I found an old book...

And, I'm assuming it's Masonic. Found several actually...but this post is only about this specific one.

Recently, we moved my Grandmother into a retirement home. As we were going through her house, I happened upon a basket in a cabinet with some old address books, some letters and other odds and ends that belonged to my Great Grandfather. As I was looking through the basket, I found a small blue book with a snap on it. I opened it up to take a look, an on the inside cover was his name written in pencil.

The title of the book is: "King Solomon and his Followers - NY - A valuable aid to the memory"

I decide to read a little to see what it was about, but it's in some strange cipher (or cypher).

I've scanned the title page and a page of the...cipher language...? I don't know what else to call it really. Anyone have any idea what this is?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7dc4bf947c28.png[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/243eedf2f1ce.png[/atsimg]

You are right, it is a masonic book.
I dont understand it though.

Google books
And another

reply to post by BRQuick



It is a Masonic ritual cipher, the pages you posted deal with the Fellow Craft Degree.

Every Mason interested in doing ritual work either gets one or buys one if their jurisdiction permits the use of them. Some only allow you to learn ritual from mouth to ear.




[edit on 26-3-2010 by AugustusMasonicus]

i want a copy. if you digitize it to pdf, include me at the top of your list

2nd n stuff.

good find.

Paz my mate is quick!

DELETE

[edit on 26/3/10 by Chadwickus]

Maybe it's because I'm used to internet 1337speak, but if I look at that page, I can actually read the majority of what it says. Mostly it looks like they took out the vowels to make it harder to read. (maybe the masons invented 1337speak? now THAT would be a sweet conspiracy...)

For instance, I read the first line as:
"The Tuscan is the most simple and solid (something something) It was invented in Tuscany whence it derives its name..."

The circle symbol I think is standing for the word 'order' or something similar in meaning.

(this is all just a guess based on 1337speak and my playing a lot of word games and puzzles in the past, and not from any masonic knowledge, but it makes sense to me)

Cool book. I have a couple myself, but not that old. The writing in it is indeed masonic code and usually refers to rituals and vows. Like the previous poster said, it isn't too difficult to decipher, at least most of it, as they do replace mostly vowels. I troll my local used bookstore for old secret society books constantly. You are so lucky! I have come across very strange books, military manuals etc.. but never anything really, really good. Your book looks like the standard issue for local lodge members. Not so "wow" but still a great find and fun to look into. Did you find any other cool stuff in there?

reply to post by mahtoosacks


Ditto on the copy. Maybe we can figure it out.

Originally posted by DragonsDemesne
For instance, I read the first line as:
"The Tuscan is the most simple and solid (something something) It was invented in Tuscany whence it derives its name..."

The circle symbol I think is standing for the word 'order' or something similar in meaning.

(this is all just a guess based on 1337speak and my playing a lot of word games and puzzles in the past, and not from any masonic knowledge, but it makes sense to me)

The details you're missing are 'columns', the rest is their uses, proportions and dimensions, it is from one of the lectures of Freemasonry I think, I don't know which, but it is basically a misappropriation of Vitruvius's Order of Columns from his 10 Books of Architecture.

Wow that is awesome! My grandfather taught me some of that a long time ago. He is dead 2 years now, but I might be able to scrounge up a few of his books from my mom/grandmother. That would be pretty cool. You are indeed lucky.

reply to post by DragonsDemesne


I'm not familiar with 1337, however after reading your post I scrolled up and checked it again...

Your dead on the money.

The power of the mind...once I knew what I was looking at I was able to translate much of it through a quick scan. Some of the longer words would take some trial and error to reassemble and there are symbols I'm not familiar with, but that's code breaking for ya.

google books seems to have a digitized version, it appears to be the same book.

the link is

books.google.com.au... 6d1AGflXno&hl=en&ei=POmsS8WdG4vo7APohZ2uDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

peace, or should i say pc...

reply to post by BRQuick


that's a star and flag great find!!




Mod Note: One Line Post – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 26/3/2010 by Sauron]

reply to post by BRQuick


Cool find, in that it's old, but you can buy new prints of the various editions on Amazon for about $15 each. There's some variation from state-to-state, which is why you'll see some labeled TX, or Colo, etc. Looks like you've got a New York edition.

I'm not finding that exact lecture in Ducan's Ritual (which is plain text, thus easier to read, if that's what you'd like to do), but I might have overlooked it. It would be, as Augustus points out, in the 2nd degree lecture.

[edit on 3/26/2010 by JoshNorton]

Thanks for the replies. I assumed it had to do with some kind of rituals or something like that. He has a few things underlined in it as well.

These are the other books I found...probably been sitting on the shelf at my Grandmothers since my Great Grandfather died in the 60's. I just never really looked at them until now.

Symbolic Masonry - 1923

Symbolism of the Three Degrees - 1924

The Builders - 1946

Our Stations and Places - 1949

The first two of these books have a National Masonic Library stamp on the cover. I thought that was pretty interesting. (I'll attach a scan of the symbol) I also found my Grandfather's Masonic Bible. He joined my Great Grandfather's lodge in Mineola, NY when he married my Grandmother. I'll scan it as well.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/19369ad1ba69.png[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d3de3a528f89.png[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/83d1cc268c46.png[/atsimg]

Originally posted by davo2012
google books seems to have a digitized version, it appears to be the same book.

the link is

books.google.com.au... 6d1AGflXno&hl=en&ei=POmsS8WdG4vo7APohZ2uDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

peace, or should i say pc...

I think you're right. I compared the two up to page 9 (as far as the preview would let me), and they're the same up to there.

reply to post by DragonsDemesne




Most of them seem to have the correct first and last letter, and the reast is missing vowels, some of them are moved around

8v+ y@v/2 12;6h+ ; cn red ;+

^

But your right i can read it. in super 1337 speak

yo this is actually really easy to read now that i
i've been looking at it, and i really suck at english so the reast of you should be able to figure this out too

The tasen? is the most simple and solid of his . It was invented in Taseny,

goes something like that

Originally posted by BRQuick
Thanks for the replies. I assumed it had to do with some kind of rituals or something like that. He has a few things underlined in it as well.

The reason for such books is to help Masons memorize the ritual. Part of our oath is that we're not supposed to write any of it down, and in some states, they're really strict about learning "mouth-to-ear". But some people don't learn well verbally and need a visual reference, or sometimes people can't get together in person to go over it again and again until it's memorized, so such books were published to help a Mason who had some familiarity with what was supposed to be said to get the words in the right order, etc.

The other 3 books look interesting. I think "The Builders" is the only one I've heard of, but I've not read it, myself. (Joseph Fort Newton or something like that, if memory serves?)

You'll notice the bible is probably a straight King James Version with one or two additional pages at either the front or back (or both), possibly indexing passages that are significant to Masons. There are three bible verses that are read during the conferral of the three degrees, so they might be highlighted or referenced in some way. Otherwise, I've often seen pages added for signatures of the officers present when the recipient of the bible was "raised" to the degree of Master Mason. If you see anything else of note in the Bible, let us know and we can probably explain it as best as possible.