Hail Atlantis!

And now, here's Donovan to play us out. Or in. Or, wait... There's no words there, what does that mean, to PLAY US OUT? I can't do it! WE'LL DO IT LIVE! WE'LL DO IT LIVE! OK, calm down, Bill. It's true, there are no words there, but if you click on the little triangle thingie at the top of the right column -- see it over there? -- music will come out of your speakers. In this case, the still incredible, near pathological grandiosity of Donovan, telling us, in a breathy voice-over prelude, all about "Fair Atlantis." It would be nice to think that this sort of nutso self-delusion went out with Madame Blavatsky and Edgar Cayce. But no. Most of the books listed in the right column are by one John Michell. That Wikipedia page begins... Michell is best known for his books on earth mysteries, pseudoscientific metrology, ley lines, sacred geometry, sacred sites, geomancy, gematria, archaeoastronomy, and Fortean phenomena... Need I say more? But you know I will. Just to be clear, I can't abide this smarmy elitist son of a bitch. Like Blavatsky, Cayce and Donovan, he had plenty to say about Atlantis (see sidebar), but the following is from his Confessions of a Radical Traditionalist, specifically, from the chapter titled "A Rad-Trad Englishman and an Italian" (pp. 146-148). Here, he is initially talking about William Cobbett, another lard-assed patrician snob (pictured below), of whom he thinks a great deal. As a traditionalist, Cobbett detested socialism, materialism, moralism and schemes to improve the mentalities of the masses. His idea of progress was to look backwards to the days of Merrie England under the spell of Catholic religion -- when every village had its dynastic farmers and craftsmen, its sporting heroes, beauty queens and aged wiseacres, its own customs, stories, music, style of dancing and way of speaking. In its ancient manor house a dimly noble family upheld the local economy and culture. Long summer days passed happily, uneventfully; mid-winter was a time of fun and festival; and there was plenty of the best for all. No one had ever heard of Darwin, Freud or van Gogh [WTF?], and no one was so clever as to have a nervous breakdown. As someone who was so clever as to have a nervous breakdown, I'd like to briefly interrupt here to say: fuck you, Johnny. But hold on, the money shot is yet to come. In what follows, I've added some links and emphasized some people and ideas that have previously concerned us on Mystic Bourgeoisie. Also, note Michell's repeated tendency to protest too much. It comes as a shock to be reminded how closely this picture resembles the ideal images of fascism. But there is a world of difference between the gross literalism and inhumanity of a totalitarian system and the high idealism of a radical traditionalist. That difference was emphasised by Julius Evola (1898-1974), the Italian rad-trad philosopher. Though idolised by Mussolini, he was fiercely critical of the Fascist system -- and of man-made systems generally. He rejected Darwin, and the entirety of modern, secular thinking, in favor of the traditional, classical world-view. Like Socrates, he perceived a divine order in Creation, and he acknowledged a tradition, based upon that order and passed down from the great civilizations of antiquity. The old tradition, and the virtues of honesty, justice, courage, piety and noble conduct associated with it, were the main elements in Evola's reactionary revolution. In 1951 he was arrested and brought to trial in Rome for "glorifying Fascism." The prosecutor made a farce of the proceedings by refusing to specify objectionable passages in Evola's writings, saying it was a question of his tone or "general spirit." The trial collapsed and Evola was fully acquitted. Most of us are familiar with that sort of accusation -- against one's tone, attitude or general spirit. Bullies and witch-hunters are always on the lookout for fascism, racism, sexism, elitism, loyalism, religious sentiments or whatever is considered most incorrect at the time. In Evola they find their ideal victim. In his most powerful book, Revolt Against the Modern World, he spoke of manliness, mystical sovereignty and legitimate authority. He spoke also about occult politics and the collusions between democrats and demagogues to effeminise society and dumb it down. Inevitably [???], he brought in the Jews, associating the Jewish mentality with materialism. That makes him, if you like, an anti-Semite. But he was not speaking racially, or against the Jewish tradition which he respected. His reference was to a state of mind, occurring in Jews and Gentiles alike: the state of mind that is reflected in the chaos of the modern world. Uh-huh, that makes him very much an anti-Semite. Well, count me among the bullies and witch-hunters, dude, for in Evola, I do indeed find my ideal "victim." For a very different view of the man, scan this page of Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. Michell's Confessions is glowingly reviewed in TYR: Myth-Culture-Tradition Vol. 3, a very cultivated collection of neo-fascist, neo-pagan blatherskite. (Wikipedia once again surprises with an amazingly thorough entry on the journal.) Interestingly, that review is followed by an, inevitably, not-so-glowing review of New Religions and the Nazis by Karla Poewe. Here's part of the critique... ...she hopes to draw parallels between the völkish subculture in pre-Nazi and Nazi Germany and the "cultic milieu" of the postmodern West. The intent is to construct a highly questionable slippery slope. Today: Goddess worship, crystals, Tibetan singing bowls, and handfasting ceremonies. Tomorrow: gas chambers and secret police. This may sound a bit far-fetched to the average reader... Ah, but then, we are not your "average readers," are we, class? Hey, I know. Let's all be pagans! It's not too late to get started! walk like an Egyptian ~bangles

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