''The Spear of Destiny: the occult power behind the spear which pierced the side of Christ'' is a best-selling 1972 occult book by the

anthroposophist Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers ...

writer Trevor Ravenscroft (1921–1989) about the

Holy Lance The Holy Lance, also known as the Lance of Longinus (named after Saint Longinus), the Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Spear, is the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion. Biblical references The l ...

, published by

Neville Armstrong Neville Spearman Armstrong (20 October 1913 – September 2008) was a British soldier, literary agent, and publisher. In the 1940s and early 1950s he was in partnerships with others, then from 1955 he operated his own publishing company called Ne ...

's Neville Spearman Publishers. Ravenscroft claimed that the book was based on research "by using mystical meditation" and on the papers of the Austrian anthroposophist

Walter Stein Walter Johannes Stein (6 February 1891, in Vienna – 7 July 1957, in London) was an Austrian philosopher, Waldorf school teacher, Grail researcher, and one of the pioneers of anthroposophy. Biography Of Jewish descent, Stein studied mathematics, ...

given to Ravenscroft by his widow. Ravenscroft originally claimed to have met Stein, but later only claimed contact through a medium with Walter Stein's spirit.

Court case

In 1979 Ravenscroft sued

James Herbert James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 l ...

for copyright infringement in Herbert's 1978 novel '' The Spear''. The defendant declined to pay Ravenscroft damages and eventually removed the offending content.

Second book

After Ravenscroft's death, Tim Wallace-Murphy published ''The Mark of the Beast: The Continuing Story of the Spear of Destiny'', citing Ravenscroft as co-author in 1997.

References

External links

*{{Cite web, url=https://badarchaeology.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/the-spear-of-destiny-hitler-the-hapsburgs-and-the-holy-grail/, title= "The Spear of Destiny": Hitler, the Hapsburgs and the Holy Grail, author=Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, date=30 December 2012, work=Bad Archaeology 1972 non-fiction books Anthroposophy History books about the occult Occultism in Nazism