions.
Gunon was critical of modern interpretations regarding symbolism which often rested on naturalistic
interpretations of the symbol in question which Gunon regarded as a case of the symbol of the thing being
mistaken for the thing itself. He was also critical of the psychological interpretations found in the likes of Carl
Jung.[51]
Contemporary "neo-spiritualism"
Gunon denounced the Theosophical Society, many pseudo-Masonic orders in the French or Anglo-Saxon
Occult scene and the Spiritist movement. They formed the topic of two of his major books written in the 1920s,
Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion and The Spiritist Fallacy. He denounced the syncretic tendencies of
many of these groups, along with the common Eurocentric misconceptions that accompanied their attempts to
interpret Eastern doctrines. Ren Gunon especially develops some aspects of what he refers to as the
manifestation of "antitraditional" currents in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His first book on that
subject is devoted to a detailed historical examination of Madame Blavatsky's theosophy: Theosophy: History
of a Pseudo-Religion. Gunon examines the role and intervention that played in that movement organizations
that are described in more detail in "The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times", as under what he called
the "pseudo-initiation"; in particular what he calls "pseudo-Rosicrucian" organizations holding no affiliation
with the real authentic Rosicrucians: Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia founded in 1867 by Robert Wentworth
Little, the "Order of the esoteric Rose-Cross" of Dr. Franz Hartmann etc. He denounces the syncretic nature of
theosophy, its connection with the theory of evolution in "The Secret Doctrine" (Madame Blavastky's main
work); he also examines the role and relationship that the Theosophical Society had with multitude of "pseudo-
initiatic" organizations among others, the O.T.O. founded in 1895 by Carl Kellner and propagated in 1905 by
Theodor Reuss, the Golden Dawn, to which belong large number of key figures of Anglo-Saxon's "neo-
spiritualism" of the early twentieth century etc. Some authors have argued that Gunon's analysis of Theosophy
is flawed and that it is debatable whether Thesosophy is really hostile to Islam and Christianity.[52][53]
These are precisely some members of the "inner circle" of the H.B. of L., to which belonged Emma Hardinge
Britten, who would have produced the phenomena giving rise to spiritist movement[54] that is to say, another
"antitraditional" current born in 1848. To support this assertion, he relies on statements from Emma Hardinge
Britten herself, which will be confirmed much later, in 1985, by the publication from French publishing house
Editions Arch of the documents the H.B. of L. This organization would have received in part the legacy of
other secret societies, including the "Eulis Brotherhood", to which belonged Paschal Beverly Randolph, a
character designated by Ren Gunon as "very enigmatic"[55] who died in 1875. He denounces "the confusion
of the psychic and the spiritual"[56] and especially the psychoanalytic interpretation of symbols, including the
Jungian branch of it, which he condemned with the greatest firmness, seeing in it the beginnings of a reversed
or at least distorted interpretation of symbols.[57] This aspect is reflected in some studies,[58] Especially in a
book published in 1999 by Richard Noll[59] who incidentally speaks of the role played by the Theosophical
Society in Carl Gustav Jung.[60]
A commentator of Ren Gunon, Charles-Andr Gilis, has published a book in 2009 which proposes some
insights and developments of the idea of 'counter-tradition' introduced by Gunon, based on Mohyddin Ibn
Arabi's writings ("The profanation of Isral in the light of Sacred Law").[61]
Reception
R. Gunon is commonly linked to the Traditionalist School[62] also called "perennialism", although Gunon
never used the term of Traditionalist School or perennialism in his works. Beside Gunon, the principal
thinkers in this tradition are Ananda Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon. Other important thinkers in this
tradition include Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, Jean-Louis Michon, Marco Pallis, Huston Smith, Hossein
Nasr, Jean Borella, Julius Evola and William Chittick. The central belief of this school is the existence of a
perennial wisdom, or perennial philosophy, which says that there are primordial and universal truths which
form the source for, and are shared by all the major world religions.
The impact of Gunon's work has been very broad, including many artists, in particular in the surrealist
movement. For instance, writers and artists influenced by Gunon include Alain Danielou[63], Andr
Malraux[64], Albert Gleizes[65], Andr Breton[66], Antonin Artaud[67], Marco Pallis, Ren Daumal[68],
Raymond Queneau[69], Georges Bataille[70] and Paul Ackerman[71]. Ren Gunon had a discrete impact in the
field of comparative religion,[72] particularly on the young Mircea Eliade and on contemporary scholars such as
Huston Smith, William Chittick, Harry Oldmeadow, James Cutsinger and Hossein Nasr. For instance, Carl
Schmitt wrote in 1942 that Gunon was an important "teacher" for Mircea Eliade.[73] However, Eliade also
wrote that he preferred the writings of the tradionalist Ananda Coomaraswamy to both Gunon and Evola,
whom he defined as "dilettantes" in an essay written in 1937[74], and Eliade also thought that Sri Aurobindo
was more "perfected" than Gunon. [75]
Just before and after world war I, Gunon was close to some circles of the far right Action francaise including
Lon Daudet, Jacques Bainville and, above all, the major Catholic Philosopher Jacques Maritain (Maritain as
many Catholics left the Action franaise later on)[76].[77][78] The main goal of Gunon during this period was to
convince Maritain and the Catholic Church to revitalize Christianity through a dialogue with oriental religions
and he envisaged a restoration of traditional "intellectualit" in the West on the basis of Roman Catholicism and
Freemasonry. [note 1] The project was unsuccessful. Several authors see in Gunon a successor of the
monarchist, ultramontanist Joseph de Maistre, who was a Freemason like Gunon[79]. Gunon's second book
was published by a publishing house associated with the Action Francaise, and he also wished for his first book
to be published there.[80] Among Gunon's acquaintances was also George Valois[81], the founder of the fascist
Faisceau part who was a member of the French Resistance and died in a concentration camp, and Pierre Winter
(former member of the Faisceau party)[82].
Even though, Gunon repeated on many occasions that he was apolitical and that he rejected in advance any
political interpretation of his work, he has been sometimes associated with far right and anti-democratic politics
and he also influenced several writers who are on the far right of the political spectrum.[83] The main reason is
the fact that he had a strong influence on Julius Evola with whom he kept up an epistolary correspondence. For
instance Evola wrote that "Gunon's deductions assume a radical character: hierarchical, aristocratic, anti-
individualist, anti-social and anti-collectivist."[84][85] In the same line, Robert Horvath wrote that Gunon
refused not only the principle of equality, democratism and liberalism, but also socialism. [86] In addition, Carl
Schmitt, the "crown jurist of the Nazi Third Reich", told scholar of comparative religion Mircea Eliade that he
regarded Ren Gunon as the most interesting man alive today.[87] Gunon has influenced Schmitt in
formulating his theory of the Absolute State and the forces that work against it.[88] However, several studies
dismiss any intellectual connection between Gunon and monarchist, far right politics.[89] In a study based on
the correspondences exchanged between Gunon and Evola and also some articles, P.-G. de Roux has pointed
the harsh criticism of Gunon against Evola.[90] In the same manner, in his book Gunon ou le renversement
des clarts, French scholar Xavier Accart disputes the connection made between the Traditionalist school and
the far right movements. He claims, for instance, that Ren Guenon was highly critical of Evola's political
involvements and was worried about the possible confusion between his own ideas and Evola's. Gunon also
clearly denounced the ideology of the fascist regimes in Europe before and during the Second World War.[91]
Gunon consented to having extracts of his writings published in the fascist newspaper Regime fascista, a
newspaper curated by Evola but always refused to publish Evola's books and articles.[92][85][93][94] Some
authors consider that Evola should not be considered a member of the Traditionalist school due to the large
differences between his thought and Gunon's one.[95] A well known if controversial definition by Bergier and
Louis Pauwels defined Hitler as Gunon plus the 'Panzerdivisonen'.[96] But Louis Pauwels recognized himself
on the radio later that the connection between Gunon and Hitler was totally wrong.[97] In addition, Gunon
also influenced many leftist or even apolitical writers and artists.
However, Gunon has remained on the reading lists of the New Right.[98][99][100] The work of Russian New
Right author Aleksander Dugin is influenced by Ren Gunon and Julius Evola. Dugin repeatedly claimed
Gunon as one of his teachers, and even suggested naming Rostov State University after Gunon.[101][102][103]
Italian neo-fascist and convicted terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra quoted Guenon and Evola in justification of his
assassinations and bombings.[104] Italian far right and anti-semitic writer Claudio Mutti was also influenced by
Evola and Gunon.[105] However, Alain de Benoist, the founder of the New Right declared in 2013 on the radio
that the influence of Gunon on his political school has been globally very weak.[note 2] In addition, Gunon
was an outspoken opponent of the concept of Aryan race or Indo-European race and of any form of
nationalism.[106]
Biographers also recall that Gunon disclaimed in his writings any connection to a "school" or "movement".
George Santayana compared him to C. S. Lewis.[107] The religious scholar Huston Smith acknowledges a debt
to Gunon and the Traditionalist School while remaining outside the school as an academic.[108]
Bibliography
In English
Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines (Introduction gnrale l'tude des doctrines hindoues,
1921)
Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion (Le Thosophisme Histoire d'une pseudo-religion, 1921)
The Spiritist Fallacy (L'erreur spirite, 1923)
East and West (Orient et Occident, 1924)
Man and His Becoming according to the Vednta (L'homme et son devenir selon le Vdnta, 1925)
The Esoterism of Dante (L'sotrisme de Dante, 1925)
The King of the World (also published as Lord of the World, Le Roi du Monde, 1927)
The Crisis of the Modern World (La crise du monde moderne, 1927)
Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power (Authorit Spirituelle et Pouvoir Temporel, 1929)
St. Bernard (Saint-Bernard, 1929)
Symbolism of the Cross (Le symbolisme de la croix, 1931)
The Multiple States of the Being (Les tats multiples de l'tre, 1932)
Oriental Metaphysics (La metaphysique orientale, 1939)
The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times (Le rgne de la quantit et les signes des temps, 1945)
Perspectives on Initiation (Aperus sur l'initiation, 1946)
The Metaphysical Principles of the Infinitesimal Calculus (Les principes du calcul infinitsimal, 1946)
The Great Triad (La Grande Triade, 1946)
Initiation and Spiritual Realization (Initiation et ralisation spirituelle, 1952)
Insights into Christian Esoterism (Aperus sur l'sotrisme chrtien, 1954)
Symbols of Sacred Science (Symboles de la Science Sacre, 1962)
Studies in Freemasonry and Compagnonnage (tudes sur la Franc-Maonnerie et le Compagnonnage,
1964)
Studies in Hinduism (tudes sur l'Hindouisme, 1966)
Traditional Forms & Cosmic Cycles (Formes traditionelles et cycles cosmiques, 1970)
Insights into Islamic Esoterism & Taoism (Aperus sur l'sotrisme islamique et le Taosme, 1973)
Reviews (Comptes rendus, 1973)
Miscellanea (Mlanges, 1976)
Collected works
New English translation, 23 volumes, Sophia Perennis (publisher)
East and West (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)

