After serving in the East, what characterizes the office of Past Master (P.M.)? If anything, the P.M. has a wider range of service than ever before; there’s a world of Freemasonry that requires their experience, much as we need the Masters of crafts to mentor and teach new workers. Life for the P.M. is not fading, not at all. If anything, the world becomes far vaster than they could ever imagine.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: After the East, Catalyst, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Confidant, education, evolution, Experience, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Harmony, IPM, Leadership, Lodge, Masonry, Masons, Master of the Lodge, Mastership, Mentor, Officer, Past Master, Shadow, Silent Watcher, Stability, Teaching, The East, Warden, Wider Service
What, the curious Freemason asks, has the Yggdrasil to do with Freemasonry? In the first instance, it is a symbol of something, and we Freemasons enjoy a good romp through symbol dissection. Second, Freemasons have their own tree, and it is interesting the symbolism that coincides and collides when we look at the two motifs. The Tree of Freemasonry is the acacia (Western), or in Latin, Acacia Vera or vachellia tortilis. The tree is an evergreen tree, common in warmer climates, and is found in Africa, the Middle East, and other temperate climates. The tree’s wood is used to build weapons and furniture, and its resin is used in incense and perfumes. Biblically, it is referred to as the shittah tree and was the wood Moses used to build the Ark of the Covenant and it was used in the construction of the Tabernacle. While it has many practical uses, I see there is one reason it is such a symbol of immortality: it is an evergreen.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Acacia, Acacia Vera, Africa, Anthropology, Ark of the Covenant, Asgard, Ash Tree, Ashvattha, Bodhi Tree, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, communication, Dragon, Eternal, Evergreen, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Gods, Hero, Hu, Humanity, Jötunheim, Mason, Masonry, Masons, Middle East, Midgard, Moses, Myths, Níðhöggr, Neil Gaiman, Niflheim, Norse Mythology, Old Norse, Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, Snakes, Tabernacle, The Bible, The Grand Lodge of Ohio, Tree of Life, Trees, Universal Life, Women, World Tree, Yggdrasill
What do Dharma and Freemasonry have in common? Dharma is, according to the ancient Sanskrit, “to hold, to maintain, to preserve.” In the early Vedas and other ancient Hindu texts, Dharma referred to the cosmic law that created the ordered universe from chaos. According to theosophy, Dharma [from the verbal root dhṛ to bear, support] means equity, justice, conduct, duty; right religion, philosophy, and science; the law per se; the rules of society, caste, and stage of life. This definition of Dharma ties immediately to what we know is the goal of Freemasonry: Ordo ab Chao – Order from Chaos.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Annie Besant, Bro. Oscar Wilde, Buddha, Catholic, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Dharma, Divinity, Dogma, evolution, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Know Thyself, Mahabharata, Mason, masonic, Masonry, Masons, NOSCE TE IPSUM, ordo ab chao, Perfection, Religion, Republican, Spirit in Matter, Spiritual, Supreme Will in Evolution, Svabhava, The Theosophical Glossary, Truth, universe
Do Freemasons have the “luxury of anger”? The longer one stays on the path of Freemasonry the less we have the luxury of anger or hatred, nor the privilege of animosity or of fear of any kind. The Mason learns that the divisions of people, of whatever kind they might be, are meaningless and unnecessary, and that we Freemasons are dedicated to the eradication of division and strife. Our personal quarrels and piques do not matter one whit to our work as Freemasons.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Accord, Anger, Brotherhood, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Direction, Emotions, Freemason, Freemasonry, Gossip, Harmony, Higher Calling, Instructions, Kind Office, Lodge, Love, Mason, masonic education, Masonry, Masons, Office, The Craft
What is evil? Evil is division, and Good is unification. This is not at the base physical level but at the level of humanity where the human form is irrelevant – the higher concept that we are a part of a natural world, far more vast than we know. When we divide ourselves from this, we create chaos, ignorance, suffering, and separateness. Freemasonry delves into this moral dilemma, not only in symbol and allegory but also in ritual.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Greece, Ancient Mysteries, Buddhism, Christianity, Co-Masonry, Division, Egyptian Mythology, Evil, Freemason, Freemasonry, Good, Hegel, Humanity, Ignorance, Knowledge, Mason, Masonry, Masons, Nihilism, Order out of Chaos, Postmodernism, Socrates, Unity, Virtue
