Did Albert Pike really say that all Masons were secret followers of Lucifer?
No. In many anti-Masonic books you’ll see what is supposed to be a quotation from Pike, saying that all Masons of the “Higher Degrees” are secret worshipers of Lucifer or that we reguard Lucifer as God. The historical fact is that those words were written in 1894, three years after Pike’s death. They were written by a notorious athiest and pornographer named Gabriel Jogand-Pages, but better known by his pen name, Leo Taxil. Taxil was engaged in an elaborate hoax to discredit both Freemasonry and the Church of Rome, and made up the Pike quotation out of thin air. He then “discovered” the letters, and revealed them to the world. He was highly praised by the religious authorities– showered with honors and listed as a defender of the faith for having revealed the “true evil purposes of Masonry.” Then, just as he was being acclaimed all over Europe for his “religious zeal,” he pubicly announced the hoax, making everyone look like fools. The scandal broke in 1897, but the supposed “Pike let
