Michael Sherwin wrote: ↑September 20th, 2019, 8:10 pm
Then there is this quote of Albert Pike in his book Morals and Dogma.
"That which we must say to the crowd is, we worship a god, but it is the god one adores without superstition. To you sovereign grand inspector general, we say this and 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 high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine. If Lucifer were not god, would Adonay (the God of the Christians) whose deeds prove cruelty, perfidy and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, 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 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." - Albert Pike
Albert Pike was a high level Mason in this country. If you believe that all seven of the nine Masons that received the first endowment were oblivious to Lucifer being the God of the Masons then you are naive. And too that I can add that I personally know a widow whose husband when he made it to the 32nd degree came home from the ceremony in absolute fright and never went back. For years he refused to tell her why. Then one day he told her that "they worship Lucifer".
Michael,
Like many before you it appears that you have been duped. That quote you provide by Albert Pike has been used quite often out of context and dishonestly. Not saying that is what you are doing, but, I am saying you are not accurately representing what is being said in that book and what is being said by Albert Pike. Please, allow me to point out the error and show the proper context (you have to look at the whole book, read the preceding chapters, paragraphs, and the words after that quote in order to get the true meaning and true understanding.
That quote, alone, is like me talking about the evils of Nazism and then stating that "Adolf Hitler believe that the blond haired, blue eye German is the superior race. The German and the Germanic peoples are the master the race. They are superior in intellect, in strength, in beauty, in pretty much every conceivable way. This was the twisted and false ideology that Hitler taught."
Now, imagine if you quoted me like this:
Valo wrote:...the blond haired, blue eye German is the superior race. The German and the Germanic peoples are the master the race. They are superior in intellect, in strength, in beauty, in pretty much every conceivable way.
Wow! Look at what Valo just said. You did quote me and I did say those words, but, that wasn't my message, now was it?
This is what is going on with the Albert Pike quote here.
Albert Pike wrote:
p. 316
It is the ambition of a true and genuine Mason. Knowing the slow processes by which the Deity brings about great results, he does not expect to reap as well as sow, in a single lifetime. It is the inflexible fate and noblest destiny, with rare exceptions, of the great and good, to work, and let others reap the harvest of their labors. He who does good, only to be repaid in kind, or in thanks and gratitude, or in reputation and the world's praise, is like him who loans his money, that he may, after certain months, receive it back with interest. To be repaid for eminent services with slander, obloquy, or ridicule, or at best with stupid indifference or cold ingratitude, as it is common, so it is no misfortune, except to those who lack the wit to see or sense to appreciate the service, or the nobility of soul to thank and reward with eulogy, the benefactor of his kind. His influences live, and the great Future will obey; whether it recognize or disown the lawgiver. .
Miltiades was fortunate that he was exiled; and Aristides that he was ostracized, because men wearied of hearing him called "The Just." Not the Redeemer was unfortunate; but those only who repaid Him for the inestimable gift He offered them, and for a life passed in toiling for their good, by nailing Him upon the cross, as though He had been a slave or malefactor. The persecutor dies and rots, and Posterity utters his name with execration: but his victim's memory he has unintentionally made glorious and immortal.
If not for slander and persecution, the Mason who would benefit
p. 317
his race must look for apathy and cold indifference in those whose good he seeks, in those who ought to seek the good of others. Except when the sluggish depths of the Human Mind are broken up and tossed as with a storm, when at the appointed time a great Reformer comes, and a new Faith springs up and grows with supernatural energy, the progress of Truth is slower than the growth of oaks; and he who plants need not expect to gather. The Redeemer, at His death, had twelve disciples, and one betrayed and one deserted and denied Him. It is enough for us to know that the fruit will come in its due season. When, or who shall gather it, it does not in the least concern us to know. It is our business to plant the seed. It is God's right to give the fruit to whom He pleases; and if not to us, then is our action by so much the more noble.
To sow, that others may reap; to work and plant for those who are to occupy the earth when we are dead; to project our influences far into the future, and live beyond our time; to rule as the Kings of Thought, over men who are yet unborn; to bless with the glorious gifts of Truth and Light and Liberty those who will neither know the name of the giver, nor care in what grave his unregarded ashes repose, is the true office of a Mason and the proudest destiny of a man....
p. 320
...On all the broad lakes and oceans the Great Sun looks earnestly and lovingly, and the invisible vapors rise ever up to meet him. No eye but God's beholds them as they rise. There, in the upper atmosphere, they are condensed to mist, and gather into clouds, and float and swim around in the ambient air. They sail with its currents, and hover over the ocean, and roll in huge masses round the stony shoulders of great mountains. Condensed still more by change of temperature, they drop upon the thirsty earth in gentle showers, or pour upon it in heavy rains, or storm against its bosom at the angry Equinoctial. The shower, the rain, and the storm pass away, the clouds vanish, and the bright stars again shine clearly upon the glad earth. The rain-drops sink into the ground, and gather in subterranean reservoirs, and run in subterranean channels, and bubble up in springs and fountains; and from the mountain-sides and heads of valleys the silver threads of water begin their long journey to the ocean. Uniting, they widen into brooks and rivulets, then into streams and rivers; and, at last, a Nile, a Ganges, a Danube, an Amazon, or a Mississippi rolls between its banks, mighty, majestic, and resistless, creating vast alluvial valleys to be the granaries of the world, ploughed by the thousand keels of commerce and serving as great highways, and as the impassable boundaries of rival nations; ever returning to the ocean the drops that rose from it in vapor, and descended in rain and snow and hail upon the level plains and lofty mountains;
p. 321
The Apocalypse, that sublime Kabalistic and prophetic Summary of all the occult figures, divides its images into three Septenaries, after each of which there is silence in Heaven. There are Seven Seals to be opened, that is to say, Seven mysteries to know, and Seven difficulties to overcome, Seven trumpets to sound, and Seven cups to empty.
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.
The Apocalypse, indeed, is a book as obscure as the Sohar.
You need to read the whole book in context in order to understand what Albert Pike is saying. He is saying the opposite of what it appears to be saying, when read in context.
Instead of saying that Lucifer is someone good and someone that the mason "worships", Pike is saying the exact opposite. Notice this sentence here:
Albert Pike wrote:]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.
Apotheosis means "climax" or "culmination".
So, in Masonry, those who receive the 19th degree "aspire to God alone, and despise all the pomps and works of Lucifer".
See, this whole section is talking about self-less service. If you read the words before and the words after, Pike is using allegory to show how God, through small, imperceptible means, does great things and that a Mason should work in the same way. They shouldn't do their good works to be seen of the world, to receive praise, etc. They should "sow seeds" and be happy to allow another person to reap the benefits, to harvest.
The idea is for a Mason to reject pride and trying to get gain and praise of the world, like Lucifer represents, but they are to quietly, and humbly do their work for the glory of the Creator and for the progression of humankind.
Albert Pike wrote:To sow, that others may reap; to work and plant for those who are to occupy the earth when we are dead; to project our influences far into the future, and live beyond our time; to rule as the Kings of Thought, over men who are yet unborn; to bless with the glorious gifts of Truth and Light and Liberty those who will neither know the name of the giver, nor care in what grave his unregarded ashes repose, is the true office of a Mason and the proudest destiny of a man.
Valo
