Ten Myths About Modern Freemasonry.

How does Tolstoy describe Freemasonry in War and Peace?

Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace was published at a time when Masonic societies in Russia had long been banned.

But the events of the novel take us to the first decade XIX century when Freemasonry flourished in Russia.

It is known that Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was a Freemason, he was looking in the brotherhood for an opportunity to comprehend and comprehend the world. His Masonic history begins in 1779: in the German city of Regensburg, he became involved in the sacraments of the order.

Later, traveling across Europe, Kutuzov entered the lodges of Frankfurt and Berlin, and upon his return to Russia in 1783 he was recognized by the lodges of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Mikhail Illarionovich enjoyed great prestige among Masons of various degrees.

Upon initiation into the seventh degree of Swedish Freemasonry, Kutuzov was given the order name Greening Laurel and the motto to glorify himself with Victories. The life of the commander fully corresponded to this motto.

Kutuzov gave more than 30 years to the brotherhood, it was he who stopped Napoleon, the demon of violence and lust for power in the understanding of free masons, thereby realizing the main goal of the order of achieving peace and tranquility.

In Tolstoy's novel, Kutuzov is already a man with established convictions, he is not tormented by doubts, as is the case with Pierre Bezukhov, who is just worried about issues of moral self-improvement.

The bearer of these ideas in the novel War and Peace is Joseph Alekseevich Bazdeev, who made a strong impression on Pierre with his passionate sermon. The image of Bazdeev was written with real person Joseph Alekseevich Pozdeev, very popular among Moscow masons.

This circumstance, apparently, forced to leave the name and patronymic of the character unchanged and make minor changes to his last name.

Favorite heroes of L. N. Tolstoy go through a difficult spiritual path in a painful search for truth. They are carried away by false ideas, are deluded, change internally and eventually approach the ideal of simplicity.

Pierre Bezukhov's admission to masonic society falls on a difficult period of his life associated with his marriage to Helen Kuragina. He suffers, realizing that not only was deceived, but also deceived others. He considered himself guilty that he had married without love - this plunges Pierre into a deep crisis.

What's wrong? What well? What should be loved, what should be hated? Why do you need to live and what am I? What is life, what is death? What is the power that controls everything? he asks himself. These reflections on the meaning of life are characteristic of goodies Tolstoy.

Pierre's coming to Freemasonry became important event, because this will help to find a way out for his internal throwing. He thought, thought, thought and thought, the author says. But the more he thought, the darker, more confused and hopeless the past, the future and, most importantly, the present seemed to him.

During such reflections, when Pierre was immersed in the highest mindset that a person can reach, at that moment he entered the room stranger... It was the old Freemason Bazdeev, who came to Pierre to convert him.

He immediately began a conversation about Freemasonry, suggested introducing Pierre into the brotherhood of free masons, where he would find peace. Pierre felt hope and reassurance in the piercing gaze of the Mason.

A week later, Bezukhov was scheduled to be admitted to the St. Petersburg Lodge of the Northern Lights. Pierre was admitted to the box with the observance of all the rituals. New life instilled new strength in Pierre, and after his initiation into Masons he was cheerful and restrained, as if making fun of the whole world, knowing the truth.

From the day he was admitted to the fraternity of Masons, a new life of activity and self-satisfaction began for Pierre. Soon Pierre, supported by his brothers-Masons in his long-standing intentions, drove through the estates with a very clearly defined goal: to bless his twenty thousand souls of the peasants.

Pierre finds the meaning of life in the philosophy of moral self-improvement as a means of eliminating evil in himself and in the world.

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Tolstoy wrote about the historical veracity of the main characters in his work "When I write historical, I like to be up to the smallest detail. true to reality"." In those days, they also loved, envied, sought truth, virtue, were carried away by passions; the same was the mental and moral life, even sometimes more refined than now ... ".

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Who are the Freemasons, where and when did they appear? According to the most common of them, the emergence of Freemasonry dates back to the time of King Solomon, who entrusted the coppersmith (architect) from Tire Hiram Abiff with the management and supervision of the construction of the temple in Jerusalem.

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It also echoes the first version that the ancestors of the Free Masons Lodges (originally the lodge is just a place for storing working tools and rest) were the Roman colleges of Craftsmen or Komaties.

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The following legend indicates that Freemasonry comes from the Order of the Templars (Temples), which was defeated by the French king Philip IV and Pope Clement V for "Satanism, vilification of Christianity and money-grubbing"

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The way out of the impasse for Pierre was his acquaintance with Osip Alekseevich Bazdeev, "What is bad? What is good? What is it necessary to love, what to hate? Why live and what am I? What is life and death? What power controls everything?" He asked himself. And there was no answer to any of these questions. " “Whatever he began to think about, he returned to the same questions, which he could not solve and could not stop asking himself. , did not go out, but turned around, not grabbing anything, everything was on the same rifling, and it was impossible to stop turning it. "

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The initiation rite “taking a handkerchief from the closet, Vellarsky put it on Pierre's eyes” Pierre's gaze stops at the robes of the Masons. They have “closed leather gloves hands". Gloves ( white) denoted in Masonic symbolism the purity of morals, "purity of hands." The Mason wears a "white leather apron." This is a zapon made of lamb skin, denoting purity of thoughts and innocence in Masonic symbolism. The Mason "wore something like a necklace around his neck."

