The Western Mysteries: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Sacred Languages & Magickal Systems of the World : The Key of It All, Book II (Key of It All)

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Summary: Author's review of The Western Mysteries
Review: "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.

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Summary: Totally Indispensible
Review: Definitely a "must-have," whether novice or expert.

Rating:
Summary: Totally Indispensible
Review: Definitely a "must-have," whether novice or expert.

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Summary: Incredible Value!!
Review: This book and its companion: "The Eastern Mysteries" provide a wonderful compendium of cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary information. They make it possible to understand the deep connections between all peoples of the world.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible Value!!
Review: This book and its companion: "The Eastern Mysteries" provide a wonderful compendium of cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary information. They make it possible to understand the deep connections between all peoples of the world.

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Summary: An Excellent Reference Book
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Reference Book
Review: 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.