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Albert Gallatin Mackey was a medical doctor and Freemason who served as Grand Lecturer and Grand Secretary of The Grand Lodge of South Carolina, as well as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States.
Many years ago, I was introduced to Freemasonry. The symbology and the teachings fascinated me as a technique to teach simple to complicated ideas and principles. Several years have passed and I've read a little here and a little there more on Freemasonry. I found that this book gives good background for many of the basics of modern day ritual and procedures. It was also easy to see where some have attempted to incorporate these principles into their own lives or religions.
The author's presentation is easily readable and provides adequate background information all along the way to guide the reader through the maze of sometimes conflicting ideas and opinions. I would recommend this book to anyone who truly wishes to obtain a better understanding of the nature of Freemasonry. This work is well worth the time needed to read through it!
The Symbolism of Freemasonry is A fairly interesting book but I wonder how accurate it is . It uses some terminology that educated people would never use, such as "Jewish Church" and misspelled the word "Hindu". Also, how would he know this?
A very technical book. I liked how he traces the origins of Freemasonry. I think it provides an excellent foundation to help one's understanding of how Freemasonry got to where it is today.
Written in the late 1800’s, it is still easy enough to read if you have a decent vocabulary.
What is so interesting is that it isn’t just about Freemasonry symbolism, but traces the symbolism back even further to some societies and shows how it could have evolved through history.
I’m not sure if it would be a spoiler for EA & FC - it doesn’t go into detail of ritual, etc. But it might be best to wait until a person is a MM as ones head is spinning enough anyway at the start.
As to the accuracy? I really wouldn’t know as I’m not knowledgable enough. However, there are many references and endnotes, so I think it is.