| Episode number | MB15 (Part 15 of 42) |
|---|---|
| Original air date | March 10, 1993 |
| Broadcast | Hour of the Time, WWCR shortwave |
| Chapter title | Quotes by Freemasons |
| Primary texts cited | A. Ralph Epperson, The New World Order (1990); Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma (1871); Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928); Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry |
| Listen | Stream the series on archive.org |
Episode Summary
Episode 15 aired on March 10, 1993, the day after the Roshaniya broadcast and five days before Cooper’s promised lecture on the Kennedy assassination in San Diego. The chapter title is Quotes by Freemasons, and Cooper opens with an explicit methodological statement: tonight he will let the Masons speak for themselves, quoting their own recognized authorities so that listeners cannot accuse him of fabricating the argument. His stated principle is that the listener should verify everything heard on the program against primary sources and trust no one, including Cooper himself.
The first extended sequence draws on Albert G. Mackey, whom Cooper establishes through the testimony of fellow Mason Carl Claudy as one of the greatest students and most widely followed authorities the Masonic world has known. From Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry Cooper reads the definition of the Ancient Mysteries as the secret worship paid to each pagan god beside the public form, and the identification of the Osiric Mysteries of Egypt as their most important ancient form. He then quotes Manly P. Hall, a 33rd degree Mason whose Secret Teachings of All Ages Cooper describes as costing him one hundred and fifty dollars and worth every penny. Hall’s text identifies the gods who walked with men in antiquity and left the keys of their wisdom with specially ordained sons as the direct founders of the Ancient Mysteries. Cooper points out to listeners that Hall’s phrase the knowledge of good and evil matches precisely the biblical language for what Satan imparted to Adam and Eve, treating this as a tacit admission that the gods in Hall’s account are the same being the Bible names Satan.
The episode then builds a sustained case, drawn from Hall, Mackey, Albert Pike, George Steinmetz, Carl Claudy, and others, that Freemasonry carries an esoteric doctrine concealed from ordinary members behind allegory and symbol. Hall’s What the Ancient Wisdom Expects of Its Disciples supplies the claim that the initiated are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth, men marionettes whose strings are pulled by unseen masters. Mackey confirms the connection between the Masonic rite of circumambulation and ancient sun worship. Pike in Morals and Dogma acknowledges that all secret orders have two doctrines, one public and one reserved for the masters. Masonic writer Rex Hutchins explains that the word reveal means to re-veil, that is, to offer an explanation while preserving the deeper mystery. The cell structure of the Communist Party, Cooper argues, is directly borrowed from these same Mystery Schools.
The broadcast pivots at the mid-point when Cooper introduces the born-again theme. Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma describes Masonic initiation as a mystical death and rebirth, calling the third degree the new-born experience. The same language, Cooper notes pointedly, was used by George Bush during a press conference when he confirmed he had been born-again. The third-degree Master Mason ceremony, in which the candidate is knocked to the floor, wrapped in a blanket, and raised by the Lion’s Paw grip, is Cooper’s evidence that Freemasonry enacts the Mystery Religion’s resurrection drama. He presents the full sequence, from Hall’s account of the twice-born adepts of antiquity through to Kenneth MacKenzie’s description of the coffin ceremony, as a continuous tradition.
In the second half, Cooper returns to A. Ralph Epperson’s The New World Order for a concentrated sequence on the serpent as the defining symbol of the esoteric religion. Hall, Mackey, John Anthony West, and others are cited to establish that the serpent represents wisdom, intellect, and divine light across ancient cultures. Mackey’s Royal Masonic Encyclopedia supplies Kenneth MacKenzie’s observation that the idol Baphomet, for which the Knights Templar were condemned, has been identified with the Creator, but that more cannot be said without revealing Masonic secrets. The episode ends with Cooper reading Epperson’s argument that the serpent-as-wisdom and the sun-as-light are two expressions of the same hidden Luciferian theology, and that this theology has been passed from the Mysteries of ancient Egypt forward through every secret society to the present day. Cooper closes by promising to continue the following night.
Key Claims Made in This Episode
Documented from the broadcast. The site records these claims; it does not endorse them. Dated claims also appear in the series timeline.
- Cooper claims Masonic writer Albert G. Mackey, endorsed by his peers as the supreme authority on the subject, defined the Ancient Mysteries as the secret worship paid to pagan gods alongside the public form, with the Osiric Mysteries of Egypt as the most important.
- Cooper claims Manly P. Hall’s statement that the gods who walked with men left the knowledge of good and evil with specially ordained sons is a tacit admission that those gods are the being the Bible names Satan.
- Cooper claims Hall wrote that the initiated are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth and that ordinary men are marionettes pulled by unseen strings.
- Cooper claims all secret orders have two doctrines, one public and one concealed for the masters, citing Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma directly.
- Cooper claims the Masonic rite of circumambulation is a direct survival of ancient sun worship, as confirmed by six different Masonic writers including Mackey, Pike, Claudy, and Morgan.
