The Philalethes Society is a

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

research society based in North America. The society was founded on October 1, 1928, by a group of Masonic authors led by

Cyrus Field Willard Cyrus Field Willard (August 17, 1858 – January 17, 1942) was an American journalist, political activist, and theosophist. Deeply influenced by the writing of Edward Bellamy, Willard is best remembered as a principal in several utopian socialist ...

. Willard was a former reporter for the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

and the founder of a utopian commune on Puget Sound. Philalethes was designed to serve the needs of those in search of deeper insight into the history, rituals and symbolism of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Publications

In the Society's early days, all of its publications appeared in other, established Masonic periodicals—many of which were edited by Fellows of the Society. There was no separate Philalethes journal. Soon, the hardships of the Great Depression and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

caused nearly all Masonic periodicals to cease publication. After the war ended, and paper rationing was lifted, the Philalethes Society was able to release the first issue of Philalethes. The first issue, dated March, 1946, was edited by Walter A. Quincke. ''Philalethes: The Review of Masonic Research and Letters'' has long served as the de facto magazine for North American Freemasonry. The journal features original research, Masonic education articles, book reviews, art and poetry by new and established Masonic writers. At the present time, the journal is published quarterly.

Origin of the name

The Greek word φιλαλήθης (pronounced "fill-a-LAY-thayss") was used by ancient writers such as Aristotle and Plutarch, and means "a lover of truth." One of the early uses of the word was as part of a ''nom de plume'' of Eirenaeus Philalethes (the ''peaceful lover of truth'') who was a 17th-century alchemist and the author of many influential works. The word came into Masonic circles through alchemical mystic

Robert Samber Robert Samber (1682—c. 1745) was a British writer and translator. He is credited with the first English translation of the Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of Eng ...

(1682–1745), who used the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes; Samber's use, in turn, was an homage to Thomas Vaughan, an earlier alchemist who had used the same name. Finally, a Rite of Philaléthes was founded in Paris in 1772, devoted to the study of

esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

. Founding President

wrote in 1936 that the Philalethes Society took its name from the Parisian Philaléthes.

Membership

Originally the Philalethes Society consisted only of recognized Masonic authors, limited to forty Fellows at any given time in imitation of the Académie Française. Access was opened to all regular Master Masons through the Correspondence Circle.Allen E. Roberts, Seekers of Truth (Highland Springs, VA: 1988), p. 7 Today, members of the Correspondence Circle are merely referred to as "Members." The number of Fellows is still restricted to forty. Among the original forty Fellows were Cyrus Field Willard, Harold V. B. Voorhis,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Oswald Wirth Joseph Paul Oswald Wirth (5 August 1860, Brienz, Canton of Bern – 9 March 1943) was a Swiss occultist, artist and author. He studied esotericism and symbolism with Stanislas de Guaita and in 1889 he created, under the guidance of de Guaita, ...

, Robert I. Clegg, Henry F. Evans, Louis Block, J. Hugo Tatsch, Charles S. Plumb, Harry L. Haywood, J.S.M. Ward, and Charles C. Hunt. Fellows elected since that time have included Masonic notables such as Carl H. Claudy (1936),

Arthur Edward Waite Arthur Edward Waite (2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942) was a British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider–Waite tarot deck (also called the Rider–Waite–Smith ...

(1937), Ray Denslow (1945), Allen E. Roberts (1963), S. Brent Morris (1980), John Mauk Hilliard (1981), Wallace McLeod (1986), Thomas W. Jackson (1991),

Norman Vincent Peale Norman Vincent Peale (May 31, 1898 – December 24, 1993) was an American Protestant clergyman, and an author best known for popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book '' The Power of Positive ...

(1991), Robert G. Davis (1993), Leon Zeldis (1994), Michael R. Poll (2003) and

Jay Kinney Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. Kinney has been noted for "adding new dimensions to the political comic" in the underground comix press of the 1970s and '80s. Kinney was a member, along w ...

(2010).

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Philalethes Society
Masonic organizations