Home      Site Map      Library Copyright Notice      Bulletin Board      Site Search

IS HITLER A ROSICRUCIAN?

The Rosicrucian Forum 1939, by Rosicrucian Editors

Hitler's Family: In the Shadow of the Dictator, directed by Oliver Halmburger, Thomas Staehler
Be Here Now,  by Ram Dass
Gods & Beasts -- The Nazis & the Occult, by Dusty Sklar
The Mind and God of Adolf Hitler, by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D.
Houston Stewart Chamberlain, by Wikipedia
Alfred Rosenberg, by Wikipedia
Hitler's Clairvoyant, by Stephen Lemons

If it were not a serious implication, the news article and statement, first appearing in the New York Mirror last month, and then later in other of the Hearst newspapers, declaring that Hitler was supported morally by the Rosicrucians, would be amusing. The article, which was purported to be cabled from Paris, stated in part: “That Adolph Hitler is a member of the Mystic Order called the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, and that he is inspirationally directed by some of its leaders is a charge made by Edouard Saby, French writer, in a book now in preparation.” Naturally the article concluded with a brief reference to AMORC [Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis], which the newspaper, from the article’s wording, appears to have obtained from some standard dictionary or encyclopedia.

When the cable was received, it was to be expected that the first thing a tabloid newspaper would do would be to seek some connection between such a cabled statement and some local Organization in this country or part of the world, for that would cause the article to have more local reader interest. Since numerous encyclopedias and dictionaries refer to AMORC and its history, it was easy for them to locate data about AMORC, and such data was included in the article. In fact, the body of the article, especially the references made to AMORC, are not damaging, because they merely consist of a quotation of partial historical facts – the damage, if any, was in the implication of the headline – that is, that the Rosicrucians in Germany inspired Hitler in his plans.

There are several interesting things in connection with this article that should not be overlooked – first, what was the foundation for such a story as this? The newspaper itself admits it is “a charge made by Edouard Saby, French writer, in a book now in preparation.” It is hardly to be expected that French authors, particularly at this time, would write anything favorable of Herr Hitler, and that they would write sensationally about him whether what they said was true or not. Second, Hitler at the moment, as we all know, is news and any book dealing with him or his affairs is assured a fairly successful tale. This book, according to the tabloid newspaper account, isn’t even published yet, for they say it is “now in preparation.” This indicates that from an advertising and publicity point of view the French publisher of the book sought some sensational advance sale publicity by attracting attention to the book and the author at this psychological time. The tabloid newspaper of New York, in turn seeking a sensational article that would be timely, and knowing interest on the one hand in Hitler and the well-established and known existence of the Rosicrucians on the other hand, likewise sought to capitalize on the incident by exploiting the report without an iota of foundation.

As an officer of the Rosicrucian Order, I, in the course of one of my journeys to Europe in 1932, visited the former Grand Master of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood in Berlin, as I did other Rosicrucian officers in other countries. I can say with definiteness that then and now the authentic Rosicrucian movement in Germany is disorganized and not functioning. Two conditions contribute to this inactivity – first, the political difficulties existing then in Germany, which have intensified since that time; and, second, the economic inability of the members to hold the Rosicrucian Brotherhood together as an Organization in Germany. However, the Rosicrucian Brotherhood or Order, when it was an active movement in Germany years ago, held to the same traditional tenets that the AMORC does all over the world. One of the prime tenets is the brotherhood of man, irrespective of race and creed or nationality. It is quite apparent, therefore, that no Rosicrucian jurisdiction in Germany, or elsewhere, could sponsor or inspire any man to military measures or to further war, regardless of the nature of the war. To encourage war would be diametrically opposed to Rosicrucian teachings and idealism, and this cabled news article to the New York Mirror is in fact a slur upon the noble and splendid work formerly accomplished by the Rosicrucians as an organization in Germany.  There are undoubtedly thousands of former active Rosicrucians in Germany. What they do as individuals when the Order, as we know, is officially dormant, cannot reflect upon the attitude of Rosicrucianism.

Whether Herr Hitler ever was a member of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood in Germany, it is impossible now to learn. Whether he has read Rosicrucian books or literature, as millions of persons throughout the world have, there is no way of learning. One thing we here reiterate – nothing in Rosicrucianism he would read would inspire him to militarism.

XVIII. KNIGHT ROSE CROIX. [Prince Rose Croix.]

Man fell, seduced by the Evil Spirits most remote from the Great King of Light; those of the fourth world of spirits, Asiah, whose chief was Belial. They wage incessant war against the pure Intelligences of the other worlds, who, like the Amshaspands. Izeds, and Ferouers of the Persians are the tutelary guardians of man.

