Zodiac and Swastika: How Astrology Guided Hitler's Germany

by Wilhelm Wulff

English, German (translation)

Genres: History, Astrology, World War II, Conspiracy Theories, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Jukka Häkkinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Natsien suosikkiastrologin omaelämäkerta on kiinnostavaa luettavaa. Wulff kuvailee tulleensa vastentahtoisesti vedetyksi mukaan natsien touhuihin, mutta päätyy lopulta tekemään astrologisia ennusteita korkeille johtajille, kuten Heinrich Himmlerille. Kirjassa on monia erikoisia yksityiskohtia, mutta tarinoiden uskottavuus on kyseenalaista ja kirja on pitkälti oman toiminnan selittelyä parhain päin. Wulff esimerkiksi kertoo kirjassaan toistuvasti, kuinka hän 1920-luvulta lähtien näki horoskoopeista, että Hitler johtaa Saksan täydelliseen tuhoon ja kuolee väkivaltaisen kuoleman. Wulff kertoo tämän kirjassaan jokaisella vastaantulijalle, mukaan lukien natsien johtajat, mutta ei jostain syystä joudu puheidensa vuoksi vaikeuksiin. Kokonaisuutena siis kiinnostava katsaus natsien astrologisiin harrastuksiin, mutta faktojen paikkansapitävyydestä ei ole mitään takeita.

[Stargazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating true life account of painter, sculptor and anti-Hitler astrologer who was both put into a concentration camp and afterwards used against his will for people such as Himmler during the period of Nazi domination in Germany.
published in the usa in 1973

[Mathias · Rating 2 out of 5]

The way astrology seems to function is through observation of the positions of the celestial bodies, ascribing 'malefic' qualities to certain planets, such as Saturn (Kronos), thus endowing them with a particular mythological trope or narrative, such as 'A l'exemple de Saturne, la révolution dévore ses enfants'. This and other tropes, that for historical reasons (the roots of which probably goes deep into the hominization and birth of culture, at the time of the megalithic structures that probably were used to sacrifice victims and interpret the constallations of the stars) are assigned to the particular celestial body, that is, Saturn, and the zodiac then becomes a tool to intepret the position of Saturn to that of the particular, probably in some way similar to what the megalithic temples would do

Anyhow, it seems to me that there are connections between the culture of nazism and that of universal paganism, which perhaps could be boiled down to the cycle of life and death, the metaphysics of which is contained in the swastika, and the projection of the social reality of the swastika onto the night sky and the calendar (which is the ongoing day-to-day biography of society). There are multiple aspects of the history of nazism that point to an influence by hinduism, which in contrast to european paganism at the time (and still to some extent) is living and being practiced, whereas european paganism, for instance the rabbit-goddess Ēostre, probably have been more or less wiped out by Christian culture. Nazism therefore looks to the sanskrit tradition to find the pagan spirit sought after in order to unify the Volksgemeinschaft