Hailing from AR we masons are taught very early on about Bro. Pike. Around the state we have Pike Avenues in various cities, in the law books we have Pike references sprinkled throughout Supreme Court decisions, and he personally helped furnish the libraries in Fort Smith and Little Rock, if memory serves. The Pike House still stands today as a tribute to his importance in Arkansas.
History books only seem to remember his less than stellar Civil War painting him as a southern slaveholding aristocrat, yet completely neglect that he became wealthy as a lawyer working on BEHALF of the Native American or “Indian” Nations. The fact he was a Bostonian by birth completely flabbergasts people.
It was Bro. Pike who arranged the degreework and symbolism with his Magnum Opus that, along with Bro. Charles Rosenbaum’s dramatic form revisions, became the backbone of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
All that said, Bro. Pike was a Renaissance man, a voracious reader, and skilled researcher. He wrote books that were for the more learned men in our society that knew that names of things change across time and context must always be considered. As with all men if renown we must judge him by the times he lived in, but like him we must be jurists and consider feats and foibles alike.
While I recognize his vast influence he had on the fraternity, I have to admit I'm not overly fond of the SR degrees. They are too wordy, with pages upon pages of dialog. They also feature bigger and longer pass phrases, handshakes, emblems, etc. it's like each degree has to go further and longer than the last. Having to endure the degrees twice a year, where with rare exceptions it's all read off scripts, it gets old after a while. Just my opinion.
I appreciate Pike's contributions, and I think he did breathe life back into masonry. I also think it's time to update his degrees, not to change the general thrust, but to correct mistakes and make some of the material clearer. Those degrees have not only aged, but have been affected by the opinions of people not in Masonry. As to his history, as a man of his day, I am ambivalent. Few lives from the 19th century are free of blemish. So, I guess I am in the grateful, yet not awed camp, when it comes to Pike.
In my opinion Pike preserved the Scottish Rite Degrees more than "designed" them or wrote them. I've done quite extensive research on the progression from the Francken Manuscript through the several iterations of compilations that came later, to what we have in the current Southern Jurisdiction. The interesting thing about Pike's contributions to the degrees is that any time I saw a "change" in the degrees done by him, the change was clearly there to preserve a piece that was either missing or lost. Sometime I believe these preserved pieces had a lost meaning to even Albert Pike, but in the essence of preservation he kept them in to perhaps allow others down the line to uncover the lost secrets.
In contrast, many of the morals and philosophies of the other jurisdictions' degrees who have made significant changes therein are several steps removed from what the earliest works show were their original purpose. That being said, I would be one of the toughest "sells" for changing the Scottish Rite degrees.
I have led many study groups on Albert Pike both from a Scottish Rite perspective and from a Blue Lodge perspective. Ultimately I am exceedingly grateful for the work he accomplished in the Craft, but I always like to remind everyone that we should never put "the person" on the pedestal. We hold true the ideals and morals that ring true and remove ourselves from "the person" because all people are innumerably multifaceted and flawed. And, in my opinion, this is true for all aspects of philosophical research/studies.
I have a number of rather random thoughts that I'd like to share:
Off the top, I've got to say that in my opinion, Bro. Pike revitalized Freemasonry in the United States. Following the Morgan Affair anti-Masonic sentiment in this country grew to a fever pitch, and we lost so many Masons, and Lodges, that even some Grand Lodges struggled to stay afloat. Had that negative trend continued, we could well have lost Freemasonry here.
I think we tend to not recognize just how strong the movement was to wipe Freemasonry out at that time. Rhode Island and Pennsylvania both elected Governors who were members of the Anti-Masonic Party. Two Presidents, a former and a future were both very prominent Anti-Masons, John Quincy Adams and Millard Fillmore. Imagine today if we had US Presidents and Governors ranting that Freemasonry was evil.
The Anti-Masonic party was absorbed by the Wigs in 1838, removing the bright focus from Freemasonry. In 1859, Bro. Pike became Sovereign Grand Commander, and Freemasonry was again on the upswing.
