Merchant Navy captain, software entrepreneur, senior Freemason, Rosicrucian, and practising Spiritualist — a lifetime spent moving between the practical and the contemplative. Two collections of that work live here: eighteen quiet addresses on the inner life, and a twenty-part audio journey through the hidden architecture of a Masonic ritual. Choose where to begin below.
About the Author
Captain John Peck is a distinguished mariner, computer software developer, Freemason, Rosicrucian, practising Spiritualist, and author whose career has been characterised by innovation, problem-solving, service, and a sustained pursuit of knowledge. His professional and spiritual journeys have developed alongside one another for more than seven decades, encompassing the command of ocean-going vessels, pioneering maritime technology, the design and implementation of complex computer systems, and extensive study of spiritual philosophy and the esoteric traditions of Freemasonry.
His life at sea spanned eighteen years, from 1957 to 1975. During this period, he developed what he describes as the world's first radar plotter capable of simultaneously displaying the true and relative motion of vessels, including their direction and speed. He invented, constructed, and sold the device to address the practical problems of navigation in fog and reduced visibility, enabling cable ships to operate more safely in crowded shipping lanes. This early work exemplified the approach that would become a defining feature of his later career: identifying a practical problem, developing an innovative solution, and bringing that solution into effective operation.
By 1975, Captain Peck had reached the rank of Master and was commanding a computerised survey vessel. Having attained the highest rank in his maritime career and completed his service at sea, he came ashore and entered the emerging computer software development industry. His subsequent career has been devoted to solving complex problems and transforming clients' requirements into working solutions.
In 1980, Captain Peck established his own company, beginning a career in software development and systems implementation in which he remains active to this day. Over the decades, the titles and roles within the computer industry have evolved, but the substance of his work has remained remarkably consistent. His approach encompasses the complete life cycle of a solution: understanding a client's requirements, identifying the underlying problem, designing an appropriate solution, procuring the necessary hardware, developing the software, delivering and installing the system, training personnel, and subsequently maintaining the hardware and software under support contracts.
The longevity of his professional relationships is testament to this approach. Two of his principal contracts each continued for more than thirty-one years. His work has also received formal recognition, including an ABTA award for speed of response and an ATOL award recognising the economy of his operations, where operating costs were reported to be approximately 50 per cent lower than those of the nearest competitor. In 2026, he also received an award assigned by the faculty of MIT, further recognising his contribution to his field.
Alongside his professional career, Captain Peck has pursued a spiritual journey that began in 1955. His interest in spiritual awareness, philosophy, and esoteric traditions has remained a continuous thread throughout his life and has developed in parallel with his professional work as a problem solver. His Masonic and Rosicrucian studies have led him to explore the relationship between human consciousness, spiritual awareness, and the deeper philosophical principles embedded within the Masonic tradition.
He is a senior Freemason and Rosicrucian, and a practising Spiritualist whose work draws upon decades of study, meditation, contemplation, and dedicated service within his respective traditions. His Masonic and Rosicrucian appointments reflect a longstanding commitment to scholarship as well as service, including his work as Past Saffragan and Past Provincial Director of Studies within the Societas Rosicruicana in Anglia.
Captain Peck's writing represents the culmination of these diverse experiences. Having spent a lifetime approaching both technical and spiritual questions through investigation and problem-solving, he has sought not only to understand what he has encountered but also to share his conclusions with others. To this end, he has written 32 lectures examining spiritual awareness as it is expressed and developed throughout the Masonic tradition.
At 86 years of age at the time of writing, Captain Peck remains professionally active and intellectually engaged. His life encompasses a rare combination of maritime command, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, software engineering, Masonic and Rosicrucian scholarship, and spiritual enquiry. His continuing work reflects a lifelong conviction that every problem presents an opportunity for understanding—and that knowledge, once acquired, is most valuable when it is shared.
