The Hiram myth and Master Mason’s initiation

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Gerard de Nerval, one of the greatest French writers, was passionate about initiation and Freemasonry.

At the heart of his masterful work, A Journey to the Orient, he presents the legend of Master Hiram, Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba, which he claimed to have heard from a storyteller in Constantinople.

Hiram, sent by the king of the same name, Hiram I, King of Tyre, to Solomon, son of David and King of Judea, was tasked with building a temple on Mount Moriah to house the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the Tablets of the Law. Hiram oversaw the decoration of the Temple, fashioning and erecting the Jachin and Boaz Pillars, as well as the Brazen Sea.

The legend of Hiram is the initiation leading to the mastery of Freemasonry.

Over the years and depending on the nation, the Legend of Hiram has undergone transformations while preserving certain fundamental elements: Solomon's Temple as the backdrop to the legend, Hiram as an architect, and the idea that he possessed two secrets: that of know-how and that of the password reserved for masters.

Gerard de Nerval has here brought together the essential elements of the Masonic myth revealed by the rank of Master as it is still lived today.