Pavel Nosachev

Integral Traditionalism: Between Politics and Esotericism

Pavel Nosachev - Associate Professor, National Research University - Higher School of Economics; Associate Professor, St. Tikhon's Orthodox University; Member of the Association for the Study of Esotericism and Mysticism (Moscow), pavel_nosachev@bk.ru

This article describes various interpretations of the so called integral traditionalism and its role in the political and religious movements of the 20th century. Looking at political movements and individuals who associated themselves with traditionalism, the author concludes that the integral traditionalism can not work as a political ideology, since its main objectives are otherworldly; in fact, the actual role of these movements in politics was minor. It makes more sense to consider integral traditionalism as a religious or semireligious ideology, manifested in various forms of social action. In the West, this phenomenon is now approached within the field of the studies in Western esotericism, while in Russia scholars often tend to reduce traditionalism to its purely political forms, which may lead to distortions.

Keywords: integral traditionalism, R. Guenon, J. Evola, C. Codreanu, Ungern-Sternberg, A. Dugin, ideology, western esotericism.

In RECENT years, the word traditionalism has become frequently used in both academic and broad public circles. Books on the subject of traditionalism are published 1, 2

The research was carried out within the framework of the HSE Science Foundation program in 2013-2014, project N 12 - 01 - 0005.

1. See for example: Sedgwick, M. (2004) Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century. N.Y.: Oxford University Press; Dugin A. Philosophy of Traditionalism. Moscow: Arktogeya-center, 2002.

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2 seminars, 3 conferences are organized, 4 programs are made, 5 courses of lectures are given. The following phrases have long been used: "Russian traditionalism" 6, "French traditionalism" 7, etc. Well-known political figures 8 and humanitarian figures 9 associate themselves with traditionalism. What is traditionalism? Which of the meanings of this term most fully describes the modern spectrum of movements, personalities, and systems that relate to it? And the most interesting thing is: what sphere can it be attributed to as an object of research: political or religious?

Definition problem

The term traditionalism has many meanings. In its simplest form, traditionalism is synonymous with conservatism-the preservation of values, institutions, and practices that have been established for centuries. For example, there is the traditionalism of Philocatholics, under the leadership of Marcel Lefebvre, who did not accept the decisions of the Second Vatican Council. There are other variants, but this term has gained modern popularity in connection with specific thinkers and figures of the XX-XXI centuries: Rene Guenon, Julius Evola, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Alexander Dugin, etc.

2. For example, the cycle of seminars of the Center for Conservative Studies in 2010-2011 or the round table "Tradition and Traditionalism", held in Donetsk on November 11, 2011. At the last stage, the number of speakers reached 39!

3. On October 15-16, a conference Against Postmodern World was held near Moscow ,where " topical issues of traditionalism were discussed." Electronic resource: http://against-postmodern.org/(flaTa accessed 01.09.2013). This event brought together all the now well-known traditionalists - from Sheikh Palavici and Claudio Mutti, to young researchers from Russia and Ukraine.

4. In fact, most of the broadcasts are hosted by Evrazia.tv or thematic issues of "Philosophical Readings" on the TV channel "Spas".

5. All activities of the New A. Dugin University. For more information, see http://nu.arcto. ru/

6. See for example: Eliseev A. "Left" perspectives of Russian traditionalism. Electronic resource: http://www.apn.ru/publications/article1763.htm (accessed 01.09.2013) or Averyanov V. Different conservatism, different traditionalism. Electronic resource: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/analit/raznie. htm (accessed 01.09.2013).

7. A topic related to Joseph de Maistre.

8. For example, Alain de Benoit, Claudio Mutti.

9. For example, Alexander Dugin, Heydar Dzhemal.

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It is also sometimes referred to as integral traditionalism or perennialism .10
Note that there is no generally accepted definition of this phenomenon in the scientific community. Mark Sedgwick, author of the only systematic study on traditionalism, "Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the twentieth Century," defines it as an ideology that aims to defend and affirm "a set of beliefs and practices that should have been passed down from time immemorial, but were lost in time." in the second half of the second millennium A.D. "11, which is called "Tradition". Sedgwick complements this definition with two inherent, in his opinion, characteristics of traditionalism:

1. postulating an initiation system that can be used to enter the living world of the primordial Tradition;

2. affirmation of the opposite, negative anti-traditional pole, which sows entropy in the world and oblivion of the spiritual truths of Tradition, initiation into the system of which can be obtained by means of counterinitiation12.

