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The Primordial Tradition Of Ancient China – Matgioi (1905-2026)

Eugène Albert Puyou de Pouvourville (1861-1939) spent much of his life in the far East. There he studied old texts and was one of the first Westerners to write about it. La Voie Métaphysique (‘The Metaphysical Path’) was translated and introduced by Joscelyn Godwin.

The introduction is lengthy. Godwin used 55 pages to introduce Matgioi, his life, his writings and the social context in which his works appeared. Matgioi knew the work of René Guénon and Godwin put extra stress on this link by changing the title of the book.

Matgioi works thematically through works such as the I Ching (“Yijing”) and those of Lao Tze and Kongzi (Confucius). The first part is the most interesting as he explains the hexagrams of the Tao Te King, concepts of mostly Chinese thinking, etc. Later on the chapters appear to be more general.

I actually found this book through a Facebook ad. It certainly was not a bad call. The book is not ‘Traditionalistic’ like those of Guénon, but it is interesting to see an early view on far Eastern thinking and an attempt to explain it to Westerners through the lens of Traditionalism.

2026 Inner Traditions, isbn 979-8888501467

The Life And Death Of John Yarker – David Harrison (2024)

As the author says, a biography of John Yarker (1833-1913) was long overdue. In 2024 finally the book that Yarker deserved came out through the British Masonic publisher Lewis Masonic.

Here I immediately saw a problem. Since Brexit, getting books from the UK is not only expensive, but also a pain. It will get stuck at customs, I have to pay extra, etc. I waited out the second edition (there was a luxury edition first) in the hope that it would appear in the catalogues of continental booksellers, but still no luck. I got the second (paperback) edition and had the problems that I expected…

Harrison wrote a 350+ book about one of the most interesting Masonic authors or the last century. Joining “regular” Freemasonry at a young age, Yarker got a liking for the esoteric, but soon realised that “regular” Freemasonry was not going to fulfil his needs. He slowly but surely started to move towards the “fringes” of the world of Freemasonry. Exotic rites, exotic organisations, some linked to Freemasonry, some not. Yarker performed historical investigations, transcribed rituals, wrote rituals, founded a wealth of different organisations, had a vast network and liked to collect titles, both Masonic and other.

From the early days of his life, detailed descriptions of Yarker’s Masonic career, the people he was in contact with, the orders that he founded, how people viewed him, how his work continued after his death (including the development of the OTO ritual) an extensive bibliography. Harrison created a wonderful biograpy of a wonderful man, a biography that was long overdue.

2024/5 Lewis Masonic

Hermes Unveiled – Cycliani (1915/2024)

Another V Bros translation. An alchemist that went by the name Cycliani wrote a report about his efforts in finding the philosopher’s stone.

The short book is a bit of a storytelling description of operations and what happens.

Not boring, but not all that interesting.

2024 V Bros

Theories And Symbols Of Hermetic Philosophy – Oswald Wirth (1910/2024)

This is a translation of Théories et symboles de la philosophie hermétique (1910). It is yet another V Bros transalation of Laura Gaie.

I bought a few V Bros Kindle publications at the same time and by the time I started reading Theories and Symbols I no longer remembered that it was of Wirth. It is but a short book (54 pages in print) and the whole time I was thinking: mildly interesting, not very groundbreaking or new.

Wirth presents some fairly basic alchemical and Hermetic ideas and makes a reference to Freemasonry here and there. The little book is not boring, but do not expect ‘revelations’.

2024 V Bros, isbn 2487364424

The Mason’s Words – Robert Davis (2013)

I bought this book because I cannot quite can get my head around the: “The History and Evolution of the American Masonic Ritual” as the subtitle of this book goes. Davis answers quite some questions, but it seems that he assumes that his audience has sufficient knowledge of contemporary American Freemasonry.

The book comes with an extraordinary lengthy introduction to the actual subject, but I understand why. Davis starts at the dawn of modern Freemasonry in England. He works himself through prehistory (“Old Charges”), early catechisms, exposures, the beginning of the third degree and most importantly, the different types of lodges that were founded in what was to become the USA.

Of course there was the ‘premiere Grand Lodge’ (1717), but there were other early Grand Lodges such as that of Ireland (1725), Scotland (1736) and more, who all chartered lodges in the colonies. This led to a great variety of different ways of working, results of which are still visible today in spite of many and lengthy attempts at uniformity.

And so you get the story of the lecturers / ritualists, early “monitors” and “cyphers” and how, in the end, large parts of American Freemasonry started to be somewhat similar, while other (grand) lodges wanted to stick to their ancient practices.

What I miss in this book is that the reader may get an idea of what is meant with “Preston/Webb”, but apparently the author thinks that his audience knows how the famous “York Rite” came to be. It is just suddenly there. Also differences in “Masonic ritual” are not as much different rites in the book, but variations to what is commonly known as “Preston/Webb”, while I assume that there are indeed different rites in the USA.

The book sure is interesting and I especially applaud Davis for being clear about the fact that different early Masonic traditions found their way to the colonies. This explains the patchwork of American Freemasonry, but an extra chapter about the York and other rites would be welcome.

2013 Building Stone Publishing, isbn 061585382X

The Hiram Myth and Master Mason’s initiation – Gérard de Nerval (1851/2024)

  • novel

Next up in my reading up with esoteric writings of a century ago is this: “story of the queen of the morning and Soliman, prince of the geniuses”.

