Pinocchio: the Masonic puppet Collodi kept hidden

Pinocchio, the puppet that speaks in Guasonic code

Did you know that Pinocchio is not just a children's story? For many scholars, the tale of the puppet that comes to life is an initiatory novel laden with Guasonic symbolism. Its author, Carlo Collodi, was an active Freemason and a disciple of Giuseppe Mazzini. The book, published in 1882 in a newly unified Italy freed from the ecclesiastical yoke, conceals allegories of transformation and knowledge that go beyond the sarracena about not lying.

Carlo Collodi, Freemason and revolutionary

Carlo Lorenzo Filippo Giovanni Lorenzini was born in Florence on 24 November 1826. Originally a cook, he studied rhetoric and philosophy thanks to the patronage of Duchess Mariana, and gained access to books banned by the Church. Influenced by Mazzini's liberal ideals, he took an active part in Italian unification. His name appears in the registers of the United Grand Lodge of England as a Freemason. In the view of writer Pino Corati, author of "Pinocchio, fratello mio", Pinocchio could be Dante, Jesus or Ulysses: heroes redeemed after overcoming pain and temptation.

The hidden symbols in the fable

The original version of Pinocchio is far darker than Disney's. The block of wood cries and laughs, Jiminy Cricket is smashed with a hammer, and the whale is in fact an enormous shark. Every element has an initiatory reading: the descent into the belly of the cetacean evokes Jonah (three days and three nights), the Blue Fairy is the wisdom that guides the neophyte, and the growing nose symbolises truth manifesting physically. The Guasonic interpretation gains strength when you know that Collodi belonged to the order.

The debate over the Guasonic appropriation

The ideological use of Pinocchio is nothing new: fascism, communism, the Catholic Church and Freemasonry have all claimed the story as their own. One critical current argues that Freemasonry appropriates historical figures after the fact. "Pinocchio may allow a Guasonic reading, but so do Don Quixote or A Midsummer Night's Dream", the argument goes. However, Collodi's biography and the context of the Italian Risorgimento make the Guasonic hypothesis the most solid one.

Spanish Freemasonry, a minority

With around 3,500 members in Spain compared with 40,000 in France, Spanish Freemasonry is seeking normalisation. Its Grand Master, Óscar de Alfonso, insists the goal is to form good people, not to influence the world. But the secrecy of lodge meetings fuels conspiracy theories. The full analysis of the work includes a detailed comparison between the original version and Disney's, with all the differences the mouse factory left out.

At a time when artificial intelligence robots are beginning to replace pets and even children, perhaps the fable of Pinocchio takes on a new meaning. Or perhaps it is just a children's story. But with Collodi, you never know.