One of the major researchers of Western esotericism, Antoine Faivre, characterizes traditionalism in a similar way, but not in everything. Calling traditionalism perennialism, he identifies three main ideas that make up its components: the presence of an original tradition of superhuman origin, received by humanity in time immemorial, but lost for centuries (the beginning of this tradition is lost in such a deep darkness of centuries that with the beginning of the world, it is impossible to find a way out of it).-

10. It should be noted that the totality of terms associated with "Tradition" has its own intricate history on Russian soil. According to Yuri Stefanov, "the totality of ideas generated by Guenon and his school penetrated Soviet cultural studies from the back door; it is considered, it is developed, it is refuted, but all this is done without naming the names of those to whom we owe its origin." Stefanov himself wrote these words in the preface to the first official translation of Guenon's texts into Russian in the leading academic journal Voprosy Filosofii in 1990

11. Sedgwick, M. Against the Modern World, p. 21.

12. Note that all these criteria, with the possible exception of counterinitiation, can be applied with confidence to most esoteric ideologies of the 19th and 20th centuries. Mark Sedgwick himself understands this perfectly, which is what he writes about in his work. For more information, see Sedgwick, M. Against the Modern World, pp. 21-28 (chapter on traditionalism).

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temporal historiography cannot detect it); modern Western culture and civilization are absolutely incompatible with Tradition; Tradition can be restored through various practices of groups and communities existing within various religions and metaphysical movements.13
Authors who identify themselves, in one way or another, as followers of traditionalism, put forward their own definitions. For example, Alain de Benoit, describing the term "Tradition", notes:

The tradition has nothing in common with the local flavor, nor with folk customs, nor with the bizarre actions of local residents, which are collected by students studying folklore. This concept is connected with its origins: tradition is the transmission of a set of deep-rooted ways to facilitate our understanding of the essential principles of the universal (universal) order, since without outside help, a person is not given to understand the meaning of his existence. 14
It is supplemented by domestic authors of the Polyus almanac, explaining::

Tradition is a set of transmitted knowledge of a special kind, and traditionalism is nothing more than a system of ideas focused on participation in Tradition. We can say that traditionalism is a reaction to the decline of traditional institutions that have either been destroyed or degraded to such a state that they can no longer provide knowledge transfer.15
Apart from this is the definition of Tradition given by the sincere Russian admirer of Guenon, Yuri Stefanov. In his opinion, "Guenon's' tradition 'is nothing more than a system of 'revelation-tradition' in the sense in which it is understood

13. As in the case of Sedgwick, Faivre's characteristics make it possible to include most of the esoteric communities of the 19th and 20th centuries in perennialism. Подробнее см.: Faivre, A. (1999) "Histoire de la notion moderne de tradition dans ses rapports avec les courants esoteriques (XVe-XXe siecles)", in MilanoA. (ed.) Symboles et Mythes dans les mouvements initiatiques et esoteriques (XVIIe-XXe siecles), pp. 7 - 48. Paris: La Table d'Emeraude.

14. Benois A. Opredelenie traditsii [Definition of tradition]. 2010. N 1. P. 3-4.

15. Kholodov M., Molotov O. Traditsiya i traditionalizm: o terminakh i ikh soderzhanii [Tradition and traditionalism: on terms and their content] //The pole. 2010. N 1. p. 4-9.

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Christian theology, or, even more precisely, corresponds to the Indian concepts of shruti-smriti " .16 This definition is controversial not only because it is in some contradiction with the ideas of Christian theology, 17 but also because Guenon himself does not find full support for it as too private, which is why Stefanov himself also writes.

From all of the above, we can conclude that the definitions of Sedgwick and Favre are not clear. They might just as well apply to the writings of Madame Blavatsky, or to the doctrines of any secret society that claims to have some primordial tradition. If we combine the main propositions of academic researchers with those of followers, we will come to the conclusion that traditionalism is primarily an ideology designed to protect "Tradition". Moreover, it is obvious that the "Tradition" defined here is used in a different sense from the ordinary one.18 Islamic researcher Haji Muhammad Legenhausen identifies five points that make it possible to recognize traditionalism as an ideology: 1) it contains a more or less satisfactory system describing the world and man's place in it; 2) it sets a general program of social and political action; 3) it exists by implementing this program; 4) it recruits loyal followers; 5) it appeals to the general public, and among its leaders - influential intellectuals 19.

