Armanen Runes and the Black Sun in Modern Heathenry Volume 1-a Review

Recently Aelfric Avery published a three volume set on the Armanen Runes. Some time ago I completed my first reading of volume 1, published by Lulu Books. I have not yet purchased the other two volumes in the set but I will do in due course.

Mr Avery is better known for his works on Gothic mythology and religion so it is good to see him turn his hand to the more esoteric works of the early 19th century. There is very little material which has been translated into English on the Armanen Rune masters. Thus far the most noted translators and reinterpreters have been Dr Stephen Edred Flowers (Edred Thorsson) and the 55 Club. I have occasionally translated some extracts of the more obscure literature on my blogs, most notably by Friedrich Bernhard Marby.

Mr Avery sets the groundwork for Armanism in volume 1 by giving a history of it and its main thinkers and pioneers, being Guido von List, Friedrich Bernhard Marby, Rudolf John Gorsleben, Siegfried Adolf Kummer, Karl Maria Wiligut and Peryt Shou as well as post war rune masters such as Karl Spiesberger, Adolf Schleipfer, Karl Hans Welz and Edred Thorsson. It may be argued that Marby was not an Armanen rune master as he did not work with the Armanen Futhorkh but the Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Frisian Futhorc but nevertheless he was a rune master and had a deep influence on the Armanen tradition and was the originator of rune yoga or rune gymnastics, later developed by Kummer. Mr Avery does emphasise this point in his book. So for these reasons it is valid to include this great man within a work on Armanism.

Mr Avery discusses the relationship between Wotanism (von List) and Armanism, the thorny subject of National Socialism and the Armanen runes, the use of the term 'Aryan', Irminism, Aryan Kristianity, Hyperborea, Atlantis, the Midnight Mountain, ancient civilisations, Root Races, Vril, alchemy, the Holy Grail, Isais, the Black Sun, the Swastika and even  Zoroastrianism. As far as I know Mr Avery is the first and thus far only published writer to link the Black Sun with the runes and to introduce the religion of Zoroastrianism in connection with Armanism. It should be noted that in recent years Dr Flowers has researched Zoroastrianism and published several books on how this religion may be adopted by modern day Indo-Europeans and magical practises within this tradition.

Volume 1 contains a great deal of hitherto untranslated material which is essential reading for all latter day Armanen and I have to say that Mr Avery's work is both old in the sense of the source material but at the same time refreshingly new with his ingenious interpretation. With this 3 volume set and his recent translation of Siegfried Adolf Kummer's Heilige Runenmacht (Holy Rune Might) this young man has established himself as someone to follow in the coming years. It is very rare to find a modern writer who is not shackled by false notions of political correctness and who is both a practicing heathen and an Armanen. This book may be purchased on Amazon, Lulu Books and ebay. Without the least hesitation I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend this incredible book to my readers.

The Descent of Spirit into Matter and its Subsequent Ascent

In Listian Armanen lore there is the concept of arising to becoming to passing away to new arising which I have discussed before in various articles. This is a form of reincarnation which is limited to the race, the tribe and the clan which one can find evidence for from a careful study of the literature from and about the pre-Christian Germanic and Celtic peoples.

This concept is discussed in detail in Das Geheimnis der Runen by Guido von List (English translation and introductory and biographical material added by Stephen E. Flowers, PhD in The Secret of the Runes). This concept was further developed by Karl Maria Wiligut (see Secret King by Stephen E. Flowers, PhD). His concept is illustrated in the "Irmin-cross" used by Wiligut which shows sprit descending in to matter. This is the vertical movement. The horizontal movement shows the impulse towards form and life. Where these two movements intersect consciousness, form and life arises. This idea is also represented in the Not Rune-the turning of Need. Aryosophy and Theosophy recognise that the destiny of the Aryan Fifth Root Race is to evolve back into pure spirit. Spirit descends into matter in order to experience, learn and develop and then to return back to pure spirit.
This is the destiny of our race and the individual man-god who is part of that race. 

