Are Freemasons Satanic? 41 Myths Of Freemasonry

The reason why many tend to ask the question, “Are Freemasons Satanic?” is that the world has become a hub for information. Everyone has access to information across the internet now, and it’s become as easy as possible to cross-check details than we ever could. 

Freemasonry is one of the most secretive concepts the world over, and there have been many rumors about it. Some of these rumors are true, while others aren’t. For people trying to learn more about it, there’s a significant desire to learn what is true and what isn’t.

Misinformation or outright lies about Freemasonry are truly fascinating. They’re even more interesting because many people who spread them are perceived as being knowledgeable. They just go to the internet and spread utter nonsense in the name of being “investigative.”

This is why many tend to ask the question, “Are Freemasons Satanic?”

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Are Freemasons Satanic? Explain the Myths Of Freemasonry

Today, you can find anti-Masonic ranting just about everywhere. With so much disinformation around, it’s difficult to know what is actually true. 

In this presentation, we’ll look into some of these terrible details and how they grew into the spurious nonsense that they’ve become. By doing this, we believe that we’ll be able to provide you with the right details and protect you from all the raving that has been rampant on the internet and in print media. 

Here, we have a dialogue between a person looking into joining the Freemason society and who has searched for different information sources. As part of is search, the potential applicant has come across an actual Freemason John and is discussing some of the details with him.

Introduction. Meeting John, the established Mason.

The internet has a lot of misinformation, and people tend to see this a lot. From the internet and other sources, many people have thrown out wrong details about Freemasonry. Since there are no controls about what people see, it’s beyond easy to find conspiracy theories and other stuff that are just not true. 

1. Understanding the claim of Freemasonry being a religion

In itself, Freemasonry isn’t a religion. Instead, it complements and confirms religion. Freemasonry has primarily the same principles of any true faith. Masons believe in a Supreme Being, but the concept of Freemasonry itself doesn’t promote any.

Members can believe however, they want about the Great Architect of the Universe. As for Freemasonry, there’s no dogma or theology. There are no sacraments, converts, or any of that. You merely have to believe in a religion and be faithful to it. 

2. GAOTU

Freemasonry’s opponents claim that the Great Architect Of The Universe (GAOTU) is a false god. This is just untrue. 

For clarity purposes, remember that Freemasonry doesn’t have any god figure. However, it posits the existence of a Supreme Being. Every member is required to profess belief in a Supreme Being to join. They don’t have to elaborate beyond that. 

As for GAOTU, this term doesn’t reflect a Masonic god. It is merely used as an all-inclusive term to reflect a combination of all beliefs. When prayers are offered at Masonic Lodges, all Masons understand that they are being rendered to the Supreme Being that each Mason believes in – regardless of the prayer manner being delivered at that point.

3. Freemasons’ promise to salvation 

Not at all. Freemasons search for “light.” This is essentially a reference to a quest for knowledge. Not salvation. 

4. Is Freemasonry a mystery cult?

I agree. Thankfully, Freemasonry is no cult. Now, to respond to this, we have to understand what cults consider to be mysteries. 

In the Christian belief, “mystery” is used to refer to faith in the Trinity, the Incarnation, and Original Sin. Until the Reformation, “mystery” was written on the Pope’s MITRE. The faith also used “cult” to refer to a particular set of Greco-Roman groups. 

Thus, Mysteries were cults where all religious functions were unattainable to the uninitiated. While there are no formal qualifications, these mystery cults notable had no orthodoxy or scripture.

Later, conservative Christian authors referred to cults as religious which deviate from the Biblical truth, despite conforming to it.

So, anyone referring to Freemasonry as a cult is erroneous on two grounds. First, they presume that Freemasonry is a religion. Second, they claim that modern Freemasonry believes in certain legends.

5. “Salvation by works” and its perceived Masonic links

Freemasonry doesn’t promote anything as a way to salvation. Instead, it points to the Book of Sacred Law and encourages every member to search for the path to eternal life on their own. 

6. Freemasons’ emphasis on good works

Indeed. We believe that good works are critical. However, this is a form of gratitude to God and His blessings. It also concerns social and individual responsibility. 

7. Freemasonry’s compatibility with Christianity 

Different Christian denominations have prevented their members from becoming Masons. They claim that our religious tolerance is a denial of Christian revelation and its truth.

However, we believe in truth, relief, and brotherly love. These are a part of the Christian faith too.

8. Accusations of devil worship 

Masons don’t worship the devil. In fact, we stand on the side against the devil. Our beliefs are actually the antithesis of the concept of Satan.

