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Freemasonry: Midwife to an Occult Empire
- by Terry Melanson ©, June 4th, 2005
“Masonry is regarded as the direct descendant, or as a survival of the mysteries... of Isis and Osiris in Egypt...”
- Robert Freke Gould, Past Senior Grand Deacon of England, Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, Vol. 1, p. 13, History of Freemasonry; New York, 1884
“When later he [the Mason] is given Light, it means really that he is taught the principles of occultism ...”
- Arthur H. Ward, Masonic symbolism and the Mystic Way, p. 149 - 150
Introduction
This article was first written 4 years ago. Since then I have learned a bit more about Freemasonry and have had many communications, good and bad, with its members. I've been put on an "anti-mason" [hit]list, along with others who dare to write anything unflattering against the brethren; I've had heated debates and arguments in public forums and message boards; and I've actually been threatened, both subtly and overtly. Curiously, many times the offended Mason claims to be a chaplain, a minister or a supposed "man of cloth" - a real surprise, at first, considering the occult nature of the organization.The negative experiences far outweigh the positive. The members who regularly post to forums and send out emails display the traits of having been thoroughly brainwashed by a first-class cult. Some are far more clever, however, and are undoubtedly part of a concerted effort by the Brotherhood. See, Masonic Disinformation, Propaganda, Dissembling, and Hate Techniques for a concise elaboration of their techniques.
Historically, Freemasonry has been charged with corruption of public officials because of the oaths and promises they swear to keep amongst themselves, above all else. At the very least, joining a secret society, or a "society with secrets," creates a glaring conflict of interest.
The following document doesn't go into corruption or masonic favoritism. A secret society, by its very nature - and one as widespread and established as masonry - would naturally enable such intrigue. My only intention here is to outline its influence, and guiding hand on a unique phenomenon that occurred at the crossroads of the 19th and 20th century. Having learned from earlier criticism, and with all brevity aside, I hope this page is seen as one of the most comprehensive and accurate expositions in this field of study.
The Hoodwinking
“Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled ...”
“The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them; but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them. Their true explication is reserved for the Adepts, the Princes of Masonry.” (pp. 104, 105 & 819)
The rites and rituals of Freemasonry are directly derived from ancient occult mysteries. 1 An Entered Apprentice is deceived from the beginning, as Pike has openly admitted; at the same time revealing its likeness with the "Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy."
Pike said the initiate is "intentionally misled by false interpretations." Another esteemed Mason put it this way:
“FREEMASONRY is a fraternity within a fraternity — an outer organization concealing an inner brotherhood of the elect. Before it is possible to intelligently discuss the origin of the Craft, it is necessary, therefore, to establish the existence of these two separate yet interdependent orders, the one visible and the other invisible. The visible society is a splendid camaraderie of 'free and accepted' men enjoined to devote themselves to ethical, educational, fraternal, patriotic, and humanitarian concerns. The invisible society is a secret and most august fraternity whose members are dedicated to the service of a mysterious arcanum arcanorum. Those Brethren who have essayed to write the history of their Craft have not included in their disquisitions the story of that truly secret inner society which is to the body Freemasonic what the heart is to the body human.”
- Manly P. Hall 33°, Lectures on Ancient Philosophy and Introduction to the Study and Application of Rational Procedure, p. 397 [Chapter 19 - Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins]
“When a mason learns the key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the mystery of his craft. The seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands and before he may step upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply energy.”The latter quote, in particular, may be surprising to some but occultists have a clear concept of what Manly P. Hall was conveying. To them, the true definition of occultism is the science of energy flow and energy relationships. Occult meditation is a means of consciously and purposefully directing energy from a recognized source to the creation of some specific effect. This is the task of the initiate in all Occult groups. The initiator shows the candidate his latent faculties, his dormant powers, and initiates him into their use. He explains or demonstrates how the candidate may awaken the static energy into dynamic power.
- Manly P. Hall, 33°, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, p. 48
Freemasonry has always, admittedly, held deep occult secrets which it hides from the "profane" and unworthy. One person who believed this to be true was Alice Ann Bailey. Her praise and admiration - she appeared to be almost in awe of the craft - was evident throughout all her works. A typical flattery can be found on p. 511 of The Externalization of the Hierarchy: "The Masonic Movement . . . is the custodian of the law; it is the home of the Mysteries and the seat of initiation. ...It is a far more occult organization than can be realized, and is intended to be the training school for the coming advanced occultists. In its ceremonials lies hid the wielding of the forces connected with the growth and life of the kingdoms of nature and the unfoldment of the divine aspects of man."
The Occult Revival
“Satanic Ritual is a blend of Gnostic, Cabbalistic, Hermetic, and Masonic elements, incorporating nomenclature and vibratory words of power from virtually every mythos .... Masonic orders have contained the most influential men in many governments, and virtually every occult order has many Masonic roots.”The occult revival of the 20th century can be directly attributed to Freemasonry and its peripheral entourage of acolytes: Theosophy, the New Age Movement, Satanism, Cabalistic Black Magic, Enochian Magic, Gerardian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca and Sex Magic.
- Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Rituals — Companion to the Satanic Bible, pp. 21, 78 [PDF Version here]
The Who's Who List of 19th & 20th Century Occultism
Arthur Edward Waite
From Wikipedia: "Waite was a prolific author of occult texts on subjects including divination, Rosicrucianism, freemasonry, black and ceremonial magic, Kabbalism and alchemy; he also translated and reissued several important mystical and alchemical works. His works on the Holy Grail, influenced by his friendship with Arthur Machen, were particularly notable. A number of his volumes remain in print, the Book of Ceremonial Magic, The Holy Kabbalah, and New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry having seen reprints in recent years."
At least one Masonic authority had high praise and glowing approval for Waite's writings. In Builders: A Story and Study of Masonry, in a chapter entitled Secret Doctrine, Baptist minister Joseph Fort Newton, the Grand Chaplain for his lodge, said:
“Perhaps the greatest student in this field of esoteric teaching and method, certainly the greatest now living is Arthur Edward Waite, to whom it is a plesure[sic] to pay tribute. ...Much learning and many kinds of wisdom are in his pages, and withal an air of serenity, of tolerance; and if he is of those who turn down another street when miracles are preformed in the neighborhood, it is because, having found the inner truth, he asks for no sign.” (p. 57)
Dr. Wynn Westcott
Before the Golden Dawn had its own Lodge, its rituals (the Isis-Urania) were performed, covertly, in a Masonic Lodge Hall:
“From the beginning, the ceremonies of Isis-Urania were conducted at Mark Masons’ Hall in Great Queen Street (now demolished) but members were careful not to embarrass the Masonic authorities, being told that they ‘must not enter Mark Masons’ Hall by the front door, but go under archway and down passage, entering by a door on the right”The mention of Golden Dawn rituals being performed at "Mark Masons' Hall" is also repeated in other places recounting the history of the magical order: A Short Treatise on the History, Culture and Practices of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, A Detailed History of the Golden Dawn and The Magicians of the Golden Dawn: A Documentary History of a Magical Order, 1887-1923, by Ellic Howe. It seems to be generally accepted as fact.
- A. Gilbert, Golden Dawn Companion, p.31.
Wynn Westcott is also famous for his translation of the legendary Kabbalah treatise, Sepher Yetzirah "Book of Formation," into English.
S. L. MacGregor Mathers
Mathers was instrumental in formulating instructions on the occult meanings of the Tarot. From the Golden Dawn website: "Much of what we know of the Tarot comes from Mathers and his wife. Today, we take the Tarot for granted, but without the ground breaking work of Mathers and the Golden Dawn, our Tarot symbolism might be basic and trite."
Aleister Crowley
Crowley has generated an intense following since his death. He has influenced countless disciples and gave birth to Satanism. Proclaiming to be the magus (and great Beast 666) of the "new age of Horus," he saw himself as the usher, or prophet, of a "new Aeon" of illuminism.
Because of his total disregard for imposed social values and his legendary rebellion toward authority, Crowley became a hero for young people - especially rock musicians of the 60s and 70s and through to the Heavy Metal acts of the 80s and 90s.
Dr. Gérard Encausse
Encausse organized an "International Masonic Conference" in Paris on June 24, 1908. Later, Theodor Reuss gave him a patent to form a "Supreme Grand Council General of the Unified Rites of Antient and Primitive Masonry for the Grand Orient of France and its Dependencies at Paris." [source: The Invisible Basilica: Gerard Encausse (Papus)]
Dr. Theodor Reuss
Reuss is most famous as the Outer Head of the Ordo Templi Orientis. The O.T.O. is a revival of the Order of the Illuminati with practical magickal rituals and initiations. Ordo Templi Orientis is still in existence today, and has thrived in recent years as its members have embraced the internet.
George Pickingill
During the course of his long life, Pickingill established nine hereditary covens in Norfolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Sussex, and Hampshire. Each coven worshiped the "Horned God" and practiced sex magick in its rituals. According to the legend both Allan Bennett and Aleister Crowley (around 1899) were initiates.
Some quotes:
“Lefebure claims that Pickingill was believed to have sold his soul to the Devil and he was alleged to hold nocturnal orgies in the graveyard of St. Nicholas' church attended by his Romany kin. These midnight rites were allegedly ignored by the aged incumbent vicar who was terrified of George Pickingill's powers.”Sources:
“The O.T.O. claimed that sex magic was the key which opens up all Masonic and Hermetic secrets. If Kellner did receive this knowledge via P.B Randolph then Pickingill's influence on the O.T.O. can be demonstrated. The Pickingill Nine employed texts from the Classical Mysteries in conjunction with sexual techniques to contact ancient Divine Forces. P.B Randolph visited London in 1858 and discussed sex magic techniques with Hargrave Jennings, who was one of George Pickingill's pupils.”
“...His reputation preceded him and landowners and influential ‘Rosicrucians’ were impressed with his magical powers. He was granted access to the archives of several ‘cunning lodges’ and Masonic temples in London....”
“...It was not long before Pickingill was exhibiting his gifts at Masonic temples and private houses. He conducted the bulk of his demonstrations at a country house in Hertfordshire. John Symonds (1973) states in his biography of Crowley that the famous French magician Eliphas Levi visited Knebworth, the country house in Hertfordshire where Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton held his ‘magical club’. It is certainly possible that Bulwer-Lytton’s house was ‘the country house in Hertfordshire’. Many Masons and Rosicrucians are known to have observed the magical experiments at Knebworth.”
- In Defence of The Pickingill Papers
- Old George Pickingill
- General Editorial for Antiquities of the Illuminati: The Second-Hand Book-Stall. Version Four, Part One
Annie Besant
C. W. Leadbeater
Leadbeater was a mystic and clairvoyant widely regarded by both his masonic brothers and other occultists of his time. His works on the occult origins of the Craft are still widely read, and printed: Freemasonry and Its Ancient Mystic Rites and Hidden Life of Freemasonry being the most sought after.
His greatest contributions to the world of the occult were by association with the Theosophical Society. He joined Theosophy in 1883 and traveled with its founder, Madame Helena Blavatsky, to India in 1884. He helped spread the teachings of Theosophy to a wide audience through "his ability to write and speak in a direct, convincing, simple popular style." Obscure concepts such as the "aura, akashic records, reincarnation, vegetarianism, long hair, bare feet, the spiritual life as practised in India, [and] the bioenergetic field surrounding the human body" were easily grasped through his accessible exposition of the material. 3
After Blavatsky's death, Leadbeater had a hand, along with Annie Besant, in the promulgation of a new "World Teacher":
“In 1909 at Adyar, India, Leadbeater discovered a boy whose aura he judged to be completely free of selfishness. This was Jiddu Krishnamurti, who was 13 years old. Adopted by Besant and Leadbeater, he received intensive training, then 10 years of schooling in England. People in many countries were informed of his future role. At the age of 27, Krishnamurti had a personal vision which convinced him that the consciousness of Maitreya was beginning to overshadow him. Theosophists throughout the world had been waiting for this development.”
“But when he was 34, Krishnamurti renounced his association with the Theosophical Society, declaring: 'I do not want followers. My only concern is to set men absolutely, unconditionally free.' He spent the rest of his years teaching humanity how to achieve that freedom.”
Manly P. Hall
Born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada in 1901, the Hall family moved to the United States in 1904. In 1919, Manly settled in Los Angeles. From an early age he was interested in occult matters and subsequently joined a number of societies: Theosophy, Freemasonry, the Societas Rosecruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis, and the American Federation of Astrologers.
After writing his first book, The Initiates of the Flame, in 1922, Hall began collecting rare books on the mystery schools and esoteric philosophy to begin assembling the text for a magnum opus of occult history. During this time he also travelled extensively in Europe, Asia and Egypt. In the search for "ancient wisdom" texts, Manly Hall's favorite place was the British Museum in London:
“The great center of learning in England is the British Museum, with its miles of bookcases, which caused De Quincy to sit and weep because he could not read all the volumes. In order to gain access to the two principal departments of the museum—one of rare books, and the other of manuscripts—it was necessary to be appropriately sponsored. I had the good fortune of becoming acquainted with General Sir Francis Younghusband, the man who led the British expedition into Tibet in 1903-1904, and camped his army at the foot of the Potola at Lhasa. While dining one day at the Officer’s Club, Sir Francis confided to me that he was known as the conqueror of Tibet, but he regarded this as a dubious honor. The real fact, he said, was that Tibetan religion and philosophy had conquered him. A note from Sir Francis immediately gave me admission to the most valuable parts of the British Museum, and I was able to examine the originals of many of the world’s most priceless books and manuscripts.” 5In 1923, Hall was ordained a minister by the Los Angeles-based Church of the People, an occult/metaphysical congregation. As the leader of the Church of the People, Hall started a magazine titled " The All Seeing Eye."
