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Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall [Paperback]

Louis Sahagun
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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Book Description

July 1, 2008

“And for anyone wishing to learn more about Manly Hall, Louis Sahagun's gripping biography is an insightful look at the life and times of one of the last century's most important mystical thinkers.”—The Fortean Times

In 1919, a Canadian teenager with a sixth grade education arrived by train to the wilds of Los Angeles. Within a decade he had transformed himself into a world-renowned occult scholar.

His name was Manly Palmer Hall, author of the landmark publication The Secret Teachings of All Ages, regarded as the best introduction to Western esoteric ideas, and the founder of the Philosophical Research Society, which houses one of the biggest occult libraries in the United States.

Hall became the twentieth century’s most prolific writer and speaker on ancient philosophies, mysticism, and magic, and a confidant of Hollywood celebrities and politicians. In 1990, he died—some say he was strangled—in what remains an open-ended Hollywood murder mystery worthy of Raymond Chandler.

Master of The Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall offers an intimate portrait of this elusive luminary who set as his life’s work the daunting task of reconciling scientific reason with ancient wisdom—issues that seekers and scientists still struggle with today.

Author Louis Sahagun draws from Hall’s massive archives and a wealth of interviews to provide an insider’s view of the birth of a metaphysical subculture that continues to have a profound influence on movies, television, music, books, art, and thought.


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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Louis Sahagun is a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times. He was a reporter involved in a Times series on Latinos in Southern California that won a Pulitzer Prize. His work ranges from religion and the environment to crime and politics. He lives with his wife and daughter in California.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 300 pages
  • Publisher: Process (July 1, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 193417002X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1934170021
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #402,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
(23)
4.5 out of 5 stars
It is well researched and the author, in the main, genuinely admires his subject. Thomas F. Vallowe  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
Manly P. Hall is an enigma to 20th Century occult and philosophy. Gregory Stewart  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
This is an addictive read that I just couldn't put down and I highly recommend it. A. W. Holtzapple  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 45 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Kalifornia Dreaming July 1, 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a deliciously gossipy & insightful book on one of the major figures in 20th century American esotericism. Manly P. Hall was America's answer to Madame Blavatsky and served to pioneer and document the rise of southern California as an occult Mecca. His Philosophical Research Society was a major influence through its publications in educating and influencing many to the cross cultural currents of comparative myth and religion. The cast of characters he encountered serves as a who's who of the American metaphysical underground between the 1920's through 1950's. Both noble and pathetic at times like occultism itself, this book never ceases to fascinate. A careful reading will also reveal several typos and errors that better editing should have caught.

Mr. Sahagun is a remarkable writer who I hope to read more of. His research is impeccable and many of those who played a role in Hall's life opened their hearts, minds and doors to him in documenting this larger than life figure both literally and figuratively. Knowing some of the people in this book that knew Hall and associated with him over the years this biography rings true from the stories I have heard from those that knew the "Maestro".

On another level, fans of Kenneth Anger's classic "Hollywood Babylon" will find much to keep them amused, the occult Hollywood subculture is here with such revelations as Rhonda Fleming's alternative health regime, Glenn Ford's belief in reincarnation and astrology (did you know he had a deformed spine that resulted in the need for special camera angles in the films he appeared in?), John Denver's unrequited attempt to become Hall's disciple, to Gloria Swanson's (the real Norma Desmond) finding a crashed flying saucer in the Hollywood hills? Culminating like a Greek tragedy in the mysterious death of this master of the mysteries- will linger in the mind of the reader long after the last page is read.
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Behind the "Mystery" August 1, 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For those of us who were in Los Angeles during the final days of Manly Hall, this book is spot on. The incidents surrounding his death were in dispute for some time. It was refreshing to learn so much about Hall's early days,
the recorded documents and how he retold his own history. The evolution of the spiritual phenomenon in this city form Hall's arrival up to his death was great, warts and all. The new age, really, is just another cycle of a recurrent theme in the history of personal spiritual movements complete with real saints, real seekers, real con-artists. For myself who had heard him speak and who was at Hall's last lecture that evening at the Scottish Rite in Los Angeles, this book is great.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly the master of the mysteries... July 6, 2008
Format:Paperback
Manly P. Hall is an enigma to 20th Century occult and philosophy. Born into a new century of development and industry, Hall inherited a passionate interest in all things metaphysical with a deep drive to find its place to mankind. Rather than to try to sell his knowledge as a swami or magician, or to impose his will to how it should be perceived, Hall instead gave his life to studying and lecturing on what he discovered, and at his end he most likely lost his life as a result if it.