But I think that in some cases, we can forget just how hard he worked to promote the Craft. We have a Lodge here in Washington, Franklin 5 that is mighty darn remote. It's a long way from anywhere, and kind of tough for Masons from out of the immediate area to visit. I plan on making my first visit later this year. But, as one of our regulars here on Emeth likes to point out, Bro. Pike visited Franklin 5. All the way from Washington DC. Before we had cars and airplanes to zip us around. That's dedication, and that dedication to Masonry helped in its revitalization in this country.
I should also point out that Franklin 5 is a Craft Lodge. Not a Scottish Rite Valley. That's dedication to Ancient Craft Masonry.
The next thing I'd like to point out is what impressed me from the very first time I read Bro. Pike. Way back when I was a new Entered Apprentice. Right there at the front of Morals and Dogma, in his Preface, he asks that we read his work, consider it, and reject anything that we find to be unsound.
How many writers or thought leaders as we coin them today have that kind of courage? The courage to admit that what they believe to be true might well be false? That is powerful stuff.
It's also truly Masonic stuff. The fact of the matter is that Masonry is something different to me than it is to you. What I see in a symbol, you might not see at all. And all of that difference is OK. It is how Freemasonry is supposed to be. It is designed to speak to each of us in a way that is meaningful for us as individuals. Hence we will all see it a little differently.
Pike not only knew that, he encouraged it.
The last huge positive I'd like to mention about Bro. Pike is that whenever I read his work, it makes me think. His work forces me to contemplate deeply. That is something that I find to be extremely valuable.
Two final thoughts:
Participating in Masonic forums with a world wide scope, it is plain to see that how the majority of men feel about Bro. Pike is determined more by where they live than anything else. People within his Scottish Rite Jurisdiction generally hold a positive view. Those outside of it generally take a dimmer view.
Lastly, in those same forums, I read an awful lot of complaining about his written works. But when those doing the complaining are pressed, it becomes obvious that they never actually read his written works. So there's a whole bunch of people out there who take a very dim view of him and his work, without ever experiencing his work. That has never sat right with me.
Disagreement is certainly OK, and indeed should be encouraged within Freemasonry, but character assassination based on no actual knowledge is not.
Hailing from AR we masons are taught very early on about Bro. Pike. Around the state we have Pike Avenues in various cities, in the law books we have Pike references sprinkled throughout Supreme Court decisions, and he personally helped furnish the libraries in Fort Smith and Little Rock, if memory serves. The Pike House still stands today as a tribute to his importance in Arkansas.
History books only seem to remember his less than stellar Civil War painting him as a southern slaveholding aristocrat, yet completely neglect that he became wealthy as a lawyer working on BEHALF of the Native American or “Indian” Nations. The fact he was a Bostonian by birth completely flabbergasts people.
It was Bro. Pike who arranged the degreework and symbolism with his Magnum Opus that, along with Bro. Charles Rosenbaum’s dramatic form revisions, became the backbone of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
All that said, Bro. Pike was a Renaissance man, a voracious reader, and skilled researcher. He wrote books that were for the more learned men in our society that knew that names of things change across time and context must always be considered. As with all men if renown we must judge him by the times he lived in, but like him we must be jurists and consider feats and foibles alike.
While I recognize his vast influence he had on the fraternity, I have to admit I'm not overly fond of the SR degrees. They are too wordy, with pages upon pages of dialog. They also feature bigger and longer pass phrases, handshakes, emblems, etc. it's like each degree has to go further and longer than the last. Having to endure the degrees twice a year, where with rare exceptions it's all read off scripts, it gets old after a while. Just my opinion.
I appreciate Pike's contributions, and I think he did breathe life back into masonry. I also think it's time to update his degrees, not to change the general thrust, but to correct mistakes and make some of the material clearer. Those degrees have not only aged, but have been affected by the opinions of people not in Masonry. As to his history, as a man of his day, I am ambivalent. Few lives from the 19th century are free of blemish. So, I guess I am in the grateful, yet not awed camp, when it comes to Pike.
