Freemasonry and Solomon's Temple

King Solomon was the son of David and recognized as a Prophet in the three main religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

He is also a legendary figure, a hero, a wiseman and extremely rich.

So many stories told about his unique character, described him as a magician or with special powers that enable him put genies and demons under his control.

Also his ability to talk to birds and animals and employ them as part of his strong army.

Solomon finished what his father David started, building the Temple of Jerusalem, what the Jews consider as an abode for the Ark of Convenient.

However Solomon built around the Temple, several other buildings and other sites for the defense of the city.

Since no excavations so far were able to find any remains of the Temple, it remained a mystic place as mysterious as it builder King Solomon.

References to the construction of King Solomon's temple at Jerusalem have been included in the rituals of the operative Freemasons since ancient times.

In his Revelations of the Square, Rev Dr George Oliver, who studied and wrote on all aspects of speculative Freemasonry, wrote that the Freemasons adopted the Temple of Solomon for its symbol, because it was the most magnificent structure that ever existed...The temple, he says, denotes reason and intelligence.

Masonic scholars, the Freemasons trace their roots to the building of King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and claim the builders of the temple were the original stonemasons, and the forefathers of today’s Freemasons.

The legend centers on the master builder—a man named Hiram Abiff—who claimed to know the secret of the temple.

One day, three men kidnapped Abiff and threatened to kill him if he didn’t reveal that secret. When he refused to talk, Abiff was murdered.

After learning of the killing, King Solomon ordered a group of Masons to search for Abiff’s body and bring back the secret of the temple.

The men were unsuccessful, so the King established a new Masonic secret.

His secret is believed to be the word “Mahabone,” meaning “the Grand Lodge door opened,” which is now the password used to enter the third degree of Masonry.

Or so the story says....

However, it seems that Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon's Temple, to convey what has been described by both Masons and critics as "a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.

The symbolism of the Temple  of Solomon is central in Masonry, so much so that, in some Nordic lodges, the Great Master bears the title of Vicarius Salomonis.

The six pointed star, also called 'Seal of Solomon', is found among the main Masonic emblems.

In Masonry, Hiram is conceived of as the builder of the Temple of Solomon, treacherously assassinated by his three companions, who wanted to drag the secret of the art of builders out of him and hide away the corpse.

Any Mason admitted at the ceremony of the third grade is seen as Hiram found again, which is to say reborn, who through this rebirth, rises to the dignity of Master of the sect.

So, why all these secrets?

Why Freemasonry is a secret society or a societ with secrets?

Why they are so successful that most American and World Rulers are Freemasons?

What do they really control, and how?

Why their signs are on the American Dollar?

What is their link with religions?

What do they want to achieve?

Sami Cherkaoui