Bro. John Green explores the connections between Jules Verne's literary work, particularly "Journey to the Centre of the Earth," and Freemasonry. He reflects on his rediscovery of the novel and identifies Masonic terminology within the text, such as "square," "level," and "plumb rule," alongside references to the "Great Architect of the Universe." Green posits that the narrative parallels the Masonic initiation process, where a candidate transitions from darkness to light. Through research, he finds substantial claims regarding Verne's Masonic affiliation and the encoding of secrets in his works. However, Green concludes that while Verne was indeed a Freemason, he did not intentionally embed Masonic secrets in his fiction; rather, he crafted engaging stories for his audience. This analysis invites further reflection on the interplay between literature and Masonic symbolism, emphasizing the importance of understanding historical context in literary interpretation.
John Green - England
December 17th, 2025
March 19th, 2026
manual
education and_development
Paper 64/2007
Title Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Author Bro John Green - England
I would like to present to you this very short talk on my discovery of the hidden world of Jules Verne and
his relationship with Freemasonry and other groups.
Recently, I decided to re-read one of my many books. By chance the book I came upon was Jules
Verne’s ‘Journey to the centre of the Earth’, a book I had last read as a schoolboy and this is where my
journey began.
Up to this point I had no idea of the connections between Jules Verne and Freemasonry and his links, real
or otherwise to groups such as ‘Golden Dawn’, ‘Angelic Society’, ‘Rosicrucians’ and Rennes-le-Château
mystery, I only knew him as a accomplished writer of fiction.
On reading ‘Journey to the centre of the Earth’, I noticed there were terms and words being used which
had significant meaning to Freemasons. The terms square, level and plumb rule are used in the same
sentence, reference is made to t he Great Architect of the Universe ; and a when a dagger is found is
referred to as a poniard. These are just a few of t he many references in the book which at first I had
assumed were down to common language of the day.
On completing the book and seen our heroes back home safe and sound, I took to wondering about the
potential Masonic references in the book, and I idly wondered if there was something more to this tale than
I had first though. Were there parallels in this book wi th the initiation of a candidate into Freemasonry, as
the plot requires someone to enter a world of darkness from the Nort h West and be restored to light via
the East?
I set out to find out if Jules Verne was a Freemason; this is where I was overwhelmed by what I found.
Being of the computer generation I di d what any one of us would do, I ‘googled’ the phrase ‘Was Jules
Verne a Freemason’ and was taken back by the response. Much of the response was books and articles
that say not only was Jules Verne a Freemason he enco ded many secrets into his books. Whilst it is a
current trend with books such as the Da Vinci Code, et c., to allude to solving ancient mysteries, I do
subscribe to this for Jules Verne never made any clai ms whilst alive to have done this or left any evidence
of this in his estate to this effec t. Jules Verne was a master of his craft of writing many hundreds of highly
enjoyable books which have entertained many thousands of people, he was a Freemason and may have
used words he knew from his ritual, but I believe that’s where it ends, Jules Verne was not trying to pass
on secrets he was just writing excellent fiction for a hungry audience.