the Masonic Medical Research Laboratory (MMRL) and the M-Cell

reply to post by dreadphil


The most important things are what are inside you. Masons are concerned with the moral side of your makeup, not your wallet. We have men from all walks of life, it is the internal not the external. We are more interested in the contents of the book not the book cover.

If you have a belief in a supreme being, are of good moral standing, and have a real interest then by all means call.

Originally posted by scientist
They are a "non-profit institute, dedicated to improving the health and quality of life for all." The brochure says they have been incorporated in NY since October of 1947, registered as the "Masonic Foundation for Medical Research and Human Welfare."

Anything that was started in 1947 scares the bejebeez outta me.

Originally posted by interestedalways

Originally posted by scientist
They are a "non-profit institute, dedicated to improving the health and quality of life for all." The brochure says they have been incorporated in NY since October of 1947, registered as the "Masonic Foundation for Medical Research and Human Welfare."

Anything that was started in 1947 scares the bejebeez outta me.

heh, i admit it is a controversial time period (mid-late 1940s)

Originally posted by dreadphil
reply to post by AugustusMasonicus

 

Its really kind of intimidating to think about just going up to one and ask them..but if thats how its usually done then Ill try it out sometime..

It is not too bad, none of us bite........hard.

I always figgured tho that they only accept members with alot of $ in the bank and I am basically this side of poor.

How much money you have in your bank account is unimportant.

I knew they did alot of charitable work

We do, hopefully this is something that interests you about our fraternity.

and that the fact that the members Ive always seen are like..either upper middle class or just outright rich. Does your monetary standing in the community count as "having a good standng in the community"?

No, by good standing in the community I was refering to you not being a felon or someone who would not be respected by others you associate with. You need to be a bit introspective and honest, I you can say, "My neighbors, friends, associates and/or co-workers think I am a good person.", then most likely you are.

..I dont mean this in a disrespectfull way, Im just asking for I really am intereseted in becoming a member I just dont want to go try and be disapointed If I cant join.

No disrecpt taken, if you meet the above criteria, which is rather minimal, plus you profess faith in Diety you most assuredly can join.

I mean I have no criminal record and have been gainfully employed for nearly all my work-aged life..no college but at least HS grad.

It appears you do indeed meet the criteria .

As I said Im just curious and its easier to ask someone who is a member here first than just going up to a lodge ..knocking on the door and asking.

That is why I offered the suggestion of inquring with your states Grand Lodge, they might even be able to provide you with an application and recommendation on who to speak with at your local lodge. This could help take the nervousness factor out of the equation and would give you a chance to meet a few of the Brethern before hand. We are always welcoming to visitors and perspective new members. Hope this helps.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Ah no.. he just ties everything into Gnosticism..

Some times a good read..

"Gnosticism" has to be taken into context.

Gnosis is in reference to the direct experiential Knowledge of the Divinity. The Religare or Yoga(Union with One's Inner Divinity).

Many say that Gnosis simply means "knowledge". This is false, because in the Oxford dictionary I saw the etymology of a word that has roots in the Greek word for "knowledge". I can't remember what the Greek word for simply "knowledge" is, but I do remember that it wasn't even close to the word Gnosis. Gnosis never implied ordinary intellectual-knowledge or some sort of "ism".

That being said, Gnosis is the Foundation of the "Mystery Schools" of antiquity, and as Albert Pike has pointed out, the "G" in the Square & Compass can mean "Gnosis", "God", "Grand Architect", "Geometry"; or perhaps "Gnana", "Genii", etc.

But um.. The first picture was a medical sign.. with a snake around a staff .. which is not Masonic,

Huh?

The Caduceus or Uraeus is practically the Corner Stone of Masonry, and is the Foundation for the truing of the Rough Ashlar into the Perfect Ashlar.

Or we could say is the Foundation for entering the Inner Circle of Samech from the outer circle.


A Masonic-Temple Heru-Ur-Uatchet: With the Twin Serpents Auset and Nekhebet:



See Images

the snake and staff is the international symbol for health services, thanks to our Greek ancestors I believe..

Please. The Greeks got it from Khemet and/or India. And the earlier Greek Initiates knew for sure that it didn't simply symbolize "health services".

