Zamora temple related to Masons???

back in high school myself & most of my friends were fascinated with the occult & the likes. we would always go "investigate" (which usually involved nothing more than freaking each other out) places that were supposedly related to occult rituals, deaths, hauntings, etc... a buddy of mine showed us a place where satanic rituals were supposedly held on occasion. we went & checked it out & were startled by what appeared to be a secret find, the most bizarre of any we ever went to. interestingly enough the place we went to was on a dirt road behind a "Zamora Temple", on the property owned by the temple. I have no idea what a zamora temple is. can anyone clue me in. I will relay the whole story later when I have more time...thanks for any info

edited for typo...oops

[Edited on 23-5-2004 by metalmessiah]

Of the Imperial Shrine of North America, info can be found here.

I'm not that familiar with what "Shriners" are or do....will have to investigate furrther. may not want to post our find here. I may get accused of slandering a benevolent group. people get real picky about their organization's in here sometimes

ok, according to the shriner's website:
"To be a member of the Shrine, a man must first be a Master Mason in the Masonic fraternity."
"The Scottish Rite shares the belief of all Masonic organizations that there is no higher degree than that of Master Mason."

so by that logic the Shriner's is the next step after you've gone as high as you can go in Mason's. if this is incorrect let me know....

shorty, the Imperial Shrine of North America has been providing healthcare (burns, orthopedics, and now spine) to children absolutely free of charge for almost 80 years. The yearly budget runs in the neighborhood of $600 million. There are 22 hospitals (read more here) that are funded without any contributions from the government. I think that an organization that is capable of such a philanthropy (Worlds Greatest) would check out O.K. Let us know what you find.

Not exactly...

In a sense, you can think of Masonry as beinga branching tree. The "trunk" comprises the first three degrees, and then you can go all kinds of places from there. The difficulty is that sometimes people think that because you need to be a Master Mason to join all these other societies, that a person who has joined all kinds of other societies is somehow "better" than someone who "just" has their Master Mason degree. This is of course not so. While you're probably still confused right now, at least you are definitively confused. Allow me a small text diagram to show briefly how some of this works:



(I made it myself... can you tell )

Anyway, you can go into the Shrine as a MM, or into the York Rite, or into the Scottish Rite, etc.

Here is Zamora Temple's website: zamora-dsc.tripod.com...

I like the Final Fantasy music that link has goin' on. external image

[Edited on 22-5-2004 by Tamahu]

AK on the top of the Skottish and York Rites you have AMD etc. What is AMD ? I saw this cool picture in a local masonic lodge of stairs from either side leading to a single point depicting the degrees of scottish rite and york rite masonry after the base of the first three degrees or steps in this picture, but I did not see any higher degree then the ceremonial degree of 33. Is AMD another organization like shriners or is it another degree? Im not overly confused about masonry for the most part being sort of involved but I was just puzzeled by AMD. OH my cpu has an AMD athlon processor? No conspiracy involving masonry and my computer I hope.

Vir Fidelis

A.M.D. is the Allied Masonic Degrees. The Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees of the United States controls the Degrees of Royal Ark Mariner, Secret Monitor, Order of the Red Branch of Eri, Ye Antient Order of Corks, and several others.
It is primarily a Masonic research organization. Councils of A.M.D. exist in most large U.S. cities, and membership is by invitation, which cannot exceed 27 members per Council. All those invited to join must be Royal Arch Masons in good standing in the York Rite, and members are expected to write research papers on Masonic topics, which are presented at meetings. Each year, the Grand Council publishes the best papers in its Miscellanea.
The official A.M.D. website is www.yorkrite.com...

Fiat Lvx.

[Edited on 22-5-2004 by Masonic Light]

Areo, thanks for asking about AMD. Saved me the trouble.

Now, could you help me out with Vir Fidelis and its significance.

thanks Masonis Light, thats the place I'm talking about...only that is the new one. the one we went to was on Old Leeds Rd., much smaller than the new one.

up the dirt road beside the old temple there was an old building, about 1/2 mi. up in the woods. there was a fence around it with a sign on the gate. the sign was the standard no trespassing stuff with Zamora Temple at the bottom. the building was basically just ruins when we went. the structure seemed to be made completely of concrete. on the main level most of the walls were intact. there was a second floor but most of its walls were gone. the stairway leading to the second floor was even concrete. the structure seemed about the size of a large two story house. out the back of the building there was what seemed to be a large concrete patio...could have been a room that the walls had been knocked down. keep in mind it was after midnight when we were there. we were all walking around this patio area when one of the guys starts yelling "look at this". he had walked off the back of the patio & found a small opening to what initially looked like a crawl space. the opening was below the ground & it looked like it had been covered with dirt. we went inside & were surprised to find it was actually a full sized basement, the size of the entire structure above us. there were four rooms inside the main part, seperated by concrete walls. upon entering the far room on the left side we found a hole that had been knocked in what was thought to be the outer wall. the holel was just large enough for some of us to crawl through. we had a couple of bigger guys that didnt fit, the smallest one was about 6' 240 lbs. inside was a room about 8 feet wide & ran the length of the structure. this room had six sets of wrist shackles bolted into the ceiling. the room had several pentagrams painted on the walls, along with some other symbols I didnt recognize. not just haphazardly spray painted but really semetrical, looked like someone had spent some time on it. under all the shackles but one the dirt floor was worn a little lower like someone had been kept there for a while. there were stains on the wall and floor by two of the shackles that appeared to be blood. about the time I noticed all this I crawled back through the hole & left. the small hole in the blocks was the only opening into this room. looked like the room had been completely blocked in with cinder blocks until someone knocked that hole in it...I have no idea what we really found but it was eerie.

