THE MASONIC SOCIETY AND ITS MAGAZINE CREATED BY CHARLES LEADBEATER

In 1923, Charles Leadbeater launched one of his least successful projects: the International Society for Masonic Research, and its magazine 'The Blazing Star' of which only one issue appeared.

And the few reviews that issue received were very critical.

One critic said:

« From Sydney, New South Wales, comes the first issue of a quarterly called The Blazing Star, organ of ‘The International Society for Masonic Research.’ Externally it is well prepared, and promises fine things; internally, it is disappointing. Its material is not such as to create a profound stir in Masonic research circles. It gravely underestimates the collective Knowledge of Masonic students regarding the craft, and there is room for doubt that it will provide more than a windy accompaniment to the solid research now going on.

A writer who sees the first degree as symbolizing the state immediately succeeding death, and the second degree as Devachan, is neither well found in his Masonry nor in his occultism. If Masonry is anything it is a ritual of a Kingdom of Heaven brought to pass in the body by occult processes, and not a ritual of places which may be sought in nightplane rambles.

Neither, I think, will Masonry derive much from another writer’s description (based on clairvoyant investigation) of an ancient Egyptian Lodge. A considerable portion of his memories is reinforced, as he naively admits, by Churchward and Yarker. For all there is of value he need not have gone beyond those two authorities.

Students who know that all Masonic work, whether of ancient Egypt or of the present, is performed in the square – the lower quaternary – will be thrilled to hear that when the writer took his “first,” 6,000 years ago, he stepped off the square into the triangle – the Higher Triad. This will be received in the best circles of Masonic research with hilarious acclaim.

Neither will the best Masons discern profound insight in the explanation that perambulations begin with the left foot because it is nearest the candidate’s heart. If that is all it means, the candidate might better start off on his left ear. »

Another article in 'The Great Work of the Freemason' commented:

« There are a number of inadequacies in the digestion of material. A typical one is the statement that in alchemy Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury are the elements that make up the world. It used to be a quaternary: what has become of our old friend Azoth? It is not unlike leaving the Father out of the Trinity.

Like so many of our Theosophical ventures, the magazine lacks plain, ordinary, everyday honest knowledge of the subject in hand. It is hard to save a world you know little about.  The Blazing Star staff requires a thorough grounding in Masonry, and a further one in occultism. Wilmhurst’s The Meaning of Masonry, an excellent Theosophic-Masonic work, would do for a start. »

Roy Mitchell, in the magazine 'The Canadian Theosophist', wrote:

« Most Masonic writers would urge also that they stop printing sq-c for square, s-s for secrets, ob for obligation, and so on. It is mere hocus-pocus and guards nothing. »

The magazine 'The American Co-Mason' commented:

« We have received, through the courtesy of Bro. Limbruggen, a complimentary copy of Vol. 1, No. 1, of "The Blazing Star," organ of the International Society of Masonic Research. This magazine is published at the seat of the Society, Poster House, 23 Lang Street, Sydney, N.S.W.

The objects of the Society, as stated in this first number, are:

1. To recover the Arcane Wisdom which is the common life behind the various forms of Masonic Tradition throughout the ages, so that the sacred science may again become a living reality to the Brethren.

2. To study the various Masonic Rites, both ancient and modern, their history, significance and mutual relationship.

3. To publish a Quarterly Review, and other literature, embodying the results of this study.

4. To assist in establishing a bond of union between Masonic students of different Rites.

The above programme is broad and interesting, but the first number of The Blazing Star would indicate that the promoters of the new Research Society are mostly interested in Ancient Mysteries that mean very little to the average modern Mason. The publication of an article by Bro. C.W. Leadbeater on Freemasonry and the Egyptian Mysteries, as a record of clairvoyant investigation, will not attract to the magazine or to the Society people who are more interested in facts than in fancy dreams.

In his article, Bro. Leadbeater says:

"When I was initiated into Freemasonry in this life, my first sight of the Lodge was a great and pleasant surprise, for I found that I was perfectly familiar with all its arrangements, that they were identical with those which I had known six thousand years ago in the Mysteries of Egypt. I am quite aware that this is a startling statement; I can only say that it is literally true. No Mistake is possible. Coincidence will not serve as an explanation. The placing of the three chief officers is unusual; the symbols are significant and distinctive, and their combination is peculiar; yet they all belonged to ancient Egypt, and I knew them well then. Almost all the Ceremonies are unchanged: there are only a few differences in minor points."

No doubt some people will believe Bro. Leadbeater’s statements. The statements of other priests to the effect that God was mad when it thundered, were also believed by the faithful not very many years back. They may be believed yet in some communities.

However, in the same magazine, another writer states that `while Masonry descended from the Ancient Mysteries, current rituals, Lodge furnishings, Masonic regalia, and so forth, date only from the Eighteenth Century.’ That statement would be sufficient to prove that Bro. Leadbeater’s six thousand year old dream has little foundation.

The position of the three principal officers is not the same in all Masonic Lodges; the three lesser lights are placed in more than a dozen different positions; the Lodge furniture differs, and the working tools are not the same in all jurisdictions. The rituals differ very much, and not even the Grand Lodge of England has the same arrangements, the same words, etc., that it had in the first half century or more of its life as the first Grand Lodge.

Of course any one who cares to give Bro. Leadbeater’s statement serious consideration, and believe it, has as much right to do so as we have to call it pure rot, if not something worse.

We hope that this new Blazing Star will hereafter publish something more illuminating to students of Masonry than clairvoyant statements about what existed six thousand years ago. »

(https://cwledbeater.wordpress.com/2017/01/02/the-international-society-for-masonic-research/)

CID'S OBSERVATIONS

This confirms what I had already established, which is that the Masonic teachings of Charles Leadbeater are bad (as well as his theosophical teachings, scientific teachings and in general everything that this individual wrote).

When Leadbeater told his fictions to his followers, they naively believed everything, but in this case where he had to confront real Masonic investigators, the criticism was resounding.

And it's no wonder, because to claim that through his clairvoyant research, Leadbeater traveled six thousand years into the past and discovered that the decoration and structure in the rituals of Ancient Egypt were the same as that currently used in Freemasonry, is absurd.

Any Egyptologist will tell you that this is not true; any Masonic scholar will tell you that Freemasonry does not originate from Ancient Egypt, that this is a lie invented by several members who were fascinated by Egypt, and that Masonic decoration and Masonic ritualism have varied enormously over time.

Once again, Leadbeater displays his enormous charlatanism.