At its core, Nazism was a far-right ideology, and every culture on every continent has its own far-right element — always has, always will. These are characterized by ideas such as ultranationalism, authoritarianism, xenophobia, and nativism. Although we typically associate these ideas with the Nazis, they are what defines all far-right groups; and so we should expect to see similar underlying belief systems. One of these is belief in a god-given right to rule. This was present in the early days of the rise of populism in pre-Nazi Germany. It was in the form of what we now call Ariosophy, which literally means "Aryan wisdom". The two most central figures in the rise of this ideology were the Austrians Guido von List (1848-1919), an occult writer, and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels (1874-1954), a former monk and prominent anti-Semitic writer. Various Ariosophical ideologies spread throughout Austria and Germany in the late 1800s and early 1900s — a period called the Modern German Occult Revival, spawning groups such as the Thule Society, which began in Munich at the end of World War I. The Thule Society's brief life was an influential one. The Nazi swastika was adapted from the Thule Society's emblem. They published a newspaper which later became the main newspaper for the Nazi party. Most importantly, they founded the political party which later was reorganized by Hitler into the Nazi Party. Two men who later became Nazi leaders, Hans Frank and Rudolf Hess, had been members of the Thule Society.
Given these connections, many authors seized upon the Thule Society and framed it as a principle bridge that connected the Nazis to the occult. Many authors have falsely named nearly every Nazi official as having been a member, even Hitler himself. In fact, the Thule Society was quite weird. It drew its name from a nonexistent landmass in the far north which they believed was the ancestral home of the Aryan race. Members were required to swear they had no Jewish or "colored" lineage. Functionally, the Society was concerned mainly with racial purity and white nationalism...
