ABSTRACT
Herbert Silberer saw unlimited possibility in the alchemical/Masonic world – so much so that he became a Mason himself. Once Silberer attempted to translate the sixteenth-century Rosicrucian parable in Problems of Mysticism and Its Symbolism from a psychoanalytic and then alchemical stance, he proceeded to discuss what many believe was a logical outgrowth of alchemy, and Rosicrucianism: Freemasonry. He places Freemasonry in the position of both participant as well as inheritor of such activity, and thus a fertile place to explore this panoply of symbols. Silberer proposes that masonry with its alchemical and hermetic roots, and its myriad of extraordinarily rich symbols and rituals, has the capacity to elevate the libidinally bound individual to a higher level of being. Silberer's series of lectures on Freemasony enabled him to expand his earlier discussions of symbolism, and to link such directly to the symbol-rich environment of the Masonic lodge and its extensive history and traditions.
