Spear of Destiny

What it is not is an "objective" (i.e. academic, scholarly) account of history. The author says outright that much of the material for the book came from astral travels or remote viewing or some other paranormal method, performed by a man named Walter Johannes Stein. Ravenscroft claims that Stein knew Hitler better than any other man. Moreover, the whole book is wrapped around a theme of the Spear of Destiny, and a legend that says that any person who possesses it will gain immeasurable power to rule and conquer. Linked with the Spear are such famous dictators as Constantine, Charlemagne, and Frederick Barbarossa.

Ravenscroft describes in great detail Hitler's descent into the occult and into nationalist, racist ideals, tutored by various other evil personalities. Hitler is depicted as a man who became obsessed with the Spear, convinced that he was the reincarnation of Frederick Barbarossa, and ultimately possessed by Lucifer.

Naturally, this is no mainstream history book. Its origins are so wrapped up in the Judeo-Christian mythology, and an occultic one in particular, that it's hard to say what sorts of distortions there might be. (I take it for granted that subjective means of gathering information, like remote viewing, are possible, but I also acknowledge that tremendous distortions can come about.) Ravenscroft asserts, for instance, that Tibetan lamas were recruited and set to work "to harness the powers of Lucifer to the Nazi cause." He talks about Lazarus, the man raised from the dead by Christ, as actually undergoing some kind of occultic initiation which failed.

At best, I can say that this is an extremely interesting story. Without knowing more about the official history of Nazi Germany and the official biography of Hitler, that's about as far as I'll go.


Not a bad read, but historically unreliable   December 29, 2000
36 out of 39 found this review helpful

The Spear Of Destiny - Trevor Ravenscroft

Review written by Hugh Dennett.

When I first picked this book up in the bookstore, I couldn't believe my luck in finding such an interesting work on The Spear Of Longinus, written by what at first appeared to be an author with at least some credibility. The subject matter of 'The Spear Of Destiny' is fascinating and the style is compelling. For the first couple of chapters, I thought that - despite the sensationalistic nature of the writing - there possibly may have been some truth to Trevor Ravenscroft's assertions.

In short, the author uses this book to present the beliefs and opinions of Dr. Walter Johannes Stein - who during WWII provided information to Winston Churchill about the supposedly occultic personalities of Hitler and other Nazi leaders - although it is difficult to discern what portion of the book is based on Dr. Stein's somewhat dubious recollections, and what is subjective speculation on the part of Ravenscroft.

One problem came for me, when I noticed that many of the more grandiose statements in the book are not referenced at all, and thus the reader has no way of verifying the authenticity of the author's claims. There are footnotes, albeit rather minimalistic, but these are mostly relating to quotes that can be easily verified or found readily in other common publications. It is also true to say that these (referenced) quotes do not for the most part help to further the cause of the book to anywhere near the degree that the unsubstantiated quotes might do, would in fact they be traceable to a reliable source. In addition to this, much of the evidence given in the book is drawn from the psychic visons of Rudolf Steiner and General Helmuth von Moltke.

Up until chapter five, the story seems almost plausible and is without a doubt a most compelling read for anyone who has an interest in the Spear Of Longinus, Nazi Germany, or the occult in general. However, by the end of chapter five, the book is becoming clearly predictable and filled with cliches; not to mention the fact that there are some obvious historical errors, such as Ravenscroft's claim that Hitler celebrated his thirty-third birthday in 1921 (page 113). The author also takes many unsubstantiated myths - such as Hitler having only one testicle (pages 172, 173) - to be proven fact. 'The Spear Of Destiny' also contains several quotes taken from Hermann Rauschning's 'Hitler Speaks', which according to acclaimed Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw, is "a work now regarded to have so little authenticity that it is best to disregard it altogether." (Taken from Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris)

Whilst Ravenscroft does not proclaim himself to be a christian, the reader gets the feeling that he certainly sympathises strongly with christian morals, and although the non-xian belief of reincarnation is central to the story, he always manages to tie this facet back into christianity or christian politics. One of the most frustrating aspects of this book is the author's tendency to portray all the supposed 'good guys' in the story as being the reincarnations of other 'good guys', and all the allegedly 'bad' characters as having been 'bad guys' in a former life. The fact that the plot of the story hinges around this detail certainly doesn't help to add to the credibility of the book.

