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© 2009-2013 Stephen Klimczuk and Gerald Warner of Craigenmaddie
Chapter 1: MYSTERIOUS HERITAGE
Investigating (and, where necessary, debunking) the “Usual Suspects”
Rennes-le-Château, France: Wholly Bunk, Hoary Tale
Villa Tevere: The Headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome
The Hotel de Bilderberg and the Bilderberg Group, The Netherlands
Vauxhall Cross: London’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Headquarters
Rosicrucian Park, San José, and Club 33, Anaheim, California
Chapter 2: SHRINES AND SANCTUARIES, ANCIENT AND MODERN
Places of primordial spiritual impulses and folklore—and a psychedelic West Coast enclave
Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo
Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet
The Shrine of the Oracle at Delphi, Greece
The Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California
Chapter 3: THE TEMPLE, THE ARK, AND THE GRAIL
Undeniable surprises on the sober trail of Knights Templars, Freemasons, Holy Grail hunters, and Gnostics
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
Chapter 4: GOTHIC NIGHTMARE
Himmler’s “Black Camelot” and Nazi spiritual center, with side trips to other Germanic esoteric sites
The Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland
Bollingen Tower, Lake Zurich, Switzerland
Chapter 5: CITADELS OF CHIVALRY
Remaining outposts of ancient noble and charitable brotherhoods at the service of humanity
The Tuscan Order of St. Stephen Pope and Martyr, Pisa
The Teutonic Order
Chapter 6: GROTTOES AND GROTESQUES
Strange and historic passageways, caverns, and hiding places
The Magic Door, Rome
The Grotto of the Beati Paoli, Palermo, Sicily
Priest Holes in England
Chapter 7: MODERN-DAY BOLT-HOLES
Secret government installations, well-oiled for use in time of war or crisis
The Federal Relocation Arc
Area 51: The Facility That Does Not Exist, Nevada
RAF Menwith Hill, Yorkshire, England
Chapter 8: ISLANDS OF MYSTERY
Five special island sanctuaries with their unique treasure hoards, inaccessibility, or spiritual significance
Easter Island: Mysterious Graven Images
Isle of Lewis, Scottish Hebrides
Iona: St. Columba’s Scottish Island Sanctuary
Svalbard: Norway’s Arctic Eden
Chapter 9: HOLIES OF HOLIES
Places on the trail of a higher reality, ultimate human destiny—and according to some, Apocalypse
The Pauline Chapel, The Vatican’s Apostolic Palace (including 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 Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux, France
The Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal of the Mohawks, Ontario, Canada
Chapter 10: HIDDEN TOTEMS
Treasured objects or talismans of great antiquity
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
Chapter 11: (VERY) PRIVATE BANKING
A discreet tour through the great temples of high finance and private wealth management
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, Warburg, and Others
A Well-Connected American House: Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
The Enduring Allure of Gold
Chapter 12: UNIVERSITY SECRET SOCIETIES AND DUELING CORPS
Inside the closely guarded doors of fraternities and societies for the future elite, including a fraternity unlike any other
Princeton’s Eating Clubs
Harvard’s Final Clubs
Yale’s Senior Societies: Skull and Bones and Its Rivals
The German University “Corps”
Chapter 13: JOLLY GOOD FELLOWSHIP
The lore, elegance, humor, and eccentricities of the great private clubs of London and the world
White’s: The Oldest Club
Boodle’s, Brooks’s, and Others of Distinction
Clubs Outside London and in Europe
America’s Private Clubs
Sanctuaries: The Enduring Tradition