Freemasonry Q&A - Round 2

[TheRealist]

So over a year and a half ago I did a open thread on Freemasonry letting people ask me anything about the topic as a member myself. I started that thread then after receiving numerous private messages when commenting on topics that included Freemasonry (mostly conspiracy based, but not all of them). Since then, I continue to get a few a month. So I thought I'd start a "Round 2" since there appears to still be interest because I didn't want to bump a thread that old. Like the old one I am only responding to questions or comments directed at me, and once people get tired of it and stop responding we'll be done.

So, here are some answers to what was asked the most in the previous thread:

0. Wait, doesn't this involve religion and/or conspiracies, which we can't talk about according to the forum rules?
No. Freemasonry is not a religion, does not seek to replace the role of religion, and makes no claim to being a substitute for being a religion. The one and only stance Freemasonry as a fraternity has on religion is that - for its members who choose to be religious (many are not), they should be good adherent of whatever faith they profess. Freemasonry also does not involve any real conspiracies, although there have been people claiming to be freemasons that have engaged in conspiracy plots. There is one exception to this - Masons played a key role in the Boston Tea Party. But generally no one hates us for that one.

1. What is freemasonry in your own words?
Freemasonry is a fraternity formed on the basis of a philosophy on life which stresses the importance of brotherly love, relief, and truth. The philosophy on brotherly love is that all people are equal and that the value of a person comes from the kindness they show to their fellow human beings and not their outward wealth or status. The philosophy on relief is that it is the essential duty of those who have the resources to do so to give as much as they can to the less fortunate in every way that they can, and to do so in secret where possible so that they are doing it because its the right thing to do and not for publicity or public praise. The philosophy on truth is that, because all people should be treated the same, that everyone has a innate right to freedom of religion, freedom to choose how they are governed, and freedom to speak against tyranny. Related to our philosophy on truth is that the only legitimate form of government is one where people choose how they will be governed (which is why the fraternity was banned/persecuted by Hitler and modern dictators still do the same).

For someone else's opinion, you might consider what brother Benjamin Franklin had to say - I'm in agreement with his opinion.

2. What are the requirements to join?
You must be male (its a fraternity), 18 or 21 (depends on the lodge), come well recommended from the community, and be able to pass a background check. You must be able to answer "yes" to the question "Do you believe in a Supreme Being?" but we do not care about your justification behind that answer. In other words, a Supreme Being need not be God or a divine being of any sort. We have agnostics in the lodge for whom they define the Supreme Being as the general innate goodness of humanity. This means that yes, strict atheists cannot join, not because we have anything against atheists though. Its just that our philosophy, ceremony, and ritual all involve references to a Supreme Being and reverence for the idea - strict atheists will find nothing interesting in that.

3. I've heard you worship Satan/Baal/Bapomet/Other Nefarious Being, is that true?
Nope, the source of such claims is the well known Leo Taxil hoax, which was 100% fabricated. In truth masons as masons worship nothing, and what the individual mason worships will depend upon his belief system or religion (if he has one) and that worship takes place because of their faith and not masonry.

4. So whats the point of all this?
The chief goal of Freemasonry is to be a philosophical society that reveals its "secrets" to members through its three main degrees. It also offers other (optional) side degrees which elaborate on these first three degrees, but taking these side degrees do not make one a "higher level" or "higher ranking" mason. One of the building blocks of masonic philosophy is the importance of charity, which is much of what we do publicly - our goal in doing this charity is simple - make the community better because its the right thing to do. Where possible (IE, we can't just drop a $20,000 scholarship on someone anonymously, the IRS gets angry so it has to be done public) we try to do so quietly and in secret to avoid public praise.

5. And why are you qualified to talk about all this?
Well, I can only talk about this from my perspective. That perspective is as a 6 year member as Master Mason (3rd degree) and 5 year member as a Master of the Royal Secret (32nd degree, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry). I do not claim to speak for the fraternity in any way, I am just answering questions based on my personal experiences and observations. There are other masons on MMO-Champion, and for those brethren who wish to join me in answering anything I welcome your contributions to the thread!

