Julius Evola: The Hermetic Tradition (1995)

In the present work we shall use the expression “hermetic tradition” in a special sense that the Middle Ages and the Renaissance gave it. It will not refer to the ancient Greco-Egyptian cult of Hermes, nor will it refer solely to the teachings comprising the Alexandrian texts of the Corpus Hermeticum. In the particular sense that we shall use it, hermetism is directly concerned with the alchemical tradition, and it is the hermetico-alchemical tradition that will be the object of our study. We shall attempt to determine therein the real sense and a spirit of a secret doctrine, practical and workable wisdom that has been faithfully transmitted from the Greeks, through the Arabs, down to certain texts and authors at the very threshold of modern times.

– Julius Evola,

The Hermetic Tradition (1995),

p. xv

Julius Evola’s (1898–1974) books are in most cases very interesting, and touch on different aspects of a higher-oriented spirituality, which differs from Christianity and to some extent other world religions, which often have prominent sentimental and moralistic elements, and/or mostly focus on exoteric dimensions and how one should thereby behave in society. For Evola, the esoteric part is the most important, and he sees the world’s different “Traditional” manifestations—in their original forms—as different representations of the same fundamental idea. A central example among many is the Hermetic-Alchemical “Tradition” that The Hermetic Tradition (1995; La tradizione ermetica was published in 1931) is about.

The Tree is to be regarded as a universal symbol and force in the world, according to Evola’s understanding of the “Hermetic Tradition”, but also more generally in Traditional societies it is a fact. This has taken particular expressions in the Jewish books of the Torah, the Nazarene Bible, Kabbalah, Greek, Indian, Nordic and Roman religion, Zoroastrianism and many, many other Traditional forms of spirituality that have emerged in at least the more “civilized” part of the world. However, one should again remember that despite the extensive text study, Evola’s approach is fundamentally metaphysical rather than religious-historical—these are not ‘just’ seen as symbols or archaic explanatory models but real forces, albeit something that transcends perceptible Reality. So too the Tree.

Similar to the historian of religion Mircea Eliade, Evola also focuses more on similarities and correspondences than differences, without for that matter disregarding the historical conditions for the Hermetic-Alchemical development over time and space. All in all, this has an approximately 1500-year-long history, and as often said by Evola, its components can be considered to have become degenerated and misinterpreted in a variety of ways in different contexts. The focus is therefore on explaining the Hermetic Tradition’s core, which can be specified as the Royal Art, and then connecting it to more clear approaches for the practicing Hermeticist.

There are several symbols, beyond the Tree, that are addressed. A central dualistic relationship exists between Sun and Moon, and sun gods or heroes such as Apollo, Hercules, Horus and Janus are mentioned as examples of representations of this Solar Heroism manifested in several of the known myths. Evola sees the Sun as a symbol of a male, virile and non-material principle that is connected with gold, unlike silver-water, which is a fluid, female principle. Aristotelian concepts such as form and matter are also used, as well as the cross symbol, which can be seen as a synthesis between male and female and/or between the vertical and horizontal dimension. It is again more about finding similarities and correspondences than focusing on differences and seemingly incompatible principles. Therefore, Evola also sees the Cross as the Quintessence of the four elements Fire, Water, Earth and Air. In some chapters, other important numbers are discussed, not least the number Seven—for example, the significance of the Seven Planets.

What, then, is the alchemical, and metallurgical, element in this context? Again, it is about a deeper, spiritual symbolism—the reddish colour that can occur in the production of iron symbolizes the Sun, which as mentioned is connected with a virile, heroic and royal principle. Initiation is also central and intimately connected with the doctrine. This thinking can be linked to the Greek concept of Iosis. However, Evola identifies parallels with Vedic-“Hindu” and Buddhist thought, in the usual order through linguistic studies: etymological and semantic connections between different Traditional forms. Furthermore, immortality is discussed, and the “historical vulgarization” as a result of, for example, the ancient and subsequently Christian idea of “the immortality of the soul”.

Perhaps especially interesting are the chapters and/or sections where the theoretical and practical are bound together in almost intensive, but still seemingly ‘objective’ descriptions, of the different states that the Hermetic-Alchemical doctrine can lead to, including pathological or mental symptoms such as epilepsy, memory loss and schizophrenia. In this regard, it is essential for a Hermeticist not to end up in mystical-ecstatic states but to really reach a higher spiritual level. Mercury and sulphur and alloys between these are considered to have great significance in this respect, and it is once again about a symbolism that constitutes something more than the merely allegorical.

Evola’s study is likely to have also influenced some esoterically-oriented new spiritual movements through this work and its English translation (for example, the Temple of Set and Dragon Rouge—and more recently the Seven Oxonians). In this way, the ideas become more accessible. Notable, however, is that Evola himself studied a significant portion of the primary sources in their original languages, albeit edited editions of these, and thus had mastered classical Greek and Latin, which is famously closely related to Italian, at least to a significant extent. That said, he has also used a not insignificant proportion of latter-day, secondary sources, including his own work Introduzione alla magia. Notable is that Jacob Böhme’s central work De signatura is referenced in several sections.

Seven Oxonians: Julius Evola, The Seven Fold Way, And Hermeticism. New Moon in ♈︎, March 2022 ev.

There is nothing, so to speak, purely practical in this work because a doctrine—so also the Hermetic-Alchemical—consists of both “theory” and “method” that are closely related, but Hermetic asceticism is what comes closest to the latter. The relationship between body, soul and spirit, and controlling the animal and bodily desires and drives, is what this partly—simplistically viewed—is about, but also the deeper symbolism and the connections to the four elements continue to have significance. The parallels between different spiritual traditions and their respective esoteric dimensions become apparent even in this respect—asceticism within “Hinduism”, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and other traditions that have some kind of esoteric dimension.

The Hermetic Tradition is built around short and content-rich chapters that deal with different terms and aspects of the topic in question. It does not, however, make the book more or less simple to get through, and it undoubtedly requires a certain amount of interest in this type of subject for the reading to be perceived as relevant. It is difficult to say how important this work can be considered to be in terms of the full bibliography, but it touches on an esoteric form of spirituality that has had more significance than many know and as mentioned has influenced both individuals and latter-day so-called new religious or new spiritual movements with an esoteric character.

The villain from Central Casting. A monocle-wearing baron and a distinguished occultist, Evola spent much of his life trying to bring about a future that would be both post-Christian and post-democratic. – John J. Reilly

What it can certainly give people who are not themselves esoterically practicing, or even particularly interested in the Hermetic-Alchemical tradition, is intellectual perspectives on phenomena such as religion, spirituality and the modern world. Evola himself wrote this in an interview found in the intellectual autobiography The Path of Cinnabar, regarding the general relevance of his bibliography.