T^eRcnecic CRAOiCiOD Symbols ana Teachings 01 the Royal Art Evola Julius Rghmus IransLatedfrom the Italian by E. E. Inner Traditions International Rochester, Vermont Inner Traditions International One Park Street Rochester, Vermont 05767 Copyright © 971 Edizioni Mediterranee 1 Original kalian title; La tradizione enneticd:Nei sum simboli, ndlasua dottrina e nelLisud "Arte © English translation copyright 1995 Inner Traditions International All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying recording, or by any infor- h mation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Catalcx;ing-in-Pubucateon Data Evola, Julius. [Tradizione ermetica, English] The hermetic tradition in its symbols, doctrine, and "royal art" /Julius Evola : ; translated from the Italian by E. E. RehmiLS. cm. p. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-89281-451-9 i. Hermeosm. 2. Symbolism. I Title BH 16H.E9613 1994 135.4- -dc.20 94-4085 CIP Printed and bound in the United States 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Text design and layout by Virginia L. Scott This book was typeset in Italian Electric, withThor as a display face cot>ceocs T Foreword by H. Hansen vii Note x v Translator's * xv Preface aoo cbe symBoLs ceAcbii>gs PAftc one: Introduction to Part One: The Tree, the Serpent, and the Titans 2 One: The Plurality and Duality ol Civilizations 13 Two; Living Nature 15 Three: The Hermetic Knowledge 1/ Four: "One the All" and the Dragon Ouroboros 20 Five: The Hermetic Presence 23 Myth 27 Six: Creation and Seven: "Woman/5 "Water," "Mercury," and Toison" 30 Eight: The Separation: Sun and Moon 33 Nine: Frozen and Flowing Waters 36 39 Ten: Salt and the Cross Eleven: The Four Elements and Sulfur 41 Twelve: Soul, Spirit, and Body 44 Thirteen: The lTour" in Man 47 The 52 Fourteen: Planets The 56 Fifteen Centers of Life : Sixteen: The Seven, the Operations, and the Mirror 60 Seventeen: Gold in the Art 64 Eighteen: Shadow, Ashes, and Remains 66 Nineteen: Philosophical, Incest 71 Twenty: The Tomb and Thirst 74 Twenty-One: Saturn: Inverted Gold 79 Twenty-Two: The Field and the Seed 84 Twenty-Three: The Sword and the Rose 86 Twenty-Four: Stem, Virus, and Iron 90 parc cbe beRmecic RoyXL arc cuuo: Introduction to Part Two: The Reality of Palingenesis 94 Twenty-Five: The Separation 100 Work Twenty-Six: Death and the Black 104 Twenty-Seven; The Trial of the Void 109 Twenty-Eight: The Flight of the Dragon 112 Twenty-Nine: The Dry Path and the Wet Path 115 Thirty: Hermetic Asceticism 118 Thirty-One; The Path of the Breath and the Path of the Blood 122 Thirty-Two: The Heart and the Light 126 Thirty-Three: Denudations and Eclipses 129 Thirty-Four: The Thirst for God and the Corrosive Waters 133 Thirty-Five: The Path of Venus and che Radical Path 138 Thirty-Six: The Hermetic Fires 142 Thirty-Seven: The White Work: Rebirth 146 Thirty-Eight: The Coniunctio White 149 in Thirty-Nine: The Eternal Vigil 152 Forty: The Body of Light and Production of Silver 155 Forty-One: Birth into Liie and Immortality 163 Forty-Two: The Red Work: Return to Earth 168 Forty-Three: The Alchemical Colors and Multiplication 173 Forty-Four: The Planetary Hierarchy 177 Forty-Five: Knowledge of the Red and the Triunity 184 Forty-Six: Prophetic Knowledge 190 Forty-Seven: The Four Stages of Power 193 Forty-Eight: Metallic Transmutation 196 Forty-Nine: Correspondences, Times, and Rites 203 Fifty: Silence and the Tradition 208 Fifty-One The Invisible Masters 213 : Index 217 FORettiORO or Julius Evola (1898-1974) alchemy was not—as is generally believed—a single specialized subject con- cerning itself exclusively with metals and their corre- spondences in marC but rather a comprehensive physical and metaphysical system embracing cosmology as much as anthropology (in the sense of a complete knowledge of man in body, soul, and spirit).1 Everything—nature and supernature— can be found in it. To Evola, hermetism and alchemy are one and the same. The goal of this system is the understanding and experiencing of an ensouled whom "holy" organism, replete with living powers, in everything is wonderfully Man interwoven, connected to and communized with everything else. stands in the middle where he is microcosm in analogy to the whole macrocosm: As above, so below—in the words of the Emerald Tablet. The alchemical symbol language as the expression of this universal system must therefore also have correspondences in all the other mysteriosophic spheres and can consequently serve as a universal key in these spheres, just as, vice versa, any other mystery teaching has the power to fill alchemy in the lacunae of esotericism in Alongside Arturo Reghini (1878-1946)—and surely also at his suggestion- Evola was one of the few in those years who were aware of this parallel, especially to ancient dieurgical practice. In 1926 Evola published an article in Ultra (the newspaper of the unusually liberal Theosophical lodge in Rome) on the cult of Mithras in which he placed major emphasis on the similarities of these mysteries 1 This foreword first appeared