62 The Secret King

beliefs and Wotanism at least to some extent, but that his

relationship to Wotan was still quite ambiguous.

THE SECRET HISTORY

Wiligut’s meta-historical teachings are not made entirely

explicit in his own published writings. We know most
about these from the works of Emil Rüdiger—as summa-
rized by Mund (1982: 153–80). Many of the events in this
secret history are drawn from Icelandic sagas and German
history; however, the dates ascribed to these events are
projected back in time to staggering proportions. This kind
of esoteric chronology owes at least something to the
Theosophical teachings of H. P. Blavatsky, especially as
published in Vol. II of her Secret Doctrine.
Dominant themes in the Wiligut-tradition of esoteric
history include the development of branches of humanity
from the “children of light” (Kymris)15 and the “children
of stone”; the conflict between the Irmin-Kristians (of the
Asa-Uana-clan) and the Wotanists; the importance of
Goslar and the Harz mountain region to the meta-history;
and the key role played by a culture hero named Teut,
whom Mund compares to the Greek Hermes and the
Egyptian Thoth.
This meta-history, which still awaits a final synthesis
and exposition, is most likely to be interpreted in a useful
way as a mythic allegory for the development of conscious-
ness in humanity over time.

WILIGUT’S RUNOLOGY

The clearest, most authentic and perhaps most meaningful

part of the Wiligut-tradition which has survived to us intact
is his “Runic key.” This key, which is indeed a different
model from the one used by Guido von List, is expounded
in his contributions to Hagal and appears to be the part of
his teaching which most deeply affected his students. When
Mund interviewed Richard Anders decades after Wiligut’s
death, Anders simply stated “This is everything I learned
from Wiligut” and gave the following equation:
 The Myth and Reality 63

That may seem overly enigmatic, but once one under-

stands Wiligut’s essentially circulatory secret of the Runes,
these signs take on their true meaning and Anders’s state-
ment is clarified. With regard to this, the article written by
Gabriele Dechend, “The Cosmos in the Conception of our
Ancestors” (Appendix B in this book), should be read. This
article is an elaboration and explanation of Wiligut’s teach-
ing first published in Hagal in 1935.
Wiligut’s own most elaborate and comprehensive
treatment of his personal runology comes in the
“Whispering of Gotos—Rune-Knowledge” (1934).
Clearly Wiligut is not interested in runological data
gleaned from Old Norse and Old English sources—these
are, for him, decadent forms. His runology is based on an
underlying central concept of the cosmic circulation of
Spirit-Energy-Matter. In this Wiligut sees the cosmos as
dynamic but unchanging. It continuously follows the same
laws. Change is the appearance of the world to humans who
are at different stages of their developments and who there-
fore see the world as if it were in constant flux.
So for Wiligut runology was primarily the study of this
esoteric system of cosmic circulation, which Runic shapes
encoded. Frau Schaefer-Gerdau said of this kind of runol-
ogy:

Now through the work of Dr. Teltscher, Colonel

Wiligut and [Emil] Rüdiger, we no longer have to
look at the Runes as merely letters, as a kind of
primordial alphabet, but by means of dynamic and
cosmic order we came to realize that the Runes are
a “third” key in addition to number and sound
(tone), and are actually conscious signs for Energy,
especially for rarified Energy and flows of radia-
tion, as we also have in our myths. (Mund 1982:
181–82)

Essential to the understanding of Wiligut’s runology is

the concept of two different types of circulation—a vertical
one and a horizontal one—which intersect at a central
point. The horizontal circulation is the Material one, which
provides the impulse toward form and toward life. This is
also called the tel-Rune and is seen as being feminine and
belonging to the Earth Mother. The vertical circulation is a
64 The Secret King

Hag All All Hag (later Hagal)

The journal of the Edda Society founded by R. J.
Gorsleben. Werner von Bülow took over as editor after
Gorsleben’s death in 1930. Wiligut’s articles appeared
later that decade under the name “Jarl Widar.” The
journal’s motto reads: “Like is only understood by like.”
 The Myth and Reality 65

Spiritual one, and provides the creative principle.

Where these two kinds of circulation intersect there
arises consciousness, form and life, and there is an incep-
tion of a Material Being of the Spirit, or germination of
unity, represented by the Rune Not N. This sign indicates a
turning of Need.
The so-called Irmin-cross used by Wiligut illustrates, in
the form of a four-poled model, the process in another
way:

SPIRIT

MATTER ENERGY

TURNING

The key lies in the ability of the downward circulation

along the vertical pole to be reversed (wended) so that it
can be made to rise up again.
With this underlying key, and with the information
about it provided in Frau Winckler-Dechend’s article
(Appendix B) the Runic material presented in “Whispering
of Gotos—Rune-Knowledge” can be read with greater
insight.
Wiligut’s chief ideological contribution lies in his
forceful and tradition-bound presentation of concepts
surrounding a hidden history and his conception of the
Runes as descriptions of circulations of various kinds of
energy. His ideas seem all the more compelling to some
because of the degree to which so many of his contempo-
raries seem to have been influenced by what he said, or how
he said it. The enigma which was Wiligut is probably so
closely linked to his personal presence that we may never be
able to understand his ideas fully through the written word
alone.
66 The Secret King

Wiligut’s “Runic Key”

A document from the archival material of his students.
 The Myth and Reality 67

Wiligut’s Halgarita Charms, 1928–29

Runic variations from the papers of Wiligut’s students.

TOP: No. 60, with translation into Roman script.

MIDDLE: No. 68.

BOTTOM: No. 77.