Jahbulon

Jahbulon is a word which is alleged to have been used historically in Royal Arch Masonry. The main argument of this diety arrises mostly from religious groups afraid of Freemasonry subverting their own religions, and Jahbulon is a key figure used to demonize the society. All sources for the existence of this figure come only from figures who stand to gain from attacking the Freemasons. One source from 1866, Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor, contains the word explicitly, while a second source from 1985, Address from Rev Canon Richard Tydeman to Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter, discusses the debate surrounding it.

Royal Arch Masonry is an appendant body to regular Freemasonry. This means that the candidate must first be a Master Mason in order to be eligible to join, and furthermore that the administration of the Royal Arch (or any other appendant body, for that matter) is entirely separate from the administration of Craft Freemasonry. Most importantly, every Masonic organization (Craft or otherwise) is sovereign in its own jurisdiction and has no authority in any other jurisdiction. This means that there is no standardiation whatsoever save the adherence to the Landmarks. However, these distinctions are not made clear in much of the available material in the discussion of the word Jahbulon, hence a close association between the Royal Arch and Craft Freemasonry has been assumed, especially in popular culture.

Exposure

Jahbulon was first brought to the public's attention in 1866 in Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor, . However, the text does not identify which Royal Arch jurisdiction it applies to, so the prevalence of both the word and the associated explanation in Royal Arch Masonry in general is unclear, for the reasons stated in the previous section. The explanation of the word which led to the debates over its meaning and significance is in a footnote to the ritual, and it is most likely Duncan's interpretation rather than how the word was communicated in a ritual context.

Candidate Etymologies

• A combination of the names Jehovah, Baal, and Osiris; the names of God in Hebrew, Syrian and Chaldean as spoken by the allegorical Grand Masters of Freemasonry.
• A compound of three Hebrew terms יהּ (Yah, I AM, which indicates eternal existence), בּעל (bul, on high, in heaven) and און (on, strength); pronouncing three aspects or qualities of Deity, namely Eternal Existence, Transcendence, and Omnipotence and equating to "The True and Living God - Most High - Almighty".

"Jahbulon" and religion

The interpretation of the word given in Duncan's has led to some controversy: a number of religious groups assert that Duncan's interpretation demonstrates that Freemasonry is incompatible with their religious philosophies..

In addition to the above etymology, a number of critics of Freemasonry provide an alternative explanation, frequently in parallel with the previous:

• It is claimed that Masons are taught that Jahbulon is the true name of god., but this is not supported in primary sources.

The most visible complaint about Freemasonry by a religion is that from Christianity; many Christian ministries object to Freemasonry based on the explanation that Jahbulon is a Masonic god. This is an example of the flawed conflation of Craft Freemasonry and the Royal Arch appendant body.

This unsupported explanation of Jahbulon is used on the Internet sites of two minor Islamic groups to support a claim that "Freemasons secretly worship a Devil-God, known as JAHBULON". The status of these groups with respect to Islamic authority is unknown.

Governing bodies in Freemasonry have tended to make no formal comment on any allegations made (including these), but the position of the Supreme Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch in England is that the order reinforces and supports what the Companion has learned from their religious tradition. Whilst the Royal Arch holds no authority over Craft Freemasonry, the position of United Grand Lodge of England is that Freemasonry is not a religion, and furthermore accepts candidates from all religions that postulate a belief in a Supreme Being and encourages members to maintain their own faith or belief system.

In the United States, and a few other countries, The Royal Arch is included in the York Rite. The Royal Arch is considered a prerequisite for application to join the Rite's (specifically Christian) Knights Templar.

Tydeman's Address

The Rev. Canon Richard Tydeman addressed Supreme Grand Chapter of England on 13 November 1985 regarding the subject . At the time of the address Tydeman held senior office within Supreme Grand Chapter of England; Grand Superintendent of the Province of Sussex.

His assessment was that the explanation in Duncan's, "the words on the triangle are intended as a description of God as the three original Grand Masters might have done so, remembering that they all spoke different languages", predicated on the languages being Hebrew, Syriac, and Egyptian, is false. Extant evidence indicated the allegorical Grand Master "Hiram Abif", would have spoken Hebrew, not Egyptian; ritual identifies Hiram Abif's mother as a widow "of one of the northernmost tribes of Israel".

The analysis that Tydeman gives is that the word is a compound of three Hebrew terms יהּ (Yah, I AM, which indicates eternal existence), בּעל (bul, on high, in heaven) and און (on, strength). The combination not referring to 3 separate gods, but a pronunciation of three aspects or qualities of the Deity; Eternal Existence, Transcendence and Omnipotence, equating to "The True and Living God - Most High - Almighty".

The discussion highlights that other rituals stress that the "circle contains the name of God, and the triangle contains descriptive words".