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TYR Myth-Culture-Tradition Vol. 3 Paperback – December 1, 2006
by
Joshua Buckley
(Author, Editor),
Michael Moynihan
(Editor)
| Joshua Buckley (Author, Editor) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Michael Moynihan (Editor) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
IN THE THIRD VOLUME: Thomas Naylor on "Cipherspace," Annie Le Brun on "Catastrophe Pending," Pentti Linkola on "Survival Theory," Michael O'Meara on "The Primordial and the Perennial," Alain de Benoist on "Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power," Nigel Pennick on "The Web of Wyrd," Thierry Jolif on "The Abode of the Gods and the Great Beyond," Stephen Flowers on "The Spear of Destiny," Joscelyn Godwin on Philip Pullman's "Dark Materials" trilogy, Ian Read on "Humour in the Icelandic Sagas," Geza von Neményi on the "Hávamál," Gordon Kennedy on the "Children of the Sonne," Michael Moynihan on "Carl Larsson's Greatest Sacrifice," Christopher McIntosh on "Iceland's Pagan Renaissance," Jónína Berg on Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, "Selected Poems" by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, Vilius Rudra Dundzila on "Baltic Lithuanian Religion," James Reagan on "The End Times," interviews with the stalwart folk singer Andrew King and the modern minnesinger Roland Kroell, Collin Cleary on "Paganism Without Gods," Róbert Hórvath on Mark Sedgwick's "Against the Modern World," and extensive book and music review sections.
- Print length530 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUltra
- Publication dateDecember 1, 2006
- ISBN-100972029230
- ISBN-13978-0972029230
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Tyr is a unique, largely but not exclusively Pagan-oriented publication that is in fact rather difficult to categorize. It has much to recommend it, from scholarly articles on ancient European Pagan religion and mythology, thoughtful reflections on Ásatrú and other Pagan revival movements of the last several decades and their roots in earlier cultural movements such as Romanticism, interviews with leading figures in contemporary Paganism, philosophers and musicians, and music and book reviews. It also has certain more controversial political aspects ... Tyr is certainly one of the more thoughtful and scholarly, if not fully academic, Pagan publications available, and is recommended both for the quality of many of its articles on various Pagan and Pagan-related issues, and for its more controversial political aspects, which are a dimension of the modern Pagan revival in need of more sustained exposition, debate and analysis. --Michael Strmiska, The Pomegranate
A mind of healthy curiosity even one sharing none of the conclusions about life, the universe and everything championed in Tyr will find plenty stimulating here. Tyr is a first-class artifact of, ironically, modern Bohemia. --Zach Dundas, Willamette Week
The Radical Traditionalists from Tyr have successfully attracted contributions from academics and scholars by maintaining a publication of high intellectual quality … the adaptation of the concept of Radical Traditionalism by people outside Tyr testifies to the impact that Tyr has had. --Jacob C. Senholt, Radical Traditionalism and the New Right: An Examination of Political Esotericism in America
A mind of healthy curiosity even one sharing none of the conclusions about life, the universe and everything championed in Tyr will find plenty stimulating here. Tyr is a first-class artifact of, ironically, modern Bohemia. --Zach Dundas, Willamette Week
The Radical Traditionalists from Tyr have successfully attracted contributions from academics and scholars by maintaining a publication of high intellectual quality … the adaptation of the concept of Radical Traditionalism by people outside Tyr testifies to the impact that Tyr has had. --Jacob C. Senholt, Radical Traditionalism and the New Right: An Examination of Political Esotericism in America
About the Author
Joshua Buckley was born in 1974 in Sharon, Connecticut. He has contributed to a number of music-related and other counter-cultural magazines, in addition to pursuing his own publishing ventures. In 2009, he relocated from Atlanta, Georgia to South Carolina, where he lives with his wife Liberty, three daughters, and a variety of animals. He works for an Atlanta-based law firm and teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Product details
- Publisher : Ultra (December 1, 2006)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 530 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0972029230
- ISBN-13 : 978-0972029230
- Item Weight : 1.85 pounds
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,141,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Michael Moynihan was born in 1969 in New England and has lived in Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Sweden. As an author, editor, translator, musician, and publisher, all of his work deals with the netherworlds where culture, religion, and art meet.
His non-fiction book Lords of Chaos, co-written with Norwegian author Didrik Søderlind, won a Firecracker Independent Book Award in 2003. It has since been translated into nine languages (not counting several unauthorized foreign bootleg editions). Most recently he has collaborated on two volumes relating to the unsung pioneer of grotesque and occult imagery in photography, William Mortensen (1897–1965): as co-editor with Larry Lytle of American Grotesque: The Life and Art of William Mortensen and as author of the essay “Infernal Impact: The Command to Look as a Formula for Satanic Success” included in the new edition of William Mortensen's The Command to Look: A Master Photographer’s Method for Controlling the Human Gaze.
His work as a translator includes an annotated edition of Die religiose Welt der Germanen: Ritual, Magie, Kult, Mythus by Hans-Peter Hasenfratz, Ph.D., which has been published in English as Barbarian Rites: The Spiritual World of the Vikings and the Germanic Tribes (Inner Traditions, 2011).
With his wife Annabel Lee he runs a small independent publishing venture, Dominion Press, which has produced works by Stephen Flowers, Hans Bellmer, John Michell, and Joscelyn Godwin in limited hardcover editions (www.dominionpress.net).
Joshua Buckley was born in 1974 in Sharon, Connecticut. He has contributed to a number of music-related and other counter-cultural magazines, in addition to pursuing his own publishing ventures. In 2009, he relocated from Atlanta, Georgia to South Carolina, where he lives with his wife Liberty, three daughters, and a variety of animals. He works for an Atlanta-based law firm and teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 21, 2015
The book was much larger than I expected it to be. In fact, I was expecting it to be in a magazine format. I had completely missed any mention of number if outages, and was pleasantly surprised by the brick that showed up in my mailbox. The intimation contained within seems to be very scholarly and informative. I would definitely purchase the others in the series, when i can afford them.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 31, 2007
Tyr is a defining journal of our times. Its scope stretches from past to future in its vision and analysis. The quality of the writing and thought is of the highest order. Insightful, visionary and topical. There are few journals which cover the subjects you will find inside Tyr. Issue #1 was ground breaking. Issue #2 took things to another and higher level. Issue #3 is even better in its contents. Impeccably produced and edited. Though published once a year, it is an anthology that can be read and re-read and pondered upon for the ensuing year and beyond. This is a keeper. There will be few used copies available in the future, I am sure. My highest praise and enthusiasm for this present issue. Secure your copy while it's still available.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 4, 2009
Edited by Joshua Buckley and Michael Moynihan, the 'radical traditionalist' journal TYR is a welcome antidote to the shallowness and vulgarity of the modern world. TYR celebrates the myths and culture of pre-Christian, pre-Modern Europe, and in doing so attempts to trace where it all went wrong. In the preface, the editors contrast the conflict between culture (which is vital and alive) and civilisation (which is sterile and superficial). "By looking to the origins of our culture, what we hope to find is an alternative to the asphalt wasteland of our data-drenched civilisation. This is a revolution in the most radical sense of the word: a turning back to the roots to reclaim a new beginning."
TYR aims to be a nexus where different views can come together, but doesn't claim to speak for any one viewpoint or 'movement'. The editors welcome controversy and debate. The third issue is the best yet, though sadly it doesn't come with a music CD like the second one did. It does contain many music and book reviews, as well as interviews with the German Minnesänger Roland Kroell and the English folk singer Andrew King. But the articles are the best reason for buying TYR 3.
