Grand Lodge of England (June 24, 1717)

Let me be upfront with you: I am not a Mason, so I have no ‘insider’ information. But I’m not so sure about any of my past lives. I seem to ‘know’ more than I should.

Freemasonry is a modern version of a ‘trade’ union going back to King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and its chief architect, Hiram Abiff.

The tale of Hiram Abiff as passed down in Masonic Lodges underpins the third degree. It starts with his arrival in Jerusalem, and his appointment by Solomon as chief architect and master of works at the construction of his temple. As the temple is nearing completion, three fellowcraft masons from the workforce ambush him as he leaves the building, demanding the secrets of a master mason. Hiram is challenged by each in turn and, at each refusal to divulge the information, his assailant strikes him with a mason’s tool (differing between jurisdictions). He is injured by the first two assailants, and struck dead by the last.

The Masonic Legend of Hiram Abiff (Wikipedia)

The Ark of the Covenant (as shown at the top of the Grand Order crest) is testament of this connection. The cherubim are replicated in the main image. (Note the cloven hooves.)

“Since the middle of the 19th century, Masonic historians have sought the origins of the movement in a series of similar documents known as the Old Charges, dating from the Regius Poem in about 1425 to the beginning of the 18th century. Alluding to the membership of a lodge of operative masons, they relate it to a mythologised history of the craft, the duties of its grades, and the manner in which oaths of fidelity are to be taken on joining. The 15th century also sees the first evidence of ceremonial regalia.

“There is no clear mechanism by which these local trade organisations became today’s Masonic Lodges. The earliest rituals and passwords known, from operative lodges around the turn of the 17th–18th centuries, show continuity with the rituals developed in the later 18th century by accepted or speculative Masons, as those members who did not practice the physical craft gradually came to be known. The minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No. 1 in Scotland show a continuity from an operative lodge in 1598 to a modern speculative Lodge. It is reputed to be the oldest Masonic Lodge in the world.

“Alternatively, Thomas De Quincey in his work titled Rosicrucians and Freemasonry put forward the theory that suggested that Freemasonry may have been an outgrowth of Rosicrucianism. The theory had also been postulated in 1803 by German professor; J. G. Buhle.

“The first Grand Lodge, the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster, later called the Grand Lodge of England (GLE), was founded on St John’s Day, 24 June 1717, when four existing London Lodges met for a joint dinner.” (Origins – Wikipedia)

There are two Fingers of God (Yods) made up of four inconjuncts, one pointing at Mars, the other, at Neptune.

Sun Inconjunct Mars

You have a rather strong will, which may be difficult to control. This is because your way of doing something tends to interfere with what you want to gain by doing it. Your actions in some situations may surprise people by contradicting what they have learned about you as a person. Inside of yourself, you may even begin to feel that you can’t approve of the way you act, or you may feel that you can’t deal comfortably with the results of your actions. In other words, you get yourself into real jams.

Mars Inconjunct Jupiter

With this aspect you probably are quite active, with abundant energy for anything you want to do. But you must learn to control your energies rather than have them control you. You may be inclined to take excessive risks, to try out things that you are not sure you can do. But be careful, because with this aspect the energies of Mars and Jupiter do not work very smoothly together. If you overextend yourself and try to do more than you are physically capable of, you may have an accident. Also you may be clumsy when you take up a new activity until you learn to control your physical body better.

Mars Inconjunct Neptune

With this aspect you must learn to stand up for yourself and demand your rights forthrightly and directly. Often you feel that you don’t have enough energy to assert yourself or that any such effort would be futile. Unfortunately, some people with this aspect learn to work behind the scenes or dishonestly. Other simply give up or take a defeatist attitude toward life.

Saturn Inconjunct Neptune

This aspect can have a variety of effects, one of which may be difficulty in relating fantasy and imagination, on one hand, to reality, duty, obligation and work, on the other. Usually the reality, duty and work aspect of the combination is dominant, at least at first. Your imaginative side tends to be transformed into nervousness, fear and irrational anxieties. The most negative manifestation of this aspect is a feeling that you have to keep a tight lid on yourself and that if you look inside yourself too closely, you will find only emptiness and disintegration. It is difficult for you to realize that this is not the truth about your inner self.

“Hear, see, keep quiet.” Hmm.

Did You Notice the Black and White Floor Tiles?

This might seem a bit out in left field, but those tiles are important for a connecting link with the Jerusalem Temple: the Knights Templar. Colin Bloy, in his book I’m Just Going Down to the Pub to Do a Few Miracles, explains (in Chapter 21: What’s Behind DNA?) that “Of course, the equal armed or Greek cross was the first cross used by the Templars, and if the theory was right, it was also the first manifestation in the form of dragon energy, as seen in the first Fountain Experiment. […] The Greek cross is the basis of the chequer board when you work it out thus:”

Terra, the dragon, is one thing — the light of Coeius, heaven, is another. Hmm.

“A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men.”

• ―Bernard of Clairvaux, c. 1135,
  • De Laude Novae Militae – In Praise of the New Knighthood

That last part is doubly important: [he] need fear neither demons nor men.

They Say that the Knights Templar are NOT Connected

How could they not be connected? I suppose the contradiction is that the Knights Templar were dismembered by the Roman Catholic Church, and, like the Cathars, they unofficially went underground. But, even so, why pretend no connection to a Gnostic tradition? Is it because of the allegations of heresy? To see what I mean, read this:

The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which (in most Regular Masonic jurisdictions) only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word “United” in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders ‘united’ within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple (Knights Templar), the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.

Wikipedia

Conclusion

We have such a fixation on opposites, good vs bad, black vs white, right vs wrong that we forget that the way through is by combining the two into the synthesis of a third way: the middle column in the Tree of Life.

So, What Exactly is a Mason?

As one site put it: Freemasonry makes good men, better…

Amen.