Manly P. Hall

Manly Palmer Hall (18 March 1901 – 29 August 1990) was a Canadian-born American author, lecturer, and philosopher of the esoteric tradition whose magnum opus, The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), is the most influential single-volume survey of ancient wisdom traditions, mystery schools, and symbolic philosophy produced in the twentieth century. Published when Hall was twenty-seven years old and funded by private subscription, the book has never gone out of print and continues to serve as the gateway text through which millions of readers have encountered the Western esoteric tradition.

Early Life and Self-Education

Hall was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, and raised by his grandmother. He received little formal education but was an extraordinarily voracious autodidact, reading widely in philosophy, comparative religion, mythology, and the occult from an early age. He moved to Los Angeles as a young man, where the city’s receptiveness to alternative spirituality — Theosophy, New Thought, Rosicrucianism — provided fertile ground for his interests.

By his late teens, Hall was lecturing on philosophical and esoteric subjects in Los Angeles. His charisma, his photographic memory, and his ability to synthesise vast amounts of recondite information into accessible lectures attracted a devoted following.

The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928)

Hall’s masterwork — formally titled An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy — is a book unlike any other. Written in his mid-twenties and published in a large-format, lavishly illustrated edition funded by subscription, it surveys virtually the entire landscape of Western esotericism: Egyptian mysteries, Greek philosophy, Pythagorean mathematics, Hermetic traditions, Qabbalistic symbolism, Rosicrucian philosophy, Freemasonic ritual, alchemy, astrology, Tarot, and the mystical traditions of Christianity and Islam.

The book does not present this material as historical curiosity but as a coherent philosophical tradition — a “secret teaching” transmitted through the ages by initiated schools and secret societies. Hall’s method is encyclopaedic rather than analytical: he describes each tradition on its own terms, without debunking or academic scepticism, presenting the esoteric worldview as a valid alternative to materialist philosophy.

The original 1928 edition — printed in a limited run of 550 copies, each priced at $100 (equivalent to roughly $1,800 today) — was an enormous, folio-sized book with colour plates by J. Augustus Knapp. It became a collector’s item almost immediately. Subsequent mass-market editions, in various sizes and formats, have kept the book continuously available, and it has sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

The Philosophical Research Society

In 1934, Hall founded the Philosophical Research Society (PRS) in Los Angeles, a nonprofit institution dedicated to the study of religion, philosophy, and science. The PRS served as the base for Hall’s activities for the remaining fifty-six years of his life. It housed his library of over 50,000 volumes (including rare manuscripts, incunabula, and esoteric texts), hosted his weekly lectures, and published his books, pamphlets, and the quarterly journal PRS Journal.

Hall lectured at the PRS nearly every Sunday for decades, delivering over 8,000 lectures on subjects ranging from Plato to Paracelsus, from Buddhist psychology to the Hermetic tradition. These lectures — many of which were recorded and are now available online — constitute a vast oral bibliography of Western and Eastern esotericism.

Other Works

Hall published over 150 books and pamphlets during his career. The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (1923) was his first major publication and remains popular among Masonic readers. Magic: A Treatise on Natural Occultism (1929) surveys magical traditions from an intellectual rather than practical perspective. Lectures on Ancient Philosophy (1929) distils his philosophical worldview. The Phoenix (1931) examines the phoenix symbol across cultures.

His later works include studies of Buddhism, dream interpretation, astrological symbolism, and comparative religion. None achieved the impact of The Secret Teachings, but collectively they constitute one of the most extensive one-person surveys of the esoteric tradition ever produced.

Critical Assessment

Hall was not a trained scholar, and academic historians of religion and esotericism have noted numerous inaccuracies, anachronisms, and unsupported claims in his work. His treatment of historical traditions is syncretic and ecumenical rather than critical — he assumes an underlying unity among diverse traditions that historians would question.

But his influence on popular understanding of esotericism is enormous. For many readers, The Secret Teachings of All Ages is the first — and sometimes the only — book they encounter on the subject, and its accessible, enthusiastic presentation of complex ideas has introduced the esoteric tradition to millions of people who would never read academic scholarship.

Legacy and Mysterious Death

Hall died on 29 August 1990, at the age of eighty-nine. The circumstances of his death were suspicious — he was found dead in his home, and his physician was later convicted of attempting to forge his will — and the case remains a subject of speculation among Hall’s followers.

Collecting Hall

The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928, H.S. Crocker) in the original folio edition with colour plates is a major collectible, valued at $5,000–$30,000 depending on condition. Later editions are widely available at modest prices. Hall’s other works, published by the PRS, are collected by students of esotericism but are generally inexpensive. The PRS library, now maintained by the University of the Philosophical Research Society, is itself an extraordinary collection.