9. Do the Freemasons use Baphomet as a worship symbol? 

No way. There’s no link between Freemasonry and the Baphomet.

10. The origins of devil worship allegations

Well, it’s good old disinformation. Some critics cite projects from Waite and Levi to support their devil worship allegations. However, these projects are either unfounded or taken out of context.

Some Christian critics have also ridden on the perceived hate to claim that Freemasonry worships the devil. Both are wrong about Freemasonry being a religion and it worshipping the devil.

Finally, the Roman Catholic Church has also denounced Freemasons as servants of “the kingdom of Satan” (Humanum Genus) or that Masonic Lodges are the “synagogue of Satan.” However, while the Catholics don’t believe that Masonic ceremonies are satanic, the fact that Freemasonry accepts everyone means that it can’t retaliate against any religion. 

11. Suspicious monikers for Freemasons’ leaders

Yes, they do. However, this has nothing to do with religious worship. It’s just a term of respect. It’s like saying “Your Honor” to judges. 

The term comes from England, where “Right Worshipful” and “Worshipful” were used to refer to judicial and municipal officers. Small-town mayors get the latter, while those of large citied get the former. Freemasons have merely adopted the same terms.

12. Freemasons’ links with the pentagram 

Satanists have used the pentagram, yes. However, it’s also an ancient symbol with a lot of meanings. For instance, it is used in astrology to depict Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury. Some Christians also used it to depict the five senses, and Medieval Christians used it to represent Christ’s five wounds. 

The Bahai faith has the pentagram as its primary symbol.in Isla, it also represents the five pillars.

As for Freemasonry, some Grand Lodges have used banners and seals that feature pentagrams. 

13. A conspiracy over George Washington and the design of Washington D.C.

I personally don’t get the extent of these conspiracies. However, let me debunk them. 

First, there’s nothing connecting the men responsible for the street plan with Masonic membership. While George Washington commissioned the design committee, the men who developed and designed the city weren’t Freemasons. They were Pierre Charles L’Enfant, Andrew Ellicott, and Benjamin Bannecker. 

Then, we all know that different people have different meanings for the pentagram. Finally, the pentagram itself doesn’t have any Masonic meaning.

14. George Washington denouncing Freemasonry.

Not true. George Washington stayed as a part of Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Even after he died, his widow requested a Masonic funeral for him. 

The lie of him renouncing his status began with a paper by Pennsylvania Gov. Joseph Ritter in 1837. The paper got debunked, but it was reprinted in 1877. Then, Prof. Charles Albert Blanchard (1848-1925), a founder of the National Christian Association, published a similar paper, which he titled, “Was Washington a Freemason?”

15. Significant Freemason symbols 

Yes, we have symbols that help instill moral principles. Some of these symbols, as well as their meanings, are pretty common. We speak about being square with someone. That means dealing honestly with such a person.

When we talk about corrupt people, we claim that they’ve lost their moral compasses. Just stuff like that.

16. The All-Seeing Eye, The Dollar Bill, and Freemasonry

The all-seeing eye on the Dollar isn’t a Masonic symbol. In fact, that eye is a convention of an “omniscient Ubiquitous Deity.” It comes primarily from Renaissance art. 

Four men designed the American seal in 1776. Of those men, only Benjamin Franklin was a Mason. He even had limited contributions to the committee’s design. 

Du Simitiere, the consultant to the committee, was a non-Mason. He was the major contributor to the design. He was the one who added E Pluribus Unum, the shield, and even the eye of providence in a triangle.”

Even more significant is that these committee’s suggestions were declined. None of the seal’s final designers were Masons.

17. The connection between the all-seeing eye and Freemasonry

This misinterpretation comes from 10 years ago. Elio Charles Norton, a professor at Harvard, wrote that the seal was a dull Masonic Fraternity emblem. 

However, the combination of The Eye of Providence with an unfinished pyramid is an American symbol – not a Masonic one. The first Masonic link came in 1797 when The Freemasons Monitor of Thomas Smith Webb used it. However, that was over a decade after Congress had adopted the design for a seal.

There’s no record of the eye with Freemasonry before that date.

18. Event dating – A.L. and A.D. 

Yes.

19. The suspicious “A.L.” meaning 

No, it doesn’t “Anno Lucis” means “In the year of light.” You merely have to add 4,000 to the common A.D. date. It reportedly comes from James Ussher (1581-1656). He was the Archbishop of Armaugh, and he posited a new Scripture chronology that claimed the earth was made on 4,004 BCE. There’s no devil correlation with the date.

