Spear of Destiny

The Spear of Destiny, also known as the Holy Lance, is in Christian tradition the spear that the Roman soldier Longinus thrust into the side of Jesus (c. 6 B.C.E.–c. 30 C.E.) as he hung on the cross. (“Then came the soldiers and brake the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came out blood and water” [John 19: 32–34 KJV]). Christian knights discovered the Holy Lance at Antioch during the First Crusade in 1098. The sight of the sacred artifact in the Church of St. Peter so inspired the beleaguered Christian soldiers that they rallied and routed the Saracens from the city. From that time forth, according to legend, whoever claims the spear and solves its secret holds the destiny of the world in his hands for good or evil.

Although there are a number of relics in various European churches that claim to be the genuine Holy Lance, the spear that is on display in the Weltliches Schatzkammer Museum (the Hapsburg Treasure House Museum) in Vienna has been considered the most authentic and it has found a home there for 250 years. It is also known as Constantine’s Lance, and it was employed as a symbol of the imperial power of Holy Roman emperors at the time of their coronation in much a similar manner as the orb and scepter are used in the coronation of the monarchs of Great Britain.

Spear of Destiny

According to Trevor Ravenscroft in The Spear of Destiny (1997), a 19-year-old Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) was first led to the lance in 1908 and from the moment of his first encounter with it in the museum, it became “the central pivot” in his life and the “very source of his ambitions to conquer the world.” In addition to Constantine (d. 337), Hitler found that as many as 45 emperors had owned the lance before the great Charlemagne (742–814) had possessed it. Frederick the Great of Germany (1194–1250), who founded the Teutonic Knights on which Hitler allegedly based his SS, had also been an owner of the Spear of Destiny at one time. Ravenscroft claimed in his book that Hitler would often visit the museum, stare at the Holy Lance, and enter into a trance state in which he would view his future glory as the master of the Third Reich.

Thirty years later, on March 14, 1938, Hitler arrived in Vienna to oversee the annexation of Austria. He also observed the transfer of the Hapsburg Crown Jewel collection, which included the Holy Lance, from Vienna to Nuremberg, the Nazis’ favorite city. With the Spear of Destiny now safely ensconced in Germany, Hitler declared that the war could begin in earnest. The lance would be well protected in the hall of St. Katherine’s Church, where it had once rested for nearly 400 years. However, later in the war when Allied bombers damaged a portion of St. Katherine’s, the many treasures looted by the Nazis and stored there were taken to another hiding place. In the chaos and confusion, the Holy Lance was inadvertently left behind.

The Spear of Destiny fell into the hands of U.S. soldiers on April 30, 1945. A few hours after the Holy Lance passed from Nazi possession on to its next claimant to world power, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. Later, the United States officially returned the Holy Lance to Austria, alongwith the other treasures that the Nazis had stolen. Today, the Spear of Destiny stands again in the Hapsburg Treasure House Museum in Vienna.

The Power of the Spear
Everyone knows that Jesus was pierced in the side with a Spear of some sort. It is usually assumed that it was just an ordinary Roman soldier's spear that just happened to be available at the time. Later, it passes into many hands, arriving--supposedly--into Hitler's possession at the start of the Second World War. Near the end of that war, the story goes, General Patton discovers the Spear in a bunker under Nuremberg, realizes what it is, and at that very moment, Hitler commits suicide and the U.S. succeeds Germany as the new World Power...because it now holds the Spear.

That Spear has been kept in Vienna, Austria, where Hitler obtained it back in 1938, since shortly after the War. Is Austria now a World Power? It used to be--before the First World War, but no longer. But, of course, some people insist that Austria's Hapsburg family secretly runs the world from behind their gilded walls in Vienna. Maybe. But not very effectively. The fact is, this may not be the true Spear. It could be one of several copies made at various times throughout the centuries.

The real Spear--if the legend of it always being in the possession of the current ruling World Power were true--ought to be in the United States, for the U.S. has emerged as the very greatest World Power in modern history. And what about Judea? The Spear was in Jerusalem for centuries and it
does not appear to have made the Jewish people dominant in the ancient world. In fact, they were overrun by just about every one of their neighbors. Come to think of it, Nazi Germany was also conquered when it had the Spear. So was Austria in 1938 and again when the Spear was returned
after the war. It may be that having this Spear is a way to get your nation conquered by its neighbors...

So is it possible the Spear has a different function than this notion of designating the current World Power? Is there a deeper, darker secret behind the Spear? Just where did it really come from? There are a myriad of questions swirling about this old relic, which has witnessed the whole pageant of our human history.

(Taken from many sources)