Product Description

Provides a complete view of the history, literature and myths surrounding Freemasonry. Comprehensive explanations of their secret rituals and symbolism. Including alchemy, astrology, Kabbalism, ceremonial magic, animal magnetism and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #221223 in Books
• Published on: 1994-04-19
• Released on: 1994-04-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1024 pages

From the Inside Flap
Provides a complete view of the history, literature and myths surrounding Freemasonry. Comprehensive explanations of their secret rituals and symbolism. Including alchemy, astrology, Kabbalism, ceremonial magic, animal magnetism and more.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Resource Guide for Secret Society Research
This book is an astounding collection of Masonic and other Secret Society information. Do not let other reviews deter you from purchasing this tome! I have owned this book for over one year and every time I see something in another Masonic work that I am unsure-of, I can find a reference to the material in Waite's Encyclopaedia. The only reason people think it is too archaic is because people do not read enough. This book is a must-have for any researcher in the field of Masonry and/or other Secret Societies, including the H.B. of L. I appreciate this work, almost daily. If you can't read this one, forget "The History of Freemasonry," by Albert Mackey. This is a wonderful research book, despite the fact that it needs a thorough index, for quick-reference. I would be willing to Index this work, because of it's value to all Masons and other researchers in the field. I cannot begin to describe how amazed I was, when I cracked the covers of this book for the first time....and the thrill continues, each time I take it off the shelf!

This book is out of date
I think that just listing this book with its now inappropriate title, "The *New* Encyclopedia of Freemasonry", and saying it was published in 1994 misleads a lot of people even if you throw in the word "reprint". If you want to do historic research on what people thought in the early 1900s, it's fine. But there has been a lot of research since then. If you want a good up to date Masonic Enclopedia, get Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia which was extensively revised in 1995.

Good Collection
The reason this book sounds archaic, as the previous reviewers complain, is that it was written at the beginning of this century...the language was not as out of date then. This is a reprint edition. Having said that, however, it must be admitted that Waite is not the most prosaic writer. On the whole it is a good, comprehensive collection of the traidtions and legends of Freemasonry, though by now it is a bit out of date.