BLACK SUN sheds new light on the sources of Nazi ideology by examining its occult roots in the world of myths, symbols, and fantasies. It traces this development from the writings of various mystics in the early 20th century who propagated the mythology of a superior global ideology whose heroes would fight the forces of moral decadence and greed. The book uses rare archival photographs and sources to chronicle how the Nazis used these mythological foundations to develop Nazism as a political religion. While BLACK SUN documents the nationalist mystical beliefs that infused National Socialism, the book also reveals the disturbing perpetuation of these beliefs among certain political groups today, in Germany and worldwide, reflecting an ongoing search for salvation, inspiration and messianic leaders. This eye-popping expose' juxtaposes the polarization in German national history between an obsession with capturing light in all its symbolic uses in order to battle the "darkness" of the Others. The final lesson that Black Sun implies -and what makes it a provocative and interesting book for a number of audiences, whether scholars and students of history, or iconography- is the danger of not knowing one's own history. In this sense, the title signals not only the recurrent theme of evil throughout history, but also the need to shed light upon all its manifestations.

In 1990 a new and unusual symbol called the “Black Sun” suddenly appeared in German neo-Nazi circles. It was identified with a sunwheel floor inlay said to have been venerated in occult ceremonies during the Second World War at Wewelsburg Castle, the secretive personal retreat of Nazi security chief Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. Over the last twenty years the Black Sun has been transformed into a metaphorical comet “blazing in the Northern sky,” particularly among neo-Nazis with esoteric and occult leanings. An Internet search of the terms Black Sun, Schwarze Sonne (German), Sol Negro (Spanish), Soleil Noir (French) and Sol Niger (Latin) reveals the extent of its penetration into everyday aspects of far-right cultural life. The symbol appears on T-shirts, CD covers, flags, decorative household knickknacks, wristwatches, uniform insignia, tattoos, etc. In response to the phenomenal growth of interest in the Black Sun, several previous authors have weighed in on the topic of neo-Nazi occultism. While they have succeeded in producing much-needed general reviews, each author singularly failed when it came to addressing the mystery of the Black Sun itself. What is the origin of the Black Sun mythology? When was the Black Sun first identified with the Wewelsburg Castle sunwheel? What do current-day neo-Nazis believe about the Black Sun? Why have esoteric beliefs found traction among neo-Nazis? What does the Black Sun mythology hold for the future of National Socialism? This groundbreaking study provides answers to all of these questions.

Uncovers the mindset and motives that drive far-right extremists More than half a century after the defeat of Nazism and fascism, the far right is again challenging the liberal order of Western democracies. Radical movements are feeding on anxiety about immigration, globalization and the refugee crisis, giving rise to new waves of nationalism and surges of white supremacism. A curious mixture of Aristocratic paganism, anti-Semitic demonology, Eastern philosophies and the occult is influencing populist antigovernment sentiment and helping to exploit the widespread fear that invisible elites are shaping world events. Black Sun examines this neofascist ideology, showing how hate groups, militias and conspiracy cults gain influence. Based on interviews and extensive research into underground groups, the book documents new Nazi and fascist sects that have sprung up since the 1970s and examines the mentality and motivation of these far-right extremists. The result is a detailed, grounded portrait of the mythical and devotional aspects of Hitler cults among Aryan mystics, racist skinheads and Nazi satanists, and disciples of heavy metal music and occult literature. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke offers a unique perspective on far right neo-Nazism viewing it as a new form of Western religious heresy. He paints a frightening picture of a religion with its own relics, rituals, prophecies and an international sectarian following that could, under the proper conditions, gain political power and attempt to realize its dangerous millenarian fantasies.

The Unpredictable Constitution brings together a distinguished group of U.S. Supreme Court Justices and U.S. Court of Appeals Judges, who are some of our most prominent legal scholars, to discuss an array of topics on civil liberties. In thoughtful and incisive essays, the authors draw on decades of experience to examine such wide-ranging issues as how legal error should be handled, the death penalty, reasonable doubt, racism in American and South African courts, women and the constitution, and government benefits. Contributors: Richard S. Arnold, Martha Craig Daughtry, Harry T. Edwards, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Betty B. Fletcher, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Lord Irvine of Lairg, Jon O. Newman, Sandra Day O'Connor, Richard A. Posner, Stephen Reinhardt, and Patricia M. Wald.

This book chronicles the occult movements that existed in Germany and Austria before the Nazis came to power, and the demonic influence these groups had on Adolf Hitler, National Socialist racial policy, and on the thinking of Germans at the time. It also explores the very real and significant connections between these occult societies (many of which still exist under different names grouped into the New Age Movement) and the Globalist and Progressive Movements and their push for a New World Order.

“A dense and scholarly book about . . . the relationship between the Nazi party and the occult . . . reveals stranger-than-fiction truths on every page.”—Daily Telegraph The Nazi fascination with the occult is legendary, yet today it is often dismissed as Himmler’s personal obsession or wildly overstated for its novelty. Preposterous though it was, however, supernatural thinking was inextricable from the Nazi project. The regime enlisted astrology and the paranormal, paganism, Indo-Aryan mythology, witchcraft, miracle weapons, and the lost kingdom of Atlantis in reimagining German politics and society and recasting German science and religion. In this eye-opening history, Eric Kurlander reveals how the Third Reich’s relationship to the supernatural was far from straightforward. Even as popular occultism and superstition were intermittently rooted out, suppressed, and outlawed, the Nazis drew upon a wide variety of occult practices and esoteric sciences to gain power, shape propaganda and policy, and pursue their dreams of racial utopia and empire. “[Kurlander] shows how swiftly irrational ideas can take hold, even in an age before social media.”—The Washington Post “Deeply researched, convincingly authenticated, this extraordinary study of the magical and supernatural at the highest levels of Nazi Germany will astonish.”—The Spectator “A trustworthy [book] on an extraordinary subject.”—The Times “A fascinating look at a little-understood aspect of fascism.”—Kirkus Reviews “Kurlander provides a careful, clear-headed, and exhaustive examination of a subject so lurid that it has probably scared away some of the serious research it merits.”—National Review

The Lightning and the Sun is Savitri Devi's magnum opus and one of the founding texts of post-World War II National Socialism. Written in Europe from 1948 to 1956 and published in India in 1958, The Lightning and the Sun sets forth a unique and stunning synthesis of National Socialism with the cyclical Traditionalist philosophy of history and Hindu mythology. Savitri Devi's goal was to create a new National Socialist religion. She aspired to be the Saint Paul to Hitler's Jesus. Paul of Tarsus took Jesus, who was a religious prophet and a failed political revolutionary, and turned him into a divine incarnation, creating a religion which served as the vehicle for the triumph of Jewish values over Rome. Savitri Devi sought to transform Adolf Hitler, who was also both a prophetic figure and a failed political revolutionary, into a divine incarnation-an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu-hoping to create a religion that would serve as the vehicle for the triumph of National Socialism over egalitarian modernity. In spite of its near-legendary status, The Lightning and the Sun is a notoriously hard to find book. The first edition consisted of only 1,000 copies and is quite rare. The 1979 Samisdat reprint is long out of print and also quite rare. The most readily available edition is William Pierce's dramatically abridged version, which cuts two thirds of the text and was not authorized or checked by Savitri Devi. The Savitri Devi Archive's new edition of The Lightning and the Sun reprints the complete and unabridged first edition and corrects its many typographical errors. It also updates the citations, adds a number of explanatory notes, includes a helpful Editor's Foreword, and provides a detailed index. With this new edition, which is edited and manufactured to the highest academic press standards, The Lightning and the Sun has finally found a worthy embodiment.