If you’ve spent any time at Pulp Fiction Renaissance, then you know that Pulp Fiction is the Mythology of the 19th and 20th Century Indo-European Warrior Caste in the Anglo-American experience. 

But the roots of Pulp Fiction lie much deeper in the past in fact…thousands of years and dozens of epochs in the past, following the wandering migrations of the Indo-European Warrior peoples! 

In that spirit, we give you some background on the Indo-European Caste System, courtesy of Mythological Studies Scholar, Julius Evola himself!

When it comes to Mythological Studies, Carl Jung’s Archetypes and Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey are the most well-known concepts. 

But Evola takes the Mythological Landscape, and looks at it from a uniquely Masculine, Indo-European perspective…the perfect angle to examine Pulp Fiction!

So without further ado, we give you Julius Evola’s sweeping summary of the Indo-European Caste system across Ancient History, in an easy to follow format!

Read on below!

EVOLA IN HIS OWN WORDS 

“The most complete type of caste hierarchy, the ancient Indo-Aryan system, was visibly inspired by the hierarchy of the various functions found in a physical organism animated by the spirit. 

“At the lower level of such an organism there are the undifferentiated and impersonal energies of matter and of mere vitality; the regulating action of the functions of the metabolism and of the organism is exercised upon these forces. 

“These functions, in turn, are regulated by the will, which moves and directs the body as an organic whole in space and time. 

“Finally, we assume the soul to be the center, the sovereign power and the “light” of the entire organism. 

“The same is true for the castes; 

• The activities of the slaves or workers (śūdras) were subordinated to…
• The activities of the bourgeoisie (vaiśya); higher up in the hierarchy we find…
• The warrior nobility (kṣatriya); and finally…
• The representatives of the spiritual authority and power (the brāhmaṇa, in the original sense of the word, and the leaders as pontifices)…

“These groups were arranged in a hierarchy that corresponded to the hierarchy of the functions within a living organism.

“Such was the Indo-Aryan sociopolitical system, which closely resembled the Persian system; the latter was articulated into the four pishtra:

• Of the Lords of fire (athreva)…
• Of the warriors (rathaestha)…
• Of the heads of the family (vastriya-fshuyant), and…
• Of the serfs assigned to manual labor (huti)…

“An analogous pattern was found in other civilizations up to the European Middle Ages, which followed the division of people into 

• Servants…
• Burghers… 
• Nobility and… 
• Clergy… 

“In the Platonic worldview, the castes corresponded to different powers of the soul and to particular virtues: 

• The rulers (ἅρχοντες)…
• Whe warriors (ϕὐλακες ἑπικουροί) and…
• The workers (demiurgoi)…

“[These Castes] corresponded respectively:

• To the spirit (νοὒς) and to the head…
• To the animus (ϴυμοιδἐς) and to the chest, and…
• To the faculty of desire (ἐπιϴυμηπκὀν) and to the lower organs of the body regulating sex and the functions of excretion…

“In this way, as stated by Plato, the external order and hierarchy correspond to an inner order and hierarchy according to “justice.”

In a footnote to this point, Evola notes Plato’s explanation from Plato’s Republic, trans. B. Jowett, 444a, b.that:

“Justice is produced in the soul, like health in the body, by establishing the elements concerned in their natural relations of control and subordination; whereas injustice is like disease and means that this natural order is inverted.”

Evola goes on in his own words: 

“The idea of organic correspondence is also found in the well-known Vedic simile of the generation of the various castes from the distinct parts of the “primordial man” or puruṣa.” 

In a footnote to this point, Evola cites “Ṛg Veda 10.90,10-12” and explains in his own words that: 

“This fourfold division became a threefold division when nobility was thought to encompass both the warrior and the spiritual dimensions and practiced in those areas in which residues of this original situation existed. 

“This division corresponds to the Nordic division into jarls, karls, and traells and to the Hellenistic division into eupatrids, gheomors, and demiurgs.”[1]  

WHY THE BIG PICTURE  

Well, there you have it! Evola’s panorama of the Indo-European Caste System painted on the canvas of epochs past!

By understanding the historic depth of the Indo-European Caste System, we can understand the Warrior Caste’s role within it. 

And in doing so, we can better understand Pulp Fiction…not as poorly written escapism as the New York Penthouse Literary Critic set would lead us to believe…

But as the Mythology of the Indo-European Warrior Caste in 19th and 20th Century Anglo-American context!

Pulp Fiction Power to you, my friends!

Sincerely,

Richard Barrett

07-24-2022

SOURCES CITED 

[1] Evola, Julius. Translated by Stucco, Guido. Revolt Against the Modern World. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International, 1995. Pg. 89-90.