The Sun and the Serpent in Freemasonry: Osiris, Lucifer, and Parallels with Catholic Symbolism
- Michelle Hayman
- 4 days ago
- 22 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Freemasonry reveres the Sun as a paramount symbol of light, knowledge, and power. Albert Mackey, a renowned Masonic scholar, wrote that “hardly any of the symbols of Freemasonry are more important in their signification or more extensive in their application than the sun,” which as the source of material light “reminds the Freemason of that intellectual light of which he is in constant search”. In Masonic lodges, the Sun (along with the Moon) is counted among the “lesser lights,” and it corresponds to the Master of the Lodge, who should rule it with the regularity that the sun rules the day. As Mackey explains, in Freemasonry the sun is presented first as a symbol of enlightenment, but “more emphatically as a symbol of sovereign authority”. This reflects the ancient idea that the solar orb – in rising, ruling, and setting – signifies the divine right of kings and the order of the cosmos.
Masonic literature often emphasizes that veneration of the sun was the prototypical religion: Mackey noted that sun worship was “the oldest and by far the most prevalent of all the ancient religions”. In the same vein, the 33° Scottish Rite Mason Albert Pike observed that “The worship of the Sun became the basis of all the religions of antiquity.” To the early peoples, “light and heat were mysteries,” and the sun – causing day and night and the change of seasons – became identified with the Principle of Good, the life-giver and generative force in nature. Pike elaborates that many ancient gods “became but personifications of the Sun, the regenerating Principle, image of that fecundity which perpetuates and rejuvenates the world’s existence,” explicitly including Osiris (of Egypt and represented by the phallus) among these solar deities.
The sun’s yearly death and rebirth at the winter solstice, and its daily setting and rising, were mythologized in countless forms – from Osiris’s murder and resurrection to the battles between Apollo and Python – all allegories in which the victory of light over darkness symbolizes the triumph of life over death. Freemasonry, heir to this ancient solar symbolism, uses the sun to signify the Eternal Light of truth and the abiding authority of the Great Architect (with lodge Masters even analogized to the rising sun in the east). It is no coincidence that Masonic lodges traditionally meet “open[ing] on the East” and spread “further light” to initiates, mirroring the sunrise of knowledge.
Osiris: Solar Deity of Death and Resurrection
Central to Masonic lore and esoteric teaching is the Egyptian god Osiris, often identified as a personification of the sun and its generative power. Pike and Mackey both describe Osiris – mythic lord of the underworld and rebirth – as a solar/fire deity akin to the sun gods of other cultures. In Egyptian myth, Osiris is slain and dismembered by the evil Set (Typhon), only to be restored to life by Isis (the Queen of Heaven). Masonic writers have long noted the correspondence between Osiris’s story and the initiatic drama of the Masonic Third Degree (the death and raising of the Master Hiram Abiff). As one 19th-century Masonic source put it, “We readily recognize in Hiram Abiff the Osiris of the Egyptians.” This mythic cycle of death and resurrection symbolizes the journey of the soul and the secret of regeneration, concepts at the heart of both ancient mystery religions and Masonry’s allegories. Osiris’s identity as a sun-god was widely syncretized: “In Thrace and Greece he is known as Dionysus… In Rome he is called Liber or Bacchus… The Lydians label him Bassareus and in Persia he is identified as Mithras… Phrygians know Osiris as Sabazius where he is honoured as a solar deity (a sun god) who was represented by a serpent.” In other words, the Egyptian Osiris was equated with Dionysus (the Greek god of wine, ecstasy, and rebirth) and with Bacchus (his Roman form), both of whom similarly died and returned to life in their mystery cults. The Dionysian Artificers – a fraternity of temple builders in ancient Greece and Rome who worshipped Dionysus – are often cited by Masonic historians as a possible link to the origins of Freemasonry, given their use of secret signs, initiations, and the myth of a slain god (Dionysus/Osiris) influencing their rituals. Indeed, Masonry’s symbolical resurrection of Hiram can be seen as perpetuating the Osirian rite of restoring the fallen god.
