Manly Palmer Hall

Manly P. Hall
Born March 18, 1901(1901-03-18)
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Died August 29, 1990(1990-08-29) (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Philosopher, writer
Language English
Citizenship United States
Period 1923–1990
Subjects Philosophy
Notable work(s) The Secret Teachings of All Ages
The Lost Keys Of Freemasonry
Spouse(s) Fay Bernice Lee (-1941, her death)
Marie Bauer Hall (m. 1950-1990, his death)

Manly Palmer Hall (March 18, 1901 – August 29, 1990) was a Canadian-born author and mystic. He is perhaps most famous for his 1928 work The Secret Teachings of All Ages.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Manly P. Hall was born 1901 in Peterborough, Ontario to William S. Hall, a dentist, and Louise Palmer Hall, a chiropractor. In 1923 Hall moved from Canada to Los Angeles, California. In that year he was ordained to the Church of the People and published his first of over 150 works, The Lost Keys Of Freemasonry. Later in 1928, at the age of 27 years, he published The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy[1][2].

Career as occultist

In 1934, Hall founded the Philosophical Research Society (PRS) in Los Angeles, California, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization[3] dedicated to the study of religion, mythology, metaphysics, and the occult.[4]

It is claimed that Hall was made a knight patron of the Masonic Research Group of San Francisco in 1953, although he was not raised as a Mason until 22 November 1954 into Jewel Lodge No. 374 , San Francisco. He later received his 32° in the Valley of San Francisco AASR (SJ).[5] On December 8, 1973 (47 years after writing The Secret Teachings of All Ages), Hall was recognized as a 33° Mason (the highest honor conferred by the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite) at a ceremony held at the Philosophical Research Society (PRS)[6][7]). The definitive Manly Palmer Hall Archive states that Hall received the 33°, "despite never being initiated into the physical craft."[8]

In his over 70-year career, Hall delivered approximately 8,000 lectures in the United States and abroad, authored over 150 books and essays, and wrote countless magazine articles. He appears in the introduction to the 1938 film When Were You Born, a murder mystery that uses astrology as a key plot point.

Legacy

Works

See also

References

  1. ^ Sub Rosa Magazine – Issue 6, October 2006, includes a profile of Hall that mentions a "sole biographical record" called Growing Up With Grandmother; ISBN 0893144207.
  2. ^ Manly P. Hall, "The Secret Teachings of All Ages, The Diamond Jubilee Edition" ISBN 0-89314-830-X, page VI
  3. ^ The Philosophical Research Society's Tax Exempt Status – The Philosophical Research Society's declaration of its 501(c)3 nonprofit status on its website, retrieved December 12, 2010.
  4. ^ "About the Philosophical Research Society". Philosophical Research Society. Archived from the original on 2008-08-07. http://www.webcitation.org/5ZtkINocD. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  5. ^ Denslow, William R. (1958). 10,000 Famous Freemasons, vol. ii. [Trenton, MO. : Missouri Lodge of Research / Educational Bureau, Royal Arch Mason Magazine]. p. 165. 
  6. ^ MPH Biography
  7. ^ Manly P. Hall's Obituary, Scottish Rite Journal, November, 1990, p. 22. [1]. (Note: archives don't go back this far so this reference is in question. However, the Philosophical Research Society Manly Palmer Hall biography states this (word-for-word) except the text on this page stated the 33° is the highest degree conferred by the Scottish Rite, a rare and high honor, Manly Palmer Hall, was given the highest honor conferred by the Scottish Rite in recognition of his esteemed work: The Grand Cross of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, Washington, D.C. in 1985 (can only be conferred on 33rd Degree Masons). The Supreme Council – Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry? – The Methods of Anti-Masons questions Hall's Mason authority status.
  8. ^ The Manly Palmer Hall Archive, retrieved September 28, 2009.
  9. ^ "About the Philosophical Research Society". University of Southern California Archival Research Center: LA as Subject Database. University of Southern California. Archived from the original on 2008-08-07. http://www.webcitation.org/5ZtkQErVd. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  10. ^ "About the Philosophical Research Society". McRae’s Bluebook. McRae’s Bluebook. Archived from the original on 2008-08-07. http://www.webcitation.org/5ZtkUkewg. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  11. ^ "Reagan and the Occult" by Mitch Horowitz, The Washington Post, Political Bookworm, April 30th, 2010

Further reading

External links