Scottish Rite Freemasonry and esoteric philosophy
1809 – 1891
Albert Pike was an American lawyer, poet, and Confederate general who served as Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite's Southern Jurisdiction from 1859 until his death, completely rewriting its rituals and degrees. His monumental Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (1871) synthesized Neoplatonism, Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and comparative religion into a comprehensive esoteric framework, and remains the most cited esoteric Masonic text in the English language. His work made the Scottish Rite the vehicle for an ambitious synthesis of Western occult philosophy with institutional Freemasonry.
Hermeticism and Alchemy
Hermetic and alchemical source texts covering the Corpus Hermeticum, Divine Pymander, The Kybalion, Paracelsus, alchemical symbolism, medicine, and spiritual transformation.
Freemasonry
Freemasonry source texts and studies covering Morals and Dogma, Masonic symbolism, Scottish Rite philosophy, speculative Masonry, ritual allegory, and esoteric interpretation.
Hermeticism
Primary Hermetic texts, later Hermetic philosophy, and adjacent works on ascent, correspondence, divine mind, and spiritual transformation.
Kabbalah
Kabbalah and Qabalah texts on the Tree of Life, divine names, emanation, symbolism, magic, meditation, and esoteric biblical interpretation.
Comparative Religion
Comparative religion texts on ritual, myth, sacrifice, belief, ancient religion, and cross-cultural theories of sacred practice.
Philosophy and Esoteric Cosmology
Philosophical and cosmological texts on mystical philosophy, Neoplatonism, moral philosophy, cosmic order, metaphysics, and symbolic cosmology.
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