20. Secrets of the society 

To be fair, you can tell anyone virtually anything about Freemasonry. They can also do additional reading from history and philosophy. However, we indeed don’t share parts of our Degree ceremony and our modes of recognition with people. However, if a person is interested enough, they can find even these details too. 

As for not sharing recognition modes, this tradition dates back to medieval times, when ceremonies were kept secret to help make them more impactful to candidates. It was more for the sake of not spoiling an event. 

21. Who was Albert Pike?

General Albert Pike (1809-1891) was a Mason. He was the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (from 1859-until he died). However, he wasn’t a Satanist.

Sadly, anti-Masons used him as a scapegoat for two primary reasons. First, he was a skilled writer. He focused o ancient philosophical and historical matters, and people could easily take his writings out of context whenever they wanted to.

One of such critics, Léo Taxil, accused him of hailing Lucifer as the god of the Freemasons. 

22. Was Pike a Satanist?

No, he was falsely accused of such by Léo Taxil.

23. Understanding Léo Taxil

Léo Taxil came from Marseille. He schooled at the Jesuits. And he had to flee to Geneva after he was convicted of financial fraud. The Swiss expelled him for the same reasons, and he went back to France in 1879.

24. Taxil’s significance to Freemasonry?

Léo Taxil capitalized on the anti-Catholic climate blowing through France. He began publishing anticlerical texts, poking fun at the Church. To get some material, he joined Le Temple de L’Honneur Français in Paris in 1881. However, he never went beyond the First Degree before the Lodge expelled him. 

In time, he got a lot of criticism for his writings. So, he decided to switch his scope and focus more on Freemasonry.

25. Taxil’s works

On April 23, 1885, Léo Taxil confessed to writing anti-Catholic pamphlets. From there, he started to condemn Freemasons. Some of his works include “The Cult of the Great Architect,” “The Anti-Christ and the Origin of Masonry,” and “The Three-point Brothers.” 

Taxil had directed a lot of his work to Albert Pike, who he claimed was a satanist. He added that Freemasons were devil worshippers as well. As part of his work, he also labeled Pike the Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry.” This was despite Pike being merely a leader of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite – one of the many Masonic bodies in the world.

While it was fraudulent, Taxil’s work was still prominent. 

26. Any truth to the works?

No, it’s not. On April 19, 1987, Taxil organized a meeting in Paris. The meeting saw thousands in attendance, including journalists and Catholic leaders. There, he announced that he had no proof about his work on Masonic devil worship.

His speech even got published in the fifth volume of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction’s education journal.

But he was also considered to be an expert in Masonic symbolism and understandings. 

For “Moral and Dogma,” Pike took a lot of material from earlier authors. However, he wrote a great deal about his conjecture and speculation.  

For instance, in his preface, he writes: “Everyone is entirely free to reject or dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound.”

So, while Freemasons all over regarded him. His writings on Freemasonry’s history aren’t considered authoritative.

27. Circling back to Pike’s malignment

Primarily, this is due to the writings of Walker Fleming and Susan Davis, who revealed him to be a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

28. So, Pike was a racist

Well, no. This claim from Davis and Fleming is without any proof. 

Fleming wrote four monographs, two articles, and a dissertation on the Lu Klux Klan. He only claimed once that Albert Pike was the Klan’s chief judicial officer. The article appeared over a decade after Pike died, but there’s no evidence to support the allegation to date. 

29. Freemasons and racist allegations

It’s critical to remember that Freemasonry doesn’t have a discriminatory rule – based on religion, creed, or race. Rejecting people based on these is simply un-Masonic. 

In fact, many Blacks have joined the Prince Hall Lodges, and some were admitted to certain non-Prince Hall Grand Lodges as well. 

30. No Black members at the Great Lodge of Alabama

Freemasonry has a bit of a schism that dates back over two centuries. At the time, Prince Hall” Masons, who are predominantly black, declared independence. This separation has caused a lot of damage in the past, and both organizations are working to repair it.

In recent times, both organizations have expressed recognition for each other. This has led to cordiality and respect once more – a process that has been maintained over the past decade. 

31. Rules to Freemason membership

Freemasonry is a family-oriented organization. We have several family organizations that involve ladies. However, we primarily feel that there should be a place where only men can meet and socialize.

32. Masons describing people as “profane.”

“Profane” has Latin origins – “pro” meaning “before,” and “fanum” meaning “temple.” When used by a Mason, it merely means someone who can’t be in the temple. 