[Gheld]

I have an interesting question:

Do Masons in the trade of architecture still ever engage in the practice of encoding symbolism into the designs of buildings?

[TheRealist]

I have an interesting question:

Do Masons in the trade of architecture still ever engage in the practice of encoding symbolism into the designs of buildings?

That IS a very good question! The answer is yes, but its not going to be overt unless (1) the building is going to be used by masons so its OK or (2) the client is OK with it. So for example without permission you might see a Mason architect prominently feature two columns, or a set of 3, 5, and 7 stairs - but only if it has an aesthetic reason/looks good. You won't find anything obvious like a square and compass building unless it a lodge or the owner is a mason.

Its also sometimes hard to distinguish between what was put on there because the architect was a Mason and what just happened to look good. Lots of buildings feature for example black and white checkered floor for 100% aesthetic reasons, and although that can be a masonic symbol its usually not. Also, lots of people claim to see masonic symbols in things like street patterns...those are almost never real (you just happen to get lots of fun patterns that look masonic when your dealing with that many lines in a street grid). There is only one town I am aware of where a mason actually put masonic symbols in the street plan layout on purpose.

[Runeforged]

I have one:

You mentioned having to be able to answer yes to the question "Do you believe in a Supreme Being?" as part of the requirements to join. My personal belief is that the universe is designed (by so called Supreme Being), but that Being doesn't influence life in the universe, nor can he/she/it hear our prayers. More or less, the Being set the universe to run like a clock, so to speak. Does this still count as a "yes" to that question? I know you mentioned that our justification behind the answer doesn't matter, but there's a pretty fine line between believing the universe was created by a Being and believing that it influences our lives.

[Deleted]

The chief goal of Freemasonry is to be a philosophical society that reveals its "secrets" to members through its three main degrees.

What kind of "secrets" are these? If I may ask.

[TheRealist]

I have one:

You mentioned having to be able to answer yes to the question "Do you believe in a Supreme Being?" as part of the requirements to join. My personal belief is that the universe is designed (by so called Supreme Being), but that Being doesn't influence life in the universe, nor can he/she/it hear our prayers. More or less, the Being set the universe to run like a clock, so to speak. Does this still count as a "yes" to that question? I know you mentioned that our justification behind the answer doesn't matter, but there's a pretty fine line between believing the universe was created by a Being and believing that it influences our lives.

Its a careful nuance but I would say that your technically fine in that it fits the requirements. However, the philosophy of freemasonry as I mentioned has a reverence for the supreme being as a concept and there are parts of it which state that - whatever your version of it is, it has influence on your life. Its not the whole of the ritual or even a majority, but its a key component. So although you fulfill the requirements, it may not be a sort of philosophical system you are interested in depending on how OK with that you are. If you can be OK with believing that your version of a Supreme Being does not influence our lives but that masons do charity first because its the right thing to do and second because (as Benjamin Franklin said) "to do good is to glorify God" (Deity was the Supreme Being for Franklin) then you could still get something out of it though, I think.

[shise]

I can't, I simply can't speak my words out about Freemasonry because not only i'd be banned, but also because I am not allowed.

But be careful with this people.

[TheRealist]

@ Alakir the Windlord

There are two types of secrets in freemasonry. I call them the material secrets and the esoteric secrets. The material secrets are actual words, signs, passwords, and grips which every mason has been taught and sworn to secrecy on. These are ways to identify other masons. Masons are sworn to secrecy on them not because we care if they get out (they have gotten out), but because we believe a good man can keep to his word and keeping these material secrets is a lifelong test of that. I cannot reveal those, because I have sworn not to.

