This is a revision of a monologue recorded for a YouTube channel, which has since been removed. The first part is a transcript of the spoken, improvised monologue and the second part is the typed revision of the thoughts explored in the first part.
09/09/2014:
Hi. This is going to be an expansion to an answer I gave to a question I received on Tumblr. I’ll link to the question, but I will read it.
Anonymous asked: “You seem to have quite the admiration for Christian high culture and I see you often post pieces with heroic elements (e.g. Saint Michael slaying Satan) that invoke feelings of will-to-power in place of pacifism which is often contradictory to the spirit of medieval Christendom. How would you rationalize an admiration for Christianity being aware of this reality; that the most alluring aspects are often pagan in nature?” Now, I answered at the time: “I have a love for European history and not just a thousand years of Christianity but also the prior two thousand years of paganism, hence it’s not only Christian artwork on my blog. You’re correct about the recent pacifism of Christianity, and it has been one of the factors of the fall of the West. However, Abrahamic religion isn’t tied down to culture, history or race in the same way paganism is, thus it can spread far more easily, and runs theologically deeper than most branches of paganism. I will record a video about this to expand.” That’s what I wanted to do, not only expand on this, but explain a few things. I will link to my Tumblr page.
Yes, it’s true. I do have an admiration for Christian high culture, but also pagan culture. It’s not just Christianity on my blog, it is other religions as well. I think there is a few bits of Islamic artwork – it’s generally history – and historical artwork in general.
Now, I think Anonymous is absolutely right in saying that Christianity has been pacified; I think it’s been in the past century, generally. Again, this links to the fate of empires and behavioural sink as I talked about my video addressing a video by Millennial Woes. I don’t think it is Christian doctrine itself which it innately weak. If that was the case then you wouldn’t have had the Crusades at all. Frankly, you wouldn’t have had European expansion, you wouldn’t have had the British Empire or any of the other European Christian empires that existed over the past few centuries. But, yes; the whole “turn the other cheek” and all the rest of it – it has subdued a lot of people. And again the anonymous asker, the questioner, is correct in saying that most alluring aspects (of the pieces which I circulate and reblog) are often pagan in nature. So; heroism, violence, justice, honour, and all the rest of it. Again, he’s absolutely right. In fact, this is one of the thing which paganism is incredibly lucky to have evolved with. Those things were a part of Christianity, but they have disappeared.
Perhaps this links to Millennial Woes’ video on the survival of a people. Maybe the Western peoples can only survive if we return to pagan values. Like I say, the problem is that Abrahamic religion isn’t tied down to culture, history or race in the same way paganism is. Paganism is just belief in multiple gods. Heathenry, if you go into the specific types of paganism; Germanic paganism; the Celts, the Picts, the Anglo-Saxons, the Goths, ancient Rome, ancient Greece, and so on in Europe; these religions – they’re not just religions – they’re cultures; they encompass far more than just a few gods. Now, that’s the thing about Christianity; Christianity and other Abrahamic religions are not tied down to a place; they aren’t tied down to a specific people: anyone can be a Christian. That’s the difference. One Pastor I saw, referring to God, said that the Christian God is, simply, the very act of “to be”. Now, once you can describe a deity like that it’s a different game, unfortunately for paganism. But I don’t know. Maybe there needs to be a semi-revival of paganism; but a new trend of paganism which can encompass more than just man’s early perceptions of the natural world. I don’t know. Let’s talk about this.
06/04/2015:
This was one of a few monologues I recorded which I really ought to have scripted; in fact it was removed from my public videos due to how awful it was. Not only did my thoughts wander in every direction without any cohesion or originality, I made some rather bold and ignorant claims and I even failed to answer the question I was asked, which was “How would you rationalize an admiration for Christianity being aware of this reality; that the most alluring aspects are often pagan in nature?”
