[MGSA-L] Sacred Mystagogy: Winter Solstice (revival of a Nazi ritual during Christmas)

Christos D. Katsetos cd_katsetos at yahoo.com
Thu Jan 3 22:55:36 PST 2013


The ideological underpinnings of Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) are different from those of 
the "Hellenic Neopaganist" movement insofar as the former embraces occultist ideations,
racialist narratives, ritualistic practices and aesthetics akin to the those of German Nazi 
ideology -- refer to the links in my recent posting in MGSA-L titled "Sacred Mystagogy: 
Winter Solstice (revival of a Nazi ritual during Christmas)"
http://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/public/mgsa-l/2012-December/001968.html


It is noteworthy that ("in the spirit of Christmas") the Golden Dawn website payed tribute 
to the legacy of Julius Evola, the father of "radical Traditionalism" and “anti-egalitarian - 
postmodern thought” [*].
http://www.xryshaygh.com/index.php/enimerosi/view/to-aima-twn-hrwwn-einai-ierotero-apo-to-melani-twn-sofwn-kai-apo-thn-proseu

[*] http://traditionalistblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/evola-poised-to-enter-greek-parliament.html
http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/authors/Sunic-Evola.html


CDK


  

________________________________
 From: "Syrimis, George" <george.syrimis at yale.edu>
To: Christos D. Katsetos <cd_katsetos at yahoo.com>; MGSA- L <mgsa-l at uci.edu> 
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2013 3:28 PM
Subject: Re: [MGSA-L] Sacred Mystagogy: Winter Solstice (revival of a Nazi ritual during Christmas)
 

Dear Dr. Katsetos,

Thank you for this informative and alarming post. My own research on Julian lead me to this page a few years back and before Golden Dawn entered the public discourse and political system: http://www.hellenicreligion.gr/index.htm. No direct link to Golden Dawn but the affinities are clear, also their divergences (see reply to a Golden Dawn: http://www.hellenicreligion.gr/doc/anakoinosi23.htm) . 

Best,
George Syrimis 
From: "Christos D. Katsetos" <cd_katsetos at yahoo.com>
Reply-To: "Christos D. Katsetos" <cd_katsetos at yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, December 28, 2012 3:20 PM
To: MGSA List <MGSA-L at uci.edu>
Subject: [MGSA-L] Sacred Mystagogy: Winter Solstice (revival of a Nazi ritual during Christmas)


?????????? -- ? ????? ?π???????

? ???????????? ??????? π???????? π??? ??? ????????? ??????...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOMlUmLsteI


In its ideological manifesto, Greece's nationalist party, Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn), denies any 
association with Nazi ideology and considers the label "neo-Nazi" as inappropriate and slanderous.
http://www.xryshaygh.com/resources/files/ideologia.pdf

Still, there are certain lingering ideological and organizational similarities [see footnote 1], which
raise legitimate questions in this regard. 

During a moment of spiritual ecstasy (and youthful exuberance), the Youth Wing of Golden Dawn,
might have revealed, albeit inadvertently, important insights into the movement's ritualistic practices
of Sacred Mystagogy akin to those embraced in Nazi Germany. 
http://www.xryshaygh.com/index.php/enimerosi/view/cheimerinh-ejormhsh-metwpou-neolaias-fwtografiko-afierwma


The narrative that follows (excerpted from the legends that accompany the photographic material
in the above-referenced link) is most telling (the English translation is mine):  

"??????? π??? ??? ??????? ? ??????? ???????? ???? ?π?????? ??? ???????????????? ???????

π?? ???? ?????????? π??????? ?π? ?? ???? ??? π???????, ?????? ?? π?????????? ??? ??????
?? π?????????????. ?? π????? ???????, ? ???????? ????? ???? ????? ?π??????? ???. ??
?????? ????????? ???? π??????? ????, ??????? ?????, ? ?????. ??? ??????! ?? ?????????
??? ?π????? ?????. ??? ??????! ?? ?????? ???? π?????? ?? ?????????? ????. ??? ??????!
??????? ? ??????, ???? ??????????."

"Just moments before Sunrise, the Phalanx stands by the bastions at the semi-ruined
fortress stained through the years with the blood of our ancestors, who were at times besiegers,
at times besieged. The first rays herald the perpetual return of the ?nvincible Sun. The banner 
flies high in the piercing cold air, arms are raised, the Anthem is sung. Louder! To resonate across
the unconquered mountains. Louder! To reach the menacing ocean waves. Louder! The neck 
is bleeding, sacred mystagogy."

And the narrative reaches a crescendo:

"??????????, ??????????? ??? π???? ??? ???????. ?????? ??? ??????, π??????? ? ????????π??? 

???, ??????? ??? ??? ????? π?? ?? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ???????? ??? ?????. ???? ? ?????
?π??????? ??? ??????????? ??? ?π???? ??? ????? ??? ????? ?π? ??? ???????. ??????, ? π??????
??? ?π??????? ???????? ???. ???, ? ??? ????? ???? ??? ??????????! ?? ????????? ?? ???????
??? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ????????, ?π?? ? ????? ??? ????????? ??? ????? ??? ???????? ???
? ????????, ????? ??? ???????, ?? ????????? ??? ??????? ?π? ??? ?????, ??? ???????? ?π? ???
π??????. ??? ??? ?????????, ??? ?π????????!"

