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Secret Societies: Revelations About the Freemasons, Templars, Illuminati, Nazis, and the Serpent Cults

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With his recent best-selling books and hundreds of articles, as well as radio and TV appearances, Philip Gardiner has started a crusade for uncovering the truth, and nothing could be more indicative of that search than his latest foray into the dark and often sinister world of secret societies. Yet again, Gardiner finds himself on a journey across the world to uncover the ancient secrets of the world's most powerful men. In one dramatic episode he finds himself driven out of Berlin in a black Mercedes by a secret organization that was believed to have disappeared after the second World War and eventually arrives in a modern Nazi watering hole. Gardiner, however, survives this incredible journey and brings us the secrets of the Order held sacred for so long. Gardiner delves into a world that is often hidden from our eyes and finds himself in situations that seem to mirror the fictional world of the Da Vinci Code.

Throughout Secret Societies, --Uncovers an ancient secret society thought to have died out many years ago. --Gets to the core of the secret societies' belief systems. --Explores the secret origins of Freemasonry and the links to secret Serpent Cults. --Investigates the secret hidden meaning of King Arthur and Robin Hood. --Examines the claimants to the name of Illuminati, and analyzes the history of the group in Europe and America. --Reveals the secret links within the Vatican and the Nazi Party. -- Looks in-depth at the white-powdered gold theory supposedly kept secret by orders throughout time and radically re-appraises it. --Shows the link between the so-called enlightenment experience and the control of our minds. Nobody in the genre involves themselves in the tale in the same way that Gardiner does, and here he shows that the search for ultimate truth can often be a terrifying one.

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2007

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Philip Gardiner

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Joseph Inzirillo.
395 reviews34 followers
January 26, 2021
This book is one to look at with an open mind. The author offers some new perspectives on some old societies but can be a level of pretentious that irritated me throughout the book. However, the perspectives are something new and at times the author really had my attention.
He does spend some time discrediting other people’s work and tooting his own horn while telling us how he revealed these facts in his other books.
For the most part I enjoyed the book and some of the fresh perspectives. Like I said, read with an open mind.
Profile Image for Kaberoi Rua.
238 reviews28 followers
March 30, 2022
This book covers the Serpent Cult, Freemasonry, Templar, Nazis, Rosicrucians, The Gnostics, The Order of the Golden Dawn, Opus Dei, The Knights of Malta, Bildebergers, The Trilateral Commission, The Holy Vehm, The Jesuits, and The Catholic Church. The author does a decent job linking all these Sercet Societies to two common underlying themes: serpent worship and enlightenment. Having studied the Reptilian theories of human creation and control, I do agree with the author that all these Sercet Socities are connected to serpent worship and ancient serpent knowledge (enlightenment). For a 250 page book, it wasn't a bad overview of the many Secret Socities discussed. However, there are many books written that delve deeper on each of these Secret Socities.

I didn't care for the author's argonant writing style and his bias opinions towards kundalini/enlightenment.  In regards to the kundalini/enlightenment aspect there are two things I didn't like. First, the author writes as if kundalini/enlightenment is some kind of evil mind control by these Secret Socities. I'm on the path of kundalini/spiritual enlightenment and I totally disagree with it being some sort of evil mind control. In my research on the subject, it was this kundalini/enlightenment knowledge that was to spiritually free humanity. However, this ancient knowledge was hijacked by the dark brotherhood who control these secret socities and the knowledge was turned against humanity by the church/religion. From my personal experience on this spiritual path, there is nothing evil about it. Two, I believe the author should have done more research on spirituality before writing this book. He repeatedly states that the kundalini energy resides in the head therefore making it a mind control mechanism. This is false, the kundalini lays dormant at the base of the spine in the root chakra. Once activated, this energy shoots up the spine activating all chakras along the way, the individual is now spiritually enlightened. 

Overall I was wishy-washy with this book. On one hand, I enjoyed it. On the other hand, I didn't. I felt the author was lacking in spiritual knowledge and the supposed light/dark factions within this serpent/reptilian species. I agree that all these Secret Socities offer illumination/enlightenment. I also agree that all these Sercet Societies are connected to serpent worship. If I could give the book a two-and-half rating I would but because I did enjoy certain aspects of the book I gave it a three. 

