Topics

What is the Connexion Between the Runes and Right Wing Extremism?

The runes can be seen as a gift to humanity for us to use as we will. Along with positive uses such as divination and healing, it was perhaps inevitable that we would find less savoury purposes for them too. Hitler had a strong personal interest in the occult and while this didn't save occultists from persecution in NAZI Germany, it was reflected in the utilisation of runes as symbols of his regime. In this he was heavily influenced by the writings of Guido Von List, an Austrian author who had a special 18 character version of the runes revealed to him in a vision. These "Armanen" runes proved highly influential and formed the basis of NAZI use of the runes.

One significant way in which the NAZIs made use of the runes was as logos. They adopted a different symbolism for the runes but made use of the actual symbols (glyphs). For example the infamous SS had a logo constructed of two Sowelu (Sowelu/Sigil) runes side by side. The Hitler Youth movement used the Tiwaz (Tyr/Tir) rune as its logo.

Since the runes are power in their own right, it is tempting to think that their misuse of the magical power of the runes contributed to their eventual downfall. However it does mean that a link was established between the runes and fascism which for many continues to this day as witnessed by the inclusion of specific runes in the Anti Defamation League's on-line Database of Hate. There are still fascists with with runic design tattoos having little understanding of their real meaning. A favorite such design is the Othala (Ethel) rune representing nation, homeland and clan. This has obvious appeals to fascists but it is as capable of representing the Tribes of Judea and Israel as it is the "white Aryan" nations.

Only by education can people be made to realise that the NAZIs misused the runes, misunderstood and perverted their meaning. There is thus no direct link between the runes and right wing extremism. Nazis and their sympathisers made use of the runes but they are simply one set of users.This short period represents an aberration in a history of the runes of several thousand years.