The late Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke was a much-respected scholar of Western esoteric traditions, most famous for his book The Occult Roots of Nazism (1985). In this he traced the völkisch and racist nationalist currents of esotericism and ‘Ariosophy’ in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Germany and Austria, which fed into the early days of Nazism via the Thule Society.
Prior to Goodrick-Clarke’s book, the influence of occult ideas on Nazi Germany had been wildly overstated in pulp fiction and non-fiction. This book acted as a solid reference point to reign in the febrile popular imagination. But it was as important for how it affirmed the influence of esoteric notions on the cultural climate of Nazism.
I read The Occult Roots of Nazism as part of my research into polar myths — the North and South Poles, and the pole star, figure prominently in the far-right imagination. I also looked into Black Sun, a follow-up intended to chart the continuation of Nazi esotericism and religious thinking after 1945. I thought I’d re-read it now in the light of current events. (more...)
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Welcome to the mad world of closet Naziism. These were the types of people who inhabited my undergraduate years. The popular myth is that the 60s and 70s were about stoned hippies abandoning modern life, science and technology, middle-class values and bodily hygiene. The truth is far darker. Those cartoon lefties were the invention of Hitler's next generation -- evil chemists, mad doctors, mind-controlling torturers, and weapons designers -- my STEM classmates. And, beneath a thin film of twisted Judeo-Christianity, they concealed a demonic affinity to Darwin. Anyone shocked that the University of Toronto could spawn a Faith Goldy or a Paul Fromm don't know my alma mater. This book is a realistic course calendar for Canada's elite university.
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