This is an excert from William Bramley's, The God's of Eden showing the benevolent intent of the ancient serpent knowledge/kundalini/enlightenment before the knowledge and Sercet Societies were hijacked by the dark faction:

Of all the animals revered in ancient human societies, none were as prominent or as important as the snake. The snake was the logo of a group which had become very influential in early human societies of both hemispheres. That group was a disciplined brotherhood dedicated to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge and the attainment of spiritual freedom. This brotherhood of the snake (also known as the "Brotherhood of the Serpent," but which I will often refer to as the "brotherhood") opposed the enslavement of spiritual beings and according to Egyptian writings, it sought to liberate the human race from custodial bondage. The brotherhood also imparted scientific knowledge and encouraged the high anesthetics that existed in many ancient societies. For these and other reasons, the snake had become a venerated symbol to humans and  according to Egyptian and biblical texts, an object of custodial hatred. 

When we look to discover who founded the Brotherhood, Mesopotamian texts point right back to that rebellious "god," Prince Ea (Enki). Ancient Mesopotamian tablets relate that Ea and his father, Anu, possessed profound ethical and spiritual knowledge. This was the same knowledge that was later symbolized as trees in the Biblical Adam and Eve story. In fact, the Biblical tree symbol came from pre-biblical Mesopotamian works, such as one showing a snake wrapped around the trunk of a tree, identical to later portrayals the snake in Eden. From the tree in the Mesopotamian depiction hanging two pieces of fruit. To the right of the tree is the half-moon symbol of Ea; to the left is the planet symbol of Anu. The drawing indicates that Ea and Anu were associated with the snake and its teachings. This connection is affirmed by other Mesopotamian texts which describe Anu's palace in the "heavens" as being guarded by a god of the Tree of Truth and a god of the Tree of Life. In one instance, Ea reportedly sent a human to be educated in that very knowledge. 

We therefore find Ea designated as the reputed culprit who tried to teach early man (Adam) the way to spiritual freedom. This suggests that Ea intended his creation, Homo sapiens, to be suited for Earth labor, but at some point he changed his mind about using spiritual enslavement as a means. If Ea was a true historical personality as the sumerians claimed, then he was the probable leader of the Brotherhood at its founding on Earth. The Brotherhood may have adopted the snake as its logo because Ea's first home on Earth was said to have been constructed by a serpent-infested swampland which Ea called Snake Marsh. Another possible explanation for the snake logo is offered by Mr. Stitchin who says that the Biblical word for "snake" is nahash, which comes from the root word NHSH, meaning "to decipher, to find out."

Despite all their reported good intentions, the legendary Ea and early Brotherhood clearly failed to free the human race. Ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and biblical texts relate that the "snake" was quickly defeated by other Custodial factions. The Bible informs us that the Serpent in the Garden of Eden was overcome before it was able to complete its mission and give Adam and Eve the "fruit" from the second "tree".
2 reviews
February 4, 2021
Absolute garbage and deserves less than one star, which motivated the writing of this review. We are very into "conspiracy theories" and the "occult" and would strongly advise other seekers of truth to stay away from this very poor attempt at a book, as it is a paragon of everything that is wrong with the latter subjects in the present day. For example: the stringing together of various apparent coincidences almost always without any "proof" or even substantiation. All this is done with a poor writing ability and virtually no logic or coherency, making the text much more difficult to follow than it should be (especially when considering the embarrassingly short chapters and thin contents). Also, the author often smugly asserts his knowledge of the truth over many monumental topics which have been obscured for centuries or millenia and which have puzzled thousands of minds of far greater intellect and knowledge than his own. Yet this book does not reveal anything groundbreaking whatsoever. It re-establishes widely recognised facts in a more contrived manner; it also posits ridiculous speculations in an even more muddled fashion without any citations or simply refers to his other attempts at books.

Actually, this book sets the reader in the wrong direction (i.e. away from the truth) so much so that we cannot help but wonder if it was a deliberate attempt at deception. The author claims to have been "initiated" into a secret society; one cannot help but smile at this assertion, whether or not this is true. If there is one thing we can be sure of, it is that any secret society worthy of the name does not allow members to talk openly about their initiation rites, particularly in an atrocious cashgrab "book". Another thing we can be certain of is that this author is a hack and a clown, don't waste your time. Have a nice day!

