If We Have No Secrets - Then What's The Big Mystery?
Anti-masonic groups accuse Freemasonry of being a clandestine society hiding dark and sinister secrets. Many Grand Lodges respond to this accusation with the inane refrain that "we are not a secret society, but rather a society with secrets." One could even question whether we are even that since accurate exposures of our "secret" ritual were published centuries ago and can be found today in any book store and on the web at a number of anti-masonic web sites.
So why should anyone bother to join Freemasonry if they can just browse to a web page and find out all our secrets? Because Freemasonry it is not about learning secrets, it is about the formation of a fraternal bond. This bond forms only through a candidate's direct participation in the three degrees of Freemasonry. Our ancient degrees are meant to be actively experienced and not read nor passively observed. The mystery comes about in how participation in our degrees creates the fraternal bond. So while we may in fact have no secrets to hide, there is still a mystery in Freemasonry that one can only discover by being initiated into the mysteries of our ancient and honorable Craft.
So why should anyone bother to join Freemasonry if they can just browse to a web page and find out all our secrets? Because Freemasonry it is not about learning secrets, it is about the formation of a fraternal bond. This bond forms only through a candidate's direct participation in the three degrees of Freemasonry. Our ancient degrees are meant to be actively experienced and not read nor passively observed. The mystery comes about in how participation in our degrees creates the fraternal bond. So while we may in fact have no secrets to hide, there is still a mystery in Freemasonry that one can only discover by being initiated into the mysteries of our ancient and honorable Craft.
posted by Richard Graeter at
12:51 PM
7 Comments:
Brethren,
Please join us at the Burning Taper blog for the Masonic Haiku Contest. Post your best Masonic-themed 17 syllable poem at The Burning Taper blog.
By
Mary and the Widow's Son, at January 23, 2006 11:14 AM
The Future: Advancing Masonic Morality in both Natural Philosophy and Geometry, by Bro. Jeff Peace
The Future: Advancing Masonic Morality in both Natural Philosophy and Geometry, by Bro. Jeff Peace
Throughout the past three centuries people have continued to inquire about the meaning of Free-Masonry. Many books have been written on the subject, some to purposefully further obscure its true meaning and others to create meaning where there wasn't any at all. This confusion is due to the fact that in the beginning Free-Masonry was a secret society that concealed what were, at the time, considered dangerous concepts and ideas. Adding to this confusion were the many schisms and internal conflicts that divided the organization and created a maze of competing ideas and philosophies. Today's Free-Masonry is a quagmire of conflicting information that presents a confusing series of ideas to its members, who try desperately to form some type of a rational synthesis of seemingly absurd teachings.
One only need look at the plethora of competing Masonic organizations today to see just how mired the organization has become in the myriad of unrelated philosophical ideas it has acquired over the centuries. Free-Masonry of the 21st century is an organization that has lost its way. The only thing today's Masons can agree to is philanthropy. The concept of a Masonic brotherhood has been torn to pieces by competing factions and ugly internal politics. None of this should come as a surprise. Any organization that has lost its central philosophy — its reason for being — will quickly begin to flounder on the rocks of the high seas of modernity.
The newly established United Grand Lodge of America is a lighthouse of the original Masonic philosophy of the early eighteenth century. These brethren have penetrated the dark fog that has engulfed Free-Masonry and have returned it to the solid foundation of its true roots in the Enlightenment. They are now in the position to advance the Royal Art to levels never before imagined by Masons of any generation. The brotherhood of man under the All-Seeing of Deity was but a dream to the Free-Masons of 1717; it now has the potential to be realized for the first time.
The days of the social Free-Masonry which took root in the 1950’s are numbered. The next generation will inherit nothing from their fathers and grandfathers but empty and decaying buildings. The pseudo-Masonic rituals left to them will be discarded, and then replaced with the true knowledge of Masonic Light. New temples will be erected whose doors will be open to all, regardless of race or religion, and the knowledge that brings peace and harmony will fill every corner with love and Light.
In the beginning Free-Masonry's aims and objectives needed to remain a closely guarded secret revealed only to the few, but those times are now past. What we once held close to our hearts shall now be given freely to all mankind. This knowledge is the rightful inheritance of humanity as a whole; we have been merely its silent keepers over the centuries. The time has come to restore this great gift to its rightful owners.
Free-Masonry's "Geometry" has reached into every corner of the cosmos revealing the true nature of the Great Architect in all of His infiniteness and wholeness. Our "Natural Philosophy" has expanded mankind’s understanding of itself and the world in which we live. It is, however, our "Peculiar System of Morality" that has failed both Masonry and humanity. This is not due to fallacies in the original system as given to us by the patriarchs of our progressive science, but in our failure to maintain and adapt the system to mankind’s ever-growing knowledge of himself and the Universe. The first priority of the next generation of Free-Masons and the United Grand Lodge of America must be the advancement of Masonic Morality in both "Natural Philosophy" and "Geometry." Mankind now stands uneasily at the edge of a precipice and must be given the working tools needed to avoid a catastrophe that could send it spiraling back into the darkness of superstition and fear. No longer can Free-Masons sit silently in their stately halls speculating on the future. The future is here today and our gentle Craft must rise to meet the challenges of generations yet unborn.
Today is the day we must rise up from our slumbers and once again make a difference in the world. The old rules that regulated our conduct must be abandoned and replaced with new ones that better reflect the environment in which Free-Masonry now exists. Masons who live in the past will die with it, but for those who see the necessity for progress and change there is a future filled with hope and service to both the Great Architect and mankind.
Let me finish with a warning to the purveyors of darkness, superstition and tyranny: While your numbers have grown during our fitful slumbers we have not forgotten your treachery or the flames of your pyres. The All-Seeing Eye is ever watching over its children.
