Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Isaac Newton's Freemasonry: The Alchemy of Science and Mysticism
    Isaac Newton's Freemasonry: The Alchemy of Science and Mysticism
    Isaac Newton's Freemasonry: The Alchemy of Science and Mysticism
    Ebook176 pages1 hour

    Isaac Newton's Freemasonry: The Alchemy of Science and Mysticism

    By Alain Bauer

    1/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    An exploration of how modern Freemasonry enabled Isaac Newton and his like-minded contemporaries to flourish

    • Shows that Freemasonry, as a mystical order, was conceived as something new--an amalgam of alchemy and science that had little to do with operative Freemasonry

    • Reveals how Newton and his friends crafted this “speculative,” symbolic Freemasonry as a model for the future of England

    • Connects Rosslyn Chapel, Henry Sinclair, and the Invisible College to Newton and his role in 17th-century Freemasonry

    Freemasonry, as a fraternal order of scientists and philosophers, emerged in the 17th century and represented something new--an amalgam of alchemy and science that allowed the creative genius of Isaac Newton and his contemporaries to flourish. In Isaac Newton’s Freemasonry, Alain Bauer presents the swirl of historical, sociological, and religious influences that sparked the spiritual ferment and transformation of that time. His research shows that Freemasonry represented a crossroads between science and spirituality and became the vehicle for promoting spiritual and intellectual egalitarianism. Isaac Newton was seminal in the “invention” of this new form of Freemasonry, which allowed Newton and other like-minded associates to free themselves of the church’s monopoly on the intellectual milieu of the time.

    This form of Freemasonry created an ideological blueprint that sought to move England beyond the civil wars generated by its religious conflicts to a society with scientific progress as its foundation and standard. The “science” of these men was rooted in the Hermetic tradition and included alchemy and even elements of magic. Yet, in contrast to the endless reinterpretations of church doctrine that fueled the conflicts ravaging England, this new society of Accepted Freemasons provided an intellectual haven and creative crucible for scientific and political progress. This book reveals the connections of Rosslyn Chapel, Henry Sinclair, and the Invisible College to Newton’s role in 17th-century Freemasonry and opens unexplored trails into the history of Freemasonry in Europe.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInner Traditions
    Release dateMar 22, 2007
    ISBN9781620553329
    Isaac Newton's Freemasonry: The Alchemy of Science and Mysticism
    Author

    Alain Bauer

    Alain Bauer, a researcher and historian, is the current Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France. He is the author in French of Grand O and Le Grand Orient de France.

    Related to Isaac Newton's Freemasonry

    Related ebooks

    Social Science For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Rosicrucianism

      Feb 28, 2020

      Europe in the early 17th century was not a happy place. It was a continent marked by religious divisions and political strife which would escalate into the bloody Thirty Years’ War that led to eight million lives being lost. At the same time, it was

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Tower And The Sewer

      May 31, 2024

      The Tower And The Sewer
      18 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Brave And Barmy New Worlds

      Jun 24, 2021

      Brave And Barmy New Worlds
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Swimming Always Against the Tide

      Jan 13, 2020

      Swimming Always Against the Tide
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Building A Fortean Library

      Dec 3, 2020

      It wasn’t just the Beatles, you know. On Merseyside in the 1960s another group of irreverent young men coalesced around an iconoclastic idea, and with rather more intellectual heft than the admittedly slightly better-known, and better-earning, moptop

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Theories Of Conspiracy Theories

      Jun 16, 2022

      TO SEND REVIEW COPIES, CONTACT THE BOOK REVIEWS EDITOR AT [email protected] Modern Myths, Conspiracy Theories and Pseudo-History Ronald H Fritze Reaktion Books 2022 Hb, 272pp, £20, ISBN 9781789145397 There has been growing interest in recent

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Challenging Orthodox Science