By 1928, after 6 years of work and raising $100,000 for the first edition, Manly Hall finally published what has become a valuable classic for those who want to learn about the history of the occult and the "Ancient Wisdom" mystery schools: The Secret Teachings of All Ages. A quarter of a century later, the sheer breadth and scope of the work remains impressive: "pythagorean mathematics; alchemical formulae; Hermetic doctrine; the workings of the Kabala; the geometry of Ancient Egypt; the Native American myths; the uses of cryptograms; an analysis of the Tarot; the symbols of Rosacrucianism; the esotericism of the Shakespearean dramas – these are just a few of Hall’s topics." 6
In 1934, Hall founded the Philosophical Research Society, a research institute modeled on the ancient school of Pythagoras. It was here that he made his home, he held weekly lectures and continued to publish an incredible body of work. In the year of his death, Manly P. Hall was bestowed with the honorary 33º of Scottish Rite Masonry.
Gerald B. Gardner
Gardner suffered severely with asthma from an early age and required a nurse to attend to his needs. Nurse Josephine "Com" McCombie brought along young Gardner on her various trips to Europe and Ceylon, where he worked on a tea plantation. Gerald later worked and travelled to Borneo and Malaysia. In Ceylon between 1905 - 1908, Gardner became a Freemason, Sphinx Lodge 113, I.C., Colombo.
Between 1920 and 1923 Gardner studies native lore, magic, and weaponry in Malaysia. In 1926 through to 1932 Gardner takes up amateur Archaeology; proves the existence of a Malaysian civilization predating the coming of the Portuguese in 1687; returns to England and marries Donna Rosedale, a nurse; frequents the British Museum to research Welsh and Basque folklore; encounters a whole host of Spiritualist mediums; and visits an archaeological dig at Gaza in Egypt, prehistoric caves in France, and England.
In England before the Second World War, Gerald was involved with the Fellowship of Crotona - an occult group of Co-Masons - and met people who introduced him into Witchcraft. The Fellowship of Crotona was a secret society within a secret society; the inner circle claimed to be hereditary Witches. In 1939, Gardner was initiated into the New Forest coven by high priestess Old Dorothy Clutterbuck.
It was in 1940 at a large gathering of many covens that a legendary event was to take place:
“In June 1940 when England faced invasion from the Nazis, Gardner claims that the high priestess of his coven called a huge gathering of witches in the New Forest where the Great Circle was erected. This was a magical ritual only performed in cases of extreme emergency. Previously it had only been raised twice, in 1588 to combat the Spanish Armada, which was defeated not only by Drake and his ships but with the help of a great storm, and in the 1800s when it looked as if Napoleon would cross the Channel. The ritual in the forest involved raising a cone of psychic power and directing it towards the French coast with the command, ‘You cannot cross the sea. You cannot cross the sea. You cannot come.’ According to Gardner this ritual involved the use of the life force of the gathered covens and as a result several elderly witches died. The ritual was repeated four times and then the Elders said ‘We must stop. We must not kill too many of our people.’”By 1951 the last of the English laws against witchcraft were repealed and throughout the 50s into the 60s Gardner published some widely read books on the rituals and traditions of the New Forest covens. This laid out the seeds of what would eventually be known as "Gardnerian Wicca." The resurgence of the "Old Religion" spread like wildfire and continues unabated.
Gardnerian Wicca borrows very heavily from Freemasonry, Tantric Hinduism and a touch of ceremonial magick. Gardnerian covens are always headed by a High Priestess and have three degrees of initiation closely paralleling the Masonic degrees. Worship is centered on The Goddess and The Horned God. Eight seasonal Sabbats are observed, and the Wiccan Rede is the guiding principle.
Sources:
- the MYSTICA.ORG, Gardner, Gerald B. (1884-1964), an excerpt from The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft.
- Roger Dearnaley, An Annotated Chronology and Bibliography of the Early Gardnerian Craft
- George Knowles, Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964)
- Michael Howard, The Occult Conspiracy: Secret Societies — Their Influence and Power in World History, Destiny Books, 1989
- Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, Gerald Brosseau Gardner
Theosophy
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) heralded the dawn of the New Age Movement. Her writings are the foundation for many occult fraternities. After publishing monumental works such as Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine, the Theosophical Society (1875) was formed to spread her teachings worldwide. She claimed to receive her revelations from Secret Chiefs, or disembodied Ascended Masters; who claimed to be aiding humanity evolve into a race of supermen. Freemasonry took notice and many soon proclaimed her an occult genius:"The Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled are Madame Blavatsky's gifts to humanity, and to those whose vision can pierce the menacing clouds of imminent disaster it is no exaggeration to affirm that these writings are the most vital literary contribution to the modern world. No more can they be compared with other books than can the light of the sun be compared with the lamp of the glowworm. The Secret Doctrine assumes the dignity of a scripture, . . ."
- Manly P. Hall 33°, The Phoenix: An Illustrated Review of Occultism and Philosophy, 1960, The Philosophical Research Society, p. 122
In 1907 Annie Besant became president of the Theosophical Society. The beginnings of the modern New Age Movement began with search for their "own" messiah, as it were. Along with 33rd degree mason C.W. Leadbeater, Annie Besant promoted a young adept as the messiah: Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Alice Bailey and husband Foster (32° degree mason) continued to interlock the workings of Theosophy with the aims of Freemasonry. Bailey, as founder of Lucis (Lucifer) Trust, worked laboriously to fulfill the plan toward a New World Religion, which her master Djwhal Khul had said was the ultimate aim of Freemasonry. The Hierarchy had blessed both their beginnings, her master said.
O.T.O.: Ordo Templi Orientis
The O.T.O. founded at the beginning of the 20th century represents a reunification attempt to incorporate the traditions of the Freemasonic, Rosicrucian and Illuminist movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, the crusading Knights Templars of the middle ages and early Christian Gnosticism and the Pagan Mystery Schools.The spiritual father of the OTO was Karl Kellner a wealthy Austrian paper chemist. Kellner was a student of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and Eastern mysticism. He developed adhesive to form an Academia Masonica which would enable all Freemasons to become familiar with all existing Masonic degrees and systems.
In 1895, Kellner decided that the Academia Masonica should be called the 'Oriental Templar Order'. The occult inner circle of this Order (OTO) would be organized parallel to the highest degrees of the Memphis and Mizraim Rites of Masonry, and would teach the esoteric Rosicrucian doctrines of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light, and Kellner's 'Key' to Masonic symbolism. Possession of the various degrees of Craft and High-Grade Freemasonry would be a prerequisite for admission to the Inner Circle of OTO.
Theodor Reuss, Kellner's partner, was granted the charter to perform three systems of high-grade Freemasonry known as the Antient and Primitive Rite of Memphis of 97°, the Ancient Oriental Rite of Mizraim of 90°, and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of 33°. With the incorporation of these rites, the Order was enabled to operate as a completely independent Masonic system.
John Symonds, the official biographer of Aleister Crowley, tells us that "the letters of O.T.O. stand for Ordo Templi Orientis or Order of the Templars, an occult society which was founded in Germany at the beginning of this century. Its leaders were well-known Grand Masters of Masonry, such as Franz Hartmann, Heinrich Klein, and Karl Kellner. They had decided to found the O.T.O. after the Viennese Karl Kellner had returned from an extensive tour in the East (where he had been initiated by the Arab fakir, Soliman ben Aifa, and the Indian yogis, Bhima Sen Pratap and Sri Mahatma Agamya Guru Paramahamsa) and had expounded the mysteries of yoga and the left-hand path which he called 'sexual magic'. Thus, in 1902, the Ordo Templi Orientis was constituted for an inner circle of adepts who, in the light of this new and exciting knowledge, found the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of masonry rather tame, and the ninety-seven degrees of the tiresome Rite of Memphis quite unnecessary." (The Great Beast: The Life and Magick of Aleister Crowley, Granada Publishing, 1973, p. 179)
The O.T.O. has also claimed, "Our Order possesses the KEY which opens up all Masonic and Hermetic secrets, namely, the teaching of sexual magic, and this teaching explains, without exception, all the secrets of nature, all the symbolism of FREEMASONRY and all systems of religion." (Ibid. p. 181)
Conclusion
I've tried to keep my biases in check for the entirety of the text. I am a Christian, but hopefully the explication of the facts have spoken for themselves; without resorting to preaching or any appearance of a smear campaign. Maybe that goal was accomplished, maybe not.Many Freemasons throughout history have contributed immensely to our society, I would be remiss having not mentioned it. However, for all the good that has been done there is still only one occult revival that has occurred on such a grand scale (taken together as a phenomenon) which I thoroughly believe warrants the appellation of an empire. Historians will record this unique event, and its repercussions. It should also be put on the record that many Freemasons of the period had more than a passing influence on its birth.
End Notes
- Freemason Chevalier Andrew Ramsay, as far back as 1736, during a gathering of French Masons, revealed that Masonry was the heir of the secrets of the Templars who in turn were the inheritors of the ancient wisdom of the pagan Mysteries. (The Occult Conspiracy, p. 57; Murdered Magicians: The Templars and Their Myths)
Mystery Schools - of all stripes, whether ancient or modern - are based on a staged series of initiations or degrees; conferred ceremonially through allegory and symbol.
“Many Freemasons shudder at the word occult which comes from the Latin, meaning to cover, to conceal from public scrutiny and the profane. But anyone studying Freemasonry cannot avoid classifying Freemasonry among occult teachings.”
- George H. Steinmetz, The Royal Arch Its Hidden Meaning, Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc. 1946, p. 147. - "Official records place his birth at February 16, 1854, while official Theosophy publications approved by him place his birth at February 17, 1847 (Source: Charles Webster Leadbeater Biography 1854-1934)." The Liberal Catholic Church, as well as Theosophy, places his birth in 1847.
- Ibid.
- Manly P. Hall: Portrait of An American Sage, The Philosophical Research Society
- Ibid.
- The Inscrutable Manly P. Hall: The Author of The Secret Teachings of All Ages Remains an Enigma
Appendix: Quotations
“[Freemasonry] makes no profession of Christianity, and wars not against sectarian creeds or doctrines, but looks forward to the time when the labor of our ancient brethren shall be symbolized by the * of a spiritual temple whose moral grandeur shall be commensurate with civilization; a temple in which there shall be but one altar and but one worship; one common altar of Masonry on which the Veda, Shastras, Sade, Zend-Avesta, Koran, and Holy Bible shall lie untouched by sacrilegious hands, and at whose shrine the Hindoo, the Persian, the Assyrian, the Chaldean, the Egyptian, the Chinese, the Muhammadan, the Jew, and the Christian may kneel with one united voice celebrate the praises of the Supreme Architect of the Universe.”
- The Kentucky Monitor, p. 95, Grand Lodge of Kentucky (source)
“Masonry, successor of the Mysteries, still follows the ancient manner of teaching.”
- Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 2nd Degree, II - THE FELLOW-CRAFT, p. 22
“Though Masonry is identical with the ancient Mysteries, it is so only in this qualified sense: that it presents but an imperfect image of their brilliancy, the ruins only of their grandeur . . .”
- Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 2nd Degree, II - THE FELLOW-CRAFT, p. 23
“The doctrines of the Bible are often not clothed in the language of strict truth, but in that which was fittest to convey to a rude and ignorant people the practical essentials of the doctrine.”
- Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 14th Degree, XIV - GRAND ELECT, PERFECT, AND SUBLIME MASON, p. 224
“The true name of Satan, the Kabalists say, is that of Yahveh reversed; for Satan is not a black god, but the negation of God. The Devil is the personification of Atheism or Idolatry.
For the Initiates, this is not a Person, but a Force, created for good, but which mayIt is the instrument of Liberty or Free Will. They represent this Force, which presides over the physical generation, under the mythologic and horned form of the God PAN; thence came the he-goat of the Sabbat, brother of the Ancient Serpent, and the Light-bearer or Phosphor, of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend.” serve for evil.
- Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 3rd Degree, III - THE MASTER, p. 102
“Masonry is a search after Light. That search leads us directly back, as you see, to the Kabalah. In that ancient and little understood medley of absurdity and philosophy, the Initiate will find the source of many doctrines; and may in time come to understand the Hermetic philosophers, the Alchemists, all the Anti-papal Thinkers of the Middle Ages, and Emanuel Swedenborg.”
- Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 28th Degree, XXVIII - KNIGHT OF THE SUN, OR PRINCE ADEPT, p. 741
“All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabalah and return to it: everything scientific and grand in the religious dreams of all the illuminati, Jacob Bœhme, Swedenborg, Saint-Martin, and others, is borrowed from the Kabalah; all the Masonic associations owe to it their Secrets and their Symbols.”
- Albert Pike, 28th Degree, XXVIII - KNIGHT OF THE SUN, OR PRINCE ADEPT, p. 744
“[Albert Pike] was an honorary member of almost every Supreme Council in the world, personally receiving 130 Masonic degrees.
Pike also was one of the most physically and morally repulsive individuals in American history. Weighing well over three hundred pounds, his sexual proclivity was to sit naked astride a phallic throne in the woods, accompanied by a gang of prostitutes. To these orgies he would bring one or more wagon loads of food and liquor, most of which he would consume over a period of two days until he passed into a stupor.
In his adopted state of Arkansas, Pike was well known as a practitioner of Satanism, Portraits of his later years show him wearing a symbol of the Baphomet around his neck.”
- John Daniel, Scarlet and the Beast, Vol 2, Page 37
“It is generally agreed that the biggest single influence in the modern expansion of ritual magic, and the occult explosion in general, in the Western world, was the Golden Dawn. This magical fraternity, founded by Freemasons at the end of the 19th century, developed a complex ritual system with ten degrees of initiation relating to the Cabalistic Sephiroth.”
- Janet and Stewart Farrar, The Life and Times of A Modern Witch, Phoenix Publishing Company, p. 121
Worshipful Master: “What makes you a Mason?”
Senior Warden: “My Obligation.”