Next, we need to answer the question: is this ideology primarily political or not, and what parallels with the ideological systems of the XX century can be drawn here? But first of all, let us determine who expressed traditionalism as an ideological system in their works and activities.

16. Stefanov Yu. Mystiki, okkultisty, esoteriki [Mystics, occultists, esotericists], Moscow: Veche Publ., 2006, p.58.

17. Scripture and Tradition are two complementary pillars of Christianity, whereas in the classical traditionalist worldview, Tradition is always higher than any other scripture.

18. The commonplace here means the definition of tradition as a set of customs, habits, and practices passed down from generation to generation by peoples, ethnic groups, and communities.

19. Legenhausen Haji Muhamad. "Why I am not a traditionalist". Electronic resource: http://www.religioscope.com/info/doc/esotrad/legenhausen. htm (accessed 01.09.2013).

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Traditionalism as a whole

It is obvious that the most famous traditionalist is considered to be the French thinker Rene Guenon, who formulated the very concept of Tradition as a superhuman reality, which in times called mythological by modern historiography (before the sixth century BC), people could be included through a system of initiations available to religions and secret societies, but later lost and preserved only in Islam and freemasonry. It was also Guenon who attacked the modern, mostly Western world, calling it "anti-traditional" and mired in materialism.

Along with Guenon, the Italian intellectual Julius Evola, who shared Guenon's concept of "Tradition" but did not agree with him in his understanding of initiation, is also recognized as an exponent of traditionalism. For Evola, there is no need to integrate into a legitimate religious or esoteric environment, a person can introduce himself to the tradition himself through special intellectual and mystical practices. In addition, unlike the French thinker, the Italian baron called for active traditionalism, i.e. the protection of" Tradition " from the onset of modernity in the form of liberalism, democracy and communism. Sedgwick wittily suggests comparing the views of Guenon and Evola by the titles of their two seminal works: "The Crisis of the Modern World" of the first and "Revolt against the Modern World" of the second.

Other well-known supporters and followers of traditionalism as an ideology include Ananda Coomaraswamy, Fityof Shuon, Zeid Hussein Nasr, Evgeny Golovin, and Alexander Dugin. Some authors also include the outstanding Romanian religious scholar Mircea Eliade.20
In the same ideological context, traditionalism can also be found in forms unrelated to Guenon and Evola. First of all, it is the Legion of Archangel Michael, a Romanian movement created by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu in the 20s of the XX century, which was designed to unite the Romanian people in the struggle against capitalism and communism, and at the same time was based on the CCA-

20. The topic of the relationship between Eliade and traditionalism is very complex and requires a separate study. For more information, see the chapters on Eliad in Doniger, W and Wedemeyer, C. (eds.) (2010) Hermeneutics, Politics, and the History of Religions: The Contested Legacies of Joachim Wach and Mircea Eliade. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

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Although the Codreanu movement formally has no direct connection with Guenon's understanding of tradition, Evola, who visited the Legionnaires ' leader in 1937, describes Codreanu as an ideal fighter for the principles of tradition in the struggle against the modern world. 22 In addition, it is Eliade's participation in the Legion of Archangel Michael as one of the main theorists that makes Eliade-a scientist-an active fighter with the modern world, 23 sometimes forcing him to directly call him a traditionalist.24 It should be noted that Eliade himself highly valued the works of Guenon and Evola, and was close friends with the latter, 25 while he did not consider himself a follower of the doctrine in question.26
No matter how strange it may seem, Baron Roman Fyodorovich Ungern von Sternberg can also be considered among the followers of traditionalism as an ideology. He certainly had no ties to either Evola or Guenon, but he also recognized himself as a fighter against the modern world, decline and degradation in the forms of liberalism and communism, defending with his brutal methods the religious hierarchical structure of society, which, in his opinion, was preserved only in the Mongolian

21. For more information, see: Nosachev P. G. Synthesis of Religion and Politics in pre-war Romania: Legion of Archangel Michael // Proceedings of the XXI Annual Theological Conference of St. Petersburg State University/Edited by V. Vorobyov, Moscow: PSTGU, 2011, pp. 81-82.