As with the previous two issues, the articles fall roughly into five categories:
1)Indo-European tradition
2)Modern revivals of Indo-European tradition
3)Artists inspired by tradition
4)Philosophical analysis
5)The pitiful state of modern culture and society
1) Indo-European Tradition
In his article 'Weaving the Web of Wyrd', Nigel Pennick examines the three Fates (or Norns), as they appear in Greek, Roman and Nordic mythologies. Even well into the Christian era it was still customary at a certain time of the year to set an extra dinner table up for the three Fates. The Fates embody the interconnectedness of all things - a key Indo-European belief. As the ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras said, "Nothing exists apart: everything has a share of everything else." The present is shaped by the past, but within those limits we are free to determine our own destinies.
Thierry Jolif's article 'The Abode of the Gods and the Great Beyond' explores the Celtic vision of the afterlife, or Other World. This seems to have been regarded both as a place and a state of being. Often warriors would enter the Other World while still alive, and sometimes in dreams. It could also be reached by maritime voyage, and this clearly influenced Tolkien's description of the western lands in The Lord of the Rings: "The grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise..."
Ian Read looks at 'Humour in the Icelandic Sagas', and examines the difficulties in understanding the jokes of another culture, or even of our own culture in centuries past. Humour is often, quite literally, lost in translation. Many of the jokes in the sagas are satirical, or else display a laconic stoicism and courage in the face of death. For instance, in Njal's Saga, a man named Thorgrim is speared in the stomach by Gunnar. One of Thorgrim's companions then asks him whether Gunnar was at home. Thorgrim replies: "find out for yourself, but this I know, his spear was at home..."
Géza von Neményi's article 'Rune Song or Magic Charms?' argues that the 'magic charms' at the end of Odin's poem Hávamál in fact correspond to specific runes of the Younger Futhark. Géza views the Hávamál as an initiaic document, with Odin's attempt to seduce Billing's daughter being a poetic account of his first (unsuccessful) attempt at initiation - of gaining the mead of poetry (wisdom), which he later succeeded in acquiring. It was during his initiaic ordeal that he acquired the runes.
In 'The End Times According to the Indo-European Worldview', James Reagan compares Hindu, Greek, Norse and Celtic prophecies about the end of the world, and finds they are remarkably similar. Towards the end, during the Wolf Age (Iron Age, or Kali Yuga), leaders will be corrupt, the land will be polluted and defiled, men will be cowardly and deceitful, and actors will be exalted above anyone else. The parallels to our own age are unmistakeable. But unlike the biblical Apocalypse, the collapse of this world of current illusion may not be a final end: "According to the Norse tradition, the world will be repopulated by two survivors who remain hidden during Ragnarok: Líf ("life") and LífÞrasir ("desire of life"). Man is again reinvigorated with the active element, the "desire", and another cycle is manifest."
In what is by far the longest article in TYR 3, Vilius Rudra Dundzila takes an in-depth look at 'Baltic and Lithuanian Religion and Romuva'. This article gives some insight into the fascinating and magical world of Lithuanian gods and goddesses, folk traditions and myths. Many Lithuanians are proud of the fact that they were the last Europeans to be Christianised. Amusingly, large groups of Lithuanians 'converted' to Christianity around 1410 because it meant they received a free white shirt or blouse for their baptism ceremony. In fact, "many underwent baptism several times for additional garments." As in other parts of Europe, elements of the native religion survived in folk tradition or in Christian disguise. The old beliefs began to revive in the twentieth century, partly as a result of Lithuanian nationalism. But pagans were persecuted during the Communist era, and folk singing became an act of civil disobedience. In fact, Lithuania's independence struggle in 1990-91 was known as the 'Singing Revolution'.
2) Modern revivals of Indo-European tradition
Gordon Kennedy's article 'Children of the Sonne' gives convincing evidence that the 'hippie' culture of the 1960s had its real roots not in the drug-addled 'beatniks' of the 50s, but in the German Lebensreform (life-reform) culture of the late 1800s and early 1900s. And this movement, in turn, had much deeper roots - going all the way back to Germany's pagan origins. Kennedy wrote a book on this subject, but many of the hippie bookshops in California were so frightened by it that they refused to stock it! As Kennedy puts it: "It seems that most of these neo-hippies are not as turned on, tuned in, or dropped out as they wish they were...because the American media has obviously convinced them of what it isn't politically correct for their hippie clientele to read."
Christopher McIntosh gives a moving account of 'Iceland's Pagan Renaissance'. More so than in any other Western European country, in Iceland there is a direct continuity between heathen times and the present. There has always been a degree of co-existence there between Christianity and paganism; in 1971, for instance, when the Codex Regius manuscript (containing the heathen Elder Edda) was brought back to Iceland after centuries in a Danish museum, it was met at the harbour with brass bands, cheering crowds, and jubilant speeches from Icelandic politicians! One Icelandic writer, Sigurður Nordal (1886-1974) maintained that "anyone who studies the Edda and the other old sources deeply cannot avoid becoming a pagan." The skalds (poets) helped keep old traditions alive, as did the widespread folk beliefs in elves. Even in recent times, highways and oil stations have been relocated because they were built on elf land without permission, and with disastrous consequences.
The heathen tradition is carried on today by people like Hilmar Hilmarsson, helped along by music groups like Sigur Rós (Victory Rose). The revival was originally spearheaded by people like Helgi Pjeturs, who developed a belief system called 'Njall', which held that humans are images of the gods (who attempt to push human evolution forward), and that there is a neverending battle between the forces of life, and the forces of entropy/dissolution. The task of mankind is to assist the gods in fighting on the side of life and creativity.
But the real founder of the modern pagan revival in Iceland was Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, who is described here in an article by Jónína K. Berg, who knew him personally. Beinteinsson was a farmer and self-taught poet, as well as a chanter of great power, who made the Icelandic language come alive. Five of his poems are reprinted here, accompanied by English translations, so that those who don't know Icelandic can get a small taste of the language. Even in translation the power of the words is marvellous.
3) Artists inspired by tradition
Joscelyn Godwin's article 'Esotericism Without Religion' takes a look at Philip Pullman's bestselling His Dark Materials trilogy, which Godwin believes contains a lot of hidden Western esoteric symbolism. Pullman is known for his trendy and shallow attacks on J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, but Godwin is right in claiming that Pullman's power as an artistic visionary transcends his narrow moralising tendencies.
Michael Moynihan's article 'Carl Larsson's Greatest Sacrifice' tells the story of the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853-1919), particularly his monumental final painting Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice). Larsson was an interesting folkish artist who has received little attention outside of Sweden. In addition to his painting, he had plans to construct a nationalist temple called The Temple of Memory, which would have incorporated both pagan and Christian elements of Swedish history, and which he hoped would become a sacred site and centre of pilgrimage for Swedes.
4) Philosophical analysis
Alain de Benoist looks at 'Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power', examining the diverging views of three Traditionalist thinkers on the relationship between spiritual power and military/political power. René Guénon believed that the former must have precedence over the latter. Julius Evola argued that the latter can in fact be a manifestation of the former, his view being more of a Western view, and linked to his support for the Ghibelline faction in European history. The Anglo-Indian thinker Ananda Coomaraswamy, on the other hand, acknowledged the superiority of the spiritual, or Brahmanic caste, over the warrior, or Kshatriya caste. He modified this, however, by stressing the independence of both factions, which he compared to a marriage, symbolised by the Hindu gods Mitra and Varuna. In Europe, however, the gods of the 'first function' (such as Tyr) eventually became subordinate to those of the 'second function' (such as Odin), as the latter took up many of the powers of the former. The modern world only raised its ugly head when the two powers became fully separated. Alain de Benoist sides with Coomaraswamy over Guénon and Evola (although Coomaraswamy was only writing in the context of India, rather than the Indo-European world as a whole).
