Russell R. Boedeker, 32° K.C.C.H., Portland Valley, Oregon and a member of Beaverton Masonic Lodge #100. Russell is an instructor in the Portland Scottish Rite University and has developed and taught classes from the 1st through 8th and the 31st degree. His Masonic specialty and interest is in the field of esoteric symbolism.

Many of you may have familiarity with the term “Alchemist”.  For most this term conjures images of early experimenters attempting to chemically convert lead or base metals into gold, and the search for the chemical elixir of life.  These experimenters did indeed exist, their work being the forerunner of modern chemistry.  As there were “operative” alchemists, so there were also “speculative” alchemists.  Speculative alchemists are often associated with Hermetic philosophy, and employ symbols of metals, elements, the planets, and chemical processes to describe and understand the spiritual process of personal improvement.  The founder of Hermetic philosophy was an Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegisus.  To the Egyptians he was credited as the author of all the arts and sciences.  Deified by different cultures, he was known as Thoth by the Egyptians, Mercury by the Romans and Hermes to the Greeks.  While in all probability there actually existed a great sage by the name of Hermes, it is impossible to extricate the historical man from the mass of legendary accounts of him[1].  One of the famous writings of Hermes was the Emerald Table, which contains thirteen sentences summarizing Hermetic thought[2]. 

In the Sixteenth through Eighteenth century, Hermeticism became connected with Alchemy; and by what seemed mere chemical jargon and meaningless symbols, their true explanations were concealed from the masses and from the church, who would have likely pronounced many Alchemists as heretics[3].

Unbeknownst to most Masons, many of the symbols found in symbolic, or “Blue Lodge” Masonry came to us from Alchemy.  In his book, “Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry”[4] , Albert Pike describes these relationships and states that “By this and many other proofs we know that the symbols of Freemasonry were introduced into it by the Hermetic philosophers of England…”[5].  Manly P. Hall in his work, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, states, “…he [Hermes] was the author of the Masonic initiatory rituals…Nearly all of the Masonic symbols are Hermetic in character[6]”.  In spite of this, I was surprised to find a dearth of research regarding the relationship between Alchemy and Masonry. 

Since Albert Pike informs us of the strong connection in Blue Lodge Masonry with that of Alchemy, I wondered if that connection continued into the Scottish Rite Lodge of Perfection, which in many ways is a continuation and completion of the Blue Lodge degrees.  In this paper we will survey the symbols of the Scottish Rite degrees from the 4^th through the 14^th to see if we can find any connection with the symbols of Alchemy.  My goal is twofold in doing this: first, to expose the reader to the connection between Alchemy and Freemasonry, and second to encourage other Masonic researchers to explore this very interesting and largely untapped area of study.  It should be noted that I am a Masonic researcher and not an Alchemist.  This paper is written from the viewpoint of that of a Masonic researcher[7].  Let us know explore the Lodge of Perfection in a hunt for Scottish Chemistry!

4^th Degree

In the 4^th degree we are introduced to the Kabbalah[8] and the tree of life.  Most students of the Kabbalah would recognize it as deriving from Jewish mysticism.  However, there is also a Hermetic Kabbalah which is strongly connected to alchemy.  Manley P. Hall states that the theories of the Kabbalah are inextricably interwoven with the tenets of alchemy, Hermeticism, Rosicruciansim and Freemasonry[9].  During the period of the open minded Renaissance Hermeticism and the Kabbalah became increasingly intertwined.  However, much of today’s Hermitic Kabbalah was made popular during the late 19^th and early 20^th century by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. 

The many aspects of Hermetic Kabbalah are too detailed for the scope of this paper, so a short outline will be given.  In Judaic Kabbalah, the 10 Sephiroth are understood to describe the 10 attributes of the Deity.  In Hermetic Kabbalah the 10 Sephiroth also pertain to the attributes of Deity, but they utilize different symbols to describe them.  The Hermetic system relates the 22 paths between the sephira to the 22 Hebrew letters, a color, a musical note (vibration), an odor and a Tarot card[10].  The Golden Dawn Hermetic system assigns astrological signs in the form of planets and specific meanings to each of the Sephiroth on the “body”.  The concept of the Tree of Life is long rooted in Alchemy; an early Alchemistical tree of life is shown in Figure 1. 