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Rite of passage “As a sign of obedience, I ask you to undress. - Pierre took off his tailcoat, waistcoat and left boot as instructed by the rhetorician. The Mason opened the shirt on his left chest ... gave him a shoe for left leg". The sword in Masonic symbolism meant justice as one of the strictest laws in the world; if injustice is hidden in the heart of the initiate, its fruits will find him in the future. At the same time, this is a reminder of the punishment of God, awaiting the initiate, if in the future he breaks the oaths given to the order and betrays its secrets.

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The initiation ceremony Bezukhov hears "Masonic hammering". The knock of hammers symbolized the trials that fell to the initiate, the new brother. A hammer - in Masonic symbolism, an instrument of spiritual labor, used to cut off "unnecessary material"; The ordinary Masonic hammer is a mason's hammer with the non-working side of the butt, which serves to work it like a wedge for splitting stone. Symbolized conscience, the spark of the Divine in a person. Bezukhov goes"On some kind of carpet." This subject also had in Freemasonry symbolic meaning... "For greater clarity of the ceremony - the chief spread a carpet on the floor in front of the beginner, on which all the symbols that contained the innermost meaning of the degree were depicted."

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Rite of passage Symbolic in Freemasonry and referred to below "sun, moon ... plumb ... wild stone and cubic stone, pillar, three windows." The sun in Masonic symbolism meant truth, courage, justice, an active force in the world, an all-living spirit, a Masonic order; the moon meant pure love, matter, nature, as well as Christ and truth. The plumb line meant equality; wild stone - rough morality, chaos; cubic - morality "processed". A pillar in Masonic symbolism could mean wisdom, strength, beauty. The number three in Masonic symbolism means faith in Christ, hope for salvation, love for all mankind; improving the heart, mind, spirit; spirit, soul, body; Holy Trinity; three degrees of initiation in John's Freemasonry.

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Conversations between Pierre and Prince Andrey in Bogucharovo Outside of Freemasonry, Bezukhov claims, "everything is full of lies and untruth, but in the world, in the whole world there is a kingdom of truth, and we are now children of the earth, and forever - children of the whole world"

Many of us got an idea of ​​Freemasonry from the historical and fiction... But is it true? There are many myths that actually have nothing to do with reality and only distort the impression about this rather ancient teaching.

The first myth. Freemasonry is a sect

Has very little to do with sects. Rather, it is an esoteric society whose members are engaged in a spiritual search. Outside the Masonic lodge, the life of its members is not controlled by anyone; a person can do anything, for example, go to church.

The second myth. It is known that many people belonged to Freemasonry. outstanding people, for example, Peter I and Pushkin

We will never know for sure. The lists of Freemasons are kept inside the lodges and are not made public. Therefore, we can only assume that this or that person was or is a Freemason ... By the way, the members of the lodges themselves are forbidden to talk about their comrades-in-arms.

The third myth. We are ruled by masons

Rumors of a "Masonic conspiracy" are complete nonsense. Freemasonry is not a political force and cannot influence the life of the state in any way. There is also no evidence that any representatives of the authorities are members of the Masonic lodges. Moreover, talk about politics is prohibited at meetings of Masonic lodges.

The fourth myth. Masons accept only the "chosen ones" - representatives of the elite and bohemian circles... For example, businessmen, lawyers, scientists, writers, artists

Freemasonry motto: "Freedom, equality, brotherhood." Therefore, theoretically anyone can become a Freemason, regardless of their social or professional affiliation. Another thing is that you have to be prepared for the fact that you will have to pay fees, as in every society, and they are not symbolic here ... And in order to take spiritual initiation, you need to have a certain level of development. Therefore, as a rule, more often people come to Freemasonry from certain social circles and with an appropriate level of material wealth.

The fifth myth. Masonic Lodge Membership Can Promote Career or Financial Benefits

Nothing of the sort happens. The Masonic organization is secret order where people come for spiritual interests, and not for a public structure. Therefore, membership in it does not give the right to any social status... Moreover, members of the order are generally not advised to talk about their affiliation with Freemasonry. Thus, it does not give any priorities.

To everyone who comes here,. If it turns out that a person came for the sake of any social or material benefits, he is immediately weeded out.

True, one of the main activities of the order is charity. Required element ritual tradition - the so-called "Widow's Circle". This is a bag with which all members of the lodge are bypassed, and everyone has the right to put his donation there. Then these donations go to charity. Members of the order can also help their brothers in adversity.

Sixth myth. Freemasons single out "especially worthy" and invite them to join the order

In fact, direct campaigning is prohibited here. A member of the order can hint that he has an acquaintance in these circles, you can recommend a candidate. No more…

The seventh myth. Candidates go through complex rituals upon joining the order.

We mainly know about the introductory rituals of Freemasonry from Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, which describes the scene of Pierre Bezukhov's acceptance into Masons. In our time, they have also practically remained unchanged: interrogation under the bandage, tests by the elements ... But they are all symbolic.

The eighth myth. Women are not accepted as Masons, at least in Russia

Now in Russia there are mixed lodges, where women are admitted. Although traditionally, only men were selected for Masonic organizations.

The fact is that there are a lot of so-called protective elements in Masonic rituals. For example, many of them are related to weapons. The box is entered under the arches of swords. The first thing that the initiate sees when the bandage is removed from him is a semicircle of people with swords in their hands pointed at his chest. This ritual semicircle symbolizes the rays of the sun ... To properly wield a cold weapon, one must be a very prepared person. It seems that this is why women were not allowed into the order for a long time.

The ninth myth. Freemasons recognize each other by special signs

Oddly enough, this is true. Freemasons can recognize each other by a special handshake. There is also a specific word that is used by members of the lodge. But this is a rather archaic tradition.