22. This is confirmed by a whole series of articles by Evola devoted to Codryan and legionnaires: Evola Yu. My meeting with Corneliu Codreanu. Electronic resource: http://www.fatuma.net/blog/text/evola-codreanu (accessed 05.11.2011); Evola Yu. Drama of the Romanian legionnaires//Evola Yu. Tradition and Europe. Tambov: Ex nord lux, 2009. pp. 187-191; Ascetic legionary art: Interview with Yu. Evols with the head of the "Iron Guard" / Translated from Italian by V. Vanyushkina. Electronic resource: http://www.nationalism.org/rr/5/evola-codreanu. htm (accessed 01.09.2013).

23. See the chapters devoted to Eliade in the tendentious but popular book Lenel-Lavastin A. Forgotten Fascism: Ionesco, Eliade, Cioran, Moscow: Progress-Traditsiya, 2007-

24. See, for example, the chapter on traditionalism in Vanderhill E. Mystics of the XX century. Moscow: Astrel, 2001.

25. Quote from Eliade's diary for 1974: "Today I learned about the death of Julius Evola... Memories came flooding back to me: my years at university, the books we discussed together, the letters I received from him in Calcutta" (Quoted in Sedgwick, M. Against the Modern World, p. 110).

26. Describing his encounter with Evola in the 1950s, Eliade writes: "Like Rene Guenon, Evola recognized the "primordial tradition", the existence of which I could not accept, suspecting it of artificiality, unhistorical " (Eliade M. Promises of the equinox: Harvest of the Solstice, Moscow: Kriterion Publ., 2008, p. 378).

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the Lamaist state. In the memoirs of Ungern, his letters and decrees, the same idea of faith in the original tradition is clearly evident.27 Of course, neither Codreanu nor Ungern will discuss the initiation, counterinitiation, and other subtleties of Guenon, Evola, and Schuon, but they have a clear understanding of the tradition lost by modern society and a rejection of this very society. In addition, A. Dugin [28] also lists Ungern as an exponent of traditionalism, and modern adherents of right-wing radical movements based on traditionalism compose romantic odes to both Codryan [29] and Ungern [30].

Traditionalism and politics 31

Thus, traditionalism as an ideology fully fits into the system of various political trends that emerged in the XX century. First of all, many traditionalist authors are drawn closer to, and sometimes directly identified with, the radical movements of the New Rights32 and the Conservative Revolution.-

27. For more information, see the book Autocrat of the Desert by L. Yuzefovich, Moscow: Ad Marginem, 2010.

28. See his sixth show from the Finis mundi series. You can read its text and listen to it here: http://www.arcto.ru/modules. php? name=News&file=ar ticle&sid=1104. Also important is Dugin's pseudonym, which he used to sign articles in the mid-90s - "Sternberg".

29. For specific examples, see http://community.livejournal.com/ru_iron_guard.

30. For more information, see the conclusion of Palmer, J. (2009) The Bloody White Baron, pp. 243 - 247. N.Y.: Basic Books.

31. A huge number of works have been written on the relationship between traditionalism and the trends associated with its ideologemes. We would not want to go into their detailed analysis for two main reasons. First, it would involve us in discussing particular issues of political science and philosophical debates around the concepts of "conservatism", "neoconservatism"," conservative revolution"," fascism " and the like. Secondly, such an analysis would shift the focus of our article from the religious studies component of integral traditionalism, which, on the contrary, is relatively poorly studied in modern literature.

32. For more information about the movement and its critique from both liberal and conservative positions, see: Panarin A. S. "Retro" style in Ideology and Politics: Critical Essays on French Neoconservatism, Moscow: Mysl, 1989; Voronkova V. G. Sovremennyi frenzicheskii conservativizm. Киев: Лыбидь, 1990; Griffin, R. (2000) "Between Metapolitics and Apoliteia: the Nouvelle Droite's Strategy for Conversing the Fascist Vision in the 'Interregnum'", Modern & Contemporary France 8 (1): 35-53.

