The occult war
( Excerpt from "Men Among the Ruins")
By Julius Evola
Various causes have been adduced to
explain the crisis that has affected and still affects the life of
modern peoples: historical, social, socioeconomic, political, moral,
and cultural causes, according to different perspectives. The part
played by each of these causes should not be denied. However, we need
to ask a higher and essential question: are these always the first
causes and do they have an inevitable character like those causes
found in the material world? Do they supply an ultimate explanation
or, in some cases, is it necessary to identify influences of a higher
order, which may cause what has occurred in the West to appear very
suspicious, and which, beyond the multiplicity of individual aspects,
suggest that there is the same logic at work?
The concept of occult war must be defined
within the context of the dilemma. The occult war is a battle that
is waged imperceptibly by the forces of global subversion, with means
and in circumstances ignored by current historiography. The notion
of occult war belongs to a three-dimensional view of history: this
view does not regard as essential the two superficial dimensions of
time and space (which include causes, facts, and visible leaders)
but rather emphasizes the dimension of depth, or the "subterranean"
dimension in which forces and influences often act in a decisive manner,
and which, more often not than not, cannot be reduced to what is merely
human, whether at an individual or a collective level.
Having said that, it is necessary to
specify the meaning of the term "subterranean." We should
not think, in this regard, of a dark and irrational background which
stands in relation to the known forces of history as the unconscious
stands to consciousness, in the way the latter relationship is discussed
in the recently developed "Depth Psychology." If anything,
we can talk about the unconscious only in regard to those who, according
to the three-dimensional view, appear to be history's objects rather
than its subjects, since in their thoughts and conduct they are scarcely
aware of the influences which they obey and the goals that they contribute
toward achieving. In these people, the center falls more in the unconscious
and the pre-conscious than in the clear reflected consciousness, no
matter what they-who are often men of action and ideologues-believe.
Considering this relation, we can say that the most decisive actions
of the occult war take place in the human unconscious. However, if
we consider the true agents of history in the special aspects we are
now discussing, things are otherwise: here we cannot talk of the subconscious
or the unconscious, since we are dealing with intelligent forces that
know very well what they want and what are the means most suited to
achieve their objectives.
The third dimension of history should
not be diluted in the fog of abstract philosophical or sociological
concepts, but should rather be thought of as a "backstage"
dimension where specific "intelligences" are at work.
An investigation of the secret history
that aspires to be positivist and scientific should not be too lofty
or removed from reality. However, it is necessary to assume as the
ultimate reference point a dualistic scheme not dissimilar from the
one found in an older tradition. Catholic historiography used to regard
history not only as a mechanism of natural, political, economic, and
social causes, but also as the unfolding of divine Providence, to
which hostile forces are opposed. These forces are sometimes referred
to in a moralistic fashion as "forces of evil," or in a
theological fashion as the "forces of the Anti-Christ."
Such a view has a positive content, provided it is purified and emphasized
by bringing it to a less religious and more metaphysical plane, as
was done in Classical and Indo-European antiquity: forces of the cosmos
against forces of chaos. To the former correspond everything that
is form, order, law, spiritual hierarchy, and tradition in the higher
sense of the word; to the latter correspond every influence that disintegrates,
subverts, degrades, and promotes the predominance of the inferior
over the superior, matter over spirit, quantity over quality. This
is what can be said in regard to the ultimate reference points of
the various influences that act upon the realm of tangible causes,
behind known history. These must be taken into account, though with
some prudence. Let me repeat: aside from this necessary metaphysical
background, let us never lose sight of concrete history.
Methodologically speaking, we need to
be careful to prevent valid insights from degenerating into fantasies
and superstition, and not develop the tendency to see an occult background
everywhere and at all costs. In this regard, every assumption we make
must have the character of what are called "working hypotheses"
in scientific research: as when something is admitted provisionally,
thus allowing the gathering and arranging of a group of apparently
isolated facts, only to confer on them a character not of hypothesis
but of truth when, at the end of a serious inductive work, the data
converge in validating the original assumption. Every time an effect
outlasts and transcends its tangible causes, a suspicion should arise,
and a positive or negative influence behind the stages should be perceived.
A problem is posited, but in analyzing it and seeking its solution,
prudence must be exercised. The fact that those who have ventured
in this direction have not restrained their wild imaginations has
discredited what could have been a science, the results of which could
hardly be overestimated. This too meets the expectations of the hidden
enemy.
After considering the state of society
and modern civilization, one should ask if this is not a specific
case that requires the application of this method; in other words,
one should ask whether some situations of real crisis and radical
subversion in the modern world can be satisfactorily explained through
"natural" and spontaneous processes, or whether we need
to refer to something that has been concerted, namely a still unfolding
plan, devised by forces hiding in the shadows.
