# Did Albert Pike Teach Lucifer Worship?

> Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma (1871) mentions Lucifer on pages 102, 321, and 324, and this page quotes each passage in context. The 1889 “Luciferian doctrine” instructions often attributed to Pike were written by Léo Taxil, who confessed the hoax in 1897.

- Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/albert-pike-and-lucifer
- Religions: Freemasonry
- Denominations: none
- Beliefs: none
- Tags: freemasonry, albert pike, scottish rite, taxil hoax
- Updated: 2026-10-13
- Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul))


Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma does use the name Lucifer, and its most quoted line, on page 321, asks whether Lucifer “bears the Light” and answers “Doubt it not!” But the famous instruction that Masons of the high degrees must keep “the purity of the Luciferian doctrine” is not by Pike. It was printed in 1894 from a document Léo Taxil later said he wrote himself, as part of a hoax he confessed in Paris on 19 April 1897.

## Key Points

- Pike wrote Morals and Dogma (1871) for the Scottish Rite’s Southern Jurisdiction. Its preface says its teachings “are not sacramental, so far as they go beyond the realm of Morality” ([Morals and Dogma](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030324978)) [(1)](#ref-1).
- On page 321 the Apocalypse “despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer,” and the next sentence reads, “Lucifer, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness!” [(1)](#ref-1)
- On page 102 Pike calls a force of free will the “Light-bearer or Phosphor, of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend” [(1)](#ref-1).
- The 14 July 1889 “instructions” were printed by [A. C. De La Rive](https://archive.org/details/la-femme-et-l-enfant-dans-la-franc-maconnerie-universelle-000000132_202301) [(2)](#ref-2) in 1894, with a footnote that Diana Vaughan carried them to Paris.
- [Taxil’s 1897 confession](https://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/taxil_confessed.html) [(3)](#ref-3) calls that circular one “written by myself in Paris” and Diana Vaughan a typist who helped him.

## What Morals and Dogma Is

The title page says the book was “Prepared for the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States and published by its authority,” and was entered for copyright by Albert Pike in 1871 [(8)](#ref-8). It is a set of lectures on the degrees of the Scottish Rite. The preface limits its authority: “The teachings of these Readings are not sacramental, so far as they go beyond the realm of Morality into those of other domains of Thought.” [(1)](#ref-1) It is a real Masonic book, and many of its claims are Pike’s own.

## The Three Lucifer Passages, in Context

**Page 102.** Pike writes: “The true name of Satan, the Kabalists say, is that of Yahveh reversed; for Satan is not a black god, but the negation of God. The Devil is the personification of Atheism or Idolatry. For the Initiates, this is not a Person, but a Force, created for good, but which may serve for evil. It is the instrument of Liberty or Free Will.” He says initiates picture that force as Pan, “and the Light-bearer or Phosphor, of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend.” [(1)](#ref-1) Pike denies a personal devil and treats Lucifer as a myth about a natural force.

**Page 321 (19th degree, Grand Pontiff).** “The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer. Lucifer, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls! Doubt it not! for traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations: and Inspiration is not of one Age nor of one Creed.” [(1)](#ref-1) A few lines later he writes, “The Sephar Yezirah, the Sohar, and the Apocalypse are the completest embodiments of Occultism.”

**Page 324.** “The conviction of all men that God is good led to a belief in a Devil, the fallen Lucifer or Light-bearer, Shaitan the Adversary, Ahriman and Tuphon, as an attempt to explain the existence of Evil, and make it consistent with the Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Benevolence of God.” [(1)](#ref-1)

Read in full, Pike does not tell Masons to worship Lucifer. He does write as an esotericist who denies a personal Satan, praises Kabbalah, and on page 744 says, “All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabalah and return to it,” and that “all the Masonic associations owe to it their Secrets and their Symbols.” [(1)](#ref-1) On page 104 he says Masonry “conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled.” [(1)](#ref-1) Those sentences are real, and Christians object to them on their own terms.

In the King James Bible, “Lucifer, son of the morning” is the fallen one of [Isaiah 14:12](/bible/isaiah/14/12) [(6)](#ref-6), and Paul warns that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” ([2 Corinthians 11:14](/bible/2-corinthians/11/14)) [(7)](#ref-7). Pike’s praise of a light-bearer is what readers of those verses notice.

## The 1889 “Instructions” and Their Source

De La Rive printed a text dated “le 14 juillet 1889” and signed with Pike’s titles, including the invented “Souverain Pontife de la Franc-Maçonnerie Universelle,” addressed to the “23 Suprêmes Conseils Confédérés.” It tells the 30th, 31st, and 32nd degrees that “La religion maçonnique doit être, par nous tous, initiés des hauts grades, maintenue dans la pureté de la doctrine luciférienne,” and adds, “Oui, Lucifer est Dieu.” [(2)](#ref-2) A footnote on page 590 says Pike chose “la Sœur Diana Vaughan” to bring “son encyclique luciférienne, à Paris, pendant l’Exposition Universelle, 1889.” [(2)](#ref-2)

The signature also calls Pike “Grand-Maître Conservateur du Palladium sacré.” In his confession Taxil says he invented Palladism step by step: “the egg from which Palladism was to be born had to be laid and incubated.” [(3)](#ref-3)

