Navigating Extremism and Esotericism: Savitri Devi and the Spread of Religious Eco-Fascism

The proposed paper explores the complex relationship between esotericism, violence, and the far-right through the work and life of Savitri Devi Mukherji (1905-1982), also known as Hitler's priestess and guru. This critical discourse analysis focuses on her uniquely problematic ideology of violence which combines modern aryanism and radical Hindu nationalism with Malthusian 'deep ecology' and contempt for Christianity and Judaism. In doing so, I aim to highlight and contextualize her formative effect on violent international neo-Nazism and white nationalist politics, continuous from the mid-1960s onward. Through recently published data gathered from the digital *Savitri Devi Archive,* I follow her lasting global impact in spreading this antisemitic revisionist history (Figueira 2002). In addition, I also situate her influence within various contemporary esoteric, New Age, and environmentalist movements, especially through her religious eco-fascism which included devout reverence for Adolf Hitler, deified as an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu.

Devi (née Maximani Portas) moved from Europe to India under the British Raj in 1935 and suggested that Hinduism was a 'living Pagan tradition' with the potential to save the Christian West by upholding ‘aryan’ or pan-European supremacy (Devi 1958). I examine how Devi’s ideology known today as ‘Esoteric Hitlerism’ relies heavily on the ‘Aryan Invasion Myth’ constructed primarily through Eurocentric nineteenth-century scientific racism. This myth suggested that white or European ‘aryans’ invaded the Indian subcontinent, bringing with them the ancient Sanskrit Vedas and the primordial ‘cradle of civilization’ (Bryant and Patton 2004; Thapar 2019; Parpola 2015). 

In one of few scholarly articles written about Devi, Arthur Versluis suggests that her esoteric Hitlerism should be understood as a form of '"global syncretic neo-esotericism" and a departure from more traditional forms of Western esotericism (Versluis 2013, 122). He situates Devi and her global phenomenon of esoteric Hitlerism into a “universalist, perennialist line of esotericism that stretches from Helena Blavatsky (1831-91), Rene Guenon, and Julius Evola [which] draws on all major world religious traditions, from a kind of remote perch” (Versluis 2013, 126). This perch for Devi includes her positionality as an intellectual who earned two doctoral degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy and disseminated her religious mythmaking under the guise of scholarly discourse. 

Why then is more academic attention being paid to Evola, Guenon, and Blavatsky than to Devi, especially as her influence grows amongst far-right political and religious extremists? For example, prominent white nationalist ideologue Greg Johnson positions Devi as the progenitor of his North American New Right movement, inspiring him to create and fund the *Savitri Devi Archive* where new documents, recordings, and letters pertaining to Devi are being published and made freely accessible on a near-monthly basis.

I focus on how her racialist misanthropic views combine animal rights and utopian millenarianism in ways that appeal to historical and contemporary esoteric religious communities, including Rosicrucians, Volkish nationalists, and ethnic Asatru practitioners. I suggest Devi's views on violence and esotericism represent a form of religious eco-fascism, advocating for the preservation of the natural world, embracing neo-pagan ecology, and calling for religious violence and fascism to bring about the end of the dark ages or 'Kali Yuga.' 

Her philosophy of violence is millenarian, reflecting a desire for the end times to usher in the newfound golden age, as a utopia that would arise through genocide in order to preserve the animal and 'aryan' world. In this sense, esoteric or pagan millenarianism can be differentiated from forms of Christian millenarianism which are largely based on dominion theology and the belief that the end times lead to a burning of the world.  Due to a Biblical literalist interpretive framework of both Genesis 1:28 and Revelation 21, this view leaves little room for care for environmental destruction. Through the cosmologies of the yugas, Devi and other esoteric eco-fascists privilege the animal world, envisioning a world centered around the preservation of the environment and the genocide of 'non-aryan' peoples.  In this way, her philosophy of violence appeals to new advocates for Malthusianism or the belief that populations cannot be maintained and need to be controlled. By engaging this cyclical temporality, Devi satisfies her nostalgia for a return to a pure, pristine, 'pagan' past, blurring desires for a utopian futurity through a return to this said past. 

At the heart of her theory lies the belief that 'aryan' paganism is a force capable of both inspiring and justifying acts of violence. French sociologist of religion, René Girard, and others have suggested that the relationship between sacredness and violence is conditional (Girard 1987; Bataille 1936; Otto 1923). In a similar vein, Devi contends that this intrinsic connection between 'aryan' Paganism and violence is not incidental but rather inherent. She provocatively suggests that certain forms of violence, when aligned with what she deems as the natural order or divine will, can be deemed not only permissible but necessary for the preservation or advancement of religious ideals. This assertion challenges conventional moral frameworks and invites scrutiny of the ethical implications of conflating religion with violent action. Devi's religious eco-fascism challenges scholarly assumptions regarding the barbarity of violence and the rationalization and secularization of esotericism in 'the West.' It also allows us to bring nuance to the popular view that US-based white nationalism is inherently Christian.

This research on Devi is part of my larger dissertation project which challenges much of the existing academic and journalistic work on US-based white nationalism that focuses almost exclusively on the role of Christianity, most often its Evangelical Protestant forms. Instead, my research findings support a small body of scholars who have asserted that academic white nationalism is built on a number of esoteric traditions, racist ideologies, and racialized religions (including Esoteric Hitlerism) that have arisen out of and continue to thrive within the American ethos (Dobratz 2001; Barkun 1997; Gardell 2003; Goodrick-Clarke 2003; Berry 2017).