The Secret Tradition In Freemasonry, Volume 1

Arthur Edward Waite

• Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9783849605018
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This is volume one of one of the most interesting and profound historical works about Freemasonry. It is a very rare book and published as ebook exclusively.As a bonus this edition includes a very detailed essay about Freemasonry and its origins, written by Hermann Gruber.Contents: ProlegomenaPrefaceIntroduction Book I - Fundamental Relations Of The Craft And The High GradesI - The Horizon Of The Craft Grades And The Tradition ThereinIi - The Mystery Of Building In IsraelIii - The Experiment Of The High Grades And The Claims Implied ThereinIv - The Chief Rites And Their Systems Book Ii - Development Of The High Grade In Respect Of The Ancient AllianceI - Of Grades Antecedent To The Symbolic Time Of The Third DegreeIi - Of Grades Subsequent To The Symbolic Time Of The Craft DegreesIii - The Second House Of Doctrine And The Grades Belonging Thereto Book Iii - Of The New Alliance In FreemasonryI - Of Christian Symbolism In Connection With Temple BuildingIi - The Grades Of St. AndrewIii - The Grade Of Rose-Croix And Its Variations Book Iv - The Masonic Orders Of ChivalryI - The Putative Rite Of RamsayIi - The Theory Of The Strict ObservanceIii - Grades Of Chivalry Incorporated By The Chapter Of ClermontIv - The Council Of Emperors Of The East And West, And Of The Grades Of Chivalry In This SystemV - The Masonic Order Of The TempleVi - The Charter Of LarmeniusVii - The Knights Beneficent Of The Holy City Of JerusalemViii - Additional Grades Of Chivalry In The Ancient And Accepted Scottish RiteIx - Lesser And Independent GradesX - The Royal Order Of ScotlandXi - Conclusion On Masonic Chivalry

The characteristic feature of the organization of speculative Masonry is the Grand Lodge system founded in 1717. Every regular Grand Lodge or Supreme Council in the Scottish, or Grand Orient in the mixed system, constitutes a supreme independent body with legislative, judicial, and executive powers. It is composed of the lodges or inferior bodies of its jurisdiction or of their representatives regularly assembled and the grand officers whom they elect. A duly constituted lodge exercises the same powers, but in a more restricted sphere. The indispensable officers of a lodge are the Worshipful Master [77] the Senior and Junior Warden, and the Tiler. The master and the wardens are usually aided by two deacons and two stewards for the ceremonial and convivial work and by a treasurer and a secretary. Many lodges have a Chaplain for religious ceremonies and addresses. The same officers in large numbers and with sounding titles (Most Worshipful Grand Master, Sovereign Grand Commander, etc.) exist in the Grand Lodges. As the expenses of the members are heavy, only wealthy persons can afford to join the fraternity. The number of candidates is further restricted by prescriptions regarding their moral, intellectual, social, and physical qualifications, and by a regulation which requires unanimity of votes in secret balloting for their admission. Thus, contrary to its pretended universality, Freemasonry appears to be a most exclusive society, the more so as it is a secret society, closed off from the profane world of common mortals. "Freemasonry", says the "Keystone" of Philadelphia [78]

"has no right to be popular. It is a secret society. It is for the few, not the many, for the select, not for the masses."

Practically, it is true, the prescriptions concerning the intellectual and moral endowments are not rigourously obeyed:

"Numbers are being admitted . . . whose sole object is to make their membership a means for advancing their pecuniary interest". [79] "There are a goodly number again, who value Freemasonry solely for the convivial meetings attached to it." "Again I have heard men say openly, that they had joined to gain introduction to a certain class of individuals as a trading matter and that they were forced to do so because every one did so. Then there is the great class who join it out of curiosity or perhaps, because somebody in a position above them is a mason." "Near akin to this is that class of individuals who wish for congenial society". [80] "In Masonry they find the means of ready access to society, which is denied to them by social conventionalities. They have wealth but neither by birth nor education are they eligible for polite and fine intercourse." "The shop is never absent from their words and deeds." "The Masonic body includes a large number of publicans." [81]

Of the Masonic rule — brotherly love, relief, and truth — certainly the two former, especially as understood in the sense of mutual assistance in all the emergencies of life, is for most of the candidates the principal reason for joining. This mutual assistance, especially symbolized by the five points of fellowship and the "grand hailing sign of distress" in the third degree, is one of the most fundamental characteristics of Freemasonry. By his oath the Master Mason is pledged to maintain and uphold the five points of fellowship in act as well as in words, i.e., to assist a Master Mason on every occasion according to his ability, and particularly when he makes the sign of distress. In Duncan, "American Ritual" (229), the Royal Arch-Mason even swears:

I will assist a companion Royal Arch-Mason, when I see him engaged in any difficulty and will espouse his cause so as to extricate him from the same whether he be right or wrong.