The descent in to matter and the subsequent ascent in to spirit is codified in the mediaeval Wendhorn rune, the Anglo-Saxon Eolh and Calc runes and the Armanen Man and Yr runes.

Gibor, the Fyrfos and the Phoenicians

Professor L.A. Waddell in his The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons Discovered by Phoenician and Sumerian Inscriptions in Britain by Pre-Roman Coins (1924) states:

"The Hitto-Phoenician origin of this design is evident from the Phoenician coin from Gaza here figured in which darts are also used to show the direction of revolution as in the Scottish Swastika:...."

He is referring to a coin which is also figured on page 878 of Thomas Wilson`s Swastika The Earliest Known Symbol and its Migrations (1894). The Swastika symbol featured on the coin is clearly the same symbol as the Gibor Rune of Guido von List`s Armanen Futhorkh/Futharkh.
Wilson states:

"The Swastika sign is not perfect, only two arms of the cross being turned, and not all four".

I do not for one minute accept that the Phoenicians who Professor Waddell considers to be Aryan and not Semitic would have carelessly produced a sloppy and imperfect Swastika on their coins. This to me is not conceiveable. I believe that this was a deliberate act to conceal the full nature of the Swastika for some reason best known only to them.

The Gibor Rune which is the 18th and last of the Armanen Futhork is clearly a half way stage between the equilateral Aryan Solar Cross and the true Swastika. It visually combines both elements. Of course we have always known that these two solar symbols were linked and scholars speculate which came first. If one considers the Solar Cross which is an equilateral cross in a circle one can see how by a simple adaptation the rounded Thulean Swastika can be made to appear. The Swastika has many variants and meanings. In Das Geheimnis der Runen von List refers to Gibor as signifying God, the All Begetter. This is not Der Gott of the Christians but Das Gott of the ancient Germans. He is the Begetter of the All, Das All which contains Das Ich-The I, the awakened self which is signified by the Is/Iss/Isa Rune, the Rune which is first necessary to master when practicing Runic Yoga for all the other Runic forms stems from this. Regular invocation and meditation in the Is stance focuses concentration and intensifies Self-awareness; it awakens Das Ich-The I which of course is the main task of the Arman, the Sonnenmensch.

From the Is stance the Arman can then simply adopt the cross stance referred to in Siegfried Adolf Kummer`s Heilige Runenmacht. Kummer`s curriculum of Runic Yoga involves 13 Runic forms and full instructions on this curriculum may be found in Edred Thorsson`s Rune Might, probably THE most important book he has published to date. I followed this curriculum many years ago and it assisted in deepening my skills in Rune Magic. Also the astute observer will notice the similarity to the Wolfsangel Rune. The presence of Gibor amongst the Phoenicians in Gaza demonstrates how far Aryan man travelled over the earth in his faustian quest for knowledge and is further evidence to support the theory of the Aryan Phoenician.

The Ar Rune and the Aryan Cyclical Nature of Time

Ar rune of the Armanen Futhorkh.









The Ar rune of the Younger Futhark and the Jera/Ger rune of the Elder and Anglo-Saxon Futhark/Futhorc have the meaning of 'year' in the sense of time being cyclical, not linear which is an alien concept to the Aryan peoples. These terms stem from the PIE *Yer which conveys this meaning and this in part supports my contention that the Aryans and their descendant peoples such as the Teutons thought of time in this way.

Ann Groa Sheffield in her Long Branches. Runes of the Younger Futhark comments that the term has the extended meaning of a "good year, abundant harvest". Our Germanic ancestors who were far more rooted to the soil had a much more intimate connection with the seasons than the majority of us have today. They had a living experience of the cyclical nature of time and this is the essence of the 'year' as we should interpret it. Every year which we experience here in Midgard consists of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter which in a way reminds us of the four ages of gold, silver, bronze and iron which are found in the surviving mythologies of the Indo-European peoples. These ages continue to come around again and again.