Figure 1: Early Hermetic Tree, from the Musaeum Hermeticum, Frankfurt edition, 1749[11]

It is believed that the early Kabbalists would often embed their secret teachings in the symbols and rituals of various esoteric schools of thought, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Scottish Rite, for safe keeping.  We are still able to find clues in the symbols and ritual of our Scottish Rite degrees that point to esoteric Kabalistic meanings left to us from earlier times. 

To this researcher, the description of the Tree of Life contained in the 4^th degree appears to be Judaic based.  Never the less, the Kabbalah is so interwoven into Hermetic thought that we must consider this to be a potential alchemistical symbol.

5^th Degree

The theme of the 5^th degree is that of death, in this case the memorial of the death of Hiram Abif.  Death has a specific meaning within Alchemy.  According to Alchemists, unless the elements first die, the Great Work of self transformation cannot take place.  Amongst the symbolic chemical processes in Alchemy we find the state of putrefaction, the symbolic color of which is black[12].  Can we connect the colors of the preparation room which is hung with black drapes, symbolizing the death of putrefaction to prepare us for the spiritual transformation?

This concept of having to die and be transformed into another state is common in other religions.  Notable is the Christian concept of being born again, and teaching of the death of the physical body to be transformed into the spiritual body[13].  This connection may be seen in the words of the funeral hymn in the degree, “The buried wheat must seem to die, long rotting in the earth must lie,…the new stalk can the new grain bear…Before the moth new-born, can be the type of immortality[14].  This portion of the ritual supports the Alchemistical concept of rebirth from death, through the state of putrefaction.

6^th Degree

The jewel of the degree is a triple delta upon a triangular plate of gold (see Figure 2).  In the center of each delta are found the symbols of the sun on the right, the moon on the left, and mercury above and between the other two[15].   At first glance this symbol appears to represent the traditional sun, moon and master of the lodge of blue lodge masonry.  Mercury, as know to the Romans and as Thoth by the Egyptians, the god Hermes, is considered by Pike to represent the Master of the Lodge[16].  Mercury was the messenger of the good news and the good Shepard that leads his flock form earthy to heavenly pastures.  These may be compared to the functions the Worshipful Master performs to keep his lodge in harmony.  However, to those knowledgeable in the art of Hermeticism, this symbol just screams of alchemy.

Figure 2: Jewel of the 6th Degree[17]

In Albert Pike’s “Book of the Words”[18] as well in “Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry”[19] he describes the drawing of a double headed figure taken from a Latin book on Hermetics.  However, we will find a closer connection to the jewel of the 6^th degree by using the drawing in the latter book on page 213, which we have reproduced here (see Figure 3).  This is obvious to the adept in Alchemy a symbolic representation of the Emerald Tablet of Hermes.  On the top you will see the planetary symbols of the sun on the left with the moon on the right, pouring liquid into a cup supported by the symbol for the planet Mercury.  This corresponds with the symbols used for the 6^th degree jewel. 

Some further interpretation is required to understand one of the possible meanings of these symbols.  The sun and the moon have some specific meanings in alchemy.  From the Emerald Tablet of Hermes we read learn that the Father is the sun, the Mother is the moon[20].  To the alchemist these represent the great fourth hermetic principle, the principle of polarity; the two aspects; two poles; a pair of opposites[21].  It also may represent the seventh principle that gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles[22].  We see these two principles balanced by the chalice supported by Mercury.  The planet shown as Mercury is a blind for that of Mercury the hermaphrodite, the combination of both sexes.  Here Mercury acts as the union between the two opposites.  With the sun and the moon pouring their life fluids into the chalice (or perhaps the mysterious life principle known to the alchemists as Azoth) these forces are combined.  To an Alchemist Mercury would symbolize action, movement.  Here we may perceive Mercury in an active state to assist in the union of the sun and the moon, by gently guiding them together[23].    Interestingly, one must turn the jewel of the 6^th degree upside down to match the symbolic representation in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes.  Perhaps there is also symbolism in that, or perhaps we are being frustrated by centuries of change in our rituals and symbols – in many cases changed by people who did not understand the true nature of the esoteric meaning behind them.