The Crisis of the Modern World (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
The Esoterism of Dante (paper, 2003; cloth, 2005)
The Great Triad (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
Initiation and Spiritual Realization (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
Insights into Christian Esoterism (paper, 2001; cloth, 2005)
Insights into Islamic Esoterism and Taoism (paper, 2003; cloth, 2004)
Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
The King of the World (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
Man and His Becoming According to the Vedanta (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
Metaphysical Principles of the Infinitesimal Calculus (paper, 2003; cloth, 2004)
Miscellanea (paper, 2003; cloth, 2004)
The Multiple States of the Being tr. Henry Fohr (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
Perspectives on Initiation (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
The Spiritist Fallacy (paper, 2003; cloth, 2004)
Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
Studies in Freemasonry and the Compagnonnage (paper, 2005; cloth, 2005)
Studies in Hinduism (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
The Symbolism of the Cross (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)
Symbols of Sacred Science (paper, 2004; cloth, 2004)
Theosophy, the History of a Pseudo-Religion (paper, 2003; cloth, 2004)
Traditional Forms and Cosmic Cycles (paper, 2003; cloth, 2004)
In French
Introduction gnrale l'tude des doctrines hindoues, Paris, Marcel Rivire, 1921, many editions.
Le Thosophisme, histoire d'une pseudo-religion, Paris, Nouvelle Librairie Nationale, 1921, many
editions.
L'Erreur spirite, Paris, Marcel Rivire, 1923, many editions including: ditions Traditionnelles. ISBN 2-
7138-0059-5.
Orient et Occident, Paris, Payot, 1924, many editions, including: Guy Trdaniel/ditions de la Maisnie,
Paris. ISBN 2-85829-449-6.
L'Homme et son devenir selon le Vdnta, Paris, Bossard, 1925, many editions, including: ditions
Traditionnelles. ISBN 2-7138-0065-X.
L'sotrisme de Dante, Paris, Ch. Bosse, 1925, many editions, including: ditions Traditionnelles, 1949.
Le Roi du Monde, Paris, Ch. Bosse, 1927, many editions, including: Gallimard, Paris. ISBN 2-07-
023008-2.
La Crise du monde moderne, Paris, Bossard, 1927, many editions, including: Gallimard, Paris. ISBN 2-
07-023005-8.
Autorit spirituelle et pouvoir temporel, Paris, Vrin, 1929, many editions, including: (1952) Guy
Trdaniel/ditions de la Maisnie, Paris. ISBN 2-85-707-142-6.
Saint Bernard, Publiroc, 1929, re-edited: ditions Traditionnelles. Without ISBN.
Le Symbolisme de la Croix, Vga, 1931, many editions, including: Guy Trdaniel/ditions de la Maisnie,
Paris. ISBN 2-85-707-146-9.
Les tats multiples de l'tre, Vga, 1932, many editions, including: Guy Trdaniel/ditions de la
Maisnie, Paris. ISBN 2-85-707-143-4.
La Mtaphysique orientale, Editions traditionnelles, 1939, many editions. This is the written version of a
conference given at The Sorbonne University in 1926.
Le Rgne de la Quantit et les Signes des Temps, Gallimard, 1945, many editions.
Les Principes du Calcul infinitsimal, Gallimard, 1946, many editions.
Aperus sur l'Initiation, ditions Traditionnelles, 1946, many editions.
La Grande Triade, Gallimard, 1946, many editions.
Aperus sur l'sotrisme chrtien, ditions Traditionnelles (1954). ISBN (?).
Aperus sur l'sotrisme islamique et le taosme, Gallimard, Paris,(1973). ISBN 2-07-028547-2.
Comptes rendus, ditions traditionnelles(1986). ISBN 2-7138-0061-7.
tudes sur l'Hindouisme, ditions Traditionnelles, Paris,(1967). ISBN (?).
tudes sur la Franc-maonnerie et le Compagnonnage, Tome 1,(1964) ditions Traditionnelles, Paris.
ISBN 2-7138-0066-8.
tudes sur la Franc-maonnerie et le Compagnonnage, Tome 2, (1965) ditions Traditionnelles, Paris.
ISBN 2-7138-0067-6.
Formes traditionnelles et cycles cosmiques, Gallimard, Paris (1970). ISBN 2-07-027053-X.
Initiation et Ralisation spirituelle, ditions Traditionnelles, 1952. ISBN 978-2-7138-0058-0.
Mlanges, Gallimard, Paris(1976). ISBN 2-07-072062-4.
Symboles de la Science sacre (1962), Gallimard, Paris. ISBN 2-07-029752-7.
Articles et Comptes-Rendus, Tome 1, ditions Traditionnelles (2002). ISBN 2-7138-0183-4.
Recueil, Rose-Cross Books, Toronto (2013). ISBN 978-0-9865872-1-4.
Fragments doctrinaux, doctrinal fragments from Gunon's correspondence (600 letters, 30
correspondents). Rose-Cross Books, Toronto (2013). ISBN 978-0-9865872-2-1.
Notes
1. Cf. among others his Aperus sur l'sotrisme chrtien (ditions Traditionnelles, Paris, 1954) and tudes
sur la Franc-maonnerie et le Compagnonnage (2 vols, ditions Traditionnelles, Paris, 196465) which
include many of his articles for the Catholic journal Regnabit.
2. On Radio Courtoisie (20 May 2013), during the programme Le Libre Journal de la resistance franaise
presented by Emmanuel Ratier and Pascal Lassalle.
References
1. Chacornac, Paul (1 May 2005). The Simple Life of Rene Guenon (https://books.google.com/books?id=V-
w9UxolIXgC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false). Sophia Perennis. p. 7. ISBN 1-59731-055-7.
Retrieved 2 May 2017.
2. Ren Gunon's works dealing with various aspects of sacred science are collected in the book which
appeared in its first English translation as Fundamental Symbols: The Universal Language of Sacred
Science, Quinta Essentia, 1995, ISBN 0-900588-77-2, then, in another translation, as Symbols of Sacred
Science, translated by Henry D. Fohr, Sophia Perennis, 2001, ISBN 0-900588-78-0. There were two
original French editions, both under the title Symboles fondamentaux de la Science sacre, Editions
Gallimard, Paris. The first contained a foreword followed by notes and comments by Michel Valsan, the
second did not contain these additions.
3. "Traditional studies" is a translation of the French Les Etudes Traditionnelles the title of the journal in
which many of Ren Gunon's articles were published
4. Paul Chacornac, The Simple Life of Rene Guenon, Sophia Perennis, 2005, p. 21.
5. Chacornac, chapter II.
6. The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, chapter "The pseudo-initiation".
7. Jean-Claude Frere: Une Vie en Esprit, in Le Nouveau Planete, Rene Guenon: l'Homme et son Message
15 April 1970 p 12.
8. P. Chacornac, The Simple Life of Ren Gunon, chapter III: Ex oriente lux.
9. Frans Vreede a close friend of Gunon also claimed the same, c.f. Ren Gunon et lactualit de la
pense traditionnelle in Actes du colloque international de Cerisy-la-Salle : 13-20 juillet 1973, Ed. du
Baucens, 1977, cit in P. Feuga [1] (http://pierrefeuga.free.fr/guenon.html)
10. Mark Sedgwick, Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the
11. Paul Furlong, Social and Political Thought of Julius Evola, 2011, Routledge.
12. P. Chacornac, La Vie simple de Ren Gunon, Editions traditionnelles, 1958
13. c.f. Charles-Andr Gilis, Introduction l'enseignement et au mystre de Ren Gunon (Introduction to
the teaching and mystery of Ren Gunon), chapter VII, Editions Traditionnelles, Paris, ISBN 2-7138-
0179-6, and also P. Chacornac, The Simple Life of Ren Gunon, chapter III: Ex oriente lux. In a letter to
T. Grangier dated June 28, 1938, Gunon writes: "mon rattachement aux organisations initiatiques
islamiques remonte exactement 1910" ("my linking with islamic initiatic organizations dates back
precisely to 1910").
14. P. Chacornac, The Simple Life of Ren Gunon, chapter VI, Calls of the East.
15. Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines, part III, chapter VII, Shivasm and Vishnusm: "our goal
is not to expose the doctrines themselves, but only to point the proper spirit necessary to study them..."
16. Ren Gunon Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines, part IV, chapters III and IV.
17. Jean-Pierre Laurant Le Sens Cach dans l'Oeuvre de Ren Gunon
22. X. Accart, L'Ermite de Duqqi, Arch, Milano, 2001, chapter: "Ren Gunon diaphane au Caire".
24. J.-B. Aymard, La naissance de la loge "La Grande Triade" dans la correspondance de Ren Gunon
Frithjof Schuon in Connaissance des religions, special issue on Ren Gunon, n 6566, pp. 1735. The
integral version of this text can be found here (http://www.frithjof-schuon.com/GrandeTriade.htm) (in
French).
25. Paul Chacornac, The simple life of Ren Gunon, 2005, p. 98.
26. "For all his intellectuals skills might be, it seems unlikely that he succeeded just by himself or with the
help of a few books in getting the profound and enlightening understanding of the Vdnta he seems to
have acquired by the age of 23" in P. Feuga, "Ren Gunon et l'Hindouisme", Connaissance des
Religions, n. 6566, 2002.
27. Cf. for instance The Eastern Metaphysics and Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines w.r.t. the
meaning of the word "metaphysics", the first chapter of The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times
on the meanings of the words "form" and "matter", the chapter "Kundalini-Yoga" in his Studies on
Hinduism about the translation of Sanskrit word samdhi as "ecstasy", Man and his Becoming according
to Vednta" on the word "personality", Theosophism: History of a Pseudo-Religion" on the word
"theosophy" etc.
28. Luc Benoist, L'oeuvre de Ren Gunon, in La nouvelle revue franaise, 1943 (in French).
29. The Multiple states of the Being, Preface, p. 1.
30. The Multiple states of the Being, chapter "Possibles and compossibles", p. 17.
31. The Multiple states of the Being, chapter: "Being and Non-Being".
32. This article is reproduced in the book: Traditional forms and cosmic cycles, chapter 1, part 1.
33. In Some remarks on the doctrine of cosmic cycles, in Traditional forms and cosmic cycles, chapter 1,
Sophia Perennis, ISBN 978-0-900588-17-4, 9, pp. 18.
34. See for example Ch.-A. Gilis, "L'nigme des "conditions de l'existence corporelle" in Introduction
l'enseignement et au mystre de Ren Gunon.
35. Miscellanea, p. 90.
36. Studies in Hinduism, p. 31.
37. Studies in Hinduism, p. 30.
38. Studies in Hinduism, "Kundalini", p. 18.
39. Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.176, Vaisheshika.
42. Shankaracharya, Panchikaranam.
43. Gilbert Durand, Les structures anthropologiques de l'imaginaire. Introduction l'archtypologie
gnrale, PUF, 1963 (Introduction et conclusion, passim), p. 21 (in french).
44. Introduction to the study of the Hindu Doctrines, part II, chapter VII: Symbolism and anthropomorphism.
45. Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines.
46. Perspectives on initiation, chapters XVI, XVII and XVIII.
47. Gunon's summary of a book by A. K. Coomaraswamy The Christian and Oriental or True Philosophy
of Art, lecture given at Boston College, Newton, Mass., in March 1939. The summary appears on page 36
of the book Comptes-rendus, Editions Traditionnelles, 1986
48. General Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.116.
49. Ren Gunon, Symbols of analogy
50. Ren Gunon, Symbols of analogy.
51. The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times. Sophia Perennis, 2004.
52. Smoley, Richard. Against Blavatsky: Rene Guenon's Critique of Theosophy. Quest 98. 1 (Winter
2010): 28-34. https://www.theosophical.org/publications/1696
53. Rebuttal of Rene Guenons Critique of Modern Theosophy by D. Johnson, copy available online at
https://theacademiciantheosophical.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/rebuttal-of-rene-guenons-critique-of-
modern-theosophy/
54. The Spiritist fallacy, "The origins of spiritism" (chapter 2).
55. The Spiritist fallacy, p. 19.
56. The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, chapter 35 p. 235.
57. Symbols of Sacred Science, Tradition and the 'Unconscious', p. 38.
58. Such as P. Geay's PhD thesis: "Hermes trahi" ("Hermes betrayed", in french).
59. The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement (Princeton: Princeton University Press), ISBN 0-
684-83423-5.
60. On this subject, however, see the review by Anthony Stevens, On Jung (1999) about Noll's book.
61. Ch.-A. Gilis, "The profanation of Isral in the light of Sacred Law", translated by R. Beale with a
foreword by Abd al-Jabbr Khouri, Le Turban Noir publishing house (http://www.leturbannoir.com/),
Paris, 2009.
63. P. Feuga [2] (http://pierrefeuga.free.fr/guenon.html)
64. Jean-Pierre Laurant: Ren Gunon.
65. Jean-Pierre Laurant, Ren Gunon, Les enjeux d'une lecture,
66. Eddy Batache, Ren Gunon et le surralisme , dans le Cahier de l'Herne consacr Ren
Gunon, p. 379.
67. Antonin Artaud, La Mise en scne et la mtaphysique , dans Le thtre et son double, Gallimard,
Folio Essais ,
68. Dictionnaires et encyclopdies (1936), recueilli dans Chaque fois que l'aube parat. Essais et notes, t. I,
Paris, Gallimrard, 1953
69. Michel Lcureur, Raymond Queneau, biographie, Les belles Lettres/Archimbaud, Paris, 2002,
70. Prvost, Pierre : Georges Bataille et Ren Gunon, Jean Michel Place, Paris. (ISBN 2-85893-156-9).
71. Ackerman, monographie sous la direction d'Andr Parinaud et Simone Ackerman, ditions Mayer, 1987.
72. Oxford University Press, Description: "Against the Modern World. Traditionalism and the Secret
Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century" (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/against-the-mod
ern-world-9780195396010?cc=nl&lang=en&#)
73. Grottanelli Cristiano. Mircea Eliade, Carl Schmitt, Ren Gunon, 1942. In: Revue de l'histoire des
religions, tome 219, n3, 2002. pp. 325-356.
75. Mircea Eliades The Portugal Journal, trans. Mac Linscott Ricketts (Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 2010)
76. Lindenberg Daniel. Ren Gunon ou la raction intgrale. In: Mil neuf cent, n9, 1991. Les penses
ractionnaires. pp. 69-79.
77. Marie France James wrote that Ren Gunon, knew Ferdinand Gombault, doctor in scholastic
philosophy, during more than 30 years, until his departure for Cairo, these two intellectuals maintained
regular contact and both were partisans of the Action Francaise
78. Paul Chacornac, Simple Life of Ren Gunon
80. Laurant. Jean-Pierre et Barbanegra, Paul (d.) : Cahiers de l'Herne 49 : Ren Gunon, ditions de
l'Herne, Paris. ISBN 2-85-197-055-0.
81. Accart, Xavier : Gunon ou le renversement des clarts : Influence d'un mtaphysicien sur la vie
littraire et intellectuelle franaise (19201970), 2005, Edidit. ISBN 978-2-912770-03-5.
82. Nguyen, Johan (2012-11-02). La rception de l'acupuncture en France: Une biographie revisite de
George Souli de Morant (18781955). L'Harmattan. p. 100. ISBN 978-2-336-00358-0. Retrieved 2013-
07-05.
83. Review by: Daniel Lindenberg Source: Esprit, No. 332 (2) (Fvrier 2007), pp. 218-222. Reviewed
Work(s): GUNON OU LE RENVERSEMENT DES CLARTS. Influence d'un mtaphysicien sur la
vie littraire et intellectuelle franaise (19201970) by Xavier Accart
84. Julis Evola. Rene Guenon a Teacher for Modern Times
85. Julius Evola, Ricognizioni: uomini e problemi (Rome: Edizioni Mediterranee, 1974).
86. Review of Mark Sedgewick, Against the Modern world, Review by Rbert Horvth, Axis Polaris, No. 7
(Budapest: 2006) in Hungarian and in TYR, Vol. 3 (Atlanta, Georgia: 2007) in English.
87. Mircea Eliades The Portugal Journal, trans. Mac Linscott Ricketts (Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 2010),
see also Grottanelli Cristiano. Mircea Eliade, Carl Schmitt, Ren Gunon, 1942. In: Revue de l'histoire
des religions, tome 219, n3, 2002. pp. 325-356.
89. C.f. Andr Lefranc, Julius Evola contre Ren Gunon and P. Geay "Ren Gunon rcupr par
l'Extrme-Droite " LRA 16, 2003.
90. Pierre-Guillaume de Roux in Cahiers de l'Unit, n5, 2017.
91. Accart, Xavier : Gunon critique des rgimes totalitaires dans les annes 1930, La Rgle d'Abraham,
september 2015, Ubik ditions.
92. Fascism: Post-war fascisms edited by Roger Griffin, Matthew Feldman
93. Orlando Fedelis essay A Gnose Tradicionalista de Ren Gunon e Olavo de Carvalho
94. Patrick Geay : Ren Gunon rcupr par l'extrme droite, La Rgle d'Abraham, september 2015, Ubik
ditions.
95. Renaud Fabbri also argues that Evola should not be considered a member of the Perennialist School. See
the section Julius Evola and the Perennialist School in Fabbri's Introduction to the Perennialist School (h
ttp://www.religioperennis.org/documents/Fabbri/Perennialism.pdf)
97. "GUNON OU LE RENVERSEMENT DES CLARTS. Influence d'un mtaphysicien sur la vie
littraire et intellectuelle franaise (19201970)" by Xavier Accart, 2005, Arch.
98. Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century
by Mark Sedgwick. https://books.google.com/books/about/Against_the_Modern_World.html?
id=GcUFmQ-NF_0C
99. Roger Griffin, ed., Fascism, 1995, page 353
100. Enqutes sur la droite extrme, (1992), le journaliste R. Monzat
101. Russian Fascism: Traditions, Tendencies, Movements by S. Shenfield https://books.google.com/books?
id=qmTuwl8P8ocC
102. https://www.diploweb.com/L-oeuvre-de-Douguine-au-sein-de-la.html
103. A. Shekhovtsov & Andreas Umland: Is Aleksandr Dugin a Traditionalist? Neo-Eurasianism and
Perennial Philosophy (https://www.academia.edu/191310/Is_Dugin_a_Traditionalist_Neo-Eurasianism_
and_Perennial_Philosophy). In: The Russian Review. 68, Oktober 2009
105. Goodrick-Clarke, N. (2003). Black sun: Aryan cults, esoteric Nazism, and the politics of identity. New
York: New York University Press.
106. Accart, Xavier : Gunon critique des rgimes totalitaires dans les annes 1930, La Rgle d'Abraham,
september 2015, Ubik ditions.
107. Daniel Cory, Santayana: The Later Years: A Portrait with Letters (New York: G. Braziller, 1963), p. 267.
https://www.questia.com/read/10299002
108. The Huston Smith Reader: Edited, with an Introduction, by Jeffery Paine, p. 6.
Further reading
Fink-Bernard, Jeannine. L'Apport spirituel de Ren Gunon, in series, Le Cercle des philosophes. Paris:
ditions Dervy, 1996. ISBN 2-85076-716-6
tudes Traditionnelles n. 293295 : Numro spcial consacr Ren Gunon.
Pierre-Marie Sigaud (ed.) : Dossier H Ren Gunon, L'ge d'Homme, Lausanne. ISBN 2-8251-3044-3.
Jean-Pierre Laurant and Barbanegra, Paul (d.) : Cahiers de l'Herne" 49 : Ren Gunon, ditions de
l'Herne, Paris. ISBN 2-85197-055-0.
Il y a cinquante ans, Ren Gunon..., ditions Traditionnelles, Paris. ISBN 2-7138-0180-X. (Notes.)
Narthex n trimestriel 21-22-23 de mars-aot 1978 (et semble-t-il dernier), Numro spcial Ren Gunon
with two contributions by Jean Hani and Bernard Dubant (journal printed at only 600 samples which can
now be found only at Bibliothque Nationale, Paris).
Ren Gunon and the Future of the West: The Life and Writings of a 20th-century Metaphysician.
Accart, Xavier : Gunon ou le renversement des clarts : Influence d'un mtaphysicien sur la vie
littraire et intellectuelle franaise (19201970), 2005, Edidit. ISBN 978-2-912770-03-5.
Chacornac, Paul : La Vie simple de Ren Gunon, ditions traditionnelles, Paris. ISBN 2-7138-0028-5.
Evola, Julius : Ren Gunon: A Teacher for Modern Times.
Gattegno, David : Gunon : qui suis-je ?, ditions Pards, Puiseaux (France). ISBN 2-86714-238-5.
Gilis, Charles-Andr (Abd Ar-Razzq Yahy) : Introduction l'enseignement et au mystre de Ren
Gunon, Les ditions de l'uvre, Paris. ISBN 2-904011-03-X.
Gilis, Charles-Andr (Abd Ar-Razzq Yahy) : Ren Gunon et l'avnement du troisime Sceau. ditions
Traditionnelles, Paris. ISBN 2-7138-0133-8.
Hapel, Bruno : Ren Gunon et l'Archomtre, Guy Trdaniel, Paris. ISBN 2-85707-842-0.
Hapel, Bruno : Ren Gunon et l'esprit de l'Inde, Guy Trdaniel, Paris. ISBN 2-85707-990-7.
Hapel, Bruno : Ren Gunon et le Roi du Monde, Guy Trdaniel, Paris. ISBN 2-84445-244-2.
Herlihy, John [ed.]: The Essential Ren Gunon: Metaphysics, Tradition, and the Crisis of Modernity.
World Wisdom, 2009. ISBN 978-1-933316-57-4
James, Marie-France : sotrisme et christianisme autour de Ren Gunon, Nouvelles ditions Latines,
Paris. ISBN 2-7233-0146-X.
Laurant, Jean-Pierre : Le sens cach dans l'oeuvre de Ren Gunon, L'ge d'Homme, 1975, Lausanne,
Switzerland, ISBN 2-8251-3102-4.
Laurant, Jean-Pierre : L'Esotrisme, Les Editions du Cerf, 1993, ISBN 2-7621-1534-5.
Laurant, Jean-Pierre : Ren Gunon, les enjeux d'une lecture, Dervy, 2006, ISBN 2-84454-423-1.
Mali, Branko : The Way the World Goes Rene Gunon on The End, http://en.kalitribune.com/the-way-
the-world-goes-rene-guenon-on-the-end/
Maxence, Jean-Luc : Ren Gunon, le Philosophe invisible, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris. ISBN 2-
85616-812-4. (Notes.)
Montaigu, Henry : Ren Gunon ou la mise en demeure. La Place Royale, Gaillac (France). ISBN 2-
906043-00-1.
Nutrizio, Pietro (e altri) : Ren Gunon e l'Occidente, Luni Editrice, Milano/Trento, 1999.
Prvost, Pierre : Georges Bataille et Ren Gunon, Jean Michel Place, Paris. ISBN 2-85893-156-9.
Robin, Jean : Ren Gunon, tmoin de la Tradition, 2e dition, Guy Trdaniel diteur. ISBN 2-85707-
026-8.
Rooth, Graham : Prophet For A Dark Age: A Companion To The Works Of Ren Gunon, Sussex
Academic Press, Brighton, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84519-251-8.
Science sacre : Numro Spcial Ren Gunon : R. G. de la Saulaye, Science sacre, 2003,
ISBN 2915059020
Srant, Paul : Ren Gunon, Le Courrier du livre, Paris. ISBN 2-7029-0050-X.
Tamas, Mircea A : Ren Gunon et le Centre du Monde, Rose-Cross Books, Toronto, 2007, ISBN 978-0-
9731191-7-6
Tourniac, Jean : Prsence de Ren Gunon, t. 1 : L'uvre et l'univers rituel, Soleil Natal, tampes
(France). ISBN 2-905270-58-6.
Tourniac, Jean : Prsence de Ren Gunon, t. 2 : La Maonnerie templire et le message traditionnel,
Soleil Natal, tampes (France). ISBN 2-905270-59-4.
Ursin, Jean: Ren Gunon, Approche d'un homme complexe, Ivoire-Clair, Lumire sur..., Groslay
(France). ISBN 2-913882-31-5.
Vlsan, Michel : L'Islam et la fonction de Ren Gunon, Chacornac frres, Paris, 1953 (no isbn) and also
Editions de l'Oeuvre, Paris.
Vivenza, Jean-Marc : Le Dictionnaire de Ren Gunon, Le Mercure Dauphinois, 2002. ISBN 2-913826-
17-2.
Vivenza, Jean-Marc : La Mtaphysique de Ren Gunon, Le Mercure Dauphinois, 2004. ISBN 2-913826-
42-3.
External links
ScienceSacree.com (in French)
Ren-Gunon.org (in French)
Guenon and Hinduism (in French)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ren_Gunon&oldid=800340049"

