Nazi mysticism

Thule Society emblem

Nazi mysticism is a term used to describe a quasi-religious undercurrent of Nazism; it denotes the combination of Nazism with occultism, esotericism, cryptohistory, and/or the paranormal.

In some cases it ascribes a religious significance to the person of Adolf Hitler and his doctrine.

Modern examples include Ariosophy, Armanism, Theozoology, Armanenorden, Artgemeinschaft, and Esoteric Hitlerism.

Other related modern theories involve Hitler having escaped to the Antarctic, where he joined with a subterranean dinosauroid master race, with whom he now travels inside UFOs underground, generally beneath the South Pole or throughout the center of the hollow earth, but sometimes to a Nazi moon base as well. (See Miguel Serrano, below.)

"The Führer is deeply religious, though completely anti-Christian; he views Christianity as a symptom of decay. Rightly so. It is a branch of the Jewish race."

Joseph Goebbels, in his diary, December 28, 1939.

"Christianity is the prototype of Bolshevism: the mobilisation by the Jew of the masses of slaves with the object of undermining society."

Hitler 1941

Overview

Nazi mysticism is a volkish initiation with roots in the Thule society and theosophy, as well as the racist ideas of Arthur de Gobineau. Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels were important figures early on, with significant events after World War II being the Artgemeinschaft of Jürgen Rieger and the Armanenorden founded by Adolf Schleipfer in 1976.

High ranking Nazi officials such as Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Hess, and Walther Darré are known to have been interested in mysticism and the paranormal. Hitler himself seems to have had considerably less interest in this topic. The role played by mysticism in the development of Nazism and its ideals was identified by outsiders at least as early as 1940, with the publication of Lewis Spence's Occult Causes of the Present War.

The concentration of Esoteric Hitlerism is on the Nazis' race-specific pre-Christian "pagan" (including Hindu and Samurai) mythologies, and the inclusion of Adolf Hitler in the network of these mythologies.

Central beliefs

The origin of the Aryan race, the Teutons generally, and the Germanic peoples specifically, the putative superiority of said Aryans over other races, and what they claimed were the unique circumstances of their origin, are all key concepts.

Various locations, such as Atlantis, Thule, Hyperborea, Shambhala and others are suggested as the precise location of this original society of Übermenschen.

Another key belief is that this Herrenrasse (master race) had been weakened through interbreeding with those they thought of as untermensch or "lesser races".

Early influences

In 1912 a group of highly anti-Semitic German mystics formed the Germanenorden (Order of the Teutons). The Germanenorden was a mystic society based on proof of Aryan ancestry. The biographer Ian Kershaw does not classify it as mystic society but as a völkische organization. Founding members of the order included Theodor Fritsch, Philipp Stauff (pupil of Guido von List) and Hermann Pohl; Pohl later formed the Walvater Teutonic Order of the Holy Grail in 1915. Many members of the Germanenorden would go on to achieve high-ranking positions within the Nazi party.

Ariosophy

The term "Ariosophy" (occult wisdom concerning the Aryans) was coined by Lanz von Liebenfels in 1915 and replaced "Theozoology" and "Ario-Christianity" as the label for his doctrine in the 1920s. It is generally used to describe Aryan-racist-occult theories.

Armanism

Guido von List called his doctrine "Armanism" (after the 'Armanen', supposedly the heirs of the sun-king, a body of priest-kings in the ancient Ario-Germanic nation). Armanism was concerned with the esoteric doctrines of the gnosis (distinct from the exoteric doctrine intended for the lower social classes, Wotanism).

Theozoology

In 1905 Lanz von Liebenfels published a fundamental statement of doctrine titled Theozoologie oder die Kunde von den Sodoms-Äfflingen und dem Götter-Elektron (Theo-Zoology or the Lore of the Sodom-Apelings and the Electrons of the Gods).

The Thule Society

In 1915, Pohl was joined by Rudolf Glauer. Glauer, also known as Rudolf Freiherr von Sebottendorf, came to Germany with a Turkish passport and was a practitioner of sufi meditation and astrology. Glauer is known to have been an admirer of the rabidly anti-semitic Lanz von Liebenfels and Guido von List. Glauer was a wealthy man (the source of his wealth is unknown) and quickly became a grand master of the Bavarian Order in 1918. Later that year, he founded the Thule Society with Pohl's approval.

