Albert Pike

Albert Pike is a lawyer , a general Confederate and a writer American born on 29 December 1809 at Boston and died on 2 April 1891 in Washington.

He was a tribune of the party Whig before joining the movement Know Nothing in 1850.

He also conducted for thirty-two years one of the most important components of Freemasonry of the United States : the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Ancient and Accepted. As such, his name appears frequently in the context of conspiracy theories.

Summary 1 Biography 2 Influence on Freemasonry in North America 3 Controversies 3.1 Role in the Ku Klux Klan 3.2 Leo Taxil 3.3 Assessment of Morals and Dogma 3.4 The letter from Pike to Mazzini, according to William Carr 4 See also 4.1 Bibliography 4.2 Articles Related External 4.3 Documentation 5 Notes and references

Biography

Pike was born in Boston , Massachusetts. He was the son of Ben and Sarah (Andrews) Pike. He spent his childhood in Byfiel and Newburyport, Massachusetts. Among his ancestors from the colonial era were John Pike, founder of the town of Woodbridge, New Jersey. He studied at Newburyport and Framingham until the age of 15. In August 1825 he passed the entrance exams to Harvard , but he gave when he demanded the payment of fees for the first two years and continued his studies by himself and later became a teacher in Gloucester, Bedford, Fairhaven and Newburyport .

Having thus established in Arkansas in 1833 , he taught school and wrote a series of articles for the newspaper Adovcate of Arkansas Little Rock (Arkansas) , under the pseudonym "Casca" . . Articles suffimamment experienced success to enable him to join the newspaper staff. Later, thanks to the dowry of his marriage to Mary Ann Hamilton, he became a shareholder. In 1835 , he became its owner. Under his leadership, Arkansas in a divided and politically unstable, the advocate promoted the concepts of the Whig Party .

He began to study law and was admitted to the Bar in 1837 , when he sold the Advocate. He published several books on law and poetry. His poems, now forgotten, enjoyed a certain notoriety . Several volumes were published after his death by one of his daughter.

When the Mexican-American War broke out in 1846, Pike joined the cavalry. He participated in the Battle of Buena Vista . After the war he resumed his work as a lawyer in New Orleans.

Strongly opposed to secession , he said in 1854 that the South should remain in the Union and seek equality with the North, but if the South was forced to a lower status, it would be better to be outside Union .

He returned to Arkansas in 1857.

In 1859 , he was offered to become an honorary doctorate from Harvard , but he declined .

When the Civil War broke out in 1861 , he joined the camp of the Confederate States of America . He was appointed general (brigadier general) November 22, 1861 and received a command in Indian Territory . He led three regiments of Confederate cavalry Indian with whom he participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862. After this defeat the armies of the South and a leak in the hills of Arkansas, he resigned from the Confederate army. Arrested Nov. 3 and briefly detained in Warren (Texas), he was then released and allowed to return to Arkansas .

He later lived in different occupations. It was notably the editor of Memphis Daily Appeal from February 1867 to September 1868. Then he moved to Washington as a lawyer, arguing many cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Following financial difficulties, the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Ancient and Accepted granted him in 1879 a pension of 1,200 per year until the end of his life .

Father of 11 children, died in Washington (DC) on 2 April 1892 at the age of 81 years, and was buried at the Oak Hill, although he left instructions asking to be cremated . In 1944 , his remains were transferred to the Masonic Temple House of the Temple, headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Ancient and Accepted.

Influence on Freemasonry in North America

Albert Pike, after being admitted into the fraternity the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1840 , was initiated into Freemasonry in 1850 in Western Star Lodge No. 2 of Little Rock . He received dabord 10 degrees of York Rite from 1850 to 1853 before receiving of Albert Mackey 's first 29 degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in March 1853 in Charleston (South Carolina) .

He became extremely active in the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Ancient and Accepted , involved in the application of Mackey a profound rewriting of the rituals of 1855 to 1861 . He was elected Grand Commander of that court in 1859 and remained for thirty-two years until the end of his life.

His book esoteric and initiatory most famous is "Moral and Dogma" (Morals and Dogma), published in 1871 , which aims to explain the symbolism of the first 32 degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. This work was traditionally offered to American Masons at their reception in the 14th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite until 1974 .

Controversies

Albert Pike was the subject of much criticism and controversy, particularly in the context of conspiracy theories.

Role in the Ku Klux Klan

Different authors wrote that Albert Pike had held the position of Chief Justice in the KKK , or even that he was one of the founders of this secret society ^,

Leo Taxil

Taxil Leo , in his famous hoax , claimed inter alia that he showed by magical operations Lucifer in the form of a handsome young man in the evenings Masonic Charleston , USA .

