Skeleton Key to Blackwater Lights

Although it's still a little less than a month before my novel comes out, I'm going to start a series of short posts I'm calling a Skeleton Key to Blackwater Lights. There are many mysteries touched upon in the book that can be explored more deeply by those who desire to do so, but the best nuggets of information and wisdom on the Web are buried in tons of misinformation, disinformation, and rubbish. I'll offer links, quotes, and tidbits of knowledge and lore for those with eyes to see. A major subject in the book is the ongoing battle between secretive occult brotherhoods. Of course, it's only fiction.

Isn't it?

"Throughout medieval times, a major current of thought distinct from official religion existed, culminating in the works of the alchemists and hermetics. Among such groups were to be found some of the early modern scientists and men remarkable for the strength of their independent thinking and their adventurous life, such as Paracelsus. The nature of the beings who mysteriously appeared, dressed in shiny garments or covered with dark hair, and with whom communication was so hard to establish intrigued these men intensely."

—Jacques Vallee Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds