What a Master Mason Ought to Know

By Papus

First published in 1910 by the celebrated French occultist Dr. Papus (G rard Encausse), What a Master Mason Ought to Know is a compact, plainly stated guide to the Masonic Science underlying the three symbolic degrees - offered here in its first English edition. Papus wrote it not as a treatise on high-grade esoteric Masonry but as an accessible companion for the ordinary Blue Lodge Mason: a resource for the "sincere seeker" who senses that there is more behind the Craft's words, colors, and ceremonies than the average lodge explains, and who wants to pursue that Light without being turned into a mere actor in rituals he does not understand.

Compiled largely from essays and addresses composed around 1908 - the year Papus and his secretary Victor Blanchard convened a landmark Masonic and Spiritualist Congress in Paris, drawing figures such as Charles D tr , Ren Gu non, and Theodor Reuss - the book moves from the origins and elements of Masonic Science through the history and meaning of the three symbolic degrees (Apprentice, Companion, and Master), the Templar contribution to the high grades, the Rite of Perfection and the Scottish Rite, the Masonic Rose-Croix, and the interpretation of Masonic symbols. It closes with Papus's own discourses for the first, second, and third degrees, a study of Masonic symbolism proper, and a pointed examination of the question of Masonic "regularity."

S r Phosphoros, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Christian Knights of Saint-Martin, provides a translator's introduction situating the work within Papus's career and the wider occult Masonic ferment of his day, and noting how little the concerns Papus raised over a century ago have changed. Brief, direct, and free of the sectarian point-scoring that mars some works of its kind, this volume speaks to Masons of every obedience - "regular" or otherwise - who want to move from mere participation in the ritual to genuine understanding of it, and it will likewise interest scholars and students of French occultism and Martinism tracing Papus's place in that broader tradition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0997310197
• ISBN13: 9780997310191
• Release Date: March 2022
• Publisher: Triad Press
• Length: 68 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"