Europa Terra Nostra Vice-Chairman Sascha Roßmüller had the opportunity to sit down for an interview with PhilosophiCat, an Australian-American musician, filmmaker, Hellenistic astrologer and spiritual seeker.
Philosophicat holds an honours degree in Political Science with a minor in German and has been involved in dissident politics since 2006. In her free time, she rescues stray cats and enjoys painting.
ETN: PhilosophiCat, I think it doesn´t miss the point to describe you as a dissident to the mainstream. Were you born that way? What factors led to you taking your own path? Please, for our readers, outline your political and philosophical development?
PhilosophiCat: I think I was born a natural contrarian and truth seeker, so I think it was inevitable that I would end up as some type of dissident. I was very interested in political and philosophical things from a young age and, on a number of occasions, received detention for staging protests at school. In my late teens and early 20s, I went through an Ayn Rand phase. I remember finding her ideas very compelling because I was also going through an atheist phase at this point, and Rand has a very atheistic philosophy. This propelled me towards libertarianism politically.
Later on in university, I majored in Political Science and all of my electives were either philosophy or music courses. So here I was introduced to philosophy from the classic thinkers through the post-moderns, and I enjoyed learning about all of it. I was lucky to have professors who, for the most part, indulged my eccentric ideas, or even encouraged them. It didn’t bother me to read books of thinkers I disagreed with, and I made a point of always looking for points of agreement with whomever I was reading. This was an exercise that has turned out to serve me well, as it allowed me to develop an open-mindedness and capacity for critical thinking that I think keeps me relatively safe from any ideological possession. With the kind of subject matter I explore now, that has been a very useful quality to have, and eventually I made my way to Julius Evola and the traditionalist school.
ETN: It is no secret that you have a particular affinity for Julius Evola. You even have a 12-episde YouTube series about Revolt Against the Modern World. What is so fascinating about Evola´s writings, and how do he and his works influence your personal attitude?
PhilosophiCat: I came across Julius Evola when I was actually fairly young and when most people had not heard of him, outside the upper intellectual circles of the dissident right. But I was too young to appreciate or understand him and did not pick up the books again for quite some time. I ended up coming back to Evola when I was at a point in my life where I felt like I needed answers, and the modern world was not providing them to my satisfaction.
My fellow musician, George, encouraged me to read Doctrine of Awakening, Evola’s text on Buddhism, and it was exactly what I needed at that time. After that, I wanted to read more! I found Evola’s ideas electrifying and inspiring. I’ve always suffered somewhat from a sort of “divine discontent” and really resonated with the idea of a lost „Golden Age“ and all that comes with it. I also think that Evola makes a highly accurate diagnosis of the symptoms and root causes of the malaise of the modern world. Some people feel Evola is “black pilled” because he asserts there is no way to reverse the downward trajectory of civilisation, but I believe he actually provides the ultimate white pill, which is that there IS a way to remain standing amongst the ruins, and he tries to lay out this path.
ETN: Now, let´s become a bit political. Where do you currently see the most destructive threats of the modern world, zeitgeist or whatever you want to call it? In the Great Reset, Great Replacement, decadent societal transformation, warmongering or somewhere completely different?
PhilosophiCat: All of those things are symptoms of a common cause. We have become detached from a spiritual centre, and when that happens, everything falls apart – decay and degeneration set in, and natural hierarchies that are bulwarks against chaos are inverted. There is no political policy or religious dogma that can fix that. This is why Evola does not see a reversal of the trend, and nor do I – although I believe we may have ups and downs along the way. It’s possible for things to get temporarily better on a political, social or cultural scale, but without a reconnection to the spiritual, it won’t stick. To ask „which issue is the most important“ is the equivalent of asking „which symptom should I treat?“ This is much the approach of modern medicine – always patching over symptoms but rarely ever treating the root cause. Taking a pill may mask a symptom for a time, but the body is still sick and getting worse, and eventually, one must address it. Playing politics is similar. Everyone jumps for the „current thing“, and they think because they spend a lot of time and energy on it that it must be accomplishing something, and yet little is ever achieved. Regime-sanctioned squabble politics are a great way to siphon off human capital and distract the masses from the bigger picture. This is part of why I have largely turned away from the political and prefer to focus on trying to heal our spiritual malaise. This is doubly important because not only is it the only lasting path back to a healthier society, but it is also essential on an individual level, as it is what allows one to remain standing against the blows dealt by the Kali Yuga.
ETN: As a woman, it likely won´t have escaped you that there is an ongoing trend surrounding militant feminist demands for unrestricted abortion. Can you please share your thoughts on all of that for our readers?
