At the time of the attacks Breivik was a member of the Lodge of St. Olaf at the Three Columns in Oslo[168] and had displayed photographs of himself in partial Masonic regalia on his Facebook profile.[169][170] In interviews after the attacks, his lodge stated they had only minimal contact with him, and that when made aware of Breivik's membership, Grand Master of the Norwegian Order of Freemasons, Ivar A. Skaar issued an edict immediately excluding him from the fraternity based upon the acts he carried out and the values that appear to have motivated them.[171][172] According to the Lodge records, Breivik took part in a total of four meetings between his initiation in February 2007 and his exclusion from the order – one each to receive the first, second and third degree, and one other meeting.[173] The Grand Master of the Norwegian Order of Freemasonry points out that while he was a member of the Order his actions show that Breivik is in no way a Mason.[173] His manifesto said that he took three degrees of Freemasonry and commended them as "keepers of cultural heritage" while also criticising it for being “not in any way political.”[174] The Norwegian Order of Freemasons said that during the four and a half years he was a member he only took part in four meetings and held no offices or functions within the Lodge.[175]

Originally posted by lifttheveil
I'm not a Mason but from what I know don't you have to work your way through the degrees? Surely he cannot join one day, attend the next for his second degree and then simply attend again for his third? Doesn't he have to do initiations, attend regularly etc. etc.?

Originally posted by lifttheveil


The above quote (taken from wikipedia) really has me thinking

I'm not a Mason but from what I know don't you have to work your way through the degrees? Surely he cannot join one day, attend the next for his second degree and then simply attend again for his third? Doesn't he have to do initiations, attend regularly etc. etc.?

Is this a clear lie from The Grand Master of the Norwegian Order of Freemasonry?

Originally posted by lifttheveil
I didn't know you could get to the third degree so quickly, I always thought if you reached the third degree then that meant they were through the blue degrees to master level and I thought that took some time, hence I would see a third degree mason as someone who had spent some considerable time, maybe years, in the craft and at lodges.

Originally posted by lifttheveil
I didn't know you could get to the third degree so quickly, I always thought if you reached the third degree then that meant they were through the blue degrees to master level and I thought that took some time, hence I would see a third degree mason as someone who had spent some considerable time, maybe years, in the craft and at lodges.

Thanks JoshNorton and Masonic Light for giving me a better understanding, thanks and star for you both

edit on 17-4-2012 by lifttheveil because: Spelling

Originally posted by lifttheveil
I didn't know you could get to the third degree so quickly, I always thought if you reached the third degree then that meant they were through the blue degrees to master level and I thought that took some time, hence I would see a third degree mason as someone who had spent some considerable time, maybe years, in the craft and at lodges.