I'm reading this as we speak. It's not often that I
feel a strong urge to read an entire encyclopaedia from cover to cover. This
bizarrely brilliant work by John Michael Greer is an exception! Greer is a
self-confessed member of several "secret" societies, including the
Freemasons. Apparently, he is a 32nd degree Freemason of the
"Scottish" rite. I suppose that makes him eminently qualified to pen
a work like this one.
"The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies" includes entries on occult groups, Neo-Paganism, conspiracy theory, Masonry, and various charitable fraternities. There are also articles on revolutionary organizations such as the Carbonari, the Conspiracy of Equals or the First International. Even burlesque orders have been included, including the Shriners and the Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoo. Yes, there really *is* such a fraternity! (Not included are the purely fictitious Justified Ancients of Mu Mu.) Greer is the current head of a group mentioned in his own encyclopaedia, the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA).
If you have read too much conspiracist literature, or too many Dan Brown novels, get braced for a reality check! Greer doesn't believe in conspiracy theory and is pretty moderate as "rejected knowledge" goes overall. Still, there *are* revelations in this book. Personally, I was somewhat surprised to learn about the Scottish Masonry-Shriner connection. Isn't Scottish Masonry supposed to be a serious mystery cult? Or is the rabbit hole even deeper than we imagined...?
Despite a few entries on Africa and the Muslim world, the encyclopaedia is really about "Western" secret societies and their mythology, but I suspect a world-wide work would be three times as large! According to another encyclopaedia on matters occult by Greer, the author is actually a consecrated priest in a hoodoo church (!?), which may explain why a few items on Africa has sneaked into a work about Occidental delusions.
That being said, John Michael Greer definitely deserves five stars for this modern classic.
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