Review\n"First, let me congratulate you on an overwhelming undertaking. You are dealing with a subject that is not well-understood and has been a magnet for a great deal of disinformation over the centuries. You have had to start at rock bottom and work your way up through layers of flawed data that have accumulated (and hardened) to such an extent that one would need a pile driver to punch through. 
I hope your readers understand that and, as you mention in your opening, it isn’t necessary to wade through the background and historical narrative—as valuable as it is—for those who want to get right to the heart of the subject matter, which is Hasan himself. 
Hasan comes through your work as a complex, three-dimensional human being in spite of all the mythology surrounding him and the Assassins. Importantly, Islam is shown to be a multi-faceted faith with a complicated history, something that not many modern commentators understand. 
In addition, the translations at the end are well worth the cover price as they are not available anywhere else and they do help to clear up some misconceptions about Hasan and the Ismailis. 
Thus, I whole-heartedly endorse this project." -- PETER LEVENDA, author of Dark Lord and Tantric Temples\n"Jim Wasserman presents a compelling portrait of Hasan-i-Sabah and the Nizari Ismaili branch of Shia Islam. Hasan-i-Sabah, the founder of the renowned Order of Assassins, exemplifies all the spiritual richness and political complexity of Islam, and Wasserman is a skilled storyteller who illuminates the events of history with both scholarship and mystical insight. This valuable book also includes, for the first time in English, medieval Persian texts describing the life of Hasan-i-Sabah, and Wasserman’s explication makes these fascinating texts accessible." -- JAMES H. CUMMING, author of Torah and Nondualism\n"Nearly nine hundred years after his death, Hasan-i-Sabah, founder of the mysterious sect known as the “Assassins,” continues to exert his influence across the Middle East and the West. Mystic, heretic, pious Muslim, master of politics, war, scholar, and prolific author, Hasan is a mystery not easily penetrated; yet, Wasserman takes us carefully by the hand through the labyrinth of legend and history that compose our understanding of a man thought to be pivotal in transforming the Knights Templar into an esoteric body, as well as in the transmission of Hermetic doctrines to the West. The Byzantine complexity of the medieval Islamic world is revealed, and with it, deep insights into the present world conflict—the “war on terrorism.” This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to know more about secret societies, Islam, and their combined role in a historical and contemporary context." -- MARK STAVISH, director of the Institute of Hermetic Studies\n"I have been able to go back nine hundred years and get a feel for this legendary leader. The unfolding history was also great. So much stays the same. Despite the darkness and constant fighting, it was the eternal striving for realization that shines through most in your book. This is an outstanding effort." -- CLAIRE DEEM, pianist\n"James Wasserman escorts readers on a kaleidoscopic journey from the first stirrings of human civilization to a hurricane millennia later: the birth of the fearsome Assassins. Wasserman’s passionate knowledge illuminates the myth, mystery, life and teachings of the semi-mythical Assassin master Hasan-i-Sabah, and shows how these echo through the ages and inform the unrest that continues to reverberate in the Fertile Crescent today." -- RICHARD KACZYNSKI, author of Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley.\n"In 1256, the Mongol invaders destroyed Alamut and its library, thus making it seemingly impossible to distinguish truth from fantasy in understanding the nature of the Assassins and the mystical gnosis that shaped their philosophy. What little we do know has been assumed to be all we could know. But in this essential book, Jame

