grgr: nazi occultism

[Doug Millison]

In his book, _The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and their
Influence on Nazi Ideology_, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke thoroughly debunks
what he calls the "modern mythology of Nazi occultism" -- the fantastic
theories that have been widely disseminated,  theories which argued, as he
says, "in a sensational genre of literature, that the Nazis were
principally inspired and directed by occult agencies from 1920 to 1943." In
an appendix to his book, he thoroughly addresses these arguments -- made in
such books as Trevor Ravenscroft's _The Spear of Destiny_ and others of
this ilk -- and shows how they are not credible. He does this, I think, in
order to discredit with evidence these red herrings and thus keep the focus
on the argument that his book does indeed prove:

"The Ariosophists, initially active in Vienna before the First World War,
borrowed from the theosophy of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, in order to
prophesy and vindicate a coming era of German world rule. Their writings
described a prehistoric golden age, when wise gnostic priesthoods had
expounded occult-racist doctrines and ruled over a superior and racially
pure society. They claimed that an evil conspiracy of anti-German interests
(variously identified as the non-Aryan races, the Jews, or even the early
Church) had sought to ruin this ideal Germanic world by emancipating the
non-German inferiors in the name of a spurious egalitarianism. The
resulting racial confusion was said to have heralded the historical world
with its wars, economic hardship, political uncertainty and the frustration
of German world power. In order to counter this modern world, the
Ariosophists founded secret religious orders dedicated to the revival of
the lost esoteric knowledge and racial virtue of the ancient Germans, and
the corresponding creation of a new pan-German empire. ...The Ariosophists
had their political roots in the late nineteenth-centurty volkisch ideology
and the Pan-German movement in Austria. ...Theories of Aryan-German racial
excellence, anti-liberalism, and anxiety about social and economic changes
typify their volkisch concerns, but their occultism was an original
contribution. Occultism was invoked to endorse the enduring validity of an
obsolescent and precarious social order. The ideas and symbols of ancient
theocracies, secret societies, and the mystical gnosis of Rosicrucianism,
Cabbalism, and Freemasonry were woven into the volkisch ideology, in order
to prove that the modern world was based on false and evil principles and
to describe the values and institutions of the ideal world....their ideas
and symbols filtered through to several anti-Semitic and nationalist groups
in late Wilhelmian Germany, from which the early Nazi Party emerged in
Munich after the First World War. This study traces that survival of
Ariosophy through personal contacts and literary influences. The
possibility that List and Lanz von Liebenfels may have already had an
influence on Adolf Hitler in his pre-war Vienna days is also investigated.
Arisophy continued to be fostered in the 1920s by small coteries that
propagated racist mystery-religions during the Weimar Republic in the hope
of a national revival. At least two Ariosophists were closely involved with
Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler in the 1930s, contributing to his projects
in prehistory, SS order ceremonial, and even to his visionary plans for the
Greater Germanic Reich in the third millennium. In this account of their
succession, it is shown how the fantasies of Ariosophy, besides being
symptoms of anxiety and cultural nostalgia, illuminate the ultimate
dream-world of the Third Reich."

As I said, Goodrick-Clarke offers a compelling argument to support the
thesis that Nazi ideology stems at least in part from the theosophical
spirituality of early 20th century. Based on my own research, and that of a
friend
and independent scholar, Peter Smith of Springfield, PA, I add that much of
contemporary New Age occultism traces its origins to the same source. _This
is not to say that New Age equals Nazi ideology, but you can trace them
back to a common source_. I began research in this area when Peter Smith
showed me some connections between Nazi ideology and some New Age occult
projects, and I wanted to see if any of the spirituality projects in which
I have a
personal interest carried that taint. But don't take my word for it, or
anybody else's, do your own homework.

And,  rest assured, I'm not talking about the bs theories about Hiler being
the reincarnation of some ancient demon or any of the rest of that
silliness. The truth of Nazi ideology's debt to theosophy (to which much
New Age thinking also traces its roots) is far more frightening, because it
illustrates how, in Goodrick-Clarke's words, "fantasies can achieve a
causal status once they have been institutionalized in beliefs, values, and
social groups. Fantasies are also an important symptom of impending
cultural changes and political action. The particular fantasies discussed
in this book were generated within an extreme right-wing movement concerned
with the creation of a superman elite, the extermination of lesser beings,
and the establishment of a new world order. The nature of this movement has
set it quite apart from the mainstream of rational politics in the 20th
century and demands answers relating to its deeper inspiration. An analysis
of the fantasies underlying such a movement can provide new answers to old
questions."

I'm taking a couple of weeks off. Have fun!

-Doug

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