The Key of It All: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Sacred Languages & Magickal Systems of the World: Book Two: The Western Mysteries

by David Allen Hulse

As Book I did for the Eastern Mysteries, Book II catalogs and distills, in hundreds of tables of secret symbolism, the true alphabet magick of every ancient Western magickal tradition: Greek, Coptic, Runes, Latin, Enochian, Tarot, and English.

Genres: Occult, Reference, Religion, Nonfiction, Esoterica, Language, Tarot

592 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1996

Reviews

[James Staiti]

A worthy companion to the first volume in this set. Volume 2 covers the mysteries of the Western tradition, not only by looking at such things as Greek gematria; the book also delves into the Lullian art of combinations, the tarot as a symbolic language, and intriguing possibilities for gematria in languages that use the Latin alphabet, including English, as well as other fascinating subjects. There's interesting material on Gurdjieff and little-known scripts that he would have been familiar with. I would like Hulse to have done something about the Cyrillic script. What's in here, though, including a look at Aztec and Mayan glyphs, is pretty much all worth reading and referring back to.

[Claudia]

Un libro muy interesante e intenso. excelente como guía para comprender otros libros de esta clase.

[Clifford]

As the description states, these two volumes are indispensable references that belong on the shelf of every serious magician (along with Skinner's Complete Magician's Tables, which I happen to think is a superior reference, personally.) As I recall (it has been a number of years since I referenced these books), the only thing I didn't find useful was the section on English. He didn't seem to be aware of the work that Jake Stratton-Kent and others had done discovering what I believe to be the true English Qaballa (see ¨The Serpent Tongue" by Jake Stratton-Kent, introduction by Lon Milo DuQuette). This seems to have become the standard especially since its acceptance with many in the Caliphate OTO.