Black sun research project
1. Introduction
Fascists have been using the black sun symbol for many years. It's become one of the main symbols of our movement,
along with the swastika, the fasces, the eagle and so on. The problem being, that we know next to nothing about it.
Ask anyone, "what does the black sun stand for?" and you're lucky if you get confused babble in return. And there's
really no source where you can get a clear and concise definition, much less with sources and historical background.
Thus me and Slavros have accepted the task of answering these questions:
1. What does the black sun stand for?
2. What is the symbol's history and context?
3. What relevance does it have to fascism?
And we have gone about this process with a scholarly and critical mindset.
2. First look
Let us first have a look at the wikipedia article to get clues and open up avenues of research. We get some ideas here:
1. The design we know is somewhat related to ancient "Zierscheiben" brooches in europe. This dates back
centuries BC.
2. The design we know is derived from a mosaic in the SS headquarters of wewelsburg. This mosaic was in a
important room meant for meetings of the upper cadres of the SS.
3. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke claims
that a certain Wilhelm Landig coined this idea, which would mean it is very modern if true (post WW2).
4. In fact, the esoteric group of the 1950's called the "vienna lodge" seems very related to the origin of the
black sun concept, if not the symbol.
5. Rudolf J. Mund wrote a book called Das Mysterium der Schwarzen Sonne (The mystery of the Black Sun).
This man was allegedly a member of the SS and a member of the vienna lodge.
6. There is a reference to the "armanen runes", which is a part of the ariosophy movement, a german racialist
version of theosophy. This movement was started more or less by the famous "runologist", Guido von list.
7. There is a reference to Helena Blavatsky's ideas. She is the founder of theosophy, which is itself at the origin
of the "new age" movement, along with "new thought" and the "golden dawn".
8. The whole article is peppered with references to Karl Maria Wiligut, an important german occultist who had
some prestige and influence with certain national socialists.
Slavros came accross a 30 page document by a russian writer with many references to the black sun. While the
document itself is not legitimate, it is another source of clues for our own research:
1. Many references to Karl maria Wiligut again. Seems like a central character.
2. Quotes from Blavatsky again. She wrote two major books: the secret doctrine and Isis unveiled.
3. Mention of the Ordo Novi templi. Quick research shows that this was part of the Ariosophy movement
mentioned earlier.
4. Apparently a certain Emil Rudiger of the Edda society talks about the black sun, saying that the two suns
fought 330000 years ago.
5. Manly P hall, a very famous freemason, has written about the black sun in his book "secret teachings of all
ages". I own this book, and tracked down the references.
6. Paracelcius, the father of modern medecine and a prominent alchemist, is quoted as saying: "There is an
earthly sun which is the reason for all heat, and all who can see, can see the Sun, and those who are blind can
feel its heat. But there is an Eternal Sun, which is the source of all wisdom and those, whose spiritual abilities
are predisposed to life will see this Sun and will comprehend its existence, but those who haven't achieved
spiritual consciousness will feel its power through the inner ability called Intuition"
7. A guy named David Ulensy as an article on the hypercosmic sun
(http://www.hermeticsociety.ru/researches/ulansey.htm)
8. Some talk of an alchemist called Arnaldus de Villa Nova, who mentioned the black sun in a work of his.
9. Several mentionas of the "Sayings of Halgarita" and how they talk about the black sun and it's importance
for germanic cosmogony.
10. A book called Mythos Schwarz sonnen, entirely about the black sun, written by two germans.
11. Allusion that Plato's dialogue "Phaedrus" has a reference to the black sun.
12. Says that Aleister crowley (member of the golden dawn mentioned earlier), in his book "8 lectures on
yoga" talks about the chaldean oracles and some of their sayings on the sun. I've already read this book and
don't remember this at all.
13. A certain "De Opificio Mundi", by a jew called Philo, is supposed to have references to the black sun.
14. Reference to Plotinus's Ennead
We came accross a few other articles talking about the black sun in a general way, but in basically always was a
recycling of the above sources, or unsourced lunatic rambling, which we discarded.
3. Ancient brooches
There are plenty of pictures of these "Zierscheiben" brooches around the web, and they seem quite legitimate. The
designs all remind me of the black sun symbol to some extent, and it is quite clear that they are solar symbols.
However, there is no source which explains what those ancient symbols meant. Also, they don't have the 12 branches
like the black sun does.
One source claims that there was much german "scholarly discussion" about these brooches in the 1930's, and that this
led to the development of the black sun symbol, but we couldn't substantiate that claim.
