REHMLAC +, Journal of Historical Studies of Latin American and Caribbean Freemasonry plus

A model of philosopher prince: Solomon, Hiram and Sheba in Michael Maier’s Septimana Philosophica

2024-09-15T00:15:45-06:00

Taking as a motive the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem to test Solomon’s wisdom, Michael Maier publishes in 1620 his Septimana Philosophica, a literary dialogue on alchemical subjects where he speculates about the content of the conversations held between the kings, adding Hiram of Tyre. We investigate here the symbolic role of these three biblical figures within the dialogue and the hermetic tradition, especially the alchemical one, and how they prefigure the idea of the “philosopher prince”, confronting with a selection of passages, to which we add our own translations.

Per Rosam ad Crucem, per Crucem ad Rosam: The Christological dimension of Rosicrucian inspiration in the Freemasonic imaginarium

2024-10-04T10:26:58-06:00

The Freemasonic symbolic apparatus, originating from the moral use of construction tools, expanded during the 18 th century with contributions from the Bible, Templar knightly fashion, alchemical and hermetic-cabalistic traditions, imaginary correspondence with ancient mystery cults and, ultimately, Rosicrucian philosophy. This enigmatic current of thought, arising in the early 17 th century, would become the nominal foundation of one of the highest degrees of Freemasonry, the Rosicrucian Knight, whose ceremonial was characterized by the use of multiple Christological symbols and attributes that are systematically analyzed in this work

A Hermeneutic-iconological Approach to the Study of Works with Masonic Symbology: The Case of Alegoría de la República Mexicana by Primitivo Miranda (1850)

2024-09-30T14:51:35-06:00

The present work seeks to explain processes of symbolic and emblematic integration of Freemasonry, based on a hermeneutic – iconological reading, in order to indicate its emblematic hermetic tradition of the Modern Age. To do this, the precise case of the object Alegoría de la República Mexicana (1850) by Primitivo Miranda will be taken to explain how there are multiple integrations of symbols and emblems in Masonic objects, in orter to provide a sense of national and group identity.

Notes for Reading The Company of Satan in the Context of 19th-Century Freemasonry

2024-08-23T19:13:52-06:00

Satán y Cie was published in 1888 by León Taxil under the pseudonym Pablo Rosen. The intention was to undermine the image of nineteenth-century Freemasonry to obtain profitable usufruct. The publishing success was no less; from the first French edition that was translated into Spanish the same year, we currently recognize eight different imprints that have published the work. This document explores the material construction of the print and the thematic-literary background of the time to comment on the scenario in which it was produced. A third slides the profile of the printers that promoted its publication.

The Notes of a Freemason: Reflections on a late 19th and early 20th Century Notebook.

2024-08-23T19:21:18-06:00

The article focuses on a notebook attributed to the painter, freemason and theosophist, Tomás Povedano, used from at least the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Although the attribution cannot be certain, we can say that it is indeed the notebook of a freemason or an aspiring freemason. The annotations are comprised of texts and drawings from a variety of sources, most of them explicitly Masonic. The present analysis is intended firstly, to provide an insight into the contents of the notebook, and then to analyse these as key elements of the practical, symbolic, experiential interests of Freemasonry.

Transformation of Legal Tender Coins into Exonumic Masonic Tokens

2024-08-23T19:28:24-06:00

Exonumia is the discipline of numismatics that deals with monetized objects that lack legal tender value. In Spanish we use the term «ficha» to refer to these objects while in English they are known as token, in French jeton and in Italian gettone. Masonry also uses these objects, but with a different meaning: jetons de presence are used in the French-speaking environment while in Anglo-Saxon Masonry the tokens acquire a different function and meaning. On other occasions, legal tender coins have been used by modifying them with countermarks, overstrikes, and engravings to be used as tokens or as Masonic medals.

Resignification of the initatory contents in contemporary Spahish Freemasonry

2024-10-21T12:21:36-06:00

It is intended to explain that, in modern Freemasonry, there is an epistemological and hermeneutical problem: the forgetfulness and ignorance of the original meaning of its symbols. One of its causes lies in the fact that ancient exegetic methods have been forgotten or are not given importance; analogical thinking, closely linked to symbolic language, has been relegated to the margins of contemporary culture. By aspiring to become the standard-bearer of freedoms and social secularization, Freemasonry was more a victim than a protagonist of this process, as it ended up introducing profane values and meanings into its symbols and doctrines.

Hongmen: Chee Kung Tong. Migración, xenofobia y masonería china en la Ciudad de México 1880-1947, de Fredy E. Cauich Carrillo

2024-11-13T19:21:32-06:00

Reseña/Review

Hongmen: Chee Kung Tong. Migración, xenofobia y masonería china en la Ciudad de México 1880-1947, de Fredy E. Cauich Carrillo. Ciudad de México: Palabra de Clío, 2023. 229 páginas. ISBN: 978-607-8719-36-5.

Masonería y conspiración liberal en España. A Coruña, un ejemplo primordial y paradigmático, de Alberto Valín Fernández

2024-11-07T17:07:12-06:00

Reseña/Review

Masonería y conspiración liberal en España. A Coruña, un ejemplo primordial y paradigmático, de Alberto Valín Fernández. Oviedo: Editorial Masónica, 2024. 482 páginas. ISBN: 978-84-19985-60-6.

Masonic symbology: Material culture, bibliographic heritage and theoretical-methodological frameworks for its study

2024-12-10T16:24:00-06:00

Presentation of the issue dedicated to Masonic symbology: Material culture, bibliographic heritage and theoretical-methodological frameworks for its study.

VII Simposio Internacional de Historia de la Masonería y los Movimientos Asociativos en Latinoamérica

2024-12-11T09:58:53-06:00

Review

VII Simposio Internacional de Historia de la Masonería y los Movimientos Asociativos en Latinoamérica: Secularización y laicidad. Múltiples abordajes (siglos XVIII-XXI). Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina, septiembre 16-21, 2024.