The Golden One - May 18, 2026


Julius Evola – Which Books To Start With?


Episode Stats


Length

12 minutes

Words per minute

166.1027

Word count

2,029

Sentence count

108

Harmful content

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Julius Evola is one of the most famous Italian aristocrat, philosopher, writer, and philosopher. He was a man of many talents, but one of his greatest gifts was his ability to bring people together through his teachings. In this episode, I discuss why you should not begin with "Ride the Tiger" or "Revolt Against the Modern World" and why you shouldn't start with it at all.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 right we're back Julius Evola's top guy Agartha's number one ranked Julius
00:00:15.300 Evola enjoyer I'm checking in from my library here in Shambhala and if you pay
00:00:22.080 close attention you will see that my bookshelf is looking a bit disarrayed
00:00:27.300 And that's because I have all of my, well, not all, but many of my Julius Evola books in front of me here on my desk.
00:00:35.060 So we're going to get into the topic at hand, which is where to begin and where to not begin with our esteemed Baron Julius Evola.
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00:01:26.240 Now, that being said, let us get on to Julius Evola.
00:01:31.440 Where to not begin is where we can actually start.
00:01:34.960 Do not begin with this book.
00:01:36.720 Do not begin with Ride the Tiger.
00:01:39.620 It has the coolest title, Ride the Tiger, and the teaching itself is quite profound indeed.
00:01:45.040 But the rest of the book is, in my humble opinion, not super interesting and not a good starting place for Eunice Evola.
00:01:53.980 So this is something you can read later on when you become a connoisseur of the teachings of Evola.
00:02:00.620 So I read this the first time in 2016.
00:02:03.620 I didn't understand anything of it, so I was sort of dismayed.
00:02:09.360 I had hoped for more, but then I returned to it several years later.
00:02:13.320 I think it was in 2022, something like that.
00:02:16.120 I read it, I understood more of it, but I also understood then that this is not the best place to start.
00:02:21.760 So, yes, save this for later. There are also better books of Evola.
00:02:26.960 Now, moving on to another book, which you should not start with.
00:02:32.000 And this is his Magnum Opus, Revolt Against the Modern World.
00:02:35.740 So this is maybe his most famous one, the masterpiece, so to speak, probably the thickest one as well.
00:02:43.320 Now, I would not start with this. This is something you can read later on.
00:02:48.460 You have the same teachings. So, many of his teachings, you see them in most of his books, but then in different contexts.
00:02:56.120 So, when you read this, if you've read a few different books before reading this, it will be easier to sort of digest and absorb the knowledge therein.
00:03:05.360 So, I would not recommend starting with this. It's a good book, but not the best place to start.
00:03:11.180 So then, on to the question at hand, where to actually start with Evola?
00:03:16.760 Now, to respond to this question, we need to first and foremost acknowledge the following.
00:03:21.400 This is only my own take, it's only my own humble opinion, so feel free to disagree here if you want.
00:03:28.180 But I don't read Julius Evola for his political commentary.
00:03:32.340 I think you have better authors for that, and especially nowadays we have a completely different political scenario. 0.97
00:03:39.960 So you might have guys, they refer to Evola and they say, you know, politics is bread and games for the plebs and everything like that.
00:03:47.720 But this is not applicable today. 0.81
00:03:51.080 Politics is a tug of war between our side and their side.
00:03:54.460 It's about taking a few steps in a better direction.
00:03:57.340 If you stand outside of politics, you're quitting, you're tapping out.
00:04:01.280 You say, I don't want this anymore and you leave, walk over.
00:04:04.640 You let your enemies win.
00:04:06.180 So, to use Julius Evola as a cope, to not have to engage in politics, it's cowardice, simply put.
00:04:13.200 You know, you need to engage politically or metapolitically.
00:04:16.420 There is absolutely no way around it.
00:04:18.540 Same thing, he has some strange other views which are very outdated, which we should not, you know, take to heart today.
00:04:25.820 So, I believe it's in The Bow and the Club.
00:04:28.140 He says that boxing is a vulgar sport, which, for an Italian aristocrat many decades ago,
00:04:34.640 sure, it might seem that way, but today we sort of need boxing because we live in Gotham City,
00:04:39.900 so we really don't have any option. So you should not read Evola and, you know, misunderstand his
00:04:46.100 teachings. So on a personal note, I read Evola mainly for his esoteric commentary, his commentary
00:04:51.600 on the human soul and the spirit, different kinds of people. So I don't read him for his political
00:04:57.920 views because I think those are outdated and not really applicable to the situation we have today.
00:05:05.020 So, anyway, where to begin? I've rambled on for a long time now without actually getting to the question at hand.
00:05:13.340 So, there are a few different starting points.
00:05:16.160 You could, if you're more interested in the magical stuff, you have these three books.
00:05:21.520 So, Introduction to Magic. Really nice books here as well.
00:05:26.120 It's not only from him, there are other authors as well, but I would recommend this if you're interested in magic, which I am.
00:05:33.280 Now, with magic, we don't mean fantasy magic, we mean the influencing reality with our will.
00:05:40.980 So that is what we mean here.
00:05:42.200 So, you know, supernatural experiences, metaphysical speculations, meditations upon the occult, stuff like that.
00:05:50.360 So that can be a good starting point.
00:05:53.200 Now, if you're not primarily interested in magic, you have a good starting point in metaphysics of war.
00:05:59.200 So this is a good starting point if you're interested in things like Jihad, Holy War, the Crusades, and the pagan conception of war.