Figure 3 - Symbolic Representation of the Emerald Tablet of Hermes[24]

7^th Degree

I do not find any explicit symbolic references to Alchemy in this degree

8^th Degree

In the eight degree in the east hangs a nine-pointed blazing star.  In the center are the letters IHV, in either the Samaritan whc or the Hebrew uwhy[25].  These three letters represent an abbreviation of the name of God.  This three letter abbreviation, according to Albert Pike, signifies ‘life’; the use of three letters is also symbolic as we shall see in a moment[26].  This figure may represent the Alchemical symbol of the enneagram, a circle with nine points.  The nine points are formed by the combination of a triangle (representing the trinity) and seven points (representing completeness).  While the development of this figure is sometimes credited to C.I. Gurdjeiff in the early part of the 20^th century, its use in alchemy goes back many centuries.  The drawing show in figure 4 is from the cover of Arthmologia, published in Rome in 1665 AD, shows the nine sided figure rising into the celestial sphere. 

The points of the nine sided star in figure 4 that do not correspond with the inner triangle may be assigned to the 6 planets in order of the moon (starting at the 1 o’clock position), Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, with the seventh planet the Sun in the center represented by the seeing eye.  The points corresponding to the center triangle would represent the forces of the Trinity.  Not every enneagram figure contained the internal triangle.  When present the inner triangle would indicate the higher elements.  For the symbol used in the 8^th degree I believe the name of God in the form of a three letter ‘Trinity’ in the center represents this internal triangle.  As this symbol is also in the form of a wheel, alchemists state you cannot understand the figure of the enneagram without thinking of it in perpetual motion[27].   Keep this in mind when we explore the Chakras in the 12^th degree.

The number nine in the figure also relates to alchemistic thought behind the enneagram.  The number nine is a factor of 3 times 3, which here represents the 3x3 spiritual hierarchies that God descends through to reach us humans, and that we should raise through the same to God[28].  This may relate to the next symbol we will explore in the 8^th degree, the secret vault. 

Figure 4: Nine sided symbol rises into the celestial sphere,  A. Kircher, Arithmologia, Rome 1665[29]

There are three degrees in the Lodge of Perfection that include a secret vault.  Most well known are the secret vaults of the 13^th degree (built by Enoch) and the vault of the 14^th degree (built by Solomon).  There is also a secret vault in the 8^th degree to house the Ark of the Covenant.  While not normally thought of as such, I believe that these vaults are indeed symbols and have a relation to that of alchemy. 

To be certain, the initiations into the ancient mysteries were often conducted underground.  Even the early Christians met in the catacombs of Rome.  The vault was, in the ancient mysteries, symbolic of the grave; for initiation was symbolic of death, where along Devine Truth was to be found[30].  It was also symbolic of the womb, for which man would pass through to be born anew from death.  The concept of the vault may also be found deep in Hermetic teaching.  From the emerald tablet of Hermes we read, “…and whatever is below is like that which is above; and that which is above is like that which is below…”[31] and “It ascends from earth to heaven, and descends again, new born to earth, taking…the power of the Above and the Below”[32].  The vault may be symbolic of this new birth and that having three different degrees containing a secret vault is symbolic of these three different processes of ascending and descending.