A notable symbol of Osiris’s generative aspect is the obelisk – an upright stone pillar – which esoteric scholars interpret as a phallic emblem of the sun god. After Osiris’s murder, Egyptian legend says his body was cut into pieces; Isis recovered all but one part – the phallus, which had been swallowed by a fish. She fashioned a replacement and consecrated it, and ever after, the obelisk stood as a monument to Osiris’s lost member. Albert Mackey explains that the worship of the Phallus was actually “a peculiar modification of sun-worship” in the ancient world. He notes that after Osiris’s light was “destroyed” by Typhon (i.e. after sunset), the Egyptians venerated the phallus as a symbol of the male generative principle, “simply symbolic of the fact that the sun having set, its fecundating and invigorating power had ceased”. Thus the obelisk – a ray-like pillar often inscribed with the sun’s symbolism – represents the vitality of the sun god even in the darkness, a promise of renewal. In modern esoteric interpretation, “Osiris’ lost phallus is symbolized by an obelisk,” and tellingly, obelisk monuments now stand in many centers of power around the world. Freemasons of the 19th century were fascinated by this Egyptian symbol; they helped erect Cleopatra’s Needle in London and others in New York. Even more strikingly, the Vatican itself hosts a 3,300-year-old Egyptian obelisk at the center of St. Peter’s Square – originally from Heliopolis (the City of the Sun) and dedicated to the sun god Re. In 1586, Pope Sixtus V re-erected the ancient obelisk in the Vatican and capped it with a cross—Christianizing a pagan sun pillar using another symbol that itself once represented the sun. The Church’s records note that a golden orb once topped the obelisk (believed in medieval times to contain Emperor Caligula’s or Julius Caesar’s ashes), which “in pagan times…symboliz[ed] worship of the sun,” until it was replaced by the cross as a sign of "Christ’s triumph". The obelisk still towers today as an unmissable monument – a silent witness to the continuity of solar worship imagery in a Christian setting.
Freemasonry, ever attuned to such symbols, also embraces the obelisk and the phallus in its allegories of regeneration. In some Masonic rites, the “point within a circle” (a dot within a circumference flanked by two parallel lines) is explained at an esoteric level as a union of the male and female principles – the point (phallus) and circle (womb) – echoing the ancient Lingam-Yoni symbols of India. This interpretation was usually veiled from the ordinary lodge explanations, but writers like Mackey candidly traced it to the solar generative cults of Egypt. As Manly P. Hall (a 33° Mason) succinctly stated, “Everything good in nature comes from Osiris – order, harmony…” and by extension, the fecundating light of the sun. In Freemasonry, Osiris’s legacy survives not only in the ritual of Hiram Abiff but also in the very layout of the lodge (oriented east to west like an Egyptian temple) and in the prominent use of sun imagery on Masonic aprons, tracing boards, and jewels. The sovereign sun, the generative phallus, and the dying-reborn god – all key notes of Osirian myth – resonate through Masonic symbolism.
The Serpent as Enlightener and the Luciferian “Light-Bearer”
If the sun symbolizes the glory of enlightenment in Freemasonry, the Serpent often represents the method of attaining that enlightenment – through knowledge, sometimes forbidden. Across ancient mystery traditions, serpents were emblematic of wisdom, healing, and the life force. The Greek god of healing, Aesculapius, for example, was represented by a serpent (the same snake-entwined rod that remains a medical symbol today). An article in a Masonic research journal noted that the very name Aesculapius means “the man-instructing snake” or “the snake that instructs man.” In mythology, “Aesculapius was believed to be the child of the Sun, and thus the ‘enlightener’ of mankind. As the legend goes, Aesculapius was ultimately struck down by a thunderbolt thrown by an angry Zeus…and cast into the underworld.”. This tale uncannily mirrors the Biblical story of Lucifer – the Light-Bearer, a brilliant one cast down from heaven for trying to usurp God”s throne. The fallen Aesculapius myth even included a “tree stump” symbolizing the cut-down god and a serpent twining around that dead stump attempting to restore it to life – a vivid image of a ruined kingdom awaiting resurrection by occult knowledge. Some Gnostic and occult interpretations see in these myths an allegory of Lucifer (or Satan in Christian terms) working to reclaim his former glory – the snake on the stump striving to revive the fallen “light-god.” It is little wonder that in the mysteries, the serpent was often sacred: the Egyptians had the cobra-goddess Wadjet, the Greeks the oracular Python at Delphi, and in Gnostic lore the serpent was praised as the liberator of Adam and Eve.