- question and answer, The Entered Apprentice Degree Ritual, Grand Lodge of Nevada
“... binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out, and with my body buried in the sands of the sea at low-water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, should I ever knowingly or willfully violate this, my solemn Obligation of an Entered Apprentice.”
- from the oath of obligation, The Entered Apprentice Degree Ritual, Grand Lodge of Nevada
“... binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my left breast torn open, my heart and vitals taken thence, and with my body given as a prey to the vultures of the air, should I ever knowingly, or willfully, violate this, my solemn Obligation of a Fellow Craft.”
- from the oath of obligation, The Fellow Craft Degree Ritual, Grand Lodge of Nevada
“... binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my body severed in twain, my bowels taken thence, and with my body burned to ashes, and the ashes thereof scattered to the four winds of Heaven, that there might remain neither track, trace nor remembrance among man or Masons of so vile and perjured a wretch as I should be, should I ever knowingly or willfully violate this, my solemn Obligation of a Master Mason.”
- from the oath of obligation, The Master Mason Degree Ritual, Grand Lodge of Nevada
"In willful violation whereof may I incur the fearful penalty of having my eyeballs pierced to the centre with a three-edged blade, my feet flayed, and I be forced to walk the hot sands upon the sterile shores of the Red Sea until the flaming sun shall strike me with livid plague, and may Allah, the god of Arab, Moslem and Mohammedan, the god of our fathers ..."
- from the oath of obligation, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine ( source)
If a Mason is a defendant in court, Masonic partiality extends to the witness stand. In the Masonic Hand Book we read:
“You must conceal all the crimes of your brother Masons, except murder and treason, and these only at your own option, and should you be summoned as a witness against a brother Mason, be always sure to shield him. Prevaricate, don’t tell the whole truth in this case, keep his secrets, forget the most important points. It may be perjury to do this, it is true, but you’re keeping your obligations, and remember if you live up to your obligations strictly, you’ll be free from sin.”Masonic partiality extends to the jury box. The Blue Lodge degrees read:
“Whenever you see any of our signs made by a brother Mason, and especially the grand hailing sign of distress, you must always be sure to obey them, even at the risk of your life. If you’re on a jury, and the defendant is a Mason, and makes the grand hailing sign, you must obey it; you must disagree with your brother jurors, if necessary, but you must be sure not to bring the Mason guilty, for that would bring disgrace upon our order. It may be perjury, to be sure, to do this, but then you’re fulfilling your obligation, and you know if you live up to your obligations you’ll be free from sin.”Once a Mason reaches Royal Arch degree, he is to conceal all crimes of brother Masons, including murder and treason. Royal Arch Masons swear:
“I will aid and assist a companion Royal Arch Mason, when engaged in any difficulty, and espouse his cause, so far as to extricate him from the same, if in my power, whether he be right or wrong…. A companion Royal Arch Mason’s secrets, given me in charge as such, and I knowing him to be such, shall remain as secure and inviolable, in my breast as in his own, murder and treason not excepted.”
The Hidden Hand that Shaped History
By Vigilant
Has the course of History been directed by a small group of people with common interests? The paintings and pictures of the great men of the past centuries reveal a common thread which links them together. Is it a coincidence that many of them hid one of their hands when posing for a portrait? It seems unlikely. We’ll look at the Masonic origin of the “hidden hand” and the powerful men who used the sign in famous portraits.
Stalin and Washington – two opposing ideologies, one hand gesture
“Today’s thinking toward a democratic world state is neither a new trend nor an accidental circumstance; the work of setting up the background of knowledge necessary to the establishing of enlightened democracy among all nations has been carried on for many hundreds of years by secret societies.”
-Manly P. Hall, Secret Destiny of America
Is there a hidden force behind the world events of the past centuries? Are the fall of European monarchies, the bringing forth of the Age of Enlightenment and our path towards a world democracy part of a great plan lead by a “hidden hand”? Before the advent of mass media, portraits depicting their leaders in majestic poses were the only artifacts people had. Do these portraits have an occult meaning?
One of those poses is the “hiding of the hand”. I remember my history teacher trying to explain why Napoleon was often shown with a hand inside his shirt. The common explanation went along these lines:
“Many theories have been presented as to why Napoleon is traditionally depicted with his hand in his waistcoat. Some of these theories include: he had a stomach ulcer, he was winding his watch, he had an itchy skin disease, in his era it was impolite to put your hands in your pockets, he had breast cancer, he had a deformed hand, he kept a perfumed sachet in his vest that he’d sniff surreptitiously, and that painters don’t like to paint hands”
-Tom Holmberg
Unless all the individuals discussed in this article had stomach ulcer or deformed hands, the gesture of hiding one’s hand simply has to have a specific meaning. It does. Most of the people using this sign are proven (and often enthusiastic) members of the Freemasons. Considering the great importance of this gesture in Masonic rituals and the fact that all of the elite were either part of Freemasonry or knew of it, it is simply impossible that the recurrence of this sign could be the result of a coincidence. The “hidden hand” can, in fact, be found in the rituals of the Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry and the world leaders that use this sign are subtly saying to other initiates of the order: “This is what I’m part of, this is what I believe in and this is what I’m working for”.
The Royal Arch Degree
The Triple Tau
The Royal Arch Degree (the 13th degree of the Scottish Rite or the 7th degree of the York Rite) is also known as the Mason of the Secret. During this Degree, initiates are said to receive great Masonic truths.
“The members of this Degree are denominated companions, and are “entitled to a full explanation of the mysteries of the Order”; whereas in the former Degrees they are recognized by the common, familiar appellation of brothers, and kept in a state of profound ignorance of the sublime secret which is disclosed in this Chapter. This accords with the custom of Pythagoras, who thus distinguished his pupils. After a probation of five years, as stated before, they were admitted into the presence of the preceptor, called his companions, and permitted to converse with him freely. Previous to the expiration of that term he delivered his instructions to them from behind a screen”
-John Fellows, Fellows’s Inquiry into the Origin, History, and Purport of Freemasonry
“If we pass on to the Royal Arch, we receive a wonderful accession of knowledge, and find every thing made perfect; for this is the nec plus ultra of Masonry, and can never be exceeded by any human institution.”
-George Oliver, Lectures on Freemasonry
It is during this degree that the initiate learns the sacred name of God.
“A Degree indescribably more august, sublime, and important than any which precede it, and is, in fact, the summit and perfection of ancient Masonry. It impresses upon our minds a belief in the being of a God, without beginning of days or end of years, the great and incomprehensible Alpha and Omega, and reminds us of the reverence which is due to His Holy NAME.”
-George Oliver, Historical Landmarks
This holy name is Jahbulon, a combination of words meaning “god” in Syriac, Chaldaic and Egyptian.
“JEHOVAH. Of the varieties of this sacred name in use among the different nations of the earth, three particularly merit the attention of Royal Arch Masons:
1. JAH. This name of God is found in the 68th Psalm, v. 4.
2. BAAL OR BEL. This word signifies a lord, master, or possessor, and hence it was applied by many of the nations of the East to denote the Lord of all things, and the Master of the world.
3. ON. This was the name by which JEHOVAH was worshiped among the Egyptians.”
-Malcolm C. Duncan, Duncan’s Masonic Ritual and Monitor
The initiation ritual to this degree re-enacts the return to Jerusalem of three Most Excellent Masons who were held captive in Babylon. I won’t go through the whole ceremony and symbolism but at one point, the initiate is asked to learn a secret password and a hand sign in order to go through a series of veils. The following image depicts the hand sign required to go through the second veil, as documented in Duncan’s Masonic Ritual and Monitor:
“Master of Second Veil: “Three Most Excellent Masters you must have been, or thus far you could not have come; but farther you cannot go without my words, sign, and word of exhortation. My words are Shem, Japhet, and Adoniram; my sign is this: (thrusting his hand in his bosom); it is in imitation of one given by God to Moses, when He commanded him to thrust his hand into his bosom, and, taking it out, it became as leprous as snow. My word of exhortation is explanatory of this sign, and is found in the writings of Moses, viz., fourth chapter of Exodus”:“And the Lord said unto Moses, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow”
-Malcolm C. Duncan, Duncan’s Masonic Ritual and Monitor
As stated above, this hand gesture is said to be inspired by Exodus 4:6. In this biblical verse, the heart (“bosom”) stands for what we are, the hand for what we do. It can thus be interpreted as : What we are is what we ultimately do. The symbolic significance of this gesture might explain the reason why it is so widely used by famous Masons. The hidden hand lets the other initiates know that the individual depicted is part of this secret Brotherhood and that his actions were inspired by the Masonic philosophy and beliefs. Furthermore, the hand that executes the actions is hidden behind cloth, which can symbolically refer to covert nature of the Mason’s actions. Here are some of the famous men who used this hand signal.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon, a known Mason in his study at the Tuileries, 1812
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century. He was initiated into Army Philadelphe Lodge in 1798. His brothers, Joseph, Lucian, Louis and Jerome, were also Freemasons. Five of the six members of Napoleon’s Grand Councel of the Empire were Freemasons, as were six of the nine Imperial Officers and 22 of the 30 Marshals of France. Bonaparte’s association with Masonry has always been played down in historical records. Masonic researcher J.E.S. Tuckett addresses the situation:
“It is strange that evidence in favor of the Great Napoleon’s membership of the Masonic Brotherhood has never been examined in detail, for the matter is surely one of interest, and – seeing the remarkable part that remarkable men played in the affairs of Europe, at a time when Continental Freemasonry was struggling out of chaos into regular order – it cannot be without an important bearing upon Masonic history”
In his essay on Napoleon and Masonry, Tuckett claims:
“There is incontestable evidence that Napoleon was acquainted with the nature, aims and organization of Freemasonry: that he approved of and made use of it to further his own ends”
-J.E.S. Tuckett, Napoleon I and Freemasonry (source)
Napoleon was also said to be aided by occult powers. In 1813 he was defeated at Leipzip and behind him was a “Cabinet of Curiosities” in which a Prussian officer discovered his Book of Fate and Oraculum. Originally this Oraculum was discovered in one of the Royal tombs of Egypt during a French military expedition of 1801. The emperor ordered the manuscript to be translated by a famous German scholar and antiquarian. From that time onward, the Oraculum was one of Napoleon’s most treasured possessions. He consulted it on many occasions and it is said to have “formed a stimulus to his most speculative and most successful enterprises.”
Karl Marx
Karl Marx is known today to be the founder of modern Communism. Despite being denied by some Masons, Marx is said to have been a 32nd degree Grand Orient Freemason. Marx became the spokesman of the atheist and socialist movement of Europe. He planned the replacement of monarchies with socialist republics, with the next step conversion to communist republics.
George Washington
George Washington was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and is considered to be the “most important American Mason”. Charles Willson Pealed produced this painting when Washington was 52 years old. Notice the position of Washington’s feet: they form an oblong square. The position of the feet are of utmost importance in Masonic symbolism. Compare this with this excerpt from Duncan’s Ritual Monitor:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered to be one of the most prolific and influential composers of music ever. He also was a Freemason and was initiated in the Austrian lodge Zur Zur Wohltatigkeit on Dec. 14th 1784. Mozart’s creations often incorporated important Masonic elements. The Magic Flute opera was mainly based on Masonic principles.
“The music of the Freemasons contained musical phrases and forms that held specific semiotic meanings. For example, the Masonic initiation ceremony began with the candidate knocking three times at the door to ask admittance. This is expressed musically as a dotted figure: meanings. For example, the
This figure appears in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute in the overture, suggesting the opening of the Masonic initiation.”
- Katherine Thompson, The Masonic Thread in Mozart
- Katherine Thompson, The Masonic Thread in Mozart
The musical progression of The Magic Flute was based on the Golden Ratio (1,6180…), the proportion of everything that is considered divine by Mystery Schools.
Here are compositions created by Mozart for use in Masonic lodges:
- Lied (song) “Gesellenreise, for use at installation of new journeymen”
- Cantata for tenor and male chorus Die Maurerfreude (“The Mason’s Joy”)
- The Masonic Funeral Music (Maurerische Trauermusik)
- Two songs to celebrate the opening of “Zur Neugekrönten Hoffnung”
- Cantata for tenor and piano, Die ihr die unermesslichen Weltalls Schöpfer ehrt
- The Little Masonic Cantata (Kleine Freimaurer-Kantate) entitled Laut verkünde unsre Freude, for soloists, male chorus, and orchestra
Marquis de Lafayette
Marquis de Lafayette was a 33rd degree Freemason. According to Willam R. Denslow’s 10,000 Famous Freemasons, Lafayette was a French military officer who was a general in the American Revolutionary War and a leader of the Garde Nationale during the bloody French Revolution. Lafayette was also made an honorary Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of New York. More than 75 Masonic bodies in the U.S. have been named after him, including 39 lodges, 18 chapters, 4 councils, 4 commanderies, and 7 Scottish rite bodies.
Salomon Rothschild
Salomon Rothschild was the founder of the Viennese branch of the prominent Mayer Amschel Rothschild family. The most powerful family in the world has greatly influenced the policies of Germany, France, Italy and Austria. The Rothschilds are also the main players behind the creation of Zionism and the state of Israel.
The power of the Rothschilds went way beyond the confines of the Masonic lodge. They are said to be part of the 13 “Illuminati Bloodlines”. An analysis of the recently built Supreme Court of Israel (see article here) confirms the Rothschild’s embrace of Masonic symbolism.
Simon Bolivar
Known as “El Libertador” (the Liberator), Bolivar is considered to be the “George Washington of South America”. He joined Freemasonry in Cadiz, Spain, received the Scottish Rite degrees in Paris and was knighted in a Commandery of Knights Templar in France in 1807. Bolivar founded and served as master of Protectora de las Vertudes Lodge No. 1 in Venezuela. The country of Bolivia is named after him. Bolivar also served as the president of Columbia, Peru and Bolivia in the 1820′s. He belonged to the Order and Liberty Lodge No. 2 in Peru.
