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As the Neophytes began their journey in AMORC’s First Temple Degree Ritual, author Pierre S. Freeman describes their journey with the same biting commentary familiar to his readers in his books and blogs. It is a journey which the Neophytes (newbies in an esoteric order) think will lead them to a beautiful fulfilling life in tune with the Cosmic, aptly traced in this ritual, but which Freeman contends in his various works may lead to a Norman Rockwell type of middle class existence of blissful ignorance of the path they are really on or the nightmare of transformation into a new cult-programmed personality as he experienced for twenty-six years. While commenting on the Via Negativa traversed by these Neophytes, Freeman also expounds speculatively on what the rituals might mean in a real esoteric order. He follows them and the various officers and characters through the quadrants of the Temple, which he guesses might actually mean the circulation of energy (chi) through the body of the Initiate and describes in detail the rituals they face when encountering the Terror of the Threshold, where the Neophytes encounter the figure of Death and Colombe, a white robed young woman who symbolizes conscience. In this manner, Freeman gives his readers a sense of the flavor of the actual ritual through this commentary, but also through the full color illustrations, which populate the ebook.