A word keenly representative of the occult tradition and conspiracy is "corruption." Perhaps there is no better word conveying the essence of it's age old practices and teachings. In the occult conspiracy's principle secret society vehicle, Freemasonry, such is evident by the oaths made in secret, oaths diametrically opposed to those taken by public officials to uphold justice. The corruption of the process of justice and the subversion and corruption of the individual form the basis of corrupting society and points to a source of inspiration embraced by the expression "empire of evil." Who are the "Keepers of the Great Plan" and what are their "fundamental principles"? Who are the Illuminati ? What are their roots?
 

{Illuminati}
 

Term first used in fifteenth-century Europe to signify adepts, specifically those who were quite learned or who possessed "light" from direct communication with a higher source. It was associated with various occult sects and secret orders, including the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley, 1991,

What was that "higher source" of "direct communication", for the Rosicrucians, for Weishaupt's Order of the Illuminati, for the Freemasons of the Scottish Rite, the Templars ? What are the "roots" of that "invisible empire" which operates behind the scenes ? What legacy of subversion and corruption is founded in Freemasonry's organizational roots ? In it's so-called "spiritual" roots ?
 

The "operative" masons of Europe, persons who were literally in the stone mason trade who formed guilds and lodges, provided not only a pattern of secrecy for the lodges of "speculative" masons of professionals and aristocracy in England who formed a new "magical order," but provided a legacy of subversion and corruption in the very exercise of their trade.
 

It is generally believed in occult circles that these medieval masons had inherited esoteric knowledge from their pagan antecedents and this knowledge was incorporated into the sacred architecture of the cathedrals.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

One person specifically revealing said "incorporation" of "esoteric knowledge," a former 32 degree Mason and ex-Witch, wrote:
 

Many of the feasts, saints, and even cathedral sites of the medieval church were actually pagan feasts, gods, and worship sites. Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was built on the site of an important Temple to the Horned God of Witchcraft, Cernunnos.

These masons ... were holders of the old religion

... paid by the bishops to build cathedrals which they (the masons) would then encrust with Witchcraft symbols!

The nature of subversive activity, Schnoebelen has shown, was embodied in the coded portrayal of magical secrets in Cathedral stone providing a perpetual record or allegorical reference of their sinister magical crafts. [Masonry: Beyond the Light, William Schnoebelen, 1991, p. 182]
 

The depth of subversion could not, however, be seen on the surface, as archeological investigations have revealed.
 

Although the masons who built the medieval churches and cathedrals were nominally Christian, the profusion of pagan symbols and images in these ancient buildings indicates many of them were still pagans at heart ...

While researching a book on witchcraft, the medieval survival of the pagan old religion, author Michael Harrison came across the work of the late Professor Gregory Webb of Cambridge University who in 1946 was the secretary of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments. ...

In one of the churches surveyed ... Inside the damaged altar Webb and his team discovered a stone image of a phallus which had been carefully concealed within the hollowed interior.

... In 90 per cent of all the pre-Reformation churches built before the outbreak of the bubonic plaque at the end of the fourteenth century, when church building ceased for a long period, Webb discovered the altars hid fertility symbols which dedicated the Christian churches to the old pagan religion.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

Christians, by contrast, have been characterized as "puritanical."

[p. 63

The Occult Conspiracy:

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989]
 

The association of witchcraft and the "pagan old religion" obtains a particular focus in Europe about the time of the twelfth century to the fourteenth century, referred to. The spread of Luciferianism in Europe and the pursuit of "evil for the sake of evil" took root.
 

It is, however, idle to deny that the cult of evil has always existed; the invocation of the powers of darkness was practised in the earliest days of the human race and, after the Christian era, found its expression, as we have seen, in the Cainites, the Euchites, and the Luciferians. These are not surmises, but actual facts of history. Towards the end of the twelfth century Luciferianism spread eastwards through Syria, the Tyrol, and Bohemia, even as far as Brandenburg; by the beginning of the thirteenth century it had invaded western Germany, and in the fourteenth century reached its zenith in that country, as also in Italy and France. The cult had now reached a further stage in its development, and it was not the mere propitiation of Satanael as the prince of this world practiced by the Luciferians, but actual Satanism--the love of evil for the sake of evil--which formed the doctrine of the sect known in Italy

as la vecchia religione or the "old religion." Sorcery was adopted as a profession, and witches, not, as is popularly supposed, sporadic growths, were trained in schools of magic to practise their art.

The pagan, pantheistic doctrine of dualism gave rise to the worship of the Lord of Darkness and the perversion of the Biblical description of the Devil as the ruler of the world.
 

{Under heading: Luciferians}

Following the pantheistic doctrine that God is present in all of creation, some medieval sectarians held that God and the devil were one.

Since the Catholic church (and later Protestants) frequently referred to Satan as "the ruler of this world," breakaway groups of antinomian heretics would therefore declare that Satan (Lucifer) should indeed be worshiped ...

...

Since many medieval heretics came to be accused of making pacts with Satan and worshiping him, it is difficult to tell who the real Luciferans were, but groups with this theology are mentioned as existing in thirteenth-century Germany.

Thus, the Gothic cathedral work of "operative" stone masons of the period of the twelfth to fifteenth centuries became the object of religious subversive activity and provided the tradition for the religious and political subversive activities of "speculative" Masonry which organizationally crystallized in England in 1717.
 

In fact, the Gothic cathedrals were mostly built between A.D. 1100 and 1400, 300 years before some gentlemen calling themselves the 'Antient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons' formed the Grand Lodge of England in 1717.

Albert Pike, Luciferian, who was appointed as dogmatic head of Freemasonry by Giuseppe Mazzini readily admitted to particular subversive activities, corruption by the "ideas of Plato" and Egyptian, Greek and other mystery religion doctrines embraced by the Gnostics who taught "another doctrine ... from the hands of philosophy ..."
 

Under the same influences of toleration, even those who embraced Christianity, mingled together the old and the new, Chris-

tianity and Philosophy, the Apostolic teachings and the traditions of Mythology. The man of intellect, devotee of one system, rarely displaces it with another in all its purity. The people take such a creed as is offered them. Accordingly, the distinction between the esoteric and the exoteric doctrine, immemorial in other creeds, easily gained a foothold among many of the Christians; and it was held by a vast number, even during the preaching of Paul, that the writings of the Apostles were incomplete; that they contained only the germs of another doctrine, which must receive from the hands of philosophy, not only the systematic arrangement which was wanting, but all the development which lay concealed therein. The writings of the Apostles, they said, in addressing themselves to mankind in general, enunciated only the articles of the vulgar faith; but transmitted the mysteries of knowledge to superior minds, to the Elect, -- mysteries handed down from generation to generation is esoteric traditions; and to this science of the mysteries they gave the name of ... {Gnosis}.

The Gnostics derived their leading doctrines and ideas from Plato and Philo, the Zend-avesta and the Kabalah, and the Sacred books of India and Egypt; and thus introduced into the bosom of Christianity the cosmological and theosophical speculations, which had formed the larger portion of the ancient religions of the Orient, joined to those of the Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish doctrines, which the Neo-Platonists had equally adopted in the Occident.

Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike
 

The coming of the "Antichrist" would be evident not only by external and internal physical subversions of cathedrals otherwise dedicated to Christ, but by philosophical subversions, doctrine, practice, and even by "powerful works." Although the work of the "Antichrist" was not completed with subversions which came upon Christian congregations which followed the Apostle's passing off the earthly scene, history finds the impact staggering, and the discovery of the occult conspiracy demonstrates that the "Antichrist's" work has even greater impending evil planned in it's designs upon a world of mankind for whom Jesus Christ came to set persons free from bondage to corruption and from death itself.

