So I think I'm going to have to play this one by ear, and see if I can hit the 'Publish Post' button at the end ;). I would say 'wish me luck', but if you're reading this, I've already bitten the bullet, so instead I will wish YOU luck in the continuation of reading. Here we go...
I have been fascinated with everything Masonic for a little while now. Well, it actually all started when I went through my teenage angst stage and decided that everything in the whole world was against me, and 'what was the point!?' in 'selling out to The Man!' and just becoming 'another statistic?!'. I think when you get in this head space, unfortunately you attract other like minded people and you spiral into a frenzy of self-justification and moreover, self-righteousness- mainly based on ignorance and arrogance. If I got anything from this stage in my life however, it would be my love for Richard Dawkins and Carl Sagan; so quite frankly, regardless of how annoying I was, it seems like this was always meant to be a right-of-passage for me (ignore the ironic religious terminology- trying to be cool), as those two men have probably had more influence on my self-education than I would like to let myself believe. But that's another story for another day...
Anyway, it was during this angst stage that I got obsessed with conspiracy theories- you know, Illuminati, Bilderberg Group, New World Order, David Icke... And obviously, what cropped up amongst all this? The Masons, of course. Now, I seem to remember my Mum mentioning once that my Ganddad was involved in The Masons, making my Dad a 'Colin' (!), the son of a Mason. But they couldn't shed much light on my queries (in fact, Mum's version of their initiation ceremony involved them being in loin cloths and being hit with a paddle, whilst saying 'Thank you'), and no matter how much Googling I have done (and I can assure to, it's a lot), there are areas of The Masons that they just WON'T talk about; and I distrust any source now who claim to know.
Here's an extact from Time Magazine, who pulsihed an article featuring an interview with Freemason Jay Kinney, who wrote a book entitied The Masonic Myth, which I MUST get hold of a copy of:
TIME: You joined the Freemasons in 2001. What made you want to get involved?
Kinney: I had been interested since the '70s, when I saw a few books about Masonry and had a lot of confusion about it. Around 2000, I said, Why not try it myself?
What was your initiation like?
When I showed up, I was put in a little preparation room beforehand that had some clothing that I was supposed to put on, and then they gave me a blindfold. The "obligation," or oath, is done at the altar in the middle of the lodge room. It's basically just a waist-high piece of furniture that has a Bible or whatever sacred text the individual has for their particular religion. Then you're walked around the lodge room, introduced to each of the main officers. You see the assembled brethren and the master of the lodge before you in his top hat. It's very traditional, early-1800s garb. And after the ritual — and this is true of all the Masonic degrees — the master recites a lecture on the group's history and symbols, memorized word for word. Those haven't changed in 200 years.
I imagine that would be a bit difficult to follow.
The language is a bit antiquated. It's almost like time travel. You realize this is almost exactly what was being done 200 years ago.
In the book's introduction, you mention how you omitted certain details.
The consensus seemed to be that the specific means Masons use to recognize each other — handshakes, the specific wording of parts of the ritual — should not be divulged. You don't want some fake Mason coming to your lodge and talking their way into your meetings.
Fake Masons coming into your lodge and talking their way into your meetings?! Why not? Why so exclusive? I'M SO CURIOUS.
You note that one of the darkest episodes in Masonic history led to the first-ever third U.S. political party, the Anti-Masonic Party. How did that come about?
There was a man named William Morgan who was — and there's some controversy about this — a disaffected Mason who decided to write a book on Masonic degrees. This was in 1826 in upstate New York, the frontier at the time. He was kidnapped and was never heard from after that. It appears that it was a group of Masons who abducted him. And because he was never seen again, it is possible to imagine all sorts of things that might have happened. So the reputation of Masonry took a real beating because [the incident] sort of seemed to prove people's theories — "Masons are going to kill anybody who reveals their secrets."
To read the whole article, click here.
