Late in 1902, List had undergone an operation for
cataracts. For eleven months his eyes were bandaged, and in this virtual state
of blindness and utter darkness List is said to have been enlightened with
regard to the “secret of the runes.” At this time, and by whatever means,
List's occult vision did seem to undergo a major synthesis. That the main
features of his thought were solidified in this period is witnessed by the fact
that he produced his first manuscript on Kala and published an article on his
interpretation of glyphs (swastika, triskelion, etc.) in 1903. *20
Between this time and 1908, when Das Geneimnis der
Runen was published and the Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft (Guido von List
Society) was founded, List's ideas probably underwent their final synthesis.
After 1908, it seems “occult wisdom2 flowed freely and constantly from the pen
of the Master.
It was between 1903 and 1907 that List first began
to use the noble title “von2 in his name. *21 Legitimate or not, it was
important for List to distance himself from his middle-class background as his
ideas took on a more aristocratic tone – and began to appeal more and more to
the aristocratic establishment.
On 2 March 1908 the Guido von List Society was
officially founded to support the work of the Master.
Although chiefly founded by the Wannieck family, it
was also supported by many leading figures in Austrian and German politics,
publishing, and occultism.
All of List's occult research works that were to be
published in his lifetime were originally published between 1908 and 1914.
Economic restrictions after that time put an end to the production of original
works.
The Guido von List society remained the exoteric
outlet for List's ideas, mainly in the form of his multivolume “research
findings.” However, his work implied a deeper, more practical level as well.
For the expression of this aspect, in the form of a magical order or lodge, the
Hoher Armanen-Orden (High Armanic Order), HAO, was founded in midsummer 1911.
Thus List had formed exoteric and esoteric circles in his organisation. The
activities of the esoteric HAO were indeed mysterious. We know that they
conducted pilgrimages to what they considered holy Armanic sites, Saint
Stephen's Cathederal in Vienna , Carnuntum , etc. They also had their
occasional meetings between 1911 and 1918, but the exact nature of these
remains unknown. The HAO never really crystallised in List's lifetime -
although it seems possible that he developed a theoretical body of unpublished
documents and rituals relevant to the HAO which have only been put into full
practice in more recent years. *22
An odd chapter in Guido von List's story was opened
in November 1911 when he received a letter from a mysterious figure in Germany
calling himself Tarnhari. *23 This man turned out to be one Ernst Lautner, who
claimed to be a descendant of the ancient Nordic tribe of the Wolsungen (Old
Norse Volsungar, the tribe to which Sigurd/Siegfried belonged). He also
claimed, however, to be a reincarnation of a chieftain of this tribe. *24
Lautner was also to be instrumental in the spread of List's ideas in Germany .
Throughout the years of World War 1, although
nothing new was published by the Master, his reputation and fame grew, and his
ideas were becoming more popular than ever. But the war took its toll on the
health of the now elderly List. Within a few months after the end of the war,
List died while on a visit to his followers in Berlin , on 17 May 1919 . *25
His body was cremated and placed in an urn in his native Vienna .