Ananda Coomaraswamy
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (Tamil: ,

nanda Kenti Kumraswm; 22 August 1877 9 September 1947) Ananda Kentish
was a Ceylonese Tamil philosopher and Metaphysicist, as well as a Coomaraswamy
pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art
history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the
West.[1] In particular, he is described as "the groundbreaking theorist
who was largely responsible for introducing ancient Indian art to the
West."[2]
Contents
1 Life
2 Contributions
3 Perennial philosophy
4 Works by Coomaraswamy
5 Works about Coomaraswamy Coomaraswamy in 1916,
6 See also photograph by Alvin Langdon Coburn
7 References Born 22 August 1877
8 Sources
Colombo, British Ceylon
9 External links
Died 9 September 1947
(aged 70)
Life Needham, Massachusetts,

U.S.
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was born in Colombo, Ceylon, now Nationality Sri Lankan American
Sri Lanka, to the Ceylonese Tamil legislator and philosopher Sir Muthu Known for Metaphysicist,
Coomaraswamy of the aristocratic Vellalar Ponnambalam- philosopher, historian
Coomaraswamy family and his English wife Elizabeth Beeby.[3][4][5]
His father died when Ananda was two years old, and Ananda spent Spouse(s) Ethel Mairet (m.190213)
much of his childhood and education abroad. Alice Coomaraswamy
(m.191322)
Coomaraswamy moved to England in 1879 and attended Wycliffe Stella Bloch(m.192230)
College, a preparatory school in Stroud, Gloucestershire, at the age of Luisa Runstein(m.1930
twelve. In 1900, he graduated from University College, London, with a
1947, his death)
degree in geology and botany. On 19 June 1902, Coomaraswamy
married Ethel Mary Partridge, an English photographer, who then
traveled with him to Ceylon. Their marriage lasted until 1913. Coomaraswamy's field work between 1902 and
1906 earned him a doctor of science for his study of Ceylonese mineralogy, and prompted the formation of the
Geological Survey of Ceylon which he initially directed.[6] While in Ceylon, the couple collaborated on
Mediaeval Sinhalese Art; Coomaraswamy wrote the text and Ethel provided the photographs. His work in
Ceylon fueled Coomaraswamy's anti-Westernization sentiments.[7] After their divorce, Partridge returned to
England, where she became a famous weaver and later married the writer Philip Mairet.
By 1906, Coomaraswamy had made it his mission to educate the West about Indian art, and was back in
London with a large collection of photographs, actively seeking out artists to try to influence. He knew he could
not rely on museum curators or other members of the cultural establishment in 1908 he wrote "The main
difficulty so far seems to have been that Indian art has been studied so far only by archaeologists. It is not
archaeologists, but artists who are the best qualified to judge of the significance of works of art considered
as art." By 1909, he was firmly acquainted with Jacob Epstein and Eric Gill, the city's two most important early
Modernists, and soon both of them had begun to incorporate Indian aesthetics into their work. The curiously
hybrid sculptures that were produced as a result can be seen to form the very roots of what is now considered
British Modernism.[8][9]
Coomaraswamy then met and married a British woman Alice Ethel

Richardson and together they went to India and stayed on a houseboat
in Srinagar in Kashmir. Commaraswamy studied Rajput painting whilst
his wife studied Indian music with Abdul Rahim of Kapurthala. When
they returned to England Alice performed Indian song under the stage
name Ratan Devi. They had two children, a son, Narada, and daughter,
Rohini. Alice was successful and they both went to America when
Ratan Devi did a concert tour.[10] Whilst they were there
Coomaraswamy was invited to serve as the first Keeper of Indian art in
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1917.[11]
Coomaraswamy divorced his

second wife after they arrived in
America.[11] He married the
American artist Stella Bloch, 29
years his junior, in November
His second wife: Alice Coomaraswwamy 1922. Through the 1920s,
(Ratan Devi) with Roshanara Coomaraswamy and his wife
were part of the bohemian art
circles in New York City,
Coomaraswamy befriending Alfred Stieglitz and the artists who
exhibited at Stieglitz's gallery. At the same time, he was studying
Sanskrit and Pali religious literature as well as Western religious works.
He wrote catalogues for the Museum of Fine Arts and published his
History of Indian and Indonesian Art in 1927.
Portrait of Ananda Coomaraswamy,
After the couple divorced in 1930, they remained friends. Shortly published 1907
thereafter, on 18 November 1930, Coomaraswamy married Argentine
Luisa Runstein, 28 years younger, who was working as a society
photographer under the professional name Xlata Llamas. They had a son, Coomaraswamy's third child, Rama
Ponnambalam (1929-2006), who became a physician and convert at age 22 to the Roman Catholic Church.
Following Vatican II, Rama became a critic of the reforms and author of Catholic Traditionalist works.[12] He
was also ordained a Traditionalist Roman Catholic priest, despite the fact that he was married and had a living
wife.[13]
In 1933 Coomaraswamy's title at the Museum of Fine Arts changed from curator to Fellow for Research in
Indian, Persian, and Mohammedan Art.[7]
He served as curator in the Museum of Fine Arts until his death in Needham, Massachusetts, in 1947. During
his long career, he was instrumental in bringing Eastern art to the West. In fact, while at the Museum of Fine
Arts, he built the first substantial collection of Indian art in the United States.[14]
He also helped with the collections of Persian Art at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the
Museum of Fine Arts.
After Coomaraswamy's death, his widow, Doa Luisa Runstein, acted as a guide and resource for students of
his work.
Contributions
Coomaraswamy made important contributions to the philosophy of art, literature, and religion. In Ceylon, he
applied the lessons of William Morris to Ceylonese culture and, with his wife Ethel, produced a
groundbreaking study of Ceylonese crafts and culture. While in India, he was part of the literary circle around
Rabindranath Tagore, and he contributed to the "Swadeshi" movement, an early phase of the struggle for Indian
independence.[15] In the 1920s, he made pioneering discoveries in the history of Indian art, particularly some
distinctions between Rajput and Moghul painting, and published his book Rajput Painting. At the same time he
amassed an unmatched collection of Rajput and Moghul paintings, which he took with him to the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston, when he joined its curatorial staff in 1917. Through 1932, from his base in Boston, he
produced two kinds of publications: brilliant scholarship in his curatorial field but also graceful introductions to
Indian and Asian art and culture, typified by The Dance of Shiva, a collection of essays that remain in print to
this day. Deeply influenced by Ren Gunon, he became one of the founders of the Traditionalist School. His
books and essays on art and culture, symbolism and metaphysics, scripture, folklore and myth, and still other
topics, offer a remarkable education to readers who accept the challenges of his resolutely cross-cultural
perspective and his insistence on tying every point he makes back to sources in multiple traditions. He once
remarked, "I actually think in both Eastern and Christian termsGreek, Latin, Sanskrit, Pali, and to some
extent Persian and Chinese."[16] Alongside the deep and not infrequently difficult writings of this period, he
also delighted in polemical writings created for a larger audienceessays such as "Why exhibit works of art?"
(1943).[17]
In his book The Information Society: An Introduction (Sage, 2003, p. 44), Armand Mattelart credits
Coomaraswamy for coining the term 'post-industrial' in 1913.
Perennial philosophy
He was described by Heinrich Zimmer as "That noble scholar upon
whose shoulders we are still standing."[18] While serving as a curator to
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the latter part of his life, he devoted
his work to the explication of traditional metaphysics and symbolism.
His writings of this period are filled with references to Plato, Plotinus,
Clement, Philo, Augustine, Aquinas, Shankara, Eckhart, Rumi and
other mystics. When asked what he was foremostly, he said that he was
a "metaphysician", referring to the concept of perennial philosophy, or
sophia perennis.
Along with Ren Gunon and Frithjof Schuon, Coomaraswamy is

regarded as one of the three founders of Perennialism, also called the
Traditionalist School. Several articles by Coomaraswamy on the subject
of Hinduism and the perennial philosophy were published
posthumously in the quarterly journal Studies in Comparative Religion
alongside articles by Schuon and Gunon among others.
Portrait of Coomaraswamy printed in the
Although he agrees with Gunon on the universal principles, April 1916 issue of The Hindusthanee
Student
Coomaraswamy's works are very different in form. By vocation, he was
a scholar who dedicated the last decades of his life to "searching the
Scriptures". He offers a perspective on the tradition which complements
Gunon's. He was extremely perceptive regarding aesthetics and wrote dozens of articles on traditional arts and
mythology. His works are also finely balanced intellectually. Although born in the Hindu tradition, he had a
deep knowledge of the Western tradition as well as a great expertise in, and love for, Greek metaphysics,
especially that of Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism.
He built a bridge between East and West that was designed to be two-way: among other things, his
metaphysical writings aimed at demonstrating the unity of the Vedanta and Platonism. His works also sought to
rehabilitate original Buddhism, a tradition that Gunon had for a long time limited to a rebellion of the
Kshatriyas against Brahmin authority.
Works by Coomaraswamy
Traditional art
Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought?: The Traditional View of Art, (World Wisdom 2007)
Introduction To Indian Art, (Kessinger Publishing, 2007)
Buddhist Art, (Kessinger Publishing, 2005)
Guardians of the Sundoor: Late Iconographic Essays, (Fons Vitae, 2004)
History of Indian and Indonesian Art, (Kessinger Publishing, 2003)
Teaching of Drawing in Ceylon] (1906, Colombo Apothecaries)
"The Indian craftsman" (1909, Probsthain: London)
Vivakarm ; examples of Indian architecture, sculpture, painting, handicraft (1914, London)
Vidypati: Bangya padbali; songs of the love of Rdh and Krishna], (1915, The Old Bourne press:
London)
The mirror of gesture: being the Abhinaya darpaa of Nandikevara (with Duggirla Gplakr a)
(1917, Harvard University Press; 1997, South Asia Books,)
Indian music (1917, G. Schirmer; 2006, Kessinger Publishing,
A catalog of sculptures by John Mowbray-Clarke: shown at the Kevorkian Galleries, New York, from
May the seventh to June the seventh, 1919. (1919, New York: Kevorkian Galleries, co-authored with
Mowbray-Clarke, John, H. Kevorkian, and Amy Murray)
Rajput Painting, (B.R. Publishing Corp., 2003)
Early Indian Architecture: Cities and City-Gates, (South Asia Books, 2002) I
The Origin of the Buddha Image, (Munshirm Manoharlal Pub Pvt Ltd, 2001)
The Door in the Sky, (Princeton University Press, 1997)
The Transformation of Nature in Art, (Sterling Pub Private Ltd, 1996)
Bronzes from Ceylon, chiefly in the Colombo Museum, (Dept. of Govt. Print, 1978)
Early Indian Architecture: Palaces, (Munshiram Manoharlal, 1975)
The arts & crafts of India & Ceylon, (Farrar, Straus, 1964)
Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art, (Dover Publications, 1956)
Archaic Indian Terracottas, (Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1928)
Metaphysics
Hinduism And Buddhism, (Kessinger Publishing, 2007; Golden Elixir Press, 2011)
Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (with Sister Nivedita) (1914, H. Holt; 2003, Kessinger Publishing)
Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism (1916, G. P. Putnam's sons; 2006, Obscure Press,)
A New Approach to the Vedas: An Essay in Translation and Exegesis, (South Asia Books, 1994)
The Living Thoughts of Gotama the Buddha, (Fons Vitae, 2001)
Time and eternity, (Artibus Asiae, 1947)
Perception of the Vedas, (Manohar Publishers and Distributors, 2000)
Metaphysics, (Princeton University Press, 1987)
Social criticism
Am I My Brothers Keeper, (Ayer Co, 1947)

"The Dance of Shiva - Fourteen Indian essays" Turn Inc., New York; 2003, Kessinger Publishing,
The village community and modern progress (12 pages) (Colombo Apothecaries, 1908)
Essays in national idealism (Colombo Apothecaries, 1910)
Bugbear of Literacy, (Sophia Perennis, 1979)
What is Civilisation?: and Other Essays. Golgonooza Press, (UK),
Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power in the Indian Theory of Government, (Oxford University Press,
1994)
Posthumous collections
Yaksas, (Munshirm Manoharlal Pub Pvt Ltd, 1998) ISBN 978-81-215-0230-6

Coomaraswamy: Selected Papers, Traditional Art and Symbolism, (Princeton University Press, 1986)
The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, (2003, World Wisdom)
Works about Coomaraswamy

