Free Masons- who are they?

My granduncle was a 33rd degree Mason. What does that mean? What are the aims of their group? I see their buildings in every city and their architecture is present in our capital and our founding fathers were members.

Anyone in here a Mason?

"2B1ASK1"

To be what?

A semi-secret society with vaguely religious underpinnings.

Kinda like the FIC...

Quasi-religious rituals.

Mostly harmless, I reckon, just like any other "secret society".

LF

Well, duh.

What do they believe? What are their goals? What are the requirements of membership?

Free Masons.

they're a (slightly) more visual "secret society" than most others of such caliber, but a secret society they are.

innocent? that's HEAVILY debatable! these guys have been around for centuries and gaining power throughout the whole time. when you hear about who really pulls the strings in the government it goes beyond just pharmaceutical and oil companies.

secret societies tend to impose their will from the background, choosing to influence the einds of political change the way a butterfly might change the weather patterns.

i should mention this is partially speculation on my part.

-

my suggestion to you is go Google "FreeMasons" and read, read, read. there's more than you can ever get to, but by the time you can't read anymore you'll find you know enough to get an idea of what thay (and other "secret societies" are about.

As far as 'what they believe'; They are quasi christian historically, but there's no requirment to be christian. Mostly they are a fraternity, old fashioned style. Funny hats, secret handshakes, weekly meetings with a binch of old guys smoking cigars wearing funny hats. (did I mention the funny hats? And aprons. They're big on aprons which are a modern nod to robes)

Their religous leanings are rather more toward secular deism. I belief in a distant creator and the need to live goodly lives helping others, rather than heavy religon through a powerful church, such as the catholics.

Goals ... unless you're given to believing really fun conspiracy theories, their only goal is to better their own lives and the lives around them through brotherly love and compassion. For instance, in Los Angeles one of the finest childrens hospitals in the USA is completely funded by contributions from the Masons. The finest doctors and surgeons in the city work there free of charge providing free care to children in need.

If you do like conspiracy theories, well, their goal is to rule the world and destroy the catholic church.

The requirments for joining is a desire to join. Call a nearby Lodge, ask for info, they'll be happy to help you. If you like their thing ask about joining. You have to be invited in by a current member, you can't just walk in an sign up, but they'll introduce you around and if you strike up some friendships someone will sponser you.

Red, i agree with you... for the most part.

as a whole, FreeMasons are fairly innocent and their creed is as you say.

but there are a small percentage (as in any large foundation) that use their influence for self-gain and whatever else they want to play with. there are some dark patches in the history of their society and there is darkness today.. it's just a small percentage.

of course, 5% of their membership is about 25,000 members.. so yeah, even if 1% of them engaged in subversive behaviour that's still 5,000 who slink around in the shadows.

but wholly speaking, they mean well and adhere to moral values. this would be truer per member in relation to how far up "the ladder" they are.

absolute power and all that...

The wiki has a good reference.

-Ghoti

They certainly are able to laugh about themselves.

http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/fiction/fraternities/stonecutters.html

Amazed this hadn't been brought up yet.

If your granduncle was 33rd degree, he was pretty into it; that's supposedly the highest rank. (though I've heard of a secret 34th degree as well). The Free Masons are a split-off of the Masons, which were founded centuries ago as an offshoot of the Knights Templar.

We're talking Holy Crusade, search for the holy grail, Da Vinci Code sorta stuff.

"2B1ASK1" simply means that the Free Masons don't invite people; if you want to join, you have to ask one to be a member and they can choose to sponsor you.

In practicality, what they do is pretty much speculation, but on a common basis, I've heard from a friend who's a mason that they hang out, have drinks and talk about what goes on in their lives and the community. Pretty conspiracy-filled, eh?

I once took a consulting job with the Masons. It was quite a bit of money for not much work.

Ultimately I cancelled my contract and returned their money. I will never knowingly do business with them again. Spooky group.

Freemasonry is basically just a sort of gentleman's club (in the classic sense, not in the "strip club" sense ) with some religious/spiritual underpinnings.

It's not really a secret society anymore, as nearly all Masonic ritual is easily found. They're more of a "quiet" society nowadays.

Most conspiracy nuts are just that.

Not personally, but married to one, granddaughter to one & neice to one. They are a mens' club - no girls allowed, though women married to them can join Eastern Star & daughters can become Rainbow Girls (a Girl Scout-like organization connected with their Order). The Order of Freemasons is one of the oldest mens' clubs on the planet & claim to have roots before Christianity - in fact, back to the original pharoahs of Egypt.

They classify themselvse as a brotherhood that does good things for children, old people, and everyone else that agrees with their principles, and I cannot deny that they do that. They have dedicated billions of dollars to burned & crippled children & sponsor their own retirement communities open to Masons & their wives / daughters. One of the "rules" is that you have to belive in a "higher power" (but they don't specify what kind of higher power) & don't ask.