The Thule Society had a number of highly positioned individuals in the Nazi party, although Hitler himself never became a member. However, it was a member of the Thule Society, dentist Dr. Friedrich Krohn, who designed the swastika flag of the Nazi party.

Perhaps the most significant Thule influence on Hitler came from Dietrich Eckart. Eckart was the wealthy publisher of the newspaper Auf gut Deutsch (In Plain German). He was a committed occultist as well as a member of the Thule Society's inner circle. He is believed to have taught Hitler a number of persuasive techniques (some possibly mystical in nature). So profound was the influence, that Hitler's book Mein Kampf was dedicated to Eckart.

The Vril Society

The Vril Society, or Luminous Lodge, has no documented activities until 1915, but is believed to have been founded by Russian magician and metaphysician Gergor Ivanovich Gurdyev (also known as George Gurdjieff). The Vril Society was reportedly founded to explore the origins of the Aryan race. The Society taught exercises in concentration designed to awaken the forces of Vril. Members of the Vril Society are believed to have included Hitler, Alfred Rosenberg, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring and Hitler's personal physician Dr. Theodor Morell. The Vril Society was usually considered an inner core within the Thule Society.

Some, however, argue that no such Vril Society ever existed, or that such a society had no impact on Nazism: It is not mentioned in the extensive biography of Hitler by Ian Kershaw, nor in the one by Alan Bullock, nor the biography of Hermann Göring by Werner Maser, nor the book about the history of the Schutzstaffel (SS) by Heinz Hoehne.

General Karl Haushofer

General Karl Haushofer was a university professor and director of the Munich Institute of Geopolitics, as well as an avid student of Gurdjieff. He is believed to have studied Zen Buddhism and initiated at the hands of Tibetan lamas. Further, he worked closely with Hitler while he was imprisoned and working on Mein Kampf. Haushofer and Gurdjieff claimed to have had contact with secret Tibetan Lodges that possessed the secret of the "Superman", an idea that would become central to the eugenics movement of the Nazi party.

Esoteric Hitlerism

Origin

The foundation of Esoteric Hitlerism was Heinrich Himmler who, more than any other high official in the Third Reich (including Hitler) was fascinated by Aryan (and not just Germanic) racialism and Germanic Odinism.

Prayer to Hitler

In Nazism, Adolf Hitler was occasionally compared with Jesus, or revered as a savior sent by God.

A prayer recited by orphans at orphanages runs as follows:

Führer, mein Führer, von Gott mir gegeben, beschütz und erhalte noch lange mein Leben

Du hast Deutschland errettet aus tiefster Not, Dir verdank ich mein täglich Brot

Führer, mein Führer, mein Glaube, mein Licht

Führer mein Führer, verlasse mich nicht

This translates roughly as:

Führer, my Führer, given to me by God, protect me and sustain my life for a long time

you have rescued Germany out of its deepest misery, to you I owe my daily bread

Führer, my Führer, my belief, my light

Führer my Führer, do not abandon me

Julius Evola

Julius Evola, an occultist with radical right-wing political views, though he was never directly tied to either Italian Fascism or Nazism, tried to move Mussolini towards paganism and away from concord with the Vatican). His influence on Nazi mysticism has been much greater in the postwar years than it was while the Nazis and fascists were in power, influencing the thought of Neo-Nazi groups such as the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party

Savitri Devi

With the fall of the Third Reich, Esoteric Hitlerism took off as Hitler, who had died at the end of the war, was now able to be deified. Savitri Devi was the first major exponent of post-war Esoteric Hitlerism (see her Hitlerian Esotericism and the Tradition (http://library.flawlesslogic.com/souvenirs_10a.htm)), and connected Hitler's Aryan ideology to that of the pro-independence Indians (specifically Hindus) such as Subhas Chandra Bose. For her, the swastika was an especially important symbol, as it symbolized the Aryan unity amongst the Hindus and Germans (and was also a symbol of good fortune for the Tibetans). Devi integrated Nazism into a broader cyclical framework of Hindu history, and called Hitler an avatar of Vishnu (preparing the way for Kalki) and the "Man against Time," having an ideal vision of returning his Aryan people to an earlier, more perfect time, and also having the practical wherewithal to fight the destructive forces forestalling his vision from fruition--a combination of the best traits of Akhenaton (a vision, but ineffectual) and Genghis Khan (violence, but selfish).