Thus, we can't prove in anyway that there is a real link between the old brooches and the modern black sun, or that
their meaning is related beyond being solar symbols.
4. Wewelsburg mosaic
A little digging by Alex uneathed the fact that several people submitted designs for the mosaic, out of which Wiligut's
design was picked. So we have Wiligut here again as the source of the black sun.
Also, apparently the green marble used for the mosaic was a gift from mussolini himself. It's unclear why gree marble
was chosen, which is to say it's unclear whether the color green has a special significance here. Green is traditionally
the color of venus, though it also has it's own set of meanings in alchemy.
We might note that the room with the mosaic was never actually used for meetings, as the war ended too soon.
5. Thomas Goodrick and Wilhelm Landig
Thomas Goodrick, a pleb-tier sensationalist writer, elaborates extensively
(http://www.thechristianidentityforum.net/downloads/Black-Sun.pdf) on Wilhelm Landig and his "Vienna group".
While Goodrick himself is a fool, and his opinions and conclusions should not be taken seriously, he footnotes his
book extensively and writes in a detailed fashion.
It seems that Landig is at the origin of many ideas and theories about the black sun, of which he wrote extensively in
his book "Wolfszeit um Thule" (archive.org/stream/Landig-Wilhelm-Wolfszeit-um-Thule/LandigWilhelmWolfszeitUmThule1980449S.Text#page/n353/mode/2up). This book is from 1980. Since it's in german, we can't read
it directly, however here are some notes of Goodrick:
Throughout the books of Landig’s Thule trilogy, the Black Sun is a mystical symbol for an esoteric order
within the SS, the refined distillate of the Nazi spirit, temporarily eclipsed but still potent during the postwar
ascendancy of the Jews and their superpower puppets. According to this neo-Nazi mythology, the lost war of
1939–45 is but a prelude to an even greater metaphysical conflict.
And...
Landig also identifies the Black Sun as the source of spiritual light and inspiration, a symbol of divine
illumination and coming salvation. Gathered from such diverse sources as the Gilgamesh epic, secret Templar
legends, and esoteric SS lore involving Otto Rahn, Cathars and a Luciferic polar world center, Landig’s Black
Sun is a powerful myth invoking the Nazi gnosis in the darkness of defeat.
Goodrick also mentions another modern fiction as a source of common ideas:
The myth of the Black Sun was elaborated further with the publication of another occult-Nazi thriller, Die
schwarze Sonne von Tashi Lhunpo [The Black Sun of Tashi Lhunpo] (1991) by Russell McCloud.
The basic conclusion from all this is that Landig more or less came up with the whole black sun mythology himself,
with vague references to older sumerian legends and obscure german occult ideas that are basically impossible to
verify now. Either way, it's all been developped long after world war 2, and after the Wewelsburg mosaic was created.
6. Karl Maria Wiligut
In this research, the name of Karl Maria Wiligut comes up constantly, and it seems that all roads lead to Karl. So who
was he? Basically a seer, not a scholar. He claimed to have "inborn" knowledge of ancient germanic customs and rune
lore. He is the one who wrote the Halgarita sayings for Himmler, in a strange language mixing german, old german,
old norse and sanskrit.
Since there is no way to verify if his "inborn" knowledge is accurate or not, we can't really rely on him or his Sayings
of Halgarita. We may thus assume that all ideas related to him are original creation unless proof otherwise.
A guy named Werner, of the edda society, translated the Halgarita. Here is the 27th saying, which talks of the black
sun:
Legend tells, that two Suns, two wholesome in change-rule UR and SUN, alike to the hourglass which turned
upside down ever gives one of these the victory / The meaning of the divine errant wandering way / dross star
in fire's sphere became in fire-tongue revealed to the Earth-I-course of the race of Paradise / godwilling leaders
lead to the weal through their care in universal course, what is visible and soon hidden, whence they led the
imagination of mankind / polar in change-play, from UR to SUN in sacrificial service of waxing and waning,
in holy fire Santur is ambiguously spent in sparks, but turns victorious to blessing.
7. Blavatsky and Theosophy
As mentioned, Blavatsky's secret doctrine started the whole theosophy movement, which itself is one of the core
elements of the new-age phenomenon. Blavatsky was not a scholar, but another "seer", who claimed to be in contact
with "ascended masters" who dictated the contents of her books. Accordingly, her books are almost totally devoid of
sources or references.