The tenth myth. Freemasons are forbidden to talk about the activities of the order

This is also true. Otherwise, the existence of the order will not make any sense at all. The Masonic organization was closed from the very beginning, which means that the spiritual knowledge acquired by its members is not revealed to the uninitiated. After all, in order to perceive them, a person must have a certain level spiritual development and preparation.

The above excerpt ((Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 3 - 5)) from the novel "War and Peace" (1863 - 1869) by a Russian writer (1828 - 1910) describes how Pierre Bezukhov became interested in the ideas of Freemasonry and underwent a rite of passage in the Freemasons (see).

“I have the pleasure of talking with Count Bezukhim, if I’m not mistaken,” said the traveler slowly and loudly. Pierre silently, inquiringly looked through his glasses at his interlocutor.

“I heard about you,” the traveler continued, “and about the misfortune that befell you, my sir. - He seemed to underline the last word, as if he had said: "Yes, misfortune, whatever you call it, I know that what happened to you in Moscow was a misfortune." - I am very sorry about that, my sir.

Pierre blushed and, hastily lowering his legs from the bed, bent down to the old man, smiling unnaturally and timidly.

“I did not mention this to you out of curiosity, my sir, but for more important reasons. He paused, not letting Pierre out of his gaze, and moved over on the sofa, inviting by this gesture Pierre to sit down beside him. It was unpleasant for Pierre to enter into conversation with this old man, but, involuntarily submitting to him, he went up and sat down beside him.

“You are unhappy, my sir,” he continued. - You are young, I am old. I would like to help you to the best of my ability.

“Oh, yes,” Pierre said with an unnatural smile. - I am very grateful to you ... Where are you going to pass from? - The face of the traveler was not affectionate, even cold and stern, but in spite of that, both the speech and the face of the new acquaintance had an irresistible and attractive effect on Pierre.

- But if for some reason you are unpleasant to talk with me, - said the old man, - then you say so, my sir. - And he suddenly smiled unexpectedly, a fatherly gentle smile.

“Oh no, not at all, on the contrary, I am very glad to meet you,” said Pierre, and, glancing once more at the hands of his new acquaintance, examined the ring closer. He saw on it Adam's head, a sign of Freemasonry.

“Let me ask,” he said. - Are you a Freemason?

- Yes, I belong to the brotherhood of free stone-makers, said the traveler, looking deeper and deeper into Pierre's eyes. - And on behalf of myself and on their behalf, I extend my brotherly hand to you.

“I’m afraid,” Pierre said, smiling and hesitating between the confidence instilled in him by the personality of a Mason and the habit of ridiculing the beliefs of the Freemasons. the universe is so opposite to yours that we are not understand friend friend.

- I know your way of thinking, - said the Freemason, - and that way of thinking about which you speak, and which seems to you to be the product of your mental labor, is the way of thinking of most people, is the monotonous fruit of pride, laziness and ignorance. Excuse me, my sir, if I did not know him, I would not have spoken to you. Your way of thinking is a sad delusion.

“In the same way, how can I suppose that you are also delusional,” said Pierre, smiling weakly.

“I will never dare to say that I know the truth,” said the Mason, more and more striking Pierre with his certainty and firmness of speech. - No one alone can reach the truth; only stone by stone, with the participation of all, millions of generations, from the forefather Adam to our time, the temple is being erected, which should be a worthy dwelling place of the Great God, - said the Mason and closed his eyes.

“I must tell you, I don’t believe, I don’t ... believe in God,” Pierre said with regret and effort, feeling the need to express the whole truth.

The Mason looked attentively at Pierre and smiled, as a rich man who held millions in his hands would smile at a poor man who would have told him that he, a poor man, did not have five rubles that could make him happy.

“Yes, you don’t know Him, my sir,” said the Mason. - You cannot know Him. You don't know Him, that's why you are unhappy.

- Yes, yes, I am unhappy, confirmed Pierre; - but what am I to do?

- You do not know Him, my sir, and that is why you are very unhappy. You do not know Him, but He is here, He is in me. He is in my words, He is in you, and even in those blasphemous speeches that you uttered now! - the Mason said in a stern, trembling voice.

He paused and sighed, apparently trying to calm down.

“If He weren't there,” he said quietly, “we wouldn't be talking about Him, my sir. What were we talking about? Who have you denied? - he suddenly said with enthusiastic severity and authority in his voice. - Who invented Him if He is not? Why did the suggestion appear in you that there is such an incomprehensible creature? Why did you and the whole world assume the existence of such an incomprehensible being, an omnipotent, eternal and infinite creature in all its properties? ... - He stopped and was silent for a long time.

Pierre could not and did not want to break this silence.