Miguel Serrano

The next major figure in Esoteric Hitlerism is Miguel Serrano, a Chilean diplomat. He wrote both The Golden Ribbon--Esoteric Hitlerism and Adolf Hitler, the Last Avatar.

He believed that Hitler was in Shambhala, an underground centre in Antarctica (formerly at the North Pole and Tibet), where he was in contact with the Hyperborean gods and from whence he would someday emerge with a fleet of UFOs to lead the forces of light (the Hyperboreans, sometimes associated with Vril) over the forces of darkness (inevitably including, for Serrano, the Jews) in a last battle and inaugurating a Fourth Reich.

He also connected the Aryans and their Hyperborean gods to the Sun and the Allies and the Jews to the Moon, and also had a special place in his ideology for the SS, who, in their quest to recreate the ancient race of Aryan god-men, he thought were above morality and therefore justified in their seemingly cruel deeds.

David Myatt

Another use of the term esoteric Hitlerism has been made by David Myatt, less as indicator of occult beliefs with Nazism, than to distinguish it from common (exoteric) Nazism (see his "Esoteric Hitlerism: Idealism, the Third Reich and the Essence of National-Socialism (http://myatt.port5.com/texts/esoteric_hitlerism.htm)").

Ahnenerbe

The Ahnenerbe Society, the ancestral heritage branch of the SS (also called by some the Nazi Occult Bureau) was dedicated primarily to the research of proving the superiority of the Aryan race but was also involved in occult practices. Founded in 1935 by Himmler, the Society became involved in searching for Atlantis and the Holy Grail (and is believed to be the basis for the Nazis in the Indiana Jones series of movies).

Research and expeditions

A great deal of time and resources were spent on researching or creating a popularly accepted "historical", "cultural" and "scientific" background so the ideas about a "superior" Aryan race could prosper in the German society of the time. Mystical organizations such as the Thule Society, Schwarze Sonne, Vrill Society and others were created, usually connected with elite SS corps, and adopting specific rituals, initiations and beliefs.

Expeditions in Tibet, Nepal, Greece, the Arctic, and Antarctica were organized in the search for the mythical "Aryan" nation of Hyperborea, whose capital, Ultima Thule was supposedly built by the extraterrestrial ancestors of the "Aryan races" who came from the star Aldebaran, according to some of the "Aryan" theories.

A German expedition to Tibet was organized in order to search for the origins of the Aryan race. To this end, the expedition leader, Ernst Schäfer, had his anthropologist Bruno Beger make face masks and skull and nose measurements.

Similar expeditions were organized in the pursuit of semi-mythical objects believed to bring power or granting special powers to their owner, such as the Holy Grail and the Spear of Destiny.

Suppression of secret societies

The Nazi party actively discouraged certain mystical secret societies, in fact interning, and sometimes executing, a number of high-ranking mystics in Europe, particularly members of the Freemasons and Rosicrucians.

It is said that Aleister Crowley and Gurdjieff sought contact with Hitler, but actual contact is unconfirmed. Hitler would later go on to reject many German mystics, openly ridiculing them, particularly practitioners of Freemasonry, Theosophy and Anthrosophy.

Artur Dinter

In 1927 Hitler fired the Gauleiter of Thüringen, Artur Dinter from his function because he wanted to make too much a religion of Aryan racial purity. In 1928 Dinter was expelled from the party when he publicly attacked Hitler about this decision. [1] (http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/d/dinter_a.shtml)

Mysticism in modern Neo-Nazism

Modern Neo-Nazism has links to Ásatrú, and the black metal scene. Mystic influences often appear in modern Nazi music, particularly references to artifacts such as the Spear of Longinus. On the other hand, many northern European polytheist organisations and groups have stated clearly that Neo-Nazism and its Ásatrú connections are certainly not to be considered what is common or 'mainstream' with their adherents. Organisations such as the Theods, the Ásatrúarfélagid, and the Northvegr groups are particularly notable in their disavowal of any connections.

