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Freemasons & Freemasonry

is it that that is where he was caught, or that is his end destination?
 
ramonmercado said:
Hmm. I wonder if it's Rynner?

A man has been arrested in connection with the discovery outside a Masonic lodge of what is believed to be have been a home-made bomb.

The suspicious device was found outside Penryn Masonic Club, New Street, in Cornwall, on Tuesday. A Penryn man was arrested on suspicion of attempted arson with intent to endanger life, Devon and Cornwall Police said. He was bailed until 29 June pending further inquiries. Officers are appealing for CCTV footage in the area of New Street and the B3292.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-52947718
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Clearly, Penryn Masonic Club is the headquarters of the Illuminati.
 
This NPR article summarizes the precipitous decline in Freemason membership over the last few decades and asks whether the organization can survive without adapting.
Freemasons Say They're Needed Now More Than Ever. So Why Are Their Ranks Dwindling?

Freemasons have long wielded the qualities most irresistible to thriller writers and conspiracy theorists — secrecy, politics, power and celebrity. Among their members are Founding Fathers, presidents, musicians, artists and businessmen. But today, as membership plummets within one of the oldest international fraternal organizations ever to exist, a new question persists: What is the point?

The challenges facing the organization have been decades in the making. While part of the problem is that Americans simply don't join clubs or fraternities as often as they used to, some critics argue that Masons have also struggled to keep up with the changing face of the nation. Many lodges still don't allow women to join, and others have struggled to attract members of color. In recent years, membership has dropped roughly 75% from a high of more than 4.1 million in 1959 — when about 4.5% of all American men were members. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/28/9372...re-than-ever-so-why-are-their-ranks-dwindling
 
ramonmercado said:
Freemason Alec Ayling, in South Australia's Riverland, said it had been daunting attending his first meeting. "If you were to join, you were blindfolded before you came in and you're conducted around certain areas and had things explained, and then you're sort of brought to light," he said.
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Alec took us carp bashing In 1983. One of my Da's parishioners he was, and an elder. Nice bloke. Didn't know he was a brother. Da was asked to join in most of the parishes he served but always declined. Once I asked him why. He said it would have been a distraction from the hugely demanding business of pastoring to his community, which was his call. Respect.
 
The whole order is on the decline especially here in the UK, its decline has been in tandem with Golf Clubs, Working Men's Clubs etc, I guess we just don't do exclusive clubs nowadays.

In the early nineties I attempted to join a very popular Working Mans Club, in order to join I had to be nominated by two members of the committee and be interviewed, sod that I thought and as time went by older members died and so did the club, I believe many golf clubs have gone the same way

I guess Freemasonry and the others should have watched the decline of organised religion in the West and the development of society based on the individual rather than the collective
 
I was invited to join by two work colleagues a few years ago. During a conversation at lunch time they asked me obliquely at first whether I‘d ever thought of joining “a club for likeminded men” and when it became clear that I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about (I actually, for a startling minute or two, thought they were propositioning me to join them in some seedy sex dungeon) they came clean and mentioned the M word. I politely declined.

There are a lot of Masons in my industry and in my experience some of them are quite open about their membership. Others sometimes out themselves when you first meet them by making tentative statements designed to suss you out, like one who threw me a knowing look and invited me to agree with him that the new office we were sitting in had been “built on the square and true”. Apparently what are you on about? isn’t the correct answer to that one.
 
My Great Grandad was one.

They dont sound very interesting.

Id rather be in a Guild.
 
I don't know if its a good or a bad thing (the decline) it just seems to go with the massive cultural changes over the last 70 years one can be tempted to blame the internet, however I would say that the decline in organised religion and clubs (inc Masons) can be put down to Television, the decline seemed to accelerate with the addition of 100s of channels basically people have other things to take their mind off things
 
I was talking to someone yesterday about the decline in clubs and societies, and they made the very good point that since there is a lot more scrutiny there is no real advantage in joining the Masons or the Golf Club so why bother

There was a time that the police and local government were basically run by the Masons and anyone looking to get contracts had to be connected
 
Robbrent said:
I was talking to someone yesterday about the decline in clubs and societies, and they made the very good point that since there is a lot more scrutiny there is no real advantage in joining the Masons or the Golf Club so why bother

There was a time that the police and local government were basically run by the Masons and anyone looking to get contracts had to be connected
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My ex claimed (he was a pathological liar though and lied about the most horrendous things) that his father was entitled to specialist cancer care and treatment coz of knowing the right people in the lodge in London.
 
