Esotericism in Freemasonry 2026 — Seattle, September 19

Br. Lon Milo DuQuette, 32°

“The Tarot Architect”

The Three Working Tools of the Tarot Architect

Qabalistic tradition tells us that self-realization brings a perfect understanding that each human being is a reflection of Deity, and that the stones which build the great temple are reflected in you and me. The Building Code of Qabalah is disarmingly simple: ten Numbers that come out of Nothing, and twenty-two Sacred Letters. Br. DuQuette explores how a simple deck of Tarot cards can become the perfect Ashlars of our own spiritual temples.

Author of twenty-one critically acclaimed books translated into twelve languages, Lon Milo DuQuette is one of the most respected and entertaining writers and lecturers in the Western Mystery Traditions. An internationally recognized authority on tarot, hermetic qabalah, and ceremonial magick, he has been a governing officer of Ordo Templi Orientis since 1975 and is a noted authority on Aleister Crowley. He is also a singer-songwriter and recording artist whose career spans nearly six decades. He lives in Sacramento, California with Constance, his wife of fifty-nine years.

Br. Ike Baker

Catechism in the House of Life

This presentation examines Ancient Egyptian initiatory ritual as a foundational paradigm for Freemasonic and other Western initiatory traditions. Ike compares the broad outline of Freemasonic ritual with the Book of Thoth, dating to the Graeco-Roman period of Egypt (c. 300 BCE to 400 CE), a manual of ritual initiation in the Per Ankh, or House of Life, undergone by apprentice scribes. The startling parallels point to a potential source-point for modern initiatory formulae as systematized by the Craft degrees.

Ike Baker is a practicing ceremonial magician, author, independent scholar, Masonic historian, and international lecturer. He hosts the ARCANVM YouTube channel and podcast, producing documentary-style presentations and conversations with leading scholars and practitioners of occultism, philosophy, and the Western esoteric traditions. With over twenty years of study and practice, he is a senior initiate in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Martinism, and several Rosicrucian lineages. He is a co-founder of the Hermopolis Symposium in Minya, Egypt, and host of the annual Southeastern Masonic Symposium in Asheville, North Carolina.