Kabalah and Freemasonry

The Kabalah is indeed of the essence of Freemasonry." -- co-Mason Helena P. Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, as quoted from secondary source "Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge" by Ankerberg and Weldon, page 236

"Freemasonry is kabbalism in another garb." -- Freemason F. De P. Castelle, "The Genuine Secrets of Freemasony Prior to A.D. 1717, according to secondary source "Hidden Secrets of the Eastern Star" by Dr. Cathy Burns, page 263

"Kabalah is the key of the occult sciences." -- Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Mason, as quoted from secondary source "Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge" by Ankerberg and Weldon, page 219

"The Jewish mysteries are the source of our present tradition of which was carried to Rome, and thence passed down through the Collegia into the mediaveal guilds, finally emerging in the eighteenth century in the speculative rituals fo the Craft degrees, in the Holy Royal Arch and the degree of Mark Master Mason, and in those of other emblems and ceremonies..." -- Freemason C.W. Leadbeater, "Freemasonry and its Ancient Mystic Rites, page 77

"The whole basis of our theory is the Qabalah...." -- Aleister Crowley, Freemason and father of modern satanism as quoted in Craig Heimbichner's "Blood On The Altar", page 116; primary source is "Magic In Theory and Practice" by the self-professed "Beast-666" himself, Crowley.

"....the theories of Qabbalism are inextricably interwoven with the tenets of alchemy, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, and Freemasonry." -- 33rd Degree Freemason Manly Palmer Hall, as quoted from secondary source "Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge," by Ankerberg and Weldon, page 220

"...in the Kabbala we find fragments of the symbolic knowledge which was once the exclusive property of the initiates. So close are the analogiews between certain of the doctrines of the Kabbala and those of the earlier degrees of Masonry, that it has been supposed that Kabbalistic students were responsible for the introduction of speculative Masonry into our modern Craft. The student of occultism does not hold this veiw, for he knows that our speculative rituals belong in substance to a far older past than the eighteenth century, and that they perpetuate the tradition of the Jews, who derived it from the Mysteries of Egypt. He sees in the Kabbala a written and exoteric portiion of certain teachings belonging to the Jews, though handed down...." - Freemasonry and Its Ancient Mystic Rites, Freemason C.W. Leadbeater, page 73

"The Cabala may be defined to be a system of philosophy which embraces certain mystical interpretations of Scripture, and metaphysical and spiritual beings... Much use is made of it in the advanced degrees, and entire Rites have been constructed on its principles." -- Freemason Albert Mackey, "Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry," as quoted from secondary source "Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge," page 220

"Masonry cannot be fully appreciated or understood without knowledge of the Qabalist Tree of Life..." -- Paul Foster case, Freemason and Golden Dawn member, considered to be the outstanding authority of Tarot, Qbalah, Alchemy, and other occult topics, as quoted by Dr. Cathy Burns, "Hidden Secrets of the Eastern Star, page 263

"...all Masonic associations owe to it [Kabala] their secrets and their symbols." --Eliphas Levi, Transcendental Magic, as quoted from secondary source, "Fallen Angel" by Thomas Friend on page 241 [brackets mine; Levi was a 19th century Freemason and black majician, whose works were plaigarized by infamous Freemason, Albert Pike, according to Freemason Manly Hall.]

"The true philosophy, known and practised by Soloman, is the basis on which Masonry is founded." -- Albert Pike, Freemason of the 33rd and last Degree, "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry", 1871, L.H. Jenkins Inc., p. 785. "According to Talmudic legends, Solomon understood the mysteries of the Qabbalah. He was also a necromancer, being able to summon demons." -- Manly P. Hall, 33rd Degree Freemason, "The Secret Teachings of All Ages", p. 566.

"Freemasonry is founded upon the activities of this secret society of Central European adepts, whom the studious Mason will find to be the definite 'link' between the modern Craft and the Ancient Wisdom. The outer body of Masonic philosophy was merely the veil of this qabbalistic order whose members were the custodians of the true Arcanum." -- 33rd Degree Freemason Manly Palmer Hall, "Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins

"Masonry is a search after Light. That search leads us dire- ctly back, as you see, to the Kaballah." -- Freemason Albert Pike, 33rd Degree, as quoted in Ankerberg and Weldon's excellent book, "Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge," page 217