Former Freemasons and Testimonies from Within:
accounts, conversions, and accusations against high-ranking members
What do former Freemasons say?

Behind the veil of secrecy that has permeated Freemasonry for centuries, there is a stream of testimonies from former members who have decided to publicly share their experiences.

Some describe Freemasonry as a philosophical and esoteric system;
others, however, denounce occult practices, psychological manipulation, power entanglements, and even Luciferian deviations in the highest ranks.

Over time, numerous Freemasons have left the brotherhood and published books, memoirs, and confessions that have fueled intense debate.

Some of these works are contested by official Masonic circles; however, they continue to be cited by scholars, religious apologists, and researchers interested in the relationship between esotericism, power, and spirituality.

Among the most notable testimonies are those of Domenico Margiotta, Maurice Caillet, Serge Abad-Gallardo, John Salza, Juhani Julin, and Esteban Oliva Menéndez.

Their stories, though different, share a common element: the idea of having discovered, behind the philanthropic and symbolic facade of Freemasonry, a much deeper and more unsettling reality.

Domenico Margiotta: the 33rd degree who denounced the high ranks
Among the most cited figures in the landscape of anti-Masonic testimonies is Domenico Margiotta, an Italian Freemason who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries.
Margiotta belonged to the top ranks of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and claimed to have reached the 33rd degree, the highest known level of the Rite.

In his famous book Ricordi di un 33 (Memories of a 33rd Degree), Margiotta describes from within the functioning of the lodges, the rituals, the mechanisms of power, and the relationships between Freemasonry, politics, and society.

Accusations of Luciferian aspects
One of the most interesting aspects of Margiotta's statements concerns the link between high-ranking Masonic circles and Luciferianism.
In his writings, the author claims that certain circles of the high degrees attributed to Lucifer a symbolic meaning of "light-bringer," in opposition to Christian tradition.

The mysterious disappearance in Spain
According to various accounts, Margiotta disappeared in Spain while preparing further publications dedicated to the satanic aspects of high-ranking Freemasonry.
One of his texts worth mentioning is Le Palladisme, culte de Saton-Lucifer dans les triangles maçonniques (Palladism, the cult of Satan-Lucifer within Masonic triangles), dating back to 1895.

Maurice Caillet: from the lodge to religious conversion
One of the best-known contemporary testimonies is that of the recently deceased French doctor Maurice Caillet, author of the book I Was a Freemason: My Conversion from Freemasonry to Faith.

Caillet, after leaving Freemasonry, spent several years under protection and came from a strongly secular and rationalist background. An abortion surgeon, materialist, and anticlerical, he joined French Freemasonry in the 1970s and remained for 15 years.

Quickly rising to the top of the hierarchy of one of the most powerful lodges of the Grand Orient of France, he became Worshipful Master and learned all the organization's secrets: initiation, rites, oaths, preferential treatment, but above all the intertwining with power and politics, which would soon lead him to become a notable figure in the French Socialist Party.
In many years of Freemasonry, Maurice witnessed everything: corruption, negotiation of promotions to top corporate positions, cronyism, intimidation of inconvenient individuals.

The Lourdes experience and conversion
According to Caillet's account, the turning point came in 1984 during a pilgrimage to Lourdes with his gravely ill wife.
In the book, Caillet claims to have recognized in Freemasonry elements incompatible with the Christian faith, especially due to the religious relativism and esotericism present in the rituals.

Serge Abad-Gallardo: I Served Lucifer Without Knowing It
Among the most discussed testimonies in recent years is that of Serge Abad-Gallardo, a French Freemason and author of the book Je servais Lucifer sans le savoir (I Served Lucifer Without Knowing It).
Gallardo recounts joining Freemasonry driven by spiritual seeking and the desire for knowledge.

Serge Abad-Gallardo spent twenty-four years within one of the most important obediences, that of Droit Humain (Human Rights), an emanation of the Grand Orient of France, reaching the 14th degree.
Author of several texts, including Je servais Lucifer sans le savoir, ed. Pierre Téqui, 2016, he further reinforced the idea of widespread Satanism in the high ranks of Freemasonry.

Esteban Oliva Menéndez and the denunciations regarding the high ranks
Esteban Oliva Menéndez also described Freemasonry as an initiatory system in which the true objectives are only gradually revealed.
According to his statements, the initiate of the first degrees would only know a superficial part of the organization, while the higher levels would be reserved for a restricted circle.

Other testimonies from former Freemasons

Juhani Julin
Juhani Julin, a 33rd-degree Freemason who retired after sixteen years of membership, died in 2014 following a car accident that occurred coincidentally just seventeen days after he gave a scathing interview to the Finnish television channel Tv7.

Jim Shaw
American Jim Shaw, author of The Deadly Deception, recounted being a high-ranking Freemason and leaving the brotherhood after converting to evangelical Christianity.

John Salza
John Salza, a former American 32nd-degree Freemason and author of Masonry Unmasked, has dedicated much of his work to analyzing Masonic rituals and symbols, exposing the dark component of Freemasonry.

In an interview with Father Nicholas Gruner, he stated that Freemasons

“pass on the order received from degree to degree, but no one knows who started the order”

and that

“In the lodge, they teach that truth is error and error is truth, obviously using specific terms to convey this message without explicitly and clearly stating it.”

A valuable statement, consistent with the principles of Gnosticism which demands that its assumptions be understood in the opposite sense.

“There are other degrees beyond the 33rd, many don't even know it, but once they reach that level, the Freemason is explicitly worshipping the devil. Freemasonry is a satanic cult, Freemasons are loyal to Lucifer, but obviously, none of this is told to those in the first degrees.”

“At the 33rd degree, you understand that the GADU is not God but Lucifer,”

John Salza further clarified.

Burkhardt Gorissen
German Burkhardt Gorissen also publicly recounted his journey of leaving Freemasonry.

From Domenico Margiotta to Maurice Caillet, from Serge Abad-Gallardo to other lodge members, the testimonies of former Freemasons form a rather solid yet ignored narrative body, as it is inconvenient for those who live on power and control.

Then there are some shady individuals who claim to be former Freemasons. The singular aspect, however, is that they argue about everything except Freemasonry. And this, without a doubt, is an ambiguous attitude. From a former Freemason, one expects revelations about an impenetrable sphere. Yet no! Strange attitude, isn't it?

If you truly want to delve deeper into this topic, I have extensively discussed and contextualized it completely in the course of the work.

Why a structured path is needed

The main difficulty is that:

the information is confusing, numerous, and fragmented.

Therefore, it requires:

• order;
• progression;
• method.

A path of understanding
The series In the Footsteps of the Freemason is designed precisely to address these elements progressively.

each volume adds one or more levels;
concepts are developed;
the vision expands.

Conclusion
The testimonies condemning the initiatory path in Freemasonry are numerous but fail to capture the attention of those who mostly ignore the role and influence of Freemasonry.

To understand the true reasons behind contemporary events, Freemasonry is the best starting point. Nevertheless, the majority of people, perplexed, continue to look elsewhere.

Those who look in the wrong direction see an association of individuals.
Those who look in the right direction see a system of direction and control.

The difference lies in the method.
but also in how one looks.
Not all who look, see.

Main sources and references:

Domenico Margiotta, Ricordi di un 33
Maurice Caillet, I Was a Freemason
Serge Abad-Gallardo, Je servais Lucifer sans le savoir
John Salza, Masonry Unmasked
Jim Shaw, The Deadly Deception