FREEMASONRY
A) INTRODUCTION.
B) TO THEIR DOCTRINES.
C) A DEFINITION OF THE LEVEL OF DEGREES.
D) U.S.A.
E) THE INITIATION PROCESS.
A) INTRODUCTION
As with any “Secret Society,” yes, I classify them as such, most Freemasons do not know what goes on behind closed doors (in the hierarchy).
It is very important to understand the goal of Freemasonry. It starts out as helping to sell or promote whatever religion is prominent in their particular area.
From “Morals and Dogma,” page 820, we learn the origin of Freemasonry: “The end of the drama is well known, and how Jacques de Molai [Founder of Freemasonry] and his fellows perished in the flames. But before his execution, the Chief of the doomed Order organized and instituted what afterward came to be called the Occult, Hermetic, or Scottish Masonry. In the gloom of his prison, the Grand Master created four Metropolitan Lodges, at Naples for the East, at Edinburg for the West, at Stockholm for the North, and at Paris for the South.”
NOTE: Jacques de Molai was from the “Templers Order;” which is part of the Roman Catholic church.
The “Highest Level” that one can reach in Freemasonry is the 32nd level, or 33rd in some divisions. Therefore, any level below 20th or so knows nothing about what takes place in the closed-door sessions.
The Freemason’s enjoy as their “Holy Book,” the “Kabalah.” “The three great lights of the Lodge are symbols to us of the Power, Wisdom, and Beneficence of the Deity. They are also symbols of the first three Sephiroth, according to the “Kabalah.” “Morals and Dogma,” page 2020. Masonry is a search after Light. That search leads us directly back, as you can see, to the “Kabalah.” “Morals and Dogma,” page 711. The “Illuminati” are said to have learned their agendas from the “Kabalah.” “Morals and Dogma,” page 744. And “all the Masonic associations owe to it their Secrets and their Symbols.” “Ibid.”
The Symbol of “The All-Seeing Eye” is the symbol of Freemasonry; which is also the symbol of the Roman Catholic Jesuit order.
B) TO THEIR DOCTRINES
“Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion [Should you go inside or join as a new member, you are told that the Lodge is NOT a temple of religion]: and its teachings are instruction in religion. . . This is the true religion revealed to the ancient patriarchs [Roman Catholic belief systems]; which Masonry has taught for many centuries, and which it will continue to teach as long as time endures.” “Morals and Dogma,” by Albert Pike, Pages 213-214.
“If Freemasonry were simply a Christian institution, the Jew and the Moslem, the Brahman and Buddhist, could not conscientiously partake of its illumination.” Albert Mackey, 33rd Degree Mason, “Encyclopedia of Freemasonry,” page 182.
“. . .the Schools, are the religion and Philosophy of Masonry.” “Morals and Dogma,” page 275.
“The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth.” Manly Palmer Hall, “The Lost Keys Of Freemasonry,” page 65.
“Masonry has nothing to do with the Bible; it is not founded upon the Bible, for if it were, it would not be Masonry, it would be something else.” “The Digest of Masonic Law,” [see all the] pages 207-209.
“Humanity, ‘in-toto,’ then, is the only Personal God.” J. D. Buck, 32nd Degree Mason, “Mystic Masonry,” page 136.
“The Bible is an indispensable part of the furniture of a Christian Lodge, only because it is the sacred book of the Christian religion. The Hebrew Pentateuch in a Hebrew Lodge, and the Koran in a Mohammedan one, belong on the Alter; and one of these, and the Square and Compass, properly understood, are the Great Lights by which a Mason must walk and work.” “Morals and Dogma,” page 11.
“Every man in essence is his own savior and redeemer; for if he does not save himself, he will not be saved.” Lynn Perkins, “The Meaning Of Masonry,” page 95.
“. . .we readily recognize in Hiram Abiff ‘the Osiris [In Freemason Temples this personage is raised from the dead in their ceremonies] of the Egyptians, the Mithras of the Persians, the Bacchus of the Greeks, the Dionysius of the fraternity of the Artificers, and the Atys of the Phrygians, whose passion, death and resurrection were celebrated by these people respectively.” A. T. C. Pierson, “The Traditions, Origin and Early History of Freemasonry,” page 240.
“Symbols came to have two meanings, the exoteric and the exoteric. The Esoteric meaning was the true or original meaning, understood by only a few and closely guarded by them. The exoteric meaning was the invented, or modified, explanation intended for the many [TO KEP PEOPLE OFF GUARD]. Charles G. Berger, “Our Phallic Heritage,” New York New York, Greenwich Book Publishers, Incorporated 1966, page 48.
“It is well known that the Tower of Babel was one of the most ancient traditions of Masonry.” John Yarker, “The Arcane Schools: A Review of Their Origin and Antiquity: With a General History of Freemasonry ande Its Relation to the Theosophic Scientific and Philosophic Mysteries,” Belfast, Ireland: William Tait, 1909, page 267.
“Masonry, like all the religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it. So masonry jealously conceals its secrets, and intentionally leads conceited interpreters astray.” “Morals and Dogma,” pages 104-105.
“The serpent is the symbol and prototype of the Universal Savior, who redeems the worlds by giving creation the knowledge of itself and the realization of good and evil.” Manly P. Hall, 33rd Degree Mason, “The Secret Teachings of All Ages,” the Philosophical Research Society Press, page Lxxxviii (=88).
“What is more absurd and more impious than to attribute the name of Lucifer to the devil, that is, to personified evil. The intellectual Lucifer is the spirit of intelligence and love; it is the paraclete [an advocate]; it is the Holy Spirit, where the physical Lucifer is the great angel of universal magnetism.” Eliphas Levi, “The Mysteries of Magic,” “A Digest of the Writings of Eliphas Levi.”
