This PowerPoint presentation and commentary is intended to educate Mason’s and non-Mason’s about the truth of Freemasonry’s association and usage of the use of the word Lucifer.
Catholic Freemason Eliphas Levi wrote in his 1860 book, The History of Magic, that from a religious or dogmatic standpoint, the Holy Scriptures form no part of what we do; that we surrender theology to the church, “To explain Holy Scripture from the religious and dogmatic standpoint forms no part of our warrant. Subject above all things to the hierarchic order, we surrender theology to the doctors of the Church and we render to human science whatsoever is included in the domain of experience and reason” (Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, 1860, p. 115).
“The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth Degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer. LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls? Doubt it not! for traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations: and Inspiration is not of one Age nor of one Creed. Plato and Philo, also, were inspired” (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1872, p. 234).
“The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth Degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer.”
First off, let’s define “Apocalypse” in reference to the “nineteenth” degree.”
Apocalypse means, “an event involving destruction or damage on a catastrophic scale.”
Therefore, Pike is setting the tone for the entire statement; especially since the first sentence is the topic sentence for the paragraph.
He is stating that the religious belief that Lucifer is Satan or the Devil has been usurped by the Church first, and now by the general population – that it is an Apocalypse, or “an event involving destruction (the truth) or damage (perpetuating a lie upon mankind to mislead it) on a catastrophic scale.”
And this is supported by the middle part of the sentence, “the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone.”
“Apotheosis” can be defined as, “the elevation of someone to divine status; deification.”
As such, Pike is confirming the truth “God alone” has “divine status.”
But the third part of the sentence, “and despises all pomps and works of Lucifer,” thereby confusing the reader into believing that Lucifer is something to be despised, which is a Church doctrine to mislead the people from the truth.
In summation though, the first sentence is setting the tone for the rest of the paragraph, that Lucifer (Venus) is actually Jesus or the God of the Bible.
Note: The star of over Jesus of Bethlehem was Venus (Star of Jesus).
“LUCIFER, the Light-bearer!”
Pike is making a clear statement in this short sentence, “Lucifer, the Light-Bearer!”
In fact, he made his point by placing LUCIFER in all caps.
Interestingly, Jesus Christ Himself is twice associated with the Morning Star or Light-bearer, which means the same thing, in the New Testament, II Peter 1:19 and in Revelations 22:16.
“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Rev 22:16 King James Version).
“Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts” (II Peter 1:19 New Living Translation).
“Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness!”
Now we see Pike questioning the Church’s claim that Lucifer is the “Spirit of Darkness.”
Associating Satan or the Devil to Lucifer is, at least to Pike, “strange,” and gives cause to wonder why anyone would try want to mislead the population; that it is “mysterious.”
In short, Pike the questioning the claim that Lucifer has anything to do with the “Spirit of Darkness;” i.e. the Devil or Satan.
“Lucifer, the Son of the Morning!”
In the next sentence, Pike now states his case; that “Lucifer” is the “Son of the Morning.”
Of particular interest, both Satan and Jesus are referred to as “Son of the Morning” in the Holy Bible.
In Isaiah 14:12 we read, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!” The King James and New King James Versions use “Lucifer, son of the morning” in place of “Day Star, son of Dawn.” The larger context of this passage is traditionally interpreted as referring to Satan and his fall from heaven.
In Revelation 22:16, we read, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Why are both Jesus and Satan called the morning star?
In essence, Pike is also raising the question about who is actually “the Son of the Morning?” This is important because not all interpretations are the same; as stated above… The King James and New King James Versions use “Lucifer, son of the morning” in place of “Day Star, son of Dawn.”
“Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls?”
“Doubt it not!”
To support the previous claim that Lucifer bears the Light, Pike now states “Doubt it Not.”
Never doubt that Lucifer is and holds the light, like that of Jesus and God.
The adversary only wants confusion; whereas the light seeks the truth.
“for traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations:”
Pike is now talking about “traditions” of mankind, which “are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations.”
Therefore, in reference to Lucifer, many traditions exist.
First and foremost, before the Christian Church misinterpretation of Lucifer, he was deem the Light (the planet Venus), like that of God (Jesus).
No, not a lesser god, as so many have claimed.
Secondly, after the Christian era, the Church decided to make Lucifer the adversary, because it conflicted with their vision of Jesus.
“and Inspiration is not of one Age nor of one Creed.”
This is an even clearer statement from Pike, for each age and people are inspired to interpret according to their traditions and revelations, like that of the Church.
Indeed, the Church is free to interpret to fit its narrative; yet, this does not change historical facts about the origin of Lucifer (Venus).
Yes, Freemasonry, the carrier of the Secrets, holds the counter narrative to that of the Church.
But before you decide a final outcome, just do a little more study, and the truth (Light) will be revealed.
“Plato and Philo, also, were inspired”
Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was an Athenian philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, founder of the Platonist school of thought, and the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.
Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE – c. 50 CE) was a Helenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Both men wrote about Lucifer well before the Christian era; not as the Devil or Satan, but rather as the planet Venus.
Freemason Eliphas Levi wrote that God’s goodness is eternal, not evil; and asked the question, according to the creed of the church, would it not be blasphemy to believe in Lucifer? Yes, of course it would be; that is why we don’t believe he is evil or believe in the Church’s doctrine:
“good alone is infinite; evil is not; and hence if God be the eternal object of faith, then the devil belongs to science. In which of the catholic creeds is there any question concerning him? Would it not be blasphemy to say that we believe in him” (Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, 1860, p. 11)?
Here we see Levi not only defining evil and the goodness of God, but we also see him questioning the Catholic creed regarding Lucifer.
Levi went on to debate the definition of Lucifer:
“In Holy Scripture he is named but not defined. Genesis makes no allusion to a reputed revolt of angels; it ascribes the fall of Adam to the serpent, as to the most subtle and dangerous of living beings. We are acquainted with Christian tradition on this subject; but if that tradition is explicable by one of the greatest and most diffused allegories of science, what can such solution signify to the faith which aspires only to God, which despises the pomps and works of Lucifer” (Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, 1860, p. 11).
Clearly, Levi questions the “Christian tradition on the subject.”
For you see, the Holy Scripture does not define Lucifer.
In truth, Levi did not believe the Devil even existed; that it may be nothing more than a superstition, a ridiculous invention:
“But it is important to ascertain whether the notion of this evil power can be reconciled with that of God—in a word, whether the devil exists, and in such case what he is. There is no longer any question of superstition or of ridiculous invention; it is a question of religion alone and hence of the whole future, with all the interests, of humanity” (Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, 1860, p. 12).
Therefore, if the Devil does not exist, Lucifer can’t be the Devil or Satan as Church doctrine believes. This is not to say evil and evil spirits do not exist, for surely they do. Just as good spirits do.
This force is in fact a composite agent, which is just the opposite of a single agent. It is an imagination of nature; an Od, or a “hypothetical power once thought to pervade nature and account for various phenomena, such as magnetism:”
“How is all this possible. Because there is a composite agent, a natural and divine agent, at once corporeal and spiritual, an universal plastic mediator, a common receptacle for vibrations of movement and images of form, a fluid and a force which may be called, in a sense at least, the imagination of Nature. By the mediation of this force every nervous apparatus is in secret communication together; hence come sympathy and antipathy, hence dreams, hence the phenomena of second sight and extra-natural vision. This universal agent of Nature’s works is the Od of the Jews and of Reichenbach, the Astral Light of the Martinists, which denomination we prefer as the more explicit” (Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, 1860, p. 16). Levi defined God as purity; however, Satan is not so clearly defined. In fact, the spirit of darkness is not a personality, nor a black god, it is a perversity; in fact, he states that Satan has many forces, not a single one, “My name is legion… for we are many:”
“By its clear formulation of concepts respecting the Divine, Christianity leads us to the understanding of God as the most absolute and the most purest love, while it defines, not less clearly, the spirit which is opposed to God, the spirit of revolt and hatred: hereof is Satan. But this spirit is not a personality and is not to be regarded as a kind of black god: it is a perversity which is common to all extralineal intelligences. ‘My name is legion,’ says Satan in the Gospel, ‘for we are many’” (Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, 1860, p. 187).
Closing Comments:
It is all too easy to make the claim that Freemasonry promotes Satan or Devil worship when taken out of context for a political agenda.
Yet, if one is intellectually honest and studies this topic from an historically accurate perspective, no other conclusion can be given – studying or using the name Lucifer from a historical perspective is not Devil or Satan worship. For Satan or the Devil does not even exist.
Absolutely not.
And although Freemasonry teaches many ancient ideals, it does not in any way worship Lucifer; rather it looks upon the idea of Lucifer as a teacher or sage of enlightenment, or as God himself (if you believe in Jesus).
Each Mason is free to decide for himself.
So Mote It Be!!!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.
This PowerPoint presentation, along with commentary by Hank Kraychir, is intended to educate the brethren about the afflictions of Masonic debate.
Albert Pike wrote, “Your debates should be but friendly conversations. You need concord, union, and peace. Why then do you retain among you men who excite rivalries and jealousies; why permit great and violent controversy and ambitious pretensions? How do your own words and acts agree? If your Masonry is a nullify, how can you exercise any influence on others (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1872, p. 198)?
In Kenneth Corbit’s 2017 dissertation, A Theory-Centered Model of Debate Assessment, he claimed that the untrained debater would only want to win, not seek the truth, when he referenced both Plato and Aristotle.
“Plato thought speakers untrained in dialectic (the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions) would only attempt to win because they could not understand the philosophical aspects of a case. For that reason, he argued, only philosophers should attempt rhetoric (persuasive speaking or writing).”
“As did his mentor, Plato, Aristotle opposed using rhetoric as the sophists did, to exploit rhetorical techniques merely to win disputes rather than to persuade the audience through a sound argument.”
Ad hominem is a term that is applied to several different types of arguments, most of which are fallacious (based on a mistaken or false belief). Typically it refers to a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself. People with strong narcissistic, sociopathic, and psychopathic tendencies (hereafter narcissists) are unwilling or unable to resolve conflicts or participate in discussion in a healthy, mature manner.
Six Point Summary:
In a social interaction, discussion, or argument, regular, well-meaning people treat others with curiosity, empathy, and good faith. A narcissist, on the other hand, sees interaction as a win-lose situation. To “win,” they try to dominate, bully, deceive, demean, humiliate, and hurt others. For that, they use certain common and predictable tactics that include but are not limited to arguing in bad faith, lying, denying, deflecting and attacking, gaslighting, and intimidating. If and when they feel they have lost or were wronged, they will try to intimidate you further and manipulate others in order to hurt you personally and socially. Sometimes while accusing you of it at the same time. Engaging with a person who uses these tactics is fruitless, frustrating, boring, and predictable. Yet someone who is not quite familiar with it may think, “But if only I explained myself better…” Or, “But if only I presented my argument better…” Or, “But if only they could understand where I’m coming from…” But if only…. Yet they’re not interested in, and often not even capable of, that. They don’t care about sound arguments, honesty, empathy, curiosity, or win-win resolutions. They might claim that they are all about that, but if you look at how they act it’s evident that they are not. So after you noticed that you’re dealing with someone who is consistently participating in something like this and is not really interested in conflict resolution or finding truth, you can safely decide not to engage with them and save yourself a headache.
Some More Supporting Quotes:
“WHETHER the legend and history of this Degree are historically true, or but an allegory, containing in itself a deeper truth and a profounder meaning, we shall not now debate. If it be but a legendary myth, you must find out for yourself what it means (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1871, p. 204).
“If you have Eloquence, it is a mighty force. See that you use it for good purposes—to teach, exhort, ennoble the people, and not to mislead and corrupt them. Corrupt and venal orators are the assassins of the public liberties and of public morals” (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1972, p. 99).
“Let us away with this odious self-flattery! Let us be men, if we cannot be sages! The laws of Masonry, above others excellent, cannot wholly change men’s natures. They enlighten them, they point out the true way; but they can lead them in it, only by repressing the fire of their passions, and subjugating their selfishness. Alas, these conquer, and Masonry is forgotten” (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1871, p. 186).
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.
According to French Esoteric Freemason Eliphas Levi, Magic has “confounded… ordinary people” since its beginning. Yet this misunderstanding has more to do with a misrepresentation of Magic than an understanding of the “exact and absolute science of Nature and her laws.” You see, “Magic is the science of the ancient Magi;” and it was the “Christian religion” that “silenced” this belief and replaced it with a “Savior of the world.” Nevertheless, the similarity between Magism’s traditions and that of the origins of the newly formed faith of Christianity are unmistakable. The former and newly formed religion was “elevated by tradition to the rank of kings, because Magical initiation” constituted “a true royalty; because also the great art of the Magi” was characterized “by all adepts” of the “Royal Art, as the Holy Kingdom—Sanctum Regnum.” Furthermore, the “star which conducted the pilgrims is the same Burning Star which is met with in all initiations (Eliphas Levi, History of Magic, 1860, p. 1).
Yet, similarities abound; like the “Alchemists” held the “sign of the quintessence,” or the “Magicians” held the Great Arcanum,” and the “Kabalists” used the “sacred pentagram.” Giving the new religion another name does not change its origins,
Magic, therefore, combines in a single science that which is most certain in philosophy, which is eternal and infallible in religion. It reconciles perfectly and incontestably those two terms, so opposed on the first view—faith and reason, science and belief, authority and liberty. It furnishes the human mind with an instrument of philosophical and religious certitude as exact as mathematics, and even accounting for the infallibility of mathematics themselves (p. 2).
Magic is a “transcendental science;” it was “the science of Abraham and Orpheus, of Confucius and Zoroaster, and it was Magical doctrines which were graven on tables of stone by Enoch and by Trismegistus.” In fact, “Moses purified and re-veiled” it; and held it sacred among the “priests.” The “mysteries of Eleusis and of Thebes preserved… its symbols, but in a debased form;” and sadly “the mystic key was lost amidst the apparatus of an ever-increasing superstition.” Just like Jerusalem, the murdering of “its prophets” and the prostitution of its ideals through “false Assyrian and Babylonian gods” ended in the loss of the “Sacred Word.” The new Savior was even declared to a Magi by the “holy star of initiation” and eventuality witnessed a “new network of legends and symbols,” which further concealed its doctrines “from the profane,” thereby “preserving for the elect that truth which is the same forever” (p. 3).
