Reliable sources on Freemasonry

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Howdy Sweeney, can I add a little something?

There is a great deal of misinformation about Freemasonry on these threads. I speak from 25 years of experience as a former Freemason before I left the order after my conversion to Catholicism. I left in obedience to my Church. Firstly, Freemasonry is divided generally into three groups. Blue Lodge Masonry (to which every Mason must belong) York Rite Masonry and Scottish Rite Masonry. The Blue Lodge consists of three degrees and is the ordinary membership for the vast majority of Masons. York Rite is primarily Christian in orientation and places heavy emphasis on reverence to Jesus Christ. Scottish Rite Masonry attracts both Christians and members of other non-Christian religions. Shriners are Scottish Rite or York Rite Masons. The rituals of Freemasonry are symbolic and moral in nature and while teaching largely humanism, are not morally objectionable. Masonic membership in general is shrinking rapidly, due to an aging membership and the difficulty of attracting younger candidates. Freemasonry has in the past possessed some temporal power, but wields little influence today. Freemasonry possesses no earth-shattering secrets or satanic rituals. I think that most people would be greatly disappointed if they found out what the secrets of Freemasonry really are. I have no quarrel with Freemasonry, I have been shown a greater truth by the Catholic Church.
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Good news:

Our sactristan has agreed to me asking our local press to publish a retraction. In it, I simply apologise for the information I passed on in good faith which originated as ill advice on an internet forum. I do not have to mention the name of the forum nor that it is catholic. I have agreed to ask the local press to publish a retraction. I am required to mention the fact the advice given to me was not qualified by the church or any church appointed authority and has no canonical value whatsoever.

All’s well that ends well.

I had been told by numerous people here that freemasonry was absolutely forbidden by the CC. That any practicing catholic mason is automatically excommunicated, may not receive the Sacrament and is in grave sin carrying the punishment of damnation. That was reiterated by numerous people, they even quoted a document which I showed around. The guy in question would not listen. I was advised to inform all of the gravity of his sin. The moral of the story is: enjoy what you read here. But do not take any advice seriously. Go and check with your respective church elders.
 
Sweeney,
Would you think that Morgan’s book would be useful for the purposes of my story, even if it is not really applicable for Masonry today?

I think I know what symbol you are reffering to. I merely recognize it from a movie (one of my favorites), The Man who would be King. This is it I believe,

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Also, you mentioned the abbreviations GAU and GAOTU, meaning “Grand Architect of the Universe”. What cyphers are you refering to, if I may ask? Just out of curiosity :o

hosemonkey,
Thanks for the clarification there. Masonic hierarchy is getting a bit confusing 😛

And if anyone might know, behind my school is a large building with marble columns with “MASONIC TEMPLE” printed across the top. This is Masonic Lodge, right?
 
Sweeney said:
Caesar-

I know next to nothing about Masonry in Italy in the 19th Century.

As far as ritual/ceremonies, I will answer your questions so far as I am able to.

Regarding Masonic orgnization/hierarchy, each State is its own jurisdiction and has it’s own Grand Lodge. Customs and ritual can vary widely between these jurisdictions. I am most familair with Kansas Grand Lodge, but have been to Loges in Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Scottish Rite has seperate Northern and Southern Jurisdictions, and I belonged to the Southern one, though they are quite similar. The Shriners have a national hierarchy that covers the US, Canada, Mexico and the Phillipines. Most of the other appendant bodies, like Eastern Star and the youth groups are also governed on a national basis.

As far as symbology, again, I’ll answer questions as far as I am able.
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What do you know about the masons in Wisc. Are they Scottish and where did they get their origins and are they as active as I may think they are as has been told to us into businesses as banking? Dessert
 
Can anyone confirm whether or not King Victor Emmanuel was actualy the Grandmaster of Italian Freemasonry? I know that Garabaldi and others involves in the Italian nationalist unification movement were Masons, and even that it was the Masonic Lodges that were behind Italian unification and the wars against the Pope.

Also, out of curioisty and a desire to get some information for my story, can people merely walk into a Masonic building (like this “Masonic Temple” behind my school) to look around?
 
I don’t think I would go near the temple We have one in our city and I think Sixtus is right Be Careful! But if you jump into the fire don’t complain about getting burned or something like that! I can tell you some stories if I PM you. Dessert
 
dessert said:
I don’t think I would go near the temple We have one in our city and I think Sixtus is right Be Careful! But if you jump into the fire don’t complain about getting burned or something like that! I can tell you some stories if I PM you. Dessert
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I think I can assure you that Masons DO NOT eat babies or perform Black Masses or anything like that. As a general rule, when a Lodge is not in session, any member could take you on a tour of the building and explain the layout as long as masonic secrets were not revealed.
European Freemasonry has had a dismal record of conflict with the Church. The French and Italian Grand lodges, in particular were (and are) intensely political and adversarial towards the Church and the French Grand Lodge(Grand Orient) was not even in communion with most other Grand Lodges in the world. I believe that this is still true. The Lodge’s record in the U.K. and the U.S. is somewhat better although in years past Masonic sentiment and practice was anti-Catholic.
 
dessert said:
I don’t think I would go near the temple We have one in our city and I think Sixtus is right Be Careful! But if you jump into the fire don’t complain about getting burned or something like that! I can tell you some stories if I PM you. Dessert
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While I doubt that I would be hung, drawn and quartered for snooping around this Masonic Temple, it is probably best that I do not since that might be considered trespassing on private property and I dont really want a crimminal record 😉
I think I can assure you that Masons DO NOT eat babies or perform Black Masses or anything like that. As a general rule, when a Lodge is not in session, any member could take you on a tour of the building and explain the layout as long as masonic secrets were not revealed.
European Freemasonry has had a dismal record of conflict with the Church. The French and Italian Grand lodges, in particular were (and are) intensely political and adversarial towards the Church and the French Grand Lodge(Grand Orient) was not even in communion with most other Grand Lodges in the world. I believe that this is still true. The Lodge’s record in the U.K. and the U.S. is somewhat better although in years past Masonic sentiment and practice was anti-Catholic.
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Well, I do not personally know any Masons (and if I do then I am not aware of it).

