Customer Reviews

The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy: Being an Interpret

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Dear Friends, Please note there are several editions of "The Secret Teachings of All Ages" by Manly P. Hall. Each is outstanding, but it might help to note some recent differences. The Philosophical Research Society of Los Angeles (www.prs.org) publishes beautiful, large-sized editions of Mr. Hall's original classic. Tarcher/Penguin, in partnership with PRS, publishes a "Reader's Edition," which features the complete, unabridged text in a more compact size and at a lower price, though with an abridged selection of illustrations. I am writing as the editor/publisher of the Tarcher/Penguin edition. If you would like to learn more about the new "Reader's Edition" of "The Secret Teachings," please visit either www.lapismagazine.org/horowitz.html or www.mitchhorowitz.com. You can visit PRS at www.prs.org. In any format, "The Secret Teachings of All Ages" is a book you will come to treasure. Best, Mitch Horowitz

The book is great but this edition (Createspace March 2011) is unreadable, unless you use magnifying glasses. Even if you manage, it only contains the text and none of the very interesting original illustrations.

Make yourself a favor and get a better edition. I recommend the 1976 P.R.S. edition which contains the original illustrations, but the Tarcher edition is good (and inexpensive) too.

This is a collossal work, and provides a wealth of information on the different esoteric teachings and mystery schools from the past.
However, don't expect to find anything on contemporary esoteric orders.
I found the work to be a bit too speculative at times, not giving enough facts. Moreover, the book has a very distinct 'We, the freemasons' kind of feeling, which in my opinion hampers the objectivity of the work.
Except for the big plates at the beginning of each chapter, the numerous diagrams presented here are usually printed too small to meditate upon, which is the only serious flaw.

In short, as the title says, it is an encyclopedia, but nothing more. For in depth information concerning esoteric teachings, look elsewhere.

Manly P Hall fulfilled an important mission: to inspire the people of North America, to point out the unmistable presence of a Secret Doctrine and Tradition, and to lay the foundation for the Revelation of that teaching. This book is the spear-point that he used to break through the first line of combat. But Manly Hall was NOT authorized to reveal the teaching itself, and while this book is incredible in it's beauty and comprehensiveness, it does not and cannot reveal directly the practical and essential nature of the teachings. There is no doubt whatsoever that Manly Hall knew and worked with the Mercury, the Salt and the Sulphur. There is no doubt that he worked with the Fire. There is no mistaking the knowledge of a true Alchemist. Read this book, study it, absorb it; it will prepare your mind and heart to comprehend the Real Knowledge when you see it - but to recognize that true knowledge you must be sincere and humble. Arrogance and pride will keep the doors closed to you. It is unfortunate that these qualities are so enthusiastically encouraged by our modern culture, qualities that every genuine Master strictly condemns. Be humble when searching for Wisdom, and having found it, be more humble still. To discover the essential and practical knowledge that Manly Hall pointed toward, read the works of Samael Aun Weor available at the Gnostic Institute zshop here on Amazon.com.

This is an excellent text for anyone interested in Esoteric teachings from ancient times onward. The author covers just about anything you've heard of and probably a lot that you haven't. The color plates and illustrations are excellent and there is an amazing amount of information packed into this book. One problem arises, however: some of the information is outdated when newer discoveries are taken into account. The author wrote the book something like 80 years ago and though it's been through revisions, it still contains information that probably should be updated. That is a rare instance however, and I'd say 99% of this book is accurate, right on the money, and DEFINITELY worth the price. You probably won't find another source that covers as much as well. Buy it, borrow it, whatever, it is worth the time to read.

This is a true esoteric treasure rich in research, deep analysis and knowledge of the world's mystery teachings; though it focuses primarily on the Western traditions. It covers a vast array of subjects too vast to go into detail about - you'll have to buy it - often accompanied with curious and detailed illustrations. As a previous reviewer mentioned, Manly Hall's compendium should definitely be in the library of a serious truth seeker yearning for the true reality of things.

His conclusion to the book is nothing short of insightful and conveys what many conscientious people have perhaps long - though dimly - sensed: that the ultimate destiny of human beings is to undertake the quest to overcome their lower nature and to prepare themselves as vessels to receive higher more virtuous influences.

while this book will offer you an amazing wealth of knowledge about a vast quantity of subjects, i do not recomend it for the beginner as it is a bit difficult to read. if you have a bit of knowledge about the subjects you may be able to get through it, but you may also become frustrated. it has beautiful pictures inside that almost make it worth the price alone. i was very pleased to see the newer copies that were softcover; before then this book may not have been affordable to all who sought after it's information. i bought it mainly for it's information on masons, a belief system that has always creeped me out a little:) it still creeps me out but i'm educated as to why now:)

I agree that this book is venerable. It mentions psychoactives in the Mysteries and cites an 1845 book that also mentions them -- demonstrating that Graves (and Wasson) were by no means the first 20th-Century scholars to recognize this connection.

I would be happy with the cheap new edition, less tall and wide but thicker, with arabic rather than roman page numbering -- if only it used decent, worthy paper. I can't stand the look and feel of pulp paper. I can't believe that decent paper is too expensive. We still need a mid-priced version, on good paper. I recommend the larger format versions if you can afford them. I'd be glad to pay a few dollars more to get this new edition on decent-quality paper.

Sure this book is a classic. I gave this book three stars because this could be a better book. Although the full text is presented in this edition,most of the pictures and illustrations are missing. It's claimed that most of the pictures and illustrations are not the most important ones, then why put them in the other editions? Sounds like the buyer is being short changed. Hall says in the title that these are secret teachings. It's not secret, because all of this knowledge is available in books if you look hard enough. However, he does a brilliant job of putting all this information together and the buyer is getting a good deal. The truth is that all secret knowledge is already in books and openly available. It's true that the ancient sages would be irresponsible in putting this knowledge explicitly out in the open. It could be used by evil people to work incredible destruction. The knowledge though had to be transmitted or it would be lost. How then is the knowledge open to the worthy and hidden from the unworthy? Hall gives the clue in the chapter on Shakespeare. That is by constantly rereading and studying the murky passages and others in occult books, the understanding will open up and the secrets revealed. This is the master key to using other cryptograms as well. In India, the ancient sages had students of yoga reread and study well known yoga texts such as the yoga sutras of Pantajali. Why? To discover the secrets and inner meanings of the texts. The goal of the ancient mysteries is for man to save himself and reveal the mysteries of life. This could not be accomplished if the knowledge had no way to be known. The occult has genuine teachings, but it also has many frauds and con artists. They couldn't care less about the occult, but they care about your money. Hall isn't lying when he says these are secret teachings. They are not secret on the surface meaning, but they are in the depths of the knowledge revealed only by study.

Hall's text is comprehensive and informative, even if at points it could be interpreted to partially suffer from it's mystically sympathetic tone and objectives. Overall, definitely worth the time and money, especially as a primer for the esoteric West. Think of it as a road map for further exploration.