ALBERT PIKE
Albert Pike was the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite - Southern Jurisdiction. He may not be as well known among Masons today as he was a few decades ago. Pike seems to be very known among the anti-Masons who often quote (or maybe I should say misquote) his writings. He was a very complex man whose writings were on a plain that many have struggled to comprehend. He wrote in the lofty Victorian style and took the reader into such deep truths that it was often difficult to understand where he had taken us and where he was going. In the preface of Morals and Dogma Pike gave a disclaimer (which is often overlooked by the anti-Masons), which states that anyone is free to accept or reject his thoughts. Pike did not pretend that he was writing for all of Masonry. No one writer can speak for all of Masonry.
Pike was born in 1809. This was the same year that Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allen Poe, and Henry Longfellow was born. He became an explorer in his early life. Later in life in engaged in teaching, journalism, being a lawyer, and a business man. During the Civil War Pike was a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. In his sunset years Pike moved into the House of the Temple in Washington D.C. After his death he was buried there.
One of the things that Pike was noted for was his "Unity Concept." He believed that there was a common theme among all world religions and cultures. His Unity Concept has not stood the test of time. In many of his writings and especially in "Morals and Dogma" (his most famous book) he attempts to make his "Concept" fit. He believed that civilization began in Persia and North India and from there God worked through future civilizations through symbolism to demonstrate His existence.
Pike has often been criticized for holding to a believe in equality among all gods. While Pike believed that God was a work in all civilization in an attempt to show them the "true God", he did not believe that all gods are the same. We find evidence of this on page 597 of "Morals & Dogma:"
For ever, In all the nations, ascending to the remotest antiquity… we find, seated above all gods… a still higher Deity, silent, undefined, incomprehensible, the Supreme, one God, from Whom all the rest flow or emanate, or by Him are created.
As a Masonic author Pike did not often share his personal religious convictions. He felt that was better left to the organized churches to deal with. This does not negate the fact, however, that Pike was to the very end a staunch Trinitarian Christian.
Speak kindly to your erring brother! God pities him; Christ has died for him; Providence waits for him; Heaven’s mercy yearns toward him; and Heaven’s spirits are ready to welcome him back with joy. (Morals & Dogma p.134)
One of the criticisms that he has received was that he promoted Masonry as a religion. This was not true, however, Pike did see some religious factors within Masonry. His idea was that it was normal for a person having a sense of morality to have a belief in God, in immortality of the soul, and a code of morality. How could a person have faith in a Deity without these elements? Having a foundation of faith does not satisfy the definition of a religion. Pike believed in a "primitive religion", but it only entails the foundations of religion. If Pike seems to be inconsistent about his use of the term "religion," one has to know how Pike is using it.
Masonry does not pretend to be a religion; but it is not irreligious or irreverent. It does not assume to take the place of any religion, or claim to make religion unnecessary. To charge it with this is to libel it. It requires its initiates to believe in one God and a Divine Providence, and that the soul survives the dissolution of the body. Thus it teaches those great primary truths on which all religion must repose; and it inculcates those principles of pure morality which have commended themselves to the good and wise of all ages." (pike – Ritual for the Reception of a Louveteau p.14)
One of Pike's most quoted statements is ‘ Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion.’ Pike has, of course, just spent the two and half pages before that line explaining what he means by religion . He points out that there is a religion of work, which is to work honestly and fairly, giving full value for the wages received. He points out that there is a religion to law, when the law is used with justice and equity and mercy to improve the lives of people. And then, just in case the reader has missed the point, Pike clearly explains what he means when he says a Lodge is a temple of religion. One just has to read the next few sentences –
Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion; and its teachings are instruction in religion. For here are inculcated disinterestedness (unselfishness), 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, Charity. Here we meet as brethren, to learn to know and love each other. (Pike- M & D. p. 213)
But Masonry is not a religion in the sense that the term is generally used, the sense in which we would speak of Christianity or Islam or Judaism as a religion. And Pike made that perfectly clear.
PIKE AND THE LEO TAXIL HOAX
Freemasonry had been under fire from the Roman Church for quite some time. A man by the name of Leo Taxil was an aspiring writer who saw an opportunity to make a little money and to also get into the good graces of the Church by attacking the most prominent Masonic writer of that day. The hoax that Taxil wrote about was immediately accepted by the Church and many in the secular world as being the honest truth. Even though Taxil confessed his lie a few years later, it is still being rehashed by the enemies of Freemasonry just as strongly as before.
