ALBERT PIKE AND LUCIFER: THE LIE THAT WILL NOT DIE
S. Brent Morris, PM.
Brent Morris is a member and a Past Master of Patmos Lodge #70. Ellicott city,
Maryland. He is the author of "Masonic Philanthropies" published jointly by the
Northern and Southern Jurisdictions. Scottish Rite. An extract
from this book was the May, 1991 STB "And the Greatest
of These is Charity".
Dr. and Bro. Morris is a well known and respected
Masonic Author -- editor
Have you heard the sad story about the dog that someone tried to dry off in a
microwave oven? What about the one where a jealous husband poured concrete into
a new convertible, not realizing it was a surprise anniversary
gift from his wife? Or maybe you've read
about Albert Pike's so-called "Luciferian Doctrine," which teaches Masons that Lucifer is
God?
These stories have one thing in common: they're all false. The first two are
harmless "urban myths," innocently retold as cautionary tales. The story about Albert Pike and
Lucifer, however, is a lie that will not die.
Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pages (writing as Leo
Taxil) conceived the hoax and designed it to
slander Freemasonry and to embarrass the
Catholic Church. It has been repeated for a
century by anti-Masons who accept with child
like eagerness any slur against our gentle
craft.
No other lie has captured the imagination of
anti-Masons quite like this Leo Taxil hoax
(just one of many he Perpetrated against Free
masonry and the Catholic Church). Once our
critics have twisted logic to convince them
selves that Freemasonry is the work of Satan,
they are ready to accept this perversion. It
usually comes in the form of a quotation that
starts,
"On July 14, 1889, Albert Pike, Sovereign
Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, addressed
to the 23 supreme Confederated councils of
the world the following instructions....."
That is all you need to read to know the
author has fallen prey to this infamous hoax.
It is not entirely certain when the quote was
fabricated nor where it was first published. We
can, however, trace its modern appearances to
Edith Starr Miller who wrote Occult Theocrasy
in 1933 under the pen name "Lady
Queensborough." Her work is excerpted and
treated as the gospel truth, usually without
attribution. Such practices are known as plagiarism in other disciplines, but neither serious research nor intellectual integrity stand in
the way of the headlong rush to slander Free
Masonry.
Ms. Miller found her quote in the 1894 book
by Abbe Clarin de la Rive, Le Femme et
L'Enfanr dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universeile (Woman and Child in Universal Free
masonry). Abbe de la Rive, like Ms. Miller,
was duped by the hoax; they are guilty only of
incompetent research and an eager willingness to believe the worst about Freemasonry.
The ultimate source was the pornographer,
anti-Mason, and anti-Catholic Leo Taxil
(Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pages). Taxil publicly confessed his deception in 1897; his story
is widely available for anyone willing to look
for the truth. Just a few of the many references
are listed below.
* R. Limouzin-Lamothe. The New Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. Taxil, Leo.
* Henry W. Coil, et al., Coil's Masonic
Encyclopedia (Richmond, Va.: Macoy
Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., 1961),
s.v. Taxil, Leo.
* Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd ed., s.v.
Taxil, Leo.
" Arthur E. Waite, A New, encyclopedia of
Freemasonry, new & rev.ed ed. (New York:
Weathervane Books, 1970), s.v. Palladian
Freemasonry.
* Alec Mellor, "`A Hoaxer of Genius-Leo
Taxil. "Our Separated Brethren, the Freemasons, translated by A. W. Barnett and
C. N. Batham (Richmond, Va., Macoy
Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., 1964),
PP14-9-155.
The entire passage from Ms. Miller is not
worth quoting, though we will give the portion
most repeated.
The Bogus "Luciferian Doctrine" of
Albert Pike
from Edith Starr Miller (Lady Queensgorough)
Occult Theocracy 2 vols, 1933. Reprint. Hawthome,
Calif.: the Christian Book Club of America, 1980.
"(P-233) In La Femme et L'Enfant dans la
Franc-Maconnerie Universelle page 578 , A.C.
De La Rive states that on July 14, l889, Albert Pike, Sovereign Pontiff of
Universal Freemasonry, addressed to the 23 Supreme Confederated Councils of the world the following
instructions, which we quote herewith in part.
