42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kalifornia Dreaming, July 1, 2008
This review is from: Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall (Paperback)
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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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Behind the "Mystery", August 1, 2008
This review is from: Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall (Paperback)
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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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly the master of the mysteries..., July 6, 2008
This review is from: Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall (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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