Categorized: AASR
Tagged: AASR Albert Pike Arturo de Hoyos Morals and Dogma Scottish Rite
Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite’s Grand Archivist and Grand Historian.
Morals and Dogma has been described as “a collection of thirty-two essays which provide a philosophical rationale for the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The lectures provided a backdrop for the degrees by giving lessons in comparative religion, history and philosophy”.
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The original Morals and Dogma by Pike is not an easy book to read,
I would recommend this book for Masonic scholars who are interested in the (American) AASR to read it some time after they have received their third Degree and keep in mind this was written in a different era.
I do agree that it is recommended to be Raised first to the degree of a M∴M∴ before you get into this book. However, Morals and Dogma is not just limited to American Freemasonry. It is also often referred to by European AASR / French Ritual Lodges.
Morals, how about ethics? Morals can be subject to geography or if there is law in the land. Ethics depend on right or righteousness. "To do the right thing" is without dispute once done as it is a fact no longer an issue. To do good is not always the right thing as someone is probably done wrong by the doing of good.
Dogma is perhaps objectionable as it leads to intransient law and ideas. It suggests solid views and inability to do right.
The name of the book is maybe a little bit misleading. Br:. de Hoyos gives in my opinion an excellent explanation of the man and the book.
By Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, Grand Cross
Grand Archivist and Grand Historian
The most widely-encountered definition of Freemasonry describes it as “a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.” Chief among its objects is the pursuit of “light” which is analogous to “truth” or “reality”—or, to use John Locke’s language, “the knowledge of things, as they are to be found in themselves, and not our imaginations.”1 This is no easy task, as Lord Bolingbroke reminded us: “A knowledge of things as they are, and a knowledge of the ideas about them, are extremely different, as different as immediate and reflected light, as relative and absolute knowledge.”2 However difficult the task, Pike noted in the Secret Master ritual, “Truth and the Lost Word, which are Light, are within the reach of every man, would he but open his eyes and see.” Unlike others Pike did not attempt to define Freemasonry within the narrow limits of a sentence or two, and his writings frequently remind us both what Freemasonry is, and what it is not. Thus, we read that Masonic labor is a type of worship (laborare est orare, “to work is to pray”), that Freemasonry is allegorical instruction, that it promotes faith in God but allows its members religious freedom, and that it continues to be useful in the world today. In fact, by simply noting a few occurrences of the phrase “Masonry is” throughout Morals and Dogma, and by observing what it does, we gather a collective description of Masonic philosophy which very nearly defines Pike’s view.