Michael Howard, who takes a positive view of the occult or pagan traditions in The Occult Conspiracy also traces the influence of Gnosticism in direct conflict with Christianity.
 

However the myth of the Hermetic wisdom had a profound effect on the Gnostics who were heretical Christians in direct conflict with the early Christian Church for attempting to fuse paganism with the new faith. ... The Hermetic tradition provided the spiritual inspiration for many secret societies in the Middle Ages and its influence can be discerned in both speculative Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

Pike acknowledged subversion of Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, against whom Jesus railed for their victimization, spiritually and otherwise, of the common people.
 

The dominant system among the Jews after their captivity was that of the Pharoschim or Pharisees. Whether their name was derived from that of the Parsees, or followers of Zoroaster, or from some other source, it is certain that they had borrowed much of their doctrine from the Persians. Like them they claimed to have the exclusive and mysterious knowledge, unknown to the mass.

Pike further acknowledges the deep occult tradition of Jewish sects, which stood diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures of the Holy Bible. He refers to the influence exercised upon some while in captivity in pagan Babylon, from where the plan for a one-world religion in opposition to the God of the Bible originated. Genesis chapter 11.
 

The Magi of Babylon were expounders of figurative writings, interpreters of nature, and of dreams, -- astronomers and divines; and from their influences arose among the Jews, after their rescue from captivity, a number of sects, and a new exposition, the mystical interpretation, with all its wild fancies and infinite caprices. The Aions of the Gnostics, the Ideas of Plato, the Angels of the Jews, and the Demons of the Greeks, all correspond to the Ferouers of Zoroaster.

A great number of Jewish families remained permanently in their new country; and one of the most celebrated of their schools was at Babylon. They were soon familiarized with the doctrine of Zoroaster, which itself was more ancient than Kuros. From the system of the Zend-Zvesta they borrowed, and subsequently gave large development to, everything that could be reconciled with their own faith; and these additions to the old doctrine were soon spread, by the constant intercourse of commerce, into Syria and Palestine.

Babylon (Chaldea / Mesopotamia) and Egypt are pointed to by Pike as the source of the ancient mystery religion and occult traditions (which includes ceremonial magick). Both Kabalistic and Gnostic fundamentals of Templarism which Pike referred to are rooted in the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian mystery religion traditions and initiations.
 

The first Druids were the true children of the Magi, and their initiation came from Egypt and Chaldaea, that is to say, from the pure sources of the primitive Kabalah.

Even so, occult practitioners had evidently infiltrated the domain of the Church organization.
 

CEREMONIAL MAGICK ... is a very old one, dating from ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian times, it was widely used during the Medieval era and is still practiced today. Because the magicians practicing this type of magick could profess a basic belief in a Supreme Creator such as that of the ruling Christian church, they often felt comfortable participating in the accepted religion of the day. This participation kept most of them free from persecution; the majority of these magicians also were very secretive about their magical work, which helped them live fairly safe lives. Furthermore, many of the clergy delved into Ceremonial Magick, until even this was declared anathema by the powerful Christian church.

World Myth, Magic & Religion, D.J. Conway, 1993
 

The prolific and highly honored 33rd degree Mason, Manly P. Hall, also conceded the existence of such activities, as has Michael Howard.
 

Even alchemy and astrology were practiced by the members of monkish Orders, and not a few old abbots were suspected of sorcery. Such pursuits were regarded with disfavor, and appropriate chidings administered. It took something more, however, to set the whole machinery of theological displeasure in motion.

During the period following the emergence of the Mystery cultus and the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire a new mystical movement arose in the Middle East which attempted to synthesize the best elements of the decaying paganism with the new Christian beliefs. This movement was known as Gnosticism, ...

They claimed to have preserved the real teachings of Jesus ...

The Gnostics derived their spiritual inspiration from a variety of sources, including the Greek and Roman Mysteries, Ancient Egyptian mythology, the Hermetic tradition, the dualistic doctrines of Zoroasterianism, the Middle Eastern fertility cults, the Chaldean stellar religion and Esoteric Christianity.

...

The Gnostics attempted to unite both paganism and Christianity and they produced a hybrid version of the new faith based on the heretical texts which circulated after the death of Jesus.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

The focus of this critical analysis is upon the evil and corrupting roots of the occult conspiracy to restore the plan for a one-world religion and government presided over by an occult and evil Hierarchy, a plan which could embody the ultimate fulfillment of the Antichrist of which Jesus Christ's Apostles warned.

Roughly concurrent in the pagan, witchcraft and Luciferian environment in Europe, the twelfth and thirteenth centuries also saw the rise to wealth and power of the Knights Templar, a French based monastic Order once a military arm of the Roman Catholic Church which provided protection for traveling pilgrims during the Crusades. In the Middle East they had learned, through their contacts, particular esoteric arts. What common denominator had established itself between the Templars, witchcraft, and Egyptian mystery religion ?
 

The "Goat of Mendes" is represented in the occult by the inverted pentagram (or inverted five-pointed star) and is common to witchcraft, satanism, and some other occult traditions or organizations. It is considered to be an extremely diabolical symbol by persons familiar with occult esoteric teachings and practices. It represents what is known as the Baphomet representation of an evil horned god. The Egyptian "roots" are shocking, and leave a trail of evil with an expanding base of influence in our century.
 

In medieval times the Devil was sometimes called the Goat of Mendes because at this temple in ancient Egypt bizarre rituals were performed involving naked priestesses performing the sex act with goats.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

In the widespread witchcraft organization known as Wicca it is in the higher degrees or levels (esoteric teachings) where the initiates learn that the Horned God of the inverted pentagram represents Lucifer.
 

The right hand side is masculine and sacred to the Horned God (who we in Wicca eventually learned was Lucifer).

by William J. Schnoebelen & James R. Spencer, 1987
 

The Templars in their contacts in the Middle East adopted a legacy which can be traced to Egyptian mystery religion in one of it's most horrifying manifestations.
 

Having embraced Gnosticism while in Palestine, and in touch with the sect of the Assassins, the Templar order degenerated, and some of its members, under the influence of that sect, were said to practice Phallicism or sex-worship and Satanism and to venerate "The Baphomet", the idol of the Luciferians. The crime of Sodomy was a rite of Templar initiation.

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

In their confessions the knights said that Templar initiation ceremonies took place at night in candlelit chapels. Initiates were forced to renounce their Christian faith as a sign of their loyalty to the Order and to spit, urinate or trample on a crucifix.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

The androgynous figure of Baphomet has female breasts and the lower part of its body is veiled portraying the mysteries of generation. However the phallic nature of the goat god is symbolized by the caduceus symbol of a wand entwined with two serpents which was carried by Hermies. This symbol hides the erect penis of the Baphomet figure. Its belly is covered with scales representing the reptilian origin of the human race in the evolutionary process.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

The reptilian, serpent association of Lucifer, represented in the Baphomet, began with the "serpent" which corrupted the first human pair, and has been honored and represented in pagan mystery religion since. The philosophical "lie" by Lucifer that humans can attain "godhood" through the auspices of Lucifer, that man or woman can "evolve" to godhood by occult methods involving escalating degrees of spiritistic "illumination" entrenches evolution as a dogma in the occult tradition.