in Ansata-Verlag's Die Hermetische Tradition (Interlakert. Switzerland, 1989). Ir is translated from the German by E. E. Rehmus and H. T. Hansen. Vil UR with hermetism. In the group (1927-29), of which Evola was a member, specific alchemical symbols were employed in the teaching of "Magic. >>2 It is this practical aspect that is emphasized here, for alchemy cannot be grasped by abstract thought alone, much less is it just a psychic process m the unconscious (C. G. Jungs theory),3 but much more than that: it is an exercise of soul and spirit in the best Platonic tradition. Where did Evola s early preoccupation with alchemical symbolism come from? After his Dadaist and philosophical period, Evola came in contact with Theosophi- cal and Freemason circles,4 Here we can especially point to Reghini, of whom Evola writes in his autobiography5 that he either lent him the essential alchemical texts or at least informed him of them. Through the very significant esoteric magazines, Athanor and Ignis (1924-1925), edited by Reghini, Evola became acquainted with a whole series of contributions to alchemy that were enough to give him his first hints of knowledge.6 Reghini s influence must have been decisive many because so of his quotations are also favorite quotations of Evola's7 hi his autobiography Evola quotes from early translations of Rene Guenons Le voile dlsis (later the Etudes rradinonelles), which also gave him suggestions for his vision of alchemy jacopo da Coregliafi writes that it was a priest, Father Francesco Oliva, who had made the most far-reaching progress in hermetic science and who—highly prizing the keen spirit and intellectual honesty of the young seeker—gave Evola access to records strictly reserved for adepts of the narrow circle. These were concerned primarily with the teachings of the Fraternity of Myriam (Fratellanza Terapeutica Magica di Myriam), founded by Doctor Giuliano Kremmerz (pseudonym of Giro 2 in 1985 Ansata-Verlag published the first volume of the UR group data reports and documents under rhe tide Magie als Wissenschaft vom Ich (Magic as science of the ego). The second and third volumes of these monographs are to be published by Ansata in forthcoming years. Many passages difficult to understand in the present book are explained in these monographs as these monographs are comple- mented in The Hermetic Tradition. 3 Alchemy is not a psychotherapeutic path in the classical sense. It is acrualiy intended for the absolutely whom spiritually healthy person, in "individuation11 has already been accomplished. Only then is its practice permitted in order to make of "life" a "super-life." Where nature alone can do nothing more, there must the alchemical "art" take over. The alchemical work is psychotherapeutic only to the extent that the great heaiing (reintegration of man in transcendence) stands in analogy to the small healing (making die psyche well). i Sec our introduction to Evola x Revolt against Ik Modern World Rochester. Vt 1994) t { . 5 II cammino del cinabro (Milan, 1972), 109. 6 Most prominent of these are Reghini s "Brevi note sul Cosmopolira ed i suoi scrittf (Brief notes on the Cosmopolite and his writings) in Ignis nos. 3, 4, 5, and "Ode aichemica di Fra Marcantonio Crasseilame Chinese" (The alchemical ode of Fra Marcantonio Crasseilame Chinese) in Ignis nos. 8 and 9. 7 Especially those of Braccesco, Sendivogius, and Michel Fbtier s, Philosophic pura. 8 Arthos, no. 16 (Genoa) 48ff. , viii \-Q?ewora Formisano, 1861-1930). Evola mentions in the notes to chapter 11 that the Myriam's "Pamphlet D"g laid the groundwork for his understanding of the four own elements. Where this group in turn got its knowledge remains a secret. In its view, and Jacopo da Coreglia also shares this opinion, the Myriam (which seems :o have split into many groups) is the last torch-bearer of a tradition that has been handed down—under constantly changing names—from the classical times of Pythagorean paganism and it is independent of the Freemasons or similar contem- k dVr porary movements. Tn his Pour la Rose Rouge cl Croix Count P. Giudicelli J. :.c Cressac Bachellerie reveals its inner structure and current grading process. who In addition, there is the decisive influence of Ercole Quadrelli, under the pseudonyms of Abraxas and Tikaipos, made some especially important contribu- tions to the UR group. And it should be mentioned in this regard that Quadrelli was trained by Giuliano Kremmerz and the Myriam.10 The freely accessible works of Kremmerz—/ dialoghi sull'ermettsmo (Dialogues on henneries) and his magazine Commentarium (1910-12)—also did much for Evola's .spiritual development in the realm of alchemy. His acquaintance with the Chymica vannus and with the alchemist Philalethes probably go back to these works. The strongest and perhaps decisive influence on the Evolian conception of Ilmondo magico alchemy as a universal system is probably Cesare Delia Riviera's deglf hero/ (The magical world of the heroes), (Mantua, 1603; Milan, 1605). This is one of the few texts of that time that helps itself to a hermetico-alchemical Alchemy language, but of an unequivocally holo-cosmological character. is is always placed in perspective with the other hermetic disciplines—such as magic and astrology—and is not regarded as an autonomous and specific teaching. For an alchemical book the unusually many references to the Abbot Johannes Tritliemius (1462-1516) in this work point also in this direction. The first tangible result of these studies was shown in the periodical Krur(sequel to UR). 