Sketching out a fascinating network of historic figures, cults, and Christendom, this book by an occult-studies expert and respected authority on magic and sorcery takes Western spiritual traditions seriouslybut examines them with common sense and self-effacing humor. Working backward from the Freemasons to one of their original orders, the 14th-century Knights Templar, the account considers sorcery, heresy, and intrigues; explores the legend that the Knights possessed a powerful secret dangerous to the Church of Rome; and finds an essential clue to the order's practices in their connection...