UR Group was an Italian esotericist association, founded around 1927 by intellectuals including Julius Evola, Arturo Reghini and Giovanni Colazza for the study of Traditionalism and Magic.[1][2] They published monthly series of issues in UR (1927-28) and KRUR (1929) journals, reprinted in the three volumes of the book Introduzione alla Magia quale Scienza dell'Io ("Introduction to Magic as Science of the Self") in 1955 and 1971.[3]

History

The Group of UR was founded by Julius Evola. Among the first collaborators to it were also the freemason Arturo Reghini, follower of the neo-Pythagoreanism of the Rocco Armentano's "Schola Italica",[4] his pupil Giulio Parise, and the anthroposophist Giovanni Colazza, a disciple of Rudolf Steiner, belonging to the tradition of Christian esotericism.[5] They gathered various seekers devoted to initiate asceticism, united by the sharing of similar esoteric studies,[2] to revitalize the perennial tradition of the ancient Sacred mysteries.[6]

Julius Evola was the first editor of the magazine UR. The size of the Group has remained hidden but it is estimated between twelve and fifteen people.[7] Evola rapidly expanded his influence on the Group's magazine,[4] to the point of ousting Arturo Reghini and his disciple Giulio Parise from the management at the end of 1928. Strong personal disagreements with Parise had in fact led to a split in the group itself, after which, in January 1929, Evola founded a new magazine called KRUR.[8] Reghini's support for Freemasonry would prove a bone of contention for Evola, who accused him of wanting to put the magazine under the direct control of the Grand Orient of Italy.[9]

The UR Group in fact declared itself independent of esoteric schools or tendencies formed in modern and contemporary times, referring, if anything, to a universal Tradition prior to particular doctrinal forms. In addition to Hermetists and Kremmerzians, were also accepted within it some Catholics and a significant component of Steinerians,[10] whose anthroposophy undoubtedly inspires most of the members of the Group.[11] The purpose of this group was to attempt to bring the members' individual identities into such a superhuman state of power and awareness that they would be able to exert a magical influence on the world. They aimed to provide a "soul" to the burgeoning Fascist movement of the time through the revival of ancient Roman religion, and to influence the fascist regime through esotericism.[12]

Operating branches of the Group were established in Rome and in other cities of Italy, the so-called «chains»,[13] based on common intentions and practices, mainly employing the anthroposophical exercises taught by Steiner for spiritual development,[11] as well as techniques from Buddhist, Tantric and rare Hermetic texts.[14]

The name

The name of the group comes from the phonetic expression u-r, existing in the Chaldean and in the Runic with the meaning of fire and bull or ram respectively, as well as a prefix "ur-" in German to indicate something primal, ancestral.[15]

The magazines

In the magazines, expressions of the works within the Ur Group, the authors of the articles signed themselves with a pseudonym, because they preferred to spread their thought rather than advertise their own person. The magazine's director was Julius Evola as it appears on the 1927 cover; together with the "curators" Pietro Negri (alias Arturo Reghini) and Giulio Parise in the cover of 1928; again and only Evola in 1929, when the magazine's name was changed to KRUR.[8]

Each of the three publication years corresponds to one of the three volumes of the work Introduction to Magic as Science of the Ego reprinted in 1955 and 1971.[3]

Several hermetic-alchemical texts such as the Turba philosophorum, or Gichtel's Theosophia practica were published in the journals of UR and KRUR, and others of a philosophical and ritual nature from various sources.

The members

The pseudonyms behind which the members of the Ur Group hid were partly revealed by the researches of Gianfranco de Turris,[16] and Renato Del Ponte.[17] Below a list of those who collaborated with the magazines of UR and KRUR (in brackets their symbolic name used to sign, according to the idea of 'active impersonality'):[18]

Other people, whose identity is unknown, signed with the pseudonyms of: Alba, Apro, Arom, Nilius, Primo Sole, Zam. Another enigmatic name, Ekatlos, is attributable to a lady, or perhaps to Leone Caetani.[21] In the magazine Krur also wrote Agnostus, behind which the French esotericist René Guénon is probably hidden.[16]

