In 1928, a 20-something Renaissance man named Manly Hall self-published a vast encyclopedia of the occult, believing that “modern” ideas of progress and materialism were displacing more important and ancient modes of knowledge. Hall’s text has become a classic reference, dizzying in its breadth: various chapters explore Rosicrucianism, Kabbalah, alchemy, cryptology, Tarot, pyramids, the Zodiac, Pythagorean philosophy, Masonry and gemology, among other topics. This affordably priced edition would be vastly improved by a new foreword, placing the work in some kind of historical and critical context and introducing readers to the basic contours of Hall’s sweeping corpus. Instead, we have a disciple’s adulatory 1975 foreword, which merely parrots the same themes of mystery and esoterica that are espoused in the book. Readers who are unfamiliar with Hall’s work will be at a loss in ferreting out which chapters have stood the test of time and which have been vigorously debunked (like the one on Islam, which actually uses novelist Washington Irving as a primary source on the prophet Muhammad). However, they will also marvel at the sheer scope of Hall’s research and imagination, and at J. Augustus Knapp’s famous illustrations.

Table of Contents

PREFACE 11
INTRODUCTION 17
THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES
WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED MODERN MASONIC SYMBOLISM 42
THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES, PART II 55
THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES AND SECRET SOCIETIES, PART III 68
ATLANTIS AND THE GODS OF ANTIQUITY 80
THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THOTH HERMES TRISMEGISTUS 93
THE INITIATION OF THE PYRAMID 107
ISIS, THE VIRGIN OF THE WORLD 119
THE SUN, A UNIVERSAL DEITY 132
THE ZODIAC AND ITS SIGNS 146
THE BEMBINE TABLE OF ISIS 160
WONDERS OF ANTIQUITY 175
THE LIFE AND PHILOSOPHY OF PYTHAGORAS 188
PYTHAGOREAN MATHEMATICS 201
THE HUMAN BODY IN SYMBOLISM 215
THE HIRAMIC LEGEND 227
THE PYTHAGOREAN THEORY OF MUSIC AND COLOR 240
FISHES, INSECTS, ANIMALS, REPTILES, AND BIRDS 253
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES
FISHES, INSECTS, ANIMALS, REPTILES, AND BIRDS, PART II 267
FLOWERS, PLANTS, FRUITS, AND TREES 281
STONES, METALS, AND GEMS 293
CEREMONIAL MAGIC AND SORCERY 306
THE ELEMENTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 319.
HERMETIC PHARMACOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, AND THERAPEUTICS 333
THE QABBALAH, THE SECRET DOCTRINE OF ISRAEL 346
FUNDAMENTALS OF QABBALISTIC COSMOGONY AIN SOPH 360
THE TREE OF THE SEPHIROTH 372
QABBALISTIC KEYS TO THE CREATION OF MAN 382
AN ANALYSIS OF THE TAROT CARDS 394
THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS 409
THE FRATERNITY OF THE ROSE CROSS 422
ROSICRUCIAN DOCTRINES AND TENETS 436
FIFTEEN ROSICRUCIAN AND QABBALISTIC DIAGRAMS 450
ALCHEMY AND ITS EXPONENTS 466
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ALCHEMY 480
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ALCHEMY, PART II 494
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES
THE HERMETIC AND ALCHEMICAL FIGURES
OF CLAUDIUS DE DOMINICO CELENTANO VALLIS NOVI 508
THE CHEMICAL MARRIAGE 537
BACON, SHAKSPEARE, AND THE ROSICRUCIANS 550
THE CRYPTOGRAM AS A FACTOR IN SYMBOLIC PHILOSOPHY 562
FREEMASONIC SYMBOLISM 576
MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY 589
THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIXION 601
THE MYSTERY OF THE APOCALYPSE 616
THE FAITH OF ISLAM 627
AMERICAN INDIAN SYMBOLISM 639
THE MYSTERIES AND THEIR EMISSARIES 651
CONCLUSION 663
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 674