IN this series, we seek to uncover the hidden meaning found in the artistic works of numerous Masters, including Michelangelo, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, William Blake, Georges de La Tour, and Raphael. First, by outlining a basic structure for analyzing art through an esoteric lens; thereby, utilizing both observation and intuition, symbolically represented by the concrete and abstract minds.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Art, Brother Albert Pike, Classical Art, classical elements, Co-Masonry, esoteric, esoteric and exoteric, esoteric freemasonry, Esoteric Symbols, Esotericism, Esoterics, exoteric, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Geoffrey Hodson, Georges de La Tour, initiation, Manly P. Hall, Manly Palmer Hall, masonic, masonic symbolism, Masonry, Masons, Michelangelo, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Universal Co-Masonry, William Blake
Perhaps the question is not “Does or Should a Freemason judge another” but “How or What should a Freemason judge?” To cast doubt on someone because they don’t believe or act as you do seems to me to be a false judgement.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Ballot, Bro. Albert Mackey, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Duty, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, George Watts, Integrity, Judge, Judgment, Justice, Lady Justice, Last Judgement, Lochner Last Judgement, Lodge, Masonic Virtues, Masonry, Masons, Obligation, Time Death and Judgement, Virtue
IN this series, we seek to uncover the hidden meaning found in the artistic works of numerous Masters, including Michelangelo, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, William Blake, Georges de La Tour, and Raphael. First, by outlining a basic structure for analyzing art through an esoteric lens; thereby, utilizing both observation and intuition, symbolically represented by the concrete and abstract minds.
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Art, Classical Art, classical elements, Co-Masonry, esoteric, esoteric and exoteric, esoteric freemasonry, Esoteric Symbols, Esotericism, Esoterics, exoteric, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Georges de La Tour, Hidden in Plain Sight, initiation, Manly P. Hall, Manly Palmer Hall, masonic, masonic symbolism, Masonry, Masons, Michelangelo, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Religion, Universal Co-Masonry, Veiled, William Blake
Many a man has reasoned about faith, heaven, infinity, and God until his brain reeled at the impossibility of comprehending the infinite with the finite, and ended by saying in despair: “I cannot believe in God!” Then he has taken his wife or his child in his arms and there found happiness, completely oblivious to the most profound, as the most simple fact of all faiths and all religions; where love is, there is also God!
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: Albert Einstein, Antients, Atheism, Atheist, Belief, Bible, Book of Constitutions, Constitution, Declaration, Define, Definition, Divinity, Dr. Anderson and the Charges of a Freemason, Fellowcraft, Fraternity, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, God, Grand Orient de France, Great Architect, Higher Power, Holy Bible, James Anderson, Masonry, Masons, Moderns, Old Charges, Regius Poem, Science, St. John's Day, Stupid Atheist, UGLE, United Grand Lodge of England, Universal Religion, universe
IF someone had asked me 30 years ago if Freemasonry was masculine, I would have said: “Is there anything else?” I’m speaking of course about the mainstream idea, over the past three hundred years or so, that all Freemasons must be masculine. I was… Continue Reading “The Masculine of Freemasonry”
Category: Freemasons, Universal Co-MasonryTags: A Christmas Carol, Alchemy, Apprentince, balance, Balence, Beauty, Celestial Nature, Ceremony, Chaos, Circle, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Concept, Dickens, Equality, esoteric, Esotericism, Established, Feminine, Five Elements, Force of Creation, Foundations of the Earth, Fraternity, Freemason, Freemasons, gender, Gender Neutral, Gnosticism, God, Hermetic Principle, Hermetic Principle of Gender, Hermetic Principle of Mentalism, hinduism, Humanity, Idea, Kabbalah, King Solomon, Masculine, masculine masonry, Masonic Officers, masonic ritual, Masonry, Masons, Master Workman, Moon, Mountains, Movements, Natural Law, Neophyte, Order, order from chaos, Philosophy, Pillar of Mercy, Pillar of Severity, Ritual, Skies, Spirituality, Springs, Stars, Sun, Symbolism, taoism, The Bible, The Book of Proverbs, The Earth, The Ghost of Christmas Present, The Heavens, The Kybalion, The Mind, The Tao, The Universe, The Vedas, The Will, To Subdue, Truth, Vision, Western Esoteric Tradition, western esotericism, Wisdom, Yang Qi, Yin Qi, yin yang