The Secret Teachings of All Ages

The Secret Teachings of All Ages is Manly P. Hall’s encyclopaedic survey, published when he was twenty-six, of the Western esoteric traditions: Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, alchemy, Pythagoreanism, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, ceremonial magic, and the symbolism of mystery religions from Egypt through Greece into the Christian and Islamic world. Originally issued in 1928 as an oversized illustrated folio in a numbered subscription edition of 800 copies, it remains the single most cited reference in modern occult publishing. The 2003 Tarcher reader’s edition reset and reformatted the text into an affordable trade paperback that put the book back into general circulation.

The work is structured as forty-five chapters of essay-length entries, each covering a tradition, symbol, or figure, illustrated by colour plates and line drawings by J. Augustus Knapp. Hall’s approach is syncretic: distinct traditions are flattened into a single perennial-philosophy narrative descending from a hypothetical ancient wisdom. Esoteric communities treat the book as canonical; academic historians of religion respect Hall’s reach but criticise the absence of citations and the tendency to over-harmonise. Hall founded the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles in 1934 and lectured there until his death in 1990.

Contents

Reception

An anomaly — a self-published 1928 doorstop that became a permanent reference work. The original folio edition of 800 numbered copies sold by subscription at $75 (substantial in 1928) and immediately went into reprints; the Philosophical Research Society reissued the book multiple times across the twentieth century, and the 2003 Tarcher/Penguin reader’s edition pulled it back into general circulation. Esoteric communities treat it as canonical; academic historians of religion respect Hall’s reach but criticise the syncretism, the absence of citations, and his tendency to flatten distinct traditions into a single perennial-philosophy narrative. The book’s authority comes from breadth rather than rigour, and Hall himself in later decades acknowledged he had been a populariser more than a scholar. Cited as a key influence by figures from Joseph Campbell to Mitch Horowitz; widely circulated within Freemasonry and contemporary occult publishing.

Frequently asked

What is The Secret Teachings of All Ages?

It is Manly P. Hall’s 1928 encyclopaedic survey of Western esoteric traditions: Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, alchemy, Pythagoreanism, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, ceremonial magic, and the symbolism of mystery religions. Originally issued as an oversized illustrated folio, it remains the single most cited reference in modern occult publishing.

How was the book first published?

Hall self-published it in 1928 as an oversized colour-illustrated folio in a numbered subscription edition of 800 copies, priced at $75. It immediately went into reprints, and the Philosophical Research Society — which Hall founded in 1934 — has kept it in print ever since. Tarcher/Penguin issued an affordable reader’s edition in 2003.

How do academic historians regard the book?

They respect its reach but criticise the absence of citations and Hall’s tendency to flatten distinct traditions into a single perennial-philosophy narrative. Hall himself in later decades acknowledged he had been a populariser more than a scholar. Within esoteric communities the book is treated as canonical.