Edred Thorsson in his Northern Magic. Rune Mysteries and Shamanism remarks that Ar "is the rune of the eternal return according to the cycles of nature and also those in the metaphysical realm." The Aryan in the sense of the spiritually awakened twice-born continues to incarnate within his racial, tribal and clannic blood-lines until he has reached the level of the Einheriar where he or she no longer needs to incarnate by necessity which is represented by the rune Nauthiz/Nyd/Naudhr/Not, the graphic opposite to the Younger Futhark and Armanen Futhark Ar rune. At this point he or she incarnates at will at a time and place of his or her choosing.

The Aryan is intimately connected with farming and the plough is the product of his ingenuity. Jan Fries in his Helrunar. A Manual of Rune Magick states that the OHG garo and OE gearn stem from the PIE *garwa-z, meaning 'complete, ripe, ready'. The similarity with Garman/German is striking. The conventional interpretation genuine from the Latin germanus, meaning 'genuine' or 'spear man' (Gar-man) but the German being a deendant of the Aryan is also the farmer and cultivator. This is brought out in the fact that one of the meanings of Ar is the 'plough'. The development of agriculture is also bound up with the creation of cities-civilisation. Indeed the Younger Futhark and Armanen Futhorkh/ Futharkh version of the Ar rune as opposed to the Jera/Ger rune is a glyph of the plough.

The Armanen Runes-Based on the Younger Futhark?

"Table of Armanen Runes with names and sound values", by Jugydmort, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0  Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armanen_runes This image has not been changed and the image owner does not endorse this blog.
















The Armanen Futhorkh/Futharkh is a curiosity in the sense that unlike the Elder (Common Germanic) Futhark, the Anglo-Saxon (Northumbrian/Anglo-Frisian) Futhorc and the Younger Futhark it is not an historically attested rune row although that does not invalidate its occult and esoteric utility. Indeed the Armanen Futhork was devised for specifically esoteric purposes but Guido von List does not elaborate on these practices in any detail. This work is left for others who came after him. Von List focused on the meanings of the individual rune staves and other such matters. He provided the bedrock for Armanism. It was for other runologists such as Friedrich Bernard Marby and Siegfried Adolf Kummer to devise workable systems such as Runic Yoga and other magical practices.

Interestingly the Armanen Futhorkh closely follows the Younger Futhark in terms of the choice of runes. Some however do differ in form. For instance the Fa rune is truncated at the bottom part of the stave although its branches still fork upwards. The Os rune is reversed with the branches on the left side. Apart from this they are remarkably similiar. He even chooses the Younger Futhark version of the Hagall rune for his Hagal. Hagal is the mother rune of the Armanen Futhorkh and I can see why this version is used rather than Elder and Anglo-Saxon versions which resemble the Roman capital letter H. Two additional runes were used; Eh and Gibor. Eh does not resemble the Ehwaz or Eh equivalents of the Elder and Anglo-Saxon rune rows. Instead it resembles a reversed Nauthiz or Nyd rune. Gibor is unique and does not appear in any of the other rune rows and appears to be based upon the Fylfot and the Wolfshangle rune.

Apart from the similarity in form to the Younger Futhark the Armanen Futhorkh does incorporate quite an eclectic mix of rune names, some taken from the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, ie Ur, Thorn, Os, Is, Yr, Man and Eh. From the Younger Futhark we have Ar and Tyr. Fa, Rit, Ka, Hagal, Not, Sig, Bar, Laf and Gibor are unique variants specific to the Armanen Futhorkh, especially the Gibor rune.

People tend to associate the Armanen Futhork with National Socialist Germany but the National Socialists did use other runes as well, most notably the Wolfsangel and Erda mediaeval runes. Even today the Armanen Futhorkh is a very popular rune row in Germany, rivalling the traditional Elder Futhark. Most of the available literature on the Armanen runes remains untranslated from the original German but attempts have been made in recent years to rectify this and a number of works have been published recently in English. Once I have worked through these books I will provide a review on this blog.

