| Episode number | MB34 (Part 34 of 42) |
|---|---|
| Original air date | January 12, 1994 |
| Broadcast | Hour of the Time, WWCR shortwave |
| Chapter title | Secret Societies and Vatican II |
| Primary text read on air | “Secrets in the Vatican II: The Church and the Secret Societies, A Brief History,” La Traviata, December 1993 (author unnamed; sent by a CAJI member) |
| Listen | Stream the series on archive.org |
Listen to MB34
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Episode Summary
Episode 34 aired on January 12, 1994, nine days after episode 32. Cooper’s announced purpose is to show listeners that his conclusions about secret societies are not his alone. He reads, nearly in full, an article titled “Secrets in the Vatican II: The Church and the Secret Societies, A Brief History,” from the December 1993 issue of a publication called La Traviata. Cooper says a CAJI member sent it to him and that he does not know the author, whose name does not appear in the issue. He frames the episode as corroboration: independent researchers, unknown to him, have reached the same conclusions he has been presenting since the series began.
Note: Episode 33 was never produced. The series moves directly from episode 32 to episode 34, and Cooper makes no on-air explanation for the gap. The numbering was likely a production or archival issue.
The article begins with the Church of England Synod’s then-recent debate on Freemasonry, which it uses as a springboard to trace Masonic origins deep into antiquity. The core argument runs as follows. The inner circle of Freemasonry inherits a pre-Christian tradition from the pagan mysteries of the ancient world. Medieval Masons absorbed this esoteric knowledge and encoded it in the architecture of Gothic cathedrals. When speculative Freemasonry lodges were formally established in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this knowledge was translated into the symbolism of Masonic ritual. Cooper interrupts repeatedly to endorse the argument, connecting each point to material he has presented in earlier episodes.
The article traces a lineage from the Babylonian patriarch Lamech, whose sons encoded ancient wisdom in stone pillars before a flood, through the Greek figure Hermes Trismegistus, who allegedly discovered the pillars and compiled the Emerald Tablet, through the Gnostics and Cathars of medieval Europe, and into the Knights Templar. The Masonic tradition, according to the article, regards Nimrod of Babylon as the first Mason, and holds that the building of Solomon’s Temple by the master craftsman Hiram Abiff is the central symbolic event of the craft. Cooper pauses on the Hiram Abiff narrative to underline its Osirian structure: a murdered and resurrected craftsman whose story mirrors the death and rebirth mythology of Egypt.
The article then introduces the Dionysian Artificers, a semi-mythical guild of ancient craftsmen said to have appeared around 1000 BC when Solomon’s Temple was under construction. They used secret signs and passwords, organized into lodges ruled by a Master, and promoted a political vision of Utopia on earth. Their traditions passed through the Roman College of Architects to the Comacine Masters of the fourth century, who transmitted the knowledge to the Gothic cathedral builders of medieval Europe. The article notes that pagan symbols found in medieval churches, including what it calls Sheela na Gig carvings and fertility imagery, demonstrate that the builders were pagans in practice even when nominally Christian. Cooper endorses this emphatically, citing his earlier revelations about phalluses concealed inside pre-Reformation church altars, which he attributes to a discovery by Cambridge professor Gregory Webb.
The political argument follows the theological one. The article describes the relationship between the papacy and the secret societies as one of mutual suspicion shading into open conflict. The Church first tolerated then attacked Freemasonry; Pope Clement XII issued the first anti-Masonic bull in 1738, threatening excommunication; Pope Pius IX condemned the secret societies in his Syllabus of Errors in 1864; Pope Leo XIII in 1884 identified Masonry as working to establish Satan’s kingdom on Earth. Cooper notes that the Jesuit order was founded as a counter-force by Ignatius Loyola, himself a former prisoner of the Inquisition who received a papal bull granting him immunity and a mandate to combat the Protestant movement.
The article’s conclusion carries the argument to the twentieth century. The reforms associated with Vatican II, and the 1986 Assisi interfaith gathering at which John Paul II shared a platform with a Tibetan lama, a Hindu Swami, a Native American medicine man, a Jewish rabbi, and a Maori high priest, are presented as evidence that the secret societies have achieved their long-sought penetration of the Vatican. Cooper adds that the Pope who preceded John Paul II died after exactly thirty-three days in office and was, he implies, murdered because he was attempting to resist this infiltration. Cooper closes with an extended passage in his own voice arguing that socialism is attractive to most people because it promises to relieve them of personal responsibility, and that they will welcome the New World Order for the same reason.
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 that medieval cathedral builders concealed pagan fertility symbols, including stone phalluses identified by Professor Gregory Webb of Cambridge inside pre-Reformation church altars, demonstrating that nominally Christian Masons remained pagans throughout the medieval period.
- Cooper claims the Masonic tradition traces its lineage through the Dionysian Artificers, a secret society of craftsmen appearing around 1000 BC, to the Roman College of Architects under Caesar Augustus, to the Comacine Masters of the fourth century, and finally to the Gothic cathedral builders.
- Cooper claims that Hiram Abiff, the master builder of Solomon’s Temple, was a symbolic representative of Osiris, and that the third degree of Freemasonry reenacts Hiram’s death and resurrection as a direct inheritance of Egyptian mystery religion.
- Cooper claims the sacred Masonic name Jahbulon is a composite of Jehovah, Osiris, and Baal, encoding the central theology of Freemasonry as the union of the Hebrew God with the major fertility deities of the ancient Middle East.
- Cooper claims Martin Luther used the rose and cross as his personal seal and was himself a member of the Rosicrucian Order, and that the Reformation was supported by the secret societies as a means of weakening Catholic political power in Europe.