(p-220) That which we must say to the
crowd is:-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 its
initiates of the higher degrees, maintained in the
purity of the Luciferian doctrine. if Lucifer
were not God, would Adonay (the God of the
Christians) whose deeds prove his cruelty
perfidy, and hatred of man, Barbarism and
repulsion for science, would Adonay and his
priests calumniate him?
******
Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is heresy;
and the true and pure philosophic 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.
There are several problems with this quotation, some obvious and some subtle. To start
with, about 1,000,000 out of 2,500,000 American masons have the 32ø in the Scottish Rite,
including ministers, rabbis, bishops, and other
devout worshippers of God, It is inconceivable that there would not be mass resignations
if these men were taught this disgusting
"Luciferian doctrine." It is believable that the
millions of Scottish Rite Masons during the
last two centuries could be cowed into such
total silence'!
The quote is riddled with logical inconsistencies. There is no position of "Sovereign
Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry." There is
no '"Confederation of Supreme Councils." In
the United States virtually all Scottish Rite Masons receive the 32ø so why
would Albert Pike suggest special treatment for 30ø, 31ø, and 32ø Masons, when
that would have included everyone?
The real evidence pf a hoax comes in De La
Rive's footnote, which neither Ms. Miller nor
anyone else bothers to quote. It refers to Diana
Vaughan, the matchless creation of Leo Taxil's
twisted mind. The footnote (and a translation)
are printed below.
"Ce fut la Soeur Diana Vaughan a'Albert
Pike, -ASfin de lui donner la plus grande
marque de confiance, -chargea d'apporter
son encyclique luciferienne, a Pairs Pendant l' Esposition Universelle.
Abbe Clarin de la Rive. La Femme et
l'Enfant dans la Frqanc-Maconnerie
Universelle, Paris: Delhomme & Briquet,
Editeurs, 1894-, p. 589.
It was the Sister Dianna Vaughn that Albert
Pike,-in order to give her the greatest
mark of confidence,--charged to carry his
luciferian encyclical, to Paris, during the
Universal Exposition."'
The Dianna Vaughn hoax is well known and
has been explained time, and time again for
nearly a century. Here's what the New; Catholic Encyclopedia (R. Lilmouzin-Lamothe, s.v.
Taxil, Leo) says about Leo Taxil.
Taxil purported to reveal the existence of
"Palladium," the most secret Masonic order, which practiced devil-worship, He recounted the story of its high
priestess Diana
Vaughan: and ended by publishing the
Memories d'une ex-Palladiste after her conversion t0 Catholicism. When doubts began
to spread, Taxil realized the time had come
to end the deceit. In a conference in Paris
(April 19, 1897), he cynically admitted his
hoax, whose aim, he said. was to hold up
Catholicism to derision.
After Taxil 's public confession, Abbe de la
Rive expressed his disgust and recanted his
writings on Diana Vaughan in the April 1897
issue of Freemasonry Disclosed, a magazine
devoted to the destruction of the Craft. As
much as he hated Freemasonry, dc la Rive had
the integrity to admit Taxil's hoax.
After Taxil's public confession, Abbe de la
person we shall not name here (Taxil) declared before an assembly especially
convened for him that for twelve years he had prepared and carried out to the end the most
extraordinary and most sacrilegious of
hoaxes. We have always been careful to
publish special articles concerning Palladism and Dianna Vaughn. We are now giving in this issue a complete list of these
articles, which can now be considered as
not having existed.
Quoted in Alex Mellor, Stange Masonic
Stories (Richmond, Va. : Macoy Publishing
& Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1982),p. 151.
Anyone interested in the plain truth can
easily discover the story of L@o Taxil. Recent critics of Masonry, however, are
not interested in simple facts. These detractors have convinced themselves that Freemasonry is the
work of the devil. Thus they apparently justify
their perversions with the thought that they are
doing the Lord's work-saving an unsuspecting world from Satan, No misquotation, no
distortion, no lie is too great if it accomplishes
what they perceive as their holy mission. This
includes gleefully perpetuating the bogus
"Luciferian Doctrine" of Albert Pike. All this
is done in the name of Him who said, "'I am the
way, the truth, and the life."
Freemasonry teaches its members tolerance,
even of its assailants. If you are presented with
the story of Pike and Lucifer, quietly but
firmly state, "It's a lie." Don't let it pass
without comment, but don't provoke an argument. The truth is on our side.
But remember the words attributed to
Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for
the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing.
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