Hasan-i-Sabah: Assassin Master

Biographies & Memoirs

Wasserman, James

Historical

Ibis Press

In this daring exposé by a survivor of a unique era in the New York occult scene, James Wasserman, a longtime proponent of the teachings of Aleister Crowley, brings us into a world of candlelit temples, burning incense, and sonorous invocations. The author also shares an intimate look at the New York Underground of the 1970s and introduces us to the company of such avant-garde luminaries as Alejandro Jodorowsky, Harry Smith, and Angus MacLise. A stone's throw away from the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol's Factory, William Burroughs' "bunker," and the legendary Chelsea Hotel was a scene far more esoteric than perhaps even they could have imagined.
When James Wasserman joined the O.T.O. in 1976, there were fewer than a dozen members. Today the Order numbers over 4,000 members in 50 countries and has been responsible for a series of ground-breaking publications of Crowley's works.
The author founded New York City's TAHUTI Lodge in 1979. He chronicles its early history and provides a window into the heyday of the Manhattan esoteric community. He also breaks his decades of silence concerning one of the most seminal events in the development of the modern Thelemic movement -- detailing his role in the 1976 magical battle between Marcelo Motta and Grady McMurtry. Long slandered for his effort to heal the temporary breach between the Orders of A.'.A.'. and O.T.O., James Wasserman sets the record straight. And, he meticulously chronicles the copyright contest over the Crowley literary estate--of which he was an important participant.
This is also a saga with a very human tableau filled with tender romance, passionate friendships, an abiding spiritual hunger, danger, passion, and ecstasy. It also explores several hidden magical byways including the rituals of Voodoo, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism. Finally we are given a bird's eye view of the 1960s hippie culture and its excesses of sex and drugs, and rock n roll--along with the personal transformations and penalties such a lifestyle brought forth.
Reconstructed from personal memories, magical diaries, multiple interviews, court transcripts, witness depositions, trial evidence, and extensive correspondence, this book elucidates a hitherto misreported and ill-understood nexus of modern magical history. It also shares tales of a mythical moment in American life as seen through the eyes of an enthusiastic participant in the hip culture of the day.

In the Center of the Fire: A Memoir of the Occult 1966-1989

History

• An examination of the interactions of the Christian Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins, and of the profound changes in Western society that resulted. • Restores the reputation of the secret Muslim order of the Assassins, disparaged as the world's first terrorist group. • Dispels many myths about the Knights Templar and provides the most incisive portrait of them to date. A thousand years ago Christian battled Muslim for possession of a strip of land upon which both their religions were founded. These Crusades changed the course of Western history, but less known is the fact that they also were the meeting ground for two legendary secret societies: The Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins. In The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven, occult scholar and secret society member James Wasserman provides compelling evidence that the interaction of the Knights Templar and the Assassins in the Holy Land transformed the Templars from the Pope's private army into a true occult society, from which they would sow the seeds of the Renaissance and the Western Mystery Tradition. Both orders were destroyed as heretical some seven hundred years ago, but Templar survivors are believed to have carried the secret teachings of the East into an occult underground, from which sprang both Rosicrucianism and Masonry. Assassin survivors, known as Nizari Ismailis, flourish to this day under the spiritual leadership of the Aga Khan. Wasserman strips the myths from both groups and penetrates to the heart of their enlightened beliefs and rigorous practices, delivering the most probing picture yet of these holy warriors.

The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven

World

Destiny Books

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." This oft-misunderstood phrase, which forms the basis for Crowley's practice of Magick, is found in The Book of the Law. Dictated to Crowley in Cairo between noon and 1:00p.m. on three successive days in April 1904, The Book of the Law is the source book and key for Crowley students and for the occult in general. The holy text that forms the basis of Crowley's belief system, Thelema, was transmitted to him by the entity known as Aiwass over the course of three fateful April days in 1904. With his wife Rose as the medium for what would become known as the Cairo Working, Crowley dutifully transcribed the communications on hotel stationery. This work contains the corrected text of the 1938 edition with a facsimile of the handwritten manuscript.