The Vehme-Star, an Aryo-Germanic Symbol

This article should be considered a supplement to my earlier one on the subject of Der Drudenfuss: The Drudenfuss, an Ancient Germanic Symbol
There is considerable physical evidence for the use of this symbol, which Walther Blachetta considers to be a German and Germanic symbol (see Das Buch der Deutschen Sinnzeichen), in the architecture of mediaeval Germany. Blachetta gives an example of one on page 107 of his book as a Hofmarke of Jacob Schumacher (shoe maker/cobbler) of Aue in Oldenburg, dating back to 1604. Many of these Hofmarken date back to the time of the Armanen and much of this symbolism was preserved by Initiates in architecture whether the buildings had a sacred or secular use. As stated in my earlier article the symbol was recognised as a protective device but like all parts of our ancient lore this symbol was demonised by the Christian church and transformed into a symbol of 'evil', the 'devil', Satan etc. This distortion has been accepted almost without question and even to the extent that modern day 'Satanists' have adopted this as their symbol but in its revered aspect, thus adding to its supposed diabolic nature and intensifying it. Likewise the Wiccans (who cannot pronounce the word Wicca (witcha) have also adopted it as a symbol of their 'craft' but in its upright version.


The Germanic heathen community has also distorted the true understanding and meaning of this symbol by following the accepted propaganda that it is associated entirely with 'Wicca' and has nothing to do with the Germanic world. Folkish heathens in particular are guilty of propagating this error by ascribing it to a Jewish origin. This is all faulty thinking and it is without any doubt that pre-modern Germans considered it to be an ancient and beneficial symbol and this was especially the case with the Armanen. For those that doubt this fact I quote the relevant passage from Guido von List's Die Religion der Ario-Germanen in ihrer Esoterik and Exoterik:

"Fuenf [5, V] fem, fim, fimf, funf, fuenf. Fem bedeutet das Zusammengehoerige, daher noch heute im Niederlaendischen 'veem', die Zunft, Innung bezeichnet. Es entstand aus den zusammengehoerigen fuenf Fingern die Hand, aus den zusammengehoerigen fuenf Sinnen, die erst den Menschen bilden, und das bezeichnete das Albenkreuz oder der Thrutenfuss, der auch als Festern [femsteor] bezeichnet wurde (My edit-Pentagram symbol occurs here in the text) Dieses zusammengehoerende ist den auch die 'Feme', jener Theil der Armanenschaft, dem die Rechtspflege oblag. Das waren die 'Femanen', welche erst nach der gewaltsamen Christianisierung unter Karl dem Frankenkoenige, dem Grossen-Sachsenschlaechter [Slactenaere], mehr in den Vordergrund traten, um das Einheimische [zusammengehoerende] von dem Fremden zu schuetzen; heimliches [einheimisches] Recht gegen das roemische [Un-] Recht in die 'hohe heimliche' Acht zu nehmen. Das sinndeutliche heilszeichen dieser zusammengehoerigkeiten war eben der Femstern und ist es auch in der Geheimschrift noch heute, ebenso alle anderen 'Fuenf' oder Femheiten' woraus sich abermals der Zahlengriff Fuenf ableitete. Wie die Eins aus sich selbst, die Zwei aus der Eins, die Drei und die Vier aus der Eins 'geboren' wird. so ist die 'Fuenf', die aus 1 + 4 erwaechst, die zweite, ungleiche Zahl; aus Eins [Ginnungagap] erwachsen die Vier [Muspilheim, Audumbla, Ymir und Niflheim] und bilden daher die 'Fuenf', das Zusammengehoerige. Wenn wir die Feme als Gericht auffassen, so finden wir in der sogenannten 'Fuenfe' zu Nuernberg, in dem 'Rathe der Fuenf' in Venedig, und in unseren zeitgenoessischen 'Fuenf-Richter-Kollegien', die aus der Urzeit ueberkommene Zusammensetzung einfacher Gerichtshoefe. Das oftmalige Vorkommne der 'Fuenf' in der Symbolik wie in der Mystik macht dieselben hochbedeutsam." (pages 64-65)

