7 Fun Facts About The World's Most Mysterious Organization: Secrets Of The Masonic Brotherhood

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There is an opinion in society that the Freemasons are supposedly behind all world events. The members of this mysterious brotherhood include world celebrities, famous politicians, owners of business empires. In society, they know just enough about them to suspect something more. There are simply things that are doomed to remain surrounded by the most exciting rumors. The need for secrecy is much greater than the need for revealing it. No matter how many boring truths are told about Freemasonry, the theory of the worldwide conspiracy is much more interesting.

1. Masons are the oldest fraternal organization in the world

The Masonic brotherhood arose in Europe in the Middle Ages. In the beginning, this organization was a builders' guild. They were mainly engaged in the construction of cathedrals. With the decline in interest in this industry, the focus of the community has shifted. Today, Freemasons are a social and philanthropic organization. Their goals are to lead a virtuous and socially oriented lifestyle. So says Margaret Jacob, professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of Life in the Enlightenment: Freemasonry and Politics in the World. “Founded during the Enlightenment, the organization still expresses its core values, religious tolerance, thirst for knowledge and sociability,” says Cecile Revauguet, Freemason, historian of Freemasonry and professor at the University of Bordeaux.

According to Jacob, although Masons, contrary to popular belief, are not a secret society, they have their own secret passwords and rituals. They originate in a medieval guild. At the very beginning, the fraternity had three degrees: Apprentice, Comrade, and Master Mason. Today these positions are more philosophical.

2. Masonic symbols are not quite what you think

Members of this community have long used special visual symbols to communicate with each other. The Eye of Providence or the "All-Seeing Eye" does not really belong to the Freemasons, but they have always used it as a symbol of God's omniscience. The most famous Masonic sign is the "Square and Compasses". These are the builder's items. The "G" in the center is still a subject of controversy. Some experts believe that the G in the center stands for geometry. Masons consider her the queen of sciences. At the same time, others claim that she represents God, whom the Freemasons call "The Great Architect of the Universe." The square and compasses remain popular symbols for Masonic rings today.

A less famous important Masonic symbol is the beehive. They took it from the natural world. This is a deep symbolism. After all, initially the Masons were workers who had to work like bees. The hive, on the other hand, symbolizes hard work.

The Masonic square and compass symbol can be seen on the main floor wall of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry headquarters in Washington, DC. Masonic handshake, on a building in the center of Lisbon.

3. Yes, there is a Masonic handshake … and more than one

Masons greet each other with different handshakes, depending on their rank in the organization. There is a handshake for every degree: student, fellow, and master. That is, the first three degrees, as well as for higher degrees. Each ceremony has its own handshake, so there are quite a few types of them. They are used mainly during Masonic ceremonies.

4. The Catholic Church condemns Freemasonry and prohibits members of the fraternity from being members of the church

Freemasonry is not fundamentally a religion. All members of this society believe in the existence of a certain Supreme Being or, as they say, "the Great Architect of the Universe." Freemasons are members of various religious denominations. The Catholic Church is the only organization that prohibits Freemasons from being members. For the first time, representatives of Catholicism condemned Freemasonry in 1738. The higher church clergy were very concerned about the multitude of Masonic temples and the secret rituals carried out in them. In the 19th century, the Vatican even branded the Freemasons as the "Synagogue of Satan."

The Church went even further in 1983, declaring: “Their principles have always been considered inconsistent with the doctrine of the Church. Therefore, membership in such organizations is prohibited. Believers who join Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and cannot receive Holy Communion."

5. Freemasons inspired the emergence of America's first third political party

In the political system of the United States, the existence of a two-party system is accepted. For the first time, the third party, Anti-Masonic, was formed in 1828. The political elite of America began to fear the too closed and incredibly powerful organization, which the Freemasons were. Many members of the Anti-Masonic Party have openly declared various Masonic conspiracy theories. Some leaders have argued that the infamous murder of the time was the work of Freemasons to prevent the victim from revealing the secrets of the secret organization.

6. It's still a purely male club … Mostly

Traditionally, membership in Masonic organizations was only available to men. In the Constitution of 1723, a kind of guide to organization by James Anderson, written under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of England, the membership of women and atheists was excluded along with slaves.

Freemasons can now belong to all walks of life, provided they can afford to pay the annual fee. Women are allowed to join a subsidiary organization called the Order of the Eastern Star. Also, some lodges even recognize female members. Freemasonry is actually not as universal as it is claimed, as in many countries women and atheists still cannot be members of society. In the United States and Europe, rules can vary from city to city, from one settlement to another.

Since there is no national organization in the United States, the Grand Lodges in every state are the court of last resort. This sometimes leads to more than conflicting decisions. For example, in America, several Grand Lodges still refuse to recognize Prince Hall's Freemasonry because he is African American.

7. Famous Freemasons are everywhere

Famous Masons can be found throughout history: George Washington was a Master, and Benjamin Franklin was one of the founders of the first Masonic lodge in America. Also, Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Gerald Ford were Freemasons, as was British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Rudyard Kipling, Peter Chaadaev, Henry Ford and Giuseppe Garibaldi were also Freemasons.

If you believe in world conspiracies, then the whole culture created by humanity is a real conspiracy. A very sophisticated and ramified conspiracy against … nature! Civilization is a man-made beast that devours the Earth. Where are its origins? If you think about it, then at the very beginning, when mankind mastered writing. The letters gave birth to a whole world of artificial symbols that gradually separated man from mother nature. So the origins of the worldwide conspiracy probably lie in the very human ability to think!

Despite this, all sorts of variations on the theme of the worldwide conspiracy are constantly replenished with more and more "reinforced concrete" evidence. The only question that is very difficult to resolve within the framework of this theory: against whom, in fact, is this conspiracy directed, if it is worldwide? If Mozart is in it at the same time with Washington, Comenius is at the same time with Kerensky, and Pushkin is with Dantes, then who is he against?

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