The esoteric secrets are secrets I cannot reveal even if I wanted to. They must be experienced to understand, and even then many masons do not understand them. These are the secrets hidden in plain sight in masonic ritual and philosophy. They are very real, and can be life changing for those who understand them. Masonic authors have described them over the years, but in describing them they still do not reveal them because as I said it must be experienced. For example Albert Pike says this to Masons of the Scottish Rite who are Princes of the Royal Secret (32nd degree, now called Master of the Royal Secret). As a 32nd degree Scottish Rite member I find it a particularly good explanation of what we mean by esoteric secrets. Its a long quote but I highly recommend you read it if you are interested in this sort of stuff (bold is the key part to me):

The ROYAL SECRET, of which you are Prince, if you are a true Adept, if knowledge seems to you advisable, and Philosophy is, for you, radiant with a divine beauty, is that which the Sohar terms The Mystery of the BALANCE. It is the Secret of the UNIVERSAL EQUILIBRIUM:--

--Of that Equilibrium in the Deity, between the Infinite Divine WISDOM and the Infinite Divine POWER, from which result the Stability of the Universe, the unchangeableness of the Divine Law, and the Principles of Truth, Justice, and Right which are a part of it; and the Supreme Obligation of the Divine Law upon all men, as superior to all other law, and forming a part of all the laws of men and nations.

--Of that Equilibrium also, between the Infinite Divine JUSTICE and the Infinite Divine MERCY, the result of which is the Infinite Divine EQUITY, and the Moral Harmony or Beauty of the Universe. By it the endurance of created and imperfect natures in the presence of a Perfect Deity is made possible; and for Him, also, as for us, to love is better than to hate, and Forgiveness is wiser than Revenge or Punishment.

--Of that Equilibrium between NECESSITY and LIBERTY, between the action of the DIVINE Omnipotence and the Free-will of man, by which vices and base actions, and ungenerous thoughts and words are crimes and wrongs, justly punished by the law of cause and consequence, though nothing in the Universe can happen or be done contrary to the will of God; and without which co-existence of Liberty and Necessity, of Free-will in the creature and Omnipotence in the Creator, there could be no religion, nor any law of right and wrong, or merit and demerit, nor any justice in human punishments or penal laws.

--Of that Equilibrium between Good and Evil, and Light and Darkness in the world, which assures us that all is the work of the Infinite Wisdom and of an Infinite Love; and that there is no rebellious demon of Evil, or Principle of Darkness co-existent and in eternal controversy with God, or the Principle of Light and of Good: by attaining to the knowledge of which equilibrium we can, through Faith, see that the existence of Evil, Sin, Suffering, and Sorrow in the world, is consistent with the Infinite Goodness as well as with the Infinite Wisdom of the Almighty.

Sympathy and Antipathy, Attraction and Repulsion, each a Force of nature, are contraries, in the souls of men and in the Universe of spheres and worlds; and from the action and opposition of each against the other, result Harmony, and that movement which is the Life of the Universe and the Soul alike. They are not antagonists of each other. The force that repels a Planet from the Sun is no more an evil force, than that which attracts the Planet toward the central Luminary; for each is created and exerted by the Deity, and the result is the harmonious movement of the obedient Planets in their elliptic orbits, and the mathematical accuracy and unvarying regularity of their movements.

--Of that Equilibrium between Authority and Individual Action which constitutes Free Government, by settling on immutable foundations Liberty with Obedience to Law, Equality with Subjection to Authority, and Fraternity with Subordination to the Wisest and the Best: and of that Equilibrium between the Active Energy of the Will of the Present, expressed by the Vote of the People, and the Passive Stability and Permanence of the Will of the Past, expressed in constitutions of government, written or unwritten, and in the laws and customs, gray with age and sanctified by time, as precedents and authority; which is represented by the arch resting on the two columns, Jachin and Boaz, that stand at the portals of the Temple builded by Wisdom, on one of which Masonry sets the celestial Globe, symbol of the spiritual part of our composite nature, and on the other the terrestrial Globe, symbol of the material part.

