The Secret Teachings of All Ages is perhaps the most comprehensive and complete esoteric encyclopedia ever written. The sheer scope and ambition of this book are stunning. In this book Manly P. Hall has successfully distilled the essence of more arcane subjects than one would think possible.
He covers Rosicrucianism and other secret societies, alchemy, cryptology, Kabbalah, Tarot, pyramids, the Zodiac, Pythagorean philosophy, Masonry, gemology, Nicholas Flammel, the identity of William Shakespeare, The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, The Qabbalah, The Hiramic Legend, The Tree of the Sephiroth, Mystic Christianity, and there are more than 200 illustrations included here. This is essential reading for anyone wishing to explore esoteric knowledge.
Scientists refer to the pineal gland as the atrophied third eye. Indeed, it, along with the pituitary, is the third eye chakra or energy center, but are more dormant than atrophied. According to Max Heindel's, in the distant past, man was in touch with the inner worlds through an activated pineal and pituitary gland. Considered the most powerful and highest source of ethereal energy available to humans, the third eye has always been important in initiating psychic powers (e.g. clairvoyance and seeing auras). Manly traces the historical significance of the gland and its spiritual value.
An Unabridged Edition by Manly P. Hall as he expands on, 'He who lives the Life shall know the Doctrine, ' with all Illustrations and Descriptions, to include: Introduction - Foreword - The Fire Upon the Altar - The Sacred City of Shamballa - The Mystery of the Alchemist - The Egyptian Initiate - The Ark of the Covenant - The Knights of the Holy Grail - The Mystery of the Pyramids.
The Secret Teachings of All Ages is perhaps the most comprehensive and complete esoteric encyclopedia ever written. The sheer scope and ambition of this book are stunning. In this book Manly P. Hall has successfully distilled the essence of more arcane subjects than one would think possible.
He covers Rosicrucianism and other secret societies, alchemy, cryptology, Kabbalah, Tarot, pyramids, the Zodiac, Pythagorean philosophy, Masonry, gemology, Nicholas Flammel, the identity of William Shakespeare, The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, The Qabbalah, The Hiramic Legend, The Tree of the Sephiroth, and Mystic Christianity. There are more than 200 illustrations included here (and in the trade paperback edition) many of which have been omitted from other publisher's editions of this book. This is essential reading for anyone wishing to explore esoteric knowledge.
Hall clearly sets forth the relationship of the fire symbols to the life forces within the human body. Special treatment is given to the subjects of the ductless glands and the part which they play in the development of spiritual consciousness. Mr. Hall describes how man's body is a living temple and how the places of initiation and ritual in the temple's various chambers and passageways symbolize processes occurring in the human body.
Manly Palmer Hall is perhaps most famous for his work The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy, published in 1928 when he was 27 years old. In 1934, Hall founded the Philosophical Research Society (PRS) in Los Angeles, California, dedicating it to an idealistic approach to the solution of human problems. The PRS claims to be non-sectarian and entirely free from educational, political, or ecclesiastical control, and the Society's programs stress the need for the integration of philosophy, religion, and science into one system of instruction. The PRS Library, a public facility devoted to source materials in obscure fields, has many rare and scarce items now impossible to obtain elsewhere. In his over 70-year career, Hall delivered approximately 8,000 lectures in the United States and abroad, authored over 150 books and essays, and wrote countless magazine articles.
A description of Karma as experienced by each individual astrological sign; includes Vedic and Tibetan methods for evaluating past and future lives from the birth chart. Astrology is another disputed subject which is gaining widespread public support. With computerization available, almost every aspect of prediction can be explored scientifically. Many prominent minds of the past have accepted both reincarnation and astrology, and it is only natural that the two beliefs have much in common. If we have lived before, it would be interesting to discover, if possible, the place, time, and circumstances of a previous embodiment. In many cases, of course, such knowledge might have traumatic effects. Most individuals find memories of the present life difficult to bear. The walls of the Borobudur, a magnificent Buddhist ruin on the island of Java, are decorated with scenes from the 600 previous lives of Gautama Buddha. Only the Perfectly Enlightened One could contemplate such a panorama of previous births with reasonable composure. To most Buddhists rebirth is a simple fact. It is one of the determining elements in the ethical and moral philosophies of these people.
The question naturally arises: Would it be possible astrologically to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that reincarnation is an actual fact? Could a chart be set up at the time of death which would be the birth chart of the entity entering the spiritual world, and would it be possible for such a chart to reveal the condition of that entity in the after-death state as well as the time and place of its rebirth on the physical plane? Would it also be conceivable that a birth chart of the present life could provide some clue to the previous incarnation? Hindu philosophers would answer these questions in the affirmative, but Western thinkers have strong reservations.
