grgr: nazi occultism

[Paul Mackin]

On Sun, 7 May 2000, Doug Millison wrote:

> 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:

Glad Doug revealed the existence of this perhaps startling final
section of the book (appendix E), which might well leave one with the
feeling that the whole presentation up to that point had been a bit of a
tease. From the title, "The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and
Their Influence on Nazi Ideology," one might have expected to find Hitler
and the rest of the principals to be themselves believers in the occult,
spending  valuable time sitting around a seance table communing with the
dead. No wonder Germany lost the war. But no, this is apparently not
the case at all or what the book is mainly about. 

My only point here is that this book, which is well worth reading in my
humble opinion, is complex and rather peculiar. Fortunately Goodrick-Clarke
is at root a serious historian so in the end no one is missled. But
but to repeat, the book needs to be read carefully. Cover blurbs and
isolated exerpts can be quite missleading. 

A problem concept is "Nazi Ideology."  It refers to Nazi STYLE thinking
rather than the thinking of the actual folks who planned and ran the Third
Reich. Not much of a differnce some might think. But read the book and see
for yourselves.

Have a nice holiday, Doug.

		P.