I'd like to now share with you one of my favourite videos about The Masons that I found. Worth a watch if you have the time- great editing...
Anyway, recently I have become less obsessed with wanting to know, and more obsessed with wanting to be IN The Masons (I'm not stupid, I'm a female atheist- it's never going to happen! But a girl can dream, right?). So after questioning pretty much anyone who would listen over festive-drinking times at Christmas- mainly @GregGJJohnston and @tomemerson, lucky them!- I have come to the conclusion that the only way to know is to get on the inside; either find a mole, or convince them that I am a legitimate male who worships some form of deity. Yeah, it's stupid and not viable, and yes, I am just going to have to accept my curiosity, ALRIGHT! I know! I'm never going to get my answers. But it won't stop me googling them.
Anyway, I was looking into Masonic fashion- this is, after all, a fashion blog (sort of). And, well, I didn't have to look hard to find my angle... Did you know that the Catholic church believe The Masons to be responsible for the decline in moral standards and eloquance of women's dress Of recent times!? I quote Colleen Hammond, who gave up the 'American Dream' to convert to Catholicism (read her damning blog on The Masons here)-'Just as the Freemasons wanted to infiltrate the religious orders, they also planned to infiltrate the fashion world. They planned to influence women’s and children’s fashion trends and styles by getting their own people involved in the fashion industry'! Now who's the conspiracist!? Hammond goes on to explain how it is the fault of 'those whose goal is the total destruction of Christian society' (i.e. The Masons), that has caused women and girls to dress in 'hooker chic'. 'Do parents realize that "ladies of the night" wouldn’t wear on street corners in the 1950’s what some girls wear to the mall these days?'. I mean, she's got a point- I am shocked by some of the clothes I see girls wearing these days, and often ask 'Where's you coat?!' or 'Where's your Mum?!' to under-dressed girls that I might see out at night. HOWEVER, since when was this directly related to The Masons? If you have any interest in this at all, read her blog post. She's a good writer and has an incomparable talent for taking things out of context- I.e. The International Review on Freemasonry, 1928.
One thing that has to be mentioned though, is that The Masons aren't shy to a little fashion investment. In fact, walking down the Masonic catwalk for Julien Macdonald at the 2006 London Fashion Week, was none other than that pillar-of-society herself: Paris Hilton. The Mason's had donated (in exchange for money) use of their public HQ, Freemason's Hall for the event, which paid tribute to the ritualistic "catwalks" of The Masons themselves.
Anyway, I don't believe these two ideas are in anyway related- I think that the use of Freemason's hall was probably just a very expensive publicity stunt- and that they actually don't have any influence on women dressing like "streetwalkers"; but it is interesting. They're so connected. Fashion and Freemasonry aren't two things that you're likely to put together- hence my lack of faith (religious words/phrases are just on the tip of my tongue) in this post. I mean, come on, check out their signature "looks":
Anyway, it just goes to show that The Masons clearly have influence in many different industries. Pie fingers, no doubt. THEY'RE SO COOL. In fact, I'm not actually sure I believe they are cool- there is always going to be something sinister about any form of secrecy within a society. Which leaves me wondering why they would be so secretive. If anything, it just calls for bad press? The human imagination is a terrible thing if left to it's own devices. I mean, tell me that you haven't once thought of the word 'sacrifice' whilst thinking about The Masons?! I think they should just suck it up and publish some form of document with all their secrets in.
So here is my plea (and the hidden agenda behind this post): if ANYONE knows ANYTHING about The Masons that they think I might be interested in, then PLEASE for the love of God (I'll stop this soon), get in contact with me!! lisforlucie@gmail.com. I'd be ever so grateful. Or even if you're just interested too and would like to chat about it- God (oh, for God's sake!!) knows that my friends are all sick to death of hearing my insatiable craving for Masonic knowledge.
Im going to leave it there anyway and keep my fingers crossed that curiosity doesn't kill the cat. If I never blog again- then they've probably got me...
L.
