1/1, May 1923-September 1931. Suspended almost three years, from 1928 to October 1930. $2.00-$2.50 a year. 8-36 pp., 6 x 8 and then in folded newsletter format. Illustrated with sixteenth century woodcuts.

Hall (1901-1990) was a Canadian who moved in his late teens to Los Angeles, where he moved in the labyrinthian world of California occultism, spiritualism and New Thought, lecturing widely and functioning as pastor of his Church of the People. This journal was the vehicle for Hall's own regular classes on various occult topics but also featured various standard authors, such as Jacob Behmen, Nicholas Culpeper, et al., and and regularly carried serialized occult fiction. The journal consistently reflected the cautious opinion of Hall that "[t]he purpose of occultism in the first place is not to make man divine but to make him human. Every "occultist" feels that if he does not "get out of his body" after the sixth lesson he should have his money back. People work to see auras or to develop some kind of half mediumistic clairvoyance or try in some way or another to breathe, meditate or pray their way out of their ordinary human responsibilities. Phenomena are not the things which either philosophy or occultism are primarily concerned with. The first purpose is to increase the merit and integrity of life. The directionalization of action to intelligent and constructive ends is the only important thing in life. Without this all else must fail." Hall buttressed his own and the journal's reputation with frequent references to (and illustrations copied from) his even-then impressive collection of classic occult material. When the journal was revived with a fifth volume in 1930,it was completely given over to Hall's lectures on topics such as Atlantis, C.R.C.'s Portrait, Egyptian Initiation, Magic Mirrors, Rasputin, Tarot Symbolism, Numerology, etc. Hall augmented his income by advertising his own deck of Tarot Cards, illustrated by J. Augustus Knapp ($3.00), his elaborate editions of classic works, and his coming lecture tours. Like all of Hall's publications, the magazine is beautifully produced (it even had an art director). Before 1928 the journal proudly displayed the current number of subscribers, which hovered around a maximum of 2,700.

Portions of this collection retrieved from manlyhall dot org.