The Baphomet represents the depiction of the ancient mystery religion from Egypt, it's goat god, sex magic, and spiritistic "illumination." Thus, the Templar tradition in secret societies is not a reference to protecting pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land from "infidels."

The Templar tradition represents a tradition of Luciferianism, of Baphomet or Goat of Mendes worship, and a tradition of sex magic with it's diabolical effects.
 

Ramsey ... in 1736 ... addressed a gathering of French Masons and referred to the Templar tradition. He revealed that Masonry was the heir to the secrets of the Templars who in turn had inherited the ancient wisdom of the pagan Mysteries.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

In 1736, only nineteen years after the formation of the Grand Lodge in England in 1717, Masonry, in a French address, was identified as "heir to the secrets of the Templars who in turn had inherited the ancient wisdom of the pagan Mysteries." The transformation or impacting of "speculative" Freemasonry by Templarism should not be surprising, since before his death in 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the officially banned Order, set up Lodges to perpetuate the Templar tradition in Edinburg, Scotland; and Paris, France; and elsewhere. De Molay had

"instituted what afterward came to be called the Occult, Hermetic, or Scottish Masonry." [p. 820, Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike]

Thus, the depths of Freemasonry, as attributed to by Albert Pike, the man who wrote the degrees of the Ancient and Scottish Rite in their present form, are not simply a continuation of pagan traditions of the "operative" masons who built the cathedrals of Europe, but the perpetuation of the traditions of the Templars themselves. The origins of Freemasonry reach further back in time than the stone Masons of Europe, even as Pike pointed out.
 

Hence Free-Masonry, vulgarly imagined to have begun with the Dionysian Architects or the German Stone-workers, adopted Saint John the Evangelist as one of its patrons, associating with him, in order not to arouse the suspicions of Rome ...."

The midevil cathedrals bear the scars of sinister subversions with witchcraft symbols and fertility symbols, phallic worship. The "operative masons" who through their building craft subverted those structures, formed a pattern for the lodges of "speculative" Masonry, a new "magical order" in England. The religious and political designs of "speculative" Freemasonry would provide the "vehicle" for the "ultimate secret society." The secret society stage was ripe for Weishaupt's formation of the "ultimate secret society" in which "all occult systems could be reduced to a single, powerful organization." The "empire of evil ... spreading by all the occult means at their disposal" obtained in Adam Weishaupt an unholy godfather to direct the evil empire's activities under a central authority by the Illuminati.
 

The "sceptre of the dark empire" was "wrested by Mazzini" from the Carbonari who had assumed the leadership of the "dark empire" by it's Alta Vendita Lodge of blackest Freemasonry following Weishaupt's death or decline. Like Weishaupt, Mazzini viewed Freemasonry as an ideal vehicle or "powerful vehicle" for world revolution. In collusion with an American Confederate General, Albert Pike, Mazzini would reinforce the criminal beginnings of "speculative" Masonry begun in England and forge Mazzini's Masonic Machine. Mazzini, also the father of the Sicilian Mafia, brought Albert Pike whom he had appointed as head of dogma over Freemasonry into the depths of the conspiracy of Illuminist control of Freemasonry.
 

Mazzini had understood that Freemasonry was a powerful lever with which to revolutionize the world, but he saw it divided into numerous rites, often rivals, and even hostile to one another. Aspiring to Italian Unity as a means of breaking the temporal power of the Holy See, he dreamt of a union of masonry throughout the world to destroy the church itself as a spiritual power.

Mazzini, who was very practical, said that it would be inadvisable to favour one rite only to the exclusion of all the others. In a letter to Albert Pike, dated Jan. 22, 1870, he writes. "We must allow all the federations to continue just as they are, with their systems, their central authorities and their divers modes of correspondence between high grades of the same rite, organized as they are at present, but we must create a supreme rite, which will remain unknown, to which

 we will call those Masons of high degree whom we shall select. With regard to their brothers in masonry, these men must be pledged to the strictest secrecy. Through this supreme rite, we will govern all Freemasonry which will become the one international centre, the more powerful because its direction will be unknown."

Albert Pike, in honour of his Templar Baphomet, which was in the keeping of his first and historic Supreme Council, named the order the New and Reformed Palladian Rite or New and Reformed Palladium.

"To recruit adepts, they planned to use some members of the other rites, but in the beginning they meant to rely principally on those among the initiates of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rites who were already addicted to occultism.

Thus it was particularly the initiates of the thirty-third degree Scottish Rites, who, owing to their extensive international ramifications, were privileged to recruit adepts for Palladism.

p. 216

"The Holy See of the Dogma for the whole masonic world was set up at Charleston, the sacred city of the Palladium. Pike, the Sovereign Pontiff of Lucifer, was the president of the Supreme Dogmatic Directory, ...

One must not lose sight of the fact that Pike occupied simultaneously the positions of Grand Master of the Central Directory of Washington, that of Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Charleston and that of Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry.

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

Albert Pike rose to prominence in Freemasonry learning the "Craft" in Little Rock, Arkansas, whereas the headquarters for the Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was located in Charleston, South Carolina since 1801. Later the headquarters was relocated to Washington D.C. and is now the Mother Council of the World.
 

Pike, the Sovereign Pontiff of Lucifer, was the president of the Supreme Dogmatic Directory, composed of ten brothers of the highest grades who formed his Supreme Grand College of Emeritus Masons.

Occult Theocrasy,

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

Confederate Brigadier General Albert Pike, "the Sovereign Pontiff of Lucifer," who co-founded the KKK, which is recognized for, among other things, un-Christian titles such as Grand Dragon and Imperial Wizard, cross-burning, and racism.

Every Freemason should realize that Pike "completely rewrote the degrees of the Scottish Rite into their present form."
 

Albert Pike (1809-1891) is easily the preeminent figure in American Freemasonry. His many titles included Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree (Mother Council of the World) and Supreme Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry. Scholar, student of ancient languages and occult philosopher, he completely rewrote the degrees of the Scottish Rite into their present form. This work is explained in his book Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. His position in Masonry was, and is today, unparalleled, not only in the United States, but throughout the world. {italics, the author's}

Former 33rd degree Freemason, the highest degree attainable in American Freemasonry, Shaw makes it clear that:
 

Finally, the last Sunday of Reunion arrived and we progressed to the 32nd Degree. Upon completion of the degree work, climaxing with the 32nd Degree lecture, ...

Each of us was presented, along with the Scottish Rite ring, a copy of Albert Pike's book, "Morals and Dogma." We were told that is was the source book for Freemasonry and its meaning. We were also told that it must never leave our possession, and that arrangements must be made so that upon our deaths it would be returned to the Scottish Rite.

It is with particular authority, then, that Albert Pike identifies in Masonry's "source book" the source of inspiration and guidance for Freemasonry. What is the "Palladian Rite" by which, Mazzini wrote Pike, "we will govern all Freemasonry" ? The "supreme rite" was launched in "honor of his {Pike's} Templar Baphomet." Who is the god of Freemasonry ?
 

The Templars deceived observers with an outward facade :
 

Thus the Order of Knights of the Temple ... externally professed the most perfect orthodoxy. The Chiefs alone knew the aim of the Order...

"The Templars, like all other Secret Orders and Associations, had two doctrines, one concealed and reserved for the Masters... ; the other public, which was the Roman Catholic. Thus they deceived the adversaries whom they sought

to supplant. Hence Free-Masonry, ... adopted Saint John the Evangelist as one of its patrons, associating with him, in order not to arouse the suspicions of Rome ...."

The use of facade, of concealing evils with a righteous front is an age old ploy. The Apostle Paul wrote,
 

" For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,

transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an

angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also

be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end

shall be according to their works."

