What is Traditionalism?
Traditionalism, sometimes known as perennial philosophy or sophia perennis, is a school of thought regarding religion and mythology.
It'd be easy to mistake Traditionalism for just some other philosophical movement from the 20th century, but that would be a huge mistake. In a very real way, Traditionalism is beyond philosophy, insofar as modern philosophy denies God and Truth, and there are several things that Traditionalists assert that are worth paying attention to:
- ☉ There exist primordial religious truths
- ☉ All real religions embody these truths to some extent
- ☉ Genuine Traditional religions have salvific power
Sounds like globalist propaganda to me...
This isn't some hippy-dippy "universalism" that many religious moderates in the West believe in. Rather this is a coherent system of study that looks at religions and identifies the truths they hold in common. It's a way of interpreting myths to experience the real metaphysical truths they represent; and it's a way of studying religion that reveals their transformative powers on the soul.
The crux of Traditionalism is that they understand religions the way religions understand themselves. There is no modernist "explaining away" of religious practices through evolutionary psychology or any such nonsense.
A classic metaphor to explain Tradition is through geometry: metaphysically there exists only one true Triangle, but in the physical world there are many triangles. These triangles vary in non-consequential ways such as size, color, texture, and so on. But they also differ in quality, in how well they reflect the one true Triangle. In the same way there are many religions in the world that differ in aesthetic or practice, but the great religions reflect the one true Religion that precedes any of its worldly manifestations.
Books
If you're interested in Traditionalism and are looking for a place to start learning, I recommend reading some of the founders of this school. Rene Guenon is the father of Traditionalist thought as we know it today; his Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines is considered a good starting point for the uninitiated, though I have yet to read it. However, I have read a few of Julius Evola's books (another prolific scholar), namely Revolt Against the Modern World, Eros and the Mysteries of Love, and The Hermetic Tradition.
Links
The YouTube channel ImperiumUltimum has many lectures and interviews by perennial scholars.
Keith Woods is a young Irish Traditionalist whose channel focuses mainly on political philosophy. He's one of the most worthwhile people to follow on the internet that I know of. He's also on YouTube (for now).
The Modern Platonist is a religious scholar who's strongly influenced by Evola.
Survive the Jive is a top-tier channel run by the English historian Thomas Rowsell with a focus on Indo-European paganism. He's also on YouTube.
The Traditionalist Tolkienist creates audiobooks from Traditionalist classics, discusses Buddhism, and talks about wrestling a lot, which is pretty cool I guess.
The Golden One is another Traditional European on YouTube who, until recently, identified as a pagan; he's a Swedish bodybuilder with lots of videos about health, nutrition, and life advice. He also sells clothes.