"... the 'spirit' in the traditional conception has always meant something supernatural and super-individual; it has therefore nothing to do with the common intellect and even less with the pale world of the 'thinkers' and the 'men of letters.' It is rather the element which becomes the focus of any virile ascent, and heroic elevation, any effort to achieve in life that which is 'more than life' itself."

~ Baron Julius Evola

"In the case of mysticism the individual simply limits himself to what is presented to him and to the manner in which it is presented, having himself no say in the matter; and let us immediately add that in this lies his principle danger, for he is thus 'open' to every kind of influence, and generally, with only rare exceptions, he will not have the doctrinal preparation necessary for any discrimination among them. In the case of initiation, on the contrary, the individual is the source of the initiative toward 'realization,' pursued methodically under rigorous and unremitting control, and normally reaching beyond the very possibilities of the individual as such.