15 August 2014

Of Julius Evola and 'parahistory'

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Avery Morrow writes concerning the views of Julius Evola:

"Evola once purposefully composed a sort of parahistory, prefacing it with the bold claim that any history told by anyone merely reflects the needs of the current age, and regardless of the amount of verification provided, truth is metaphysical and lies beyond evidence. 

"A few examples of this will make clear what Evola was talking about. From the 1820s to roughly the 1960s the Founding Fathers were revered in America as brilliant minds, and children were taught to follow the examples of Washington and Jefferson. Washington was famously said to have never told a lie. An Italian-American painted “The Apotheosis of Washington” on the ceiling of the Capitol showing the first president ascending to godhood. Today this reverence makes some Americans cringe, and revisionists are constantly reminding us that the Founding Fathers were mean to people sometimes and many of them kept slaves. Both of these modes of thought reflect the needs of their respective eras. Neither of them is the correct history. Different stories are told to children in order to acquaint them with the attitude society expects them to adopt toward the past."

Avery Morrow 
The Sacred Science of Ancient Japan: 
Lost Chronicles of the Age of the Gods 
(Kindle Locations 140-149). 
Inner Traditions/Bear & Company. Kindle Edition.