KKK's Masonic Origins

[r.bartlett]

now you're just being silly and avoiding the issue..

cheers

richard

[prezhorusin04]

Yeah, i'll trust some Freemason i've never heard of to tell me what i've already heard from a dozen other Freemasons to be true. You should check out 33degree Freemason Manley P. Halls book "The Secret Destiny of America", and "Secret Teachings of All the Ages", for pages and pages, from a 33 degree Mason, talking about the Masonic symbolism of the dollar bill, and the foundations of America.

If the All Seeing Eye isn't a Masonic symbol, then why have i seen dozens of pictures with the Square and Compass with the sacred G, or the All Seeing Eye within it??



http://www.newswatchmagazine.org/jan.feb/index.shtml


"...We worship A God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition...Yes, Lucifer is God...Thus the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer..."
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Albert Pike -- 33rd o Mason. From Occult Theocracy by Edith Miller, p.221



"Not only must we preserve that which we have gained through the ages of striving, we must also perfect the PLAN of the ages, setting up here the machinery for a world brotherhood of nations and races"
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Manley P. Hall -- 33rd o Mason. From The Secret Destiny of America, p. 26


"Freemasonry speaks of initiations, of spirituality, of mysticism, of religion, of setting man free. Thus it enters...into the realm of Metaphysics. From long experience within, I have learned that its chief OBJECT is a strange reversal of those traditional values which form the very essence of all spiritual life. I have obtained evidence at first hand of the existence of, not exactly a secret plot, but of a whole habit of thought which is anti-tradional, anti-spiritual, and anti-Christian..."
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J. Marques-Riviere. La Trahison Spirituelle de la Franc-Maconnerie, pp.103-252. Also, De Poncins , Freemasonry and the Vatican, pp.92-93.

"When The Mason learns that 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 onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply this energy." page 48
'Illustrious' Manley Palmer Hall 33°
The Secret Teachings of All Ages



Take this passage from "Secret Teachings", page 407-408 in a segment called "The True identity of Satan." It is a conversation between Adam and the cherubim that guards the gates of the Garden of Eden.
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"Adam replies: "Many times have I stood within this courtyard and begged for permission to my Father's house and thou hast refused it me and sent me back to wander in darkness. True it is that I was fashioned out of the dirt that my Maker could not confer upon me the boon of immortality. But no more shalt thou send me away; for, wandering in the darkness, I have discovered that the Almighty hath decreed my salvation because He hath sent out of the most hidden Mystery His Only Begotten who didn't take upon Himself the world fashioned by the Demiurgus. Upon the elements of that world was He crucified and from Him hath poured forth the blood of my salvation. And God, entering into His creation, hath quickened it and established therein a road that leadeth to Himself. While my Maker could not give me immortality, immortality was inherent in the very dust of which I was composed, for before the world was fabricated and before the Demiurgus became the Regent of Nature and Eternal Life had impressed itself upon the face of Cosmos. This is its sign-the Cross. Do you now deny me entrance, I who have at last learned the mystery of myself?"

And the Voice Replies:"He who is aware, IS! Behold!"

Gazing about him, Adam finds himself in a radiant place, in the midst of which stands a tree with flashing jewels for fruit, and entwined about its trunk a flaming, winged serpent crowned with a diadem of stars. It was the voice of the serpent that had spoken.

"Who art thou?" demands the Adam.

"I," the serpent answers, "am Satan who was stoned; I am the Adversary-The Lord who is against you, the one who pleads for your destruction before the Eternal Tribunal. I was your enemy upon the day that you were formed; I have led you into temptation! I have delivered you into the hands of evil; I have maligned you; I have striven ever to achieve your undoing. I am the guardian of the Tree of Knowledge and I have sworn that none whome I can lead astray shall partake of its fruits."

The Adam replies: "For uncounted ages have I been thy servant. In my ignorance I listened to thy words and they led me into paths of sorrow. Thou hast placed in my mind dreams of power, and when I struggled to realize those dreams they brought me naught but pain. Thou hast sowed in me the seeds of desire, and when I lusted after the things of the flesh agony was my only recompense. Thou hast sent me false prophets and false reasoning, and when I strove to grasp the magnitude of truth I found thy laws were false and only dismay rewarded my strivings. I am done with thee forever, O artful Spirit! I have tired of thy world of illusions. No longer will I labor in they vineyards of iniquity. Get thee behind me, tempter, and the host of thy temptations. There is no happiness, no peace, no good, no truth in the doctrines of selfishness, hate, and passion pre ached by thee. All these things do I cast aside. Renounced is they rule forever!"

And the serpent makes answer: "Behold, O Adam, the nature of thy Adversary!" The serpent disappears in a blinding sunburst of radiance and in its place stands an angel resplendent in shining, golden garments with great scarlet wings that spread from one corner of the heavens to the other. Dismayed and awestruck, the Adam falls before the divine creature.

"I am the Lord who is against thee and thus accomplishes thy salvation," continues the voice. "Thou hast hated me, but through the ages yet to be thou shalt bless me, for I have led thee out of the sphere of the Demiurgus ; I have turned thee against the illusion of worldliness; I have weaned thee of desire; I have awakened in thy soul the immortality of which I myself partake. Follow me, O Adam, for I am the Way, the Life, and the Truth!"

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[r.bartlett]

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3. Is the eye and pyramid a masonic symbol?
No.
Of the four men involved in designing the USA seal in 1776, only Benjamin Franklin was a freemason, and he contributed nothing of a masonic nature to the committee's proposed design for a seal. The committeemen were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, with Pierre Du Simitiere as artist and consultant.1
Du Simitiere, the committee's consultant, and a non-mason, contributed several major design features that made their way into the ultimate design of the seal: "the shield, E Pluribus Unum, MDCCLXXVI, and the eye of providence in a triangle."2
Congress declined the first committee's suggestions as well as those of its 1780 committee. Francis Hopkinson, consultant to the second (1782) committee, used an unfinished pyramid in his design. Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, and William Barton, artist and consultant, borrowed from earlier designs and sketched what at length became the United States Seal. None of the final designers of the seal&3151;William Baron, Charles Thomson, Sir John Prestwick—were freemasons.
"The single eye was a well-established artistic convention for an 'omniscient Ubiquitous Deity' in the medallic art of the Renaissance. In 1614 the frontispiece of The History of the World by Sir Walter Raleigh showed an eye in a cloud labeled "Providentia" overlooking a globe. Du Simitiere, who suggested using the symbol, collected art books and was familiar with the artistic and ornamental devices used in Renaissance art."3
The all-seeing eye of God is noted several times in the Christian Bible:
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
Ezekiel 20:17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
The misinterpretation of the seal as a masonic emblem may have been first introduced a century later in 1884. Harvard professor, Eliot Charles Norton (1827-1908), wrote that the reverse was "practically incapable of effective treatment; it can hardly, (however artistically treated by the designer), look otherwise than as a dull emblem of a masonic fraternity."4
The first "official" use and definition of the all-seeing eye as a masonic symbol seems to have come in 1797 with The Freemasons Monitor of Thomas Smith Webb — 14 years after Congress adopted the design for the Seal: "...and although our thoughts, words and actions, may be hidden from the eyes of man yet that All-Seeing Eye, whom the Sun Moon and Stars obey, and under whose watchful care even comets perform their stupendous revolutions, pervades the inmost recesses of the human heart, and will reward us according to our merits."5
The eye inside of an equilateral triangle, point up or down, has often appeared in Christian art. "It is often placed high above the alter as in the Pfarrkirche at Grmunden am Traunsee (1626) and the Fisherman's church at Traunkirchen, while it appears over the doorway of the church of the monastary of St. Florian near Linz." 6
Neither the eye nor the pyramid have ever been uniquely masonic symbols, although a few Grand Lodge jurisdictions incorporate them into their seals. The combining of the eye of providence overlooking an unfinished pyramid is a uniquely American, not masonic, icon. There are no available records showing the all-seeing eye, with or without a pyramid, associated with freemasonry prior to 1797 and none at all related to the Bavarian Illuminati.
While the eye and pyramid icon is clearly not masonic nor derived from any real-world usage other than the American Great Seal, conspiracy theorists are quick to point out that it, or variations of a circle inside a triangle, often appears in corporate logos. In popular fiction a stylized eye and pyramid, or some version of a single eye, is a common visual shorthand for power, secrecy, conspiracy or control. The intent of the creators of films and television programmes, in utilizing these icons, can only be a matter of conjecture. It is quite probable that conspiracy theorists and the visual arts are simply feeding off each other.
As an example, the otherwise credible author Gerald Suster (d. 2001) repeatedly, and without citation, in his history of the Hell-Fire Club asserts that the eye and pyramid are both Illuminati and masonic symbols.7 A number of conspiracy theorists, such as Jordan Maxwell, have claimed that the eye and pyramid symbol is printed in Bavarian Illuminati texts "until recently" on display in the British Museum. No citations or references are given, although mention is also sometimes made to UFOs and extraterrestrials. The dust jacket illustration for the 1972 hardcover edition of None Dare Call it Conspiracy includes the eye and pyramid symbol. Passing mention is made inside to the Illuminati, but no mention is made to the seal.