Notice in the image above the position of his feet (oblong square) and the checkerboard pattern of the floor, also Masonic. His stance might have been inspired by the Knights of Christian Mark Degree as depicted below in Richardson’s Monitor of Freemasonry:
Joseph Stalin
Stalin’s reign of terror in the Soviet Union lead to the deaths of millions of his own countrymen. He is often shown in pictures using the hidden hand gesture. No official records have been found that prove Stalin’s initiation into Masonry. Of course, dictators such as Stalin tightly controlled all information concerning themselves and their affairs, making it difficult to prove anything one way or the other. The hiding of his hand, however, provides an initiate’s clue to his possible allegiance to an occult brotherhood.
After being shot in 1940, the young man on the right has been
edited out by Stalin’s people.
In Conclusion
As seen above, thee leaders using the “hidden hand” gesture had a great influence on world history and many were confirmed Masons. This gesture is an obvious yet widely overlooked detail which hints at the leader’s embrace of occult philosophy. By understanding this fact and by recognizing the IMMENSE influence these leaders had on the course of History, we can begin to realize the hidden force which is currently steering the world toward international democracy.
Members of these brotherhoods might have maintained different opinions and even adhered to different factions (communism vs. capitalism), but the fundamental philosophy, beliefs and ultimate goals are still the same: the coming of an “Age of Reason and Enlightenment”. Of course, any serious researcher is already aware of the role of Masonry in the unfolding of world history. The “hidden hand” gesture, so often used by historical figures is simply the outward expression of this little known fact. As Confucius said, “Signs and symbols rule the world, not words nor laws.” These people’s words and policies will eventually be twisted and forgotten, but their image will remain for the ages.
History of Freemasonry
Freemasons are also told that King Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre and Hiram Abif ruled over those lodges as equal Grand Masters. The ceremonies, however, are built up of allegory and symbolism and the stories they weave around the building of the Temple are obviously not literal or historical facts but a dramatic means of explaining the principles of Freemasonry. Freemasonry neither originated nor existed in Solomon’ s time.
Many well-meaning but misguided historians, both Masons and non-Masons, have tried to prove that Freemasonry was a lineal descendant or a modern version of the mysteries of classical Greece and Rome or derived from the religion of the Egyptian pyramid builders. Other theories reckon that Freemasonry sprang from bands of travelling stonemasons acting by Papal authority. Others still are convinced that Freemasonry evolved from a band of Knights Templar who escaped to Scotland after the order was persecuted in Europe.
Some historians have even claimed that Freemasonry derives in some way from the shadowy and mysterious Rosicrucian Brotherhood, which may or may not have existed in Europe in the early 1600s. All of these theories have been looked at repeatedly but no hard evidence has yet been found to give any of them credibility.
The honest answers to the questions when, where and why Freemasonry originated are that we simply do not know. Early evidence for Freemasonry is very meager and not enough has yet been discovered - if indeed it even exists - to prove any theory. The general agreement amongst serious masonic historians and researchers is that Freemasonry has arisen, either directly or indirectly, from the medieval stonemasons (or operative masons) who built great cathedrals and castles.
Those who favor the direct descent from operative masonry say there were three stages to the evolution of Freemasonry. The stonemasons gathered in huts (lodges) to rest and eat. These lodges gradually became not the hut but the grouping together of stonemasons to regulate their craft. In time, and in common with other trades, they developed primitive initiation ceremonies for new apprentices.
As stonemasons could easily travel all over the country from one building site to another, and as there were also no trade union cards or certificates of apprenticeship they began to adopt a private word which a travelling stonemason could use when he arrived at a new site, to prove that he was properly trained and had been a member of a lodge. It was, after all, easier to communicate a special word to prove that you knew what you were doing and were entitled to the wages it deserved that to spend hours carving a block of stone to demonstrate your skills.
We know that in the early 1600s these operative lodges began to admit men who had no connection with the trade - accepted or gentlemen masons. Why this was done and what form of ceremony was used is not known. As the 1600s drew to a close more and more gentlemen began to join the lodges, gradually taking them over and turning them into lodges of free and accepted or speculative masons, no longer having any connection with the stonemasons’ craft.
The only problem with this theory is that it is based solely on evidence from Scotland. There is ample evidence of Scottish operative lodges, geographically defined units with the backing of statute law to control what was termed the mason trade. There is also plenty of evidence that these lodges began to admit gentlemen as accepted masons, but no evidence so far that these accepted members were other than honorary masons, or that they in any way altered the nature of the operative lodges. No evidence has become known, after more than a hundred years of searching building archives, for a similar development in England. Medieval building records have references to mason’ s lodges but after 1400, apart from masons’ guilds in some towns, there is no evidence for operative lodges.
Yet it is in England that the first evidence of a lodge completely made up of non-operative masons is found. Elias Ashmole, the Antiquary and Founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, records in his diary for 1646 that he was made a freemason in a lodge held for that purpose at his father-in-laws house in Warrington. He records who was present, all of whom have been researched and have been found to have no connection with operative masonry. English evidence through the 1600s points to Freemasonry existing apart from any actual or supposed organization of operative stonemasons.
This total lack of evidence for the existence of operative Lodges but evidence of accepted masons has led to the theory of an indirect link between operative stonemasonry and Freemasonry. Those who support the indirect link argue that Freemasonry was brought into being by a group of men in the late 1500s or early 1600s. This was a period of great religious and political turmoil and intolerance. Men were unable to meet together without differences of political and religious opinion leading to arguments. Opposing views split families and the English civil war of 1642-6 was the ultimate outcome. Those who support the indirect link believe that the originators of Freemasonry were men who wished to promote tolerance and build a better world in which men of differing opinions could peacefully co-exist and work together for the betterment of mankind. In the custom of their times they used allegory and symbolism to pass on their ideas.
As their central idea was one of building a better society they borrowed their forms and symbols from the operative builders craft and took their central allegory from the Bible, the common source book known to all, in which the only building described in any detail is King Solomon’ s Temple. Stonemasons tools also provided them with a multiplicity of emblems to illustrate the principles they were putting forward.
A newer theory places the origin of Freemasonry within a charitable framework. In the 1600s, there was no welfare state; anyone falling ill or becoming disabled had to rely on friends and the Poor Law for support. In the 1600s, many trades had what have become known as box clubs. These grew out of the convivial gatherings of members of a particular trade during meetings of which all present would put money into a communal box, knowing that if they fell on hard times they could apply for relief from the box. From surviving evidence these box clubs are known to have begun to admit members not of their trade and to have had many of the characteristics of early masonic lodges. They met in taverns, had simple initiation ceremonies and passwords and practiced charity on a local scale. Perhaps Freemasonry had its origins in just such a box club for operative masons.
Although it is not yet possible to say when, why or where Freemasonry originated it is known where and when "organized" Freemasonry began. On 24 June 1717 four London lodges came together at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House in St Pauls Churchyard, formed themselves into a Grand Lodge and elected a Grand Master (Anthony Sayer) and Grand Wardens.
For the first few years the Grand Lodge was simply an annual feast at which the Grand Master and Wardens were elected, but in 1721 other meetings began to be held and the Grand Lodge began to be a regulatory body. By 1730 it had more than one hundred lodges under its control (including one in Spain and one in India), had published a Book of Constitutions, began to operate a central charity fund, and had attracted a wide spectrum of society into its lodges.
In 1751 a rival Grand Lodge appeared, made up of Freemasons of mainly Irish extraction who had been unable to join lodges in London. Its founders claimed that the original Grand Lodge had departed from the established customs of the Craft and that they intended practicing Freemasonry according to the Old Institutions. Confusingly they called themselves the Grand Lodge of Antients and dubbed their senior rival Moderns. The two rivals existed side by side, both at home and abroad, for 63 years, neither regarding the other as regular or each others members as regularly made Freemasons. Attempts at a union of the two rivals began in the late 1790s but it was not until 1809 that negotiating committees were set up. They moved slowly and it was not until His Royal Highness Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex became Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge and his brother, His Royal Highness Edward, Duke of Kent, became Grand Master of the Antients Grand Lodge, both in 1813, that serious steps were taken.
In little more than six weeks the two brothers had formulated and gained agreement to the Articles of Union between the two Grand Lodges and arranged the great ceremony by which the United Grand Lodge of England came into being on 27 December 1813.
The formation of the premier Grand Lodge in 1717 had been followed, around 1725, by the Grand Lodge of Ireland and, in 1736; the Grand Lodge of Scotland. These three Grand Lodges, together with Antients Grand Lodge, did much to spread Freemasonry throughout the world, to the extent that all regular Grand Lodges throughout the world, whatever the immediate means of their formation, ultimately trace their origins back to one, or a combination, of the Grand Lodges within the British Isles.
Source mastermason.com
Thomas Paine: Origin Of Free-Masonry
[NOTE: "This tract is a chapter belonging to the Third Part of the "Age of Reason," ]
IT is always understood that Free-Masons have a secret which they carefully conceal; but from every thing that can be collected from their own accounts of Masonry, their real secret is no other than their origin, which but few of them understand; and those who do, envelope it in mystery.
The Society of Masons are distinguished into three classes or degrees. 1st. The Entered Apprentice. 2d. The Fellow Craft. 3d. The Master Mason.
The Entered Apprentice knows but little more of Masonry than the use of signs and tokens, and certain steps and words by which Masons can recognize each other without being discovered by a person who is not a Mason. The Fellow Craft is not much better instructed in Masonry, than the Entered Apprentice. It is only in the Master Mason's Lodge, that whatever knowledge remains of the origin of Masonry is preserved and concealed.
In 1730, Samuel Pritchard, member of a constituted lodge in England, published a treatise entitled Masonry Dissected; and made oath before the Lord Mayor of London that it was a true copy. "Samuel Pritchard maketh oath that the copy hereunto annexed is a true and genuine copy in every particular." In his work he has given the catechism or examination, in question and answer, of the Apprentices, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason. There was no difficulty in doing this, as it is mere form.
In his introduction he says, "the original institution of Masonry consisted in the foundation of the liberal arts and sciences, but more especially in Geometry, for at the building of the tower of Babel, the art and mystery of Masonry was first introduced, and from thence handed down by Euclid, a worthy and excellent mathematician of the Egyptians; and he communicated it to Hiram, the Master Mason concerned in building Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem."
Besides the absurdity of deriving Masonry from the building of Babel, where, according to the story, the confusion of languages prevented the builders understanding each other, and consequently of communicating any knowledge they had, there is a glaring contradiction in point of chronology in the account he gives.
Solomon's Temple was built and dedicated 1004 years before the christian era; and Euclid, as may be seen in the tables of chronology, lived 277 before the same era. It was therefore impossible that Euclid could communicate any thing to Hiram, since Euclid did not live till 700 years after the time of Hiram.
In 1783, Captain George Smith, inspector of the Royal Artillery Academy at Woolwich, in England, and Provincial Grand Master of Masonry for the county of Kent, published a treatise entitled, The Use and Abuse of Free-Masonry.
In his chapter of the antiquity of Masonry, he makes it to be coeval with creation, "when," says he, "the sovereign architect raised on Masonic principles the beauteous globe, and commanded the master science, Geometry, to lay the planetary world, and to regulate by its laws the whole stupendous system in just unerring proportion, rolling round the central sun."
"But," continues he, "I am not at liberty publicly to undraw the curtain, and openly to descant on this head; it is sacred, and ever will remain so; those who are honored with the trust will not reveal it, and those who are ignorant of it cannot betray it." By this last part of the phrase, Smith means the two inferior classes, the Fellow Craft and the Entered Apprentice, for he says in the next page of his work, "It is not every one that is barely initiated into Free-Masonry that is entrusted with all the mysteries thereto belonging; they are not attainable as things of course, nor by every capacity."
The learned, but unfortunate Doctor Dodd, Grand Chaplain of Masonry, in his oration at the dedication of Free-Mason's Hall, London, traces Masonry through a variety of stages. Masons, says he, are well informed from their own private and interior records that the building of Solomon's Temple is an important era, from whence they derive many mysteries of their art. "Now (says he,) be it remembered that this great event took place above 1000 years before the Christian era, and consequently more than a century before Homer, the first of the Grecian Poets, wrote; and above five centuries before Pythagoras brought from the east his sublime system of truly masonic instruction to illuminate. our western world. But, remote as this period is, we date not from thence the commencement of our art. For though it might owe to the wise and glorious King of Israel some of its many mystic forms and hieroglyphic ceremonies, yet certainly the art itself is coeval with man, the great subject of it. "We trace," continues he, "its footsteps in the most distant, the most remote ages and nations of the world. We find it among the first and most celebrated civilizers of the East. We deduce it regularly from the first astronomers on the plains of Chaldea, to the wise and mystic kings and priests of Egypt, the sages of Greece, and the philosophers of Rome."
From these reports and declarations of Masons of the highest order in the institution, we see that Masonry, without publicly declaring so, lays claim to some divine communication from the creator, in a manner different from, and unconnected with, the book which the christians call the bible; and the natural result from this is, that Masonry is derived from some very ancient religion, wholly independent of and unconnected with that book.
To come then at once to the point, Masonry (as I shall show from the customs, ceremonies, hieroglyphics, and chronology of Masonry) is derived and is the remains of the religion of the ancient Druids; who, like the Magi of Persia and the Priests of Heliopolis in Egypt, were Priests of the Sun. They paid worship to this great luminary, as the great visible agent of a great invisible first cause whom they styled " Time without limits." [NOTE: Zarvan-Akarana. This personification of Boundless Time, though a part of Parsee Theology, seems to be a later monotheistic dogma, based on perversions of the Zendavesta. See Haug's "Religion of the Parsees." -- Editor.]
Masonry is derived from the worship of the Sun. In Masonry many of the ceremonies of the Druids are preserved in their original state. With masons the Sun and his image, in the form of the sun is the great emblematical ornament of Masonic Lodges and Masonic dresses. It is the central figure on their aprons, and they wear it also pendant on the breast in their lodges, and in their processions. It has the figure of a man, as at the head of the sun.