In what may be the most significant piece of writing to have appeared in TYR so far, Michael O'Meara's article 'The Primordial and the Perennial' contrasts the two views of the 'Traditional' taken by Martin Heidegger and Julius Evola. Evola was concerned exclusively with Spirit: existential reality had only a secondary significance for him. But Heidegger's anti-modernism opposed such metaphysics, as he believed it separated temporal being from Being, removing the transcendent element from the world, which led to the meaninglessness of modern civilisation. Heidegger's concept of tradition is not metaphysical, but based on the notion of Überlieferung (i.e. the customs etc. that have come down to us from the past). Humans cannot grasp true Being outside of its temporal manifestations, Heidegger thought. In fact, he went further, and maintained that Being is disclosed only in its mundane, temporal, and never-fully-revealed states.
Contrary to the opinions of Evola (who hadn't properly read Heidegger), O'Meara contends that Heidegger was not an existentialist at all in the Sartrean sense. Far from being "condemned to be free", he believed that an authentic human existence is "a process of taking over who we have been in the service of who we are." That is a sentence to ponder deeply. History, for Heidegger, is "a choice for heroes." Heidegger did something that neither the Traditionalists (like Evola) or the Existentialists (like Sartre) have done: he recognised the ecstatic dimension of temporal existence (Dasein).
O'Meara does not like dismissing Evola entirely, however. He comes to the intriguing conclusion that the two can be reconciled. Just as the ancient philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides both had different perspectives on the same underlying logos, likewise do Heidegger and Evola both attribute primacy to Being - and thus both give valuable service in the battle against modern European nihilism. Now, if only I had the time to sit down and read 'Being and Time' from cover to cover...
5) The pitiful state of modern culture and society
In his article 'Code of Blood: Counterfeits of Tradition', Stephen Flowers briefly examines the ways in which the modern world distorts and exploits mythical motifs to serve its own ideological or financial ends - for instance in works such as 'The Spear of Destiny' or 'The Da Vinci Code'. Looking under the surface, however, Flowers finds there are genuine elements of tradition at the bottom of these works, but they have become so distorted that it is difficult to sort the genuine mysteries from the false, modern ideas.
Thomas Naylor's article 'Cipherspace' takes a long, hard look at Naylor's native country America. Although the article occasionally bounds in unconnected leaps, its emotional impact is overwhelming. He writes of the "global system of dominance and deceit", which he defines in seven ways: (1) Affluenza. This is an obsession with consumer goods and services. Enough never seems to be quite enough. "Many affluent Americans seem to be more dead than alive." (2) Technomania. Technology makes us feel like we are 'in charge', but for most this is an illusion. We need to ask: "will it serve us, or will we serve it?" (3) E-mania. Virtual living draws us further away from actual living. "Any kid can operate a PC, but fewer and fewer can write a poem, create an original story, or play a musical instrument." Politicians talk of 'broadband for everyone' as a bogus fix for problems that stem from a lack of community. (4) Megalomania. A sense of omnipotence, hubris, that stems from the technological shell that encrusts us. (5) Robotism. Despite (or because of) the alleged 'individualism' of Westeners, they increasingly behave like conformist drones...even as their base egos ever inflate (witness the surge in violent assaults etc.) (6) Globalisation. Local values are destroyed in the name of a 'streamlined economy' and so forth. Corporations have a free hand to operate, playing so-called 'sovereign' nations off against each other. The alleged benefits resulting from a trickle-down effect are illusory. (7) Imperialism. The U.S. has frequently sent its sons (and now its daughters) to die in Europe, the Pacific, the Middle East, Central America etc. to fight countries that posed no direct threat to it. There is a U.S. military presence in 136 countries, and the U.S. is the only country to have used nuclear weapons against civilians.
Annie Le Brun's piece 'Catastrophe Pending' will be controversial, as it is not unsympathetic to the extreme anti-modern Unabomber Manifesto. She makes the interesting point that the 'Unabomber', unlike other terrorists, was not supported by left-wing academia - precisely because he called their own values into question. The 'Unabomber', in fact, objected to 'revolutionary' thought, due to its 'abstract and dogmatic nature' - precisely the same kind of thought found in modern academia.
The most controversial piece in TYR 3, however, will be Pentti Linkola's article 'Survival Theory'. Linkola is not quite the hardcore misanthrope that conservatives like Andrew Bolt have made him out to be. He has respect for the elderly, for instance, and even admires the achievements of Western medicine. But Linkola, a fisherman who lives in a hut without running water, preaches that we must abandon the Western lifestyle - or die. Man allegedly causes the extinction of one species (animal, plant or fungi) per minute. Overpopulation and the destruction of the natural world are the greatest threats facing the planet today. "Even the most beautiful of mankind's ambitions become meaningless if there is no life and no mankind." It is worth noting that Linkola's article was originally written in 1992. Since then the world's population has increased by 1.6 BILLION.
Of course, most of the population issues of the Western world these days are immigration-related - something Linkola is one of the few environmentalists to address. But Linkola's most controversial aspect is his anti-humanism. He seriously advocates 'tactical strikes' (by methods as painless as science can make them) against the world's major population centres. This, he believes, will not disrupt normal ethics - after the worst atrocities in history, a kind neighbour could often be seen helping an old person across the road, for instance. But I personally believe that nature herself may take the matter out of Linkola's hands. There could well be a plague, or general breakdown, and then those who haven't 'pulled out of the system' will probably not survive. Something is around the corner, anyhow. Something that may just surprise us all...
In the meantime get a copy of TYR.
TYR aims to be a nexus where different views can come together, but doesn't claim to speak for any one viewpoint or 'movement'. The editors welcome controversy and debate. The third issue is the best yet, though sadly it doesn't come with a music CD like the second one did. It does contain many music and book reviews, as well as interviews with the German Minnesänger Roland Kroell and the English folk singer Andrew King. But the articles are the best reason for buying TYR 3.
As with the previous two issues, the articles fall roughly into five categories:
1)Indo-European tradition
2)Modern revivals of Indo-European tradition
3)Artists inspired by tradition
4)Philosophical analysis
5)The pitiful state of modern culture and society
1) Indo-European Tradition
In his article 'Weaving the Web of Wyrd', Nigel Pennick examines the three Fates (or Norns), as they appear in Greek, Roman and Nordic mythologies. Even well into the Christian era it was still customary at a certain time of the year to set an extra dinner table up for the three Fates. The Fates embody the interconnectedness of all things - a key Indo-European belief. As the ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras said, "Nothing exists apart: everything has a share of everything else." The present is shaped by the past, but within those limits we are free to determine our own destinies.
Thierry Jolif's article 'The Abode of the Gods and the Great Beyond' explores the Celtic vision of the afterlife, or Other World. This seems to have been regarded both as a place and a state of being. Often warriors would enter the Other World while still alive, and sometimes in dreams. It could also be reached by maritime voyage, and this clearly influenced Tolkien's description of the western lands in The Lord of the Rings: "The grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise..."
Ian Read looks at 'Humour in the Icelandic Sagas', and examines the difficulties in understanding the jokes of another culture, or even of our own culture in centuries past. Humour is often, quite literally, lost in translation. Many of the jokes in the sagas are satirical, or else display a laconic stoicism and courage in the face of death. For instance, in Njal's Saga, a man named Thorgrim is speared in the stomach by Gunnar. One of Thorgrim's companions then asks him whether Gunnar was at home. Thorgrim replies: "find out for yourself, but this I know, his spear was at home..."