Strangely enough it is the internet that has seen something of a resurgence in people looking to join. So much so that special committees have had to be formed to try and deal with the influx.
As you can imagine, it can be difficult to spot the nutters, and the tin foil hat brigade, but there has been a steady stream of those who are willing to persevere.

To be clear though, the basic rule is: to be one, ask one.

No one is invited to join. A prospective candidate might be asked if they wished to under go evaluation to join.

No one can be coerced, cajoled or otherwise compelled to join. Each one must come of their own free will. And then they must ask to be considered.

There only exception is that a Grand Master has the right to make a mason 'on sight'; that is to confer membership on a willing candidate on the spot, but even then they must willingly under go the initiation at a later date.
 
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I became a Freemason over 20 years ago and did so in the belief that there was some sort of Fortean Knowledge that would be imparted to me.
There’s not! Not at my level anyway.
I am very proud of what we achieve with respect to charity, something that is not widely known or flaunted, and it is that, that has ensured I remained a fully paid up member.
I have also met some absolutely wonderful men, and their good ladies. People I would not have had the pleasure of meeting outside of the craft.
 
WeeScottishLassie said:
My ex claimed (he was a pathological liar though and lied about the most horrendous things) that his father was entitled to specialist cancer care and treatment coz of knowing the right people in the lodge in London.
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I don’t know about preferential treatment but the London lodges, of which I am a member, raised the funds to buy and install the cyber knife for cancer treatment at St Barts.
https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co...zaps-tumours-with-pinpoint-accuracy-1-1668418
 
Tempest63 said:
I don’t know about preferential treatment but the London lodges, of which I am a member, raised the funds to buy and install the cyber knife for cancer treatment at St Barts.
https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co...zaps-tumours-with-pinpoint-accuracy-1-1668418
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Kudos to your lodge for raising funds for the cyberknife. A few years ago a friend of mine was treated with it and is now doing very well. Several years prior, my late partner had explored the possibility of the cyberknife to combat his brain tumour. Unfortunately, he wasn't a suitable candidate because his tumour was too large for this type of treatment.
 
ramonmercado said:
A man has been arrested in connection with the discovery outside a Masonic lodge of what is believed to be have been a home-made bomb.
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Had it detonated, the motive would have been easy to detect: the victims would have been found at a low water mark, with their intestines draped over their left shoulders.

maximus otter
 
As the assistant manager in a local bank in a small town, my dad was invited to consider joining the Masons back in the 80s. He declined, as at the time he was an enthusiastic member of at least 4 different Am Dram societies, and barely had a free evening as it was.

However, after he retired he did eventually succumb to the lure. I honestly can't see him as the secret-society-conspiracy type, even though for a lot of my growing up he was pretending to be someone else anyway. I have no idea what level he is at; he was the President (is that right?) of his lodge a while ago, but is that level-dependent or do they just pick someone with the appropriate amount of bonhomie? It has all been closed down during Covid, which is sad for the old chap as his social life dropped off the edge of a cliff as it was. Goodness only knows when they'll get round to re-opening again.
 
bugmum said:
As the assistant manager in a local bank in a small town, my dad was invited to consider joining the Masons back in the 80s. He declined, as at the time he was an enthusiastic member of at least 4 different Am Dram societies, and barely had a free evening as it was.

However, after he retired he did eventually succumb to the lure. I honestly can't see him as the secret-society-conspiracy type, even though for a lot of my growing up he was pretending to be someone else anyway. I have no idea what level he is at; he was the President (is that right?) of his lodge a while ago, but is that level-dependent or do they just pick someone with the appropriate amount of bonhomie? It has all been closed down during Covid, which is sad for the old chap as his social life dropped off the edge of a cliff as it was. Goodness only knows when they'll get round to re-opening again.
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The leader of the lodge is elected by unanimous consent of the membership for a period of 1 year at a time and is called the Worshipful Master.