At what period of antiquity, or in what nation, this religion was first established, is lost in the labyrinth of unrecorded time. It is generally ascribed to the ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians and Chaldeans, and reduced afterwards to a system regulated by the apparent progress of the sun through the twelve signs of Zodiac by Zoroaster the law giver of Persia, from whence Pythagoras brought it into Greece. It is to these matters Dr. Dodd refers in the passage already quoted from his oration.
The worship of the Sun as the great visible agent of a great invisible first cause, "Time without limits," spread itself over a considerable part of Asia and Africa, from thence to Greece and Rome, through all ancient Gaul, and into Britain and Ireland.
Smith, in his chapter on the antiquity of Masonry in Britain, says, that "notwithstanding the obscurity which envelopes Masonic history in that country, various circumstances contribute to prove that Free-Masonry was introduced into Britain about 1030 Years before Christ." It cannot be Masonry in its present state that Smith here alludes to. The Druids flourished in Britain at the period he speaks of, and it is from them that Masonry is descended. Smith has put the child in the place of the parent.
It sometimes happens, as well in writing as in conversation, that a person lets slip an expression that serves to unravel what he intends to conceal, and this is the case with Smith, for in the same chapter he says, "The Druids, when they committed any thing to writing, used the Greek alphabet, and I am bold to assert that the most perfect remains of the Druids' rites and ceremonies are preserved in the customs and ceremonies of the Masons that are to be found existing among mankind." "My brethren" says he, "may be able to trace them with greater exactness than I am at liberty to explain to the public."
This is a confession from a Master Mason, without intending it to be so understood by the public, that Masonry is the remains of the religion of the Druids; the reasons for the Masons keeping this a secret I shall explain in the course of this work.
As the study and contemplation of the Creator [is] in the works of the creation, the Sun, as the great visible agent of that Being, was the visible object of the adoration of Druids; all their religious rites and ceremonies had reference to the apparent progress of the Sun through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and his influence upon the earth. The Masons adopt the same practices. The roof of their Temples or Lodges is ornamented with a Sun, and the floor is a representation of the variegated face of the earth either by carpeting or Mosaic work.
Free Masons Hall, in Great Queen-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, is a magnificent building, and cost upwards of 12,000 pounds sterling. Smith, in speaking of this building, says (page 152,) "The roof of this magnificent Hall is in all probability the highest piece of finished architecture in Europe. In the center of this roof, a most resplendent Sun is represented in burnished gold, surrounded with the twelve signs of the Zodiac, with their respective characters;
Aries Libra
Taurus Scorpio
Gemini Sagittarius
Cancer Capricorns
Leo Aquarius
Virgo Pisces
After giving this description, he says, "The emblematical meaning of the Sun is well known to the enlightened and inquisitive Free-Mason; and as the real Sun is situated in the center of the universe, so the emblematical Sun is the center of real Masonry. We all know (continues he) that the Sun is the fountain of light, the source of the seasons, the cause of the vicissitudes of day and night, the parent of vegetation, the friend of man; hence the scientific Free-Mason only knows the reason why the Sun is placed in the center of this beautiful hall."
The Masons, in order to protect themselves from the persecution of the christian church, have always spoken in a mystical manner of the figure of the Sun in their Lodges, or, like the astronomer Lalande, who is a Mason, been silent upon the subject. It is their secret, especially in Catholic countries, because the figure of the Sun is the expressive criterion that denotes they are descended from the Druids.
The Lodges of the Masons, if built for the purpose, are constructed in a manner to correspond with the apparent motion of the Sun. They are situated East and West. [NOTE: The Freemason's Hall in London, which Paine has correctly described, is situated North and South, the exigencies of the space having been too strong for Masonic orthodoxy. Though nominally eastward the Master stands at the South. -- Editor.] The master's place is always in the East. In the examination of an Entered Apprentice, the Master, among many other questions, asks him,
Q: How is the lodge situated? A: East and West. Q: Why so? A: Because all churches and chapels are, or ought to be so."
This answer, which is mere catechismal form, is not an answer to the question. It does no more than remove the question a point further, which is, why ought all churches and chapels to be so? But as the Entered Apprentice is not initiated into the druidical mysteries of Masonry, he is not asked any questions a direct answer to which would lead thereto.
Q: Where stands your Master? A: In the East. Q: Why so? A: As the Sun rises in the East and opens the day, so the Master stands in the East, (with his right hand upon his left breast, being a sign, and the square about his neck,) to open the Lodge, and set his men at work. Q: Where stand your Wardens? A: In the West. Q: What is their business? A: As the Sun sets in the West to close the day, so the Wardens stand in the West, (with their right hands upon their left breasts, being a sign, and the level and plumb rule about their necks,) to close the Lodge, and dismiss the men from labor, paying them their wages."
Here the name of the Sun is mentioned, but it is proper to observe that in this place it has reference only to labor or to the time of labor, and not to any religious druidical rite or ceremony, as it would have with respect to the situation of Lodges East and West. The christians never bury their dead on the North side of a church; [NOTE: In many parts of Northern Europe the North was supposed to be the region of demons. Executed criminals were buried on the north side of churches. -- Editor.] and a Mason's Lodge always has, or is supposed to have, three windows which are called fixed lights, to distinguish them from the moveable lights of the Sun and the Moon. The Master asks the Entered Apprentice,
Q: How are they (the fixed lights) situated? A: East, West, and South. Q: What are their uses? A: To light the men to and from their work. Q: Why are there no lights in the North? A: Because the Sun darts no rays from thence."
This, among numerous other instances, shows that the Masons have one origin, the ancient worship of the Sun.The high festival of the Masons is on the day they call St. John's day; but every enlightened Mason must know that holding their festival on this day has no reference to the person called St. John, and that it is only to disguise the true cause of holding it on this day, that they call the day by that name. As there were Masons, or at least Druids, many centuries before the time of St. John, if such person ever existed, the holding their festival on this day must refer to some cause totally unconnected with John.
The case is, that the day called St. John's day, is the 24th of June, and is what is called Midsummer-day. The sun is then arrived at the summer solstice; and, with respect to his meridional altitude, or height at high noon, appears for some days to be of the same height. The astronomical longest day, like the shortest day, is not every year, on account of leap year, on the same numerical day, and therefore the 24th of June is always taken for Midsummer-day; and it is in honor of the sun, which has then arrived at his greatest height in our hemisphere, and not any thing with respect to St. John, that this annual festival of the Masons, taken from the Druids, is celebrated on Midsummer-day.
Customs will often outlive the remembrance of their origin, and this is the case with respect to a custom still practiced in Ireland, where the Druids flourished at the time they flourished in Britain. On the eve of Saint John's day, that is, on the eve of Midsummer-day, the Irish light fires on the tops of the hills. This can have no reference to St. John; but it has emblematical reference to the sun, which on that day is at his highest summer elevation, and might in common language be said to have arrived at the top of the hill.
As to what Masons, and books of Masonry, tell us of Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, it is no wise improbable that some Masonic ceremonies may have been derived from the building of that temple, for the worship of the Sun was in practice many centuries before the Temple existed, or before the Israelites came out of Egypt. And we learn from the history of the Jewish Kings, 2 Kings xxii. xxiii. that the worship of the Sun was performed by the Jews in that Temple. It is, however, much to be doubted if it was done with the same scientific purity and religious morality with which it was performed by the Druids, who, by all accounts that historically remain of them, were a wise, learned, and moral class of men. The Jews, on the contrary, were ignorant of astronomy, and of science in general, and if a religion founded upon astronomy fell into their hands, it is almost certain it would be corrupted. We do not read in the history of the Jews, whether in the Bible or elsewhere, that they were the inventors or the improvers of any one art or science. Even in the building of this temple, the Jews did not know how to square and frame the timber for beginning and carrying on the work, and Solomon was obliged to send to Hiram, King of Tyre (Zidon) to procure workmen; "for thou knowest, (says Solomon to Hiram, i Kings v. 6.) that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Zidonians." This temple was more properly Hiram's Temple than Solomon's, and if the Masons derive any thing from the building of it, they owe it to the Zidonians and not to the Jews. -- But to return to the worship of the Sun in this Temple.
It is said, 2 Kings xxiii. 5, "And [king Josiah] put down all the idolatrous priests ... that burned incense unto ... the sun, the moon, the planets, and all the host of heaven." And it is said at the 11th verse: "And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the Sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, ... and burned the chariots of the Sun with fire"; verse 13, "And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonians" (the very people that built the temple) "did the king defile."
Besides these things, the description that Josephus gives of the decorations of this Temple, resembles on a large scale those of a Mason's Lodge. He says that the distribution of the several parts of the Temple of the Jews represented all nature, particularly the parts most apparent of it, as the sun, the moon, the planets, the zodiac, the earth, the elements; and that the system of the world was retraced there by numerous ingenious emblems. These, in all probability, are, what Josiah, in his ignorance, calls the abominations of the Zidonians. [NOTE by PAINE: Smith, in speaking of a Lodge, says, when the Lodge is revealed to an entering Mason, it discovers to him a representation of the World; in which, from the wonders of nature, we are led to contemplate her great original, and worship him from his mighty works; and we are thereby also moved to exercise those moral and social virtues which become mankind as the servants of the great Architect of the world. -- Author.] Every thing, however, drawn from this Temple [NOTE by PAINE: It may not be improper here to observe, that the law called the law of Moses could not have been in existence at the time of building this Temple. Here is the likeness of things in heaven above and in earth beneath. And we read in I Kings vi., vii., that Solomon made cherubs and cherubims, that he carved all the walls of the house round about with cherubims, and palm-trees, and open flowers, and that he made a molten sea, placed on twelve oxen, and the ledges of it were ornamented with lions, oxen, and cherubims: all this is contrary to the law called the law of Moses. -- Author.] and applied to Masonry, still refers to the worship of the Sun, however corrupted or misunderstood by the Jews, and consequently to the religion of the Druids.
Another circumstance, which shows that Masonry is derived from some ancient system, prior to and unconnected with the christian religion, is the chronology, or method of counting time, used by the Masons in the records of their Lodges. They make no use of what is called the christian era; and they reckon their months numerically, as the ancient Egyptians did, and as the Quakers do now. I have by me, a record of a French Lodge, at the time the late Duke of Orleans, then Duke de Chartres, was Grand Master of Masonry in France. It begins as follows: "Le trentieme jour du sixieme mois de l'an de la V.L. cinq mille sept cent soixante treize;" that is, the thirteenth day of the sixth month of the year of the Venerable Lodge, five thousand seven hundred and seventy-three. By what I observe in English books of Masonry, the English Masons use the initials A.L. and not V.L. By A.L. they mean in the year of Light, as the Christians by A.D. mean in the year of our Lord. But A.L. like V.L. refers to the same chronological era, that is, to the supposed time of the creation. [NOTE: V.L. are the initials of Vraie Lumiere, true light; and A.L. of Anne Lucis, in the year of light. This and the three preceding sentences (of the text) are suppressed in Madame Bonneville's pamphlet, 1810. -- Editor.] In the chapter on Cosmogony, that is, the account of the creation with which the book of Genesis opens, has been taken and mutilated from the Zend-Avesta of Zoroaster, and was fixed as a preface to the Bible after the Jews returned from captivity in Babylon, and that the Robbins of the Jews do not hold their account in Genesis to be a fact, but mere allegory. The six thousand years in the Zend-Avesta, is changed or interpolated into six days in the account of Genesis. The Masons appear to have chosen the same period, and perhaps to avoid the suspicion and persecution of the Church, have adopted the era of the world, as the era of Masonry. The V.L. of the French, and A.L. of the English Mason, answer to the A.M. Anno Mundi, or year of the world.
Though the Masons have taken many of their ceremonies and hieroglyphics from the ancient Egyptians, it is certain they have not taken their chronology from thence. If they had, the church would soon have sent them to the stake; as the chronology of the Egyptians, like that of the Chinese, goes many thousand years beyond the Bible chronology.
The religion of the Druids, as before said, was the same as the religion of the ancient Egyptians. The priests of Egypt were the professors and teachers of science, and were styled priests of Heliopolis, that is, of the City of the Sun. The Druids in Europe, who were the same order of men, have their name from the Teutonic or ancient German language; the German being anciently called Teutones. The word Druid signifies a wise man. [NOTE: German drud, wizard. Cf. Milton's line: "The star-led wizards haste with odours sweet." The word Druid has also been derived from Greek ####;, an oak; Celtic 'deru,' an oak and 'ndd,' lord; British 'deruidhon,' very wise men; Heb. 'derussim,' contemplators; etc. -- Editor.] In Persia they were called Magi, which signifies the same thing.
Egypt," says Smith, "from whence we derive many of our mysteries, has always borne a distinguished rank in history, and was once celebrated above all others for its antiquities, learning, opulence, and fertility. In their system, their principal hero- gods, Osiris and Isis, theologically represented the Supreme Being and universal Nature; and physically the two great celestial luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, by whose influence all nature was actuated." "The experienced brethren of the society, [says Smith in a note to this passage] are well informed what affinity these symbols bear to Masonry, and why they are used in all Masonic Lodges." In speaking of the apparel of the Masons in their Lodges, part of which, as we see in their public processions, is a white leather apron, he says, "the Druids were apparelled in white at the time of their sacrifices and solemn offices. The Egyptian priests of Osiris wore snow-white cotton. The Grecian and most other priests wore white garments. As Masons, we regard the principles of those 'who were the first worshipers of the true God,' imitate their apparel, and assume the badge of innocence."
"The Egyptians," continues Smith, "in the earliest ages constituted a great number of Lodges, but with assiduous care kept their secrets of Masonry from all strangers. These secrets have been imperfectly handed down to us by oral tradition only, and ought to be kept undiscovered to the laborers, craftsmen, and apprentices, till by good behavior and long study they become better acquainted in geometry and the liberal arts, and thereby qualified for Masters and Wardens, which is seldom or never the case with English Masons."