The second picture which has now changed by the way.. is a Red cross. Nothing Masonic? .. Red Crescent ... not Masonic? ...

This isn't peculiarly reminiscent of the Templars and Assassins?

The third picture also has absolutely NOTHING to do with Masonry.. that sign is no where in Masonry or anything affiliated with it.

Again, the Caduceus and Uraeus have EVERYTHING to do with being a Master Builder.



Behold, the 33 Degrees of Occult Masonry:

[edit on 15-12-2007 by Tamahu]

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Nothing to do with "keeping secrets" .. more to do with ....

You being wrong.

Not everything is Gnostic and Mystical.

Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins by Manly P. Hall 1901-1990

...An obstacle well-nigh insurmountable is to convince the Mason himself that the secrets of his Craft are worthy of his profound consideration.

As St. Paul, so we are told, kicked against the "pricks" of conversion, so the rank and file of present-day Masons strenuously oppose any effort put forth to interpret Masonic symbols in the light of philosophy. They are seemingly obsessed by the fear that from their ritualism may be extracted a meaning more profound than is actually contained therein. For years it has been a mooted question whether Freemasonry is actually a religious organization. "Masonry," writes Pike, however, in the Legenda for the Nineteenth Degree, "has and always had a religious creed. It teaches what it deems to be the truth in respect to the nature and attributes of God." The more studiously-minded Mason regards the Craft as an aggregation of thinkers concerned with the deeper mysteries of life. The all-too-prominent younger members of the Fraternity, however, if not openly skeptical, are at least indifferent to these weightier issues. The champions of philosophic Masonry, alas, are a weak, small voice which grows weaker and smaller as time goes by. In fact, there are actual blocs among the Brethren who would divorce Masonry from both philosophy and religion at any and all cost. If, however, we search the writings of eminent Masons, we find a unanimity of viewpoint: namely, that Masonry is a religious and philosophic body. Every effort initiated to elevate Masonic thought to its true position has thus invariably emphasized the metaphysical and ethical aspects of the Craft....


...That Masonry is a body of ancient lore is self-evident, but the tangible "link" necessary to convince the recalcitrant Brethren that their order is the direct successor of the pagan Mysteries has unfortunately not been adduced to date. Of such problems as these is composed the "angel" with which the Masonic Jacob must wrestle throughout the night....


...The writings of early Masonic history is involved in such obvious hazard as to provoke the widespread conclusion that further search is futile. The average Masonic student is content, therefore, to trace his Craft back to the workmen's guilds who chipped and chiseled the cathedrals and public buildings of medieval Europe. While such men as Albert Pike have realized this attitude to be ridiculous, it is one thing to declare it insufficient and quite another to prove the fallacy to an adamantine mind. So much has been lot and forgotten, so much ruled in and out by those unfitted for such legislative revision that the modern rituals do not in every case represent the original rites of the Craft. In his Symbolism, Pike (who spent a lifetime in the quest for Masonic secrets) declares that few of the original meanings of the symbols are known to the modern order, nearly all the so-called interpretations now given being superficial. Pike confessed that the original meanings of the very symbols he himself was attempting to interpret were irretrievably—lost; that even such familiar emblems as the apron and the pillars were locked mysteries, whose "keys" had been thrown away by the uninformed. "The initiated," also writes John Fellows, "as well as those without the pale of the order, are equally ignorant of their derivation and import....


...Modern Freemasons, however, regard their Craft primarily as neither philosophic nor religious, but rather as ethical. Strange as it may seem, the majority openly ridicule the very supernatural powers and agencies for which their symbols stand....


...The secret doctrine that flows through Freemasonic symbols (and to whose perpetuation the invisible Masonic body is consecrated) has its source in three ancient and exalted orders. The first is the Dionysiac artificers, the second the Roman collegia, and the third the Arabian Rosicrucians....

...The Dionysians also first likened man to a rough ashlar which, trued into a finished block through the instrument of reason, could be fitted into the structure of that living and eternal Temple built without the sound of hammer, the voice of workmen or any tool of contention....

