The Hermetic Tradition: Symbols and Teachings of the Royal Art

I don't often give books a 5-star review but this one earned. I've stayed away from Evola for years; I couldn't deny my programing, but recently I've began searching in the places I was told I shouldn't and it's paid itself off in dividends.I've long had an interest in hermericism and alchemy and researched it quite a bit. I've read probably a dozen books on the subjects; I've read Jung's, Fulcanelli's, Scholem's, Burckhardt's, von Franz, the Corpus Hermiticum, etc, etc, but I always either intuited that what the authors were saying wasn't exactly right (Jung) or I just simply couldn't comprehend much of what they were saying (Fulcanelli). I'm not saying that I grasp the entirety of what Evola was saying but I did so much more than I typically do. Also, unlike Jung, this book felt like it was on the right track. Finally.If you have a interest in this topic, I cannot recommend a better book. I plan on reading it two more times to get the entirity of the book. If you're worried about Evola, there is nothing remotely objectionable in this book and, frankly, can't imagine him ever being much into politics, considering this was an earlier book of his and is the antithesis of politics. If you looked at the reviews of this book, buy this one. Seriously.

Evola gets a bad reputation, and a lot of people are scared to read his stuff. I'm happy to step in and put an end to the fearmongering over him, because he has authored a number of truthful and authoritative works on the occult. His body of work isn't limited to the political, and I consider his esoteric works to be some of the best.If you choose one Evola book to read, make it this one. It's a great place to start understanding his Traditionalism since it explains quite a lot of symbols common to western esotericism. As a book on alchemy it's clear and does not make the same mistakes as some other writers have (like dismissively reducing alchemy to proto-chemistry, or reducing it to a spiritual practice as the romanticists have.)

This book wasn't written for the masses. But even among those who search it out, I doubt most will grasp it's importance. It's subject matter is nothing less than the whole gist truly behind individual human existence. And it lays that subject bare with a precision that no other text I have come upon has. This will need multiple readings, much study, and contemplation. But I can't recommend it enough.

As usual anything written by Julius Evola's meticulous and thorough and his ability to cut through the nonsense as well is to cross reference tradition is astonishing. This is a book where a single page can take you will week to really feed off of. It's not the kind of book to just call a page turner. I would call it a page by page nutrition textbook. Absolutely essential for anyone interested in alchemy or the hermetic tradition. I've read no finer work on this subject.

It's first 24 chapters, absolutely genius and easy to read for the most part. Chapters 25-45 confuse me, and will confuse me even with a rereading which I already did after each chapter. Last couple chapters put it all together, it makes a small sort of sense but is still VERY hard for the most part, but it is necessary for the other books, which I already started the next one in the lineup. Wouldn't understand half of it without this book, even with reading Mystery of the Grail. This is a lot more metaphysically heavy and a lot more on the process of how it is done. Still he could have written it better, lots of points repeated in the same way and not in new lights.

First, this is not a beginner book, nor is it a lucid or logical book, to be read and analyzed. This book is designed to provide material for contemplation and transformation of the self. If looking for a more theoretical work, I suggest "Foundations of High Magic" by Denning and Phillips.Where this book excels is in its goal: Providing material for a seeker to internalize and understand alchemical processes. This is the best book on that subject, hands down.

👏👏👏

A must!!!