Robert Langdon, while at the U.S. Capital Building, finds an object encoded with five symbols, which is an ancient invitation to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom. When Langdon's belived mentor, Peter Solomon, is kidnapped, he realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations - all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.
The Truth Revealed Freemasons have been connected to the all-seeing eye on the dollar bill, the French Revolution, the Knights Templar, and the pyramids of Egypt. They have been rumored to be everything from a cabal of elite power brokers ruling the world to a covert network of occultists and pagans intent on creating a new world order, to a millennia-old brotherhood perpetuating ancient wisdom through esoteric teachings. Their secret symbols, rituals, and organization have remained shrouded for centuries and spawned theory after theory. The Masonic Myth sets the record straight about the Freemasons and reveals a truth that is far more compelling than the myths.
In MYTH, MAGICK & MASONRY, Jaime Paul Lamb develops four thought-provoking interpretations of the symbolism and allegorical content of Freemasonry and some of its appendant bodies. By viewing the craft through the interpretive lenses of ceremonial magick, solar and astrological lore and symbolism, classical mythology and the Roman Mystery cult, Mithraism, Lamb establishes four distinct vantage points from which to survey Freemasonry. Thereby, Jaime Paul Lamb enables Masons, new and old, to develop a more nuanced appreciation of the Craft and a deeper understanding of the Fraternity's priceless initiatory heritage.
This study considers the institution of Freemasonry from the point of view of both masons and their critics, as well as from the author's own. In the first section, it gives an outline of masonic history, from the foundation of the Grand Lodge in Covent Garden in 1717 through its major role in Enlightenment Europe and the American War of Independence, its many tribulations and schisms in the 19th century to the present day. The book looks at one of the main sources of masonic history, Anderson's "Constitutions", which documents masonic practice and the masons' mythical history back to Hiram Abiff, the first Master Mason in the reign of King Solomon.
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
Discover the secretive brotherhood behind Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol in this unauthorized companion book by the author of Solomon’s Builders. Freemason influence on the founding of Washington, D.C., is evident throughout the city’s buildings, statues and monuments—but it’s written in coded symbols that few people understand. Dan Brown’s thriller sends symbologist detective Robert Langdon through the capital to unravel its Masonic secrets. Now in Deciphering The Lost Symbol, Freemason expert Christopher L. Hodapp compares each clue and plot twist in Brown’s story to the true facts. •Discover the meaning of “The Lost Word” •Decode Masonic and alchemical symbolism •Explore the innermost rooms of Masonic lodges and temples •Visit the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol and other landmarks •Uncover secret patterns in Washington, D.C.’s maps and monuments •Crack the codes buried in The Lost Symbol’s artwork and puzzles “Confident in recommending it to everyone, Mason and non-mason alike. This is the perfect a compliment to The Lost Symbol and I feel it should be on the shelf right next to it on your bookcase.” —David Naughton-Shires, Masonic Art Exchange
Freemasonry is one of the few organizations whose teaching method is still based on symbols. It presents these symbols by inserting them into legends that are told to its members in initiation ceremonies. But its history itself has also given rise to a whole mythology. Freemasons are the heirs of the builders of cathedrals. They were protected by the Stuart kings in Scotland from the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century, and the Stuarts were their secret Grand Masters. Freemasonry preserves the teachings of a primitive Judeo-Christian gnosis. In order to better understand these legends and myths and their significance, Pierre Mollier has studied their origins and attempted to find their sources. This book presents some of his research. A better understanding of the origins of the initiatory legends of Freemasonry is undoubtedly one of the best ways to better live one's Masonic commitment. Pierre Mollier, 33°, is a French historian born in Lyon in 1961. A graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, he holds a MA degree in Religious Studies from Ecole pratique des hautes etudes, La Sorbonne. He is the director of the Library of the Grand Orient de France and the curator of the Museum of Freemasonry (Paris). Editor-in-chief of the symbolic and Masonic review, Renaissance Traditionnelle, and of the online journal Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society, he has published more than 100 papers and 5 books on Freemasonry historical issues. He is also the Grand Archivist of the Grand College des Rites Ecossais, the oldest French Scottish Rite Supreme Council.
