Montaigne on Sleep and Its Connection to Freemasonry
On March 2, 1590, Michel de Montaigne died at his château in the Dordogne — a man who, by his own account, had spent his entire life practicing the art of letting go. His short essay ‘On Sleep’ may be the most unexpected testament to that practice. Written during an era of religious wars and political upheaval, it examines the remarkable ability of certain individuals to sleep soundly in the face of danger. At first glance, the essay reads as a collection of historical anecdotes. But look closer, and it touches on fundamental questions about self-mastery, surrender, and trust — questions that lie at the very heart of Freemasonry. A Battlefield for a Bedroom: The Historical Context Montaigne opened his essay with a series of striking historical examples — great men who slept peacefully at moments when anyone else would have been wide awake with fear. He cited the Roman Emperor Augustus, who slept soundly the night before a decisive naval battle. He pointed to Alexander the Great, who was so deeply asleep on the morning of the Battle of Gaugamela that his generals had to shake him awake. And he recalled Cato of Utica, who spent the evening before […]