what exactly is a degree? is it a rank system or something related to non physical badges as boyscouts get? i live in dallas tx and see mason related stickers or emblems on cars frequently.

how does it work with temples? are they autonomous? or is there some kind of central masonic steering committee that defines goals and objectives for the entire body of freemasonry?

There is no central steering committee or global authority, though there are grand lodges.

Taken from the Grand Lodge of New York website.
The Grand Lodge of the State of New York is the governing body of Freemasonry in the State of New York. Like many organizations Masons elect their leaders. The Grand Lodge of the State of New York is headed by the Grand Master who is aided by a team of officers both elected and appointed.

The Grand Lodge of the State of New York acts as the coordinating body for many functions undertaken throughout the state. Its various committees organize blood drives, Child ID programs and charitable events around New York.

oh, yeah, and what about the hiram key, and holy blood, holy grail? do they teach you that hiram was real?

Both books are works of speculation and supposition, and therefore cannot be regarded as fact. They are a very interesting as they do raise some interesting questions though I don't necessarily agree with many of their conclusions.

is there some kind of vengeance scheme to 'get' the progeny of the three assassins?

Ummmm....no.

how do you reconcile the historical fact that masons have had secret knowledge in the past, (which was knowledge that was seemingly impossible for them to have), with the claim that, now, there are no secrets except for handshakes?

I have yet to see any factual evidence that Masons have ever had any "secret" knowledge seemingly impossible or otherwise. I know "The Hiram Key" tries to tie our ritual to early king making ceremonies, and I believe "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" postulates that the Knights Templar may have had the Holy Grail but all that is conjecture. So I guess that leaves little to reconcile. That's not to say that there isn't wisdom in the ritual work and that the history of Masony isn't interesting, just that those sources can't be regarded as factual accounts without more hard evidence.

Though I was able to obtain the sacred strawberry and rhubarb pie recipe from one of the OES ladies.

i'm sorry if my post on the previous page was too ambiguous. i'm asking any and all masons to answer those questions, not just mirthful me. as much insight as i can get would be appreciated.

Just wanted to say thank you to the Brothers on this thread for taking the time to answer some of these questions, most of you are more eloquent than myself.

And also to say that so far the questions appear to be good honest questions for the most part, so thank you to those who have done the asking.

Originally posted by billybob
i'm not being combative. i'd take freemasons over the vatican any day of the week.

Ah, billybob - I like you

Now didn't you mean 'the freemasons'd take over the vatican any day of the week'?

Now let's put one of my vague general questions - without a hint of recognition codes 'cos that just gets ignored even by non-masons -

What about Lucio Gelli , the P2 later the P7 Lodge, what about John Paul I. and his rapid demise after his edict rooting the freemasons out of the Vatican and the Vatican bank, with that guy ending up hanged under Blackfriars Bridge in London. . What about Gelli's connection in to the Italian fascists as well as the Masons, and the further traces into the Italian secret service. , and the actions such as the Bologna train station blast, blamed on the Red Brigades, ultimately the responsibility of Vatican associated Freemasons?

Just thought I'd ask

so, are you saying, dh, that the vatican bank is somehow tied in with freemasonry?

i find it strange, and conflictual, that mason's claim any religion is okay, .....as long as it's monotheistic....

and yet, they have so much pantheonistic eygptian symbology......?

Originally posted by billybob
so, are you saying, dh, that the vatican bank is somehow tied in with freemasonry?

i find it strange, and conflictual, that mason's claim any religion is okay, .....as long as it's monotheistic....

and yet, they have so much pantheonistic eygptian symbology......?

All I'm saying, billybob, is that a fraud and a con has been pulled over the world population since time immemorial. The monotheism relates to the Sun in its various guises. The Virgin Mary relates to the Statue of Liberty and all the flame-bearing goddesses
The freemasonry symbolism is every where and is in itself neutral and pagan
It's only in its controlling influence that it buggers up you and me and
others
The freemasons for the most part are innocent - that's why the participants on this thread are so affronted - its the small dark core at the top who use the lower echelons, who swear them all to secrecy. who allow the casual favours, who has them all hypnotised
The symbolism and the ritual keeps them in control and the outside profane as well
It takes us all in through derivative organisations using the basic knowledge

