Mormonism and Freemasonry - Similarities in Symbology and Ritual

Similarities in Symbology and Ritual

Mormon temple worship shares an extensive commonality of symbols, signs, vocabulary and clothing with Freemasonry, including robes, aprons, handshakes, ritualistic raising of the arms, etc. The interpretation of many of these symbols has been adapted to the Mormon narrative from their original meanings in Freemasonry. For example, whereas Masons exchange secret handshakes to identify fellow Freemasons, Mormonism teaches that these handshakes must be given to sentinel angels in order for Mormons to be admitted into the highest kingdom of heaven. Mormon temple garments also bear the Masonic symbols of the Square and Compass, although Mormons have imbued these symbols with religious meaning that exceeds the meaning of the symbols as intended by Freemasonry.

In the "Temple and Salvation for the Dead" part of Discourses of Brigham Young, Brigham Young gives a quote about the temple which directly relates to the story of Hiram Abiff from Masonic folklore. Although Young changed some of the key masonic aspects about Hiram to fit better with Mormonism's view of the temple, the story is the same.

It is true that Solomon built a temple for the purpose of giving endowments, but from what we can learn of the history of that time they gave very few if any endowments, and one of the high priests was murdered by wicked and corrupt men, who had already begun to apostatize, because he would not reveal those things appertaining to the priesthood that were forbidden him to reveal until he came to the proper place. (Discourses of Brigham Young, compiled by John A Widtsoe, Deseret Book Company, 1977)

When Smith was in the Carthage Jail in 1844, after he fired his last round in a small pepper-box pistol (which had been given to him that morning by Cyrus Wheelock), he held up his arms and may have been giving the Masonic call of distress, hoping Masons in the contingent would honor this call and not fire on him. It is recorded that he ran towards the open window with uplifted hands, and proclaimed, "Oh Lord my God." Most people saw this as only a plea to God for aid, although others suspect otherwise. This phrase, "Oh, Lord, my God, is there no help for the widow's son?" is the sign/token of a Master Mason in distress; a Mason is bound by honor to come to the utterer's aid if there is a greater chance of saving the life of the seeker than on losing his own.