Géza von Neményi's article 'Rune Song or Magic Charms?' argues that the 'magic charms' at the end of Odin's poem Hávamál in fact correspond to specific runes of the Younger Futhark. Géza views the Hávamál as an initiaic document, with Odin's attempt to seduce Billing's daughter being a poetic account of his first (unsuccessful) attempt at initiation - of gaining the mead of poetry (wisdom), which he later succeeded in acquiring. It was during his initiaic ordeal that he acquired the runes.
In 'The End Times According to the Indo-European Worldview', James Reagan compares Hindu, Greek, Norse and Celtic prophecies about the end of the world, and finds they are remarkably similar. Towards the end, during the Wolf Age (Iron Age, or Kali Yuga), leaders will be corrupt, the land will be polluted and defiled, men will be cowardly and deceitful, and actors will be exalted above anyone else. The parallels to our own age are unmistakeable. But unlike the biblical Apocalypse, the collapse of this world of current illusion may not be a final end: "According to the Norse tradition, the world will be repopulated by two survivors who remain hidden during Ragnarok: Líf ("life") and LífÞrasir ("desire of life"). Man is again reinvigorated with the active element, the "desire", and another cycle is manifest."
In what is by far the longest article in TYR 3, Vilius Rudra Dundzila takes an in-depth look at 'Baltic and Lithuanian Religion and Romuva'. This article gives some insight into the fascinating and magical world of Lithuanian gods and goddesses, folk traditions and myths. Many Lithuanians are proud of the fact that they were the last Europeans to be Christianised. Amusingly, large groups of Lithuanians 'converted' to Christianity around 1410 because it meant they received a free white shirt or blouse for their baptism ceremony. In fact, "many underwent baptism several times for additional garments." As in other parts of Europe, elements of the native religion survived in folk tradition or in Christian disguise. The old beliefs began to revive in the twentieth century, partly as a result of Lithuanian nationalism. But pagans were persecuted during the Communist era, and folk singing became an act of civil disobedience. In fact, Lithuania's independence struggle in 1990-91 was known as the 'Singing Revolution'.
2) Modern revivals of Indo-European tradition
Gordon Kennedy's article 'Children of the Sonne' gives convincing evidence that the 'hippie' culture of the 1960s had its real roots not in the drug-addled 'beatniks' of the 50s, but in the German Lebensreform (life-reform) culture of the late 1800s and early 1900s. And this movement, in turn, had much deeper roots - going all the way back to Germany's pagan origins. Kennedy wrote a book on this subject, but many of the hippie bookshops in California were so frightened by it that they refused to stock it! As Kennedy puts it: "It seems that most of these neo-hippies are not as turned on, tuned in, or dropped out as they wish they were...because the American media has obviously convinced them of what it isn't politically correct for their hippie clientele to read."
Christopher McIntosh gives a moving account of 'Iceland's Pagan Renaissance'. More so than in any other Western European country, in Iceland there is a direct continuity between heathen times and the present. There has always been a degree of co-existence there between Christianity and paganism; in 1971, for instance, when the Codex Regius manuscript (containing the heathen Elder Edda) was brought back to Iceland after centuries in a Danish museum, it was met at the harbour with brass bands, cheering crowds, and jubilant speeches from Icelandic politicians! One Icelandic writer, Sigurður Nordal (1886-1974) maintained that "anyone who studies the Edda and the other old sources deeply cannot avoid becoming a pagan." The skalds (poets) helped keep old traditions alive, as did the widespread folk beliefs in elves. Even in recent times, highways and oil stations have been relocated because they were built on elf land without permission, and with disastrous consequences.
The heathen tradition is carried on today by people like Hilmar Hilmarsson, helped along by music groups like Sigur Rós (Victory Rose). The revival was originally spearheaded by people like Helgi Pjeturs, who developed a belief system called 'Njall', which held that humans are images of the gods (who attempt to push human evolution forward), and that there is a neverending battle between the forces of life, and the forces of entropy/dissolution. The task of mankind is to assist the gods in fighting on the side of life and creativity.
But the real founder of the modern pagan revival in Iceland was Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, who is described here in an article by Jónína K. Berg, who knew him personally. Beinteinsson was a farmer and self-taught poet, as well as a chanter of great power, who made the Icelandic language come alive. Five of his poems are reprinted here, accompanied by English translations, so that those who don't know Icelandic can get a small taste of the language. Even in translation the power of the words is marvellous.
3) Artists inspired by tradition
Joscelyn Godwin's article 'Esotericism Without Religion' takes a look at Philip Pullman's bestselling His Dark Materials trilogy, which Godwin believes contains a lot of hidden Western esoteric symbolism. Pullman is known for his trendy and shallow attacks on J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, but Godwin is right in claiming that Pullman's power as an artistic visionary transcends his narrow moralising tendencies.
Michael Moynihan's article 'Carl Larsson's Greatest Sacrifice' tells the story of the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853-1919), particularly his monumental final painting Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice). Larsson was an interesting folkish artist who has received little attention outside of Sweden. In addition to his painting, he had plans to construct a nationalist temple called The Temple of Memory, which would have incorporated both pagan and Christian elements of Swedish history, and which he hoped would become a sacred site and centre of pilgrimage for Swedes.
4) Philosophical analysis
Alain de Benoist looks at 'Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power', examining the diverging views of three Traditionalist thinkers on the relationship between spiritual power and military/political power. René Guénon believed that the former must have precedence over the latter. Julius Evola argued that the latter can in fact be a manifestation of the former, his view being more of a Western view, and linked to his support for the Ghibelline faction in European history. The Anglo-Indian thinker Ananda Coomaraswamy, on the other hand, acknowledged the superiority of the spiritual, or Brahmanic caste, over the warrior, or Kshatriya caste. He modified this, however, by stressing the independence of both factions, which he compared to a marriage, symbolised by the Hindu gods Mitra and Varuna. In Europe, however, the gods of the 'first function' (such as Tyr) eventually became subordinate to those of the 'second function' (such as Odin), as the latter took up many of the powers of the former. The modern world only raised its ugly head when the two powers became fully separated. Alain de Benoist sides with Coomaraswamy over Guénon and Evola (although Coomaraswamy was only writing in the context of India, rather than the Indo-European world as a whole).
In what may be the most significant piece of writing to have appeared in TYR so far, Michael O'Meara's article 'The Primordial and the Perennial' contrasts the two views of the 'Traditional' taken by Martin Heidegger and Julius Evola. Evola was concerned exclusively with Spirit: existential reality had only a secondary significance for him. But Heidegger's anti-modernism opposed such metaphysics, as he believed it separated temporal being from Being, removing the transcendent element from the world, which led to the meaninglessness of modern civilisation. Heidegger's concept of tradition is not metaphysical, but based on the notion of Überlieferung (i.e. the customs etc. that have come down to us from the past). Humans cannot grasp true Being outside of its temporal manifestations, Heidegger thought. In fact, he went further, and maintained that Being is disclosed only in its mundane, temporal, and never-fully-revealed states.
Contrary to the opinions of Evola (who hadn't properly read Heidegger), O'Meara contends that Heidegger was not an existentialist at all in the Sartrean sense. Far from being "condemned to be free", he believed that an authentic human existence is "a process of taking over who we have been in the service of who we are." That is a sentence to ponder deeply. History, for Heidegger, is "a choice for heroes." Heidegger did something that neither the Traditionalists (like Evola) or the Existentialists (like Sartre) have done: he recognised the ecstatic dimension of temporal existence (Dasein).
O'Meara does not like dismissing Evola entirely, however. He comes to the intriguing conclusion that the two can be reconciled. Just as the ancient philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides both had different perspectives on the same underlying logos, likewise do Heidegger and Evola both attribute primacy to Being - and thus both give valuable service in the battle against modern European nihilism. Now, if only I had the time to sit down and read 'Being and Time' from cover to cover...
