Spear and Magic Shroud?

[essentialsaltes]

"Hitler was obsessed with the occult - the Nazi swastika has long been considered a black magic symbol while he was also devoted to German composer Richard Wagner who was said to be a Satanist."

OK, Wagner may have been an anti-Semite, but a Satanist? Really?

The article also plays up the 'occult' interests of Hitler, such as his interest in the occult shroud that covered Jesus' body and the occult spear that pierced Jesus' side. (Not to mention the Ark. Hitler is a nut on the subject.)

And I wonder just how 'long' the swastika has been considered a black magic symbol?

One last bit of sindonological news translation. "The Shroud is thought to have travelled widely before it was brought to France in the 14th century" means "the Shroud has no provenance before it appeared in France in the 14th century."

Comments

[sjo.livejournal.com]

Dude. Where do they get their so-called information?

I'm pretty sure the swastika was a magic symbol before the Nazis, but not "black magic" by any definition of which I am aware.

I'm also reasonably sure that Wagner was NOT a Satanist.

Sometimes I really wish newspapers had to cite sources.

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

but not "black magic" by any definition of which I am aware.

But surely the practices of the heathen Chinee and Hindoo must be black magic.

[richardabecker.livejournal.com]

Utter nonsense. The swastika has no black magic connection prior to Nazism of which I'm aware, and Wagner was about as far from Satanism as you could get. Wagner even repented much of his hateful perspective toward the end, from what I've read, though by the then the damage was already done. As for the Shroud of Turin, even I -- a man who takes pride in an open mind about a lot of things -- regard it as an obvious fraud, and I'd bet Hitler probably had it on his List of Biblical Artifacts to get... somewhere down around entry #257 or so.

(I mean, come on, he purportedly got the Spear of Destiny already (it's still in a German museum!), and was looking for the Ark, pieces of the other (Noah's) Ark and the True Cross, etc. And since he was a Teutonic type, his idea of what the Holy Grail was would be completely different than what we saw in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. It sure wouldn't be a cup! In _Parzival_ and its Germanic variants, the Grail is a gemstone, the Lapis Exillum, sometimes thought of as a piece of the light of Heaven or Lucifer's eyeball or something... if you believe in that sort of thing.)

And I applaud your accuracy in translating the nature of the wide travels of the Shroud...

[colleency.livejournal.com]

You use the coolest words. "sindonological"

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it's a silly made-up word that only applies to the study of the Shroud of Turin. So... I have to make every effort to use the word when I have a chance.

[colleency.livejournal.com]

Speaking of the power of wonderful words, I thought you might enjoy this article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/04/it_pays_to_enrich_your_nerd_po_1.html?sc=fb&cc=fp

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

Nice!

But only!

[tragic-culture.livejournal.com]

...if you pronounce it OK-Cult. Or O-Kult. Like an old-timey newscaster.

"Today our boys helped beat the OK-Cult and Hilter by re-taking Somme...and so can you, by purchasing war bonds!"