Ananda Coomaraswamy: remembering and remembering again and again, by S. Durai Raja Singam.
Publisher: Raja Singam, 1974.
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, by P. S. Sastri. Arnold-Heinemann Publishers, India, 1974.
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy: a handbook, by S. Durai Raja Singam. Publisher s.n., 1979.
Ananda Coomaraswamy: a study, by Moni Bagchee. Publisher: Bharata Manisha, 1977.
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, by Vishwanath S. Naravane. Twayne Publishers, 1977. ISBN 0-8057-7722-
9.
Selected letters of Ananda Coomaraswamy, Edited by Alvin Moore, Jr; and Rama P. Coomaraswamy
(1988)
Coomaraswamy: Volume I: Selected Papers, Traditional Art and Symbolism, Princeton University Press
(1977)
Coomaraswamy: Volume II: Selected Papers, Metaphysics, Edited by Roger Lipsey, Princeton University
Press (1977)
Coomaraswamy: Volume III: His Life and Work, by Roger Lipsey, Princeton University Press (1977)
See also
Ivan Aguli
Titus Burckhardt
Calico Museum of Textiles
Comparative Religion
Esoterism
Ren Gunon
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Martin Lings
Whitall Perry
Huston Smith
William Stoddart
Michel Valsan
Advaita Vedanta
References
1. Murray Fowler, "In Memoriam: Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy", Artibus Asiae, Vol. 10, No. 3 (1947),
pp. 241-244
2. MFA: South Asian Art (https://web.archive.org/web/20090201093042/http://mfa.org/collections/sub.asp?
key=22&subkey=133). Archived from the original (http://www.mfa.org/collections/sub.asp?key=22&sub
key=133) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20100615042318/http://www.mfa.org/collections/sub.a
sp?key=22&subkey=133) 15 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
3. "The Annual Ananda Coomaraswamy Memorial Oration 1999" (http://kataragama.org/centers/akc_oratio
n99.htm). Retrieved 7 April 2016.
4. Kathleen Taylor, Sir John Woodroffe Tantra and Bengal, Routledge (2012), p. 63
5. Journal of Comparative Literature & Aesthetics, Volume 16 (1993), p. 61
6. Philip Rawson, "A Professional Sage", The New York Review of Books, v. 26, no. 2 (February 22, 1979)
(http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=7902)
7. "Stella Bloch Papers Relating to Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, 1890-1985 (bulk 1917-1930)" (http://arks.p
rinceton.edu/ark:/88435/zg64tk96f). Princeton University Library Manuscripts Division.
8. Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard. Modernism and the Museum: Asian, African and Pacific Art and the
London Avant Garde (https://books.google.com/books?id=MIBNXScRj3QC&lpg=PP1&dq=modernis
m%20and%20the%20museum&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false). Oxford University Press, 2011,
passim. ISBN 978-0-19-959369-9.
9. Video of a Lecture discussing Coomaraswamy's role in the introduction of Indian art to Western
Modernists (http://vimeo.com/arrowsmith/cosmopolitanism-and-modernism), School of Advanced Study,
March 2012.
10. Alice Richardson (http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/alice-richardson),
Making Britain, Open University, Retrieved 17 October 2015
11. G. R. Seaman, Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish (18771947) (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/55
201), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 17 Oct 2015
12. "Rama P.Coomaraswamy (1929-2006)" by William Stoddart and Mateus Soares de Azevedo (3 pdfs) (htt
p://www.religioperennis.org/documents/stoddart/On_Rama_Coomaraswamy-by_Stoddart_and_de_Azev
edo.pdf)
13. "On the Validity of My Ordination" by Dr. Rama P. Coomaraswamy (http://www.the-pope.com/validity.h
tml)
14. Princeton University Press, The Door in the Sky: Coomaraswamy on Myth and Meaning (http://press.pri
nceton.edu/titles/6166.html)
15. Antliff, Allan (2001). Anarchist Modernism : Art, Politics, and the First American Avant-Garde.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 129. ISBN 9780226021041.
16. Anand Coomaraswamy A Pen Sketch By - Dr. Rama P. Coomaraswamy (http://www.ignca.gov.in/nl0018
01.htm)
17. Why Exhibit Works of Art? (http://www.studiesincomparativereligion.com/public/articles/Why_Exhibit_
Works_of_Art-by_Ananda_Coomaraswamy.aspx) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201008281120
19/http://www.studiesincomparativereligion.com/public/articles/Why_Exhibit_Works_of_Art-by_Anand
a_Coomaraswamy.aspx) 28 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine., essay. He also published a book of
that title.
18. Multiworld.org/m_versity/althinkers... - StumbleUpon (http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/www.multiworl
d.org/m_versity/althinkers/coomara.htm)
Sources
T.Wignesan, "Ananda K. Coomaraswamys Aesthetics" # Tamil studies Now published in the collection:
T.Wignesan. Rama and Ravana at the Altar of Hanuman: On Tamils, Tamil Literature & Tamil Culture.
Allahabad:Cyberwit.net, 2008, 750p. & at Chennai: Institute of Asian Studies, 2007, 439p.
"Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy" in One Hundred Tamils of the 20th Century
"Coomaraswamy, Ananda K.", Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, vol. 1, ed. Amaresh Dutta, Sahitya
Akademi (1987), p. 768. ISBN 81-260-1803-8
Mattelart, Armand. The Information Society: An Introduction, Sage: London, Thousand Oaks, New
Delhi, 2003, p. 44.
External links
Works by Ananda Coomaraswamy at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Ananda Coomaraswamy at Internet Archive
Books by Coomaraswamy - Fons Vitae Series
1999 Coomaraswamy lecture by Sandrasagra
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy at WorldCat
Coomaraswamy bibliography at religioperennis.org
"Ananda K. Coomaraswamys Life and Work" at World Wisdom publishers
The Colonial Context and Aesthetic Identity Formation: Coomaraswamy, A Case Study by Binda
Paranjpe
Coomaraswamys Impetus to Eastern Spirit
Coomarswamy in Dictionary of Art Historians
Ananda Coomaraswamy materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ananda_Coomaraswamy&oldid=800028111"

Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon (/un/; German: [fitjof u.n]) (June 18, 1907

Frithjof Schuon
May 5, 1998), also known as "s Nr al-Dn" [1] was an author of
German ancestry born in Basel, Switzerland. He was a philosopher and Born June 18, 1907
metaphysician inspired by the Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta Basel, Switzerland
and the author of numerous books on religion and spirituality. He was Died May 5, 1998 (aged 90)
also a poet and a painter.
Bloomington, Indiana,
In his prose and poetic writings, Schuon focuses on metaphysical U.S..
doctrine and spiritual method. He is considered one of the main Nationality Swiss
representatives and an exponent of the religio perennis (perennial
religion) and one of the chief representatives of the Traditionalist School. In his writings, Schuon expresses his
faith in an absolute principle, God, who governs the universe and to whom our souls would return after death.
For Schuon the great revelations are the link between this absolute principleGodand mankind. He wrote
the main bulk of his work in French. In the later years of his life Schuon composed some volumes of poetry in
his mother tongue, German. His articles in French were collected in about 20 titles in French which were later
translated into English as well as many other languages. The main subjects of his prose and poetic
compositions are spirituality and various essential realms of the human life coming from God and returning to
God.[2]
Contents
1 Life and work
2 Views based on his written works
2.1 Transcendent unity of religions
2.2 Metaphysics
2.3 Spiritual path
2.4 Quintessential esoterism
2.5 Criticism of modernity
3 Works
3.1 Books in English
3.2 Bibliography
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Life and work

Schuon was born in Basel, Switzerland, on June 18, 1907. His father was a native of southern Germany, while
his mother came from an Alsatian family. Schuon's father was a concert violinist and the household was one in
which not only music but literary and spiritual culture were present. Schuon lived in Basel and attended school
there until the untimely death of his father, after which his mother returned with her two young sons to her
family in nearby Mulhouse, France, where Schuon was obliged to become a French citizen. Having received
his earliest training in German, he received his later education in French and thus mastered both languages
early in life.[3]
From his youth, Schuon's search for metaphysical truth led him to read the Hindu scriptures such as
Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. While still living in Mulhouse, he discovered the works of Ren Gunon,
the French philosopher and Orientalist, which served to confirm his intellectual intuitions and which provided
support for the metaphysical principles he had begun to discover.[3]

support for the metaphysical principles he had begun to discover.[3]
Schuon journeyed to Paris after serving for a year and a half in the French army. There he worked as a textile
designer and began to study Arabic in the local mosque school. Living in Paris also brought the opportunity to
be exposed to various forms of traditional art to a much greater degree than before, especially the arts of Asia
with which he had had a deep affinity since his youth. This period of growing intellectual and artistic
familiarity with the traditional worlds was followed by Schuon's first visit to Algeria in 1932. It was then that
he met the celebrated Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi and was initiated into his order.[4] Schuon has written about his
deep affinity with the esoteric core of various traditions and hence appreciation for the Sufism in the Islamic
tradition. His main reason for seeking the blessings of Shaykh Al-Alawi being exactly the attachment to an
orthodox master and Saint.[5] On a second trip to North Africa, in 1935, he visited Algeria and Morocco; and
during 1938 and 1939 he traveled to Egypt where he met Gunon, with whom he had been in correspondence
for 27 years. In 1939, shortly after his arrival in Pie, India, World War II broke out, forcing him to return to
Europe. After having served in the French army, and having been made a prisoner by the Germans, he sought
asylum in Switzerland, which gave him Swiss nationality and was to be his home for forty years. In 1949 he
married, his wife being a German Swiss with a French education who, besides having interests in religion and
metaphysics, was also a gifted painter.[3]
Following World War II, Schuon accepted an invitation to travel to the American West, where he lived for
several months among the Plains Indians, in whom he always had a deep interest. Having received his
education in France, Schuon has written all his major works in French, which began to appear in English
translation in 1953. Of his first book, The Transcendent Unity of Religions (London, Faber & Faber) T. S. Eliot
wrote: "I have met with no more impressive work in the comparative study of Oriental and Occidental
religion."[3]
While always continuing to write, Schuon and his wife traveled widely. In 1959 and again in 1963, they
journeyed to the American West at the invitation of friends among the Sioux and Crow American Indians. In
the company of their Native American friends, they visited various Plains tribes and had the opportunity to
witness many aspects of their sacred traditions. In 1959, Schuon and his wife were solemnly adopted into the
Sioux family of James Red Cloud. Years later they were similarly adopted by the Crow medicine man and Sun
Dance chief, Thomas Yellowtail. Schuon's writings on the central rites of Native American religion and his
paintings of their ways of life attest to his particular affinity with the spiritual universe of the Plains Indians.
Other travels have included journeys to Andalusia, Morocco, and a visit in 1968 to the reputed home of the
Virgin Mary in Ephesus.
Through his many books and articles, Schuon became known as a spiritual teacher and leader of the
Traditionalist School. During his years in Switzerland he regularly received visits from well-known religious
scholars and thinkers of the East.[3]
Schuon throughout his entire life had great respect for and devotion to the Virgin Mary which was expressed in
his writings. As a result, his teachings and paintings show a particular Marian presence. His reverence for the
Virgin Mary has been studied in detail by American professor James Cutsinger.[6] Hence the name, Maryamiya
(in Arabic, "Marian"), of the Sufi order he founded as a branch of the Shadhiliya-Darqawiya-Alawiya. When
asked by one of his disciples about the reason for this choice of name, Schuon replied: "It is not we who have
chosen her; it is she who has chosen us."[7]
In 1980, Schuon and his wife emigrated to the United States, settling in Bloomington, Indiana, where a
community of disciples from all over the world would gather around him for spiritual direction. The first years
in Bloomington saw the publication of some of his most important late works: From the Divine to the Human,
To Have a Center, Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism and others. Schuon continued to write poetry in his
native German, to receive visitors and maintain a busy correspondence with followers, scholars and readers
until his death in 1998.[3][8]
Views based on his written works