She is often said to be an inspiration for the concept of the black sun, in the form of her idea of the "central sun" in the
milky way, "a point unseen and mysterious, the ever-hidden center of attraction of our Sun and system.” This,
however, is clearly just some materialistic concept wrapped in the appearance of "occultism" or "spirituality" (just like
the rest of Theosophy, for that matter).
There's nothing of value here.
8. Guido Von List and Ariosophy
Guido von List is our third "seer", although he was ALSO a scholar. His most famous work is "secret of the runes",
which is a treatise on ancient germanic philosophy and religion. Around him formed the "Guido Von List Society"
and the rest of the Ariosophy movement. Other societies include the Ordo Novi Templi and the Armanen society. This
movement was quite influential in occult circles in Germany, and in fact still holds SOME influence in modern times
(ex. the rune gild, though they ejected the "inspired" aspects of List's thinking)
The vast majority of ariosophical writings have never been translated from German. The most common of List's books,
Secrets of the runes, does not seem to have any reference to the black sun, although there are plenty of references to
the sun and the "primal fire".
Somewhat of a dead end, unless we can get a German speaker to read dozens of books hunting for references.
9. Manly P. Hall
I photographed the chapter of "Secret teachings of all ages" which reference the black sun and poster them here
(http://imgur.com/a/O7lq6#3). While Hall doesn't give precise references, there are a few interesting notes that we've
followed up on.
First, Hall was a prominent Freemason and a very knowledgeable one at that. We can trust his knowledge of masonic
lore, which indicates here that they believe in the existence of three suns, and represent this with three candles.
His reference to Paracelsus needs investigation - we will need to track down that quote.
He talks about the appearance, historically, of two suns in the sky. He gives William Lilly as a source for this too. I've
read Lilly's Christian Astrology and don't remember this, but it could be elsewhere. Either way it's not very important
for us.
The Quote from "Secret symbols of the Rozencreuz" by a certain Franz Gartman is quite interesting, and it would
need to be verified.
His claim that ancient religions considered the sun to be a reflector of power rather than a source of power isn't
sourced, but we confirmed it in several antique sources which implied that. Also, it makes sense from a traditional
perspective as the material is a secondary effect of the spiritual, which is the cause. Thus the material sun must be an
effect of some spiritual force or principle.
The quote by Apuleius isn't totally related, but was still tracked down as being from the last chapter of his work "the
golden ass"
10. Paracelsus
The quote seems to be legitimate, as I found it elsewhere (link) in an expanded form, and in context.
Paracelsus is a major figure, an expert in alchemy, medecine and occult subjects. His quote is an example of
traditional thinking, thus giving a truly traditional perspective of the black sun concept.
11. Secret symbols of the Rozencreuz
This still needs to be investigated...
12. Apuleius and the Golden Ass
Apuleius is often quoted in occult literature as a learned philosopher and an initiate. The quote from "Secret teachings
of all ages" is from the Golden ass, at the very end of the book:
Thou shalt understand that I approached neere unto Hell, even to the gates of Proserpina, and after that, I was
ravished throughout all the Element, I returned to my proper place: About midnight I saw the Sun shine, I saw
likewise the gods celestiall and gods infernall, before whom I presented my selfe, and worshipped them:
Behold now have I told thee, which although thou hast heard, yet it is necessarie thou conceale it; this have I
declared without offence, for the understanding of the prophane.
You have to first understand that the Golden ass is in the form of a comic novel, following the adventures of a man
who was transformed into a donkey. However, it is widely understood that there is a lot of "occult" ideas expressed in
the story, and Hall takes this as being a metaphor for Apuleius's own initiation.
This passage has some occult significance, but only a tenuous link to the black sun concept.
13. Arnaldus de Villa Nova
A quick search for this guy turns up that he's not really an alchemist, and all occult and esoteric works attributed to
him are spurious. Those are mostly translated from arabic, aparently, and it seems impossible to get a hold of english
versions anyway. A dead end.
14. Mythos Schwarz sonnen
Into the trash it goes as the dubious and unknown authors only exist as the names on the cover of this very short (33 or
so pages) book in both German and Russian versions with the translators of the Russian version having done a little
research using for reference something that was written at the start of the book to conclude that it was written in 2004,
it is also the year it was released or so we assume from the Amazon page.
