♒ Security

Pigpen (Masonic) Cipher

Encipher text in Pigpen (the Masonic cipher), drawing all 26 symbols, with the full reference alphabet below.

Text (A-Z)

Pigpen symbols

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Full alphabet

Pigpen: an alphabet made of corners and dots

The pigpen cipher, also called the Masonic cipher, swaps each letter for a piece of a grid. The construction is systematic: two three-by-three grids and two X shapes give 26 positions, one per letter. The symbol is the outline of the cell the letter sits in — the top-left cell of the grid becomes an angle opening down and to the right, and so on. The second set repeats the shapes with a dot inside.

Type the text and the page draws the symbols, with the full alphabet just below for reference. The glyphs are vector drawings, so they scale without blurring and can be copied as images. Spaces separate words; punctuation and digits have no symbol in this cipher and are dropped, which is the traditional behaviour.

As a cipher it is weak for the same reason as any substitution: each letter always becomes the same drawing, and frequency survives intact. Its use today is different — it turns up in treasure hunts, board games, escape room puzzles and classroom activities, where the value lies precisely in looking intriguing while being easy to decipher with the table at hand.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called the Masonic cipher?

Because Freemasonry used it in records and on gravestones from the eighteenth century onwards, which left examples carved in stone across old cemeteries. The cipher itself is older and appears in earlier manuscripts, but the name stuck because of that use.

Is there a single canonical version?

No. The order in which letters fill the grids varies between traditions — some fill both grids first and then the X shapes, others alternate. Whoever deciphers needs the same table as whoever enciphered, which is why the page shows the full alphabet.

Can numbers be written?

Not in the classic cipher, which only covers the 26 letters. When needed, the custom is spelling the number out or agreeing extra symbols separately — but that is a local convention, not part of the cipher.

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