Charting the man behind a mystical city

Not surprisingly, this was the beginning of a low point for the Philosophical Research Society, which sold rare alchemical texts to the Getty to pay for some of the legal fees incurred by Hall's widow.

Today, however, the center is on an upswing. In 2002, the society formed a distance learning university, offering a master's degree program in consciousness studies, with faculty including Jonathan Young, a protege of Joseph Campbell, and Vesna Wallace, a professor in the religious studies department of UC Santa Barbara. This January, the university received national accreditation. The library, featuring some of the rarest philosophical, religious and occult texts in existence (books on black magic and Satanism are stored under a Buddha to balance the energies), remains open to the public every Saturday and Sunday.

Explore with a book

"People are hungry for the material," said society librarian Maja D'Aoust, who co-authored the alchemical primer "The Secret Source" with Adam Parfrey and lectures most Sundays.

D'Aoust conceded that some might find the prospect of thumbing through 30,000 volumes intimidating, and she suggested just starting randomly. "There are very interesting synchronicities surrounding the research that happens in this building," she noted. "Just pick a book, any book. Even if you don't know what you're looking for, it will probably find you."

--

'Master of the Mysteries' book release

Featuring a lecture and slide show by author Louis Sahagun and a talk on L.A.'s Freemasonic heritage

Where: Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles

When: noon to 3 p.m. today

Price: $1

Contact: (323) 663-2167