Secret Sects Of Syria And The Lebanon: A Consideration Of Their Origin, Creeds And Religious Ceremonies

by Bernard H. Springett

Secret sects are deeply rooted in the history and culture of the Middle East, and a number are as powerful today as they were in the times of the Crusades. In the West, Freemasons claim that their rituals are derived from those practiced by the ancient sects, brought to the west by the Templars, and in this classic work Bernard Springett describes and analyzes the symbolism, ceremonies and religion of these secret sects to see if, and to what extent, Masonic tradition and ritual preserve ancient wisdom. Among the sects he examines are the Sabaeans, the Gnostics and Manicheans, the followers of Simon Magus, Sufism and the Dervish Orders, the Shiite Metawileh, the Essenes, the Ismaelis, the Assassins, the Nusairis and the Druses, concluding with chapters on the Syrian influences on the order of the Knights Templar and on modern freemasonry.

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2005

Reviews

[Nawar Kassomeh]

Undoubtedly the Knights Templar were very much influenced by the Assassins and interacted with other religious groups in the region. Thus, the idea of the book is not new and I agree with the fact that Freemasonry has been influenced by the sects or religions of Syria such as the Nusairis, the Ismailis (Assassins), the Druses...etc.
I can say it is a relatively good book full of interesting information but extremely poorly organized and full of errors. For instance, the author said: "some of the Orders hold doctrines more purely mystical, and others more purely pantheistic, than the rest. Of the more purely mystical, the Nakshibendi and Khalveti Orders are the chief representatives. The former was founded by Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, the latter by Ali, the third Caliph." (p.72) This excerpt is an example of the weakness of the book. The first caliph is indeed Abu Bakr, but Ali is not the third caliph, but the fourth. The two caliphs are not the founders of either of these orders, but these Sufi orders believe that their lineage goes back to these caliphs.
Another historical error is that the author claims that Sufi orders are as old as Mohamed (p.69). This is not true because most of these orders appeared a few centuries after the death of Mohamed.
The misspelling throughout the book of important terms such as Shiites and Imam (written in the book Imaum and Schiites) may confuse the reader who does not have a solid knowledge of the topics covered in the book.

[Laura]

I found this book in the Forgotten Books website. Fascinating history of Masonic rites and symbolism traced back through dizzying tribal ramifications worldwide and sourced to early middle eastern culture. Quite difficult to read due to the imperfect online formatting and long passive sentences. Often hard to follow as the narrator, Spigett, assumed the reader's familiarity with ancient tribes and ancient geography that this particular reader wasn't quite upt to speed for. Nonetheless there is much here that should enlighten anyone interested in the origins of Judeo Christian thought. An invaluable source that should be part of any library.

[Raghdan fawakhiri]

Fraught with misconceptions and outright mistakes, but interesting reading nonetheless