The Adepts in the Esoteric Classical Tradition by Manly P. Hall

Part One: The Initiates of Greece and Rome (104 pages)
This illustrated work on classical paganism explores the “lost” period of mystical tradition, between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, in the search for a better understanding of Man’s place in the Divine Plan.

Excerpt: “One of the teachings of the initiate tradition in Greece related to the mystery of time. The temple did not divide duration into past, present, and future. Divine and universal laws manifest themselves in an eternal now. Enlightenment belongs to no generation, nor does it increase or diminish. It is always and everywhere. Those who deserve it receive it and, if institutions fade away, the individual remains leader of his own destiny.”

Part Two: Mystics and Mysteries of Alexandria (122 pages)
Covering the esoteric schools which flourished in Alexandria for over 500 years and combined the teachings of the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, as well as Jewish scholars and early Christian Mystics Manly continues in the exploration of later Greco-Roman initiates.

This illustrated text explores the doctrines Alexandria in Asia Minor, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, and how they laid the foundations of alchemy, Rosicrucianism, astronomy, and the hermetic arts which have survived in the secret societies of the modern world.

Manly Palmer Hall (1901-1990), was a Canadian-born scholar and philosopher. He began his public career in the related fields of philosophy and comparative religion at the age of nineteen and devoted his life to teaching, writing, and lecturing without interruption for over half a century.

Hall travelled extensively in Europe, Asia, and Central America, and assembled a magnificent library. He gave nearly seven thousand different lectures and talks and appeared on numerous radio and television stations throughout the United States. He wrote over thirty-five books, scores of essays, and hundreds of articles.