11 There Evola presented a first shot at discussing the hermetic tradition and anticipated the essential content of the later book. The alchemical tradition was portrayed only as pagan and not as a royal tradition, an attribute that in still the final edition received so central a position that it brought Evola into conflict with other representatives of the traditional Weltanschauung. A broader and altogether different influence on Evola at this time came as a C result of his meeting the Indian alchemist S. Narayana Swami Aiyar of Chingleput, - Appeared only as private publication for rlie inner circle. In his Eros and the Mysteries ofLove: The Metaphysics of Sex (Rochester, Vt., 1991) Evola descrihes some of the sex magic practices of this group. 'll See Dr. Reiiato del Ponres' introduction tu Magie uls Wissenschait vom ich. 11 KRUR. iS29 (reprint, Teramo, 1981), l54ff., 20iff, 251 ff., 307ff.; see also p. 374ff. Foreword 1X who expounded on the great importance of the breathing techniques in alchemy and how it helped to ingest certain substances. In 1930 Evola wrote "The Doctrine of Transmutation in Medieval Hermetics" tor Bilychnis (no. 275). In abridged form, the articled contained die fundamental precepts or La cradizione ermetica, which was published by Laterza in 1931. (The 1931 edition was insignificantly altered and expanded in 1948. This was followed in 1971 by Evola's last revision, which is the basis for this translation.) Tt is interesting in this regard that Benedetto Croce was instrumental in helping Evola to make contact with this eminent publishing house. Tn the archives of Lacerza are several of Evola's unpublished letters that refer to Tlie Hermetic Tradition, and in which Croce s mediation appears again and again. One letter in particular is important, for in it Evola seems to answer the publisher's reproaches that the work was overloaded with annotations and had too little public appeal. Evola argued that it was not written for public appeal but only and simply to show for the first time that alchemy was not just the beginning of chemistry, but a profound and forgotten mystery-science; and without the abundance of quotations Evola would be marked as a visionary and the publisher criticized for not being serious. Evola's conviction that alchemy was a universal system clarifies his endeavor to see this work as the completion and synthesis of all his earlier works in philosophy, magic, and Tantrism. Hence his emphasis on the pre- or, more cor- rectly super-Christian character of the hermetic tradition. Naturally Evola's belief in the all-inclusive character of hermetism did not go unchallenged. Certainly his most important critic was the second great herald of Tradition, Rene Guenon, to whom Evola, nevertheless, was indebted for outstand- ing insights (and the idea of die Tradition in the first place). In his review of The Hermetic Tradition in the Voile d'Isis in April of 1931 VA , though basically positive, Guenon rejects quite strongly the idea that alchemy is a complete metaphysical doctrine and reduces it to the status of a mere cosmo- logical system. According to him a true tradition could never have come from an , Egypto-Hellenic origin, then passed on to Islamic esotericism, and from there to Christian esotericism. In addition, alchemy had always been integrated into these various currents, whereas a pure and complete tradition has no need for some other tradition serving as an auxiliary vehicle. Moreover, it is an indication of the special character of alchemy that this path of knowledge in traditional societies should be a domain of the second caste, of the Kshatriyas (warrior caste), whereas only the Brahmins were truly dedicated to metaphysics. The argument was last correct, as far as Evola was concerned, for he had always seen himself as Kshatriya 12 Contained in Formes traditiundics er cycles co^iniques (Paris 1970), 119tf x J""Urt*word 1 and for him alchemy and the possibility of continuing to experiment on the spiritual plane—the "am" aspect—were extremely important. Nevertheless, the presenr work and its representation of alchemy is no willful or special interpreta- tion on Evola's part, although on the ground of his "personal equation" some aspects may have been given a stronger emphasis—especially the active and the inner alchemy (nei-tan). Guenon's opposition was consistent; it is known chat the "Redness" represents The Red the highest stage in alchemy and is above the "Whiteness." (or Purple) embodies an active state, which naturally stood in a contrast