My methodological approach is historical and contextual, which in practice means that the rituals that are analyzed are placed in their historical context. Furthermore, I have restricted myself to written ritual texts only in my analysis. In other words, I make no claims to have availed myself of any in-depth or quantitative interviews, nor any participant observations. Valuable as such methods undeniably are, I have chosen to limit myself in this capacity. However, over the years of writing this book, I have had ample opportunities to meet and discuss the practical aspects of rituals of initiation with modern practitioners of Western esoteric rituals of initiation, and to a lesser extent personally experienced various forms of rituals of initiation, both as an initiate and in the capacity of an officiating officer. These contacts and experiences have been important for my understanding of the texts I have chosen to analyze, but I have deliberately chosen not to include these aspects in this study. My methodological approach to Western esotericism can be described, in the words of Hanegraaff, as a generalist in the study of Western esotericism; that is, my approach to the subject is from a broader perspective, concretized by basic research paradigms. The latter consist of the paradigms proposed by Faivre and Hanegraaff, which for the sake of simplicity can be called esotericism as "a form of thought" (Faivre) and esotericism as gnosis (Hanegraaff) .The ritual texts that are analyzed have been chosen because they are representative of different historical periods, and thus reflect major trends in the development of Western esoteric rituals of initiation. I have limited myself strictly to published ritual texts in the analysis, and as far as possible tried to avail myself of more than one published version in order to discuss variant readings. In certain cases I have used manuscript versions of the rituals in order to check the accuracy of the printed versions.
It should be stressed that, from a methodological perspective, this thesis is not concerned with what masonic rites of initiation might "do" with the initiate, nor what the implications of this type of rite might be. This work is concerned with the relationship of Western esotericism and masonic ritual texts.
Henrik Bogdan
Book-review
I welcome this excellent and original book written by Henrik Bogdan as Masonic rituals of initiation in general, and Western esoteric rituals of initiation in particular, have suffered from academic neglect far too long. This book really brings this fascinating field of research to the attention of a wider public.
This work has endeavored to present masonic rituals of initiation as a phenomenon that has been present in our culture at least since the end of the seventeenth century. Furthermore, focus has been directed toward those masonic rituals of initiation through which Western esotericism has been transmitted. The admittedly wide historical scope of the author's thesis is whether it is legitimate to treat such rituals of initiation as one phenomenon. Bogdan asks himself: "After all, what has a modern witch to do with a mason of the eighteenth century? Actually,quite a lot".
According Bogdan's thesis the basic components of a masonic ritual of initiation, which can be traced even in the earliest masonic manuscript catechism, The Edinburgh Register House MS from 1696, are constant throughout the history of these rituals. In other words, both a mason and a witch would recognize themselves if a ritual of initiation would be described to them as consisting of (a) a formal opening of the ritual work during which the candidate is not present; (b) the admission of the initiate into the lodge (or circle in the case of witchcraft) at which the initiate answers a number of questions, often including why he or she wants to be admitted; (c) circumambulations around the lodge room during which the initiate is led by an initiator, at which point there often occurs some form of ordeal; (d) the swearing of an oath never to divulge the traditional secrets of the degree (such as a sign, grip, word) , and to follow certain ethical rules; (e) the formal admission into the degree, often proclaimed by the chief initiator in the name of the order; (f) instruction in the traditional secrets and in the particular teachings connected to the degree; (g) the receiving of one or more visible tokens connected to the degree (such as gloves, an apron, a sash) , sometimes also a name or motto; (11) finally, a formal closing of the lodge during which the initiate is present.
Western esoteric rituals of initiation can be regarded as mirrors of contemporary esotericism as they reflect the esoteric currents and notions, which are in vogue at the time when the rituals were written. The rituals analyzed in this book are examples of how contemporary esotericism has been integrated with masonic rituals of initiation.
Bruno Virgilio Gazzo
editor, PS Review of FM
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The Rosicrucians are a legendary esoteric Order first publicly documented in the early 17th century. They are said to have the power to heal the sick, work miracles and even possess the secret of immortality. A journey of discovery into the secret world of magic, heresy and alchemy to discover the true secrets of Rosicrusianism. As Tobias Churton takes you in to the mysterious world of the Roscusicans , what were their aims and teachings and what was the new heaven and a new earth that made them so feared by the Christian church as to be tortured and sold into slavery for their beliefs? 
Tristan Bourlard directed films, documentaries and television shows for 15 years. In 1994, he received the ? Prix Europ?en du Meilleur Film Scientifique ? at the ? Festival Scientifique de Palaiseau ? in France for ? De Mercator aux satellites, histoires cartographiques ?. In 1999, the documentary ? Matamata et Pilipili ? received the ? Contribution Award ? at the ? Margareth Mead Film & Video Festival ? in New York. He?s also directed six documentaries for two thematic evenings on ARTE. In 2002, he directed the historical and scientific documentary ? La place du mort ? for the RTBF and received the ? Premier Prix du Film P?dagogique ? at the ? Festival du Film Arch?ologique Kin?on ? in Brussels.
