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Gods In The Abyss – Askr Svarte (2020)

The incredably productive Svarte (1991-) wrote enough essays for yet another 380 page book. Again, the original texts were written in Russian (Приближение и окружение. Очерки о германском Логосе, традиции и Ничто (‘Approximation and Surrounding. Essays on the Germanic Logos, Tradition and Nothingness.’)) and published in English in the same year. He is not only very productive himself, but his publishers manage to keep up.

The subtitle goes: “Essays on Heidegger, the German Logos & the Germanic Myth” which covers the content of the book very well. The basis of most texts is the philosophy of Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), but Svarte goes from Heidegger to Northern mythology, old and more recent history, Rhineland mystics and etymology of a variety of languages as if it is nothing. I am not very keen on (modern) philosophy, but with his cross references and explanations based on Norse myth and culture, Svarte managed to keep my attention. In one fascination essay Svarte looks for translations of Heideggers term “Dasein” in several old and contemporary Northern European languages.

The texts of Svarte sometimes go over my head, but he comes with enough interesting insights and ways of looking at and explaining things, that his difficult book makes a great read.

Northern mythology and Traditionalism already is an uncommon combination, but here we also have an author who makes the combination wonderfully and brings in a lot of other angles to make his points.

2020 Arktos Media, isbn 1912975866

The Return Of Holy Russia – Gary Lachman (2020)

  • history

Lachman’s books are mostly ‘esoteric histories’, but the present title is more a political or social history. Of Russia, needless to say. Even though the book is somewhat interesting, my preference for ‘esoteric history’ over social history was confirmed.

Vladimir Putin (1952-) presented a list of recommended literature. Lachman had an interest in Russian literature and recognised some of the authors. Some he did not. Piecing things together became a book about Russian history.

Russian history is interesting and complex. In spite of the size of the country, Russian identity changed several times from Viking to Mongol to Christian to staunchly atheistic. And not to forget politics drastically changed multiple times. One regime was open to religion and esotericism, the next was not.

The book explains certain events in recent history. The back cover is more promising concering Russian esoteric movents than what is actually in between the covers, but you also get an idea of “Silver Age” thinkers, philosophers fleeing Russia, the variety of influences, etc.

All in all the book is interesting, but I would have preferred less focus on the social and more on the esoteric history of the country.

2020 Inner Traditions, isbn 1620558106

Masonic Myths and Legends – Pierre Mollier (2022)

I find the title of this book not too well chosen. The book is not about myths or legends, but a collection of essays investigating Masonic history. Pierre Mollier (1961-) is member of the Grand Orient de France, director of their museum in Paris and one of the most productive and interesting Masonic investigators of our time. Most of his work is written in French, so it is good that a compilation of his texts are made available in English. Only a few, the book is only 150 pages.

Some of the subjects in this book are much ‘in flux’ nowadays (early history of the ‘high degrees’), so it would have been nice to know when the different texts were written. Since the beginning of this millennium the investigation of the history of ‘high degrees’ has taken a high flight. This is mostly because the archives that the Nazis robbed and landed in Russia after WWII were returned. French archives proved to contain invaluable texts that had been gone for over half a century. Many old ritual texts, early versions of rituals that we still know, but also rituals that did not make it.

This is but one of the subjects in Mollier’s book though. He also writes about a Masonic book plate from 1657, connections between Freemasonry and Knightly orders, general early Masonic history, “the Jewish and Christian sources of the legend of the vault” and also French Masonic developments in the context of development of French society, etc.

All in all a nice little book. Hopefully also some of Mollier’s in depth investigations will become available in English as well.

2022 Westphalia Press, isbn 1637238282

Exploring The Vault – John Belton & Roger Dachez (2024)

Even though the publisher Westphalia Press is located in the conservative South of the USA, they publish many books about the French/continental approach to Freemasonry. Also they publish serious Masonic investigations. What is even better, they are neither an academic, nor an internal publishing house, so many of their books can be purchased for normal prices and by anyone, not just members of certain lodges for research for example.

This is one such deep diving scholarly Masonic publications that can be bought in paperback or hardcover. The book is subtitled: “Masonic Higher Degrees 1730-1800”. The authors (an Englishman and a Frenchman) complain about the facts that many scholars keep repeating that nothing much happened in Freemasonry between 1730 (the publication of “Masonry Dissected”) and 1760 (“Three Distinct Knocks”). Also that their predecessors keep repeating the same quotes without context; that they focus only on the “craft” degrees or a specific degree and a particular country. This the authors decided to turn over and show that actually a lot happened and that links can be found when you do not focus on one country and a specific (set of) degree(s).

