Introduction

Turning the Hiram Key would never have been written had Lewis Masonic not recruited an eager young Mason to take over its line of traditional Masonic books. Martin Faulks, who was attracted into Freemasonry after reading The Hiram Key, thought that the Craft needed a serious book about its spiritual aspects. Without standing on ceremony, he emailed me and started a correspondence in the course of which he teased out of me my views on the spiritual side of Freemasonry. Before I knew it, I'd agreed to put together a synopsis for a book exploring the deep feelings that Freemasonry evokes in me. Soon after that, Martin arranged for me to meet David Allan, Managing Director of Lewis Masonic, and I found myself agreeing to write this book.

For me, this was a totally new genre. Masonic history I knew, but this was a venture into an area which stirs deep emotions in me, and I wasnt at all sure anybody else would be interested in how I felt about Freemasonry. David and Martin both assured me the book was a good idea, so I went away and wrote a full outline. At this point my American editor, Paula Munier of Fair Winds Press, rang me up and asked me what I was working on. I told her about this project, and she asked to see the outline. After she'd read it she got back to me saying she thought it was a great idea, and could I do a simultaneous launch in the United States and Canada, as well as the UK? I am grateful to all three of them for their encouragement and inspiration.

I was by no means certain that anybody would be interested in why I felt Freemasonry was an important spiritual tradition which needed support. It was much later that Martin Faulks pointed out that this is the first time that a committed Freemason has written an exposé of Freemasonry with the express intention of pointing out the important spiritual teachings that  the Order has preserved.

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