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Hannelore Fobo

Sergey Kuryokhin: Improvisations and Performances

Part Three

Empire and Magic. Sergey Kuryokhin's “Pop-Mekhanika No. 418” (1995)

Second, revised version 11 March 2020 (First version 13 August 2018)

page 7PM No 418. Limonov’s speech concerning Dugin’s “The Burden of the Angels”

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to page 8 • PM No 418. Dugin’s speech concerning “chaos magic” and Crowley's “Ararita” >>



page 7PM No 418. Limonov’s speech concerning Dugin’s “The Burden of the Angels”

Limonov’s and Dugin’s speeches at the Saint Petersburg performance are, for a number of reasons, quite remarkable. Although not written by Kuryokhin himself, these speeches can be regarded as his manifesto, the essence of which was captured in the title of the performance: Pop-Mekhanika No. 418. Kuryokhin in support of Dugin. In memory of A. Crowley. The texts were read out during two separate intermissions, possibly to give the audience time to ponder what the speeches meant. They were rather short – in all they last no more than six minutes, and it is unlikely that there were any other speeches which did not come to be included in the video. What is certain is that none of the reviews mentions the giving of any other speeches.

The first speech is by Eduard Limonov; it is documented between 8 min 59s and 11min 27s. Immediately prior to Limonov’s reading we hear the famous crescendo from the introduction to “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (known as “Sunrise”), by Richard Strauss. Part of Limonov’s speech is missing; the first words we hear refer to fighting and brawling.[1] With the unctuous intonation of a priest, Limonov continues: “But today I’m going to be telling you about angels” [“Но сегодня речь идет об ангелах”]. Limonov then reads three fragments taken from Alexander Dugin’s essay “The Burden of the Angels” [“Бремя ангелов], accompanied by soft piano music provided by Kuryokhin.[2] The following is an English translation of these fragments. The words in square brackets represent parts of Dugin’s original text that Limonov did not read out. The last sentence, preceeded by an asterisk, is not taken from Dugin's text.

    Paradise and Hell are equally timeless. They appeared at the same moment and will disappear at the same moment – when the world ends. But for the time being, being utterly immovable like two opposite centres, or two poles, they remain in a frozen aeonic drama of supertemporal, eternal confrontation devoid of events, subjects, or duration.

    One portion of the angels (usually referred to as “the good ones” or “the heavenly ones”) chose “Kenosis”, or “self-abasement”,[3] before the face of God’s undeveloped original apophatic transcendence. Of their own free will, they declared their ontological secondariness [(or their spuriousness – if you push this to the limit)] in comparison to the Creator. Those ones remained in Heaven. Their names are: Metatron, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, and a host of others.

    Another portion of the angels preferred to declare their ontological self-sufficiency and the essential unity of their angelic nature with the nature of the Highest Principle. In other words, these “cursed” angels declared their “divinity”. Their names are Hekatriel,[4] Lucifer, [Samael,] Satan, Aza and Azael and another 994.

    *And among their number is the entire National Bolshevik Party, of which I am the leader.[5]

I have not heard of any other candidate for a national parliament being championed by a devotee on the back of a synopsis of angelic hierarchies – albeit in a somewhat cursory way, with no distinction being drawn between angels and archangels. Yet Dugin’s text can hardly be called populist, being saturated with complex philosophical / theological terms such as “Kenosis”, “apophatic transcendence”,[6] and “ontological secondariness / self-sufficiency”.

However, the most astonishing turn in what Limonov set forth is his last sentence, which is the only thing he personally added to Dugin’s text: “And among their number is the entire National Bolshevik Party, of which I am the leader.” This links the party, Dugin (as its candidate), and Limonov himself, to Satan and the other 999 fallen angels. This is all the more astonishing since the NBP programme allotted the role of The Great Satan to The Enemy – the USA and the European globalists.

It is unclear whether Limonov’s blunt statement had been sanctioned by Dugin; it sounds like it was made up on the spot. Presumably, he could not resist the temptation to cut through Dugin’s elaborately spun-out sentences by using simple, straightforward phrases. (As has been mentioned, some years later he would go on to call Dugin a “conjurer”). It would have been even more spectacular if Limonov had not omitted Dugin’s next sentence “Theirs will be aeons of hell.”[7]

Rogatchevski and Steinholt comment on Limonov’s statement in the following way: “It appears, then, that the NBP members’ activity stems from their belief in their own divine status.”[8] While their interpretation is certainly correct, it is also important to understand where exactly Dugin and Limonov saw their place in the divine hierarchy – with Dugin having signed the text he published on his website under the pseudonym “The Kind Angel”.[9] Limonov, for his part, identified himself with the “cursed” angels; he was obviously not content with an “ontological secondariness”, preferring the self-sufficiency of fallen angels. It is certainly more appealing to become united with “the nature of the Highest Principle”.

We can place Limonov’s predilection for “the nature of the Highest Principle” alongside another of his surprising statements. The following fragment is taken from Limonov’s “The Book of the Dead”, published many years after his ideological clash with Dugin and their subsequent breakup, both of which took place in 1998. One particular sentence has already been quoted, in the introduction:

    Kuryokhin will remain in the history of the party – in its myths and legends. It was inevitable that he should have joined us – and a sign of the supreme quality of the National Bolshevik Party. In essence, he was one of the founding fathers of the NBP, even though he came late to the actual birth of the party, by a number of months.

