UR Group was an Italian esotericist association, founded around 1927 by intellectuals including Julius Evola, Arturo Reghini and Giovanni Colazza for the study of Traditionalism and Magic.[1][2] They published monthly series of issues in UR (1927-28) and KRUR (1929) journals, reprinted in the three volumes of the book Introduzione alla Magia quale Scienza dell'Io ("Introduction to Magic as Science of the Self") in 1955 and 1971.[3]
The Group of UR was founded by Julius Evola. Among the first collaborators to it were also the freemason Arturo Reghini, follower of the neo-Pythagoreanism of the Rocco Armentano's "Schola Italica",[4] his pupil Giulio Parise, and the anthroposophist Giovanni Colazza, a disciple of Rudolf Steiner, belonging to the tradition of Christian esotericism.[5] They gathered various seekers devoted to initiate asceticism, united by the sharing of similar esoteric studies,[2] to revitalize the perennial tradition of the ancient Sacred mysteries.[6]
Julius Evola was the first editor of the magazine UR. The size of the Group has remained hidden but it is estimated between twelve and fifteen people.[7] Evola rapidly expanded his influence on the Group's magazine,[4] to the point of ousting Arturo Reghini and his disciple Giulio Parise from the management at the end of 1928. Strong personal disagreements with Parise had in fact led to a split in the group itself, after which, in January 1929, Evola founded a new magazine called KRUR.[8] Reghini's support for Freemasonry would prove a bone of contention for Evola, who accused him of wanting to put the magazine under the direct control of the Grand Orient of Italy.[9]
The UR Group in fact declared itself independent of esoteric schools or tendencies formed in modern and contemporary times, referring, if anything, to a universal Tradition prior to particular doctrinal forms. In addition to Hermetists and Kremmerzians, were also accepted within it some Catholics and a significant component of Steinerians,[10] whose anthroposophy undoubtedly inspires most of the members of the Group.[11] The purpose of this group was to attempt to bring the members' individual identities into such a superhuman state of power and awareness that they would be able to exert a magical influence on the world. They aimed to provide a "soul" to the burgeoning Fascist movement of the time through the revival of ancient Roman religion, and to influence the fascist regime through esotericism.[12]
Operating branches of the Group were established in Rome and in other cities of Italy, the so-called «chains»,[13] based on common intentions and practices, mainly employing the anthroposophical exercises taught by Steiner for spiritual development,[11] as well as techniques from Buddhist, Tantric and rare Hermetic texts.[14]
The name of the group comes from the phonetic expression u-r, existing in the Chaldean and in the Runic with the meaning of fire and bull or ram respectively, as well as a prefix "ur-" in German to indicate something primal, ancestral.[15]
In the magazines, expressions of the works within the Ur Group, the authors of the articles signed themselves with a pseudonym, because they preferred to spread their thought rather than advertise their own person. The magazine's director was Julius Evola as it appears on the 1927 cover; together with the "curators" Pietro Negri (alias Arturo Reghini) and Giulio Parise in the cover of 1928; again and only Evola in 1929, when the magazine's name was changed to KRUR.[8]
Each of the three publication years corresponds to one of the three volumes of the work Introduction to Magic as Science of the Ego reprinted in 1955 and 1971.[3]
Several hermetic-alchemical texts such as the Turba philosophorum, or Gichtel's Theosophia practica were published in the journals of UR and KRUR, and others of a philosophical and ritual nature from various sources.
The pseudonyms behind which the members of the Ur Group hid were partly revealed by the researches of Gianfranco de Turris,[16] and Renato Del Ponte.[17] Below a list of those who collaborated with the magazines of UR and KRUR (in brackets their symbolic name used to sign, according to the idea of 'active impersonality'):[18]
Other people, whose identity is unknown, signed with the pseudonyms of: Alba, Apro, Arom, Nilius, Primo Sole, Zam. Another enigmatic name, Ekatlos, is attributable to a lady, or perhaps to Leone Caetani.[21] In the magazine Krur also wrote Agnostus, behind which the French esotericist René Guénon is probably hidden.[16]