2 Corinthians 11: 13-15. KJV
 

The transformation referred to is one of appearances, Satan putting on appearances of an angel of light. In that, the Templar tradition has followed the tradition of the god the Templars worshipped. Thus it is not surprising that Pike extols Lucifer, represented by the goat god, as the God of Light. The evil Satan is portrayed as a misrepresentation.
 

The Technological dogma of Albert Pike is explained in the ' Instructions ' issued by him, on July 14, 1889, to the 23 Supreme Councils of the world and have been recorded by A.C. De La Rive in La Remme et lÉnfant dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universelle (page 588) from which book we translate and quote as follows :

"To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees --- The Masonic religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine.

...

"Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also God. ...
"Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy ; and the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay ; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil."

p. 221

In 1880, a charter was granted him by the Royal Order of Scotland for the foundation of Lodges in America appointing him Provincial Grand Master of the order of H. R. M. He was indeed a great organizer.

" The two secret chiefs, Pike and Mazzini, finally completed the organization of high masonry, establishing four Grand Central Directories for the world, functioning thenceforth to gather information for the benefit of their political policy and dogmatic propaganda. .."

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

Pike mocks the description of Lucifer as the "Spirit of Darkness," an expression abundantly attributed to the god of the witches and sorcerers.
 

"LUCIFER, the Light-bearer ! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness ! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning ! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls ? Doubt it not ! for traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations: and Inspiration is not of one Age nor of one Creed.

Jesus clearly identified Satan as the "...the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, ..." [Revelation 20: 2 - KJV] and as " ... the devil ... he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth ... for he is a liar, and the father of it." [John 8:44 - KJV]. Satan portrays himself as mankind's liberator and as the god of light in the Garden of Eden in promising Adam and Eve godhood if they would choose rebellion against God. Satan declared that Adam and Eve would not die for rebellion against God, but would attain to godhood instead.

After commenting on the name of Satan, who is the Devil, Pike refers to Satan, not as a person, but as a force, eventually represented by the horned god of the witches.
 
 

"...for Satan is not a black god, but the negation of God. The Devil is the personification of Atheism or Idolatry.

For the Initiates, this is not a Person, but a Force, created for good, but which may serve for evil. It is the instrument of Liberty or Free Will. They represent this Force, which presides over the physical generation, under the mythologic and horned form of the God PAN; thence came the he-goat of the Sabbat, brother of the Ancient Serpent and the Light Bearer or Phosphor of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend."

Adonay, referred to as the God of the Bible, is, instead accused of being "the God of Darkness and Evil."

The "Force" embodied in the goat god of the witch's Sabbat, or Baphomet, is portrayed by Pike as the instrument of liberty.

Pike outright celebrated Satan's subversion or 'liberation' of Adam and Eve. The unseen power behind the serpent in the Garden of Eden which portrayed itself as a source of "light" is honored by the Luciferian religion as "serpent power," the "Force," later described as the Kundalini or serpent force. To Pike, the Sovereign Pontiff of Lucifer, Satan is not the god "of the Powers of Darkness" but the prime minister force of the god of Masonry's light, Lucifer.

The corruption which Illuminati Adam Weishaupt used to further the aims of establishing an eventual overt, anti-Christ Luciferian Hierarchy over mankind has been essentially the same method employed by Lucifer, Satan's disguised angel of light personality, in establishing influence and control over the first human pair; the method of corruption was spiritual corruption. Pike also revised the Black Mass in which Satan's subversion of Adam and Eve is celebrated.
 

Corruption has been the modus operandi, spiritual or otherwise.
 

Retired Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy {William Guy Carr} ...

"While Pike was Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, and Head of the Illuminati during the 1870's he revised and modernized the ritual of the Black Mass celebrated to emphasise the Luciferian and Satanic victory achieved in the Garden of Eden, and over Christ to end his mission on earth. The celebrant of the Black Mass plays the part of Satan. He introduces a Virgin Priestess to the joys of sexual intercourse and makes known to her the mystery of procreation. ... The desecration

of a Host consecrated by a Roman Catholic Priest is part of this abomination. Lucifer is worshipped as "The giver of the True light"; the fountain of All wisdom; and as the greatest of all Supernatural Beings. Satan is worshipped as Lucifer's Prime Minister ... a Black Mass is usually followed by a Bacchanalian orgy. Those who attend are supplied with sex-stimulating drugs and beverages. They worship the body and indulge in sexual excesses, and perversions, of all kinds. Priestesses are provided for the occasion.

Dr. Cathy Burns, 1994

quoting from David Carrico's exposé, quoting Commander William Guy Carr,

Lucifer--Eliphas Levi--Albert Pike and the Masonic Lodge, p. 15
 

Pike, who "revised and modernized the ritual of the Black Mass", also "rewrote the degrees of the Scottish Rite into their present form." It should be emphasized that the 33rd degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is not only the highest degree of American Freemasonry, but is one bestowed by invitation of the Supreme Council only, and in which "true allegiance to the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree" is sworn "above all other allegiances" and the ceremony is sealed with drinking wine out of a human skull. A former 33rd degree Mason who left the order exposes the "deadly deception" of Freemasonry's 33rd degree.
 

When it was time for the final obligation we all stood and repeated the oath with the representative candidate, administered by the Sovereign Grand Inspector General. We then swore true allegiance to the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, above all other allegiances, and swore never to recognize any other brother as being a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry unless he also recognizes the supreme authority of "this Supreme Council."

One of the Conductors then handed the "candidate" a human skull upside down, with wine it .

With all of us candidates repeating after him, he sealed the oath, "May this wine I now drink become a deadly poison to me, as the Hemlock juice drunk by Socrates, should I ever knowingly or willfully violate the same" (the oath).

Jim Shaw & Tom McKenney, 1988
 

In a ceremony the Thursday before Easter in local Scottish Rite Temples, by no means limited to 33rd degree Masons, participants play out a terribly sinister ceremony.
 

After this we took our places at the table shaped like a cross and sat down. . The setting was dark, our long, sweeping robes were solid black, our faces nearly concealed in the hoods

... It was, indeed, a Black Communion -- a strange Black Mass.

... with only the center candle still burning, ... and extinguished the last candle -- the candle representing the life of Jesus ..

We had dramatized and commemorated the snuffing out of the life of Jesus, without once mentioning his name, (bold characters, the author's between commas) and the scene ended with the room in deep silent darkness.

Jim Shaw & Tom McKenney, 1988
 

As Pike dramatically provided for, "the celebrant of the Black Mass plays the part of Satan."
 

Often when one hears about initiation into Freemasonry, one thinks of the oaths which are taken. Yet the initiations involved at the highest levels of Freemasonry which are used to "rule" or govern the organization represent extreme forms of human corruption, morally and spiritistically, as is evident in the "supreme rite" fashioned by Pike to rule Freemasonry.

Pike, who rewrote the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, colluded with Mazzini in forming the "supreme rite" to govern all of the rites of Freemasonry, the Palladian Rite. The "supreme rite" was launched in "honor of {Pike's} Templar Baphomet."
 

A Knight Templar Mason, William Schnoebelen ...
 

"was brought into Palladium Lodge ... in Chicago in the late 1970s ... and received {a} ... degree ... in that Lodge in 1981."

The former high-level Mason Schnoebelen exposes in Masonry: Beyond the Light, one of several books he has authored, the five steps of the Palladian rite. Part of what is involved is a progression of corruption which ultimately result in complete, ongoing possession by "the evil spirit" for which the person becomes but a "fleshly glove." To achieve that state the "initiate" is "literally 'married'" ...
 

