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Lucifer's Court: A Heretic's Journey in Search of the Light Bringers

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I found " Lucifer's Court " far more interesting reading then " Crusade Against the Grail ", Rahn's other book. Not that " Crusade Against The Grail " is not a good book on the subject - it is. However It is more of a straight history of the Cathars and the Grail. More objective. What I like about " Lucifer's Court " is it's more subjective style as a journal of Rahn's travels and insights. One feels like they are on the road with Rahn as he moves from Southern France to Italy, the Tyrol, through the Brenner Pass and beyond. It is a journey full of quaint side glances and romantic musings of people, places and things he encounters and learns of in his own journey's quest. It takes him along the ancient amber route to the north of Germany, Britian and on across the North Sea to Iceland. After reading this book I felt like I knew a great deal more about Rahn as the romantic human being he was. His personality and spirit comes through in this book. For years I have read extracts and quotes from his books and was sorry that they had never been accesible to English readers. Now they are and one can see how they were seminal books on the subjects he covers. All thanks to inner Traditions for making these books available in English for the first time.

Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I'd read--let alone review--a book written by a member of the Nazi SS, even written while the author was on the SS pay roll.

But here we are.

There are two lines of thought that would advise against reading this book: either its contents promote anti-Semitism and/or publication of the book encourages the growing momentum of neo-Nazi historic revisionism. The latter is probably more insidious than the first in the sense that with each new generation Nazi crimes fade from collective memory, further into the past. For example, I posted an Amazon review that commented on Robert Eisenmen's The New Testament Code (highly recommended.) Eisenmen details the anti-Semitism contained in the New Testament. One person commented: "Anti-Semitism...isn't that something associated with the Nazis way back in World War II?" The reader was implying that anti-Semitism was something that only existed in the 1940's & confined to Germany!

Modern education has a lot to answer for...

I understand that the works of Richard Wagner are banned in Israel because of that influential composer's anti-Semitism (he was Hitler's favorite composer.) I wouldn't go that far, but then I'm not Jewish (and I really like RW's music.) However, if there was even the faintest whiff of anti-Semitism in LUCIFERS COURT, I would not have finished reading the book (I probably would have torn it into pieces)--let alone review it.

But I did.

There IS a virulent hatred expressed in this book--and it is aimed almost exclusively at the Roman Catholic Church. Author Rahn equates himself and his ancestors with the heretics who were persecuted by the Roman Church in that institutions' zeal to achieve universal religious conformity.

Rahn also equates heretics such as himself (a baptized Catholic) and the Cathars, for example, with the Luciferian tradition, the "Light Bearers." The SS saw themselves in this role and their insignia represented two lightening bolts of Thor. Lucifer is seen as a positive "Redeemer" and Pagan-Christ. Nazis saw him as a Savior of the ("Aryan") Race.

LUCIFER'S COURT is written in the format of a travel journal as the author investigates various "leads" in his quest for the Grail. Incidentally, it is not the Grail of Christian fable or contemporary lore--in fact, the main intent of LUCIFER'S COURT is to uncover the "real" Grail. In this journey the author reveals a store house of Pagan Germanic/Scandinavian/Norse tradition. In fact, as the book progresses, the allusions & metaphors become almost overwhelming & one must wonder how much is historically correct or the author's fantasy. This is a problem with metaphysical writing in general--one can so easily loose one's way in the endless trails of symbolism & metaphor.

Rahn is a talented writer & it has been said that he was the original inspiration for the character Indiana Jones. At times LUCIFER's COURT reminds me of the film The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp. In the book there are images of mystic ruins, strange castles & misty landscapes. There is even a mysterious & benevolent Countess who is well versed in the occult & ancient lore. Both the movie & the book have Lucifer as the central image. Rahn reveals himself to be a sensitive, creative individual. It is almost inconceivable to imagine him hobnobbing with Himmler & the SS.

There are some people who think Rahn may have been murdered due to his sexual orientation, or objections to the brutal reality of the SS and the entire Nazi regime. After reading this book, I am convinced that he did, in fact, commit suicide. His passionate idealism could only collapse in on itself when finally forced to face the tyranny he was supporting. I think this was true of many people who were initially enthusiastic over Hitler.