Freemasonry’s use of serpent symbolism is subtle but real. One of the highest degrees of the Scottish Rite, Prince of the Tabernacle (Knight of the Brazen Serpent), – a symbol which Pike relates to the Phoenician god Agathodaemon and the Egyptian Kneph, both serpentine forms of "divine wisdom". The Masonic caduceus (entwined serpents) and the use of serpents on Tracing Boards are allusive references to the transformative power of secret knowledge. Critics of Masonry have asked pointedly: “Is the serpent worshipped in the Ancient Mysteries and a symbol in Masonic ceremonies a symbol of Satan, the devil?” – and answered in the affirmative, presenting “evidence that this is the case.”
In the Biblical Book of Revelation, the Devil is explicitly called “that old serpent” and “the great dragon” (Rev. 12:9), linking the snake of Eden to Satan. Masonic writings do not say “we worship Satan,” of course; but the prominence of serpent imagery and its ties to illumination have led some to conclude that Masonry venerates the idea behind Lucifer – the rebellion for the sake of light. This Luciferian theme is undeniably present in core Masonic texts.
Albert Pike famously wrote of Lucifer in words that have been both quoted and misquoted for generations: “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!”. In this remarkable passage, Pike (speaking in the 19° degree lecture) rhetorically asks if the one called Light-Bearer could really be the source of enlightenment – and answers, “Doubt it not!” The implication is that the figure vilified as the Prince of Darkness is actually a misunderstood carrier of divine light, whose “splendors” overwhelm only the base and unworthy. Pike’s assessment of Lucifer aligns with esoteric interpretations of the “fallen angel” motif: that there is a hidden truth in Luciferian symbolism, accessible only to those initiates who understand Light not as physical illumination but as gnosis (knowledge). Manly P. Hall, another Masonic philosopher, put it even more boldly. In The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (1923), Hall describes a newly raised Mason at the moment of attaining the 3° Master Mason wisdom: “When the Mason learns that the key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the mystery of his Craft.” He then reveals that “the seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands and before he may step onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply energy.”. Hall’s statement is startling: it suggests that the Mason, by mastering the “dynamo” of life force (the Kundalini or astral power), is literally wielding the power of Lucifer. In context, Hall is not advocating devil-worship; he is speaking to the idea that Lucifer (Latin for Light-Bringer) is a symbol for the cosmic energy that can exalt or destroy. The Mason must tame this “seething” force and use it benevolently – an echo of the occult maxim that the energy which illumines the wise will consume the ignorant.
Another key Masonic symbol tied to Lucifer is the Blazing Star. In Masonic lodges, a five-pointed blazing star often appears in the East, commonly said to represent divine providence or the star of initiation. But some authors connect it to Venus (the Morning Star) – i.e., to Lucifer. Albert Mackey noted that the Blazing Star is a symbol of “the sun” in one context and of “the light of Divine Providence pointing out the way of truth” in another. However, as the scholar A. Ralph Epperson observes, Mackey’s Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry includes a shooting star among its list of Masonic symbols. A shooting or falling star immediately evokes Lucifer’s fall. The Bible’s Isaiah 14:12 addresses Lucifer, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” – equating Lucifer to a fallen star cast down to earth. Thus, one could argue – and indeed Epperson does – that “the symbol of the ‘falling’ or ‘blazing’ star could be a symbol of Lucifer.” The pentagram itself, especially drawn as an inverted star, has often been associated with Satan/Lucifer in ritual magic (Eliphas Lévi’s Baphomet has an inverted pentagram on its forehead). Freemasons typically use an upright pentagram; yet the overlap of symbolism is enough to fuel speculation. To the initiates “in the know,” the Blazing Star is Sirius or Venus – celestial sources of light; but to the detractors, it is the emblem of the fallen light-bearer.
Finally, consider the forbidden knowledge in Genesis: the serpent—Satan in disguise—tempted Eve with the lie that eating the fruit would open her eyes and make her “as gods, knowing good and evil.” This so-called “enlightenment” was not divine wisdom but a direct act of rebellion against God, the original sin that brought death into the world. The reference to opened eyes has long been co-opted in occult circles as a metaphor for the “third eye,” symbolized by the pine cone, and falsely celebrated as spiritual awakening. In reality, it was the serpent’s attempt to corrupt and dethrone man from his obedience to the Creator.