"by having a medium of the appropriate gender be possessed by the "dead spirit" (actually a demon) and then ... was consummated.

It was believed that the magical "virtue" of the spirit would flow from the possessed medium into the initiate through the act of intimacy.

The idea was that the wisdom and god-like power of the spirit being would gradually, through repeated congress, totally infuse the mind, body and will of the initiate.

... {later}

At this point, the soul of the initiate is totally eclipsed by the evil spirit. In other words, there is virtually "nobody at home" except the demon! ... At this point, the initiate ceases to be an autonomous individual. He is but a fleshly "glove" with a demonic "hand" inside controlling his every move.

Such "illuminated beings" regard humans the way we regard cattle.

Sex with the demon possessed is a diabolical means for transforming the individual and eventually completely taking over of the brain and body by "the evil spirit." That's been one way of taking control of an organization using high ranking members, by taking over their minds and bodies. Yet, how could Pike, Mazzini and their associated conspirators get persons to submit to such a diabolical process ?
 

{of Mazzini and Albert Pike}

"To recruit adepts, they planned to use some members of the other rites, but in the beginning they meant to rely principally on those among the initiates of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rites who were already addicted to occultism.

"One will better understand these precautions knowing that Palladism is essentially a Luciferian rite.

...

Pike, the Sovereign Pontiff of Lucifer, was the president of the Supreme Dogmatic Directory, ...

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

What could induce a person to pursue such horrible, demonic practices ? What persons would be principally recruited for the Rites of Palladism ?

Those " ... who were already addicted to occultism, particularly initiates of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rites.

Perhaps a most telling warning not to involve oneself in the occult, not to become addicted to it, not even to dabble in it, are not simply the cases resulting madness or insanity, but of what might be described as an incomprehensible corruption of a human being which involves the divorcing of one's humanity and progressively leads to becoming a "fleshly glove in a demonic hand."

One of the stages of the Palladian Rite has elements common to a broad spectrum of occult traditions, evidently accounting for the reference to addiction to occultism which was made. It defines spiritistic Illumination.
 

Illumination: through drugs and occult techniques of the Seers, the so-called Third Eye would be opened, not just partially (as in psychics) but completely. This "eye,"... is felt to be the point of contact between humans and Lucifer-consciousness. It is supposedly located in the forehead, above and between the two visible eyes.

To "open" the eye a little bit is to experience psychic powers. To open the eye completely is to have your brain flooded with the "pure" consciousness of Lucifer himself. This is why one of the Masonic symbols is the "All-Seeing Eye." It is a symbol of Illumination.

... In it, you acquire a "personal relationship" with Lucifer. You begin to think his thoughts and see with his eyes. You begin to look at humans the way he does. It is not a pretty experience!

The same author, William Schnoebelen a former Wiccan High Witch, elaborates about Lucifer whom Pike explained as having Satan as his "force."
 

At that point, I knew one of the pre-eminent names of the god of the witches was Lucifer. Then I learned that the Horned God, Lucifer, had a "Shadow" as well. ...

... so does the light of Lucifer become the brilliant darkness of Satan -- yet it is the same god!

The solution to the Templar Enigma does much to further identify the "fundamental principles" of the rulers of Freemasonry. The corruption process to which Masons submit themselves in the "outer machinery" by means of the oaths of Freemasonry, perverting justice and sanctioning murder and treason, represents a dark path which gets ever darker as the serious Mason moves on to deeper secrets. The Knights Templar Enigma raises the questions of "fundamental principles." It explains why Freemasonry is not only fundamentally dangerous, as is evident in Masonry's oaths, but why Freemasonry is diabolically dangerous to the human family.

Manly P. Hall, 33 degree, ranked in Freemasonry in it's explications with Albert Pike, evidently refuted the allegation that the Templars were targeted for doom by the "Church" for their wealth or temporal power, and places the focus on their secret body of knowledge and rites of black magic and of the Baphomet.
 

Was Jacques de Molay burned by the Holy Inquisition merely because he wore the red cross of the Templar? What were those secrets to which he was true even in death? Did his companion knights perish with him merely because they had amassed a fortune and exercised an unusual degree of temporal power ? To the thoughtless these may constitute ample grounds, but to those who can pierce the film of the specious and the superficial they are assuredly insufficient. It was not the physical power of the Templars, but the knowledge which they had brought with them from the East, that the church feared. The Templars had discovered part of the great arcanum; they had become wise in those mysteries which had been celebrated in Mecca thousands of years before the advent of Mohammed; they had read a few pages from the dread book of the Anthropos, and for this knowledge they were doomed to die. What was the black magic of which the Templars were accused ? What was Baphomet, the Goat of Mendes, whose mysteries they were declared to have

celebrated ? All these are questions worthy of thoughtful consideration by every studious Mason.

Manly P. Hall, 1984
 

This represents a high level Masonic stinging admission of the real issues, which Albert Pike began to reveal in his Morals and Dogma. Piercing "the film of the specious and the superficial" modern-day charges that the wealth and power of the Templars occasioned their doom as a military organ of the Roman Catholic Church, the question arises, "what was the "great arcanum," the great secret in ancient mysteries in which they had become so-called "wise" ? What was the black magic which eludes a specious and superficial examination ? What was the mystery of the Goat of Mendes which Manly P. Hall urges to give "thoughtful consideration by every studious Mason" in connection with the Templar legend ?
 

Specifically the Templars were accused of denying the tenets of the Christian faith, spitting or urinating on the crucifix during secret rites of initiation, worshipping a skull or head called Baphomet in a dark cave, anointing it with blood or the fat of unbaptized babies, worshipping the Devil in the shape of a black cat and commiting acts of sodomy and bestiality.

...

It is possible that during their sojourn in the Middle East the Templar Order contacted adepts from the Arab Mystery schools who taught them the secrets of sex magic. This theory is supported by confessions of Templars who said that at the climax of the ceremony the initiate indulged in an act of sodomy with the chaplain.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

Sex magic ?

Acts of sodomy and bestiality ?

As already noted, the ancient Egyptian Goat of Mendes, represented later by the Baphomet, established a legacy.
 

In medieval times the Devil was sometimes called the Goat of Mendes because at this temple in ancient Egypt bizarre rituals were performed involving naked priestesses performing the sex act with goats.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

Operating in the Middle-East, the Knights Templar were geographically in position to acquire it's diabolical traditions.
 

Having embraced Gnosticism while in Palestine, and in touch with the sect of the Assassins, the Templar order degenerated, and some of its members, under the influence of that sect, were said to practice Phallicism or sex-worship and Satanism and to venerate "The Baphomet", the idol of the Luciferians. The crime of Sodomy was a rite of Templar initiation.

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

The phallic representation included in the image of the Baphomet goat god is not incidental, but involved one of the most diabolical parts of the inner secrets of pagan mystery religion which is traced to ancient Egypt. That inner secret demonstrates unequivocally that at the core of mystery religion is not simple "nature worship."

Former first degree Illuminati, Knight Templar, High Wiccan Witch, satanist, and 90th degree of the Egyptian Rite, William Schnoebelen, has provided comprehensively indicting expositions of the occult establishment in the books which he has authored. While 33rd degree Mason Manly P. Hall points to actual issues of the Templars' suppression and points to them as "questions worthy of thoughtful consideration by every studious Mason," Schnoebelen reveals how another 33rd degree Mason, and notorious satanist, Aleister Crowley disclosed in writing secrets which bordered on revealing "the very highest secrets of both Templary and Freemasonry. Sexual magic which Michael Howard attributes to the Templars is further identified by Schnoebelen as the means by which depths of human degradation are brought about, leaving no question as to what accounted for the "degenerated" Knights Templar.
 