The profaning of Magic eventually took its toll; it was misused and abused. The same pattern was “repeated from age to age; a terrible lesson for those who made secret things unwisely known.” Even the “Gnostics” became one of its victims, eventually being “prohibited by Christians,” which resulted in its “official sanctuary” closing to “high initiation.” This intolerance and “ignorance” had an affect on its “hierarchy of knowledge;” and the result was a “usurping” of knowledge by the state (p. 4).
Levi also wrote about the “conformity with the rules of eternal power that man may unite himself to the creative energy;” that God did not limit the amount of times that man could climb “Jacob’s ladder of light.” No, it is up to man to “extend his domain in virtue of continual ascent.” Man must “obey the royal sceptre,” like that of the “Magi.” Indeed, there is a “Magic in all its glory.” Nevertheless, is there anyone today willing “to give credence to such words? The answer is—those who will study loyally and attain knowledge frankly.” For,
now the time has come when everything should be told, and we propose to tell every thing. It is our intention, in short, to unveil that ever secret science which, as we have indicated, is hidden behind the shadows of ancient mysteries, which the Gnostics betrayed clumsily, or rather disfigured unworthily, which is recognised dimly under the darkness shrouding the pretended crimes of Templars, which is met with once again beneath the now impenetrable enigmas of High-Grade Masonic Rites (p. 8).
Yet still today, for most people, “Magic is the science of the devil;” but we should not fear what is not understood. No, “my fear is for those who fear him.” Levi instead professed to bring “him before the light of science.” Nevertheless, “the devil and science” are in “opposition.” You see, “if the mystic personification of darkness be thus dragged into light, is it not to annihilate the phantom of falsehood in the presence of truth? Is it not to dispel in the day all formless monsters of the night?” No, “superficial persons will think so and will condemn without” any hearing of the truth, like the “Ill-instructed Christians will conclude that we are sapping the fundamental dogma of their ethics.” Still others “will question” the utility of such arguments, so it is “important to enunciate our object clearly and establish our principles solidly,” which will be further discussed (p. 9).
There is a force, an “existence” that constitutes the “great secret of Practical Magic,” just like the use of the “Wand of Thaumaturgy” is a “Key of Black Magic.” The force itself is blind, but can be directed “by energetic and active spirits.” Herein explains the theory of “miracles,” and how both “good and bad alike compel Nature to reveal her hidden forces;” both divinely and diabolically inspired. This is the same force used by the “Pharaoh’s Magicians” and “Moses” while performing their “miracles.” The instruments they used were the same, but “the inspiration” behind the Magic was different. So much so that the Egyptian Magicians thought Moses held “superhuman” powers. Egypt was the “mother of Magical initiations,” it was the land where “all occult science, hierarchic and sacred instruction” formalized. These Magicians knew that “fluidic projection” was possible through the “eyes,” but that it could not “proceed beyond certain bounds” except by will and providence (p. 17 & 18).
This particular Magical phenomenon “occurs when the brain is congested or overcharged by Astral Light,” where “sight is turned inward, instead of outward,” when “night falls on the external and real world, while fantastic brilliance shines on the world of dreams.” Indeed, this occurrence happens when “the physical eyes experience a slight quivering and turn up inside the lids.” Thus, the “soul then perceives by means of images the reflection of its impressions and thoughts.” In other words, form is attracted in the “Astral Light” through “a reflection representing that form,” which is the “essence of the vital light” or “universal imagination, of which each of us appropriates a lesser or greater part according to our grade of sensibility and memory.” This therefore is the “source of all apparitions, all extraordinary visions and all… intuitive phenomena peculiar to madness or ecstasy” (p. 18).
The initiate eventually learns “to understand the use of this force, but never to be obsessed and never overcome” by it. He learns that the “Magic of Light,” and its “secrets are contained” in the “mysteries of magnetism,” and “applied to the whole practical part of antique Transcendental Magic.” Indeed, “magnetism is the wand of miracles; but the question is asked, is it for “initiates only” or should it be made available to everyone, who will more than likely “subvert their passions” for “consuming glory” (p. 19)?
Spirituality involves the use and “benefits of magnetism;” for “God is manifested to all intelligence’s and all hearts.” This is seen in the use of the “primal tradition” of the “Kabalah,” which was preserved by the “priesthood of Israel.” This doctrine “is that of Transcendental Magic,” and is “contained in the Sepher Tetzirah, the Zohar and the Talmud.” Thus,
according to this doctrine, the absolute is Being, and therein is the Word, which expresses the reason of Being and of life. The principle therefore is that Being is being… In the beginning the Word was, which means that it is, has been and shall be; and this is reason which speaks. In the beginning was the Word. The Word is the reason of belief, and therein also is the expression of that faith which gives life to science. The Word, or Logos, is the wellspring of logic. Jesus is the Incarnate Word. The concord of reason with faith, of science with belief, of authority with liberty, has become in these modern days the real enigma of the sphinx (p. 20).
Yet again, during the middle ages the “Law of equilibrium” lead to the “discovery” of a “universal agent which was the Grand Secret of alchemists and Magicians.” This “agent is a light of life by which animated beings are rendered magnetic;” but this “secret science” relied more on “emotions rather than wise teachings” (p. 23).
The Kabalist firmly believed “there is no God but God,” and that “for the initiates of true science,” there is “but one Being, and this is Being.” It was also taught that a “moral life” was necessary for the “Magic of heavenly hope.” To them, there was no doubt that “God is truly present when He is worshiped by recollected souls and feeling hearts;” but that “He is absent, sensibly and terribly, when discussed without light or zeal—that is to say, without understanding or love” (p. 24).
Levi further elaborated that the war by the Catholic Church “against Magic” was brought about by “false Gnostics;” and that the “true science of the Magi” was essentially Catholic. He further stated that it was hidden in its hierarchical principles, and the “true adepts have always” been shewn it, and respected it and were obedient to its principles. Magic also suffered because of its perceived anarchist sects and sorcerers (p. 29).
Notwithstanding, “the History of Magic has been presented as… prejudged;” no one ever “believed that Magic belonged to science.” Yet, “a serious account of this science” is in “its rediscovery,” and “its developments or progress,” which has always remained in our sanctuaries and “Holy Places” to the worthy student of the Craft. So often has history recorded this doctrine dead, thought to be “so long buried under the debris of four civilisations,” “mummified cities,” and “beneath the lava” of so many temple sites. Despite the “universal religion” binding up the truth, “dogmatic Magic” remained the “key of all secrets as yet unfathomed by the philosophy of history, while Practical Magic alone opens the Secret Temple of Nature to that power of human will, which is ever limited, yet ever progressive.” With that said, explaining the “mysteries of religion by means of Magic” is still one of “faith” saved by reason (p. 30).
Though still, “the chief attraction of Magic for the great number of curious persons is that they see therein an exceptional means for the satisfaction of their passions.” Too many still “deny that there is any secret of Hermes corresponding to the transmutation of metals;” even so, there are just as many who “would buy it” and enjoy its wealth if they could. Still, “they are fools” if they “believe that such a secret is sold.” No, the “secret of science” cannot be “acquired” by “earthly wealth.” Then again, such sovereign Magical secrets should not be despised only because of ignorance on the part of the non-believer (p. 31).
The Epicureans, or disciples of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, demanded “the recipes of Magic” so they could “enjoy forever and suffer nothing at all.” In time, the Epicureans had “lost faith in religion,” but turned to Magic based on “experience and by reason.” They learned that “Transcendent Magic” is based on the “laws of Nature,” not man. All the same, there is no hiding from suffering, despite the direct profits from Magic (p. 32).
No matter how “brilliant and amiable people” might be, Magic may still be “absolutely useless.” Regardless, the “Doctrine and Ritual” of the “Great Masters” continued to follow the “rational order of sacred numbers in the plan and division” of the works and reason of Magical understanding; like in the following writings that were laid out in Levi’s book Doctrine and Ritual(of High Magic, 1854),
The first book is dedicated to the Sources of Magic; it is the genesis of that science, and we have provided it with a key in the letter Alephy expressing Kabalistically the original and primal unity. The second book contains historical and social formulae of the magical word in antiquity; its seal is the letter Beth, symbolising the duad as an expression of the word which realises, the special character of the Gnosis and occultism. The third book is concerned with the realisations of antique science in Christian society… We are introduced in the fourth book to the civilising power of Magic among barbarous races, to the natural productions of this science amidst peoples still in their childhood, to the mysteries of Druids and their miracles, to the legends of bards, and it is shewn after what manner these things concurred in the formation of modern societies, thus preparing a brilliant and permanent victory for Christianity… The fifth book is consecrated to the sacerdotal era of the middle ages, and we are present at the dissensions and struggles of science, the formation of secret societies, their unknown achievements, the secret rites of grimoires, the mysteries of the Divine Comedy, the divisions within the sanctuary which must lead later on to a glorious unity… The sixth book exhibits the intervention of Magic in the work of the Revolution… The seventh book is synthetic, containing an exposition of modern workings and discoveries, new theories on light and magnetism, the revelation of the great Rosicrucian secret, the explanation of mysterious alphabets, the science of the word and its magical works, in fine, the summary of the science itself, including an appreciation of what has been accomplished by contemporaneous mystics (p. 33 & 34).
We read in the “Book of Enoch” that angels had “consented to fall from heaven.” Of the “200 who descended on Mount Armon… they took wives, with whom they had intercourse, to whom also they taught Magic, the art of enchantment and the diverse properties of roots and trees.” More specifically, “Amazarac gave instruction in all secrets of sorcerers; Barkaial was the master of those who study the stars; Akibeel manifested signs; and Azaradel taught the motions of the moon” (p. 39 & 40).
The “Angels” whom Enoch Spoke of “were initiates of Magic,” and they had “fought together for the world,” but that they were destroyed in the great deluge. This brought about “universal confusion” and outraged the “harmonies of Nature.” This “profaned the Tree of Knowledge, which drove away the “Tree of Life;” as a result, the “Tree of Knowledge,” when misunderstood, may “actually inflict death when its fruit is eaten” (p. 40 & 41).
Along this line of thinking, we also see Levi writing about Cain debasing “Magic in India,” where he “put witchcraft into the hands of the reckless;” that there exists a “distinction between good and evil Magic, between the Sanctuary of the Sons of Seth and the profanation of science by the descendants of Cain.” Therefore, Transcendental knowledge” is in fact “reserved for those who are masters of their passions,” and the virginity of Nature “does not deliver the keys of her nuptial chamber to adulterers” (p. 44).
In his chapter “Magic of the Magi,” Levi wrote that in all probability “Zoroaster is a symbolical name, like that of Thoth or Hermes.” That he existed “6000 years before the birth of Plato,” and others say at “the siege of Troy,” some 500 years apart. Interestingly, both “Eudoxus and Aristotle” realized that “his personality was Magical.” His “legend reads like a prophecy concerning that of Christ, and hence it must be assumed that he had also his AntiChrist, in accordance with the Magical law of universal equilibrium.” Of note, “the two Zoroasters of Levi represent two principles of religious philosophy” (p. 53).
History is clear though, as has been mentioned previously, the “Zoroaster in question was the father of that materialised Magic which led to the massacre of the Magi and brought their true doctrine at first into proscription and then oblivion.” The Church, being the “spirit of truth,” was “compelled to condemn—under the names of Magic, Manicheanism, Illuminism and Masonry—all that was in kinship, remote or approximate, with the primitive profanation of the mysteries.” The most significant example being the “Knights Templar” (p. 54).
The Magi “were the possessors” of the “secrets” and “mastery over the occult powers of Nature.” There is no doubt that the “Magi were not only familiar with electricity, but were able to generate and direct it in ways that are now unknown.” This included the “art of producing and controlling lightening,” which is a “sacerdotal secret.” As such, “all Assyrian symbols connect with this science of fire,” the “great secret of the Magi” (p. 55).
Like the enchanter who slayed the lion to control the serpent, the Magi held this “Hermetic Magic.” In essence, the serpent signifies the “electric and magnetic currents of the earth,” while the “lion is the celestial fire;” and both “bear witness” to the “mystery of the Great Work” and the “ruling of fire” (p. 56). The “secrets of magnetism” also relate to “Astral Light,” and the producing of “fluidic forms.” Yet, Levi also illustrated a warning about such activity, when he wrote that “dangers of hallucination arising from misdirected Magical works” occur when one’s imagination is hijacked. Thus, this “application is operated by the persistence of will” being “liberated from the senses,” by a “succession of tests.” This is the beginning of one’s “Magical initiation.” Therefore, becoming an “adept,” a “seer or prophet” happens when “communication between light” and one’s will is established (p. 57).
The Assyrians, like the Egyptians, held “gigantic sphinxes,” with the “bodies of lions and the heads of Magi” represented “Astral Light,” which is also the “golden sword of Mithra” and the “arrow of Phoebus” that “pierced the serpent Python.” As well, temples were made to “protect the palaces” the kings did “battle for the religion of the Magi.” The “capitals” of the “Magicians,” like that of Nimrod’s Babylon, held its tradition of “angels,” who were “termed sons of God or princes of heaven” (p. 59).
Du Potet affirmed with certainty that “Magical power extends beyond” the limits of magnetic fluid;” that “Astral Light… can be placed at the disposition of human will;” and Zoroaster said that “those mysterious laws of equilibrium” can “subjugate” the “powers of evil” to that of the “empire of good.” But before attaining such an accomplishment, “we must have purified our bodies by sacred trials, must have conquered the phantoms of hallucination and taken hold bodily of the light.” In other words, “we must have heard the light speak;” and afterwords, we become its “masters and can direct it.” Just the same, “if in the absence of perfect purity” or under the control of “some animal passion, the fire which we kindle will consume ourselves,” or “we shall fall victims to the serpent, and “shall perish” as a result (p. 60).
