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Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
reply to post by Fitzgibbon
speculative masons and irregular lodges merely come from a lodge that has yet to be accepted by the Grand Blue lodges which is an easy out to say they are not from the same masonic community.
Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
Your blue lodges are merely a collection of lodges with a public face to denounce any actions from other lodges which would mar the appearance of Masonry as a whole.
Like a PR firm.
LoL deny it as you will but you know I see through it, deceive the others all you like but I will be laughing when you knock on wood and there is no one there to answer
Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
You may think you have been reborn but that is all a matter of perspective.
Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
reply to post by Fitzgibbon
Way to dodge the previous accusations.
Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
Why so hostile with all the anal play references, I'm not here to get you excited?
A Grand Lodge, or "Grand Orient", is the usual governing body of "Craft", or "Blue Lodge", Freemasonry in a particular jurisdiction. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717 as the Premier Grand Lodge of England.[1] The head of a Grand Lodge is called the Grand Master, and the other officers of the Grand Lodge prefix "Grand" to the titles of Lodge officers. Some Grand Lodges have established Provincial Grand Lodges as an organisational layer between themselves and member Lodges.
There is no central body to oversee all of the Grand Lodges in the world, and therefore, individual Grand Lodge policies and practices can and do vary, though they have a similar basic framework in common. The lack of a central authority means that Grand Lodges are held together simply by fellowship with one another. Despite this decentralization, many outsiders associate New World Order conspiracy theories with Masonry.
Masons conduct their meetings using a ritualised format. There is no single Masonic ritual, and each jurisdiction is free to set (or not set) its own ritual. However, there are similarities that exist among jurisdictions. For example, all Masonic ritual makes use of the architectural symbolism of the tools of the medieval operative stonemason. Freemasons, as speculative masons (meaning philosophical building rather than actual building), use this symbolism to teach moral and ethical lessons of the principles of "Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth;" or as related in France, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."
The Square and Compasses carved into stone
Two of the principal symbolic tools always found in a Lodge are the square and compasses. Some Lodges and rituals explain these tools as lessons in conduct: for example, that Masons should "square their actions by the square of virtue" and to learn to "circumscribe their desires and keep their passions within due bounds toward all mankind." However, as Freemasonry is non-dogmatic, there is no general interpretation for these tools (or any Masonic emblem) that is used by Freemasonry as a whole.[25]
These moral lessons are communicated in performance of allegorical ritual. A candidate progresses through degrees[20] gaining knowledge and understanding of himself, his relationship with others and his relationship with the Supreme Being (per his own interpretation). While the philosophical aspects of Freemasonry tend to be discussed in Lodges of Instruction or Research, and sometimes informal groups, Freemasons, and others, frequently publish, with varying degrees of competence, studies that are available to the public. Any mason may speculate on the symbols and purpose of Freemasonry, and indeed all masons are required to some extent to speculate on masonic meaning as a condition of advancing through the degrees. There is no one accepted meaning, and no one person "speaks" for the whole of Freemasonry.[26]
Originally posted by Fitzgibbon
reply to post by Fitzgibbon
You really don't know what the difference is between operative and speculative Masonry is, do you? Go ahead. It's OK to admit it. Because you surely aren't kidding anyone by trying to throw out links as camouflage.
Fitz
The Operative Period of Freemasonry was brought to a close and gave place to the Transition Period by a series of historical events which, by one of the most extraordinary coincidences known in history, occurred within a few years of each other. Henry VIII broke Great Britain's tie with the Pope and prepared the way for the Reformation. The same King also abolished the gild system - which was followed by the Mercantile System, a period in business and finance which present - day theorists in economics find it convenient to forget! The Renaissance broke into final flower, in the form of the printing press, printed books, and changed the mental climate in Britain as much as in Europe generally. The discovery of America by Columbus opened the sluice-gates to the Age of Exploration, a wild and adventurous time in which Europe exploded itself over all the world. Gothic architecture gave way with an almost abrupt suddenness to a new style in architecture which originated in Italy and has since passed under many names, such as Classical, Neo Classical, Italian, Palladian and Wren. The old trade secrets of the Operative Freemasons could be kept secret no longer after Euclid's Geometry was published in print, along with many other lesser, old secrets in the arts and sciences. The center of control in Freemasonry passed from the individual Freemason going here and there in his work, and from his temporary Lodges, into the permanent Lodges which were constituted under authority of manuscript copies of the Old Charges, and from them passed into the new Grand Lodge System after 1717 A.D.
A significant numbers of leaders in the early Latter Day Saint movement were Masons prior to their involvement in the movement. Notable examples include Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John C. Bennett, Hyrum Smith and Joseph Smith, Sr.
