are all bluelodges blue? i thought that that was just a name but the Henry M. Phillips lodge 337 is accualy Powder blue! apparently PA masons just don't like to blend in

i'm not sure what you mean by blue lodges but i have a masonic centre/lodge near my new house and its flanked by a church and hardware store and it blends in perfectly... i was suprised however that it wasnt so secret as it has a sign out the front saying 'HAWKESBURY MASONIC CENTRE'

It's a reference to the first few steps in Freemasonry and yes the motif is blue. Try to think of a Lodge not as a building but as a small organization.

There are 3 ladders to within Freemasonary. Blue is the lowest. A 33rd Degree blue mason is of little importance in the grand scheme. Similar to a mayor of a city or state congressmen.
Most are definitly kept in the dark of the mysteries.

Originally posted by EPLURIBUSUNUM
There are 3 ladders to within Freemasonary.

I don't suppose there is any way under the sun you would tell what the other two ladders are? Thats interesting, I haven't heard that before. Scottish Rite, Rosicusians, Brotherhood of the Snake, Order of the Palladium , OTO, Nights Templars, Temple of Set, I guess the Illuminati would be the highest order or is it Skull and bones?





[Edited on 25-12-2003 by TgSoe]

Lodges:

Ya got your Blue, Red, Black and White Lodges.

Blue lodges, as noted above, are the first three degrees.

All members of higher lodges are members of a Blue lodge, and are expected to participate in the work of the lodge.

Red: I don't remember the details, and my books are elsewhere. Basically, from 4th to some higher degree, possibly 18th.

Black: 19th to 29th. Again, that's my aging memory, not a quote from a verifiable souce.

White: 30th to 33d degree.

Above all other lodges: the HOATF, the head of all Freemasons, and the Great White Lodge on Sirius. No, I did not make that up.

Two ladders: Scottish Rite and York Rite. Scottish Rite has 32 steps. York rite skips some intermediate steps, has about 18 steps if memory serves. Either ladder gets you to the same place.

"Scottish Rite, Rosicusians, Brotherhood of the Snake, Order of the Palladium , OTO, Nights Templars, Temple of Set, I guess the Illuminati would be the highest order or is it Skull and bones?"

Rosicrucians are a different group, but according to Manly P. Hall, they developed the rites of Freemasonry for the Freemasons.

Order of the Palladium: The 33d degree of Freemasonry.

OTO: Ordo Templi Orientis: Not part of Freemasonry, but many if not most OTO are Masons. Straight up magick, without the "Make a good man better". L. Ron Hubbard, inventor of Scientology, was an Adeptus Major, highest rank of the OTO. You have to invent a religion to achieve this rank.

Knights Templars: Originally a group of Knights who went to Jerusalem. They encountered Johannite Christians there, who practiced a version of Christianity older than, and very different from, Catholic Christianity. The rites of Freemasonry are the rites of this older version of Christianity, which are ( or more accurately, are what the high ranking Freemasons claim to be ) the rites of an ancient religion practiced by Jesus.

Current Knights Templar wouldn't be a whole lot of help if you needed to whack opponents with a sword. But they do keep the Ancient Wisdom alive. That is what they call the religion noted above.

"I guess the Illuminati would be the highest order or is it Skull and bones?"

Illumination is a state. You are Illumined when you reach enlighenment. Which only a very few achieve, after wiggling their way to the top of the pyramid.

Brotherhood of the snake: There are many organizations working together to achieve a common goal. Freemasons are the most visible. Others are the OTO, Rosicrucians, Skull & Bones, Sufis, more. Collectively known as the brotherhood of the snake, the order of the quest, other names.

People at the top of the various Brotherhood organizations are Illuminati. You can get there by many paths, but only a fraction of a percent of members of the various organizations achieve this state.

Bank on this: Illuminati are not living in trailer parks, collecting aluminum cans to stretch their finances to the next welfare check.

I thought the Illuminati was limited to a small number of people. There are so many secret organizations, and if the head of each one was "appointed" into the Illuminati, as well as heads of banking, finance, government, and political think-tanks, wouldn't they be too big and unwieldy to accomplish anything?

Perhaps some organizations have more of a "claim" than others. Or maybe some organizations are just "puppet" organizations, their leaders being controlled higher up the ladder? Maybe the leaders think they're part of the Illuminati, but they aren't; their strings are being pulled along with everyone else's by the real Illuminati.



[Edited on 28-12-2003 by logiclock]

Originally posted by EPLURIBUSUNUM
There are 3 ladders to within Freemasonary. Blue is the lowest. A 33rd Degree blue mason is of little importance in the grand scheme...

It is quite clear that you are NOT a Mason and know very little truth about it (just enough to make some people believe you are one).

Blue lodge refers to the first three steps in Masonry:
1º Entered Apprentice
2º Fellowcraft
3º Master Mason

Other steps in Freemasonry are:
Scottish Rite
York Rite
Shriners

Colors in the Scottish Rite refer to the color of the "Hats" worn by it's members in lodge showing duty to the Rite and length of membership:

Black hat=32º Master of the Royal Secret

Red hat =32º Knights Consistory Court of Honor (KCCH)

White hat=33º Sovereign Grand Inspector General (SGIG) usually introduced by the title "Illustrious"

Blue hat = Any member of the Rite for 50 years

Purple hat= Sovereign Grand Commander, the highest position in the Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The person just elected to that position in November 2003 is Ill Ronald A. Seale, 33º, Elected Sovereign Grand Commander.

I cannot truthfully tell you about the York Rite or the Shrine as I am not a member. Nothing that I have told you here is a "secret". It is all knowledge available to anyone who wishes to know.