The Rise of Hitler
In the devastation following World War I, Germany was a shell of it's former glorious empire. Humiliated, broke and utterly left in a drifting political sea without a strong leader, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for an unknown, former Austrian artist and trench soldier, Adolf Hitler.
Hitler as soldier 1914-1918
The political parties created in the wake of the country's defeat in World War I began to combine nationalistic sentiment and occultist practices to forge an image of a superior German people.This fascination with the occult sprang up in the late 19th century as a reaction to the advanced materialism and technology of the era.
One of the first occult groups to come to prominence was the Thule Society.Briefly, the creed of the Thule Society inner circle was as follows: Thule was a legendary island in the far north, similar to Atlantis, supposedly the center of a lost, high-level civilization. But not all secrets of that civilization had been completely wiped out. Those that remained were being guarded by ancient, highly intelligent beings (similar to the "Masters" of Theosophy or the White Brotherhood)
They believed the truly initiated could establish contact with these beings by means of magic-mystical rituals. The "Masters" or "Ancients" allegedly would be able to endow the initiated with supernatural strength and energy. With the help of these energies the goal of the initiated was to create a race of Supermen of "Aryan" stock who would exterminate all "inferior" races.
Meanwhile, a young Adolf Hitler had been to various rallies and tried to have the leaders turn the German Workers Party into a mass-conscious fighting party, but were hesitant, due in part to their woeful financial situation. The Thule Society was not yet supplying very much money and no one seemed to know how to build up a mass party. Hitler arranged two public meetings in obscure beer halls, and he drafted leaflets and posters, but there was no real breakthrough. All of this changed dramatically at the end of the 1919 when Hitler met Dietrich Eckart.(It seems Hitler had been prepared for this fateful meeting and subsequent initiation into the dark arts by his experiences in Vienna with peyote drugs and by his mustard gassing in 1918, which left him blind and in a state of enforced trance for several days).
Dietrich Eckart
Most biographers have underestimated the influence that Eckart exerted on Hitler. He was the wealthy publisher and editor-in-chief of an anti-semitic journal which he called In Plain German. Eckart was also a committed occultist and a master of magic. As an initiate, Eckart belonged to the inner circle of the Thule Society as well as other esoteric orders. There can be no doubt that Eckart - who had been alerted to Hitler by other Thulists - trained Hitler in techniques of self confidence, self projection, persuasive oratory, body language and discursive sophistry. With these tools, in a short period of time he was able to move the obscure workers party from the club and beer hall atmosphere to a mass movement. The emotion charged lay speaker became an expert orator, capable of mesmerizing a vast audience.
Occult Teachings
One should not underestimate occultism's influence on Hitler. His subsequent rejection of Free Masons and esoteric movements, does not necessarily mean otherwise. Although Hitler later denounced and ridiculed many of them, he did dedicate his book Mein Kampf (writing it while in Landsberg Prison in 1923) to his teacher Dietrich Eckart, a frequent visitor to the prison and General Karl Haushofer, a university professor and director of the Munich Institute of Geopolitics. Haushofer was also inclined toward the esoteric as military attache in Japan, he had studied Zen-Buddhism. He had also gone through initiations at the hands of Tibetan Lamas. He became Hitler's second "esoteric mentor", replacing Dietrich Eckart when he died.
Here, Hitler developed the notion that perhaps he was the chosen one to save the German people. Indeed, Hitler's imprisonment after the failed 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch would make him a national hero for his defense of a strong German state, convincing him that he was the Messiah who could save Germany.
The Vril lodge included Hitler, Alfred Rosenberg, Himmler, Goring, and Hitler's subsequent personal physician Dr. Morell. Hitler's unusual powers of suggestion become more understandable if one keeps in mind that he had access to the "secret" psychological techniques of the esoteric lodges. The Nazi Party reportedly grew out of this and several other occult groups.
The Nazi leaders were attracted to Tibet by those of its secret doctrines which filtered through to the west. They believed, those members of the Thule group, the Luminous Lodge, and the various other occult organizations which helped shape the Third Reich, in an esoteric history of mankind. And it was in the archives of Tibetan monasteries that this history was preserved in its purest form.
FYI-(Western Esotericism is a broad spectrum of spiritual family traditions found in Western society, or refers to the collection of the mystical.This often includes, but is not limited to philosophy, meditation, herbalism, alchemy, astrology, and various forms of ritual magic. The tradition has no one source or unifying text, nor does it hold any specific dogma, instead placing emphasis on spiritual "knowledge" and the rejection of blind faith). And it was in the archives of Tibetan monasteries that this history was preserved in its purest form.
The Power of Symbols
As soon as the Nazi movement had sufficient funds, it began to organize a number of expeditions to Tibet and these succeeded one another practically without interruption until 1943. One of the most tangible expressions of Nazi interest in Tibet was the party's adoption of its deepest and most mystical of symbols - the swastika.
The swastika is one of mankind's oldest symbols, and apart from the cross and the circle, probably the most widely distributed. It is shown on pottery fragments from Greece dating back to the eighth century BC. It was used in ancient Egypt, India and China. The Navajo Indians of North America have a traditional swastika pattern.
The idea for the use of the swastika by the Nazis came from a dentist named Dr. Friedrich Krohn who was a member of the secret Germanen order. Krohn produced the red and black design for the actual form in which the Nazis came to use the symbol, that is reversed, spinning in an anti-clockwise direction. As a solar symbol, the swastika is properly thought of as spinning, and the Buddhists have always believed the symbol attracted luck.
The Sanskrit word "svastika" means good fortune and well being. According to occult theory, chaotic force can be evoked by reversing the symbol. And so the symbol appeared as the flag of Nazi Germany and the insignia of the Nazi party, an indication for those who had eyes to see, as to the occult nature of the Third Reich.
Next week: Hitler and the Spear of Destiny: His determination to own some of the most powerful and mystical objects in the world.