...Into the stones they trued, the adepts of the collegia deeply carved their Gnostic symbols. From earliest times, the initiated stonecutters marked their perfected works with the secret emblems of their crafts and degrees that unborn generations might realize that the master builders of the first ages also labored for the same ends sought by men today...


...The Mysteries of Egypt and Persia that had found a haven in the Arabian desert reached Europe by way of the Knights Templars and the Rosicrucians. The Temple of the Rose Cross at Damascus had preserved the secret philosophy of Sharon's Rose; the Druses of the Lebanon still retain the mysticism of ancient Syria; and the dervishes, as they lean on their carved and crotched sticks, still meditate upon the secret instruction perpetuated from the days of the four Caliphs. From the far places of Irak and the hidden retreats of the Sufi mystics, the Ancient Wisdom thus found its way into Europe. Was Jacques de Molay burned by the Holy Inquisition merely because he wore the red cross of the Templar? What were those secrets to which he was true even in death? Did his companion Knights perish with him merely because they had amassed a fortune and exercised an unusual degree of temporal power? To the thoughtless, these may constitute ample grounds, but to those who can pierce the film of the specious and the superficial, they are assuredly insufficient. It was not the physical power of the Templars but the knowledge which they had brought with them from the East that the church feared. The Templars had discovered part of the Great Arcanum; they had become wise in those mysteries which had been celebrated in Mecca thousands of years before theadvent of Mohammed; they had read a few pages from the dread book of the Anthropos, and for this knowledge they were doomed to die. What was the black magic of which the Templars were accused? What was Baphomet, the Goat of Mendes, whose mysteries they were declared to have celebrated? All these are questions worthy of the thoughtful consideration of every studious Mason....

...Of all obstacles to surmount in matters of rationality, the most difficult is that of prejudice. Even the casual observer must realize that the true wealth of Freemasonry lies in its mysticism. The average Masonic scholar, however, is fundamentally opposed to a mystical interpretation of his symbols, for he shares the attitude of the modern mind in its general antipathy towards transcendentalism.

A most significant fact, however, is that those Masons who have won signal honors for their contributions to the Craft have been transcendentalists almost without exception. It is quite incredible, moreover, that any initiated Brother, when presented with a copy of Morals and Dogma upon the conferment of his fourteenth degree, can read that volume and yet maintain that his order is not identical with the Mystery Schools of the first ages....

...Though Pike, a transcendental thinker, was the recipient of every honor that the Freemasonic bodies of the world could confer, the modern Mason is loath to admit that transcendentalism has any place in Freemasonry.

This is an attitude filled with embarrassment and inconsistency, for whichever way the Mason turns he is confronted by these inescapable issues of philosophy and the Mysteries. Yet withal he dismisses the entire subject as being more or less a survival of primitive superstitions....


....A new day is dawning for Freemasonry. From the insufficiency of theology and the hopelessness of materialism, men are turning to seek the God of philosophy. In this new era wherein the old order of things is breaking down and the individual is rising triumphant above the monotony of the masses, there is much work to be accomplished. The "Temple Builder" is needed as never before. A great reconstruction period is at hand; the debris of a fallen culture must be cleared away; the old footings must be found again that a new Temple significant of a new revelation of Law may be raised thereon. This is the peculiar work of the Builder; this is the high duty for which he was called out of the world; this is the noble enterprise for which he was "raised" and given the tools of his Craft. By thus doing his part in the reorganization of society, the workman may earn his "wages" as all good Masons should. A new light is breaking in the East, a more glorious day is at hand. The rule of the philosophic elect-the dream of the ages-will yet be realized and is not far distant. To her loyal sons, Freemasonry sends this clarion call: "Arise ye, the day of labor is at band; the Great Work awaits completion, and the days of man's life are few." Like the singing guildsman of bygone days, the Craft of the Builders marches victoriously down the broad avenues of Time. Their song is of labor and glorious endeavor; their anthem is of toil and industry; they rejoice in their noble destiny, for they are the Builders of cities, the Hewers of worlds, the Master Craftsmen of the universe!

There is much more I'd like to quote; but I'm already at risk of a moderator cutting the quotes short(but please do not, as what I've quoted is very specific to what I'm pointing out here).

