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Julius Evola

Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex Paperback – April 1, 1991

by Julius Evola (Author)

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A comprehensive work on the metaphysical aspects of sexuality. Julius Evola sheds new light on the mystical and spiritual expression of sexual love. This in-depth study explores the sexual rites of sacred traditions, and shows how religion, mysticism, folklore, and mythology all contain erotic forms in which the deep potentialities of human beings are recognized.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Inner Traditions
Publication date

April 1, 1991
Dimensions

6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0892813156
ISBN-13

978-0892813155
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Invokes the rich sexual symbolism of religious myths and mysteries throughout history, from the I Ching to the Kabbalah, to illustrate the redemptive power of the sexual act." ― Los Angeles Times

About the Author

Evola was one of the foremost authorities on the world's esoteric traditions.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Inner Traditions; New Edition of The Metaphysics of Sex (April 1, 1991)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0892813156
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0892813155
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.035 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #146,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #189 in General Sexual Health
- #213 in Philosophy Metaphysics
- #438 in Sex & Sexuality

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81 ratings

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Julius Evola

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Julius Evola (1898-1974) has been one of the most misunderstood and controversial authors of the Twentieth century. Born in Rome, Evola began his pursuit of truth as a Dadaist painter and an Idealist philosopher, but quickly lost his taste for modernism and moved on to metaphysics, religion, and the occult. Encountering the work of René Guénon, who became a lifelong friend, Evola embraced his concept of the Tradition and his critique of the modern world, and spent the remainder of his long career elaborating his own, more individualised variation of the principles first explicated by Guénon, offering a unique view of how one can put into practice the doctrines of a genuine spiritual path. Believing that Tradition was an idea which should encompass the social as well as the spiritual world, Evola saw some hope for a remedy to the ills of modernity in Fascism, although he never joined the Party, and his writings on the subject were more critical than complimentary of the movement.

Nevertheless, his involvement branded him as a Fascist in the eyes of his opponents, and this label continues to follow his name to this day. After 1945, Evola remained aloof from politics, and attempted to define the most effective stance for an inhabitant of the modern age to adopt and still retain something of traditional wisdom. He remained almost entirely unknown in the English-speaking world until the 1990s, when Inner Traditions began publishing its translations of Evola’s works. Since then, Evola’s ideas have given rise to a new breed of spiritual seekers and anti-modernists in the English-speaking world. Arktos has published his books, Metaphysics of War, which is a collection of his essays from the 1930s and ‘40s; The Path of Cinnabar, which is his intellectual autobiography; Fascism Viewed from the Right, which is his post-war analysis of the positive and negative aspects of Italian Fascism; and Notes on the Third Reich, which performs a similar analysis upon German National Socialism.

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2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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c m

disturbing but thought provoking

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 30, 2007

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I agree with the other reviewer. There are disturbing parts to this book. For example, Evola's take on the Marquis de Sade is that the Marquis was bad not for what he promoted but because he didn't actually live the type of life he describes. I guess I just don't buy into Evola's underlying metaphysical scheme. It is important to note that this book is not a "Tantric sex guide." It is closer to a scholarly investigation of different sexual issues from the perspective of Evola's esotericism. Like Evola's other works, it is well-written and interesting. However, I don't feel as positive about its conclusions as I did with Ride the Tiger.

17 people found this helpful

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knowit

Fascinating, entertaining and thought provoking

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 26, 2013

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A very eriodite study of this field of experience. Deep well written comprehensive and wide ranging analysis. Very satisfyling and stimulating!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 7, 2000

We can summarize Evola's views through a simple metaphore: use it to go beyond; otherwise leave it. Evola was not only an "erudite", he was also a pragmatic (in opposition to Guenon). In this book, Evola proceed to an exhaustive analysis of the nature of sexuality, exploring its metaphysics, but also its embodyments. Sex can be a source of power, of knowledge, if conditions are there; but it can also be a source of submission, of destruction. A fascinating book, although Evola's views are sometimes striking, disturbing (specially for women).

