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In 1917, Aleister Crowley wrote Moonchild, an occult thriller that revolved around a magical battle between two esoteric Lodges — The White Lodge, led by Simon Iff, and the Black Lodge. The plot is thus: Cyril Grey, a member of the White Lodge, attempts to impregnate a woman,  Lisa la Giuffria, in a magic ritual to give birth to a Moonchild, an infant that would bear the soul of an ethereal being. Opposing this is the Black Lodge, though we learn that Grey, too, has other motivations.

In 1946, famed rocketeer Jack Parsons, and the infamous founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, performed a magical rite, called the Babalon Working, in an attempt to conjure forth a woman that would be the embodiment of Babalon, who would then be used as a vessel to bring a Moonchild into the world.

Learning of Parsons and Hubbard’s ambition, Crowley commented, “I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these two goats.”

In 1990, David Lynch and Mark Frost introduced the world to Twin Peaks, a quirky serial drama that centered on the mysterious death of a beloved, but troubled, high school student, Laura Palmer. The themes of the White and Black Lodge play heavily into the intricate plot, incorporating the magical writings of Aleister Crowley and Native American lore to paint a vivid and surreal picture of the battle between these two forces.

In 2023, Allen Greenfield and Olav Phillips explore these themes in Secrets of the Real Black Lodge Revealed, in which the esoteric mysteries of real world secret societies is unveiled.

Greenfield is the darling of the paranormal community. A frequent guest on innumerable podcasts, Greenfield has authored some of the greatest works in the fields of esoterica, ufology, and high strangeness, including The Secret Cypher of the Ufonauts, Secret Rituals of the Men in Black, and Christ and the Master Therion. 

With Secrets of the Real Black Lodge Revealed, Greenfield and Phillips peel the proverbial onion of the underbelly of the occult world, shedding light on the Black Lodge, a secret society that has worked in the shadows for countless generations.

While the information presented is easily accessible for novices to the world of high strangeness, this book is really a sort of love letter to the Veterans of a Thousand Psychic Wars, those of us in the trenches of the strange and unusual, but more than that, it is also a beacon on the works of Crowley, Parsons, and the dynamic duo of Lynch and Frost.

While Greenfield’s expertise and wit are on full display, the book is hindered by somewhat dubious design flaws. There are formatting issues, typographical errors throughout, and the pictures reproduced inside are poorly rendered. Even when the book was first announced, the cover had a glaring typo, reading: The Secrets of the Real the Real Black Lodge Revealed.

And while I appreciate the Stan Lee like narration of the back cover copy:

Descend into the Abyss: Unveiling the Hidden Truths

Unveil  the enigmatic truths hidden within the confines of the Black Lodge with  Allen Greenfield and Olav Phillips as your guides. In “Secrets of the  Real Black Lodge Revealed” these accomplished authors merge history,  mysticism, and the unexplained, offering a mesmerizing account that  transcends the boundaries of reality.

Greenfield and Phillips  meticulously piece together the story of the Black Lodge, blending  meticulous research, esoteric knowledge, and spine-tingling encounters.  As you immerse yourself in the pages of this book, prepare to be  captivated by tales of uncanny occurrences, cryptic symbols, and the  delicate dance between light and darkness. The authors beckon you to  explore the depths of the unknown, where the ordinary morphs into the  extraordinary and the secrets of the Black Lodge come to light. Discover  a world where myths intertwine with reality and the unimaginable  becomes undeniable.

FIND THE TRUTH…..

When it reads “…meticulously piece together the story of the Black Lodge, blending  meticulous research…” I cringe. The writer in me dies just a little bit.

That said, this is a book that is easily devoured, and any mistakes are just as easily forgiven.

I am a lifelong fan of Greenfield’s work, and being even more obsessed with the idea of the Black Lodge, and the works of Crowley and Lynch, this was a much anticipated book that delivered in every possible way imaginable.

While not for everyone, Secrets of the Real Black Lodge Revealed was certainly for me… and I think it might be for you too.