Guido von List: Part 18

Apparently, according to von List, the “German building lodges” have faded away. I would like to know if there is any history of them which has ever been conducted; whether in book form or documentary? One form of Wotanic occultism, which I will not be able to go into depth here, is in the various ways in which ancient Wotanist symbology was hidden inside of the accepted symbols of the day. For example, inside of various Christian crosses, or which at least had a Christian style to them. This was, after all, during the “burning times”; when those accused of “sorcery” (virtually anything non-Christian, or even the wrong kind of Christianity) were put to death in many places. These actions were not only committed by the Catholic Church, but also by some of the Protestant denominations.

As mentioned before, the Vehme-Star Rose (Pentagram) is mentioned throughout ‘The Secret of the Runes’, but I can’t seem to find any strong evidence of its usage in the Middle Ages. That is unless one looks into small secret pagan communities of the time. This sometimes makes me believe that Guido von List was as much into the hexological/magical heathen tradition, as he was interested in Wotanism. I guess he saw all of this as “one thing.” It's noteworthy that modern Wiccans seem to have no interest in List at all. The following quote from pages 86 and 87 continues to puzzle me:

The five-angled star, the Vehme-Star, the Truthenfuss (truh = turn, fuss = foot) is the hieroglyph of “revolving or turning generation,” of “rebirth”—one of the most important articles of faith in the Aryan religion. In its exoteric interpretation this sign simply says: “return,” and was therefore a favorite sign used at hostels and inns, in order to convey the meaning: “whoever is a guest here should come again.”

I would like to see examples, both ancient and modern, of this. An exact google search of “Vehme-Star Rose” comes back with very few results, and only two images. The following webpage has the symbol key from the book. The “concealed fyrfos” shows one simple example of how other symbols were concealed. Just to state the obvious, in the Middle Ages, they were concealed because the church condemned them. They were forced to become “occultic.” Some Christians find great meaning in stories of people in Communist countries where Christianity was banned, and a family had one single page from the bible (which itself was illegal apparently), and they treasured the one page.  I think you know where I’m going with this….

Symbols were also concealed on swords and weaponry; following a long tradition of which symbolism was proudly and openly displayed on swords, shields, etc. The builders’ guilds also influenced which of the various esoteric symbols would be associated with the various components of society. For example, the ruoth-cross (the solar cross) became the symbol of the court. The color red became associated with justice. That’s just tip of the iceberg in term of symbology just in the area of law; let alone in all of the other facets of society. I just can’t go into all of the symbology; you would need to buy the book.

The early Wotanist-underground placed a marker on every holy spot from the pre-Christian period. For example, red crosses were placed in remote forests where irminsuls had once existed before Charlemagne’s forces destroyed them. I suspect that the underground skalds took some of them down themselves. In fact, the recent discovery of an Asatru holy place in Scandinavia, was not destroyed; but was buried with care, perhaps in the hopes that it could one day be brought back into their everyday lives. Modern society rewarded their effort by demolishing it.

Just to backtrack for a moment, the Vehme-Star Rose may have referred to any five-pointed symbol, and not necessarily a Pentagram. I recall one symbol which had five arms coming from its center, like an asterisk or a starfish, but I don’t recall the name. It’s something to look into. The English translation of 'The Secret of the Runes' did not define this important point.

All “red courts” were constructed on spots which were once Wotanic holy places. For example, the red court in the eighth parish of Vienna.  Somehow it was a way to get the last laugh so to speak, but it’s clear that they attached deep symbolism to this. I’m just mentioning a few aspects to it. As List wrote: “these hieroglyphs are easily carried over into the highest theosophical and metaphysical realms of ideal conception.” As far as I can see, there is no practical reason that “Wotanism” couldn’t have been used in place of the Freemasonic and Kabbalistic spiritual traditions of the east within what I guess could be coined “mainstream Western occultism.” Wotanist spirituality includes a "tree of life" which developed separately, and displays a system which is every bit as complex as the ones from the east. The mainstream media completely ignores Wotanism, Odinism, Asatru—or whatever you want to call this—although there have been movies made about certain aspects of Norse mythology in recent years. As stated earlier, “the West” has drank out of every spiritual well but its own.

I wanted to take a moment, while I’m on this subject, to mention some of the names of Wotanism. It has been said that this religion had no name. I use Wotanism for my own reasons, stated earlier. Other names include the following: Odinism, Asatru, Wuotanism, Nordism, Irminism, Armanism, Troth, and Vanatru. The Langobards called Wotan “Godan,” and I’m sure there are many other regional names for Wotan and other aspects of the religion. I suppose that one could use other gods and goddesses for reference, such as "Thorism" or "Freyaism." Although von List mentioned “Wuotan” and “Wuotanism” often, I think he saw the quickening of the religion as “Armanism.” I think he wanted to include all aspects of what, in this case, could fairly be called “Northern European” spiritual traditions, including magical ones.

An excerpt, from pages 95 and 96, regarding symbols: A further condition for the correct understanding of these “holy signs,” “runes,” “symbols,” and “hieroglyphs”—and one which may never be ignored—lies in the clear comprehension of pre-Christian ethics, as well as pre-Christian morals. One can never forget that Wuotanism grew out of the intuitive recognition of evolutionary laws in natural life, out of the “primal laws of nature,” and that Wihinei (exoteric religious system) formed by Wuotanism spread a teaching and conducted a mode of living based on the laws of evolution.

I probably should inject, as the issue has come up many times in this series, that Guido von List used the term “Aryan” more-or-less for Indo-Europeans. Therefore, he referred to the “Aryans of Greece” or the “Aryans of Rome.” Words like “Teutonic” or “Germanic”—although somewhat vague—were used for Scandinavian and German-speaking peoples, and probably most of the cultural groupings of the British Isles. I can’t say the latter with absolute certainly. Although Austria (Österreich) in many ways seems different than say Norway, the “Germanic idenitity“ was very strong. The concept was, in some ways, seemingly “Nordicist“; although the Nordic Scandinavians haven’t had anything close to the tradition of science and technology, during the last last six centuries, that the Alpine-Nordic Germans have had. Germans are basically an Alpine people with Nordic traits. The “Alpine“ component, not the Nordic one, may account for the historically deep folkishness of Germans; in sharp contrast with the English or Scandinavians, who have little Alpine genetic influence.

I don’t wish to end this entry on a negative, but there is one issue I wanted to raise. It’s not really a criticism; but merely a suggestion for more research, or at least more definition. I have a large degree of respect for the Odinic Rite, and I think they have done some great things; however, there is one item which I respectfully disagree with. According to one of their flyers, it states: “The natural religion of Northern Europeans is Odinism.“ As we have gone over before, it was very likely the Alpine race which was at least the first widesprad culture in Europe, and they were not “Odinists.“ Nobody lived in Northern Europe during the peak of the last ice age 25,000 years ago. Gaul, for example, wasn’t “Odinist“; although there are many links. All this is covered during the last two months, but I just wanted to challenge anyone involved in this subject to at least define this further. The denial of the important Alpine race, especially in the area of spirituality, is no longer acceptable.

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