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In addition, Alain de Benoit, who largely relies on Guenon's writings, is the leader of the New Right movement in France, and the Italian Forza Nuova takes Julius Evola as one of its ideological pillars. while honoring Corneliu Codreanu as an ideal fighter and politician. Alexander Dugin, as part of his Eurasian movement, established such close contacts with the new right abroad that foreign researchers consider him one of the leaders of this political movement in Russia.

Many contemporary authors explicitly connect the ideas of the new right with fascism. If we consider traditionalism an ideology, then this convergence is also true for it. Everyone knows Louis Pauvel's famous expression "fascism is Guenonism plus panzer divisions", which, for all its demagogic nature, has considerable grounds. If Rene Guenon himself was not in any way connected with the fascists either in Germany or in Italy, then Julius Evola for more than a decade tried to integrate himself into the fascist ideological system. He edited and published the newspaper "Fascist Regime", was close friends and even friends with Franz von Papen, wrote several works that show outright fascist rhetoric with anti-Semitism, the doctrine of race and other features of it34, visited the SS center in Wewelsburg, and read Mussolini's works. In 1953, he was even tried for aiding the Nazis, but was acquitted.

The Archangel Michael Legion and the Iron Guard political party formed on its basis are considered purely fascist movements on Romanian soil. Codreanu himself proudly stated that for the first time, Romania set an example for both Germany and Italy by using the swastika as its symbol and under the name of the swastika.

33. For more information about the term with an excellent bibliographic list, see Umland A. "Conservative Revolution": a proper name or a generic concept?// Voprosy filosofii. 2006. N 2. pp. 116-126; on the history of the movement and its fate in Germany, see: Plennoe O. Y. The triumph of myth over Reason. SPb.: Vladimir Dahl, 2011; a brief history of the movement and its modern reminiscences are well consecrated in the article Senderov V. A. Crisis of modern conservatism//Novy Mir, 2007, No. 1, pp. 117-151.

34. From Pagan Imperialism, 1927, to The Synthesis of Racial Doctrine, 1941.

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ney speaking out against communists and Jews 35. In addition, the Guard is responsible for one of the bloodiest Jewish pogroms staged during the years of Fascist terror, the 1941 Bucharest pogrom.

Baron Ungern was also distinguished by open anti-Semitism, and his similarity in a number of parameters to the fascists makes the researcher write that many years after Ungern's death, one of his interlocutors recalled that the baron foresaw "the future role of the social trend that has now received the name fascism." This line in the spiritual field of Europe for Ungern was almost the most important. It ran parallel to the line of his destiny and might well have merged with it if, in 1920, he had left Transbaikalia for Austria, as he had intended to do, instead of leading his horsemen south to Mongolia.36
The convergence of Alexander Dugin's views with fascist ideology is obvious on many points, and quite a lot of people have been writing about it lately.37 It is no secret that Dugin's teacher, Evgeny Golovin, was very sympathetic to Nazi aesthetics throughout his life, 38 and Alexander Gelyevich himself often allowed himself ambiguous statements.39
Thus, everything seems clear: traditionalism is a form of extreme right-wing political ideology,

35. Codreanu K. Z. To my legionnaires. Tambov: Ex nord lux, 2009. p. 90.

36. Yuzefovich L. Autocrat of the desert. Electronic resource: http://militera.lib. ru/bio/yuzefovich/01.html (accessed 01.09.2013).

37. See, for example: Umland A., Shekhovtsov A. The role of Integral Traditionalism in the Utopian constructions of Alexander Dugin: Philosophia Perennis and Neo-Eurasianism//Forum of the latest Eastern European History and Culture. 2010. N 2. http://wwwl.ku-eichstaett.de/ZIMOS/forum/inhaltruss14.html (accessed 01.09.2013); Lux L. "The Third Way" or back to the Third Reich?// Voprosy filosofii. 2000. N 5. С. 33_44; Umlahd, A. (2009) "Faschistische Tendenzen im russischen politischen Establishment. Der Aufstieg der Internationalen Eurasischen Bewegung", Russland analysen 183/9: 7 - 11.

38. This can be seen at least by listening to his well-known songs "Black Columns", " To the north!"and" The eyes are dark from the Russian frost."

39. Here it is enough to recall Dugin's oft-quoted article "Fascism is boundless and red" (you can read it at the link: http://www.arctogaia.com/publ ic/templars/arbeiter. htm) or a list of the enemies of the modern "open society", which include communism, fascism both in the" Templars of the Proletariat "and in the modern"Fourth Political Theory".