Freemasonry, with its constant pursuit of “more light,” echoes this very deception. Its initiatory path leads candidates—blindfolded and hoodwinked—through symbolic darkness toward what it claims is enlightenment. But this "light" is not of God; it is a counterfeit, mirroring the serpent’s original seduction. Critics rightly argue that the Masonic ritual re-enacts the Edenic fall, encouraging men to seek truth apart from God’s revelation and authority. Rather than submission to divine truth, Freemasonry glorifies human autonomy, echoing the serpent’s ancient promise: you shall be as gods.
This perverse elevation of rebellion into “illumination” is a hallmark of Luciferianism. Occultists like Madame Blavatsky, a known admirer of Freemasonry, openly praised Lucifer—not as the enemy of mankind, but as its liberator, calling him the misunderstood bearer of light and soul. Such thinking turns the truth upside down: evil becomes good, and the tempter becomes teacher. It is therefore no surprise that mottos like “Lux e Tenebris” (Light out of Darkness), and serpent imagery entwined around radiant triangles, are found in high-degree Masonic regalia. These symbols point not to divine truth, but to Gnostic rebellion—the lie that knowledge and godhood can be seized apart from God. It is Lucifer, not Christ, who illuminates this path—one paved not with truth, but with pride, deception, and damnation.
Catholicism’s Sun and Serpent Imagery: Ancient Remnants in Ritual
The Roman Catholic Church, while doctrinally "opposed" to Freemasonry and overt Luciferianism, curiously preserves in its own iconography and rites many symbols that hark back to ancient sun worship and serpent lore. These correspondences have not gone unnoticed by historians and critics, who argue that the Church absorbed pagan motifs to ease conversion of the masses – a process of syncretism that inadvertently kept the old symbols alive under new meanings. One of the most prominent is the sunburst image used in the Eucharist. During the Catholic Mass and especially Benediction, the consecrated communion wafer (host) – which is round and disk-like – is placed in a vessel called the monstrance, often made of gold and designed as a radiant sunburst. The host is thus displayed as if it were the Solar Deity itself, emanating rays.
Catholic theologians explain that this design is intentional to signify Christ as “the Sun of Righteousness” (Malachi 4:2) and “Light of the World.” A Catholic commentary candidly notes: “Given this biblical and traditional association of Jesus supplanting the sun as the source of Supernatural Light, it is wholly appropriate that the sunburst design be implemented in the monstrance which contains and exposes the Real Presence of our Lord.” In other words, the Church “skillfully used the pagan belief system to amplify the worship of Jesus,” portraying Jesus as the true unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus) triumphing over the old solar deities.
However, this syncretism poses a profound theological problem. The Bible clearly forbids the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, warning in Deuteronomy 4:19: “Beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars... you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them.”
Christ is not the literal sun, nor a celestial object, but the eternal Light of God—the Light that shines in the darkness (John 1:5), not the orb that rises and sets. The attempt to visually conflate Christ with solar imagery risks blending true worship with the very idolatry God condemned.
This symbolic corruption becomes even more apparent when one considers the Sabbath issue. God’s seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) is a sign of His eternal covenant (Exodus 31:16–17), yet Rome replaced it with Sunday, the venerable day of the sun. This shift is not arbitrary—it aligns with the very solar theology inherited from pagan Rome. By trampling God's Sabbath, they not only violate His command, but nullify any spiritual authority to represent Christ, who is explicitly declared in Scripture to be “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28).
So one must ask: who is truly being worshipped? Christ, who sanctified the seventh day in creation and declared it holy forever? Or Lucifer, the light-bearer, rebranded through symbolism and ritual as the unconquered sun? It is telling that the number 666, referenced in Revelation as the number of the Beast, also corresponds to the mathematical sum of the first 36 numbers—a key figure in ancient sun worship, where the sun was divided into 36 decans or constellational divisions. The total power of the sun, as calculated in occult numerology, is 666.
In light of these connections, it becomes increasingly difficult to view such solar-themed rituals and calendar reforms as innocent. Instead, they appear to be part of a long-standing effort to replace the worship of the Creator with veneration of the creation, and by extension, the serpent’s original lie: “You shall be as gods.”
The monstrance typically features a circular window (often surrounded by golden rays and sometimes encircled by a corona of precious stones) where the white host is visible – a scene that, to an outside observer, is virtually indistinguishable from an ancient priest offering a sun-disc. In fact, during the Eucharistic adoration, the faithful kneel before this sun-like monstrance, just as pagans once faced the rising sun. The Church argues the symbolism now is entirely Christ-centric, the Host is the body of Christ, and the rays signify the graces that radiate from His presence. They even incorporate a small crescent (lunette) to hold the host, representing the "Virgin Mary" as the moon reflecting the sun’s light (eerily similar to Freemasonry). Yet, the visual echo of pre-Christian worship is undeniable. Anti-Catholic polemicists often call the host a “Sun wafer” and accuse the Church of “sun worship” in disguise.
