Aleister Crowley: Freemason Or Not?

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Todd E. Creason

Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947)

Aleister Crowley was an English occultist and mystic who was responsible for found the religious philosophy of Thelema.  As a young man he became a member of several essoteric groups including the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientis. 

Crowley was a recreational drug experimenter and a social critic. In many of these roles he "was in revolt against the moral and religious values of his time", espousing a form of libertinism based upon the rule of "Do What Thou Wilt".  Part of his philosophy of Thelema was the use of "sex magick" and the speculation about the sexual rituals that were practiced by the followers of Thelema has been a subject of fascination for many.  Because of this, he gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, and was denounced in the popular press of the day as "the wickedest man in the world."

Crowley has remained an influential figure and is widely thought of as the most influential occultist of all time. References to him can be found in the works of numerous writers, musicians and filmmakers, and he has also been cited as a key influence on many later esoteric groups and individuals, including Kenneth Grant, Jack Parsons, Gerald Gardner, Robert Anton Wilson and, to some degree, Austin Osman Spare.

He is also frequently referred to as a Freemason, and it has been the subject of debate for many years.  He was a member of many "Masonic-like" groups, including the Ordo templi Orientis, but the Grand Lodge of England does not recognize him as a Freemason because none of the organizations he belonged to were recognized Masonic bodies or lodges.  All of the groups in which he was a member were irregular (clandestine) organizations.

Aleister Crowley was not a Freemason.

~TEC 

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and continues to be a regular contributor.  He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series.  He is member of Homer Lodge No. 199, and a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL).  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, and Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL).

Jack the Ripper Murders: Masonic Ritual Killings?

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, PM, FMLR

      It seems almost any high-profile mystery brings conspiracy theorists out of the woodwork with at

least one angle pointing to the Masons.  From the street patterns of Washington, DC, to alleged Masonic symbolism on the dollar bill to the Kennedy assassination there are those who would put the Freemasons behind it all.  Not surprising, then, is the belief by some that the Jack the Ripper slayings  of the late 19^th century , also known as the Whitechapel murders, were a devious Masonic plot.

      There are varying accounts as to how the Masons were involved, as is usually the case when speculators don't let facts get in the way of their theories.  They all, however, identify Sir William Gull as the infamous Ripper.  Gull appears as Jack the Ripper in books, movies and countless Internet posts including  the 1988 TV adaptation Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution by Stephen Knight and the 2000 graphic novel (roughly a novel in comic book form) From Hell written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Eddie Campbell.  Subsequently the Hollywood Movie From Hell starring Johnny Depp was loosely based on the novel.

      William Withey Gull was a respected physician credited with many significant contributions to medicine including advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of Bright's disease, myxoedema and paraplegia.  He also named the devastating eating disorder anorexia nervosa.  

      He became personal physician (Physician-Ordinary) to Queen Victoria and the Royal Family.  The conspiracy theory and premise of the movie (which parallels most of the Ripper Masonic theories) begins with the historical inaccuracy of Prince Edward Albert contracting syphilis.  This allegedly tarnishes Gull's reputation as the Prince's physician because Gull was unable to treat him.  Gull, portrayed as a Freemason in the film, takes it upon himself to eradicate the prostitutes that caused the Prince's affliction.  He does this by murdering the prostitutes with the implication they are ritual killings associated with the Freemasons.

      Not to leave any stone unturned, the movie also depicts the Prince as taking on the identity of Walter Sickert.  Sickert, rather than being an alias of the Prince, was in fact a 19^th century painter.  Some believe he once lived in Jack the Ripper's apartment, a speculation likely due to the fact one of his paintings was titled, "Jack the Ripper's Bedroom."

William Gull

      To be sure, historically Prince Edward Albert and Sickert were separate individuals, but in the movie, the Prince becomes Sickert and marries Ann Crook, taking her away from her life as a prostitute.  Together, the Prince and Ann have a daughter, Alice.  By English law therefore, Alice becomes an heir to the throne and the film surmises Queen Victoria ordered that this problem be eliminated.  Gull, as the Ripper, takes it upon himself to do so in a far more grisly way than Queen Victoria had intended.

      In the denouement, Depp portrays Frederick Abberline, the actual Ripper case investigator, confronting Gull, and taking some off-the-wall liberties with the Masonic ritual, not to mention the actual facts of the case:

Abberline: "The arrangement of the coins at Dark Annie's feet and also the locations of the bodies form a pentacle star.  The pentacle star is a symbol of the Freemasons is it not, sir?"

Gull: "Yes"

Abberline: "And the way all these women were killed... throats cut left to right, organs removed... they're reenactments, aren't they, sir?"