5) The pitiful state of modern culture and society
In his article 'Code of Blood: Counterfeits of Tradition', Stephen Flowers briefly examines the ways in which the modern world distorts and exploits mythical motifs to serve its own ideological or financial ends - for instance in works such as 'The Spear of Destiny' or 'The Da Vinci Code'. Looking under the surface, however, Flowers finds there are genuine elements of tradition at the bottom of these works, but they have become so distorted that it is difficult to sort the genuine mysteries from the false, modern ideas.
Thomas Naylor's article 'Cipherspace' takes a long, hard look at Naylor's native country America. Although the article occasionally bounds in unconnected leaps, its emotional impact is overwhelming. He writes of the "global system of dominance and deceit", which he defines in seven ways: (1) Affluenza. This is an obsession with consumer goods and services. Enough never seems to be quite enough. "Many affluent Americans seem to be more dead than alive." (2) Technomania. Technology makes us feel like we are 'in charge', but for most this is an illusion. We need to ask: "will it serve us, or will we serve it?" (3) E-mania. Virtual living draws us further away from actual living. "Any kid can operate a PC, but fewer and fewer can write a poem, create an original story, or play a musical instrument." Politicians talk of 'broadband for everyone' as a bogus fix for problems that stem from a lack of community. (4) Megalomania. A sense of omnipotence, hubris, that stems from the technological shell that encrusts us. (5) Robotism. Despite (or because of) the alleged 'individualism' of Westeners, they increasingly behave like conformist drones...even as their base egos ever inflate (witness the surge in violent assaults etc.) (6) Globalisation. Local values are destroyed in the name of a 'streamlined economy' and so forth. Corporations have a free hand to operate, playing so-called 'sovereign' nations off against each other. The alleged benefits resulting from a trickle-down effect are illusory. (7) Imperialism. The U.S. has frequently sent its sons (and now its daughters) to die in Europe, the Pacific, the Middle East, Central America etc. to fight countries that posed no direct threat to it. There is a U.S. military presence in 136 countries, and the U.S. is the only country to have used nuclear weapons against civilians.
Annie Le Brun's piece 'Catastrophe Pending' will be controversial, as it is not unsympathetic to the extreme anti-modern Unabomber Manifesto. She makes the interesting point that the 'Unabomber', unlike other terrorists, was not supported by left-wing academia - precisely because he called their own values into question. The 'Unabomber', in fact, objected to 'revolutionary' thought, due to its 'abstract and dogmatic nature' - precisely the same kind of thought found in modern academia.
The most controversial piece in TYR 3, however, will be Pentti Linkola's article 'Survival Theory'. Linkola is not quite the hardcore misanthrope that conservatives like Andrew Bolt have made him out to be. He has respect for the elderly, for instance, and even admires the achievements of Western medicine. But Linkola, a fisherman who lives in a hut without running water, preaches that we must abandon the Western lifestyle - or die. Man allegedly causes the extinction of one species (animal, plant or fungi) per minute. Overpopulation and the destruction of the natural world are the greatest threats facing the planet today. "Even the most beautiful of mankind's ambitions become meaningless if there is no life and no mankind." It is worth noting that Linkola's article was originally written in 1992. Since then the world's population has increased by 1.6 BILLION.
Of course, most of the population issues of the Western world these days are immigration-related - something Linkola is one of the few environmentalists to address. But Linkola's most controversial aspect is his anti-humanism. He seriously advocates 'tactical strikes' (by methods as painless as science can make them) against the world's major population centres. This, he believes, will not disrupt normal ethics - after the worst atrocities in history, a kind neighbour could often be seen helping an old person across the road, for instance. But I personally believe that nature herself may take the matter out of Linkola's hands. There could well be a plague, or general breakdown, and then those who haven't 'pulled out of the system' will probably not survive. Something is around the corner, anyhow. Something that may just surprise us all...
In the meantime get a copy of TYR.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 21, 2008
By now, I would assume most readers spanning this review have read or at least heard of the journal TYR. Originally conceived as an annual publication that has proven otherwise over time, this third installment is nonetheless well-worth the wait. Dedicated to pre-Christian myth, culture and tradition in an Indo-European context, TYR contains a wealth of articles, music and book reviews with an undeniably anti-modernist slant that maintains a high standard of erudition and scholarship. Anyone looking for mere ideological rants should look elsewhere. As the editors make clear in the editorial preface, the radical traditionalism espoused provides a "nexus where any different number of ideas might intersect." Echoing Oswald Spengler's distinction of a "people" as opposed to a "mass" several decades ago, the various authors hardly treat the underlying key themes - "culture" and "civilization" as synonymous.
This volume contains 18 articles, the first three of which are essentially critiques of the modern world in its various guises. The first, Cipherspace, methodically attacks the over-bearing presence of Corporate America and the crises that have arisen as a result. Affluenza, technomania, e-mania and globalization are just a few symptoms of today's world that affect not only America, but most other industrialized countries. Catastrophe Pending makes a strong case for the Unabomber as embodying the ultimate enemy and outsider of the modern world. Author Annie Le Brun proposes that he raised questions about the current state of affairs no one else as of yet wanted or dared to answer. Survival Theory, by Finnish eco- scholar Pentti Linkola is the journal's most severe critique of modernity, offering uncompromising yet levelheaded discourses on population explosion, life-protection and humanism.
The next two articles, The Primordial and the Perennial, by Michael O'Meara and Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power by Alain de Benoist traverse the traditionalist thought of 20th century luminaries such as René Guénon, Julius Evola, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and Martin Heidegger. Both authors offer much insight to their similarities and more crucially, their differences in what traditionalism actually represents. O'Meara proposes that nihilism is the opposite of tradition rather than modernity. In doing so, he points out the schism between the Guénonian school of Traditionalist thought and the views held by the editors of TYR, the latter championing traditionalist values in reference to European culture. Furthermore, he puts Heidegger and Julius Evola at loggerheads with each other, the former approaching tradition from a decidedly non-metaphysical, primordial standpoint and the latter espousing the perennialist view that upholds a metaphysical absolute. Guénon is by far the most stringent in the perennialist view, as Benoist's article further examines the disparities between Evola and Guénon's interpretation of tradition regarding spiritual authority and temporal power. Guénon championed spiritual authority and knowledge over temporal power and action and saw no complementary function between the two in a sovereign entity. Benoist quotes directly from him when the aforementioned relationship becomes inverted, "The revolution that toppled the monarchy is both its logical consequence and its punishment, meaning its reward for the revolt of this same monarchy against spiritual authority." Evola, as one might have guessed, placed far more emphasis on temporal power, action, and the warrior tradition. Benoist quotes, "The domination of the sacerdotal castes by a warrior tradition, the primacy of action over contemplation, do not on their own constitute any kind of lowering of the level;" Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, a contemporary and close friend of Guénon, emphasized the marriage between the monarchy and the priesthood from an exclusively Indian context. Benoist also introduces two more prominent 20th century traditionalists (not Traditionalists) into the fray - Mircea Eliade and Georges Dumézil. Dumézil's idea of the Indo-European tripartite function is brought on board to this topic (see Priests, Warriors and Cultivators, Benoist's interview with Dumézil for an overview of his tripartite theory in TYR Vol. I) and both men emphasize collaboration over conflict between spiritual authority and temporal power. Benoist essentially reaches the same conclusions, maintaining that both Evola and Guénon were both misguided in emphasizing the superiority of one over the other.