Naturally, the power of the Roman Church could never have reached its global influence had people understood that, beneath the surface, they were being led to worship Lucifer under the guise of Christ. This veil of religious legitimacy enabled centuries of unchecked authority—and perhaps explains how the Church could sanction the persecution and execution of thousands without hesitation or remorse, believing it acted in service of a higher, though deeply corrupted, spiritual agenda..
The transition from ancient mystery cults to modern religious ritual is perhaps most striking in the continuity of symbolic communion. In the cult of Dionysus, initiates drank wine infused with the essence of the god—Dionysus, the deity of wine, ecstasy, and rebirth. Yet Dionysus was not a standalone figure; he was equated with Osiris, the Egyptian sun-god of death and resurrection, who in esoteric teachings is none other than Lucifer in symbolic form; the light-bearer who offers hidden knowledge through death and rebirth.
The Dionysian Artificers, ancient temple builders who venerated Dionysus through sacred rites, are frequently cited by Masonic historians as a forerunner of Freemasonry. This connection is more than architectural; it is spiritual. Freemasonry, steeped in the mystery traditions of Osiris and Dionysus, upholds the same veiled doctrine of illumination through sacrifice and hidden knowledge.
And so it is deeply significant that Catholic Mass reenacts a ritual of wine consumption, said to be transformed into the literal blood of Christ. Yet this practice carries a far older blueprint; rooted in the mystery cults of Dionysus and Osiris, where wine symbolized the essence of a dying and resurrecting god, often associated in esoteric traditions with Lucifer. Scripture warns against such presumptuous rituals. In Romans 10:6, the Apostle Paul writes: “Say not in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down)”—a clear admonition against reenacting or re-conjuring Christ’s heavenly presence through ritual.
Yet this is precisely what the Roman Church "claims" to do in every Mass; bringing Christ down onto altars through the transformation of wine, while simultaneously trampling the seventh-day Sabbath, the sign of God's eternal covenant (Exodus 31:16–17). In doing so, the Church breaks the very command that identifies those who are truly in covenant with God. By replacing God’s holy Sabbath with Sunday, the day of the sun, the Church nullifies its spiritual authority to represent Christ, who is called “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28).
Moreover, the Bible directly warns of what the wine becomes in the hands of the unfaithful: “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder” (Proverbs 23:32). The serpent—Lucifer’s ancient symbol—appears once again in the cup. What is claimed to be sacred becomes, in reality, a ritual that may invoke another spirit entirely; a communion not with Christ, but with the deceiver who masquerades as light.
To the uninitiated, it is holy; but to those familiar with the Mysteries, it is hauntingly familiar. The structure is the same: a god dies, his essence is consumed through wine, and rebirth is promised—a liturgy not unlike that of Dionysus, Osiris, and ultimately, Lucifer disguised as light.
“Take heed that no man deceive you.”
— Matthew 24:4 (KJV)
Another striking carryover of ancient symbolism is the presence of obelisk monuments and serpent/dragon imagery in the Catholic sacred landscape. We have already noted the Vatican Obelisk in St. Peter’s Square – a literal trophy of Egyptian sun worship planted at the heart of the Roman Church’s headquarters. Not only was this obelisk once crowned with a solar orb, it was also originally erected by the Romans at Nero’s circus where early Christians (including, by tradition, St. Peter) were martyred. The Church today says the obelisk stands as a victory memorial over paganism, especially since it’s topped with the cross and a fragment of the True Cross inside. But one cannot ignore that the shaft of the obelisk itself – unchanged since 37 AD – remains a symbol of Ra and Osiris “frozen” in Vatican stone. The very arrangement of the colonnade around St. Peter’s Square (designed by Bernini in the 17th century) forms a giant solar wheel when seen from above, with the obelisk at its center. Some interpret this as representing the wheel of the sun or even the ancient “Solomon’s Seal” pattern, again blending pagan geometry with Christian use. Moreover, the great basilica of St. Peter’s is built on the Vatican Hill which, before Christianization, was the site of the pagan shrine to Attis (another resurrected sun-god). The underground necropolis excavations show that a mosaic of the sun-god riding a chariot once decorated a tomb there – ironically under what is now the papal altar. Such coincidences bolster the argument that the RCC functions in part as a repository of Mystery religion symbols, even if it layers them with new meaning.
