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Originally posted by oconnection
This is what has kept me so interested in this subject. 5 months trying to study this topic & I still don't have anything close to clear picture of what Freemasonry is. Honestly If someone asked me what is Freemasonry I couldn't tell them.
I drove by the Mason Lodge where I would be attending should I join yesterday. It is an old brick church building with all the windows bricked up. I guess they don't want anyone spying on them.
Originally posted by Mogus
Sorry old chums but a number of high level masons have left over the years and their idea of what Freemasonry is all about differs from you benign suggestions. Sure many masons are good people and believe they are doing good (although most people join masonry primarily for self-advancement, which is not in of itself wholy altruistic I think), but it is who runs the organization that best knows what its main objectives and purposes are.
Neo,
the thing that is great about you is, you really have no original thoughts or convictions of your own, yet you ramble about repeating the thoughts of others. Everything you say either comes from another website or is something someone told you.
Sometimes the things you say actually make sense and on rare occasions I find the content of your posts interesting, however, your trying to establish yourself as an oracle of all things without actually having any idea as to what your talking about.
A parrot can repeat the words of others.
It takes a simple mind to repeat another mans convictions as his own and put shame on those who don't agree.
Your as opaque as a clean window...
Yes, those high above know better the true meanings behind that which makes up Masonry. It's no secret. As is the same for any other organization in the world.
Are you suggesting anything new?
As for me being a shape shifting overloard, all I can say is that when you join the Masons, you get a discount card for Jergens so as to appease the skin around the slowly protruding scales. Thank goodnesssssss!
Sorry to dampen your enlightenment.. but it is a well accepted fact that what the lower levels do and say in Freemasonry is much different from the highest level.
Until you are 33rd degree you really have little credibility as to your vast knowledge of masonic truth for me.
It has always been well known that the lower levels are fed misinformation as to the true cause and symboligies which is understandable... but it leads to these posts where people thing they suddenly have the answers, when what they have is in fact a lie.
Ok, there appear to be several Masons in this thread, so I will ask here.
WHAT is a paramasonic group? Or is this an offshoot that someone created following the Mason line?
And it's not "para" as in paramilitary, it's "para" as in paranormal
Originally posted by Ozzie
Freemasonry over the years has had a number of copiers styling themselves as "masonic organisations" none of which are recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England.
see here for a beter explanation
www.masonicinfo.com...
Actually I thought if you were a mason you took an oath to keep secret the things that happen within freemasonry
So this group that invited me (strange story to that) should I just ignore them?
Originally posted by Ozzie
Actually I thought if you were a mason you took an oath to keep secret the things that happen within freemasonry
not at all, the only oath to secrecy is for the modes of recognition, of which i will not give, as anyway they are all over the web as "revealed secrets" mostly bogus.
i disagree with you on the oath
not at all, the only oath to secrecy is for the modes of recognition, of which i will not give, as anyway they are all over the web as "revealed secrets" mostly bogus.
Not that your obligations permit you to give a yes or a no on this. But your telling me that all this fuss over secrecy is over some silly handshakes
Originally posted by Mogus
I have been on these forums for quite a while now, reading stories and exchanging theories etc. I am still by no means any scholar of Freemasonry, however after now having joined the Masons I have a few points I would like to make. Bear with me.
#1. Nothing you ever read will ever make complete and total sense unless you are a Mason. Period.
I have read a lot regarding Masonry both on the web and off and after joining Masonry I have realized that my understanding of what I have read is completely different. Masonry is an experience and as such, it's very difficult for people to describe what the experiences of Masonry entail let alone speculate on it without ever having gone through it themselves. The only way to find the real truth behind what Masonry is, is to experience it for yourself so as to better understand it and what you read about it.
#2. Freemasonry is different for everyone!
I have had the majority of my family plea with me not to join Masonry. They all have their own ideas as to what it is and what it entails. Being raised by a VERY Catholic family and then joining the Masons was a very big deal for me personally. Tails of the end of the world being brought forth by the Masons in their quest for world domination etc etc. Let's put it this way, if you work at Burger King and 2 of your co workers plan to rob the diner, does this make the employees of the entire chain guilty?
As I said before in another post, Freemasonry opens doors to pathways while providing you the opportunity to do with them as you will. You join Freemasonry on your own free will and accord and from that point on the decisions you make while involved are your own. Freemasonry simply connects you to a global network of people who all share in the same bond, experiences and connection by which to grow from. Not all of these Masons are good, most of them are. It's up to you to decide what you wish to do within Masonry and with whom you wish to do it with.
#3. There are no secrets.
This one I myself thought was BS before joining, however, once you join the Masons, you know what to look for and when you do, you will realize that its EVERYWHERE on the web.
People think that because there were Masons who were convicted of kidnapping another Mason in the early 1800's for blabbing about them
they think that Masonry is bad. At the time, everything that made the Masons who they were was very sacred to them. At the time, there were secrets. Secrets that gave these men something to share amongst themselves that no other human being could share and experience and it was this that kept Masons together. What you had then was an expression of how the great whole is more important than the one. The one being the mand who was kidnapped and vanished.
These things still exist today, however they arent secret any longer.
Now, before you castrate the Masons for those actions, consider this.
How many people have died at the hands of Catholics or
any religion fighting to become supreme or protect themselves?
If a member of the Vatican held a dear secret of the faith and openly prepared to disclose this information...do you honestly think he would live much longer?
In summary, the point I am trying to make is, the real truth is in sharing of the experiences and moving forward with your life while learning something new. It's up to you to do what you wish with what is provided although the hope is that you will use your experience and network for the good of man.
If you ever really want to know what goes on, join. Until then, be happy knowing that nothing you read will ever contain the real truth as the real truth lies within yourself.
I hope I have made some sense here in my late night rambling...
Oh, do me a favor and buy this CD.
Just Left Town
We need to sell out by Feb 23 due to my presenting them to several major labels in NYC in Feb....help me out!