In the new book by Louis Sahagun, Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall chronicles the obscure life of the man who is more noted for his life's work rather than his day to day travails. Written in a decade by decade narrative, very early on it becomes clear that Hall was fully immersed in his work and growing proficiency to explain it to others, despite his limited education. Though not flawless, Hall managed to produce the largest and greatest compendium of esoteric wisdom in the 20th Century aptly titled The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Reader's Edition) and just as the name implies it delivers the education.

Another interesting aspect of the book is the examination of the occult history of Los Angeles and how it played into ensuing decades towards the 21st Century. Notable celebrities, politicians, and rocket scientists all played a role in the growing cities esoteric and occult community, where Hall stood as a consistent beacon of light within his humble Philosophical Research Society. To note, Hall was a Freemason, raised November 22, 1954 in Jewel Lodge No. 374, in San Francisco. His written work on Freemasonry predates his having been made a Mason, and stopped following his degrees.

Sahagun's work is an excellent program to accompany Hall's body of work which spans over 50 texts and 3000 public lecture. In an almost encyclopedic fashion Sahagun hits every high point of his subjects' life, and then carries us though his low points. In some ways you can read between the lines and divine the reasons why so many past sages emphasize less their life and more their work. At the end of his life, Hall's great work of discovery ended in as equally great a mystery as those that he studied, reminding us of the frailties of the human condition, no matter what our degree of enlightenment.

I highly recommend the book Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall by Louis Sahagun, published by Process. It will give any reader, fan or foe, an excellent perspective to the master of the mysteries himself, Manly P. Hall, and illustrate his unshakable devotion to them.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall
I found this an interesting study in the life of a complex character. If you enjoy listening to his series of lectures on YouTube, you will like this book.
Published 3 months ago by Irene Lamothe
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Story well-told
Well-written and page-turning reading, this bio of Manly P. Hall follows the life of one of Americas great sages, a leader in the early "New Age" movement in Los Angeles. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Wizardwanderer
5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous
This is one of the most interesting and engaging books I've read in a long time. Wonderfully well written, telling the story of the remarkable life and sad demise of the an equally... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Dr. C. H. Roberts
3.0 out of 5 stars Around and about Hall, rather than within Hall
This was more about what was happening around Hall, rather than what happened within Hall. I would have liked more snippets from Hall's writings and lectures scattered throughout... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Gary Oppenhuis
4.0 out of 5 stars Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall
An excellent introduction to the life and teachings of the preeminent American occultist after H.P. Blavatsky. Read more
Published on January 27, 2011 by Michael E. Hugill
4.0 out of 5 stars The Maestro
After reading numerous books of manly and listening to his lectures on the esoteric and mysteries of mankind, it was an absolute pleasure to have a biography finally written about... Read more
Published on November 18, 2010 by S. Dudgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Entertaining
I agree with the other reviewers who say that this book is very evocative, especially of several difficult to imagine places and time periods, the very esoteric world of LA at the... Read more
Published on August 29, 2010 by Peter P. Fuchs
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Tarnished Idol?!
Say it ain't so! After reviewing M.P. Hall's "Meditation Symbols in Eastern & Western Mysticism", I was motivated to get Sahagun's biography of Hall. Read more
Published on June 26, 2010 by Thomas F. Vallowe
4.0 out of 5 stars A long overdue biography
I initially became acquainted with Hall and his work in the 1970's, long after his professional apogee, during the period of his slow decline (although, at the time, I was unaware... Read more
Published on May 14, 2010 by Wade F. Waldrip
5.0 out of 5 stars The mystic of Los Feliz
This biography of Manly P. Hall takes the reader on an intriguing journey into the life of one of the 20th century's most influential thinkers. Read more
Published on January 10, 2010 by Soo Suk Kok
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