The Western Mysteries: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Sacred Languages & Magickal Systems of the World- The Key of It All, Book 2 (Llewellyn Sourcebook Series) [Paperback]

David Allen Hulse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2002

The Western Mysteries (previously published as The Key of It All, Book II: The Western Mysteries), by David Allen Hulse, is perhaps the most comprehensive, in-depth description of various aspects of the Western magickal tradition ever published.

The uniting factor of this book is language. It begins with a discussion of the mysteries of the Greek alphabet, followed by the different forms of the Runes, and goes on to describe the mystical secrets of Latin. and then Enochian, where you will discover, for the first time ever, the correctly constructed Watchtower system.

The book also includes the mysteries of the Tarot, a pictorial language, and it describes the development of the esoteric Tarot, how to do readings, and the significance of the symbolism on the Tarot cards. It concludes with the English language and its relationship to the Tarot, Enochian, and more.

The introduction to The Western Mysteries serves as a complete introduction to the magickal tradition of the West. You will learn about the evolution of thought concerning the Elements, astrology, magick squares, geomancy, words of power, and more.

You will find that each section of this book is a key that unlocks the meaning behind another of the magickal languages that you can relate to your own spiritual system. It is ideal for a beginning student to explore the mysteries of Western magick. It is a necessary tool for more advanced students, as it has collected hundreds of charts and lists which clarify and identify the similarities and differences between various systems.

This is a reference book you will study over and over. The volume of information revealed makes The Western Mysteries an instant classic and a necessity for any spiritual practitioner.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

There are some books about which there is so much to say it is hard to know where to begin. One such book is David Allen Hulse's The Western Mysteries (previously published as The Key of It All, Book II: The Western Mysteries).

The Western Mysteries begins with a complete introduction to some of the basic concepts of the Western magick tradition, such as the elements and their associations, and how they evolved and changed over time. The book continues with spiritual investigations of English, Latin, and Greek.

In the section on Runes, you will find the most complete information on the Runes ever published, including the differences in their design, meanings, and sounds as they moved from culture to culture and evolved over time.

The two largest sections describe the Tarot and the Enochian system. In the section on the Tarot, you will learn how it developed into the mystical tool it is today. Then you will learn the various interpretations people have had of the cards, along with the meanings of the symbolism on them. The purpose of the section on Enochian is to give the most complete — and most correct — version of the Watchtower system ever published.

The Western Mysteries is a reference book you simply must have.

About the Author

From an early age, David Allen Hulse diligently studied the alphabets of the ancient world. As a child, David possessed a great affinity for the alphabets of Egypt, Phoenicia, and Greece.

In college, a reading of MacGregor Mathers' Kabbalah Unveiled opened up the Hebrew alphabet-number technique of Qabalistic research. After Hebrew, many other ancient languages were decoded and studied, including Sanskrit and Tibetan. In 1979, a discovery led to the need to capture the extent of all prior Quabalistic research into one great reference work. Research is still being carried out to discover new definitions for the number series as well as new magickal systems.

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 2nd edition (September 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567184294
• ISBN-13: 978-1567184297
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #991,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author's review of The Western Mysteries, October 28, 2000

By 

David Hulse "Devotee of Ageless Wisdom" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Western Mysteries: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Sacred Languages & Magickal Systems of the World- The Key of It All, Book 2 (Llewellyn Sourcebook Series) (Paperback)

"The Western Mysteries", though a companion volume to "The Eastern Mysteries", was originally part of one larger work entitled "The Key of It All". When I first submitted my manuscript to Llewellyn Publishing in the late 1980's, it totalled over 1400 pages. One section was deleted from the beginning which dealt exclusively with the Qabalah found in Aleister Crowley's "The Book of the Law". But the remaining 13 chapters were faithfully typeset with little changes to the original manuscript. However as the book was typeset my editor, David Godwin, discovered that the book was larger than expected. So at the end of the 6th chapter dealing with the mystical nature of Chinese and the I Ching, the book was abruptly put to press, and divided into two parts, the first subtitled "The Eastern Mysteries" and the second being "The Western Mysteries". This caused a few minor problems for me. One, the introduction written for the whole book, depended on the 7th key, Greek, to make sense. But now it would have to serve as an introduction to the first of two volumes. Second, the remaining pages forming the second volume would not be large enough to justify a second book. So from the period of the winter of 1993 to the summer of 1994, I created almost half of the second volume as it now stands. Among the last minute additions were the Christian Number symbolism found in "The New Testament", the ancient key to the Egyptian Hieroglyphics found in the writings of Horapollo, the analysis of the Qabalistic symbols found in the Waite Tarot deck, and a new introduction of over 100 pages that would include the Aztec and Mayan calender systems, the esoteric nature of astrology, the art of geomancy, and the Masonic tradition of the lost word. What was intended for this second volume was a complete analysis of the Cube of Space, but that would eventually see print as a separate volume (just published by Samuel Weiser, Inc. as "New Dimensions for the Cube of Space"). One other section was intended for the last key on English, and that was a complete analysis of Modern Numerology. This, instead, became a separate booklet published by Llewellyn under the title "The Truth About Numerology". In the end, dividing my original work titled "The Key of It All", into two volumes that would eventually become "The Eastern Mysteries" and "The Western Mysteries", improved the scope and depth of the most detailed study yet in regards to the sacred symbolism of numbers as concealed in the alphabets of the ancient world, both East and West.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oustanding work, December 28, 2006

By 

M. Bernabei (Santa Cruz/ SF Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Western Mysteries: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Sacred Languages & Magickal Systems of the World- The Key of It All, Book 2 (Llewellyn Sourcebook Series) (Paperback)

I've got both the "Eastern" and "Western" mysteries and while I won't pretend to understand half of what was written in each, both are outstanding reference books that one can grasp even if one doesn't have much knowledge of the occult.

I found it useful for looking up symbols and seeing more similarities between cultures than I had previously thought.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Reference Book, April 3, 2003

By 

Kat "Kat" (Ogden, Utah USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Western Mysteries: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Sacred Languages & Magickal Systems of the World- The Key of It All, Book 2 (Llewellyn Sourcebook Series) (Paperback)

This is an excellent book, both for reading and as a resource. Hulse gives an incredible amount of information in an easy to understand format. This book is invaluable in helping to understand the connections between various cultures and their methods.