The power generated “by projections of the Astral Light” certainly aided Daniel when he “was accused” of “false Magic” by being placed in with Lions; “such beasts attack those only who fear them or of whom they are themselves afraid.” Nevertheless, Daniel, a “brave man” with a powerful “magnetic glance,” held such animals at bay. Moreover, the “Magi utilized this power” to control “tigers, leopards and lions” in the Assyrian Kings garden. The ancients held “trials of strength between men and animals, and the adept, clothed in his priestly garb,” had to prove his “actual enchantment” abilities “by a glance of his eye” and the use of his hands (p. 61).
As mentioned previously, “Magic is a science; to abuse is to lose it, and it is also to destroy oneself.” With that said, the “Kings and priests of the Assyrian world were too great to be free from this danger… as a fact, pride did come upon them and they did therefore fall.” Eventually, the “royalty arrogated to itself divine attributes under the names of Baal and of Bel, or Belus,” which also infiltrated the “art and science” of Magic, thereby corrupting it; the “priesthood became secondary to the empire as the result of an attempt to materialize its own power.” The “Magi obeyed,” and the Kings became intoxicated with power and lust; and in time, their once great city and kingdom was destroyed (p. 62). The “Magic, which, in the hands of its degraded adepts, could not safeguard the empire” anymore, and Babylon soon fell. Thus “ended the first empire of Assyria, and the civilization founded of old by the true Zoroaster.” This “also ended Magic, properly so called, and the reign of the Kabalah began” (p. 63).
According to “Kabalistic tradition,” “India was peopled by the descendants of Cain,” and that “Black Magic” had “been perpetuated therein,” by the use of “fratricide” (the killing of one’s brother or sister) and the continued “dominant castes” system of usage, which was intended to impose power over the weak. In India, “it may be said” that “she is the wise mother of all idolatries.” The principles and beliefs of her different sects could have been the “keys of highest wisdom if they did not open more easily the gates leading to degradation and death” (p. 64).
It was the Gnostics who borrowed the “false Kabalism of India.” It was also “Indian Magic” that led the churches to misunderstand the “occult sciences,” which led this “false and dangerous knowledge, so often confounded by the ignorant,” which has “involved all that bears the name of occultism in a general condemnation, to which the author (Eliphas Levi) of these pages himself subscribed sincerely before he had attained the key of the Magical sanctuary” (p. 65).
Nevertheless, history is clear, “Gymnosophists (ancient Indian sect that went naked and practiced meditation) and Zoroastrian initiates drew from the same sources, but it was the false and black Zoroaster who remained master of theology in India.” The “secrets of this degenerate doctrine are pantheism (the belief that reality is identical with divinity) and its legitimate consequence, being absolute materialism masquerading as the absolute negation of matter.” The end of such a belief is “there are neither crimes nor virtues in a world where all is God.” This doctrine remained within “their great Magical ritual,” which furnished the “physical and moral means of consummating the work of their stupefaction and arriving by a graduated method at that raving madness termed by their sorcerers the Divine State.” This “work in question is the progenitor of all grimoires (book of spells) and the most curious among the antiquities of Goetia” (the practice that includes the conjuration of demons) (p. 66).
The “angel of creative fire is the Word of God;” thus, the “Word of the Creator is itself the Creator.” As such, “matter being only a deceptive appearance,” can be controlled by the genii (supernatural creatures), like that of the sun and the stars. Likewise, “animals are demons and man is a pure spirit deceived by the illusions of forms.” These are the beliefs of the “Indian enchanters” of “Magical Ritual” who respect their “doctrinal matters” (p. 68).
To that end, “Black Magic may be defined as the art of inducing artificial mania in ourselves and in others;” but most importantly, and above all things, it is the “science of poisoning.” It is the “sudden congestion or withdrawal of the Astral Light.” It takes place when the “nervous system, having been habituated to all tensions and fatigues,” becomes “a kind of living galvanic pile (electrical battery), capable of condensing and projecting powerfully that light which intoxicates or destroys.” It is the “shadow and reverse side of the great mystery of Transcendent Magic” (p. 71).
Levi claimed that Magic reached its height, or became complete “as an universal science” and “formulated as a perfect doctrine” in Egypt. In fact, nothing surpassed or equaled “those few paragraphs graven on precious stone by Hermes” and expressed on the “Emerald Tablet.” It was during this time a “likeness between Creator and created” became evident. In a word, “Astral Light” was described as a “creative agent,” the “great medium of occult force” (p. 73).
It was Hermes who “set forth in what manner this Light, which is also a force, can be applied as a lever, as an universal dissolvent and as a formative and coagulative agent.” Yet, it was the “Emerald Tablet” that contained “all Magic in a single page;” and despite its fall, the “monuments of Egypt” preserve and still hold proof of “Hermetic traditions” and its doctrines. In truth, the “physical division of Egypt” is “itself a Magical synthesis, and the names of its provinces corresponded to the ciphers of sacred numbers;” “divided into three parts,” Upper Egypt is a “type of the celestial world and the land of ecstasy; Lower Egypt” is the “symbol of earth; while Middle or Central Egypt” is the “land of science and of high initiation.” Furthermore, “each of these parts” are “subdivided into ten provinces, called Nomes,” and is “placed under the particular protection of a god.” Likewise, there are “30 gods” and they are “grouped by threes, giving symbolical expression in this manner to all possible conceptions of the triad within the decad” (a group or set of ten). The “threefold material, philosophical and religious significance of absolute ideas attached primitively to numbers.” This gives us the “triple unity or the first triad, the triple binary formed by the first triad and its reflection, being the Star of Solomon.” The “triple triad” is the “complete idea under each of its three forms,” while the “triple quaternary” (fourth in order or rank) is the “cyclic number of astral revolutions.” As such, the “geography of Egypt” is a “pantacle (a five-pointed star, often held to have magical or mystical significance) or symbolical summary of the entire Magical dogma originating with Zoroaster and rediscovered or formulated more precisely by Hermes” (p. 74 & 75).
Moses told the story of the Israelite’s carrying “away the sacred vessels of the Egyptians when they came out of the land of bondage.” These sacred vessels “were the mysteries of Egyptian knowledge,” which “Moses himself” acquired at the court of the Pharaoh. Of particular interest to this topic is the fact that the Pharaoh’s Magicians, or “grand hierophants of Egypt,” performed the same artful “wonders, which were similar to those of Moses;” “they transformed wands into serpents and serpents again into wands… they changed water into blood,” and “they produced a swarm of frogs in a moment” (p. 79 & 80).
Greece also incorporated Magic, like it did the Zohar, and “how the human prototype rose in heaven and was reflected below in the waters of being.” They attempted to exemplify “this ideal man, this shadow of the pantomorphic (capable of assuming all shapes) god, this virile phantom of perfect form” (p. 82). The “grand secret of Magical works,” the “Golden Fleece,” is the “light in application to the needs of man.” Like “Thebes,” “built to the measures of that harmony,” “like the sky of Magic, it has seven gates, and its legend was destined to become the epic of occultism and the foreshadowed history of human genius” (p. 83).
Most interesting, the “fable of the Golden Fleece connects Hermetic Magic” to that of “Greek initiations;” figuratively, it is apart of the “Great Work,” and the “egg of divine regeneration” (p. 84). Yet, being an important component of “Hermetic Magic,” its “sovereign virtues… will be never understood except by the disciples of Orpheus” (p. 85). The “Orphic initiation” is best summarized as the “act of a divine Magism, which is continuous and eternal;” and the “knowledge of the medical and Magical virtues resident in plants, metals and bodies endowed with varying degrees of life” (p. 88).
Therefore, “Orphic Magic… is dedicated to judicious warnings against the abuses of Goetic (a practice that includes the conjuration of demons) or the Magic of darkness;” which is an “excessive passion” that “produces a factitious force of which… cannot be the master, but that force is obedient to the tyranny of passion.” All “excessive passion is real madness, and the latter in its turn is an intoxication or congestion of Astral Light.” That is “why madness is contagious and why passions in general operate as a veritable witchcraft.” Interestingly, “women are superior to men in sorcery because they are more easily transported by excess of passion” (p. 89). The secrets of “Black Magic” is best exemplified by the legends of two Greek women; “Medea and Circe are the types of Malefic (someone uses that power or force for selfish or evil purposes and/or intends to cause harm with it) Magic among the Greeks. Circe is the vicious female who bewitches and debases her lovers; Medea is the brazen poisoner who dares everything and makes Nature itself the abettor of her crimes” (p. 90).
The Magician, “Pythagoras of Samos. sought a refuge in Italy from the tyranny of Polycrates.” He, being the “great promoter of the philosophy of numbers had visited all the sanctuaries of the world and had even been in Judaea, where he suffered circumcision as the price of his admission into the mysteries of the Kabalah,” which had been “communicated to him.” As a result, “he obtained” an “Egyptian initiation” (p. 92). The “preliminary laws of Magical initiation… constitute the first part of the Great Work, that is to say, the creation of the perfect adept” (p. 95).
As alluded to previously, in the Magic of Kabalists, is given “a name, and all other names are contained therein;” like the ciphers that “produce all numbers and the hieroglyphical forms of its letters give expression to all laws of Nature,” the “Divine Tetragram” of the Kabalists are inscribe “in four chief ways.” 1) “as JHVH, which is spelt, but not pronounced. The consonants are YOD, HE, VAU, HE, and they are rendered as Jehovah by us.” 2) ADNI, meaning Lord and pronounced by us Adonai.” 3) “AHIH, which signifies Being and is pronounced by us EIEIE.” And 4) AGLA, pronounced as it is written and comprising hieroglyphically all mysteries of the Kabalah” (p. 102 & 103).
Thus, the “Kabalistic tradition… comprises all Magic in a single word.” In short, “to know how this word is read and how also it is pronounced, or literally to understand its mysteries and translate the knowledge into action, is to have the key of miracles.” For example, in “pronouncing the word AGLA, it is said that one must turn to the East, which means union of intention and knowledge with oriental tradition.” Also, “according to Kabalah, the perfect word is the word realised by acts, whence comes that expression which recurs frequently in the Bible,” which is to make a word a performing act. As such, “to pronounce the word AGLA Kabalistically is therefore to pass all tests of initiation and accomplish all its works” (p. 104).
Clearly, the “traditions of Magic affirm that he who possesses the Keys of Solomon can communicate with spirits of all grades and can exact obedience on the part of all natural forces.” The Keys, which have been lost and again recovered, are non-other “than the talismans of the seventy-two names, and the mysteries of the thirty two hieroglyphical paths, reproduced by the Tarot.” By the use of “these signs, and by their infinite combinations, which are like those of numbers and letters,” let it be known that “it is possible to arrive at the natural and mathematical revelation of all secrets of Nature,” and “with the whole hierarchy of intelligence” (p. 105).
72 Names of God
Now however, we are brought to the point of “one of the most dangerous secrets in the domain of Magic;” that being the “probable hypothesis concerning the existence of those fluidic larva,” known “under the name of elementary spirits.” The reason this “secret is dangerous is because it verges on the great Magical arcanum.” In fact, the “truth is that the evocation of elementary spirits implies power to coagulate fluids by a projection of the Astral Light.” Unfortunately, this power is so misdirected that it “can produce only disorders and misfortunes.” The evidence for this power is clear, “spirit is everywhere,” it “animates matter,” and “it overcomes the force of gravity by perfecting the vehicle which is its form.” Without a doubt, “form develops with instincts,” that is until “intelligence and beauty are attained,” at which the efforts of light are attracted by the “charm of the spirit;” and they become “part of the mystery of progressive and universal generation” (p. 109 & 110).
In the “great Magical work” it is clearly understood that the “cherub is the angel or soul of the earth, represented invariably under the figure of a bull in the Ancient Mysteries.” As such, in “Mithraic symbolism, the master of light,” like that of the burning sword, “is seen vanquishing the bull of earth and plunging into his flank that sword which sets free the life, represented by drops of blood” (p. 117). In addition, the “scattering of men was the first result of the curse pronounced against the profane descendants of Ham;” which made chastity the “guardian of the family,” and is a “distinctive character of hierarchic (successive levels) initiations.” That said, revolt and profanity are unclean acts, like those of sexual promiscuity and infanticide (infant homicide). With all this said, “desecration of the mysteries” like that of “birth and destruction of children were the basis of the religions of ancient Palestine, given over to the horrible rites of Black Magic; the black god of India” (p. 118).
As maintained previously, “it must not be forgotten that transcendental Magic is called the Sacerdotal Art and the Royal Art.” In many ancient civilizations, like “Egypt, Greece and Rome, it shared the grandeur and decadence of the kingdom and the priesthood.” All the same, “every philosophy which is at issue with the cultus (religious practice) and its mysteries is baneful (harmful or destructive) to the great political powers;” for it is understood that “in the eyes of the multitude,” if grandeur is lost, “they cease to be symbols of Divine power.” Apart from men, the spirit world is intertwined to the power of the temple. The science of Magic can be used in “opposition to that of the priests,” who substitute doubt, and “denial for the secrets.” When the excess of an “adventurous imagination, such philosophers were landed quickly in absurdity and laid upon Nature the blame which belonged to their own systems” (p. 119 & 120).
Levi also related the “Bacchantes, who dismembered Orpheus,” who “believed themselves inspired by a god,” and “sacrificed the great hierophant to their deified drunkenness.” In truth, the “orgies of Bacchus were mystical tumults; the apostles of mania” who had “always had recourse to disordered movements, frenetic agitations and horrible convulsions.” From the “characteristics of superstition and fanatic exaltation have been always the same.” You see, “it has been invariably under the pretext of purifying” a “doctrine… of an exaggerated spiritualism that the mystics of all times have materialised” into the “symbols of the cultus (religious practice);” like those who had “profaned the science of the Magi.” Foisting upon the “world as gods… all heretics” are “evokers of spirits and phantoms.” “That is to say, of Black Magic” (p. 126).
