The Muslim Brotherhood in the West remains a mysterious entity. In The Closed Circle, Lorenzo Vidino offers an unprecedented inside view into how one of the world's most influential Islamist groups operates. He marshals unique interviews with prominent former members and associates from Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America, shedding light on why and how people join and leave Western outfits of the Muslim Brotherhood. Drawing on these striking personal accounts, Vidino weaves together the experiences of individuals who participated in and later renounced Brotherhood groups. Their perspectives provide a wealth of new information about the Brotherhood's secretive inner workings and the networks that connecting the small yet highly organized cluster of Brotherhood-influenced groups. The Closed Circle examines the tactics the Brotherhood uses to recruit and retain participants as well as how and why individuals make the difficult decision to leave. Through the stories of diverse former members, Vidino paints a portrait of a highly structured, tight-knit movement. His unprecedented access and understanding of the group's activities and motivations has significant policy implications concerning Western Brotherhood organizations and also illuminates the underlying mechanisms found in a range of extremist groups.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1894 Edition.

THIS 7 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Woman and Freemasonry, by Dudley Wright. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766100901.

C.W. Leadbeater offers an enlightened study of the Path of Discipleship under the Guidance of the Ascended Masters. While existing in our troubled world, we can see in this work the place of initiation and its role in both our spiritual and physical selves. Beautifully written in a manner to both guide and instruct, this classic book is of timeless value to all students of Initiation and Guided Wisdom.

2013 Reprint of 1946 Fifth Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Mr. Hall, himself an honorary 33x Mason, reveals the profounder aspects of this ancient Fraternity which has been a source of inspiration to so many individuals through the centuries. The basic symbolism of the three degrees of the Blue Lodge is explained. The text can be read with profit by both new and old Masons, for within its pages lies an interpretation of Masonic symbolism which supplements the monitorial instruction usually given in the lodges. The leading Masonic scholars of all times have agreed that the symbols of the Fraternity are susceptible of the most profound interpretation and thus reveal to the truly initiated certain secrets concerning the spiritual realities of life. Freemasonry is therefore more than a mere social organization a few centuries old, and can be regarded as a perpetuation of the philosophical mysteries and initiations of the ancients. This is in keeping with the inner tradition of the Craft, a heritage from pre-Revival days. The present volume will appeal to the thoughtful Mason as an inspiring work, for it satisfies the yearning for further light and leads the initiate to that Sanctum Sanctorum where the mysteries are revealed. The book is a contribution to Masonic idealism, revealing the profounder aspects of our ancient and gentle Fraternity - those unique and distinctive features which have proved a constant inspiration through the centuries. Chapters Include: Chapter I - The Eternal Quest Chapter II - The Candidate Chapter III - The Entered Apprentice Chapter IV - The Fellow Craft Chapter V - The Master Mason Chapter VI - The Qualifications of a True Mason Epilogue

Symbolic images are the alphabet underlying all Mystery traditions. It has been stated that Albert Pike's "Magnum Opus Morals and Dogma" no longer has any relevance to Scottish Rite Masons. For many, it has become an esoteric antediluvian composition, a momentous work deemed too difficult for the average person to comprehend or to glean information from. Albert Pike composed his esoteric information so as not to reveal any Masonic secrets, understanding that non-Mason and Mason alike would be exploring the degrees contained within. Could he have concealed information within his writings, as did many of the great artists and thinkers of the past? For the first time, Professor Len Seymour provides an interpretation of the enigmatic drawing of an Egyptian Stele found in Pike's book, "Morals and Dogma," the timeless and hidden symbolism of which has remained a mystery until now.