      Jul 15, 2021

      TO SEND REVIEW COPIES, CONTACT THE BOOK REVIEWS EDITOR AT [email protected] Imants Barušs Imprint Academic 2021 Pb, 228pp, £14.95, ISBN 9781788360418 The late William Corliss was very fond of a particular quotation from the 19th-century psyc

      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      How New Gods Are Made

      Mar 24, 2022

      TO SEND REVIEW COPIES, CONTACT THE BOOK REVIEWS EDITOR AT [email protected] On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine Anna Della Subin Granta Books 2022 Hb, £20, 460pp, ISBN 9781783785018 Many of the subjects of this delightfully curious book had no

      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Errant Thought

      Mar 1, 2023

      If brown rats spoke a human language, they would coin the term rodentism to affirm their conviction that the world is their trash can. Homo sapiens, however, is convinced, with Protagoras, that “Man is the measure of all things,” and so we invented h

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Dizzying Labyrinth Of Credulity

      Jan 27, 2022

      TO SEND REVIEW COPIES, CONTACT THE BOOK REVIEWS EDITOR AT [email protected] From Oracles at Delphi to Spiritualism in America Loren Pankratz Prometheus Books 2021 Hb, £25, 472pp, ISBN 9781633886681 If you have ever asked yourself “How can an

      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Metaphysical Influences

      Jan 25, 2024

      Metaphysical Influences
      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      RECOMMENDED READ: Enlightened Thinking

      Dec 12, 2023

      THIS IS NOT a book for beginners. If you only have a vague knowledge of the Enlightenment, just about know that the French had a revolution, and take most of your facts about the USA’s independence from Hamilton, you will be lost. Whatmore spares lit

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      False Nostalgia

      Nov 19, 2021

      False Nostalgia
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Seeing The Big Picture

      May 26, 2022

      IBN KHALDUN (1332-1406) WAS A PIONEERING Arab scholar and one of the most important historians of the Middle Ages. He is best known for his three-volume masterwork the Muqaddimah, written in 1377, which integrated politics, sociology, economics, demo

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Brilliant Biography Of An Elusive Genius

      Jul 27, 2023

      IN MEDIEVAL SCHOLASTICISM, ARISTOTLE’S reputation was such that he was usually referred to simply as “the Philosopher”. Among the moderns, this book makes the case for treating Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) similarly. And if there is no philosopher but Sp

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Harnessing Ancient Sensitivity

      Dec 1, 2022

      Adventures in 40,000 Years of Consciousness Charles Foster Profile Books 2022 Pb, 400pp, £10.99, ISBN 9781788167185 Charles Foster’s first best-seller – Being a Beast (2016), widely praised as a “strange masterpiece” – had a premise that was hard to

      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Rebel Greek Philosophers

      Mar 23, 2023

      Rebel Greek Philosophers
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Thinking On Inking

      Nov 25, 2021

      IN THE EARLY 1960S, on Sundays at Speakers’ Corner, there was a man who would take off his shirt and reveal that every inch of his torso was covered in tattoos. He said not a word but had a knowing smile or smirk upon his face; the assembled audience

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      All Sweetness And Light

      Nov 24, 2022

      All Sweetness And Light
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Interview / Simon Schama

      Jun 8, 2023

      Interview / Simon Schama
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Age Of Reason, Sliced And Diced

      Sep 26, 2024

      OCKHAM’S EPONYMOUS RAZOR IS STILL as incisive as it was when first wielded by the English friar and scholastic philosopher six centuries ago. William of Ockham (1287–1347, below) was a pioneer of the theory of knowledge and the great proponent of nom

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Leap Into The Unknown

      Jan 25, 2023

      A Leap Into The Unknown
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Wisdom On The Bonfire

      Oct 29, 2020

      Wisdom On The Bonfire
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Isaac Newton's Freemasonry

    1/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Isaac Newton's Freemasonry - Alain Bauer

      For Michel, Sylvia and Njordur, Roger, Marie-France, Odile, Marie-Danièle, Anne-Marie, Gérard, and Roger who made French Freemasonry possible.