Gull: "Reenactments of what?"

Abberline: "The Jews.  The traitors who killed Hiram Abiff, founder of the Masons, that's how they were executed."

Gull: "Ah, yes... so the great book tells us."

Abberline: "So, Jack the Ripper isn't just merely killing whores. He's executing traitors. He's a Mason, fulfilling a duty."

Gull: "Yes, I'm afraid, Inspector, that you won't be permitted to arrest him."

Abberline: "I don't want to arrest him.  The Ripper has one more traitor yet to kill; and I will stop him.  Did they come to you, sir, as a loyal Mason?  Did they ask you to help and cover up the Prince's secret marriage?"

Gull: "That's how it started, yes."

Abberline: "And then you discovered the Prince had syphilis."

Gull: "He's going to die of it, Inspector.  Would you like a tour of the syphilis wards?"

Abberline: "You're a physician, an Ordinary to the Queen, entrusted with the well-being of the heir to the throne.  Only you had reason to believe that these unfortunates, these whores, these traitors destroyed your life's work."

Gull: "Below the skin of history are London's veins. These symbols... the miter... the pentacle star... even someone as ignorant and degenerate as you can sense that they course with energy and meaning.  I am that meaning.  I am that energy. [Scream and killing scene].  One day men will look back and say I gave birth to the Twentieth Century."

      Although paragraphs could be written about it, the pentacle star, an Eastern Star symbol, is not generally accepted as a Masonic symbol: "[The five-pointed star] was a Pythagorean symbol, but is not mentioned in the Masonic ritual  and seems never to have been a Masonic emblem. There was and is a Blazing Star in the center of the Mosaic Pavement, which is a different symbol." (Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia (1961), s.v. “Five-Pointed Star; Pentalpha”).  Added to this is the fact that the locations of the Whitechapel murders were not in the form of a five-pointed star.

      Jurisdictional details may differ, but in most the method of execution of the traitors in the Masonic ritual is not completely specified, except that in most depictions it is assumed they were beheaded.  As all Freemasons know, symbolic references to throats being cut and disembowelments appear elsewhere in the ritual.

      The movie's reference to the Jews derives from a chalk graffiti found at the scene of one of the murders saying (with variations), "The Juwes [sic] are the men that will not be blamed for nothing."  The movie and other conspiracy theories claim the misspelling in the message to be an illusion to the three ruffians who killed Hiram Abiff, Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum.  Masons do not refer to the ruffians as such and originally, until 1760, they were unnamed.  The names of the ruffians were not used in English rituals at the time of the murders and there is no reason to believe Masons at the time knew them.  It is more likely the note is nothing more than a misspelling and the connection was made later, after the names were known. (The Three Ruffians, Grand Lodge of British Columbia http://Freemasonry.bcy.ca).

      Finally, there is the issue of Dr. Gull himself.  In the movie, he is portrayed by Ian Holm, who was, at the time of filming, 68 years old and in good health.  His character is spry enough to carry out the brutal and physical murders.  The five murders attributed to the Ripper happened between August and November, 1888, when Gull was 72.  The previous year, Dr. Gull's health began to decline.  He suffered a series of strokes and a heart attack that, by the time of the murders, had rendered him unable to commit the crimes.  The London Times reported Gull's first stroke paralyzed him and he was never able to resume his practice.

      Even the movie's fictional Gull makes an issue of the physical nature of the murders when Abberdine suggests the Prince could be the murderer, "The disease [syphilis] is far enough along that the Prince's hands tremble uncontrollably.  He's very weak; and the killings of Jack the Ripper require sure hands and considerable vigor."  The stricken Gull, at the time, did not have "considerable vigor." 

      At the end of the movie, the exposed Gull disavows the Freemasons, a fact that may be lost on viewers and conspiracy theorists alike, "I have no peers present here... No man among you is fit to judge the mighty art that I have wrought.  Your rituals are empty oaths you neither understand nor live by.  The Great Architect speaks to me.  He is the balance where my deeds are weighed and judged... not you."

      Dr. Gull died of a final stroke January 29, 1890.  The final Whitechapel murder occurred after his death, although authorities did not conclusively attribute it to Jack the Ripper.  Whether or not that final killing was his or not, the facts are certain that Gull was not Jack the Ripper, nor were the murders some sort of Masonic ritual.

     One final thing: there is not a shred of evidence that Dr. William Gull was a Freemason.

~SLH

Steve Harrison, 32° KCCH, is a Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri.  He is the editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine, author of the book Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research and also its Senior Warden.  He is a dual member of Kearney Lodge #311, St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite, Moila Shrine and is a member of the DeMolay Legion of Honor.

