The Masonic cipher, described by a Masonic encyclopedia (Philadelphia, 1874)

SUMMARYThe Masonic cipher, described by a Masonic encyclopedia (Philadelphia, 1874) [Connections: Word coding & Masonic method, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDMackey's Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry defines cipher as "Cryptography, or the art of writing in cipher, so as to conceal the meaning of what is written" (p. 163). He says: "Although not used in symbolic Masonry, the cipher is common in the high degrees" (p. 164), and that one cipher "was at one time assumed by the American Royal Arch; although it is now becoming obsolete there." He describes a grid of nine compartments formed by "the intersection of two horizontal and two vertical lines," with letters "distinguished from each other by dots or accents." He also notes that "Cornelius Agrippa tells us, in his Occult Philosophy, that the ancients accounted it unlawful" to write sacred matters in ordinary letters. He concludes that a skilled decipherer would face "no cipher so complicated as to bid defiance for many hours," so "the cipher is no longer of any practical use." Mackey's entry "Alphabet, Masonic" simply says "See Cipher" (p. 59)

WITNESSMasonic reference work

CODEThis is a documented cipher key (the grid-and-dot "pigpen" type)

PATTERNMasonic cipher is a substitution of shapes for letters. It hides the spelling of a word, not its sound

LENS (WW9)A pigpen inscription is a solvable receipt: decode it letter by letter and you get plain words. It does not support reading shapes in general as letters

OPENWikipedia says Freemasons used the cipher from the early 18th century (citing Kahn 1967 and others) and describes a Trinity Church cemetery stone in this cipher reading "Remember death". That sentence has no footnote, so verify the stone in person or by photo

SOURCEFull text of HathiTrust copy uc2.ark:/13960/t6057k382 (Albert G. Mackey, An Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, Philadelphia: Moss & Co., 1874, pp. 59, 163–165); Wikipedia, "Pigpen cipher".