Remembering René Guénon:
November 15, 1886 to January 7, 1951
Greg Johnson
René Guénon was born on November 15, 1886. Along with Julius Evola, Guénon was one of the leading figures in the Traditionalist school, which has deeply influenced my own outlook and the metapolitical mission and editorial agenda of Counter-Currents Publishing and North American New Right. (For a sense of my differences with Guénon, see my lecture on “Vico and the New Right.”)
In commemoration of his birth, I wish to draw your attention to the following works on this website.
- Alain de Benoist, “Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power,” trans. Jon Graham
- Julius Evola, “René Guénon: East and West,” trans. anonymous, rev. Greg Johnson
- Greg Johnson, “Metapolitics and Occult Warfare,” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 (French translation here)
- Edouard Rix, “Remembering René Guénon,” trans. Greg Johnson
- Harry Oldmeadow, “Biography of René Guénon“
- Thomas F. Bertonneau, “The Kali Yuga: René Guénon’s Critique of Modernity“
This relative handful of articles does not give a true sense of Guénon’s importance, for along with Evola, Nietzsche, and Spengler, he is also one of the most widely mentioned thinkers on this site. It is a presence, and an influence, that will only grow in time.
Those looking for an introduction to Guénon’s work should begin with the short and relatively accessible The Crisis of the Modern World. For a judicious overview of Guénon’s works, see The Essential René Guénon: Metaphysics, Tradition, and the Crisis of Modernity
. My personal favorite among Guénon’s books, and the one the provides the most “empirical” access to the idea of Tradition, is Symbols of Sacred Science
.
For a brief biography of Guénon, see Robin Waterfield, René Guénon and the Future of the West: The Life and Writings of a 20th-Century Metaphysician. For an interesting and readable historical/journalistic account of Traditionalism, see Mark Sedgwick, Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century.
Related
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A Robertson Roundup: Remembering Wilmot Robertson (April 16, 1915 – July 8, 2005)
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Remembering Dominique Venner
(April 16, 1935 – May 21, 2013) -
Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 335 Dark Enlightenment
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Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 334 Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Fróði Midjord
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Remembering Jonathan Bowden (April 12, 1962–March 29, 2012)
-
Remembering Emil Cioran (April 8, 1911–June 20, 1995)
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Heidegger’s History of Metaphysics, Part Six: G. W. Leibniz’s Will-to-Power
-
The Oslo Incident
1 comment
Both René Guénon & Julius Evola (however slight their differences on outlook) are beginning to have an effect on me within modernity. Having necessarily stepped through a couple of doors of consciousness has given me a more critical look upon modernity in the long term.
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