Furthermore, “False miracles” are “caused by astral congestions” that have “invariably an anarchic and immoral tendency, because disorder invokes disorder.” To be sure, the gods are familiar with heretics and their “thirst for blood,” which is so often used to “extend their protection.” In point of fact, the “idolaters of Syria and Judea drew oracles from the heads of children torn from the bodies of the poor little victims.” They than “dried these heads and… they fixed them in the hollows of walls,” and “built up a kind of body beneath them composed of Magical plants secured by bands;” followed by lighting a “lamp at the foot of the frightful idols,” then “burnt incense before them and proceeded to their religious consultation.” They adamantly “believed that the heads spoke, and the anguish of the last cries had doubtless distracted their imaginations.” And as already mentioned, “blood attracts larvae,” which are evil spirits (p. 129). Truth be told,
The ancients, in their infernal sacrifices, were accustomed to dig a pit, which they filled with warm and smoking blood; then from all the deep places of the night they beheld feeble and pallid shadows ascending, descending, creeping and swarming about the cavity. With a sword’s point steeped in the same blood, they traced the circle of evocation and kindled fire of laurel, alder and cypress wood, on altars crowned with asphodel and vervain. The night seemed to grow colder and still more dark; the moon was hidden behind clouds; and they heard the feeble rustling of phantoms crowding about the circle, while dogs howled piteously over the country-side.
All must be dared in order to achieve all—such was the axiom of enchantments and their associated horrors. The false Magicians were banded together by crime and believed that they could intimidate others when they had contrived to terrify themselves. The rites of Black Magic have remained revolting like the impious worships it produced; this was the case indifferently in the association of criminals who conspired against the old civilisations and among the barbaric races. There was always the same passion for darkness; there were the same profanations, the same sanguinary processes. Anarchic Magic is the cultus of death. The sorcerer devotes himself to fatality, abjures reason, renounces the hope of immortality, and then sacrifices children. He forswears marriage and is given over to barren debauch. On such conditions he enjoys the plenitude of his mania, is made drunk with iniquity till he believes that evil is omnipotent and, converting his hallucinations into reality, he thinks that his mastery has power to evoke at pleasure all death and Hades (p. 129 & 130).
The “words and signs” of the Barbarians are “unknown, or even unmeaning, are the best in Black Magic.” Hallucinations are “insured more readily by ridiculous practices and imbecile evocations than by rites and formula,” which keeps one’s “intelligence in a waking state.” It has been said that “precaution and mystery, are in analogy, if not absolutely identical, with pretended diabolical signatures found in old editions of the Grand Grimoire.” Levi is quit clear, the “same causes always produce the same effects, and there is nothing that is new beneath the moon of sorcerers, any more than under the sun of sages” (p. 130).
Plato taught the Greeks the Kabalah, which embraced the “whole of Magical doctrine.” His “ambition was to pass from theory to practice and to find the realisation of words in works.” Regardless, the “dangerous experiences of divination taught science how it might dispense with the priesthood,” which followed by the betrayal of the sanctuary, and man’s ability “to make the gods speak.” It was “for this reason that theurgy (white Magic) shared in the anathemas (formal curse) pronounced against Black Magic.” To that end, the great master said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (p. 138).
As well, the “pillars of Seth, Hermes, Solomon, Hercules” were symbolized in the “Magical traditions” of the “universal law of equilibrium, while the science of equilibrium led the initiates to that of universal gravitation about centres of life, heat and light.” Likewise, in the “Egyptian sacred calendars,” it was ‘known that each month was placed under the protection of three decani or Genii” for ten days” (p. 140). Similarly, in the “allegorical description of Hades, the Greek hierophants, concealed the palmary (best) secrets of Magic” (p. 141).
All “true initiates” have recognized the “immense value of toil and suffering;” like that of the “moral lesson of Dante’s Divine Comedy.” It is a “philosophical and Magical monument,” the “perfect moral synthesis,” and the most “audacious demonstration ever attempted of that Great Arcanum or Secret, the revelation of which must subvert heaven and earth” (p. 142 & 143). The “two great laws of Nature,” form and ideas, “were known to the ancient Magi;” this led “them to see the necessity of a public worship, which should be one in its nature, imposed on all, hierarchic and symbolic in character, like all religion, splendid as truth, rich and varied as Nature” (p. 145).
What is worship if the dryness of the heart is “devoid of Magic.” Levi further claimed that “orthodoxy is the absolute character of Transcendental Magic.” In this same way, truth was born into this world when the “start of science” announced itself to the Magi; just like an “initiation is obtained by understanding in respect of the hierarchy, as also by the practice of obedience.” Just like “he who is initiated truly will never turn sectarian” (p. 146). With that said, “it is to be hoped that careful students of our works on Magic will attain the secret for themselves,” and that “they will come in their turn to decode and thus be able to read the book which explains so many mysteries” (p. 147).
It is understood that an initiation is a “necessary consequence of that hierarchic principle which is the basis of realisation in Magic;” for it “follows that the profane, after striving vainly to force the doors of the sanctuary, have been driven to raise altar against altar and to oppose ignorant disclosures of schism (division or disunion) to the reticence (inclined to be silent) of orthodoxy.” Without a doubt, “horrible histories were circulated concerning the Magi; sorcerers and vampires cast upon them the responsibility of their own crimes; they were represented as feasting on infants and drinking human blood.” These attacks were of “presumptuous ignorance against the prudence of science” having “invariably met with success sufficient to perpetuate” its use. Nevertheless, the more monstrous the calumny (the making of false and defamatory statements), the greater the impression that it produces in the minds of fools.” History is very clear on the matter, “those who slandered the Magi committed themselves the enormities of which they accused them and were abandoned to all the excesses of shameless sorcery” (p. 147 & 148).
In Magic and Freemasonry, Part III, we will continue to study Eliphas Levi’s observations about the history of Magic. Until then, thank you for reading!
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.
Albert Pike referred to “high Magic” as a “Sacredotal Art” or the “Royal Art” when he referenced the priesthoods and royalty of ancient “Egypt, Greece and Rome.” Moreover, “every philosophy” has been hostile to this type of worship, only because this mystery was deemed too energetic for the multitudes to handle such “Divine Power” (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1872, p. 98).
Furthermore, Magic was an instrumental part of an initiation; that “all true initiates” had to recognize the “usefulness of toil and sorrow.” Like Dante’s Divine Comedy, which was “preserved for us” as a “monument” to the “Magical” demonstration “of the Great Arcanum.” Pike wrote, “He who passes behind the veil that hides this mystery, understands that it is in its very nature inexplicable, and that it is death to those who win it by surprise, as well as to him who reveals it.” Magic is a “secret,” it is the “royalty of the sages” and the “crown of the initiate.” Understanding the Magical grand arcanum “makes him master of gold and the light;” and he who “possesses the philosophical stone” is an adept who understands the work of nature and the “harmonies of heaven,” which grants “eternal life” (p. 101).
The Christian Magical Star, which represented Divinity, came about by way of the “Kabalah,” that originated from “Egyptian symbols.” This original idea led to the belief that these early Christians worshiped an ass, only because of its relationship to the “emblem of Anubis,” whose name was changed to “Nibbas,” which had the “head of an ass.” It is for this reason, only because misunderstandings always present themselves to the profane,
‘the Truth close at hand, is forced to disguise it, to induce the multitudes to accept it. Fictions are necessary to the people, and the Truth becomes deadly to those who are not strong enough to contemplate it in all its brilliance. If the sacerdotal laws (High Magic/see above) allowed the reservation of judgments and the allegory of words, I would accept the proposed dignity on condition that I might be a philosopher at home, and abroad a narrator of apologues and parables. In fact, what can there be in common between the vile multitude and sublime wisdom? The truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason (p. 103).’
To further reference the concept of the star, we see that the “Blazing Star of five points” is actually an “allusion” of Divine Providence; yet this “fanciful” star is important because it was what the “Magi” (an ancient Magician) used to guide themselves (p. 14).
Moreover, “the first Druids were the true children of the Magi, and their initiation,” like so many other cultures, “came from Egypt and Chaldea,” and that of the “Kabalah” (p. 104). Therefore, these Magi were nothing more than a priest or a magician; Magi was an “older word for a practitioner of Magic, to include astronomy/astrology, alchemy and other forms of esoteric knowledge.” It was also Hermes, the “Master of Learning,” who gave credence to the “sacred and potent sign or character of the Magi” (p. 15).
Indeed, man is a natural seeker of the “wonders of nature,” like the Magic of “spring time,” when life is born and reborn again (p. 244). Many ancient peoples, including the Babylonian Kings, held the Magi in high esteem; which can been seen through the life of “Danayal,” who was the “Chief of the College of the Magi at Babylon” (p. 255). In fact, history has clearly recorded “the Magi of Babylon” as “expounders of figurative writings, interpreters of nature, and of dreams, astronomers and divines” (p. 256).
Moreover, “the sciences taught by Hermes” were secrets that were styled upon the “Sacerdotal Art,” which included “alchemy, astrology, Magisim (magic)” and “the science of spirits.” These “secret sciences” were “regarded sacred,” and were “concealed in the most secret places of the temple” (p. 365).
Additionally, the “Druids were originally Buddhists,” and the “word Druidh, like the word Magi, signifies wise or learned men.” Hence, the “Druidical ceremonies undoubtedly came from India,” who were all “philosophers, Magistrates (Magi-strate) and divines.” As such, “there was a surprising uniformity in the Temples, Priests, doctrines, and worship of the Persian Magi and British Druids” (p. 367). Likewise, the “Kings of Egypt often exercised the functions of the priesthood; and were initiated into the sacred science as soon as they attained the throne.” As well, “at Athens the first Magistrate (Magi-strate)” managed and arranged the mysteries. This union between the “Priesthood and Royalty” clearly sought to align religion and politics (p. 380).
Moreover, “Magic illusion” and “spectacles” were propagated by “poets and mystagogues” to enhance the “doctrines of the soul’s immortality” and “certain punishments of sin and vice” (p. 383). Likewise, “mystic words and Magical representations” were pressed upon an initiate to strongly influence the “doctrine of a future life;” but, such Magical doctrines were only truly “known to the adepts alone” (p. 385).
The art of Magic has two avenues, White and Black, or Good and Evil; and this belief is further reinforced when Pike wrote about those who performed the Magic arts for “trickery” or “trade,” like “Charlatans,” or “impostors” and those “pretending to be possessed by evil spirits, were excluded from the sanctuaries” (p. 390).
Thus, it is clear that the “Mysteries inculcated” the great moral truths, which were often “veiled with a fable of huge proportions.” These “spectacles” were often “exhibited in the sanctuaries,” along side art and the use of “natural Magic;” often used to make an initiates initiation all the more “imposing.” They used “fearful” ideas and “horrors” to guide the student to a “happier state” (p. 396).
One does not normally associate Magic with the “transmigration of souls,” but that is exactly what Pike implied, when he associated both the “Persians” and the “Magi” with such doctrine (p. 399). He also maintained the idea that a “dogma of providence” is administered by “means of Intermediary Powers,” which connected man with Divinity through the mysteries of the “Magi” (p. 416). Likewise, ancient initiations into the mysteries were conducted with “frightful scenes, alternations of fear and joy, of light and darkness; by glittering lightning and the crash of thunder,” and even “Magical illusions” (p. 433). As well, the “Magi of Persia,” like that of the “astronomers of Egypt,” followed the “Seven Stars” circling the “North Pole,” also known as “Ursa Major, or the Great Bear” (p. 456). The Magi also “worshiped fire, above all other elements and powers of nature” (p. 459).
Furthermore, “the advent of Christ” was “announced by a star from the East, replacing the common belief in the “power of Magic” (p. 511). But this advent did not immediately stop this doctrinal belief.
Yet, like many ancients, the Magi were known to have met in caves, who “illuminated” caverns to enhance “celestial” realities and the rising of “souls” (p. 518). Similarly, the ancients used noise and especially music to further demonstrate the powers of the heavens, like the “Magic melody of the instrument of Paganini” (p. 528).
The integration of the mysteries was seen by “Manes” the “founder of the Sect of the Manicheans,” and “distinguished among the Persian Magi,” who “profited by the doctrines” of the Gnostic’s, “Zoroasterism” and even “Christianity” (p. 565). Additionally, the “Magian religion” held an annual “Feast” to honor “Mithras,” the “Sun-God of the Persians (p. 587). Clearly, the Magi worshiped Mithras, who was considered “not only light, but intelligence,” and was exemplified through its “liturgies” or ritual and worship; like their annual “Passover,” a “symbolical atonement or pledge of moral and physical regeneration” (p. 613). As well, the influences of the Magi migrated as far as the “British Druid” (p. 617); who also used its Magical powers for “public service” (p. 618).
You see, “Magic is not a vain and chimerical act;” no, many sages “among the Egyptians, the Magi in Persia,” and even “the Brahmins in India” utilized it as part of their overall spiritual experience (p. 620). In fact, the Magi mysteries influenced a great many civilizations, including “the Greeks, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, and Assyrians,” who they themselves received them originally from the “orientals” (p. 661 & 662). Within Magi doctrine, “Ormuzd” or God, in human form, was “Light” and the “soul of truth.” On the other hand, the “sacred egg of the Magi” encased “twenty-four good and twenty-four evil Deities,” which are representative of the “forty-eight constellations of the ancient sphere” that are “equally divided between the realms of Light and Darkness” (p. 663).
Indeed, “occult philosophy” has been the nurse “of all religions,” and the “secret lever of all the intellectual forces.” At one time, “it was exclusively reserved for the education of Priests, like that of the “Magi” (p. 729 & 730). Yet, as time progressed, the mysteries changed hands; like today, “Masonry is identical with the Ancient Mysteries… the “sacerdotal power,” or priestly instructions and guidelines, of the Magi remain through its moral and philosophical teachings (p. 624 & 625).