Dr Stephen Edred Flowers has produced an excellent translation of the aforementioned work (The Religion of the Aryo-Germanic Folk. Esoteric and Exoteric, 2005, published by Runa-Raven Press). The term 'Thrutenfuss' used by List is a typical peculiar Listian spelling of 'Drudenfuss' which Dr Flowers translates as such in his English translation but gives the English equivalent of 'witches' foot'. The Drudenfuss is of course the Pentagram. Another term that List uses for Pentagram is 'Albenkreuz' which Dr Flowers translates as 'elven cross'.


It should be noted that this translation appears to be a much edited one as there are phrases and sentences in the German original which have not been translated. By comparison the translation numbers 55 pages whilst the German original has 97 pages! This emphasises my advice to would be Armanen to learn to read German and study the original source material for themselves! I once received a request from a person who wanted me to translate a whole book for just him from German to English! When I advised him to learn to read German and then obtain and study the original materials he lost interest! Wisdom and knowledge, particularly that of an esoteric nature must be EARNED and worked for. Those who expect to receive this for nothing are unworthy to become Initiates. I do recommend that my readers buy a copy of Dr Flower's translation if they can find one. Many of his works and translations are still out of print.

Guido von List in his masterwork, Das Geheimnis der Runen refers again to the pentagram but using different terminology. In Dr Flowers' translation (The Secret of the Runes, 1989, published by Inner Traditions Bear Company-and still in print!) it is referred to as the 'five-angled star' and as the 'Vehme-Star'. The Vehme-Star is concerned with the concept of 'revolving or turning generation', an important article of the 'Aryan religion'. Thus we should not underestimate the importance of this sacred symbol. Interestingly this symbol still survives in the Amish culture and the Pennsylvanian 'Dutch' Hex signs. I doubt that the Amish though appreciate the true significance of the five pointed star. When the Armanen were driven underground by the enforcers of the Christian religion sometimes their symbols and lore were covertly incorporated in the exoteric trappings of the said religion in order for them to survive.


After the forced conversion of the Germanic peoples the pentagram or Vehme Star survived as the symbol of the Vehme Gericht (secret court) who were very effective at maintaining law and order, working outside of the official judicial system. Much information about the Vehme can be found in Guido von List's Die Rita der Ario-Germanen, recently translated and published as The Rita of the Ario-Germanen by the 55 Club. Nigel Pennick also briefly discusses this subject in Chapter 1 of his Hitler's Secret Sciences which is sadly out of print. There could be a link between the Vehme Star and the tin star worn by lawmen in the Wild West and which is still in use today.

Friedrich Bernard Marby-a Translation of "Aufrassungs-Plätze. Am Tor zum Runen-Garten. Der „Thing-Platz“ und was er ist."

What follows now is my initial translation of an essay by Rune Magician and founder (or rediscoverer) Friedrich Bernard Marby (1882-1966) of the spiritual discipline of Runengymnastik or Rune Yoga as it is known in the English-speaking world. We owe a debt of gratitude to both Marby and Siegfried Adolf Kummer (1899-1977?) both of whom were harshly treated during the Third Reich. Most of my readers will be aware that the völkisch awakening which occured during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in German-speaking lands was in part responsible for the rise of National Socialism but it is unfortunate that many völkisch thinkers, writers and workers in the esoteric realms fell foul of the new regime which sadly provided an opportunity for personal scores to be settled and for innocent people such as Marby and Kummer to be falsely accused and subsequently to be incarerated on dubious grounds. In Marby's case he was imprisoned from 1936-1945. What we do know is that Karl Maria Willigut (Weisthor) wrote a letter to Heinrich Himmler denouncing Marby in 1934. See The Occult Roots of Nazism. Secret Aryan Cults and their Influence on Nazi Ideology, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, 1985.