When the strife between these and the good angels shall have continued the appointed time, and these Spirits enveloped in darkness shall long and in vain have endeavored to absorb the Divine light and life, then will the Eternal Himself come to correct them. He will deliver them from the gross envelopes of matter that hold them captive, will re-animate and strengthen the ray of light or spiritual nature which they have preserved, and re-establish throughout the Universe that primitive Harmony which was its bliss.

Masonry also has her mission to perform. With her traditions reaching back to the earliest times, and her symbols dating further back than even the monumental history of Egypt extends, she invites all men of all religions to enlist under her banners and to war against evil, ignorance, and wrong. You are now her knight, and to her service your sword is consecrated. May you prove a worthy soldier in a worthy cause!

-- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, by Albert Pike

***

The Ah-hi (Dhyan-Chohans) are the collective hosts of spiritual beings — the Angelic Hosts of Christianity, the Elohim and “Messengers” of the Jews — who are the vehicle for the manifestation of the divine or universal thought and will. They are the Intelligent Forces that give to and enact in Nature her “laws,” while themselves acting according to laws imposed upon them in a similar manner by still higher Powers; but they are not “the personifications” of the powers of Nature, as erroneously thought. This hierarchy of spiritual Beings, through which the Universal Mind comes into action, is like an army — a “Host,” truly — by means of which the fighting power of a nation manifests itself, and which is composed of army corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, and so forth, each with its separate individuality or life, and its limited freedom of action and limited responsibilities; each contained in a larger individuality, to which its own interests are subservient, and each containing lesser individualities in itself.

The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

One of AMORC’s official representatives in New York City, in a conversation with one of the reportorial staff of this New York City tabloid, learned that the fundamental basis for the tale that Hitler is or was a Rosicrucian, or was influenced by Rosicrucianism, is the fact that Hitler is a firm believer and follower of astrology. If it is true that Hitler is a devotee of astrology, just how, we may ask, does that make him a Rosicrucian? The Rosicrucian teachings have never included as an essential part of their curriculum the study of astrology, nor does the Rosicrucian Order of this jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction declare astrology to be an absolute science. 

XVIII. KNIGHT ROSE CROIX. [Prince Rose Croix.]

The Phœnician Cosmogony, like all others in Asia, was the Word of God, written in astral characters, by the planetary Divinities, and communicated by the Demi-gods, as a profound mystery, to the brighter intelligences of Humanity, to be propagated by them among men. Their doctrines resembled the Ancient Sabeism, and being the faith of Hiram the King and his namesake the Artist, are of interest to all Masons. With them, the First Principle was half material, half spiritual, a dark air, animated and impregnated by the spirit; and a disordered chaos, covered with thick darkness. From this came the WORD, and thence creation and generation; and thence a race of men, children of light, who adored Heaven and its Stars as the Supreme Being; and whose different gods were but incarnations of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the Ether. Chrysor was the great igneous power of Nature, and Baal and Malakarth representations of the Sun and Moon, the latter word, in Hebrew, meaning Queen.

-- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, by Albert Pike

We must admit the truth of horoscopy whether we will or not. For, as observed by one of the modern adepts of Astrology, “Now that photography has revealed to us the chemical influence of the Sidereal system, by fixing on the sensitized plate of the apparatus milliards of stars and planets that had hitherto baffled the efforts of the most powerful telescopes to discover them, it becomes easier to understand how our solar system can, at the birth of a child, influence his brain — virgin of any impression — in a definite manner and according to the presence on the zenith of such or another zodiacal constellation.”

The Secret Doctrine -- The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

It is true that a number of small publishing concerns, styling themselves Rosicrucians, here and abroad base all of their work upon astrology, but they have no connection with the International AMORC. Furthermore, there are actually hundreds of booklets and pamphlets and dozens of schools teaching many different versions of astrology, and these undoubtedly have a great many followers in all lands, but certainly it would be absurd to claim that any who read such literature or who are followers of such schools are Rosicrucians. This is not said to condemn astrology, for those who desire it have the privilege, as individuals, to pursue it, but the fact that they do so does not in any way make of them Rosicrucians.

A representative of one of the large news services, after investigating this Hitler story and finding it without any foundation, after interviewing an AMORC officer in the East, discarded the tale as worthless propaganda. Three or four newspapers comprising the Heart chain did, however, publish it.

