The Freemason Fad Fallout



I received a few nice comments for my recent post about treating Freemasonry as a 'fad'. Most were positive, including a few by private email. What interests me is that some of the feedback included comments along the lines of 'Well, I don't agree with everything you had to say..."

Now, this just peaks my curiosity. Just what didn't you agree with? Did you disagree that for many lodges the bulk of what constitutes being 'active' is to perform as an amateur theater group? Did you disagree that the 9 out of 10 new Masons who join, but become inactive, do so because the experience didn't live up to the hype they had in their own mind?

One of my brothers forwarded to me an article entitled 'The Importance of Secrecy' written by Brother Joshua G. Gunn of Austin Lodge #12. In this article he takes Brother Christopher Hodapp to task for diminishing the importance of secrecy in Freemasonry (for the record I happen to agree with Brother Chris.)

In the article Brother Gunn acknowledges that the common 'secrets' (i.e. handshakes, passwords, ritual) are readily available on the Internet and in book-stores. He does not, however, consider these the 'real' secrets of Masonry. He then goes on to allude that the 'real' secrets are something deeper and more esoteric.

Now, I have written on this topic before and to be frank the deeper and more esoteric aspects of Freemasonry either (a) don't exist (b) never did (c) go completely past me and (d) are different to each Mason as each one interprets symbols uniquely.

If you read my Freemason Fad post and disagreed with parts of it, I'm curious, which parts? If you feel there are deeper secrets in Freemasonry that extend beyond handshakes, passwords, and ritual, what are they? Where can I buy some? Who's holding onto them? Where can I learn more?

I've read Pike, and Manley, Wilmhurst, and others and it always amounts to just so much fanciful thinking to me. No two esoteric writers on the topic agree and when any of them attempt to tie Masonic ritual to historical precedent they do so with a degree of rationality once reserved for the followers of Edger Cacye; or as Brother Hodapp called it 'Masonic Mumbo Jumbo'.

Comments

Widow's Son said…
Bro. John,

I agree with everything you said, except that with which I disagreed.

:)


Widow's Son
BurningTaper.com
4:15 PM
The Palmetto Mason said…
Being that I was one of those that didn't completely agree with every point in your "Fad" article (it was still a good article), I'll answer up as best as I can in this very public medium.

The secrets are real. If one thinks that stuff on the internet and in the books reveal all of the right secrets to the profane, then they're not looking at it hard enough. The rituals, something I consider as secret in and of themselves, also contain more secrets. If a Mason doesn't see that, then he needs to re-look and study those rituals because he missed the point.
4:37 PM
John W. Ratcliff said…
To the Widow's Son, thanks, that was sooooo... helpful.

To Palmetto Bug,

Thanks for the reply. I hear what you are saying; that I have 'missed the point' in all of this. I guess I am agreeing with you. I have missed the point. I've tried, and tried, and tried, to learn, feel, understand these deeper meaning and they entirely escape me.

That isn't to say I don't get some of the allusions in our lectures; or at least have my own theories. Yet, in the case of the 3rd degree, this still remains a mighty mystery to me.

References would be most welcome. I'm still seeking further light; I'm just not finding it available in the places I have looked so far. I can perform the ceremonies again and again and again, and I am still not finding any possible deeper meanings in them.

If I read various Masonic authors, which I have, one guys says this, the other guy says that, and none of them particularly agree on anything.

To some the 3rd degree is a clear allegory for Christ. For others it hearkens to Egyptian myth. And yet still others claim it goes back to ancient pagan astrocults.

The more I read on the topic, the more confused I become and, so far, none of my brethren have been able to shed any additional light on the topic.

John
6:00 PM
The Palmetto Mason said…
John: I wish I could explain it more, but we are in a public setting and we don't know each other to be Masons. It is there and I hope that you will be able to see it. Quit reading the authors in search of it. Get into the rituals themselves.
8:23 PM
M.M.M. from the North Eastern Corner said…
Just as you could read volumes of literature on the music of Mozart by many heady authors and experts on the subject, until you hear the music you know nothing about it. Freemasonry teaches with symbols and allegories so that you can decide what it is for your self and not rely on someone else’s explanation or interpretation. The secrets of Masonry are locked deep in the heart of the faithful breast of each Mason.
9:14 PM
Radcliffe said…
As you have misspelled Edgar Cayces name I must take issue with you. First Masonry draws those who are not blindly accepting of the dogmas and orthodoxy found out there and encourages individual seeking. That alone qualifies it as unique to meet the task of helping to encourage alternate views in our fraternity and like minded men in conversation engaged. As to secrecy, if you lived in a Muslim country and became a mason, you would be glad for institutional secrecy. What is deeper meaning, once one has made the leap of faith, does it matter the source. There will never be proof, that is a prerequisite of an environment fostering faith. The empiricist will never find satisfaction, only another layer of evidence. Some ramblings for you John
10:32 PM
Wayfaring Man said…
I too must respectfully disagree. The empirical level of understanding does not sum up the totality of Masonry in my opinion. It's not about charity. It's not about amateur theatrics, it is much, much deeper than that, and it is not easily explained any more than one might explain how blue the color blue is (or how blue it isn't). Sure, given the right amount of engineering training, or a deep understanding of physics, it is possible to categorize, quantify and describe the amplitude or frequency of blue in the visible spectrum of light. But that description, category or quantification is transcended by the individual experience.

This is why, IMHO, Masonry is so difficult to quantify, and incidentally why our wives will not defer to us on matters of interior decorating.
12:21 PM
John W. Ratcliff said…
Dear Wayfaring Man,

I have to be honest, I found your comment remarkably unhelpful. Please see me latest post titled 'Freemason Fad Facade'.

I do not buy this notion that you cannot explain yourself. I believe it to be a bit of a cop-out.

It is no wonder we can hardly get anyone to stay active in Freemasonry when even fellow brothers refuse to help spread the light, or whatever light there is as they see it.

Brother John
2:45 PM
Wayfaring Man said…
Sorry you found it unhelpful...wish there was something I could do. Perhaps what you find unhelpful is that some things cannot be measured, described or cataloged. It is a difficult concept that - but yet there are things, large and small which defy description. Heisenberg wrote about it extensively in describing the uncertainty principle. St. Augustine also wrote about things which defy description. I'm curious why you find it such an alien concept - particularly when these indescribable things are not uncommonly encountered. Can one quantify the concept of deity by programing code, avoirdupois calculations, or frequency analysis?

Similarly, the experience of Freemasonry, which blends esotericism and the empirical is not so easily summarized. Nor, I might add, should it be.
3:03 PM
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