In the book the authors go from the earliest mentions of ‘high degrees’ in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and a few other countries. They went to check on the proof that previous authors have used and sometimes have to conclude that the unsubstantiated claims are made even by academic investigators. Belton and Dachez reviewed evidence, looked for new information and paint a picture in which things are not so neatly divided as some want. There are much stronger links between Freemasonry in the mentioned countries than some think. Influences back and forth, new degrees that rapidly pop up in another part of Europe or even South or North America.

400+ Pages with detailed information about a broad spectrum of ‘high degrees’ and because the authors also investigate where they came from, you will also learn about the appearance of the third degree. Enormous amounts of information have been checked, authors they cite are consulted and new information was found. Highly interesting!

A minor point of criticism is that the book can use an extra redaction. There are quite a few typos (also in years), strange use of words as if Dachez wrote his texts in France and they were translated automatically, while notes are left untranslated), sentences and quotes that are printed twice. These sorts of things.

There is also a French version of the book: “Les Premiers Hauts Grades écossais – L’énigme des origines (1730-1800)”.

2024 Westphalia Press, isbn 978163319501

The Archetypal Temple – Jaime Paul Lamb (2011)

It is a bit ironic. I am always looking for a contemporary esoteric approach to Freemasonry, but the few books that appear, are not too interesting to me. All Tria Prima books so far are alright, but not great. Unfortunately also the second book by Lamb is no exception.

The Archetypal Temple: and Other Writings On Masonic Esotericism contains mostly short essays that have mostly been published before. The book covers a variety of esoteric and occult topics combined with Freemasonry. Lamb obviously has a preference for astrology and Tarot. You will also get a bit of Hermeticism, ceremonial magic and more typical Masonic subjects such as the lost word and virtues.

Lamb speaks not only of “craft” degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason) by the way and even an organisation such as Societas Rosicruciana is written about.

The texts are alright to read, there are some interesting thoughts here and there, but I was not exactly ‘blown away’.

Best order your book from Lulu.com. Amazon said they do not ship to my country, Lulu had no problems with that.

2021 Lulu.com, isbn 1716319307

Illuminating the legacy of Marija Gimbutas – Harald Haarmann (2023)

Every once in a while I wonder why I never read anything of Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994). When that thought occurred to me while I was looking for something to read, I somehow ended up buying not a book by Gimbutas, but once about her.

Gimbutas was a Lithuania born archaeologist and anthropologist who had theories that were not always well received. Also her ideas are often misrepresented and shoved aside for the wrong reasons. Haarmann sets out to show that Gimbutas’ ideas were actually groundbreaking and more and more scholars start to realise that they make sense.

Two ideas of Gimbutas get the most thought in this book. That of “Old Europe” and that of her often-called “matriarchal” approach. The latter is not true, argues Haarmann.

The most import part of Gimbutas’ writings is that she argued that before the Indo-Europeans came to these parts, there was “Old Europe”, mostly in the region where now is Lithuania. These ‘Old Europeans’ had a much different society than the later Indo-Europeans. Their society was egalitarian (not “matriarchal”) and respectful. They did not need weapons, had (trade) contacts over enormous areas and apparently shared ideas, also with other cultures. This “Old European” culture has left many more traces in our past and present than is usually acknowledged. Haarmann works out a few examples of how well-known elements of Greek culture are actually not Indo-European, but “Old European”.

Rather than repeating her writings, Haarmann looks at recent investigations that are either based on Gimbutas’ ideas or confirm them. Interesting, but the approach is a bit too historical for my liking.

2023 3987950196, Seubert Verlag

The Grand Communication – Nathan Schick (2023)

In 2020 a group of American Freemasons with ‘esoteric leanings’ started a website with postcast and after a while “Tria Prima Press”. After two books in 2021, this is the third title that has been made available.

“What does stodgy Freemasonry have to do with alchemy, Hermeticism, brewing beer, or the quest for the Philosopher’s Stone?” Interesting questions. I must say that the book is only mildly interesting though.

Schick comes mostly with a fairly general history of Western esotericism. Here and there is a bit more focus on the subjects of alcohol and Freemasonry enters the book only towards the end. Schick sees another than just a practical reason for the use of taverns for lodge meetings in the early days of modern Freemasonry which is perhaps the original twist to the book.

That Hiram is a replacement for Hermes is not an entirely new suggestion and unfortunately Schick does not really have more information about how exactly that happened (just that ‘it was Desagulier’). More in detail (though not new ones) is the story of the introduction of the third degree.

