Top Ten Esoteric Masonic Authors

Two years ago, subscribers to Fraternal Review were polled to determine what they considered the “Top 10 Books every Mason should read.” In part because we intentionally did not define criteria, other than our readers preferences, the results included an impressive variety of Masonic history, legend, reference, philosophy, and symbolism. In our “Cover Story” for that September 2016 issue, I observed that the results echoed the “tension between the historians and esotericists among Masonic scholars” in that five of our Top 25 were on the controversial theme of the Knights Templars and their possible links to the founding of Freemasonry.
In our poll for this issue, we narrowed the focus to “esoteric” Masonic authors — again leaving it to our readers to judge what they considered to be esoteric writing. While most of your votes were for authors whose works are definitely esoteric by any standard, some of your choices indicated an expansive view of that category. A very few votes were disqualified, as they were for individuals who may have written or spoken about Masonry, but have no published books.
This year’s poll asked for only five names on each ballot, without distinction between current and deceased authors — and you gave us a thoughtful mix of both! The Editors and I decided to publish a Top 25 Esoteric Authors, as we had done with books in 2016. This time, we have also included Top Ten lists in two separate categories, for deceased and living and authors: Classical and Contemporary. We also decided that we would each cast double ballots, naming our own top five choices in each category. Mine are shared on this page; the others are on page __, along with those two authors who themselves were voted 7th and 8th in the Top 25 Authors, and 3rd and 4th among the Top 10 contemporaries.
Before counting down the Top 25 — and to aid you in evaluating our poll results — we present an explanatory excerpt from Albert Mackey’s Lexicon of Freemasonry, “Esoteric and Exoteric Masonry,” that was itself excerpted, by its author, from a famous funeral address he had made in 1843. On page ___, you will see where he placed among your favorite Esoteric Authors. We hope that you will heed the advice of Mackey’s conclusion, and — if you’ve not already done so — make of yourself an Esoteric Mason, and reap the “great reward” of that Masonic path. — Jeriel Smith, SCRL Lodge Master