Book of the Law

CROWLEY, Aleister

Law Practice

Magickal Childe

"The Record is both chart and log to the bold Sea-Captains of The Voyage Marvelous." Thus Aleister Crowley describes the practice of the Magical Diary, a central component of his system of spiritual attainment known as Scientific Illuminism . 
The collection presented here includes Crowley’s two most important instructional writings on the design and purpose of the Magical Diary. John St. John, first published in THE EQUINOX in 1909, chronicles his moment-to-moment progress during a 13-day Great Magical Retirement. Crowley referred to John St. John as "... a perfect model of what a magical record should be ..." 
A Master of the Temple is taken from the Magical Diary of Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones). It was included in EQUINOX III, 1 in 1919. Crowley edited the diary for publication — and added his invaluable commentary on Achad’s magical work — at a time when he felt Achad was his most successful student. 
James Wasserman has been practicing the Magical system of Aleister Crowley for many years. Drawing on other primary Crowley texts, as well as his own experience with the Magical Record, he explores the purpose and necessity of the journal

Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary

Religion & Spirituality

New Age & Spirituality

Sekmet Books

Aleister Crowley wrote the Gnostic Mass in 1913. He described it as the central ritual, public and private, of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.). It is a mythic hymn to the wedding of scientific truth and religious aspiration; the celebrant is encouraged to leave superstition and dogma at the door and join in an ecstatic tribute to the glorious nature of reality. The Gnostic Mass offers a truly modern spirituality and it is being performed on a regular basis throughout the civilized world. The authors—both longtime O.T.O. members and consecrated bishops of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholicae (EGC)—share between them over half a century of practicing the Mass. Their passionate devotion to the rite was rewarded in 2006 with an important, long-sought insight into the complex geometry of the ritual. In 2009, they published their research in the first edition of this book. Based on a continuing series of understandings, an even more accurate second edition was created in 2010. This third and final edition solves remaining subtleties in the choreography of the five officers and the overall conclusion of the rite. The detailed instructions presented here not only provide the missing performance keys to the geometrical puzzle of the Mass, but offer a window into the wider workings of magical ritual.

To Perfect this Feast: A Performance Commentary on the Gnostic Mass (Revised 3rd Edition)

Wasserman, Nancy

Occult & Paranormal

Featuring timeless images from the Papyrus of Ani and zodiac signs from the Temple of Isis, The Book of Days is designed to serve as a permanent record of important events in your life and the lives of family, friends, and loved ones. Use it to chronicle birthdays, engagements, weddings, graduations, and other significant milestones.
This exquisite keepsake with three-quarter cloth binding and ribbon marker will become a history of your own unique experiences. As you personalize these pages, they develop into both a treasured history and your family legacy.
Images from The Book of Going Forth by Day also known as the Book of the Dead, an Egyptian papyrus painted some 3,500 years ago, are included in full color to accompany each week of the year. Thus, as you memorialize your own life's events, you will share in the personal journey of an ancient scribe and his wife through the realms of the Egyptian Afterlife. Astrological signs from the Temple of Isis in Denderah are featured for each month.

Book of Days: Perpetual Calendar: With Images from the Papyrus of Ani and Zodiac Signs from the Temple of Isis at Denderah

Intrinsic Books

A beautifully illustrated lexicon of the major symbology of the great esoteric traditions • Includes a new chapter on secret societies and their role in safeguarding and transmitting of esoteric knowledge • Includes a full-color reproduction of the medieval alchemical masterpiece Splendor Solis Symbol in the esoteric sense is not to be confused with allegory; symbolic images are the alphabet of the "theory of correspondences" that underlies all the Mystery traditions of the West. This theory recognizes the interdependent relationship of all things and provides, for example, the basis of the belief that the position of the stars in the heavens will influence our thought, emotion, and perception. It also explains how the alchemist’s work with base metals will result in a transformation of his own consciousness. In The Mystery Traditions James Wasserman offers a full-color lexicon of occult imagery drawn from the Kabbalah and tarot as well as the traditions of magic, alchemy, and astrology, accompanied by commentary on each image’s significance and the wisdom teachings from which it derives. In this new edition he also looks at the pivotal role played by secret societies in safeguarding and transmitting these teachings and presents rarely seen artifacts of these societies. Among the splendid offerings in this collection are all 22 paintings of the medieval alchemical masterpiece Splendor Solis in full color and works by significant artists and esoteric thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Robert Fludd, Austin Osman Spare, Harry Smith, Manly P. Hall, and Raymond Lull. This book provides an excellent introduction to the timeless and hidden dimensions of occult practice. An extensive bibliography of classical occult works also complements this unique collection.