Transcendent unity of r eligions
The traditionalist or perennialist perspective began to be enunciated in the 1920s by the French philosopher
Ren Gunon and, in the 1930s, by Schuon himself. The Harvard orientalist Ananda Coomaraswamy and the
Swiss art historian Titus Burckhardt also became prominent advocates of this point of view. Fundamentally, this
doctrine is the Sanatana Dharma the "eternal religion" of Hindu Neo-Vedanta. It was supposedly formulated
in ancient Greece, in particular, by Plato and later Neoplatonists, and in Christendom by Meister Eckhart (in the
West) and Gregory Palamas (in the East). Every religion has, besides its literal meaning, an esoteric dimension,
which is essential, primordial and universal. This intellectual universality is one of the hallmarks of Schuon's
works, and it gives rise to insights into not only the various spiritual traditions, but also history, science and
art.[9]
The dominant theme or principle of Schuon's writings was foreshadowed in his early encounter with a Black
marabout who had accompanied some members of his Senegalese village to Switzerland in order to
demonstrate their culture. When the young Schuon talked with him, the venerable old man drew a circle with
radii on the ground and explained: God is in the center; all paths lead to Him.[10]
Metaphysics
For Schuon, the quintessence of pure metaphysics can be summarized by the following vedantic statement,
although the Advaita Vedanta's perspective finds its equivalent in the teachings of Ibn Arabi, Meister Eckhart or
Plotinus: Brahma satyam jagan mithya jivo brahmaiva na'parah (Brahman is real, the world is illusory, the self
is not different from Brahman).[11]
The metaphysics exposited by Schuon is based on the doctrine of the non-dual Absolute (Beyond-Being) and
the degrees of reality. The distinction between the Absolute and the relative corresponds for Schuon to the
couple Atma/Maya. Maya is not only the cosmic illusion: from a higher standpoint, Maya is also the Infinite,
the Divine Relativity or else the feminine aspect (mahashakti) of the Supreme Principle.
Said differently, being the Absolute, Beyond-Being is also the Sovereign Good (Agathon), that by its nature
desires to communicate itself through the projection of Maya. The whole manifestation from the first Being
(Ishvara) to matter (Prakriti), the lower degree of reality, is indeed the projection of the Supreme Principle
(Brahman). The personal God, considered as the creative cause of the world, is only relatively Absolute, a first
determination of Beyond-Being, at the summit of Maya. The Supreme Principle is not only Beyond-Being. It is
also the Supreme Self (Atman) and in its innermost essence, the Intellect (buddhi) that is the ray of
Consciousness shining down, the axial refraction of Atma within Maya.[12]
Spiritual path
According to Schuon the spiritual path is essentially based on the discernment between the "Real" and the
"unreal" (Atma / Maya); concentration on the Real; and the practice of virtues. Human beings must know the
"Truth". Knowing the Truth, they must then will the "Good" and concentrate on it. These two aspects
correspond to the metaphysical doctrine and the spiritual method. Knowing the Truth and willing the Good,
human beings must finally love "Beauty" in their own soul through virtue, but also in "Nature". In this respect
Schuon has insisted on the importance for the authentic spiritual seeker to be aware of what he called the
"metaphysical transparency of phenomena".[13]
Schuon wrote about different aspects of spiritual life both on the doctrinal and on the practical levels. He
explained the forms of the spiritual practices as they have been manifested in various traditional universes. In
particular, he wrote on the Invocation of the Divine Name (dhikr, Japa-Yoga, the Prayer of the Heart),
considered by Hindus as the best and most providential means of realization at the end of the Kali Yuga. As has
been noted by the Hindu saint Ramakrishna, the secret of the invocatory path is that God and his Name are
one.[14]
Schuon's views are in harmony with traditional Islamic teachings of the primacy of "Remembrance of God" as
emphasized by Shaykh Al-Alawi in the following passage: Remembrance (dhikr) is the most important rule of
the religion. The law was not imposed upon us nor the rites of worship ordained except for the sake of
establishing the remembrance of God (dhikru Llh). The Prophet said: The circumambulation (awf) around
the Holy House, the passage to and fro between (the hills of) Safa and Marwa, and the throwing of the pebbles
(on three pillars symbolizing the devil) were ordained only for the sake of the Remembrance of God. And God
Himself has said (in the Koran): Remember God at the Holy Monument. Thus we know that the rite that
consists in stopping there was ordained for remembrance and not specifically for the sake of the monument
itself, just as the halt at Muna was ordained for remembrance and not because of the valley. Furthermore He
(God) has said on the subject of the ritual prayer: Perform the prayer in remembrance of Me. In a word, our
performance of the rites is considered ardent or lukewarm according to the degree of our remembrance of God
while performing them. Thus when the Prophet was asked which spiritual strivers would receive the greatest
reward, he replied: Those who have remembered God most. And when asked which fasters would receive the
greatest reward, he replied: Those who have remembered God most. And when the prayer and the almsgiving
and the pilgrimage and the charitable donations were mentioned, he said each time: The richest in
remembrance of God is the richest in reward.[15]
Quintessential esoterism
Gunon had pointed out at the beginning of the twentieth century that every religion comprises two main
aspects: "Esoterism" and "Exoterism". Schuon explained that the esoterism itself displays two aspects, one
being an extension of exoterism and the other one independent of exoterism; for if it be true that the form "is"
in a certain way the essence, the essence on the contrary is by no means totally expressed by a single form; the
drop is water, but water is not the drop. This second aspect is called "quintessential esoterism" for it is not
limited or expressed totally by one single form or theological school and, above all, by a particular religious
form as such.[16]
Criticism of modernity
Gunon had based his Crisis of the Modern World on the Hindu doctrine of cyclic nature of time. Schuon
expanded on this concept and its consequences for humanity in many of his articles. In his essay "The
Contradictions of Relativism", Schuon wrote that the uncompromising relativism that underlies many modern
philosophies had fallen into an intrinsic absurdity in declaring that there is no absolute truth and then
attempting to put this forward as an absolute truth. Schuon notes that the essence of relativism is found in the
idea that we never escape from human subjectivity whilst its expounders seem to remain unaware of the fact
that relativism is therefore also deprived of any objectivity. Schuon further notes that the Freudian assertion that
rationality is merely a hypocritical guise for a repressed animal drive results in the very assertion itself being
devoid of worth as it is itself a rational judgment.[17][18]
Works
Books in English
Adastra and Stella Maris: Poems by Frithjof Schuon, World Wisdom, 2003
Autumn Leaves & The Ring: Poems by Frithjof Schuon, World Wisdom, 2010
Castes and Races, Perennial Books, 1959, 1982
Christianity/Islam, World Wisdom, 1985
New translation, World Wisdom, 2008
Dimensions of Islam, 1969
Echoes of Perennial Wisdom, World Wisdom, 1992
Esoterism as Principle and as Way, Perennial Books, 1981, 1990
The Eye of the Heart, World Wisdom, 1997
The Feathered Sun: Plain Indians in Art & Philosophy, World Wisdom, 1990
Form and Substance in the Religions, World Wisdom, 2002
From the Divine to the Human, World Wisdom, 1982
Gnosis: Divine Wisdom, 1959, 1978, Perennial Books 1990
Images of Primordial & Mystic Beauty: Paintings by Frithjof Schuon, Abodes, 1992, World Wisdom
In the Face of the Absolute, World Wisdom, 1989, 1994
In the Tracks of Buddhism, 1968, 1989
New translation, Treasures of Buddhism, World Wisdom, 1993
Islam and the Perennial Philosophy, Scorpion Cavendish, 1976
Language of the Self, 1959
Revised edition, World Wisdom, 1999
Light on the Ancient Worlds, 1966, World Wisdom, 1984
Logic and Transcendence, 1975, Perennial Books, 1984
The Play of Masks, World Wisdom, 1992
Primordial Meditation: Contemplating the Real, The Matheson Trust, 2015 (translated from the original
German)
Road to the Heart, World Wisdom, 1995
Roots of the Human Condition, World Wisdom, 1991
Songs Without Names Vol. I-VI, World Wisdom, 2007
Songs Without Names VII-XII, World Wisdom, 2007
Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts, 1954, 1969
Stations of Wisdom, 1961, 1980
Revised translation, World Wisdom, 1995, 2003
Sufism: Veil and Quintessence, World Wisdom, 1981, 2007
Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism, World Wisdom, 1986, 2000
The Transcendent Unity of Religions, 1953
Revised Edition, 1975, 1984, The Theosophical Publishing House, 1993
The Transfiguration of Man, World Wisdom, 1995
Treasures of Buddhism ( = In the Tracks of Buddhism) (1968, 1989, 1993)
To Have a Center, World Wisdom, 1990, 2015
Understanding Islam, 1963, 1965, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1989
Revised translation, World Wisdom, 1994, 1998, 2011
World Wheel Vol. I-III, World Wisdom, 2007
World Wheel Vol. IV-VII, World Wisdom, 2007
Schuon was a frequent contributor to the quarterly journal Studies in Comparative Religion, (along with
Gunon, Coomarswamy, and many others) which dealt with religious symbolism and the Traditionalist
perspective.[19]
Bibliography
Art from the Sacred to the Profane: East and West, (A selection from his writings by Catherine Schuon),
World Wisdom, Inc, 2007. ISBN 1933316357
The Essential Frithjof Schuon, World Wisdom, 2005
The Essential Writings of Frithjof Schuon, ed. S.H. Nasr, 1986, Element, 1991
The Fullness of God: Frithjof Schuon on Christianity, ed. James Cutsinger (2004)
Prayer Fashions Man: Frithjof Schuon on the Spiritual Life, ed. James Cutsinger (2005)
Ren Gunon: Some Observations, ed. William Stoddart (2004)
Songs for a Spiritual Traveler: Selected Poems, World Wisdom, 2002
American Gurus: From American Transcendentalism to New Age Religion, Arthur Versluis (2014),
Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199368136
See also
Titus Burckhardt William Stoddart
Ren Gunon Huston Smith
Ananda Coomaraswamy Kathleen Raine
Seyyed Hossein Nasr Annemarie Schimmel
Martin Lings Jean-Louis Michon
Marco Pallis Tage Lindbom
Whitall Perry Kurt Almqvist
Wolfgang Smith Ivan Aguli
Leo Schaya Michael Oren Fitzgerald
Jean Borella Philip Sherrard
Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne Jacob Needleman
Michel Valsan Henry Corbin
Mateus Soares de Azevedo Ivan Illich
James Cutsinger E. F. Schumacher
Harry Oldmeadow
Patrick Laude
References
1. Vincent Cornell, Voices of Islam: Voices of the spirit, Greenwood Publishing Group (2007), p. xxvi
2. Schuon, Frithjof (1982). From the Divine to the Human. USA: World Wisdom Books. p. 1. ISBN 0-
941532-01-1.
3. Frithjof Schuon's life and work. (http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Frithjof-Schuon.aspx)
4. Frithjof Schuon, Songs Without Names, Volumes VII-XII, (World Wisdom, 2007) p. 226.
5. J. B. Aymard and Patrick Laude. Frithjof Schuon, life and teachings. SUNY press 2002
6. See "Colorless Light and Pure Air: The Virgin in the Thought of Frithjof Schuon" (http://www.cutsinger.
net/pdf/colorless_light_and_pure_air.pdf) for some reflections, and J.-B. Aymards "Approche
biographique" for chronological details.
7. Martin Lings, A Return to the Spirit, Fons Vitae, Kentucky, 2005, p. 6.
8. J.-B. Aymard, "Approche biographique", in Connaissance des Religions, Numro Hors Srie Frithjof
Schuon, 1999, Codition Connaissance des Religions/ Le Courrier du Livre.
9. Schuon, Frithjof (1982). From the Divine to the Human. USA: World Wisdom Books. pp. i. ISBN 0-
941532-01-1.
10. Schuon, Frithjof (1982). From the Divine to the Human. USA: World Wisdom Books. pp. Backcover.
ISBN 0-941532-01-1.
941532-01-1.
941532-01-1.
941532-01-1.
941532-01-1.
15. (Shaykh Amad al-Alaw in his treatise Al-Qawl al-Marf)
941532-01-1.
17. Logic and transcendence, Perennial Books, 1975.
18. A Mstica Islmica em Terr Brasilis: o Sufismo e as Ordens Sufis em So Paulo (http://www.ibeipr.com.
br/conteudo/academicos/misticaislamica.pdf). Mrio Alves da Silva Filho. Dissertao apresentada
Banca Examinadora da Pontifcia Universidade Catlica de So Paulo em 2012. (in Portuguese)
19. Journal of American Society of Philosophy
External links
Perennialist/Traditionalist School website
Schuon website
Fons Vitae books - Traditionalist School books
Frithjof Schuon Archive
World Wisdom - Perennial Philosophy
Frithjof Schuon metaphysician, theologian and philosopher
Frithjof Schuon Swiss metaphysician, theologian and philosopher Oxford University Press
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frithjof_Schuon&oldid=796449455"
This page was last edited on 20 August 2017, at 22:36.

Titus Burckhardt
Titus Burckhardt (Ibrahim Izz al-Din after his Islamic name), a German Swiss, was born in Florence, Italy in
1908 and died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984.[1] He devoted all his life to the study and exposition of the
different aspects of Wisdom tradition.
He was an eminent member of the "Traditionalist School" of twentieth-century authors. He was a frequent
contributor to the journal Studies in Comparative Religion along with other prominent members of the
school.[2]
Contents
1 Life
2 Bibliography
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Life
Burckhardt was the scion of a patrician family of Basel. He was the great-nephew of the art-historian Jacob
Burckhardt and the son of the sculptor Carl Burckhardt. Titus Burckhardt was a contemporary of Frithjof
Schuon leading exponent of traditionalist thought in the twentieth century and the two spent their early
school days together in Basel around the time of the First World War. This was the beginning of an intimate
friendship and harmonious intellectual and spiritual relationship that was to last a lifetime.
Burckhardt was, as his grandfather, a connoisseur of Islamic art, architecture and civilisation. He compiled and
published work from the Sufi masters: Ibn Arabi (11651240), Abd-al-karim Jili (13651424) and Muhammad
al-Arabi al-Darqawi (17601823).
Bibliography
Books of Titus Burckhardt:[3]
Books in German
Land am Rande der Zeit. Basel: Urs Graf Verlag, 1941.

Schweizer Volkskunst/Art Populaire Suisse. Basel: Urs Graf Verlag, 1941.
Tessin (Das Volkserbe der Schweiz, Band I). Basel: Urs Graf Verlag, 1943.
Vom SufitumEinfhrung in die Mystik des Islams. Munich: Otto Wilhelm Barth-Verlag, 1953.
Vom Wesen heiliger Kunst in den Weltreligionen. Zurich: Origo-Verlag, 1958.
Siena, Stadt der Jungfrau. Olten (Switzerland) and Freiburg-im-Breisgau (Germany): Urs Graf Verlag,
1958.
Tessin (Das Volkserbe der Schweiz, Band I [Greatly enlarged edition]). Basel: Urs Graf Verlag, 1959.
Alchemie, Sinn- und Weltbild. Olten and Freiburg-im-Breisgau: Walter-Verlag, 1960.
Fes, Stadt des Islam. Olten and Freiburg-im-Breisgau: Urs Graf Verlag, 1960.
Chartres und die Geburt der Kathedrale. Lausanne: Urs Graf Verlag, 1962.
Von wunderbaren Bchern. Olten and Freiburg: Urs Graf Verlag, 1963.
Lachen und Weinen. Olten and Freiburg: Urs Graf Verlag, 1964.
Die Jagd. Olten and Freiburg: Urs Graf Verlag, 1964.
Der wilde Westen. Olten and Freiburg: Urs Graf Verlag, 1966.
Die maurische Kultur in Spanien. Munich: Callwey Verlag, 1970.
Marokko, Westlicher Orient: ein Reisefhrer. Olten and Freiburg: Walter-Verlag, 1972.
Spiegel der Weisheit: Texte zu Wissenschaft und Kunst. Munich: Diederichs, 1992.
Scipio und Hannibal: Kampf um das Mittelmeer by Friedrich Donauer. Cover design and six illustrations
by Titus Burckhardt. Olten and Freiburg: Walter-Verlag, 1939.
Wallis (Das Volkserbe der Schweiz, Band 2) by Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. Translated and edited by Titus
Burckhardt. Basel: Urs Graf Verlag, 1956.
Zeus und Eros: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen des Bildhauers Carl Burckhardt (18781923), edited by Titus
Burckhardt. Basel: Urs Graf Verlag, 1956.
Das Ewige im Vergnglichen by Frithjof Schuon. Translation from the French by Titus Burckhardt of
Regards sur les Mondes anciens. Weilheim: Otto Wilhelm Barth-Verlag, 1970.
Athos, der Berg des Schweigens by Philip Sherrard. Translation from the English by Titus Burckhardt of
Athos, the Mountain of Silence. Lausanne and Freiburg: Urs Graf Verlag, 1959.
Books in French
Clef spirituelle de lastrologie musulmane. Paris: Les ditions Traditionnelles, 1950; Milan, Arch, 1964.
Du Soufisme. Lyons: Derain, 1951.
Principes et Mthodes de lart sacr. Lyons: Derain, 1958.
Introduction aux Doctrines sotriques de lIslam. Paris: Dervy-Livres, 1969.
Alchimie (translated from the English edition by Madame J. P. Gervy). Basle: Fondation Keimer, 1974;
Milan: Arch, 1979.
Symboles: Recueil dessais. Milan: Arch, 1980; Paris: Dervy-Livres, 1980.
Science moderne et Sagesse traditionnelle. Milan: Arch, 1985; Paris: Dervy-Livres, 1985.
LArt de lIslam. Paris: Sindbad, 1985.
Chartres et la Naissance de la Cathdrale (translated from the German by Genia Catal). Milan: Arch,
1995.
Fs, Ville de lIslam (translated from the German by Armand Jacoubovitch), in preparation.
Books in English
An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine (translated from the French by D. M. Matheson). Lahore: Ashraf, 1959;
Wellingborough, England: Thorsons, 1976.
Art of Islam: Language and Meaning (translated from the French by Peter Hobson). London: Islamic
Festival Trust Ltd, 1976.
Siena, City of the Virgin (translated from the German by Margaret Brown). Oxford: University Press,
1960.
Famous Illuminated Manuscripts (partial translation of Von wunderbaren Bchern). Olten and Lausanne:
Urs Graf Verlag, 1964.
Mirror of the Intellect: Essays on Traditional Science and Sacred Art, translated by William Stoddart.
Cambridge, England: Quinta Essentia, 1987; Albany, NY: SUNY, 1987.
Fez, City of Islam (translated from the German by William Stoddart). Cambridge, England: Islamic Texts
Society, 1992.
Chartres and the Birth of the Cathedral,translated by William Stoddart. Ipswich, England: Golgonooza
Press, 1995; Bloomington, Indiana: World Wisdom Books, 1995.
The Universality of Sacred Art, a prcis of Sacred Art in East and West by Ranjit Fernando, published in
The Unanimous Tradition, Institute of Traditional Studies. Colombo, Sri Lanka: 1999
Moorish Culture in Spain (new edition, translated from the German by Alisa Jaffa and William Stoddart).
Louisville, Kentucky: Fons Vitae, 1999.
Sacred Art in East and West (translated from the French by Lord Northbourne). Bedfont, Middlesex,
England: Perennial Books, 1967; Louisville, Kentucky: Fons Vitae, 2001; Bloomington, Indiana: World
Wisdom Books, 2001.
Alchemy, Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul (translated from the German by William Stoddart).
London: Stuart and Watkins, 1967; Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, 1972; Longmead, Shaftesbury,
Dorset: Element Books, 1986; Louisville, Kentucky: Fons Vitae, 2001.
Mystical Astrology according to Ibn Arab (translated from the French by Bulent Rauf). Sherbourne,
England: Beshara, 1977; Louisville, Kentucky: Fons Vitae, 2002.
The Essential Titus Burckhardt: Reflections on Sacred Art, Faiths, and Civilizations (The Perennial
Philosophy), Bloomington, Indiana: World Wisdom Books, 2003
The Foundations of Christian Art (Sacred Art in Tradition Series), Bloomington, Indiana: World Wisdom
Books; Ill edition, 2006
See also
Martin Lings
Jean-Louis Michon
Leo Schaya
Tage Lindbom
Kurt Almqvist
Ivan Aguli
Ren Gunon
Julius Evola
William Stoddart
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Whitall Perry
Perennialist school
The Matheson Trust
References
1. "Titus Burckhardt: Biography, Bibliography, Resources" (http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/T
itus-Burckhardt.aspx). World wisdom. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
2. "Titus Burckhardt Author Page" (http://www.studiesincomparativereligion.com/public/authors/titus_burc
khardt.aspx). Studies in Comparative Religion. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
3. "Titus Burckhardt Bibliography" (http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Titus-Burckhardt.aspx#
Anchor_Bibliography). Retrieved 2014-08-06.
External links
Publications by and about Titus Burckhardt in the catalogue Helveticat of the Swiss National Library
Books by Titus Burckhardt (Fons Vitae publishing)
Works of Titus Burckhardt in Hungarian
Titus Burckhardt resource page (at World Wisdom): excerpts, detailed biography, photos, extensive
bibliography, additional links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Titus_Burckhardt&oldid=772124954"
This page was last edited on 25 March 2017, at 13:09.

