Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History

The religious world is, and has always been, populated by both traditional practitioners and those who seek outside the halls of respectability for insights and wisdom that come only from a sincere search for what has been called “ancient wisdom.” Smoley, an editor for Quest Books and for Quest: Journal of the American Theosophical Society, has compiled a fascinating series of brief glimpses into the lives of some of the major players and their ideas and beliefs. Some are recognizable: Nostradamus and the Masons, for instance. But others will be less familiar. Taken as a whole, this short work offers the reader an easy to understand introduction to traditions and ideas that have informed the world for centuries. From the ancient Hellenistic thinkers to the modern phenomenon known as “A Course in Miracles,” as Smoley shows, religious adventurers have been discovering their own paths to the Infinite. (Feb.)