44 people found this helpful

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JS

Disturbed and imbalanced, but still of value

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 25, 2012

The main subject of this book is, as given, "the metaphysics of sex". In a word, the male and female aspects of humanity are elevated beyond their physical values and given spiritual meaning as metaphors. As is usual for Evola, the large number of sources being cited gives this great value as a reference and a guide for building one's own values. The latter project will at some point become discomfiting to a well-adjusted reader, though, because Evola does not seem to place much spiritual value in the personalities of individual lovers, or even the process of a relationship, at all. The sexual life for him seems to exist only in theory, with the actual acts of romance and sex being a pale imitation of his mental ideals. He covers various occult applications of sex, as well as common symbols that occultists would generally accept such as ying-yang and positive-negative, but in place of a balance with talking about actual people, we are treated to bizarre and rather horrific images of "absolute woman" often drawn from an Austrian guy named Otto Weininger, whom even Evola is forced to admit is misogynistic. Although it's only part of a long discussion of femininity which also draws on more credible and traditional sources, there's clearly a spiritual imbalance at work, not in the Weininger quotes alone, but penetrating the entire book.

This is a very private book that gives us a window into Evola's personal demons, and I would not recommend it to lovers, despite Inner Traditions' assertion that the "mysteries of love" are contained within. I would recommend it to people aiming to gain some insight into the range of literature about higher natures of sex, or to understand the darker aspects of Evola's inner life (which might help you put his other works into perspective). For people looking for a warm introduction to the "mysteries of love" with an agreeable physical-spiritual balance and specific instructions, I recommend The Heart of Tantric Sex: A Unique Guide to Love and Sexual Fulfillment .

24 people found this helpful

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Seeking transcendence through sex

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 6, 2007

I would say about half the book is fairly interesting. The book is more descriptive than argumentative, so I thought it lacked a provocative thesis.

Evola explores the concept of seeking transcendence through sex. As a man has sex with a woman in tantric sex, he is required to hold his seed at the climax and this technique will supposedly lead to transcendence. Other instructions are that the man should sleep for four months on the left side of the woman without touching her and then four months on the right side, then have sex with the transcendent purpose in mind. If you don't know what you are doing in tantric sex or in wakening the kundalini, you could end up mad, dead, or disturbed. Evola speculates that some women may have gone mad after having sex with the occultist Aleister Crowley. This book is not really an instruction book and the descriptions are in general on how people from traditional societies practiced sex magic.

Women and men represent differing aspects. Women represent the night, the moon, underhandedness, acting, masks, sophistry, the daemonic, nature, the negative, yin, formlessness, and the earth. Men represent the sky, the sun, transcendence, the positive, yang, and the truth. For men to reach transcendence, they should not descend into the profane sexuality of nature with its endless fecundity. A woman can chain a man into the cycle of birth and rebirth that he needs to get away from to reach transcendence. Hence, when practicing sex magic, he needs to withhold his seed at climax. Since women are considered so much a part of nature and not super-nature, some have wondered whether they have souls.

Men and women in the absolute are ideal types of being to strive toward. But in reality, there is a lot of woman in man and a lot of man in woman. It is generally a 60/40 split. The ideal archetypes for men are warriors or ascetics; the ideal archetypes for women are mothers and/or lovers.

Evola is male-oriented and has the traditional view that women are inferior to men.

34 people found this helpful

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AmatHist

Absolute man and women

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 23, 2021

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Probably not the best book to begin with if your not familiar with Evola.

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as his other essays although some of the chapters contain some interesting insights into the male and female condition from a purely metaphysical point of view.

david strickland

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 15, 2018

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TOP CLASS

One person found this helpful

essam

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 24, 2017

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It arrived in great condition, Thanks

R.

Mestre!

Reviewed in Brazil 🇧🇷 on November 10, 2019

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Livro complexo que pelo fato de estar em ingles exige mais atenção. Considero uma das obras mais importantes do Julius Evola, livro escrito para rebater as teorias Freudianas, o que cumpre com maestria.

5 people found this helpful

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Bibescu

A very interesting book but with a not so good translation into English

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 6, 2017

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It was worth the waiting. A very interesting book but with a not so good translation into English. Try to read it in Italian!

One person found this helpful