MADOLE, JAMES H.
James Hartung Madole (1927–1979): Architect of American Occult Fascism
James Hartung Madole was an American political extremist and esoteric ideologue whose strange and disturbing career left a lasting imprint on the intersection of occultism and far-right radicalism in the United States. Though never a household name, he is widely regarded as the founding figure of American fascist occultism—a man who fused the metaphysics of Theosophy with the race doctrines of Nazism, and the futuristic fantasies of science fiction with a vision of spiritualized authoritarian rule.
Born in New York City in 1927, Madole came of age in a postwar America deeply anxious about communism, racial integration, and the rapidly shifting moral values of modern society. A voracious reader with a particular passion for science fiction, he found his ideological home not among traditional conservatives, but within the fascist fringe of the sci-fi fan community—a subculture that often blurred the line between speculative fiction and alternative political dreaming.
Early Activism and the Animist Party
At just 18 years old, Madole founded the Animist Party, a radical political movement that blended anti-modernism, mystical nationalism, and authoritarianism. Though small, the party gained some attention in pulp literary circles, where fringe politics often found a voice. “Animism,” in Madole’s lexicon, referred to a mythic connection between race, land, and spirit—a worldview inspired as much by Theosophical notions of spiritual evolution as by fascist blood-and-soil rhetoric.
The National Renaissance Party and Postwar Fascism
Madole’s political rise began in earnest in 1949 when he was recruited by Kurt Mertig, a veteran pro-Nazi organizer, to join the National Renaissance Party (NRP). Madole quickly assumed leadership of the organization and would remain its dominant figure for the next 30 years. Under his command, the NRP became one of the most prominent and bizarre expressions of postwar American fascism.
The NRP was more than a political party—it was a paramilitary occult subculture, complete with its own uniforms, symbols, and metaphysical teachings. Madole’s public appearances were carefully choreographed performances: he wore three-button suits (all buttons fastened), black horn-rimmed glasses, and a distinctive white motorcycle helmet. He was flanked by a cadre of uniformed bodyguards—the Security Echelon (SE)—a self-styled order of fascist enforcers modeled after the Nazi SS, combining street-brawling duties with esoteric instruction in metaphysics and occult doctrine.
Ideological Evolution: From Hitlerism to Esoteric Aryanism
Although Madole’s early rhetoric parroted Hitler’s hatred of communism and admiration for centralized power, he soon moved beyond simple mimicry. By the 1950s, he was developing a unique ideological platform that rejected both communism and capitalism, advocating instead for a “Third Way”—an authoritarian corporate state modeled on Mussolini’s fascism. But unlike Mussolini or Hitler, Madole spiritualized this system, envisioning it as the earthly arm of a cosmic evolutionary process.
He blended his politics with elements drawn from Theosophy, which he encountered not through formal study, but through its adaptation in popular adventure fiction, especially in pulp series like Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian. These narratives introduced him to mythic histories of lost races, hidden wisdom, and ascended masters—ideas he absorbed into his racial theory and fascist utopianism.
Madole believed that the Aryan race was destined to evolve into a higher species—the God-Man—through a combination of selective breeding, spiritual initiation, and cosmic consciousness. His masterwork, The New Atlantis: A Program for an Aryan Garden of Eden in North America, outlined a society ruled by a spiritually awakened elite and governed by a rigid caste system, racial segregation, and ritualized eugenics.
Occult Alliances and Anti-Christian Sentiment
Unlike most fascist ideologues, Madole was openly hostile to Christianity, which he viewed as a “Jewish conspiracy” designed to weaken the Aryan soul. In its place, he aligned himself with Luciferian and Satanic currents, including forming connections with Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan. His belief system mirrored aspects of esoteric Nazism, but with distinctly American adaptations—combining New World racial mythology with fringe science and metaphysical occultism.
Ritual, Symbolism, and Performance
Madole treated politics as ritual theater. His speeches were staged with symbolic regalia and carefully constructed imagery. The Security Echelon wasn’t merely a security force—it was a magical order, training its members in a hybrid curriculum of fascist discipline and mystical initiation. Madole created an aesthetic of power, aligning himself with an ideal of priest-king leadership drawn from Atlantis myths and Aryan mysticism.
Death and Aftermath
Madole died of cancer in 1979, and without his singular leadership, the NRP collapsed soon afterward. But while the organization faded from public view, its influence lingered in the esoteric underground. His fusion of race theory, myth, occult practice, and authoritarianism provided a blueprint for later secret societies and fascist spiritual orders, including the Order of Nine Angles, the Temple of Blood, and other contemporary networks that draw upon his legacy, whether knowingly or indirectly.
Legacy: A Dark Vision That Endures
James Hartung Madole’s life and work mark a turning point in the history of the far-right occult revival. He was not merely a neo-Nazi or a fringe activist—he was a symbolic engineer, crafting a new mythos for postwar fascism that blended authoritarianism with esotericism, racial theory with spiritual destiny, and political power with metaphysical transformation.
Today, his ideas persist in various forms—online, in radical literature, and in the mythic imagination of extremist ideologies. In the echo chambers of fascist fantasy, where race, spirit, and secret knowledge converge, Madole’s shadow still lingers.
SOURCE:
The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies : the ultimate a-z of ancient mysteries, lost civilizations and forgotten wisdom written by John Michael Greer – © John Michael Greer 2006