I would rationalize it twofold; Firstly, I do not admire Christianity, I appreciate it, and find it to be a very deep and nourishing source of spirituality (although it is not my own primary source). Secondly, my appreciation for not only proper Christianity, but also European paganism and Abrahamic religion, is somewhat a romanticism of “ages past” when things were “better” from the perspective of a reactionary young man who is utterly at odds with the modern world and almost everything contained within. My Tumblr page is essentially a gallery of what I would consider “proper” and “desirable” to a certain extent; be it politics, philosophy, artwork, music, or anything else I stumble across on the internet.
The romanticism of religion and the classical world is, to me, a light kind of escapism of the harmless variety. The ancient and religious world is no longer present, and it is generally accepted that whilst the modern age is materially better off than ages past, especially in regard to technology; it is absolutely spiritually worse off. The Western man has lost sight of his destiny; of his purpose, and this is a part of the contemporary problem, at least from the philosophical perspective. The very concept of absolute truth is being lost, and with it the prospect of transcendence; the ultimate aim of every single religious and spiritual path in existence. The modern, super-rational mind treats religious perspectives as nothing more than the ramblings of ignorant desert people who clung to the traditions and customs of a backward and primitive stage of humanity that should be sooner forgotten than taken with an ounce of genuine consideration – this is dangerously erroneous.
The ancients had a fundamentally thorough grasp of existence; of their place and purpose in this world, which enabled them to survive and thrive; to accomplish great feats and to set in stone traditions and customs that worked so well they are still being followed thousands of years later. Again; the modern, materialistic mind paints everything in scientific, rational, physical terms, and so when confronted with this, the modern man is largely disinterested, and would rather immerse himself in the bourgeois Western climate of progressive politics, fancy gadgets, reality television and Richard Dawkins quotes. Frithjof Schuon summed it up well in his Esoterism as Principle and as Way: “The spiritual man is one who transcends himself and loves to transcend himself; the worldly man remains horizontal and detests the vertical dimension.” Not only is this quote magnificently pompous, but it is also very true; anything metaphysical is a waste of time and energy according to the modern man. Even those who have begun to appreciate the spiritual prefer the easy and accessible road, even if it is obviously faux in comparison to the proper doctrine. We could compare exoteric Christianity with the esoteric by making note of the difference between, for example, American televangelists who use various psychological tricks to get rich, and the Irish monks of the dark ages who endured monumental suffering and hardship to preserve their faith, and whose efforts would later assist the spread of Christendom throughout Europe. We could compare exoteric Buddhism with the esoteric by making note of the difference between, for example, the modern humanist, hippy-approved, “feel-good” philosophy of happiness and tolerance, and the faith of ancient Aryan-spirited champions who, through a process of many decades of training (ascesis) and meditation would carve their inner selves down to the point of realizing their true will, and thus enlightenment: a state of being immune from the influence of the external world; immune from the development of the ego.
On the topic of European paganism, I would say that due to the very nature of paganism, it is still with us. Paganism is nature; nature is fascism; survival the fittest; kill or be killed. Early man understood this and embraced it; in fact, he loved it and worshiped it. Applying his abstract tendencies onto the natural world (or the natural world seeping into his abstract mind, depending on your perspective), early man could dissect and analyze what he observed and experienced and would come to come to the rightful conclusion that man is subject to existence, and existence is absolute. Thus, the absolute is to be revered, respected and worshiped; and in some special cases man could even become closer to this through living or dying righteously. For example, Viking warriors who fell honorably in battle would, in the afterlife, enter Valhalla; Heaven. However, I will not say much else about paganism here as I am not very knowledgeable on the subject. I would recommend speaking to SurviveTheJive if you are interested.
I will also say the same in regards to Christianity. I am not a Christian, and even though I am in the process of reading the King James Bible, I am not the best person to speak to regarding it. There was a very good article on Gornahoor.com I read which discussed the notion that Christianity was (or, is) to blame for the decline of the West. I will let people draw their own conclusions from it, although I am very much of the mind of the author at this point. As a matter of fact, I am perplexed as to why people think I know anything at all. The power of observation is not a special talent.
West Coast Reactionaries 