“He exists, but it’s difficult to understand Him,” the Mason spoke again, looking not at Pierre’s face, but in front of him, with his old hands, which from internal excitement could not remain calm, turning over the pages of the book. - If it was a person whose existence you doubted, I would bring this person to you, take him by the hand and show you. But how can I, an insignificant mortal, show all the omnipotence, all eternity, all His goodness to the one who is blind, or to the one who closes his eyes so as not to see, not to understand Him, and not to see, and not to understand all my filth and wickedness? He paused. - Who are you? What you? You dream of yourself, that you are a sage, because you could utter these blasphemous words, - he said with a gloomy and contemptuous grin, - and you are stupider and crazier than a small child who, playing with parts of a skillfully made clock, would dare to say that because he does not understand the purpose of these watches, he does not believe in the master who made them. It is difficult to cognize Him ... For centuries, from the forefather Adam to our days, we have been working for this knowledge and are infinitely far from achieving our goal; but in not understanding Him, we see only our weakness and His greatness ... - Pierre, with a sinking heart, looking into the face of the Mason with shining eyes, listened to him, did not interrupt, did not ask him, but with all his soul believed what this stranger told him. Did he believe those reasonable arguments that were in the speech of the Freemason, or believed, as children believe, the intonations, conviction and cordiality that were in the speech of the Freemason, the tremor of the voice, which sometimes almost interrupted the Freemason, or these brilliant, senile eyes that grew old on that the same conviction, or that calmness, firmness and knowledge of his purpose, which shone from the whole being of the Mason, and which especially strongly struck him in comparison with their despondency and hopelessness; - but with all his soul he wanted to believe, and believed, and experienced a joyful feeling of reassurance, renewal and return to life.

- It is not comprehended by the mind, but comprehended by life, - said the Freemason.

“I don’t understand,” said Pierre, feeling with fear a doubt rising in himself. He was afraid of the vagueness and weakness of the arguments of his interlocutor, he was afraid not to believe him. “I don’t understand,” he said, “how the human mind cannot comprehend the knowledge you are talking about.

The Mason smiled his gentle, fatherly smile.

“The highest wisdom and truth is, as it were, the purest moisture that we want to take into ourselves,” he said. - Can I take this pure moisture into an unclean vessel and judge its purity? Only by internal purification of myself can I bring the perceived moisture to a certain purity.

- Yes, yes, it is! - Pierre said happily.

- The highest wisdom is not based on reason alone, not on those secular sciences of physics, history, chemistry, etc., into which mental knowledge decomposes. The highest wisdom is one. The highest wisdom has one science - the science of everything, the science that explains the entire universe and the place of man in it. In order to accommodate this science, it is necessary to cleanse and renew your inner man, and therefore, before knowing, you need to believe and improve. And to achieve these goals, the light of God, called conscience, is imbedded in our souls.

- Yes, yes, - Pierre confirmed.

- Look with spiritual eyes at your inner person and ask yourself if you are satisfied with yourself. What have you achieved by being guided by one mind? What are you? You are young, you are rich, you are smart, educated, my sir. What have you made of all these blessings given to you? Are you satisfied with yourself and your life?

“No, I hate my life,” Pierre said with a frown.

“You hate, so change her, purify yourself, and as you purify, you will learn wisdom. Look at your life, my sir. How did you conduct it? In violent orgies and debauchery, receiving everything from society and giving nothing to it. You have received wealth. How did you use it? What have you done for your neighbor? Have you thought about the tens of thousands of your slaves, have you helped them physically and mentally? No. You used their labors to lead a dissolute life. Here's what you did. Have you chosen a place of ministry where you would benefit your neighbor? No. You spent your life in idleness. Then you got married, my sir, took responsibility for the leadership of the young woman, and what did you do? You did not help her, my sir, to find the path of truth, but plunged her into the abyss of lies and misfortune. The man insulted you, and you killed him, and you say that you do not know God and that you hate your life. There is nothing tricky here, my sir! - After these words, the Mason, as if tired of the long conversation, again leaned against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes. Pierre looked at this stern, immovable, senile, almost dead face, and silently moved his lips. He wanted to say: yes, a vile, idle, depraved life - and did not dare to break the silence.

The Freemason cleared his throat hoarsely, senilely, and called the servant.

- What horses? He asked, not looking at Pierre.

- They brought in the delivery, - answered the servant. - Will you rest?

- No, they ordered it to be pledged.

“Will he really leave and leave me alone, without finishing everything and not promising me help?” Thought Pierre, getting up and bowing his head, occasionally glancing at the Mason, and starting to walk around the room. “Yes, I didn’t think that, but I led a contemptible, depraved life, but I didn’t love her, and I didn’t want this, thought Pierre, - and this man knows the truth, and if he wanted to, he could reveal it to me” ... Pierre wanted and did not dare to say this to the Mason. The traveler, with his habitual, senile hands, packed his things, buttoned up his sheepskin coat. Having finished these matters, he turned to Bezukhoy and said to him in an indifferent, courteous tone:

- Where are you going now, my sir?

"Me? ... I'm going to Petersburg," Pierre answered in a childish, indecisive voice. - Thank you. I agree with you in everything. But do not think that I am so bad. I longed with all my heart to be what you would like me to be; but I have never found help in anyone ... However, I myself am primarily to blame for everything. Help me, teach me, and maybe I will ... - Pierre could not speak further; he sniffled and turned away.

The Mason was silent for a long time, apparently pondering something.

“Help is given only from God,” he said, “but the measure of help that our order is in the power to give, he will give you, my sir. You are going to Petersburg, give this to Count Villarsky (he took out his wallet and wrote a few words on a large sheet of paper folded in four). Let me give you one piece of advice. Arriving in the capital, devote the first time to solitude, discussing yourself, and do not enter the old paths of life. Then I wish you a happy journey, my sir, ”he said, noticing that his servant had entered the room,“ and success ...

The traveler was Osip Alekseevich Bazdeev, as Pierre had learned from the caretaker's book. Bazdeev was one of the most famous Freemasons and Martinists from the time of Novikov. Long after his departure, Pierre, without going to bed and not asking the horses, walked around the station room, pondering his vicious past and with the delight of renewal imagining his blissful, impeccable and virtuous future, which seemed so easy to him. He was, as it seemed to him, vicious only because he somehow accidentally forgot how good it is to be virtuous. Not a trace of the old doubts remained in his soul. He firmly believed in the possibility of a brotherhood of people united for the purpose of supporting each other on the path of virtue, and this was how Freemasonry seemed to him.