It is a fact attested by experienced men of all countries that, wherever Masonry is influential, non-Masons have to suffer in their interests from the systematical preferment which Masons give each other in appointment to offices and employment. Even Bismarck [82] complained of the effects of such mutual Masonic assistance, which is detrimental alike to civic equality and to public interests. In Masonic books and magazines unlawful and treacherous acts, performed in rendering this mutual assistance, are recommended and praised as a glory of Freemasonry."The inexorable laws of war themselves", says the official orator of the Grand Orient de France, Lefèbvre d'Aumale [83] "had to bend before Freemasonry, which is perhaps the most striking proof of its power. A sign sufficed to stop the slaughter; the combatants threw away their arms, embraced each other fraternally and at once became friends and Brethren as their oaths prescribed", and the "Handbuch" [84] declares: "this sign has had beneficial effect, particularly in times of war, where it often disarms the bitterest enemies, so that they listen to the voice of humanity and give each other mutual assistance instead of killing each other". [85] Even the widely spread suspicion, that justice is sometimes thwarted and Masonic criminals saved from due punishment, cannot be deemed groundless. The said practice of mutual assistance is so reprehensible that Masonic authors themselves [86] condemn it severely. "If", says Bro. Marbach (23), "Freemasonry really could be an association and even a secret one of men of the most different ranks of society, assisting and advancing each other, it would be an iniquitous association, and the police would have no more urgent duty than to exterminate it."

Another characteristic of Masonic law is that "treason" and "rebellion" against civil authority are declared only political crimes, which affect the good standing of a Brother no more than heresy, and furnish no ground for a Masonic trial. [87] The importance which Masonry attaches to this point is manifest from the fact that it is set forth in the Article II of the "Old Charges", which defines the duties of a Freemason with respect to the State and civil powers. Compared with the corresponding injunction of the "Gothic" constitutions of operative masonry, it is no less ambiguous than Article I concerning God and religion. The old Gothic Constitutions candidly enjoined: "Also you shall be true liegemen to the King without treason or falsehood and that you shall know no treason but you mend it, if you may, or else warn the King or his council thereof". [88] The second article of modern speculative Freemasonry (1723) runs:

Of the civil magistrates, supreme and subordinate. A Mason is a peaceable subject to the Civil Powers, wherever he resides or works, and is never to be concerned in Plots and Conspiracies against the peace and welfare of the Nation, nor to behave himself undutifully to inferior Magistrates; for as Masonry hath always been injured by War, Bloodshed and Confusion so ancient Kings and Princes have been much disposed to encourage the craftsmen, because of their Peaceableness and Loyalty, whereby they practically answer'd the Cavils of their adversaries and promoted the Honour of Fraternity, who ever flourished in Times of Peace. So that if a Brother should be a Rebel against the State, he is not to be countenanc'd in his Rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy man; and, if convicted of no other Crime, though the loyal Brotherhood must and ought to disown his Rebellion, and give no Umbrage or Ground of political Jealousy to the Government for the time being; they cannot expel him from the Lodge and his Relation to it remains indefeasible.

Hence rebellion by modern speculative Masonry is only disapproved when plots are directed against the peace and welfare of the nation. The brotherhood ought to disown the rebellion, but only in order to preserve the fraternity from annoyance by the civil authorities. A brother, then, guilty of rebellion cannot be expelled from the lodge; on the contrary, his fellow Masons are particularly obliged to have pity on his misfortune when he (in prison or before the courts) has to suffer from the consequences of his rebellion, and give him brotherly assistance as far as they can. Freemasonry itself as a body is very peaceable and loyal, but it does not disapprove; on the contrary, it commends those brethren who through love of freedom and the national welfare successfully plot against monarchs and other despotic rulers, while as an association of public utility it claims privilege and protection through kings, princes, and other high dignitaries for the success of its peaceful work. "Loyalty to freedom", says "Freemason's Chronicle" [89] "overrides all other considerations". The wisdom of this regulation, remarks Mackey [90] "will be apparent when we consider, that if treason or rebellion were masonic crimes, almost every mason in the United Colonies, in 1776, would have been subject to expulsion and every Lodge to a forfeiture of its warrant by the Grand Lodges of England and Scotland, under whose jurisdiction they were at the time".

A misleading adage is "once a Mason always a Mason". This is often taken to mean that "the Masonic tie is indissoluble, that there is no absolution from its consequences" [91] or "Obligations" [92] that not even death can sever the connection of a Mason with Freemasonry. [93] But certainly a Mason has the "right of demission" [94] and this right, whatever be the opinion of Masonic jurisprudence, according to the inalienable natural rights of man, extends to a complete withdrawal not only from the lodge but also from the brotherhood. In the scale of Masonic penalties, "expulsion" is the most severe. [95] Besides those who have been expelled or who have resigned there are many "unaffiliated" Masons who have ceased to be "active" members of a lodge, but, according to Masonic law, which, of course, can oblige no more than is authorized by the general rules of morality, they remain subject to the lodge within the jurisdiction of which they reside.

