Re: Fremasonry

I've seen them at work and I know they do a lot of good for charity and at times in the past I've beneffited from their contacts. Long ago I was invited to consider joining, but it wasn't really my thing at that time.

It's often true what they say, "It's not what you know, but who you know".

Re: Fremasonry

I never gave them much thought so I can’t make any comment good or bad. To tell you the truth I’m not mad about organisations, clubs, societies, etc., As Groucho Marx once said “Half the fun of being in a club is keeping others out” I prefer to be my own one man organisation, no squabbles that way and I can make all the rules and break all the rules whenever I like.

Re: Fremasonry

A wise man, as usual Jem.

Re: Fremasonry

Dad's aunt's husband was one. He was quite nice.
FIL was one ... he was very pleasant although brainy
Parent's friend was one ... embarrassingly tight with dosh and an utter snob.


Dad refused to become a mason cos he thought it was silly and probably unjust, in that they all helped each other 'get on' in their careers etc.

This is about all I can say. Probably doesn't help a jot

Re: Fremasonry

My Father was a Freemason, he was a Worshipful Master & his Father before him & his Father before that were all Freemasons.
We, my Mother & Brother & I, had fun going to their Ladies nights & Lodge of Instruction suppers.
Father died 19 years ago & my Mother 6 years ago, but I still remember the social evenings in London.
My Brother never wanted to be a Freemason, so the Family line died with my Dad.
My Brother still has all Father's Masonic paraphernalia.

Re: Fremasonry

I was "invited" to join the Freemasons on at least 2 occasions some years ago. I say "invited" but since they don't actually invite people as such I mean I was approached and asked whether I had ever considered Freemasonry. This was by my work boss and a work colleague. At the time I knew absolutely nothing but it felt kind of like a privilege to be asked. Therefore I resolved to find out all I could about it. That's when I started to read some undesirable things and that was the beginning of a 10+ year investigation on my part. I've studied their practices, all their rituals, their handshakes, signs and wards but much more.

I was left with a reasonably firm belief that Freemasonry is yet another "control mechanism" albeit quite a sly and shifty one. I consider it like the layers of an onion. The outer 3 layers are the "testing ground" nonsense layers where the craft bring people in to see if they can be used. The majority of Masons never progress beyond these first three levels (Apprentice, Fellow, Master). At this level all looks rosy and charitable and people genuinely go into it honestly and assuming the entire onion is like this, which of course it isn't. From the outset the Initiates are duped, hoodwinked and only told what they want them to hear. Like the Christian mantra (or most other religions) they are given a set of stories to take on board, historical stories, of a character called Hiram Abiff. All the while though this story evolves and changes as they progress through the ranks.

At the time, going back 10+ years, the thing that most perturbed me was that during the Initiation, candidates would have to kneel before an altar on which was placed their "Volume Of Sacred Law" which is the bible for Christians, Qu'ran for Muslims and so on. However, unbeknownst to the candidates, beneath the cloth on the altar, the word "JAHBULON" is etched which is a 3 part word consisting of

JAH - for Yahweh - The God of the Hebrews,
BUL - or baal - the Canaanite deity
ON - Osiris the Egyptian god of the underworld..

Little do the candidates know then that they are taking life oaths into Egyptian occultism.

The oaths were a showstopper for me personally. They are quite serious oaths with blood curdling penalties. I decided that it would be utterly irresponsible of me to take such an oath without first knowing exactly what Freemasonry was on every level and that of course is information you can't acquire before you have taken the oath. Catch 22 !

Some years after my work colleagues pointed me towards Freemasonry and I declined, I found myself on a cruise and with a dining table of 8 people - 4 couples. 2 of those couples were Freemasons (and female equivalent). Again I was "invited" to join with them saying I would make a great Mason. I explained my research and the things I had found, but could get no definitive answers from these Masons. They were nice people, and we have kept in touch since.

In the end I have found that every Mason I have come across tends to display qualities of skulduggery rather than seeming to be overly charitable. My old work boss was fiddling expenses and having affairs behind his wife's back. My work colleague was a bit of a rogue, he operated a bookie patch at the local Greyhound track and so on. The cruise Mason, would sit at the casino every night piling money into slot machines, smoked like a trooper despite being a nice chap overall. And so it has been with all the Masons I have come into contact with.

None of these people suggest to me that they are overly charitable human beings, with rigorous exemplary behaviours etc. This tells me that something is off with the whole set up.

As you delve deeper into the onion layers you find that power and control become significant aspects of the craft. Masons have infiltrated every walk of society, every position of power and are pretty much running a great deal of this world beneath a complete front which is those 3 outer layers, the first three degrees which present everything as charitable.

One must ask, where actually does all the money go (note you have to pay subscriptions!). Only a tiny percentage of monies goes to charity so where does the rest go? Whose agendas political and global is it funding?

There's just too much here to do justice in one thread. Individuals need to do lots of research, even those already in the club !

Re: Fremasonry

My brother is in the Freemasons. He's nice enough but likes the sense of importance it offers. Just up his street. I mentioned occultism to him and he denied it. I was amazed when reading some old newspaper articles to discover that my lovely boss of years ago had been in a senior position in the local Freemasons. I don't trust secret societies. I'd like to thank realist for his most informative post that confirms my suspicions.

Re: Fremasonry

My Grandad was a good man & my Dad was lovely. Freemasons aren't all up their own asses nor on the make.

Re: Fremasonry

Are any of them Muslims?

Re: Fremasonry

What I don't understand is, that if this 'organisation' is so great, why all the secrecy.

I work with 5 people who are Freemasons and you see them having hush hush chats in corridors. My uncle was a Freemason (not sure now if he still is) and I attended his ladies night too. Of the people that I work with, not one of them has ever shown or commented that they have any belief in 'God'.