The Esoteric History of Western Spirituality

by Tim Wallace-Murphy

British researchers Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins join host Laura Lee for a lively discussion examining the spiritual quest in Western culture. What perennial wisdom comes through all spiritual traditions? What are the roots of Christianity? What earlier religions contributed to its development? How did the Esoteric Teachings survive centuries of suppression? What can we learn from examining this long and often hidden history? What impact might this examination have on our own personal quest today?

Tape 1
Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins recount the common threads of all spiritual teachings, and a newly connected chronology of the West's spiritual history, tracing the contributions of Megalithic cultures, fertility cults celebrating the death/rebirth cycle of Nature, and Egyptian cosmology. They continue with Judaic history and custom, new insights on the life of Jesus, and Rome's restructuring of Early Christianity.

Tape 2
Here we examine the influence of the hidden streams of spirituality on Western culture: The cathedral building spurred by ancient construction secrets. The use of what we regard today as light, color and sound therapy for physiological transformation to support higher states of consciousness. The clues that specific temples were designed as a sequential Pilgrimage Initiation in Europe and in Egypt. The influence of the Order of Knights Templar on business and banking that led to opportunities for trade, travel, reading and the flowering of the Renaissance. The push and pull through the ages of freedom and oppression. The opportunities today for spiritual advancement.

2 pages, Audio Cassette

First published February 28, 2001

About the author

The Irish born internationally known author and lecturer, Tim Wallace-Murphy, is the author of thirteen published books, has appeared in some eight or nine TV documentaries and has given lectures from Seattle and Long Beach on the West Coast of the USA, in Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy and in Prague.

Eleven of his works cover historical aspects of spirituality, including the Knights Templar, the Cathars, Rosslyn Chapel and the Western Esoteric Tradition as well as the Grail genre. The other two, including the most recent are more mainstream, namely 'What Islam did for Us' a study of how Islamic scholarship laid the foundations of so many fundamental and valued aspects of European culture and his latest work 'The Genesis of a Tragedy - A Brief History of the Palestinian People.' Tim was provoked to write this work as the Palestinian side of this conflict is rarely heard in either Western Europe or the United States and if this ongoing running sore in East West relations is ever to be solved, the pain on both sides needs to be understood.

He also acts as a tour guide in some of the most beautiful and inspiring sacred sites in Europe.

Reviews

[Bob Dijk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrong headed and biased