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fitting into the spectrum somewhere between the conservative revolution and fascism. But this is only at a cursory examination, but if you approach the issue more deeply, then a completely different picture opens up.

Traditionalism and esotericism 40

First of all, the political significance of traditionalist movements is negligible. Baron Ungern managed to keep power in his hands only for about a hundred days, after giving Mongolia under the rule of the Bolsheviks he so hated. 41 The Iron Guard cannot even come close to matching Italian fascism and German National Socialism. Legionnaires appear as romantics, singing songs and building churches and bridges, but they are not able to carry out any major changes in the country. It is no coincidence that the National Guard never fully rose to power in Romania, even though the country was already in coalition with fascist regimes abroad.

Rene Guenon exerted only a local influence on individual intellectuals-Romanians, French, Swedes, whose main social actions were to convert to Islam and create independent Sufi orders. Evola, the idol of the new right, was seen by both Mussolini and Hitler as a crank whose ideas could be used as a tool to clarify internal relations in a certain political situation, 42 but in no case should they be taken seriously. Yes, and Evola himself with his doctrine of race, in which he shares the concept of biological and spiritual race, putting the second above the first,

40. For more information about the term, see: Zhdanov V. Study of esotericism in Western Europe: Institutions, concepts and methods // Mystical and esoteric movements in theory and practice. History. Psychology. Philosophy/Edited by S. V. Iakhomov, St. Petersburg: Russian Academy of Arts, 2009, pp. 5-27; Nosachev P. G. Esoterica: Osnovnye momenty istorii termina [Esotericism: The main points of the term's history]//Bulletin of PSTSU. 2011. N 2 (34). С. 49 - 60; Hanegraaff, W. J. "Esoterica", in Hanegraaff, W. (ed.) (2005) Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, pp. 336 - 340. Leiden: Brill; Versluis, A. (2002) "What is Esoteric? Methods in the Study of Western Esotericism", Esoterica 4: 1 - 15.

41. By the way, it was the actions of the black baron, according to Yalmer, that led Mongolia to leave Chinese influence forever and be forcibly included in the processes of communist reform.

42. For more information, see Sedgwick's chapter on Evola: Sedgwick, M. Against the Modern World, pp. 95-109 and the section on Evola in Gregor, J. A. (2005) Mussolini's Intellectuals: Fascist Social and Political Thought, pp. 191-221. Princeton, Princeton University Press.

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Obviously, he saw fascism only as a tool for returning tradition to the modern world. It is in this context that his words become clear that it was not fascism that destroyed Italy, but, on the contrary, the Italians destroyed fascism.

Here we see a radical difference between traditionalism and the political ideologies of the 20th century. Traditionalism is romantic, while fascism, the conservative revolution, and others are primarily pragmatic. Codreanu's book" To My Legionnaires " portrays an image of an honest but narrow-minded young man in his own way, who spares neither his own nor other people's lives in the name of defending the ideal for which he creates death brigades leading an ascetic lifestyle. Meanwhile, Codreanu's associates proclaim the idea that through the Captain of the 43 and the Guard, the Romanian people receive atonement for their sins before God. There is more affinity here not with politics, but with mysticism.

The same can be said about Baron Ungern's crazy, unthinkable actions with bloody pogroms, the coronation of Bogdogegen, the geopolitical plan for the revival of the kingdom, the ritual marriage with a Chinese princess, and so on.

Guenon and Evola are much better known not as political theorists, but as adherents of Western esotericism. Both the first and second had periods of initiation into various esoteric communities in their lives, Guenon had a total of six initiations, including Masonic, Martinist and even mystical, received from the spirit of Jacques de Molay, the last grand master of the Templar order. Evola, thanks to Arturo Regini, was intimately familiar with theosophy and Freemasonry, and was himself a member of organizations that practiced ritual and sexual magic. In addition, Evola and Guenon's works on the history of secret societies, alchemy, hermetics, and initiation are best known both in Russia and abroad.

