cycles of summer, spring, autumn and winter. These cycles are akin to
life periods and there is much in common with Jung s view regarding
racial memory, archetypes and forms. Races and nations have collec-
tive minds and hence operate on a deeper level than individuals, they
cannot be reduced to economic or class processes alone. These organic
cycles of decline are important as they bring the Yugas into a more his-
torical and academic vein. Spengler does not describe the great cycles
of the ages (as the Yugas represent in a macrocosmic aspects), yet his
The Gnostic Handbook Page 58
individual civilisations all work through mini-Yugas which he represents as organic national
seasons. While there will always be debate about the particulars of Spengler s work its place
within the traditional understanding of history cannot be denied.
The ramifications of an organic view of civilization are very relevant to the Gnostic. If cul-
tures are like a human body, for example, then we can suggest that its various parts have dif-
fering levels of importance, ability and significance, and that to reduce all aspects of the
"body" of the "organic" society to an equal footing would be like suggesting the head is equal
to the arm, the appendix to the eyes. This basic inequality is a foundation stone of the unique
vision of Gnosticism which emphasizes individual spiritual development over a vast number
of lives.
To really appreciate the esoteric and religious significance of these cycles we need to consider
two major figures and their outlines of the sacred cycle Rene Guenon and Julius Evola.
Rene Guenon and Julius Evola
Guenon is not a man who liked the press, he was a bitter critic of the cult of personality and
avoided worthless shows of ego. While Guenon would have avoided offering any biographical
details, I think that at least some background is in order. Rene Guenon was born on the 15th
November 1886 to an architect father, his family owned a vineyard which was passed to his
younger brother as it was obvious Rene had a flair for the academic but was not gifted in ei-
ther the arts or winemaking. Moving to Paris in his youth he had contact with many occult or-
ganizations, becoming a student of Papus for a period. By 1912 he had become an initiated
Sufi and became deeply immersed in the esoteric of both Hinduism and Islam. After the death
of his wife in the 1930's he left to spend the rest of his life in isolation in Cairo, rejected the
modern world. He again married and live with his Egyptian wife under the name Abdel Wa-
hed Yahi. He died on the 7th January 1951.
Guenon's earliest works are meant to clear the way for a real appraisal
of esotericism and Gnosis, they are bitter and incisive attacks on both
Theosophy and Spiritualism. These two works offer an insightful re-
jection of the syncretism and bourgeois indulgence that had become
the occult movements of the period. He documents the stupidities and
extremes of both movements and intimates that it is not the spirits of
the dead who are communicating with spiritualists but subversive
forces. He believes that these forces of Counter Gnosis and Anti-
tradition were offering Counter-Initiations in an attempt to degrade the
real and essential Gnosis. When the assault against Counter Gnosis
was completed Guenon turned his gaze to the very soul of Western
Man. In Orient and Occident (1924), Crisis of the Modern World
(1927 and The reign of Quantity and the Sign of the Times (1953) he
lays bare the Western soul and documents the clear signs of our de-
The Gnostic Handbook Page 59
generation and collapse. These works are uncompromising and offers a critique of the destruc-
tion modernism is perpetuating on our society, he demands a return to real esotericism as op-
posed to the false "feel good" cults of his time.
Guenon however was not all assault and warfare, his metaphysical works show a great mind
which can see to the very heart of esotericism. Certainly his writing on symbolism are hard go-
ing, titles such as the Symbolism of the Cross (1931), Fundamental Symbols (1962) and Multi-
ple States of Being (1932) are not easy reading. They demand a concentration which, I am
afraid, many modern minds fed on computer games and TV will find difficult. However the
sheer intellectual exhilaration one can gain from mastering them cannot be easily forgotten.
Guenon also published hundreds of book reviews in such journals as Le Voile D Isis and
Etudes Traditionnelles, spewing forth venom mixed with insight in such a form that it has never [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]