You forgot to mention that we also steal the garden gnomes from the front gardens of the poor, innocent and downtrodden populace; Only to replace them with the hideous pink flamingos!!! Bwahahahaha

Yeah, well that might be the case
If it wasn't so diminuitive
Also garden gnomes=magic mushrooms
The UK Govt are about to pull the carpet
With hardly a snuffle
Thety are pulling the whole welfare state with little resistance
Let's dismantle this focking thing

[edit on 2-7-2005 by dh]

[edit on 2-7-2005 by dh]

Anyway beyond this small-time sneering, Im still waiting for the Gelli denial

Originally posted by dh
All I'm saying, billybob, is that a fraud and a con has been pulled over the world population since time immemorial. The monotheism relates to the Sun in its various guises. The Virgin Mary relates to the Statue of Liberty and all the flame-bearing goddesses

i would agree wholeheartedly, and most assuredly with the first statement.
however, i would kinda disagree that monotheism relates exlusively to the sun. i am personally REALLY monotheistic, in that i believe good and evil are equal within 'the diety'. nothing, not even god, can be BOTH omnipresent, and NOT everywhere at the same time. therefore. god is evil, god is good. it's up to US to choose which river we wish to swim in. i feel the shuttling of personal responsibilty away from individuals, and into vague nether zones, like 'the devil made me do it', or 'i'm just doing my job', or, 'that's the way the system works' is 'evil'. but, to a borg, that would be 'good'.
are freemasons borg? i really don't think so. people must seek to become mason's. it is not a brainwashed concept like christianity is. it's ALMOST a secret. before the advent of the internet, people didn't even know, for the most part, what a freemason is. (we still don't really know, HAHA!)
it might be interesting to note, now, though; the early christian 'sun' amulet, which is a 'magic square' with numbers one through thirty six on it in a six by six grid, where any row, or column, adds up to 111, and the total number for the square is 666.
thirty six, is of course, one tenth of 360, which is the number of degrees in a circle.
gotta go for now. looking forward to more mason's spilling it all.

The freemasonry symbolism is every where and is in itself neutral and pagan
It's only in its controlling influence that it buggers up you and me and
others
The freemasons for the most part are innocent - that's why the participants on this thread are so affronted - its the small dark core at the top who use the lower echelons, who swear them all to secrecy. who allow the casual favours, who has them all hypnotised
The symbolism and the ritual keeps them in control and the outside profane as well
It takes us all in through derivative organisations using the basic knowledge

indeed, after learning quite a bit about sacred geometry, i know that it is a science. at least SOME of the mason knowledge is directly descended from the art of cutting and piling stone. the egyptian connection may be quite relevent here, too. afterall, the pyramids would be impossible to buiild today.

[edit on 2-7-2005 by billybob]

Hey Bud Welcome to Paronoia !

It is after all a conspiracy site !

All kidding aside- You mentioned that you are a Free Mason, That has Christian Faith but believes in Buddhist Philosophy all roled up in one

What would this make you

An Eastern Follower of Christ that has fallen into a cult ?

WOW ! Sounds a bit confusing.

Could you explain yourself a little better in this regard.

Thanks and Welcome Again !
Truth !

Hhhhmmm - sacred geometry is all about the number 13, the Mayans had it and based their calenders about it
The Illuminati stole it
The outlay of the DNA into the Golden Mean derivatives has been stolen or usurped by the Freemasons
They are in control and it's time to take it back, schizo as that might seem, it's the central struggle

All kidding aside- You mentioned that you are a Free Mason, That has Christian Faith but believes in Buddhist Philosophy all roled up in one

As I previously stated

Obviously I'm not a Buddhist. I have read some on the subject, discussed it at length with a friend who is and find that it fits with my own own system of belief. I included it to stress that I have my OWN views, opinions and beliefs.

What would this make you

An Eastern Follower of Christ that has fallen into a cult ?

WOW ! Sounds a bit confusing.

Could you explain yourself a little better in this regard.

Thanks and Welcome Again !
Truth !

I could be more aplty labeled a follower of Christ who has great respect for the teachings of others and is willing to see the truth where ever it may be found. This all becomes less confusing once you discard the erroneous notion of Masonry being a cult.

Thank you for the welcome.

Originally posted by dh
its the small dark core at the top who use the lower echelons, who swear them all to secrecy.

