When cultural ideals become so diluted to the point where they no longer motivate society to strive for the beautiful, we see also the dilution of the soul en masse. Rather than the soul being directed toward an eternal, mystical, metaphysical, but altogether attainable virtue, modern mass culture redirects and shackles the soul to that which is vapid and without substance.
We must understand it is within human nature to feel a certain emptiness; an innate longing for satisfaction that cannot be quelled. The condition of mankind following the Fall of Adam, the departure from that nature in which man was created and intended to remain, leaves us with dissatisfaction. It is this reason we expose ourselves to and wrestle with the crucial questions of our spiritual being, and as a result find tranquility in those divine qualities. But, if the eye of our soul is looking downward; always focused on the vanities of the world, then we will never discover the rejuvenation of which we are capable.
Modern mass culture is full of emptiness; it promises fulfillment yet bears no fruit. No amount of entertainment, wealth, status, politics, comfort or luxury will fill the void in our souls. We must seek the Good.
We must understand it is within human nature to feel a certain emptiness; an innate longing for satisfaction that cannot be quelled. The condition of mankind following the Fall of Adam, the departure from that nature in which man was created and intended to remain, leaves us with dissatisfaction. It is this reason we expose ourselves to and wrestle with the crucial questions of our spiritual being, and as a result find tranquility in those divine qualities. But, if the eye of our soul is looking downward; always focused on the vanities of the world, then we will never discover the rejuvenation of which we are capable.
Modern mass culture is full of emptiness; it promises fulfillment yet bears no fruit. No amount of entertainment, wealth, status, politics, comfort or luxury will fill the void in our souls. We must seek the Good.
“[I]n the traditional world we encounter the interpretation of life as a perennial struggle between metaphysical powers, between Uranian forces of light and order, on the one and, and telluric, dark forces of chaos and matter on the other. Traditional man yearned to fight this battle and to triumph in both the inner and outer worlds. A true and just war on the external plane reproduced in other terms the struggle to be waged within: it was a struggle against forces and people that in the external world presented the same traits as the powers the single individual needed to subjugate and dominate internally, until a pax triumphalis was achieved. From this follows an interdependence between the warrior idea and that of a certain ‘asceticism’, inner discipline, and superiority toward or control over one’s self. . . [T]he warrior idea may not be reduced to materialism, nor is it synonymous with the exaltation of the brutal use of strength and destructive violence. Rather, the calm, conscious, and planned development of the inner being and a code of ethics; love of distance; hierarchy; order; the faculty of subordinating the emotional and individualistic element of one’s self to higher goals and principles, especially in the name of honor and duty - these are all elements of the warrior idea, and they act as the foundations. . . The more original form of hierarchy is defined with essentially spiritual values (the Greek word for hierarchy means “sovereignty of the sacred”, hieros). However, it must be pointed out that in many civilizations even the hierarchies with a spiritual foundation either relied on hierarchies that were more or less warrior or reproduced their form at least externally” -Julius Evola
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Struggle, when considered in this light, is not something to be avoided, but embraced, for just as man struggles with dark forces within, so he must inevitably struggle without. This necessitates the presence and action of the warrior element, which must subjugate the inferior and wage war against chaos, disorder, and their myriad manifestations. The warrior element thus becomes an instrument of the sacred, which must pervade every aspect of civilization. Such a civilization may then truly become a bastion of order, repelling malefic forces and maintaining the link to the divine. In the modern world this element, along with almost all influence from above, is lacking. The warrior element, when it is not entirely opposed, is at best connected with the mercenaries in the service of the bourgeois or plebeian castes. The superior is thus made subject to the inferior as it were dependent upon it, but this is reversal of justice. It is the inferior which needs the superior, never the inverse.
Furthermore, these mercenaries are not warriors except for in exceptional circumstances. As with most modern men, they do not know themselves, but are swayed by vague and empty ideals associated with their nations or else a confused desire to be what they are not. True warriors are so by blood, and it is this chrism which protects them from succumbing to the enemy within as lesser men are bound to do. What is needed, therefore, is the reaffirmation of superior principles, and the subjugation of inferior elements by a restored warrior nobility. It is only this nobility which can face the terrors of war as well as bring law and order to those under their dominion. All else amounts to injustice, which can never bring lasting peace or prosperity.
“Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war. My mercy, and my refuge: my support, and my deliverer: My protector, and I have hoped in him: who subdueth my people under me.” -Psalm 143:1-2
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Struggle, when considered in this light, is not something to be avoided, but embraced, for just as man struggles with dark forces within, so he must inevitably struggle without. This necessitates the presence and action of the warrior element, which must subjugate the inferior and wage war against chaos, disorder, and their myriad manifestations. The warrior element thus becomes an instrument of the sacred, which must pervade every aspect of civilization. Such a civilization may then truly become a bastion of order, repelling malefic forces and maintaining the link to the divine. In the modern world this element, along with almost all influence from above, is lacking. The warrior element, when it is not entirely opposed, is at best connected with the mercenaries in the service of the bourgeois or plebeian castes. The superior is thus made subject to the inferior as it were dependent upon it, but this is reversal of justice. It is the inferior which needs the superior, never the inverse.
Furthermore, these mercenaries are not warriors except for in exceptional circumstances. As with most modern men, they do not know themselves, but are swayed by vague and empty ideals associated with their nations or else a confused desire to be what they are not. True warriors are so by blood, and it is this chrism which protects them from succumbing to the enemy within as lesser men are bound to do. What is needed, therefore, is the reaffirmation of superior principles, and the subjugation of inferior elements by a restored warrior nobility. It is only this nobility which can face the terrors of war as well as bring law and order to those under their dominion. All else amounts to injustice, which can never bring lasting peace or prosperity.
“Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war. My mercy, and my refuge: my support, and my deliverer: My protector, and I have hoped in him: who subdueth my people under me.” -Psalm 143:1-2