Customer Reviews

The Secret Temple: Masons, Mysteries, and the Founding of America

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Peter Levenda's books just keep getting better and better. In this beautiful edition (featuring cover design by the buzzworthy Sarah Rainwater), Levenda attempts to answer a question he posed in Sinister Forces-The Manson Secret: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft (Bk. 3): "Who are we as Americans?" If this question seems intractably vague, Levenda suggests, it may be because our post-Enlightenment rationalism has willfully blinded us to the nature of national identity, which exists in the "hidden side of things" - the magic, mythic consciousness of pre-modern (pre-Modernist?) societies. We don't have to take voodoo seriously to appreciate that others do, and that it is a powerful explantory and interpretive principle in their lives. And when we ignore the power of magic and ritual, we discount the dominant psychology and causal understanding of most of humanity, for most of human history. As Levenda explains here, this included the Founders. And, whether we know it or not, it includes us as well.

The Secret Temple is an attempt to dig into the forgotten mystical soil that nurtured the roots of Enlightenment rationalism. And it's a weird trip, leading all the way from Hiram of Tyre to Salt Lake City. The broad strokes of Levenda's story will be familiar to anyone who's ever taken a look at Masonic history, but his approach is refreshingly new. He's not a Mason or initiate in any rival order. He's not an anti-Semite, a gun nut or a compulsive hand-washer, and he doesn't seem like an agent provocateur. He has a strong taste for the weird but he cares about historical detail and accuracy. He doesn't shy away from discussing conspiracy theories, but he's not emotionally invested in them, either. He is bold, argumentative, prone to draw exquisitely fine distinctions, and attracted to subtleties and nuance.

As such, this book can be a bit dry at times, but if you want a sincere and trustworthy guide to the Inner America, Levenda's your guy.

This book is a fine survey looking at some of the historical origins of the various templar and mason movements over time. At times there are centuries that go by where the author has to make some leaps in order to connect the dots.

This did help tie a number of things together for me, how masonic orders relate to some modern day religious movements, and more about how the masons may, or may not have influenced the creation of the United States.

The author does a good job of staying in the middle, and not taking one side over another. He does give great attention to detail, where there is detail to be had. I enjoyed this book.

This book is not for people who are new to the History of Freemasonry or the Occult. Most of this book is a treatment of historiographical controversies centered on Freemasonry. Peter Levenda offers a broader(revisionist?) view of US and European History in light of his research in this book. Levenda points out the potential existential threat groups like the Freemasons represent to an open society, however, he also shows that in practice they rarely are a threat. Most conspiracy theorists won't like this book. The reviewer is not a Freemason or Occultist.

If you have some knowledge about Masonry, this book is a great resource. If you only have a passing interest, the attention to detail is almost painful. All in all, a well-researched, well-written source book on the history of Masonry and is formation/growth in the USA.

Overall I did enjoy the book. I do find the Mason's of interest and of historical importance. I also find the founding fathers of our country that were Masons interesting and of historical importance. However, when I reached the chapter covering Joseph Smith Jr. and Masonry I was very taken aback, which then made me question every other word written in "The Secret Temple."

The fact that there is a connection between Masons and the LDS/Mormon church is an historical fact; however, an account of the origins of the Book of Mormon was presented by the author. The standard LDS/Mormon version of the origins of the Book of Mormon can be found in the back of a text called the "Pearl of Great Price" publically available through the LDS/Mormon church. The account of the origins of the Book of Mormon held by the LDS/Mormon church doesn't come close to the account given in "The Secret Temple." This awkward oversight made bells and whistles go off in my mind, immediately making me question everything else in the book. If it was necessary to mention the origins of the Book of Mormon I would have preferred the LDS/Mormon version be presented and then let the author completely discount that version if he wishes, but not a complete omission.

With this awkward omission the book, for me, went from an historical account of Masonry to a speculative tail of Masonry's origins.