... the sexual magic Crowley brought to the West from his travels in Egypt, Nepal, Tibet and Ceylon involved the belief that various orifices of the body were tunnels into other magical dimensions ...
and that sexual fluids were magical elixirs if properly "consecrated" by a Priestess of the Art in a Magic Circle.
 In bringing these secrets out in his privately published books, Crowley skated the edge of revealing the very highest secrets of both Templary and Freemasonry. Those who followed his teaching, which included members of the English-speaking branches of the O.T.O., and a large majority of the Third Degree and beyond Witches I knew, rapidly became obsessed with sadism, sodomy, perversion and both physical and psychic vampirism!

Schnoebelen makes the Freemasonry and witchcraft connection with the diabolical sex magic rites. The "magical dimensions" cited represent horrifying contacts with demons, as Schnoebelen attests. Satanist Aliester Crowley "skated the edge" of revealing in writing the "very highest secrets of both Templary and Freemasonry." Diabolical sex magic is revealed to comprise "the very highest secrets of both Templary and Freemasonry."

Freemasonry, witchcraft, and other manifestations of the New Age movement are significantly revealed as to fundamental principles and methods by means of such disclosures which serve to identify the type of forces behind the New Age movement.

 The New Age movement and the occult revival, while claiming to be presenting a new style of spirituality, still relies on the traditional philosophies of past occultists such as Blavatsky, Besant, Steiner, Alice Bailey and Aleister Crowley to provide its theological framework.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

The Palladian Rite, the "supreme rite," which involves sexual union with demon possessed, was devised to "govern all Freemasonry." Luciferian spiritism. The Goat of Mendes, the Baphomet, honored by Albert Pike who colluded with Mazzini in creating the presiding diabolical rite to govern Freemasonry provides a link with the Baphomet of the Templars who survived DeMolay. The link is evidently more than symbolic.

Schnoebelen described the "illumination" of the brain by Lucifer, or a Luciferian entity, in which the person experiences thoughts intensely impressed upon the brain. Spiritistic "illumination." Although other methods are also used in the occult, including the use of drugs, the method of involving persons to engage in horrible sexual perversions in order to achieve "illumination" reveals much about the so-called "Golden Age" which the "Philosophic Empire" seeks to establish in America and throughout the world.

Referring to the Templar Order, Michael Howard connects the sex magic rites with what is called "illumination."
 

Candidates entering the Order also had to kiss their initiator on the mouth, the navel, the penis and at 'the base of the spine'. These kisses were regarded by critics of the Order as proof of their perverted sexual activities but in the occult tradition the naval, sexual organs and the perineum are the physical locations of the psychic centres of the human body, known in the East as the chakras. The perineum marks the Kundalini chakra which is the psychic source of sexual energy in the body. Various occult techniques can be practised which liberate this energy so that it travels up the spinal cord to illuminate the brain.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

That "energy" is identifiable as the "Force" which Albert Pike identified as Satan. In fact, the kundalini force is identified as a serpent force which travels up the spinal cord in mystical techniques such as in kundalini yoga. Howard clearly identifies the illumination of the brain of the occult tradition as occurring under the auspices of Lucifer, the Devil.
 

In Levi's illustration Baphomet is a goat-headed figure with androgynous features who sits on a cube. A torch blazes between the goat's horns which represents cosmic intelligence and spiritual illumination. In occult tradition Lucifer - who is regarded by the Church as the Devil - is called the lightbringer because he grants his disciples spiritual illumination through incarnation on the physical plane.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989

The term "cosmic" intelligence, illumination or expansion of consciousness is common in the New Age movement and represents "spiritual" illumination by Lucifer, the Devil, the Baphomet god.

The tone evident in Howard's book is that the Judeo-Christian ethic is characterized as puritanical. It should be said that the Hebrew and Greek-Aramaic Scriptures, the Holy Bible, are not puritanical as charged. The Bible does condemn spiritistic practices as well as practices of fornication, homosexuality, and adultery. Spiritistic practice is the substance of the occult. Fornication and homosexuality, as Schnoebelen testifies to, also comprise the framework of many occult traditions. Thus, the portrayal which intimates that it is Christian propaganda which characterizes occultism as involving the worship of the Powers of Darkness is an intriguing way for Michael Howard to introduce the main body of a book which considers "Secret Societies -- Their Influence and Power in World History."
 

Anyone involved in the twilight world of the occultist must, so the argument goes, be weird or unusual because occultism in the popular imagination conjures up visions of incense filled temples, naked virgins on altars, bizarre rituals, secret initiations and, if Christian propaganda can be believed, the worship of the Powers of Darkness.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

Is it "Popular imagination" that occultism conjures up visions of ... the worship of the Powers of Darkness." ? The evidence indicates that occultism is far worse than what many in the public might perceive of it.

Those who advocate for the occult often take the position similar to Albert Pike who claimed that Lucifer is the God of Light and of Good, and who accused the God of the Bible as being the God of Darkness and Evil.  Edith Starr Miller relates the
 

"... theological dogma of Albert Pike ... explained in the 'Instruction' issued by him on July 14, 1889, to the 23 Supreme Couhncils of the world ... recorded by A.C. De La Rive ...

Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy ; and the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay ; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil."

p. 221 Occult Theocrasy,

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

Howard formulates that there is an argument which accuses persons involved with the occult as being weird or unusual because of a perception based on "popular imagination." However, as Schnoebelen testifies to and documents, the "secret initiations" and "bizarre rituals" far exceed in degradation what might even be popularly imagined. Perhaps Howard does not consider perverted occult practices which even he, himself, refers to or relates, as bizarre, weird, or even unusual. Howard goes on to advocate for occultism. In the preface of his book he states that:
 

"through the acquisition of the Ancient Wisdom it is possible that the aspirations of humanity can be fulfilled, providing those who guide the destiny of our nations are not diverted from the narrow path they tread by the lure of temporal power at the expense of spiritual integrity."

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

"Spiritual integrity" is an expression which has a noble ring to it, but Howard extols occultism, recommends the "Ancient Wisdom" of the occult, and makes the contrasting reference "if Christian propaganda can be believed" occultism represents "the worship of the Powers of Darkness."
 

Notice how Howard refers to "critics" of the Order of the Templars as regarding the Templars' obscene initiation practices "as proof of their perverted sexual activities" whereas Howard goes on to say "but in the occult tradition" "psychic centres" are there located. To repeat Howard's formulation :
 

Candidates entering the Order also had to kiss their initiator on the mouth, the navel, the penis and at 'the base of the spine'. These kisses were regarded by critics of the Order as proof of their perverted sexual activities but in the occult tradition the naval, sexual organs and the perineum are the physical locations of the psychic centres of the human body, known in the East as the chakras. The perineum marks the Kundalini chakra which is the psychic source of sexual energy in the body. Various occult techniques can be practised which liberate this energy so that it travels up the spinal cord to illuminate the brain.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

The Occult Conspiracy's author, when saying "through the acquisition of the Ancient Wisdom it is possible that the aspirations of humanity can be fulfilled" warns of "the lure of temporal power at the expense of spiritual integrity." but doesn't seem to exclude sex magic as part of what is called "spiritual integrity."
 