Works

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hans Thomas Hakl, Julius Evola and the UR Group, Aries, 12, Leida, Brill, 2012, pp. 53–90.
  2. 1 2 Joscelyn Godwin (2010), Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations, Simon and Schuster, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Wouter J. Hanegraaff ed., Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism, Brill, 2006, p. 743.
  4. 1 2 G. Lachman (2012), p. 215.
  5. ↑ Fabio Milana (2011). "Un'élite spirituale". Cristiani d'Italia (in Italian). Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.
  6. ↑ Stefano Arcella (October 2012). "Julius Evola e l'esperienza del Gruppo di Ur. La storia "occulta" dell'Italia del Novecento" (in Italian).
  7. ↑ Mark Sedgwick (2009), Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century, p. 103, Oxford University Press.
  8. 1 2 Fabrizio Giorgio (October 2018). "Le vicende editoriali di «Ur» e «Krur»" (PDF). Speciale Julius Evola (1898–1974) (in Italian). Vol. X, no. 10/98. Milan: la Biblioteca di via Senato. pp. 37–41.
  9. ↑ Furlong 2011, p. 5.
  10. ↑ G. De Turris (2006), p. 83.
  11. 1 2 Peter Staudenmaier (2014), Between Occultism and Nazism: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era, p. 271, BRILL, 2014.
  12. ↑ Furlong 2011, p. 77.
  13. ↑ Instructions magical chains, chapter X, in Ur 1927.
  14. ↑ Nevill Drury (2004), The Dictionary of the Esoteric: 3000 Entries on the Mystical and Occult Traditions. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 96.
  15. ↑ Hugh B. Urban, Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism, p. 152, University of California Press, 2006.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Gianfranco de Turris (June 1987). "L'Esoterismo Italiano degli anni Venti: il Gruppo di Ur, tra Magia e Super Fascismo". Abstracta. II (in Italian). No. 16.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Renato Del Ponte, Evola and the magical Group of UR. Studies and documents to serve the history of «Ur-Krur», Borzano (Reggio Emilia), SeaR, 1994, cf. Maurizio Martucci (2018). "Il magico Gruppo di Ur-Krur" (in Italian).
  18. ↑ G. De Turris (2006), p. 125.
  19. 1 2 3 Beraldo, Michele (2006). "L'Antroposofia e il suo rapporto con il Regime Fascista". In De Turris, Gianfranco (ed.). Esoterismo e fascismo: storia, interpretazioni, documenti (in Italian). Edizioni mediterranee. p. 83. ISBN 978-88-272-1831-0. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Arvo" may have been used by both Colonna di Cesarò and Evola.
  21. ↑ Sandro Consolato (October 2017). "La Grande Guerra degli esoteristi" (in Italian). Tempi.

References

  • Joscelyn Godwin, Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations, Simon and Schuster, 2010.
  • Hans Thomas Hakl, Julius Evola and the UR Group, Aries, 12, Leida, Brill, 2012.
  • Hans Thomas Hakl, Christopher McIntosh, Eranos: An Alternative Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century, Routledge, 2014.
  • Gary Lachman, Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen, Quest book, 2012.
  • Damon Zacharias Lycourinos, Occult Traditions, Numen Books, 2012.
  • Furlong, Paul (21 April 2011). Social and Political Thought of Julius Evola. Abingdon-on-Thames: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-136-72549-4. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  • (in Italian) AA. VV. La Dimensione Magica del Gruppo di Ur. Atti del Simposio Internazionale svoltosi a Napoli nel 2017 in occasione del 90º Anniversario della costituzione del Gruppo di Ur, Ed. Rebis, Viareggio, 2021 (index).
  • (in Italian) Claudio Mauri, La catena invisibile. Il giallo del fascismo magico, Milano, Mursia, 2005. ISBN 8842533319.
  • (in Italian) Renato Del Ponte, Evola e il magico Gruppo di Ur. Studi e documenti per servire alla storia di Ur-Krur, Borzano, Albinea, Sear Edizioni, 1994.
  • (in Italian) Gianfranco De Turris, Esoterismo e fascismo: storia, interpretazioni, documenti, Edizioni Mediterranee, 2006.
  • (in Italian) Marco Rossi, Neopaganesimo e arti magiche nel periodo fascista, in Storia d'Italia, Annali 25, "Esoterismo", ed. Gian Mario Cazzaniga, Einaudi, Turin, 2010, pp. 599–627.
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