Vir Fidelis is latin and it means faithful man. It has significance to me which id love to share with you. Its actually the first Latin that I learned and when I first heard it used I felt a strong attachment to it. To me it basically sums up all that I am.... the faithful man. Sorry if that seems lame but as my football coach used to say "It is what it is"

Vir Fidelis

lol, metalmessiah, yeah that’s pretty weird. It may have just been common vandalism.
The Shrine’s ritual consists of a steady barrage of pranks, and is not a very serious deal. This is why the Shrine is often called “the playground of high degree Masons” and “the vaudeville show of the Craft”. Basically, it’s where grown men congregate and act like 12 year olds. The theory behind the creation of the Shrine was that after men advanced through the intellectual demands of the Scottish Rite, they could use something “just for fun”, without the seriousness of advanced Freemasonry.
But the gags of the Shrine initiation, although juvenile and at times ridiculous, are in “good fun”, and do not consist of folks being shackled or pentagrams (the ritual is actually based on a mixture of mystical Islam and various college frat jokes...it makes for a lively evening, lol).

Fiat Lvx.

I deeply resemble your remarks ML, as a Temple prankster I have conducted myself in wanton, and childish behavior; all at the expense of my fellow "Son's of the Desert". This does not negate the fact that as I place the Fez of a Shriner upon my head, that I am symbolically tying the Lambskin Apron of a Master Mason about my waist. The Shrine is a place for fun, but it is also the most visible, large scale Masonic Charity in the world. The impact that we (The Shriners) have had on the public at large is significant; I never fail to get a positive response when out doing a function or event while wearing a Fez.

lol, no offense intended. I also am a Noble, and have always been proud to wear my Fez.
We can also credit the Shrine with Masonic PR, getting the general public involved in our charities. I only wish we could do the same with Scottish Rite. Today in the US, there are two Scottish Rite Childrens Hospitals, similar in nature to the Shrine’s, that treat orthopedic patients. We also have dozens of the Childhood Speech and Learning Clinics. But every time we fundraise, we’re always barraged by the same question from Joe Public: “What is Scottish Rite? I’ve never heard of it!” At present, the Scottish Rite charities are the largest and most widespread Masonic philanthropy in the US, but the public is completely oblivious.
I attended the Supreme Council’s Leadership Conference recently where the Grand Commander, Ill. Bro. Ronnie Seale, 33°, asked for suggestions to change this. Several comments may soon be put into practice. One thing is to wear our Caps in public processions such as parades, etc., as we do our fezzes in our capacity as Shriners. Personally, I think this will give us the recognition needed to continue the Rite’s leadership in Masonic philanthropy.

Fiat Lvx.

I have a question.

Are any of these hospitals in or near projects, ghettos, etc.?




1

Heh, Tamahu, you're obviously not aware of the Shriner transport program. Shriners not only operate their completely free hospitals, they also have a program whereby the kids to be treated are transported to the hospital completely free as well. I believe most of the hospitals themselves are wherever it was cheapest to build them, for this reason. By the way, according to the Shriners I know, there are not enough kids to fill the hospitals. So if you know any kids who need the kind of treatment a Shriner's hospital can offer (orthopaedic and burn care, IIRC), please let your nearest Shriner know.

AK was only partially right, not only is all treatment and followup care free, so is all transportation of the child, parents and/or guardians, and siblings (including hotel lodging and meal stipend) this is done regardless of cost until the child has fully recovered or reached the age of 18. The location of the hospitals were chosen on a variety of factors, geographical seperation from each other, the access to a high volume airport, adjacent or near a large teaching or research hospital. Shrine Hospital locations here. Take the time to explore more about Shriners and Shriner's Hospitals here.

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[Edited on 23-5-2004 by Mirthful Me]

Masonic Light I am in no way implying that anything we found was connected with the shriners beyond being on their property. I have seen plenty of common vandalism, even done a little back in my childish past. this was not common vandalism by any means. everything was placed perfectly,MANY symbols drawn elaborately & perfectly...not just some dopeheads spray painted rendition of a pentagram. what had been done to this room would have been a pretty time consuming task. not to mention the tools required to install lag bolts into concrete to hold shackles on an 8' high ceiling. hammer drill, ladder....just doesnt fit common vandalism by any means. keep in mind this wasnt in the Temple building but approx. 1/2 mi. behind it in the woods. maybe the old temple or something. what was the operating temple then was torn down & a fire station sat in its place the last time I went by there. apparently this was done just after the temple in Leeds, pictured in the link above, was opened at least 10 years ago...I have seen many strange things in my life & not many have left such a lasting impression.