EDMOND MAZET

BEFORE DEALING with Freemasonry as an "esoteric" movement, it
is necessary to determine in what sense it can be termed esoteric.
The most usual meaning of "esoteric" is "secret" or "reserved
for the few," and certainly Freemasonry is esoteric in this sense.
It is a society of selected men, who are admitted to it through secret
ceremonies, in the course of which they receive secret means of recognition
which they swear not to reveal to people who have not been admitted in
the proper manner. But etymologically "esoteric" means "inner" and can be
opposed to "exoteric" or "outer." These two terms apply, for instance, to the
teachings of a master who freely delivers to the public the exoteric part of
his doctrine and keeps the esoteric part for a few selected disciples. The
established religions themselves are held, in various circles, to have an
exoteric meaning accessible to the whole congregation, and an esoteric one,
the knowledge of which can be attained only through exceptional spiritual
insight, a special grace from God and/or admission to a proper brother-
hood endowed with the means of leading its members to such knowledge.

Freemasonry may also be termed esoteric in a sense connected with this
second use. It conveys to its members, through ceremonies and symbols,
a body of moral, religious, and spiritual teachings. A classical English
masonic lecture defines Freemasonry as "a peculiar system of morality,
veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." But it can hardly be said that
all freemasons agree on the precise content of these teachings, and to what
extent they are esoteric. All freemasons agree on a set of basic principles,
and all masonic initiation ceremonies have a common basic core; but there
is much variation in the details of rituals and symbols, and much more in
their interpretation. Some freemasons are reluctant to admit that Free-
masonry contains anything other than a moral and religious teaching
common to all theistic religions and would wholly discard the term "eso-
teric" in the second sense as applied to it. Other freemasons, on the

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