Note: Some good baseline books on these topics are Evola's "Mystery of the Grail," multiple works by Robert Sepehr, or even the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (the conclusions are ridiculous but the analysis of history and details serves as a good introduction to this field).
7 reviews
April 14, 2011
Poor scholarship and journalism! If one makes assertions one has to back it up.

Especially when your thesis is that the Rosicruscians, Freemasons, and similar secret society groups are actually neo-Nazi cells controlled by the Catholic Church.

As I was reading the book I kept on thinking all the editorial interruptions found in many Wikipedia articles. A lot of times I find them slightly annoying (sometimes good writing alludes to common wisdom and you don't need to always to make references to other research), but this author sorely needed a good Wikipedia like editor. Content is important!

Also he tends to jump around alot. Horrible flow of ideas between paragraphs.
Profile Image for Marwa Madian- مروة مدين.
174 reviews149 followers
February 5, 2015
Didn't like it!! He is trying to convince the reader that he's telling him/her something that they've never known before!!! This really irritates me.
Anyway, the book wasn't able to catch my attention either by context or style!
225 reviews6 followers
May 17, 2020
Doesn't live up to its hype. (But then again, I've read a bit in this genre.)

For instance, on the back, it says: "Looks in-depth at the white-powdered gold theory supposedly kept secret by orders throughout time." He takes 9 pages (not in-depth, IMO) to say: "It's salt."

Most of the chapters are short. Documentation could be better. For instance, on page 30, he drops a bombshell that "true" astrology works better than random chance. He remarks that Michel Gauquelin did a study. Okay, let's read it. Go to the back, and it's not in the references. Great job. /s
Profile Image for Aleksandra Jankowska.
32 reviews
July 29, 2024
Przebrnęłam, ale jakim kosztem... Temat ciekawy, ale mam wrażenie, że to wszystko było słabo skrojoną pseudonaukową gadaniną. Żarciki czasem śmieszne, ale nie pomagały
Profile Image for John Muriango.
151 reviews14 followers
March 27, 2020
Read the book due to the CoronaVirus curfew, and I hated it! It would have been better if this book wasn't published! It's a waste of paper and ink!
270 reviews
February 3, 2016
difficult to follow his thread of thought. I found it a little scattered at times. Seems to make various assumptions without real basis.
Profile Image for Lynn.
308 reviews
January 23, 2020
Excellent findings with many many references for further interest. Mr Gardiner's bible references are very interesting!
78 reviews23 followers
October 20, 2009
this book cam to me in the classic way...?
i found it in a stall a a public sale
of pens pads mugs keyring
etc etc
in the local hospital i looked at the website
included in the book to find that it was a private site.!!!
an the only way that you should obtain this book was from
the site its self.. i did drop an e.mail explain wear i got the
book but as yet no reply... that is common not rare...
by the way.. so... the plot thickens Watson...
when i mentioned this book to other...!!!
when i say others it is those that state they are not
members of any lodges, mason or sec train that does not
exists in Dundee .????
therefore i thought that i would write this review in the style
of the book but the only REVALUATIONS...i found were
the gnashing of teeth, & the puling of hair.. form these (others)
"why" have this been printed, and although the book is written
in common sense style, the y still don't get the point
about these groups that i have read about in countless other
publication seen on t.v cable websites like you-tube.. etc etc
but her there is no assumings, no escape-goat to laugh at
just the plain-facts truth behind fables unpalatable ones
some times like the link with the NAZI'S & THE VATICAN'S
always causing a argument ever time it is mentioned
( the secret of robin hood & king Aurthur)
it is a good read if you like that sort of book and the cover
is very Bohemian iconographic

www.gardinersworld.com



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Profile Image for Nada.
267 reviews26 followers
March 23, 2016
The bits of information I learnt from the book (like the origin of the Nazi movement) were like small pearls at the bottom of muddy waters. It's not the ideas or view points he is proposing that put me off. It's the style... Of lack of it...the cramming..the blah blah blah....At a certain point, I thought that this book is better off being a documentary. I did searched youtube for videos by the author, to my disappointment, they were just as boring and hazy.

I cannot believe I came out of this book alive!
Profile Image for Alyssa DeLeon.
463 reviews
February 23, 2021
The author is quite obviously confusing Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism with each other and is pushing their own view over solid facts. A rather disappointing book for the potential it had. Too much talk of modern day religion instead of exploring the secret societies as the title says.
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