Evolution: The Occult Doctrine of Becoming

With the British Royal Society acting as their headquarters of
propaganda, the elite had created an institution to provide
credibility for their specially designed 'science.' Now, they needed
to introduce the 'science.' Recall that the founding members of the
Royal Society were all Freemasons. Thus, whatever 'science' these men
would design would be derivative of Masonic doctrine. In The Meaning
of Masonry, W.L. Wilmhurst reveals the worldview underpinning the new
Masonic 'science':

"This - the evolution [emphasis added] of man into superman - was
always the purpose of the ancient Mysteries, and the real purpose of
modern Masonry is not the social and charitable purposes to which so
much attention is paid, but the expediting of the spiritual evolution
of those who aspire to perfect their own nature and transform it into
a more god-like quality. And this is a definite science, a royal art,
which it is possible for each of us to put into practice; whilst to
join the Craft for any other purpose than to study and pursue this
science is to misunderstand its meaning." (Wilmhurst, 47)

Later in the book, Wilmhurst reiterates this theme:

"Man who has sprung from earth and developed through the lower
kingdoms of nature to his present rational state, has yet to complete
his evolution [emphasis added] by becoming a god-like being and
unifying his consciousness with the Omniscient - to promote which is
and always has been the sole aim and purpose of all Initiation."
(Wilmhurst, 94)

With God's effective exile from science, man's position as imago viva
Dei (created in the image of the Creator) was summarily relegated to
obsolescence. Now, Freemasonry could introduce its occult doctrine of
'becoming,' the belief in man's gradual evolution towards apotheosis.

According to Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Erasmus Darwin,
grandfather of Charles Darwin, was the first to promulgate the concept
of evolution:

"Dr. Erasmus Darwin (1731 - 1802) was the first man in England to
suggest those ideas which later were to be embodied in the Darwinian
theory by his grandson, Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882), who wrote in
1859 Origin of Species." (quoted in Daniel, 34)

The Lunar Society
Erasmus Darwin was the founder of the Lunar Society. According to
author Ian Taylor, the Lunar Society was active from about 1764 to
1800 and its prominent influence 'continued long afterwards under the
banner of The Royal Society.' The group's name owed itself to the fact
that members met monthly at the time of the full moon. The membership
of this group boasted such luminaries as John Wilkinson (who made
cannons), James Watt (who owed his notoriety to the steam engine),
Matthew Boulton (a manufacturer), Joseph Priestly (a chemist), Josiah
Wedgewood (who founded the famous pottery business), and Benjamin
Franklin. It is with the Lunar Society that one begins to identify
Erasmus' ties to Freemasonry. (Taylor, 55)

Interestingly enough, in an article by Lord Richie-Calder, Lunar
Society members were assigned the very esoteric appellation of
'merchants of light.' This was precisely the same description used for
the hypothetical society presented in Sir Francis Bacon's New Atlantis
(Taylor, 55). In her examination of J.G. Findel's History of
Freemasonry, Nesta Webster made the following observation: 'Findel
frankly admits that the New Atlantis contained unmistakable allusions
to Freemasonry and that Bacon contributed to its final transformation'
(Webster, 120).

Researcher Ian Taylor adds:

"Webster pointed out that one of the earliest and most eminent
precursors of Freemasonry is said to have been Francis Bacon, who is
also recognized to have been a Rosicrucian; the Rosicrucian and
Freemason orders were closely allied and may have had a common
source." (Taylor, 445)

Still, these are tenuous ties at best. Are there any sources that
firmly establish a Darwinian/Freemasonic connection? Mackey's
Encyclopedia of Freemasonry conclusively confirms a link:

"Before coming to Derby in 1788, Dr. [Erasmus] Darwin had been made a
Mason in the famous Time Immemorial Lodge of Cannongate Kilwinning,
No. 2, of Scotland. Sir Francis Darwin, one of the Doctor's sons, was
made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge, No. 253, at Derby, in 1807 or 1808. His
son Reginald was made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge in 1804. The name of
Charles Darwin does not appear on the rolls of the Lodge but it is
very possible that he, like Francis, was a Mason." (quoted in Daniel,
34)

In 1794, Erasmus wrote a book entitled Zoonomia, which delineated his
theory of evolution (Taylor, 58). Being a Freemason, there is little
doubt that Erasmus cribbed liberally from the Lodge's occult doctrine
of 'becoming.' Before Erasmus had penned his precursory notions of
progressive biological development, Freemason John Locke (1632 - 1704)
extrapolated the Hindu doctrine of reincarnation into the context of
metaphysical naturalism and formulated a theory of evolution (Daniel,
33-34).

The British East India Company had imported the Hindu belief in
reincarnation to England where it would be adopted by the British
Royal Society. A prominent member of the Royal Society, John Locke
studied reincarnation extensively and, working with the occult
doctrine as an extrapolative inspiration, developed his own
evolutionary ideas. In fact, Locke's theory of evolution received the
support of the male members of Darwin's family (Daniel, 33-34). Two
centuries later, this occult concept of 'becoming' would be
transmitted to Charles Darwin and On the Origin of Species would be
born.

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