Reviews of Morals and Dogma

In the chapter on Morals and Dogma devoted to the study of symbolism of the ^19th degree of this rite, the second sentence of the following paragraph has been the subject of numerous controversies, some evangelical Christian movements, seeing evidence of Satanism which characterizes according to them, the highest ranks of Freemasonry.

"The Apocalypse is handler, to Those Who recieve The Nineteenth Degree, The Sublime Faith Apothesis of That Which aspire to God alone, and despise All the Pomp and works of Lucifer. Lucifer, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to Give to the Spirit of Darknesss! Lucifer, The Son of the Morning! Is it he Who bears the Light, and splendors intolerable blinds icts With feeble, sensual or selfish Souls? Doubt it not! for traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations, and Inspiration is Not one of Age nor of one Creed. Plato and Philo, also, Were Inspired.

  "

Translation:

"The Apocalypse is, for those who receive the nineteenth level, the apotheosis of the sublime faith that seeks God, despite the pumps and the work of Lucifer. Lucifer , the bringer of light! What strange and mysterious name to the spirit of darkness! Lucifer, son of the morning! Is he the one who brings light and splendor of its intolerable blinds feeble souls, sensual or selfish? No doubt about it because traditions are full of inspiration and divine revelation, and inspiration is not confined to one era and one belief. Plato and Philo, they too were inspired.

  "

In chapter devoted to 30 ^degrees, Pike wrote:

"A Lodge inaugurated" under the auspices of Rousseau, tea fanatic of Geneva, Became The Center Of The Revolutionary Movement in France, and a Prince of the blood-royal Went thither to swear The Destruction of The Successor of Philip the Fair On The tomb of Jacques of Molai. The registers of The Order of Templars attest thats the Regent, The Duke of Orleans, Grand Master of WAS formidable Secret Society That, And That His Successors Were the Duke of Maine, The Prince of Bourbon-Conde, & the Duke de Cosse- Brissac .

  "

Translation:

"A lodge inaugurated under the auspices of Rousseau , the fanatic of Geneva, became the focus of French revolutionary movement, and a prince of royal went thither to swear the destruction of the successors of Philippe le Bel on the tomb of Jacques de Molai. The records of the Order of Templars attest that the Regent, the Duc d'Orleans , was Grand Master of this great secret society and its successors were the Duc de Maine , Prince de Bourbon-Cond and the Duke de Cosse -Brissac.

  "

Pike was echoing in part on his own in 1871 the thesis developed in 1798 by Augustin Barruel and constantly denied by historians , that the French Freemasonry was the organizer of the secret French Revolution.

The letter from Pike to Mazzini, according to William Carr

In 1958, Canadian William Guy Carr published a book called Pawns in the game in which he says he learned at the British Museum in London a letter from Pike to Giuseppe Mazzini , dated August 15, 1871 in which Pike would have explained The purpose of the three world wars in terms of writing for an amazing 1871. This book is still subject of controversy since it was defended by some conspiracy sites when he is criticized by some Masonic sites while the British Library detainee denies ever having such a letter . In the letter attributed to Pike, we find the following passage:

"The Second World War Must Be fomented by Taking Advantage Of The Differences Between The Fascists And The Political Zionists. This War Must Be Brought about Nazism IS SO That Destroyed And That The Political Zionism be strong Enough to institute a sovereign state of Israel in Palestine. "During the Second World War, International Communism must Become Strong Enough in order to balance Christendom, Which Would Be Restrained and Then Held in Check Until The Time When We Need It Would pour la final social cataclysm.

  "

"The Second World War must be fomented by taking advantage of differences between Fascists and political Zionism. This war should be conducted so that Nazism is destroyed and that the political Zionism became powerful enough to create a sovereign state of Israel in Palestine. During the Second World War, International Communism must become strong enough to counteract Christianity, which will be controlled and kept at bay as long as we need it before the final social cataclysm.

  "

The use of "Fascists" and "Nazism", which did not exist in 1871, according to historians shows that this is a fake. But the proponents of conspiracy theories maintain that the Pike had known, since these movements, according to them, were invented by the Illuminati .

See also

Bibliography

• (In) Walter Lee Brown, A Life of Albert Pike, University of Arkansas Press, 1997

• (En) Robert Lipscomb Duncan, Reluctant General: The Life and Times of Albert Pike, Ed Dutton, 1961

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