Under the head of Free-Masonry, written by the astronomer Lalande, in the French Encyclopedia, I expected from his great knowledge in astronomy, to have found much information on the origin of Masonry; for what connection can there be between any institution and the Sun and twelve signs of the Zodiac, if there be not something in that institution, or in its origin, that has reference to astronomy? Every thing used as an hieroglyphic has reference to the subject and purpose for which it is used; and we are not to suppose the Free-Masons, among whom are many very learned and scientific men, to be such idiots as to make use of astronomical signs without some astronomical purpose. But I was much disappointed in my expectation from Lalande. In speaking of the origin of Masonry, he says, "L'orgine de la maconnerie se Perd, comme tant d'autres, dans l'obscurite des termps;" That is, the origin of Masonry, like many others, loses itself in the obscurity of time. When I came to this expression, I supposed Lalande a Mason, and on enquiry found he was. This passing over saved him from the embarrassment which Masons are under respecting the disclosure of their origin, and which they are sworn to conceal. There is a society of Masons in Dublin who take the name of Druids; these Masons must be supposed to have a reason for taking that name.
I come now to speak of the cause of secrecy used by the Masons.
The natural source of secrecy is fear. When any new religion over-runs a former religion, the professors of the new become the persecutors of the old. We see this in all instances that history brings before us. When Hilkiah the priest and Shaphan the scribe, in the reign of King Josiah, found, or pretended to find, the law, called the law of Moses, a thousand years after the time of Moses, (and it does not appear from 2 Kings, xxii., xxiii., that such a law was ever practiced or known before the time of Josiah), he established that law as a national religion, and put all the priests of the Sun to death. When the christian religion over-ran the Jewish religion, the Jews were the continual subject of persecution in all christian countries. When the Protestant religion in England over-ran the Roman Catholic religion, it was made death for a Catholic priest to be found in England. As this has been the case in all the instances we have any knowledge of, we are obliged to admit it with respect to the case in question, and that when the christian religion over-ran the religion of the Druids in Italy, ancient Gaul, Britain, and Ireland, the Druids became the subject of persecution. This would naturally and necessarily oblige such of them as remained attached to their original religion to meet in secret, and under the strongest injunctions of secrecy. Their safety depended upon it. A false brother might expose the lives of many of them to destruction; and from the remains of the religion of the Druids, thus preserved, arose the institution which, to avoid the name of Druid, took that of Mason, and practiced under this new name the rites and ceremonies of Druids.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT FREEMASONRY:
Freemasonry has a long and praiseworthy tradition, dating back centuries. The first lodge in North America was the Provincial Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, organized under the Henry Price, who met at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston. North American Freemasons have been helping to build better communities ever since. Many of America’s early Patriots were Masons. General Joseph Warren, who gave his life at Bunker Hill and Paul Revere were both Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Others are listed below in the "famous Freemasons section".
Although the actual origins of Freemasonry are clouded in the mists of antiquity, it is widely agreed that Masonry dates back to the late fourteenth century and flourished during the middle ages when guilds of Masons traveled throughout Europe building the great gothic cathedrals. Apprentices were taken in and taught the craft by Master Masons who passed on the secrets of the trade. As building declined, the guilds began to accept members who were not actually stone Masons. From these roots evolved Masonry, as we know it today.
Ritual and symbols
The Freemasons rely heavily on the architectural symbolism of the medieval operative Masons who actually worked in stone. One of their principal symbols is the square and Compasses, tools of the trade, so arranged as to form a quadrilateral. The square is sometimes said to represent matter, and the compasses spirit or mind. Alternatively, the square might be said to represent the world of the concrete, or the measure of objective reality, while the compasses represent abstraction, or subjective judgment, and so forth (Freemasonry being non-dogmatic, there is no written-in-stone interpretation for any of these symbols). Often the compasses straddle the square, representing the interdependence between the two. In the space between the two, there is optionally placed a symbol of metaphysical significance. Sometimes, this is a blazing star or other symbol of Light, representing Truth or knowledge. Alternatively, there is often a letter G placed there, usually said to represent God and/or Geometry.The square and compasses are displayed at all Masonic meetings, along with the open Volume of the Sacred Law (or Lore) (VSL). In English-speaking countries, this is usually a Holy Bible, but it can be whatever book(s) of inspiration or scripture that the members of a particular Lodge or jurisdiction feel they draw on—whether the Bible, the Qur'an, or other Volumes. A candidate for a degree will normally be given his choice of VSL, regardless of the Lodge's usual VSL. In many French Lodges, the Masonic Constitutions are used. In a few cases, a blank book has been used, where the religious makeup of a Lodge was too diverse to permit an easy choice of VSL. In addition to its role as a symbol of written wisdom, inspiration, and spiritual revelation, the VSL is what Masonic obligations are taken upon.
Much of Masonic symbolism is mathematical in nature, and in particular geometrical, which is probably a reason Freemasonry has attracted so many rationalists (such as Voltaire, Fichte, Goethe, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain and many others). No particular metaphysical theory is advanced by Freemasonry, however, although there seems to be some influence from the Pythagoreans, from Neo-Platonism, and from early modern Rationalism.
In keeping with the geometrical and architectural theme of Freemasonry, the Supreme Being (or God, or Creative Principle) is sometimes also referred to in Masonic ritual as the Grand Geometer, or the Great Architect of the Universe (GAOTU). Freemasons use a variety of labels for this concept in order to avoid the idea that they are talking about any one religion's particular God or God-like concept.
Degrees
There are three initial degrees of Freemasonry:- Entered Apprentice
- Fellow Craft
- Master Mason
History of Freemasonry -
Main article: History of Freemasonry Freemasonry has been said to be an institutional outgrowth of the medieval guilds of stonemasons (1), a direct descendant of the "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem" (the Knights Templar) (2), an offshoot of the ancient Mystery schools (1), an administrative arm of the Priory of Sion (3), the Roman Collegia (1), the Comacine masters (1), intellectual descendants of Noah (1), and many other various and sundry origins. Others claim that it dates back only to the late 17th century in England, and has no real connections at all to earlier organizations. These theories are noted in numerous different texts, and the following are but examples pulled from a sea of books:Much of the content of these books is highly speculative, and the precise origins of Freemasonry may very well be lost in either an unwritten or a created history. It is thought by many that Freemasonry cannot be a straightforward outgrowth of medieval guilds of stonemasons. Amongst the reasons given for this conclusion, well documented in Born in Blood, are the fact that stonemasons' guilds do not appear to predate reasonable estimates for the time of Freemasonry's origin, that stonemasons lived near their worksite and thus had no need for secret signs to identify themselves, and that the "Ancient Charges" of Freemasonry are nonsensical when thought of as being rules for a stonemasons' guild.
Freemasonry is said by some, especially amongst Masons practising the York Rite, to have existed at the time of King Athelstan of England, in the 10th century C.E. Athelstan is said by some to have been converted to Christianity in York, and to have issued the first Charter to the Masonic Lodges there. This story is not currently substantiated (the dynasty had already been Christian for centuries).
A more historically reliable (although still not unassailable) source asserting the antiquity of Freemasonry is the Halliwell Manuscript, or Regius Poem, which is believed to date from ca. 1390, and which makes reference to several concepts and phrases similar to those found in Freemasonry. The manuscript itself refers to an earlier document, of which it seems to be an elaboration.
There is also the Cooke Manuscript, which is said to be dated 1430 and contained the Constitution of German stonemasons(4), but the first appearance of the word 'Freemason' occurs in the Statutes of the Realm enacted in 1495 by Henry VII, however, most other documentary evidence prior to the 1500s appears to relate entirely to operative Masons rather than speculative ones.
1583 is the date of the Grand Lodge manuscript(4), and more frequent mention of lodges is made in documents from this time onwards. The Schaw Statues of 1598-9(4) are the source used to declare the precedence of Kilwinning Lodge in Edinburgh, Scotland over St. Mary's (or Principal) Lodge. As a side note, Kilwinning is called Kilwinning #0 because of this very conundrum. Quite soon thereafter, a charter was granted to Sir William St. Clair (later Sinclair) of Roslin (Rosslyn), allowing him to purchase jurisdiction over a number of lodges in Edinburgh and environs (4), which is the basis of the Templar myth surrounding Rosslyn Chapel.
Another key figure in Masonic history was Elias Ashmole (1617-1692), who was made a Mason in 1646, although Speculative Masons were being admitteed into Lodges as early as 1634. There appears to be a general spread of the Craft during this time, but the next key date is 1717.
In 1717, four Lodges which met, respectively, at the "Apple-Tree Tavern, the Crown Ale-House near Drury Lane, the Goose and Gridiron in St. Paul's Churchyard, and the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Westminster" in London, England (as recounted in (2)) joined together and formed the first Grand Lodge, the Grand Lodge of England (GLE). The years following saw new Grand Lodges open throughout England and Europe, as the new Freemasonry spread rapidly. How much of this was the spreading of Freemasonry itself, and how much was the public organization of pre-existing secret Lodges, is not possible to say with certainty. The GLE in the beginning did not have the current three degrees, but only the first two. The third degree appeared, so far as we know, around 1725.
Concordant and Appendant Bodies
Freemasonry is associated with several appendant bodies, such as the:- Scottish Rite - The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is a worldwide Masonic fraternity. The Scottish Rite is one of the two main branches of Freemasonry in which a Master Mason may decide to join for further exposure to Masonic knowledge. The other main branch is the York Rite. The Scottish Rite claims to build upon the ethical teachings and philosophy of Blue Lodge Masonry through dramatic presentation. To this end, the Rite confers twenty-nine degrees, from the fourth through the thirty-second. Notable members of this order include Albert Pike, Buzz Aldrin, Bob Dole, John Wayne, and Michael Richards.
The Degrees
Difficult for non-Masons to comprehend, completion of the first three Masonic degrees represents the attainment of the highest rank in all of Masonry. Any third degree Master Mason stands as an equal before every other Master Mason, regardless of position, class, or degree. For this reason, the higher degrees are sometimes referred to as appendent degrees. Appendent degrees represent a lateral movement in Masonic Education rather than an upward movement.
The core of the Scottish Rite is a series of 29 degrees, numbered from 4 to 32, which expand upon the morals, teachings, and philosophy of the first three degrees. These are not degrees of rank, but rather degrees of instruction.
The 33rd degree is an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding service. It is conferred on brethren who have made major contributions to society or to Masonry in general.
The titles of the degrees are as follows:
- Blue Lodge or Craft Lodge
- Lodge of Perfection
- Rose Croix
- Council of Kadosh
- Consistory
- Supreme Council
The Scottish Rite fully operates, and pays for all patient care, for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and the Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia
- York Rite - The York Rite is one of the two main branches of Freemasonry in the United States which a Master Mason may decide to join for further exposure to Masonic knowledge, the other branch being the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Some obediences of the Scottish Rite may confer some of these degrees in countries where the York Rite is not active. The divisions within the York Rite and the requirements for membership differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but the essentials are the same. In all the workings the one requirement is that all applicants be in possession of the third degree, that of Master Mason.
As in other Masonic bodies, the York Rite uses drama to demonstrate the lessons and special qualities of the degrees and has several various means of identification, such as grips or tokens (handshakes), signs and words.
The bodies of the York Rite are:- Royal Arch Masonry
- Cryptic Masonry
- Knights Templar
- The York Rite Sovereign College
- Knight of York
- Order of the Red Cross of Constantine
Mark Master Mason: In some jurisdictions this degree is conferred in a Fellow Craft Lodge, that is, the second degree of the Blue Lodge.
Past Master (Virtual): this degree is conferred because of the traditional requirement that only Past Masters of a Blue Lodge may be admitted to Holy Royal Arch. Because there are so many applicants for this degree, Virtual Past Master is required to qualify them for it. Much of the secret work is the same given to the new Worshipful Master of a Blue Lodge.
Most Excellent Master: In this degree the building of King Solomon's Temple which figures so prominently in Craft Masonry, has been completed.
Holy Royal Arch: Possibly the most beautiful degree in all of Freemasonry. In the UK it is conferred in a 'chapter' attached to a Craft Lodge which is in keeping with an article in the Constitutions of the United Grand Lodge of England. The constitutions describe the Royal Arch being part of ‘pure and ancient Masonry’ this is defined as the three degrees of the Craft viz. Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason with the additon of the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch.
Cryptic MasonryThe Council of Royal and Select Masters is not required for membership in the Commandery that follows, so it is frequently skipped. It is called Cryptic Masonry because a crypt or underground room figures prominently in the degrees. This Body is also called the Cryptic Rite. The degrees are:
Royal Master
Select Master
Super Excellent Master: Actually the legend of this degree has nothing to do with a crypt. It is an optional degree.
Knights Templar
(This body is called a Commandery in the United States and a Preceptory in Canada) It has three orders:
- Illustrious Order of the Red Cross Knight of York
- Order of Malta
- Order of the Temple, consisting of three portions:
- Novice
- Installation
- Consecration
An invitational Masonic body open to members who are members of all four York Rite Bodies and who have shown exceptional proficiency in them. The College confers only one degree:
- Knight of York
The following is outside the system of degrees of the York Rite, but is considered closely allied to it.
Order of the Red Cross of Constantine
The Conclave is an invitational Masonic body open to members of York Rite Masonry and by special dispensation to Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
- Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine
- Knight of the Holy Sepulchre
- Knight of Saint John the Evangelist
- Shriners - The Shriners, or Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, are an Order appendant to Freemasonry. Until 2000, one had to complete the Scottish Rite or York Rite degrees of Masonry to be eligible for Shrine membership, but now any Master Mason can join.