I think it's funny that you would think that millions of intelligent masons worldwide could be so idiotic as to be duped by an "upper echelon", but YOU would know the truth. Get with it dh, you're a joke.

Originally posted by dh
Hhhhmmm - sacred geometry is all about the number 13

And this in itself shows that you know NOTHING of which you speak. Geometry is all about 3, 4 and 5. Any idiot with a library card can figure that out, why can't you?


[edit on 2-7-2005 by sebatwerk]

Originally posted by dh
Hhhhmmm - sacred geometry is all about the number 13, the Mayans had it and based their calenders about it
The Illuminati stole it
The outlay of the DNA into the Golden Mean derivatives has been stolen or usurped by the Freemasons
They are in control and it's time to take it back, schizo as that might seem, it's the central struggle

the central phi-ght, you might say?
of course, phi, the only sequence which can be described with only two numbers, has no beginning and no end, can't posiibly be 'central', as it is both the beginning and the end. the alpha omega, you might even surmise.

of course, the most signifigant things that phi gives rise to, are fractals and the nesting of platonic solids. these things are not evil. knowledge about them, though, can lead to insightful ideas in ANY science.

the entymology of the phonic, 'phi', is insightful, as well. phi-ve, phi-cycle(physical), phi-losophy, phi-sics, phi-re(re, or ra is the egyptian sun god), etc. the tying in of five with the pentagram, and the five-sided orbit of venus(also known as astoreth, or the female aspect of the diety) leads silly me, who believes that anything that lasts for CENTURIES must have some kind of glue holding it together, to believe that re-PENT-ing may have something to do with 'phi-ve'.

the only thing i know about thirteen is that it's the number of lunar months(ie. REAL mo(o)nths), and it's the sixth nimber in a fibonacci sequence if 1 is the first number. ie. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13.

of course, 'hu' am i?

Originally posted by AngelWitch

All kidding aside- You mentioned that you are a Free Mason, That has Christian Faith but believes in Buddhist Philosophy all roled up in one

As I previously stated

Obviously I'm not a Buddhist. I have read some on the subject, discussed it at length with a friend who is and find that it fits with my own own system of belief. I included it to stress that I have my OWN views, opinions and beliefs.

What would this make you

An Eastern Follower of Christ that has fallen into a cult ?

WOW ! Sounds a bit confusing.

Could you explain yourself a little better in this regard.

Thanks and Welcome Again !
Truth !

I could be more aplty labeled a follower of Christ who has great respect for the teachings of others and is willing to see the truth where ever it may be found. This all becomes less confusing once you discard the erroneous notion of Masonry being a cult.

Thank you for the welcome.

It is very apparent that you have made your own decision to believe in a Diety that conforms to your own humanstic ideologies.

It makes perfect sense that you would be attracted to a cult as Masonry !

If you say that you have your OWN views, opinions and beliefs then you are in fact NOT A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST

What exactly do you mean by being a follower of Christ, if you haven't yet given up your own cross

Oh-By the way- Christ had NO TOLERANCE for other teachings !

And Yeah ! - Can the Truth be found in more than Religion ?

Anyways- Have fun with your brothers of pagonistic worship at the lodge !

See Ya Around !

Originally posted by Truthisoutthere
Hey Bud Welcome to Paronoia !

It is after all a conspiracy site !

All kidding aside- You mentioned that you are a Free Mason, That has Christian Faith but believes in Buddhist Philosophy all roled up in one

What would this make you

An Eastern Follower of Christ that has fallen into a cult ?

WOW ! Sounds a bit confusing.

Could you explain yourself a little better in this regard.

Thanks and Welcome Again !
Truth !

I think i could explain this for you... from Manly P Hall :
" We may say that a christian is one who recieves his spiritual ideals of right and wrong from the message of Christ, while a Buddhist is one who Molds his life into the archetype of morality given by the great Gautama, or one of the other Buddhas. That which gives man a Knowledge of himself can be inspired only by the self- and God is the Self in all things. In truth, he is the inspiration and the things inspired. It has been stated in scripture that God was the word and the word was made flesh. Mans task now is to make flesh reflect the glory of that word.which is within the soul of himself. It is this task which has created the need of religion- not ONE FAITH alone BUT many creeds, each searching in its own way.
Truth is not lost, yet it must be sought for and found."
and this part is my favorite " Man is, in truth, born in the Sin of Ignorance, but with a capacity of understanding"