Discover everything you ever wanted to know about secret societies like the Freemasons, the historical mystery of Atlantis, why King Arthur, Leonardo da Vinci and Hitler are key figures, plus conspiracy theories, forgotten sciences and ancient wisdom.

WHEN confronted with a problem involving the use of the reasoning faculties, individuals of strong intellect keep their poise, and seek to reach a solution by obtaining facts bearing upon the question. Those of immature mentality, on the other hand, when similarly confronted, are overwhelmed. While the former may be qualified to solve the riddle of their own destiny, the latter must be led like a flock of sheep and taught in simple language. They depend almost entirely upon the ministrations of the shepherd. The Apostle Paul said that these little ones must be fed with milk, but that meat is the food of strong men...

Esoteric scholar Manly P. Hall covers a lot of areas relating to the ancient mysteries, including common roots in religious and ritual life, the practices of the Druids and how they relate to Masonry, the rites of Mithras, Simon Magus and the Gnostics, Abraxas, the Egyptian Serapis, the Odinic Mysteries and how they compare, the Rites of Eleusis, the Orphic Mysteries, Bacchus, Dionysos, and much more.

The shift from polytheism to monotheism changed the world radically. Akhenaten and Moses--a figure of history and a figure of tradition--symbolize this shift in its incipient, revolutionary stages and represent two civilizations that were brought into the closest connection as early as the Book of Exodus, where Egypt stands for the old world to be rejected and abandoned in order to enter the new one. The seven chapters of this seminal study shed light on the great transformation from different angles. Between Egypt in the first chapter and monotheism in the last, five chapters deal in various ways with the transition from one to the other, analyzing the Exodus myth, understanding the shift in terms of evolution and revolution, confronting Akhenaten and Moses in a new way, discussing Karl Jaspers' theory of the Axial Age, and dealing with the eighteenth-century view of the Egyptian mysteries as a cultural model.

This fascinating book is an essential illustrated reference guide to secret societies and cults from every culture and time. From the Freemasons to the Knights Templar and from Rosicrucians to Chinese Triads, this in-depth handbook explains the history, beliefs and secret rituals of some of the most powerful covert organizations ever to have existed. In The Secret Societies Bible you will find: The truth about the Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion, made famous by The Da Vinci Code. A fully-illustrated guide to key rituals, meeting places and individuals. Includes major societies such as the Freemasons and the Knights Templar.Written by an expert author and featuring a code-breaker checklist of secret signs and symbols to help you identify different societies, this book reveals the mysteries behind the world's most elusive organizations.

WHEN confronted with a problem involving the use of the reasoning faculties, individuals of strong intellect keep their poise, and seek to reach a solution by obtaining facts bearing upon the question. Those of immature mentality, on the other hand, when similarly confronted, are overwhelmed. While the former may be qualified to solve the riddle of their own destiny, the latter must be led like a flock of sheep and taught in simple language. They depend almost entirely upon the ministrations of the shepherd. The Apostle Paul said that these little ones must be fed with milk, but that meat is the food of strong men. Thoughtlessness is almost synonymous with childishness, while thoughtfulness is symbolic of maturity.