Julius Evola
Baron Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola (Italian pronunciation: [vola];[1]

Julius Evola
19 May 1898 11 June 1974), better known as Julius Evola
(/duljs vol/), was an Italian philosopher, painter, and
esotericist. According to the scholar Franco Ferraresi, "Evolas thought
can be considered one of the most radical and consistent anti-
egalitarian, anti-liberal, anti-democratic, and anti-popular systems in the
twentieth century. It is a singular (though not necessarily original) blend
of several schools and traditions, including German idealism, Eastern
doctrines, traditionalism, and the all-embracing Weltanschauung of the
interwar conservative Revolution with which Evola had a deep personal
involvement."[2]
Historian Aaron Gillette described Evola as "one of the most influential

fascist racists in Italian history."[3] Evola was admired by the Italian
Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.[4] He idolized the Nazi Schutzstaffel
("SS"). He admired SS head Heinrich Himmler, whom he knew
personally.[3] Evola spent World War II working for the Nazi
Sicherheitsdienst.[5] During his trial in 1951, Evola denied being a Evola during the 1920s
Fascist and instead referred to himself as a "superfascist". Concerning
Born Giulio Cesare Andrea
this statement, historian Elisabetta Cassina Wolff wrote that "It is
unclear whether this meant that Evola was placing himself above or Evola
beyond Fascism."[6] 19 May 1898
Rome, Italy
Evola was the "chief ideologue" of Italy's terrorist radical right after Died 11 June 1974 (aged 76)
World War II.[7] He continues to influence contemporary neo-fascist Rome, Italy
movements.[7][8][9][4]
Cause of Respiratory-hepatic
Many of Evola's theories and writings were centered on his death problems
idiosyncratic mysticism, occultism, and esoteric religious Nationality Italian
studies,[10][11][5] and this aspect of his work has influenced occultists
and esotericists. Evola also advocated domination and rape of women Notable work Le Parole Obscure du
because he saw it "as a natural expression of male desire"; this Paysage Interieur
misogynistic outlook stemmed from his extreme right views on gender (1920)
roles, which demanded absolute submission from women.[10][11][5][12] Revolt Against the
Modern World (1934)
Synthesis of the
Contents Doctrine of Race
(1941)
1 Early Years Website www
2 Works .fondazionejuliusevola
2.1 Pagan Imperialism .it
2.2 Revolt Against the Modern World
2.3 Mystery of the Grail Era 20th century
2.4 Doctrine of Awakening
Region Western philosophy
2.5 Metaphysics of War
2.6 American "Civilization" School Traditionalism
2.7 Ride the Tiger Institutions School of Fascist
3 Occultism and Esoteriscm
3.1 Magical Idealism Mysticism
3.2 Ur-Group Main History, religion,
3.3 Misogyny and Sexual Magic interests
4 Racism and Mystical Aryanism Western Esotericism
4.1 National Mysticism
Notable ideas Fascist mysticism,
4.2 Antisemitism
5 Fascism spiritual racism
5.1 The Third Reich Influences
6 Post-War Gautama Buddha Laozi St.
7 Death
Athanasius Nietzsche Plato
8 Books and articles
9 See also Papini Spengler Gunon de
10 Footnotes Maistre Donoso Cortes Jnger
11 References Wilde Michelstaedter Benn
12 External links Vico Tzara Weininger Stirner
Dostoevsky Eckhart Novalis
Croce Merezhkovsky
Early Years Gurdjieff
Influenced
Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola was born in Rome to a minor aristocratic Hesse Serrano Moynihan
family of Sicilian origins. He was a baron. Little is known about his
Limonov Dugin de Benoist
early upbringing except that he considered it irrelevant. Evola studied
Rauti Scaligero Eliade
engineering in Rome, but did not complete his studies because he "did
not want to be associated in any way with bourgeois academic Saviano Godwin Yourcenar
recognition and titles such as doctor and engineer."[10]:3[13] Yockey Levkin Kopff Tucci
Pinchbeck Karlsson
In his teenage years, Evola immersed himself in paintingwhich he
considered one of his natural talentsand literature, including Oscar Wilde and Gabriele d'Annunzio. He was
introduced to philosophers such as Nietzsche and Otto Weininger. Other early philosophical influences
included Carlo Michelstaedter and Max Stirner.[14]
Evola served in World War I as an artillery officer on the Asiago plateau. He was attracted to the avant-garde
and after the war, Evola briefly associated with Filippo Marinetti's Futurist movement. He became a prominent
representative of Dadaism in Italy through his painting, poetry, and collaboration on the briefly published
journal, Revue Bleu. In 1922, after concluding that avant-garde art was becoming commercialized and stiffened
by academic conventions, he reduced his focus on artistic expression such as painting and poetry.[15]
Works
Pagan Imperialism
In 1928, Evola wrote a violent attack on Christianity titled Pagan Imperialism, which proposed transforming
fascism into a system consonant with ancient Roman values and the ancient Mystery traditions. Evola proposed
that fascism should be vehicle for reinstating the caste-system and aristocracy of antiquity. Although Evola
invoked the term fascism in this text, his diatribe against the Catholic Church was criticized by both the fascist
regime and the Vatican itself. A. James Gregor argued that the text was an attack on fascism as it stood at the
time of writing, but noted that Benito Mussolini made use of it in order to threaten the Vatican with the
possibility of an "anti-clerical fascism".[10][16] On account of Evola's sentiment, the Vatican backed right-wing
Catholic journal Revue Interlationale de Socits Secrettes published an article in April 1928 entitled "Un
Sataniste Italien: Julius Evola."[5]
Revolt Against the Modern W orld
Evola's Revolt Against the Modern World is a text that promotes the mythology of an ancient Golden Age. In
this work, Evola attempted to describe the features of his idealized traditional society. Evola argued that
modernity represented a serious decline from an ideal society. He argued in that in the postulated Golden age,
religious and temporal power were united. He wrote that society had not been founded on priestly rule, but by
warriors expressing spiritual power. In mythology, he saw evidence of the West's superiority over the East.
Moreover, he claimed that the traditional elite had the ability to access power and knowledge through a
hierarchical version of magic which differed from the lower "superstitious and fraudulent" forms of magic.[10]
Evola insists on "nonmodern forms, institutions, and knowledge" as being necessary to produce a "real renewal
... in those who are still capable of receiving it."[17] The text was "immediately recognized by Mircea Eliade
and other intellectuals who allegedly advanced ideas associated with Tradition."[6] Mircea Eliade, one of
Evola's closest friends, was a fascist sympathizer associated with the Romanian fascist Iron Guard. [5] Evola
was aware of the importance of myth from his readings of Georges Sorel, one of the key intellectual influences
on fascism.[5] Herman Hesse described Revolt Against the Modern World as "really dangerous."[18]
Mystery of the Grail
Evola's text The Mystery of the Grail discarded Christian interpretations of the Holy Grail. Evola wrote that the
Grail "symbolizes the principle of an immortalizing and transcendent force connected to the primordial
state...The mystery of the Grail is a mystery of a warrior initiation." He held that the Ghibellines, who fought
the Guelph for control of Northern and central Italy in the thirteenth century, had within them the residual
influences of pre-Christian Celtic and Nordic traditions that represented his conception of the Grail myth. He
also held that the Guelph victory against the Ghibellines represented a regression of the castes, since the
merchant caste took over from the warrior caste.[18] In the epilogue to this text Evola argued that the Protocols
of Zion, regardless of whether it was authentic or not, was a cogent representation of modernity.[19] Historian
Richard Barber said: "Evola mixes rhetoric, prejudice, scholarship, and politics into a strange version of the
present and future, but in the process he brings together for the first time interest in the esoteric and in
conspiracy theory which characterize much of the later Grail literature."[19]
Doctrine of Awakening
In The Doctrine of Awakening, Evola argued that the Pli Canon could be held to represent true Buddhism.[20]
His interpretation of Buddhism is that it was intended to be anti-democratic. He believed that Buddhism
revealed the essence of an "Aryan" tradition that had become corrupted and lost in the West. He believed it
coud be interpreted to reveal the superiority of a warrior caste.[20] Harry Oldmeadow described Evola's work
on Buddhism as exhibiting Nietzschean influence,[21] but Evola criticized Nietzsche's anti-ascetic prejudice.[20]
The book "received the official approbation of the Pli [text] society", and was published by a reputable
Orientalist publisher.[20] Evola's interpretation of Buddhism, as put forth in his article "Spiritual Virility in
Buddhism", is in conflict with the post-WWII scholarship of the Orientalist Giuseppe Tucci, which argues that
the viewpoint that Buddhism advocates universal benevolence is legitimate.[22] Arthur Versluis stated that
Evola's writing on Buddhism was a vehicle for his own theories, but was a far from accurate rendition of the
subject, and he held that much the same could be said of Evola's writing on Hermeticism.[17] Nanavira Thera
was inspired to become a bhikkhu from reading Evola's text The Doctrine of Awakening in 1945 while
hospitalized in Sorrento.[20]
Metaphysics of War
In the posthumously published collection of writings, Metaphysics of War, Evola, in line with the Conservative
Revolutionary Ernst Jnger, explored the viewpoint that war could be a spiritually fulfilling experience. He
proposed the necessity of a transcendental orientation in a warrior.[23]
American "Civilization"
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke has written that Evola's 1945 essay "American 'Civilization'" described America as
"the final stage of European decline into the 'interior formlessness' of vacuous individualism, conformity and
vulgarity under the universal aegis of money-making." According to Goodrick-Clarke, Evola argued that
America's "mechanistic and rational philosophy of progress combined with a mundane horizon of prosperity to
transform the world into an enormous suburban shopping mall."[8]
Ride the Tiger
EC Wolff noted that in Ride the Tiger "Evola argued that the fight against modernity was lost. The only thing a
real man could just do was to ride the tiger of modernity patiently". Evola wrote that the events of the period
would have to run their course but he "did not exclude the possibility of action in the future." He argued that
one should be ready to intervene when the tiger "is tired of running." [6] Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke notes that,
"Evola sets up the ideal of the active nihilist who is prepared to act with violence against modern
decadence."[8] According to European Studies professor Paul Furlong, this text presents Evola's view that the
potential "elite" should immunize itself from modernity and use "right wing anarchism" to rebel against it.[10]
Occultism and Esoteriscm

Around 1920, Evola's interests led him into spiritual, transcendental, and "supra-rational" studies. He began
reading various esoteric texts and gradually delved deeper into the occult, alchemy, magic, and Oriental studies,
particularly Tibetan Lamaism and Vajrayanist Tantric yoga. A keen mountaineer, Evola described the
experience as a source of revelatory spiritual experiences. After his return from the war, Evola experimented
with hallucinogenic drugs and magic.
When he was about 23 years old, Evola considered suicide. He claimed that he avoided suicide thanks to a
revelation he had while reading an early Buddhist text that dealt with shedding all forms of identity other than
absolute transcendence.[10] Evola would later publish the text The Doctrine of Awakening, which he regarded
as a repayment of his debt to the doctrine of Buddha for saving him from suicide.[20]
Evola wrote prodigiously on Eastern mysticism, Tantra, hermeticism, the myth of the holy grail and western
esotericism.[10] German Egyptologist and esoteric scholar Florian Ebeling has noted that Evola's The Hermetic
Tradition is viewed as an "extremely important work on Hermeticism" in the eyes of esotericists.[24] Evola
gave particular focus to Cesare della Riviera's text Il Mondo Magico degli Heroi, which he later republished in
modern Italian. He held that Riviera's text was consonant with the goals of "high magic" the reshaping of the
earthly human into a transcendental 'god man'. According to Evola, the alleged "timeless" Traditional science
was able to come to lucid expression through this text, in spite of the "coverings" added to it to prevent
accusations from the church.[25] Though Evola rejected Carl Jung's interpretation of alchemy, Jung described
Evola's The Hermetic Tradition as a "magisterial account of Hermetic philosophy".[25] In Hegel and the
Hermetic Tradition, the philosopher Glenn Alexander Magee favored Evola's interpretation over that of
Jung's.[26] In 1988, a journal devoted to Hermetic thought published a section of Evola's book and described it
as "Luciferian."[5]
Evola later confessed that he was not a Buddhist, and that his text on Buddhism was meant to balance his
earlier work on the Hindu tantras.[20] Evola's interest in tantra was spurred on by correspondence with Sir John
Woodroffe.[27] Evola was attracted to the active aspect of tantra, and its claim to provide a practical means to
spiritual experience, over the more "passive" approaches in other forms of Eastern spirituality.[28] In Tantric
Buddhism in East Asia, Richard K. Payne, Dean of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, argued that Evola
manipulated Tantra in the service of right wing violence, and that the emphasis on "power" in The Yoga of
Power gave insight into his mentality.[29]
Evola advocated that "differentiated individuals" following the Left-Hand Path use dark violent sexual powers
against the modern world. For Evola, these "virile heroes" are both generous and cruel, possess the ability to
rule, and commit "Dionysian" acts that might be seen as conventionally immoral. For Evola, the Left Hand path
embraces violence as a means of transgression.[11]:217
According to A. James Gregor Evola's definition of spirituality can be found in Meditations on the Peaks:
"what 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 in the body."[30] Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke wrote that
Evola's "rigorous New Age spirituality speaks directly to those who reject absolutely the leveling world of
democracy, capitalism, multi-racialism and technology at the outset of the twenty-first century. Their acute
sense of cultural chaos can find powerful relief in his ideal of total renewal."[8] Thomas Sheehan wrote that to
sense of cultural chaos can find powerful relief in his ideal of total renewal."[8] Thomas Sheehan wrote that to
"read Evola is to take a trip through a weird and fascinating jungle of ancient mythologies, pseudo-ethnology,
and transcendental mysticism that is enough to make any southern California consciousness-tripper feel quite at
home."[31]
Magical Idealism
Thomas Sheehan wrote that "Evola's first philosophical works from the 'twenties were dedicated to reshaping
neo-idealism from a philosophy of Absolute Spirit and mind into a philosophy of the "absolute individual" and
action."[32] Accordingly, Evola developed the doctrine of "magical idealism", which held that "the Ego must
understand that everything that seems to have a reality independent of it is nothing but an illusion, caused by its
own deficiency."[32] For Evola, this ever-increasing unity with the "absolute individual" was consistent with
unconstrained liberty, and therefore unconditional power.[10] In his 1925 work Essays on Magical Idealism,
Evola declared that "God does not exist. The Ego must create him by making itself divine."[32]
According to Sheehan, Evola discovered the power of metaphysical mythology while developing his theories.
This led to his advocacy of supra-rational intellectual intuition over discursive knowledge. In Evola's view,
discursive knowledge separates man from Being.[32] Sheehan stated that this position is a theme in certain
interpretations of Western philosophers such as Plato, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Heidegger that was
exaggerated by Evola.[32] Evola would later write:
The truths that allow us to understand the world of Tradition are not those that can be "learned" or
"discussed." They either are or are not. We can only remember them, and that happens when we are
freed from the obstacles represented by various human constructions (chief among these are the
results and methods of the authorized "researchers") and have awakened the capacity to see from
the nonhuman viewpoint, which is the same as the Traditional viewpoint ... Traditional truths have
always been held to be essentially non-human.[32]
Evola developed a doctrine of the "two natures": the natural world and the primordial "world of 'Being'". He
believed that these "two natures" impose form and quality on lower matter and create a hierarchical "great
chain of Being."[32] He understood "spiritual virility" as signifying orientation towards this postulated
transcendent principle.[32] He held that the State should reflect this "ordering from above" and the consequent
hierarchical differentiation of individuals according to their "organic preformation". By "organic preformation"
he meant that which "gathers, preserves, and refines one's talents and qualifications for determinate
functions."[32]
Ur-Group
Evola was introduced to esotericism by Arturo Reghini, who was an early supporter of fascism. Reghini sought
to promote a "cultured magic" opposed to Christianity and introduced Evola to the traditionalist Ren Gunon.
In 1927, Reghini and Evola, along with other Italian esotericists, founded the Gruppo di Ur (the Ur Group).[10]
The purpose of this group was to attempt to bring the members' individual identities into such a superhuman
state of power and awareness that they would be able to exert a magical influence on the world. The group
employed techniques from Buddhist, Tantric, and rare Hermetic texts.[33] They aimed to provide a "soul" to the
burgeoning Fascist movement of the time through the revival of ancient Roman Paganism, and to influence the
fascist regime through esotericism.[34][10]
Articles on occultism from the Ur Group were later published in Introduction to Magic.[35][27] Reghini's
support of Freemasonry would however prove a bone of contention for Evola; accordingly, Evola broke with
Reghini in 1928.[10] Reghini himself broke from Evola, accusing Evola of plagiarizing his thoughts in the book
Pagan Imperialism.[5] Evola on the other hand blamed Reghini for the premature publication of Pagan
Pagan Imperialism.[5] Evola on the other hand blamed Reghini for the premature publication of Pagan
Imperialism.[10] Evola's later work owed a considerable debt to Ren Gunon's text Crisis of the Modern
World,[17] though he diverged from Gunon on the issue of the relationship between warriors and priests.[10]
Misogyny and Sexual Magic
Julius Evola believed that the alleged higher qualities expected of a man of a particular race were not those
expected of a woman of the same race. He held that "just relations between the sexes" involved women
acknowledging their "inequality" with men.[10] In 1925, he wrote an article titled "La donna come cosa"
(Woman as Thing).[7] Evola later quoted Joseph de Maistre's statement that "Woman cannot be superior except
as woman, but from the moment in which she desires to emulate man she is nothing but a monkey."[36] Evola
believed that women's liberation was "the renunciation by woman of her right to be a woman".[37] He held that
a woman "could traditionally participate in the sacred hierarchical order only in a mediated fashion through her
relationship with a man."[5] He held, as a feature of his idealized gender relations, the Hindu sati, which for him
was a form of sacrifice indicating women's respect for patriarchal traditions.[38] He held that for the "pure,
feminine" woman, "man is not perceived by her as a mere husband or lover, but as her lord."[12] Evola believed
that women would find "true greatness" in "total subjugation to men."[5]
Evola regarded matriarchy and goddess religions as a symptom of decadence, and preferred a hyper-masculine,
warrior ethos.[39]
Evola was influenced by Hans Blher; he was a proponent of the Mnnerbund concept as a model for his
proposed ultra-fascist "Order."[5] Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke noted the fundamental influence of Otto
Weininger's misogynist book Sex and Character on Evola's dualism of male-female spirituality. According to
Goodrich-Clarke, "Evola's celebration of virile spirituality was rooted in Weininger's work, which was widely
translated by the end of the First World War."[8] Unlike Weininger, Evola believed that women needed to be
conquered, not ignored.[5] Evola denounced homosexuality as "useless" for his purposes. He did not neglect
sadomasochism, so long as sadism and masochism "are magnifications of an element potentially present in the
deepest essence of eros."[5] Then, it would be possible to "extend, in a transcendental and perhaps ecstatic way,
the possibilities of sex."[5]
Evola held that women "played" with men, threatened their masculinity, and lured them into a "constrictive"
grasp with their sexuality.[3] He wrote that "It should not be expected of women that they return to what they
really are ... when men themselves retain only the semblance of true virility",[12] and lamented that "men
instead of being in control of sex are controlled by it and wander about like drunkards".[11] He believed that in
Tantra and in sexual magic, in which he saw a strategy for aggression, he found the means to counter the
"emasculated" West.[11] According to Annalisa Merelli, Evola "went so far as to justify rape" because he saw it
"as a natural expression of male desire".[12] Evola also said that the "ritual violation of virgins",[5] and
"whipping women" were a means of "consciousness raising",[5] so long as these practices were done to the
intensity required to produce the proper "liminal psychic climate".[5] He wrote that "as a rule, nothing stirs a
man more than feeling the woman utterly exhausted beneath his own hostile rapture."[12]
Evola translated Weininger's Sex and Character into Italian. Dissatisfied with simply translating Weininger's
work, he wrote the text Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex, where his views on sexuality
were dealt with at length.[5][10] Arthur Versluis described this text as Evola's "most interesting" work aside
from Revolt Against the Modern World.[17] This book remains popular among many New Age adherents.[40]
Racism and Mystical Aryanism