There is one thing though that such news tales do indicate – they point to a negative compliment of the extent of AMORC. Certainly no newspaper story in this country would have related Hitler to any organization were not known in some way to its readers, for it would not have made a sensational news story. We, however, as Rosicrucians do not appreciate such indirect sinister flattery. Hitler is also declared to be a staunch reader of mystical literature, though so far as I know no one has ever mentioned the titles of the books to indicate whether ir really is mystical literature or not. On the other hand, perhaps he does read mystical books, and perhaps so do some of the Prime Ministers and dictators of other countries, but, we repeat, the fact that they do does not make any of them Rosicrucians, or members of AMORC here or abroad. -- X


[Rudolf] Hess became Hitler's secretary and helped him with Mein Kampf. Hess did more than take dictation and type the manuscript. As the best educated of Hitler's disciples, he was able to provide Hitler with useful information, particularly on a new study which was called geopolitics. He introduced Hitler to the professor (and ex-general) from whom he had learned about geopolitics, and, in fact, the professor was a frequent visitor to Landsberg prison. Some people, indeed, believe that the professor, Karl Haushofer, was Hitler's guiding brain.

Writing in Current History and Forum in June 1941, Frederic Sondern, Jr., who had personal knowledge of the subject, reported:

Dr. Haushofer and his men dominate Hitler's thinking. That domination began 17 years ago when the World War general flattered the ex-corporal by paying him visits in prison. Haushofer saw possibilities in the hysterical agitator who had launched an unsuccessful beer- hall revolution. The prison visits became frequent; the distinguished soldier-scientist fascinated Hitler, then finally made him a disciple. The ascendancy has grown as Dr. Haushofer again and again has proved the accuracy of his knowledge and the wisdom of his advice....

It was Haushofer who taught the hysterical, planless agitator in a Munich jail to think in terms of continents and empires. Haushofer virtually dictated the famous Chapter XVI of Mein Kampf which outlined the foreign policy Hitler has since followed to the letter.

Haushofer's Lebensraum ("living space") theory sought to justify Germany's world conquest by claiming that it was necessary to insure the German people room to preserve and expand their racial community. He developed an intelligence-gathering organization which became the envy and model for all others. He was called everything from "Hitler's idea man" to "the man who will in the end take the Fuhrer's place," yet he seems to have kept a very low profile. But there is apparently much more to Haushofer than the geopolitician.

A love affair with the Orient began in 1908, when, as a field artillery officer in the Bavarian army, he was sent to Tokyo to study the Japanese army and to advise it as an artillery instructor. The assignment changed the course of his life. He traveled extensively in the Far East, and added the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean languages to his repertoire of English, French, and Russian. He could not be accused -- as other leading Nazis were -- of having a provincial background.

His four-year sojourn in the Far East also changed the course of German history. Haushofer was able to make the acquaintance of influential Japanese and to develop a rapport for the culture which helped account later for the German-Japanese alliance. When he returned to Germany in 1912, he had no reason at all to know that the Chinese proverb of which he was so fond, "He who rides a tiger cannot get off," would one day have particular relevance for him.

Haushofer was introduced to Oriental teachings during his stay in the Far East. He had been a devout student of Schopenhauer, and now he could drink directly from the source. He became sufficiently conversant in Sanskrit to translate several Hindu and Buddhist texts, and according to Ravenscroft, he was "an authority on Oriental mysticism ... concealing the other side of his nature and activities as a leader of a secret community of Initiates, and an authority on every aspect of the 'Secret Doctrine. ' [He was] in the esoteric stream of satanism through which he sought to raise Germany to the pinnacle of world power."

***

His most famous disciple was Rudolf Hess. He followed Haushofer to the University of Munich and sat at his feet, ardently drinking in the pseudoscientific political theories. He was a frequent visitor to the Haushofer home. Mrs. Haushofer was kind enough to give him English lessons. But the professor described his pupil with merciless accuracy:

He was one student among others, not particularly gifted, of slow intellectual grasp and dull in his work. He was very dependent on emotions and passionately liked to pursue fantastic ideas. He was only influenced by arguments of no importance at the very limits of human knowledge and superstition; he also believed in the influence of the stars on his personal and political life.... I was always disconcerted by the expression of his clear eyes, which had something somnambulistic about it....

Presumably, the professor was able to effect a change in his student, because he later claimed that it was only Hess who really understood his theories.

After 1932, when the Nazis came to power, he was made deputy leader, second in command under Hitler. He controlled the central political organization of the Party, supervised and coordinated policy throughout Germany, and was in charge of at least nineteen departments of the government. He was not popular with the other party people. Kurt Ludecke refers to him as a "notorious" homosexual, and claims he was known as "Fraulein Anna."

Hess was a man hungry for faith and ready to place it in pseudosciences like astrology, homeopathy, and every manner of divination. His fate was ruled entirely by the stars, by the pronouncements of soothsayers, by animal magnetism, the swings of pendulums, and terrestrial radiations. Demons had a terrible reality for him.

-- Gods & Beasts -- The Nazis & the Occult, by Dusty Sklar

Return to Table of Contents