Arriving in St. Petersburg, Pierre did not inform anyone of his arrival, did not go anywhere, and began to spend whole days reading Thomas of Kempis, a book that was delivered to him by some unknown person. Pierre understood one thing and all while reading this book; he understood the pleasure he had not yet known to believe in the possibility of achieving perfection and in the possibility of fraternal and active love between people, opened to him by Osip Alekseevich. A week after his arrival, the young Polish Count of Villarsky, whom Pierre knew superficially from the Petersburg world, entered his room in the evening with the official and solemn air with which Dolokhov's second entered him and, closing the door behind him and making sure that there was no one in the room except Pierre was not there, he turned to him:

“I have come to you with an assignment and a proposal, Count,” he said to him without sitting down. - A person, very highly placed in our brotherhood, petitioned that you be accepted into the brotherhood ahead of time, and invited me to be your surety. I honor the fulfillment of the will of this person as a sacred duty. Do you wish to join the fellowship of free stone-makers for my guarantee?

The cold and stern tone of the man whom Pierre saw almost always at balls with an amiable smile, in the company of the most brilliant women, struck Pierre.

“Yes, I wish,” said Pierre.

Villarski bowed his head. - One more question, Count, he said, to which I will not ask you as a future Mason, but how honest man(galant homme) I ask you to answer me with all sincerity: have you renounced your previous convictions, do you believe in God?

Pierre thought about it. “Yes… yes, I believe in God,” he said.

“In that case…” Villarsky began, but Pierre interrupted him. “Yes, I believe in God,” he said again.

“Then we can go,” Villarsky said. “My carriage is at your service.

Villarsky was silent all the way. When Pierre asked what he needed to do and how to answer, Villarsky only said that the brothers who were more worthy of him would test him, and that Pierre needed nothing more than to tell the truth.

Having entered the gates of a large house where the lodge was, and walking along a dark staircase, they entered a lighted, small hallway, where, without the help of a servant, they took off their fur coats. From the front they went into another room. A man in a strange outfit appeared at the door. Villarsky, coming out to meet him, said something quietly to him in French and went up to a small wardrobe, in which Pierre noticed clothes he had never seen before. Taking a handkerchief from the closet, Villarsky put it over Pierre's eyes and tied it in a knot at the back, painfully capturing his hair in a knot. Then he bent him to him, kissed him and, taking his hand, led him somewhere. Pierre was in pain from the hair pulled in a knot, he winced in pain and smiled in shame of something. His huge figure, with downcast hands, with a wrinkled and smiling face, followed Villarsky with irregular timid steps.

After taking him ten paces, Villarski stopped.

“Whatever happens to you,” he said, “you must endure everything with courage if you are firmly resolved to join our brotherhood. (Pierre answered in the affirmative by tilting his head.) When you hear a knock at the door, you will untie your eyes, added Villarsky; - I wish you courage and success. And after shaking hands with Pierre, Villarsky went out.

Left alone, Pierre continued to smile in the same way. Once or twice he shrugged his shoulders, brought his hand to the handkerchief, as if wishing to take it off, and again lowered it. The five minutes that he spent with blindfolded, seemed to him an hour. His hands were swollen, his legs were giving way; it seemed to him that he was tired. He experienced the most complex and varied feelings. He was both terrified of what would happen to him, and even more terrified of not showing fear to him. He was curious to know what would happen to him, what would be revealed to him; but most of all he was glad that the moment had come when he would finally embark on that path of renewal and an actively virtuous life, which he had dreamed of since his meeting with Osip Alekseevich. Strong blows were heard at the door. Pierre took off the bandage and looked around him. The room was black - dark: only in one place was a lamp burning, in something white. Pierre came closer and saw that the lamp stood on a black table, on which lay one open book... The book was the gospel; that white, in which the lamp was burning, was a human skull with its holes and teeth. Having read the first words of the Gospel: “In the beginning there was a word and a word was with God,” Pierre walked around the table and saw a large open box filled with something. It was a coffin with bones. He was not at all surprised by what he saw. Hoping to enter into a completely new life completely different from the previous one, he expected everything extraordinary, even more extraordinary than what he saw. The skull, the coffin, the Gospel - it seemed to him that he had expected all this, expected even more. Trying to evoke a feeling of tenderness, he looked around him. “God, death, love, brotherhood of people,” he said to himself, associating with these words vague but joyful ideas of something. The door opened and someone entered.

In a weak light, to which Pierre had already managed to take a closer look, a short man entered. Apparently, having entered the darkness from the light, this man stopped; then with cautious steps he moved to the table and laid on it small hands covered with leather gloves.

This short man was dressed in a white, leather apron that covered his chest and part of his legs, something like a necklace was worn around his neck, and a tall, white frill protruded from behind the necklace, bordering his oblong face, illuminated from below.

- Why did you come here? - asked the newcomer, after a rustle made by Pierre, turning in his direction. - Why are you, who do not believe in the truths of the light and do not see the light, why did you come here, what do you want from us? Wisdom, virtue, enlightenment?

