Philippa Faulks - The Masonic magician: the life and death of Count Cagliostro and his Egyptian rite

P HILIPPA F AULKS is a researcher, historian and author of seven books. Her passion for seeking out the stories of others compels her love of travel. She currently splits her time between the UK and the rest of the world.

R OBERT L D C OOPER FRSA BA FSA (Scot) is a Scottish Freemason and Curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland Museum and Library in Edinburgh. He is the keeper of the oldest Lodge records in the world, dating from 1599. He writes and broadcasts on all aspects of Freemasonry, and has lectured on the topic throughout the world. Of his many books to date, the most recent include The Rosslyn Hoax? and Cracking the Freemasons Code. www.robertldcooper.com

Other books by Robert Cooper

Cracking the Freemasons Code

Freemasons, Gardeners and Templars

Introduction to the Origins and History of the Order of Free Gardeners

The Rosslyn Hoax?

The Life and Death of Count Cagliostro
and his Egyptian Rite

PHILIPPA FAULKS AND ROBERT L D COOPER

First published in the UK in 2008.

This edition published in 2017 by

Watkins, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited

19 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ

Text Copyright Philippa Faulks and Robert L D Cooper 2008, 2017

Philippa Faulks and Robert L D Cooper have asserted their right
under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified
as the authors of this work

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
without prior permission in writing from the Publishers.

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Designed and typeset by Paul Saunders

Printed and bound in Finland

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data available

isbn: 978-1-78678-013-3

www.watkinspublishing.com

Dedicated to my daughter Rowan

PF

Dedicated to all Freemasons wherever they may be
on the land, the sea or in the air

RC

The scope of this work ensured that a number of people were involved; some only occasionally, others throughout the entire process. Michael Mann and Penny Stopa of Watkins Publishing fall into the latter category and we take the opportunity to thank them for having the vision to see the merits of this book before a single word had been written. Our very special thanks go to our editor John Baldock, whose expertise and insight were invaluable in bringing the finished book together. Thanks to our agent Fiona Spencer Thomas, who has devoted her time and expertise in bringing this publication to the attention of the reading public. Gratitude also to the team at TRANSCEN, Middlesex University Translation Institute, who did a superb and precise job in translating Cagliostros 18th-century French Ritual, without which this book could not realistically have been published.

As co-authors we each have different sets of people to thank.

Philippa Faulks would like to give very special thanks to all those who have encouraged and supported her throughout the writing of the book her parents and siblings for their unstinting love and encouragement; Julian Rees, Yasha Beresiner and Brent Morris for their kindness and Masonic expertise; Julian Chater for his continual support and help with the Latin. Thanks also to Geraldine and Bali Beskin at Atlantis Bookshop for finding rare texts.

Robert Cooper wishes to record his thanks to all the staff at the Grand Lodge of Scotland for their assistance and encouragement, in particular that of the Grand Secretary, David M Begg, CA. The staff at the Edinburgh Central Library together with their colleagues at the National Library of Scotland have at all times been helpful and courteous.

Special thanks are expressed to Bernardino Fioravanti, of the Library of the Grand Orient of Italy, for his expert assistance on the life of Cagliostro and most of all for permission to reproduce a copy of the original Notice of Condemnation which sealed Cagliostros fate.

1. Count Alessandro di Cagliostro Public domain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Alessandro_Cagliostro.jpg

2. Cagliostros Bronze Seal http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefscagliostroseal.htm Permission to use from Jennifer Emick, about.com

3. Seraphina Felichiani, Countess Cagliostro From Cagliostro, by W R H Trowbridge, Brentano Publishers, New York, 1910 (originally from a rare French print)

4. The Symbol of the Rose Cross from The History and Practice of Magic, Paul Christian, France, 1870

5. The Chariot of Hermes. From Transcendental Magic Its Doctrine and Ritual, by Eliphas Lvi. (Trans. A E Waite) London, 1923. Robert L D Cooper

6. A Masonic Anecdote by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey, hand-coloured etching, published 21 November 1786. Robert L D Cooper

7. Declaration of Sentence issued by the Holy Inquisition 1791. The official document issued by the Vatican condemning Cagliostro to death for being a Freemason. Reproduced with kind thanks to Bernardino Fioravanti. Private Collection

8. Castel SantAngelo, Rome. Photograph by Robert L D Cooper Feb 2007

9. Fortress of San Leo, Urbino. Reproduced by kind permission of Rachael Vorberg-Rugh (www.flikr.com)

10. The prison cell of Cagliostro, fortress of La Rocca, in San Leo, Italy http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:San_Leo-la_cella_di_Cagliostro.JPG#file photo by YUMA (public domain wikimedia)

11. Cagliostros cell trapdoor seen from above, Fortress of San Leo. Reproduced by kind permission of Rachael Vorberg-Rugh (www.flikr.com)

12. Looking up from inside Cagliostros cell, Fortress of San Leo. Reproduced by kind permission of Rachael Vorberg-Rugh (www.flikr.com)

13. Airlie MS 1705 (one of the oldest Masonic Rituals in the world). Robert L D Cooper

14. Masonic Symbol Chart c.1900. Robert L D Cooper

15. Stonemasons at work. Note the Masonic symbolism. Robert L D Cooper

16. Frontispiece from the Constitutions of the Free-Masons, 1723. Robert L D Cooper

17. Masonic Initiation, 18th-century engraving. Robert L D Cooper

18. The Freemason as a Symbol. Robert L D Cooper

19. Masonic apron, c.1790. Note the plethora of Masonic symbolism. Robert L D Cooper

20. The only known official image linking modern Freemasonry with Egypt. Robert L D Cooper

21. Scottish Masonic Knight Templar Seal Box c.1850. Robert L D Cooper

22. Frontispiece from The Pocket Companion and History of Free-Masons by J Scott, 1754. Robert L D Cooper

23. Robert Burns in Lodge Canongate Kilwinning, 1787. Reproduced by kind permission of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

24. Imaginative 17th-century depiction of King Solomons Temple. From Orbis Miraculum, or the Temple of Solomon. London, 1656. Robert L D Cooper

25. Divine Geometer. One attempt to depict the Supreme Being known to Freemasons as the Great Architect of the Universe (TGAOTU). Reproduced with kind thanks to John Baldock

26. Papal Bull 1739. The Papal Bull issued against Freemasonry in 1738 and printed and distributed in 1739. Reproduced with kind thanks to Bernardino Fioravanti. Private Collection

27. Title page of Memoirs, Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, by Abbe Barruel, 1797. This was one of the first books that introduced Masonophobia into the world. Robert L D Cooper

28. Statue of Giordano Bruno (15481600) in the Campo de Fiori, Rome, on the spot where he was burnt at the stake for heresy. Robert L D Cooper