Regular TYR contributor and author Nigel Pennick delivers the essay Weaving the Web of Wyrd that examines the three states of being (i.e. past, present, and future) as personified in the feminine form as three human figures. The three Fates, as Pennick illustrates, are to be found throughout literary history with the ancient Greeks, Romans, and the Germanic tradition to name a few. Pennick likens the handling of human lives to the age-old craft of spinning and weaving flax. The author's penchant for relegating the spiritual arts to a profound level shines throughout this most fascinating article on the notions of human destiny in European culture. French author Thierry Jolif's article The Abode of the Gods and the Great Beyond takes a primarily etymological approach toward the Celts view of the "post mortem state of the soul." Of particular interest is his examination of the Irish term Síd (alternately meaning the Other World or Peace) in the context of a poem from the Immram Brain, Mac Febal (The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal) which relegates the síd to represent a marvelous island held up by four pillars. Jolif astutely notes a correlation of this island as the Supreme Center with the four islands of the Irish Celts as the Primordial Center. Jolif quotes the following quatrain: "There are a hundred and fifty faraway isles, in the ocean to the west. Each of them is twice or even three times as large as Ireland." One may wonder if these particular islands were ever referred to as the land of Hyperborea, although the author makes no such assertion.
In Code of Blood, Stephen Edred Flowers contributes a brief, but concise overview of the mainstream acceptance of the "spear of destiny" and the "holy blood/holy grail" paradigms as promulgated by blockbuster flick/novel The Da Vinci Code. It is the author's opinion that much of this subject matter has been placed on somewhat shaky ground to make it more palatable (and profitable) for the masses. In a similar vein, Joscelyn Godwin examines the enormously popular novels of Philip Pullman, with most of the emphasis on the book His Dark Materials. Unlike Flowers, Godwin sheds a much more positive light on his subject matter, emphasizing the esoteric thread that runs through Pullman's work.
Four articles in this volume examine various facets of Icelandic culture and tradition, including Humour in the Icelandic Sagas by Ian Read; Iceland's Pagan Renaissance by Christopher McIntosh; Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson: A Personal Reminiscence by Jónína K. Berg (with selected poems by Beinteinsson); and Rune Song or Magic Charms? An Investigation of the Hávamál by Géza von Neményi (translated by Markus Wolff). Although the latter does not address Icelandic culture per se, it examines the final two sections of the Old Icelandic Poetic Edda and references to the Eddas abound in the other three essays. Read's article cites numerous examples of humour in the Icelandic sagas and Eddas and their application to the brutal and harrowing circumstances of battle and death. Use of wordplay, satire and sexual innuendo that remain staples of modern comedy were used at a time when the first phases of Christianity were taking hold in Iceland. Read notes that the Christian church has long condemned laughter and that the Church Fathers saw laughter as somehow pagan! As was often the case in trying times, facing death with a smile and a joke was considered to show great courage. Christopher McIntosh's article provides an informative overview of the current renaissance of Ásatrú in Iceland, and highlights its historical distinction as being one of the few European countries to maintain a spiritual continuity with pre-Christian paganism. McIntosh attributes the Eddas and Iceland's geographic isolation from the rest of Europe for its consistent ties to paganism over the centuries despite Christian influence and coercion. One of the more intriguing belief systems mentioned here belongs to geologist and writer Helgi Pjeturs, who lived over a century ago. The "Nyall", as he referred to it, is a stew of Nordic mythology, astronomy, and evolutionary biology. McIntosh's article concludes with an appendix on popular musician/composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Iceland's current leader of Ásatrú. Jónína K. Berg's account of Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, practically a 20th century icon to Icelandic Ásatrú, is a very moving and heartfelt portrait of a man with great temperament in his encounters with other religions in his life-long championing of the Ásatrú faith. His countenance is striking to say the least, as evidenced by the wonderful photographs the author has provided. In addition, several of his poetic works are included as well.
Carl Larsson's Greatest Sacrifice: The Saga of Midvinterblot, by TYR co-editor Michael Moynihan, provides a fascinating look at the life and painted works of Swedish artist Carl Olof Larsson. Touch points of Larsson's entire career are investigated as well as his personal life, as the man and his art were inseparable - offering key insights into each other. Midvinterblot, his most well known work bar none, has been the subject of controversy since its earliest incarnations in 1911 and was eventually auctioned off to a Japanese art collector! It currently resides in the Swedish national museum. One of the more bizarre protestations of the painting, documented by Moynihan in the article's Notes, came from artists' group the Vaners (re: the Vanirs) who wanted it replaced with their "Midsummer" painting on the grounds that their work representing "peace, love, and harmony" would be better suited to the museum than Larsson's representation of "war, violence, and chaos."
Gordon Kennedy's Children of the Sonne is perhaps the most unexpected and unusual article in the entire volume. Then again, from an anti-modernist viewpoint, it fits quite nicely with the premise that 19th and early 20th century German groups evoking the Naturmenschen outlook and lifestyle such as the Wandervögel and Die Naturfreunde inspired the hippie counter-culture in America. Kennedy provides ample historical evidence of a long-held aspect of German culture from the Middle Ages to the present day that promoted organic virtues including vegetarianism, nudism, natural medicine, and all manner of reform ranging from the cultural to the religious. One may be initially shocked to read the likes of Goethe, Fidus, and Herman Hesse as being pre-cursors to the Beatnik and Hippie era of latter-day America.
The End Times According to the Indo-European Worldview by James Reagan is a befitting coda to the main body of TYR in its appropriation of The Kali Yuga, the Iron Age, the Age of the Wolf and the Morrígan Prophecy to the state of modern civilization. Excerpts from the Vedas, Greek poet Hesiod, the Völuspá, and Irish text Cath Maige Tuired leave little to the imagination when applied to life in the 21st century.
The article preceding Regan's short essay, Baltic Lithuanian Religion and Romuva, is the journal's centerpiece. The lengthiest entry by far, author Vilius Rudra Dundzila takes TYR into much uncharted territory with a fascinating and in-depth look at Lithuanian folklore, Baltic religious history, deities, belief systems and practices from the end of the last Ice Age up to the present day. Baltic religion owes much of its mystique and intrigues to the fact that it predates recorded history and cannot be traced to any single source. Around 7000 B.C., inhabitants in the region of what is now Lithuania and Latvia survived by fishing and hunting and possessed a complex form of hunting magic that must have developed even earlier in Paleolithic times. Agriculturalization became the norm during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, and there is much debate about whether an Old European culture existed and when and to what extent Indo-Europeanization had on the original inhabitants of the Baltic area. Flashing forward to the advent of the crusades when the western Balts faced opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, Dundzilia notes that the Balts were the very last Europeans to be Christianized - a fact that Lithuanians are most proud of to this very day. Traditional Lithuanian religion once again came under attack, this time from the Soviet Occupation in 1939, which executed or deported many of its participants to Siberia. A few years earlier, the academic fraternity Romuva formed, and a later incarnation in 1967 altered the name to Ramuva in order to keep its pagan and religious ties under the radar. The Ramuva was banned - this time by the Soviet Union. Baltic religion continues to thrive today through the various dainos (folk songs) and elaborate rituals, the most popular being Rasa, which is celebrated on the summer Solstice, and Uzgavenes, which anticipates the spring season and contains a bizarre and elaborate holiday of festivities.The aforementioned dainos were used for a variety of events, including funerals. The following excerpt is from a war daina, which is about a young man preparing for battle and acceptance of the heavenly gods and goddesses in place of his human family:
"Oh son, oh child, who will be your dear father? Who will be your dear father and real mother? And your real mother, your real brothers? Your real brothers, and your loving sisters? Oh, the moon in sky is my real father. Oh, the sun in the sky is my real mother. Oh, the constellations in the sky are my real brothers. Oh, the stars in the sky are my real sisters."