We also see Pike writing about the Eastern philosophy of a “Magical transformation… in the work of a Perfect Bring” (p. 686). At the same token, the number seven is a “sacred number,” only because “it is composed of 3 and 4,” and it “represents the Magical power in its full force” (p. 727). As well, the “Cherab, or symbolic bull,” which Moses placed at the “gate of the Edenic world, holding a “blazing sword” is essentially a “Sphinx,” with the “Body of a bull and a human head.” This “old Assyrian Sphinx” embodied “combat and victory of Mithras,” and is used to “keep watch at the door of initiation, to repulse the profane. It also represents the grand Magical Mystery” (p. 728). This was the “Magic” of “Zoroaster,” “Manes,” “Orpheus” and “Apollonius Thyaneus” (p. 730).
Yet, history is clear, “at the bottom of Magic” is “science,” like the “bottom of Christianity” has “love.” But “Christianity should not have hated Magic,” because it feared what it could not control; for out of this fear created the “jargon of alchemy” to deceive the “vulgar herd” of the living language of the “true disciples of Hermes” (p. 730). Correspondingly, the Christian world has “two works which the infallible church does not pretend to understand, and never attempts to explain;” the “prophecy of Ezekiel and the Apocalypse. They are “two cabalistic clavicules,” which were reserved for the “Magian Kings” in heaven; “closed with Seven Seals for all faithful believers” who had been initiated into the “occult sciences.” As such, for the Christian world, “the scientific and Magical clavicules of Solomon are lost,” but to the open minded, “nothing that is written is lost. Only those things which men cease to understand no longer exist for them, at least as Word; then they enter into the domain of enigmas and mystery” (p. 731).
How far has the mysterious founding of the Christian Church fallen, which once saluted the “three Magi” as its own; note: the three wise men that visited Jesus upon birth were Magi (Magicians). In fact, “in the school of Alexandria, Magic and Christianity” almost took “each other by the hand under the auspices of Ammonius Saccoa and Plato,” thereby demonstrating their once closeness (p. 731). All the same, Christianity was led astray by “substituting faith for science,” and waging a “war of extermination” against Magism. History recorded this turning point through the murder of “Hypathia” of Alexandria;” his adversaries “sought for the secret of the Great Work, or the Philosophal Stone.” This “universal medicine” was part of the “Grand Magical Secret” (p. 732 & 733). No doubt, countless powerful and intelligent men have, and still do, sought the “true Philosopher’s Stone; Magical elixir.” The destruction of Magism was only one such effort (p. 737).
Clearly, Pike held that within the “primitive tradition” of the “Kabalah” rested the “single dogma of Magism” or the “universal law” of the “opposition of two forces;” from the “physical to the metaphysical equilibrium” would result in “reason and the self-rule of Supreme Will” in man (p. 769). Like Adam, who is the “human Tetragram” and is exemplified within the “transcendent Kabalistic and Magic word” (p. 771). Therefore, “like all the mysteries,” Magism held the “Secrets of the Great Work.” The “Magical agent” of the “Great Work,” which the Ancient Hermetic Philosophers disguised under the name of Prima Materia” that formed the “modifiable Substance Alchemists formulated into the “universal medicine” (p. 733). Thus, the “Hermetic Art is, therefore, at the same time a religion, a philosophy, and a natural science… it is that of the Ancient Magi and the initiates of all ages;” it holds the “universal Magical power” that so many have sought throughout the ages (p. 774).
Pike so intelligently stated, “The Great Work of Hermes is, therefore, an operation essentially Magical, and the highest of all, for it supposes the Absolute in Science and in Will. There is light in gold, gold in light, and light in all things” (p. 775). It is “Azoth, the universal magnetic force, the grand Magical agent, the astral light, the light of life,” fertilized by “mental force, the intelligent energy… on account of its affinities with the Divine Fire” (p. 778). In truth, “Paracelsus, the great Reformer in medicine, discovered magnetism… this initiation into the Magic of the ancients, who understood the grand Magical agent better than we do, and did not regard the Astral Light, Azoth, the universal magnetism of the Sages… emanating only from certain special beings” (p. 791).
Essentially, as Pike clearly stated,
“The Occult Science of the Ancient Magi was concealed under the shadows of the Ancient Mysteries; it was imperfectly revealed or rather disfigured by the Gnostics; it is guessed at under the obscurities that cover the pretended crimes of the Templars; and it is found enveloped in enigmas that seem impenetrable, in the Rites of the Highest Masonry. Magism was the Science of Abraham and Orpheus, of Confucius and Zoroaster. It was the dogmas of this Science that were engraven on the tables of stone by Hanoch and Trismegistus (p. 839).
By definition,
“Magic is that which it is; it is by itself, like the mathematics; for it is the exact and absolute science of Nature and its laws. Magic is the science of the Ancient Magi: and the Christian religion, which has imposed silence on the lying oracles, and put an end to the prestiges of the false Gods, itself reveres those Magi who came from the East, guided by a Star, to adore the Saviour of the world in His cradle (p. 841).
Indeed, truth will one day come back into this world, and when it does, the “Star of Knowledge” will once again advise mankind, like it once did for the Magi, that “by means of Intelligence of the Hierarchy and the practice of obedience, that one obtains” through “initiation,” we will again “cheerfully obey” (p. 843).
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis
Within Freemasonry there are three relatable terms, which sometimes leads to confusion; they are, Golgotha, Place of the Skull, Golgotha, Base of the Skull and Golgotha, Place in the Skull. The main difference being the words “Place” and “Base,” as well as “Place in” and “Place of.” This will become clearer as the following text will illustrate.
There are four references to Golgotha, Place of the Skull in the Holy Bible, which is also used within the York Rite Order of the Knight Templars, they are, 1) Mark 15:22, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha(which means “the place of the skull“),” 2) John 19:17, “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha),” 3) Matthew 27:33, “They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull“),” and 4) Luke 23:33, “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals–one on his right, the other on his left.”
It should be stressed that at this point most Mason’s stop their understanding of the term Golgotha; and it is understandable that they might think there is nothing more; but this is not the case. Let me explain further.
Dr. George Carey wrote extensively about this topic as well in his book God-Man: The Word Made Flesh (1920). In short, he clearly illustrated Biblical and Biological comparisons, when he wrote that Golgotha means both “place of the skull in Hebrew” and “the base of the skull” in anatomy ((Dr. George Carey, God-Man: The Word Made Flesh, 1920, p. 51).
Furthermore, on page 121, Carey also stated that a seed or Jesus traveled up through the spinal cord oil to the base of the skull, Golgotha, where it/he may be crucified; that is unless virtuous behavior saves and regenerates it/him; he wrote, “Jesus, the monthly seed, christened in the waters of Jordan, the marrow or oil of the spinal cord, and crucified (refined or transmuted) by crossing the nerves of regeneration at the junction of the medulla and cerebellum at the base of the skull, Golgotha, where the christened or christed seed is crucified, or crossified, in the regenerative process” (p. 120).
Casey further stated that the “pneumogastric nerve” rose up through the “fourth ventricle of the head,” thereby connecting itself to the cerebellum at the “base of the skull Golgotha.” Moreover, “this wonderful nerve has six different physical functions, in addition to the deeply esoteric office of being the channel for the Holy Breath, or Holy Ghost, without which there would be no conception of the Holy Child, the WORD” (p. 46).
You see, the body secretes a “thick, oily and salty substance,” which is often referred to as an oil, which in Greek means Christ. This oil is in the spinal cord and is carried up where it crosses “the Ida and Pingala” or “two fluid nerves that end in a cross in medulla oblongata, where it contacts the cerebellum (Golgotha the place of the skull).” Consequently, the cerebellum is also referred to as “Golgotha the place of the skull” (p. 89).
In the book the Kabbalah Unveiled, it was further stated that the skull or cranium was “Golgoltha” (Begolgoltha), and Golgotha is where Jesus was crucified, “In the New Testament it is worthy to note that Jesus Christ (the Son) is said to be crucified at Golgotha (the skull)” (S. L. Mathers, Kabbalah Unveiled, 2003, p. 72). And on page 303, there is a short reference to an alchemical, or Manna dew, formula, “Into this skull (of Microprosopus) distilleth the dew from the White Head (of Macroprosopus), and covereth it.” Further down the page, it also made a short reference to the varying meanings to Golgeltha,Skull, “Nine thousand myriads of worlds receive influence from and are uphold by that GVLGLTHA, Golgeltha, Skull.” Although short, these additional references give even further meaning and relationship to Golgotha.
Many P. Hall also referenced a similar phrase, “Golgotha, the place in the skull,” when he mentioned the spirit world. He held that “the brain is the upper room… where Jesus met with his disciples.” In fact, there were “twelve convolutions” within the brain that sent messages through the nervous system into the “body below in order to open a pathway of understanding, or to “preach the Gospel in the middle earth.” Much of this activity was centered around the “third ventricle,” often called the “Mercy Seat, the Holy of Holies.” In essence, one’s spirit ascends from within the brain, “Golgotha, the place in the skull.” Hall further related the fact that it is a well known esoteric fact that the “spirit not only leaves, but also enters the body through the crown of the head,” which more than likely gave rise to “the story of Santa Glaus and his chimney” (Manly P. Hall, The Occult Anatomy of Man, 1929, p. 8).
To give even further credence to this argument, Hall also mentioned Golgotha in his book, Man, the Grand Symbol of the Mysteries, and that it represented a burial place, as well as a skull, “The Hebrew word Gulgoleth (Golgotha), which means both a skull and a burial place” (Manly P. Hall, Man, the Grand Symbol of the Mysteries, 1932, p. 190).
It goes without saying that the ancients had more than one meaning for Golgotha, as has been illustrated again and again in this writing. As such, all three terms, Golgotha, Place of the Skull, Golgotha, Base of the Skull, and Golgotha, Place in the Skull are relatable to the esoteric studies (physically and spiritually) within Freemasonry.
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis
Although short, this writing is of particular importance. You see, contemporary culture has replaced the ideals of spiritualism with rational thought. However, at least according to Albert Pike, rational thought should be based on divinely inspired thinking, certainly not man’s justifications for whatever he can assert. There is little doubt that our culture is continually and constantly changing; but the further we distance ourselves from God, it becomes evident that we have lost our way.
Pike firmly believed that God gave man his intelligence, or soul; which is something that existed well before being placed into a human body. As such, his reasoning, like his irrational principle also comes from God. Therefore, within man exist “inclinations and passions” that produces order and disorder; something that emanates from spirits. As a result, within the earthly body runs both the “irrational Principle” and the “rational Principle,” which operate concurrently, and “are hated by God.” Moreover, the “rational soul” is held captive in a prison, much like that of a coffin (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1872, p. 251).
Therefore, the present state of man is not his “primitive condition,” like that of the Logos, or his “first estate.” No, he must “raise himself again” through ancient wisdom, and the use of “Angels, which God has commissioned to aid” man to free himself from the human body’s bond on reality. Likewise, an evil existence is permitted by God, because he wants man to exercise this liberty over himself. As such, the purification of the soul is conducted, not by any law, but by the light from the heavenly realms above. Yet, there are those who will “persevere in evil,” who go from “body to body,” sitting firmly in the seats of passion and the devil’s desire (p. 251).
So what can an animal tell us about instinctiveness? There is of course a difference between the common animal and man, or them and us. An animal thinks, dreams, remembers, plans, devises, loves, and even communicates its thoughts with other animals; just like that of man. Therefore, the animal is rational, like that of man. In fact, it is this similarity that has caused many to believe that the common animal has a soul. It is this “insoluble mystery” that has puzzled man since the beginning of time itself. Therefore, as some have speculated “‘instinct’ is but a word without meaning.” Pike further explained that perhaps God was in the animal, making it “the greatest and most wonderful of mysteries.” Consequently, like man, an animal is not a machine (p. 303).
Among the Platonists was the belief that matter was inert; that it had a “lawless motive power” with “an ungodlike soul.” Although controlled by God, it was a “plastic power of the Deity;’ although turbulent, it was still “irrational.” By extrapolation, it can be seen that out of chaos was transformed an “organized world” or a “blind soul into a rational principle.” Therefore, the irrational eventually becomes rational; that a “spiritual life” is possible for humanity. Yet, this progress is all too often dependent on the “blind sway of passion and appetite”, and “malignant spirits” and their offspring (p. 556).
Amongst Alexandrian Gnosticism existed the concept that perfection was “ever evolving itself into the less perfect.” In short, in opposition to this “fullness” is the possibility of a “divine life.” Like the belief that a “shadow accompanies the light.” Furthermore, matter, like stagnant water, contains a dead life, and has an “inherent tendency” toward that of evil. It has even been speculated that life is foreign to itself, because it “makes no encroachment on the Divine.” Sadly, the concept of a Divine Life has become a feeble notion, only because we have removed ourselves from the concept of perfection; that such a notion is not possible. We now accept the idea that man is “imperfect” and a “defective product;” instead of seeking “its connection with the chain of Divine Life.” Our society seeks and kneels at the altar of “material chaos” instead. However, what if man could sample just a “drop from the fullness of the Divine life” that “bubbles over into the bordering void” he now dismisses. By this “comixture with the living principle” man could receive the well being he has hidden within himself, but instead, he is “corrupted by mingling with the chaotic mass.” The “new world,” once taught by the ancients, has resulted in a defective life of “ungodly nature-power, which obstinately resists all influence of the Divine.” The world now allows “wicked men and malignant spirits” to rule with a “rational will,” rather than a spiritual one. “Blind passions” have ascended to rule man’s logic and emotions. Whereas, a “soul under divine reason” resists such desires (p. 555).
Aristotle deducted that God was personal; that he was living and loving, unlike the Hebrew God, who was based on intelligence; a common idea from the time period. Nevertheless, in time “moral action and objective thought” were dismissed for the “veil of impenetrable mystery.” This contradiction can be resolved by an understanding of ideas that move (spiritualism) and don’t move (rationalism). As such, God (spiritualism) is the “final cause,” or the “one form;” the “one good, including all good, the goal of the longing of the universe, moving the world as an object of love,” like “rational desire moves the individual.” Indeed, God is the internal or self realized final cause, having no end beyond himself, “but he is no moral agent.” There is a “divine quality of active and yet tranquil self contemplation” that “characterizes intelligence,” which has a divine mind. His thoughts, unlike ours, are unconditional. Unlike God, “man’s good is beyond himself.” Yet God is energy and purity, whereas man can only make a modest effort towards such a lofty aim (p. 679).