- Cooper claims the cell structure of the Communist Party was invented by the ancient Mystery Schools and has been used by them for millennia.
- Cooper claims the Masonic third-degree initiation, in which the candidate undergoes a symbolic death and is raised by the Lion’s Paw grip, is the direct continuation of the Mystery Religion’s resurrection drama, and that George Bush’s public born-again statement refers to exactly this ceremony.
- Cooper claims General Albert Pike, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite, created both the Ku Klux Klan and B’nai B’rith through the mechanism of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.
- Cooper claims the serpent symbol used in the Ancient Mysteries and carried forward into Freemasonry represents Lucifer, citing Hall, MacKenzie, West, and Reverend Alexander Hislop’s Two Babylons.
- Cooper claims the Baphomet idol for which the Templars were condemned has been identified in Masonic literature with the Creator, and that Masonic writers acknowledge they cannot reveal more without breaking their oaths.
Primary Sources Cited in This Episode
| Source | Status | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| A. Ralph Epperson, The New World Order (1990) | Not public domain; quoted only | Main text Cooper reads from; see the sources hub |
| Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma (1871) | Public domain | Scans on archive.org |
| Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928) | Copyright status uncertain for this edition; quoted via Epperson | Search archive.org |
| Manly P. Hall, What the Ancient Wisdom Expects of Its Disciples (1923) | Possibly public domain; quoted via Epperson | Search archive.org |
| Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry (1873) | Public domain | Scans on archive.org |
| Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (1853) | Public domain | Scans on archive.org |
| Kenneth MacKenzie, The Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia (1877) | Public domain | Scans on archive.org |
| Adam Weishaupt, writings and letters (late 18th century) | Public domain; quoted via Epperson | Sources hub |
| Captain William Morgan, Illustrations of Masonry (1826) | Public domain | Scans on archive.org |
Notable Quotes
The greatest secret of the secret societies is how to control everyone else. If they revealed these secrets, they would not have the control, for it would be in the hands of everyone.
Cooper, MB15, March 10, 1993
They are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth, and men are but marionettes, dancing while the invisible ones pull the strings.
Manly P. Hall, quoted by Cooper, MB15, March 10, 1993
Historians’ View
The claim that Albert Pike founded the Ku Klux Klan has been repeated widely in alternative history literature but is not supported by documented evidence; mainstream historians of the Klan do not identify Pike as a founder, and the claim appears to originate in late nineteenth-century anti-Masonic polemic. The claim that B’nai B’rith was created by the Scottish Rite is similarly unsupported; the organization was founded in 1843 by a group of German-Jewish immigrants in New York with no documented connection to Pike or the Scottish Rite. The broader argument, that Freemasonry conceals a Luciferian inner doctrine, rests on selective reading of Albert Pike’s dense metaphorical language in Morals and Dogma; Pike scholars note that his use of Lucifer follows a long literary tradition identifying the word with the planet Venus as a symbol of enlightenment rather than as a name for Satan. We record these claims as broadcast; we do not endorse them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Mystery Babylon episode 15 about?
Episode 15 is a compilation of quotations from recognized Masonic authorities, assembled to argue that Freemasonry openly acknowledges a concealed esoteric doctrine, a secret theology of the serpent and the sun, and initiated roots in the Ancient Mysteries of Egypt. Cooper reads from Mackey, Hall, Pike, and others alongside A. Ralph Epperson’s The New World Order. The Freemasonry hub collects all related episodes.
What books does Cooper read from in episode 15?
The episode draws heavily on A. Ralph Epperson’s The New World Order (1990), which itself quotes Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma, Manly P. Hall’s Secret Teachings of All Ages and What the Ancient Wisdom Expects of Its Disciples, Albert G. Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, and several other Masonic writers. Cooper also quotes Carl Claudy, George Steinmetz, Rex Hutchins, and Kenneth MacKenzie directly.
Why does Cooper say George Bush was born-again into Freemasonry?
Cooper connects Bush’s public statement that he had been born-again to Albert Pike’s description of Masonic third-degree initiation as a symbolic death and rebirth, and to his earlier claim in MB13 that Bush underwent the Skull and Bones initiation. He presents the born-again language as evidence that the Christian concept was derived from the Mystery Religion’s resurrection drama. This interpretation is Cooper’s own and is not accepted by mainstream scholars of either Christianity or Freemasonry.
Where can I listen to episode 15?
The complete series audio is preserved at the archive.org Mystery Babylon collection. We do not host the audio. For background on Cooper and the series, see Who was William Cooper?
Continue the Series
- Previous: MB14: The Roshaniya
- Next: MB16: Sun Worship
- Topic hub: Freemasonry in the Mystery Babylon series
- Related hub: Secret Societies
- Every dated claim in the series: Mystery Babylon timeline
- Books Cooper cited: sources and bibliography
- Full index: Mystery Babylon Complete Episode Guide