to the White, which the contemplative Brahmin exhibits. (Evola points this up quite clearly in chapter Against Guenon's view that the "white" Brahmin caste unequivocally held the 23). highest place in the traditional world, Evola set the "purple" king as "pontifex" uppermost between Heaven and Earth. With the priority of the (bridge-builder) symbolic color red over white in hermetism, Evola seems to have a point. But Guenon could only call alchemy a specialization and he could never assign it the universal character that Evola did. In spite of Evola decided rejection of Jung's psychological interpretation of 's alchemy, Jung described The Hermetic Tradition as a "detailed account of Her- metic philosophy" and he cites approvingly an entire section in translation.13 Evola never saw himself as a shaper or creative interpreter of alchemy, but only as one who did no more than deliver this knowledge, clarifying it, to be sure, but broadcasting unchanged. it Guenon repeated the reproach against universality in his review of Evola's 1932 edition of Delia Riviera's II mondo magicu degli heroi (published with Evola's commentary). Guenon also blamed Evola for the assimilation of alchemy by 14 magic• . To be sure, Guenon's authority to judge alchemy has now and then been questioned, considering that he himself had never written a work on the subject. Eugene Canseliet, for example, the alleged disciple and publisher of the works of On Fuicanelli,15 doubted Guenon's competence on this matter.16 the other hand, neither does Guenon hold his criticism back from Fulcanelli, especially his Freres 17 d'Heliopohs ° C. C. Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, vol. 12 of the Collected Works (Princeton, N.J., 1968), 228, 242n. H Compter rendus (Paris, 1973), 7ff. ls See especially Pauwds/Bcrgier. Aufbruch ins drirre Jahrtausend (Bern, 1962) and Kenneth Rayner Johnson, The Fulcanelli Phenomenon {St. Helier, 1980) 16 Robert Amadou, Le leu du solcil (Park, 1978). 17 R. Guenon, Formes traditivnclles, Op dr., 166. Foreword X1 Evola's work after the publication of Mondo magico dcgli hero) was more and more politically defined, and aside from die insignificant changes in the revised editions of The Hermetic Tradition and single reviews and articles, Evola was silent about alchemy. Mention is found of course in his Eros and the Mysteries of sym- Love. The Metaphysics of Sex. where the sexual background of alchemical bolism illuminated. is work was Chinese An essential complement of Evola's alchemical his interest in alchemy, revealed in his editions of two Chinese alchemical treatises. 18 This interest is also evident in the title of his spiritual autobiography, // cammino del cinahro (The path of cinnabar). In Chinese alchemy the path of liberation is the journey from the "lower" to the "higher" cinnabar; chemically as well as alchemically and Mercury cinnabar derives from the union of Sulfur (the masculine principle) (the feminine principle). Despite the widest coverage in the present work by the author himself, one point must also be emphasized here again: if we are now really to understand the following-not just intellectually, but also spiritually and in body and soul, in a word, completely- our consciousness must risk a leap. Tn its profundity the meta- phorical world of alchemy is simply not accessible to the contemporary abstract understanding. We must, for once, turn off the continual din of reason and listen with the "ear of the heart" if we want to have the symbols strike responsive chords in ourselves. Two worlds are met with here: on the one hand a timeless world, lying beyond reason, prehistorical, and beyond history and on the other, a time^bound, historical world that is chained to dialectical reason. Between them there is now no What gradual passage, but an abyss, which we must leap over. does Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling say? "Accordingly historical and prehistoric times are not merely relative, differences between one and the same time, they are two essentially different kinds of time completely removed from one. another, and mutually We completely different time full of events, but of quite exclusive. call it . . . 19 another sort, and conforming to quite a different /aw." Since modern man is so slow to lay aside his belief in progress, which stamps his thought patterns and distorts his yardsticks—it seems to him almost monstrous Kwan i8 Lu-Tsu, mistcro delfhre. d'oro (The secret of the golden flower (Rome, 1971]). and with Lu TI Yu (Charles Luk), Ln yoga del wo (Rome. 1976). Both works appear with commentary (rhe second, necessarily only in pare, because of his death) by Evola. Not without importance in rhis context are the Evolian edirions of the famous Tao te Ching: Firsr as lihrn dcila via € delk virtu (Lanciano, 1923), and then in a completely revised version under the title of: Illibto delprincipe e dclla sua asione (Milan, 1959). 19 Einleitung in die Philosophic der Mychologie in Sammdcc Werke (1856; reprint, Darmstadt, 1976), 1:2:53-36. Foreword