The word does sound insulting, thanks to recent use in language to denote filthiness and blasphemy. Due to this deterioration in meaning, Masons rarely use the word anymore.

33. Links between Freemasons and other organizations with world domination aspirations. (e.g., the Skull and Bones fraternity)

The “Skull and Bones” is the oldest fraternity in Yale, dating back to 1832. It’s a Eulogian Club that functions as the American version of a German student association. The society created a logo, which included a skull and crossbones . 

About 40 years later, the fraternity received criticism for being satanic. An old account called it an offshoot of the Scottish or British Freemason that originated from the All Soul’s College at Oxford University. However, the only link between them and Freemasons is the identical use of the skull and crossbones.

34. Freemasonry and the Illuminati

Freemasons have no Illuminati links. However, there’s also been a lot of fiction written about the Illuminati. These have led to the belief that there’s a clandestine group running the world. While conspiracy theorists have fun with it, they’ve never actually proven it out.

35. Penalties for violators of Freemasonry’s policies 

These penalties in question are linked to Master Mason’s obligations – those that don’t violate civic, family, or religious obligations. They’re ancient, and they contain violations that are generally symbolic. 

We’ve chosen to leave these obligations because they’re antiquated. However, people who violate Freemasonry’s tenets are still reprimanded or possibly expelled.

36. Jack the Ripper and other repugnant Masonic links in the past

That claim about Jack the Ripper is unfounded. However, books and movies have tried to establish this link in the past. Whether depicting Masonic rituals to describing them, the truth is that all of these are unfounded.  

To date, nothing has identified the Whitechapel murders’ perpetrator as a Mason. The murderers have never even been found. So, how could they be Masons? I should also add that Donald Rumbelow, one of the most respected researchers on this issue, stated in the revised edition of “Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook,” that there was no shred of evidence concerning these murders with Freemasonry.

37. Punishments for those who leave the Fraternity

Absolutely not. Grand Lodges don’t force membership. Anyone can withdraw from Freemasonry when they want. Some even leave and return after a while. As long as conformation to morality is assured, it’s all good.

38. The mysterious death of William Morgan 

Ok, let me clear things up. William Morgan was a stoneworker who settled in New York in 1824. He mingled with local Masons and even participated in Lodge activities. He helped to form the Royal Arch Chapter in Batavia, New York, but his legitimacy as a Mason came under scrutiny. 

Eventually, another Royal Arch petition was submitted, and he was prohibited from signing. Morgan was outraged, and he contemplated publishing a book exposing Freemasonry. When he went public with this, many Freemasons weren’t happy. 

Rumor has it that the local Masons took him to Canada. They gave him a horse and $500 on the condition that he never returns. Over time, rumors soon surfaced that he was actually murdered.  

The Grand Lodges throughout the United States passed resolutions, disclaiming all connection or sympathy with the outrage.

William Morgan’s disappearance has had significant studies about it. As for the Masonic links, they’ve been weak. Regardless, this outrage helped to form the anti-Masonic party. It very nearly led to the demise of Masonry in the country. 

39. Freemasons’ government links. 

In the 1800s, there was an anti-Masonic party whose candidate ran against your activities. This is true. However, Freemasons themselves don’t mix politics with Masonic activity. Freemasonry teaches that members should be active in political activity, but it isn’t a political organization in any way. 

But there have been many Freemasons who played roles in political revolutions.

Indeed. Freemasons are in every sphere of life, and they exercise their political influence where possible. But these people acted as individuals – not Freemasons.

40. Adolf Hitler and suspected Masonry links 

Hitler as never a Freemason. In fact, he dissolved Germany’s ten Great Lodges when he rose to power. The Gestapo seized the Great Lodges and looted them. Many Freemasons were even sent to concentration camps.

I’ve also read that Freemasons can get preferential treatment in society.

The Freemasons examine their candidates to ensure that joining isn’t for any of the wrong reasons. Once you’re a Mason, you have a responsibility to treat everyone fairly. Masons found of giving preferential treatment are punished, as this is a violation.

41. Finding clarity between Masons’ claims and those of anti-Masons

People who don’t know any Masons will find it difficult discerning who to trust. If you know any Masons, however, you can observe their mannerisms and how they treat other people in their lives.

Freemasons are particular about who joins because they only want men of the highest caliber. The goal is to have an organization that we can always be proud of – as well as other members.

Conclusion

I hope I’ve helped with some clarity. We encourage others to read more about Freemasonry. There’s a lot more to understand, and it’s important to have the right clarity to avoid any misinformation.