Rune-Magic

An important work for many reasons
In order to understand why this work is important, it is important to understand the context under which it was first published. Kummer was a German nationalist who published this book a few months before the Nazi takeover and the subsequent persecution of the Volkische, or Germanic Revivalist, groups at the hands of Himmler.Kummer was, like many of his time, extremely racist, and this book sheds rare insight into the mass pathology that had swept Germany and lead to the rise of the Nazis. Hence from an historical perspective, this is an important work. In this book one will not find hate literature about others, but one will find a very unballanced look at the Germanic heritage. For instance, Kummer claims that all magical, mystical, and religious traditions ultimately came from the ancient Germanic peoples. This type of racism while not hateful in and of itself represents, I think, one of the elements which lead to the hatred against the Jews, Gypsies, et. al. that lead to the attrocities in WWII. (More striking elements however had been long institutionalized in mainstream Christian denominations, however).From an esoteric perspective, although much of the work from this time was tainted with the severe racism that had developed, Kumer’s work is important because it represents a summary of what was occurring at that time. Many of the practices pioneered by Kummer, Marby, and their contemporaries have become an intrinsic part of the modern Runic tradition. Hence this represents a source book into the roots of some modern practice.Thorsson made the wise decision to translate Kummer’s work without censorship, trusting in the intelligence of the reader. For this reason, this work is important because it represents not only the source of some modern practices but also a unique look into one of the most horrific times in modern history.