From the very first pages the authors dive into sensationalism as they connect the Wewelsburg Castle, related lore, the
Grail, secret societies, Nazi figures/circles/organizations, Nazi Arctic Base, Hollowed Earth, UFOs, and mention of
dubious figures that Zeiger already discussed in the OP, like Karl maria Wiligut. It is mostly un-sourced or leads to
more modern suspicious characters and no credible ancient sources, for instance the 1950s Austrian esoteric journal
"Mensch & Schicksal" that published "real/authentic esoteric stories" as the authors of the book described them, but
were in fact started by addressing UFO stories of the time (1955) connecting them to the Black Sun (sol neger) and
the "Polar Reich".
The book even goes as far as to start playing "numerical magic" with Wiligut's made up terms for Sun by attributing
them numerical value and then adding up the sums: Sunur = 11, 2, 8, 2, 5 (S=11, u=2 and etc), 11+2+8+2+5=28
28=2+8=10, 0 doesn't count get 1. It goes on into more wild numerical games after that.
So for all intents and purposes the book is useless and can't provide any legitimate leads as it doesn't mention any
ancient sources and the modern ones, post pre-war and post-war, are extremely suspect, moreover the whole thing all
but screams sensationalist fake.
15. Phaedrus
I had already read this and never noticed the reference in question. A quick search and skim through the dialogue
confirms that there is absolutely nothing related to the black sun here. A false path.
16. Aleister crowley
The book in question, "8 steps to yoga", I had already read, and didn't remember at all the reference to "chaldean
oracles" or indeed anything related to the black sun. I made a quick search through the book again to confirm, and it's
indeed a dead end.
However, the chaldean oracles themselves are a legitimate document from the 2nd century AD. They were actually
translated by an acquaintance of Crowley, Wynn Wescott, and are available here. (http://sacredtexts.com/eso/coz/index.htm) There seems to be some vaguely related verses, which may be interesting:
129. And of the Solar Circles, and of the Lunar, clashings, and of. the Aërial Recesses; the Melody of Ether,
and of the Sun, and of the phases of the Moon, and of the Air.
130. The most mystic of discourses informs us that His wholeness is in the Supra-mundane Orders for there a
Solar World and Boundless Light subsist, as, the Oracles of the Chaldæans affirm.
131. The Sun more true measureth all things by time, being itself the time of time, according to the Oracle of
the Gods concerning it.
132. The Disk (of the Sun) is borne in the Starless.. realm above the Inerratic Sphere; and hence he is, not in
the midst of the Planets, but of the Three Worlds, according to the telestic Hypothesis.
133. The Sun is a Fire, the Channel of Fire, and the dispenser of Fire.
134. Hence Kronos, The Sun as Assessor beholds the true pole.
135. The Ethereal Course, and the vast motion of the Moon, and the Aërial fluxes.
136. O Ether, Sun, and Spirit of the Moon, ye are the chiefs of the Air.
137. And the wide Air, and the Lunar Course, and the Pole of the Sun.
138. For the Goddess bringeth forth the Vast Sun, and the lucent Moon.
139. She collecteth it, receiving the Melody of Ether, and of the Sun, and of the Moon, and of whatsoever
things are contained in the Air.
140. Unwearied Nature ruleth over the Worlds and works, that the Heavens drawing downward might run an
eternal course, and that the other periods of the Sun, Moon, Seasons, Night and Day, might be accomplished.
No obvious, direct relationship to the black sun concept however.
17. De Opificio Mundi
This book is only available online in latin on archive.org. There is an english version however, translated in 1962 by F.
H. Colson and G. H. Whitaker, but it can only be purchased.
May be a viable avenue of research, but will probably not give any information beyond more traditional views on the
sun and the spirit, like previous ancient sources. Plus, the author is a jew, which is always problematic.
18. Plotinus's Ennead
There was a specific reference to a certain part of the Ennead. I tracked it down:
''4th Ennead, chapter 3 paragraph 11:
I think, therefore, that those ancient sages, who sought to secure the presence of divine beings by the erection
of shrines and statues, showed insight into the nature of the All; they perceived that, though this Soul is
everywhere tractable, its presence will be secured all the more readily when an appropriate receptacle is
elaborated, a place especially capable of receiving some portion or phase of it, something reproducing it, or
representing it, and serving like a mirror to catch an image of it.
It belongs to the nature of the All to make its entire content reproduce, most felicitously, the Reason-Principles
in which it participates; every particular thing is the image within matter of a Reason-Principle which itself
images a pre-material Reason-Principle: thus every particular entity is linked to that Divine Being in whose
likeness it is made, the divine principle which the soul contemplated and contained in the act of each creation.