The minute the door opened and an unknown person entered, Pierre experienced a feeling of fear and awe, similar to the one he experienced in confession in childhood: he felt himself face to face with a completely stranger in terms of living conditions and with loved ones, in a brotherhood of people. human. Pierre, with a breathtaking heartbeat, moved up to the rhetorician (this was the name of a brother in Freemasonry who prepares a seeker to join the fraternity). Pierre, coming closer, recognized in the rhetoric a familiar person, Smolyaninov, but he was offended to think that the person who had entered was a familiar person: the person who had entered was only a brother and a virtuous mentor. For a long time Pierre could not utter a word, so the rhetorician had to repeat his question.

“Yes, I… I… want renewal,” Pierre said with difficulty.

“Okay,” said Smolyaninov, and immediately continued: “Do you have any idea of ​​the means by which our holy order will help you achieve your goal?…” Said the rhetorician calmly and quickly.

“I… hope… guidance… help… in updating,” Pierre said with a trembling voice and with difficulty in speaking, both from excitement and from the habit of speaking in Russian about abstract subjects.

- What concept do you have about Frank-Freemasonry?

- I mean that Freemasonry is fraterienit & eacute [brotherhood]

; and the equality of people with virtuous goals, ”said Pierre, ashamed, as he spoke, of the inconsistency of his words with the solemnity of the moment. I mean…

“All right,” said the rhetorician hastily, apparently quite satisfied with this answer. - Have you looked for a means to achieve your goal in religion?

“No, I considered it unjust and did not follow it,” said Pierre so quietly that the rhetorician did not hear him and asked what he was saying. - I was an atheist, - Pierre answered.

- You are looking for the truth in order to follow its laws in life; therefore you are looking for wisdom and virtue, are you not? - said the rhetorician after a minute's silence.

- Yes, yes, - Pierre confirmed.

The rhetorician cleared his throat, folded his gloved hands on his chest and began to speak:

“Now I must reveal to you the main goal of our order,” he said, “and if this goal coincides with yours, then you will profitably join our brotherhood. The first main goal and foundation of our order, on which it is established, and which no human power can overthrow, is the preservation and delivery of some important sacrament to posterity ... from the most ancient centuries and even from the first person who came down to us, on whom the sacraments, perhaps, depend on the fate of the human race. But since this is a sacrament of such a quality that no one can know it and use it, if one is not prepared for a long and diligent purification of oneself, then not everyone can hope to find it soon. Therefore, we have a second goal, which is to prepare our members, as much as possible, to correct their hearts, to purify and enlighten their minds with the means that are revealed to us by tradition from the men who have labored in the search for this sacrament, and thus to administer them capable of perception thereof. Purifying and correcting our members, we try to correct the entire human race thirdly, offering it in our members an example of piety and virtue, and thus we try with all our might to resist the evil that reigns in the world. Think about it, and I will come to you again, ”he said and left the room.

- To oppose the evil that reigns in the world ... - repeated Pierre, and he introduced himself to future activities in this field. He imagined the same people as he himself was two weeks ago, and he mentally turned to them an instructive and instructive speech. He imagined vicious and unhappy people whom he helped in word and deed; imagined the oppressors from whom he saved their victims. Of the three goals named by the rhetorician, this last - the correction of the human race, was especially close to Pierre. Some important sacrament, which the rhetorician mentioned, though aroused his curiosity, did not seem essential to him; and the second goal, purification and correction of himself, did not interest him much, because at that moment he felt with pleasure that he was already completely corrected from his previous vices and ready for only one good thing.

Half an hour later, the rhetorician returned to convey to the seeker those seven virtues corresponding to the seven steps of the Temple of Solomon, which each Mason had to cultivate in himself. These virtues were: 1) modesty, keeping the secrets of the order, 2) obedience to the highest ranks of the order, 3) kindness, 4) love for humanity, 5) courage, 6) generosity and 7) love for death.

“In the seventh, try,” said the rhetorician, “by frequently thinking about death to bring yourself to the point that it does not seem to you a more terrible enemy, but a friend… who frees a tormented soul from this disastrous life in the labors of virtue, to introduce it into a place of reward and tranquility.

“Yes, it must be so,” thought Pierre when, after these words, the rhetorician left him again, leaving him to think alone. "It should be so, but I am still so weak that I love my life, which only now little by little reveals its meaning to me." But the other five virtues, which Pierre recalled on his fingers, he felt in his soul: and

courage, and generosity, and kindness, and love for humanity, and in particular obedience, which did not even seem to him a virtue, but happiness. (He was so happy now to get rid of his arbitrariness and to submit his will to those and those who knew the undoubted truth.) Pierre forgot the seventh virtue and could not remember it in any way.

The third time the rhetorician returned sooner and asked Pierre if he was still firm in his intention, and whether he decided to subject himself to everything that was required of him.

“I’m ready for anything,” said Pierre.

“I must also tell you,” said the rhetorician, “that our order teaches its teachings not only with words, but by other means, which, perhaps, have a stronger effect on a true seeker of wisdom and virtue than verbal explanations. This temple with its decoration, which you see, should have already explained to your heart, if it is sincere, more than words; you will see, perhaps, upon your further acceptance similar image explanations. Our order imitates ancient societies, which opened their teachings in hieroglyphs. A hieroglyph, - said the rhetorician, - is the name of some thing that is not subject to feelings, which contains qualities similar to that depicted.

Pierre knew very well what a hieroglyph was, but did not dare to speak. He silently listened to the rhetorician, feeling all over that tests would begin immediately.

- If you are firm, then I must begin to introduce you, - said the rhetorician, coming closer to Pierre. - As a token of your generosity, I ask you to give me all the precious things.

“But I have nothing with me,” said Pierre, who believed that he was required to hand over everything he had.

- What you have on: watches, money, rings ...