It forms the esoteric basis for the Ancient

Egyptian Mysteries, Gnosticism, Esoteric Christianity, the Cabbala, the Hermetic tradition, alchemy and societies such as the Templars, Freemasons and Rosicrucians. The occult doctrines of geomancy, alchemy, astrology and sexual magic taught by these secret societies were used as symbolic metaphors illustrating the progression of the individual from material darkness to the spiritual light of understanding.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

Howard states that "it cannot be denied that" Weishaupt "was a spiritual person" while conceding that his "spirituality" "would have horrified" his critics.
 

It is true that Weishaupt had an almost pathological hatred of established religion but it cannot be denied that he was a spiritual person, although his spirituality would have horrified the clerics who opposed him

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

Weishaupt appears to be adeptly placed in a position of honor as a "spiritual person of "the Ancient Wisdom." Examine what one of the main objectives of the "Ancient Wisdom," which Howard extols, involved. Weishaupt had a common base with the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons. While the Bible teaches us that mankind can be redeemed, brought back and made whole from sin and death through Jesus Christ, the occult "Ancient Wisdom" teaches occult "redemption" by means of spiritistic illumination by Lucifer, the very one who brought sin and death to the human family. Lucifer's solution, Weishaupt's solution, is the de-Christianizing of mankind. The object of the occult "wisdom" is to alienate mankind from God, debasingly corrupting mankind; spiritistically corrupting through "illumination" by Lucifer and Lucifer's demons, and morally and ethically corrupting mankind. To that end, Freemasonry has served a wide diabolical spectrum in corrupting the human soul.
 

Weishaupt ...
He believed that once the masses had been de-Christianized they would demand political freedom and the right to enjoy life without the moral straitjacket imposed by the puritanical teachings of the Church on sexual matters.

In common with the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons, Weishaupt believed this redemption was possible by the application of the occult traditions preserved by the pagan Mystery schools who were the guardians of the Ancient Wisdom.

Secret Societies --- Their Influence and Power in World History,

Michael Howard, 1989
 

The Kundalini serpent force ending in "illumination"of the brain by Lucifer, having Lucifer or Satan intensely impress thoughts upon one's brain, is what is considered to achieve occult "redemption". Ancient "Wisdom."
 
 

In this third degree of Wicca, ...

called the Great Rite ...

This channelling raises the Kundalini force and supposedly produces enlightenment when the Kundalini serpent strikes upwards and "bites" you metaphysically at the base of your brain.

True, traditional Witchcraft teaches that for a High Priest or Priestess of the Third Grade to be made, sexual contact must be made in a sexual magic environment ...

The occult ancient wisdom offers so-called "redemption" by being bitten at the base of the brain by Lucifer, as represented by the Kundalini serpent, or snake, simply put. The "redemption" is not to everlasting life on earth or in heaven. It is counterfeit redemption. A horrible ploy. Occult "redemption" is not redemption from sin but immersion into sin and corruption. The kundalini serpent force passes upwards through the body into the brain to produce spiritistic "illumination." Manly P. Hall also made the occult "tradition" reference to the serpent doctrine when he wrote, "Through him {the initiate Master Mason} passes ... the great snake ..."
 

The Master Mason ...

Through him passes Hydra, the great snake, and from its mouth there pours to man the light of God.

The sexual contacts of fornication, adultery, and sodomy "in a sexual magic environment" to facilitate sexual magic in the occult "tradition" is linked Weishaupt's efforts to "de-Christianize the masses." Michael Howard, as already quoted, refers to the application of occult "redemption" traditions which Weishaupt had in common with the Rosicrucians and Freemasons.

As already noted, Howard relates that which critics regarded as "perverted sexual activities" to psychic or metaphysical centers of the body. Occult practices which are supposed to invoke Luciferian or demon "illumination" include what is called Tantric sex. Further, Lucifer, or Satan, uses sodomy as a means to debase human beings in their quest for "illumination." Sodomy has also been referred to in writing as the third means of the three degrees of sexual magic.

Ancient Egyptian mystery religion, at the center of the New Age movement and of the occult "traditions," clearly defines Lucifer and the occult tradition as agents of spiritual darkness and degradation.
 

No matter where the serious magical Wiccan apprentice turns, he or she is confronted with Crowley's magical "current" of energy. When a High Priest or High Priestess is created in ritual initiation, they are usually empowered by an act of Tantric sex, while invoking a powerful ritual written by Crowley himself for his blasphemous and satanic "Gnostic Mass".

True, traditional Witchcraft teaches that for a High Priest or Priestess of the Third Grade to be made, sexual contact must be made in a sexual magic environment ...

It is in this utterly intimate contact that the "power" of the High Priesthood is passed, and has been passed down through the generations. Crowley designed this ritual to continue the highly depraved Set (or Aiwass) magical current

from the Initiator to the candidate.

The American goat-god counterculture of witchcraft and the occult is deeply rooted in evil. The Egyptian mystery religion connection surfaces again as diabolical spiritistic practice. The "highly depraved Set" god of the Egyptians which Crowley invoked represents a means of spiritistically corrupting individuals and infusing evil into the fabric of American society. The roots of the god Set ?
 

Ancient Egyptians believed Set was the god responsible for all evil, and his "mom," Lilith, was the naight-hag who was also the "patron saint" of abortion (a traditional witch practice).

It is highly significant that Masonry and the New Age movement owe their theological framework to leaders such as Crowley and the adroit Alice Bailey. It is highly significant that Freemasonry is presided over by the Palladian Rite in which sex with persons possessed by demons molds a person's character. One of Crowley's contributions to the occult community was to supplement it's cadre of demons at the highest initiatory levels with that of the evil Set, providing a means for a pervasive influence which would pass through the ranks and into society.
 

It is in this utterly intimate contact that the "power" of the High Priesthood is passed, and has been passed down through the generation. Crowley designed this ritual to continue the highly depraved Set (or Aiwass) magical current

from the Initiator to the candidate. At the risk of stretching a metaphor, he created a spiritual venereal disease {Schnoebelen's bold print, s. v. d.}, which could be easily passed through the act of sex, and which would insure that his "religion" would survive long after his death.

into the very beating spiritual heart of the Wicca and created an apostolic succession of unparalleled debauchery and evil.

Set, or Aiwass, is a demon spirit guide which through "sex magic" infests the witchcraft community of which Schnoebelen spoke.
 

... most Witches ... "plug themselves into" the magical current of Crowley's demon spirit guide, a mysterious being named Aiwass {Italics and bold print by author}.

Aiwass is another name for Set, an Egyptian god mentioned earlier.

The ramifications of such an inimical influence in society is clearly enunciated by the author Schnoebelen who explores in his books the formation of America's counterculture, including drugs and their clandestine association with witchcraft and the New Age movement. The evil Set is also known as Typhon.
 

Sodomy is especially "sacred" to Set because of its close association to human waste

This detestable practice serves a similar function in the anus as does the magical sex act of intercourse described above. It opens what are called the "Typhonion" tunnels, channels through which extremely powerful demons ... can travel ... and enter the sex partner's body.

the best way to open these tunnels of demonic ingress is through homosexual sex ....

The ramifications to society in terms of violence is subsequently analyzed or explained by Schnoebelen. The sexual revolution of the 60's (Weishaupt's dream) is further placed in a context which accounts, at least in part, for the changing "values" in American culture.
 

This is because sex (especially sinful sex outside marriage) is a major way in which demonic oppression can be passed from one person to another.

