Masonic Writers: Albert Pike
(b.12/29/1809 -
d.4/2/1891)
by
Bro. Trevor McKeown
His standing as a Masonic author and historian, and withal as a
poet, was most distinguished, and his untiring zeal was without a parallel.
---Mackey, Albert G.."Encyclopedia of Freemasonry". Revised by
Robert I Clegg. Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing, 1966, p. 774.
For, contrary to the impression Masons have had, Pike's time,
thought, and writing were not absorbed by the Fraternity.
--Haywood, H.L.. "Supplement to Mackey's Encyclopedia of
Freemasonry". Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing, 1966, p. 1334.
I am...neither Democrat nor Republican. Above all...I am a
Mason....I have written for an Order, that extends over the world. In its
Rituals, Lectures and various offices, I have endeavored to `stir up' the
Brethren now living `and those that may follow us, to an earnest endeavor of
noble actions' and the practice of morality and virtue, the faithful performance
of life's duties, the faithful observance every where, in the market and the
forum, at home and among men, of the laws of Truth,
Justice, Right and Toleration. --Albert Pike
Pike's influence on contemporary Freemasonry is the topic of
some debate both within and outside the Craft. His "Morals and Dogma of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry" has often been quoted,
misquoted and taken out of context by anti-masons and misled non-masons. Pike's
extensive references to the symbolism, practices and beliefs of religious
schools through history and around the world can, unfortunately, lead the
careless reader into a mistaken idea of what constitutes Freemasonry. He is not
always consistent in his use of some terms and he is, of course, a product of
his time and place in history. Pike cannot act as representative of Freemasonry
but this text is a valid and valuable introduction to the symbolic values that
history placed on the metaphors and allegories of Masonic teachings. The
following quotes do not include any of his more obscure and esoteric references.
They will, though, show that Pike did not view Freemasonry as a religion,
luciferian or otherwise. He also does not set himself up as an authority as will
be shown by the first quote.
Pike, Albert. "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry" prepared for the Supreme Council of the Thirty
Third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States: Charleston,
1871. (861 pages) page numbers noted in brackets.
The teachings of these Readings are not sacramental, so far as
they go beyond the realm of Morality into those of other domains of Thought and
Truth. Every one is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein
may seem to him to be untrue or unsound. Of course, the ancient theosophic and
philosophic speculations are not embodied as part of the doctrines of the Rite.
(p.iv)
The obligation of the candidate is always to be taken on the
sacred book or books of his religion, that he may deem it more solemn and
binding; and therefore it was that you were asked of what religion you were. We
have no other concern with your religious creed. (p. 11)
Truths are the springs from which duty flows; and it is but a
few hundred years since a new Truth began to be distinctly seen; that man is
supreme over institutions, and not they over him. (p. 23)
The rule may be regarded as universal, that, where there is a
choice to be made, a Mason will give his vote and influence, in politics and
business, to the less qualified profane in preference to the better qualified
Mason. (p. 36)
It means this, -- that all truths are Truths of Period and not
truths for eternity; that whatever great fact has had strength and vitality
enough to make itself real, whether of religion, morals, government, or of
whatever else, and to find place in this world, has been a truth for the time,
and as good as men were capable of receiving. (p. 37)
Always, also, it remains true, that it is more noble to forgive
than to take revenge; and that, in general, we ought too much to despise those
who wrong us, to feel the emotion of anger, or to desire revenge. (p. 76)
The true name for Satan, the Kabalists say, is that of Yahveh
reversed; for Satan is not a black god, but the negation of God. The Devil is
the personification of Atheism or Idolatry. For the Initiates, this is not a
Person, but a Force, created for good but which may serve for evil. It is the
instrument of Liberty or Free Will. (p. 102)
There is no sight under the sun more pitiful and ludicrous at
once, than the spectacle of the Prestons and the Webbs, not to mention the later
incarnations of Dullness and Commonplace, undertaking to explain the old symbols
of Masonry, and adding to and improving them, or inventing new ones. (p. 105)
Learn, that you may be enabled to do good; and do so because it
is right, finding in the act itself ample reward and recompense. (p. 109)
A Freemason, therefore, should be a man of honor and of
conscience, preferring his duty to everything beside, even to his life;
independent in his opinions, and of good morals, submissive to the laws, devoted
to humanity, to his country, to his family; kind and indulgent to his brethren,
friend of all virtuous men, and ready to assist his fellows by all means in his
power. (p. 113)
It is not the mission of Masonry to engage in plots and
conspiracies against the civil government. It is not the fanatical propagandist
of any creed or theory; nor does it proclaim itself the enemy of kings. It is
the apostle of liberty, equality, and fraternity; but it is no more the
high-priest of republicanism than of constitutional monarchy. (p. 153)
Masonry teaches that all power is delegated for the good, and
not for the injury of the People; and that, when it is perverted from the
original purpose, the compact is broken, and the right ought to be resumed; that
resistance to power usurped is not merely a duty which man owes to himself and
to his neighbor, but a duty which he owes to his God, in asserting and
maintaining the rank which He gave him in the creation. (P. 155)
Masonry is not a religion. He who makes of it a religious
belief, falsifies and denaturalizes it. (p. 161)
No man, it holds, has any right in any way to interfere with
the religious belief of another. To that great Judge, Masonry refers the matter;
and opening wide its portals, it invites to enter there and live in peace and
harmony, the Protestant, the Catholic, the Jew, the Moslem; every man who will
lead a truly virtuous and moral life, love his brethren, minister to the sick
and distressed, and believe in the One, All-Powerful, All-Wise,
everywhere-Present God, Architect, Creator and Preserver of all things.... (p.