Further references to a secret vault are found in the teaching of the Rosicrucian’s[33].  The ‘founder’, a mysterious person called "The Highly Illuminated Father C.R.C. (Christian Rosenkreutz, or as he is also know, Christian Rose Cross) died and was buried in a secret vault that was found 120 years after his death by followers of his order[34].  When the members entered the vault it was comprised of seven sides and seven corners, each side five feet broad and eight feet high.  Although the sun never penetrated this tomb, it was brilliantly illuminated by a mysterious light in the ceiling.  In the center was a circulate altar, upon which was a triangular brass plate engraved with strange characters[35].  Many of you will immediately see a parallel to that of the 13^th and 14^th degree where also a triangular plate of gold is found on top of an altar with strange letters on it.  To the Rosicrucian to enter this vault, or tomb, is thought to enter another dimension and symbolizes rebirth and regeneration.

While we can understand why the vault is contained in the 13^th and 14^th degree, it is somewhat less clear why we also find it in the 8^th degree.  One possible answer is that it relates to that of the 9 sided enneagram, symbolizing the start of the three fold ascent and decent from the heaves to the earth.  While this is certainly possible, why the 8^th degree, as apposed to the 7^th or the 6^th or some other degree?  A fellow researcher[36] has postulated that there may be a connection with the fact that the 8^th degree, like the 13^th, immediately precedes a related degree, in this case the first of three Elu degrees.  It seems reasonable to suppose that the allegory of descending into the vault of the 13^th degree and finding the form, though not yet the meaning, of the word upon the plate, the vault in the 8^th degree may symbolizes a procedure preparatory for election (morally and spiritually) for becoming an Elu.  This idea certainly has merit; with the difficulty of looking through the fog of many centuries of change and influence upon our Scottish Rite rituals we will probably never know for certain what the true intention was.  However, it should now be apparent to the reader of the apparent Hermetic influence of the three secret vaults in the Lodge of Perfection. 

9^th/10^th Degree

These degrees contain many Alchemistical symbols.  The jewels are daggers with a gold hilt and a silver blade.  The silver and gold represents the sun and the moon.  Here combined showing the Hermetic balance of the male and the female, together combining to form the complete and balanced man[37].  On the flap of the 9^th degree we see a five pointed golden star.   To the Alchemist, one interpretation of the five pointed star would be to represent the four elements, that of earth, air, fire and water, with the added five of fifth element or Quintessence[38].

Rosettes are found in both the 9^th and 10^th degree regalia.  One of the most used symbols in alchemical art was the rose. The rose is a symbol of completion, attainment, and perfection. It can also be an emblem of regeneration[39].   The original symbol of the Rosicrucian fraternity was a hieroglyphic rose crucified upon a cross.  The cross was often raised on a three step pedestal, representative of the crucifixion.  In the 10^th degree there is a rose above three arches, this may be symbolizing a form of the crucifixion[40].  Finally in the 10^th degree was see nine candles, for which we are told represent the nine Elus[41].  These nine candles may be related to the enneagram we explored in the 8^th degree.  Quite a number of possible Alchemistical and Rosicrucian references are found within these two combined degree.

11^th Degree

I do not find any explicit symbolic references to Alchemy in this degree

12^th degree

Hanging in the east in the 12^th degree we find a six pointed star comprised of two triangles interlaced.  One triangle is white, the other black[42].  In alchemy, the upright triangle represents fire, and the upside-down triangle is the symbol for water. Together they symbolize the unity of opposites. The number 6 represents balance and beauty.  To the reader I suggest you consider the directions pointed at by each the triangles for further understanding. 

On the north side of the room we find a diagram with the North Star and the seven stars of the big dipper.  The concept of seven stars has Alchemistic meanings.  The big dipper, while the most recognized grouping of stars is not really by itself a constellation.  It is part of the constellation Ursa Major, or the Great Bear.  The big dipper forms the rump and the tail of the bear[43].  I have found some connections with the North Star representing the chi or life force of our world, and the big dipper revolving around the North Star representing the seven immortals.  This connection to ancient Alchemy is rather speculative, so I am not ready to commit to it.

A closer connection to Alchemy would point to the seven stars as possibly representing the seven Chakras[44], or the seven spiritual energies.  The Alchemists called the Chakras the seals of the planets.  A Chakra represents energy centers located at various points on the body.  Shown below is a table relating the planets, their Alchemical metal, body location, and the corresponding Chakra[45]. 