The evidence for the aforementioned accusation by Dr Goodrick-Clarke is to be found in the Bundesarchiv, Koblenz in a letter from Weisthor to Himmler, dated 2/5/34, (Nachlass 19, Himmler). If anyone can provide me with a digital copy of this letter I would be grateful but otherwise I have no reason whatsoever to doubt Dr Goodrick-Clarke's word on this. It is believed that the reason for this friction and hostility by Weisthor has its origins in Weisthor's 'Irmininic Kristianity' which he set in opposition to the Wotanism of Marby who put into practice and applied the teachings of the original Master, Guido von List. Weisthor was the favoured (and protected) occultist of the National Socialist Reich and made some interesting contributions but his teachings are extremely far fetched and it is a matter of historical record that he did have his own 'demons' to combat with and he too fell out of favour eventually with Himmler. One must understand that any open association between the regime and völkisch occultism would have caused problems with the largely Christianised masses and so many occultists were either imprisoned or silenced. The flight of Rudolf Hess in 1941 made this situation even worse.


The following translation of Aufrassungs-Plätze. Am Tor zum Runen-Garten. Der „Thing-Platz“ und was er ist is important because it illustrates Marby's view of the ancient Thingsteads or to use the Listian term Halgadome and how they were used originally for esoteric purposes. Indeed this vindicates the work of Odinists and Wodenists today in England who are seeking to identify and reclaim our ancient sacred sites. Woden's Folk is at the forefront of this activity.


My readers must bear in mind that Armanist writings are difficult to translate. First of all the Gothic script is used which does not facilitate easy reading but secondly many of the Listian terms are not merely archaic in language terms but represent words and phrases which are not recognised and do not exist in German or German-English dictionaries. An example of this is Aufrassung which I have translated as 'racial improvement' for want of a better term but is nonetheless clumsy. Much of the sentence construction is also stilted and repetitive. Thus the translator has to walk a tightrope of providing a meaningful translation that is as faithful as possible to the original source but not enslaved by it!

Here is the translation:

"Every animal prefers an environment, open grounds that guarantee it nourishment, reproduction and development. The question of security arises,  where man proves himself to be a deadly enemy of the species. 

"The special relationships and conditions of a landscape favour the life, reproduction and development of certain species of animals. The next step is the conscious suitable change of a landscape by a species of animal living there. Thus termites among other things change the landscape of their living sphere, and likewise the beaver, in order to achieve the most favourable result for the continued existence, reproduction and development of the species. 

"Humanity has always strived for the same thing. However the ultimate goal changed. Today the payment of  interest has robbed the folk of the value of their investments, the payment of interest of loans forced on people provided the motive which has much more disfigured the landscape, the residential and living areas formed by humanity. 

"The highest goal: The development of the racial consciousness of the folk, in approximately the last 6,000 years fell into oblivion or became aware of the world leadership of the animal-men who they fought against in the living areas of the Germanic race. So called religions and so called economic teachings were forced upon the peoples which made them obligated to pay tax. Racial peoples never remain willing to pay tax for ever. Therefore the former ultimate goal of humanity: racialness, is supposed to disappear before the eyes of the peoples.

 "At one time the Teutons shaped the face of the earth, the landscape which they came to in order that with their racially preserving rune exercises they would guarantee the highest success for racial improvement. 

"As the southern, racially hostile and tax friendly 'religions' spread more and more and the longer they ruled, the new masters began the deliberate ruining and devaluing of the Germanic landscape and this destruction of the racial landscape was automatically further continued. 

"Nevertheless however they did not entirely succeed with the complete destruction of the race-rearing effects of the European landscape. Millions of the former Rune Age purposely situated landscape forms survive to this day almost unchanged, at least in their essential features. It requires no great effort to acquire again the racial improvement of the folk with the guaranteed form of the racial landscape, of the great Teutonic Runegarden. 

