29/12/2021
One of the greatest fraternalist was born today! Brother Albert Pike (December 29, 1809 – April 2, 1891) was a prominent American lawyer, philanthropist, soldier, poet, philosopher and writer. He is one of the many notable and controversial men in fraternal history who held high-ranking positions in both Odd Fellowship and Anglo-America or Regular Freemasonry.
He is more popularly and controversially known as a Freemason who single-handedly revised the Rituals of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A.A.S.R.) from 1855 to 1884 and for publishing the book Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in 1871. He is asserted within the A.A.S.R. Southern Jurisdiction as the person most responsible for the growth and success of the Scottish Rite from an obscure Masonic Rite in the mid-19th century into one of the most popular international appendant bodies of Freemasonry that A.A.S.R. became today.
AS AN ODD FELLOW
Brother Albert Pike's first exposure in a fraternal organization began when he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) in the early 1840’s. His leadership and oratory skills quickly made him the Noble Grand of his Odd Fellows Lodge in Little Rock, Arkansas, by 1848. After receiving the rank of a Past Grand, he was initiated into the degrees of the Odd Fellows Encampment and eventually became a Past Chief Patriarch.
He was elected and installed as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas of the I.O.O.F. from 1852-1853. Upon becoming a Past Grand Master, he served as one of Grand Representatives to the Grand Lodge of the United States (renamed as The Sovereign Grand Lodge) – the international governing body of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. But he was not able to fruitfully fulfill his responsibilities because he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. He only returned to Arkansas in 1857.
While Brother Albert was popular among Odd Fellows in Southern States, his service as a Brigadier General of the Confederate States of America, his personal opinions about slavery, and the accusations that his Native American troops scalped Union Army soldiers during the American Civil War made him unpopular to Odd Fellows in other jurisdictions. His arcane and metaphysical ideas also clashed with several high-ranking officers of the I.O.O.F. Grand Lodge of the United States who were prominent ministers and preachers at that time, such as Reverend T.G. Beharrell (author of the Brotherhood: Being a Representation of the Principles of Odd Fellowship), Reverend I.D. Williamson (author of The Odd Fellows’ Pocket Companion) and Reverend A.B. Grosh (author of the Odd Fellows Improved Manual). As a result, Albert Pike never won an elective office within the Grand Lodge of the United States of the I.O.O.F. He remained a member of the I.O.O.F. until his death but his influence within Odd Fellowship was solely confined within the State of Arkansas.
AS A FREEMASON
Brother Albert Pike joined Freemasonry in 1850 and also became a Past Master of his Masonic Lodge in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was subsequently initiated into the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Degrees and became a 32nd Degree Freemason by 1853. During this time, the Scottish Rite degrees were still in an undeveloped form that only included a brief history and the legend of each degree, as well as other brief details, and usually lacked a workable ritual for their conferral.
Being a known writer during this period, brother Albert Pike was appointed as a member of a Committee to prepare and compile the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite rituals for the 4th to 32nd Degrees, together with Albert G. Mackey, John H. Honour, William S. Rockwell, and Claude P. Samory. It was Albert Pike who did all the work of the Committee but his early revisions were not adopted.
His arcane and metaphysical ideas were put to use when he was elected as the Grand Commander of the Supreme Council for the A.A.S.R. of the Southern Jurisdiction in 1859. He wrote lectures about all these degrees in his book, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, published in 1871. He eventually finished revising the A.A.S.R. degrees in 1884. It is believed that his revision resulted to the growth and success of the Scottish Rite from an obscure Masonic Rite in the mid-19th century into one of the most popular international appendant bodies of Freemasonry that it became today.
Brother Albert Pike is regarded as a master genius of Freemasonry among many Freemasons. He believed that all the symbols of Freemasonry have hidden meanings that can only be discovered by an initiate through study and reflection. However, many of Pike’s Masonic writings also earned him a reputation as an Occultist especially from his religious critics and from anti-masonic authors. He is a philosopher whose ideas sometimes contradict each other, but there really is no evidence that he is an occultist.
The Morals and Dogma of Scottish Rite Freemasonry and the Odd Fellows Encampment
THE MORALS AND DOGMA OF THE SCOTTISH RITE FREEMASONRY AND THE ODD FELLOWS ENCAMPMENT
Although the Morals and Dogma of Scottish Rite Freemasonry is very popular and is probably considered an authority by many Freemasons, many Masonic scholars do admit that it is not a manifesto of Freemasonry nor is it a public declaration of Masonic principles. Rather, it is Albert Pike’s attempt to provide his interpretation of Freemasonry based on religious and philosophical ideas of the past. Thus, all the ideas espoused in his book and articles is not Freemasonry itself but a combination of his reflections and analysis based on his esoteric studies and life experiences.
It can be observed that there is indeed some evidence of cross-fertilization of ideas between the appendant bodies of Freemasonry and the higher branches of Odd Fellowship. Some of the thoughts and ideas in his book and articles he wrote do have similarities with the principles shared among Odd Fellows. For example, “Faith, Hope and Charity” is the motto of the Odd Fellows Encampment and the principles of “Faith, Hope and Charity” were also mentioned many times in the Morals and Dogma of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, as it is known today, came into being when the Mother Supreme Council was formed in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1801. This Council adopted several ancient rites from England and its environs that were somehow still basic and crude in form and substance. These rites were introduced in the North Masonic Jurisdiction in 1813. All these rites were revised and polished from time to time until it was further enriched with Albert Pike’s revision. The Supreme Council, 33°, was officially formed in 1867.
The Odd Fellows Encampment is a higher branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) which confers three additional degrees: Patriarchal Degree, Golden Rule Degree and Royal Purple Degree. The degree work in this branch is a result of evolution from additional degrees that were once conferred only to Past Grand’s of an Odd Fellows Lodge. These degrees originated from both England and the United States and fragmentary records would indicate that these belonged to earlier Odd Fellow groups. The Patriarchal Degree has similarities with the Initiation Degree of the Revised Rituals of the Order of Patriotic Odd Fellows dated March 12, 1797. A ritual of the Loyal Ancient Order of Odd Fellows, which existed many years prior to the I.O.O.F., opened its lodge meetings in the Golden Rule Degree, has the Purple Degree and its tent emblem appeared as early as 1805.
At first, these degrees were conferred and adopted by the Grand Lodge of Maryland of the I.O.O.F. at different times as honorary degrees "in recognition for services rendered to the Order." The Golden Rule Degree was first conferred to five Past Grands in the United States by one Past Grand Larkham from England on February 22, 1821. This was followed by the introduction of the Royal Purple Degree and the Patriarchal Degree in the United States in 1825. On July 6, 1827, these three additional degrees were eventually conferred in a separate branch called Jerusalem Encampment No.2. The Encampment degrees are based on the teachings of Hospitality, Toleration, and Fortitude. The motto is: Faith, Hope, and Charity.
NOTA BENE: Odd Fellowship is not a Masonic organization nor is it an appendant body of Anglo-American or Regular Freemasonry. The Odd Fellows is a completely separate and independent worldwide fraternal organization whose operative origins can be traced back to the craft guilds and journeymen associations in England. Independent friendly societies and box clubs appeared in England sometime in the late-1600's to early 1700's. The first recorded speculative Odd Fellow Lodges appeared at least year 1730.
(c) Louie Blake Saile Sarmiento