The seven stars may also represent the seven Hermetic principles found in the Kybalion[46].  These seven principles are Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, Gender.

13^th and 14^th Degree

We will take the 13^th and 14^th degree together, as they are in many ways sister degrees.  We have already explored the Hermetic connection with the vault of the 13^th and 14^th degree, so we will not repeat that here.  The script for the 13^th degree is the only one in the Lodge of Perfection that explicitly states a connection to alchemy.   In the introduction read to the class the degree states, “The cubicle Stone, an ancient Masonic symbol…This symbol is also found in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.  From here it was introduced into Alchemy, and from there, into Freemasonry[47]”.  To the Alchemist the symbol of the cube may represent salt, one of the basic substances.  The cube, with its six sides plus the point in the center, corresponds to the seven days of creation.  If you connect the corners of each side of the cube diagonally you can see four triangles, symbolic of the four Alchemic elements (salt, sulfur, mercury, and azoth).  The Alchemists declare that salt was the first created substance, produced by fire that flowed out of God.  In salt is the creation concentrated, the beginning and end of all things[48].  Why the reference to Alchemy is explicitly called out here in our ritual, and not elsewhere, is not known.

In both the 13^th and 14^th degree we see the cubical stone with a plate of solid gold.  The plate of gold resembles the plate on the altar of the tomb (or secret vault) of Father CRC of the Rosicrucian’s[49].  The element gold is also an Alchemistic element, and very symbolic of the final desired state of transmutation.  The reader may wish to observe what side of the cube the plate of gold is affixed to for further understanding.

The battery of both the 13^th and 14^th degree is 3x3.  Alchemy is a three fold art, symbolically represented in 3x3; three elements in three worlds, the divine, the human, and the elemental.   The 3x3 also represents the number 9, the number of esoteric man and the number of emanations from the root of Devine[50].  One can immediately see connections with the nine arches of the vault in the 13^th and 14^th degree, as well as the nine names of God given on each arch. 

In the 14^th degree in front of the Senior Warden is a seven candelabra, which should bring to mind the tree of life, as shown in figure 1.  In the ritual we are told this candelabrum specially represents the seven planets that of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, with the Sun as the highest candle in the center[51].  It should be obvious by now the connection to Alchemy and what this symbol represents.  Perhaps it is fitting to end the Lodge of Perfection with the planetary symbols, which to the Alchemist would represent the “above”, the final accent into the heavens.

In exploring the symbols throughout the Lodge of Perfection we have seen examples of very strong Hermetic connection, and in some cases the connection has been more tenuous.  However, it is apparent, at least to this researcher that the influence of Alchemy that began in the symbolic lodge has continued throughout the Scottish Rite Lodge of Perfection[52].  The brief symbolic explanations given here have probably left the reader somewhat wanting.  There is a staggering amount of detail and interpretation behind each of the Alchemistical symbols we uncovered and I must leave further exploration to the reader.  I am reminded of the Hermetic adage, that whoever attempts a literal understanding of the teachings of the Hermetic philosophers will lose himself in the many twist and turns of the labyrinth from which he will never find his way out[53].  I hope that this brief paper has brought to light the rich field of Alchemy symbolism in Masonry that has gone in many aspects largely untapped.

Now finally, what about the quest of the operative Alchemists to convert base metals into gold?  Well, we can and have been able to accomplish this.  It is possible to take base elements such as tin and copper and combine them to create gold.  Oh, I forgot to mention, you will require the aid of a linear accelerator.  This is used to speed the atoms of tin to 1/10^th the speed of light and smash them into the copper atoms, fusing the nuclei together.  It does produce atoms of gold, albeit at a fiendishly uneconomical cost[54].    While the modern chemist works to convert atomic structures, the speculative Alchemist works to turn the spiritual lead to spiritual gold in their path in refining their relationship with the Deity. 

The author wishes to thank fellow Hermetic researcher, Bro. Ted Balestreri, 32º KSA, for his peer review and helpful suggestions in the development of this paper.