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by mesenteric
I’m a Master Mason, a Shriner and a 32nd degree Mason.
Freemasonry is a male Fraternity which was created to help with self-improvement. The core principles are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth and a Mason always seeks new light or education to improve with. Contrary to some beliefs and arguments, Freemasons are neither a part of the New World Order nor worship the Devil. Freemasonry adopted symbols and ideas from history, particularly from Stone Masonry, to help teach our members the important principles of living a good and honorable life.
The conspiracy and negative imagery has come from many directions including:
- The Catholic Church and its fear that anyone or thing that becomes popular will usurp their authority;
- People who have made notice that the founding fathers and certain people of power are Freemasons and thus assume that being a Mason will allow you to be a part of some greater power mongering collective;
- Typical conspiracy theorists that believe that our politicians who are actually lizard men are using contrails”chemtrails” to control us and that the Illuminati is behind it, believing fully that the Illuminati and the Freemasons are the same thing;
- Devout members of certain religions who believe that those who are members of Freemasonry are worshiping a religion that holds dangerous beliefs contrary to their own.
- Disenfranchised Ex-Masons who may be a part of one of the prior groups or simply wish to discredit a group they once belonged to.
All furthered by the concept that Masonry keeps secrets and that a group with nothing to hide would hide nothing.
Masonry has always had secrets, sometimes due to the fact that there were and are people who have made open admittance of being a Freemason a crime punishable by death in some circumstances. Freemasons were one group that was targeted by the Nazi’s during WW2.[1] There are still areas of the world where being a Freemason is punished.[2] Furthermore there was a time when dues cards and well kept records didn’t exist and the only way to prove you were an actual Mason was to use certain handshakes and words. (Edit: This practice was adopted from Stone Masons who used certain grips to prove the level of training they had to others.) While all the past “secrets” of Freemasonry are available via the internet, some small changes have been made and these grips and words are still held private to the group as a show of respect to those that have taken the time to be initiated both past and present. There are often public installation and other public ceremonies where we welcome non members and their families to attend.
It would also make sense then that so many Founding members of our Country the US and historically significant men have become Masons when you consider the true core principles of the group we discussed. Good men, wanting to make themselves better. There will on occasion be a story about a Freemason who commits some crime, perhaps something heinous. This represents a man who has lost or never truly found his way in Masonry and in these cases, they will be removed from the Lodge and Fraternity as a whole for “Unmasonic Conduct.” Remember that a group is often remembered by it’s most notorious (either good or bad) members, this is the basis of many stereotypes in general.
Freemasons hold each other in high regard, calling each other Brother is the standard for the same reasons other groups and people call each other Brother and Sister. Brotherly Love is important, helping another Brother in need is as well, provided that it does not create a hardship for yourself. While some members may have provided special treatment to others and stories of “get out of jail free cards” are around, Freemasonry as a whole discourages this practice. In fact as I said before, the Fraternity expects more from its members and this type of specialized privileged is frowned upon. For a similar reason, no Mason is expected to give another Mason any business deal or privilege like a job over any non member simply because they are Brothers. Does it happen, as with any group, yes, however it is not a rule or guide to do so. A man may do business with another Brother because he knows that this person shares the same beliefs he does, has the same core principles of honesty and integrity which any person would want in a business associate. If the other Brother were to offer a discount, say on the repair of the mans vehicle, it again would not be done because it was expected, but because the mechanic wanted to come to the relief of a Brother in need as much as he was able to do without causing himself distress. The same applies to other scenarios as well, when you meet another Freemason, you know that they have gone the same path you have, hold the same ideals you do and can be trusted with no more information needed than a handshake.
These are the basic ideas of Freemasonry, learning to better yourself and be better to others. You take from it what you put in. You do not need to be a part of any religion to join, in fact discussion of your particular beliefs are frowned upon and often forbidden by many lodges. All that is required is that you are a man, of lawful age and that you have a belief in a higher being/power. The idea for that comes from a time when a man would give you his word as proof of an agreement or oath. A man who had a belief in a higher power and swore an oath on this power would be trusted to not break his promise because of his beliefs. This is why we used to swear an oath on a Bible before giving testimony in court. There is no worshiping anything in Lodge, meetings consist of opening and closing ceremonies with normal business relating to running the lodge and building and some type of educational/informational program all of which being preceded or followed by a meal where everyone can sit as family and enjoy each others company.
