Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry. Collected Writings of Jewel P Lightfoot. Billy J Hamilton

Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry. Collected Writings of Jewel P Lightfoot. Billy J Hamilton

"Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry: The Collected Writings of Jewel P. Lightfoot" (Edited by Billy J. Hamilton) is one of the best Masonic books I've read in recent years.



Jewel P. Lightfoot. Former Attorney General of the State of Texas. Past Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas. From humble beginnings in rural Arkansas, he worked to become an educated man who excelled in law and Freemasonry. He was a gentleman of his time, well-known as a scholar, public speaker, and Masonic philosopher.

This book contains Brother Lightfoot’s recently discovered speeches, essays, and personal notes. In these pages, he walks us through a journey of Masonic symbolism and customs originating in ancient Brahman practices, which were transmitted through the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Hebrews, and into Renaissance Europe. Brother Lightfoot touches upon common themes in mythology, shared words in multiple cultures, and the origin of measurements used in the Western world. Here we find what was in the early 20th century cutting-edge ideas in religion, sociology, linguistics, physics, and metaphysics. Lightfoot made these connections through a lifetime of study and connected the dots to create a linear narrative of a possible Masonic origin.

Billy Hamilton was initiated into Masonry in 1996 at Triangle Masonic Lodge No. 548 in Lawton, Oklahoma. He is the Worshipful Master of Texas Lodge of Research (2023-2024) and a Past Master of Fort Worth Masonic Lodge No. 148 in Fort Worth, Texas. A data analyst, he resides with his wife, Bette, in Fort Worth, Texas. Brother Hamilton has written articles for the Knights Templar Magazine, Fraternal Review, Journal of the Masonic Society, and other periodicals. He is a co-host of the Fort Worth Masonic Podcast and one of the organizers of Texas MasoniCon, an annual Masonic education and history conference.

The Templars. The History and the Myth. Michael Haag

The Templars. The History and the Myth. Michael Haag

I'm enjoying "The Templars: The History and the Myth" by Michael Haag


An order of warrior monks founded after the First Crusade to protect pilgrims to Jerusalem, the Templars developed into one of the wealthiest and most powerful bodies in the medieval world. Yet two centuries later, the Knights were suddenly arrested and accused of blasphemy, heresy and orgies, their order was abolished, and their leaders burnt at the stake. Their dramatic end shocked their contemporaries and has gripped people's imaginations ever since. This new book explains the whole context of Templar history, including, for the first time, the new evidence discovered by the Vatican that the Templars were not guilty of heresy. It covers the whole swathe of Templar history, from its origins in the mysteries of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem through to the nineteenth century development of the Freemasons. The book also features a guide to Templar castles and sites, and coverage of the Templars in books, movies and popular culture, from "Indiana Jones" to the Xbox360 game Assassin's Creed.

The Essential Kabbalah. The Heart of Jewish Mysticism. Daniel C. Matt

The Essential Kabbalah. The Heart of Jewish Mysticism. Daniel C. Matt

"The Essential Kabbalah" by Dr. Daniel C. Matt is a good and very concise book on the subject.


"Daniel Matt's The Essential Kabbalah is all at once a striking anthology, an original meditation, and a mystic philosophy of life. Readers will return to this book again and again to see have they have grown, and to measure their souls against its deep, poetic wisdom."--David Wolpe, author of The Healer of Shattered Hearts: A Jewish View of God.

Daniel Matt's continued wonder at the confounding brilliance of kabbalistic writings is evident in this loving presentation of the key texts from the Jewish mystical tradition. This fine sampling of works from the earliest medieval European texts to 20th-century interpretations includes poems, symbolic stories, meditations, and ruminations by such important figures as Moses de Leon, Moses Cordovero, Isaac Luria, and Abraham Isaac Kook. Matt's translations have both a spareness and a poetic flair that makes reading these highly esoteric selections a richly moving experience.

The words of 14th-century mystic Shem Tov ibn Shem Tov, for example, are rendered with a startling immediacy: "How did God create the world? Like a person taking a deep breath and holding it, so that the small contains the large. Similarly God contracted his light to a divine handbreadth, and the world was left in darkness. In the darkness God carved cliffs and hewed rocks to clear the wondrous paths of wisdom." A short introduction traces the history of Kabbalah, explaining its salient concepts and symbols, and extensive notes provide background on the featured texts and writers. A brief bibliography is provided for those who will want to savor more of these extraordinary texts after tasting their richness in this collection.

A translation of the Kabbalah for the layperson includes a compact presentation of each primary text and features a practical analysis and vital historical information that offer insight into the various aspects of Jewish mysticism.

Daniel C. Matt has written many books and articles on Jewish spirituality, including Zohar:The Book of Enlightenment and God and the Big Bang. He is a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Center for Jewish Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered. Robert Eisenman. Michael Wise

The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered. Robert Eisenman. Michael Wise

"The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered" by Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise is concise and insightful.


Two scholars compile and interpret fifty documents that are key and previously inaccessible portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls.


"For the first time the public will be able to see the most interesting and exciting texts from the unpublished corpus and judge for itself. Providing precise English translations and complete transcriptions into modern Hebrew characters, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered makes generally available in a clear and accessible style fifty of the best texts. Accompanied by incisive and readable commentaries aimed at both lay person and scholar alike, these texts provide exciting and ground-breaking insights into Messianism, an alternative presentation of the flood story, ecstatic visions, prophecies, Mysteries, astrology, divination, and much more." "This is nothing less than the literature of the Messianic Movement in Palestine. Responsible for the uprising that led to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, its later stages are virtually indistinguishable from the rise of Christianity in Palestine. Professors Eisenman's and Wise's research will go a long way towards solving the problem of the Scrolls in the context of Jewish history of the period and shed new light on the formation of early Christianity."

The Chicken Qabalah. Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford. Lon Milo DuQuette

The Chicken Qabalah. Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford. Lon Milo DuQuette

I had recommended "The Chicken Qabalah" by Lon Milo DuQuette to someone fairly recently. The thought inspired me to revisit the text for myself as well. This is one of the most entertaining books about the Qabalah.


A unique and humorous and also practical approach to the increasingly popular study of Qabalah. This is a seriously funny book! Traditional Qabalistic (or Cabalistic, or, indeed, Kabbalistic read this book to find out what the difference is...we know you've always wondered) sources tend to be a bit, er, dry. DuQuette spices up the Qabalah and makes it come alive, restoring the joy of learning the fundamentals of this admittedly arcane system by using simple, amusing anecdotes and metaphors. This account, written psuedepigraphically (fictitiously attributed to a supposed authority), allows DuQuette as Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford to soar to outrageous heights and, when necessary, stand apart from the silliness to highlight the golden eggs of Qabalistic wisdom nested therein. Sure to be a revelation to those who think that learning about the Qabalah needs to be tedious and serious, DuQuette shows that great truths can be transmitted through the medium of laughter. It's s Dilettante's Guide to What You Do and Do Not Need to Know to Become a Qabalist.