Pierre hastily took out his wallet, watch, and for a long time could not remove the wedding ring from his fat finger. When this was done, the Freemason said:

- As a sign of obedience, I ask you to undress. - Pierre took off his tailcoat, waistcoat and left boot as instructed by the rhetorician. The Mason opened the shirt on his left chest and, bending down, lifted his pant leg on his left leg above the knee. Pierre hastily wanted to take off his right boot and roll up his trousers in order to save a stranger from this labor, but the Mason told him that this was not necessary - and gave him a shoe on his left foot. With a childish smile of bashfulness, doubt and mockery at himself, which appeared against his will on his face, Pierre stood with his hands down and legs apart in front of his brother-rhetorician, waiting for his new orders.

“And finally, as a sign of sincerity, I ask you to reveal to me your main passion,” he said.

- My addiction! I had so many of them, ”Pierre said.

“That attachment that more than any other made you waver on the path of virtue,” said the Freemason.

Pierre paused, looking for it.

"Wine? Gluttony? Idleness? Laziness? Hotness? Malice? Women?" He went over his vices, mentally weighing them and not knowing who to give the advantage.

– Last time I tell you: turn all your attention to yourself, put chains on your feelings and look for bliss not in your passions, but in your heart. The source of bliss is not outside, but inside us ...

Pierre already felt this refreshing source of bliss in himself, which now filled his soul with joy and tenderness.

Soon after that, it was not the former rhetorician who came to the dark temple for Pierre, but the guarantor Villarsky, whom he recognized by his voice. To new questions about the firmness of his intention, Pierre replied: "Yes, yes, I agree," and with a radiant childish smile, with an open, fat chest, unevenly and timidly striding with one barefoot and one shod foot, he walked forward with Villarsky put on his naked chest with a sword. From the room he was led down the corridors, turning back and forth, and finally led to the door of the box. Villarski coughed, they answered him with the Masonic knocks of hammers, the door opened in front of them. Someone's bass voice (Pierre's eyes were still blindfolded) asked him questions about who he was, where, when was he born? and so on. Then they again took him somewhere, without untie his eyes, and while walking he was told allegories about the labors of his journey, about sacred friendship, about the eternal Builder of the world, about the courage with which he must endure labors and danger. During this trip, Pierre noticed that he was called sometimes seeking, now suffering, now demanding, and at the same time they knocked differently with hammers and swords. While being led to a subject, he noticed that there was confusion and confusion between his leaders. He heard the surrounding people arguing among themselves in a whisper, and how one insisted that he be led over some kind of carpet. After that they took him right hand, put it on something, and the left ordered him to put a compass to his left breast, and made him, repeating the words that the other read, read the oath of fidelity to the laws of the order. Then they put out the candles, lit alcohol, as Pierre heard from the smell, and they said that he would see a small light. The bandage was removed from him, and Pierre, as in a dream, saw, in the weak light of the spirit fire, several people who, wearing the same aprons as the rhetorician, stood opposite him and held swords pointed at his chest. A man in a white, bloody shirt stood between them. Seeing this, Pierre moved his chest forward onto the swords, wanting them to sink into him. But the swords pulled away from him and immediately put the bandage on him again. “Now you saw a small light,” a voice told him. Then they lit the candles again, said that he needed to see the full light, and again they took off the bandage and more than ten voices suddenly said: sic transit gloria mundi. [this is how worldly glory passes.]

Pierre gradually began to come to his senses and look around the room where he was and the people in it. Around a long table covered in black sat about twelve people, all wearing the same robes as those he had seen before. Pierre knew some of them from Petersburg society. An unfamiliar young man sat in the chair, wearing a special cross around his neck. On the right hand sat the Italian abbot whom Pierre had seen two years ago at Anna Pavlovna's. There was also a very important dignitary and a Swiss tutor who had previously lived with the Kuragin family. Everyone was solemnly silent, listening to the words of the chairman, who was holding a hammer in his hand. A burning star was embedded in the wall; on one side of the table there was a small carpet with various images, on the other there was something like an altar with the Gospel and a skull. Around the table were 7 large, church-like, candlesticks. Two of the brothers brought Pierre to the altar, put his feet in a rectangular position and ordered him to lie down, saying that he was throwing himself towards the gates of the temple.

“He must get a shovel first,” said one of the brothers in a whisper.

- A! fullness please, said another.

Pierre, with confused, myopic eyes, disobeying, looked around him, and suddenly a doubt came over him. "Where I am? What am I doing? Are they not laughing at me? Wouldn't I be ashamed to remember this? " But this doubt lasted only one moment. Pierre looked back at the serious faces of the people around him, remembered everything that he had already gone through, and realized that it was impossible to stop halfway through the road. He was horrified at his doubt and, trying to evoke the old feeling of emotion in himself, threw himself at the gates of the temple. And indeed a feeling of tenderness, even stronger than before, came over him. When he had been lying for some time, they told him to get up and put on him the same white leather apron as the others, gave him a shovel and three pairs of gloves, and then Great master turned to him. He told him to be careful not to stain the whiteness of this apron, representing strength and purity; then, about the unexplained shovel, he said that he should work with it to cleanse his heart from vices and condescendingly smooth over the heart of his neighbor with it. Then about the first men's gloves he said that he could not know their meaning, but he had to keep them, about the other men's gloves he said that he should wear them in meetings and finally about the third ladies gloves said: “My dear brother, and these women's gloves have been defined for you. Give them to the woman you will read the most. By this, freely believe in the integrity of your heart that which you choose for yourself to be a worthy stone-maker. " And after a pause for a while, he added: "But observe, my dear brother, lest these unclean hands adorn the gloves." While the great master was reciting these last words Pierre thought that the chairman was embarrassed. Pierre was even more embarrassed, blushed to tears, like children blush, began to look around uneasily, and there was an awkward silence.