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The Secret destiny of America
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While not mentioning Freemasonry by name, the illustration heading chapter 7 [p. 73.] incorporates a selection of masonic tools: the compasses, a square, twenty-four inch gauge, trowel and plumb rule.
Manly P. Hall claims that the Dionysions "signed each stone with the secret symbols of their cult..." [p. 77.] but doesn't provide an example, or even jusification for the claim.
When he claims that Ashmole was "the first non-craftsman to be permitted membership" [p. 80.] he is obviously unaware of the earlier membership of John Boswell.
Hall makes a number of other claims without giving any citation:
"a strange man who seems to have served the explorer [Columbus] in the capacity of councillor." "...reminiscent of the black-robed man who guided the destiny of Mohammed. Were these obscure figures ambassadors of the secret government...?" [p. 86.]
"All these groups [Illuminati, Rosicrucians, Knights of the Holy Grail, cabalists, etc.] belong to what is called The Order of the Quest." [p. 79.]
"The obverse of the great seal has been used by the Department of State since 1782, but the reverse was not cut at that time because it was regarded as a symbol of a secret society." [p. 180.]
The lack of reference to any proof is frustrating. But even when Hall purports to give citations, his citations also lack proof. An otherwise unsubstantiated claim is made that on 4 July 1776 a mysterious stranger gained access to the deliberations of the delegates to the Continental Congress, gave an impassioned speech which swayed them to sign the declaration of Independence, and then mysteriously disappeared from the locked room. In chapter 17 Hall reports that A. P. Warrington, esoteric secretary of the Theosophical Society in Ojai, California, possessed a rare old volume of early American political speeches predating those preserved in the volumes of the Congressional Record. [p. 165.]
"He made particular mention of a speech made by an unknown man at the time of the signing of the declaration of Independence. The particular book was not available at that moment, but Mr. Warrington offered to send me a copy of the speech, and he did; but unfortunately neglected to append the title or date of the book. He went to India subsequently, and died at the Theosophical headquarters at Adyar, in Madras." [pp. 165-66.]
Hall further cites Robert Allen Campbell who claimed, without citation, that a mysterious stranger had given the USA flag design to the committee of Franklin, Lynch and Harrison on 14 December 1775. [Robert Allen Campbell, Our flag. Chicago, H. E. Lawrence & co. [1890] 128p. col. front., illus. 21 cm. LCCN: 10002224]
All in all, this book is highly unsatisfactory as a history text. Unfortunately it has been widely read and has become yet another branch in the growth of several legends about the founding of the USA.
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The Secret destiny of America, Manly P. Hall. ISBN: 089314388X pb 200p.

hall writes -

Published in 1923, the preface of later editions of The Lost Keys of Freemasonry states "At the time I wrote this slender volume, I had just passed my twenty-first birthday, and my only contact with Freemasonry was through a few books commonly available to the public."


cheers

richard

[r.bartlett]

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IV FREEMASONRY

1. Is a 33° freemason more important than a 3° freemason?
No.
There are three degrees in Freemasonry: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason. Some jurisdictions recognize a fourth degree as completing the third degree, while the Swedish Rite confers ten degrees.
Individual lodges elect their "Master" for a one or two year term, individual Grand Lodges elect their "Grand Master" for a similar term of office, but these are not degrees. What are called appendant or concordant bodies confer additional or "side" degrees that have no bearing on or authority over regular Freemasonry. [With the exception of a few jurisdictions such as the Grand East of the Netherlands and the National Grand Lodge of Sweden.] The most important concept to note is that freemasons meet as equals, "on the level".

Does Freemasonry have a secret political agenda?
No. But of course we'd say that, wouldn't we?
A long-standing rule within regular Freemasonry is a prohibition on the discussion of politics in a lodge and the participation of lodges or masonic bodies in political pursuits. Freemasonry has no politics, but it teaches its members to be active in civic concerns.
The accusation that Freemasonry has a hidden agenda to establish a masonic government ignores several facts. While agreeing on certain Landmarks, the many independent and sovereign Grand Lodges act as such, and do not agree on many other points of belief and practice. Also, as can be seen from our list of famous freemasons, and the next section, individual freemasons hold beliefs that span the spectrum of politics. The term "masonic government" has no meaning since individual freemasons hold many different opinions on what constitutes a good government, and Freemasonry as a body has no opinion on the topic.
A curious accusation is that freemasons are, or Freemasonry is, synarchist. Properly speaking, the word synarchy is derived from a Greek root meaning "to rule jointly" and denotes a government in which the people had a share together with the rulers, or several groups jointly ruled. The earliest usage noted in the Oxford English Dictionary is in a Bible commentary published in 1732.
The Marquis Joseph Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre (1842-1909) redefined synarchy as a "utopian" socio-political alternative to anarchy: "government by an elite of enlightened initiates." Author of a number of occult and socio-political books,1 Saint-Yves popularized the myth of the secret world of "Agartha" and believed in the existence of spiritually superior beings whom he believed he could contact telepathically.
Saint-Yves's philosophy was encapsuled by Umberto Ecco in Foucault's Pendulum, where he described Saint-Yves:
"He was determined to find a political formula that could lead to a more harmonious society. Synarchy in opposition to Anarchy. A European society ruled by three councils representing the economical power, the executive power and the spiritual power, that is, the churches and the scientists. An enlightened oligarchy through which class struggle could be eliminated."
Other popularizers of the term "synarchy" have been Guy Patton and Milko Bogaard.2
While conspiracy theorists and anti-masons will use the term "synarchy" and claim it is masonic, they fail to provide any factual proof but rely on logical fallacy and verbal sleight-of-hand to use the terms of their accusation as the proof of their accusation. Saint-Yves is not known to have been a freemason, but even if he had been, he did not speak for Freemasonry.


cheers

richard

[r.bartlett]

Washington, DC
A secret satanic plot revealed?

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Pierre Charles L'Enfant
There is no question that the intersections of Massachusetts Ave., Road Island Ave., Connecticut Ave., Vermont Ave. and K Street NW form a five pointed star. It is also true that many of the city's architects in the nineteenth and early twentieth century were freemasons. From these two facts, and a plethora of imaginative conjecture, many writers have concluded that the city was intentionally planned to promote an occult agenda.
The theories have ranged from the simple observation that the Mall bears a superficial resemblance to a masonic lodge room, to the complex ascribing of masonic significance to the position of monuments and the number of street blocks between buildings.
Does the street design of Washington, DC prove that there's a masonic or occult conspiracy?
To even pose such a question a number of assumptions have to be made. One has to assume that the pentagram is a uniquely evil symbol; assume that it is highly valued by freemasons; assume that they believe that its physical presence can have a real impact on the world's affairs; assume that freemasons are responsible for intentionally including it in Washington's street plan; and assume that this will promote certain masonic, if not evil, goals.
None of these assumptions bear scrutiny. First, the pentagram is not an exclusively satanic symbol nor does it have any particular masonic significance. Second, Freemasonry, promoting rationalism and freedom from superstition, ascribes no power to symbols themselves. It is not a part of Freemasonry to view the drawing of symbols, no matter how large, as an act of consolidating or controlling power. Third, none of the men responsible for the street plan have been shown to have been freemasons. Although freemason George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles L'Enfant and approved the streetplan of Andrew Ellicott and Benjamin Bannaker, they were not freemasons.
The first of these unfounded theories seems to have appeared in 1989 with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh's The Temple and the Lodge in which, without documentation, they assert that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson interfered with Pierre L'Enfant's work to impose a pair of octagonal shapes around the Capitol and the White House.
The claims took an anti-masonic turn the following year1. and many professional anti-masons quickly became promoters.2. The assumptions required to believe that the position of a number of streets and buildings reveal a secret political or occult agenda have no foundation.
Detail from an engraving on paper March 1792 by Thackara and Vallance, Philadelphia, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress. Note the incomplete five point star shaped street plan immediately north of the White House.
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cheers

richard

[r.bartlett]

