King Solomon is the central figure of both the secret rituals of Freemasonry and the forbidden rites of sorcery. The sacred traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam come together in the person of the wise magician-king of ancient Israel, and his presence in Biblical history is a key element in how these three disparate religions view themselves and each other. 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 seriously—but 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. The popularity of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has ignited an explosion of public interest in Freemasonry and the role this ancient and secretive fraternity has played in the untold history of Western civilization. What (if any) is Masonry's connection to the intrigues of the Knights Templar—the crusading order of military monks condemned for heresy and sorcery in the 14th century? Did the Templars, as so many modern commentators are suggesting, really possess a secret so astonishing that it threatened the very existence of the Church of Rome, and the monarchies of Europe whose power rested upon the "Divine Right of Kings?" "The purpose of Masonry's veneration of Solomon is not to advance an alternate view of history, but to present, however subtly, the archetype of the future human being—men and women who truly possess Solomon's Key—the power to master our own demons and redirect their destructive energy to build the Temple of our own evolving soul."

KEY TO SOLOMONS KEY, Secrets of Magic and Masonry, by Lon Milo DuQuette. 207 pages. 6x8 Paperback. Illustrated, references, and index.