Nazi Occultism provides a serious scholarly study of a topic that is often marred by sensationalism and misinformation.
The Morning of the Magicians by Pauwels and Bergier (1960) gave rise to the idea that a secret society with wide powers, the "Thule society", was the hidden and ignored centre of Nazism. The influence of this very real small group is, however, only a fantasy, a myth. The author, a historian specializing in neo-Nazism, looks back on this speculative construction, its origins, its ideological tinkering and the practices which have succeeded in forming a sort of radical and sulphurous counterculture which has created a fascination with esotericism and Nazism and the SS. To better understand it, he also paints a portrait of some of the authors who contributed to this extremist subculture, such as the Italian esotericist Julius Evola, the Argentine anthropologist Jacques-Marie de Mahieu, Chilean neo-Nazi Miguel Serrano, and the writer Jean-Paul Bourre.
This book will appeal to scholars, researchers and activists as well as general readers with an interest in the history of Nazism and the occult.
Introduction
Part 1 – Studies
1. The esoteric origins of Mein Kampf: Myths and realities
2. Nazi esotericism: Between völkisch thought and fantasy
3. Neopaganism and Nazism
4. The ‘mysterious history’ and the French extreme right
Part 2 – Portraits
5. Evolian anthropology, the ‘spirit of the race’ and Judaism
6. Jacques de Mahieu: Between biological racism and the ‘mysterious history’
7. Miguel Serrano: A Chilean neo-nazi between diplomacy and racial occultism
8. Counter-culture and ‘nazi esotericism’: The Thulean cycle of Wilhelm Landig
9. Between freak thinking and an identitarian world view: The writer Jean-Paul Bourre
10. Michael Moynihan and the Wulfing Kindred
Conclusion
Biography
Stéphane François is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Mons, Belgium. He is also an associate member of the CNRS, France, and a researcher in the Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (Societies, Religions, Secularism Group).