The correspondence and papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Pierre L'Enfant are clear that although L'Enfant had been hired by Washington, it was with Jefferson that he discussed the details. "The L'Enfant Plan in 1791 was not a complete architectural concept. Jefferson, who had sketched out a very preliminary plan that year, established the fundamental relationship between the executive and legislative headquarters and the public spaces connecting them." 3."Jefferson took an intense interest.... He even sketched out street sections for guidance of the city commissioners."4. It wasn't until September 9, 1791 that L'Enfant received his first letter from Commissioners Daniel Carroll, Dr. David Stuart and Thomas Johnson5.
The geometric plans of L'Enfant's radial city, influenced by André LeNotre's design of Versailles6. and Christopher Wren's unexecuted plans for London..." featured two focal points: the Capitol, and the President's House. About them as hubs, broad avenues radiate outward like spokes of a wheel, superimposed over the regular north and south grid pattern."7. The expansive axial boulevards and Gregorian/Paladian architecture was intended as a monument to the "Virtuous Citizen in the New Republic." L'Enfant's sense of grandeur and Ellicott's goal of monumentality aside, the deciding factor in the positioning of major buildings was the topography.8.
Andrew Ellicott
"But the next year, in 1792, when Andrew Ellicott, city surveyor, prepared the official plan derived from that of L'Enfant but with major modifications, it was embellished with suggestive building plans of considerable monumentality." " He also clearly places three public buildings on the Mall, enlarges the "President's House" complex as defined by L'Enfant, and also enlarges on the group which later became the municiple center. One can only conjecture that Jefferson's advise was obtained for these architectural additions since L'Enfant was already in official disgrace and Thornton [Dr. William Thornton, 1793-1802] was not yet in the picture."9. Note that the "major modification" were not to the the streetplan but to the design of specific buildings.
As Secretary of State, Jefferson was responsible for the design of the Federal City in Washington, D.C. Although over-enthusiastic American freemasons in the past have claimed Jefferson as their own, there is no documentation to suggest he was a freemason and he does not appear on any creditable and properly researched list today.
Benjamin Bannaker 12.
Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant (b. Aug. 2, 1754, d. June 14, 1852) drew up the "Plan of the City of Washington," between March 1791 and his resignation in February 1792. Although anti-masons such as Ron Campbell have claimed L'Enfant was a freemason, there is no published information establishing this.10. His obituary, published in the June 25, 1825 edition of the National Intelligencer did not mention he was a freemason.
Major Andrew Ellicott (b. 1754/01/24, d. 1820), a highly accomplished surveyor, was directed by Jefferson to perform the survey of the District of Columbia. Ellicott and his assistant, Benjamin Bannaker (b. 1731/11/09, d. 1806/09/25), began work in the spring of 1791. The following year Washington asked Ellicott to finish L'Enfant's plan for the city. In less than one month Ellicott found himself at odds with the Commissioners and resigned from the project. Neither Ellicott nor Bannaker have any masonic record.11. An April 28, 1791 newspaper account of the dedication ceremony of the cornerstone marker at Jones Point mentions Ellicott as determining the marker's location but does not identify him as being a Freemason.
Drawing lines on a map of Washington, DC proves nothing other than the physical existence of streets and buildings. A map of Sandusky, Ohio, on the other hand, might be more revealing.
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Charles L. Westbrook Jr. Ph.D America's Oldest Secret: The Talisman of the United States - The Mysterious Street Lines of Washington D.C. - Signature Of The Invisible Brotherhood. 123 p. 1990 [PO Box 54 Ayden, NC 28513 USA] ^
What may be the first of these accusations appeared in "Freemasonry: Satan's Door to America?" by J. Edward Decker, founder and International Director of Saints Alive in Jesus, in his undated newsletter, Free the Masons Ministries, possibly printed in the late 1980s. This included a map of Washington. D.C., with a pentagram overlaid on the streets. In 1991, Ron Campbell, director of the Jeremiah Project, claimed that the four cornerstones of the District of Columbia, laid with Masonic ceremony in April of 1791, revealed a sinister conspiracy, and that the design of the city's streets revealed Freemasonry's "bizarre pagan beliefs." Richard Hoagland, author of "The Monuments of Mars and other books on an alleged Masonic/NASA conspiracy, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in his October 17, 1995 address to the Million Man March, David Bay, Director of Cutting Edge Ministries in N. Attleboro, Massachusetts and David Icke among others, have all claimed that the street plan, or at least the architecture, of Washington DC proves a masonic conspiracy. ^
Washington Architecture 1791-1957. Prepared by a Committee of the Washington-Metropolitan Chapter American Institute of Architects. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York, U.S.A.. 1957. LCCCN 57-10358. 96 p. 5 3/4" x 8 3/4". p. 12. ^
Ibid. p. 14. ^
Elizabeth S. Kite, L'Enfant and Washington 1791-1792 New York, Arno Press & The New York Times: 1970, (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1929). p. 21. Washington's support for L"Enfant and lack of input into the plan is noted on p.48, as is Jefferson's forwarding to L'Enfant the plans for Frankfort-on-the-Mayne, Carlsruhe, Amsterdam, Srasburg, Paris, Orleons, Bordeaux, Lyons, Montpelier, Marseilles, Turin and Milan. ^
Washington Architecture p. 36. ^
Washington Architecture p. 5. ^
Stanley Elkins & Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788-1800 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).
Bob Arnebeck, Through A Fiery Trial: Building Washington, 1790-1800 (Lanham, Md: Madison Books, 1991).
William Tindall, History of the City of Washington (Knoxville, TN: 1914).
Writings of Washington, Bicentennial Edition, United States Government Printing Office, Vol. 12 ^
H. Paul Caemmerer, The Life of Pierre Charles L'Enfant Planner of the City of Washington, Da Capo Press, New York, Washington DC: 1950. p.12. ^
David Ovason, in hisThe Secret Zodiacs of Washington DC, claims otherwise but admits he has no proof. p. 456 n58 ^
Patmos Lodge No. 70 in Ellicott City, Maryland, named after the Ellicott brothers, has no record or tradition of Andrew Ellicott's Masonic membership. Social Lodge No. 1, PHA, of Washington, DC has no record of Bannaker's membership or attendance. Also, see: David Ovason. p. 456 n59. ^
Cover illustration. Benjamin Bannaker's Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac, for the Year of our Lord 1795; Being the Third after Leap-Year. Printed for and sold by John Fisher, Stationer. Baltimore. Note that Bannaker is more often spelt Banneker. ^

cheers

richard

[prezhorusin04]

As for Manley Hall, he published dozens of books over decades of his life. And of course, he did become a 33degree Freemason. As was Albert Pike, who helped to establish the KKK.

Here's what i'm saying. IT'S A CULT. But don't feel bad, so is the Catholic Church and most forms of Christianity. You follow rituals, you follow leaders, you accept what you are told as the truth, honor and worship multiple mythological gods and paganistic deities. You are a CULT. Fancy it up and make it look pretty the best you can, you're still worshiping a decietful god of flies.

And just like all religions and cults, you believe and defend it because you feel it gives you answers, gives you comfort, gives you insight. The same sun worshiping fallen angel sex fiends established all of it. You're little sacred G, and Trowel, and Blindfold isn't going to help you now. Your Grand Architect of the Universe is a Goat, and he knows the secret of the Sphinx. But he's only telling you lies to keep you within it's decietful ranks.

I know that there are alot of good people who are Freemasons. They just don't know what's really going on behind the scenes. Most Freemasons probably covet Israel, and know that the new throne of Jesus will decend upon the New Jerusalem, and the New World Order is coming. You're controlled and manipulated by the Great White Brotherhood and Zionism just like every other religion and cult.


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20 GREATEST NAMES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/...gy/mashist.htm

John Adams - Spoke favorably of Freemasonry -- never joined
Samuel Adams - (Close and principle associate of Hancock, Revere & other Masons
Ethan Allen - Mason
Edmund Burke - Mason
John Claypoole - Mason
William Daws - Mason
Benjamin Franklin - Mason
Nathan Hale - No evidence of Masonic connections
John Hancock - Mason
Benjamin Harrison - No evidence of Masonic connections
Patrick Henry - No evidence of Masonic connections
Thomas Jefferson - Deist with some evidence of Masonic connections
John Paul Jones - Mason
Francis Scott Key - No evidence of Masonic connections
Robert Livingston - Mason
James Madison - Some evidence of Masonic membership
Thomas Paine - Humanist
Paul Revere - Mason
Colonel Benjamin Tupper - Mason
George Washington - Mason
Daniel Webster - Some evidence of Masonic connections
Summary: 10 Masons, 3 probable Masons, 1 Humanist, 2 Advocates of Freemasonry, 4 no record of connections.

SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Known Masons (8): Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, Robert Treat Payne, Richard Stockton, George Walton, William Whipple

Evidence of Membership And/or Affiliations (7): Elbridge Berry, Lyman Hall, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Nelson Jr., John Penn, George Read, Roger Sherman

Summary: 15 of 56 Signers were Freemasons or probable Freemasons.

