Shining Ones

The physical book itself is very nice and well made with a fascinating cover image. The inside front and back covers are entirely black which further ads to the mystery.While the subtitle of this book promises to reveal "the world's most powerful secret society", surprisingly, less than 20 pages of this book deal with the present-day power players. The majority of this book deals with history, prehistory, and myth covering Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Palestine. However, the individuals that are the Shining Ones neither form a society nor do they act in secret or are unknown. One would be inclined to think that the authors will reveal some secret group one has never heard of or will shed light on some of the better known secret societies and unmask them as the most powerful one. But none of this happens. Near the end of the book the authors do single out one group as being particularly powerful and I was surprised at their choice because it doesn't come up anywhere else in the book. But it is also somewhat of an obvious and bad choice really, as that particular group continues to lose power and members over time. Morover, once identified, the authors don't spend more than a small paragraph mentioning it. But the present is only a concern as symbols remaining of the Shining Ones's activity in the past.As with all these type of works, connections are made too easily and too quickly, which is a problem here since the authors emphasize events that took place and characters that may or may not have lived millennia ago. Recurring themes are shamanism, kundalini, and altered states of consciousness. So any mention in history of light, serpents, wisdom is taken to be evidence of the Shining Ones.The writing style is utterly boring. Perhaps this is due to intellectual honesty that the authors know that they're standing on shaky ground that they can't get themselves to be more enthusiastic about the issue, but if they have a thesis and they think that they can provide some reasons for it, they might as well just run with it.The worst is the lack of scholarship. Things start off problematally from the beginning. Early on there's a quotation from the Bagavat Gita referring to the Shining Ones. However, if you were to pick up the BG, you wouldn't find such a quotation where the authors claim it is. Unless, their translation is so utterly different from the more accepted translations. There are far too many Internet sources of dubious origin. On top of that the authors frequently fail to cite their sources. It's not uncommon to read things like "...it is said by some that..." or "...as many believe..." etc. we never find out who it is that is making these claims.I can't recommend this book for anyone other than someone starting to be interested in mysterious aspects of the ancients and even then, there are better works out there.

I am currently reading this book. I prefer more penetrating scholarship. However, the subject matter is likely penetrating enough for the authors' general audience. I have studied this material most of my adult life and I applaud the curious direction that research has taken them. Obviously, they "get it." In reconstructing the journey from our antediluvian past to the historical epoch, one is required to take a leap. It is not a leap of faith rather a leap over a desert, a non productive era were few artifacts and fingerprints remain. This is an approximately 4,000 year period. When a reader grasps the essential message/truth contained here, and then consider what they know of antiquity, religions, etc., a remarkable context settles into place. Very few things appear mysterious after understanding the essential keys offered here.By forensically reverse engineering what we know about shamanism, the legacy cosmologies of various cultures (for example, Vedic), the authors reconstruct a theoretical proto cosmology from which the others sprang. They are of course correct, in spite of the sluggish assistance of academia and the existing anthropological paradigm. They are wrong, these authors are correct. I find this research brilliantly dovetails with the work of Richard Cassarro's The Missing Link and Written in Stone (and yes, Hancock). One cannot substitute each. All are essential in grasping this material.

Open minded people will understand where Philip Gardner is coming from. I don't agree with any of the negative reviews I have read about this book. There was a time in pre-history when humans were enlightened, and this knowledge was usurped by the priesthood in order to keep the human race dumbed down, and what a good job has been done in this regard. All religions point to a truth, but all religions seek to control, and the truth has been twisted out of all proportion as the centuries have passed. The secret societies claim to have an understanding of this truth, but once again, it is not for man in general, just a select few, and this is the main reason the human race remains divided and confused. I strongly recommend this book for the initiate who wishes to gain an understanding of our ancient past and what has happened in the intervening years. Those who hold a negative view of the book simply do not understand what Gardner is saying. There is a saying isn't there, and it is 'Ignorance is bliss'. Wake up world, for the world needs to wake.

I have not started reading the book but it looks like a great read. The book was delivered in a timely fashion and perfectly packaged. Thanks💕

Being an Author and Researcher myself, I appreciate the depth of this fantastic book.Philip Gardener and Gary Osborn have turned over every stone to uncover the greatestkept secret in all of human history....at least history here on earth!Do a search on google for "Gary Osborn" he has a follow up with more information tothis subject on his web site. You will be amazed!I can see how some people may have a hard time following some of this info if your newto it. It helps to have some extra research and knowledge of the subject. They do makeit clear through the book who the Shinning ones really are, from the beginning to the endof the book. I will cherish this book. Good work fellows!Jimi

I would state this is a must read. If you are seeking the knowledge and want to get back to the Infinite Creator of All you must research and read what is hidden in plain sight. I would purchase and add to your library along with the Lost Teachings of Atlantis the Children of The Law of One. Great foundation and explanations.

As soon as I finger reading the Serpent Grail which I thought was fantastic, I bought this book and again it’s a superb read. The author has done a thorough research and the logic in linking all the parallels make so much sense.Love this topic and wish there were more book by the same author as I’d read them all.Can’t recommend them enough, really among some of the best books I’ve ever read!Look forward to new releases as I’m a big fun now.

If you are only buying one book on the esoteric origins of mankind and the spirit world, it has to be this. It s full of valuable information not to be found any where else with reference to guide the "seeker after truth" to other material. Most of the references I tried to source were easily and cheaply found on Amazon.

Amazing book buy it now and wake up..great information to explain alot of hidden meanings behind things we all see today but don't know the origin...one of the best books to read....the truth and trustworthy

A lot of fact and data but well written and illustrated with plenty of useful knowledge!...........well worth reading and many will benefit from reading this book.

Interesting to start off, then gets quite boring. A bit far fetched to hold my attention.