## Taxil’s Confession

Léo Taxil was the pen name of Gabriel Jogand-Pagès, a freethinker who announced a conversion to Catholicism and then wrote against Freemasonry for twelve years. On 19 April 1897 he spoke at the Geographic Society in Paris. The transcript, printed in Le Frondeur on 25 April 1897, has him say there was never a Catholic exploring “the High-Masonry of Palladism” but “a freethinker,” and “it is your servant.” He describes Diana Vaughan as “a professional typist and the representative of one of the typewriter manufacturers in the United States.” Then: “We saw indeed some Masonic journals, such as La Renaissance Symbolique, swallow a dogmatic circular about luciferian occultism, a circular dated July 14, 1889, written by myself in Paris, and which I disclosed as having been brought from Charleston to Europe by Miss Diana Vaughan on behalf of Albert Pike, its author.” [(3)](#ref-3)

The Scottish Rite’s own book on anti-Masonic claims has a chapter titled “Léo Taxil’s False Luciferian Quotation of Albert Pike” [(4)](#ref-4).

## What Is Documented and What Is Not

| Statement | Status |
| --- | --- |
| Pike wrote “Lucifer, the Light-bearer! … Doubt it not!” on p. 321. | Documented [(1)](#ref-1) |
| Pike wrote that the Devil “is not a Person, but a Force” on p. 102. | Documented [(1)](#ref-1) |
| Pike wrote that Masonic associations owe their secrets and symbols to the Kabbalah (p. 744). | Documented [(1)](#ref-1) |
| Pike issued “Luciferian” instructions on 14 July 1889. | Fabricated by Taxil [(2)](#ref-2) [(3)](#ref-3) |
| Pike said “Lucifer is God.” | From the Taxil text, not from Pike [(2)](#ref-2) [(3)](#ref-3) |
| Manly P. Hall wrote, “The seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands.” | Documented, in a private 20th-century book, not a ritual [(5)](#ref-5) |

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is Morals and Dogma Official Masonic Teaching?

It was prepared for the Scottish Rite’s Southern Jurisdiction, and its preface says its teachings beyond morality “are not sacramental” [(1)](#ref-1). Blue Lodge rituals do not quote it.

### Why Does the Hoax Keep Circulating?

The French text reads like a primary source and carries Pike’s name. The confession is less known. Both are linked above so a reader can check them.

## Passages Quoted on This Page

### Isaiah 14:12

King James Version.

> How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

### 2 Corinthians 11:14

King James Version.

> And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

## Sources
Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site.

1. [Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, pp. 102, 104, 321, 324, 744; preface](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030324978) (Albert Pike, Charleston, 1871, Cornell University Library scan on archive.org. The scan’s leaf numbers run nine ahead of the printed pages.)
2. [La Femme et l’enfant dans la franc-maçonnerie universelle, pp. 587–590](https://archive.org/details/la-femme-et-l-enfant-dans-la-franc-maconnerie-universelle-000000132_202301) (A. C. De La Rive, Paris, 1894, on archive.org.)
3. [Taxil’s Confession, Le Frondeur, 25 April 1897](https://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/taxil_confessed.html) (English translation of Taxil’s 19 April 1897 address at the Geographic Society in Paris, from Heredom vol. 5 (1997), Scottish Rite Research Society, reprinted by the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. A Masonic host; the French original was not located online.)
4. [Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry?, Contents](https://web.archive.org/web/20020218111619/http://www.srmason-sj.org/web/SRpublications/DeHoyos.htm) (Arturo de Hoyos and S. Brent Morris, published by the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction. Archived copy of 2002.)
5. [The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, ch. IV, “The Fellow Craft”](https://archive.org/details/TheLostKeysOfFreemasonry_201802) (Manly P. Hall, revised edition, on archive.org.)
6. [Book of Isaiah, 14:12](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/14/12). King James Version
7. [Second Letter to the Corinthians, 11:14](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-corinthians/11/14). King James Version
8. [Morals and Dogma (Project Gutenberg edition), Title page](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19447) (Project Gutenberg eBook 19447, from a 1944 reprint.)

## See Also
- [What Are the York Rite and Scottish Rite Degrees?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/york-rite-and-scottish-rite-degrees) — After the three Blue Lodge degrees, a Master Mason may join further bodies. The York Rite adds the Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch degrees and the Knights Templar orders. The Scottish Rite numbers its degrees from the 4th to the 32nd.
- [What Is the Great Architect of the Universe?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/what-is-the-great-architect-of-the-universe) — Grand lodges use “Great Architect of the Universe” as a name for a Supreme Being each member defines by his own faith. This page quotes those definitions, the Royal Arch word Jahbulon and the church reports on it, and traces the claim that high-degree Masons worship an evil god to a confessed hoax.
- [Can a Christian Be a Freemason?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/can-a-christian-be-a-freemason) — Grand lodges say Freemasonry is not a religion and welcomes men of every faith. Most churches that have studied it say its rituals, prayers, and oaths make it a religious system that a Christian should not join. This page sets out both claims from their own texts.
- [What Are the Masonic Oaths and Penalties?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/masonic-oaths-and-penalties) — The obligations of the Blue Lodge and Royal Arch, as the nineteenth-century exposures print them, carried penalties of a cut throat, a torn-open breast, a body severed in two, and a skull smote off. The United Grand Lodge of England removed the physical penalties from its obligations in 1986.
- [What Are the Order of the Eastern Star and DeMolay?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/eastern-star-and-demolay) — The Order of the Eastern Star is a Masonic-related order for men who are Master Masons and for women. DeMolay is a Masonic-sponsored order for young men aged 12 to 21. Both are tied to Freemasonry by their membership rules.