It's true that this represents only 27% of the total signers. But this 27% included the principle movers of the Revolution, most notably Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, the primary authors of the Declaration. The former was a Freemason, the latter a deist and possible Freemason. If one were to analyze the Declaration, he would see the humanistic influences.

In any event, there is no evidence that even 27% of the signers were true Christians. In considering whether or not this is a Christian nation, it isn't the number of Masons that is as important as is the number of founders overall who were non-believers.

SIGNERS OF THE CONSTITUTION

Known Masons (9): Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Blair, David Brearly, Jacob Broom, Daniel Carrol, John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, Rufus King, George Washington

Evidence of Membership And/or Affiliations (13): Abraham Baldwin, William Blount, Elbridge Gerry, Nicholas Gilman, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Lansing, Jr., James Madison, George Mason, George Read, Robert Morris, Roger Sherman, George Wythe

Those Who Later Became Masons (6): William Richardson Davie, Jr., Jonathan Dayton, Dr. James McHenry, John Francis Mercer, William Patterson, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer

Summary: 28 of 40 signers were Freemasons or possible Freemasons based on evidence other than Lodge records.

MASONIC INFLUENCES IN EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY

- Lafayette, French liaison to the Colonies, without whose aid the war could not have been won, was a Freemason.

- The majority of the commanders of the Continental Army were Freemasons and members of "Army Lodges."

- Most of Washington's Generals were Freemasons.

- The Boston Tea Party was planned at the Green Dragon Tavern, also known as the "Freemasons' Arms," and "the Headquarters of the Revolution."

- George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States by Robert Livingston, Grand Master of New York's Masonic Lodge. The Bible on which he took his oath was from his own Masonic lodge.

- The Cornerstone of the Capital building was laid by the Grand Lodge of Maryland.

Even if the initiators of the Revolution had been Christians, the fact remains that the Revolutionary War and the nation's government were structured by the tenets of Freemasonry, not God's Word. It was an unholy alliance at best.

[r.bartlett]

>As for Manley Hall, he published dozens of books over decades of his life. And of course, he did become a 33degree Freemason. <

Manley did write several books but the one you mention as some form of proof of conspircy was written by him when he was 21 and not a mason..from info 'gleened' from the local libuary...Hmmm

>As was Albert Pike, who helped to establish the KKK.<

Again not quite proof..although regurgated as if it's a proven fact..which is isn't...

http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/kkk.html

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread68139/pg1



>Here's what i'm saying. IT'S A CULT. <

sure say what you like...doesn't make it so..only in your world...


>But don't feel bad, <

Apart from a little back pain..I feel great..but thats for the heads up..

>so is the Catholic Church and most forms of Christianity. You follow rituals, you follow leaders, you accept what you are told as the truth, honor and worship multiple mythological gods and paganistic deities.<

Whilst not commenting on the catholic church..your assumptions are just that assumptions not based on fact -you have never met me let alone able to pass judgement considering that you believ everything that watchy posts I hazzard to guess that your judgement is not quite infalliable..

>You are a CULT. <

I hope that's not a spelling mistake ;-)


>Fancy it up and make it look pretty the best you can, you're still worshiping a decietful god of flies. <

all hail the god zip fastener !!!

>And just like all religions and cults, you believe and defend it because you feel it gives you answers, gives you comfort, gives you insight. <

Again you have no idea about me or my beliefs...please don't credit yourself with perception...

>The same sun worshiping fallen angel sex fiends established all of it. You're little sacred G, and Trowel, and Blindfold isn't going to help you now. Your Grand Architect of the Universe is a Goat, and he knows the secret of the Sphinx. But he's only telling you lies to keep you within it's decietful ranks.<

Jeepers "man overboard!!!"

>I know that there are alot of good people who are Freemasons. <

Out there doing an awlful lot for the local community (btw our GL donated 100k to the appeal the day after boxong day..how much did you give?????


>They just don't know what's really going on behind the scenes.<

Again with the assumptions...

>Most Freemasons probably covet Israel, and know that the new throne of Jesus will decend upon the New Jerusalem, and the New World Order is coming. You're controlled and manipulated by the Great White Brotherhood and Zionism just like every other religion and cult.<

You seem reasonable then you write this stuff...jeezus...

more to follow -gotta go and pick up my new car (no not the pope mobile!)

cheers

richard

[prezhorusin04]

Actually, i think everything i quoted from Hall comes from "Secret Teachings of All Ages", and "Hidden Destiny of America", which were written when he was in his late 20's, and well working his ways up the ranks of Freemasonry.

sure say what you like...doesn't make it so..only in your world...

Nope, actually it's not just my word. There are millions who think Freemasonry is a cult..And pretty soon you debunkers will be the minority..

I'm not saying i know you. Just that if you're a Freemason, then you're part of a cult. No doubts about it. You follow rituals, pledge allegiance to your superiors, and a new god you don't understand, you don't know your true origins as a group, you worship and honor multiple gods, and you honor the Star of David. You engage in favoritism to other members of the Masons and use your inner connections to help attain the greatest personal success you can..

This is nothing personal, this is just what Freemasons do in their secretive shadows. Oh yeah, they get drunk and gossip alot too, but they also do rituals that honor different historical gods throughout the ages..

Tell me you don't honor atleast a handful of different gods. As a member of the Freemasons, not necessarily from your personal beliefs.

[r.bartlett]

>Actually, i think everything i quoted from Hall comes from "Secret Teachings of All Ages", and "Hidden Destiny of America", which were written when he was in his late 20's, and well working his ways up the ranks of Freemasonry.<


Manley Hall

Manley Hall - The Lost Keys of Freemasonry is a work often quoted by anti-Masons due to some of the statements made by Hall about the religious nature of Freemasonry. Published in 1923, it was written when Hall was barely 21 years of age - and some thirty one (31) years before he became a Mason!

Because of this, it can easily be seen that the book represents merely the personal theories of a non-Mason. Further, Mr. Hall (who passed away in August 1990) was a self-avowed mystic and hardly a "leading authority" of Freemasonry.


Once again the facts don't bear out what you want to believe..tis a pity but tis true...



>I'm not saying i know you. Just that if you're a Freemason, then you're part of a cult. No doubts about it.<

No, not in your mind but that still doesn't make it true..define a 'cult' so we can at least see where you are coming from...



>You follow rituals, <

yes- and so far I have been truely dreadful at them... :-/

>pledge allegiance to your superiors,<

nope -doesn't happen -care to eleborate?

> and a new god you don't understand, <

again you try presume you are in the 'know' when you admit that you're not..don't just throw things into the wind..state facts then we can discuss...

>you don't know your true origins as a group, you worship and honor multiple gods,<

we don't 'worship' anyone or anything..we are not a religion ....

> and you honor the Star of David.<

a 5 pointed star is present..however it may or may not be a star of david.. the isrealites are mentioned here and there but in a biblical context..


>You engage in favoritism to other members of the Masons and use your inner connections to help attain the greatest personal success you can..<

jeeze if that was only true..I can honestly say that I have NOT gained personally or by a business transaction any favouritism.

the only possible thing is that a fellow FM owns a business which my business partners father is in and looking for work so I passed on his C.V.

however neither my business partner NOR his father know I'm a FM...Hardly NWO stuff is it??

We are obliged to engage a mason above others PROVIDING it is not in conflict with our interests. (i.e we have a huge 'get out' clause if we need it)

If a Tampa bay buc's supporter interviewed a fellow buc's fan and a Steelers fan -providing they were both the same- he would 'probably' take on the buc's guy. this is normal human behaviour. A person should only be able to become a mason providing he has attained a personal standard.

i.e. he can't have a criminal conviction for instance. therefore -whilst it is not aguarantee- being a mason will let another mason know he should be of a similar nature..again NOT a g.tee but it's something at least.

(forgive me if I mixed sports back there... ;-)


>This is nothing personal, this is just what Freemasons do in their secretive shadows. Oh yeah, they get drunk and gossip alot too, but they also do rituals that honor different historical gods throughout the ages..<

This just seems such a paranoid perspective which because of it loses a grasp of reality..

>Tell me you don't honor atleast a handful of different gods.<

okay I'll shout it to you...in our ritual we are asked "in all cases of difficulty and danger ,in whom you you place your trust?"

the reply "in god" (no other reply is acceptable......)

the next line is "right glad am I to find your faith so well founded: relying on such sure ........where the name of GOD is invoked , we trust no danger can ensue"

end quote ..no blaphomet, jabulon ,lucifier niet nada none no way oooh.

>As a member of the Freemasons, not necessarily from your personal beliefs.<

Our rituals refer to past times but that doesn't make us devil worshippers..