PhilosophiCat: The modern day woman has been exposed to propaganda designed to undermine her femininity since the day she was born. We are told that pursuing our most natural function – motherhood – is inferior and pathetic. We are told that if we want to be worth anything in the eyes of society, we have to be more like men, compete in men’s spheres, and be better than men at men’s things. It’s not good enough to be a woman who is good at women‘s things. We’re told that our only feminine value is a sexual one, and we’re sold the idea of “empowerment” through sexual “liberation”, which, in reality, only turns us into chattel. We’re told that birth control and abortions are not only good things but are our rights as women.
Being concerned about women’s rights has somehow become twisted around the right to essentially not be a woman – to halt our biological functions, to discard our role as mothers, to abandon everything soft, gentle, harmonious and kind. Compare, for example, the old Disney princesses to the new. The older ones, like Snow White or Cinderella, were kind-hearted and gentle, and their strength lay in their quiet femininity, their ability to show kindness and compassion even in the face of extreme cruelty or the threat of death, their decision to stay „high vibe“ even when circumstances were really awful.
Now we have Disney princesses who are just glittery girl-bosses, who can’t control their emotions, who make bad or selfish decisions, who often feel they need to “prove” something. There’s a big difference between being respected because you are universally loved versus being feared because you are unstable. The hyper-feminists have bought into a lifetime of lies, and the result of their lives tends to speak for itself. Doing violence to one’s own femininity does not result in a stronger or more empowered woman, but one who is weakened and unable to get in touch with the real source of her feminine strength. Much like the systemic attacks on men, women have also been subverted and undermined.
ETN: Following on from all of that, let´s also tackle a topic that I know you have also dealt with extensively – how much of today’s phenomena is due to the fact that not only women, but in many cases men as well no longer live up to their traditional purposes?
PhilosophiCat: It begins and ends with the masculine principle. Many people misunderstand me by interpreting me as “blaming” men. I don’t blame anybody and we’re all victims of the Kali Yuga. None of us is unscathed. But the masculine principle is the first principle and the active principle. I often use the analogy of a lightning rod. Shiva, the masculine principle, is the lightning rod. He has no power on his own. He must attract power to him. Shakti, the feminine principle, is like wild sheet lightning. She’s potent and strong, but has no direction. On her own, her dance is pure destruction.
The feminine element is associated with destructiveness, entropy, the state of Becoming, but when Shiva is present as a lightning rod, the electricity of Shakti is drawn to him. Shakti brings the power, Shiva gives it form and direction. Shiva turns something destructive into something creative, but in order to do that, he must first have the raw material from Shakti. So this is the reason it begins and ends with the masculine – because the masculine principle is the active principle. It is representative of will and spirit. The masculine must attract the feminine power and tell it what to do.
Telling women to stop acting like exactly what their fundamental nature is when untethered is futile. May as well try to stop a stampede of stallions than try to stop Shakti from dancing. It is her nature to dance. It is Shiva’s job to guide that dance. So when men do not live up to this fundamental role, chaos reigns. It is said that we live in an age where Shiva is asleep. Shiva must be reawakened in the hearts and souls of men because it is the only way to rein in Shakti.
ETN: From politics to culture, you are a musician [SymphoniCat] as well. What sort of music do you practise, and is it aimed at a particular audience? Are there aspects you feel better expressing through music than through logical explanations and reasoning?
PhilosophiCat: I began training as a classical singer at 15-years-old and spent some time doing musical theatre as well, so those sorts of songs have always been my bread and butter in regards to my formal training. I’ve sung in a few metal bands and that is a genre I really enjoy. Überfolk is my current project and we feel the music we make could be enjoyed by anyone. We do tend to stick to spiritual and esoteric themes and many songs are influenced by the works of Julius Evola. When it comes to music as a means of expression, well, there are certain things that are beyond the reach of words. Music evokes a feeling and music can grasp at the ineffable. Words concretise things. Music allows for the expression of that which is more mystical and ephemeral, of things which do not exist in the material realm. Music was an important part of spiritual science in the ancient world – that is, the study of harmonics. It has a relationship to divine truths that cannot be weighed and measured. We try to give sound to those cosmic truths with our Überfolk music.
ETN: Last, but not least, a view into the future. What can we expect from you in the near future? What are your plans and do you have any upcoming projects in the works?
PhilosophiCat: I will be continuing to work on the Revolt series, and we have a few projects lined up for Überfolk as well. I’ve recently launched a Hellenistic astrology practice – Astrologicat.com – where I offer consults and also run a study group for those who are interested in learning this ancient practice that was held in such high esteem by our ancestors. I often have people pressuring me to write a book, which I am finally considering, but I would not anticipate that to be finished anytime soon. Most likely it would be a book that can be a resource for traditionally-minded women, as there are far more resources for men in that regard, and it can be hard to find answers that are female-specific. I also have a few videos in mind that will be geared more towards women.
ETN: Cat, many thanks for the amazing interview!
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