The serpent/dragon motif also slithers into Catholic heraldry and monuments. A prominent example is Pope Gregory XIII (1502–1585), remembered for instituting the Gregorian calendar (a solar calendar reform). Gregory XIII’s family crest (Boncompagni) featured a winged dragon. Far from hiding this, the pope emblazoned the dragon on numerous papal insignia, monuments, and even public clocks. His coat of arms is carved with a dragon in the Vatican (e.g. on his tomb in St. Peter’s), and in his native city Bologna a large statue of the pope sits above a balcony adorned with the dragon emblem. One remarkable artifact is the clock of the Roman church of Sant’Atanasio dei Greci, founded by Gregory XIII. The clock-face’s pointer is shaped as a dragon breathing fire, a direct homage to Gregory’s heraldic symbol – “the heraldic charge of the coat of arms of the Boncompagni family to which Pope Gregory belonged. The puff of fire from its mouth points out the time.”. To onlookers, it appears as if a dragon eternally circles the clock on a church, marking the hours. While the Church rationalized Gregory’s dragon by claiming its tail was “truncated” to remove evil, the image remains that of the ancient serpent – the very icon of Satan in the Book of Revelation – now wrapped around the measurement of time itself. Indeed, Protestant polemic during Gregory’s era picked up on this, portraying him in pamphlets as a dragon or as aiding the Dragon (Satan) in devouring souls, especially given that the calendar reform was announced in a bull on February 24, 1582 which some conspiratorial minds tied to astrological significance. Additionally, the Papal Cross staff used by recent popes (a bent crucifix with a twisted corpus) has been controversially claimed to resemble occult or anti-Christian symbolism by some, although the Church defends it as a modern artistic take on the suffering Christ. The Jesuit order’s emblem “IHS” is usually emblazoned on a sunburst (as seen on many altars and banners), effectively merging the name of Jesus with the Sun emblem – again a deliberate sign that Christ replaces the pagan sun; or so they say.
Osiris and Lucifer Unveiled: Toward a One-World Mystery Religion?
The theological and symbolic parallels between Freemasonry and Catholicism raise an intriguing (and for some, alarming) possibility: that both institutions are the twin harbingers of an ancient belief system – a Mystery religion venerating the Light-bearer – which may culminate in a unified world religion. Conspiracy theorists and some Christian eschatologists have long proposed that at the highest levels, Freemasonry and the Vatican are working toward the same end: the emergence of a universal religion that enshrines Lucifer (the Antichrist) as god. Normally, such claims are dismissed as fringe. Yet interestingly, some of the very figures in Masonry and occultism have articulated similar expectations. For example, Alice A. Bailey – an occult author and wife of 33° Freemason Foster Bailey – predicted that the Mystery traditions would regain authority in the coming age: “mysteries will be restored to outer expression through the medium of the Church and the Masonic fraternity,” she wrote, calling Freemasonry “the home of the Mysteries and the seat of initiation.” This stunning statement by an influential theosophist suggests that both the Catholic Church and Freemasonry (often seen as foes) will actually cooperate in revealing the “Mysteries” to the world. Bailey – whose own publishing company was originally named Lucifer Publishing – further hinted that “the Great One,” a future spiritual leader she also termed “the Christ,” was “working toward the same end as freemasonry”. In Bailey’s lexicon, this “Great One” is not Jesus, but the coming world messiah of the New Age – understood by Christian critics as the Antichrist. In his book The Spirit of Masonry, Foster Bailey likewise spoke of Freemasonry as the training ground for a new world order of enlightened occultists, and foresaw a “universal religion” taking shape.
