The Shining Ones: The World's Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed [Paperback]

Philip Gardiner (Author), Gary Osborn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Gardiner has spent the last sixteen years researching the history of mankind, science, religion and philosophy. His search for the truth has led him to uncover historical evidence which previously had not been recognized for what it is. Gary Osborn has written widely on mysticism, esoteric traditions and the nature of human consciousness. They are co-authors of The Serpent Grail. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Watkins Publishing (September 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842931652
• ISBN-13: 978-1842931653
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,444,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip Gardiner is the international best selling author of "The Shining Ones", "The Serpent Grail", "Gnosis, the Secret of Solomon's Temple Revealed" and "Proof: Does God Exist" to name a few. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs worldwide and is often referred to as the "next Graham Hancock". He has infiltrated various secret societies and been initiated into Orders many people had thought were long forgotten. Committed to his mission to uncover the real history of mankind and the unraveling of manipulative propaganda, he has come up against many obstacles and yet in his books and DVD's consistently uncovers vital information and provides insights into the mysteries
of the ancients and the nature of reality. He lives in the heart of Robin Hood country in the UK and travels the world on a personal quest to uncover the truth. Philip began his writing career with a book entitled, "Proof: Does God Exist?" Published in 2002 and followed this up with his best selling "The Shining Ones: The World's Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed", which became a top seller in the UK. For more information go to www.reality-entertainment.com/books.htm

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor, October 19, 2007

By 

C Hill (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Shining Ones: The World's Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed (Paperback)

The physical book itself is very nice and well made with a fascinating cover image. The inside front and back covers are entirely black which further ads to the mystery.
While the subtitle of this book promises to reveal "the world's most powerful secret society", surprisingly, less than 20 pages of this book deal with the present-day power players. The majority of this book deals with history, prehistory, and myth covering Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Palestine. However, the individuals that are the Shining Ones neither form a society nor do they act in secret or are unknown. One would be inclined to think that the authors will reveal some secret group one has never heard of or will shed light on some of the better known secret societies and unmask them as the most powerful one. But none of this happens. Near the end of the book the authors do single out one group as being particularly powerful and I was surprised at their choice because it doesn't come up anywhere else in the book. But it is also somewhat of an obvious and bad choice really, as that particular group continues to lose power and members over time. Morover, once identified, the authors don't spend more than a small paragraph mentioning it. But the present is only a concern as symbols remaining of the Shining Ones's activity in the past.
As with all these type of works, connections are made too easily and too quickly, which is a problem here since the authors emphasize events that took place and characters that may or may not have lived millennia ago. Recurring themes are shamanism, kundalini, and altered states of consciousness. So any mention in history of light, serpents, wisdom is taken to be evidence of the Shining Ones.
The writing style is utterly boring. Perhaps this is due to intellectual honesty that the authors know that they're standing on shaky ground that they can't get themselves to be more enthusiastic about the issue, but if they have a thesis and they think that they can provide some reasons for it, they might as well just run with it.
The worst is the lack of scholarship. Things start off problematally from the beginning. Early on there's a quotation from the Bagavat Gita referring to the Shining Ones. However, if you were to pick up the BG, you wouldn't find such a quotation where the authors claim it is. Unless, their translation is so utterly different from the more accepted translations. There are far too many Internet sources of dubious origin. On top of that the authors frequently fail to cite their sources. It's not uncommon to read things like "...it is said by some that..." or "...as many believe..." etc. we never find out who it is that is making these claims.
I can't recommend this book for anyone other than someone starting to be interested in mysterious aspects of the ancients and even then, there are better works out there.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Abysmally poor, December 22, 2007

By 

Alan Holton (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shining Ones: The World's Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed (Paperback)

If I could give the book a negative rating I would.
It is probably the worst book on the subject that I have ever read. The authors make huge leaps of logic (and I don't feel inclined to spend time elaborating simply because it is not worth it) and make unfounded assumptions linking kundalini, kabbalah, shamanism, rehashed Zacheria Sitchin material, Rosicrucian concepts, near-death experiences etc, etc, in spurious links to their 'shining ones'. I got the impression that they were pandering to a 'new-age' market and that the idea was conceived simply to sell a book.
Don't buy the book. If the kind of concept the book purports to deal with interests you, read "The Monkey and the Tetrahedron" by David M Jinks

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Shining Ones, May 29, 2010

By 

Johann Liszikam "Hans Liszikam" (Oakhurst NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shining Ones: The World's Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed (Paperback)

The Shining Ones a supposedly advanced culture with a great deal of wisdom are mentioned not only in this book but also in many other writings, ncluding in the Bible. The authors have traced their influence to the major religions wich are anchored in history. Gardiner and Osborn link the Shining Ones to the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons of our present times which they claim influence our modern science, religion and politics. Gardiner and Osborne have reseached their project well and the books cover is an eye catcher. It is an intriging story, at times a little slow, but makes good reading as it reveals, they had knowledge of the ancient spiritual truth we need to rediscover and start living by, of which many are not ready to do so because humanity is too concerned with the accumulation of physical wealth rather than in striving for their spiritual salvation.

Hans Liszikam, author of "The God Code in the Seven"