167)
The great distinguishing characteristic of a Mason is a
sympathy with his kind, He recognizes in the human race one great family, all
connected with himself by those invisible links, and that mighty network of
circumstance, forged and woven by God. (p. 176)
Masonry will do all in its power, by direct exertion and
co-operation, to improve and inform as well as to protect the people; to better
their physical condition, revive their miseries, supply their wants, and
minister to their necessities. (p. 180)
Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion and its teachings
are instructions in religion. For here are inculcated disinterestedness,
affection, toleration, devotedness, patriotism, truth, a generous sympathy with
those who suffer and mourn, pity for the fallen, mercy for the erring, relief
for those in want, Faith, Hope, and Charity. (p. 213)
The practical object of Masonry is the physical and moral
amelioration and the intellectual and spiritual improvement of individuals and
society. (p. 218)
Masonry represents the Good Principle and constantly wars
against the evil one,... at everlasting and deadly feud with the demons of
ignorance, brutality, baseness, falsehood, slavishness of soul, intolerance,
superstition, tyranny, meanness, the insolence of wealth, and bigotry. (p. 221)
We no longer expect to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem. To us
it has become but a symbol. To us the whole world is GodŐs Temple, as is every
upright heart. (p. 241)
Paul, in the 4th chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians,
speaking of the simplest facts of the Old Testament, asserts that they are an
allegory. In the 3rd chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians, he
declares himself a minister of the New Testament, appointed by God; "Not of the
letter, but of the spirit; for the letter killith." Origen and St. Gregory held
that the Gospels were not to be taken in their literal sense; and Athanasius
admonishes us that "Should we understand sacred writ according to the letter, we
should fall into the most enormous blasphemies." (p. 266)
That God is One, immutable, unchangeable, infinitely just and
good; that Light will finally overcome Darkness, -- Good conquer Evil, and Truth
be victor over Error; -- these, rejecting all the wild and useless speculations
of the Zend-Avesta, the Kabalah, the Gnostics. and the Schools, are the religion
and Philosophy of Masonry. (p. 275)
No one Mason has the right to measure for another, within the
walls of a Masonic Temple, the degree of veneration which he shall feel for any
Reformer or the Founder of any Religion. We teach a belief in no particular
creed, as we teach unbelief in none. (p. 308)
The true Mason labors for the benefit of those who are to come
after him, and for the advancement and improvement of his race.
We teach the truth of none of the legends we recite. They are
to us but parables and allegories, involving and enveloping Masonic instruction;
and vehicles of useful and interesting information. (p. 329)
We do not undervalue the importance of any Truth. We utter no
word that can be deemed irreverent by any of any faith. Masonry, of no one age,
belongs to all time; of no one religion, it finds its great truths in all. (p.
524)
Thus Masonry disbelieves no truth, and teaches unbelief in no
creed, except so far as such creed may lower its lofty estimate of the Diety,
degrade Him to the level of the passions of humanity, deny the high destiny of
man, impugn the goodness and benevolence of the Supreme God, strike at those
great columns of Masonry, Faith, Hope, and Charity, or inculcate immorality, and
disregard of the active duties of the Order. (p. 525)
There is no pretense to infallibility in Masonry. It is not for
us to dictate to any man what he shall believe. (p. 642)
Masonry propagates no creed except its own most simple and
Sublime One; that universal religion, taught by Nature and by Reason. It
reiterates the precepts of morality of all religions. It venerates the character
and commends the teachings of the great and good of all ages and of all
countries. It extracts the good and not the evil, the truth, and not the error,
from all creeds; and acknowledges that there is much that is good and true in
all. (p. 718)
We must do justice to all, and demand it of all; it is a
universal human debt, a universal human claim. (p. 833)
And this Equilibrium teaches us, above all, to reverence
ourselves as immortal souls, and to have respect and charity for others, who are
even such as we are, partakers with us of the Divine Nature, lighted by a ray of
the Divine Intelligence, struggling, like us, toward the light; capable, like
us, of progress upward toward toward perfection, and deserving to be loved and
pitied, but never to be hated or despised; to be aided and encouraged in this
life-struggle, and not to be abandoned nor left to wander in the darkness alone,
still less to be trampled upon in our efforts to ascend. (p. 861)
The above quotes have been gleaned from Albert Pike's. "Morals
and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry" by Bro.
Trevor McKeown, S.W of Centennial-King George Lodge No. 171, B.C.R.
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