You may as well let enthusiasts of Occultism and "conspiracy theorists" alike, have their day, Rockpuck.

The "cat is out of the bag".

The overwhelming mass of evidence is just, well, too self-evident now.

Please read the excerpts before replying to this post.

[edit on 15-12-2007 by Tamahu]

reply to post by Tamahu


They dont teach this stuff in lodges anymore since more than a century

I know.


Did you read those excerpts from Manly P. Hall's "Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins"?

reply to post by Tamahu


No, not recently, not in your postings. I read Manly P. Hall about ten years ago.

I am still surprised that anyone would be so bold as to claim that one author speaks for all of the fraternity, or possess some sort of mystical ability to tell us what the freemasons are _really_ doing. Usually people do this with Pike, now with Hall. Hall's words are his own, and what he claimed was his own opinion and is not backed up my fact. It is fine that he believed it, as he entitled to believe whatever he wants about the fraternity - but it does not make it truth.

The answer to everything is not gnosticism or mysticism, even in freemasonry.

[edit on 15-12-2007 by LightinDarkness]

Originally posted by LightinDarkness
I am still surprised that anyone would be so bold as to claim that one author speaks for all of the fraternity, or possess some sort of mystical ability to tell us what the freemasons are _really_ doing.

I am still surprised that anyone("Freemasons" no-less ) would be so bold as to imply that men like Manly P. Hall and Albert Pike, are complete imbeciles or something.




[edit on 15-12-2007 by Tamahu]

reply to post by Tamahu


I do not think that the implication was that they were imbeciles, on the contrary, they were very brilliant men. The implication is as Masons we all take different meaning out of the ritual. My interpetation of a lecture or piece of ritual may be completely oposite of what a fellow Brother receives from it. It does not make either one of us correct or incorrect and to further that thought does not empower anyone of us as a 'voice' of Freemasonry.

I understand that as published memebers of the Fraternity they may be recognized by many as speaking for us all but think of the analogy if I myself had a work published regarding my opinion of Masonic ritual. It would not make me an authority of the sentitments of all other Masons.

reply to post by Tamahu


I am enjoying your mysticism. In my lodge I can talk mysticism and symbolism with two brethren...the rest just dont care. They´ll be more interested in the dull minutes of the meeting or something. My guess is that this is reflective of most other lodges.

Despite my interest, I´ll still remind you that your posts are completely and totally off-topic in this thread.

Originally posted by Tamahu
I am still surprised that anyone("Freemasons" no-less

) would be so bold as to imply that men like Manly P. Hall and Albert Pike, are complete imbeciles or something.

I am still surprised that people who want to prove their points would be so bold as to use a straw man logical fallacy to imply that men like Manly P. Hall and Albert Pike, are complete imbeciles or something.

Nice try. They are indeed great philosophers, but neither speak for all of masonry. Would you like to try again? Perhaps another logical fallacy this time?

[edit on 15-12-2007 by LightinDarkness]

reply to post by AugustusMasonicus


And of course, Augustus got it 100% right, and he saw right through the straw man logical fallacy. Thanks! Couldn't have said it better myself.

I have a published article about the American two-party political system. It has been quoted by other people, too. It does not make me the source of all things political science. It simply makes me one voice, with one opinion.

[edit on 15-12-2007 by LightinDarkness]

reply to post by AugustusMasonicus



thank you very much. It does help....I have a local lodge in my town..I think Ill be calling on them sometime in the next week or so..Ill let you know how it turns out.

reply to post by dreadphil


Excellent. Hope you enjoy your visit and please do keep us posted. Any help that we can provide you would be are pleasure to give.

reply to post by LightinDarkness



What "logical fallacy" are you referring to?


You see, the qualm I have with "interpreting symbols however we want"(Freemasons or not), is that it is disrespectful to the Original Man, the Wise Men of the East who transmitted the Sacred Masonic Mudras(symbols) to us Western barbarians.

These Mudras symbolize actual Objective aspects of the Consciousness, of the Sephiroth, and if we ascribe rediculous meanings to them of our own fancy, we profane them.

If we can't intuit their actual meaning right away through the Penetrative-Insight attained from Meditation-Practice, then we ought to at least start by studying them intellectually by seeking out the best sources on them.


