Secret oaths, Freemasons and a table that isn't what it seems: Mark Booth on Heretics
The author of The Secret History of the World, who writes as Jonathan Black, insists the Masons mean well, and Andrew Gold is not so sure.
andrew gold | heretics.
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 119,462 views a day, 9.3 times a normal first day on this channel (12,799).
The Most Shocking Revelations About Freemasons You've Never Heard
Andrew Gold spent an hour with Mark Booth, the writer behind The Secret History of the World, and the title he gave it does not hold back: "Elites Killed People For Revealing These Ancient Secrets." Fourteen hours after it went up, it had passed 90,000 views. A new full interview on Heretics usually ends its whole first day with a small fraction of that.
Booth, who publishes his occult histories under the name Jonathan Black, starts with the ancient mystery schools, where, as the description puts it, giving away a secret was said to mean death. From there he moves to frightening initiation ceremonies and to practices he believes can give people power over others. He still describes Freemasonry as benevolent at heart. Gold presses him on what happens when powerful men decide they know what is best for everyone else.
Then it drifts into stranger country. The chapters run from scientists who practiced the occult to a table that is not what it seems, from simulation theory and the Fermi paradox to whether part of a person survives death. One chapter is billed as a disagreement with Richard Dawkins, a former Heretics guest himself. It caps an unusual stretch for a host who admitted in his Jeremy Boreing interview a few days earlier that he wants to believe in God but cannot make himself.
The comment section reads like a lodge reunion of a different kind. Some viewers share family memories of Masonic meetings, from a lodge room rented above a parents' pub to an in-law's invitation that was never followed up. Others say they have read Booth's books more than once. One of the busiest threads argues over whether he came on the show to speak up for the Masons.
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What viewers say
I read his books. "The Secret History Of The World" I read twice, and I don't usually do that.
@nickturner992See it on YouTube44 years ago, my parents let out a room above the pub to masons. I recall peeking through the keyhole and saw some bloke wearing a weird ram head.
@dawnharris3806See it on YouTubeAndrew thank you. I think this is probably my most favourite interview so far this year.. what a fantastic guy. 🙏💚🇮🇪
@eibhlinnichrualoaiSee it on YouTube
3 more comments
Marks two books about this were awesome: "The Secret History of the World" and then "The Sacred History of the World".
@kevinwalton6767See it on YouTubeFirst let me say I freaking LOVE this channel.. I hope you make the landmark soon. This is the most interesting episode yet. I've been waiting to find something here like this . Omg I'm so excited now I'll watch it. Thank you both fellas for creating this amazing conversation
Peace, Love, & Light Always@Ophelia-v6cSee it on YouTubeMy father I law asked me, if I wanted to join freemasonry, as he was in it, I never really responded, the place I worked had a few, probably about a 3rd of the workforce, I asked 1 night, I told him I had been invited, and he basically said, this isn't the time or the place, come and see me, so I think he invited me to his home! I never went!
@andyt5559See it on YouTube
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- Channel
- andrew gold | heretics.
- Subscribers
- 884,000 ▲ 5,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,544,531
- Channel views, pace per day
- 233,877 (on a normal day: 214,353)
- Video published
- October 8, 2026
- Video views so far
- 91,349 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 119,462
The numbers
A long conversation about secret societies opened far faster than a usual Heretics interview, on a channel whose daily views are running close to normal.
💡 Test your knowledge
The Fermi paradox, which comes up in the conversation, is named after which physicist?
The Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked "Where is everybody?" about the absence of signs of alien civilizations, and the paradox carries his name.