The Shrine was established in New York City in the 1870s as the fun part of the Masonic movement. The group adopted a theme of the Middle East and soon established "Temples" meeting in "Mosques" across the continent. Another Masonic group, the Mysterious Order of the Veiled Prophet of the Enchanted Realm (known colloquially as the "Grotto") had adopted a similar theme in 1890. The theme was the rage at the time and alluded to the mystery and ceremony of the "Arabian Nights" with its elaborate parties and frolic. The basic idea was an organization of fun.
The Shrine shares the basic requirement with the Freemasons that a petitioner must profess a belief in a supreme being. Therefore, men of countless creeds and nations have joined the fraternity throughout its history. However, the word "Temple" has now been replaced by "Shriners" when refering to the local Shrine Centers. (Example: Mahi Temple is now Mahi Shriners) This is to help the public understand that the Shrine is a men's fraternity rather than a religion or religious group. There are 500,000 Nobles belonging to 191 Shrine Centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Panama.
The Shriners often participate in local parades riding comedy versions of cars and motorcycles. They are recognizable by their elaborate red fezzes. If one researches further, it will be discovered that the Shrinershave been instrumental in community projects throughout its domain. Countless public projects have been supported by the local Shriners who are committed to community service.
Once a year, the fraternity meets for the Imperial Council Session in a major North American city. It is not uncommon for these conventions to have 20,000 participants or more, which generates a handsome revenue contribution to the local economy.
The Shrine's charitable arm is the Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of twenty-two hospitals in the United States, Mexico and Canada. They were formed to treat young victims of polio, but as that disease was controlled they broadened their scope. They now deal with all pediatric cases, most especially with orthopedic injuries and disease and the damage caused by burns. The Shrine has pioneered new treatments for these conditions.
There is never any charge for treatment at a Shriners Hospital. There is no requirement for religion, race, or relationship to a Freemason. Patients must be under the age of eighteen and treatable. Local Shrine temples most often provide free transportation to the nearest hospital.
Until 2003–4, the Oscars were held at the Shriners temple/auditorium in Hollywood / Los Angeles. Legendary silent film comedian Harold Lloyd was a Shriner and served as Imperial Potentate in 1949. He did much to promote the fraternity within the entertainment industry.
Some famous Shriners include:
In 2002, a mascot named Fez Head Fred debuted, primarily to visit their children's hospitals.
Different jurisdictions vary in how they define their relationship with such bodies, if at all. Some may give them some sort of formal recognition, while others may consider them wholly outside of Freemasonry proper. Not all such bodies will be universally considered as appendant bodies, some being simply considered as more or less separate organizations that happen to require Masonic affiliation for membership. Some of these organizations may have additional religious requirements, compared to Freemasonry proper (or "Craft Masonry"), since they approach Masonic teachings from a particular perspective.
There are also certain youth organizations (mainly North American) which are associated with Freemasonry, but are not necessarily Masonic in their content, such as the Order of DeMolay (for boys aged 12–21), Job's Daughters (for girls aged 10-20 with proper Masonic relationship) and the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls (for girls 11–20 who have Masonic sponsorship). The Boy Scouts of America is not a Masonic organization, but was first nationally commissioned by Freemason Daniel Carter Beard. Beard exemplified the Masonic ideals throughout the Scouting program.
Famous Masons
U.S. Presidents
FAMOUS MASONS- U.S. PRESIDENTS
Buchanan, James - President of the U.S.
Ford, Gerald R. - President of the U.S.
Garfield, James A. - President of the U.S.
Harding, Warren G. - President of the U.S.
Jackson, Andrew - President of the U.S.
Johnson, Andrew - President of the U.S.
McKinley, William - President of the U.S.
Monroe, James - President of the U.S.
Polk, James Knox - President of the U.S.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. - President of the U.S.
Roosevelt, Theodore - President of the U.S.
Taft, William Howard - President of the U.S.
Truman, Harry S. - President of the U.S.
Washington, George - President of US, 1st
Supreme Court Justices
Buchanan, James - President of the U.S.
Ford, Gerald R. - President of the U.S.
Garfield, James A. - President of the U.S.
Harding, Warren G. - President of the U.S.
Jackson, Andrew - President of the U.S.
Johnson, Andrew - President of the U.S.
McKinley, William - President of the U.S.
Monroe, James - President of the U.S.
Polk, James Knox - President of the U.S.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. - President of the U.S.
Roosevelt, Theodore - President of the U.S.
Taft, William Howard - President of the U.S.
Truman, Harry S. - President of the U.S.
Washington, George - President of US, 1st
Supreme Court Justices
FAMOUS MASONS- SUPREME COURT JUSTICES
Black, Hugo L. - Supreme Court Justice
Blair, Jr., John - Supreme Court Justice
Blatchford, Samuel - Supreme Court Justice
Baldwin, Henry - Supreme Court Justice
Burton, Harold H. - Supreme Court Justice
Byrnes, James F. - Supreme Court Justice
Catton, John - Supreme Court Justice
Clark, Thomas C. - Supreme Court Justice
Clarke, John H. - Supreme Court Justice
Cushing, William - Supreme Court Justice
Devanter, Willis Van - Supreme Court Justice
Douglas, William O. - Supreme Court Justice
Ellsworth, Oliver - Supreme Court Justice
Field, Stephen J. - Supreme Court Justice
Harlan, John M. - Supreme Court Justice
Jackson, Robert H. - Supreme Court Justice
Lamar, Joseph E. - Supreme Court Justice
Marshall, John - Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court 1801 - 1835
Marshall, Thurgood - Supreme Court Justice
Mathews, Stanley - Supreme Court Justice
Minton, Sherman - Supreme Court Justice
Moody, William H. - Supreme Court Justice
Nelson, Samuel - Supreme Court Justice
Paterson, William - Supreme Court Justice
Pitney, Mahlon - Supreme Court Justice
Reed, Stanley F. - Supreme Court Justice
Rutledge, Wiley B. - Supreme Court Justice
Stewart, Potter - Supreme Court Justice
Swayne, Noah H. - Supreme Court Justice
Todd, Thomas - Supreme Court Justice
Trimble, Robert - Supreme Court Justice
Vinson, Frederick M. - Supreme Court Justice
Warren, Earl - Supreme Court Justice
Woodbury, Levi - Supreme Court Justice
Woods, William B. - Supreme Court Justice
Military
Black, Hugo L. - Supreme Court Justice
Blair, Jr., John - Supreme Court Justice
Blatchford, Samuel - Supreme Court Justice
Baldwin, Henry - Supreme Court Justice
Burton, Harold H. - Supreme Court Justice
Byrnes, James F. - Supreme Court Justice
Catton, John - Supreme Court Justice
Clark, Thomas C. - Supreme Court Justice
Clarke, John H. - Supreme Court Justice
Cushing, William - Supreme Court Justice
Devanter, Willis Van - Supreme Court Justice
Douglas, William O. - Supreme Court Justice
Ellsworth, Oliver - Supreme Court Justice
Field, Stephen J. - Supreme Court Justice
Harlan, John M. - Supreme Court Justice
Jackson, Robert H. - Supreme Court Justice
Lamar, Joseph E. - Supreme Court Justice
Marshall, John - Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court 1801 - 1835
Marshall, Thurgood - Supreme Court Justice
Mathews, Stanley - Supreme Court Justice
Minton, Sherman - Supreme Court Justice
Moody, William H. - Supreme Court Justice
Nelson, Samuel - Supreme Court Justice
Paterson, William - Supreme Court Justice
Pitney, Mahlon - Supreme Court Justice
Reed, Stanley F. - Supreme Court Justice
Rutledge, Wiley B. - Supreme Court Justice
Stewart, Potter - Supreme Court Justice
Swayne, Noah H. - Supreme Court Justice
Todd, Thomas - Supreme Court Justice
Trimble, Robert - Supreme Court Justice
Vinson, Frederick M. - Supreme Court Justice
Warren, Earl - Supreme Court Justice
Woodbury, Levi - Supreme Court Justice
Woods, William B. - Supreme Court Justice
Military
FAMOUS MASONS- MILITARY
Arnold, General Henry "Hap" - Commander of the Army Air Force
Bradley, Omar N. - Military leader
Byrd, Admiral Richard E. - Flew over North Pole
Doolittle, General James - Famous Air Force Pilot
Jones, John Paul - First Admiral of the U.S. Navy
Lafayette, Marquis de - Supporter of American Freedom
Lindbergh, Charles - Aviator
MacArthur, General Douglas - Commander of Armed Forces in Philillines
Marshall, George - General of the Armies
McClellan, General George B. - Army of the Potomac, Presidential candidate against Abe Lincoln, faced General Robert E. Lee at the battle of Antietam and twice Governor of New Jersey.
Montgomery, Richard Major General - Fist General Officer of the Continental Army killed in the Battle for Quebec on Dec 31, 1775.
Murphy, Audie - Most decorated soldier of WW11.
Nicholas, Samuel - Revolutionary War hero and the first Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Peary, Robert E. - First man to reach the North Pole (1909)
Pershing, John Joseph - Decorated American Soldier
Rickenbacker, Eddie - Great American Air Force Ace
Tirpitz, Alfred Von - German Naval officer responsible for submarine warfare
Sports
Arnold, General Henry "Hap" - Commander of the Army Air Force
Bradley, Omar N. - Military leader
Byrd, Admiral Richard E. - Flew over North Pole
Doolittle, General James - Famous Air Force Pilot
Jones, John Paul - First Admiral of the U.S. Navy
Lafayette, Marquis de - Supporter of American Freedom
Lindbergh, Charles - Aviator
MacArthur, General Douglas - Commander of Armed Forces in Philillines
Marshall, George - General of the Armies
McClellan, General George B. - Army of the Potomac, Presidential candidate against Abe Lincoln, faced General Robert E. Lee at the battle of Antietam and twice Governor of New Jersey.
Montgomery, Richard Major General - Fist General Officer of the Continental Army killed in the Battle for Quebec on Dec 31, 1775.
Murphy, Audie - Most decorated soldier of WW11.
Nicholas, Samuel - Revolutionary War hero and the first Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Peary, Robert E. - First man to reach the North Pole (1909)
Pershing, John Joseph - Decorated American Soldier
Rickenbacker, Eddie - Great American Air Force Ace
Tirpitz, Alfred Von - German Naval officer responsible for submarine warfare
Sports
FAMOUS MASONS- SPORTS
Cobb, Ty - An original member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Combs, Earle Bryan - Baseball Hall of Fame
Dempsey, Jack - Sports
Hornsby, Rogers - A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Naismith, James - Inventor of Basketball
Palmer, Arnold - Golf Pro
Actors\Writers
Cobb, Ty - An original member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Combs, Earle Bryan - Baseball Hall of Fame
Dempsey, Jack - Sports
Hornsby, Rogers - A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Naismith, James - Inventor of Basketball
Palmer, Arnold - Golf Pro
Actors\Writers
FAMOUS MASONS- ACTORS/ WRITERS
Autry, Gene - Actor
Borgnine, Ernest - Actor
Burns, Robert - The National Poet of Scotland
Casanova - Italian Adventurer, writer and entertainer
Clemens, Samuel L. - Mark Twain - writer
Cohan, George M. - Broadway star
Collodi, Carlo - Writer of Pinocchio
Doyle, Sir Author Conan - Writer - Sherlock Holmes
Fairbanks, Douglas - Silent film actor
Fields, W.C. - Actor
Gable, Clark - Actor
Gibbon, Edward - Writer - Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Godfrey, Arthur - Actor
Gray, Harold Lincoln - Creator of "Little Orphan Annie
Hardy, Oliver - Actor - Comedian
Kipling, Rudyard - Writer
Lincoln, Elmo - First actor to play Tarzan of the Apes (1918)
Mix, Tom - U.S. Marshal turned actor. Stared in over 400 western films
Murphy, Audie - Most decorated American Soldier of WWII
Pushkin, Aleksander - Russian Poet
Rogers, Roy - American cowboy and screen star
Rogers, Will - Actor
Scott, Sir Walter - Writer
Sellers, Peter - Actor
Shakespeare, William - Writer
Swift, Jonathan - Wrote Gulliver's Travels
Voltaire - French writer and philosopher
Wallace, Lewis - Wrote "Ben Hur"
Wayne, John - Actor
Musicians\ Entertainers
Autry, Gene - Actor
Borgnine, Ernest - Actor
Burns, Robert - The National Poet of Scotland
Casanova - Italian Adventurer, writer and entertainer
Clemens, Samuel L. - Mark Twain - writer
Cohan, George M. - Broadway star
Collodi, Carlo - Writer of Pinocchio
Doyle, Sir Author Conan - Writer - Sherlock Holmes
Fairbanks, Douglas - Silent film actor
Fields, W.C. - Actor
Gable, Clark - Actor
Gibbon, Edward - Writer - Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Godfrey, Arthur - Actor
Gray, Harold Lincoln - Creator of "Little Orphan Annie
Hardy, Oliver - Actor - Comedian
Kipling, Rudyard - Writer
Lincoln, Elmo - First actor to play Tarzan of the Apes (1918)
Mix, Tom - U.S. Marshal turned actor. Stared in over 400 western films
Murphy, Audie - Most decorated American Soldier of WWII
Pushkin, Aleksander - Russian Poet
Rogers, Roy - American cowboy and screen star
Rogers, Will - Actor
Scott, Sir Walter - Writer
Sellers, Peter - Actor
Shakespeare, William - Writer
Swift, Jonathan - Wrote Gulliver's Travels
Voltaire - French writer and philosopher
Wallace, Lewis - Wrote "Ben Hur"
Wayne, John - Actor
Musicians\ Entertainers
FAMOUS MASONS- MUSICIANS/ENTERTAINERS
Basie, William "Count" - Orchestra leader/composer
Berlin, Irving - Entertainer
Clark, Roy - Country Western Star
Dickens, Little Jimmy - Grand Ole Opry Star
Ellington, Duke - Composer, Arranger and Stylist
Jolson, Al - Fame as the first 'talking picture' the Jazz Singer
Key, Francis Scott - Wrote U.S. National Anthem
Lloyd, Harold C. - Entertainer
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus - Composer
Sax, Antoine Joseph - Invented the Saxophone (1846)
Sibelius, Jean - Composer (Finland)
Skelton, Red - Entertainer
Smith, John Stafford - Wrote the music that became the US National Anthem.