Of course we're free to do and believe whatever we want; but for real, some of ya'll are acting like disrespectful children:

Manly P. Hall:

"Races are like individuals. We try to teach the child; we try to cooperate with the man, while age receives our veneration and respect. Why do we not show the same respect to those old white-haired nations who have racially given us birth?

From ancient empires comes all that we are and have- our genius as well as the foundation of our arts and sciences.

While the Anglo-Saxon race was still wandering, fierce and wild, through uncultivated wastes, living in holes dug out of the sides of hills, and fighting like harry anthropoids for the rotting bones of beasts they had slain, the ancient Indian Empire was sitting in meditation or deep-buried in libraries filled with books bearing upon their hand-illumined pages of wisdom of a hundred generations.

Thier Emperors, robed in cloth of gold, wielded scepters of jade and amber over teeming millions while the white man was still a wild, uncouth savage, riding shaggy ponies and gnawing at the outskirts of this ancient civilization.

Where is the respect and veneration that we owe to Egypt, Chaldea, and Phoenicia, cradle of human progress? Has man forgotten the most ancient of all proverbs, "Honor thy father and thy mother?"

Our race was born somewhere in the heart of India, nourished upon the wisdom of the East, and launched upon its way to carry the standards of human progress through the generations to follow.

Can we not realize that we are all one family, and that man's inhumanity to man is the reason why the nations of the past lie hungry and starved while the child to which they gave birth goes heedlessly on its way?"

The Freemasonry taught to us by Musa/Moses should have been the Gnostic Science for all of us to be able to stand Upright on the Square of Truth.



Unfortunately this did not, for the most part, happen:

The Supreme Wisdom Lessons:

34. "And can you reform devil?"

ANS. "No. All the prophets have tried to reform him (devil), but were unable. So they have agreed that it cannot be done unless we graft him back to the original man which takes six hundred years. So instead of losing time grafting him back, they have decided to take him off the planet - who numbers only one to every eleven original people."


38. "Then why did God make devil?"

ANS. "To show forth HIS power - that HE is All-Wise and Righteous.

That HE could make a devil, which is weak and wicked, and give the devil power to rule the earth for six thousand years and, then, destroy the devil in one day without falling victim to the devil's civilization.

Otherwise to show and prove that ALLAH is the God - always has been and always will be."

"The present chaos is awful; nonetheless, the tyrants, while seated on their blasphemous thrones, uselessly intend to establish a “New Order” based upon blood and drugs. "


"Indeed, the Aryan Root Race is a rotten fruit, a fruit that will fall from the Tree of Life by the weight of its own rottenness."

- Samael Aun Weor

And BTW, this is not necessarily off-topic.


My first post in this thread was an attempt to share knowledge for improving Masonic Medical research, in hopes of contributing to the reintegrating of it with the Rosicrucian-Masonic Sciences passed down from Imhotep, Æsculapius, Hippocrates, Paracelsus, Galen, Avicenna, Francis Bacon, etc.


But instead of inquiring about it, some proceeded to mock it, as usual.



[edit on 18-12-2007 by Tamahu]

reply to post by Tamahu


Your qualm is based on your religious faith, and while you are entitled to beleive that gnosticism is the answer to all things there is no reason the fraternity should. If you disagree with how we use our symbols, then just don't join. You have no evidence that the symbols have any definitive unchanging meaning except quotes from people who simply proclaim it so. You beleive it is so on faith, and I do not agree with that faith. Once you can provide some sort of historical evidence or documentation, then that reality is up for debate. As a student of religion, however, I am quite sure you will not find any evidence. History shows us that masonry began in its current form in the 1700s, although I have seen some sources that go as far back as to the 1500s. The ideals of masonry are eternal, but masonry itself is not.

The last thing any serious masonic science endeavor needs is to begin incorporating esoteric gnostic practices into its research. It would quickly become the laughing stock of peer reviewed science and would provide even more ammo for tin-foil hat conspiracy theorists.

No one mocks what you post, you just define anything as mocking when it disagrees with you.


[edit on 18-12-2007 by LightinDarkness]