1st Edition

Secret Sects Of Syria

By Bernhard H. Springett Copyright 2006
    352 Pages
    by Routledge

    352 Pages
    by Routledge

    First published in 2007. Secret sects are deeply rooted in the history and culture of the Middle East, and a number of them are as powerful now as they were in the times of the Crusades. In the West, the best-known organisation with connections to these ancient sects are the Freemasons, whose rituals are believed to derive from those originally practiced by the Knights Templar in the East, and later brought by them to Europe. In this classic work, Bernard Sprigett describes and analyses the symbolism, ceremonies and beliefs of these secret sects including 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 and the Druses, and their links with and influence upon the Knights Templar and modern Freemasonry. Springett demonstrates the persistence of ancient symbolic and ritual elements in modern life and gives insight into the creeds and practices of secret sects that are active today in the Middle East and beyond.

    Chapter I The Root Principles of all Freemasonry; Chapter II The Ancient Mysteries; Chapter III The Antiquity Of The People Of The Lebanon; Chapter IV The Sabeans, Worshippers of the Pole Star; Chapter V The Gnostics and the Manicheans, and their Influence on the Order of Knights Templars; Chapter VI Other Gnostic Sects: The Ophites, Basil-Ideans, and Followers of Simon Magus; Chapter VII The Schiite Sects: Sufeism and the Dervish Orders; Chapter VIII Initiation Rites among the Dervishes 1 From Mysticism and Magic in Turkey, by L. M. J. Garnett. London, 1912.; Chapter IX Other Schiite Sects: The Metawileh; Chapter X The Sect of the Essenes and Their Tenets; Chapter XI Pythagoras and His System; Chapter XII The Ismaeli and Their Various Branches.—Origin of the Assassins; Chapter XIII The Assassins; Chapter XIV The Mohammedan Creed; From an Original Arabic Confession of Faith; Chapter XV The First Four Caliphs and the Twelve Imaums; Chapter XVI The Religious System of the Nusairis; Chapter XVII The Religious System of the Nusairis: Continued; Chapter XVIII Religious Festivals of the Nusairis; Chapter XIX Fundamental Principles and Deeper Mysteries of The Nusairi Religion; Chapter XX The “House of Wisdom” at Cairo, and the Founding of the Druse Sect by El Dorazi and Hamzeh; Chapter XXI The Religion of The Druses; Chapter XXII Religious Ceremonies of the Druses; Chapter XXIII Religious Creed of The Druses; Chapter XXIV Resemblance of the Druse Religion to that of the Lama of Thibet; Chapter XXV The Relation of the Druses to Freemasonry; Chapter XXVI The Yezidis, or Devil-Worshippers; Chapter XXVII Modern Arabian Freemasonry; Chapter XXVIII Syrian Influences on Modern Freemasonry; Chapter XXIX Syrian Influences on the Order of Knights Templar and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite;

    Biography

    Bernard H. Springett