21 Mar 2011
More than any others in my piece these lines unify and express the theme of genius loci – spirit of place – and they do so, significantly, both in terms of the central Victorian landscape and my Northern European spiritual heritage. For if Germanic Heathenism, the religion of the god Woden, originated in one land, Northern Europe, then naturally it will be a religion replete with Northern European associations. Indeed, natural and desirable spiritual evolution notwithstanding, the entire form and content of the religion are ideally derived from this source. How far can we, or should we, nativise our religion in Australia? There is something complex, problematic, and interesting when North meets South. What happens when opposites meet? When fire and ice clash and intermingle is there creation or destruction, or both? Is there a possibility of a marriage …
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25 Apr 2010
By now, I would assume most readers spanning these pages have read or at least heard of the journal TYR. Originally conceived as an annual publication that has proven otherwise over time, this third installment is nonetheless well-worth the wait. Dedicated to pre-Christian myth, culture and tradition in an Indo-European context, TYR contains a wealth of articles, music and book reviews with an undeniably anti-modernist slant that maintains a high standard of erudition and scholarship. Anyone looking for mere ideological rants should look elsewhere. As the editors make clear in the editorial preface, the radical traditionalism espoused provides a “nexus where any different number of ideas might intersect.” Echoing Oswald Spengler’s distinction of a “people” as opposed to a “mass” several decades ago, the various authors hardly treat the underlying key themes – “culture” and “civilization” as …
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