About the Author:

Ernesto Frers is an author specializing in medieval history who has investigated enigmatic and occult subjects for many years. He has published widely in his field, is the author of Templar Pirates and Secret Societies in the Hermetic Code, and also the author of a number of works of fiction. He lives in Spain.

About the Book:

In Secret Societies and the Hermetic Code, Ernesto Frers presents a virtual museum of artistic works that contain occult secrets. The scope of his research ranges from the paintings of Byzantine icons to Salvador Dali, from mystery sites such as the Pyramids to the architecture of Andrea Palladio’s Villa Cornaro. He also discusses the hermetic influence on music evidenced in the works of Mozart through to the modern era of rock and roll.
Frers explains that all cultures encode in their architecture, art, and music the instructions and diagram of their esoteric ritual and faith. He shows how during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Church’s severe censure of anything antithetical to its dogma forced artists to conceal mystical references within the religious images or scenes they depicted. By examining works that have not received such scrutiny before, including those of Titian, di Cosimo, Botticelli, and Rembrandt, Frers brings to light the symbols and cryptic messages hidden in these masterworks. He presents his evidence using more than 100 color and black-and-white images to reveal the mysteries contained in these works of art.

Book-Review:

This book intends to bring together a selection of those great works that allow for a double or triple reading, forming a kind of secret museum that the reader can visit virtually, with the aid of the illustrations that accompany the text.

The Author attempted to choose the most representative works within each era and discipline, including some pieces whose esotericism is particularly unusual or little known. The result is necessarily incomplete, but in Author's belief, this text presents substantial examples of the connection between artistic genius and an interest in the mystical dimension of the universe.

To this imaginary secret museum there is added a small concert hall in which Ernesto Frers reviews a few examples from a vast number of musical compositions influenced by Hermeticism. In this case, the sections are arranged not by work but by era and author, a more appropriate approach for understanding such musical development.

Those who approach this excellent and well written book without prejudice will be able to confirm the existence of these secret messages at the turning of each page. I hope you will enjoy reading this text in much the same way as did the artists who created these masterpieces: with a mind and spirit open to the unknown.

Bruno Gazzo
Editor, PS Review of Freemasonry