On our way to the Sanctum Sanctorum, the newly made Mason undertakes a passage through what is commonly called the Middle Chamber. The reference into the middle way is through the temple of Solomon, and the pathway to the Holy of Holies, the adytum in which the Holy Ark of the covenant resides at the the Kodesh Hakodashim, or the place in which deity dwells. In that journey through the middle space, the Second degree brother is introduced to some of the more seemingly secularly influenced aspects of the fraternity that begin to take on a double, or symbolic, meaning. On their surface, the basic notions of these things are obvious, but not until you start to look at them closely, at their deeper meanings, that we start to see their relationships to other more esoteric ideas. This is similar to religious traditions where withing one religious text there can be multiple layers of meaning, and multiple ways of interpretation which can lead to an allegorical, a moral, or a mystical meaning.
spiritual texts, though some could argue that their significance is almost as powerful to some observants. It is a system of morality that strives to make good men better, which runs nearly in parallel with the many Volumes of the Sacred Law which seeks similar outcomes to achieve as it outlines and instructs its path to elevation. Whether its salvation or spiritual awakening the holy books seek to instruct its adherents to live better lives through their faith, the same that Freemasonry strives to through its practice – to make those good men better. In that process of making the good man a candidate for the degrees is made an entered apprentice, symbolically as he ascends Jacob’s ladder. Once at the top, he is presented a series of three groups of symbols which are set before him to become a Second Degree mason so as they may observe and contemplate them in their path of progression, their hero’s quest, to the third degree.
This is a pretty straight forward idea, especially as it says to us that “we ought industriously to occupy our minds in the attainment of useful knowledge”, but how does this apply to an older initiate, someone who is no longer in his youth. Is it a wistful thought to what was achieved when younger and in still in school? Taken on a deeper level, it could allude to the idea of the degree itself, the First degree being synonymous to mean that in the first, the candidate comes to the lodge as a youth (despite his chronological or physical age) with a clean slate of perception and a clean pallet of interpretation. In a sense, he comes as blank slate to its teachings or to the ideas before him. The degree being his introduction from exterior life to interior life which ushers him both into the fraternity and into the concept of the undertaking. Pike, in the first degree lecture in Morals and Dogma, calls this the focusing of the aspirants “unregulated force” – the channel by which they constrain their previously raw, infantile state, into that of a focused and youthful aspirant no matter their age.
progression in the stages of age is not unique to Masonry. Besides the stages themselves, the number three (3) is a representation of synthesis and unites the “solution of conflict posed by dualism.” In other words, the third object brings about balance for the first two opposing states. Think of the balance of three dots, one stacked above two.
Wisdom, the left hand pillar of mercy, is an active pillar and representative
of alchemical fire, which is the principal of spirituality, often called the pillar of Jachin. It is a masculine pillar, and relates to our mental energy, our loving kindness, and our creative inspiration as we traverse it up the Kabbalaistic tree through the Sephirot.
Strength is the left hand pillar and takes the form of severity, shaped into
the alchemical symbol of water. It can represent darkness, but it is a passive symbol that is feminine in nature and called the pillar of Boaz. Upon it we find the points of our thoughts and ideas, our feelings and emotions, and the physicality of our physical experience, our sensations, each an aspect of its Cabalistic progression.
Beauty, then, takes on the role of synthesis of the two, the pillar of mildness; it is upon this pillar that the novitiate is transformed through his progressive states as he progresses. The central pillar of Beauty is representative of Jehovah, the Tetragrammaton which represents deity itself
upon which our crown of being resides balanced through feeling and emotion from our foundation of justice and mercy, all of which springs from our link to the everyday world.
As the degree instructs – Wisdom is to contrive, Strength is to support, and Beauty is to adorn all great and important undertakings – which are the fundamentals of the three pillars in the Kabbalaistic study.
What is “Masonic Intercourse” many Masons ask? The definition can mean many things and different authors have given their opinion as to the actual purpose of having it in our rituals. In “The Meaning of Masonic Obligation”, PGM R.V. Harris of Nova Scotia defines Masonic Intercourse as, “…to refrain from Masonic Intercourse with outsiders, and with irregular Freemasons and to discountenance all irregularities and immoralities.” Well, this is still not clear enough to define or determine its meaning. The web-site, “The Beacon Light of Freemasonry”, gives another definition which states, “Masonic communication, or as it is alternately called, Masonic Intercourse, involves any type of communication involving sharing the secrets of masonry. Primarily, that is sitting in a tyled lodge session, which is any type of Masonic meeting where the general public is NOT allowed, or where the qualification for attendance is being a Mason.”