This is a preview clip to the Media Roots Radio series by Robbie Martin, The Freemasonic History of the United States Part 7: Masonic Rosicrucianism, Hermetic Theosophy, Blavatsky & Paschal Beverly Randolph. To hear the entire 8 hour episode or the full series become a subscriber @ www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio

It is the 1870s, Freemasonry is at the peak of its popularity and has become an old hat, secret society enthusiasts are bored and looking for something more esoteric and magical. Robbie Martin tells an intertwining story about the spiritualism revival in the United States that involves Sex Magician P.B. Randolph and Theosophical Society founders H. Blavatsky & Henry Steel Olcott [ the latter 3 ingested drugs, even hallucinogens to commune with spirits ]. Italian magician Cagliostro makes a comeback, and the rise of new types of mystical esoteric fraternal societies become inevitable, ones that heavily borrow from Rosicrucianism and Eastern Religion. Instead of just becoming appendant bodies of Masonry, the popularity and the mystique of these new Rosicrucian societies [ S.R.I.A. , S.R.I.C.F. , F.R.C. ] and Theosophical groups start to eclipse those of Freemasonry itself.

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