Originally posted by cardsharp
If masons were a secret society, then why would they meet at a building that
the public can see.

Why would they identify themsevels as masons?

Why would they donate money to charities?

Why would they wear jewelry that showed everyone they were a mason?

If a society was to be secret, they would not meet in public places, donate
money, they would ask people to become members.

From my understanding anyone can become a mason. they just have to ask someone that they would like to be a mason.

Masons are just like a big group of older boy scouts.

What are all your thoughts

It's more like a society with secrets. They appear to be righteous on the outside but are wicked on the inside.

They just use the expression: "hide in plain sight"

Masons aren't a secret organization, if you go to the local lodge, they will willingly give you a list of members.

I was watching the BBC two summers ago and Masons are becoming more open. They want people to know more about them.

It's time to dismiss the silly notions the public have about you. You do look daft in those silly clothes but if you explain what they mean and why women aren't allowed into a mens lodge it all makes bloody good sense.

Almost poetic, so get out there guys and explain what you are up to and just ignore that masonic website which is making you guys look bad right now, the one that lists how freemasons can get at someone you don't like. I think it was put there by hackers who want the world to think your website condones these kinds of things, i think they do not like you guys but that's because they don't know you like i do.

There's no truth in it , you know that and i do, so lets educate the masses. Masons are human too, and humans are an easy target for people who work secretly behind the scenes and that's what people think. So let's educate them because we know much better than them, don't we?

Originally posted by plainPlaidplain


I keep asking the Masons on this site if they feel a kinship to people who are interested in the Tarot, Qaballah, etc. but who aren't members of the club.

The following is taken from page 777 of Albert Pike's "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry":

He who desires to attain to the understanding of the Grand Word and the possession of the Great Secret, ought carefully to read the Hermetic philosophers, and will undoubtedly attain initiation, as others have done; but he must take, for the key of their allegories, the single dogma of Hermes, contained in his table of Emerald, and follow, to class his acquisitions of knowledge and direct the operation, the order indicated in the Kabalistic alphabet of the Tarot.

I can't figure out why so many Masons I've met and chatted with online seem to be politically conservative, when the backbone of the conservatives in this country consider the Tarot and the hellenistic pantheon to be satanic.

I would wager that most Masons have absolutely no knowledge of the Tarot, Hermetic philosophy, etc. This is sort of sad, since Masonic symbolism is in large part based upon these things. But you have to remember, most Masons consider Freemasonry to be a sort of charitable social club, and don't give Masonic symbolism or ceremony much thought.

Masonic Light is right.

There has been a sort of generational play in the Fraternity's self-understanding. The golden age of Masonic philosophical writing, I would submit, runs from about 1820 to 1930. It seems the World War I/II generations were socially conservative and didn't want to explore the esoteric aspects of Freemasonry, but were deeply dedicated to the fraternal and charitable aspects. As a result, the non-scholarly, non-esoteric elements of the Fraternity prospered greatly (e.g. the Shrine) and the rest struggled.

The baby-boomers just didn't join. I blame television.

The current generation of new members -- and there appears to be an upswing in young men coming to the Fraternity -- are looking for that sense of ritual, ceremony, and mystery. They are interested in the esoteric aspects, although they also value the camaraderie and charitable work. It will be interesting to see where they take the Fraternity once the current leadership generation dies off.

I think you'll see an uptick in Masonic interest in the esoteric again... and wouldn't that just make Bro. Wescott smile.