We have already had success with The Five Tibetans, which is one of the bestselling esoteric books of recent decades, but the origins of the exercises are still shrouded in obscurity. In this specialist but fascinating new book, occult authority and prolific author John Michael Greer looks into the origins of the text amid the history of early 20th century American alternative thought, based around the city of Los Angeles. He looks at where the postures came from and why they were attributed to a distant and obscure culture. He also includes the original text of the short book or pamphlet that first included the rituals, which is fascinating and illuminating in itself. Sometimes the tour around Los Angeles occultism gets almost too detailed but this book is still a cut above most of the bland and obvious stuff out there.

166pp, 228 x 152 mm, Paperback, 2023, RRP £16.99