By Connor Wrigley
Edited by Christina Finlayson Taylor
Preface by Robert Taylor
Reviewed by Gwendolyn Taunton
In his first book debut Conor Wrigley takes on an issue akin to “what came first – the chicken or the egg”? He decides to tackle head on the thorny issue of what comes first – interior or exterior revolution? The decisive verdict is that it must first be an interior one before any real or significant change can be achieved in society. Any form of political revolution which does not hold an individual as it’s basis must be deemed as false, a mere continuation of the same old Left vs. Right paradigm, that old devil of gravity who holds the conformist masses firmly in its strangling choke hold.
Politics is politics – and it loves to keep the people firmly under thumb, regardless of what propaganda it spews forth. “All modern systems and -isms such as communism, fascism, socialism, conservatism, liberalism, even anarchism, etc. focus on the material and not the spiritual; thus, they are all part of the same cursed spirit of gravity.” [1]
The term ‘spirit of gravity’ is an adaptation of a metaphor employed by Nietzsche, a negative influence that prevents man from ascending and traversing across the Abyss to the Ubermensch. In this sense of the term, it can be interpreted as a Herd belief that prevents individuals from attaining the Nietzschean process of differentiation. Politics, of course, is a just means by which to control the people – here it takes on another meaning though – the spirit of gravity, is the material current of existence which binds one to the plebeian life (and thus to control by the Good Political Shepherds) and it is therefore the opposite force of the spiritual and immaterial world. It is for this reason the book is about ‘spiritual revolution’. It rests on the premise that individual spiritual revolution must occur prior to any political revolution of the masses. Wrigley states that;
“What is a revolution without the spirit? What is a system or ideology without the spiritual component? The answer to these questions is complete failure and inevitable decay. All systems of governance, philosophy, etc. are failures for this reason as they do not contain any essence of the spirit at all but in fact seek to contain the spirit, to bind the spirit, and to chain it down as means of controlling it.” [2]
These ideas are a further extrapolation on those of another philosopher, Azsacra Zarathustra, whose influence is readily discernible throughout the book. Wrigley explains how Zarathustra’s ideas can lead to this interior revolution saying that ;
[…] all previous revolutions have been trapped within the confines of the rise of political ideology and remain just that: a paradigm of material politics. Azsacra’s new types of revolution can be seen as anti-political and against the prison of conventional political rules and boundaries. It is with a great strike of the shunya hammer and a powerful strike of lightning that so called geopolitics and political boundaries are decimated and reduced to a head of fragmented ashes. [3]
Therefore, the nature of this interior spiritual revolution, is completely divorced from any political sentiment – it is not even comparable with anarchy – rather it is the complete annihilation of the political principle and therefore anti-political. The influence of Ernst Junger is also present within the book, which cites The Forrest Passage as an inspiration, and that “With The Forest Passage, Junger makes the bold claim that the great leviathan of modern civilization with its rampant materialism and all the illusions contained within it can be torn apart and cast out by a resolute individual.”[4] Wrigley further elaborates on this by stating that;
The combination of the ideas of Emst Junger’s Forest Passage and Azsacra Zarathustra’s revolutionary philosophy create a great tool by which the spirit can revolt against the materialistic enemy and parasitic destroyer. The revolution will start internally, within the very spirit of the rebel who will cleanse himself with burning fire only to laugh and ponder when the flame will actually begin to bum his flesh. The revolution then moves to the external as, having cleansed himself, the new spiritual revolutionary can no longer contain his revolt against illusion and moves to the outside world to dismantle it altogether. Thus the great leviathan can be slain, the parasitic leeches are tom off and the glass case that surrounds all of life is broken and the spirit freed. [5]
Another notable point with the work is that in a time when anti-Americanism is so rampant it’s almost becoming a form of political hysteria, this book instead believes that America could well be entering a new positive phase, which could lead to a social and cultural revolution in America – therefore suggesting that the decline the country currently faces may be ‘old America’ in a form of decay which is destined for collapse in order for a new positive phase of growth to begin in the country. Given the amount of anti-American sentiment in the world, it seems likely that at some point the country will have to perform a drastic reversal of tactics in order to survive – but in order for this to occur the citizens themselves must first over-come the ‘spirit of gravity’.
Another highlight of the book is the preface by veteran poet and musician Robert Taylor, whose presence lends the book an air of both support and authenticity.
[1] Wrigley, C., New Types of Spiritual Revolutions, 16
[2] Ibid., 13
[3] Ibid., 36
[4] Ibid., 41
[5] Ibid.,48