Rounding out the last third of the journal are two insightful interviews with musicians Roland Kroell and Andrew King, and numerous music and book reviews - two of them essay-length reviews of Alain de Benoist's On Being a Pagan and Against the Modern World by Mark Sedgwick. Michael Moynihan's interview with Rolan Kroell begins with an informative bio of a musician Moynihan refers to as a modern Minnesänger "a singer of Minne": a troubadour and performing poet. Kroell's career spans four decades with his self-described repertoire of "Celtic-archaic" songs. His most well known work is Parzival and Kroell has a unique perspective of Wagner's own adaptation of the epic work. Bitter Troubadour, by Andreas Diesel and Marco Deplano, examines Andrew King's music works, art and public performances over the last twenty years. Almost anyone who is familiar with the "Neofolk" genre has heard King in one context or another. His insights on experimentation in the music scene out of which he evolved are particularly interesting. Regular contributor Collin Cleary's review essay of On Being a Pagan offers as much criticism as it does praise to Benoist's Nietzschean approach. Róbert Horváth's review of Against the Modern World offers a critique of Sedgwick's book from a Traditionalist perspective, while co-editor Josh Buckley offers his own take on said book from a "radical traditionalist" view. Also of interest is Annabel Lee's review of Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning by Christopher McIntosh. I am one such reader Annabel refers to when she mentions the book's themes of art, history, and initiation as points of interest to those who would not consider the design of gardens. Finally, a couple of pages are devoted to cover artist Odd Nerdrum.
Overall, TYR is not exclusively dedicated to heathenism, paganism, or any other "ism" for that matter. Not surprisingly, it has come under its share of criticism for not catering to any specific religious conviction or group but that is precisely its strongest attribute.
Rather, its authors (and probably most of its readership) generally adhere to a "radical traditionalist" outlook. As such, it leaves much room for those of a more perennialist inclination and other anti-modernist thinkers regardless of their beliefs, political or otherwise. This issue is dedicated to Robert Ward (1968-2004) whose pioneering work with The Fifth Path Magazine laid much of the groundwork for publications like this one. If it were not for him, TYR may very well not exist. This review most certainly would not.
This volume contains 18 articles, the first three of which are essentially critiques of the modern world in its various guises. The first, Cipherspace, methodically attacks the over-bearing presence of Corporate America and the crises that have arisen as a result. Affluenza, technomania, e-mania and globalization are just a few symptoms of today's world that affect not only America, but most other industrialized countries. Catastrophe Pending makes a strong case for the Unabomber as embodying the ultimate enemy and outsider of the modern world. Author Annie Le Brun proposes that he raised questions about the current state of affairs no one else as of yet wanted or dared to answer. Survival Theory, by Finnish eco- scholar Pentti Linkola is the journal's most severe critique of modernity, offering uncompromising yet levelheaded discourses on population explosion, life-protection and humanism.
The next two articles, The Primordial and the Perennial, by Michael O'Meara and Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power by Alain de Benoist traverse the traditionalist thought of 20th century luminaries such as René Guénon, Julius Evola, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and Martin Heidegger. Both authors offer much insight to their similarities and more crucially, their differences in what traditionalism actually represents. O'Meara proposes that nihilism is the opposite of tradition rather than modernity. In doing so, he points out the schism between the Guénonian school of Traditionalist thought and the views held by the editors of TYR, the latter championing traditionalist values in reference to European culture. Furthermore, he puts Heidegger and Julius Evola at loggerheads with each other, the former approaching tradition from a decidedly non-metaphysical, primordial standpoint and the latter espousing the perennialist view that upholds a metaphysical absolute. Guénon is by far the most stringent in the perennialist view, as Benoist's article further examines the disparities between Evola and Guénon's interpretation of tradition regarding spiritual authority and temporal power. Guénon championed spiritual authority and knowledge over temporal power and action and saw no complementary function between the two in a sovereign entity. Benoist quotes directly from him when the aforementioned relationship becomes inverted, "The revolution that toppled the monarchy is both its logical consequence and its punishment, meaning its reward for the revolt of this same monarchy against spiritual authority." Evola, as one might have guessed, placed far more emphasis on temporal power, action, and the warrior tradition. Benoist quotes, "The domination of the sacerdotal castes by a warrior tradition, the primacy of action over contemplation, do not on their own constitute any kind of lowering of the level;" Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, a contemporary and close friend of Guénon, emphasized the marriage between the monarchy and the priesthood from an exclusively Indian context. Benoist also introduces two more prominent 20th century traditionalists (not Traditionalists) into the fray - Mircea Eliade and Georges Dumézil. Dumézil's idea of the Indo-European tripartite function is brought on board to this topic (see Priests, Warriors and Cultivators, Benoist's interview with Dumézil for an overview of his tripartite theory in TYR Vol. I) and both men emphasize collaboration over conflict between spiritual authority and temporal power. Benoist essentially reaches the same conclusions, maintaining that both Evola and Guénon were both misguided in emphasizing the superiority of one over the other.
Regular TYR contributor and author Nigel Pennick delivers the essay Weaving the Web of Wyrd that examines the three states of being (i.e. past, present, and future) as personified in the feminine form as three human figures. The three Fates, as Pennick illustrates, are to be found throughout literary history with the ancient Greeks, Romans, and the Germanic tradition to name a few. Pennick likens the handling of human lives to the age-old craft of spinning and weaving flax. The author's penchant for relegating the spiritual arts to a profound level shines throughout this most fascinating article on the notions of human destiny in European culture. French author Thierry Jolif's article The Abode of the Gods and the Great Beyond takes a primarily etymological approach toward the Celts view of the "post mortem state of the soul." Of particular interest is his examination of the Irish term Síd (alternately meaning the Other World or Peace) in the context of a poem from the Immram Brain, Mac Febal (The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal) which relegates the síd to represent a marvelous island held up by four pillars. Jolif astutely notes a correlation of this island as the Supreme Center with the four islands of the Irish Celts as the Primordial Center. Jolif quotes the following quatrain: "There are a hundred and fifty faraway isles, in the ocean to the west. Each of them is twice or even three times as large as Ireland." One may wonder if these particular islands were ever referred to as the land of Hyperborea, although the author makes no such assertion.
In Code of Blood, Stephen Edred Flowers contributes a brief, but concise overview of the mainstream acceptance of the "spear of destiny" and the "holy blood/holy grail" paradigms as promulgated by blockbuster flick/novel The Da Vinci Code. It is the author's opinion that much of this subject matter has been placed on somewhat shaky ground to make it more palatable (and profitable) for the masses. In a similar vein, Joscelyn Godwin examines the enormously popular novels of Philip Pullman, with most of the emphasis on the book His Dark Materials. Unlike Flowers, Godwin sheds a much more positive light on his subject matter, emphasizing the esoteric thread that runs through Pullman's work.
