• Evola and Guénon both reference a spiritual North, a polar origin of Tradition
• Explore the myth of Thule, the Arctic Eden, and its function as axis mundi
Hyperborea
Thule
Hyperborea is an ancient mythical land, said by the Greeks to lie far to the north—beyond the north wind (Boreas). It was described as a luminous, paradisiacal realm where the sun never set and the people lived in peace and spiritual purity. The Hyperboreans were thought to be semi-divine beings, untouched by sickness, conflict, or decay.
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Julius Evola’s Vision of Hyperborea
In the esoteric and traditionalist worldview of Julius Evola, Hyperborea is not simply a geographical myth, but an archetypal origin—a spiritual Urheimat, the primordial homeland of an original superior race or divine humanity. His interpretation is woven through his works such as Revolt Against the Modern World and Mystery of the Grail.
1. Hyperborea as the Primordial Tradition
• Evola saw Hyperborea as the symbolic origin point of the Primordial Tradition—a transcendent, spiritual inheritance that predated all historical religions and civilizations.
• It represents the Solar-Nordic-Aryan tradition, the first and highest manifestation of the divine human type.
• This tradition later diffused into other ancient sacred civilizations—Vedic India, ancient Iran, the Druids, the Egyptians, and so forth—but in progressively more veiled and materialized forms.
2. Spiritual Polar Symbolism
• Hyperborea corresponds to the North, the Pole Star, the axis mundi—the immobile center around which the world turns.
• The polar symbolism reflects the unshakable divine authority and spiritual stillness at the root of true kingship and initiation.
• The sacred mountain (like Mount Meru or Olympus), the World Tree (Yggdrasil), and the Holy Grail all echo this archetypal axis.
3. Degeneration and the Fall
• According to Evola, the human condition has undergone a series of descents or falls—from Hyperborean purity into increasing materialism and chaos.
• He interprets ancient myths (e.g., the fall of Adam, the Flood, Atlantis) as symbolic echoes of this metaphysical decline.
• The Kali Yuga, the present Dark Age, is the terminal stage of this descent.
4. Warrior Spirit and the Hyperborean Ethos
• Evola contrasts the titanic, rebellious warrior of the Hyperborean tradition with the lunar, maternal, devotional spirit of later degenerate traditions.
• He advocates a return to the solar-heroic path: the path of the virile, self-transcending, Olympian man—embodied in the Grail Knight, the Aryan Kshatriya, or the Roman vir.
5. Hyperborea and the Grail Tradition
• In Mystery of the Grail, Evola argues that the Grail legends preserve remnants of the Hyperborean initiation, veiled in Christian language.
• The Grail Castle is a symbol of the inaccessible polar center, and the Grail King represents a fallen spiritual authority waiting to be restored by a worthy hero.
• Evola sees this as a call to spiritual elite to restore the Regality of the Spirit.
Hyperborea in Evola’s Vision – Core Themes
1. Hyperborea as the Origin of the Primordial Tradition
• Not a physical location, but a spiritual pole, a metaphysical homeland.
• Represents the first and highest human type: divine, solar, heroic.
• Preceded all historical religions and civilizations (Vedic, Iranian, Greek, Druidic, Egyptian).
• Symbol of a Golden Age when man was united with transcendence.
2. Spiritual Polar Symbolism
• Associated with the North, Pole Star, and Axis Mundi.
• Mythic echo in symbols like Mount Meru, Yggdrasil, and the Grail Castle.
• Embodies immutable being, divine sovereignty, and the still point of the turning world.
3. The Fall and Cycle of Decline
• Humanity has fallen from Hyperborean purity through successive ages (Titanic, Atlantean, etc.).
• Modernity is the Kali Yuga—total inversion of sacred order.
• Evola’s view is anti-evolutionary: we are not progressing but degenerating.
4. The Warrior-Aryan Ethos
• Hyperborea expresses a solar, virile, warrior archetype—noble, heroic, transcendent.
• Opposed to lunar, telluric, matriarchal cults that came later (e.g. mother goddesses, passive mysticism).
• Restoring Hyperborean spirit means reviving the path of inner conquest and heroic detachment.
5. Grail Tradition as Hyperborean Legacy
• The Grail is a veiled esoteric symbol of Hyperborean initiation.
• The Grail Castle = the lost spiritual North, a hidden center to be rediscovered.
• The Grail Knight is a symbolic figure of the one who seeks to restore divine kingship, the Regality of the Spirit.