--And, finally, of that Equilibrium, possible in ourselves, and which Masonry incessantly labors to accomplish in its Initiates, and demands of its Adepts and Princes (else unworthy of their titles), between the Spiritual and Divine and the Material and Human in man; between the Intellect, Reason, and Moral Sense on one side, and the Appetites and Passions on the other, from which result the Harmony and Beauty of a well-regulated life.

And to me, this is the absolutely most important part of our esoteric secrets:

And this Equilibrium teaches us, above all, to reverence ourselves as immortal souls, and to have respect and charity for others, who are even such as we are, partakers with us of the Divine Nature, lighted by a ray of the Divine Intelligence, struggling, like us, toward the light; capable, like us, of progress upward toward perfection, and deserving to be loved and pitied, but never to be hated nor despised; to be aided and encouraged in this life-struggle, and not to be abandoned nor left to wander in the darkness alone, still less to be trampled upon in our own efforts to ascend.

I should note that Pike is NOT the voice of freemasonry and his writings, are, essentially, just the opinions of a freemason. I do not agree with all of his writings (he wrote thousands of pages across a dozen books and is FREQUENTLY quoted out of context by anti-masons), but I do agree with the above.

---------- Post added 2012-06-23 at 03:57 PM ----------
@shise

I don't see anything in the forum rules that prohibit you from talking about it. There is nothing to be "careful" of except recognizing that it makes no claims of being the right organization for everyone.

Since I have my Morals and Dogma book open, what is to be careful about concerning masonry when the purpose is this:

You have been taught this in those Degrees, conferred in the Lodge of Perfection, which inculcate particularly the practical morality of Freemasonry. To be true, under whatever temptation to be false; to be honest in all your dealings, even if great losses should be the consequence; to be charitable, when selfishness would prompt you to close your hand, and deprivation of luxury or comfort must follow the charitable act; to judge justly and impartially, even in your own case, when baser impulses prompt you to do an injustice in order that you may be benefited or justified; to be tolerant, when passion prompts to intolerance and persecution; to do that which is right, when the wrong seems to promise larger profit; and to wrong no man of anything that is his, however easy it may seem so to enrich yourself;--in all these things and others which you promised in those Degrees, your spiritual nature is taught and encouraged to assert its rightful dominion over your appetites and passions.

[Activi-T]

Does one of your 'secret' handshakes involve, what I can best descibe as 'tickling' the palm of someones hand with a fingure while you shake it? I ask only because it was pretty weird at the time.

Also do you do that whole blindfolded being led with a dagger to the heart and a noose around the neck thing I've seen somewhere?

[TheRealist]

Does one of your 'secret' handshakes involve, what I can best descibe as 'tickling' the palm of someones hand with a fingure while you shake it? I ask only because it was pretty weird at the time.

Also do you do that whole blindfolded being led with a dagger to the heart and a noose around the neck thing I've seen somewhere?

I have to be careful how I answer things about handshakes but that one is so far off I can tell you no - that was not a masonic handshake. For the record, all the masons I know (including me) only give the handshake to people we know to be masons, and its subtle enough that unless you know what you are looking for you couldn't tell the difference. Over the years I've been given the handshake lots of times outside the lodge (which is the only time I am really looking for it) by fellow masons and didn't notice until they pointed it out

I also have to be careful about what I say regarding the ritual, as a few parts of it are secret, but again I can say nope - not us. We do blindfold candidates but don't lead them around with a dagger, and we don't use a noose. We use a cabletow, which looks like a noose, but its not around the persons neck. The cabletow signifies the growing ties of brotherhood ("I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love" from Hosea). The blindfold is because in the ceremony the candidate is symbolically seeking the light of freemasonry, so they are blind folded to symbolically represent that they begin in darkness (as to their knowledge of masonic light).

[Activi-T]

Oh I probably should have asked. You don't do harm (physical or financial or whatever) to those people that aren't masons but know secrets somehow, do you?

And thanks for your answers.

Edit: /fears for personal safety with the wait.

[TheRealist]

Oh I probably should have asked. You don't do harm (physical or financial or whatever) to those people that aren't masons but know secrets somehow, do you?