My personal experiences are nothing noteworthy to anyone but myself. I’ve learned confidence from helping with the ceremonies, the value of honesty, integrity, and what it means to be a Brother to another person. I have the comradeship that I enjoy and can be in an environment where I know that others share my same core values and allow me to freely speak, all without any concern of judgement.
If you or anyone are interested in learning more check us out over at /r/freemasonry[3] or call your local Freemasons[4] and ask. No commitment required.
I’ll answer any reasonable questions people have as will any other good Mason and I never deny being a member when asked.
Edit: To clarify again, there have been some that have insisted that I haven’t told enough or described the “ranks” of a lodge because there are some terrifying things that happen, this isn’t true. There are many myths about Masonry out there and I can say that are always one or two lodges that could stray, it depends on the leadership. In any group you have bad apples, think of Christians and the Westboro Baptist Church, they do not represent Christians and to say that all Christians are Gay hating funeral protesting idiots would be false.
As for the “ranks” you have three degrees. Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason. You must participate in each degree which entails a ceremony that has a historical side as well as some symbology involved. After you go through all three degrees you become a Master Mason. This is the highest level you can achieve, all others, including the 32nd and 33rd degrees are not considered higher than your 3rd. As for advancing through the ranks, if you wish you can become an officer of the lodge. There are many positions that help such as Steward and Marshal but the true officers are the Junior and Senior Deacons, Junior and Senior Wardens and the Worshipful Master. Ideally you would progress through this line by proving you have learned and mastered your part in the opening ceremony, however some lodges simply advance you if you have been in that chair for a year. Once you become a Worshipful Master you can move up to the State Level and be a part of the Grand Lodge which has the same positions but with the title “Grand” attached. The honorific Worshipful does not suggest that the Master is worshiped, but is used in its original meaning, “worthy of respect”. (Mayors and magistrates in parts of England are also traditionally called “Worshipful” or “Your Worship”, as are certain bodies such as livery companies). French Masons use the word Vénérable as the honorific for their Masters.
Where did all of the conspiracies about the masons come from? I’m specifically talking about the ‘lets control the world with every political leader as a Mason, and to further do this, we’ll inject people with microchips for purchases’ theories?
First and foremost is the fact that people seem to love a good conspiracy. When you combine this with the fact that we have “secrets” it just adds to the fervor. It honestly started however many years ago, it has to do with the Catholic Church and other groups that did not like the idea that there were large groups of men getting together and having meetings while refusing to disclose what went on there. For the Church, they were afraid of any group that got to large or popular and might take away from their authority. The church and many in the Monarchies around the world were closely tied together.
As for the specific New World Order stuff, it goes back to the fact that so many politicians are members of Freemasonry, not because they got some secret power by joining, but because they valued what the Fraternity stood for. Many of the Founding Fathers were Masons which may have helped this idea along. When it seems that all of the “decision makers” are from one group then you start to assume that the group has the power. Then you add this idea that Masons are forced to do special favors for each other and its not hard to imagine that people would be afraid of Masons in positions of authority.
There is also the Illuminati, the freaking Illuminati. Years ago, May 1st 1776 to be exact, a man founded the Illuminati, which just meant “enlightened” and consisted of just a handful (about 5) of people. Supposedly they wanted to change the way the church and the government of Bavaria operated, which honestly was in a pretty corrupt way. Initially, many of these members were Freemasons so thus and forever more, people associate Freemasonry with the Illuminati despite the fact that Freemasonry has existed for hundreds of years prior to the half a dozen angry Bavarian citizens. As for the people who believe that the Illuminati control everything, I can’t say. Confusion, misinformation, mental illness? Many also believe that the government and high power members of society are actually lizard men in hiding, that there are chemicals being released from airplanes and that 9/11 was an inside job.
(via Reddit)
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