Thus, "spirituality" in the New Age movement, centered around spirit guides, is heavily impacted by not only Lucifer who has inspired the body of Freemasonry to commit men to sworn oaths including murder and treason, but by a cadre of demons, some of whom transform themselves into deceptive counterfeit angels of light, while others infuse their disciples with unequivocal evil. The worship of such gods as Set is thus demonstrated to involve more than merely a theological college of propositions, but to constitute a "material" means of channeling evil and even demonic oppression into individuals and society.

With a body of testimony now more readily available, the Templars' enigma of "degeneration" involving sodomy can be put into the context of black magical rites involving base sexual perversion to achieve spiritistic "illumination" by the evil force represented by the goat god, the Baphomet.

The "golden age" which occult practitioners have been working to bring about is often introduced to entry level persons as the quintessence of peace, but at the very highest levels it is clear that it is a "golden age" of Lucifer and the demons which is the focus of "the practical task."
 

In time, the mystic-chemists became mystic-politicians. They bound themselves into a Secret Empire of Philosophic Reformers. Through them, magical, cabalistic, and transcendental lore was focused upon the practical task of the restoration of the golden age. This golden age was the symbol of the Philosophic Empire.

The "Philosophical Empire" in the United States was seriously jeopardized following the murder of Captain William Morgan whose expose of Freemasonry revealed the foundations of a criminal empire in America. The investigations which followed by three State legislatures divided the nation in two on the issue of Freemasonry, and seriously so. The sentiments against Freemasonry grew to such an extent that Millard Fillmore, who had been a Mason but who had renounced Freemasonry and joined the Anti-Masonic Party in 1828, went on to become President. Further, the monopolization of the press by Masonic influence was seriously undermined as the national division over the issue of Freemasonry led to the formation of newspapers and magazines under the auspices of Anti-Masonic Societies. Weishaupt's Illuminati tactic of having the preponderant, if not exclusive, control of the press faced a crisis.
 

Carlile, in his Manual of Freemasonry, gives the following particulars : --- "... William Morgan, ... was kidnapped,... and ... murdered. This happened in 1826. The States have been for many years much excited upon the subject ; a regular warfare has arisen between Masons and anti-Masons. Societies of anti-Masons have been formed, newspapers and magazines started, and many published ; so that before the slavery question was passed amongst them, all parties had merged themselves into Masons and anti-Masons.

Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller), 1933
 

The Civil War gave Freemasonry the opportunity forge a new set of circumstances from the crucible of war. Masonry continued on during the war as a common force in the Northern and Southern States, constituting a "government in itself." The obstruction which was encountered to the investigations by the State legislatures prior to the War gave some measure of the strength of Freemasonry at the time, but that power had become seriously threatened. Masonry would emerge from the devastating conflict in a position of renewed strength.
 

The Craft's relationship to any nation was clearly explained at the time of the Civil War in an 1861 letter from the Grand Lodge of York Masons in Pennsylvania to their counterparts in Tennessee. The letter said:

"Masonry is as old as government. It constitutes a government in itself . . .

"Masonry is a sovereignty and a law unto itself . . . It knows nothing but the principles and teachings of its faith."

{quoted from Allen E. Roberts' A House Undivided, The Story of Freemasonry

And The Civil War, St. Louis, Missouri Lodge of Research, 1961, pp. 33-35}.
 

The formidable threat to the principles of the U.S. Constitution not only persisted, but prevailed. At the time of the Civil War (1861-1865) the Grand Lodge of York Masons in Pennsylvania wrote that "Masonry ... constitutes a government in itself", that it "is a sovereignty and a law unto itself" and that "it knows nothing but the principles ... of its faith", which were amply demonstrated in conformance with it's subversive and criminal oaths during the investigations into the Craft in that very State of Pennsylvania, as well as in New York and Massachusetts. The 1861 declaration was indeed ominous and foreboding for America. The U.S. Constitution and the balance of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of Constitutional government in America were formidably challenged, even as previous obstructed State legislature investigations had certified.

Although slavery had been a hotly contested issue, it was not until nearly two years into the War that President Lincoln had incorporated emancipation into the agenda of the War. Later, Brigadier General Albert Pike would co-found the Klu Klux Klan to undermine the Emancipation Proclamation.

The American Civil War united the industrial northern States with the agricultural southern States. However, a configuration of powers not enunciated in the Constitution emerged after the Civil War which made President Lincoln virtually tremble.
 
 

Lincoln perceived the corrupting influence of the international bankers and commented:

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic destroyed. {footnote}

{footnote: Dallas Plemmons, The Illuminati, (self-published tract, 1979), p. 4}
 
 

Shortly before his assassination, President Lincoln warned:

As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. {footnote}

{footnote: Louis T. McFadden, Collective Speeches of Congressman Louis T. McFadden (Hawthorne, CA: Omni Publications, 1970), p. vi}
 

Not only were "corporations ... enthroned" following the Civil War, but the power of Freemasonry secured the Presidency with or following Lincoln's assassination. Andrew Johnson, Vice-president to Lincoln, had evidently been a Master Mason. Johnson pardoned General Albert Pike for treason and subsequently received the degrees 4 through 32 in one night in 1867.

The same month (in 1867) in which Johnson obtained his degrees 4 through 32, he attended the dedication of the first Temple of Freemasonry in America. Where did this event transpire ? Massachusetts. The New York Times related the event without mentioning the Massachusetts legislature's findings which had revealed that :
 

The Committee found Freemasonry was "a distinct Independent Government within our own Government, and beyond the control of the laws of the land by means of its secrecy, and the oaths and regulations which its subjects are bound to obey, under penalties of death." The committee added that "in no Masonic oath presented to the committee, is there any reservation made of the Constitution and the laws of the land." {footnote 71}

The Joint Committee found Freemasonry to be a "moral evil," a "pecuniary evil," and a "political evil." {footnote 72}

footnote 71: Investigation Into Freemasonry by a Joint Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts House of Representatives, March, 1834, pp. 9-10., footnote 72: p. 11
 

President Andrew Johnson's comments in a public address for the Masonic milestone occasion in 1867 ? :
 

During his address to the gathering, the President disclosed the other reason he had come to the State of Massachusetts. He said:

"I should not have visited Massachusetts, at least on the present occasion, had it not been for the order of Masonry. I came in good faith for the express purpose of participating and witnessing the dedication of this temple today to Masonry, and as far as I could, let it be much or little, to give my countenance and my sanction." {footnote}

{footnote: New York Times, June 25, 1867, p. 8}
 
 Masonry "knows nothing but the principles and teachings of its faith.." Those principles and teachings have been demonstrated in writing and in deed to be diametrically opposed to the principles and teachings of the U.S. Constitution and it's Bill of Rights. The official motto of the 32rd degree is "Order, out of Chaos." Freemasonry did, indeed, prevail out of the chaos of the Civil War, as it would in it's war against the Church of Rome in Europe. Masonry's godfathers would subsequently draft plans for three world wars to reconfigure the world according to Masonic/Illuminati objectives.
Recalling that "representatives of the world's secret societies" had "formally joined Masonry and the Illuminati" in "1782" 
[p.92, New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies, William T. Still, 1990] ,
Weishaupt's successor, Mazzini, later became the "godfather" of that evil Masonic empire. The Masonic Machine had become Mazzini's Masonic Machine. With Masonry's media influence and Mazzini's rulership over Freemasonry, the expression Mazzini's Masonic Media Machine would not be an inappropriate one. The trail of Mazzini's Masonic Media Machine would extend beyond his death.