In the chapter “Man and Woman” in Revolt against the Modern World, Julius Evola establishes the proper relationship between the two principles. The feminine force is centrifugal with its tendency to chaos, but when aligned the masculine stability, a synthesis results. Thus, the masculine principle must become more fully itself, while the feminine becomes aligned with the masculine. Evola mentions the symbolism of the “bride” in this regard, just as Ananda Coomaraswamy points out that the king is the bride in relation to the purohita.

Evola points out that birth is not by chance. Hence, the being who is a man or a woman must reflect a spiritual difference. This differs from the modern view which sees one’s birth sex as something arbitrary, and now, given new medical technology, as even a matter of choice. However, traditionally, a man must fulfill himself as a man and a woman as a woman.

For a man, according to Evola, the highest ways belong to the Ascetic and the Warrior, corresponding to the Brahmin and Kshatriya castes respectively. Both these paths “affirm themselves in a life that is beyond life”, the former through jnana yoga, or total detachment, and the latter through bhakti yoga, or pure action. The woman, on the other hand, fulfills herself as Lover or as Mother. Note, here, that in Evola’s scheme the man can fulfill himself totally on his own, but a woman only in relation to a man. Through devotion to her lover or her son, a woman gives herself totally to another being, thereby fulfilling herself. Evola concludes this discussion:

To realize oneself in an ever more decisive way along these two distinct and unmistakable directions, limiting in the woman everything that is man and in man everything that is woman, approaching the absolute man and the absolute woman – such is the traditional law for the sexes, according to the various planes of life.

Perhaps Evola did not exhaust all the roles since men can also be Fathers and some women are ascetics. Logically, it is necessary for men to be Fathers otherwise women could not be fulfilled as mothers. Even among the Kshatriyas, there is the archetype of the Judge who decides with perfect justice. The vaishyas are neglected, but there are many who through dedication to knowledge or service to the community can find fulfillment.

To return to the spectrum of the absolute man and woman, we are left wondering. For example, where do the Ascetic and Warrior sit on this spectrum? Guenon answers this question when he points out that the Brahmin is oriented to superhuman states while the Kshatriya (warrior) tends to the realization of all the possibilities of the human state. This makes it clear that the Ascetic is more transcendent than the Warrior.

The Absolute Man

What then is the archetype of the absolute man? Evola alludes to it at the beginning of the chapter when he mentions the purusha and prakriti, the yang and the yin. But Alexander Jacob in A Reconstruction of the Solar Cosmology of the Indo-Europeans confirms it. He writes:

The formation of the deity as Purusha/Vishnu, the Ideal Man, is the result of the promptings of the divine heart or spirit. This ideal Man is however actually androgynous.

Thus Purusha is the Ideal or Absolute Man, which is clear once the masculine principle is fully understood. Moreover, a man approaches to this Ideal not by eliminating the feminine principle but rather by uniting with it in the Mysterium Coniunctionis or Spiritual Marriage. To transcend all lower states is the non-dual state, as the Purusha is also Atman.

A clue to this state is given by the warrior who actualizes all the possibilities of the human state. Or stated differently, he manifests in matter all his latent possibilities; this requires the cooperation of the feminine principle and especially the domination of it. A fortiori, the jnani actualizes all the possibilities of all the states so there is no longer duality between essence and existence. This defines precisely, in the West, God, for whom essence and existence are one.

The Absolute Woman

If Purusha is the absolute man, then Prakriti is the absolute woman. Prakriti alone is chaotic, undifferentiated, formless, and blind. As such, Prakriti can never be manifested as it is a metaphysical impossibility. Prakriti must be informed by the masculine principle in order to be anything in particular. But Evola had just pointed out that the woman is fulfilled by her relationship to a man, so the Absolute Woman is not Prakriti separate from all influences of the male principle, but rather the woman who is in the perfect relationship to the higher male principle. In other words, she participates in the same Spiritual Marriage mentioned above.

Excursus on German Idealism

To make these principles real, they demonstrate how German philosophy of the 18^th and 19^th centuries fed the process of the feminization of the West. When Kant attempted to show that the pure reason was incapable of any knowledge, the result was the abandonment of the male principle. The pure reason, or intellect, is the tool of contemplation. Only the practical reason, or action, could lead to knowledge of God, freedom, and immortality. This is equivalent to raising the feminine principle to the peak.

Those who followed Kant realized the consequences of his philosophy and concluded that the Will was the fundamental principle of the world. Schopenhauer did this quite thoroughly and consistently. In his system, the Will is fundamental, but if the will is not guided by the pure reason, it must therefore be arbitrary, blind, illogical, purposeless, and directionless. Nevertheless, there had to be something more, the Platonic ideas, to give form to the world. However, apparently the will was not directed by the ideas. Because of this Schopenhauer’s philosophy provides many interesting insights. Had he raised the ideas above the will, he would have come closer to a real metaphysics. At least he understood the Will to be transcendent to the world.

Nietzsche borrowed Schopenhauer’s concept of Will and gave it a direction, the Will to Power. He also dropped the ideas and regarded the world of appearances, all superficial, i.e., not as appearances of anything transcendental. The Will to Power, as a particular manifestation of Shakti, is feminine, and the denial of transcendence eliminates the masculine element totally from his system.