Along these same lines, another facet of this book I found instructive was its revelation of the neo-Pagan/Occult/Astrology millieu that characterized the period of the early Nazi movement. Previously I had written off the neo-Pagan, rather tacky trappings of Nazism to be the "inspiration" of a few nuts like Himmler--now I understand that many people actually believed in such things, particularly the Aryan Root Race nonsense.

Madame Blavatsky too has a lot to answer for...

Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich
The Ninth Gate [Region 2]
Richard and Adolf: Did Richard Wagner Incite Adolf Hitler to Commit the Holocaust?
Hitler and the Occult
Hitler, the occult messiah
The Secret Doctrine
Visions of India: Fulfilment Theology, the Aryan Race Theory & the Work of British Protestant Missionaries in Victorian India (Studies in the, Bd)
Visions of India: Fulfilment Theology, the Aryan Race Theory & the Work of British Protestant Missionaries in Victorian India (Studies in the, Bd)
The Morning of the Magicians: Secret Societies, Conspiracies, and Vanished Civilizations
Astrology and the 3rd Reich

"Lucifer's Court" comes with a warning that its insidious evil will require a very circumspect approach, but in our contemporary era (post - "Indiana Jones") it is not quite that bad, except perhaps for fundamentalist literalists of all stripes. This is a terrific reference source for those who wondered why German and French mythology seemingly doesn't exist, yet Norse, Roman, and Greek gods and sagas remain familiar. The writer is not particularly anti-semitic, and his observations provide many clues as to the basis for Germany's hideous descent into darkness that followed his suspicious death. It is, however, distinctly anti-Catholic and anti-Papist, with many valid reasons given for this point of view. The Journal of Psycho History often cites child abuse as being one of the major causes of German reactions against "filth", and French apathy at the rise of the Third Reich, but upon attaining a thorough understanding of "Lucifer's Court", it will become apparent that the Nazis were intent on removing Yaweh's influence over Europe, since it was (in Rahm's view)the Jewish and Christian repudiation of Lucifer (Lugh/Apollo, etc.) that led to the rise of the Church of Rome, and the resultant horrors of Pope Innocent III against the future Germanic peoples. It is important to remain aware that one does not need to agree in any way with Otto Rahm's opinions or research conclusions to gain a much broader understanding of European history, much of which had been greatly repressed until recently. It is also of note that the interpreter's footnotes are accurate and very valuable in pointing out flaws, details, and further research topics for those so inclined, particularly concerning the Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade. An excellent book, but not for the faint of heart, nor the bigot.

The author's lifelong search for the Grail brought him to the attention of SS leader Himmler, who shared his interests: thus Rahn became the chief investigator of the occult for the Nazis, pursuing leads to the Grail. LUCIFER'S COURT is the travel diary he kept during these pursuits, and brings to life his beliefs, encounters, and world-wide journeys. New age collections will find it intriguing and packed with adventure.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Many scholars have been waiting for this book to come out in a QPB English version for a long time, but alas it was a disapointment, not because the book is bad, in fact its very important, but because the information is dated and available elsewhere. Still anyone with curiosity about the Cathars and how the Nazi's misinterpreted Cathar teachings will like it. The translation is first class. Hank Harrison

Julius Evola effectively refuted Otto Rahn's basic idea -- that the `secret of the Cathars' was that they possessed the Holy Grail -- in a short chapter in a small book [originally only an appendix to his REVOLT AGAINST THE MODERN WORLD], and mentioning Rahn by name only once. In THE MYSTERY OF THE GRAIL [published in English by Inner Traditions, who also, oddly enough, publish the two Rahn books] Evola says that "the spirit of Catharism ... had indeed very little to do with the spirit of the Grail's Templarism." The dualism, pessimism and other-worldliness of the Cathars "show how distant this tradition was from ...a heroic spirituality." Catharism contributed to the Ghibelline opposition to the Church, but "only indirectly, owing to contingent historical reasons, and not because of a true affinity with the soul of the imperial myth." Rather, its "opposition to the Church was based on its perception of Catholicism as a sort of continuation of the Mosaic religion... in other words, the Catholic Church was too "Roman" to be the Cathar Church of Love."