The first cause is said to have moved all; or the act was first, followed by the creation of an everlasting universe. Therefore, all movement is caused by God, and out of this movement is the “impenetrable mystery.” Likewise, “God is thus formal, efficient and the final cause.” Likewise, there is a divine active substance for intelligence, which is guided by an intellectual force; “absolute thought is the absolute good,” and “divine thought is the thinking of thought.” And this idea is further supported by Plato, who believed that “the divine principle of good become realized in nature.” In short, if a person is spiritual, he is expressing a love for the “rational desire,” which is all to often forgotten in man’s self centered actions (p. 679-681).
In conclusion, if God is considered rational, are human’s reasonable, no, certainly not; for you see, “to personify the absolute reason, is to determine the Divine Ideal.” This, perhaps more than anything else, is why man falls short of divine reasoning (p. 738). And with regard to the idea that rationalism destroys spiritualism, we see that Pike was right on topic. The further and further we distance ourselves from spiritualism, through the use of rational thought, the less spiritual we have become. Think about that the next time you try to justify your behavior, action, or even a goal, rationally. The following question must always be asked of oneself – are my rational actions in line spiritually?
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis
While continuing my research into the topic of President Thomas Jefferson’s Masonic membership, I discovered the fact that a Masonic Bible clearly stated that he was a member of Charlottesville Lodge #90, in Charlottesville, Virgina. Wait, I thought it was universally accepted that he was not a Mason. You see, history is not always what we are told; as this article will help articulate. Here is a picture from the video:
And here is the video of Masonic Presidents, which supports this claim:
Furthermore, another Masonic Edition Holy Bible from 1951 stated that Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States of America (1801-1809), was more than likely a member of Charlottesville Lodge No. 90, because his name appeared in the minutes from September 20, 1817; see below for a detailed first hand account – with George Washington as presiding Master, and Thomas Jefferson in attendance of a tiled meeting. Furthermore, the bible said that Jefferson was often in the company of many prominent Freemasons. In fact, his son-in-law Thomas Randolph, at the time Governor of Virginia, as well as “his favorite grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, and nephews Peter and Samuel Carr, were all members of Door to Virtue Lodge No. 44, Albemarle County, Virginia.” Moreover, “Freemasons, such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire, Lafayette, and Jean Houdon were some of his closest associates in Europe.” Likewise, other Freemasons he admired and knew “included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Benjamin Rush, John Paul Jones, James Madison, James Monroe, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.” And again, it was reported by Dr. Joseph Guillotin that Jefferson “attended meetings of the Lodge of Nine Muses in Paris; that he had marched in a Masonic procession with Widow’s Son Lodge No. 60 and Charlottesville Lodge No. 90 on October 6, 1817, at the cornerstone laying of Central College (now the University of Virginia).” And perhaps most interestly, “that the Grand Lodges of South Carolina and Louisiana held funeral orations and processions for him following his death on July 4, 1826; and that a Blue Lodge at Surry Court House, Virginia, was named Jefferson Lodge No. 65 in 1801” in his honor. Which begs the question, why did every Mason during Jefferson’s life, and shortly after his death, believe he was a Freemason. The answer is clear; because he was one (Mastermason.com).
Nevertheless, there are other sources that state that Thomas Jefferson was not a Freemason; however, there are perhaps just as many prominent Masonic scholars that rebutt such a belief. I say belief, because those who state that he was never made a Freemason have no proof in their assertion; whereas, those who believe he was a Freemason have numerous anecdotal facts to support the position that he was. And honestly, if a person truly and honestly looked into the issue, he could not come away with any other view. Now let’s take a look at Albert Mackey’s historical mistake.
Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry made the assertion that Jefferson was not a Freemason, but does not offer any facts to support this assertion; rather, it just states its own bias by saying there no empirical evidence that he was a Freemason; honestly though, no proof is not proof of something. Nevertheless, it did make a reference to Robert Gould’s History of Freemasonry, which stated that Jefferson’s pictures were included among Masonic Presidents, and added it’s personal belief afterwards – that there was no proof, “Thomas Jefferson is included in the portrait gallery of Masonic Presidents; there is no known evidence of his having been a Mason,” which is clearly not true (Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, 1873, p. 843).
Think about it for a moment, why would Freemasons during the era name their Lodge after a non-member. The answer is simple, they would not have done so. Even today, do we have any Masonic Lodges named after 20th century Presidents. I know it is a stupid question. No we don’t. We have no Lodges named Obama Masonic Lodge, Reagan Masonic Lodge or even Bush Masonic Lodge for a reason; we would not do it unless the Brethren felt comfortable about their membership in the Craft. The same holds true for the Brethren during the early 19th century in the United States. The Brethren used the Jefferson name because it was firmly believed during the era that he was a Freemason, and they were proud of it. It is clear that Mackey was biased in his research, for there are many who are just as certain that Jefferson was a Mason, some of which were his friends who knew him intimately (The Skirret, 2017).
To further show the error in Mackey’s research, history has demonstrated that the 1883 Grand Lodge of Virginia proceedings mentioned a cornerstone ceremony that was held where Thomas Jefferson was present; two Lodges were in attendance, Widow’s Son Lodge #60 and Charlottesville Lodge #90, in 1817, which was mentioned previously. Nevertheless, Mackey wrote that Jefferson did not attend this event. In fact, he ignored the minutes from both the Grand Lodge and Lodges themselves. Sadly, this error has never been corrected, and as a result, many Masons hold firm to the belief that Jefferson was not a Mason. Despite this mistake, history during the period of his prominence, and his death afterwards, records him as being a Mason. Case in point, the “Government Printing Office had several publications that listed the Presidents of the United States, in which Thomas Jefferson was shown as a Master Mason.” Moreover, during the centennial celebration of 1932, published literature listed “Thomas Jefferson as being a Master Mason.” Most interestingly, Edward Barker, a prominent Anti-Masonic party member, made countless speeches against Freemasonry, and was quoted on March 12, 1829 to say that Thomas Jefferson was a Master Mason, and “referred to his membership in the fraternity while President of the United States” (The Skirret, 2017).
Even after Thomas Jefferson’s death on July 4, 1826, his name was recorded again and again as being a Freemason. On July 4, 1828, a Masonic celebration of St. John the Baptist toasted Jefferson as a Freemason; this event was recorded in no less than two publications, “the Pittsburg Literary Gazette, Vol 1, August 4, 1828, and also the Masonic Souvenir, July, 1828.” Furthermore, at the Boston Masonic Temple dedication that was held on May 30, 1832, Bernard Whiteman said that “all the presidents of the United States up to that time had been Masons except two. The two he referred to must have been the Adams,’ for both Father and Son were anti-masonic.” To demonstrate further, as was mentioned previously, during the early 19th century “the United States Government listed Thomas Jefferson as a Master Mason in all its publications.” Keep in mind, because of Anti-Masonic activity, it was not healthy to be known as a Freemason; nevertheless, the Government recorded him accordingly. It is also important to realize that “Jefferson was sandwiched between two strong Anti-Masonic presidents,” both of whom were an Adams; John Adams (father), 2nd President of the United States and John Quincy Adams (son), 6th President of the United States. Equally important to note, we assume that today’s standards were applied during the Jefferson period, but that is not the case. In fact, countless Masons from the era were also not listed among those attending Lodge meetings. This point has also been overlooked by countless scholars. We also see from the following record that George Washington was at a tiled lodge in which “Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, and seven other distinguished brethren of that day were present” (The Skirret, 2017):
And finally, it seems clear by history that Thomas Jefferson was a Freemason; nevertheless, as his political aspirations grew, he went out of his way to not make it public knowledge – for good reason I might add – for he had to content with a growing Anti-Masonic movement.
So there you have it, just a little bit more information that supports the case that Thomas Jefferson was a Freemason. My research continues.
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
PS: if any reader of this article discovers further research that supports the position that Jefferson was a Freemason, please feel free to post it below in the comment section, and I will research it and possibly write about it in the future. Collectively, we can solve this historical riddle. Thank you!!!
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis
All to often I have seen Masonic brothers get into trouble within the Craft because they don’t truly understand this most important and fundamental issue – that being the topic of Theology within Freemasonry. Let me explain further.
Like many men today who were raised in a particular faith, they had been taught to defend their religion. In fact, about two years ago I was at a very important religious event; in short, a prominent Masonic Brother had become a priest. At the celebration gathering afterwards, I was seated next to a religious scholar of the faith who wanted to know more about Freemasonry. After a few pleasantries, he wanted my phone number, so as he stated, we could have a religious debate. I quietly told him that as a Freemason, I should not be debating another person; especially about religion. He was, of course, taken back, and continued to press the issue. Essentially, he did not understand that another knowledgeable person would not want to debate. I learned afterward, from my Masonic Brother, that within his faith they are taught to defend their faith. He explained that it sharpened their convictions and religious beliefs.
So why is this story important? Well, it clearly demonstrates the differences between religion and Freemasonry, and the associated lessons taught by each organization. As I have stated numerous times in my YouTube videos and in my lectures, Freemasonry leaves theology to the churches. I know this is hard for some people to comprehend this important distinction. Again and again, I see good intentioned men come into the Craft, only to become disenfranchised after a year or two because they can’t grasp the difference.
In truth, I have a family member who is a devout Christian and a Freemason who continues to get into trouble with people, both to Masons and non-Masons, only because in his zeal for his faith, he continues to press his views on others. Nevertheless, he forgot his most important Masonic lesson about debating or pressing your religious views on others – that it is generally not well received. People don’t like being lectured to. Personally, I have found faith to be something that should always be made available, but not before the person is ready for it.
Now to the point at hand. Catholic Freemason Eliphas Levi wrote in his 1860 book, The History of Magic, that from a religious or dogmatic standpoint, the Holy Scriptures form no part of what we do; that we surrender theology to the church,
To explain Holy Scripture from the religious and dogmatic standpoint forms no part of our warrant. Subject above all things to the hierarchic order, we surrender theology to the doctors of the Church and we render to human science whatsoever is included in the domain of experience and reason (Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, 1860, p. 115).
You see, we are taught not to attack any religion; although, to be honest, many of these faiths have no problem attacking the Craft. Countless Brothers within Freemasonry also seem to have a problem understanding this point as well. We often learn this when we are young; we are taught to think our team, family, school and even country are the best. There is no doubt that this “us against them” mentality is taught at an early age, a habit not easily broken. Many Freemasons even walk around with their favorite team cap or t-shirt, just to remind everyone of their team support. This mentality is no different than the religious zealot, who thinks his faith is better than any other. Yet, the lessons of Freemasonry do not support such a viewpoint. No, we are taught to love all of humanity, regardless of one’s viewpoints and positions.
Furthermore, Albert Pike supported this belief when he wrote the following in his 1872 book, Morals and Dogma, that the esoteric doctrines were the teachings of philosophy, and that the religious world interprets the scripture much different than that of Freemasonry, which considers these sacred books to be attributes of man himself. The following quote clearly supports the view that Freemasonry takes a different view of religious writings, like that of the Holy Scriptures,
The esoteric doctrines of the Qabbalah are in alignment with the secret teachings of all the schools of philosophy, but the method by which its secrets are revealed to the wise and concealed from the ignorant is most unusual. As the religious world interprets its scriptures with twentieth-century educational facilities, it becomes ever more apparent that the sacred books were not historical documents, but that the kings, sages, prophets, and saviors whom Bible students have revered for ages as once-existing personalities are in reality only personified attributes of man himself (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1872, p. 114).
Nevertheless, Pike considered Freemasonry to be a religion; but not in the traditional sense. He clearly stated numerous times that Masonry was a religion; that Masonic books need not include sermons, or pious exercises, or even prayers to prove this point. Yet the “religion of Masonry… inculcates pure, noble and even patriotic sentiments,” and includes the “Gospel of literature and art,”
Books, to be of religious tendency in the Masonic sense, need not be books of sermons, of pious exercises, or of prayers. What ever inculcates pure, noble, and patriotic sentiments, or touches the heart with the beauty of virtue, and the excellence of an up right life, accords with the religion of Masonry, and is the Gospel of literature and art (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1872, p. 212).
a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.
Therefore, using the above highlighted definitions, it can be clearly seen that Freemasonry adheres to a “devotion,” or a “commitment to an observance;” “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices;” “conscientiousness” or “scrupulous conformity;” and a “cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.” You see – all to often – most people think religion has the singular definition, like – worship within religion; when it fact, there are many more meanings. In truth, the best definition seen to date is, Freemasonry is simply a religion because of its beliefs; indeed, the philosophy of God is included, but we have no centralized worship like those of contemporary churches. Instead, the religion of Freemasonry is an individual path, like the ancients once upheld, before the centralization of religion.
In fact, Manly P. Hall wrote in his 1929 book, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, that the ancients did not make any distinction between science, philosophy and religion, “Among the ancients, philosophy, science, and religion were never considered as separate units: each was regarded as an integral part of the whole” (Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages, 1929, p. 109).
You see, Freemasonry teaches the values of virtue, honor, truth; and the obligation to direct one’s life toward those ends. Though each degree may have a general theme, no degree teaches only a single lesson; just as no symbol has only a single meaning. No, Freemasonry is a great tapestry of knowledge, where various threads of moral, ethical, philosophical, religious, political, and mythical thought and symbolism are interwoven to create an organization of teachings and lessons. These lessons have their application, both for the individual and for society. In fact, many of the lessons are easily apparent; although, others reveal themselves only to the determined and worthy seeker of spiritual truths.
