Mere Freemasonry

Your question assumes something that is simply not true.

At no point in any of the 860 pages or so of Albert Pike’s Morals & Dogma does it say any such thing. In fact, “Lucifer” is only found in the text six times:

• “To steal the livery of the Court of God to serve the Devil withal; to pretend to believe in a God of mercy and a Redeemer of love, and persecute those of a different faith; to devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; to preach continence, and wallow in lust; to inculcate humility, and in pride surpass Lucifer; to pay tithe, and omit the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith; to strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel; to make clean the outside of the cup and platter, keeping them full within of extortion and excess; to appear outwardly righteous unto men, but within be full of hypocrisy and iniquity, is indeed to be like unto whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outward, but are within full of bones of the dead and of all uncleanness.” – Morals & Dogma, p. 74
• “… 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.” – Morals & Dogma, p. 103
• “…The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth Degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer.” – Morals & Dogma, p. 322
• “… 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?” – Morals & Dogma, p. 322 (most quoted passage taken out of context by idiots)
• “The conviction of all men that God is good led to a belief in a Devil, the fallen Lucifer or Light-bearer, Shaitan the Adversary, Ahriman and Tupho_n, as an attempt to explain the existence of Evil, and make it consistent with the Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Benevolence of God.” – Morals & Dogma, p. 325

While the majority of the mentions fall in line with Christian theology, the most quoted passage seemingly does not. That’s probably why the crazies pounce on it and try to devour it like it’s raw meat, when – in fact – it’s not. You can tell the crazies, because they’ll all answer your question with things like “because it’s true…”

Albert Pike was questioning (by the use of all capitals) why LUCIFER – a word that means “light bearer” is used to describe the prince of darkness.

It’s a good question. And – unfortunately for the religious nut bags who want to hate before they understand, context be damned – the answer is quite simple: It’s all St. Jerome’s fault. When he translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin to create the Latin Vulgate St. Jerome used “lucifer” – the latin word for “light bearer” – rather than the more accurate term. In fact, it’s used It is used instead of “the light of the morning” (Job 11:17), instead of “the signs of the zodiac” (Job 38:32), instead of “the aurora” (Psalm 109:3), and even replaced Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:19; Apocalypse 22:16 ). It appears in the KJV of the Bible – this is where the religious nutbags get “Lucifer” as the name of the Devil from – in Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” If you read it right, it’s an allegorical tale about a Babylonian king who fell from his throne as the morning star – Venus, the planet, in this case – fell from the sky. Venus the planet is the “light bearer,” “light bringer,” and “morning star.”

So, to properly answer your question: Albert Pike NEVER said the God of Freemasonry is Lucifer. Might want to get some context before you ask questions like the one you posed here.

To correct some misconceptions:

• The question posed doesn’t include any “truth.” Freemasonry is a social fraternity, not a religion. It has no “God,” and neither religion nor politics are discussed in Lodge.
• Lucifer was never “considered to be the wonderful ‘light bearer’ who brought freedom and intellectual illumination to the world.” Light is light. Lucifer is a mistaken translation by St. Jerome.
• There is no “traditional God” in Freemasonry, it’s a social fraternity, not a religion.
• There is no such thing as “upper level Freemasonry.”
• There are no “details” that are hidden in Freemasonry; every Freemason knows exactly what Freemasonry is. That’s why they can answer questions accurately about the fraternity on Quora.
• There’s no such thing as any nonsensical “most illuminated high level participants” in Freemasonry. There are three degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason.
• There’s no “lower levels” in Freemasonry, there are only the three degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason.
• There is no ““hiding in plain site [sic]” in Freemasonry.
• The Illuminati were a Bavarian political group that advocated the overthrow of hereditary European monarchies. They were formed in 1776 and disbanded in 1785. They only ever had six members.
• The Illuminati have never infiltrated ANY organization. They were six guys. They met in beer halls. They’ve all been dead for more than 200 years.
• The Illuminati aren’t “imbedded in all of our institutions and organizations.” They don’t exist. They haven’t existed for more than 200 years.

If you have questions about Freemasonry, it’s best to ask a Freemason. If you have questions about Albert Pike, it’s probably better to ask someone who knows a bit about the history of the Scottish Rite and the book “Morals and Dogma” – which is a long, dry, and not very exciting book.