Coming Soon
My latest book, The Forest of Symbols: Freemasonry and
the Western Esoteric Tradition (Ouroboros Press), will be released in the
Spring of 2008.
Below is a brief description.
In the early eighteenth
century the Masonic fraternity emerged to change the shape of the Western
esoteric tradition forever. Within a few decades the fraternity had spawned
numerous mystical societies that claimed to communicate with spirits, teach the
secrets of alchemy and the elixir of life, or to perform rituals of healing. In
the next century the still surviving Masonic Rosicrucian society was
established, and later attracted the founders of the Hermetic Order of the
Golden Dawn, William Wynn Westcott and S.L. MacGregor Mathers, and Theodor
Reuss, co-founder of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), among
others. Today FreemasonryÕs influence can be seen in fields as diverse as
ceremonial magic, Christian mysticism, Wicca, and rune magic.
The Forest of
Symbols
explores the history of Western esotericism, beginning with the early Masonic
Ritual of the sacred meal, or ÔTable Lodge,Õ and its symbolism of natural law,
essential to understanding the Craft, high-Degree Freemasonry, and the
contemporary Western esoteric tradition.
Among the subjects
explored are:
á Mystical Masonic
societies, practicing sŽances, alchemy, healing, etc.
á The Masonic influence
on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the O.T.O.
á Masonic Lodges
practicing Roman Catholic mysticism.
á The contemporary
Masonic-Rosicrucian society.
á Aleister CrowleyÕs
adventures in Freemasonry.
á Ancient Egypt, Old
Turkish Freemasonry, and Islamic mysticism.
á Wicca, and the sexual
interpretation of Masonic symbolism.
á Runes and the Germanic
revival within 19th century Freemasonry.
For updates on the
publication of The Forest of Symbols go to the blogspot of Ouroboros Press: http://www.bibliomancer.blogspot.com/