The Occult Roots of Nazism: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany, 1890–1935, later published under the title The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology, is a book about Ariosophy and Nazi occultism by historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, who traces some of its roots back to esotericism in Germany and Austria between 1880 and 1945. The foreword is by Rohan Butler, who had written The Roots of National Socialism in the 1930s. The book is based on Goodrick-Clarke's 1982 Ph.D. thesis.
It was first published by The Aquarian Press in 1985, and republished in paperback form by New York University Press in 1992. The book was highly regarded upon its publication and has been called the seminal work on the topic of Nazism and occultism and as Goodrick-Clarke's most influential work. It received praise for being a serious scholarly effort on a subject which otherwise attracted many fringe or mythical claims.
Background
The connections between Nazism and occultism had been subject to many explorations previously, but they tended to be sensationalistic with little basis in fact. Goodrick-Clarke wrote that he found the previous discussion of the connection to be "a literature rich in mystery and suggestion, but short on facts and hard evidence". Nevertheless, the question of how Nazism had come to have such an association with occultism in the first place interested him, and so he started researching contemporary fringe resources, only to find that "there was a hard kernel of truth" to the connection. of which it is a revised version. The book is based on archival sources and historical material, especially a large array of fringe esoteric works of the time. Many of the works consulted by Goodrick-Clarke were extremely rare and difficult to consult.
Contents
This foreword was written by Rohan Butler. He rather attempts to keep strictly to his archival source material and limiting speculation, presenting the occult ties in a matter-of-fact manner as just one element among many. In the final chapter, an examination of "Ariosophy and Adolf Hitler, he disregards the idea that Hitler himself had any involvement in Thule meetings or other occultism. In appendix E, the only place the phrase "Nazi Occultism" actually appears in the book, Goodrick-Clarke makes an effort to debunk much of the "modern mythology of Nazi occultism" and traces the origins of the more dubious ideas, debunking several of the books associated with this modern mythology. in 1992, it was republished as a paperback with a different subtitle by New York University Press in New York, as The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology, though there were no textual changes from the first edition. It was published in a German edition in 1997 as . Black Sun was originally intended as a sequel, but in the course of its writing its scope expanded beyond the original work.
Reception
The book was highly regarded upon its publication, receiving several positive reviews. as well as the author's most influential work. Jeffrey Kaplan stated in 1998 that it "remains the definitive work on the subject".
It received praise for being a serious scholarly effort on a subject which otherwise attracted many fringe or mythical claims. the problem, Housden remarks, lies in the efficacy of these Ariosophic practices.