This week, Ken talks to author and cultural provocateur Stewart Home about his explosive new book Fascist Yoga: Grifters, Occultists, White Supremacists and the New Order in Wellness (Pluto Press). They dive into the strange, hidden history of yoga in the West, its unexpected ties to fascism, and how those shadows still linger in the modern wellness industry.
This week:
- The carnival-barker roots of yoga in the West and the con artistry of Pierre Bernard
- How racial myth-making turned yoga into an “Aryan science” for early fascists
- Guido Keller, the Rijeka YOGA group, and the bizarre avant-garde politics of proto-fascism
- Major J. F. C. Fuller: from Crowleyan yogi to architect of modern warfare
- Francis Yeats-Brown, Hitler fandom, and yoga propaganda
- How fascist mysticism evolved into post-war yoga evangelism and daytime TV gurus
- Why the modern wellness industry still carries the DNA of its darker past
Show Notes
Get Stewart’s book at Pluto Press:
https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745349495/fascist-yoga/
🔗 People, places, concepts mentioned
Stewart Home – Official website
https://www.stewarthomesociety.org
Pluto Press – Publisher of Fascist Yoga
https://www.plutobooks.com
Pierre Bernard – Wikipedia (The “Great Oom,” early yoga grifter)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Bernard_(yogi)
Guido Keller – Wikipedia (Founder of the Rijeka YOGA group)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Keller
J. F. C. Fuller – Wikipedia (Occultist, Crowley disciple, and military strategist)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._F._C._Fuller
Francis Yeats-Brown – Wikipedia (Author of Bengal Lancer, yoga evangelist, and fascist supporter)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Yeats-Brown
Julius Evola – Wikipedia (Italian fascist philosopher and esotericist)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Evola
Savitri Devi – Wikipedia (Nazi esotericist blending Hinduism and fascism)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitri_Devi
Mircea Eliade – Wikipedia (Scholar of religion with ties to fascism)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade
Aleister Crowley – Wikipedia (Occultist and early Western adopter of yoga practices)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley
Theos Bernard – Wikipedia (Nephew of Pierre Bernard and early American yoga promoter)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theos_Bernard
Modern wellness industry – overview
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellness_(alternative_medicine)
British Union of Fascists – Wikipedia (BUF, Oswald Mosley’s fascist party)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Union_of_Fascists
💻 Follow & Support
Follow Stewart Home on Twitter/X:
https://twitter.com/stewarthomesoc
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https://www.patreon.com/sittingnow
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