"Solstice, we are passing through the gates of Winter. The challenge of confronting a long and
harsh winter is like the Struggle that the chosen guardians of the Idea are called upon to defend. 
But the Sun has returned marking the beginning of the victory of the Light over the Darkness, the
decay of our enslaved Motherland. Light, a new Golden Dawn of Hellenism!  Let the rays of the Sun strengthen the will of those alive, like our Faith that warms the souls of the Immortals ^ let the 
onerous and beautiful Winter, to distinguish the brave from the coward, the Comrade from the
traitor. We are not intimidated. On the contrary, we are looking forward to it!" 

Excerpted from http://www.xryshaygh.com -- For Fair Use and Educational purposes only. 
http://www.xryshaygh.com/index.php/enimerosi/view/cheimerinh-ejormhsh-metwpou-neolaias-fwtografiko-afierwma

The remarkable similarity of the Golden Dawn Youth ritual to the Nazi ritual of "Winter Solstice" is 
indeed overt and indisputable. By way of background, the Nazi Propaganda apparatus had pursued 
a systematic campaign aimed at "de-Christianizing Christmas," by putting instead emphasis on the
"Winter Solstice." Noteworthy in this regard is the 1939 article devoted to Christmas, published in a 
Frankfurt-based Nazi educational monthly [2]. http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/christmas1939.htm

Note the similarity of the phrase "to distinguish the brave from the coward" to a quotation from 

Adolf Hitler's greeting, which is hardly in keeping with the Christmas story: "All nature is a gigantic
struggle between strength and weakness, an eternal victory of the strong over the weak."
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/images/weihnacht1944/battle.jpg


Relevant articles on the subject have appeared previously in the Daily Mail and The Telegraph:


-- "Rita Breuer has spent years scouring flea markets for old German Christmas ornaments.
She and her daughter Judith developed a fascination with the way Christmas was used by the
atheist Nazis, who tried to turn it into a pagan winter solstice celebration." (Daily Mail - 2009)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228630/How-Hitlers-Nazi-propaganda-machine-tried-Christ-Christmas.html


-- "Paganising carols... Their plan was to remove the emotional ties of the Church and merge 
Christmas into a Julfest, a celebration of winter and light which drew on pagan traditions"  
(The Telegraph - 2009)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/6587738/How-Hitler-and-the-Nazis-tried-to-steal-Christmas.html


N.B. The Christmas wreath encircling the Greek meandros motif is reminiscent of the Christmas 
aesthetics of the Nazi era. 
http://www.xryshaygh.com/index.php/enimerosi/view/christougenniatikes-euches-apo-ton-g.g.-ths-chrushs-aughs-n.g.michaloliako#.UN
-- See links below for aesthetic comparison:
http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/images/vorweihnachten1943/swastika.jpg

http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/images/weihnacht1944/gravesandtrees.jpg


The "Sacred Mystagogy/Winter Solstice" piece in Golden Dawn's website is prima facie 
evidence that this movement embraces and disseminates mystical doctrines, effectively 
preparing the young and impressionable recruits for initiation into a cult-like organization.

The above-mentioned considerations call attention to Zimbardo's "Stanford Experiment" [3]
which is unfolding in a contagion-like manner in Greek middle schools and high schools nowadays. 
Alas, in the face of a deepening socio-economic and illegal immigration crisis, the school place 
has become a fertile ground for ultranationalist indoctrination and for molding a cult mindset [4]. 
http://www.businessinsider.com/greek-schools-fertile-ground-for-neo-nazis-2012-12

The inability of Greece's political parties and time-honored Greek institutions, such as the Church, 

to elucidate the Golden Dawn phenomenon, rests with the failure of all concerned, to recognize 
and decipher the ideological underpinnings and modus operandi of a movement that embraces 
occultism and extreme nationalist and racialist ideations, incites bigotry and hatred, and perverts 
traditional Greek values and patriotism.  

CDK
   
  
FOOTNOTES

[1] See resemblance of the "Green Wing for Racial Humanism and Ecological Consciousness"
an organ of Greece's nationalist party to the "Green Wing" of the German Nazi Party.
http://oikologiko.blogspot.gr/2007_05_01_archive.html
http://www.spunk.org/texts/places/germany/sp001630/peter.html


[2] Source: Wilhelm Beilstein, “Wie wir Weihnachten feiern,” N.S.-Briefe, December 1939, 
pp. 327-328. The section is reprinted from Beilstein’s Lichtfeier. Sinn. Geschichte, Brauch und 
Feier der deutschen Weihnacht (Munich: Deutscher Volksverlag, 1939).
http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/christmas1939.htm

[3] [MGSA-L] Zimbardo P. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil - 
https://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/public/mgsa-l/2012-August/001587.html

[4] [MGSA-L] ??????, Wagner ??? ?????π????

https://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/public/mgsa-l/2012-August/001582.html
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