When a man decides to become a Mason, he has to agree to abide by their principles & goes through an extensive orientation process, during which he learns all kinds of secret codes, history, etc. about the organization. The Catholic arm is called Knights Templar, & there is also the Yorkshire Rite (Christian only) & Scottish Rite (all religious affiliations welcome) once a man completes the basic "orientation" level, which can take a year or more of study.

The degrees represent knowledge acquired & how long a man has been part of the order - 33rd degree is pretty high up there; high enough to qualify as a Shriner (you've probably seen them at parades riding around in little red & gold "hat-cars", which if memory serves, starts at about 32nd degree. Most "Blue Lodge" (basic lodge) Masons consider the Shriners a party club for wealthy men.

You will not find "facts" or extensive details publicly available because part of their rule are that all Masons have to swear to secrecy & brotherhood; anyone who reveals the facts is ostracized. The Order of Freemasons used to have a lot more power than they do now (at least in US) when they got into trouble about 100-150 years ago for trying to control political systems & prevent non-Masons from running for public office. Famous Masons in colonial America included George Washington & Thomas Jefferson, among others (you'd have been hard pressed to get a political office without being one back then). Lots of rules now prevent them from actively recruiting or discriminating against non-Masons.

My personal take is that they're fairly benign, mostly old white guys who like to have a boys club in the name of God, Mother & Country. There are also Black Masons, but they are a separate - but equal - group. Some conservative Christian organizations consider both groups a cult, but the Masons don't see it that way.

That's about all I can tell you - hope it helps!

My maternal grandfather (189?-1966) belonged to a masonic lodge and as a teen my mom was in some girl-scout-sorority offshoot of them- "Job's daughters" or something like that. She says they weren't up to anything unusual and describes some of the (men's)masonic rituals as "silly". It was more of a social networking group, where members took the more creepy parts with a grain of salt.

My father was a Mason all of his adult life. He was also a man of great personal integrity. He never revealed any "secrets" as far as I can recall, but he did maintain that a lot of people had some far-out and incorrect theories about the Masons.

Masons are a benign and generous group who make positive contributions to society, giving of both their time and money to many worthy causes.

Red you almost layed out ½ of our goals, to close for an outsider !!!

to answer the thread question- a 33 degree is a shrinner, all shrinners are blue lodge members the highest mason being a master mason 32 degree then if your ready you are asked to become a shrinner and hence you are a 33 degree or a shrinner how ever you call the ball. some want to be known as a 33 blue lodge while other say shrinner.

if you with to know more im me and I’ll tell you what I can

have a great day wherever you are,

-Waves

~~ never do card tricks for your poker buddies

**

The Group of whitch you speak Olympia is called the " Eastern Star "

and as far as the silly part, she would never have known as no woman has ever been a mason or sat in a closed meeting.

wow 3 times editing, well to your statment you are very close, Teens girls of a mason can join a group know as Jobe's Daughters, a wife of a mason will if she wants, will go into the Eastern star.

I'm a Shriner and there's really no mystery there. The actual act of becoming a Mason involves certain rituals that are supposed to be secret, but in fact are just symbolic, for the most part. As for the Shrine, it's mostly a public service branch of Freemasonry. We get together and drink a lot of beer and we wear funny outfits and drive dune buggies in parades. At our meetings we mostly discuss fundraising efforts for the charities we support and plan more parties. IMHO, the world would be a lot better place if it WERE run by Freemasons. None (or very few) of the current lot in congress and the administration are even members, so far as I know. One of the highest level Freemasons in history was Burl Ives, if that tells you anything.

A-ha! That explains it. I knew you were a pinko commie plotting the end of the world as we know it.

You didn't think I spent all of my time stalking you, did you?

OMG Dave your giving away all our secrets, how to get discounted beer drink 1/2 sell the rest and give the money to a needy place.

and yes your guys hats are funny, I tryed to be a shriner but kept falling off the small bikes. ROFL

Well, 99% of the time at last count. You sure pack a lot into the remaining 1%.

By the way, one grandfather was a Shriner, the other a member of the Scottish Rite, and one grandmother was a nearly life-long member of Eastern Star. The legacy apparently ended with that generation.

I seem to recall something about Alexander the Great, mythical Greek kingdoms in India and the Himalayas, and an underground city somewhere called "Aggartha" or close to that.

All in the matter of the origins of Masonry.

Not actually true. There have, in fact, been several woman who attended legitimate meetings of Freemasonry. Often for rather mundane reasons. (There are some lodges that even admit women, though naturally other lodges consider them Not Real True Masons.)

ROFL Oh noes!!!

It's ok I think, I'm a Rosecrucian, so we're sorta cousins