"Mind you that requires beforehand that one gives room to the simplest view and conclusively lay aside all of the dictated ideas, paths and works of the southern viewpoint.

 "Especially many 'Christian', many 'humanist', and many 'idealist' thinking 'academic' circles who as an example praisingly acknowledge and preach the sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth for humanity or celebrate the sacrifice of blood and life for the national idea, have to sacrifice their power and their class advantages, where it concerns the racial improvement of the folk. 

"If they don't want that, then Christianity, humanism, idealism and  'Führertum' is not genuine, but hypocrisy and false leadership (Verführertum-my edit). So long as the privileges of money, of 'education', of 'class', of 'denomination' or of fundamental attitude are allowed and able to still play a role with misleading phrases and brutal force, the world will not experience racial improvement.

"Either we all want racial improvement, or we will all decline.

 
"In the age in which today's 'culture' was still unknown, in the age in which honesty, openness and capability still had validity, the folk as a whole had the same education and racial improvement techniques, organised by the folk, educated in racial improvement and racial awareness and therein preserved.

"For this pupose life was the only school and the landscape of the garden of racial improvement, of the Rune-Garden.

"We speak here of the Thingsteads for the first time.

"In Germany there are hundreds of thousands of Thingsteads for a great number of these Thingsteads have themselves survived among the folk with the name 'Thingstead'. Opinions about the purpose and significance of the Thingsteads have with time become cloudy or have become devalued or falsified from the times of the southern thinkers.

"Today one hears again of an arrangement of  Thingsteads.

 "From many ages the Thingstead is referred to as a place of assembly. The Thingstead was once also that. From many ages the Thingstead was referred to as a court and place of execution. There were also some Thingsteads in the age when knowledge of the runes decayed. From many ages the Thingstead was referred to as a folk sport place. Thingsteads were also used for this purpose in a certain age but in a different sense. From many ages the Thingstead is described as a former cult place. That this is what these places once were, it is only to be asked, what one understands as a 'cult'. The Teutons of the racial age knew no cult of gods. From different ages the self-same Thingstead was described as the place at which the Teutons sacrificed people to their gods. However the Teutons have never sacrificed people at religious or other festivities.

"Some think the Thingstead was the place at which the home army assembled before they went on campaign in the 'eternal Sping', which at one time every year a portion of the youth moved into the Teutons' areas of colonisation. The departure point of these campaigns was certainly also the Thingstead in certain courses of time.

 "We know that in certain epochs of time the Thingstead was also a place of assembly, a court and place of execution, a folk sport place, a festival ground or a place of worship. 

"We know further that assemblies were arranged there and acquired the name 'Thing'. However with the word 'Thing' the reasons for the many types of assemblies in the different epochs of time, which number thousands of years are not recorded. 

"It would be easier to accept that because  a place has the word 'Thing' an older, more important, holier use is indicated, which one can find support for in the location and form of the place and the word 'Thingstead' remains attached to places, even when no-one knew anymore what the word 'Thing' had actually once meant. 

"Now one would think that 'academically educated' philologists would reveal the purpose and meaning of the Thingsteads through the explanation of the word 'Thing'. However one hears nothing valid from the academic camp about the meaning of the word 'Thingstead' and about the original purpose of the Thingstead. 

"First question: Why do these people not know how to explain the word 'Thingstead'?

 "Answer: Because they know nothing about racial gymnastics, nothing of rune gymnastics and because they don't know, that at one time whereever the Teutons lived, steads for racial improvement gymnastics, steads for rune gymnastics, thus rune exercise steads were set up and that every clan occupied at least one such rune exercise stead, on which they would with the rune exercises and rune dances and rune positions have sung the runes.

"Second question: Then the 'Thingstead' is actually called the 'Singstead'!