00:06:10.000 So I've talked about this before, that the Crusades were more a Christian aesthetic, for sure, with the direction and the aesthetics of having crosses on.
00:06:18.460 But if you dig a bit deeper, it is a pagan conception of war with Holy War.
00:06:23.480 So you do something in the temporal world, and that also echoes in the metaphysical realm.
00:06:30.180 So you conquer the outside world, and you also conquer yourself.
00:06:34.120 So if that sounds interesting, I would recommend this.
00:06:36.680 It's quite short also, so it's something you can get through in a reasonable time frame.
00:06:42.840 So this can be a good starting point, metaphysics of war.
00:06:46.160 Also, if you're interested in the religious attitudes,
00:06:49.800 pagan imperialism, one of his earlier works, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Perhaps if you're
00:06:55.580 active on X, you see many Euro-federalists, imperialists, pan-European imperialists,
00:07:02.300 pagan pan-European imperialists, such as myself. So this can be a good starting point here.
00:07:08.680 Also, his critique of Christianity. He grew up as a Catholic, but then he turned to paganism
00:07:15.220 because he thought it was more ideal for his worldview.
00:07:19.960 So that can be a good starting point also,
00:07:22.060 especially then if you're more interested in the religious teachings of Julius Evola.
00:07:27.420 Another good starting point, Metaphysics of Power.
00:07:30.600 It's a collection of essays, and many of them are very interesting indeed.
00:07:34.360 So in this book, for example, he talks about his teaching on the race of body,
00:07:39.580 the race of soul, the race of spirit,
00:07:41.340 which is a very useful teaching to analyze human nature.
00:07:47.080 I have a podcast episode, by the way, that you can access if you're subscribed to The Greatest Podcast,
00:07:53.640 dedicated to the teachings of Julius Evola, so I talk more about it there if you are interested.
00:07:59.680 Perhaps I'll make a new episode. It was a few years ago since I made it, so maybe I'll make an updated one.
00:08:05.260 But anyway, this is a good starting point, so a bit more social commentary,
00:08:08.640 commentary on human nature and stuff like that so bordering a bit on the political which I'm not
00:08:14.000 you know which is not super interesting but but these essays they're good and interesting so I
00:08:19.280 can definitely recommend this as a good starting point so metaphysics of power now another good
00:08:24.640 starting point meditations on the peaks it's a collection of essays Julius Evola was an enthusiast
00:08:30.840 of mountaineering so yeah he talks about the the physical and metaphysical dimensions of
00:08:38.300 mountain climbing so you can translate it into you know whichever physical activity i've talked
00:08:44.160 about this a lot in terms of the gym and mma that it also has um you know you're not only getting
00:08:49.820 jacked you're not only getting better at fighting but you're also evolving spiritually when you
00:08:54.400 engage in these activities for julius evola different time different zeitgeist he didn't
00:08:59.280 live in gotham city um so for him that quest was mountaineering so what i do in the gym or mma
00:09:05.980 he did on trips to the mountains. But yeah, definitely accessible as well. Very short book,
00:09:13.380 so you can read it in a reasonable time frame. So I can definitely recommend this either as a
00:09:19.600 starting point or as, you know, just a good book. Then last but not least, perhaps one of his most
00:09:25.440 interesting books, Eros and the Mysteries of Love, The Metaphysics of Sex. This is extremely good to
00:09:31.440 understand the, not only about, you know, the relationship between men and women, but also to
00:09:37.400 understand the, it's probably the best critique I've seen of Freud and the more, shall we call
00:09:44.780 them, degenerate proponents of human nature. So Evola, he proposes that intercourse between a man
00:09:53.420 and a woman, it's a way to connect to the divine. You become one with each other, you become one
00:10:00.220 with God, that's why you do it. Not only because of an animalistic urge to procreate. I'm not saying
00:10:07.860 that that doesn't exist. Of course it does. You have your sexual impulses and drive to procreate,
00:10:13.620 but there is also something more to it, which I believe, in my humble opinion, Ulysse Evolai makes
00:10:19.280 a perfect case for in this fine book. So if you want a more beautiful view of human nature, I would
00:10:26.660 say not only about you know sexual dynamics but also about human nature the
00:10:31.760 relationship between humans this is a very good book also about the role of
00:10:36.380 men and women in society so very interesting very good an alternative
00:10:42.560 view of sexuality since all of us we have grown up with a more Darwinian view
00:10:48.280 or a Freudian view of this matters so anyway those were my top picks where to
00:10:55.040 begin with Julius Evola, one of those books, I would say at least. You can of course comment in
00:11:00.740 the comment section as well if you have any thoughts on the matter. But I will also say
00:11:06.500 the following, that if you do get into reading Evola, subsequent books you read will be easier
00:11:10.800 to understand. So you sort of need to learn how to read him in a way so you understand the
00:11:17.100 references and the perspectives and everything like that. So if you think it's hard to read in
00:11:22.060 the beginning, do know that the coming books of him you read, they will be easier to understand
00:11:28.000 because you've sort of warmed up your mind to it. So anyway, do also read. Of course, I need to
00:11:34.000 say this. If I may be so bold, you need to read Dauntless and Demigod Mentality to optimize your
00:11:40.840 levels of wisdom. So read those first and then you embark upon a Julius Evola journey. So anyway,
00:11:47.640 i hope that responded to the question i've had several valiant gentlemen who have asked me this
00:11:54.920 question so i thought to make this video so anyway do head over legugloria.com place an order for some
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00:12:10.920 Thank you for your support, XOXO, BOOM!