Albert Pike has been accused of giving a speech in which he claimed that Lucifer is God. Pike never made such a speech. Taxil said that Pike delivered that speech to Freemasons in Paris on Bastille Day, July 12, 1889. Here is what Pike reportedly said:
That which we must say to the world is that we worship a god, but it is the god that one adores without superstition. To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the brethren of the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees: The Masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the higher degrees, maintained in the Purity of the Luciferian doctrine. If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay and his priests calumniate him?
Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods; darkness being necessary for light to serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive.
Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy, and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil.
Taxil had backdated this speech three years after Albert Pike had died. Taxil signed it as "Albert Pike, Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, Instructions to the twenty-three Supreme Councils of the World, July 14, 1889."
There is no doubt that this was a forgery. In the first place, there is no position in Regular Freemasonry with the title "Sovereign Pontiff." Secondly, there is no such thing as "Universal Freemasonry." Albert Pike was the leader of only one branch of Freemasonry, and it was the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite.
Leo Taxil, who always had an interest in making a name for himself, saw an opportunity to sell a lot of books by attackingthe Roman Catholic Church. This was an era of anti-Catholicism. The Papal States were now a part of history. The nations of the world had separated themselves from Rome. The Pope in 1870 declared that the leader of the Roman Catholic Faith was infallible of speaking in error when it came to matters of faith. The new proclamation created a lot of new enemies for the Church. Taxil saw an opportunity to sell his publications to those who opposed the new Papal power.
In an effort to obtain damaging information on the Church Taxil decided to become a member of the Masons in 1881. The Lodge members soon learned of his undesirable character traits and he was expelled before even finishing his first degree. Taxil decided on a new plan to sell his publications. He now had an axe to grind with the Masons. In 1884 the Roman Catholic Church blasted the Masons because of their democratic ideas. Taxil didn’t care anything about the Church ideology, but saw a way to make a good income in joining their efforts against the Masons. To prove that the Masons were a sinister organization Taxil chose Albert Pike as his next target. Pike was now deceased and could not defend himself.
Taxil did a word play on the words "Lucifer" and "Adonay" (meaning "Lord"), and made it seem that Pike and all Masons were Satan worshippers. There was no truth whatsoever in Taxil’s forgery. The truth was unimportant to Taxil or the Church, because the lie fit the need. Taxil now had what he wanted i.e. money and fame, and the Church had what they wanted – "proof" that Freemasonry was of the devil. Taxil was honored with a private audience with the Pope, who heaped praises upon him.
Once Taxil achieved success he became careless. In April 1897, Taxil had a press conference in Paris. With members of the press and the clergy present, Taxil decided it was time to turn the tables. He openly admitted to his guests that the Albert Pike article was a hoax. He even rubbed it in a little bit by belittling their intelligence for ever believing such as story. Rather than admit that they had been taken, the Roman Church decided to maintain Taxil’s story. It is still circulated to this very day by the Catholic Church and many other anti-Masonic groups. After Taxil admitted the hoax in 1897 it was still published by Abil Clarin de la Rive who, for some reason, wished to continue the lie. Here is a portion of Taxil's confession:
Accordingly, slandering Freemasons was the best way to establish the foundations of the colossal prank of which I savored all the suave happiness in advance.
At first, Freemasons were indignant; they did not foresee that the patiently prepared conclusion of the hoax would result in a worldwide outburst of laughter. They actually thought I had joined for good. It was said and repeated that it was a way of avenging myself for having been expelled from my Lodge in 1881, a well-known story which was not in the least dishonorable for me, but the mere consequence of a little row initiated by two men having nowadays disappeared, and disappeared under sad circumstances.
No! I was not avenging myself, I was having fun. And if one examines now the undersides of this campaign, even the Freemasons who were most hostile to me will acknowledge that I did not harm anyone. I would go as far as to say that I did a good turn to French Masonry. (Interruption: You go too far!...) Pardon me, wait until I explain myself, and I am sure you will agree with me. I mean that my publication of the rituals was certainly not irrelevant to reforms which resulted in suppressing outmoded practices which had become ridiculous in the eyes of all masons befriended with the notion of progress.
Rive's book, La Femme et l'Enfant dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universselle, (Woman and Child in Universal Freemasonry) was quoted by Edith Starr Miller in 1933, in her book, Occult Theocracy. She translated the "quotation" into English.
Several anti-Masonic writers have continued to repeat Taxil’s Hoax without checking out it’s source. Pike has been associated with this lie in spite of the fact that he was to his death a sincere and devoted Trinitarian Christian.
Such notable people as Pat Robinson has repeated it again in recent years. While this writer has great respect for Rev. Robinson, it is very disappointing that he did not check out his facts before publishing the hoax again. It may continue to be picked up by others who hate Masonry, but the whole thing is still just a myth. For more on the Taxil Hoax CLICK HERE
