One of the most enduring and frustrating rumors surrounding the Temple of Set (second to the old Satanic Panic hysteria) is the accusation of Nazism, primarily based on an extremely superficial impression of magical work undertaken by the Order of the Trapezoid.

I asked the current Grand Master of the Order, Magister Toby Chappell, what he would like the public to know about the reality of the Order and how they work magically with Germanic symbolism. Here is what he had to say.

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The Order of the Trapezoid works with dangerous ideas.
By its nature, it has to.
The work of the Order is guided by the pull of Rûna—the ultimate Mystery, or the sense of
the hidden that draws forth those receptive to its call in an enduring quest to explore and
understand the mysteries of existence. The most evocative—and, unfortunately in the
present day, often provocative—expression of this principle is found within the mythologies
and practices of the Germanic world (including the modern German-speaking states,
Scandinavia, Iceland, England and those who are descended from these peoples).
Rûna is a universal principle, however; all who are alive and self-aware can sense and
respond to it, and seek it out in spite of popular whims as to what is “allowed”, “correct”, or
“appropriate”. Rûna is a built in component of the human condition, knowing no national,
ethnic, or cultural boundaries or restrictions. Thus follows the Order and its members.
Many of the rumors you have heard about the Order of the Trapezoid are actually true.
The Order has a keen interest, as just one of our particular areas of study, in the history and
application of fascism, propaganda, and other systematic manipulation of the masses. In
order to defend against such techniques, you first have to understand how and why they
work. Our reading list does in fact include books like Mein Kampf, one of those curious books
where the vast majority of those who roundly condemn it have never read it; often
unnoticed or ignored is that the reading list also contains many books that seek to expose
and thoroughly undermine fascism in all its flavors, such as Wilhelm Reich’s The Mass
Psychology of Fascism and Peter Viereck’s Metapolitics: The Roots of the Nazi Mind. And of course
our interest in the runes, “weird tales” authors like H.P. Lovecraft, the technology of the
‘mad lab’ a la Frankenstein or Metropolis, the work of Nikola Tesla, dreams, etc. in many ways
eclipse our more infamous areas of study—not that it sways the narrow minded from
condemning the entire enterprise based on deliberate misunderstandings of our less
“acceptable” interests.
The Order however stands outside all these things.
The work of the Order, covering a wide range of topics focused through the lens of Rûna,
can be seen as akin to that of an experimental anthropologist, studying how certain tools
were made and developed in order to learn at a deep level how they functioned. The Knight
of the Order of the Trapezoid studying or even—ethically!—experimenting with techniques
for influencing the masses perfected by the Third Reich does not become a fascist any more
than an experimental anthropologist becomes a stone age toolmaker through her
experience. The tool itself has no ethical stance; its application can be used for good or ill,
depending on the intent and responsibility of the operator.

In the Charter of the Order of Trapezoid, Roger Whitaker (now in Walhalla) and
Dr. Michael Aquino wrote:

“The Order of the Trapezoid extracts the positive, the constructive, the exalted, and the
Romantic from the Germanic magical tradition – and just as carefully avoids and rejects
those excesses, distortions, and cruelties which have made this tradition an object of the
most extraordinary fear, condemnation, and suppression in the postwar period. The
Germanic tradition is also part of the legacy of the Prince of Darkness, hence is appropriate
to an Order within the Temple of Set, which embraces all manifestations of the Powers of
Darkness in the world.” (see chapter 8 of Michael A. Aquino, Ph.D., The Temple of Set)
Thus does the Order fulfill its mission and its purpose, despite the misunderstandings of
those incapable of perceiving that the Path through the darkness must often take difficult
and unsettling turns.

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Magister Chappell is the author of the book “Infernal Geometry and the Left Hand Path: The Magical System of the Nine Angles” which can be purchased online here: https://www.bookpeople.com/book/9781620558164

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