Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions Paperback – Illustrated, June 25, 2006

This is a review of Hidden Wisdom by Smoley and Kinney. The subtitle of the book is A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions.Overall, I liked the book, and it was well written for the most part. My only real problem with it is that it often left me wanting to know more on the various traditions it covered. That might actually be a good thing depending on one's point of view, however. Also, the authors did supply lists of Suggested Reading at the end of each chapter where more relevant information could be found.There were 12 chapters, each on a different tradition or different set of related traditions. There was quite a range, starting with Jung and the Unconscious and ending with the New Age. Lots of useful and interesting background was provided, along with explanation of the main points of the traditions.Reading this book inspired me to make further investigation into 3 of the traditions covered. I'll get started on that very soon.

Writer Jay Kinney did a better job of writing than Smoley in this book, but the book overall is informative, well written and very interesting.There is a bit of an "I love the Golden Dawn magical stuff" going on and I can't personally stand Crowley...so in that regard the book was a miss and I knocked it down from 5 to 4 stars for the Crowley love.Crowley was an idiot who took advantage of people. Any genius he found, he did so by accident or from stealing ideas.Buy this book, you will enjoy it and you will be well informed for it. Ignore any positives about Crowley and you are on your way.

Easy to understand text about the many ways to approach religion.

A wonderful book. Well written, thoughtful, well researched. Smoley, the former editor of the magazine, Gnosis,has written an excellent introductory overview of some of the main themes of the Western mystery traditions such as gnosticism, alchemy and hermeticism, kabbalah, shamanism, and esoteric Christianity. Each of the 12 chapters explores a different topic and serves as an excellent springboard for deeper more serious study of the subject. The subjects are well-researched but not scholarly in tone. An enjoyable read for the casual reader and a useful preliminary resource for a more serious student.

For anyone interested in the unseen world, theology and the people who traverse and writeabout it all, this book is the ticket..Smiley ties together famous figures, historical events and relevant topicsyou may know a bit about yet feel the need for more knowledge.Smiley, a Seeker par excellence, offers you his invaluable peek into the worldwe all guess at, beyond everyday experience.

This book will educate everyone about Western Inner Tradtions, and oh my goodness the types presented here are many. Richard Smoley is one brilliant author and his explanations are both easily understood and poignant. He makes no judgments upon anything here, but presents it all as gifts to us. This is a must-read for anyone wanting this deeper knowledge.

Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney have produced a book that gives a person an excellent over view of the different strands that compose the western esoteric tradition. They're writing is factual and balanced. The suggested reading at the end of each chapter provides people with an excellent jumping off point for further study.

I am sure this is a great book for someone already familiar with the various religions, philosophies and so on that this book refers to it but is not a good book for someone without that background. There are so many terms that I was not familiar enough with to understand that the reading/listening to this book was extremely frustrating. I tried but could not get past chapter 5 due to my frustration.

This book is interesting, but it contains a lot of statements that are not provable or are clearly the author's view, with no references to back them up or show where they came from. I am quite excited by the section of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, but I need way better informed sources before I can begin to feel I know something about it all. This is a nice book to read but it is not one to rely on.