Equally telling is that Alice Bailey explicitly identified Lucifer as the hidden inspiration of high Masonry. She wrote that Masonry “is a far more occult organization than can be realized” and is “intended to be the training school for the coming advanced occultists,” going so far as to praise Lucifer in her writings. In Bailey’s view, the “Great Architect of the Universe” that Masons toast is essentially the Light-bearer. Indeed, some ex-Freemasons have claimed that at the supreme degrees, initiates are told that the god of Masonry is Lucifer disguised – an allegation the fraternity vehemently denies. However, the Luciferian themes we have explored – the sun as source of light, the serpent as giver of knowledge, the star as fallen angel – are so recurrent that one understands why these accusations arise. Manly P. Hall once cryptically noted that “Freemasonry is a religion seeking to unite mankind in the worship of the Great Architect… no one ever truly follows his religion until he has practiced its precepts. Freemasonry is the meeting place of the arts and crafts of all ages… it is the custodian of the Plan, the home of the Mysteries.” Such language, especially about uniting mankind in worship, echoes the idea of a one-world creed. Pope Leo XIII in the 19th century, observing the influence of Masonic lodges in politics and culture, thundered that Freemasonry was essentially “the kingdom of Satan” on earth and warned it aimed to establish a humanist, apostate world order. Ironically, in recent times some traditional Catholic commentators have accused the Catholic hierarchy itself of being infiltrated by Masonic and Luciferian elements (pointing to scandals like the P2 Lodge affair, or to arcane symbols in Vatican art).
Setting conspiracies aside, the symbolic evidence is compelling that Freemasonry and the Catholic Church are custodians of the same archetypal mythos: the death and rebirth of a sun god (Osiris/Hiram/Christ), the use of phallic and solar emblems, the veneration of a divine light (personified as Lucifer or Christ the Light of the World), and the nurturing of a priesthood/initiatory clergy to mediate the Mysteries. As one modern analyst observed, “The sun worship of the ancients has not died; it was transferred into esoteric societies and the Church. The coming together of all these symbols suggests an eventual fusion… a one-world religion under the blazing star of the Antichrist.” While that conclusion is controversial, it is bolstered by admissions from insiders of the plan for a universal faith. Foster Bailey wrote over 50 years ago of “a new world order” and a global “church of God” that would unify all creeds, led by what he called “the Christ” – which a Christian would interpret as the false Christ. He even predicted a “cashless society” and socialist governance as accompanying this religious convergence. Today, as interfaith dialogues and ecumenism accelerate – often with both Masonic and Catholic encouragement – some see those predictions coming true. Pope Francis’s frequent called for global fraternity and the Masonic motto “Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God” sound surprisingly consonant. Both the Vatican and the lodge promote universal humanism (though one explicitly invokes Jesus and the other the GAOTU). It is not hard to imagine a future scenario (in times of manipulated crisis) where the Church and Masonry find common cause in a humanitarian spiritual movement – one that reveres “the knowledge of good and evil” offered by the serpent and the “light of Lucifer” as necessary enlightenment, all under a charismatic world leader who promises peace and enlightenment. In Christian eschatology, that scenario fits the Antichrist’s reign – a powerful deception of “light.”
Revelation 13:3–4 – Global admiration of a counterfeit savior
“And all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”This verse reveals a global unity in worshiping a powerful political-spiritual figure—the Beast—who derives his authority from Satan himself (the dragon). It points to a future world captivated by a deceptive, miracle-working leader.
Revelation 13:7–8 – A unified world religion
“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him…”This speaks of a global religious and political system where nearly all the world submits to the Beast. True believers—those who refuse—are persecuted. It closely parallels the concept of a unified “church of man” led by a false Christ.
Revelation 13:16–17 – The cashless society & centralized control
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark…”This directly points to a cashless society and an economic system that is conditional upon spiritual allegiance to the Beast. It aligns with forecasts of digital currency and centralized economic control under a New World Order.
Revelation 17:1–5 – The great whore: a counterfeit global religion
“Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters... with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication...And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”This mysterious religious-political power is described as ruling over nations, influencing kings, and fornicating spiritually with the world—a false, global religious system. Many link this imagery to apostate religious institutions, false unity, and spiritual compromise.
Revelation 13:11–14 – The false prophet and spiritual deception
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth... and he exerciseth all the power of the first beast...And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do...”This second beast, often interpreted as the False Prophet, promotes the worship of the first beast (Antichrist) and uses miraculous signs to deceive the world. He plays the role of the spiritual leader of the one-world religion, presenting false light and false peace.
2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 (Bonus: Paul’s prophecy of the Antichrist)
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed...Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God... shewing himself that he is God.”Paul warns that before Christ returns, there will be a massive apostasy and the rise of a man who claims to be God.
Sources: Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma; Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry; Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry; A. Ralph Epperson, The New World Order; Alice A. Bailey, Externalisation of the Hierarchy; and various Catholic and historical references.
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