The book is announced as a: “fascinating exploration of the esoteric dimensions of Freemasonry”. Gérard de Nerval (née Labrunie, 1808-1855) was a novelist. I suppose I hoped that the present title would be more than just a novel. Well, it is not…

Set in a Turkish story telling coffee house, the story of Hiram is supposedly told by a story teller to his audience. That is what it is: a story. The ‘myth’ as we know it in Freemasonry is touched upon here and there, but De Nerval’s story is larger and not necessarily more interesting.

1851 / 2024 V Bros

Ferburgen Fryslân / Hidden Frisia – Willem Schoorstra (2025)

This luxury, hardcover, full-colour, glossy paper book was presented late 2025. It is by-lingual (Frisian and English) (“In reis troch myte, magy en religy / A journey through myth, magic and faith”) and contains a lot of photos.

Schoorstra is an author with a preference of ancient Frisia. He decided to make a book with pre- and early-Christian remains in Frisia. He concentrated on the North-Eastern part (the German and Dutch parts) with a few sidesteps to the province of Groningen, but disregarding “West-Frisia” on the Western side of the IJsselmeer.

The book starts with nice, short chapters about stone coffins, sun-stones and cup-marks. As the book continues, the chapters becomes longer and longer. Myths, remains of funeral paths, hunebeds, burial mounds, old remains of pagan sites, house-marks, offering stones, etc. etc. Because I only had to read half of the book, the 376 pages flew by.

The English translations (I did not even try to read the Frisian) are not always great, but the result is an interesting book that shows how much there is to discover in the rural North of the Netherlands. Schoorstra has gathered some nice information and presents some of his own insights and refers to his predecessors in the field.

2025 Het Nieuwe Kanaal, isbn 949245758X

The Mystery of the Cathedrals – Fulcanelli (1922/2024)

  • alchemy

For some reason I always thought this book is much older. I also thought that it was about building symbolism. Obviously, I never got to read it until I found it in the catalogue of V Bros publishing.

“Fulcanelli (fl. 1920s) was the name used by a French alchemist and esoteric writer, whose identity is still debated”. Thus says Wikipedia. Indeed, the book is not about building symbolism, but about Alchemical symbolism in a number of cathedrals in Paris (mostly the Notre Dame), Amiens and Bourges.

The book makes me wonder about the renovated Notre Dame. The author refers to statues, bass reliefs, etc. that were already very worn in his day. Would the renovators after the fire have had access to drawings of what the images looked like originally and are they now better than when Fulcanelli wrote his book? Or are all images that are not understand or of which that were no photos or images simply left out?

Fulcanelli describes a lot of images from a variety of cathedrals and a few churches and explain the Alchemical symbolism as he saw it. This results in a interesting read about hidden symbolism and some good information about Alchemy and its operations. The book is not a manual or anything, but an interesting product of the interest in Alchemy of a century ago.

1922 / 2024 V Bros, isbn 2487364386

American Freemasonry – Alain de Keghel (2017)

A French Freemason writes about Freemasonry in America. Touchy!

As you may know, Freemasony in France and America developed along very different lines. America became more and more conservative and religious and France progressive and secular. This has led to continuing clashes up until today.

The author of this book is a French Freemason who spent much time in the USA for work. All that time he was active both in French and American Freemasonry and in this book he gives his views on the history, present and future of American Freemasonry in particular and Freemasonry in general.

In the early days, American Freemasonry owes a lot to France. Famous Freemasons such as Benjamin Franklin and Marquis de Lafayette were initiated in France. They are honoured on both sides of Atlantic. What was to become of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite reached the USA from France. Still, this shared history does not really soften the relations.

In the present book you can read about early Freemasonry in America, black Freemasonry, charity, the women-question, how relations with French Freemasonry keep changing, membership numbers, etc.

The perspective is obviously French and even though De Keghel has valid points frequently, I am not sure if this will convince American Freemasons that these are two branches of the same tree. De Keghel describes places where the two branches meet and has suggestions for further cooperation, which does not involve recognition per se.

“American Freemasonry” gives an interesting insight in how wide the subject of Freemasonry is, but it is not like you will learn anything about the development of the Duncan ritual for example. It is more a social (/French?) approach to the subject.

2017 Inner Traditions, isbn 1620556057

Alchemical Hermeticism: The Secret Teachings of Marco Daffi on Initiation – David Pantano (2025)

Baron Ricciardo Ricciardelli (1900-1969) was one of the interesting characters in the Italian esoteric scene of the early 20th century. Ricciardelli used the esoteric name Mörköhekdaph which was later Italianized to the name that he became best known by: Marco Daffi.

For a while, Daffi was in contact with Guiliano Kremmerz (1861–1930 born Ciro Formisano) and also he was familiar with Julius Evola (1898-1974). Even though there is overlap in the subjects that these people and the groups around them studied, and overlap in the people around them, the ‘esoteric scene’ of Italy was not homogenous.

David Pantano presents an interesting anthology with works of Daffi. Much of the material comes from Giammaria Gonnella, a long time contact of Daffi. The present book spans 350+ pages, has letters of Daffi to different people, some articles, and different approaches to the “vitae Daffianae” (biography).

The book is not a nicely structured book with Daffi’s teachings, but a huge pile of very welcome information about and of an interesting thinker and troubled man. It is really great to see that this type of material is getting more and more available and also in English.

2025 Inner Traditions, isbn 1644119978