[Transcriber's Note: Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the work.]
The Symbolism of Freemasonry:
Illustrating and Explaining
Its Science and Philosophy, its Legends,
Myths and Symbols.
Albert G. Mackey, M.D.,
"Ea enim quae scribuntur tria habere decent, utilitatem praesentem, certum finem, inexpugnabile fundamentum."
Cardanus.
1882.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
ALBERT G.MACKEY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District ofSouth Carolina.
To General John C. Fremont.
My Dear Sir:
While any American might be proud of associating his name with that of onewho has done so much to increase the renown of his country, and to enlargethe sum of human knowledge, this book is dedicated to you as a slighttestimonial of regard for your personal character, and in gratefulrecollection of acts of friendship.
Yours very truly,
A. G. Mackey.
Preface.
Of the various modes of communicating instruction to the uninformed, themasonic student is particularly interested in two; namely, the instructionby 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 itsmysteries and its dogmas, which constitute its philosophy, are intrustedfor communication to the neophyte, sometimes to one, sometimes to theother of these two methods of instruction, and sometimes to both of themcombined. The Freemason has no way of reaching any of the esotericteachings of the Order except through the medium of a legend or a symbol.
A legend differs from an historical narrative only in this—that it iswithout documentary evidence of authenticity. It is the offspring solelyof tradition. Its details may be true in part or in whole. There may be nointernal evidence to the contrary, or there may be internal evidence thatthey are altogether false. But neither the possibility of truth in the onecase, nor the certainty of falsehood in the other, can remove thetraditional narrative from the class of legends. It is a legend simplybecause it rests on no written foundation. It is oral, and thereforelegendary.
In grave problems of history, such as the establishment of empires, thediscovery and settlement of countries, or the rise and fall of dynasties,the knowledge of the truth or falsity of the legendary narrative will beof importance, because the value of history is impaired by the imputationof doubt. But it is not so in Freemasonry. Here there need be no absolutequestion of the truth or falsity of the legend. The object of the masoniclegends is not to establish historical facts, but to convey philosophicaldoctrines. They are a method by which esoteric instruction iscommunicated, and the student accepts them with reference to nothing elseexcept their positive use and meaning as developing masonic dogmas. Take,for instance, the Hiramic legend of the third degree. Of what importanceis it to the disciple of Masonry whether it be true or false? All that hewants to know is its internal signification; and when he learns that it isintended to illustrate the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, he iscontent with that interpretation, and he does not deem it necessary,except as a matter of curious or antiquar