An Esoteric Quest for Inner America Faculty Spotlight- Jay Kinney

Jay Kinney was formerly the publisher and editor in chief of Gnosis: A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions. He was the recipient of the 2005 Albert G. Mackey Award for Excellence in Masonic Research, conferred by the Scottish Rite Research Society. His forthcoming book is The Masonic Enigma.

Jay Kinney will be part of the faculty at the Esoteric Quest for Inner America taking place in Phoenicia, NY (8/24-28)

You have a new book, The Masonic Enigma , which will be published soon by HarperOne. Can you tell us its theme and why you chose this topic?

Throughout my life I’d always been intrigued and puzzled by Freemasonry, but I’d not considered joining it because I was wary that I’d have to take a vow of secrecy that would make it difficult to discuss or write about it. Such things were a real issue for me during the years I was publishing Gnosis Magazine. As it turns out, Masonry’s secrecy is overblown. What most people imagine are Masonic “secrets” are right out in the open – and often discussed at great length in Masonic publications that are hardly secret. The few things that Masons are obliged to keep secret are the exact wording of degree rituals, the modes of recognition between Masons (signs, grips, and passwords), and any personal confidences confided between Masons as brothers. If you consider the totality of Masonic history and symbolism, these details are a minuscule part of the big picture. However, when I was thinking of joining the Craft I looked around for a good comprehensive book that would tell me the truth about Masonry and I couldn’t find one that satisfied me. So, several years after I become a Mason, I decided that perhaps I should write that book that I’d been looking for. To the best of my ability, The Masonic Enigma is that book.

We know that George Washington was a Freemason, but how much do we really know about the influence of freemasonry at the time of the revolution?

The myth promulgated by esoteric writers such as Manly Palmer Hall is that the American Revolution and the fledgling U.S.A. were greatly influenced by Masonry and that the new country was in many ways a Freemasonic project. The reality is, of course, considerably more complex than that, though no less interesting. Suffice it to say that there were Masons on both sides of the conflict during the revolution and one of my goals for my plenary at the conference is to help us distinguish between romantic myths and verifiable facts. Yes, Freemasonry was a factor, but it may not have been because the Comte de Sainte-Germain was beaming psychic messages to George Washington and Ben Franklin from the Inner Planes!

What did Freemasonry stand for in the world at large in both Europe and America in the late 18th and 19th century? How did it serve as a spiritual and political impulse against powers of the Monarchy and the Church?

One of the biggest obstacles to understanding Freemasonry is the notion that it is a unified and unchanging phenomenon – that no matter the country or no matter the century it is somehow always the same thing. Is this really true about any other human social organization or institution? I’d suggest it isn’t. Modern Masonry emerged out of the late Renaissance and developed during the Enlightenment. So, right off the bat we are dealing with a movement that has included impulses in tension with each other. What’s more, Masonry on the Continent and in the UK and its colonies developed in different directions. French Masonry, for instance, initially caught on in aristocratic circles, but after the French Revolution it took on a more “Left” and secular – even anti-clerical – flavor. Masonry as spread by the British was, in many ways, a prop for the British Empire, yet in America it also became a laboratory for self-governance and independence. And at the same time, beneath these various Masonries, there were certain esoteric ideas and concepts, embodied in the initiation rituals, for instance, that are well worth examining.

History also tells us there was a strong anti-Masonic movement that emerged in America in the first half of the 19th century. Why did this arise and what were its results?

It is one of the peculiar details of American history that the Anti-Masonic Party was the first “third party” in U.S. politics. It developed in response to a scandalous incident in upstate New York in 1826 where it was widely believed that irate Masons had murdered one William Morgan, an ex-Mason who was about to publish an exposure of Masonic rituals. Whether they did or not remains a controversy to this day, but the result at the time was a backlash against Masonry which lasted for at least a generation. American Masonry, ever since, has been at pains to affirm its integrity and uprightness, and it evolution during the 1800s tended in a direction of moral righteousness and piety that contrasted with its founding days in the 1700s when lodges met in the upstairs rooms of pubs.

What do you consider to be the state of freemasonry today? How much interest is there in the esoteric dimensions of the craft?

American Freemasonry today is at a cusp where it will either find a way to reinvent itself or it will follow the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias into oblivion. At its peak, 50 years ago, Masonry in the U.S. had over 4 million members and it got used to the comforts of being a mass organization – even if only 10% of the membership was really active at any given time. However, from 1960 on, Masonry has slowly shrunk, year by year, as the times changed and the Baby Boom generation declined to follow in its parents’ footsteps. What we are seeing now is a new generation of young men who have been attracted to Freemasonry for a variety of reasons. Some are searching for roots in a largely rootless culture. Others are attracted by the Masonic ideal of a universal brotherhood. And many are intrigued, as I was, by the esoteric elements that are still to be found in Masonic ritual and symbolism. The esoteric aspect has always been a minority interest in the Craft, but it remains a vital opportunity for self-inquiry and learning. If Freemasonry survives its present challenges it will be because it comes to grips with it deepest aspects and learns to once again welcome those young men who knock at its door looking for that which it has preserved all these centuries: an initiation into a manhood aligned with the highest ideals of the Western Mysteries.

You were with us last year on Samothraki. Can you tell us some of your favorite moments from that “Esoteric Quest for the Mysteries and Philosophy of Antiquity”?

At the Samothraki conference, as with the previous ones I’ve attended, my favorite moments were often those chance fleeting moments that one could hardly predict. The sun going down over the Aegean Sea while waiting for the bus to take us to dinner. A conversation over breakfast at the hotel with another attendee sharing common interests. Meeting up with old friends whom one hasn’t seen in years. A flash of insight triggered by a presenter. Tromping around ancient ruins going back millennia. What I’ve always found magical about the Esoteric Quest conferences is the uncanny ability of Ralph White and his trusty crew to create a total experience that both stimulates the mind and nourishes the spirit. Exploring the conference themes is always a pleasure and an education, but half of the experience that stays with me is the sense of community among participants, that sense that we are indeed on a quest together to discover the esoteric streams beneath the surface of western culture. I’m looking forward to this year’s Quest just as much as any previous one.

At this year’s Esoteric Quest Jay will be presenting a plenary titled “The All-Seeing Eye in America : Freemasonry’s Role in American History” and a workshop “In Blavatsky’s Shadow: America ‘s Unsung Mages”

For complete conference information visit www.esotericquest.org