“Lucifer, the Light-Bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeblek, sensual or selfish Souls? Doubt it not!” Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Mason, Head of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, “Morals and Dogma,” page 321.
“The devil is the personification of Atheism or Idolatry. For the Initiates, this is not a Person, but a Force, created for good, but which may serve for evil. It is the instrument of Liberty or Free Will. They represent this Force, which presides over the physical generation, under the mythological and horned form of the God Pan; thence came the he-goat of the Sabbat, brother of the Ancient Serpent, and the Light-bearer or Phosphor, of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend.” Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Mason, Head of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, “Morals and Dogma,” page 102.
“That which we must say to a crowd is -- We worship a God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition. {THIS THEY ARE TO SAY TO THE UNEDUCATED; But to the higher members). To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat iot to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees -- The Masonic Religion should be, by all of us initates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian Doctrine. If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay whose deeds prove his cruelty, perdify and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him? Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the Eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive. Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil.” Instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the World, July 14, 1889. Recorded by A. C. De La Rive, in “La Fenune et I’Enfant dans la Franc Maconnerie, Universelle,” on page 588.
“The true name of Satan, the Kabalists say, is Yahweh (GOD) reversed; for Satan is not a black god, but a negation of God. For Initiates, this is not a Person, but a Force.” Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Mason, Head of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, “Morals and Dogma,” page102.
“The devil is now called Darkness buy the Church, whereas, in the Bible he is called the ‘Son of God’ (see Job), the bright star of the early morning, Lucifer (see Isaiah). There is a whole philosophy of dogmatic craft in the reason why the first Archangel, who sprang from the depths of Chaos, was called Lux (Lucifer), the ‘Luminous Son of the Morning,’ or man-vantarie Dawn. He was transformed by the Church into Lucifer or Satan, because he is higher and older than Jehovah, and had to be sacrificed to the new dogma.” Blavatsky, “Secret Doctrine,” page 71.
“It is far more important that men should strive to become Christs than that they should believe that Jesus was Christ.” J. D. Buck, 32nd Degree Mason, “Mystic Masonry,” Illinois; Indo-American Book Company, 1913, Sixth Edition, page 138.
Manly Palmer Hall, 33rd Degree Mason, states in his work, “The Secret Teaching Of All Ages,” page 140: “I hereby promise the Great Spirit Lucifuge, Prince of Demons, that each year I will bring unto him a human soul to do with as as it may please him, an in return Lucifuge promises to bestow upon me the treasures of the earth and fulfill my every desire for the length of my natural life.”
“Man is a God in the making.” Manly P. Hall, 33 Degree Mason, “The Lost Keys of Freemasonry,” Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, Incorporated, 1976, (Originally published in 1923), page 92.
“Be still -- and know -- that I am God. . . ‘THAT I AM GOD’ -- the final recognition of the All in All, the unity of the Self with the Cosmos -- the cognition of the DIVINITY OF THE SELF!” George H. Steinmetz, “The Lost Word: Its Hidden Meaning,” Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1953, pages 241-242.
“The perfect man is Christ: and Christ is God. This is the birth-right and destiny of every human soul.” J .D. Buck, “Mystic Masonry,” pages 62 & 86.
The “Fire Triangle,” symbolizes “the PERFECT or DIVINE MAN.” George H. Steinmetz, in his work, “Freemasonry: Its Hidden Meaning,” New York: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1948, pages 63 & 67.
C) A DEFINITION OF THE LEVEL OF DEGREES
From the “Scottish Rite Masonry.” In other words, different sects may have different titles.
33 = Sovereign Grand Inspector General.
32 = Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.
31 = Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander.
30 = Grand Elect Knight Kadosh.
29 = Knight of Saint Andrew.
28 = Knight of the Sun.
27 = Commander of the Temple
26 = Prince of Mercy.
25 = Knight of the Brazen Serpent.
24 = Prince of the Tabernacle.
23 = Chief of the Tabernacle.
22 = Prince of Libanus.
21 = Patriarch Noachite.
20 = Master ad Vitam.
19 = Grand Pontiff.
18 = Knight of the Rose Croix of II.R.D.M.
17 = Knight of the East and West.
16 = Prince of Jerusalem.
15 = Knight of the East, or Sword.
14 = Grand Elect Mason.
13 = Master of the Ninth Arch.
12 = Grand Master Architect.
11 = Sublime Master Elected.
10 = Elect of Fifteen.
9 = Master Elect of Nine.
8 = Intendant of the Building.
7 = Provost and Judge.
6 = Intimate Secretary.
5 = Perfect Master.
4 = Secret Master.
3 = Master Mason.
2 = Fellow Craft.
1 = Entered Apprentice.
D) U.S.A.
The Headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., meets in their “House of the Temple,” on the East side of Northwest 16th Street, between “R’ and “S” Streets, in Washington D.C. Who’s in charge now? Whether Democrat, Republican, Religious, or whatever, all the high 32- & 33-Degree Freemasons meet here.
On New Hampshire Avenue, Northwest in Washington D. C., sits the International Temple of the members of the Order of the Eastern Star.
E) THE INITIATION PROCESS
“33rd degree initiation ceremony: The oath is sealed by drinking Wine out of a Human Skull.” He then recites that he will not “violate” this oath on condition of hoping to die. James D. Shaw and Tom C. McKenney, “The Deadly Deception,” Lafayette, Louisiana: Huntington House, Incorporated, 1988.