Thursday, October 21, 2004
THE CRISIS OF THE MODERN WORLD, THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND THE KALI YUGA
Numerous groups have sprung up supporting "Traditionalism," or "Perennialism" as it is sometimes called. It appears in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It can be found in occultism. An extreme view expressed by Evola, is Nazi.
This website will take you to a very long list of websites devoted to Traditionalism.
There seems to be a common denominator. Traditionalism goes hand-in-hand with metaphysical experiences, be they apparitions, visions, locutions, clairvoyance, automatic writing, channeling, Freemasonry, satanism, or what have you. "Initiation" is another common denominator. No matter what system is employed, there is a method or ritual used to "initiate" contact with the transcendent god or spirit in whatever incarnation he is perceived. Each tradition has a means to identify who is being contacted. Perennialists believe that this contact is as old as mankind.
"Alchemy" is associated with the "Perennial Philosophy." It's the philosophy of the Rosicrucians, the Theosophists, the Martinists, the Albigensians, the Gnostics, the Manicheans. You will find it in any form of mystical religious practice though it might not be labeled as such. Thus, in Juidaism, it can be found in Kabbalism, and before that in Merkabah Mysticism, and also in Hasidism. There is a corrupted form of it in Sabbateanism. In Islam, you will find it in Sufism. In Christianity, it lies in Pentecostalism. In Catholicism look for it in apparitions. The Alchemical Wedding spoken of by occultists is a union of God and man.
There are as many varities of belief as there are groups devoted to it. Apart from the mystical experience, they may not have much else in common. What they do share is a rejection of materialism as an exclusive concentration. Perennialists know there is something beyond our material world and they seek contact with it..
Harry Potter is a good example of literature written to expose a form of the Perennial Philosophy to children. The Da Vinci Code takes it to the adult level.
It is subject to deception as devotees of extraterrestial experience demonstrate. It is easily corrupted morally, as in Sabbateanism and Tantra. The alchemical wedding often does become a sexual rite, such as the Hieros Gamos, through it is not always seen as such. In Catholic tradition, the Song of Solomon is an example of the alchemical wedding.
The philosophy concentrates on the "brotherhood" of mankind and tends mostly to be charitable until it is taken up by Satanic groups.
If you look at the above-linked list, you will find Rama Coomaraswamy's Catholic writings. You will also find occultist Jakob Boehme, The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, Charles A. Coulombe, Father Alexander (Schmemmen), Father Seraphim Rose, and a Latin Mass organization. You will also find Guild of the Grail, San Graal School of Sacred Geometry, Emmanuel Swedenborg, The Alchemy Web Site, and The Hermetic Library. You will find Aryan Paganism that includes Celtic Dieties and Myths, The Pagan Federation, The British Druid Order. In fact, much of the material I've blogged will qualify as Traditionalism.
In the section of the linked website titled "People" you will find Rene Guenon, Julius Evola, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Fredrich Nietzsche, and G. K. Chesterton. There is even an Ashram Vidya Order Founded by Rahpael as channel for the Primordial Tradition. What is significantly missing from the list is every mainline church. Traditionalism, like a red thread used to mend a black garment weaves in and out of all of the other threads.
There is something else that will not fit very well with Traditionalism--the Tradition of the Catholic Church. It doesn't fit because it is a scholarly approach to religion, while Traditionalism tends to be antinomian. Traditionalism breaks the rules, because it takes its doctrine from the God-man experience. It looks to the phenomenon for guidance far more often than it looks to written texts.
For this reason, a Catholic can be a Traditionalist to only a very limited degree, or else must toss out countless writings down through the centuries of Catholic doctrine. Numerous Popes condemned these practices. Where it survived in Catholicism was in monasteries primarily, where there was very strict control placed upon it. We have seen an upsurge of it since Vatican II. Prior to that there were less apparitions. We have also seen monumental growth of it in our culture, via the New Age Movement. Where once it was an underground phenomenon, it has emerged into the daylight because western civ. has found rationalism to be lacking in spiritual satisfaction. It appears to be the trend for the forseeable future, and it appears to be gaining popularity and acceptance in the Church. Whether it can be guided into the strict Tradition of Catholicism, or will prove to be a renegade that can undermine the faith remains to be seen. It is rapidly replacing the left-leaning Call to Action and VOTF types.
One of the largest difficulties with Traditionalism as this newly emerging theory conceives it, is the need to determine how to draw lines of demarcation--how to hedge in beliefs acceptable to the Tradition and exclude that which is antithetical to it is the burning question with no workable answer in sight.
Handled carefully, this return to the transcendent could be a blessing, but as Evola demonstrated, it can just as easily be a curse.