The same applies to those who are considered traditionalists in Russia. Evgeny Golovin did not write anything about politics, his themes are hermeticism, alchemy, magic and the abomination of the modern world. Although now Alexander Dugin is known as a Doctor of Political Science and Sociology, Head of the Center for Conservative Studies and the Department of Sociology of International Relations at the Faculty of Sociology

43. So called Codreanu loyal guards.

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MSU, the leader of the Eurasian movement, but for him the 80s and 90s were directly connected with esotericism. Even now, in his lectures and reports, Huntington, Levi Strauss, Shirokogorov, and Heidegger are mentioned on an equal footing, and often in connection with Hermes Trismegistus, Fulcanelli, Philalethes, and Luria, which forms a special aesthetically expressive and unique language of complexio oppositorum, which attracts so many young people to it.44
The very definitions of traditionalism given by Sedgwick and Favre highlight a special dimension in it, which is not reducible to social or political processes. This dimension can also not be called religious, since all followers of traditionalism advocate extra-religious mysticism, which can take the form of institutionalized (as in Guenon or Codreanu) religiosity, but transcends it, not being reduced to it. In this situation, it is obvious that traditionalism belongs to the complex of Western esotericism and can be considered as one of its forms.

Dutch researcher Wouter Hanegraaf, placing traditionalism in the context of Western esotericism, comes to the conclusion that it is not a single teaching. If, speaking of Guenon's theories, one can associate them with the phenomenon of Western esotericism, then all other authors belonging to the so-called traditionalism are thinkers who conduct their research in various fields of the humanities

44. In this context, the personality and teachings of Dugin himself, and even more so of his teacher Evgeny Golovin, deserve closer study. Moreover, if we accept our methodological premise of including traditionalism in the sphere of esoteric studies and, more broadly, religious studies, then it is necessary to temporarily forget about the exaggerated political component of the latter's life. Part of this view, at least at the level of approach, is presented in Konstantin Frumkin's article " Traditionalists: a Portrait against the background of texts "(Druzhba Narodov, 2002, No. 6). However, the authors in question were evaluated from a cultural rather than religious point of view. In our study, we would not like to dwell on this issue in detail, since its main topic is not individual personalities, but "integral traditionalism" itself and the conceptual definition of its position in relation to the areas of scientific competence. For more information on the religious studies analysis of the so-called "Russian traditionalism", see Nosachev P. G. Evgeny Golovin and "Russian traditionalism" //Mystiko-esoteric movements in theory and practice: History and discourse: historical and philosophical aspects of esotericism and mysticism research: Conference Collection/Edited by S. V. Pakhomov, St. Petersburg: Russian Academy of Arts, 2012, pp. 41-49; Nosachev P. G. K voprosu o russkom traditionalizme//Points. 2011. N 1-2 (10). pp. 176-183.

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knowledge: Evola - in politics, Nasr-in philosophy, etc. And Guenon himself appears more like an original religious scholar in Hanegraaf's theory 45. The statement of the Dutch researcher is largely true, since the unity of traditionalism is conditional. Guenon and Evola disagreed on the question of initiation, Ungern and Codreanu were not interested in these questions at all, the so-called "Russian traditionalists" have little in common with Guenon. To make sure of this, it is enough to analyze Golovin's work, revealing at the same time his skepticism towards both Evola and Guenon 46. But for Alexander Dugin, the main "Russian traditionalist"47, it was Golovin who was the defining authority and teacher in all matters. 48 Thus, the conventionality of traditionalism is obvious, but the complex of Western esotericism itself is equally conditional, and Professor Hanegraaf throws all his strength into studying it: do Gurdjieff and Madame have much in common Blavatsky, Sar Peladan, Albert the Great, Nicola Flamel, Marsilio Ficino and Avraham Abulafia? Esotericism is a construct created by researchers, according to the apt remark of Cuco von Stuckrad49, traditionalism is the same construct.

45. Подробнее см.: Hanegraaff, W "Tradition", in Hanegraaff, W (ed.) (2005) Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, pp. 1132 - 1135. Leiden: Brill.

46. In his last work, Golovin, in particular, writes about Guenon: "This author is far from indisputable. If particular interpretations and interpretations of metaphysical truths and symbols are interesting and profound, the general historical or rather non-historical perspective seems both categorical and utopian. It is difficult to imagine extremely distant epochs of civilizations, purely traditional, it is difficult to imagine the style, conditions, and way of life of that time... Can we think of the "kingdom of Tradition" as a Golden Age? It is doubtful and yet closer to the truth, because Guenon fully sympathizes with the theory of cycles" (Golovin E. Mythomania, Moscow: Amphora, 2010, p. 16).

