reply to post by RuneSpider
I wondered though how influenced it was by the Hellfire club founder, Philip Duke of Wharton who after his club was disbanded, became a Freemason, and
in 1722 he became the Grandmaster of England.
freemasonry.bcy.ca...
I know there is alot of suspiscion that surrounds the hell fire club, but you know, i don't think it was as bad as people made out. Is it possible it
was an attempt by the church to undermine the club, as it poked fun at chritianity according to what i read of the club.
The actual activities of the order are unknown although a mockery of Christianity in general and popery in particular, combined with a good deal of
sexual innuendo, seems to have set the tone. The chief ceremony was the reception of new members. [p. 126.] Paul Whitehead, secretary-treasurer of the
order, and a poet of republican and atheistic tendencies, planned their ritual. He once organized a procession of tramps and beggers to travesty an
annual masonic parade. [p. 120-21.]4 John Wilkes, who was never an inner circle member, claimed that the rites were "English Eleusinian Mysteries".
[p. 127.] Actual devil worship is not mentioned in any of the more trustworthy materials while Sir Nathaniel Wraxall’s claims, in his Historical
Memoirs (1815), of black baptisms and other lurid descriptions are hearsay. [p. 128.] The tradition of a satanic cult has no basis beyond perhaps the
odd séance. The local people at the time noticed nothing sinister other than the periodic importation of women and wine. Edward Thompson’s version
is that Dashwood, Stapleton, Whitehead, Wilkes and others performed rites to ridicule Catholicism
freemasonry.bcy.ca...
I think it may have stemed from something called Thelema (sp) which i don't see as being all that bad, i'm sure it mentions the middle pillar that
the tibetans aim to achieve. The other founder of the Hellfire club, sir fracis dashwood, built a land lighthouse in my county of lincolnshire, to
help protect the public against highway men in the dark of night. Its called Dunstons pillar, now it looked kind of familiar to me, i had seen
something similar elsewhere, in photos of towers in tibet, were they do not know what the towers were for. Dashwood like other young rich gentlemen,
took a grand tour of europe and also toured asia minor...would that include tibet?? i honestly have no idea. My stab in the dark theory is that he
visited the tibetans on his tour, saw the towers which may have been 'land lighthouses' and brought the idea along with elements of their philosophy
and religion back with him...just an out there thought.
The original land lighthouse was commissioned by Sir Francis Dashwood (better known as the founder of the Hellfire Club) in 1751 as a navigational aid
to assist those crossing the heathland around Dunston and Nocton. The purpose of the land lighthouse was to improve the safety of 18th century
travellers crossing a particularly treacherous area of the county known for its many incidents of highway robbery (including a number believed to have
been carried out by the notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin).
The structure originally stood 30 metres high (90 ft) with a large octagonal lantern on top of the tower. The lantern was regularly lit until 1788 and
was used for the last time in 1808 by which time improvements in the local road network had effectively made it obsolete.
en.wikipedia.org...
Dashwood was indeed a colourful character, he created a labyrinth of caves and tunnels which bore some quater of a mile into a hill in West Wycombe
and which still exists today. At the time it was said to be used for drunken orgies but Dashwood always insisted it was done to create work for the
local community. Despite claims that he was a devil worshipper he still managed to climb to the highest levels in British politics. He became
Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1762, a job he admitted he was hopeless at before being made Postmaster General in 1766.
Whatever the rumours about the activities of Dashwood and the Hellfire Club what is certain is that he was a Lincolnshire land owner and because of
his concern for the welfare of travellers he built a ‘land lighthouse’ high above his estate between Sleaford and Lincoln. The area at that time
was notorious for highwaymen including the most famous of them all, Dick Turpin, and his idea was to shine a huge bright light as a deterent to any
would be robbers.
So Dunston Pillar was born, an impressive landmark built by an equally impressive man….
www.milescollins.com...
It is no longer the height it once was.
[edit on 21-5-2009 by MCoG1980]