"Answer: Yes indeed! And that is linguistically clear. Every person knows that the word 'Thingstead' is written with 'th' and that the 'th' in England today is still pronounced as 'ß' (with the tip of the tongue). 

"'Thingstead' is correctly pronounced as 'Singstead'. In borderline cases the pronunciation is always more important than the spelling. (However with different spelling one can detect many dialects and distinguish different peoples). 

 "Third question: What would have been sung at the 'Thingsteads'?

"Answer: The Thingsteads were (and also in those that remain) rune exercise grounds, which as a result of their construction and arrangement the highest effect of the rune exercises could be achieved. With the racial gymnastic exercises, with the rune exercises the corresponding runes would be sung.

"Fourth question: Would these exercises be done by one person or by more people?

"Answer: The exercises were often done unobserved by one person as applied racial improvement exercises. They were however also joined by others. However: In order to teach the racial improvement exercises to the folk, these exercises of racial gymnastics were shown openly to the entire folk. Thus the Thingsteads were also places of performance, places for teaching.

 "The dance play (ballet) as the entire artistic field, that today is included in the theatre is a survival of this training in racial gymnastics, which at one time was developed at the Thingstead or in its environs.

"The Olympic games, the contests which today we see in some arenas, the 'Singers' War on the Wartburg' and all of the many customs and local peculiarities refer back to the former institution of the Thing-Games-Stead, of the Thingsteads as a place of training of the folk, as those important steads, at which at one time the racial improvement of the folk and the race law proceeded from.
The racial improvement and the race law which came from that is the result of the racial gymnastics that developed out of the effects of the rune exercises, which here, in consciously and effectively arranged grounds, were most effective and the desired goal achieved.

"Everything authentic and meaningful in culture, tradition and custom originates in the cultural inheritance of the rune exercise steads. The southern world view and materialist thinking later falsified what came out from these rune exercise steads. One point with reference to that:

 "In order to imprint in the memory of the folk those effects which were achieved through certain rune exercises, the performers temporarily wore special masks, in order that the essence and the effect of a particular wave or a particular value of the dynamic forces be produced. At these performances rune words would always then be repeatedly spoken, sung, called out, rune words that corresponded to certain rune stances and rune movements.

"Later in the age of decline due to error and stupidity, the formerly used masks were declared to be 'God', the rune word, which had always belonged to the folk, became the 'name of God' and out of the speaking of this word became the 'invocation of God'. 

"Meaningful runic exercise technology became 'ceremony' and later used for the misdirection of religious efforts.

"Fifth question: These Thingsteads or Singsteads were thus originally rune exercise steads! How did it come about, that they became places of judgement? 

"Answer: A small number of Thingsteads, or Singsteads (which was indeed the same, as we now know) is indeed also today even recognised as a Thingstead. Almost all of the old church buildings stand on these old Singsteads and also today singing is still done there, although not rune songs. However, unknowingly priests still perform rune exercises, which are today called 'ritualistic ceremonies'. Therefore an (even though unsuitable for rearing of the race) echo is still there. Because the folk did not want to leave their Thingsteads, many of these steads became church grounds, places of judgement, places for amusement, graveyards, theatres, shooting contest grounds, sport places etc.

"If still today in the churches, which stand on the old Thingsteads, there is preaching, agitation and activities against the racial improvement of the folk, so is that not only a dishonouring of the folk, that were so misled, but also a dishonouring of the earth, which once radiated effective well-being to the race, which is the highest religious order.

 
"Not until the Thingsteads are again genuine Singsteads and places for racial improvement, places at which exercises for racial gymnastics are not only shown but also practised by the folk, will the Thingsteads again be true Thingsteads, hundreds of thousands of places again, at which the folk will become a race!

"The folk will, the time is not far off, again use the runes, will again racially improve themselves, will collectively use the runes in order to seal the turning of all things and conditions, will again use runes under the open sky, all together on the holy earth of their ancestors, but the Thingsteads will again be renewed, the places for the racial improvement in the rune garden of the race."