Over the years many myths have built up about one of the founders of the Golden Dawn, Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers. Many of these have been created by those who wish to damn the Golden Dawn and its system of magic or by those who want to naively believe a bogus magical story about the Order and its founders. In King Over the Water, Golden Dawn magician Nick Farrell paints a picture of the founders of the Golden Dawn becoming out of their depth as the Order began to create magicians. Rather than painting Mathers as an eccentric genius, Farrell sees him as an autocratic fantasist. He sees Mathers struggling to keep up as his students rapidly became better than him at the system he created, and shows how he was unable to raise his game to help the Order develop further. In what is a portrait of the problems that could befall any esoteric leader, Farrell (author of Gathering The Magic, a textbook on magical group dynamics) reveals how Mathers' later rituals were an attempt to remove the magic from the system he created so that he could milk it for money. Included are previously unpublished papers from Mathers' own version of the Golden Dawn, the Alpha et Omega, including the original Z documents, the full version of the Book of the Tomb (a key document for creating a Vault of the Adepts), the original method for the consecration of the sword, and much more. King Over the Water is the prequel to Farrell's groundbreaking expose on the Alpha et Omega, Mathers' Last Secret, and provides another look into the mind of a magician that helped develop the magic we use today.

2011 Reprint of 1906 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Fully describes the first three degrees of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Pike is best known for his major work, "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry," originally published in 1871. "Morals and Dogma' was traditionally given to the candidate upon his receipt of the 14th degree of the Scottish Rite. This practice was stopped in 1974. "Morals and Dogma" has not been given to candidates since 1974. A classic work on the subject.

GUIDE TO THE THREE SYMBOLIC DEGREES OF THE ANCIENT YORK RITE AND TO THE DEGREES OF MARK MASTER, PAST MASTER, MOST EXCELLENT MASTER, AND THE ROYAL ARCH. The purpose of this work is not so much to gratify the curiosity of the uninitiated as to furnish a guide for the neophytes of the Order, by means of which their progress from grade to grade may be facilitated. Every statement in the book is authentic, as every proficient Mason will admit to himself, if not to be public, as he turns over its pages. The non-Masonic reader, as he peruses them, will perhaps be puzzled to imagine why matters of so little real importance to society at large should have been so industriously concealed for centuries, and still more surprised that society should have been so extremely inquisitive about them. Complete with over 100 illustrations showing the signs, emblems, handshakes, postions, ect...

The Higher Degrees in Freemasonry and Who Was Hiram Abiff?

THIS 56 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbolry Being a Dissertation on the Lost Knowledges of the Lodge, by H. P. H. Bromwell. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564594173.

An excellent collection of several esoteric writings. Chapters on: The First Books of Masonry; Theosophy and Masonry; Pythagoras and Freemasonry; The Number-Letter System; King Solomon's Temple; Symbolism; and "AUM, the Lost Word." And much more

THIS 22 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Official History of Freemasonry Among the Colored People in North America, by William H. Grimshaw. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564594874.

Or a Guide to the Three Symbolic Degrees of the Ancient York Rite and to the Degrees of Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and the Royal Arch. Explained and interpreted by copious notes and numerous engravings. Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor will be a cherished possession of any Mason who receives it. Retaining all the traditional charm of McKay's Standard Edition, this volume includes both the Guide to the Three Symbolic Degrees of the Ancient York Rite and to the degree of Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and the Royal Arch, as written by Malcolm C. Duncan.

1924. The craft needs a large literature of books as this. Private students and members of study clubs should master it paragraph by paragraph. Masters and Wardens and all others entrusted with the exemplification of our marvelous Masonic Ritual will find in it such light on all the important symbols of the Three Degrees and will give them and their audience a new interest in the work and a new appreciation of the inexhaustible wealth hidden away within the heart of Ancient Craft Masonry.-H.L. Haywood.

1901. Being the Opening, Closing, Secret Work and Lectures of the Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master and Royal Arch Degrees. Illustrated.

1928. The Letter "G," Lodge, Altar, Holy Bible, Square, Compasses, Level and Plumb, and Common Gavel; Secrecy; More Light; Cable-Tow; Rite of Destitution; NE Corner; Master's Piece; Cradle and the Lodge; Erring Brother; Ruffians; Acacia Leaves and Easter Lillies, plus much more!