.................................................. .............
SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Known Masons (8): Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, Robert Treat Payne, Richard Stockton, George Walton, William Whipple

Evidence of Membership And/or Affiliations (7): Elbridge Berry, Lyman Hall, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Nelson Jr., John Penn, George Read, Roger Sherman

Summary: 15 of 56 Signers were Freemasons or probable Freemasons.


again I have trouble with this..8 confirmed masons is 8 confirmed masons..therefore you cannot then put the uncomfirmed with the confirmed in order to bulk up your conspiricy..This is just lies, damn lies and statistics

basically the true CONFIRMED figure is

8 /56 x 100= 14%

ie a damn sight less than the figure you quoted. This is why so much of this stuff is suspect.

Rather than post the true figure and hope the public will go along, you fudge the figures so it makes the case..don't work.

Only the #believers# and guliable will not question this.. and that say's more about them

However washington was a freemason, he was also a founding father and prezzy.

in your view was he a good man or a bad man??

I await with interest as you sit in the land of the free..

cheers

richard

p.s I have got my new car thanks for asking ;-)

[Emerald_Dragon]

>jeeze if that was only true..
>I can honestly say that I have NOT gained personally or by a business transaction any favouritism.

from what I can surmise, not too popular in your club, cult, organization.

BTW, you're taking this way too personally. we must have hit some true points to make you so defensive and agitated.
I know from personal experience that Masons prefer to deal with other Masons for contracts, and higher levels of management. You can claim it isn't the same over there in the UK, and I wouldn't contest it. But here in the USA, the Masons are a 'club' that promotes its own, over others. Sortof an unspoken but true, fact of living.


>Our rituals refer to past times but that doesn't make us devil worshippers..

i don't think he is. nor is he comparing you to the Bohemian Grove attendees.
And further, Freemasonry did have an impact on U.S. currency. Look at our money. Its plain as day. Look at the currency of other countries, you can see the historical influences to theirs. Example, UK currency shows the queen, does it not? I haven't looked at it closely, but I'm certain it has symbolism to remind you of whatever. Why shouldn't the U.S.?

>ather than post the true figure and hope the public will go along,
>you fudge the figures so it makes the case..don't work.

not everyone needs to be a Mason to pass their agenda. you only need the leaders and key characters to be part of it, to get everyone else to "follow the leader". Its the way things are. Any group has to have chain of command. If you're on top of the chain, your way goes, so long as most everyone under benefits and/or has no opinion as to what the currency looks like.

[r.bartlett]

>from what I can surmise, not too popular in your club, cult, organization. <

Well, at the last meeting I was singled out in front of everyone for praise by a very senior FM AND by a past master..quite undeserved I might add..

>BTW, you're taking this way too personally. we must have hit some true points to make you so defensive and agitated.<

You must have me confused with someone else..I NEVER take anything on the web 'personally' I enter without any confrontational aspect.

Rather -as before- to debate and discuss..If you read all the posts I have always remained calm. Therefore your conclusion that you are winning in some way is far from the truth and smacks of desperation...
--


>I know from personal experience that Masons prefer to deal with other Masons for contracts, and higher levels of management. <

Probably for the same reasons I gave in my earlier post...

>You can claim it isn't the same over there in the UK, and I wouldn't contest it. <

No I didn't, I gave my own personal account plus my thoughts on why masons would prefer deal with each other...see my previous post


>But here in the USA, the Masons are a 'club' that promotes its own, over others. Sortof an unspoken but true, fact of living.<

From what I understand the Americans do have more of a 'club' mentality. i.e bumper stickers baseball caps with sq and c on them etc.

In England this is positively frowned upon and if I ever wore a B.B.C and got seen out in newbury I know 'someone' would get word back to me.(if only to point out what a berk I looked in it!!)

ANY masonic reference is strictly forbidden in business dealings

this is a genuine cut and paste from a mason here in the UK (there was a debate about an american job website for masons some time ago)

"So come the interview for the prospective candidate, he walks into the HR
office and flings up a first degree salutation followed by a firm knuckle
(sorry emulation workers) grip. He should be marched right back out again
and not get the Job. (I have had the handshake part offered to me during an
interview I was conducting - the Mason was the better candidate - he did not
however get the job).

The same theory applies in Court, when faced with a speeding fine. Any Mason
who tries to take advantage of this situation should be thrown out from the
craft."

Whilst this bro. is not representing the craft it does allude to the sense of feeling that the craft is there for personal improvement...


>i don't think he is. nor is he comparing you to the Bohemian Grove attendees.
And further, Freemasonry did have an impact on U.S. currency. Look at our money. Its plain as day. Look at the currency of other countries, you can see the historical influences to theirs. Example, UK currency shows the queen, does it not? I haven't looked at it closely, but I'm certain it has symbolism to remind you of whatever. Why shouldn't the U.S.?<

The debate about the currency has been gone over. I as a mason choose to believe that the evidence would lead to the conclusion the dollar bill is not masonic. You as a non mason believe the oppersite...

and yes the queen is on all our currency. the reverse is used to show some of our history...

cheers

richard
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

edit bit -
fyi the 'job club' alluded to now has nearly 1000 members..

[r.bartlett]

The Eye in the Pyramid
By: S. Brent Morris, P.M.

In, at times, a strongly worded article Dr. S. Morris, a member and Past Master of Patmos Lodge #70, Ellicott City, Maryland, has "set the record straight" on the myth that the Great Seal of the United States represents a Masonic symbol. The facts are clearly presented, together with several examples of the use of the "All Seeing Eye" prior to any known Masonic use. This straightforward article is being presented as a STB so that Freemasons may have an answer when the question is asked "Is the Seal of the United States a Masonic symbol?"

Historians must be cautious about many well-known "facts." George Washington chopped down a cherry tree when a boy and confessed the deed to his father. Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball. Freemasons inserted some of their emblems (chief among them the eye in the pyramid) into the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States. These historical "facts" are widely popular, commonly accepted, and equally false.

The eye in the pyramid (emblazoned on the dollar bill, no less) is often cited as "evidence" that sinister conspiracies abound which will impose a "New World Order" on an unsuspecting populace. Depending on whom you hear it from, the Masons are planning the takeover themselves, or are working in concert with European bankers, or are leading (or perhaps being led by) the Illuminati (whoever they are). The notion of a world-wide Masonic conspiracy would be laughable, if it weren't being repeated with such earnest gullibility by conspiracists like Pat Robertson.

Sadly, Masons are sometimes counted among the gullible who repeat the tall tale of the eye in the pyramid, often with a touch of pride. They may be guilty of nothing worse than innocently puffing the importance of their fraternity (as well as themselves), but they're guilty nonetheless. The time has come to state the truth plainly and simply!

The Great Seal of the United States is not a Masonic emblem, nor does it contain hidden Masonic symbols.

The details are there for anyone to check, who's willing to rely on historical fact, rather than hysterical fiction.

Benjamin Franklin was the only Mason on the first design committee, and his suggestions had no Masonic content.
None of the final designers of the seal were Masons.
The interpretation of the eye on the seal is subtly different from the interpretation used by Masons.
The eye in the pyramid is not nor has it ever been a Masonic symbol.
The First Committee
On Independence Day, 1776 a committee was created to design a seal for the new American nation. The committee's members were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, with Pierre Du Simitiere as artist and consultant[1]. Of the four men involved, only Benjamin Franklin was a Mason, and he contributed nothing of a Masonic nature to the committee's proposed design for a seal.

Du Simitiere, the committee's consultant and a non-Mason, contributed several major design features that made their way into the ultimate design of the seal: 'the shield, E Pluribus Unum, MDCCLXXVI, and the eye of providence in a triangle."[2] The eye of providence on the seal thus can be traced, not to the Masons, but to a non-Mason consultant to the committee.

"The single eye was a well-established artistic convention for an 'omniscient Ubiquitous Deity' in the medallic art of the Renaissance. Du Simitiere, who suggested using the symbol, collected art books and was familiar with the artistic and ornamental devices used in Renaissance art."[3] This was the same cultural iconography that eventually led Masons to add the all-seeing eye to their symbols.

The Second and Third Committees
Congress declined the first committees suggestions as well as those of its 1780 committee. Francis Hopkinson, consultant to the second committee, had several ideas that eventually made it into the seal: "white and red stripes with- in a blue background for the shield, a radiant constellation of thirteen stars, and an olive branch."[4] Hopkinson's greatest contribution to the current seal came from his layout of a 1778 50-dollar colonial note in which he used an unfinished pyrarnid in the design. The third and last seal committee of 1782 produced a design that finally satisfied Congress. Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, and William Barton, artist and consultant, borrowed from earlier designs and sketched what at length became the United States Seal.