- Cooper claims that all of the American founding fathers were members of secret societies, and that the founding of the United States was framed by its authors as a great experiment to determine whether man could rule himself, the culmination of what they called the Great Work.
- Cooper claims the Jesuit Society was founded by Ignatius Loyola, who was arrested by the Inquisition, used his connections to obtain a papal bull granting him immunity from all authority except the Pope, and was charged with founding a new order to combat Protestantism.
- Cooper claims that Pope John Paul I, who preceded John Paul II, was murdered after exactly thirty-three days in office because he was attempting to be a good Pope and was killed by those working to place their own representative on the papal throne.
- Cooper claims that the 1986 Assisi interfaith gathering, at which John Paul II prayed alongside a Tibetan lama, a Hindu Swami, a Native American medicine man, a Jewish rabbi, and a Maori high priest, demonstrates that the secret societies have achieved their goal of uniting all the world’s religions under a single ancient source.
- Cooper claims that the secret societies openly regard their members as wolves and the general population as sheep, their legal and lawful prey, and that Osiris represents their doctrine, Isis their church, and Horus the body of initiates who will rule the world.
Primary Sources Cited in This Episode
| Source | Status | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| “Secrets in the Vatican II: The Church and the Secret Societies, A Brief History,” La Traviata, December 1993 (author unnamed) | Not public domain; read on air at length, treated here under quotation only | Original article sent by CAJI member; see sources hub |
| Humanum Genus, Pope Leo XIII (1884) | Public domain | Search archive.org |
| Syllabus of Errors, Pope Pius IX (1864) | Public domain | Search archive.org |
| In Eminenti, Pope Clement XII (1738, first papal bull against Freemasonry) | Public domain | Search archive.org |
| Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma (1871), cited via article for Jahbulon discussion | Public domain | Search archive.org |
| Genesis, chapters 10 and 11 (King James Bible), cited in article for Nimrod and Tower of Babel | Public domain | Available at every library and archive |
Notable Quotes
Those at the bottom may go to a Christian church and really believe they are Christian. But as they progress through the degrees of initiation, they are indoctrinated into the old pagan religions, and the old gods come back to them with a vengeance until they reach the top.
Cooper, MB34, January 12, 1994
For Osiris is the doctrine, Isis is the Church, Horus is the great body of initiates that will rule you. They call themselves wolves, and of course you are the sheep, the legal and lawful prey of the wolves.
Cooper, MB34, January 12, 1994
Historians’ View
The La Traviata article synthesizes a tradition of secret-society historiography that has been critically examined by mainstream scholars. The Dionysian Artificers lineage as presented is not accepted by academic historians of Freemasonry, who trace the institution primarily to Scottish and English operative mason guilds of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The discovery of hidden pagan objects in medieval churches was documented by architectural historians, and Professor Gregory Webb’s work at bombed churches during World War II is a real phenomenon discussed in architectural conservation literature, though the interpretation that this proves persistent Masonic paganism is Cooper’s and the article’s, not Webb’s. The identification of the name Jahbulon as a composite deity appears in Stephen Knight’s 1984 book The Brotherhood and was subsequently contested by Masonic scholars who argued the term was a local English Royal Arch usage, not a universal Masonic god-name. Martin Luther used a seal featuring a rose and cross, but this was a personal heraldic device; the claim that he was a member of the Rosicrucian Order cannot be substantiated from historical records, as the Rosicrucian manifestos appeared only after Luther’s death. The death of Pope John Paul I after thirty-three days in office is documented fact; the claim that he was murdered is widely circulated but has not been confirmed by Vatican investigation or independent forensic evidence. We record all claims as broadcast; we do not endorse them.
Every book recommended across this series is collected, with a note on what each one is actually good for, on the Top Picks reading list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Mystery Babylon episode 34 about?
Episode 34 presents a magazine article tracing an unbroken lineage from the Babylonian patriarch Nimrod through the Dionysian Artificers, Hiram Abiff, the Roman College of Architects, the Comacine Masters, and the medieval Knights Templar to modern Freemasonry, arguing that the secret societies have now penetrated the Catholic Church at its highest levels. Cooper adds commentary linking each claim to earlier episodes. Related content appears on the Secret Societies hub, the Freemasonry hub, and the Knights Templar hub.
Why does this episode skip from episode 32 to episode 34?
Episode 33 was never produced. Cooper makes no on-air explanation for the gap in this broadcast. The series numbering moves directly from 32 to 34, and no MB33 recording appears in the known archive. This is a standing gap in the series, not a missing or lost episode. For context on the full sequence, see the complete episode guide.
What is Jahbulon and where does it appear?
The name appears in Royal Arch Masonry and was brought to wider public attention by Stephen Knight’s 1984 book The Brotherhood. The article Cooper reads interprets it as a composite of Jehovah, Osiris, and Baal. Masonic scholars dispute both the etymology and the claim that it constitutes a universal Masonic god-name. For source documents and competing interpretations, see the sources hub and the Freemasonry hub.
Where can I listen to episode 34?
The series is preserved at archive.org. The site never hosts or distributes the audio; see our content policy.
Continue the Series
- Previous: MB32: Letter by a Humanist Police Chief (note: episode 33 was never produced)
- Next: MB35: Christianity to Babylon
- Topic hub: Secret Societies
- Related hub: Freemasonry
- Related hub: Knights Templar and the Assassins
- Related hub: Mystery Schools and Ancient Religion
- Every dated claim from this episode: series timeline
- Full index: Mystery Babylon complete episode guide
- Background: Who was William Cooper?
- Primary sources cited: Mystery Babylon sources hub