The Occult Anatomy of Man by noted writer, lecturer, and mystic Manly Palmer Hall seeks to explain the nature of the universe by looking inward - into the human body itself.
As the author of over 150 books, pamphlets, and essays, Hall was a major voice in mystic and metaphysical circles. He rose to prominence in 1928 with the release of his most famous work, The Secret Teachings of All Ages. While continuing to write and give extensive lectures in California, Hall also founded the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles in 1934. The center is still in operation today, providing guidance and wisdom to those who seek it.
One of Hall's early works is The Occult Anatomy of Man, in which Hall interprets the human body as the allegorical answer to the mysteries of the universe.
Hall begins by reminding us that the holy writings of most enlightened people include some version of the concept that God made man in His own image. From this beginning, The Occult Anatomy of Man explores the idea that as a microcosm of the infinite, the human body contains the answers to the secrets of the universe. Hall states, [The priests of the ancient world] believed that every star in the heavens, every element in the earth, and every function in Nature was represented by a corresponding center, pole or activity within the human body.
Unsurprisingly, Hall takes issue with literalists and historians and their interpretations of sacred texts. Those who understand [the Bible's] literal meaning understand the least of its meaning. To illustrate, he describes some of the symbolism in the Bible and lays out their paganistic roots:
The Christian cross comes from Egypt and India; the triple mitre from the faith of the Mithraics; the shepherd's crook from the Hermetic Mysteries and Greece; the Immaculate Conception from India...
In our inability to comprehend the vastness of the universe, the great spiritual leaders instead turned inward, looking to that which we could understand to explain that which we cannot. By viewing man as a microcosm of the great cosmos, we can better comprehend the unknowable.
The universe is divided into three parts in nearly all spiritual belief systems - heaven, earth, and a hell or underworld. The heavens are on high, where God resides and looks down upon us. When we pray, we raise our eyes and hands toward heaven. Earth is the middle ground, suspended and connected to both heaven and hell. And hell lies below.
The human body, Hall argues, follows the same pattern. The skull with its divine contents is the heaven of the physical form. The spinal column with its 33 vertebrae is the earth, connecting the heavens to what lies below. Jesus Christ, God's son sent to earth for 33 years, is not coincidental. Some ancients referred to the spine as the stairway, or a winding road leading where? To the skull - to heaven. And below are the reproductive organs representing hell or the underworld, the source of our emotional and sexual impulses. This is the furthest from the brain and from our divinity.
Through extensive study of world religions and cultural traditions from both East and West, Hall explains the wisdom of the ancients in this short book. For those curious about man's connection to nature and to the wider universe, The Occult Anatomy of Man is a foundational work.
2022 Reprint of the 1928 edition. Illustrated. Manly P. Hall's exhaustive research concentrates the teachings of nearly six hundred distinguished authorities on religion and philosophy, bringing to you an interpretation of the themes underlying the ancient mythology, philosophy, religion, rituals, and arcane mysteries of all ages. This Martino Fine Books edition is an unabridged republication of the text of the work originally published by H. S. Crocker Co., San Francisco, in 1928. The present edition includes a selection of black and white illustrations inserted between pages 354 and 355. Many of these black and white illustrations are reproduced in color on the front cover, inside front cover, back cover, and inside back cover of this edition, along with main captions. Full descriptions for each color illustration can be found accompanying the black and white illustrations reproduced after page 354.
A masterful summation of the esoteric teachings of the ages. -Huston Smith, Ph.D., Author, The World's Religions Into this volume has been compressed the quintessence of a colossal learning. It is a living human document, pulsating with the mental and spiritual vibrations of a profound thinker who takes knowledge for his province and reduces whole libraries to a single tome.-George Barron, Curator of the De Young Museum of San Francisco
Simply put, this is the most beautiful and complete occult book ever published. It represents a lifetime of research into the mythology, symbolism, and magical practices of countless cultures. From the secrets of Isis to the teachings of mystic Christianity, nearly every occult dogma imaginable is represented here...this is the definitive guide to secret societies, famous figures, and more-a must for every personal library.-Llewellyn New Times
Manly Hall's great work is a classic in the world's literature. It will guide historians, philosophers, and lay seekers of esoteric wisdom for centuries.-Edgar Mitchell, Sc.D., Apollo 14 Astronaut