Approaching the Middle Chamber: The Seven Liberal Arts in Freemasonry & the Western Esoteric Tradition

Jaime Paul Lamb takes us through the 7 liberal arts of the 2nd degree of freemasonry. He illuminates and unpacks for us the esotericism found hidden within the degree. Not only does he examine the 7 liberal arts and it's relationship to the Fellowcraft degree, he adds to our knowledge on their study and detail. A great diversity of subjects covered from Pythagorus; Mozart; the Art of memory; and even Jazz musician Anthony Braxton. While exploring traditional masonic writers such as Preston, Oliver, and Mackey he also introduces and illustrates how esoteric writers such as Agrippa, Ficino, A.E. Waite, Eliphas Levi, and Elias Ashmole have also influenced craft masonry. Thanks to his contribution to the craft we see how esotericism, Kabbalah, Gematria, Hermeticism, have influenced Freemasonry since time immemorial.

This book holds a lot of context for different relations of the symbols and tools involved in the second degree work. It does involve a lot of numerology/gematria and other occult symbolism (which can sound like a bit of a stretch), but in context this information remains valuable.If you're a freemason and want to learn more from the middle chamber, including the occult connections of these lessons, this book will greatly assist your journey.

I am only halfway through the book so far and thoroughly enjoying it. Very well researched and written. If you're really trying to dig into the FC degree and want to get a working grasp of what the MC and the degree in its totality encompasses then this is the book for you.

Great service, arrived quickly and as advertised

A very well written and precise explanation of the MC in the second degree of Freemasonry.

A must have

Jaime has written another fantastic book. I am about halfway through this book, but am hooked by the different perspectives that are presented. It is hard to even express how detailed and inspiring this book is. Certainly, a labor of love by Jaime that has provided me much to explore. The depth of knowledge and perspectives of Jaime always has me engaged on every page. This is a book I will re-read and assist me as I explore my own research. A must read, as this book should be a constant in the education curriculum. Well done Jaime!I received my book from the author, as he was so kind to send me an autographed copy.

Imagine that you could say something simple, direct and concise. Then, you pull our your thesaurus and write the same thing using the most obscure and least-used synonyms possible. That's how this book reads.This author chose to make things complex, indirect and painfully difficult to read. Intentional or not, the author missed an opportunity to speak to a modern audience in their language.I write this knowing that much work had to go into a book like this and I respect the intent of the author. Perhaps there are certain circles within academia that would appreciate this, but this college grad can't endorse such a work.