The symbolism of Freemasonry: Illustrating and explaining its science and philosophy, its legends, myths and symbols

About this book

The work is a scholarly exposition on the role of legend and symbol in Masonic teaching, written by Albert G. Mackey, a nineteenth‑century physician and Freemason. It opens with a clear statement that the “masonic student” learns chiefly through two channels, mythic narratives and emblematic devices, and proceeds to argue that the truth of those legends is irrelevant so long as they convey the intended philosophical doctrine. Mackey then outlines his method: a systematic survey of the origins, development, and internal philosophy of Freemasonry, followed by a detailed catalogue of its symbols, rites, and legendary episodes. The introductory pages set the stage for a comprehensive treatment that moves from the ancient “Noachidae” and primitive operative traditions through the symbolic science of the modern speculative lodge.

Mackey’s voice is that of a Victorian‑era erudite, employing formal, didactic prose and a tone that assumes the reader’s willingness to engage with dense historical and theological argument. The style is encyclopedic, rich in classical references, and occasionally rhetorical, reflecting the period’s confidence in systematic knowledge. Readers with a serious interest in the intellectual history of Freemasonry, students of esotericism, historians of ritual, or anyone drawn to the interplay of myth, morality, and symbolism, will find the book rewarding. Those seeking a casual overview may be challenged by its exhaustive detail, but the disciplined scholar will appreciate its thoroughness and its attempt to separate the inner philosophy from outward ceremony.

Opening lines

Of the various modes of communicating instruction to the uninformed, the masonic student is particularly interested in two; namely, the instruction by legends and that by symbols. It is to these two, almost exclusively, that he is indebted for all that he knows, and for all that he can know, of the philosophic system which is taught in the institution. All its mysteries and its dogmas, which constitute its philosophy, are intrusted for communication to the neophyte, sometimes to one, sometimes to the other of these two methods of instruction, and sometimes to both of them combined. The Freemason has no way of reaching any of the esoteric teachings of the Order except through the medium of a legend or a symbol. …

Keep reading free · chapter 1 needs no account