I know this is hard for most people to understand, but Freemasonry, although not always going by that name, predates all contemporary religions. This belief is confirmed by Manly P. Hall, who wrote, “Freemasonry is more ancient than any of the world’s living religions” (Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages, 1929, p. 176).
Therefore, there is no other organization in the world that calls itself the original religion, unlike those of virtually every religion today. That is why we can comfortably state that “Freemasonry Leaves Theology to the Churches.”
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.
The ardent student who reads this book soon discovers that Bacon was a proponent of “human liberty.” Especially important, he was also “appointed by the British Crown” to help protect the newly established colonies of the new world in North America, which aligns well with the true purpose of his book New Atlantis. He dreamt “of a day when a new world and a new government of the philosophic elect” would be established, and schemed “to consummate that end” (Hall, 1929).
In reality, Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh were members of a secret group, “but Bacon’s position as Lord High Chancellor protected him from Raleigh’s fate.” In short, although history tells a different story, what Hall was alluding to was a purge against secret societies during the period; a common theme throughout history. Yet Bacon understood what had occurred and “passed over into Germany,” before being fully discovered, where he helped “guide the destinies of his philosophic and political fraternity for nearly twenty-five years before his demise” (Hall, 1929).
There were, of course, other notable men who aided Bacon, including “Montaigne, Ben Jonson, Marlowe, and the great Franz Joseph of Transylvania.” In truth, Franz retired to “a monastery in Transylvania from which to direct the activities of his secret society.” There were several upheavals, but the biggest from the time period culminated into the “French Revolution, which was directly precipitated by the attacks upon the person of Alessandro Cagliostro.” He was certainly “by far the most picturesque character of the time;” in fact, he had “the distinction of being more maligned than any other person in history.” Sometime later, he was “tried by the Inquisition for founding a Masonic lodge in the city of Rome,” for which he was “sentenced to die.” This sentence was “later commuted by the Pope to life imprisonment in the old castle of San Leo.” Nevertheless, shortly thereafter he vanished, followed by a circulated story that “he had been strangled in an attempt to escape from prison.” But in truth, he had been “liberated and returned to his Masters in the East.” Out of this, Cagliostro became idolized; and in time, he “was most adequately revenged” by the people, who “remembered him in the day of their power,” which eventually came through the transformation of European society (Hall, 1929).
History has recorded the fact that Cagliostro “founded the Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry;” of which many “French nobility” had been “received into its mysteries.” As for Cagliostro himself, he had been initiated a “Knights Templar” on the Island of Malta, whereupon he became a well known agent for the order. Nevertheless, the “Grand Orient” of France called upon him to prove his worthiness and affliantation to not only establish an independent Lodge, but also to instruct initiates into his own form of Freemasonry; that of the Egyptian Rite. Not surprisingly, “the Supreme Council found it difficult to secure an advocate qualified to discuss with Cagliostro philosophic Masonry and the ancient Mysteries he claimed to represent.” Eventually, eminently qualified egyptologist “Court de Gebelin” was selected to investigate Cagliostro, but after asking only “three questions,” he had to admit himself unqualified to “interrogate a man so much his superior in every branch of learning.” Shortly afterwards, he took to the floor and revealed “to the assembled Masons not only his personal qualifications,” but also prophesied about France’s future. Cagliostro predicted the “Reign of Terror, and the fall of the Bastille.” Moreover, some time later, he predicted the “dates of the death of Marie Antoinette and the King, and also the advent of Napoleon.” Eventually, Cagliostro left French Freemasonry with a “spectacular exit;” they were “utterly incapable of coping with the profundity of his reasoning.” Yet, even today, he is regarded to be “no more a charlatan than was Plato,” another great Masonic legend. Cagliostro, like so many other esoteric legends were vital historical links in establishing a new mindset among the europeans for a new way of thinking; thereby aiding the precept of a new world (Hall, 1929).
About the same time, we see other important figures come onto the stage, like Benjamin Franklin, and Marquis de Lafayette, who played “an important role in this drama of empires.” In truth, Franklin received much of his “esoteric instruction” while in France; he was also the “first in America to reprint Anderson’s Constitutions of the Free-Masons.” In fact, “through all this stormy period, these impressive figures come and go, part of a definite organization of political and religious thought,” which continued to transform the new world of free-Masonic thinkers (Hall, 1929).
The previous several paragraphs may have been seen as a “useless recital” of information; but it is not. Its purpose was to illustrate “upon the reader’s mind the philosophical and political” movement of Masonic and Rosicrucian movers and shakers. Indeed, a “philosophic clan” had moved across Europe “in a subtle manner” to reestablish its “sacerdotal supremacy” or doctrinal leadership. These men, “more or less identified with the progressive tendencies of their day.” They were “philosophers and alchemists,” as well as mystics, who all “bound together with a secret tie, and dedicated to the emancipation of humanity from ignorance and oppression.” In truth, “a group of mystics” even went by the name of the “Society of Unknown Philosophers.” They were “profound thinkers,” who considered themselves political alchemists, which was outwardly displayed by transmuting the base metals of political and religious thinking into a spiritual and ethical gold. They were also “investigators of the superior orders of Nature,” which sought to discover a stable foundation for human government.” Moreover, astrologers studied “the process of the heavenly bodies” in a hope to find a “rational archetype” for humanity. From time to time, characters like Martin Luther, or even Philip Melanchthon, would make contact with this society of thinkers. As has already been established, Freemason Francis Bacon supervised the writing and editing of the first edition of the King James Bible. This Masonic book “bears more Mason’s marks than the Cathedral of Strasburg;” as well, “the same is true respecting the Masonic symbolism found in the first English edition of Josephus’ History of the Jews(Hall, 1929).
For obvious reasons, “the Society of Unknown Philosophers moved” about under the radar of the church. Nevertheless, within the Church there were a “number of scholarly and intelligent men who were keenly interested in philosophy and ethics;” like that of “Jesuit Father, Athanasius Kircher, who is recognized as one of the great scholars of his day.” He was “both a Rosicrucian, and also a member of the Society of Unknown Philosophers.” Likewise, Kircher “was in harmony with this program” of philosophical reconstruction. In a relatively short time, these churchmen “developed an overwhelming preponderance of ecclesiastics” within its membership. Not surprisingly, they “gradually converted into an actual auxiliary of the church;” thereby, allowing them additional freedoms, not normally held. Conversely, “a small portion of its membership” contributed to the study of Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, the Kabbalah and Magic. In time, these men separated themselves “from the outer body of the society,” and became “known as the ‘Order of the Golden and Rose Cross,’ whose adepts were elevated to the dignity of Knights of the Golden Stone.” This “group of adepts” withdrew “from the order,” and claimed to be “inactive;” all the while calling themselves the ‘House of the Holy Spirit.’ These “reclusive adepts” included such “well-known Rosicrucians as Robert Fludd, Eugenius Philalethes, John Heydon, Michael Maier, and Henri Khunrath.” Although lacking any public structure, they did perform an occasional initiation ceremony. Most interestingly, “it was the Comte de Chazal, an initiate of this order, who ‘raised’ Dr. Sigismund Bacstrom” on the “Isle of Mauritius.” In time, however, “the original members of the order passed on,” but not before “first entrusting their secrets to carefully chosen successors” (Hall, 1929).
Meanwhile, another group of men from England, “under the leadership of such mystics as Ashmole and Fludd, had resolved upon repopularizing the ancient learning, and reclassifying philosophy in accordance with Bacon’s plan.” Albeit individually, they collectively undertook the effort to “reconstruct ancient Platonic and Gnostic mysticism.” For instance, Elias Ashmole had become “a member of the European order of Rosicrucians, which helped him greatly “in various parts of Europe” where “isolated individuals” were in “possession of the secret doctrine.” It was this connection that gave him access to an “unbroken line” of esoteric teachings that had been “handed down” from the Egyptians and ancient Greeks “through Boetius, the early Christian Church, and the Arabians” (Hall, 1929).
The efforts of this group of British adepts were successful in bringing Rosicrucians, and its related esoteric knowledge, back to England, where they stayed to aid in the design of the symbolism of contemporary Freemasonry, and also helped incorporate “into the rituals of the order the same divine principles and philosophy that had formed the inner doctrine of all great secret societies from the time of the Eleusinia in Greece.” These esoteric doctrines demonstrate a clear link from the “Eleusinian Mysteries” through the expansive growth of “Christendom, until the sixth century after Christ, after which they passed into the custody of the Arabians,” which is clearly seen “by the presence of Masonic symbols and figures upon early Mohammedan monuments.” These adepts were successful in establishing the “Arabian rites” (Hall, 1929).
In reality, many continental adepts eventually made their way to England, and sat with a “council of English philosophers,” who were themselves initiated into the “Arabian rites, and thus through them the Mysteries were ultimately returned to Christendom.” After establishing a series of “by-laws” for the “new fraternity, the initiates retired again into Central Europe, leaving a group of disciples to develop the outer organization, which was to function as a sort of screen to conceal the activities of the esoteric order.” Thus, the resurgence of Freemasonry in England was “founded upon the activities of this secret society of Central European adepts; whom the studious Mason will find to be the definite ‘link’ between the modern Craft and the Ancient Wisdom. This “outer body of Masonic philosophy” is “merely the veil of this qabbalistic order, whose members were the custodians of the true Arcanum.” Yet, the question remains, “does this inner and secret brotherhood of initiates still exist independent of the Freemasonic order?” Indeed, “evidence points to the fact that it does.” This closely held group of Immortal adepts are the overlords of the Lost Word. They are “the Keepers of the inner Mystery;” and the “Mason who searches for and discovers them is rewarded beyond all mortal estimation” (Hall, 1929).
In conclusion, Hall clearly demonstrated a direct lineage between the rise and stewardship of Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism, and its impactful thinking on a new world. Was this a plot? Indeed it was. Yet, it was a plot to guide humanity out of dark age thinking into a newer era of intellectual thought to benefit mankind. Much of the benefits we enjoy today, and will still enjoy well into the future, is because of these great adepts. And do they still exists, and are they still guiding humanity today? Well, what do you think?
So Mote It Be!!!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.
Ever since my speaking engagement on the Claustrum Oil, which was held at the San Bernardino Valley Scottish Rite on May 4, 2019, I have been continually posting my research on the Astral Realm within my Facebook page Immortal Light. Needless to say, countless Freemasons have responded in several ways; like, “your Astral Body post has nothing to do with Freemasonry,” or “Why do you keep posting about Astral Travel; it has nothing to do with the Craft; and sadly, many even left the Facebook page because they considered my posting unMasonic. Well, I now want to go on record and state that the studies of the Astral Realm are actually Masonic, and go back to our foundation; of which I will clearly illustrate within this article.
Toward the end of my lecture on the Claustrum Oil, I made mention of my future desire to have another lecture, within a year or two, on the reasons for raising our vibrational levels, and higher levels of consciousness. Well, think about it, it is common knowledge that those who seek a higher vibrational level, practice seminal retention, or preserving the Claustrum Oil. The aim is simple, to reach a higher level of consciousness in order to explore the Astral Realm, etc.
Thirty three degree Freemason Manly P. Hall clearly illustrated this point again and again in his book Secret Teachings of all Ages, (1928); like when he referenced H.P. Blavatsky to explain the concept of man being a microcosm within the great universe:
“Man is a little world–a microcosm inside the great universe. Like a fetus, he is suspended, by all his three spirits, in the matrix of the macrocosmos; and while his terrestrial body is in constant sympathy with its parent earth, his astral soul lives in unison with the sidereal anima mundi. He is in it, as it is in him, for the world-pervading element fills all space, and is space itself, only shoreless and infinite. As to his third spirit, the divine, what is it but an infinitesimal ray, one of the countless radiations proceeding directly from the Highest Cause–the Spiritual Light of the World? This is the trinity of organic and inorganic nature–the spiritual and the physical, which are three in one, and of which Proclus says that ‘The first monad is the Eternal God; the second, eternity; the third, the paradigm, or pattern of the universe;’ the three constituting the Intelligible Triad” (Hall, p. 73).
To better explain, at birth the divine nature of man has been temporarily disconnected from himself, and bound by the material realm. Yet, at death, he awakens from this “dream of physical existence and reunites” with himself once more. This process is known as the “wheel of life and death.” Nevertheless, after being initiated into a full understanding of the mysteries, the “law of birth and death is transcended.” Consequently, “This is at once the primary purpose and the consummate achievement of the Mysteries: that man shall become aware of and consciously be reunited with the divine source of himself without tasting of physical dissolution.” Did you get that last part? In essence, man is reunited with himself without having to experience physical death (Hall, p. 76).
In fact, the picture shown to the left is of an ancient Masonic apron, which Hall clearly explained, “the center of the apron is occupied by the compass and square, representative of the Macrocosm and the microcosm,” and the circular black and white serpent represented “astral light.” Furthermore, the “acacia branch with seven sprigs” signified “the life centers of the superior and inferior man.” And most interestingly, the skull and bones is a continual reminder that a philosophical death awaitsthe spiritual nature of man (Hall, p. 78).
In like manner, animals, plants and even minerals are considered sacred, primarily because of their sensitivity to that “mysterious agency in Nature” known as “astral fire,” which we know today as electricity or even magnetism. In fact, “various parasitic growths” in plants, and certain minerals, radium and Lodgestone in particular, are “susceptible to this cosmic electric fire, or universal life force.” Most interestingly, during the Middle Ages, history records that magicians often surrounded themselves with “bats, spiders, snakes” and even monkeys, only because they were able to tap into their life forces. Moreover, it was believed in many “ancient schools of wisdom” that insects and reptiles “germinated out of the evil nature of man.” Human beings, on the other hand, could gain intelligence, so hate would no longer taint the souls development. Several American Indian tribes held the legend of ‘Spider Man,’ which connected the earth to the heavenly realms above through the use of its web. This idea is further supported by the “secret schools of India,” whose beliefs connected “the realms of light with those of darkness” through the use of webs. These deities were known as “Spider Gods,” who were ruled by the “Great Spider.” As such, the builders of this “cosmic system” were held together by threads of a web, known as the “invisible force” (Hall, p. 87).
