A comprehensive reference guide to thirty-five occult and mystical traditions spanning five thousand years of human history.
From the Egyptian Pyramid Texts of 2400 BCE to the chaos magic of the late twentieth century, The Hidden Paths documents the invocations, rituals, philosophical frameworks, and practical techniques of the world's esoteric traditions — presented in full translation with historical context and step-by-step procedures.
PART ONE — THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES covers twelve traditions including Egyptian Heka, Chaldean Astral Magic, the Greek Mystery Religions, Orphism and Pythagoreanism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, Roman Mithraism, Norse Seidr and Galdr, Celtic Druidic Mysteries, Vedic and Hindu Tantra, and Buddhist Vajrayana.
PART TWO — THE MEDIEVAL TRANSMISSION covers eleven traditions including Islamic Alchemy, Sufism, Kabbalah, Christian Mysticism, Solomonic Magic, Taoist Internal Alchemy, Goetia and Demonology, Necromancy, Medieval Alchemy, Catharism, and Shingon Buddhism.
PART THREE — RENAISSANCE AND EARLY MODERN covers Renaissance Hermeticism, Enochian Magic, Rosicrucianism, Esoteric Freemasonry, European Alchemy, and the Tarot.
PART FOUR — THE MODERN OCCULT REVIVAL covers Theosophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Thelema, Wicca and Neopaganism, Chaos Magic, and Vodou, Hoodoo and Santeria.
Appendices include a universal guide to ritual construction, comparison of six divination systems, a transmission map showing how each tradition influenced the next, complete planetary and elemental correspondence tables, a symbol glossary, pronunciation guide for Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Enochian, Sanskrit, and Arabic, and an annotated bibliography of over forty sources.