Ask them about the Grand Architect of the Universe.

there's a temple around the corner from my house... pretty non-descript, though.

remember monty python's masonic spoof

hey treekiller, good news! women can and do participate in the masons.

I am a Mason. ....my handle is clue to my ambitions.

Yeah, your name makes a lot more sense now, ff.

i would like info..... not sure where to ask/etc....

I don't know if I want to go into much detail of my thoughts or experiences with and about Masonry here, and not that you care , .but...

I am in two lodges,
one is a Male Craft lodge...the more common and pervasive order that has lodges in almost every city in the US, raises a ton of money for charity , and doesn't allow women. This lodge is sort of a fellowship of men, (many WWII veterans) that provide support and camaraderie.
The other lodge I am in more of an esoteric and contemplative order that includes women, and involves things like meditation , study of the 7 liberal arts an sciences, and deeper training in ceremony.

I am dismayed about the fact that the Malecraft does not allow women. I am a progressive thinker and against this aspect of the Craft....however, I am also a proponent of what Masonry can provide for people...in short...it is described as :

"A peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory."
The allegory spoken of here involves the basic tenants of symbols taken from actual Masonry ( think of the cathedral builders)..dealing with the construction of edifices using stones, etc. This involves passing through degrees (or intitiatons)...you are given certain "lessons": as you progress, and you have to memorize a lot of stuff along the way. These allegories also draw from ancient societal wisdom , as in the Egyptian and Greek cosmologies. Most people go through the first three and then settle in, so that the Lodge becomes a kind of society for them..,.however, I like to mention that Masonry is much deeper than what you will find in the average lodge meeting. I mean "deeper" in that although it is not a religion or science alone..it can lead the aspirant to more profound purposes in the world, individually and within the group context. It is for everyone,...An anecdote I often mention is that my lodge initiated a man from Bahrain a few years back.., he stood his "obligation"( his oath to the order) with his hand on the Quran...his fundamental belief in deity was all that he needed to take the degrees. So it really can be something for many different kinds of people to consider.


As for the "Males only" aspect..again , i do not agree, but continue to pursue as a member the lessons and prvieldges..Perhaps one day , I'll be instrumental in aiding the correction to this out-dated phenomena within mainstream Freemasonry.

cryzko, its not hard to find out or meet easons in general..and they usually pretty accomodating to inquiries, but might keep explanations superficial

i understand that some things cant be mentioned/etc...... but from the little bit that i had researched/etc. it might help me keep my "head on straight"...........

i was also going to look into the ancient egyptian methods and all that.... for some reason i'm still curious on pyramids and all that....amybe one day i'll visit there and take it all in.....

i have always been looking for "answers" over the years/....about life/signs/etc.... but havent really dug deep enough into things to really spark a further exploration into it...... i know there is something tied to a person mental capacity and certain waves and all that....but still wondering on all the links....

etc etc etc......

b

I do not believe there is god/deity/creator/omnipotent being/pantheon/et cetera. there for I can't be a mason.

I believe in ethics and the morality of treating everybody as you want to be treated - ie fairly and nicely. But that doesn't make me any better or worse then my fellow human. I do believe in serving the highest objective of making this world a better place for all creatures and cultures.


ff33º - so has being a member helped your career?

I am a freelance designer ( residential)...and well, I do have a client I met in lodge ....but I don't see Masonry as being the privileged echelon it used to be...I hear stories of traffic violations being resolved and political mobility and all sorts of' favors' towards Masons in "the old days".

Today, I certainly don't see being a Mason as a social privledge these days..if anything, it can be a liability. Do you how many conversations I have had about ,..the freakin' Illuminati..!? ..or about the "Males only" ..aspect. SO its nothing to brag about....in the wrong circles..it makes peopel look at you funny.

I think if you want to help your career,..it is almost better to learn how to play Golf? LOL..

Of course, I did not join Masonry for solely, the social status , nor did i choose to practice Architecture as soley "a job".

i'd like to talk about the illuminati.

also, ff33º, is it true that the FM distress call involves extending your arms outward, with the hands turned up ninety degrees at the elbow and asking aloud "will no one help the widow's son?"

just wondering.

Yeah, I wanna talk about the Illuminati, too!

With regards to the Illuminati....
Extensive speculations ventured by historians and writers about the Illuminati's New World Order agenda have since been eclipsed by the audacity, open hypocrisy's, and outright agenda of deceit practiced regularly by the Bush administration.

mighty,
that sounds familiar, you must have been reading about Santa Ana..however with regards to signs, and tokens. "I did not so receive it , neither will I so impart it."

Mason do have an open conspiracy we discuss in lodge on occasion though.."The search for truth, the relief of suffering, and brotherly love."
...however trite this phrase may sound..it is the primary propagation.

so, ff33º, when do you become 34º, and is that "º" the one that only a man can receive if a man so gives it, in the biblical sense?

or does it become cbt34º, and bdsm35º, or were they 30 & 31?

[oh god forgive me]

receiving tokens of brotherly love. I have never heard it put like that. Brilliant.

Clients.
Brilliant.

Sincere apologies

it's late.

If you look at a common diagram (try google) of the Tree of Life found in Western Mysticism <Kabalistic Systems>... you might notice 10 Spheres of destination (or Sephiroth)...you can also count 22 paths connecting them...

10+22 =32
The York rite has 10 degrees, and the Scottish Rite , 22. They have been combined in the A.F. & A.M

This is only a sample of how one derives and "traverses" an Initiatic system using ancient and esoteric sequencing of lessons.

However, a 33rd degree is usually 'Conferred'..and often reserved for high ranking members or officers. There is all kinds of ways to interpret Masonry, using Logic, Numerology, or Geometry, or Astrology , or Astronomy, etc.

I put 33 in my moniker as an inside joke, mainly.

..but yeah, there would probably be more Freemasons in the world if it meant more Clients though.

but, as you know, brother, that is not the point.

I AM AN ODD FELLOW:
I believe in the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of man.
I believe in Friendship, Love and Truth as basic guides to the ultimate destiny of all mankind.
I believe my home, my church or temple, my lodge, and my community deserve my best work, my modest pride, my earnest faith, and my deepest loyalty, as I perform my duty "to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan" and as I work with others to build a better world, because, in spirit and in truth, I am and must always be, grateful to my Creator, faithful to my country and fraternal to my fellow-man;
I AM AN ODD FELLOW!