The Place of Kabbalah in the Doctrine of Russian Freemasons (original) (raw)
Masonic lodges first made their appearance in Russia in the mid-18 th century and, by the end of that century, probably involved several thousand people. Members of lodges were for the most part statesmen, aristocrats and intellec-tuals: dignitaries, career soldiers, officials, writers and scientists, churchmen, etc. Masonic views are known to have had a considerable influence on theideology of that time but, although the history of Russian masonry has beenwell studied, masonic ideology has until now received little scholarly atten-tion. There is a long tradition in Russian science of scepticism concerning themain constituents of masonic tradition: mysticism, alchemy and Kabbalah.During the late 19 th–early twentieth centuries, Russian scholars paid little at-tention to this topic, mainly because of their extreme positivistic views. In theSoviet period, the topic was taboo.
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This paper considers some connections between Kabbalah and Freemasonry in Russia as reflected in the archives of the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library (DMS RSL). The link between them was based on the understanding of both Kabbalah and Freemasonry as symbolic philosophy and “true metaphysics”. In the article we show how Russian Freemasons adopted Kabbalistic doctrines of Ein-Soph, Sephiroth, Adam Kadmon and mixed them with Neoplatonism’s theory of emanation,Christian apophatic mysticism, hermetic and alchemical worldview, and Christian sophiology. This eclectic adaptation was based on the interpretation of such masonic symbols as the point in a circle, Jachin and Boaz columns, and the Flaming Star. Masonic symbolism allowed for the combination of different esoteric doctrines in one unifie d worldview to make masonic symbols more attractive to the “educated milieu” of Russian nobility.
MYSTICAL VISION AND ITS EVALUATION IN THE RUSSIAN FREEMASONRY OF THE LATE 18TH — EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Sviato-Tikhonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. Seriia I: Bogoslovie. Filosofi ia. Religiovedenie. , 2022
In the richest manuscript heritage of Russian freemasons, who lived two centuries ago, there are numerous descriptions of various mystical experiences. These are visions and mystical dreams in which beings from the other world appeared, as well as deliberately evoked mystical states by which an adept attempts to penetrate into the other world. For censorship reasons, this aspect of the activities of Russian brothers practically did not go beyond the narrow circle of initiates. The article will attempt to present the main types of mystical experience reflected in the manuscripts of Russian freemasons, mostly diaries and correspondence. The most valuable information of this kind is contained in the so-called Masonic dreams. These stories constitute a special genre of Masonic literature and have been preserved in a significant number of manuscripts. They were based on the idea of a special inner, spiritual vision, which an adept possesses and which allows him to achieve clairvoyance. Masonic dreams contain a significant number of details related both to the Masonic ritual and symbolic decoration of the premises of Masonic lodges, and to those practices of moral self-improvement that are important for the Masonic path. Russian freemasons paid considerable attention to the problem of evaluating such experience: is it a gift from the divine essences or a temptation sent by demonic forces? The question of the significance of such an experience was also important: is it an accidental consequence of Masonic work, a hindrance on the way, or, on the contrary, a kind of confirmation of progress in following the Masonic path? The Orthodox Church, to which the Russian freemasons belonged, is extremely negative about such forms of mysticism. Therefore, they were forced to seek explanations for such phenomena in Catholic and Protestant mysticism, as well as in the European esoteric tradition. The article attempts to deal with these issues and is based on the analysis of a wide range of Masonic manuscripts of the 18th — early 19th centuries, preserved in the families of Russian masons and now kept in Moscow archives.
Freemasonry & Modern Western Esotericism
The Journal of the Masonic Society, 2014
This four-page paper reflects the beginnings of my research on academic studies of Western esotericism and their connection to Freemasonry. It was published by The Journal of the Masonic Society, Spring 2014, Issue 24. I argue for Masonic authors moving beyond anti-esoteric attitudes and studying the esoteric aspects of Masonry in an open-minded and scholarly manner. This research evolved into a vastly expanded two-part article (2022) that I uploaded to academia.edu several years ago.
Freemasonry in Academic Studies of Western Esotericism--Part One
Philalethes, The Journal of Masonic Research & Letters, Vol. 75, No. 1, 2022
Within Freemasonry, there have been a range of views about the extent to which Masonic teachings and practices are esoteric. By contrast, a review of writings by scholars of Western Esotericism finds that many of them see Freemasonry as a significant and influential aspect of esoteric traditions. This paper reviews writings of Frances Yates, Antoine Faivre, Jan A.M. Snoek and Edmond Mazet here in Part One. Writings of Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Kocku von Stuckrad, and Henrik Bogdan are reviewed in Part Two.
Vladimir Soloviev and Russian Freemasonry.pdf
Vladimir Soloviev and Russian Freemasonry: Some Kabbalistic Parallels, in: Tirosh. Studies in Judaica (Moscow). 2003. Vol. 6. P. 33-50 [Russian]. Владимир Соловьев и русское масонство: каббалистические параллели // Тирош. Труды по иудаике. Т. 6. М., 2003. С. 33-50.
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