The Real Truth: Freemasonry

Ive only just recently joined ATS, and im liking what i see =] there is a lot of unexplained things on this planet that some of you smart poeple have gone out of the way to strike at the very heart of truth on these subjects. However looking around i have found many posts and conspiricys relating to freemasonry and some have me really concerned that poeple just arnt getting the real POINT of it all and i intend to inform you all absolutely what it means to be a Freemason.
I notice that some of my English and American based brothers have allready touched upon this subject, and i would be gratefull if they could come forward to this post and help ellaborate some on the things im trying to say.

Now then, Freemasony has many roots to its tree: little lodges here and there that are a bit different from others purely because freemasonry IS not one worldwide order its a lot of completely different fronts and ideas coming together from all corners of the world, most of us arnt even in touch with each other anymore (much like the different fronts of christianity)

Poeple join freemasonry generally to develop themselves and the person that they are, so that they may come to a better understanding of thier own lives and the good they can do for others, so its like church but revolves around you and others more than God.

Despite what some poeple think its blooming easy to join up, if of course your joining for the right reasons and are completely dedicated to the course of self-development and helping others: Below are the requirements:

1.

Being a man, freeborn, of good repute and well-recommended;
2.

A belief in a Supreme Being;
3.

Ability to support one's self and family;
4.

Of lawful age; and
5.

Come to Freemasonry of their "own free will and accord".
,
(Admittedly these requirements may differ from lodge to lodge because were not all the same you see)

We are not a secret society! which is obvious, youll find most of our information online.
It just happens by chance that some of the greatest poeple in history have been Freemasons, Then again most of the best and genuine poeple i know are my brothers, so theres no more of a conspiricy than if Goerge W. Bushykins had done Yogic meditation (he wasnt a freemason by the way and we dont condone his way of thinking)

However we do have a few secrets, these are mainly secrets in understanding yourself and others better, There not "Secret" secrets just you have to find them out on your path.

Overall we go out on our paths to create charity and wellbeing in our communties and undoubtedly we are changing the world for the better through our charitable work and generosity. Below are a few examples of the good we do (Just a few but theres Many, many more)

www.mmrl.edu...

www.grandcharity.org...

www.freemasonrytoday.com...

Id be quite happy to answer any futher Questions on this subject as i havent really gone into much detail, but please do a little research on some of our actual websites before condemming my words. The answers are everywhere unless you folly to see them.

thank you nice post, please don't think we are all paranoid mason haters, but be prepared they will be in this thread soon to start their ranting atacks.

i am a supporter of the freemason as i have had family members involved, and i think anyone who goes thru the work of climbing the ranks in freemasonry should be proud of themselves

Originally posted by Gixxer
thank you nice post, please don't think we are all paranoid mason haters, but be prepared they will be in this thread soon to start their ranting atacks.

i am a supporter of the freemason as i have had family members involved, and i think anyone who goes thru the work of climbing the ranks in freemasonry should be proud of themselves

Thanks man, not at all, everyone seems quite open minded really, i just know ive travelled well up the ranks with my father and still have nothing to hide, they can rant all they want but i know the truth

Hi Ted-welcome to ATS!
Please believe me when I say I am NOT a "paranoid Mason-hater", but I wonder if you could address Albert Pike and his statements about Lucifer being God, and how initiates and lower degree Masons are intentionally misled as to what the organization is really about?

Thanks

Originally posted by Skippy1138
Hi Ted-welcome to ATS!
Please believe me when I say I am NOT a "paranoid Mason-hater", but I wonder if you could address Albert Pike and his statements about Lucifer being God, and how initiates and lower degree Masons are intentionally misled as to what the organization is really about?

Thanks

Of course man, allthough ive only heard him refferd to once or twice when i was in my lower ranks, his words are quite true in some sense, that the journey leads to places that arnt necceserilly what someone would have thought they were going into.
However the path and route i took was very much unlike his as is the path for bretherin.
I belive that maybe he delved a little bit too deep into freemasonic information personally, because what freemasonry has come to now is so many bits of old relegions and rituals jammed together, that some might find older roots of freemasony to be satanic based understanding of things in an attempt to in some way show enlightenment in all ways of life.

I hope that helped a bit

When I read books written by prominent Freemasons over the past 200 years like John Robison, Albert Pike, Albert Mackey C.G. Finney, Crowley, M.P.Hall, what I find out about Freemasonry is completley different from what Freemasons tell me. I think this is because Masons take an oath to not reveal secrets and to lie if necessary to avoid gruesome penalties, and because low ranking Masons themselves do not know most of the real meanings behind the rituals and symbols.
I know Masons will say there are no high ranking Masons and 3rd Degree Master Masons are equal, but we all know you need to join appendant bodies like Scottish Rite or York Rite to really be able to advance. A 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason is a high ranking mason, a 3rd degree MM is not.

Now as to what I think low ranking Masons and the public are deceived about is that Freemasonry has an exoteric meaning, and its true esoteric meaning. The exoteric is the type revealed to new initiates and the public, like saying the Square and Compass means squaring your actions and drawing a boundry around desires, or saying Solomon means the biblical Solomon.

Now as for the true esoteric meanings behind some of the symbols, the Square and Compass, they represent the Genereative Principle, that is what the G really means also. The Square is the Female and Earth getting impregnated by the compass which is the sun and the male. This is from Middle Eastern fertility cults.

Solomon means Sol Om Mon 3 names for sun god in different languages and stands for Solar Man.

Then you have people like Albert Pike also admitting they deceive people. He said "Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations"

Is there anything wrong with getting my information directly from Freemason books rather then on Freemason websites that don't go into this kind of detail?

