The Mystic Tye

"The Life and Death of John Yarker" by Bro. David Harrison

Dr. David Harrison is a UK-based Masonic historian and lecturer who has written fifteen books on the history of English Freemasonry and has published many papers and articles. Harrison has also appeared frequently on TV and radio discussing his work, and he is with us today to discuss his most recent book, The Life and Death of John Yarker.

In this episode, Bro. David Harrison takes us on the journey behind his award-winning biography of John Yarker, the Victorian-era Freemason who abandoned mainstream Masonry in 1862 to pursue a deeper, more esoteric path. Harrison describes how the project grew out of the Covid lockdown period, combining archival research with fieldwork in South Manchester, Didsbury, and the Cumbrian villages of Shap and Swindale where Yarker originated.

We explore Yarker's world of fringe Masonic rites, including the Ancient and Primitive Rite, the Swedenborgian Rite, and his involvement with organizations like the SRIA and other like-minded esoteric bodies. Harrison draws a vivid portrait of a working-class northerner who became one of the most prolific figures in esoteric Freemasonry, all while navigating the tension between the "chain chasers" of mainstream Masonry and the seekers drawn to alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and the deeper mysteries.

The conversation covers Harrison's own Masonic journey of twenty-eight years, from a village lodge in Cheshire through a PhD at the University of Liverpool, and the honest realities of lodge life: falling membership, cliquish dynamics, and the revitalizing power of simply trying a different lodge. We discuss the perennial tension between esoteric and mainstream Freemasonry, how that tension may be worse today than in Yarker's time, and practical advice for younger brethren navigating it.

We also touch on Harrison's research into the formation of the third degree in the 1720s, the influence of Sir Isaac Newton and Dr. John Theophilus Desaguliers on Masonic ritual, and the explosion of concordant bodies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Harrison shares his personal practice with tarot, his early introduction to divination through his grandmother, and his paper on cosmic consciousness.

Looking ahead, Harrison previews his current projects: a set of W.L. Wilmshurst ritual booklets published through Porchway in collaboration with Dr. Robert Lomas, timed to the centenary of the Lodge of Living Stones next year, and a forthcoming book with Lewis Masonic examining Jacques and Marconis and the first eighteen degrees of the Memphis Rite.

Connect with Dr. David Harrison:

• Instagram: drdavidharrison
• YouTube: davidharrisonphd
• Porchway Wilmshurst rituals: porchwaymasonic.co.uk

Books mentioned in this episode:

• The Life and Death of John Yarker by David Harrison
• The Lost Rites and Rituals of Freemasonry by David Harrison
• The Genesis of Freemasonry by David Harrison
• The Quick Guide to Freemasonry by David Harrison
• The Arcane Schools by John Yarker
• The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst
• Alchemically Stoned by P.D. Newman
• Angels in Vermilion by P.D. Newman

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