The Lost Ring

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley

      

      My wife once took a survey that asked what her husband’s hobby is or would be. She answered, “collecting Masonic bling.” She’s probably right. I have a box full of pins, tie tacks, cuff links, and name badges that is beginning to get too small. But I’m not given to wearing them all at the same time. I generally stick to a ring, the current Grand Master’s pin, and cuff links when I’m wearing a suit, and a ring at all times. It seems to be the one common thing Masons have when it comes to jewelry: I don’t often meet a Mason who isn’t wearing a Masonic ring. I haven’t been without one since I was raised. I even have a beat up ring I call my “fishing ring,” which I have taken on vacation for the past several summers, except this year.

       Foolishly, I decided that I’d been overly cautious, and didn’t bother changing. So of course, I lost the ring I’d been wearing for years. I don’t know what happened; it apparently just slipped off my hand somewhere. Fortunately, it had no sentimental value, so I wasn’t heartbroken so much as I was annoyed. 

      I also discovered that I just didn’t feel right without a Masonic ring. So when we got back home I went straight to the computer and started hunting on eBay. I knew what I wanted: gold, with a solid back. I figured there’d be a few out there, and there were. After a few days of only mildly obsessive searching, I found an excellent ring at a good price, paid for it, and received it in a very short time. It fit better than the one it replaced, and is in even better condition. I was happy, of course, but what I found surprising was my relief when I put it on. I knew I’d missed my ring, but what I hadn’t figured on, and didn’t really realize until the new one came, was how much a part of me it had become. It wasn’t the particular ring I’d missed: it was the constant external reminder that I am a Mason. 

      Being anonymous can lead to the temptation to try to cut corners, to get away with things; it can lead, in other words, to acting un-Masonically. When I wear my Masonic ring (or drive my car with its Masonic license plates, or wear a lodge polo shirt), I am putting myself out there as a representation of our fraternity. As Most Worshipful Richard L. Swaney, Past Grand Master of Masons in Illinois, put it, “a Masonic license plate makes you a more polite driver.” 

      So my Masonic ring matters. Yes, it’s a nice piece of jewelry, but it’s more than that: it’s a sign to others that I’m trustworthy, a good man. So I’ll keep wearing it as a pledge to myself that I’ll remember what my obligation means and act accordingly. 

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley is the Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master for the Eastern Area for the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. & A.M.  He is the Past Master of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and Leadership Development Chairman for the Grand Lodge of Illinois. He's also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. He's also a member of the newly-chartered, Illini High Twelve No. 768 in Urbana-Champaign. The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.

The Stanley Cup Comes Back To Chicago!

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Robert Johnson 32°

Lord Stanley

      

       Well it happened again, my home state of Illinois brought back the Stanley Cup! That’s right, the Chicago Blackhawks went on to beat the Boston Bruins in the sixth game of the seven game series and to top it off it all happened in 17 seconds. 

If you missed it live, I am sure you have seen all the replays by now. Where was I when the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2013 Stanley Cup? Well, I was in Flint Michigan celebrating with a few of my Lodge Brothers and the Worshipful Master of Fellowship Lodge #490 at a local Tavern over a few pints of Centennial Ale. We were celebrating St. Johns Day and the Festive-board we had just finished. It was a great night indeed.

I am sure you may be thinking why on Earth am I talking about Hockey? Well, to lay it out there, its less about Hockey and a bit more about the Stanley Cup. You see, the cup was actually given by Sir Franklin Arthur Stanley, who was the 16th Earl of Derby, as an award for Canada’s top ranking amateur hockey team. And guess what....?

The Statue of Lord Stanley in
Stanley Park, Vancouver Canada

That’s right, Lord Stanley was a Brother. Besides being a great sportsman, Colonial Secretary and Governor-General of Canada, he was also a member of Royal Alpha Lodge #16 in London England. In his last few years, Lord Stanley dedicated an overwhelming amount of his time to philanthropy. A statue of him is in Vancouver Canada and is located in Stanley park.









~RHJ

Bro. Robert Johnson, 32° is the editor of the Midnight Freemasonsblog.  He is a Freemason out of the First North-East District of Illinois. He belongs to Waukegan Lodge No. 78. He is also a member of the York Rite bodies Royal Arch, Cryptic Council and Knights Templar, and a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago.  Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts a weekly Podcast (internet radio program) Whence Came You? which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. In addition, he produces video shorts focusing on driving interest in the Fraternity and writes original Masonic papers from time to time. He is a husband and father of three. He works full time in the safety industry and is also a photographer on the side as well as an avid home brewer. He is also working on two books, one is of a Masonic nature.