      For Philippe, and to his finding the way.

      For Jean-Charles, who will find it.

      For the advisers of the Order, federal advisers, national advisers, deputies and delegates at the convents, Venerables and officers of the lodges who make sacrifices to keep the lodges and the Obediences alive.

      For the Brothers and Sisters who live freely in a Freemasonry that emancipates the conscience.

      For all those who have allowed me to serve Freemasonry.

      For my friends who have shared my path.

      For the friend who shared his time and my concerns.

      For the absolute freedom of conscience.

      CONTENTS

      COVER IMAGE

      TITLE PAGE

      FOREWORD: By Michel Barat, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of France

      INTRODUCTION

      CHAPTER 1: A RETURN TO THE ORIGINS

      CHAPTER 2: ROBERT MORAY AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY

      THE FOUNDERS

      THE FIRST PRESIDENTS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY

      CHAPTER 3: ROBERT MORAY AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY

      CHAPTER 4: THE BIRTH OF FREEMASONRY

      AFTERWORD: By Roger Dachez, President of the Masonic Institute of France

      APPENDIX 1: Summary of the History of Freemasonry

      THE MYTHOLOGICAL-ROMANTIC VERSION (ACCORDING TO ANDERSON)

      THE SCIENTIFIC VERSION

      APPENDIX 2: The Grand Masters of England

      THE MYTHOLOGICAL-ROMANTIC VERSION (ACCORDING TO ANDERSON)

      THE GRAND MASTERS OF THE GRAND LODGE OF YORK

      THE GRAND MASTERS OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ANCIENTS

      THE GRAND MASTERS OF THE GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND

      APPENDIX 3: Timeline of Events Leading to the Grand Lodge of England

      APPENDIX 4: Timeline of Events Leading to the Grand Lodge of France

      APPENDIX 5: Dialogue between Simon, a Town Mason, and Philip, a Traveling Mason

      FOOTNOTES

      ENDNOTES

      BIBLIOGRAPHY

      INDEX

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      ABOUT INNER TRADITIONS • BEAR & COMPANY

      BOOKS OF RELATED INTEREST

      COPYRIGHT & PERMISSIONS

      FOREWORD

      BY MICHEL BARAT, GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF FRANCE

      History is not an exploration of times past; much more, it is an illumination of what we have done, with the purpose of illuminating who we are. In this sense, there is no history other than the history of the present. This is the spirit in which the reader should approach Alain Bauer’s work. Exploring the Newtonian origins of Freemasonry does not simply give us an analysis of the development of the Masonic movement from its origins to the present day; it also allows us to understand the contemporary role of Freemasonry.

      This book is as valuable for those who are interested in Freemasonry—either because they are members or for reasons of intellectual curiosity—as for those who simply wish to understand our modern times and our perspective on the future. We all know that Freemasonry is presented as a traditional society. But at the very core of the allegiance held to it, there is a questioning of the nature of this tradition, of its meaning and its development. There is no doubt that Alain Bauer’s book will allow the reader to open the way to the pertinent answers. Above all, it is beneficial in refuting that malicious legend stating that Freemasonry is linked to some kind of occultism—when, in fact, its birth was directly linked to the Enlightenment.

      The background of the first Freemasons was indeed the Royal Society in England. The desire of these first Freemasons, a fraternity of philosophers and scholars, was for a free exploration enabling man to comprehend nature, the world, and society, to see the things God created by the lights of their own understanding. The whole history of Freemasonry is the history of the connection between their origin in spiritual, intellectual, and moral freedom and the breakaway from faith—which also began in England—in favor of a tradition of progress. It should be remembered that even today, it is in Europe, and particularly in France, that Freemasonry continues to promote this freedom: the freedom of spirit.

