Invisible Eagle

Last updated

Invisible Eagle
Invisible Eagle cover.png
Cover of the first edition
AuthorAlan Baker
LanguageEnglish
Subject Occultism in Nazism
Publisher Virgin Books
Publication date
2000
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages322
ISBN 1-85227-863-3
OCLC 43879187
943.086
LC Class DD256.5 .B316 2000

Invisible Eagle: The History of Nazi Occultism is a book written by Alan Baker. It was published in 2000 by Virgin Books. The book is focused on the intersection of occultism and Nazism. Among other subjects the book deals with themes of Hollow Earth theory, the Vril Society and similar speculative theories that were associated with Nazi Germany. It was seen as speculative and sometimes sensationalistic, though saw some praise.

Contents

Contents

The book is focused on the intersection of occultism and Nazism, and its manifestations and influences on other occult elements. [1] He particularly examines the influence of Ariosophy on Nazi ideas of the occult. He further notes the influence of Helena Blavatsky's Theosophy on such conceptions, but emphasizes that her ideas were hijacked, and argues she would have been against such manifestations. [2] Among other subjects the book deals with themes of Hollow Earth theory, Welteislehre, the Vril Society, the Holy Lance, foo fighters, and similar speculative theories that were associated with Nazi Germany. Esotericist Raymond W. Bernard and his Hollow Earth theories are covered. While many other writers considered him to be merely a fraud, Baker argued that he was misled by his associates. [3] [4] Most of his chapter on Hollow Earth is unrelated to Nazism, rather Hollow Earth theories in general. [3]

It also discusses the association of UFOs with Nazi conspiracies. [5] He refers to the castle of Wewelsburg, though does not name it, and discusses an alleged ritual thought of by Himmler, to "to influence the mind of a person in the next room through the concentration of will-power". [6] Baker ultimately argues that there is very little evidence for Nazi officials practicing black magic, though Nazi currents were influenced by esotericism. [1] It contains notes, a bibliography, and an index. [3]

Publication history

Invisible Eagle was published in London in 2000 by Virgin Books. [5] [7] Its first edition was 322 pages. It was authored by British author Alan Baker. [5] [7] [8] Baker was born in 1964 in Birmingham and has a Bachelor of Arts Honors degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Reading. He has published several other books on occultism, paranormal topics, and fiction. [9] Invisible Eagle was part of a then-lucrative market for explorations of this topic matter. [10]

Reception

The book was seen as somewhat speculative, [11] and was criticized by scholar Christian Giudice in 2022 as "under-researched". [10] Despite this, it has been cited in several academic publications. [1] [11] Scholar Eva Kingsepp criticized the academic book Vril: Eine okkulte Urkraft in Theosophie und esoterischen Neonazismus by Julian Strube for "legitimizing some speculative writers as reliable sources by making references to their books", naming this as an example; she also noted scholar Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke utilizing it as a source, which she found odd. [11] Scholar Peter Staudenmaier named it among a list of works on the subject of Nazism and occultism that were improved from the "extensive and largely trivial" and "decidedly inadequate works" on the topic, alongside Unholy Alliance by Peter Levenda and Hitler and the Occult by Ken Anderson, describing them as "thoughtful popular works that are less credulous though still derivative and excessively sensationalistic". [12]

Goodrick-Clarke was more positive in his assessment of the book. He noted it as critically examining Trevor Ravenscroft's claims about Nazi occultism in his book The Spear of Destiny . He noted that Baker "sought to document and analyze" the subject matter, despite its complications; he agreed with Baker it was "a valid field of inquiry, irrespective of the dubious nature of this latter-day literature". [1] Writer Stephen E. Flowers was critical and said Baker's interest in Nazi occultism was more about pseudoscience generally, though said he did "address the fact that there is a great deal of fantasy involved in the whole field of Nazi occultism", but that he did not deal with this well. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2002). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press. pp. 126–127, 323–324. ISBN   978-0-8147-3124-6.
  2. ↑ McCann, Gillian (2012). Vanguard of the New Age: The Toronto Theosophical Society, 1891-1945. Montreal: McGill–Queen's University Press. p. 71. ISBN   978-0-7735-8697-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Flowers, Stephen E. (2022). The Occult in National Socialism: The Symbolic, Scientific, and Magical Influences on the Third Reich. Rochester: Inner Traditions. ISBN   978-1-64411-575-6.
  4. ↑ Folk, Holly (2021). "Raymond W. Bernard, Hollow Earth, and UFOs". In Zeller, Benjamin E. (ed.). Handbook of UFO Religions. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Leiden: Brill Publishers. p. 316. doi:10.1163/9789004435537_015. ISBN   978-90-04-43437-0. ISSN   1874-6691.
  5. 1 2 3 Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. Comparative Studies in Religion and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 142, 212, 221. ISBN   978-0-520-23805-3.
  6. ↑ Siepe, Daniela (2022). "Wewelsburg Castle in Fantasy Literature". In John-Stucke, Kirsten; Siepe, Daniela (eds.). Myths of Wewelsburg Castle: Facts and Fiction. Schriftenreihe des Kreismuseums Wewelsburg. Paderborn: Brill Publishers. pp. 99, 109. ISBN   978-3-657-79200-9.
  7. 1 2 "Invisible Eagle: The History of Nazi Occultism by Alan Baker". Barnes & Noble . Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "THE GLADIATOR: The Secret History of Rome's Warrior Slaves". Publishers Weekly . New York City. ISSN   0000-0019 . Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  9. ↑ "Alan Baker Biography". Andrew Lownie Literary Agency. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  10. 1 2 Giudice, Christian (2022). Occult Imperium: Arturo Reghini, Roman Traditionalism, and the Anti-Modern Reaction in Fascist Italy. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 122. ISBN   978-0-19-761024-4.
  11. 1 2 3 Kingsepp, Eva (1 January 2014). "Julian Strube,Vril: Eine okkulte Urkraft in Theosophie und esoterischen Neonazismus, München: Wilhelm Fink 2013. 222 pp. ISBN: 978-3-7705-5515-4". Aries . 14 (2): 264–267. doi:10.1163/15700593-01402009. ISSN   1567-9896.
  12. ↑ Staudenmaier, Peter (1 January 2009). "Occultism, Race and Politics in German-speaking Europe, 1880—1940: A Survey of the Historical Literature". European History Quarterly . 39 (1): 47–70. doi: 10.1177/0265691408097366 . ISSN   0265-6914.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.