The Spear of Destiny (book)

''The Spear of Destiny: The Occult Power Behind the Spear which Pierced the Side of Christ'' is a 1972 occult book by the writer Trevor Ravenscroft about the Holy Lance and occultism in Nazism, published by Neville Spearman Publishers. The book is heavily based off of alleged testimony from Walter Stein; Ravenscroft originally claimed to have met Stein in life, but later claimed he had met Stein as a spirit through a medium. It is unclear if Ravenscroft had ever actually met Stein. In 1979 Ravenscroft sued James Herbert for copyright infringement in Herbert's 1978 novel ''The Spear''.

Reviewers generally found the book bizarre and its claims far-fetched; historian of occultism Joscelyn Godwin called ''The Spear of Destiny'' a "bloodcurdling work of historical reinvention". The ''Los Angeles Times'' described it as "one of the weirdest books of the year". Despite its factual inaccuracy, the book was a commercial success, was translated into several languages, and is, according to British historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, one of the most influential works on Nazi mysticism in English. Provided by Wikipedia