      Newton’s name is certainly eponymous for these times: the philosopher, the scholar who was both physicist and mathematician. However, we must be aware of what the term philosophy meant in this era: it meant science, just as much the science of ideas as of nature, everywhere from what we think of today as philosophy to the experimental sciences, the science of nature. As regards the scholastic tradition, the great Masonic myths made reference to the world in which the Temple of Jerusalem was built, and to the great thinkers of Athens. To mark this revolution—this return to the things that made man what he is—modern Freemasonry recaptures the traditions of the builders of those cathedrals which, despite all risks, preserved their references to Solomon and Pythagoras throughout the Middle Ages.

      In the image of Newton, the Freemason uses his intellect to build the City of Man with his spirit. In order to do this, he must first pursue rational instruction in the nature of things, in order to open the door to the heaven of ideas, where imagination is no longer a cage but a true creative, in other words poetic, power. Let us not forget that Newton could never have written the laws of gravitation without the discovery of integral calculus, contemporary with his enemy colleague Leibniz. That said, it was a matter of intellect, a capacity for ideas, and not of instrumentalist, limited reasoning. It is this intellect that opens, to use a Masonic expression, the vast domain of thought and action.

      Holding this in one’s memory will permit the reader to read the first founding text of Freemasonry—Anderson’s Constitutions—while seeing all the connections that the true comprehension of this document illuminates, just as much today as in the past. This text is indisputably a liberal text, as much in the domain of thought and religion as in society. For example, the fact that these Constitutions prohibit political and religious discussions in the lodges is not simple prudence in the face of political and religious power, but above all an affirmation that the lodge does not make religious or political choices for its members: religion and politics are the domain of the freedom of conscience. In conscience, one can be of a different religion from the Prince, but in spite of this freedom of opinion, the freedom of expression remains strictly limited to that which conforms to the Prince. But without this affirmation of freedom of belief or unbelief, without this freedom of opinion, any future battle for the freedom of expression is out of the question. Here one can clearly see how the very idea of progress was established by and in a tradition that is not repetition of the past, but rather a transmission into the future. For a Freemason, tradition is ahead and not behind.

      To return to the very origin of Freemasonry doubtlessly means clearing it of some of the distortions of spirit that have sometimes limited or hindered its goal of the emancipation of the human subject, and which have often put a face on it that is not its own. This book demonstrates that every Freemason may state, in his own name, the motto of Enlightenment according to Immanuel Kant: "Dare to know."

      It is desirable both for contemporary Freemasons to dare to know their origin at the heart of Enlightenment in England and for all others to understand the great role of Freemasonry in the history of the emancipation of humanity. But this history is also our present. This book can help us to sharpen our intellectual, moral, and spiritual weapons against the contemporary risk of a return to obscurantism. The Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France, in the text of this history, holds firm in a contemporary battle in which all Freemasons must take part: the continual fight for the thoughts and life of man.

      INTRODUCTION

      Hundreds of works have been written on Freemasonry. What need is there to write a new one—above all, on its origins?

      All Freemasons, and most other people, have been exposed over the centuries to a vast inundation of printed matter, most often the work of notorious anti-Masons, presenting them with a strongly romanced history of Freemasonry. In the chapter dedicated to this history, in my Grand O, I wrote that this was a form of street market mythology, revised by some copyists who, proceeding from one error to the next, produced a poor-quality, prefabricated way of thinking more appropriate for a trashy novel than for literature.¹ The charge was severe. Was it justified?

      For the Freemasons, transmission is at the heart of membership. Initiation is simultaneously a liberation and an integration into a collective history. Each one is called to take in knowledge, in degrees, bit by bit, of dated references, often referring to the Scriptures, but also to the ancient texts of the craft (the Old Charges). Freemasonry is steeped in tradition. What, then, are these traditions, and what is this history?

      To answer these questions, it is necessary to do the work of researcher and historian, to assemble the numerous French, English, and American contributions, to exhume lost texts and fragile hypotheses, to compare, select, and shed light on things. And then to have them validated, verified, rectified, or rejected by others, anonymous or invited to present their opinion in preface or introduction. May they be warmly thanked.

      Such is the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1