For what it's worth, 'The Spear Of Destiny' is a good yarn and definetely quite provocatively written, but in my opinion, this is the extent of it's value. Historically speaking, the book is poorly researched and there are no where near enough references to substantiate the author's extravagant claims.


Incredible! Astounding! On Other Hand...   May 6, 2000
Vince Cabrera (Milan, Italy)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful

In the first pages of The Spear, Ravenscroft states flat out that he considers the third eye (AKA the pineal gland) to be a valid primary source for historical research. To complicate matters even further, Ravenscroft was describing the visions of Dr. Walter Stein, his friend and teacher who was dead by the time Ravenscroft began writing.

How you feel about the Spear of Destiny depends a lot on how seriously you take Ravenscroft's ideas on the 3rd Eye. Are you ok with someone writing history as seen in someone else's mystical vision or are you more the footnotesey type? The fact that a lot of Ravenscroft's quoted sources are out of print makes his ideas hard to check or corroborate.

Havng said all this, I really love the Spear of Destiny and I've lost track of the number of times I've given copies to friends. I love Ravenscroft's ideas, whereby WWII was really a conflict between famous 9th Century figures reincarnated after exactly 1000 years. Ravenscroft's WWII was a war between cosmic Good and Evil in their most absolute senses. It's all very Michael Moorcock/The Highlander and if anything, Ravenscroft's book highlights how sorely we need a bit of romance and myth in our times. Read it by all means. Maybe you'll take it seriously, maybe not. But you will certainly be entertained.


Garbage   July 18, 2001
Green Viking (Eugene, OR United States)
16 out of 25 found this review helpful

I can't believe anyone would even consider the possibility that this trash is anything more than the National Enquirer, much less actual history. Yes, it's fascinating to read, but you'll notice that real books on real history bother with "facts", "references", and "objectivity", none of which are found here (with very few exceptions, like when someone's quote is twisted out of proportion and deliberately misinterpreted).

Instead, Ravenscroft whips up the most over-the-top sensationalist storytelling he possibly can, knowing that despite the outrageousness of trivializing such a sensitive subject as history's most notorious mass-murderer, this book will sell, sell, sell. Why? Because people will believe anything at all about Hitler. Any urban legend about someone so evil must be true, right? And when you combine that with the ever-mysterious and exciting subject of the occult, and then throw in a couple hundred pages of speculative fantasy about anything and everything, you've got a very solid recipe for making money.

It's for that reason that I can't believe that Ravenscroft even believes his own "research". The one and only thing that makes me think that he might actually buy this junk is the fact that the book makes no sense at all long before you reach the end of it. No one could ever seriously know or prove what any one person in the world is doing with the occult, and yet this guy knows precisely what went through Adolf Hitler's mind 50 years ago, and in this much detail?

If you want genuine history on this interesting subject, go and get Goodrick-Clarke's The Occult Roots of Nazism. If you want a controversial book with a big flashy story about nothing and everything, buy this. Just don't mistake it for history.


Early Christianity causes WW1 and WW2-- Well argued!   April 29, 1998
14 out of 18 found this review helpful

I read the book almost 22 years ago , and after living in Europe , having grown up Catholic, it is painfully obvious that the theological failure of the Church (Roman and Protestant) is primarily responsible for the failed spiritualization of Europe and consequently, the West. Students of Jung, Ouspensky and Gurdjieff, and Castaneda or even fans of the book Jesus, The Man, will find this book a confirmation of the idea that real spirituality in the West has been subverted historically by a group of narrow power oriented "lawyers" (read :theologians and church bureaucrats) who created a monstrous doctrine out of the Christian experience that could not withstand the ravages of science, but whose failure opened the floodgates for nationalism, for the magnification of unredeemed ego expression through the industrialization of war. It is not necessary to believe in reincarnation to embrace the central thesis of this well written , fascinating book.