Evola's dissent from standard biological concepts of race had roots in his aristocratic elitism, since Nazi
Vlkisch ideology inadequately separated aristocracy from "commoners."[5] According to Furlong, Evola
developed "the law of the regression of castes" in Revolt Against the Modern World and other writings on
racism from the 1930s and World War II period. In Evola's view "power and civilization have progressed from
one to another of the four castessacred leaders, warrior nobility, bourgeoisie (economy, 'merchants') and
slaves"[10] Furlong explains: "for Evola, the core of racial superiority lay in the spiritual qualities of the higher
castes, which expressed themselves in physical as well as in cultural features, but were not determined by them.
The law of the regression of castes places racism at the core of Evola's philosophy, since he sees an increasing
predominance of lower races as directly expressed through modern mass democracies."[10]
Prior to the end of War, Evola had frquently used the term "Aryan" to mean the nobility, who in his view were
imbued with traditional spirituality. [10] Wolff notes that Evola seems to have stopped writing about race in
1945, but adds that the intellectual themes of Evola's writings were otherwise unchanged. Evola continued to
write about elitism and his contempt for the weak. His "doctrine of the Aryan-Roman 'super-race was simply
restated as a doctrine of the 'leaders of men'...no longer with reference to the SS, but to the mediaeval Teutonic
knights of the Knights Templar, already mentioned in Rivolta."[6]
Evola spoke of "inferior non-European races"[5]. Peter Merkl wrote that "Evola was never prepared to discount
the value of blood altogether". Evola wrote: "a certain balanced consciousness and dignity of race can be
considered healthy" in a time where "the exaltation of the negro and all the rest, anticolonialist psychosis and
integrationist fanatiscm [are] all parallel phenomena in the decline of Europe and the West."[41] While not
totally against race-mixing, in 1957, Evola wrote an article attributing the perceived acceleration of American
decadence to the influence of "negroes" and the opposition to segregation. Furlong noted that this article is
"among the most extreme in phraseology of any he wrote, and exhibits a degree of intolerance that leaves no
doubt as to his deep prejudice against black people."[10]
National Mysticism
For his spiritual interpretation of the different racial psychologies, Evola found the work of German race
theorist Ludwig Ferdinand Clauss invaluable. Like Evola, Clauss believed that physical race and spiritual race
could diverge as a consequence of miscegenation.[3] Evola's racism included racism of the body, soul and spirit,
giving primacy to the latter factor, writing that "races only declined when their spirit failed."[8]
Like Ren Gunon, Evola believed that mankind is living in the Kali Yuga of the Hindu traditionthe Dark
Age of unleashed, materialistic appetites. He argued that both Italian fascism and Nazism represented hope that
the "celestial" Aryan race would be reconstituted.[42] He drew on mythological accounts of super-races and
their decline, particularly the hyperboreans, and maintained that traces of hyperborean influence could be felt in
Indo-European man. He felt that Indo-European men had devolved from these higher mythological races.[10]
Gregor noted that several contemporary criticisms of Evola's theory were published : "In one of Fascisms most
important theoretical journals, Evolas critic pointed out that many Nordic-Aryans, not to speak of
Mediterranean Aryans, fail to demonstrate any Hyperborean properties. Instead, they make obvious their
materialism, their sensuality, their indifference to loyalty and sacrifice, together with their consuming greed.
How do they differ from 'inferior' races, and why should anyone wish, in any way, to favor them?"[43]
Concerning the relationship between "spiritual racism" and biological racism, Evola put forth the following
viewpoint, which Furlong described as pseudo-scientific: "The factor of 'blood' or 'race' has its importance,
because it is not psychologicallyin the brain or the opinions of the individualbut in the very deepest forces
of life that traditions live and act as typical formative energies. Blood registers the effects of this action, and
indeed offers, through heredity, a matter that is already refined and pre-formed..."[10]
Antisemitism
Evola endorsed Otto Weininger's views on the Jews. Though Evola viewed Jews as corrosive and anti-
traditional, he described Adolf Hitler's more fanatical anti-Semitism as a paranoid ide fixe that damaged the
reputation of the Third Reich.[8] Evola's conception did not emphasize the Nazi racial conception of Jews as
"representatives of a biological race"in Evola's view the Jews were "the carriers of a world view...a spirit
[that] corresponded to the 'worst' and 'most decadent' features of modernity: democracy, egalitarianism and
materialism."[6]
Evola argued that The Protocols of Zionwhether or not a forgeryaccurately reflect the conditions of
modernity.[19][8] He believed that the Protocols "contain the plan for an occult war, whose objective is the utter
destruction, in the non-Jewish peoples, of all tradition, class, aristocracy, and hierarchy, and of all moral,
religious, and spiritual values."[44] He wrote the foreword to the second Italian edition of the Protocols, which
was published by the Fascist Giovanni Preziosi in 1938.[44][45]
Following the murder of his friend Corneliu Codreanu, the leader of the Fascist Romanian Iron Guard, Evola
expressed anticipation of a "talmudic, Israelite tyranny."[8] However, Evola believed that Jews had this "power"
only because of European "decadence" in modernity.[5] He also believed that one could be "Aryan", but have a
"Jewish" soul, just as one could be "Jewish", but have an "Aryan" soul.[46] In Evola's view Otto Weininger and
Carlo Michelstaedter were Jews of "sufficiently heroic, ascetic, and sacral" character to fit the latter
category.[47]
Fascism
Evola has been described as "one of the most influential fascist racists in Italian history." Benito Mussolini read
Evola's Synthesis of the Doctrine of Race (Sintesi di Dottrina della Razza) in August 1941, and met with Evola
to offer him his praise. Evola later recounted that Mussolini had found in his work a uniquely Roman form of
Fascist racism distinct from that found in Nazi Germany. With Mussolini's backing, Evola launched the minor
journal Sangue e Spirito (Blood and Spirit). While not always in agreement with German racial theorists, Evola
traveled to Germany in February 1942 and obtained support for German collaboration on Sangue e Spirito from
"key figures in the German racial hierarchy."[3] Fascists appreciated the palingenetic value of Evola's "proof"
"that the true representatives of the state and the culture of ancient Rome were people of the Nordic race."[3]
Evola eventually became Italy's leading racial philosopher.[7] He has been described as a "fascist
intellectual,"[48] a "radical traditionalist,"[49] "antiegalitarian, antiliberal, antidemocratic, and antipopular,[50]
and as having been "the leading philosopher of Europe's neofascist movement."[50]
Julius Evola wrote for fascist journals, and his racial theories received warm reception from Mussolini in
1941.[3] Yet, while acknowledging Evola's place among fascist intellectuals, his racism, his anti-semitism and
his antipathy towards democracy,[51] A James Gregor wrote that "Evola opposed literally every feature of
Fascism".[52]
Evola developed a complex line of argument, closely related to the spiritual orientation of Traditionalist writers
such as Ren Gunon and the political concerns of the European Authoritarian Right.[10] Evola's first published
political work was an anti-fascist piece in 1925. In this work, Evola called Italy's fascist movement a
"laughable revolution," based on empty sentiment and materialistic concerns. He applauded Mussolini's anti-
bourgeois orientation and his goal of making Italian citizens into hardened warriors, but criticized Fascist
populism, party politics, and elements of leftism that he saw in the fascist regime. Evola saw Mussolini's
Fascist Party as possessing no cultural or spiritual foundation. He was passionate about infusing it with these
elements in order to make it suitable for his ideal conception of bermensch culture which, in Evola's view,
characterized the imperial grandeur of pre-Christian Europe.[11] He expressed anti-nationalist sentiment, stating
that to become truly human, one would have to overcome brotherly contamination and purge oneself of
the feeling that one is united with others because of blood, affections, country or human destiny. He also
opposed the futurism that Italian fascism was aligned with, along with the "plebeian" nature of the
movement.[53] Accordingly, Evola launched the journal La Torre (The Tower), to voice his concerns and
advocate for a more elitist fascism.[3] Evola's ideas were poorly received by the fascist mainstream as it stood at
the time of his writing.[18]
In May, 1951, Evola was arrested and charged with promoting the revival of the Fascist Party, and of glorifying
Fascism. Defending himself at trial, Evola stated that his work belonged to a long tradition of anti-democratic
writers who certainly could be linked to fascismat least fascism interpreted according to certain Evolian
criteriabut who certainly could not be identified with the Fascist regime under Mussolini. Evola then
declared that he was not a Fascist but a superfascist. He was acquitted.[6]
The Third Reich
Finding Italian fascism too compromising, Evola began to seek recognition in the Third Reich. Evola spent a
considerable amount of time in Germany in 1937 and 1938, and gave a series of lectures to the GermanItalian
Society 1938.[3] Evola took issue with Nazi populism and biological materialism. SS authorities initially
rejected Evola's ideas as supranational and aristocratic though he was better received by members of the
Conservative Revolutionary movement.[8] The Nazi Ahnenerbe reported that many considered his ideas to be
pure fantasy which ignored historical facts.[3]. Evola admired Heinrich Himmler, whom he knew
personally,[3] but he had reservations about Adolf Hitler because of Hitler's reliance on Vlkisch
nationalism.[5]Himmler's SS kept a dossier on Evoladossier document AR-126 described his plans for a
"Roman-Germanic Imperium" as "utopian" and described him as a "reactionary Roman," whose goal was an
"insurrection of the old aristocracy against the modern world." The document recommended that the SS "stop
his effectiveness in Germany" and provide him with no support, particularly because of his desire to create a
"secret international order".[5][54][55]
Despite this opposition, Evola was able to establish political connections with pan-Europeanist elements inside
the Reich Main Security Office.[5] Evola subsequently ascended to the inner circles of Nazism as the influence
of pan-European advocates overtook that of Vlkisch proponents, due to military contingencies.[5] Evola wrote
the article Reich and Imperium as Elements in the New European Order for the Nazi-backed journal European
Review.[5] He spent World War II working for the SD.[5] The SD bureau Amt VII, a Reich Main Security Office
research library, helped Evola acquire arcane occult and Masonic texts.[56][20][5]
Italian Fascism went into decline when, in 1943, Mussolini was deposed and imprisoned. At this point, Evola
fled to Germany with the help of the SD.[5] Although not a member of the Fascist Party, and despite his
apparent problems with the Fascist regime, Evola was one of the first people to greet Mussolini when the latter
was broken out of prison by Otto Skorzeny in 1943.[57] Subsequently, Evola helped welcome Mussolini to
Adolf Hitler's Wolf's Lair.[5] Following this, Evola involved himself in Mussolini's Italian Social Republic.[8] It
was Evola's custom to walk around the city during bombing raids in order to better 'ponder his destiny'. During
one such raid, 1945, a shell fragment damaged his spinal cord and he became paralyzed from the waist down,
remaining so for the remainder of his life.[58]
Post-War
After World War II, Evola continued his work in esotericism. He wrote a number of books and articles on
sexual magic and various other esoteric studies, including The Yoga of Power: Tantra, Shakti, and the Secret
Way (1949), Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex (1958), and Meditations on the Peaks:
Mountain Climbing as Metaphor for the Spiritual Quest (1974). He also wrote his two explicitly political books
Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist (1953), Ride the Tiger: A Survival
Manual for the Aristocrats of the Soul (1961), and his autobiography,[5] The Path of Cinnabar (1963). He also
expanded upon critiques of American civilization and materialism, as well as increasing American influence in
Europe, collected in the posthumous anthology Civilta Americana.[59]
Evola's occult ontology exerted influence over post-war neo-fascism.[3] In the post-war period, Evola's writing
evoked interest among the neo-fascist right.[6] After 1945, Evola was considered the most important Italian
theoretician of the Conservative Revolution[6] and the "chief ideologue" of Italy's post-war radical right.[7]
According to Egil Asprem and Kennet Granholm, Evola's most significant post-war political texts are
Orientamenti and Men Among the Ruins.[60]
Orientamenti was a text against "national fascism"instead, it advocated for a European Community modeled
on the principles of the Waffen-SS.[5] The Italian Neo-fascist group Ordine Nuovo adopted Orientamenti as a
guide for action in postwar Italy.[61] The European Liberation Front, who were affiliated with Francis Parker
Yockey, called Evola "Italy's gretest living authoriation philosopher" in the April 1951 issue of their publication
Frontfighter[5]
During the post-war period, Evola attempted to dissociate himself from totalitarianism, preferring the concept
of the "organic" state, which he put forth in his text Men Among the Ruins.[10] Evola sought to develop a
strategy for the implementation of a "conservative revolution" in post World War II Europe.[10] He rejected
nationalism, advocating instead for a European Imperium, which could take various forms according to local
conditions, but should be "organic, hierarchical, anti-democratic, and anti-individual."[10] Evola endorsed
Francis Parker Yockey's neo-fascist manifesto Imperium, but disagreed with it because he believed that Yockey
had a "superficial" understanding of what was immediately possible.[5] Evola believed that his conception of
neo-fascist Europe could best be implemented by an elite of "superior" men who operated outside normal
politics.[5]
Giuliano Salierni was an activist in the neo-Fascist Italian Social Movement during the early 1950s. He later
recalled Evola's calls to violence.[8] Roberto Fiore and his colleagues in the early 1980s helped the National
Front's "Political Soldiers" forge a militant elitist philosophy based on Evola's "most militant tract", The Aryan
Doctrine of Battle and Victory.The Aryan Doctrine called for a Great Holy War that would be fought for
spiritual renewal and fought in parallel to the physical Little Holy War against perceived enemies.[8] Wolff
attributes extreme-right terrorist actions in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s to the influence of Julius Evola.[6]
Thomas Sheehan has argued that Evola's work is essential reading for those seeking to understand Eurofascism,
in the same way that knowledge of the writings of Marx is necessary for those seeking to understand
Communist actions.[31]
Death
Evola died unmarried, without children, on 11 June 1974 in Rome.
Books and articles

