He wasn't the Pope of Freemasonry
Obviously a Gnostic cult doesn't have an over arching leader. That's part of the definition of a "Gnostic Cult".
When he wrote his book, the Southern Scottish Rite made up 5% of all Freemasons.
That doesn't mean what he thought about Kabbalah wasn't the norm. He was the highest "level of enlightenment" a 33rd degree. So he obviously spoke with other 33rd degree-ers from both the American South and around the world.
because he was a massive perennialist.
Which is trying to find the hidden similarities between all religions. Trying to find "hidden truth" is what
Gnosticism is.
René Guénon noted that Pike basically plagiarized all of his observances from Éliphas Lévi’s Transcendental Magic. Éliphas Lévi was an occultist weirdo and definitely a gnostic
So you agree they are Gnostic?
There is a poem from the 17th century where Rosicrucians literally brag that Freemasonry is under their wing. Rosicrucianism, while influenced by Hermeticism and Cabbala
So you agree they are Hermetic and Cabbalistic?
Freemasons literally founded most of America.
So you admit that masons worked as a conspiracy to get their objectives accomplished? Even to help start the US government.
My great grandfather was a
33rd degree mason. My Great grandmother was a member of the
order of the eastern star. I loved them very much. They were a part of a weird Gnostic Cult. Watching that weird ritual before my grandmother was buried will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Secret societies are enemies to a free and open society. I don't care what your secret is, truth lives in the light.