47. This is exactly how Mark Sedgwick positions it in his book (for more information, see the chapter "Neo-Eurasianism in Russia").

48. For example, in the Introduction to the second edition of his first book, The Ways of the Absolute, he writes: "In The Ways of the Absolute, we were based on a special metaphysical tradition, the main vectors of which were developed in a very closed and isolated intellectual environment associated with such thinkers as Heydar Jemal, Yuri Mamleev, Evgeny Golovin. Having inherited from them a taste for the paradoxical turn of metaphysical intuition, we tried to combine this with orthodox traditionalism, subjecting it to corrections resulting from the spirit of the aforementioned school" (Dugin A. Ways of the Absolute//Dugin A. Absolute homeland, Moscow: Arktogeya-center, 1999, p. 7).

49. For more information, see Stukrad, K. (2005) Western Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret Knowledge, pp. 1-11. London: Eqinox.

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* * *

Summing up, we will try to answer the question: is traditionalism an ideology? Yes, absolutely. But this ideology has little in common with the political ideologies of the twentieth century, although formal similarities can be found. Traditionalism is a special kind of esoteric teaching that has two main features::

1. Complete and absolute rejection of the modern world with all its peculiarities and, as a result, propagandizing rebellion against it (in its radical forms) or a complete break in communication with the world and closing in on tradition (in soft forms, like Guenon).

2. Postulating an immaterial reality that was accessible to people of ancient times, but lost in modern times and with which a person must connect in order to transform his own life and the life of society.

According to Umberto Eco, the starting point of both modern esotericism and fascism is the postulation of the original tradition. Since it is impossible to find it because of the excessively thick layer of age-old dust lying on it, it must be restored bit by bit in disparate storerooms of ancient knowledge, and this inevitably leads to syncretism. In syncretism, the basis of compatibility is primarily a disregard for contradictions (italics Eco. - PN). Based on this logic, all the original revelations contain the germ of truth, and if they are contradictory or even incompatible, it does not matter, because allegorically they all go back to some primordial truth. From this it follows that there is no place for the development of knowledge (italics N. - P. N.). The truth has already been proclaimed once and for all; it remains only to interpret its dark words. It is enough to look at the "clips" of any fascist cultures: they include only traditionalist thinkers... The most important theoretical source of the new Italian right, Julius Evola, mixes Gra-

50. The title of Sedgwick's book Against the Modern World is very apt here.

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al with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, alchemy with the Holy Roman Empire... The very principle of lumping Augustine and Stonehenge together is a symptom of ur-fascism.51
Syncretism as such was an inevitable companion to the development of Western esotericism, which is probably why Sedgwick and Faivre's definitions are not so satisfactory, since they did not consider traditionalism in relation to the complex of Western esotericism, but tried to define it as an independent phenomenon.

It seems to us that traditionalism is a unique form of esotericism, since it asserts the involutional nature of the modern world and requires its adherents to rebel against it. As a result, it turns out that an adequate study of integral traditionalism is impossible without involving the religious studies methodology of the study of Western esotericism, otherwise traditionalism appears as a phenomenon divorced from its roots. In this case, his perception becomes superficial and much becomes unclear to the researcher. The combination of religious and political science research methods could provide new heuristic perspectives in the study of traditionalism.

In conclusion, we note that certain characteristics of integral traditionalism can certainly be seen as having something in common with Christianity. But this is only at first glance. In conclusion, let us quote, albeit aphoristic, but in its own profound way, the famous church historian and theologian Yaroslav Pelikan; in an interview in 1989, he says::

Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in dialogue with the past, while at the same time remembering where and when we are, and what exactly we need to make decisions about. Traditionalism assumes that nothing can be done for the first time, and that all one has to do to solve any problem is to resort to the unmistakable evidence of a homogeneous tradition.52
51. Eco U. Eternal fascism//Eco U. Five essays on ethics. St. Petersburg: Symposium, 2000, pp. 68-69.

52. Quoted by Legenhausen Haji Muhamad. "Why I am not a traditionalist". Electronic resource: http://www.religioscope.com/info/doc/esotrad/legenhausen. htm (accessed 01.09.2013).

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