root of all religions is the same (according with the Prisca Theologia doctrine). These common traits and symbols in all religions are explained in detail, beginning with the Orphic Egg or Cosmic Egg, and then moving towards ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Buddhist, and Hindu texts, and the Abrahamic religions. A copy of Morals and Dogma was given to every new member of the Southern Jurisdiction from the early 1900s until 1969 (although some local Scottish Rite bodies offered copies through the mid-1970s), when it was deemed "too advanced to be helpful to the new Scottish Rite member." In 1974 it was initially replaced by Clausen's Commentaries on Morals and Dogma, written by Henry Clausen, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, which in 1988 was itself replaced by A Bridge To Light, by Rex Hutchens, 33°, G∴C∴, which book continues to be given to initiates into the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction. With the release of the authorized edition of 2011, Morals and Dogma is once more being given to new Scottish Rite Masons in the Southern Jurisdiction, and all restrictions on sales to the general public have been removed. During Pike's lifetime the Northern Jurisdiction based many of their degrees upon Pike's rituals, although they subsequently revised them many times, and never presented initiates with Morals and Dogma, nor any of the subsequent commentaries. Influences and plagiarism allegations One of Pike's influences was the French author Éliphas Lévi. Lévi was a prolific writer on occult topics who, in Pike's day, was considered an expert on pagan mysteries and Gnosticism. Some authors have, since his death, considered Levi's writings, and adeptship, to be spurious. For instance, occult scholar, A. E. Waite, after researching Levi's texts relating to the Kabalah, wrote: "I do not think that he [Lévi] ever made an independent statement upon any historical fact to which the least confidence could be given with prudence.". Eliphas Levi (whose real name was Alphonse Louis Constant) was of Jewish genetic ancestry. He claimed to have gnosis of ancient, and medieval Judaic esoterica, when in reality, having been raised a Roman Catholic (who went on to a seminary), he was not even formally schooled in the Jewish exoteric tradition of his own time (the 19th century). Levi never officially converted to Judaism. In his book Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855), Lévi claimed that Freemasonry had its roots in ancient pagan rituals, and