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The Wrath of Gnon: “Traditionalist”

by on February 16, 2021

“Over the years I have come to realize that almost everything my grandparents told me was correct, and almost everything my teachers told me were lies.”

“The Wrath of Gnon” means, roughy, the Wrath of Nature’s God. The man behind this handle has gone from From Tumblr to Tweetstream WrathOfGnon

His first Tumblr posting from 2015:

Last year he moved from Tumblr to Twitter where he currently has about 100,000 followers. A fine “Remnant” with which to start over…

Twitter Feed of Wrath today:

Excerpts throughout from    Why Traditionalism Matters: An Interview with Wrath of Gnon | The Bridgehead

Anyone mildly interested in traditionalism—be it beautiful old architecture, the preservation of fading cultures, magnificent literature, or simply an instinctive aversion to the ugliness of modernity—has probably heard of the “Wrath of Gnon,” a mysterious Twitter user who seems to spend a lot of time unleashing beauty onto social media. He—I know he is a he because in an email exchange, he referred to a promise he made to “Mrs. Wrath” to remain anonymous—combines beautiful artwork with thought-provoking quotes, all designed to make the viewer consider his worldview: His Twitter bio simply reads “Traditionalist.”

Since childhood I have had an interest in the folksy, the vernacular, the local, but my intellect was stymied by the usual nonsense they teach in high schools and grad schools all over the world. Not only had they managed to cut whole generations from their roots, turned us into vast semi-nomadic herds of idle consumers, but they bathed our minds with sweet-smelling false ideologies and dogmas, where obviously destructive ideas like…the blank slate theory, multiculturalism, and feminism, destroyed not only individual lives but threatened the whole of civilization. In school we treated Rembrandt with the same respect as Duchamp, and I rebelled against that because it was so obviously a ridiculous comparison. I painted in oil myself, and when I got home from art class and wrestled with the same materials as those of the old masters I knew that all of “modern art” was outrageously false….

 

WrathOfGnon

I believe that we are heading for a collapse, and I also believe that the survivors of this collapse will be the most homogenous communities, the strictest, the most pious. The first casualty of the collapse will be individualism. There is safety in numbers, and history provides us with many examples of survivors, groups and societies that wintered the collapse. Salvation is communal: “Remember the old saying, ‘The only thing we can do alone is go to hell.’” If we only have the sense to lay down deep roots, to seek safety in each other, then we have a fighting chance, and in this, faith is key.

…. I have this idea—like so many of my ideas, it used to be common sense—that beauty is essentially truth, and truth is essentially beautiful. Human history is varied enough that there are real life—once existing or still existing—examples of the ideal form of every human virtue. What I do is present them in an easily sharable form. I am suspicious of tracts and I detest manifestos and ideologies, I would rather show than tell: why does monogamy work? Why is personal charity superior to societal welfare? Why are picturesque crooked streets preferable to modern city streets? I try to focus on the beautiful and avoid pointing out errors and mistakes (but it is hard to stop oneself sometimes).

…Nothing good will come from engaging with politics. There is no way you can play their game and not suffer for it. What traditionalists should do however is to refuse to play the Left’s game (and all of politics is leftist by definition) of political correctness. The Left is constantly trying to get us to denounce, or to deny, little by little to chip away at our pride and moral stand by forcing us to make (consciously or unconsciously) “unqualified reservations”, in feeble attempts to stave off criticism. This has to stop.

… As an intellectual discipline, there has never been a better time for traditionalism than now. Almost all the material we need is available online for free. Traditionalism is one of those rare -isms without any established canon or hierarchy of thinkers. The main point is to read old books. Not only are they usually free, they are also less infected by the modern mind virus that forces you to have to read everything critically, questioning. With old books you should read them with an open mind, trust that author, and to submit, at least while reading, to the notion that the author was correct. My memes could serve as useful starting points in terms of authors and ideas, but in the end it is up to everyone to heath their own path and to not be afraid to be picky readers. No one has time to read all of everything. But traditionalism, like all things, is best experienced in real life and with good friends.

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  • John Venlet February 16, 2021, 1:17 PM

    The main point is to read old books.

    The most recently copyrighted book I’ve read in the past 12 months is from 1968. The book I am currently reading was first published circa 347, and was translated in 1838 from an earlier English version.

    ∞
  • gwbnyc February 16, 2021, 2:10 PM

    the format of the pastoral painting- the stream, rolling terrain, etc, is one found in many paintings I’ve noted over the years. when a child I experienced “night terrors” that always began with a scene rather as the stream is depicted. I’ve wondered if it is perhaps a “universal” image, say that of a collective consciousness.

    ∞
  • LP February 16, 2021, 4:03 PM

    gwbnyc, which pastoral painting are you referring to with the stream? Is it the header photo for American Digest, I don’t see another stream.
    Thank you for the wrath of gnon links, they’re interesting yet at the same time it’s disheartening to see what we’ve lost in terms of good sense.

    ∞
  • Teri Pittman February 16, 2021, 5:03 PM

    I follow him over on Twitter, one of the reasons I haven’t deleted my account yet. He is always a useful reminder of what we should keep in our lives. I find that I am getting weary of the unnecessary complications of modern life. It’s no wonder that our IQ is trending downwards. We have no time to think.