The Mystery Traditions: Secret Symbols and Sacred Art

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

A lavishly illustrated, comprehensive look at the mysterious history of the Order of the Knights Templar • Presents the myths and historical truths of the Knights Templar, the elite warrior army of the pope who were destroyed as heretics some 700 years ago • Examines the evidence of the Templar connections to the Assassins and the Cathars • Includes more than 170 period illustrations and contemporary photos of former Templar strongholds in Europe and Jerusalem Despite the increasing scholarship devoted to the study of the Templar order, founded in 1119, the mystery surrounding the Templars endures. Secret societies from the Freemasons to the Ordo Templi Orientis claim descent from this religious order of warrior-monks. As the private army of the pope, the Knights Templar were initially established to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land but grew to become one of the most powerful organizations in the Middle Ages. With period illustrations from manuscripts from the Crusades, interpretive romantic paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries, and contemporary photos by Steven Brooke and others of former Templar strongholds in Europe and Jerusalem, James Wasserman, author of the bestselling The Templars and the Assassins, provides a fascinating history of the Order and the many mysteries and legends that surround it. Wasserman presents the evidence for the Templar connection to mystical Islamic organizations such as the Assassins as well as their ties to “heretical” groups such as the Cathars, who were targeted by a crusade in southern France to expunge the challenge they presented to the orthodoxy of their time. In addition to providing an overview of the Templars’ actions during the Crusades, Wasserman revisits the trial and the charges leveled against them, showing how the Order was ruthlessly crushed. He also explores the nature of the treasure they left behind, which has fueled popular imagination for centuries.

An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar

A fully illustrated history of the Temple of Solomon • Examines the Temple of Solomon in the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and Apocryphal writings • Explores its role in the founding of Freemasonry, the legends of the Knights Templar, the doctrines of the Kabbalah, and the teachings of Islam • Explains the sacred nature of the Temple Mount--the site of the Temple of Solomon--and the secrets that may still be hidden there • Richly illustrated, including many photos and images from rare archives The spiritual heart of many esoteric societies, the Temple of Solomon was located atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a site venerated by the three great monotheistic religions as the intersection of Divine and human. Built by King Solomon at the peak of ancient Israel’s power, the Temple of Solomon housed the golden Ark of the Covenant in its Holy of Holies, a sacred chamber where one could communicate directly with God. Centuries after the temple’s destruction, the Temple Mount was used as the headquarters for the Knights Templar during the Crusades, and countless legends have come down through the centuries about the secrets they may have uncovered there, including discovery of the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant. Richly illustrated with biblical and Masonic illustrations, photographs, and ancient and modern paintings--many from rare archives--this book explores the Temple of Solomon in the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and Apocryphal writings as well as its role in the founding of Freemasonry, the legends of the Knights Templar, the doctrines of the Kabbalah, and Muhammad’s visionary journey from the Temple Mount through the heavens. Seeking to understand the powerful desire of many religions and secret societies to re-create the temple through ritual and prayer, James Wasserman explains why it was built, the magical forces King Solomon may have used in its creation, what its destruction meant for Jews and Christians alike, and why the Knights Templar as well as several modern secret societies named their orders after it. Detailing the sacred architecture of this perfectly proportioned mystical edifice through words and art, the author reveals the Temple of Solomon as the affirmation of God’s presence in human affairs, the spiritual root of Western culture, and an important monument to the Divine nearly forgotten in today’s secular times but sorely needed to bridge the divide between our ancient past and our spiritual future.

The Temple of Solomon: From Ancient Israel to Secret Societies

Politics & Social Sciences

Sociology

Inner Traditions

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