Uncovering Masonic Codes And Ciphers
Not everyone who uses codes and ciphers is involved in military or political activity. Groups with a spiritual orientation have long used ciphers and codes to conceal their teachings. This isn’t so much for fear of their being discovered (although sometimes this has been a concern, when persecution is an issue). Rather, the issue is to keep certain types of spiritual knowledge or teachings from those who aren’t ready or aren’t qualified to receive them.
The Freemasons (or Masons), a fraternal organization that has been public about its existence since 1717, has long used codes of different sorts. The primary purpose of using codes has been to keep the Masonic ceremonies of initiation secure. These ceremonies are complex and must be performed from memory. Masons put hours of study into the effort to learn their ceremonies. In some areas, Masons possess small books with the text of these ceremonies. To keep the ceremonies confidential even if the books fall into the wrong hands, the books are written in an initial-letter cipher, that is, a code in which each word of the text is represented by its initial letter. This code allows someone who already knows the ceremony to use the cipher to practice the ceremony until the person memorizes it to perfection.
In earlier generations, Freemasons sometimes used symbols instead of letters to encipher their ceremonies. Coauthor Mark has in his possession a couple of book lover’s treasures, small old ritual books with ceremonies enciphered by symbol, a sort of American hieroglyphic extravaganza. If you come upon any of these books in an old bookstore or yard sale, treasure them — they become rarer every year.
Masons have also made great use of the Pigpen Cipher, so called because, to people of an earlier age, its tic-tac-toe- board structure resembled the layout of pigpens. The Pigpen Cipher has many versions and has come to be known as the Freemasons’ Cipher. The version in this book isn’t “the” correct one because a single correct version doesn’t exist. Masons in different areas learned different versions. However, the version we present shows the exotic, mysterious character of the cipher, where letters are represented by a few angular symbols and dots.
On the continent of Europe, where Freemasonry developed in ways that were a bit different from English Masonry, there was more of an interest in exotic ciphers. You can find some of those ciphers in Chapter 8, as well. They are elaborate symbolic inventions dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. In that era, all ciphers had to be written out by hand, so it didn’t matter that the ciphers used unique symbols that can’t easily be represented in computer-readable form.
Enjoy these ciphers as a glimpse into a different age, when the creation of cryptograms was a bit more leisurely than it is today.
The Freemasons (or Masons), a fraternal organization that has been public about its existence since 1717, has long used codes of different sorts. The primary purpose of using codes has been to keep the Masonic ceremonies of initiation secure. These ceremonies are complex and must be performed from memory. Masons put hours of study into the effort to learn their ceremonies. In some areas, Masons possess small books with the text of these ceremonies. To keep the ceremonies confidential even if the books fall into the wrong hands, the books are written in an initial-letter cipher, that is, a code in which each word of the text is represented by its initial letter. This code allows someone who already knows the ceremony to use the cipher to practice the ceremony until the person memorizes it to perfection.
In earlier generations, Freemasons sometimes used symbols instead of letters to encipher their ceremonies. Coauthor Mark has in his possession a couple of book lover’s treasures, small old ritual books with ceremonies enciphered by symbol, a sort of American hieroglyphic extravaganza. If you come upon any of these books in an old bookstore or yard sale, treasure them — they become rarer every year.
Masons have also made great use of the Pigpen Cipher, so called because, to people of an earlier age, its tic-tac-toe- board structure resembled the layout of pigpens. The Pigpen Cipher has many versions and has come to be known as the Freemasons’ Cipher. The version in this book isn’t “the” correct one because a single correct version doesn’t exist. Masons in different areas learned different versions. However, the version we present shows the exotic, mysterious character of the cipher, where letters are represented by a few angular symbols and dots.
On the continent of Europe, where Freemasonry developed in ways that were a bit different from English Masonry, there was more of an interest in exotic ciphers. You can find some of those ciphers in Chapter 8, as well. They are elaborate symbolic inventions dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. In that era, all ciphers had to be written out by hand, so it didn’t matter that the ciphers used unique symbols that can’t easily be represented in computer-readable form.
Enjoy these ciphers as a glimpse into a different age, when the creation of cryptograms was a bit more leisurely than it is today.
none.