Abstract
In this chapter, we explore one of the three fundamental disagreements between Evola and Guénon, focusing on their contrasting approaches to the East and the West. According to Evola, the East encompassed more than India and its contemplative, pacifistic spiritual path. He asserted that other civilizations in the East had attained spiritual maturity through warfare rather than contemplation, citing Persia as an example. Embracing Franz Cumont’s theories on the Persian origins of Mithraism, Evola saw the cult of Mithra as a potential bridge between the so-called West and East divide.
Mithra, a solar and warrior deity, became, in Evola’s eyes, a suitable substitute for the Christian God, one who championed the cause of the poor and downtrodden. Evola posited that spiritual values should be sought in the heroism displayed on the battlefield rather than in contemplation and mysticism. He highlighted the tradition of heroism persisting among medieval Christian warriors, citing the spiritual growth of the Templars during the Crusades. Their interactions with Muslim warriors positively influenced Christians, reinforcing the sanctity of war. Muslims, adhering to the concept of jihad, were considered by Evola as participants in a holy war. He delved into the spiritual values associated with war among Muslims, asserting that these values distinguished them from Christians and Jews.
However, Evola faced a challenge in justifying his admiration for Islam; a religion he considered lunar and thus passive. The question arose: was Islam a form of solar or lunar spirituality? To address this complexity, Evola turned to the Persians. He argued that Arabs lacked the concept of holy war and inherited it from the Persians, de-semitizing the idea of jihad. Additionally, he manipulated a Shi’a hadith to support his theory, emphasizing the superior value of war over devotional practices and prayers. Despite some confusions regarding the relationships between Islam’s branches, Evola’s contributions provided ample material for his disciples to draw connections between the histories of Rome and ancient Persia.
During the Cold War, as socialism gained popularity in Islamic countries, Evola’s favorable views toward Muslims underwent a transformation. Muslims’ struggles against colonialism, social, and gender inequalities led Evola to claim that they had betrayed the “true” Islam. He argued that, like the West, the Islamic world was in crisis, reflecting his essentialist approach to religions, where any cultural evolution and reform were seen as signs of degeneration.
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Notes
- 1.
In the early twentieth century, theosophy gave birth to a humanistic current founded by Rudolf Steiner, which later influenced both Evola and Pio Filippani Ronconi (d.2010). Steiner’s viewpoint was different from Guénon and those European Traditionalists who believed in the decay of the Western civilization. For Steiner, materialism was an important step in human evolution. If Christ became mater, the human body could become a temple for the spirit. Although Rudolf Steiner was aware of the West’s need of the East, he believed that such a synthesis between East and West should not end up in a “spiritual colonization of Europe by Asia”. Steiner tried to make Christianity turn to its Oriental and Mystic roots. The Italian followers of Steiner, such as Massimo Scaligero (d.1980) and Evola, considered his teachings as good alternatives for Catholicism (Albrile, 2021).
- 2.
In 1926, he published La via della realizzazione di se secondo i Misteri di Mithra (The Path of Self-Realization According to the Mysteries of Mithra) and in 1971, Note sui misteri di Mithra (Notes on the Mysteries of Mithra).
- 3.
The connection between the magic and the Iranic wisdom is present also in the Path and in the journals Ur and Krur (Arcella, 2007).
- 4.
Xvarenah, lit., glory, splendour, shine, or luminosity, is an ancient Iranian notion related to sacred kingship. Initially it appeared in the Avesta and later in the Middle Persian literature as xwarrah. The notion in the political language of the pre-Islamic Persia, and after its semantic development, meant kingly majesty and became a divine recognition conferred from Mazdean divinities to kings (Gnoli, 1999). In the Pagan, Evola cited the notion as hvareno.
- 5.
“King of Kings” was a title adopted by Achmenids and Sasanian emperors.
- 6.
A legendry Christian priest and king who ruled over a marvelous oriental empire, which according to different sources was based in India or Ethiopia.
- 7.
In 1937, a magazine directed by the fascist politician and Evola’s friend Giovanni Preziosi (d. 1945) released several articles over the necessity of alliance between Islam and Fascism based on their doctrinal affinity (Guidi, 1990). On the alliance between Muslims and Fascism see also De Felice (2018) and Mazzuca and Walch (2017).
- 8.
Sing., ṭariqa (lit., road), here it means mystic orders.
- 9.
Literally, in the Arabic language, the word “jihad” does not mean war; it means endeavor, which gains religious significance when carried out fī sabīl allāh (in God’s way). In fact, the Quran uses different terms to refer to war. However, similar to many other Quranic terms, throughout history, it underwent a semantic transformation and was categorized differently. Generally, among Muslims, jihad is divided into two main categories. The “lesser jihad” signifies belligerence toward the external world, while the “greater jihad” denotes the struggle against malevolent spirits or evil passions (Mirshahvalad, 2022).
- 10.
The correct form of this hadith is “On the Day of Judgement, God will gather people and will weight their deeds. On that day, the ink of scholars outweighs the blood of martyrs”. For an English reference, you can see the correct form of the hadith in Kohlberg (1976, p. 66).
- 11.
The Avestan word corresponds to supernatural powerful beings. The word in its later semantic development was merged with the human soul that after death could turn back to the world and once a year reward his or her descendants (Boyce, 2012).
- 12.
Evola referred to Ahura Mazda (literally, “wise lord”), who is the principal deity in Iranian religions. Evola adhered to the prevailing interpretation of Zoroastrianism as a radical dualism characterized by two divinities representing light and darkness, engaged in eternal conflict.
- 13.
Evola’s original phrase was “la tradizione islamica sta qui al posto della ario-iranica”. Evola meant that in this case the Islamic tradition was a “surrogate” for Aryo-Iranian tradition.
- 14.
Twelver Shiʿism is the largest branch of Shiʿism in terms of its number of followers. Ismailism is a smaller and distinct branch of Shiʿism.
- 15.
These concepts are present in chapter 17 of the B&C, in chapter 24 of the Mystery and chapter 29 of the Revolt.
- 16.
Evola did not cite any reference for his claim about the infallibility of mujtahids (jurists). Neither Sunnis nor Shi’as recognize jurists as infallible. Anyhow, here the interesting point is Evola’s racial interpretation of infallibility.
- 17.
In 1971, the article I centri iniziatici e la storia (The Initiatory Centers and History) was initially published in the magazine Le vie della Tradizione. Later it was republished as chapter 17 of the second edition of the B&C (Milan: All’Insegna del Pesce d’Oro, 1971b).
- 18.
It is impressive that Evola in 1936 in an article published a month after Spengler’s demise, in the Vita Italiana (Italian Life), criticized Spengler because of the deterministic nature of his cyclical time (Rigenerazione Evola, 2021). Nevertheless, toward the end of his life, it seems that Evola developed the same determinist mindset (Evola, 1971b).
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Mirshahvalad, M. (2024). Evola and the Dilemma of Islam. In: Crises and Conversions. Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55877-1_3
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