Masonic myths occupy a central place in Freemasonry. Derived from founding texts or various biblical legends, they are present in all Masonic rites and ranks. Using conceptual parables, they can serve Freemasons as sources of knowledge and reflection, where history often vies with fiction. They revolve mainly around the legendary stories of the construction of Solomon's temple, the death of its architect Hiram, and chivalry. Some of the original mythical themes are still part, to a greater or lesser extent and explicitly, of the symbols that make up the corpus and history of speculative Freemasonry. Some myths, however, have had no real posterity, but can still be found in some high grades, or in the symbolism of some rituals. Others borrow from the medieval imagination or from religious mysticism, and do not bother with historical truths to create legendary filiations with vanished guilds or orders.
Myths and Freemasonry
Myths in Freemasonry appear to be fundamental elements in the construction of ideas and feelings that are transmitted within the corpus of Masonic lodges and Freemasons. They contribute to their expression and ensure continuity for each Freemason, between the rite, practices and Masonic culture. As with other mythologies, the importance and quality of the combination of story elements is greater than the facts themselves. As a result, there is no one true or official version of Masonic myths, their richness often deriving from the multitude of possible interpretations.
They follow a certain chronological narrative, which is completed with more or less marked variations, the fundamental principles repeating themselves regularly. Three great myths make up the main corpus of speculative Freemasonry: that of the construction of the temple, which, without assuming a primordial place, offers continuity and centrality; that of the legend of Hiram, which stems from the possibility for Freemasonry to reach an anthropological universal and remains the main legend of Freemasonry; and that of medieval chivalry, with its human values of solidarity, loyalty and virtue.
The main point to emerge from all the Masonic myths is that the legends make use of targeted psychological research "tools" that revolve mainly around moral and spiritual self-improvement, self-building, brotherhood and death. The myths are linked, as they evolve, by a heroic figure who is never mentioned at first, and who unfolds in Masonic rituals. This heroic figure is portrayed and staged by the recipient at the first grade initiation ceremony, and the other degrees deepen this process by bringing out biblical heroes who link the degrees together, energizing and fertilizing the imagination and personal research.
Main myths
The construction myth The myth of construction is consubstantial with Freemasonry; it draws part of its symbolism from the history of various constructions, real or legendary, such as the pyramids, the Tower of Babel, the Temple of Jerusalem or cathedrals. While the model of Solomon's temple is the one adopted by Masonic mythology, the construction practiced by speculative Freemasons is part of a broader movement that historian Yves Hivert-Messeca described in 2017 as "Masonic constructivism". This constructivism is based on the principles of building, deconstructing and freely rebuilding a man or woman, a spiritual edifice and a better world, all at the same time. The myth thus takes two complementary directions, one epistemological, philosophical and spiritual, the other cultural, philanthropic and critical. This myth, with its multiple and adaptable interpretative force, proposes a set of interpretations to be patiently worked out, alone or with others.
The construction myth does not appear in the anciens devoirs (old charges) of the Regius manuscript (1390), where King Solomon is mentioned only once. The Cooke manuscript (1410), on the other hand, offers a mythological account that became the basis of the operative legend of Solomon's temple. This vulgate is taken up almost identically by the Grand Lodge n°1 manuscript (1583) and the Watson manuscript (1687). The Drumfries manuscript (1710) and the Graham manuscript (1726) follow the same pattern, adding details to emphasize the Christian character and religiosity of the mythical tale.
In the first edition of Anderson's constitutions in 1723, the myth appropriates biblical elements, but proposes the purpose of the construction as the building of a "place of prayer for all nations", giving a dimension of universality to the temple that tends to join Masonic universalism. In the 1738 edition, the Masonic character of the myth and construction is accentuated by making Solomon the Grand Master Mason in Jerusalem, and the construction and its protagonists are showered with numerous virtues. The 1738 edition recovers biblical writings without concern for historical veracity, with the aim of glorification, anteriority and legitimization.
In the 18th century, the myth of construction around the Masonic temple was used to create a space for inter-denominational exchange and debate. The constitutions evoke the idea of a building site where the search for the supposed vestiges of Masonry and the transmission of a distant Masonic tradition by the Freemasons of the premier Grand Lodge of England served to invent a language made up of signs and words of recognition, as well as a word that enabled the protagonists of the building site to recognize each other, to work and to continue the work in harmony.