    ∞
  • Alexx February 16, 2021, 6:50 PM

    Long time reader, first time poster. I was very pleased to see this post. I have seen Wrath of Gnon posted in various places that I visit and it’s always the same feeling of melancholy. Wrath of Gnon speaks to me on a visceral level, as I’m sure it’s does to many others. On a metaphysical level, I believe a person (under 50 years of age) knows that they yearn for a a more simplistic, traditionalist life, but they just don’t understand how to achieve that goal. They are inundated 24 hours a day with a false reality of life. But, I believe that people are beginning to slowly wake up to this pack of lies they have been presented their entire lives. I hope I am still alive to see the new resurgence of traditionalism.

    ∞
  • Zaphod February 16, 2021, 7:18 PM

    Re Shinkansen:

    Some populations are just better than others. We in the West are in a bad way now and simply lack the willpower (and soon capability) to design and run high-maintenance physical infrastructure.

    Many of the arguments one reads against high speed rail in the West focus on population density or lack thereof and the resultant problems with Making It Pay.

    But (and have lived in Japan for a bit) I think there is something much more fundamental which pundits don’t really dare to discuss: Hell Being Other People.

    Other Japanese are NOT hell because they are still civilised and have societal norms and expectations and can therefore be packed in train carriages for 2/4/6/8 hours with no issues.

    They don’t have Orcs.

    They also tend not to let their unmedicated schizophrenics engage in free range activities.

    Even our non-Orcs mostly can’t refrain from being annoying, obese, unhygienic, unwashed. No wonder we prefer cars.

    Culture and genetic stock matters.

    ∞
  • ghostsniper February 16, 2021, 7:19 PM

    “I hope I am still alive to see the new resurgence of traditionalism.”
    ==========
    You see it as resurgence, I see it as past abandonment.
    Teri mentioned “complications of modern life”, I don’t know what that means.
    I heard tell that some people have the ability to live their lives for others, but I don’t know what that means either. Doesn’t anyone do anything any more for themselves? For the joy of doing?

    Maybe that’s why my social life blows.
    I just don’t see much value in it.
    I prefer to be alone, doing something I enjoy.
    Many somethings.
    Many, many somethings, cause I bore easily.
    I’ve mentioned here before that in my entire life I have never watched more than about 5 mins of any sports ball because it bores me to death. I really don’t understand how anyone finds that stuff enjoyable, or exciting, or worth vesting in. If a thing doesn’t require my eyes and hands and brain, it is boring. TV? blah b-o-r-i-n-g

    You can choose to be bored or you can chose to be distracted or you can live your life in such a way that neither of those things are bothersome, by doing.

    Waddya do when the glue is drying?

    ∞
  • gwbnyc February 16, 2021, 9:11 PM

    LP- this foto:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cde1b0be15d175c4914fd52b72d3df0c6d83228de7525e02018532e25cd69236.jpg

    while I’m at it-
    I fabricated a double-wide “apartment” for a TV series from two cargo containers, cutting a long side out of each, then welding the containers together. they are covered with COR-TEN steel- quite hard, it ate our cutting tools, and it’s covered with a thick butyl paint that produces volumes of toxic fumes if a cutting torch is used. welding it produces the same noxious atmosphere.

    think twice about how cool a house made out of them would be.
    nasty.
    nasty.
    nasty.

    too,we surrounded the boardwalk set on “Boardwalk Empire” with four-high stacks of them and hung quite large blue screens from them so the proper bacgrounds could be matted in during post production.

    ∞
  • John The River February 17, 2021, 7:04 AM

    IQ trending downwards…
    Occasionally I am compelled to sit through some network ‘show’ with the old lady, one such is “Kat”. She likes it because the main character runs a Cat Cafe. The cast is diverse, very diverse.
    Meanwhile I can feel my IQ bleeding out and running down my chest.

    ∞
  • Terry February 17, 2021, 8:17 AM

    @ John The River –

    Quote of the day:

    “Meanwhile I can feel my IQ bleeding out and running down my chest.”

    I am going to hijack that phrase and add to my rant, *Don’t watch TV, period*.

    ∞
  • James ONeil February 17, 2021, 12:42 PM

    I genuinely like Wrath and read most of his twitters.

    If freedom of travel returns (unlikely) and I get back down to Japan, I’d try to get him to join me for drink(s) in an izakaya I know up in Saitama or down in Kanagawa (The only one I liked in his immediate neighborhood, beautiful, quiet downtown Tokyo, I don’t think I could ever find again.).

    He would like to do away with automobiles, if I lived in his neighborhood I might feel the same way, and embraces public transport such as the rapid rail shinkansen. Our Alaska trains, running from Fairbanks to Anchorage, averaged almost a hundred moose kills a year (2004-2015), not a problem, I admit, for trains running from Tokyo to Kyoto.

    So! Don’t always agree with him but always worth the read!