    If an “artist” doesn’t eventually reach a point at which he both rejects individualism and comes to understand the need to attain the superhuman greatness of which he could potentially become a part, then such an “artist” will forever remain a dwarf.[10]

This “rejection of individualism” seems bizarre in that it comes from an extremely individualistic person. If we try to draw all these statements together to form a coherent picture, it leads to the conclusion that Limonov understands Kuryokhin’s ostensible subordination to the “superhuman greatness” of the National Bolshevik Party as being an act akin to that of a thousand cursed angels uniting themselves to the nature of the Highest Principle. This is quite impressive!



[1] Perhaps “Всегда кончались арестами, драками, потасовками” (“They always led to arrests, fights and brawls”)

[2] Dugin, Alexander [Aleksandr]. Bremia Angelov. (The Burden of the Angels) [Бремя ангелов]

The full text is available on the website of Milyi Angel (“The Kind Angel”), [Милый Ангел], an esoteric journal edited by Dugin. The date of initial publication is not given (other than 2001). Web. 28 July 2018. http://angel.org.ru/2/angel.html

To be exact, the text is signed “The Kind Angel”, with Dugin’s name appearing in the table of contents: http://angel.org.ru/2/

[3] “Self-abasement” is only one possible translation of “Kenosis”; another is “self-emptying” – hence, perceived as valueless. This a more literal translation of the Greek ἑαυτόν ἐκένωσε “heauton ekenosen” in Philippians 2:6,7 (World English Bible): Christ Jesus “who, existing in the form of God, didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.”

BibleHub, Web. 27 July 2018

http://biblehub.com/web/philippians/2.htm

[4] There is no “Hekatriel” [“Гекатриил”] in Kabbalistic writings, and I could not find this name elsewhere. Perhaps it is a reference to the Greek goddess to Hekate.

[5] The words in square brackets are part of Dugin’s original text, but Limonov did not read them out. The last sentence, which is marked with an asterisk, is not taken from Dugin's text:

Рай и Ад одинаково вечны. Они возникли одновременно и одновременно же исчезнут – когда закончится мир. Но пока в полной неподвижности как два противоположных центра, два полюса пребывают они в застывшей эонической драме надвременного, вечного противостояния, не имеющего ни событий, ни сюжета, ни длительности.

Часть ангелов (их принято называть “благими”, “райскими”) выбрало “кенозис”, “самоуничижение” перед лицом непроявленной изначальной апофатической трансцендентности Бога. Они по своей свободной воле объявили о своей онтологической вторичности [(в пределе – фиктивности)] в сравнении с Творцом. Эти остались в раю. Метатрон, Михаил, Гавриил, Рафаил, Уриил и сонмы с ними.

Другая часть предпочла заявить о своей онтологической самодостаточности, о сущностном единстве своего ангельского естества с природой Высшего Принципа. Иными словами, эти “проклятые” ангелы заявили о своей “божественности”. Их имена Гекатриил, Люцифер, [Самаил,] Сатана, Аза и Азаил и еще 994 других. *И среди них – вся Национал большевистская партия, которую я возглавляю.

Dugin, Alexander [Aleksandr]. Bremia Angelov. (The Burden of the Angels) [Бремя ангелов]

Undated. Web. 6 July 2019

http://angel.org.ru/2/angel.html

[6] Apophatic theology is another name for “theology by way of negation,” according to which God is known by negating concepts that might be applied to him, stressing the inadequacy of human language and concepts used to describe God. 

Bowker, John: The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, New York, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 81. Available at: Web. 27 July 2018 https://www.themystica.com/apophatic-theology/

[7] Им отведен эонический Ад.

Dugin, Alexander [Aleksandr].  Bremia Angelov. (The Burden of the Angels) [Бремя ангелов]

Undated. Web. 28 July 2018

http://angel.org.ru/2/angel.html

[8] Rogatchevski, Andrei and Steinholt, Yngvar B. “Pussy Riot’s Musical Precursors? The National Bolshevik Party Bands, 1994–2007“, 2015,

Popular Music and Society, 2016, Vol. 39, No. 4, p. 459

Web 25 July 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2015.1088287

[9] Dugin, Alexander [Aleksandr]. Bremia Angelov. (The Burden of the Angels) [Бремя ангелов]

Undated. Web. 28 July 2018

http://angel.org.ru/2/angel.html

See footnote 2

[10] Курёхин останется в истории партии, в её мифах и легендах. Он не мог не прийти к нам, он — доказательство высшего класса качества Национал-большевистской партии. По сути дела, он один из отцов-основателей НБП, хотя к практическому рождению партии не успел на какие-нибудь месяцы. Если „художник“ не приходит в конце концов к отрицанию индивидуализма, к пониманию того, что нужна сверхчеловеческая величина, которой он мог бы стать частью, то такой „художник“ остается карликом навсегда.

Limonov, Eduard [Edward]. Kniga mertvykh. (The Book of the Dead.) [Книга мертвых.] Saint Petersburg: Limbus press, 2013.

Web. 25 July 2018. http://www.litmir.me/br/?b=100917&p=71


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Uploaded 3 August 2018
Last updated 11 March 2020

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