Nazi mysticism and modern pseudoscience

The writings of Miguel Serrano, Julius Evola, Savitri Devi, and other proponents of Nazi Mysticism have spawned numerous later works connecting Aryan master race beliefs and Nazi escape scenarios with enduring conspiracy theories about reptilian humanoids, hollow earth civilizations, and shadowy new world orders. In his book Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili scholar Joscelyn Godwin discusses pseudoscientific theories regarding surviving Nazi elements in Antarctica. Arktos is notable for its scholarly approach and examination of many sources currently unavailable elsewhere in English-language translation.

Godwin and other authors including Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke have also discussed Hitler's purported Antarctic reptilian companions (sometimes seen to be Hyperboreans) as well as the connections between Nazi Mysticism and Vril energy, the hidden Shambhala and Agartha civilizations, and underground UFO bases.

In fiction

Nazi occult-hunters have been featured in the Indiana Jones films.

Occult-obsessed Nazis have long been a staple of superhero comic books:

In the 1980s, DC Comics writer Roy Thomas invented a retcon to explain why Superman, the Spectre, and the Justice Society of America had been unable to defeat the Nazis: Hitler possessed the Spear of Destiny (Spear of Longinus) which gave him magical control over any superheroes who ventured into his territory.
The Hellboy comic books and movie also portray the Nazis and the Thule Society as powerful occult figures; in that universe, Hitler lived until 1958.
David Brin's short story "Thor Meets Captain America (http://www.davidbrin.com/thor4.html)" and graphic novel The Life Eaters center on this theme, as well.

The computer game Wolfenstein 3D and its sequel, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, featured plotlines involving Nazi obssesion with the occult.

References

Books

The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology : The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890-1935 by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (New York University Press, 1994, ISBN 0814730604)
The Unknown Hitler: His Private Life and Fortune by Wulf Schwarzwaller (National Press Books, 1st edition, 1988, ISBN 0915765632; Berkeley Books, 1990)
Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race by Christopher Hale (Wiley 2003. ISBN 0471262927)
Heinrich Himmler's Camelot: Pictorial/documentary: The Wewelsburg Ideological Center of the SS, 1934-1945 by Stephen Cook (Kressmann-Backmeyer, 1999)
Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth and Neo-Nazism, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, 1998. ISBN 0814731104
Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival by Joscelyn Godwin, 1996, ISBN 0932813356
Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (2001, ISBN 0814731554)
The Omega Files; Secret Nazi UFO Bases Revealed by "Branton", (April 15, 2000 ISBN 1892062097)
Hitler's Flying Saucers: A Guide to German Flying Discs of the Second World War by Henry Stevens (February 1, 2003 ISBN 1931882134)
Underground Alien Bases by Commander X (June 1, 1990 ISBN 093829492X)
Unholy Alliance: History of the Nazi Involvement With the Occult by Peter Levenda, (May 1, 2002, ISBN: 0826414095)

Films

Nazis: The Occult Conspiracy (1998), directed by Tracy Atkinson and Joan Barron, narrated by Malcolm McDowell.

External links

Channel 4 microsite on Himmler and the Ahnenerbe (http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/heads/footnotes/nazimyths.html)
NARA Research Room: Captured German and Related Records on Microform in the National Archives: Captured German Records Filmed at Berlin (American Historical Association, 1960). Microfilm Publication T580. 1,002 rolls (http://www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/captured_german_records/microfilmed_in_berlin.html)
Fascist Occultism and its Close Relationship to Buddhist Tantrism (http://www.american-buddha.com/fascistoccult.htm)
Hitler and the Occult: Nazism, Reincarnation, and Rock Culture (http://www.ewtn.com/library/NEWAGE/HITLEROC.TXT)

In German

IDGR Lexikon Rechtsextremismus - artgemeinschaft (http://lexikon.idgr.de/a/a_r/artgemeinschaft/artgemeinschaft.php)
IDGR Lexikon Rechtsextremismus - ariosophie (http://lexikon.idgr.de/a/a_r/ariosophie/ariosophie.php)
rabenclan - Ariosophie (http://www.rabenclan.de/index.php/Magazin/HansSchuhmacherAriosophie)de:Ariosophie

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