As to unity, Masonic authorities unanimously affirm that Freemasonry throughout the world is one, and that all Freemasons form in reality but one lodge; that distinct lodges exist only for the sake of convenience, and that consequently every regular Mason is entitled to be received in every regular lodge of the world as a brother, and, if in distress, to be relieved. The good understanding among Masons of different countries is furthered by personal intercourse and by correspondence, especially between the grand secretary offices and international congresses [96] which led to the establishment, in 1903, of a permanent international office at Neuchâtel, Switzerland. [97] There is no general Grand Lodge or direction of Freemasonry, though various attempts have been made in nearly every larger state or country to establish one. Incessant dissensions between Masonic systems and bodies are characteristic of Freemasonry in all countries and times. But the federative unity of Freemasonry suffices to prove a true solidarity among Masons and Masonic bodies throughout the world; hence the charge of complicity in the machinations which some of them carry on. This solidarity is openly avowed by Masonic authorities. Pike, for instance, writes [98]

When the journal in London which speaks of the Freemasonry of the Grand Lodge of England, deprecatingly protested that the English Freemasonry was innocent of the charges preferred by the Papal Bull (Encycl. 1884) against Freemasonry, when it declared that English Freemasonry had no opinions political or religious, and that it did not in the least degree sympathize with the loose opinions and extravagant utterances of part of the Continental Freemasonry, it was very justly and very conclusively checkmated by the Romish Organs with the reply, 'It is idle for you to protest. You are Freemasons and you recognize them as Freemasons. You give them countenance, encouragement and support and you are jointly responsible with them and cannot shirk that responsibility'.

As accurate statistics are not always to be had and the methods of enumeration differ in different countries, total numbers can only be approximated. Thus in most of the Lodges of the United States only the Masters (third degree) are counted, while in other countries the apprentices and fellows are added. There are besides many unaffiliated Masons (having ceased to be members of a lodge) who are not included. Their number may be estimated at two-thirds of that of the active Masons. In England a Mason may act as member of many lodges. Confirming our statement as to the active members of the strictly Masonic bodies, which in calendars and year books are registered as such, we may, upon recent and reliable sources [99] estimate the actual state of Freemasonry as follows: Grand Orients, Grand Lodges, Supreme Councils, and other Scottish G. Bodies, 183; lodges 26,500; Masons, about 2,000,000; the number of the Grand Chapters of Royal Arch is: in the United States, 2968 subordinate chapters, under one General Grand Chapter; England, 46 Grand Chapters with 1015 subordinate chapters; English colonies and foreign Masonic centres, 18 Grand Chapters with 150 subordinate chapters. The census of craft masonry is as follows:

• Great Britain and Colonies (excluding Canada): 4,670 lodges; 262,651 members

• Canada: 727 lodges; 60,728 members

• United States (White): 12,916 lodges; 1,203,159 members

• United States (Colored): 1,300 lodges; 28,000 members

• Latin countries: 2,500 lodges; 120,000 members

• Other European countries: 771 lodges; 90,700 members

• Africa: 53 lodges; 2,150 members

• Total: 22,937 lodges; 1,767,388 members

VI Inner work of Freemasonry

— Masonic symbolism and oaths

"From first to last", says Pike [100] "Masonry is work". The Masonic "work", properly so called, is the inner secret ritualistic work by which Masons are made and educated for the outer work, consisting in action for the welfare of mankind according to Masonic principles. Masons are made by the three ceremonies of initiation (first degree), passing (second degree), and raising (third degree). The symbols displayed in these ceremonies and explained according to the Masonic principles and to the verbal hints given in the rituals and lectures of the third degrees, are the manual of Masonic instruction. The education thus begun is completed by the whole lodge life, in which every Mason is advised to take an active part, attending the lodge meetings regularly, profiting, according to his ability, by the means which Masonry affords him, to perfect himself in conformity with Masonic ideals, and contributing to the discussions of Masonic themes and to a good lodge government, which is represented as a model of the government of society at large. The lodge is to be a type of the world [101] and Masons are intended to take part in the regeneration of the human race. [102] "The symbolism of Freemasonry", says Pike in a letter to Gould, 2 December, 1888 [103] "is the very soul of Masonry." And Boyd, the Grand Orator of Missouri, confirms: "It is from the beginning to the end symbol, symbol, symbol". [104]

The principal advantages of this symbolism, which is not peculiar to Freemasonry but refers to the mysteries and doctrines of all ages and of all factors of civilization, are the following: (1) As it is adaptable to all possible opinions, doctrines, and tastes, it attracts the candidate and fascinates the initiated. (2) It preserves the unsectarian unity of Freemasonry in spite of profound differences in religion, race, na...

Table of contents

• Freemasonry – Its Origin And History
• The Secret Tradition In Freemasonry, Volume 1
• BOOK I – Fundamental Relations of the Craft and the High Grades
• BOOK II - Development of the High Grade in respect of the Ancient Alliance
• BOOK III – Of the New Alliance in Freemasonry
• BOOK IV – THE MASONIC ORDERS OF CHIVALRY