The Mystery of the Grail

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Il Mistero del Graal e la Tradizione Ghibellina dell'Impero (The Mystery of the Grail and the Gibelin Imperial Concept); translated as The Mystery of the Grail: Initiation and Magic in the Quest for the Spirit is a work by Italian fascist philosopher and racial theorist Julius Evola. It was published in 1934 by Hoepli; English translation by Inner Traditions International, 1995 (ISBN 0892815736).

Evola interpreted the Holy Grail and its heroic mythos as symbolic of knightly or kshatriya initiation (reintegration into the primordial state), deriving from the ancient Celtic-Hyperborean tradition. Evola also significantly linked the Grail mythos (with its esoteric themes of the "sick king" and the "broken sword" in need of restoration) to the aspirations of the medieval Ghibellines, who attempted a restoration of the "Sacrum Imperium" or Holy Roman Empire. As H.T. Hansen states, Evola considered the Grail as an initiatory "Hyperborean mystery" and also "a symbolic expression of hope and of the will of specific ruling classes in the Middle Ages (namely, Ghibellines), who wanted to reorganize and reunite the entire Western world as it was at that time into a Holy Empire, that is, one based on a transcendental, spiritual basis" (p. vii., The Mystery of the Grail).

Robert Richardson considers Evola's ideas on the Holy Grail as sources for Pierre Plantard's later claims;^[1] by this argument Evola becomes indirectly responsible for the contemporary Holy Blood, Holy Grail popular culture lore.

To Evola the Grail was based on the Ghibelline tradition, being the apex of Western Civilisation. The Ghibelline tradition during the medieval period was represented by the German Hohenstaufen imperial line in opposition to the papacy.^[2]

[edit] Notes

v • d • e Works by Julius Evola Arte Astratta, Posizione Teoretica | Le Parole Oscure du Paysage Interieur | Saggi sull'idealismo magico | Teoria dell'Individuo Assoluto | Imperialismo Pagano: Il Fascismo Dinanzi al Pericolo Euro-Cristiano, con una Appendice sulle Reazioni di parte Guelfa | Introduction to Magic: Rituals and Practical Techniques for the Magus | Fenomenologia dell'Individuo Assoluto | The Hermetic Tradition: Symbols and Teachings of the Royal Art | Maschera e volto dello Spiritualismo Contemporaneo: Analisi critica delle principali correnti moderne verso il sovrasensibile | Revolt Against the Modern World: Politics, Religion, and Social Order in the Kali Yuga | Three Aspects of the Jewish Problem | The Mystery of the Grail: Initiation and Magic in the Quest for the Spirit | Il Mito del Sangue. Genesi del Razzismo | Sintesi di Dottrina della Raza | The Elements of Racial Education | Die Arische Lehre von Kampf und Sieg | Gli Ebrei hanno volute questa Guerra | The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts | The Yoga of Power: Tantra, Shakti, and the Secret Way | Orientamenti | Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist | Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex | Ride the Tiger: A Survival Manual for the Aristocrats of the Soul | Il Cammino del Cinabro | Il Fascismo. Saggio di una Analisi Critica dal Punto di Vista della Destra | L'Arco e la Clava | Il Taoismo | Meditations on the Peaks: Mountain Climbing as Metaphor for the Spiritual Quest | Ultimi Scritti | The Path of Enlightenment According to the Mithraic Mysteries | Zen: The Religion of the Samurai | Rene Guenon: A Teacher for Modern Times | Taoism: The Magic, the Mysticism