— Bro. Jeff Peace, Rite of the Rose Cross of Gold
By
Tubulcain420, at May 03, 2006 8:20 AM
At last! I happen upon fellow travellers but ny the date it appears as if everyone has been and gone. Still...
I am Leon Davin. I have written a book called The Ritual - The Greatest Story Never Told. I have done all I can to suppressit from getting into the mainstream as it contains item only freemasons can grasp. Alas, that is the rub!
What I have been reading here is fresh and open. We as an organisation are not. Perhaps it's because there are so many at the helm from the old order rather like the leadership in the Kremlin before the fall of Communism. In the end they ran out of time and the new younger people brought a vibrant new and refreshing approach.
The single biggest problem we have as freemasons is that the politburo will not permit us to freely and openly discuss the ritual! And I mean the content in all its glory. If we cannot do that we are living in a kind of timewarp whereby we are unable to look outside to see what it is we are in but we are not permitted to do that so we carry on believing we are something we've been told we are rather than something we know we are.
I have dared to climb out of the vehicle like I was on a space walk and look with a warm heart and a cold eye on what I'm tethered to.
What I have realised is something every freemason should know. It is our right. With this arguable knowledge we can bring new light through old windows. Let me give you an example. The cornerstone of our society rests on the character Hiram Abi. Invariably this name is never spelt out in books but is commonly known as Abif. Not until very very recent times would this name have ever been uttered in completion. However, for those of you who are members of Chapter (the completion of the third degree they say) the name of our master is "Hiram abi with certain mystic characters". Those "mystic" characters are declared as TH. They, in themselves, have caused great consternation as they sit one upon another to form what is described as a triple Tau (a T shaped item) but actually, in accordance with the statement "Hiram Abi with certain Mmystic characters" (i.e TH) form the name Hiram Abith. So where does the Abif come from? Well, as I explain in the book, this is a mispronounciation. In England, particularly in London, and most especially at the turn of the 20th century, many people pronounce the letters TH in a a word as "F" - nence Abif for AbiTH.
This is vitally important to understand as it is the basis of beginning to understand who we are, where we truly come from and why we came into existence. Only then can we start the process of self-examination leading to the fundamental understanding of ourselves as the brilliant star we could and should be proud to be instead of walking around like the dazed and confused temporary survivors of the Poseidon Adventure. After that we can be overtly beaming with pride and begin a whole new generation of freemasonry. The 21st century desperately needs us more than ever. If we survived for much of a thousand years we can continue to bring light for another thousand.
In a sense, the Poseidon Adventure analogy is a perfect one. The ship is upside down. I am the priest and I tell you the only way out is up through the hull. Ignore the wandering dazed other survivors who can't be reached. If we can get out they will follow
But am I talking into space...
sincerely and fraternally
By
ardo ci, at November 01, 2006 2:25 PM
Just a quicky on the origin of Abif from Ab or Abi, In the Luther Tranlation Ab was traslated in to Abiv. Thats it, he wanted to give him a name instead of just son. AFS Jr
By
Anonymous, at December 18, 2006 11:58 AM
Does a smoker need to know the dangers of smoking for it to affect the quality of his life?
the principles individuals consume or are consumed by function independantly to the degree of their knowledge.
thus, being a student subject to the matriculation of your masters or those higher in rank confines you to the mind-set(as well as the subsiquent actions) you are inclined to.
this principle echos downward from the pinacle to the base [education(academic integration), media etc.] All who are subject to the program function @ varying levels of obedience to the variables set up by the programmer.
if your sight limits your ability to see the 'mysteries' above you, look around you. look below you in to the products of the indoctrine of your masters to see the epidemic self destruction and flames rising to the lower heavens. the burning felt is a product of the infallible immune system of Truth, turning the exploiters of His grace in on themselves thus removing those who would consciously or unconsciously stand in opposition to UNIVERSAL peace.
peace.
By
Anonymous, at January 07, 2007 4:33 PM
Does a smoker need to know the dangers of smoking for it to affect the quality of his life?
the principles individuals consume or are consumed by function independantly to the degree of their knowledge.
thus, being a student subject to the matriculation of your masters or those higher in rank confines you to the mind-set(as well as the subsiquent actions) you are inclined to.
this principle echos downward from the pinacle to the base [education(academic integration), media etc.] All who are subject to the program function @ varying levels of obedience to the variables set up by the programmer.
if your sight limits your ability to see the 'mysteries' above you, look around you. look below you in to the products of the indoctrine of your masters to see the epidemic self destruction and flames rising to the lower heavens. the burning felt is a product of the infallible immune system of Truth, turning the exploiters of His grace in on themselves thus removing those who would consciously or unconsciously stand in opposition to UNIVERSAL peace.
peace.
By
Anonymous, at January 07, 2007 4:51 PM
Does a smoker need to know the dangers of smoking for it to affect the quality of his life?
the principles individuals consume or are consumed by function independantly to the degree of their knowledge.
thus, being a student subject to the matriculation of your masters or those higher in rank confines you to the mind-set(as well as the subsiquent actions) you are inclined to.
this principle echos downward from the pinacle to the base [education(academic integration), media etc.] All who are subject to the program function @ varying levels of obedience to the variables set up by the programmer.
if your sight limits your ability to see the 'mysteries' above you, look around you. look below you in to the products of the indoctrine of your masters to see the epidemic self destruction and flames rising to the lower heavens. the burning felt is a product of the infallible immune system of Truth, turning the exploiters of His grace in on themselves thus removing those who would consciously or unconsciously stand in opposition to UNIVERSAL peace.
peace.
By
KASEB£AT$unLTD, at January 07, 2007 4:52 PM
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