"The way of the secret society is a way of life. At its root, it is not grinning skulls and sputtering candles in dark rooms. It is not that provincial.

The secret society reflects one invisible tradition that has existed on Earth for a hundred thousand years. It is the main Way that people have lived on this planet.

There is another way, another tradition, more invisible, more powerful. This book is about these two avenues.

It is amazing, at this late date, that so many people think power is merely a cake of clay that six billion of us are beating at with hammers. It is astonishing that so many people think power is a mound of lumps and dust that six billion of us are fighting over.

Power has been taken by very well-run organizations. Major power. On the other side of the coin, there is a growing crowd that thinks we must invoke fire-eating lizards or Satan to explain how power has been stolen from us.

This is a book about the organizations that have carted off something very vital in the middle of the night ? and how to get it back. More than that, it is about the exact methods used to unhook us from all that we are. I have done enough excavation to expose the central ruse, to show two invisible traditions of history.

I have gotten into the shiny stainless steel vault in the big bank, looked around, and pointed out the obvious. And then after that I have refused to budge.

I believe we are grappling, as if in a dream, with the layers of anesthetic that surround the core of our being.

This book is a search for ... what? A platform from which to view the place in ourselves which could revolutionize the future.

This search is not new, and we have all been over significant ground before. But we turn away, we demean ourselves, we fabricate existence and lessen its meaning. We pay allegiance to myths and gods, we accept a shrunken view of history.

But in history are veins of master substance, as it were, that can lead us back to ourselves in a new way.

The style of this book is not to set out, like file cabinets, a precise robot- march of facts which ultimately spell out a hypothesis. I rather take you along on my own adventure of discovery, because I want you to see and feel something, not merely make notes in the machine-part of the mind. These days, the terms cult, secret society, and religion are all so loaded that their meanings are melting down.

I use cult and secret society to mean: organized groups which harbor a hidden agenda whose purpose is to dominate and control others.

This agenda doesn?t rule out the existence of a merry public face. In fact, a cult may be doing good in one sphere while destroying life and limb on another front.

In this book, religion means a group which has a hierarchical power structure leading up to an invisible God. Naturally the God favors the religion which worships Him. Otherwise, why bother?

Most religions are secret societies. They have an agenda which involves controlling their devotees, all their charity-work notwithstanding. Historically, people seek out secret societies and religions and join them to gain freedom from pain and turmoil. People also join because they are forced to. For example, the country they live in leaves no choice. Such was the case in medieval Europe, where the Roman Catholic Church held the wand of dominance.

But there is another factor. The popular term for it these days is mind control. It used to be brainwashing, hypnotism. I will discuss that aspect at length, in an unusual way.

When I use only the first name of a person, that name is fictitious. The reason is the same in all such cases: to ensure privacy. This book can offer much evidence to support its conclusions, but it cannot rest on absolute proof. Because of the nature of the subject, I have had to rely, in certain crucial situations, on the testimony of anonymous sources.

I have also, as I say, chosen to rely on my personal experience, because the story that will now unfold is empty without it."
-- John Rappoport

In a stunning 30-year investigation, Jon Rappoport uncovers the basic formula of all groups which seek to control individuals and civilizations. And then he reveals an invisible tradition which has existed on this planet for 10,000 years. A tradition which can free us now from our personal limitations. Here is the work that is being called the first great book of the 21st century.

John Rappoport is an artist, author and commentator on social issues. He has been writing articles and book on politics for fifteen years.

Jon Rappoport is the author of: AIDS INC., Scandal of the Century, a critique of the original medical research behind HIV; Kill the Monster, "a collage of reporting and poetic fable concerning the medical establishment and magical healing;" Oklahoma City Bombing, The Suppressed Truth, an examination of the holes in the government/media scenario about what happened at the Murrah Building on April 19, 1995; Madalyn Murray O'Hair, an investigation into the disappearance and possible murder of the world's most famous atheist; and The Secret Behind Secret Societies, a new and revolutionary analysis of human history on Earth and the invisible tradition that has surmounted tyranny in every time and culture. Mr. Rappoport has also been a painter for 35 years. He has exhibited his work in California and New York galleries, and is in collections from New York to Nigeria.

Paperback - 410 pages 9 x 6 inches