The Thule Society, an organisation founded by German occultist Rudolf von Sebottendorff is usually linked to the National Socialist Workers Party of the Nazi era. However, before it was adopted by the ruling elite of the Nazi Party Sebottendorff’s organisation was originally full of practising druids. These initiates were keen on using what they termed The Rule of Nature – a philosophy which insisted that only processes which mimicked natural forms and conditions could be utilised to form the structure of society and its culture.
The motto of the society – “Der Weg ist in Dir – ‘The Way is present in You‘” is akin to some of the sayings and central notions of many of the pagan movements who espouse positions of religious freedom and self-realisation in their relationship with The Other, and particularly with Nature.
The society held its meeting in a hotel called “The Four Seasons” – an indicator of the motivations behind their Naturalistic theology. The term “Thule” refers to their idea that there were four hidden originating kingdoms from which the first humans populated the planet Earth. The northern-most kingdom – Ultima Thule – became the very real target for Nazi commanders seeking to re-connect with these lost kingdoms, and to rediscover their “original wisdom” and supposed futuristic technology (e.g. free energy, solar power) to assist the war effort for the German side.
From a modern perspective, is there anything which the druid revivalism movement has embraced from this era? Well, actually yes. The Germanic druid culture of the Thule Gesellshaft was a key instigator of the Ostara Festival – the springtime celebration which is characterised by the fertility symbols of the Hare or Rabbit, The Egg and the May-Pole – that phallic symbol which is dutifully bound up by the virginal maidens who dance around it in the Spring.
Their enthusiasm for the Spring ritual should be seen as an example to modern pagans of how to generate substantial interest, to re-engage a wider public in the notion of what we may call in the modern era, The April Thule.
