| Description |
xi, 259 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Note |
Includes index. |
| Contents |
MYSTERIOUS HERITAGE: investigating (and, when necessary, debunking) the "usual suspects". Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian, Scotland -- Rennes-le Château, France: Wholly Bunk, Hoary Tale -- Villa Tevere: the headquarters of Opus Dei, Rome -- The Hotel de Bilderberg and the Bilderberg Group, The Netherlands -- Vauxhall Cross: London's Secret Intelligence Service (M16) Headquarters -- Rosicrucian Park, San José, and Club 33, Anaheim, California -- SHRINES AND SANCTUARIES, ANCIENT AND MODERN: places of primordial spiritual impulses and folklore: a psychedelic West Coast enclave. Ise Shrine, Japan -- Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo -- Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet -- The Shrine of the Oracle at Delphi, Greece -- The Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California -- THE TEMPLE, THE ARK, AND THE GRAIL: undeniable surprises on the sober trail of Knights Templars, Freemasons, Holy Grail hunters, and Gnostics. The Bååtska Palace, Stockholm -- The Chapel of the Ark, Aksum, Ethiopia -- The Chapel of the Holy Grail, Valencia Cathedral, Spain -- Significant Masonic temples from Rome and Paris to Washington and Pushkin (Russia) -- Gnosticism today -- GOTHIC NIGHTMARE: Himmler's "Black Camelot" and Nazi spiritual center, with side trips to other Germanic esoteric sites -- Wewelsburg Castle, Westphalia, Germany -- The Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland -- Bollingen Tower, Lake Zurich, Switzerland -- CITADELS OF CHIVALRY: Remaining outposts of ancient noble and charitable brotherhoods at the service of humanity. The Knights of Malta, Rome -- The Tuscan Order of St. Stephen Pope and Martyr, Pisa -- The Teutonic Order -- GROTTOES AND GROTESQUES: Strange and historic passageways, caverns, and hiding places. The Passetto di Borgo, Rome -- The Magic Door, Rome -- The Grotto of the Beati Paoli, Palermo, Sicily -- Priest holes in England -- MODERN-DAY BOLT-HOLES: Secret government installations, well-oiled for use in time of war or crisis. Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, Bluemont, Virginia -- The Federal Relocation Arc -- Area 51: the facility that does not exist, Nevada -- RAF Menwith Hill, Yorkshire, England -- ISLANDS OF MYSTERY: Five special island sanctuaries with their unique treasure hoards, inaccessibility, or spiritual significance. Montecristo: The Forbidden Island off the Italian coast -- Easter Island: mysterious graven images -- Isle of Lewis, Scottish Hebrides -- Iona: St. Columba's Scottish Island Sanctuary -- Svalbard: Norway's Arctic Eden -- HOLY OF HOLIES: Places on the trail of a higher reality, ultimate human destiny, and according to some, Apocalypse. Sancta Sanctorum, Rome's Lateran Palace -- The Pauline Chapel, the Vatican's apostolic palace -- The "Prophecies" of St. Malachy -- The monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai, Egypt -- The autonomous monastic republic of Holy Mount Athos, Greece -- The Abbey of Saine-Madeleine du Barroux, France -- The Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey -- Her Majesty's Chapels Royal of the Mohawks, Ontario, Canada -- Counterfactual History: the eternal "what if...?" -- HIDDEN TOTEMS: Treasured objects or talismans of great antiquity -- The stone of destiny -- The Holy Crown of St. Stephen of Hungary -- The British and Polish crown jewels in Canada -- The Holy Ampoule of the Kings of France -- Joyeuse, the Sword of Charlemagne -- The Holy Lance of St. Longinus: The "Spear of Destiny" -- Oliver Cromwell's head -- (VERY) PRIVATE BANKING: A discreet tour through the great temples of high finance and private wealth management. Rothschild's, London -- Banks that are no more -- The great survivors: Goldman Sachs and the House of Lazard -- The wealth managers, including Coutts & Co., the Queen's bankers -- The Swiss banks: models of discretion -- The German private banks: Oppenheim, Warbug, and others -- A well-connected American house: Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. -- C. Hoar & Co. -- The enduring allure of gold -- UNIVERSITY SECRET SOCIETIES AND DUELING CORPS. Inside the closely guarded doors of fraternities and societies for the future elite. The Apostles of Cambridge and the Bullingdon Club of Oxford -- Princeton's eating clubs -- Harvard's final clubs -- Yale's senior societies: Skull and Bones and its rivals -- The German University "Corps" -- The Mensure -- JOLLY GOOD FELLOWSHIP: The lore, elegance, humor, and eccentricities of the great private clubs of London and the world. London's private clubs: White's: the oldest club; Boodle's, Brooks's, and others of distinction -- Clubs outside London and Europe -- America's private clubs -- Sanctuaries: the enduring tradition. |
| Subject |
Parapsychology.
|
|
Occultism.
|
|
Antiquities.
|
|
Sacred space.
|
|
Curiosities and wonders.
|
| Added Author |
Warner, Gerald.
|
| ISBN |
9781402762079 |
|
1402762070 |
|