There are some accents laid differently from other books, but The Grand Communication did not teach me anything that I did not already know. If you are not too familiar with Western esotericism, how it relates to Freemasonry, the early days with “Modern” , “Antient” and York Grand lodges, Schick’s book makes an easy to read introduction.

2023 Tria Prima, isbn 9781312127005

Understanding Indo-European Cosmology, Theology, and Metaphysics – Zachary Gill (2022)

The Kindle edition of this book has “Hammer & Vajra Book 3” in the title, so I suppose I read the books in the ‘correct order’ after all.

After a more Eastern centered book, this time Gill takes the path that we got to know in the first book of the series. It is mostly centered around Germanic and Vedic myth and religion, but the research spreads across all Indo-European religions and beyond.

I hope that this book unveils a deeper understanding of our faith through an apologetic defence.

Gill writes early in the book. This volume is mostly built on earlier shorter texts about a variety of subjects. Some chapters are better than others. Gill picks up specific themes with such subjects of the Sky Father, giants, eschatology, “on magics”, werewolves, the Kali Yuga, the left hand path, etc., etc.

Just like the previous two books of the trilogy, an alright read.

2022 Hammer & Vajra, isbn 979-8367227499

The ‘Universal Language’ of Freemasonry – Christina Voss (2004)

This dissertation is frequently cited both by Masons and non-Masons alike, so I decided to track it down and read it. I was surprisingly unimpressed…

It is not that the book is without merit. As a linguist, Voss investigates the language of Freemasonry. Words, their contexts, the different meanings, etc. Plus, the author explains a lot of symbols and -without images- is partly a bit of a Masonic encyclopaedia.

For an author who is specifically after the meaning of words, Voss is strangely inaccurate with some words and phrases. She speaks of “androgynous orders” such as that of the Amaranth (“a Masonic-affiliated organization for Master Masons and their Ladies founded in 1873” (Wikipedia)). Strictly speaking the description is not incorrect, but Voss makes no distinction between mixed gender Masonically affiliated orders such as the Amaranth or the Order of the Eastern Star or Freemasonry that includes all genders. She even manages to use the term “Co-Masonry” for the Order of the Eastern Star, while this term was specifically coined to describe Freemasonry (not a side order with different rituals and symbols) that includes women.
Also she appears to wrote from a “regular” perspective, even managing to compare Cagliostro to Taxil. Just as in the previous example, Voss might have been more nuanced.

On to the positive points of the book then. The author describes a fair range of ‘Freemasonries’ and “androgynous” and youth orders. The focus lays on Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry, but the book is certainly not exclusive to it. Voss goes into symbols and words, but also into the rituals of many of the organisations mentioned. Towards the end there is information about anti-Masonry, Freemasonry in the theatre, even Masonic comics.

Parts of the work (of about 900 pages!) are good to read. Some revisions would help. There are also chapters that are less of my interest. All in all a book to have a look at some time, but not one that needs to be very high up on your list.

2004 De Gruyter

The Secret Pillars Of The OTO – Isaac Pendragon (2024)

I happened to stumble upon a recent publication of and about the Ordo Templi Orientis. Apparently the OTO decided to do something about transparency and communication and published this 128 page booklet.

The book reads like the OTO hired some communication, management guru. There are six chapters, each introduced with an advertising text, like on the back:

Discover the hidden pillars of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), a journey into the mystical paths of one of history’s most fascinating esoteric societies. Isaac Pendragon unveils the profound mysteries and teachings defining the OTO in this groundbreaking work

Terms such as “analysis”, “delving deep”, “comprehensive evaluation” are abound, but the information remains short and shallow. A chapter introduction promises either of the quoted phrases and the subject gets five lines. On top of that, there is a lot of repetition. Almost every page explains that the phrase “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”: “is not a call for hedonism, but a directive to align one’s actions with their true will”. Also the importance of Reuss and Crowley is stated again and again, often in similar sentences, but without much real information. It is like some communication agency actually wrote the texts for a website.

I would really have liked to learn about the history in more detail, the philosophy, the rituals, the organisation (how many groups, where, how many members, etc.), but The Secret Pillars Of The OTO mostly seems to be more of an advertisement aimed at prospective members, than a guide for researchers. Sure, you will learn a thing or two about the organisation, but I hope that this is the first book in a series and that after this introduction, the ‘information density’ becomes a bit higher.

2024 Tredition, isbn 3384152859