Four articles in this volume examine various facets of Icelandic culture and tradition, including Humour in the Icelandic Sagas by Ian Read; Iceland's Pagan Renaissance by Christopher McIntosh; Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson: A Personal Reminiscence by Jónína K. Berg (with selected poems by Beinteinsson); and Rune Song or Magic Charms? An Investigation of the Hávamál by Géza von Neményi (translated by Markus Wolff). Although the latter does not address Icelandic culture per se, it examines the final two sections of the Old Icelandic Poetic Edda and references to the Eddas abound in the other three essays. Read's article cites numerous examples of humour in the Icelandic sagas and Eddas and their application to the brutal and harrowing circumstances of battle and death. Use of wordplay, satire and sexual innuendo that remain staples of modern comedy were used at a time when the first phases of Christianity were taking hold in Iceland. Read notes that the Christian church has long condemned laughter and that the Church Fathers saw laughter as somehow pagan! As was often the case in trying times, facing death with a smile and a joke was considered to show great courage. Christopher McIntosh's article provides an informative overview of the current renaissance of Ásatrú in Iceland, and highlights its historical distinction as being one of the few European countries to maintain a spiritual continuity with pre-Christian paganism. McIntosh attributes the Eddas and Iceland's geographic isolation from the rest of Europe for its consistent ties to paganism over the centuries despite Christian influence and coercion. One of the more intriguing belief systems mentioned here belongs to geologist and writer Helgi Pjeturs, who lived over a century ago. The "Nyall", as he referred to it, is a stew of Nordic mythology, astronomy, and evolutionary biology. McIntosh's article concludes with an appendix on popular musician/composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Iceland's current leader of Ásatrú. Jónína K. Berg's account of Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, practically a 20th century icon to Icelandic Ásatrú, is a very moving and heartfelt portrait of a man with great temperament in his encounters with other religions in his life-long championing of the Ásatrú faith. His countenance is striking to say the least, as evidenced by the wonderful photographs the author has provided. In addition, several of his poetic works are included as well.
Carl Larsson's Greatest Sacrifice: The Saga of Midvinterblot, by TYR co-editor Michael Moynihan, provides a fascinating look at the life and painted works of Swedish artist Carl Olof Larsson. Touch points of Larsson's entire career are investigated as well as his personal life, as the man and his art were inseparable - offering key insights into each other. Midvinterblot, his most well known work bar none, has been the subject of controversy since its earliest incarnations in 1911 and was eventually auctioned off to a Japanese art collector! It currently resides in the Swedish national museum. One of the more bizarre protestations of the painting, documented by Moynihan in the article's Notes, came from artists' group the Vaners (re: the Vanirs) who wanted it replaced with their "Midsummer" painting on the grounds that their work representing "peace, love, and harmony" would be better suited to the museum than Larsson's representation of "war, violence, and chaos."
Gordon Kennedy's Children of the Sonne is perhaps the most unexpected and unusual article in the entire volume. Then again, from an anti-modernist viewpoint, it fits quite nicely with the premise that 19th and early 20th century German groups evoking the Naturmenschen outlook and lifestyle such as the Wandervögel and Die Naturfreunde inspired the hippie counter-culture in America. Kennedy provides ample historical evidence of a long-held aspect of German culture from the Middle Ages to the present day that promoted organic virtues including vegetarianism, nudism, natural medicine, and all manner of reform ranging from the cultural to the religious. One may be initially shocked to read the likes of Goethe, Fidus, and Herman Hesse as being pre-cursors to the Beatnik and Hippie era of latter-day America.
The End Times According to the Indo-European Worldview by James Reagan is a befitting coda to the main body of TYR in its appropriation of The Kali Yuga, the Iron Age, the Age of the Wolf and the Morrígan Prophecy to the state of modern civilization. Excerpts from the Vedas, Greek poet Hesiod, the Völuspá, and Irish text Cath Maige Tuired leave little to the imagination when applied to life in the 21st century.
The article preceding Regan's short essay, Baltic Lithuanian Religion and Romuva, is the journal's centerpiece. The lengthiest entry by far, author Vilius Rudra Dundzila takes TYR into much uncharted territory with a fascinating and in-depth look at Lithuanian folklore, Baltic religious history, deities, belief systems and practices from the end of the last Ice Age up to the present day. Baltic religion owes much of its mystique and intrigues to the fact that it predates recorded history and cannot be traced to any single source. Around 7000 B.C., inhabitants in the region of what is now Lithuania and Latvia survived by fishing and hunting and possessed a complex form of hunting magic that must have developed even earlier in Paleolithic times. Agriculturalization became the norm during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, and there is much debate about whether an Old European culture existed and when and to what extent Indo-Europeanization had on the original inhabitants of the Baltic area. Flashing forward to the advent of the crusades when the western Balts faced opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, Dundzilia notes that the Balts were the very last Europeans to be Christianized - a fact that Lithuanians are most proud of to this very day. Traditional Lithuanian religion once again came under attack, this time from the Soviet Occupation in 1939, which executed or deported many of its participants to Siberia. A few years earlier, the academic fraternity Romuva formed, and a later incarnation in 1967 altered the name to Ramuva in order to keep its pagan and religious ties under the radar. The Ramuva was banned - this time by the Soviet Union. Baltic religion continues to thrive today through the various dainos (folk songs) and elaborate rituals, the most popular being Rasa, which is celebrated on the summer Solstice, and Uzgavenes, which anticipates the spring season and contains a bizarre and elaborate holiday of festivities.The aforementioned dainos were used for a variety of events, including funerals. The following excerpt is from a war daina, which is about a young man preparing for battle and acceptance of the heavenly gods and goddesses in place of his human family:
"Oh son, oh child, who will be your dear father? Who will be your dear father and real mother? And your real mother, your real brothers? Your real brothers, and your loving sisters? Oh, the moon in sky is my real father. Oh, the sun in the sky is my real mother. Oh, the constellations in the sky are my real brothers. Oh, the stars in the sky are my real sisters."
Rounding out the last third of the journal are two insightful interviews with musicians Roland Kroell and Andrew King, and numerous music and book reviews - two of them essay-length reviews of Alain de Benoist's On Being a Pagan and Against the Modern World by Mark Sedgwick. Michael Moynihan's interview with Rolan Kroell begins with an informative bio of a musician Moynihan refers to as a modern Minnesänger "a singer of Minne": a troubadour and performing poet. Kroell's career spans four decades with his self-described repertoire of "Celtic-archaic" songs. His most well known work is Parzival and Kroell has a unique perspective of Wagner's own adaptation of the epic work. Bitter Troubadour, by Andreas Diesel and Marco Deplano, examines Andrew King's music works, art and public performances over the last twenty years. Almost anyone who is familiar with the "Neofolk" genre has heard King in one context or another. His insights on experimentation in the music scene out of which he evolved are particularly interesting. Regular contributor Collin Cleary's review essay of On Being a Pagan offers as much criticism as it does praise to Benoist's Nietzschean approach. Róbert Horváth's review of Against the Modern World offers a critique of Sedgwick's book from a Traditionalist perspective, while co-editor Josh Buckley offers his own take on said book from a "radical traditionalist" view. Also of interest is Annabel Lee's review of Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning by Christopher McIntosh. I am one such reader Annabel refers to when she mentions the book's themes of art, history, and initiation as points of interest to those who would not consider the design of gardens. Finally, a couple of pages are devoted to cover artist Odd Nerdrum.
Overall, TYR is not exclusively dedicated to heathenism, paganism, or any other "ism" for that matter. Not surprisingly, it has come under its share of criticism for not catering to any specific religious conviction or group but that is precisely its strongest attribute.
Rather, its authors (and probably most of its readership) generally adhere to a "radical traditionalist" outlook. As such, it leaves much room for those of a more perennialist inclination and other anti-modernist thinkers regardless of their beliefs, political or otherwise. This issue is dedicated to Robert Ward (1968-2004) whose pioneering work with The Fifth Path Magazine laid much of the groundwork for publications like this one. If it were not for him, TYR may very well not exist. This review most certainly would not.
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DaveyGravy.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great for insomnia.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 12, 2022
There was only one article that I enjoyed and that was the origin of the hippy and apart from that I just found it the most boring book I've ever read. I'm no novice to the esoteric and I'm familiar with a number of the authors but this was wordy for the sake of it and just went out of its way to use ten words when one would do.
One thing it did help with was my insomnia so bravo for a good night's sleep.
One thing it did help with was my insomnia so bravo for a good night's sleep.