In my opinion Pike preserved the Scottish Rite Degrees more than "designed" them or wrote them. I've done quite extensive research on the progression from the Francken Manuscript through the several iterations of compilations that came later, to what we have in the current Southern Jurisdiction. The interesting thing about Pike's contributions to the degrees is that any time I saw a "change" in the degrees done by him, the change was clearly there to preserve a piece that was either missing or lost. Sometime I believe these preserved pieces had a lost meaning to even Albert Pike, but in the essence of preservation he kept them in to perhaps allow others down the line to uncover the lost secrets.
In contrast, many of the morals and philosophies of the other jurisdictions' degrees who have made significant changes therein are several steps removed from what the earliest works show were their original purpose. That being said, I would be one of the toughest "sells" for changing the Scottish Rite degrees.
I have led many study groups on Albert Pike both from a Scottish Rite perspective and from a Blue Lodge perspective. Ultimately I am exceedingly grateful for the work he accomplished in the Craft, but I always like to remind everyone that we should never put "the person" on the pedestal. We hold true the ideals and morals that ring true and remove ourselves from "the person" because all people are innumerably multifaceted and flawed. And, in my opinion, this is true for all aspects of philosophical research/studies.
I have a number of rather random thoughts that I'd like to share:
Off the top, I've got to say that in my opinion, Bro. Pike revitalized Freemasonry in the United States. Following the Morgan Affair anti-Masonic sentiment in this country grew to a fever pitch, and we lost so many Masons, and Lodges, that even some Grand Lodges struggled to stay afloat. Had that negative trend continued, we could well have lost Freemasonry here.
I think we tend to not recognize just how strong the movement was to wipe Freemasonry out at that time. Rhode Island and Pennsylvania both elected Governors who were members of the Anti-Masonic Party. Two Presidents, a former and a future were both very prominent Anti-Masons, John Quincy Adams and Millard Fillmore. Imagine today if we had US Presidents and Governors ranting that Freemasonry was evil.
The Anti-Masonic party was absorbed by the Wigs in 1838, removing the bright focus from Freemasonry. In 1859, Bro. Pike became Sovereign Grand Commander, and Freemasonry was again on the upswing.
But I think that in some cases, we can forget just how hard he worked to promote the Craft. We have a Lodge here in Washington, Franklin 5 that is mighty darn remote. It's a long way from anywhere, and kind of tough for Masons from out of the immediate area to visit. I plan on making my first visit later this year. But, as one of our regulars here on Emeth likes to point out, Bro. Pike visited Franklin 5. All the way from Washington DC. Before we had cars and airplanes to zip us around. That's dedication, and that dedication to Masonry helped in its revitalization in this country.
I should also point out that Franklin 5 is a Craft Lodge. Not a Scottish Rite Valley. That's dedication to Ancient Craft Masonry.
The next thing I'd like to point out is what impressed me from the very first time I read Bro. Pike. Way back when I was a new Entered Apprentice. Right there at the front of Morals and Dogma, in his Preface, he asks that we read his work, consider it, and reject anything that we find to be unsound.
How many writers or thought leaders as we coin them today have that kind of courage? The courage to admit that what they believe to be true might well be false? That is powerful stuff.
It's also truly Masonic stuff. The fact of the matter is that Masonry is something different to me than it is to you. What I see in a symbol, you might not see at all. And all of that difference is OK. It is how Freemasonry is supposed to be. It is designed to speak to each of us in a way that is meaningful for us as individuals. Hence we will all see it a little differently.
Pike not only knew that, he encouraged it.
The last huge positive I'd like to mention about Bro. Pike is that whenever I read his work, it makes me think. His work forces me to contemplate deeply. That is something that I find to be extremely valuable.
Two final thoughts:
Participating in Masonic forums with a world wide scope, it is plain to see that how the majority of men feel about Bro. Pike is determined more by where they live than anything else. People within his Scottish Rite Jurisdiction generally hold a positive view. Those outside of it generally take a dimmer view.
Lastly, in those same forums, I read an awful lot of complaining about his written works. But when those doing the complaining are pressed, it becomes obvious that they never actually read his written works. So there's a whole bunch of people out there who take a very dim view of him and his work, without ever experiencing his work. That has never sat right with me.
Disagreement is certainly OK, and indeed should be encouraged within Freemasonry, but character assassination based on no actual knowledge is not.