My city has a few Masonic buildings- this Masonic Temple, a Shriners building, a Chinese Freemasonry lodge, and an Orange Hall (I do know better then to go anywhere near the Orangemen- I’ve been told that I have the “look of a Catholic”, although I dont quite understand how anyone can look Catholic :p).

I know that for the most part today, at least in North America and the UK, Masonic Lodges are primarily gentleman’s clubs involved in charity. Not that this has been so for most it’s history where the Masonic Lodges were meeting spots for intellectuals and thinkers of the so-called “Enlightenment”, proposing and pushing radical philosophies- that is why the Church has never taken to the Masons, because of their erroneous philosophy, not because they are Satanic baby-eaters. Thats just my thoughts on the subject though, I could very well be wrong.

But then again, my story is fiction, so all I really need is to get the symbolism, ritual and language close enough. We already know (or at least deeply suspect) that the Masons were involved in Italian nationalism and the fall of the Papal States, so why cant I just push it further and have them caught up in a conspiracy to destroy the Church and kill Pope Pius? 😉
 
I was just looking at the descrption of the movie the Departed and I guess that is about the Irish boses, some members of th Kof C . the entire movie is in the Wikipedia Ency under Kof C under pop culture but it will spoil the ending for you! That is just a movie too and they always have an immagination on those movies. Dessert
 
For the ladies or anyone interested go to KofC on the encyclopedia and go to external links to the Daughters of Isabella links There is the Official Vatican Website. Includes Lent and lots of stuff page modified Feb 22 2007. Dessert
 
Ok, so I have found the following to be present is most, if not all, Masonic Lodges that I have researched:
  1. Altar- usualy the presence of an Altar denotes some kind of sacrificial rite (as that is the basic purpose of it); however in the Masonic use, the Altar is small, usually freestanding, and usually holds a book, it is also surrounded by three candles (two on one side, one on the other).
  2. A throne or a seat reserved for some person of dignity. I suppose this is taken by the Lodge Master, and it is often raised on three steps.
  3. Two columns or pillars. I have seen these positioned in differant places around the lodge.
  4. A black and white checkered floor. Seems to be only in certain places in the lodge, notably under the altar.
  5. Several other seats thats appear to be specially reserved for various members or roles.
Of course, I assume this can differ by rite and lodge. Any expansion of these observations would be appreciated.
 
As a poster here has already pointed out, there are considerable differences between Anglo-Saxon freemasonry on the one hand and French/Italian on the other - not so much in its rituals, but in its political and intellectual outlook, opposition to the Church etc. Maybe it would be better if you looked around amazon for some scholarly historical works specifically centering on the history of Italian freemasonry. That would probably be the best option (I think they’re also ok if they’re written by Masons).

My own illusions about Freemasonry were destroyed when I read the book “La franc-maconnerie” by the French novelist Christian Jacq (himself a Mason). It’s a quite usable book of general information about Freemasonry. So I read it while having these romantic ideas about 18th century Freemasons being terribly revolutionary and radical etc. (I was not yet a Catholic then.) But then it turned out, that Freemason Lodges in the 18th century were actually a kind of mystical gentlemen’s clubs full of aristocrats and even of ecclesiastics! Indeed, radicalism and a revolutionary attitude were extremely far away from the mindset of most Masons. They rather reveled in a “brotherhood” that had more in common with the American Constitution than either with the French Revolution or with the hatred of 19th century French and Italian Masons towards the Church. (You will also notice that most leaders of the French Revolution were not Masons, except for Danton. And that, on the other hand, some 18th century Masons were devout Catholics all their lives, for example Joseph Haydn or Mozart.)

Freemasonry is rejected by the Church by the way mostly because of its implicit or explicit religious content, which is clearly at odds with Christianity, advocating some sort of mystical Deism. Of course, the radical hatred of 19th and 20th century French and Italian Freemasonry against the Church has surely contributed to this verdict.
 
Caesar-
  1. The altar is in the center of the Lodge, and is used for the candidate to kneel at when taking his oaths.
  2. The worshipful master sits in a chair in the east end of the Lodge, generally up three steps from the floor.
  3. The 2 pillars are generally in the west, on either side of the Senior Warden, but they are moved during the 2nd Degree as a part of the ritual.
  4. Some Lodges have a black and white checkered floor, some don’t. Mine didn’t, and neither did the other 2 Lodge buildings here in town; it’s not a big deal if a Lodge has one or not.
  5. Seats for the various officers are set in specific places in the Lodge - Senior Warden in the east, Junior Warden in the south, and the rest can vary by jurisdiction. You will never find an officer on the north side of the Lodge room, though.
 
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