The misinterpretation of the seal as a Masonic emblem may have been first introduced a century later in 1884. Harvard Professor Eliot Norton wrote that the reverse was 'practically incapable of effective treatment; it can hardly, (however artistically treated by the designer), look otherwise than as a dull emblem of a Masonic fraternity.[5]

Interpreting the Symbol
The "Remarks and Explanations" of Thomson and Barton are the only explanation of the symbols' meaning. Despite what anti-Masons may believe, there's no reason to doubt the interpretation accepted by the Congress.

The Pyramid signified Strength and Duration: The Eye over it & the Motto allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favor of the American cause.[6]

The committees and consultants who designed the great Seal of the United States contained only one Mason, Benjamin Franklin. The only possibly Masonic design element among the very many on the seal is the eye of providence, and the interpretation of it by the designers is different from that used by Masons. The eye on the seal represents an active intervention of God in the affairs of men, while the Masonic symbol stands for a passive awareness by God of the activities of men.

The first "official" use and definition of the all-seeing eye as a Masonic symbol seems to have come in 1797 with The Freemasons Monitor of Thomas Smith Webb -- 14 years after Congress adopted the design for the seal. Here's how Webb explains the symbol.

"[A]nd although our thoughts, words and actions, may be hidden from the eyes of man, yet that All-Seeing Eye, whom the Sun, Moon and Stars obey, and under whose watchful care even comets perform their stupendous revolutions, pervades the inmost recesses of the human heart, will reward us according to our merits."[7]

The Eye in the Pyramid
Besides the subtly different interpretations of the symbol, it is notable that Webb did not describe the eye as being in a triangle. Jeremy Ladd Cross published The True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor in 1819, essentially an illustrated version of Webb's Monitor. In this first "official" depiction of Webb's symbol, Cross had illustrator Amos Doolittle depict the eye surrounded by a semicircular glory.[8]

The all-seeing eye thus appears to be a rather recent addition to Masonic symbolism. It is not found in any of the Gothic Constitutions, written from about 1390 to 1730. The eye -- sometimes in a triangle, sometimes in clouds, but nearly always surrounded by a glory -- was a popular Masonic decorative device in the latter half of the 18th century. Its use as a design element seems to have been an artistic representation of the omniscience of God, rather than some generally accepted Masonic symbol.

Its meaning in all cases, however, was that commonly given it by society at large -- a reminder of the constant presence of God. For example, in 1614 the frontispiece of The History of the World by Walter Raleigh showed an eye in a cloud labeled "Providentia" overlooking a globe. It has not been suggested that Raleigh's story is a Masonic document despite the use of the all-seeing eye.

The eye of Providence was part of the common cultural iconography of the 17th and 18th centuries. When placed in a triangle, the eye went beyond a general representation of God to a strongly Trinitarian statement. It was during this period that Masonic ritual and symbolism evolved; and it is not surprising that many symbols common to and understood by the general society made their way into Masonic ceremonies. Masons may have preferred the triangle because of the frequent use of the number 3 in their ceremonies: three degrees, three original grand masters, three principal officers, and so on. Eventually the all-seeing eye came to be used officially by Masons as a symbol for God, but this happened towards the end of the eighteenth century, after congress had adopted the seal.

A pyramid, whether incomplete or finished, however, has never been a Masonic symbol. It has no generally accepted symbolic meaning, except perhaps permanence or mystery. The combining of the eye of providence overlooking an unfinished pyramid is a uniquely American, not Masonic, icon, and must be interpreted as its designers intended. It has no Masonic context.

Conclusion
It's hard to know what leads some to see Masonic conspiracies behind world events, but once that hypothesis is accepted, any jot and tittle can be misinterpreted as "evidence." The Great Seal of the United States is a classic example of such a misinterpretation, and some Masons are as guilty of the exaggeration as many anti-Masons.

The Great Seal and Masonic symbolism grew out of the same cultural milieu. While the all-seeing eye had been popularized in Masonic designs of the late eighteenth century, it did not achieve any sort of official recognition until Webb's 1797 Monitor. Whatever status the symbol may have had during the design of the Great Seal, it was not adopted or approved or endorsed by any Grand Lodge.

The seal's Eye of Providence and the Mason's All Seeing Eye each express Divine Omnipotence, but they are parallel uses of a shared icon, not a single symbol.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[r.bartlett]

Special Double Issue–The Art of Hoaxes
Devil in a red fez
The lie about the Freemasons lives on

BY DAN GILGOFF

When the ribald French journalist Gabriel Jogand-Pages walked into a Paris church in April 1885 and told a priest he'd been divinely moved to rediscover the Catholicism of his birth, you'd think he would have been laughed out of town. Jogand-Pages–better known by his pseudonym, Léo Taxil–was founder of France's Anti-Clerical League and Freethinkers Society. He'd edited popular church-bashing magazines like Down With the Clergy! and authored pornographic books such as The Pope's Mistresses. And Taxil had a personal ax to grind with Rome: He'd been successfully prosecuted by the church for libel, though he managed to avert a prison sentence. "Taxil had so many enemies," says William Harman, a religion professor at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, "that I'm amazed he was able to walk around freely."


All of which makes the church's decision to welcome him back into the fold look pretty imprudent. But there he was, in 1887, gushing to Pope Leo XIII that his bliss was so complete upon their meeting that his dearest wish was to die then and there. Just a few years earlier, he'd accused the pope of poisoning people. But the church had practical reasons to forgive Taxil. Post-revelation, he aimed his bogus exposés–this time with the church's endorsement–at another institution: the Freemasons, a fraternal order dating to the Middle Ages. Europe's growing circuit of Masonic lodges posed a threat to Catholicism; Masons promoted individual rights and, at least in theory, accepted non-Christian members. To Taxil, a secret brotherhood begged for "illumination."

Beginning in 1884, Taxil turned out roughly a dozen books–some longer than 1,000 pages–that painted the Freemasons as Satanists. His invented accounts of Masonic rituals included a "Mistress of the Temple" who worshiped "holy Lucifer" as the "only true God." The pulp fictions sold in the hundreds of thousands and spurred translations in English, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Afraid of targeting nearby lodges, Taxil fabricated an entire cast of far-flung Masons. His most popular creation was Diana Vaughan, a member of a fictitious group of American Freemasons called the Palladian Order, whose inner workings she described in her autobiography. "Her Luciferian origin and principles," Taxil wrote, "were shown . . . by the devils who attended her and through whose aid she made excursions to Mars." Such accusations were eagerly imbibed by a public wary of the secretive and politically progressive Masons.

Taxil's spawn. His writings didn't affect Freemason membership numbers–many French freethinkers publicly denounced Taxil as a fraud. But he did inspire others to craft ever more sensational accounts of the Mason-Satan connection. Antisemitic contemporaries recalibrated his rhetoric for their own use. "It's obvious that whoever wrote the first version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion was directly influenced by Taxil," says Bill Ellis, author of Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media.

Taxil's work informs today's extremist Christian literature as well. Chick Publications, which distributes Christian tracts, offers a short comic strip that calls Masonry witchcraft and fezzes (worn by the Shriners, a subset of Masonry) "idols dedicated to a false god." It even refers to Albert Pike, a real South Carolina Mason who was caricatured into a Satanist by Taxil. In his 1991 bestseller New World Order, evangelist Pat Robertson implicated Freemason "occultism" in a supposed international financial conspiracy. And a Mississippi group called Ex-Masons for Jesus brands the order a "pagan religion."

Taxil himself had no intention of aiding any Christian cause: He wanted to embarrass Rome. After promising to present Diana Vaughan to the public in April 1897, he instead used the occasion to reveal himself as a fake and to thank the church for its gullibility. "Palladism, my most beautiful creation, never existed except on paper and in thousands of minds," he told a crowd of 300. They were incensed, but Taxil had once more outwitted his audience: He had requested that all umbrellas and canes be checked at the door.

[prezhorusin04]

Again about Hall. I didn't make any quotes from "the lost keys of Freemasonry", but from other books that were written while he was a high ranking Mason. Don't know why you keep harping on the lost keys of Freemasonry when nothing has been said about it here except by you..

And honestly, i'd trust Halls work, even from before he was a Mason, before i'd trust you..You never did answer whether or not you had to put the blindfold on, and pull your little pant leg up for your initiation ritual, or how many gods you honor and worship..

As for the rest of what you said, basically what i'm reading is boring blah, blah..

[Emerald_Dragon]

wasn't the swastika used to symbolize things which the Germans used to further their cause? the "all seeing eye" was used to symbolize certain things, that well, the U.S. seems to be attempting to precipitate. i can see a connection. maybe i should join the freemasons to be convinced otherwise. sounds like a religion, a sect, or even a cult, to believe something that others don't, in order to be a member of, for self-enrichment. i don't see a conflict of interests/beliefs, do you?

