Ludwig Straniak (1879-1951), was a German mystic, Germanic revivalist and most notably a

pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward th ...

dowser. He was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and astrologer and was used by the German military in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, not necessarily willingly. Two of the more well-known mystics, other than Straniak, used in the Third Reich by

Walter Schellenberg Walter Friedrich Schellenberg (16 January 1910 – 31 March 1952) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He rose through the ranks of the SS, becoming one of the highest ranking men in the '' Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) and eventually a ...

through

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

, who had a great deal of interest in Germanic mysticism and revivalism, were Wilhelm Gutberlet, who was a pendulum dowser, and astrologer

Wilhelm Wulff ''Zodiac and Swastika: How Astrology Guided Hitler's Germany'' (german: Tierkreis und Hakenkreuz: Als Astrologe an Himmlers Hof) is a 1968 book by Wilhelm Theodor H. Wulff (27 March 1892 - 9 June 1979). It was released in 1973 in the United States ...

Dowsing

Straniak claimed to have a special gift for map pendulum dowsing. Straniak would dangle a pendulum over a given map and "locate" things. As a test, leaders of the German Navy requested him to locate the

pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...

Prinz Eugen, then at sea. The Navy provided him with charts and were reportedly amazed that he had pinpointed the warship even though it was on a completely secret mission off the coast of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. This impressed the Navy leaders enough to take the workings of the occult unit of the SS more seriously. This also inspired the character "Captain Jack Sparrow" in 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. According to

Karl Spiesberger Karl Spiesberger (29 October 1904 – 1 January 1992) was a German mystic, occultist, Germanic revivalist and Runosophist. He is most well known for his revivalism and usage of the Sidereal Pendulum for divination and dowsing and for his anti- ...

in his book '' Reveal the Power of the Pendulum'', Straniak believed that

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

was the most suitable material for all kinds of dowsing and that even fruits such as apples, oranges, pears and lemons demonstrate a polarity at each end.

Nazism

In September 1939 the Nazi government gathered together psychics, mediums, dowsers, and occultists into an organization to assist the war efforts against the West. They called this unit the Institute for Occult Warfare (IOW) of which Straniak was a member

Written works

*''Die 8. Gross-Kraft der Natur und ihre physikalischen Gesetze'' 1936, Huber, Diessen

References

Books

*'' Reveal the Power of the Pendulum: Secrets of the Sidereal Pendulum, A Complete Survey of Pendulum Dowsing'', by

- (Der erfolgreiche Pendel-Praktiker) - 196

English translation, pp. 13, 15, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78-82, 82, 83. *'' Unholy Alliance (Levenda book), Unholy Alliance: History of the Nazi Involvement With the Occult'' by

Peter Levenda Peter Levenda is an American author who focuses primarily on occult history. He is best known for his book ''Unholy Alliance'', which is about Esoteric Hitlerism and Nazi occultism. Occultist Alan Cabal wrote in 2003 that Levenda was the writer w ...

, (May 1, 2002, ). pp. 230–232. *'' Occult Reich'' by J.H. Brennen, pp. 111 and 112.

Documentaries

*'' Nazis: The Occult Conspiracy'' (1998), directed by Tracy Atkinson and Joan Baran, narrated by

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

. *'' Decoding the Past'' Episode: " The Nazi Prophecies" by the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

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*'' Hitler and the Occult'' by the