This silence was interrupted by one of the brothers, who, leading Pierre to the carpet, began to read from a notebook to him an explanation of all the figures depicted on it: the sun, the moon, the hammer. a plumb line, a shovel, a wild and cubic stone, a pillar, three windows, etc. Then Pierre was assigned his place, showed him the signs of the box, said the word of entry, and finally allowed him to sit down. The great master began to read the charter. The charter was very long, and Pierre, out of joy, excitement and shame, was unable to understand what he was reading. He listened attentively only to the last words of the charter, which he remembered.

“In our churches, we do not know other degrees,” read the “great master,” except those that are between virtue and vice. Beware of making any distinction that might violate equality. Fly to the help of your brother, whoever he is, instruct the erring one, lift up the falling one and never harbor anger or enmity against your brother. Be gentle and friendly. Arouse the fire of virtue in all hearts. Share your happiness with your neighbor, and may the envy of this pure pleasure never disturb. Forgive your enemy, do not take revenge on him, unless by doing good to him. Having fulfilled the highest law in this way, you will find traces of the ancient majesty you have lost. "

He finished and, standing up, embraced Pierre and kissed him. Pierre, with tears of joy in his eyes, looked around him, not knowing what to answer to the congratulations and renewal of acquaintances with which they surrounded him. He did not recognize any acquaintances; in all these people he saw only brothers, with whom he burned with impatience to get down to business.

The great master struck with a hammer, everyone sat down, and one of them read a lesson on the need for humility.

The great master offered to fulfill the last duty, and an important dignitary, who bore the title of alms-gatherer, began to bypass the brothers. Pierre wanted to write down on the alms list all the money he had, but he was afraid to show pride in this, and wrote down as much as others wrote down.

The meeting was over, and upon returning home, Pierre felt that he had come from some long journey, where he had spent decades, had completely changed and had lagged behind the old order and habits of life.

Historians and literary scholars have repeatedly raised the question of how reliable Tolstoy's portrayal of Freemasonry is and about the prototypes of the image of Bezukhov. To the second question, Tolstoy himself more than once answered that, with the exception of two characters (Denisov and Akhrosimova), all the other heroes of the novel are fictional, more precisely, they are collected according to the smallest lines from very many specific people. Even such historical figures how Bonaparte and Alexander are described by Tolstoy in a rather peculiar way. As for the first question, there is undoubtedly more reliable and accurate question. Tolstoy used the sources with extraordinary reliability, and he had many of them, and they were all excellent. In closed funds of the main Russian Library and today such inexhaustible riches are hidden, which no other book collection in the world can boast of. Special repositories for Masonic editions and manuscripts alone occupy many floors of the huge building, and everyone knows this. Not everyone, however, manages to look at them. At the time of Tolstoy, all this was, of course, available. Therefore, speeches and individual words - always taken in quotation marks - as well as Pierre's diary, were copied verbatim from the library, where a collection of rituals with Tolstoy's autographs is still kept. However, some inaccuracies are striking. First, it is said that Pierre's heart "did not lie in the mystical side of Freemasonry," and Tolstoy also repeats this twice. But in this case, Pierre could not have been a student and admirer of Bazdeev (Pozdneev), who was one of the deepest mystics who did not recognize Freemasonry outside of Orthodox Christian mysticism ...

The implausibility of a trip "for the purpose of Masonic secrets abroad in early XIX v. Such a trip could have taken place only in Catherine's time. It was inspired, obviously, by Schwartz's trip or V.I. Zinoviev, but, of course, there was no need to go in the 19th century ...

However, all these inaccuracies are insignificant compared to how accurate and penetrating great writer conveyed the main meaning and significance of belonging to the brotherhood of free masons. And this is despite the fact that Tolstoy himself was rather wary of Freemasonry, because at the time when he lived and worked, Russian Freemasonry began to degenerate, acquiring more and more features of the political organizations of future extremists - Bolsheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries. Tolstoy contrasted the philosophical arguments of Platon Karataev with the Masonic teachings. This opposition of the "karataevskaya truth to the Masonic labyrinth of lies that Pierre, disillusioned with Freemasonry, felt," sounds like a condemnation of Freemasonry, which Tolstoy wanted to express, projecting, apparently, willingly or unwillingly, the Russian Freemasonry contemporary to him on the entire history of the world order.

And yet, in the sense of popularizing the brotherhood of free masons, Tolstoy's epic did, probably, no less than the whole historical literature, and made it so that in the circles of the intelligentsia they loved and appreciated the old Russian Freemasonry. A deep reader could always understand that Pierre's throwings and disappointments were connected with his personal drama, that he himself was partly to blame for the failures and blows of fate he experienced. And more than once, as the author testifies, Freemasonry was not only a source of consolation for his hero, but also made it possible to rise to a great spiritual height. And these pages were written by Tolstoy with such vividness and persuasiveness that the impression of them does not fade despite the subsequent hesitations and doubts. And even seventy with extra years Soviet history when official propaganda declared Freemasonry to be almost the main source of world evil, people continued to read War and Peace, and many began to believe, like Pierre, after talking with Bazdeev, in the possibility of a brotherhood of people united in order to support each other on the path of virtue. ...