In the early 1840s a Masonic Lodge was formed by LDS Church members who were Freemasons. Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum became members of the newly formed Nauvoo lodge. It appears that John C. Bennett had a particularly strong influence in the spread of Freemasonry, and soon over 1,500 Mormon men in the city of Nauvoo were practicing Masons. LDS historian Reed Durham writes:
"By 1840, John Cook Bennett, a former active leader in Masonry had arrived in Commerce and rapidly exerted his persuasive leadership in all facets of the Church, including Mormon Masonry. ... Joseph and Sidney [Rigdon] were inducted into formal Masonry ... on the same day..." being made "Masons on Sight" by the Illinois Grandmaster.("Is There No Help for the Widow's Son?" by Dr. Reed C. Durham, Jr., as printed in "Joseph Smith and Masonry: No Help for the Widow's Son", Martin Pub. Co., Nauvoo, Ill., 1980, p. 17.) (This freed Joseph from having to complete the ritual and memorization necessary to work one's way through the first three degrees.) Making one "A Mason on Sight" is generally reserved as an honor and is a rarity in occurrence.
In 1842 Smith became a Master Mason, as indicated by in the History of the Church:
Tuesday, [March] 15. — I officiated as grand chaplain at the installation of the Nauvoo Lodge of Free Masons, at the Grove near the Temple. Grand Master Jonas, of Columbus, being present, a large number of people assembled on the occasion. The day was exceedingly fine; all things were done in order, and universal satisfaction was manifested. In the evening I received the first degree in Freemasonry in the Nauvoo Lodge, assembled in my general business office. (History of the Church, by Joseph Smith, Deseret Book, 1978, Vol.4, Ch.32, p.550-1)
Joseph Smith was raised to the third degree of master mason "on sight" by Grand Master Jonas of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. This was fully within Jonas' right of office, but was a fairly rare procedure.[1]
Nothing special about them really other than they are legends in their own minds.
As the Romans spread out over the continents, they brought with them a full complement of craftsmen and artificers, among them the "Brotherhood of Masons." They had their own constitutions in both their religious and secular matters, and their organization was a close facsimile of a modern Masonic Lodge. They bound themselves together for various reasons -- for mutual aid and assistance in times of sickness and trouble; for the proper training of apprentices; to set and maintain a very high standard of craftsmanship, and to prevent unscrupulous people from entering the trade or craft. These Roman masons travelled in "colleges" or "lodges". There were many kinds of Masons. Regular Masons were local men, who during the Roman occupation, were regarded as bondsmen and were compelled by law to live and work in the same community year in and year out under local restrictions. Freemasons were of the Roman Collegiates, who were free to travel about the country at will.
You are going to get carpel tunnel repeatedly typing the same response over and over, can't you at least demonstrate some sort of creativity?
Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
Augustus the Roman, interesting you chose a figure from Rome, a nation dedicated to Saturnia (Saturn).
Originally posted by AugustusMasonicus
Originally posted by FriedBabelBroccoli
Augustus the Roman, interesting you chose a figure from Rome, a nation dedicated to Saturnia (Saturn).
I opted for that because of my Italian ancestry. Additonally, Saturn was not the Roman's most important God, Jupiter was. Specifically, Jupiter Optimus Maximus (best and greatest) or Jupiter Capitolinus (Jupiter of the Capitoline Hill). Jupiter usurped Saturn prior to Rome's founding (according to their myths) and was hence forth subordinate to Jupiter.
In mythology
Relief held by the Louvre thought to depict the veiled throne of Saturn, either a Roman work of the 1st century AD or a Renaissance copy
In Roman mythology,[22] Saturn was the original and autochthonous ruler of the Capitolium, which had thus been called the Mons Saturnius in older times. He was sometimes regarded as the first king of Latium or even the whole of Italy.[23] At the same time, there was a tradition that Saturn had been an immigrant god, received by Janus after he was usurped by his son Jupiter and expelled from Greece.[24] His contradictions—a foreigner with one of Rome's oldest sanctuaries, and a god of liberation who is kept in fetters most of the year—indicate Saturn's capacity for obliterating social distinctions.[25]
Roman mythology of the Golden Age of Saturn's reign differed from the Greek tradition. He arrived in Italy "dethroned and fugitive,"[26] but brought agriculture and civilization and became a king. As the Augustan poet Vergil described it, "He gathered together the unruly race" of fauns and nymphs "scattered over mountain heights, and gave them laws … . Under his reign were the golden ages men tell of: in such perfect peace he ruled the nations."[27]
But Saturn also had a less benevolent aspect, as indicated by the blood shed in his honor during gladiatorial munera. His consort in archaic Roman tradition was Lua, sometimes called Lua Saturni ("Saturn's Lua") and identified with Lua Mater, "Mother Destruction," a goddess in whose honor the weapons of enemies killed in war were burned, perhaps as expiation.[28] H.S. Versnel, however, proposed that Lua Saturni should not be identified with Lua Mater, but rather refers to "loosening"; she thus represents the liberating function of Saturn.[29]
Another interesting tie to Saturn from Zeus is his being raised by a goat, other myths put Dionysus along side him, yet another goat often associated with alcohol (clearly a popular thing among you masons).