Freemasonry is primarily concerned with "making good men better".
The basic experience of each member is different, depending on what they want out of it or put into it.
But for most, it is about a framework of moral lessons to understand your place in society, and how to make yourself more useful to that society, based on the principles of tolerance, relief and support.
 
Just heard about this guy today.

William Morgan (born 1774 – disappeared c. 1826) was a resident of Batavia, New York, whose disappearance and presumed murder in 1826 ignited a powerful movement against the Freemasons, a fraternal society that had become influential in the United States.[1] After Morgan announced his intention to publish a book exposing Freemasonry's secrets, he was arrested on trumped-up charges.[2] He disappeared soon after and was believed to have been kidnapped and killed by Masons from western New York.[3] ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morgan_(anti-Mason)
 
ramonmercado said:
Just heard about this guy today.

William Morgan (born 1774 – disappeared c. 1826) was a resident of Batavia, New York, whose disappearance and presumed murder in 1826 ignited a powerful movement against the Freemasons, a fraternal society that had become influential in the United States.[1] After Morgan announced his intention to publish a book exposing Freemasonry's secrets, he was arrested on trumped-up charges.[2] He disappeared soon after and was believed to have been kidnapped and killed by Masons from western New York.[3] ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morgan_(anti-Mason)
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What secrets are they, that the Masons don't want anybody to know?
I mean, sure, the rituals and clothing are a bit embarrassing, but that is all.
 
Nosmo King said:
Nobody knows, they're secrets :p
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Mythopoeika said:
What secrets are they, that the Masons don't want anybody to know?
I mean, sure, the rituals and clothing are a bit embarrassing, but that is all.
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The secrets are part of the old tradition in identification.

When a traveling mason had nothing but a password and a secret grip (handshake) to identify himself as being of a certain rank and therefore due a certain recognition, secrecy was of the essence. The modern tradition preserves that secrecy in recognition. It means that a member who has achieved a certain rank, can use certain signs, grips or passwords to prove it.

The major didactic and philosophical lessons are not guarded by the same levels of secrecy.

There is no secret made of this system.
 
The secret back then was the amount of influence that the order had which was unknown to many, much of which was just blatant corruption rather than some esoteric secrets, like I said earlier in the thread it's no longer the case (along with the local golf clubs etc) hence the motive to become a member had gone hence the decline
 
I wish I'd taken a screen grab of it but I got an invite to join the Freemasons on facebook today ... it wasn't an invite to me specifically, it was one of those blanket adverts encouraging people to increase their confidence .. I've always thought you had to be invited personally by a mason? ... the advert came across more like a Prince's Trust campaign. They're obviously trying to be more open and transparent these days.
 
I've heard that my nephew has been in great demand from several Lodges this year for singing in the delegates at the opening ceremonies. Don't think that's on his CV but it's probably hasn't done his prospects any harm.
 
Swifty said:
I wish I'd taken a screen grab of it but I got an invite to join the Freemasons on facebook today ... it wasn't an invite to me specifically, it was one of those blanket adverts encouraging people to increase their confidence .. I've always thought you had to be invited personally by a mason? ... the advert came across more like a Prince's Trust campaign. They're obviously trying to be more open and transparent these days.
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Not sure where that would have come from but lodges do not generally go on a recruitment drive in the old constitutions of Scotland, Ireland and England.

The axiom is: to be one ask one.

While a person of good character might be encouraged to inquire, no one is invited to join. One must only approach of one's own free will and accord. Any coercion, or canvassing, is seen as grounds to block an admission.

Everything you need to know is the published and publicly available laws and constitutions. These are updated infrequently, as only minor things in procedure and process change, so any copy from the last three decades is likely to have membership rules in it.
 
Ascalon said:
Not sure where that would have come from but lodges do not generally go on a recruitment drive in the old constitutions of Scotland, Ireland and England.

The axiom is: to be one ask one.

While a person of good character might be encouraged to inquire, no one is invited to join. One must only approach of one's own free will and accord. Any coercion, or canvassing, is seen as grounds to block an admission.

Everything you need to know is the published and publicly available laws and constitutions. These are updated infrequently, as only minor things in procedure and process change, so any copy from the last three decades is likely to have membership rules in it.
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That's what surprised me, I've never seen a Mason's recruitment drive before. I clicked on it anyway and it all looked official but I expect it was a fake.
 
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