Mystic Masonry, or, the Symbols of Freemasonry and Greater Mysteries of Antiquity (1911)

About this book

Jirah Dewey Buck presents Freemasonry as a keeper of ancient spiritual teachings, interpreting its symbols through the mysteries of antiquity. The book argues that people should develop their own spiritual understanding rather than depend on inherited doctrine, and is aimed especially at Masons and readers interested in esoteric religion. Buck sets Herbert Spencer’s aims for education against what he sees as its neglect of inner growth. When he discusses the Kabbalistic Ain Soph, he describes an unknowable source of creation and uses it to challenge later Christian theology. His portrayal of Masonic lodges as shelters from political and religious persecution gives the argument a clear concern with liberty.