The myth of Hiram
A fundamental myth of Freemasonry and the guiding thread of the Master's grade, it appeared in the 1730s. The Hiram myth completely transformed early Masonry, which knew only two grades, by adding a new legend that greatly changed the meaning of initiation. Quickly erasing that of Noah, it became universally established in speculative Freemasonry.
The character of Hiram and the myth that would accompany his legend do not appear in the original or first-generation manuscripts, Régius and Cook, of operative masonry in the 14th century. The mention of an architect "master of geometry and chief of all masons" does appear in the second-generation manuscripts in Grand Lodge n°. 1, but his identity is not clearly established. Hypotheses have been put forward to explain these variations, ranging from a simple spelling error by the texts' reproducers, to the corruption of a primitive Hiram legend and its reinstatement during the eighteenth century.
In 1723, the first version of Anderson's constitutions refers to "a prince of architects" by the name of Hiram Abiff. This appointment was made in conjunction with the appearance of a Master's grade based on the figure of Hiram in the manuscripts of the old charges of the Spencer family, notably between 1725 and 1729.
While the legend's sources remain difficult to establish, 21st-century historians generally opt for a composite myth, made up of several stories based on the Bible: a story about Noah's sons who sought to relieve their father in order to learn his secret; a story about Bezalel and the teaching of the art of building, the secrets surrounding it and which he lavished on the two sons of a king; finally, a story about King Solomon and the building of the temple, in which the architect Hiram appears as the son of a Tyrian and a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. The first story comes from the Graham manuscript, which was the first text to mention the recovery of a body and a secret lost through the death of the holder; the second recounts the marvellous talents and qualities of Bezalel and his secrets of the art, which were to be "kept in the heart"; and finally, the third evokes Hiram as the wisest overseer and transmitter of the signs giving rights to masons. The superimposition of these three myths almost gives the full account of the Hiram legend given in Samuel Prichard's 1730 book La Maçonnerie disseéquée.
The myth and the legend of Hiram that derive from it differ greatly from other Masonic myths or legends of the builder's trade, which evolve over time and are adapted as times and transmissions change. It appears to be a deliberate construction designed to structure another grade and encourage a more aristocratic type of Masonry, but also to develop a new and different vision of Freemasonry. The Hiram myth revealed a work of scholarship in its constitution that was also, in its time and according to historian Roger Dachez, a political instrument of the young and premier Grand Lodge of England. It brought to the rituals the same innovations and literary qualities as Anderson's constitutions when they were first published for the birth of obediential Freemasonry, both creations stemming from the same movement.
The myth of chivalry Although the chivalric myth developed mainly in France, it made its first appearance in the first constitutions in 1723: in a short passage, Anderson established a link between chivalry and Freemasonry.
Following a process of integration that historians trace back the development of the old chivalry to the speech given by the Scottish chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsay in 1736, the ancient chivalry became a founding Masonic myth. Sword, cordon and the initiation ceremony are a direct descendant of chivalry, where fraternity of arms reflects fraternity in the lodge. The number of chivalrous ranks multiplied from 1740 onwards. The chivalric myth, through this legendary filiation, anchors the nascent Freemasonry in a form of immemorial legitimacy, with masonry and chivalry attributed ancient origins. The myth also offers a way forward for Freemasons wishing to combine action and spirituality.
From the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, it took on crucial importance in Freemasonry, particularly in its high ranks. At the height of the Age of Enlightenment, when rationalism was slowly gaining ground, it was seen as a movement to re-sacralize the faith, tinged with various currents of mysticism, Christianity and occultism. The appropriation of chivalric myths was facilitated by original rituals, such as the medieval ritual of initiation, which has been fully adopted by some chivalric Masonic grades. In France, the oldest attested grade to use chivalric myth is that of "Chevalier de l'Orient", dating from 1748. The legendary plot revolves around the rebuilding of the Second Temple, with a terminal vocation in the eighteenth century as part of a Freemason's journey.
This myth also makes the knight mason a worker who claims a filiation with the stonemasons and cathedral builders, proposing that he now works "with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other", in the image of the 3rd Order of the French Rite. In this dual role, he asserts himself as a fighter concerned with the fate of the world, but also in search of spirituality. He anchors himself in the ideal of a sublimated past and towards a better future, summing up his action in a dialectic between tradition and progress. Nevertheless, his evolution away from the original operative and workers' references is certainly less rewarding. It is closer to a model where the rules and pomp of a religious and military order give additional prestige and grounds for flattery, sometimes vanity, to a few aristocrats and notables who easily gain access to the ranks that symbolize it.
Original myths
The Euclid myth