And thanks for your answers.

Edit: /fears for personal safety with the wait.

LOL , no, the passwords/grips/etc. have been published in various forms since the 1740s. The problem - for non-masons trying to find them, at least, is sifting through all the hoaxes and false "exposes" to find the real ones. As I said, the purpose in the passwords is NOT that they have any value, we keep them secret because it shows that you can keep your word. The REAL secrets of freemasonry cannot be communicated.

Some jurisdictions include what is called "metaphorical punishments" or "symbolic penalties" for masons that reveal the secrets, but they are just that - metaphors. Every one I am aware of includes a line that says something to the effect of "But the real punishment is that I would show myself to be a man of no honor were I to reveal these passwords/grips/whatever."

[Deleted]

How do you select what to support with charity, and does it (e: the monies) come from induvidual masons or a collective fund?

[Deleted]

You claim to not be a religion nor seek to replace the role of religion yet all religions are based around a supreme being or the general belief of a supreme being and yet you (to get entry into the Freemasonry 'fraternity') have to declare your belief in a supreme being.

That doesnt make sense.

[Catta]

You claim to not be a religion nor seek to replace the role of religion yet all religions are based around a supreme being or the general belief of a supreme being and yet you (to get entry into the Freemasonry 'fraternity') have to declare your belief in a supreme being.

That doesnt make sense.

Noone is preventing you from thinking that the supreme being is yourself and you have to believe in yourself because... Well... you are there.

[mistuhbull]

Noone is preventing you from thinking that the supreme being is yourself and you have to believe in yourself because... Well... you are there.

Unless of course you aren't there...

[Callace]

I once had to work in an office next to a freemason. It was the first time I had ever met one, and I kid you not, he was the smelliest man I had ever encountered in my life. Flaming garbage smelled better. I was in a cubicle next to him, and the smell was so awful that my nose burned. It was painful. It was as though he had worn the same set of clothes for months on end without changing them.

But he did mention that freemasons had a lot of perks, and that the perks were more rewarding than the friends that he made. I don't believe in any of the conspiratorial stuff like in "From Hell", but he certainly made it seem bizarre from an outsider's point of view.

[mistuhbull]

And then the world explodes.

That's assuming the world exists, or that your existence is consequential to the world, but this arbitrary abstraction is utterly irrelevant to the topic at hand.

[TheRealist]

You claim to not be a religion nor seek to replace the role of religion yet all religions are based around a supreme being or the general belief of a supreme being and yet you (to get entry into the Freemasonry 'fraternity') have to declare your belief in a supreme being.

That doesnt make sense.

It does make sense, you are just associating the post-modern idea that there must be a strict categorization of the sacred and the secular. We live in a world that has taught us all things dealing with the sacred, divine, or ritual are the territory of "religion" and religion alone which must be wholly separate from the mundane and secular. This is a fraternity with origins in the 1400s, where such ideas were not categorized as the exclusive domain of religion.

This is reflected in philosophies like Deism which are philosophies that have nothing to do with religion. You can be a Deist mason and have no religious affiliation whatsoever. You can be an agnostic mason and have no religious affiliation whatsoever. You can be a humanist mason and have no religious affiliation. The masonic philosophy has a reverence for the idea of a Supreme Being, it cares not how the mason defines it, but because of this its just better for someone to have a belief in some notion of it than otherwise. The requirement is there because masons have learned that those who do not have such a belief will find no utility in what we do - that doesn't make them any less better of a person.

We don't claim to not be a religion - we are not, by a definition of the word, a religion. If we were a religion then there could be no Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews who also happen to be masons. We have no masonic God, we only state that the individual must come from a philosophy which recognizes a Supreme Being (which could be a God for them, but doesn't have to be), we have to sacraments, we offer no path to salvation. We have no clergy, no doctrines, no masonic holy books. We are simply not a religion. Period.

[Twiddly]

They send people like this out to public places to dispel people's fears, when in reality the secrets are much worse!