In the same way, the seven-headed serpent is representative of God, who manifested the seven spirits of Elohim to create the universe. The coils of the serpent signify the orbits and motion of the celestial bodies; similar to the serpent twisted around an egg, which is a very common symbol within the “ancient Mystery schools.” The serpent surrounding the egg depiction also represents the “motion of the sun around the earth,” like the “bands of astral light,” or the “great magical agent” that moves around the earth continuously (Hall, p. 88).
To put it another way, the Egyptians considered the cat sacred, like that of the cat goddess Bast, who was worshipped at a temple in Bubastis, Egypt. Cats represented the “magnetic forces of nature,” and their “astral fire” was symbolized by its three shades of fur, and eyes with different colors; which was why priests surrounded themselves with these animals. What’s more, cat’s have also come to represent eternity, chiefly because they curled up into a ball with their “head and tail touching,” like that of Ouroboros. Likewise, “among the Greek and Latins, the cat was sacred to the goddess Diana,” while the Buddhist religion related it to the “lower astral forces,” due to it being absent upon the “death of the great Buddha” (Hall, p. 91).
Then again, the mysteries teach that the “rays of the celestial bodies” have a striking influence within the lower worlds. “Astral virtues,” especially when combined with “celestial activity,” contribute to the wellbeing of man. Although, generally speaking, very little is truly known about this magical process. Regardless, modern researchers are slowly beginning to reexamine their own understanding of these ancient practices; only because their current understanding has its flaws. Here we see that Hall is clearly illustrating the relationship between the metals and the planetary orbs, when he wrote, “the Egyptians… considered iron to be the bone of Mars and the lodestone the bone of Horus. By analogy, lead would be the physical skeleton of Saturn, copper of Venus, quicksilver of Mercury, gold of the sun, silver of the moon, and antimony of the earth. It is possible that uranium will prove to be the metal of Uranus and radium to be the metal of Neptune.” All of which affect the human body’s relationship to the astral realm(Hall, p. 99).
So too did Hall relate the topic of ceremonial magic, which is the “ancient art of invoking and controlling spirits,” to that of communicating with the “invisible inhabitants” of the astral realms. In fact, out of this development came the art of White and Black Magic; White being good and Black being bad, or more plainly stated, the purpose for such use. In time however, like most human behaviors, we see the infiltration of this Magic (black Magic) to the development of a “state religion” to control the people. Whereas, White Magic encouraged the “spiritual activities of the individual;” it reads, “Thus Black Magic dictated the state religion and paralyzed the intellectual and spiritual activities of the individual by demanding his complete and unhesitating acquiescence in the dogma formulated by the priestcraft.” Likewise, the practice of White or Black Magic most certainly depended on the abilities of the individual adept to “control the universal life force.” Eliphas Levi referred to this universal force as “the great magical agent or astral light,” and “by the manipulation of this fluidic essence the phenomena of transcendentalism” was produced. In fact, the “hermaphroditic Goat of Mendes” is a created composite creature representative of the astral light;” an identical representation of Baphomet, of mystical pantheos “ceremonial Magic;” and “the Templars” more than likely “obtained it from the Arabians” (Hall, p. 101).
Paracelsus, referred to incubus (a male demon who seeks carnal pleasure) and succubus (a female demon who seeks carnal pleasure) as “parasitical creatures” that live upon the “evil thoughts and emotions of the astral body;” both of these terms are the basis for sorcery and black magic. Moreover, these larvae become even more powerful by those with imaginative powers. Ancient sages referred to these invisible forces of evil as the “cause of vice,” who prey on the “morally weak and continually incite them to excesses of a degrading nature.” Therefore, through his senses, man becomes deadened, which allows these forces of evil from the astral plane to play havoc on humanity (Hall, p. 108).
To clarify, Paracelsus referred to incubus and succubus as vampires; either living or dead. The purpose of such behavior is to prolong its existence upon the “physical plane by robbing the living” energies from each devotee. Nevertheless, “a healthy and pure person cannot become obsessed by them, because such larvae can only act upon men” if allowed by their ignorance of such forces, and its true intent; “a healthy mind is a castle that cannot be invaded without the will of its master.” Unhealthy passions from both men and women create these unsavory cravings, which produces “bad thoughts” that are injurious to the human brain. These thoughts further “sharpen the animal intellect and suffocate the moral” senses. You see, evil spirits are obsessed with those human beings who possess an “animal nature.” Yet, the mind that is “illuminated by the spirit of truth cannot be possessed.” No, only those people “who are habitually guided by their own lower impulses may become subjected to their influences” (Hall, p. 108).
In fact, there is a vital substance within nature from which all things subsist; it is called archaeus, or more plainly stated, the “vital life force.” This power “is synonymous with the astral light or spiritual air.” In detail, Eliphas Levi wrote,
Light, that creative agent, the vibrations of which are the movement and life of all things; light, latent in the universal ether, radiating about absorbing centres, which, being saturated thereby, project movement and life in their turn, so forming creative currents; light, astralized in the stars, animalized in animals, humanized in human beings; light, which vegetates all plants, glistens in metals, produces all forms of Nature and equilibrates all by the laws of universal sympathy–this is the light which exhibits the phenomena of magnetism, divined by Paracelsus, which tinctures the blood, being released from the air as it is inhaled and discharged by the hermetic bellows of the lungs” (Hall, p. 110).
This vital energy is found in the “spiritual body of the earth.” In truth, two bodies exist within nature, one that is visible, while the other is invisible. The invisible body “consists of an ethereal counterpart of the human form;” it is the vehicle of the “vital life force,” more commonly referred to as a “vital body.” Most interestingly, this “etheric shadow” does not dissipate upon death, “but remains until the physical form is entirely disintegrated.” Under those circumstances, an etheric double would often remain around a graveyard as a ghost, and is now far more “susceptible to impulses” from the ether, and both positive and negative interactions. In particular, derangements from an “astral light body” may be the cause of so much distress and ailments in people today. Similarly, “Paracelsus taught that a person with a morbid mental attitude could poison his own etheric nature;” with the etheric double diverting its own natural vital life force into a disease of the flesh (Hall, p. 110).
In particular, the vital life force, or archaeus, was called the vaccine, or mumia, by Paracelsus. This vaccine becomes the “vehicle of a semi-astral virus.” Thus, “anything which serves as a medium for the transmission of the archaeus, whether it be organic or inorganic, truly physical or partly spiritualized, was termed a mumia.” Mumia is the ether, or “the universal form.” The sciences of today have accepted this “hypothetical substance,” which serves as the “medium between the realm of vital energy and that of organic and inorganic substance” (Hall, p. 110).
Conversaily, the LeDiable, or devil, looked similar to Pan, with the horns of a ram, “legs and feet of a goat or a dragon,” and the “body of a man.” This demon looking creature carried a candle or a torch, and was “symbolic of the magic powers of the astral light,” or “universal mirror, in which the divine forces are reflected in an inverted” state. Yet “this torch is a false light;” as it guides the “unillumined souls to their own undoing.” Equally important, Typhon is depicted as “a winged creature composed of a hog, a man, a bat, a crocodile and a hippopotamus,” which stands in the “midst of its own destructiveness” based on a “man’s own misdeeds” (Hall, p. 131).
Hall also wrote about the historical theory that both Rosicrucians and Theosophists students had attained “supernatural powers,” which allowed them to be “citizens of two worlds;” they were able to use their “physical bodies for expression on the material plane,” as well as being able to function “in a mysterious ethereal body” that was “not subject to the limitations of time or distance.” This astral form aided them to “function in the invisible realm of Nature;” and while operating in another realm they were well beyond the reach of the profane (Hall, p. 140).
At the same time, “in alchemy there are three symbolic substances: mercury, sulphur, and salt.” These substances are aided by a “fourth mysterious life principle” and it is “called Azoth.” Thus, “3 times 3, plus Azoth,” or “the mysterious universal life force,” equates to 10, which is the sacred Tetractys of Pythagoras. This invisible eternal fire, or magnetism, is often referred to as “astral light” (Hall, p. 155). Conversely, Paracelsus gave some ardent advise regarding the use of the astral elements,
I wish to warn the reader, who might be inclined to try any of the alchemical prescriptions… not to do so… because, although I know from personal experience that these prescriptions are not only allegorically but literally true, and will prove successful in the hands of an alchemist, they would only cause a waste of time and money in the hands of one who has not the necessary qualifications. A person who wants to be an alchemist must have in himself the ‘magnesia,’ which means, the magnetic power to attract and ‘coagulate’ invisible astral elements” (Hall, p. 156).
Nevertheless, we see that the “Dionysiac Architects” constructed their buildings to create a distinct impression that was “consistent with the purpose for which the structure itself was designed.” Like the Pythagoreans, who “believed it possible by combinations of straight lines and curves to induce any desired mental attitude or emotion.” Therefore, they produced buildings that were “harmonious with the structure of universal life.” Such a building “would also become an oracle” of the cosmos. Similarly, an early building like this would have been prepared to house a magical item, like that of the “Ark of the Covenant” within its domain. Indeed, “by their shape and arrangement” it would be “so attuned to the vibrations of the invisible world” that it would catch the amplified “voices of the ages imprinted upon and eternally existent in the substance of the astral light” (Hall, p. 174).
Given these points, we also see Dr. Rudolph Steiner discussed incarnations of the first human were formed out of the “element of fire.” As has been noted, earthly man radiated his “inner being outwards” by the use of this “force of the element of fire.” To be sure, the “evolving man,” which is the archetype of man on the astral plane, continues to be developed in each human based on his conditioning, which is used to help complete the creative word that comes out of the mouth of each being (Hall, 185)
With this in mind, Freemasonry, in general, must look closer into the topic of the Astral Realm, and perhaps take the lessons from all levels of the Craft to better understand and explore this incredible topic; in order to attain a higher level of consciousness. We are so thankful to Manly P. Hall and other Masonic authors for their wisdom on this topic.
So Mote It Be!
Hank Kraychir
Blue Lodge Master Mason – Scottish Rite Mason – York Rite Mason – Knight Mason – Allied Mason – York Rite College – Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest – Red Cross of Constantine – Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.
Within Freemasonry there are three relatable terms, which sometimes leads to confusion; they are, Golgotha, Place of the Skull, Golgotha, Base of the Skull and Golgotha, Place in the Skull
There are four references to Golgotha, Place of the Skull in the Holy Bible, which is also used within the York Rite Order of the Knight Templars, they are, 1) 
It should be stressed that at this point most Mason’s stop their understanding of the term Golgotha; and it is understandable that they might think there is nothing more; but this is not the case. Let me explain further.
Dr. George Carey wrote extensively about this topic as well in his book God-Man: The Word Made Flesh (1920). In short, he clearly illustrated Biblical and Biological comparisons, when he wrote that Golgotha means both “place of the skull in Hebrew” and “the base of the skull” in anatomy ((Dr. George Carey, God-Man: The Word Made Flesh, 1920, p. 51).
In the book the Kabbalah Unveiled, it was further stated that the skull or cranium was “Golgoltha” (Begolgoltha), and Golgotha is where Jesus was crucified, “In the New Testament it is worthy to note that Jesus Christ (the Son) is said to be crucified at Golgotha (the skull)” (S. L. Mathers, Kabbalah Unveiled, 2003, p. 72). And on page 303, there is a short reference to an alchemical, or Manna dew, formula, “
Many P. Hall also referenced a similar phrase, “Golgotha, the place in the skull,” when he mentioned the spirit world. He held that “the brain is the upper room… where Jesus met with his disciples.” In fact, there were “twelve convolutions” within the brain that sent messages through the nervous system into the “body below in order to open a pathway of understanding, or to “preach the Gospel in the middle earth.” Much of this activity was centered around the “third ventricle,” often called the “Mercy Seat, the Holy of Holies.” In essence, one’s spirit ascends from within the brain, “Golgotha, the place in the skull.” Hall further related the fact that it is a well known esoteric fact that the “spirit not only leaves, but also enters the body through the crown of the head,” which more than likely gave rise to “the story of Santa Glaus and his chimney” (Manly P. Hall, The Occult Anatomy of Man, 1929, p. 8).
To give even further credence to this argument, Hall also mentioned Golgotha in his book, Man, the Grand Symbol of the Mysteries, and that it represented a burial place, as well as a skull, “The Hebrew word Gulgoleth (Golgotha), which means both a skull and a burial place” (Manly P. Hall, Man, the Grand Symbol of the Mysteries, 1932, p. 190).
All to often I have seen Masonic brothers get into trouble within the Craft because they don’t truly understand this most important and fundamental issue – that being the topic of Theology within Freemasonry. Let me explain further.
Masonic historian Manly P. Hall left us many incredible writings; one such written work is entitled 
Ever since my speaking engagement on the 
In fact, the picture shown to the left is of an ancient Masonic apron, which Hall clearly explained, “the center of the apron is occupied by 
So too did Hall relate the topic of ceremonial magic, which is the “ancient art of invoking and controlling spirits,” to that of communicating with the “invisible inhabitants” of the astral realms. In fact, out of this development came the art of White and Black Magic; White being good and Black being bad, or more plainly stated, the purpose for such use. In time however, like most human behaviors, we see the infiltration of this Magic (black Magic) to the development of a “state religion” to control the people. Whereas, White Magic encouraged the “spiritual activities of the individual;” it reads, “Thus Black Magic dictated the state religion and paralyzed the intellectual and spiritual activities of the individual by demanding his complete and unhesitating acquiescence in the dogma formulated by the priestcraft.” Likewise, the practice of White or Black Magic most certainly depended on the abilities of the individual adept to “control the universal life force.” Eliphas Levi referred to this universal force as “the great magical agent or astral light,” and “by the manipulation of this fluidic essence the phenomena of transcendentalism” was produced. In fact, the “hermaphroditic Goat of Mendes” is a created composite creature representative of the astral light;” an identical representation of Baphomet, of mystical pantheos “ceremonial Magic;” and “the Templars” more than likely “obtained it from the Arabians” 