[r.bartlett]

>Again about Hall. I didn't make any quotes from "the lost keys of Freemasonry", but from other books that were written while he was a high ranking Mason. Don't know why you keep harping on the lost keys of Freemasonry when nothing has been said about it here except by you..<



your previous quote -

>>Actually, i think everything i quoted from Hall comes from "Secret Teachings of All Ages", and "Hidden Destiny of America", which were written when he was in his late 20's, and well working his ways up the ranks of Freemasonry.<<


what i replied-

Published in 1923, it was written when Hall was barely 21 years of age - and some thirty one (31) years before he became a Mason!

I.E the issue was not that he wrote the last keys -rather your willingness to again use falsehoods to back up your argument. By keep repeating a lie doesn't make it true. It may convince some that it is true, but again it still doesn't make it true.

Thus, what I'm banging on about is that you keep erring on the side of fantasy in order to strengthen your 'case' however because you insist of using known fabrications your whole argument becomes a house of cards built on sand...

The Hiram key is such an example. The two writers (freemasons as you know) chose to believe certain things then continued to write them as FACT in order to prove a theory. Their peers (both in and out of freemasonry) tore them to shreds. Now their premise may turn out to be correct. Their sloppy journalism will never be thus.

The real pity is that your sloppy research OR willingness to use lies and falsehoods in order to 'prove' reduces your standing as a writer…..

To a point you are the FOX news of this debate. Sloppy journalism and propaganda used to fool the gullible and to a greater extent lazy to take what you say at face value.
The constant cut and paste without comment is unforgivable for you an educated man/woman.

If you qualified some of the writing by giving a prefix "there are certain aspects of this writers argument that may not bear out though examination, however the crux is such and such and with that I agree"

Then we could all see why you chose to C&P that article.

>And honestly, i'd trust Halls work, even from before he was a Mason, before i'd trust you..You never did answer whether or not you had to put the blindfold on, and pull your little pant leg up for your initiation ritual, or how many gods you honor and worship..<

I don't care if you trust me or not. That isn't the issue here. Being honest and not telling porkys is far more important than being believed.

The middle bit you probably know the answer too better than me

The last bit is one -T.G.A.O.T.U however we don't worship as we are not a religion,cult,sect etc.


Cheers

Richard

p.s happy easter !!

[r.bartlett]

wasn't the swastika used to symbolize things which the Germans used to further their cause?

http://www.stormfront.org/whitehistory/hwr5d.htm

All symbols are use to represent something else -that's what makes them a symbol ;-))


>the "all seeing eye" was used to symbolize certain things, that well, the U.S. seems to be attempting to precipitate. i can see a connection. <

This is a very muddled sentance. Please elborate on exactly what you are trying to say..then we can discuss it.

However please be careful because to the untrained one could be led into believing you were trying to link the two.

http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masonry/Essays/fascism.html
http://www.bessel.org/nazifmy.htm
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/hitler.html
http://www.freedomdomain.com/namason1.html
http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/nazigerm.html


>maybe i should join the freemasons to be convinced otherwise.<

http://www.pglleics.fsnet.co.uk/page8.html

does this sound like you??

cheers

richard

[r.bartlett]

>sounds like a religion, a sect, or even a cult, to believe something that others don't, in order to be a member of, for self-enrichment. i don't see a conflict of interests/beliefs, do you? <

'Religious Intolerants', perhaps acutely aware of the charges which have been leveled against them, are quite quick to label Freemasonry as a cult and Masons as cultists.

Whether it's seeing a local parade with Shriners dressed in imitation of Arabic costumes playing flutes or whether it's being present at a Masonic funeral service with a group of men dressed in black tuxedos and gloves, the most gullible among us might even consider this spurious charge as being possible.

Let us examine in detail the differences between Freemasonry and cults so that you can decide for yourself. As you'll see, there are LOTS of reasons why Freemasonry is NOT a cult!



Unlike a cult:
The person joining Freemasonry knows clearly what organization he is joining. He understands that he himself has asked to become a member.

He retains freedom of religion, politics, friends, family association, selection of spouse, and information access to television, radio, reading material, telephone, and mail.

The connection with Freemasonry is usually infrequent: once or twice a month. Although for some, Masonic activities will occur 2-3 times a week, others proudly maintain Masonic membership attending only 1-2 (or even no) meetings each year. There are no enforced long-term Masonic activities. The longest Masonic event rarely, if ever, lasts longer than a day. Even events which span a multiple day period (annual Grand Lodge meetings, for example) leave members free to return to their homes and family each evening.

A Mason can terminate his membership freely. In fact, if he fails to pay his annual dues, his membership is terminated by the Masonic organization! Should a Mason wish to leave the organization, he can request a 'demit' and receive a certificate which states that he has unaffiliated with the organization under good terms. No Mason is forced to remain a member should he wish otherwise.

No medical/dental care interference occurs or is even offered. This is not true in the many cults that discourage and sometimes even forbid medical care. The various hospital services provided by the Shriners are for crippled and burned children, below the age of membership in Freemasonry, and no Masonic affiliation is required for treatment in them. There are some states which have blood donation programs that enable all Masons to receive blood transfusions if necessary free of charge: we doubt that anyone would remain a member of an organization against their will just to have access to free blood transfusions!

In Freemasonry, records are kept and are available to all members. Cult records, if they exist, are confidential, hidden from members, and not shared. Freemasonry's records extend back some 300 years, all readily available.

While membership lists are not posted publicly, this policy is no different than that of private golf clubs or lists of employees of privately held corporations. Members are free to disclose their membership to whomever they please.

A legal system exists within Freemasonry and a Mason can also utilize non-Masonic legal and law enforcement agencies and other representatives if needed. In cults, there is only the closed, internal system of justice, and no appeal, no recourse to outside support.

Families of Masons talk and deal directly with schools. Children of Masons may attend public or private schools as they wish. Some Masonic bodies (notably the Southern U.S. Scottish Rite Masonic Jurisdiction) in fact vigorously support the public school system. In cults, children, child rearing, and education are often controlled by the whims and idiosyncrasies of the cult leader.

Freemasonry is not a sovereign entity above the laws of the land. Cults consider themselves above the law, with their own brand of morality and justice, accountable to no one, not even their members.1

A Mason gets to keep his pay, property owned and acquired presents from relatives, inheritances, and so forth. In many cults, members are expected to turn over to the cult all monies and worldly possessions.

Rational behavior is valued in Freemasonry. Cults stultify members' critical thinking abilities and capacity for rational, independent thinking; normal thought processes are stifled and broken (somewhat like the manner of actions of those who make the charge that Freemasons are cultists!).

Suggestions and criticism can be made to leadership through advocated, proper channels. There are no 'suggestion boxes' in cults. The cult is always right, and the members (and outsiders) are always wrong.

Masonic leadership is elected, usually annually. No Masonic leader serves 'for life'. Should a Masonic leader act improperly, he can be removed from office. Even the highest ranking officer within a Masonic jurisdiction (a Grand Master) serves at the will and pleasure of the membership and can be removed for malfeasance or acts detrimental to the fraternity.

There is no single leader of Freemasonry. There are hundreds of Grand Lodges throughout the world, and each is sovereign unto itself. A Grand Lodge controls only its own subordinate lodges and no others. Rules made by a Grand Lodge apply only to its own members.

Masons may affiliate with more than one Grand Lodge. With rare exceptions, there is no bar to joining multiple lodges in multiple jurisdictions.

Freemasonry does not use its members for medical and psychological experiments - period! Cults essentially perform psychological experiments on their members through implementing thought-reform processes without members' knowledge or consent.

Masons become more and more a part of the community through various lodge-sponsored events. In a cult, members come to know less and less abut the outside world; contact with or information about life outside the cult is sometimes openly frowned upon, if not forbidden.

Freemasonry has no particular dietary suggestions or recommendations. Typically, because of intense work schedule, lack of funds, and other cult demands, members are not able to maintain healthy eating habits. (Freemasons frequently host public dinners which anyone can attend and Masonic events regularly have plenty of food for those attending.)

Masonry regularly contributes to other groups and organizations. Masonic organizations take leadership positions in fund raising for charities and public good (see our section on Charities). Cults desperately seek to keep whatever assets they are able to obtain; Freemasonry shares with the world - estimates currently are at approximately two million dollars PER DAY!

