SECRET WISDOM: Occult Societies and Arcane Knowledge

Throughout the course of our history, a secret few have sought to acquire profound occult knowledge which reveals the inner truth of our existence. Discover the purpose of humanity as revealed by the Greek philosophers, the sophisticated techniques of alchemy, astrology, and magic as per practised by the Persians, the role of the Mystic scholar Marsilio Ficino in shaping the Renaissance, and how Learnt Magic informed the perceptions of famous scientists and inventors including Pythagoras, Paracelsus, Galileo, Copernicus and Newton, and the expression of the Mysteries through art and literature from Shakespeare and Milton to Blake and Kandinsky. From the Mystery cults of Ancient Greece to the Persian knowledge of astrology, we learn about the hidden messages in Renaissance art, the alchemy practices of Issac Newton and secret societies which passed on spiritual rites including the Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Theosophists and the Golden Dawn. New light is shone on well-known historical figures and the part they played in the global quest for divine understanding including John Dee, Elizabeth I's magician, Aleister Crowley, the English occultist, poets William Blake and William Butler Yeats, and Dante and chapters including Christian rapture, speaking with angels and sublime rhyme. Engravings and line art. 224 page paperback.