So why then the continuing interest in Rahn? Well, there is the "Nazi Mysticism" angle, and Rahn is an attractive figure, since he can be portrayed as a "good guy" who, despite the Gestapo uniform, saw the error of his ways and tried to get out, ultimately by committing suicide -- a truly Catharist gesture, as Evola might have pointed out.

In particular, there's the "real Indiana Jones" angle, which is even more appropriate for this book than his CRUSADE AGAINST THE GRAIL, since, as John J. Reilly has pointed out in his review [Southern Literary Messenger, 1.1] LUCIFER'S COURT bears a certain resemblance to the "Grail Diary" which plays a key role in the plot of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

More important, I think, is that whatever the truth of Rahn's Grail theories, LUCIFER'S COURT is a well-written account of Rahn's travels, at the behest of Heinrich Himmler, no less, in search of the sources of the Grail traditions. And along the way, Rahn produces inspired passages that, however he may have confused Catharism with Templarism, give voice to an authentic heroic spirituality [what Evola called `virile' and which Rahn places under the sign of Lucifer]. Here are some:

"His [Hercules] was the will of the strong who rose against fate and thus fate itself. He made himself into a hero who won out over the night of calm and inertia. He sought God and found God in himself. Therefore, he himself became a god." [p.58]

"Lucifer's court is composed of those northern bloodlines that chose `a mount ... in the sides of the north' and not Mount Sinai... as the goal of their search... Lucifer's courtiers did not whine and whimper to heaven, but instead beseeched admittance heartily, because they did their very best as humans and were therefore worthy of deification." [p.79]

"'Do strong people require an intermediary?' `Yes, but not as an intermediary who redeems. Instead, those who are strong need one that precedes them, giving and example and model. Lucifer is also the sun, which you need in order to live. You also need it when your time comes to die.'" [p. 136]

And here, a passage worthy of Evola himself, and perhaps one he may have called to mind again when drinking himself to death in the snows of the Tyrolean Mountains:

"At long last, I arrive, looking toward heaven past the elongated towers of Rose Garden Peak as it stands alone, with that intangible nobility that is revealed only on the lonely summits of great mountains -- a nobility of which I always wish to be part." [p.110]

Editorially, it's a bit of a mixed bag. The translator, Christopher Jones, sometimes footnotes obvious points, but leaves genuine mysteries untouched; sometimes the same point is explained again later. The quotes from some recent, still untranslated essays by de Benoist are a treat, but even these are in the service of Jones's agenda of removing any hint of "anti-Semitism" from the text and thus from Rahn. Of course, in some sense, Rahn was certainly "anti-Judaic," for the reasons Evola gave above. The guardians of PC will never pass statements like "the crusade was the enforcement of the bigotry and intolerance of the Old Testament," or "We should also hope, therefore, that Europe will be cleaned of all Jewish mythology," so why bother? Instead, Jones is forced to such grotesque acrobatics as this footnote, when Rahn alludes to Moses marrying a Moor:

"In the scheme of things in 1930s Nazi Germany, race-mixing was frowned upon, to say the least. It is apart of the Zeitgeist of that time."

Of course, frowning on race-mixing was a fad of the `30s. Not something that would ever have been illegal in most American states, or anything to cause a comment in 21st century Israel.

Needless to say, Jones has no problem at all with the much more pervasive anti-Catholicism in the text [reflecting the indirect and contingent hostility Evola speaks of in the quotes above]. While a slighting reference to Moses [not even from Rahn himself] is carefully defused, a whole chapter abusing Ignatius Loyola passes without remark, as does a reference to history demonstrating that "the popes...often rank among the scum of humanity." [p. 79] Strange, coming from someone who apparently accepts the Catholic doctrine of the incorruptibility, indeed the sweet odor, of the saints as a proven fact [p. 163, note 8].

Why read this book? Let Rahn have the last word:

"I am hoping my readers will appreciate the story of those who sought justice regardless of the Mosaic twelve commandments [another slip Jones fails to note] and from their own sense of justice and duty...those who placed knowledge above faith... and not least, those who recognized that Yahweh could never, ever be their divinity and Jesus of Nazareth could never, ever be their salvation. In Lucifer's house there are many dwellings. Many paths and many bridges lead to him." [p40]