    ∞
  • Jewel February 17, 2021, 12:45 PM

    I quit watching TV many moons ago. Celebrities become even more repulsive when you see the vandalism of vanity they’ve had done to them in Ultra High Definition. Once while on break, someone had the television on. The moment I saw John Tesh wearing mascara on a show about becoming a smarter me, I was horrified. And yet, they continue to watch.

    ∞
  • gwbnyc February 17, 2021, 3:16 PM

    no TeeVee since 1997- infrequently watched an old screwball comedy with the wife, but that’s it. when I still did football it was on radio only- no sports at all since the knee.

    in the words of the late great Jack Gilford, “ read, brother, read”.

    ∞
  • LP February 17, 2021, 6:02 PM

    “Daddy what did you do when the state took all our freedom and rights away?” I wish I’d had that meme printed out so I could have handed it to the couple who came indignantly into the post office in my small rural Maine town today. They announced that they had seen people “entering and leaving the building not wearing masks.” The post office clerks responded that they hadn’t seen anyone in the room without a mask except form one gentleman who had heart issues and was unable to wear a mask. The indignant couple stood for several minutes and finally left. I just kept doing my business and pretended not to notice them. After they left I mentioned that I had seen one man take a single step into the lobby to drop a letter into the mailbox, but the lobby was empty, so what did it matter? The clerk responded, “it’s not like there’s anything I can do about it anyway.” I guess the couple who complained was in fear for their lives from potentially covid-spreading non mask wearing humans, but since we’ve been through nearly a year of mask wearing and I still haven’t met anyone in my remote rural town who’s actually had the virus, I’m not too worried about it. Why am I not worried about it, but that couple was terrified?

    ∞
  • Dirk February 18, 2021, 5:41 AM

    Heard this ” finally with my very own ears” regarding the China bug, and masks,,,,,,,,in Reno Va yesterday lower back crap. A old busybody woman approaches a slime tall vet in boots and a cowboy hat, clearly battle born, battle bred, the old busy body decides to chastise this gent.

    Approaches him , looks around the waiting room seeking assurance, that others were watching. This old goat says to the cowboy, Excuse me sir, but it is VA policy that you wear a mask.

    The older gent looks up smiles, and says good morning mam, and thank you for your time.

    He start to review his kimdle, and blows her off. This old goats not going to allow him to disrespect her. The old goat says sir, I am a retired Army Col, with forty years in the medical field.

    The gent looks up, and says Mam that’s quit impressive, thank you for sharing that, and Mam thank you for your service. ” everybody in the waiting room”, which are maybe six,,, spread out, are we all have shit eating grins under our masks. ,

    The cowboy goes back to reading. No sir, ain’t getting off that easy. The old goat now says sir, I’m now forced to find the VA police and report your none compliance!. Again the Cowboy looks up, and cool as a cucumber says LADY, you do what you think is proper. Back to his book.

    The old goat stomps off, reporting to the staff across the hall. They thank her, send her away. A woman looks out saying, yes it John, no problem. The old goats on fire pissed off now. She storms off in a huff, by god she’s a retired Col!.

    Ten minutes later she’s back, has a VA police Capt, in tow. The capt smiling under his mask as the old goat is hopping mad that the gentleman won’t wear his mask, that she has Insisted he wear for several minutes now.

    The VA capt, say sir, this vet has a complaint, your not wearing your mask. The cowboy looks up, greets the Capt, saying sorry I’m exempt, besides Capt, this is a medical issue, I’m not required to disclose the issue, nor is anybody here legally allowed.

    The old goat is hopping mad, all her efforts have been dashed. The cowboy stands up says to the old goat. A Medical Col in the med field for all those years, mam perhaps you could help me better understand.

    The old goats smiles she now has the Cowboys respect, she’s important. She says, I’d be happy to answer your medical question.

    Me my wife are sitting on the edge of our seats, which is tough, my lower back pain is popping at a solid ten. Anyway the old cowboy asks mam, if a pair of Levi’s won’t stop a fart from stinking the room up,,,,, how on earth will a mask stop some small micron bug? I bust up, my wife’s physically elbowing me hitting me shushing me up as is everybody else including the Capt.

    The old goat is livid, she spins and races from the waiting room. The Capt looks at the cowboy he’s shaking his head when he says.

    Chief that was a good one, see you back in the office. The chief smiles says, ya I’m gonna here about that one!

    I’m still amused, being an old copper, I thank him tell him I’m retired, and I NEVER had a chief or sheriff with the balls to call it, what it was!.

    He smiles said hell they can’t eat me, can they. The old goat missed her appointment, so the chief ” John” is called. The gent saw just how bad I was hurting bad and told the nurse to please see me first. I received pain injections and was out in five minutes. I thanked the chief, in his drawl said was the right thing to do.

    An even older gent vet, say out of the corner of his mouth just loud enough for us to here, chief your two for two so far. In these times two for twos a dam good day.

    We both thanked him for his service, my wife shook his hand and we left. Dr tell me oblations, had six three weeks ago, and injections8 in the past two months, are failing they have to refer me for surgery now.

    Summer’s here, ain’t getting cut on, going into summer, next Nov works for me.

    The “Village Idiot”

    Dirk

    ∞

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