A Short Introduction into Traditionalism

Part II. The End of the Cycle

Traditionalism realizes profound imperfection of the modern world, its total downfall. But a simple acknowledgement of the crisis of the modern world is a position of a passive observer. Traditionalism stands by the idea of a revolt against the modern world..

However, before acting it is necessary to realize in what situation we find ourselves now. For us there is no doubt that we are at the end of the cycle.

The end of the cycle means the end of the modern world, too. It is the end of the civilisaton we know. End of a cycle implies a cardinal change of the "local" situation (by local we mean pertaining to the sensible world) in the near future. But what is a moment on a cosmic scale, can mean tens and hundreds of years for a human being. Thus it is impossible to give a definite forecast; the world we know can change drastically in twenty, or in fifty, or in a hundred years.

Is it possible to influence the process itself? To stop it? To turn it back? Generally speaking, the answer is positive, but in order to exert such an influence certain conditions are needed, which are incompatible with the mode of existence of the absolute majority of our contemporaries. Thus we won't go into details of this issue. We must understand that we are living in the end of a cycle, and we must be prepared to deal with conditions we are likely to find.

Before examining what we should expect at the end of the cycle, let us touch upon what we should not expect. First of all, the end of the cycle does not mean that we shall see the Gods descending from heaven and restoring the Golden Age. It must be said that we cannot rely upon such direct help.

Nor should we await a world-scale catastrophe. There can be catastrophes for sure, but they must not be seen as a inevitable punishment for doomed and sinful mankind.

Nor should one believe that at a predefined time T (for example, the 19th of January, 2009, in 2.18 pm) everything around us will change in a matter of milliseconds. What awaits us is a transitional phase, and it would be somewhat naive to think that we can do nothing and just wait for Golden Age in the near future.

The end of the cycle means that some truth of metaphysical kind will be more intelligible, more comprehensible for mankind. Hence we are going to find ourselves in conditions more favourable for restoring the traditional order. But that won't happen without action on our part.

It is evident enough that this traditional order cannot be restored at once. The modern world itself, its postmodernistic values, are going to be the first to fall. Only after the fall of post-modern culture, order, and mentality it will be possible to move further in the work of restoring Tradition.

From the aforesaid things some conclusions can be madeIn the social sphere it means the failure of ideas of thoughtless culture mixing and destruction, which are often called 'multiculturalism' and 'tolerance'. The nation-idea will gain prominence once again, perhaps in a new form. Such is Modern (in contrast to post-modern) mentality, with its ideas of national capitalism and national democracy. But it must triumph only to give way (eventually) to the traditional order, and nothing else.

But it must be emphasized again, that the needed course of events is not guaranteed to take place on its own. Such a course must be ensured by people’s activity. And yet we can rely on finding favourable conditions precisely because of the end of the cycle itself.

It is this activity that consitutes our revolt against the modern world.