Such mediation and representation there must have been since it was equally impossible for the created to be
without share in the Supreme, and for the Supreme to descend into the created.
The Intellectual-Principle in the Supreme has ever been the sun of that sphere- let us accept that as the type of
the creative Logos- and immediately upon it follows the Soul depending from it, stationary Soul from
stationary Intelligence. But the Soul borders also upon the sun of this sphere, and it becomes the medium by
which all is linked to the overworld; it plays the part of an interpreter between what emanates from that sphere
down to this lower universe, and what rises- as far as, through soul, anything can- from the lower to the highest.
Nothing, in fact, is far away from anything; things are not remote: there is, no doubt, the aloofness of
difference and of mingled natures as against the unmingled; but selfhood has nothing to do with spatial
position, and in unity itself there may still be distinction.
These Beings [the Reason-Principles of this sphere] are divine in virtue of cleaving to the Supreme, because,
by the medium of the Soul thought of as descending they remain linked with the Primal Soul, and through it
are veritably what they are called and possess the vision of the Intellectual Principle, the single object of
contemplation to that soul in which they have their being.
Honestly doesn't seem to be directly related either, which is obviously the theme in these ancient sources. Those
quoting them in relation to the black sun seem to be grasping at straws.
19. Preliminary conclusion
So, how have we answered the questions so far?
1. What does the black sun stand for?
There seems to be a very sharp split here, between the very recent german conception of the black sun and the more
ancient sources. The modern sense is basically that it is a source of spiritual power and energy, and a symbol of the
aryan man's return to power. There is also speculation about an actual second sun, which is hidden, either at the far
reaches of the solar system (kind of like Nibiru) or at the center of the galaxy.
The traditional references to this concept, which are all indirect, involve the idea that the microcostm (man) is a
reflection of the macrocosm (the world), and thus the three parts of man (body, soul, spirit) are also found in the
celestial order, creating three suns (material sun, soul sun and spiritual sun). There are also mentions that the hidden
sun, the midnight sun, is the source of all wisdom.
2. What is the symbol's history and context?
The modern concept is extremely new, crystalizing in the 1980's, with some very tenuous roots to nazi germany and
even more tenuous roots to 19th century theosophy and early ariosophy. The ancient ideas are of course timeless, and
a part of tradition, but those are not related in any direct or conscious way to the black sun symbol we use today.
3. What relevance does it have to fascism?
Well, that is a more difficult question. Of course it's somewhat of a disappointment that there's no clear connection
between our cherished black sun symbol and any kind of ancient tradition, it does free us to create our own meaning.
This will be the final goal of this research project, to infuse the black sun symbol with new and coherent meaning,
now that we've cleared away the bullshit.
20. Notes
If anyone has more credible leads that we can check out post them here, but know that we did go over the vast
majority of immediately available information, including Thule and Vrill societies and other. What me and Zeiger
have done here is probably the first authentic critical study of the Black Sun as opposed to what "studies" we had
found as the launching grounds for our investigation that simply amassed any and all references and loosely connected
the dots, this including "studies" by people who present themselves as the followers of our ideals and who were just
happily eating up anything they could find on the matter and accepting it at face value and half the time never
sourcing their claims.
For the time being it can be safely said that the Black Sun symbol we all know and use is a modern design with a
modern meaning, however there is no real evidence as to Hitler/Himmler or anyone credible having given it a
concrete meaning, the information on Himmler choosing Wiligut's design out of many is also un-sourced, so no idea if
there were many designs or if Wiligut was actually in any way involved, however it is a likely possibility if we
believe what information is available via wikipedia according to which Wiligut was the central figure to rebuilding the
Wewelsburg Castle and apparently also designed the SS Honor Ring. If that is the case then it can be safely said that
the Black Sun as we know it is his invention and thus its symbolism doesn't actually go outside of his own imaginary
musings, and all information that came thereafter is just speculative sensationalist attempts to give it meaning by
associating it with other figures and sources mentioned in the OP. Significance of the Wewelsburg Castle is also
brought into question as it supposedly wasn't even the first choice for the SS HQ.
Even though it can be safely said that the symbol doesn't have legitimate original or ancient meaning, until legitimate
sources arise that can prove otherwise, its active use in the movement has given it a life of its own even if it is largely
confused and uncertain, but this means it is open to interpretation so long as said interpretation is either outside
esotericism or doesn't conflict with legitimate esoteric knowledge, as was sometimes the case with the highly suspect
interpretations we had found.