Sousa, John Philip - Led the U.S. Marine Band from 1880 - 1892
Stratton, Charles "Tom Thumb" - Entertainer
Tillis, Mel - Country Singer
Whiteman, Paul - "King of Jazz"
Government Leaders
Basie, William "Count" - Orchestra leader/composer
Berlin, Irving - Entertainer
Clark, Roy - Country Western Star
Dickens, Little Jimmy - Grand Ole Opry Star
Ellington, Duke - Composer, Arranger and Stylist
Jolson, Al - Fame as the first 'talking picture' the Jazz Singer
Key, Francis Scott - Wrote U.S. National Anthem
Lloyd, Harold C. - Entertainer
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus - Composer
Sax, Antoine Joseph - Invented the Saxophone (1846)
Sibelius, Jean - Composer (Finland)
Skelton, Red - Entertainer
Smith, John Stafford - Wrote the music that became the US National Anthem.
Sousa, John Philip - Led the U.S. Marine Band from 1880 - 1892
Stratton, Charles "Tom Thumb" - Entertainer
Tillis, Mel - Country Singer
Whiteman, Paul - "King of Jazz"
Government Leaders
FAMOUS MASONS- GOVERNMENT LEADERS
Abbott, Sir John J.C. - Prime Minister of Canada 1891-92
Bennett, Viscount R.B. - Prime Minister of Canada 1930-35
Borden, Sir Robert L. - Prime Minister of Canada 1911-1920
Bowell, Sir Mackenzie - Prime Minister of Canada 1894-96
Churchill, Winston - British Leader
Diefenbaker, John G. - Prime Minister of Canada 1957-63
Edward VII - King of England
Edward VIII - King of England who abdicated the throne in less than 1 year
George VI - King of England during W.W. II
MacDonald, Sir John A. - Prime Minister of Canada 1867-73 & 1878-91
Nunn, Sam - U.S. Senator
Astronauts
Abbott, Sir John J.C. - Prime Minister of Canada 1891-92
Bennett, Viscount R.B. - Prime Minister of Canada 1930-35
Borden, Sir Robert L. - Prime Minister of Canada 1911-1920
Bowell, Sir Mackenzie - Prime Minister of Canada 1894-96
Churchill, Winston - British Leader
Diefenbaker, John G. - Prime Minister of Canada 1957-63
Edward VII - King of England
Edward VIII - King of England who abdicated the throne in less than 1 year
George VI - King of England during W.W. II
MacDonald, Sir John A. - Prime Minister of Canada 1867-73 & 1878-91
Nunn, Sam - U.S. Senator
Astronauts
FAMOUS MASONS- ASTRONAUTS
Aldrin, Edwin E. - Astronaut
Armstrong, Neil - Astronaut
Glenn, John H. - First American to orbit the earth in a space craft
Grissom, Virgil - Astronaut
Early American Pioneers
Aldrin, Edwin E. - Astronaut
Armstrong, Neil - Astronaut
Glenn, John H. - First American to orbit the earth in a space craft
Grissom, Virgil - Astronaut
Early American Pioneers
FAMOUS MASONS- EARLY AMERICAN PIONEERS
Austin, Stephen F. - Father of Texas
Bowie, James - Alamo
Brant, Joseph - Chief of the Mohawks 1742 - 1807
Burnett, David G. - 1st President of the Republic of Texas
Carson, Christopher "Kit" - Frontiersman, scout and explorer
Clark, William - Explorer
Cody, "Buffalo Bill" William - Indian fighter, Wild West Show
Colt, Samuel - Firearms inventor
Crockett, David - American Frontiersman and Alamo fame
Henry, Patrick - Patriot
Houston, Sam - 2nd&4th President of the Republic of Texas
Jones, Anson - 5th President of the Republic of Texas
Lamar, Mirabeau B. - 3rd President of the Republic of Texas
Lewis, Meriwether - Explorer
Livingston, Robert - Co-Negotiator for purchase of Louisiana Territory
Revere, Paul - Famous American
Travis, Colonel William B. - Alamo
Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Austin, Stephen F. - Father of Texas
Bowie, James - Alamo
Brant, Joseph - Chief of the Mohawks 1742 - 1807
Burnett, David G. - 1st President of the Republic of Texas
Carson, Christopher "Kit" - Frontiersman, scout and explorer
Clark, William - Explorer
Cody, "Buffalo Bill" William - Indian fighter, Wild West Show
Colt, Samuel - Firearms inventor
Crockett, David - American Frontiersman and Alamo fame
Henry, Patrick - Patriot
Houston, Sam - 2nd&4th President of the Republic of Texas
Jones, Anson - 5th President of the Republic of Texas
Lamar, Mirabeau B. - 3rd President of the Republic of Texas
Lewis, Meriwether - Explorer
Livingston, Robert - Co-Negotiator for purchase of Louisiana Territory
Revere, Paul - Famous American
Travis, Colonel William B. - Alamo
Signers of the Declaration of Independence
FAMOUS MASONS- SIGNERS OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE SIGNERS OF CONSTITUTION OF THE U.S.
Franklin, Benjamin - 1 of 13 Masonic signers of Constitution of the U.S.
Hancock, John - 1of 9 Masonic signers of Declaration of Independence
Other Famous Masons
Franklin, Benjamin - 1 of 13 Masonic signers of Constitution of the U.S.
Hancock, John - 1of 9 Masonic signers of Declaration of Independence
Other Famous Masons
OTHER FAMOUS MASONS
Balfour, Lloyd - Jewelry
Bartholdi, Frederic A. - Designed the Statue of Liberty
Baylor, Robert E. B. - Founder Baylor University
Beard, Daniel Carter - Founder Boy Scouts
Bell, Lawrence - Bell Aircraft Corp.
Borglum, Gutzon & Lincoln - Father and Son who carved Mt. Rushmore
BuBois, W.E.B. - Educator/scholar
Calvo, Father Francisco - Catholic Priest who started Freemasonry in Costa Rica 1865
Chrysler, Walter P. - Automotive fame
Citroen, Andre - French Engineer and motor car manufacturer
Desaguliers, John Theophilus - Inventor of the planetarium
Dow, William H. - Dow Chemical Co.
Drake, Edwin L - American Pioneer of the Oil industry
Dunant, Jean Henri - Founder of the Red Cross
Ervin Jr, Samual J. - Headed "Watergate" committee
Faber, Eberhard - Head of the famous Eberhard Fabor Pencil Company
Fisher, Geoffrey - Archbishop of Canterbury 1945 - 1961
Fitch, John - Inventor of the Steamboat
Fleming, Sir Alexander - Invented Penicillin
Ford, Henry - Pioneer Automobile Manufacturer
Gatling, Richard J. - Built the "Gatling Gun"
Gilbert, Sir William S. - Was the librettis for "Pirates of Penzance"
Gillett, King C. - Gillett Razor Co.
"Grock - Swiss Circus Clown
Guillotin, Joseph Ignace - Inventor of the "Guillotin"
Hedges, Cornelius - "Father" of Yellowstone National Park
Henson, Josiah - Inspired the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
Hilton, Charles C. - American Hotelier
Hoban, James - Architect for the U.S. Captial
Hoe, Richard M. - Invented the rotory press, revolutinizing newspaper printing
Hoover, J. Edgar - Director of FBI
Houdini, Harry - Magician
Jenner, Edward - Inventor - Vaccination
Jones, Melvin - One of the founders of the Lions International
Lake, Simon - Built first submarine successfull in open sea.
Land, Frank S. - Founder Order of DeMolay
Lipton, Sir Thomas - Tea
Marshall, James W. - Discovered Gold at Sutter's Mill California 1848
Mayer, Louis B. - Film producer who merged to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Mayo, Dr. William and Charles - Began Mayo Clinic
Maytag, Fredrick - Maytag
Menninger, Karl A. - Psychiatrist famous for treating mental illness
Michelson, Albert Abraham - Successfully measured the speed of light in 1882
Montgolfier, Jacques Etienne - Co-developer of the first practical hot-air balloon
New, Harry S. - Postmaster General who established Airmail
Newton, Joseph Fort - Christian Minister
Olds, Ransom E. - American automobile pioneer
Otis, James - Famous for "Taxations without Representation is Tyranny"
Papst, Charles F. - Coined the term "Athletes Foot"
Peale, Norman Vincent - Founder of "Guidepost"
Penny, James C. - Retailer
Poinsett, Joel R. - U.S. Minister to Mexico who developed the flower: Poinsettia
Pullman, George - Built first sleeping car on train.
Ringling Brothers - All 7 brothers and their father were Masons.
Salten, Felix - Creator of Bambi
Sarnoff, David - Father of T.V.
Schoonover, George - Founder of "The Builder"
Stanford, Leland - Drove the gold spike linking the intercontinetal railroad
Stanford, Leland - Railroads & Stanford University
Still, Andrew T. - American Physician who devised treatment of Osteopathy
Teets, John W. - Chairman and Presiden of Dial Corporation
Thomas, Dave - Founder of Wendys Restaurant
Thomas, Lowell - Brought Lawrence of Arabia to public notice
Wadlow, Robert Pershing - Tallest human on record being almost 9 feet tall
Warner, Jack - Warner Brothers Fame
Webb, Matthew - First man to swim the English Channel (1875)
Wyler, William - Director of "Ben Hur"
Zanuck, Darryl F. - Co-founder of 20th Century Productions in 1933
Ziegfeld, Florenz - His Ziegfeld's Follies began in 1907.
Source telemosaic.com
Balfour, Lloyd - Jewelry
Bartholdi, Frederic A. - Designed the Statue of Liberty
Baylor, Robert E. B. - Founder Baylor University
Beard, Daniel Carter - Founder Boy Scouts
Bell, Lawrence - Bell Aircraft Corp.
Borglum, Gutzon & Lincoln - Father and Son who carved Mt. Rushmore
BuBois, W.E.B. - Educator/scholar
Calvo, Father Francisco - Catholic Priest who started Freemasonry in Costa Rica 1865
Chrysler, Walter P. - Automotive fame
Citroen, Andre - French Engineer and motor car manufacturer
Desaguliers, John Theophilus - Inventor of the planetarium
Dow, William H. - Dow Chemical Co.
Drake, Edwin L - American Pioneer of the Oil industry
Dunant, Jean Henri - Founder of the Red Cross
Ervin Jr, Samual J. - Headed "Watergate" committee
Faber, Eberhard - Head of the famous Eberhard Fabor Pencil Company
Fisher, Geoffrey - Archbishop of Canterbury 1945 - 1961
Fitch, John - Inventor of the Steamboat
Fleming, Sir Alexander - Invented Penicillin
Ford, Henry - Pioneer Automobile Manufacturer
Gatling, Richard J. - Built the "Gatling Gun"
Gilbert, Sir William S. - Was the librettis for "Pirates of Penzance"
Gillett, King C. - Gillett Razor Co.
"Grock - Swiss Circus Clown
Guillotin, Joseph Ignace - Inventor of the "Guillotin"
Hedges, Cornelius - "Father" of Yellowstone National Park
Henson, Josiah - Inspired the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
Hilton, Charles C. - American Hotelier
Hoban, James - Architect for the U.S. Captial
Hoe, Richard M. - Invented the rotory press, revolutinizing newspaper printing
Hoover, J. Edgar - Director of FBI
Houdini, Harry - Magician
Jenner, Edward - Inventor - Vaccination
Jones, Melvin - One of the founders of the Lions International
Lake, Simon - Built first submarine successfull in open sea.
Land, Frank S. - Founder Order of DeMolay
Lipton, Sir Thomas - Tea
Marshall, James W. - Discovered Gold at Sutter's Mill California 1848
Mayer, Louis B. - Film producer who merged to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Mayo, Dr. William and Charles - Began Mayo Clinic
Maytag, Fredrick - Maytag
Menninger, Karl A. - Psychiatrist famous for treating mental illness
Michelson, Albert Abraham - Successfully measured the speed of light in 1882
Montgolfier, Jacques Etienne - Co-developer of the first practical hot-air balloon
New, Harry S. - Postmaster General who established Airmail
Newton, Joseph Fort - Christian Minister
Olds, Ransom E. - American automobile pioneer
Otis, James - Famous for "Taxations without Representation is Tyranny"
Papst, Charles F. - Coined the term "Athletes Foot"
Peale, Norman Vincent - Founder of "Guidepost"
Penny, James C. - Retailer
Poinsett, Joel R. - U.S. Minister to Mexico who developed the flower: Poinsettia
Pullman, George - Built first sleeping car on train.
Ringling Brothers - All 7 brothers and their father were Masons.
Salten, Felix - Creator of Bambi
Sarnoff, David - Father of T.V.
Schoonover, George - Founder of "The Builder"
Stanford, Leland - Drove the gold spike linking the intercontinetal railroad
Stanford, Leland - Railroads & Stanford University
Still, Andrew T. - American Physician who devised treatment of Osteopathy
Teets, John W. - Chairman and Presiden of Dial Corporation
Thomas, Dave - Founder of Wendys Restaurant
Thomas, Lowell - Brought Lawrence of Arabia to public notice
Wadlow, Robert Pershing - Tallest human on record being almost 9 feet tall
Warner, Jack - Warner Brothers Fame
Webb, Matthew - First man to swim the English Channel (1875)
Wyler, William - Director of "Ben Hur"
Zanuck, Darryl F. - Co-founder of 20th Century Productions in 1933
Ziegfeld, Florenz - His Ziegfeld's Follies began in 1907.