Arte Astratta, posizione teorica (1920)
Le Parole Obscure du Paysage Interieur (1920)
Saggi sull'idealismo magico (1925)
L'individuo e il divenire del mondo (1926)
L'uomo come potenza (1927)
Teoria dell'individuo assoluto (1927)
Imperialismo pagano (1928; English translation: Heathen Imperialism, 2007)
Introduzione alla magia (19271929; 1971; English translation: Introduction to Magic: Rituals and
Practical Techniques for the Magus, 2001)
Fenomenologia dell'individuo assoluto (1930)
La tradizione ermetica (1931; English translation: The Hermetic Tradition: Symbols and Teachings of the
Royal Art, 1995)
Maschera e volto dello spiritualismo contemporaneo: Analisi critica delle principali correnti moderne
verso il sovrasensibile (1932)
Rivolta contro il mondo moderno (1934; second edition: 1951; English translation: Revolt Against the
Modern World: Politics, Religion, and Social Order in the Kali Yuga, 1995)
Tre aspetti del problema ebraico (1936; English translation: Three Aspects of the Jewish Problem, 2003)
Il Mistero del Graal e la Tradizione Ghibellina dell'Impero (1937; English translation: The Mystery of the
Grail: Initiation and Magic in the Quest for the Spirit, 1997)
Il mito del sangue. Genesi del Razzismo (1937)
Indirizzi per una educazione razziale (1941; English translation: The Elements of Racial Education 2005)
Sintesi di dottrina della razza (1941; German translation: Grundrisse der Faschistischen Rassenlehre,
1943)
Die Arische Lehre von Kampf und Sieg (1941; English translation: The Aryan Doctrine of Battle and
Victory, 2007)
Gli Ebrei hanno voluto questa Guerra (1942)
La dottrina del risveglio (1943; English translations: The Doctrine of Awakening: A Study on the
Buddhist Ascesis, 1951; The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the
Earliest Buddhist Texts, 1995)
Lo Yoga della potenza (1949; English translation: The Yoga of Power: Tantra, Shakti, and the Secret Way,
1992)
Orientamenti, undici punti (1950)
Gli uomini e le rovine (1953; English translation: Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a
Radical Traditionalist, 2002)
Metafisica del sesso (1958; English translations: The Metaphysics of Sex, 1983; Eros and the Mysteries of
Love: The Metaphysics of Sex, 1991)
L'Operaio nel pensiero di Ernst Jnger (1960)
Cavalcare la tigre (1961; English translation: Ride the Tiger: A Survival Manual for the Aristocrats of the
Soul, 2003)
Il cammino del cinabro (1963; second edition, 1970; English translation: The Path of Cinnabar: An
Intellectual Autobiography, 2009)
Meditazioni delle vette (1974; English translation: Meditations on the Peaks: Mountain Climbing as
Metaphor for the Spiritual Quest, 1998)
See also
Jos Lpez Rega, also known as Argentine Evola
Occultism and the far right
Footnotes
1. "Evola cogn." (http://www.dizionario.rai.it/poplemma.aspx?lid=61429&r=90351). dizionario.rai.it. RAI
Dizionario d'Ortografia e di Pronunzia. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
2. Franco Ferraresi (2012). Threats to Democracy: The Radical Right in Italy after the War (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=r0DG3uk9o8oC&pg=PA44). Princeton University Press. p. 44. ISBN 1-4008-2211-
4.
3. Gillette, Aaron (2003). "7: Julia Evola and spiritual Nordicism, 1941-1943". Racial Theories in Fascist
Italy (https://books.google.com/books?id=8Gjq0ZPvIZgC). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-52706-9.
4. Horowitz, Jason (February 11, 2017). "Thinker loved by fascists like Mussolini is on Stephen Bannons
reading list - The Boston Globe" (https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/02/11/thinker-loved-f
ascists-like-mussolini-stephen-bannon-reading-list/N9apaC5W69YdyjwnhRHGWL/story.html).
BostonGlobe.com. New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
5. Kevin Coogan. Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International.
Autonomedia, 1999.
6. Wolff, Elisabetta Cassini. "Evola's interpretation of fascism and moral responsibility (http://www.tandfon
line.com/doi/full/10.1080/0031322X.2016.1243662)", Patterns of Prejudice, Vol. 50, Issue 45, 2016. pp.
478494
7. Payne, Stanley G. (1996). A History of Fascism, 19141945 (https://books.google.com/books?id=x_MeR
06xqXAC). University of Wisconsin Pres. ISBN 978-0-299-14873-7.
8. Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2003). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity
(https://books.google.com/books?id=xaiaM77s6N4C). NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-3155-0.
9. Romm, Jake. "Meet The Philosopher Whos A Favorite Of Steve Bannon And Mussolini" (http://forwar
d.com/culture/362872/meet-the-philosopher-whos-a-favorite-of-steve-bannon-and-mussolini/). The
Forward. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
10. Paul Furlong, The Social and Political Thought of Julius Evola (https://books.google.com/books?id=fVG
khzpXxLkC). London: Routledge, 2011. ISBN 9780203816912
11. Damon Zacharias Lycourinos. Occult Traditions. Numen Books, 2012
12. Annalisa Merelli. "Steve Bannons interest in a thinker who inspired fascism exposes the misogyny of the
alt-right (https://qz.com/909323/bannons-interest-for-julius-evola-unveils-the-sexism-at-the-core-of-trum
p/)". Quartz. February 22, 2017
13. Julius Evola, Il Camino del Cinabro, 1963
14. Roger Griffin, Matthew Feldman. Fascism: Post-war fascisms. Taylor & Francis, 2004. p. 219
15. G.Evola, Il Camino del Cinabro, 1963
16. Gregor, A James The Search for Neofascism: The Use and Abuse of Social Science. Cambridge
University Press, 2006. pp. 8991
17. Arthur Versluis. Magic and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esoteric Traditions. Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, 2007. p. 144-145
18. Mark Sedgwick. Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the
Twentieth Century. Oxford University Press, 2009
19. Richard W. Barber. The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief. Harvard University Press, 2004
20. T. Skorupski. The Buddhist Forum, Volume 4 (https://books.google.com/books?id=yYSAAAAAQBAJ).
Routledge, 2005
21. Harry Oldmeadow. Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions.
World Wisdom, Inc, 2004. p. 369
22. Donald S. Lopez. Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism. University of
Chicago Press, 1995. p. 177
23. Lennart Svensson. Ernst Junger A Portrait. Manticore Books, 2016. p. 202
24. Florian Ebeling. The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times.
Cornell University Press, 2007. p. 138
25. Lux in Tenebris: The Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism (https://books.google.com/books?id
=rNOYDQAAQBAJ). BRILL, 2016
26. Glenn Alexander Magee. Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition. Cornell University Press, 2008. p. 200
27. Gary Lachman. Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen. Quest Books,
2012. p. 215
28. Kathleen Taylor. Sir John Woodroffe, Tantra and Bengal: 'An Indian Soul in a European Body?' .
Routledge, 2012. p. 135
29. Richard K. Payne. Tantric Buddhism in East Asia. Simon and Schuster, 2006. p. 229
University Press, 2006. pp. 101102
31. Thomas Sheehan. Italy: Terror on the Right (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/7178). The New York
Review of Books, Volume 27, Number 21 & 22, January 22, 1981
32. Thomas Sheehan. Myth and Violence: The Fascism of Julius Evola and Alain de Benoist. Social
Research, XLVIII, 1 (Spring, 1981). 4573
33. Nevill Drury. The Dictionary of the Esoteric: 3000 Entries on the Mystical and Occult Traditions.
Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 2004. p. 96
34. Isotta Poggi. "Alternative Spirituality in Italy." In: James R. Lewis, J. Gordon Melton. Perspectives on
the New Age. SUNY Press, 1992. Page 276.
University Press, 2006. p. 89
37. Franco Ferraresi. Threats to Democracy: The Radical Right in Italy after the War. Princeton University
Press, 2012. p. 220
38. R. Ben-Ghiat, M. Fuller. Italian Colonialism. Springer, 2016. p. 149
39. J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann. Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs
and Practices, 2nd Edition [6 volumes]: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. ABC-
CLIO, 2010. p. 1085
40. Conner, Randy P.; Sparks, David Hatfield; Sparks, Mariya (1997). Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth,
Symbol, and Spirit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Lore. Cassell. p. 136.
41. Peter H. Merkl. Political Violence and Terror: Motifs and Motivations. University of California Press,
1986. p. 85
42. A. James Gregor, Mussolini's Intellectuals: Fascist Social and Political Thought. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 2005.
44. Horst Junginger. The Study of Religion Under the Impact of Fascism. BRILL, 2008. p. 136
45. Oren Nimni and Nathan J. Robinson. Alan Dershowitz Takes Anti-Semitism Very Seriously Indeed (http
s://www.currentaffairs.org/2016/11/alan-dershowitz-takes-anti-semitism-very-seriously-indeed). Current
Affairs. November 16, 2016
46. Gary Lachman. Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen. Quest Books,
2012. p. 217
48. Cyprian Blamires. World Fascism: a historical encyclopedia, vol 1. ABC-CLIO, 2006. p. 208.
49. Packer, Jeremy. Secret agents popular icons beyond James Bond. New York, NY: Lang, 2009. p 150.
50. Atkins, Stephen E. Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups. Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2004. p 89.
51. Gregor, A James. "Julius Evola, Fascism, and Neofascism (https://www.scribd.com/document/32352750
3/A-James-Gregor-Julius-Evola-Fascism-and-Neofascism)"
University Press, 2006. p 93.
53. Gregor, A James The Search for Neofascism: The Use and Abuse of Social Science Cambridge University
Press, 2006. p 86.
54. H.T. Hansen, "A Short Introduction to Julius Evola" in Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, p xviii.
55. A. James Gregor and Andreas Umland. Dugin Not a Fascist? (http://www.academia.edu/174269/Dugin_
Not_a_Fascist_A_Debate_with_A._James_Gregor_6_texts_) (6 texts). Erwgen-Wissen-Ethik, 2005.
56. Nigel Graddon. Otto Rahn and the Quest for the Grail: The Amazing Life of the Real Indiana Jones. SCB
Distributors, 2013
58. Guido Stucco, "Translator's Introduction," in Evola, The Yoga of Power, pp. ixxv
59. Evola, Julius (2010). Civilt americana. Scritti sugli Stati Uniti (19301968). Napoli: Controcorrente.
60. Egil Asprem, Kennet Granholm. Contemporary Esotericism. Routledge, 2014. p. 245
61. Marlene Laruelle. Eurasianism and the European Far Right: Reshaping the EuropeRussia Relationship.
Lexington Books, 2015. p. 102
References
Aprile, Mario (1984), "Julius Evola: An Introduction to His Life and Work," The Scorpion No. 6
(Winter/Spring): 2021.
Coletti, Guillermo (1996), "Against the Modern World: An Introduction to the Work of Julius Evola,"
Ohm Clock No. 4 (Spring): 2931.
Coogan, Kevin (1998), Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist
International (Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, ISBN 1-57027-039-2).
De Benoist, Alain. "Julius Evola, ractionnaire radical et mtaphysicien engag. Analyse critique de la
pense politique de Julius Evola," Nouvelle Ecole, No. 5354 (2003), pp. 14769.
Drake, Richard H. (1986), "Julius Evola and the Ideological Origins of the Radical Right in
Contemporary Italy," in Peter H. Merkl (ed.), Political Violence and Terror: Motifs and Motivations
(University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-05605-1) 6189.
Drake, Richard H. (1988), "Julius Evola, Radical Fascism and the Lateran Accords," The Catholic
Historical Review 74: 403419.
Drake, Richard H. (1989), "The Children of the Sun," in The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in
Contemporary Italy (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-35019-0), 114134.
Faerraresi, Franco (1987), "Julius Evola: Tradition, Reaction, and the Radical Right," European Journal
of Sociology 28: 107151.
Furlong, Paul (2011), Introduction to the Social and Political Thought of Julius Evola London:
Routledge.
Godwin, Joscelyn (1996), Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival (Kempton,
IL: Adventures Unlimited Press, ISBN 0-932813-35-6), 5761.
Gelli, Frank (2012), Julius Evola: The Sufi of Rome
Godwin, Joscelyn (2002), "Julius Evola, A Philosopher in the Age of the Titans," TYR: MythCulture
Tradition Volume 1 (Atlanta, GA: Ultra Publishing, ISBN 0-9720292-0-6), 127142.
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2001), Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity
(New York: New York University Press, ISBN 0-585-43467-0, ISBN 0-8147-3124-4, ISBN 0-8147-
3155-4), 5271.
Griffin, Roger (1985), "Revolts against the Modern World: The Blend of Literary and Historical Fantasy
in the Italian New Right," Literature and History 11 (Spring): 101123.
Griffin, Roger (1995) (ed.), Fascism (Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-289249-5), 317318.
Hansen, H. T. (1994), "A Short Introduction to Julius Evola," Theosophical History 5 (January): 1122;
reprinted as introduction to Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, (Vermont: Inner Traditions, 1995).
Hansen, H. T. (2002), "Julius Evola's Political Endeavors," introduction to Evola, Men Among the Ruins,
(Vermont: Inner Traditions).
Moynihan, Michael (2003), "Julius Evola's Combat Manuals for a Revolt Against the Modern World," in
Richard Metzger (ed.), Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult (The
Disinformation Company, ISBN 0-9713942-7-X) 313320.
Rees, Philip (1991), Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 (New York: Simon &
Schuster, ISBN 0-13-089301-3), 118120.
Sedgwick, Mark (2004) Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of
the Twentieth Century (Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-515297-2).
Sheehan, Thomas (1981) "Myth and Violence: The Fascism of Julius Evola and Alain de Benoist," Social
Research, 48 (Spring): 4583.
Stucco, Guido (1992), "Translator's Introduction," in Evola, The Yoga of Power (Vermont: Inner
Traditions), ixxv.
Stucco, Guido (1994), "Introduction," in Evola, The Path of Enlightenment According to the Mithraic
Mysteries, Zen: The Religion of the Samurai, Rene Guenon: A Teacher for Modern Times, and Taoism:
The Magic, the Mysticism (Edmonds, WA: Holmes Publishing Group)
Stucco, Guido (2002). "The Legacy of a European Traditionalist: Julius Evola in Perspective". The
Occidental Quarterly 3 (2), pp. 2144.
Wasserstrom, Steven M. (1995), "The Lives of Baron Evola," Alphabet City 4 + 5 (December): 8489.
Waterfield, Robin (1990), 'Baron Julius Evola and the Hermetic Tradition', Gnosis 14, (Winter): 1217.
"Bibliografia di J. Evola". Fondazione Julius Evola. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
External links
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Perennial philosophy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aldous Huxley and mystical universalism

Hellenistic period - religious syncretism

Roman world - Philo of Alexandria

Ficino and Pico della Mirandola

De perenni philosophia libri X

According to Frithjof Schuon:

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perennial_philosophy&oldid=799499580"

This page was last edited on 8 September 2017, at 02:39.

Association with far right movements

1. An Introduction to the Perennialist School (http://www.religioperennis.org/documents/Fabbri/Perennialis

Antoine Faivre, ed, Dossier on "Perennialisme" in Aries 11 (1990).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Traditionalist_School&oldid=798701133"

This page was last edited on 3 September 2017, at 08:47.

Ren-Jean-Marie-Joseph Gunon[1] (French pronunciation:

He wrote and published in French, and his works have been

His work comprises:

Some key terms and ideas

Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines,

Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines

Man and his Becoming according to the Vdant

The Symbolism of the Cross

The Symbolism of the Cross is a book "dedicated to the venerated

The Multiple States of Being

If we [...] define Being in the universal sense as the principle

Narayana is one of the names of

Conditions of corpor eal existence

Hermes' caduceus: example of a

Classical atomism and the continuum

Symbolism and analogy

New English translation, 23 volumes, Sophia Perennis (publisher)

East and West (paper, 2001; cloth, 2004)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ren_Gunon&oldid=800340049"

This page was last edited on 12 September 2017, at 22:56.

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (Tamil: ,

Life Needham, Massachusetts,

Coomaraswamy then met and married a British woman Alice Ethel

Coomaraswamy divorced his

Along with Ren Gunon and Frithjof Schuon, Coomaraswamy is

Am I My Brothers Keeper, (Ayer Co, 1947)

Yaksas, (Munshirm Manoharlal Pub Pvt Ltd, 1998) ISBN 978-81-215-0230-6

Works about Coomaraswamy

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ananda_Coomaraswamy&oldid=800028111"

This page was last edited on 11 September 2017, at 05:42.

Frithjof Schuon (/un/; German: [fitjof u.n]) (June 18, 1907

Life and work

support for the metaphysical principles he had begun to discover.[3]

Views based on his written works

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frithjof_Schuon&oldid=796449455"

This page was last edited on 20 August 2017, at 22:36.

Land am Rande der Zeit. Basel: Urs Graf Verlag, 1941.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Titus_Burckhardt&oldid=772124954"

This page was last edited on 25 March 2017, at 13:09.

Baron Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola (Italian pronunciation: [vola];[1]

Historian Aaron Gillette described Evola as "one of the most influential

Revolt Against the Modern W orld

Mystery of the Grail

Occultism and Esoteriscm

Misogyny and Sexual Magic

Racism and Mystical Aryanism

Books and articles

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julius_Evola&oldid=801567681"

This page was last edited on 20 September 2017, at 13:37.