Editing Ariosophy (section)

==Thule Society==
{{main article|Thule Society}}

In 1918 Sebottendorff made contact with Walter Nauhaus, a member of the Germanenorden who headed a "Germanic study group" called the ''Thule Gesellschaft'' (Thule Society).<ref name="Phelps1963">{{harvnb|Phelps|1963}}</ref> The name of Nauhaus's original Thule Society was adopted as a cover-name for Sebottendorff's Munich lodge of the Germanenorden Walvater when it was formally dedicated on August 18, 1918, with Pohl's assistance and approval.<ref name="Goodrick-Clarke1985:144">{{harvnb|Goodrick-Clarke|1985|p= 144}}</ref> Sebottendorff states that the group was run jointly by himself and Nauhaus. Nauhaus was later executed by communists during the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|German Revolution]].

Deriving elements of its ideology and membership from earlier occult groups founded by List (Guido von List Society, established 1908) and by Lanz von Liebenfels (the Order of the New Templars, established 1907), the Thule Society was dedicated to the triune god Walvater, identified with [[Wōden|Wotan]] in triple form. For the Society's emblem Sebottendorff selected the oak leaves, dagger and swastika.<ref name="Thomas 2005" /> The name [[Thule]] (an island located by Greek geographers at the northernmost extremity of the world) was chosen for its significance in the works of Guido von List. According to Thule Society mythology, Thule was the capital of [[Hyperborea]], a legendary country supposedly in the far North polar regions, originally mentioned by [[Herodotus]], citing (among other sources<ref>
{{cite book
 |author1              = Herodotus
 |author-link1         = Herodotus
 |translator-last1     = Macaulay
 |translator-first1    = G. C.
 |translator-link1     = George Campbell Macaulay
 |year                 = 1890
 |chapter              = Book 4
 |title                = Histories
 |url                  = https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh4030.htm
 |access-date          = 17 November 2022
 |quote                = Hesiod [...] has spoken of Hyperboreans, and so also has Homer [...]. But much more of them is reported by the people of Delos [...].
}} 
</ref>)
Egyptian ones.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} In 1679, [[Olaus Rudbeck|Olaf Rudbeck]] equated the Hyperboreans with the survivors of [[Atlantis]], who were first mentioned by [[Plato]], again following Egyptian sources. [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] (1844–1900) began his work ''Der Antichrist'' ([[The Antichrist (book)|''The Antichrist'']]) in 1895 with, "Let us see ourselves for what we are. We are Hyperboreans."

From a historian's{{whose|date=October 2021}} perspective, the importance of the Thule Society lies in its organising the discussion circle that led to the [[German Workers' Party]] (''Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei'', or DAP), founded in January 1919. The Thule Society's [[Karl Harrer]] was a co-founder, along with [[Anton Drexler]] (the party's first chairman). Later the same year, [[Adolf Hitler]] joined the DAP, which was renamed as the [[National Socialist German Workers' Party]] ({{langx |de| Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei}} (NSDAP) or [[Nazi party]], registered from 20 February 1920) on April 1, 1920. Some conspiracy-theorists argue that the NSDAP, when under Hitler's [[leadership]], was a political front for the Thule Society. However, against this theory stands Harrer's and Drexler's resistance to Hitler. After unsuccessful challenges to his growing power, both men resigned from the party, Harrer in 1920 and Drexler in 1923.

Speculative authors assert{{Citation needed|date=March 2018|reason=what authors?}} that a number of high Nazi Party officials had been members of the Thule Society (including such prominent figures as [[Max Amann]], [[Dietrich Eckart]], [[Rudolf Hess]], [[Alfred Rosenberg]] and [[Gottfried Feder]]).{{Citation needed|date=March 2018|reason=where does this list of names come from?}} Eckart, the wealthy publisher of the newspaper ''Auf gut Deutsch'' (''In Plain German''), has been represented{{Citation needed|date=March 2018|reason=represented by whom?}} as a committed occultist and the most significant Thule influence on Hitler. He is believed to have taught Hitler a number of persuasive techniques,{{Citation needed|date=March 2018|reason=what is source for this claim? very important if true that hitler was taught persuasive techniques by someone}} and so profound was his influence that the second volume of Hitler's book ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' was dedicated to him. However, although Eckart attended Thule Society meetings, he was not a member and there is nothing to indicate that he trained Hitler in techniques of a mystical nature. Examining the membership lists, Goodrick-Clarke<ref name="Goodrick-Clarke1985:149,221">{{harvnb|Goodrick-Clarke|1985|pp= 149, 221}}</ref> notes that Hess, Rosenberg and Feder were – like Eckart – guests of the Thule Society in 1918 but not actual members. He also describes a Thule Society membership roll including [[Hans Frank]] and [[Heinrich Himmler]] as "spurious". There is no evidence that Hitler himself had any connection with the Society, even as an associate or visitor. However, a member of the Thule Society, dentist Dr. [[Friedrich Krohn]], did choose{{Citation needed|date=March 2018|reason=source for claim Friedrich Krohn chose the swastika symbol?}} the [[swastika]] symbol for the Nazi party (although the design was revised at Hitler's insistence).{{Citation needed|date=March 2018|reason=source for claim Hitler insisted on revising Krohn's design?}}

In 1923, Sebottendorff was expelled from Germany as an undesirable alien; around 1925, the Thule Society disbanded. In 1933, Sebottendorff returned to Germany and published ''Bevor Hitler kam: Urkundliches aus der Frühzeit der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung von Rudolf von Sebottendorff''.<ref name="Phelps1963"/> The book was banned by the [[Bavarian Political Police]] on March 1, 1934; Sebottendorff was arrested by the [[Gestapo]], interned in a concentration camp, then expelled to Turkey yet again, where he committed suicide by drowning in the [[Bosphorus]] on May 9, 1945,{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} as the Nazis surrendered to the Allies.