In Freemasonry, instruction is based on symbolism but brainwashing, or thought reform, is not used. Cults influence members by means of a coordinated program of psychological and social influence techniques. Freemasonry allows each member to provide his own interpretation of the symbols involved and no one interpretation is deemed to be correct to the exclusion of all others. Witness the many interpretations given by various Masonic writers over the centuries.... Religious intolerants will attempt to label this or that individual's interpretation as representative of Freemasonry but nothing could be further from the truth. What any other Mason (including the oft-misquoted Masonic authors like Albert Pike) sees in the symbolism of the Trowel, for example, may be far different from what I as a Mason see - yet neither of us is wrong.
For these and many other reasons, Freemasonry is not a cult - and, in fact, is further from it than the practices of many of those who hurl the term at it as if it were an evil invective.

The next time you hear or read of someone calling a Mason a cultist, we hope you will look closely at their own background and beliefs. Perhaps they know about cults because of themselves....

[r.bartlett]

Resolution on
FREEMASONRY AND RELIGION

Unanimously adopted by the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania at its
Quarterly Communication held in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
on December 2, 1998




Basic Principles. Freemasonry is not a religion, nor is it a substitute for religion. It requires of its members belief in God as part of the obligation of every responsible adult, but advocates no sectarian faith or practice. Masonic ceremonies include prayers, both traditional and extempore, to reaffirm each individual's dependence on God and to seek divine guidance. Freemasonry is open to men of any faith, but religion may not be discussed at Masonic meetings.

The Supreme Being. Masons believe that there is one God and that people employ many different ways to seek, and to express what they know, of God. Masonry primarily uses the appellation, "Grand Architect of the Universe," and other non-sectarian titles, to address Deity. In this way, persons of different faiths may join together in prayer, concentrating on God, rather than differences among themselves. Masonry believes in religious freedom and that the relationship between the individual and God is personal, private, and sacred.

Volume of the Sacred Law. An open volume of the Sacred Law, "the rule and guide of life," is an essential part of every Masonic meeting. The Volume of the Sacred Law in the Judeo/Christian tradition is the Bible; to Freemasonry of other faiths, it is the book held holy by them.

The Oath of Freemasonry. The obligations taken by Freemasons are sworn on the Volume of the Sacred Law. They are undertakings to follow the principles of Freemasonry and to keep confidential a Freemason's means of recognition. The much-discussed "penalties," judicial remnants from an earlier era, are symbolic, not literal. They refer only to the pain any honest man should feel at the thought of violating his word.

Freemasonry Compared with Religion. Freemasonry lacks the basic elements of religion:


(a) It has no dogma or theology, no wish or means to enforce religious orthodoxy.
(b) It offers no sacraments.
(c) It does not claim to lead to salvation by works, by secret knowledge, or by any other means. The secrets of Freemasonry are concerned with modes of recognition, not with the means of salvation.
Freemasonry Supports Religion. Freemasonry is far from indifferent toward religion. Without interfering in religious practice, it expects each member to follow his own faith and to place his Duty to God above all other duties. Its moral teachings are acceptable to all


cheers

richard

[Emerald_Dragon]

err, it still doesn't explain why a pyramid with an "all seeing eye" is present on the most common denomination of U.S. currency. we don't have pyramids anywhere in our country. or history. we didn't find them, like Mexico, we didn't allegedly build them like the Egyptians.

the only rational and connection to pyramids in our history, is due to a couple freemasons who happen to be our founding fathers. makes perfect sense to me. more so than your copy/pasted explanations from some debunkers term paper. would you wonder if you found a swastica on a pound note? that would be a curious find. and if some American attempted to explain it away as some fertility symbol from ages past, would you give it any credence given what happened only 50 or so years ago?

[r.bartlett]

Originally Posted by Emerald_Dragon

err, it still doesn't explain why a pyramid with an "all seeing eye" is present on the most common denomination of U.S. currency. we don't have pyramids anywhere in our country. or history. we didn't find them, like Mexico, we didn't allegedly build them like the Egyptians.

the only rational and connection to pyramids in our history, is due to a couple freemasons who happen to be our founding fathers. makes perfect sense to me. more so than your copy/pasted explanations from some debunkers term paper. would you wonder if you found a swastica on a pound note? that would be a curious find. and if some American attempted to explain it away as some fertility symbol from ages past, would you give it any credence given what happened only 50 or so years ago?

great post ;-)

you bring up some valid points re the why?

And in a sense of fairness I post this with the priviso that it does need more investigation...

http://imagegallery.webspawner.com/imageview.asp

cheers

richard

[prezhorusin04]

Sure Bartlett, i'm Fox News, yet you're the one using articles written by high ranking Freemasons to explain why Freemasonry is a good thing..

You're just coming across as a shill who doesn't want to believe that his fraternal brotherhood might have evil high within it's ranks. And you also don't want to believe that the eye is a symbol of Freemasonry. (Are you going to tell me that the Phoenix/Eagle isn't a Masonic symbol as well?)

MASONIC LIES
http://www.geocities.com/endtimedeception/seal.htm
There is a cry in Freemasonry today that the eye in the pyramid is not a Masonic symbol and it never was. At Masonicinfo there is a page which states "the eye in the pyramid is not now nor has it ever been a Masonic symbol." The author says that he has looked for 3 years for use of this symbol in Freemasonry and has only found 2 examples. I have been inside about 4 Masonic Lodges and 2 of them including the first I went to used the eye in the pyramid, the first one very prominently. So I know this to be Masonic lies. On another Masonic page entitled 'The Eye In The Pyramid' we read "The Great Seal of the United States is not a Masonic emblem, nor does it contain hidden Masonic symbols." Remember the quote above by one of Freemasonry's highly esteemed men stating it "discloses a mass of occult and masonic symbols..." Who are we to believe, Freemasonry's GREATEST scholar and philosopher or some other man in Freemasonry with no such credentials. Let me once and for all establish the eye in the pyramid is Masonic. The image below is taken from 'The New Age' magazine which was the official publication of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree of Freemasonry, the most powerful Masonic organization in the America if not the world. It is now called the 'Scottish Rite Journal'. It is from April 1960 and it clearly states that the $1 note is covered in Masonic symbols and it also states "Pyramid with the Masonic All Seeing Eye"



If all of this is not enough proof then I will give you another image taken from the headquarters of Freemasonry in Queensland, Australia showing prominately the Masonic eye in the pyramid. See the top of the image, right in the middle.

[prezhorusin04]

Continued:


One more to firmly establish the eye in the pyramid as a Masonic symbol.

One more to firmly establish the eye in the pyramid as a Masonic symbol.

[prezhorusin04]

Many companies use the pyramid within their logos. James Walker, a 32 degree Mason, shares some facts about the above symbols:

13 leaves in the olive branch
13 bars and stripes in the shield
13 arrows in the right claw
13 letters in the "E Pluribus Unum" on the ribbon
13 stars in the green crest above
13 granite stones in the Pyramid. (The 13 layers represent the 13 Illuminati bloodlines)
13 letters in Annuit Coeptis

It should also be noted that the Eagle has 32 feathers right wing, but 33 in its left wing. The 32 feathers representing the number of ordinary degrees of the Scottish Rite, and the 33 feathers representing the 33є of Freemasonry. (32+33=65) The tail feathers number 9, the number of degrees in the York Rite. The eagle itself is a prominent icon of Masonry, being used extensively in the Scottish Rite.

(Why Bartlett, why??)

Looking just above the eagles head you will see 13 pentagrams within a cloud. The pentagrams are arranged in the shape of a hexagram - or greater Seal of Solomon. The hexagram is a powerful tool used by pagans and sorcerers to invoke Satan. It is also the sign of Anti Christ with 6 points, 6 angles and 6 planes ( 666). ) The 5 pointed pentagrams multiplied by the 13 stars equals 65, the same cabalistic number as mentioned above. This makes one wonder with whom or what, we are to dwell in unity!

In Freemasonry, the Pentagram is found commonly in the inner chambers of the lodges. Its ancient origins are as a symbol for the star Sirius, inextricably linked through the Masonic lore to the Egyptian goddess Isis. As such, it has become the symbol for the Order of the Eastern Star, the female counterpart to the exclusively male brotherhood of Freemasonry.

The eagle replaced the Phoenix in 1841 as the national bird. The Phoenix has been a Brotherhood symbol since ancient Egypt. The Phoenix was adopted by the Founding Fathers (Freemasons) for use on the reverse of the first official seal of the United States after a design proposed by Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress.
http://www.gemworld.com/US-Symbol-1dol.html

Both Herodotus and Pliny noted the general resemblance in shape between the phoenix and the eagle, it is reasonably certain that the modern Masonic eagle was originally a Phoenix.
http://www.winshop.com.au/annew/Phoenix.html

Much More on the Phoenix/Egyptian Benu Bird:
http://www.nwowatcher.com/forum.php/...ew;boardseen=1