Encyclopedia of Freemasonry by Albert Mackey page 232, and 249
Morals and Dogma By Albert Pike page 819
Masonic Handbook by Edmond Ronayne page 74

"It just happens by chance that some of the greatest poeple in history have been Freemasons"

Chance? I'm not buying that. It's about who you know not what you know.

I admire the way masons treat and help fellow masons but why not treat everyone you meet as a fellow brother or sister instead of reserving it for those in your club?

I have many male relatives from Texas who are Masons and work and own a lodge. It's great! I recall seeing all the people when I was younger. We had a lot of families. Since the lodge was also a Church or next to a Church. I do recall all the Masons being nice to me and playing with the other kids.

reply to post by Unilluminist


Well youve certainly got the right idea of things, i think that masonry has evolved so much of the time its been around that the imformation and writings asociated to it have become a mass of information that would probably blow any masons mind if he treid to understand it all and were it all came from, Please do read the books, as the websites are misleading, some are absolute nonsense! but its hard to understand such a mass amount of garble'd information which is secondry to a true understanding of yourself.

As of my stature of me and my father as freemasons, it would be silly of me to divulge that information as my words and opinions may not be that of my lodge, however i do live in york, and i am higher than 3rd level (so you can just about concieve my position yourself =] )

reply to post by TedHodgson


So if I have the right idea of things, then how would this be compatble with Christianty like Freemasons say?

reply to post by Namaste1001


It's = to the chance that some of the greatest poeple in history have been christian as well.

We help fellow freemasons and were more than generous to the rest of humanity through the charitys that are funded by our pockets, im sorry i havent bought you a lollipop yet.

Originally posted by Unilluminist
reply to post by TedHodgson

 

So if I have the right idea of things, then how would this be compatble with Christianty like Freemasons say?

i suppose, sometimes it may not be completely compatble, just like homosexuality is just becoming compatable with christianity in a way, truth through understanding is the aim but were still very far off the goal it would seem.

reply to post by TedHodgson


Well one of the main complaints many have is over its compatibilty with Christianty because Freemasons are in many churches nowdays. Since a lot of Americans are Christian they are not inclined to trust something like this if they understood it. Many Freemason critics are motivated to expose Freemasonry because of this. To us it seems like peoples trust are being abused when they think they are voting for a Christian or going to Church with Christians when they are in fact not.
No openly non-Christian has been elected President of the US, but we have had many Freemasons elected to President and other offices. I think most of them would have been unelectable if people understood Freemasonry.

Originally posted by Unilluminist
reply to post by TedHodgson

 

Well one of the main complaints many have is over its compatibilty with Christianty because Freemasons are in many churches nowdays. Since a lot of Americans are Christian they are not inclined to trust something like this if they understood it. Many Freemason critics are motivated to expose Freemasonry because of this. To us it seems like peoples trust are being abused when they think they are voting for a Christian or going to Church with Christians when they are in fact not.
No openly non-Christian has been elected President of the US, but we have had many Freemasons elected to President and other offices. I think most of them would have been unelectable if people understood Freemasonry.

Well i would have to disagree with the last part of that If anything if poeple truly understood freemasonry i belive it would make them more likely to elect a masonic president, but at the end of the day its all down to oppinion and popularity and clearly not the inner goodness of the man standing up for election.

Originally posted by Skippy1138
Hi Ted-welcome to ATS!
Please believe me when I say I am NOT a "paranoid Mason-hater", but I wonder if you could address Albert Pike and his statements about Lucifer being God, and how initiates and lower degree Masons are intentionally misled as to what the organization is really about?

Thanks

I can to, if you don't mind.
The full quote is:

The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth Degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer. LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls? Doubt it not! for traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations: and Inspiration is not of one Age nor of one Creed. Plato and Philo, also, were inspired.

He's not calling Lucifer God, he's basically stating that Lucifer is a strange name for a god of evil and deceit, he asks is it then that he blinds those who are weak willed away from the light of God? Doubt it not! (as it were.)

The later quote refers to Pike's belief that the rituals hid in them secrets that indicted a Templar origin.
However, he was wrong and a later scholar corrected him. He later printed a retraction.
Morals and Dogma is a great book to study, for Freemasons or not. However, at the same time a lot of it is also Pike's own thoughts and interpretations, which is why it starts of with a disclaimer, that those who read it are free to agree or disagree as they want.


As for Christianity and Freemasonry, I don't see any reason for there to be contradictions.
Freemasonry is a private organization, members are allowed to practice whatever faith they want, as long as they worship a Supreme Deity.
(In fact, Augustus Masonicus made a good argument for why Satan would not work here, as he is ultimately subservient to God.)
If you feel you must proselytize, or can't work with those of other faiths, the it's not for you. But I assume then you may also have trouble at work and public as well.

reply to post by TedHodgson


People that you know maybe. How many wiccans has America elected lately? How many open non-Christians?
I understand this stuff completley and I reject it all as I think most Christian Americans would if they were made aware of Freemasonry.
I think Sun worship, Fertility gods, Phallic symbols, Horus and other various gods were meant to be left in the past, forgotten.

reply to post by Unilluminist


Oh well, At the end of all days, all gods will be forgotton and one single truth shall remain^ lets hope it likes us.

welcome brother. It's nice to see some new faces here.
If you need anything, just ask.

reply to post by network dude


Its a pleasure to be here brother. I have read a few of your posts, its hard to elaborate on them: There all very precise and to the point.

I look forward to reading more.

kind regards

reply to post by network dude


Its a pleasure to be here brother. I have read a few of your posts, its hard to elaborate on them: There all very precise and to the point.

I look forward to reading more.

kind regards