Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy Paperback – Illustrated, 1 April 2004

Great in its scope and a good starting point for further investigation, and in places very thorough and always well written. Whereas the amount of content is impressive, Manly P. Hall sometimes seemed to be quite inaccurate in certain details which then makes some of his further conclusions and connections a little presumptuous. Great read nevertheless, not just because of its stye, but also because of the authors that this book can lead you to.

If you are a fan of creating new neural pathways in the brain this book will do it. So much information in one location.

I have a prs version of this book but the prs one is kind of a collector's item and it's difficult to read due to the small and unique font they employ. This one is handy and the font size is good, the content is true to the original version and it's really good. Highly recommended.

Firstly, I should point out that I'm not a student, nor a follower, of the so-called "Western esoteric tradition". I've read books that touch on the subject, but this is the first one I've read that's devoted to the practice. With that said, I have very little grounds for comparison when reviewing this book. I read it as an introduction to a subject of enormous historical and religious significance, and nothing else, so this is very much a review from an "outsider".This book is subtitled 'An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolic Philosophy', and that about sums up the whole thing. It's "encyclopedic" in that it can be read like an encyclopedia, whereby you can pick it up from the shelf whenever you need a particular piece of information. However, it's also designed to be read, like I did, from beginning to end. The book has been compiled in a logical order, where most sections build on from previous chapters, but you absolutely don't have to read it this way.Also, the word "philosophy" in the subtitle is important. I was very impressed with the philosophical content of this book. From the excellent introduction, Manly P. Hall makes it clear that this is a work of philosophy. It's not a magical handbook, or a "practical" introduction to esoterica, but an outline of the philosophies that underpin these various ancient traditions.'The Secret Teachings of All Ages' is a thoroughly researched book. The fact that Hall was 27 years old when it was published is staggering. The 650 pages + in this book are full of painstakingly researched facts and interpretations, from early to (at the time) contemporary sources. Certain chapters gloss over the history of institutions or people, while others go into great detail analysing symbolism. It covers such a wide spectrum of different subjects that it can only be looked at as an introductory text. But what a thorough and (for the most part) readable introduction this is. It would certainly help that the reader has at least a basic knowledge of mythology and ancient civilisations before plunging into this, but this is by no means a prerequisite.As for the content itself; firstly, I was impressed with Hall's outlook and philosophy. There is much beauty in here, and I find Hall's interpretations on the fundamental unity of all the world religions, from pagan times to Islam, to be interesting and inspiring. However, a great deal of this book is Hall's opinion (inspiring as it may be) presented as fact. Many of the sources seem questionable, and there are some, frankly, quite strange conclusions that Hall reaches. Considering that the whole point of the Mystery religions of antiquity was that their teachings were shrouded in secrecy, and not preserved in any form except for very few highly veiled symbols, Manly P. Hall (and his sources) certainly seem to know a lot of "facts" about the subject. In fact, Hall often makes claims without backing them up with sources at all!I'm certainly not saying that I think everything within this book is wrong. On the contrary, there's clearly a lot of scholarly research in here, and lot of the points make a lot of sense. It's just important that the reader doesn't take it all at face value. To be honest though, from what little I now know about Manly P. Hall, he probably wouldn't want anybody to take it at face value anyway.'The Secret Teachings of All Ages' is kind of like Joseph Campbell's 'Hero With a Thousand Faces', except times one hundred. It's an analysis of the unity of mythology and religion at a meticulous level. It's interesting, detailed, eye-opening, entertaining, beautiful, but also opinionated, biased, often unsubstantiated and, having seen original publication in the 1920s, dated. But, despite its drawbacks, 'The Secret Teachings of All Ages' is a very good academic introduction to an overlooked field of philosophy and religion.

goods

I can see a few complaints about the edition so please note the edition I have is Tarcher/Penguin (2003) - Reader's Edition. It's fantastic and as far as I can tell has all the diagrams it is supposed to. A nice chunky paperback that I still use for reference.Great book - the Pythagoras and Qabbalah sections are particularly insightful.

The voluminous and comprehensive nature of this book cannot be faulted, however the print size is too small and makes it a strain to read.The index is omitted, which is very poor, especially as the author gives thanks to Mr M M Saxton for its preparation in the preface. In a book that covers so many subjects, this, for me, is this editions greatest flaw.The illustrations, which were originally colour plates are now black and white and in many instances lack clarity and are difficult to read.This is still overall, a reasonably good reprint and worth the money.

Wonderful book that explores and explodes so many age old long held dogmas. I recommend this volume to all who seek and wish there mind opened