Fascist yoga : grifters, occultists, white supremacists and the new order in wellness / Stewart Home.
| Contents | Did Pierre Bernard Invent Yoga in California at the Start of the Twentieth Century? -- The Great Oom & White Power -- Guido Keller And The Rijeka Yoga Group -- Military Theorist Major J. F. C. Fuller, Whose Concept of Blitzkrieg Became Standard Practice in Nazi Warfare -- Bengal Lancer and Hitler Aficionado Francis Yeats-Brown -- Jakob Wilhelm Hauer and His Influence on the Architect of the Nazi Holocaust Heinrich Himmler -- Mircea Eliade, Julius Evola, Savitri Devi: National Socialism as a Religion and the Yoga of Power -- Paul Dukes, Francis Yeats-Brown (Again) and Theos Bernard, Spreading the Great Oom's Gospel in the Post-War Years -- Indra Devi and Her Editors At Prentice Hall -- Harvey Day, a Hack Who Found Success with Books on Yoga -- Desmond Dunne AKA Occultist James Lee-Richardson and His Mail Order Yoga Course -- Richard Hittleman and Yogic Televangelism -- Pull The Wool Over Your Own Eyes With Frank Rudolph Young, The 'Einstein' Of Occult Yoga. |
| Abstract | "The practice of yoga promises peace, self-realisation and release, thanks to the power of its 'mystic' Indian origins. But what if this is just hype? In Fascist Yoga, Stewart Home sweeps away the half-truths to tell a new origin story of the world's first modern yogi - a Californian escapologist who added some Hindu fairy dust to gym and circus exercises. Ever since, the world of yoga has been full of grifters, occultists and white supremacists, all out to exploit and recruit via the medium of exercise. From cult leaders and brainwashed followers to TV celebrities and fake gurus, the story of yoga has involved some of the strangest currents of humanity. In this new exposé, Stewart Home shows that nothing is sacred. In this book, the author focuses on the Anglo-American roots of modern postural practice, and in particular the fascistic and conspiratorial turns the ideologies associated with this type of yoga have taken over the past century. More specifically, the book traces the development of modern postural yoga in North America and Europe through the twentieth century, up to its explosion in popularity in the 1970s. As will become apparent, guru lineages have been repeatedly falsified in an attempt to make it appear as though modern yoga originated on the Indian subcontinent and is an ancient, rather than a recently invented, tradition. Much of the hype around yoga leans on cognitive priming: the deep cerebral desire we all have to see what we expect--or hope--to see. Just as fascism provides false solutions to real problems, those marketing modern postural practice have often relied on a cynical exploitation of human needs. In short, the genesis and history of modern postural practice is deeply entangled with both occultism and the far right. To start building a credible history of yoga and its connections to fascism and occultism, it is therefore necessary to begin by unpacking its false history"-- adapted from back cover and author's introduction. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Issued in other form | ebook version : 9780745351131 |
| Genre/form | Informational works. |
| Genre/form | Documents d'information. |
| ISBN | 0745351123 paperback |
| ISBN | 9780745351124 paperback |
| ISBN | ePub ebook |
| ISBN | PDF ebook |
| Standard identifier# | CIPO000244124 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | General Stacks | BL1238.54 .H66 2025 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |