Occult in National Socialism

Stephen Edred Flowers, Ph.D., received his doctorate in Germanic languages and medieval studies from the University of Texas at Austin and studied the history of occultism and runology at the University of Göttingen, Germany. The author of more than 50 books, including Revival of the Runes, he lives near Smithville, Texas.

“Much ink has been spilled on the topic of occult Nazism, but this book goes wider and deeper than most previous literature on this subject. It aims, as the author writes, ‘to bring the question of Nazi occultism into sharper focus with a more refined lens of understanding.’ One of the great merits of the book is that Flowers examines not only the question of the actual nature and extent of occult elements in the Nazi movement and its antecedents but also the huge amount of myth and hype that has grown up around the subject since the end of the Second World War. A central theme of the book is the power of myths, including those that ‘lead to misery and destruction,’ as in the case of the Third Reich. This searching book sheds new light on a troubled subject.”

• INTRODUCTIONEssential Questions That Must Be Answered PART I Foundations of the Nineteenth Century (1800-1900) Introduction to Part I1 Foundations of Volkism The Deep Background of What Became National Socialism 2 Foundations of the Scientific CultureScience and Pseudoscience of the Nineteenth Century at the Root of National Socialism 3 Foundations of German OccultismThe Deep Occult Background of the Age PART II Before Hitler Came(1900-1919/1933)Introduction to Part II 4 Symbolic Volkism The World of Symbols and Signs into which the Third Reich Entered 5 Preludes in Science and Pseudoscience Science as Symbol and Weapon6 Occult Culture in Greater GermanyThe Fantastic Occulture of the Age PART III Myth of the Twentieth Century (1919-1945) Introduction to Part III 7 Symbolic Elements in the NSDAP How Signs, Symbols, and Ceremonies Were Wielded to Gain and Maintain Power and Control 8 Rituals of National Socialism Magic and Manipulation 9 Religious Revolution in the Third ReichThe Rise of New Religions 10 Occult Dimensions of Nazi SciencesThe Weaponization of the Occult 11 Occultism and the Third Reich The Anti-occult Reich as a Step toward Political SpellcastingPART IV The Mythology of Nazi Occultism Introduction to Part IV 12 The Roots of the Myth of Nazi Occultism in Wartime Propaganda Imaginative Propaganda Lays the Foundation of Postwar Tabloid Scholarship 13 Aftermath: Esoteric Nazism Since 1945 The Generation of a New-Age Mythology A Summary and Final Assessments APPENDIX A A Simplified Version of the Organizational Structure of the Ahnenerbe APPENDIX B The Word NaziA Chronological Annotated BibliographyReferences Index