I have read another book about religion and Freemasonry, this one is a bit more peculiar. It is called The Hidden Life In Freemasonry and was written by C.W. Leadbeater in 1926. I know my last post claimed to be the last dealing with religion but this work is worthy of discussion.

C.W. Leadbeater is a 33rd degree Master Mason of the European Lodge and claims that he is reincarnated, with his earliest remembered life in Ancient Egypt as he claims in the second paragraph; “The only one of those previous lives of mine with which we are here concerned was lived some four thousand years before Christ in the country which we now call Egypt.”

From this book I learned that possibly, to some extent, Masons believe in reincarnation. Whether this is a universal or secret belief is something that I need to explore a bit more, however, there is a picture hanging in my Lodge of a man that no one in the lodge, including our District Education Officer, could name.

It is a rather large, very old portrait in an ornate frame that is sitting by itself in the north east corner and is easily dismissed. What struck me first was how he was dressed and the large jewel around his neck. It was definitely of Masonic origin but much more adorned than most of the others I have seen in recent photos.

Leadbeater writes; “That the rituals and symbols should have been preserved to us with so wonderfully little alteration is surly a marvelous thing; it would be inexplicable but for the fact that the Great Powers behind evolution have taken an interest in the matter, and gradually brought people back to the true lines when they had swerved somewhat away from them.”

One “soul” which he mentions is the Master of the Wisdom or Comte de S. Germain which title he appeared under in the 18th century. Names that he mentioned appointed to this title started around the third century A.D. are; Albanus (or later known as S. Alban), Proclus, Roger Bacon, Christian Rosenkreutz, Hunyadi Jones, a monk named Robertus, Francis Bacon, Prince Jozsef Rakoczi, Pere Joseph and a Baron Hompesch (which the author met and had a long conversation with in 1901).

Leadbeater goes on to say; “In Co-Masonry we refer to Him as the Head of all True Freemasons throughout the world (abbreviated as the H.O.A.T.F.) and in some of our Lodges His portrait is placed in the east, above the chair of the R.W.M., and just beneath the Star of Initiation; others place it in the north, above an empty chair.”

Again, the portrait in my Lodge sits above an empty chair in the NE corner. I have searched all the names in Google Image Search and Bing’s Image Search and none of the images I found match however, the portrait of Prince Rakoczi does have some of the same features. Regardless of the lack of Internet matches, I believe that this portrait is of the “Master of the Wisdom”.

If this portrait in question is truly that of the “Master of the Wisdom”, did the fore-fathers of my Lodge believe that this man was the reincarnated “soul” of Albanus, a man of a noble Roman family, born at the town of Verulam in England?

As we read further into this book he confirms one of the other arguments, against Freemasonry, by some of the Christian anti-mason groups. Leadbeater talks many times about God being in Man and of the Hindu belief that God is in Everything and Everything is in God. To be assured of salvation you must get in contact with the God within yourself.

I am having a hard time placing any stock in this authors opinions however. Many subjects are brought up but are dismissed because they are going to be or have already been discussed in other books that he wrote. This work seems to be a lot of “look how smart I am” and “buy my other books.”

It is an interesting read if only for the insight provided to the belief of reincarnation and life in Ancient Egypt. The ironic thing is, is that he claims that he was born in 4k B.C. and most, if not all, of our rituals originate from that era of which he participated. But yet some of our rituals were lost to time because of the lack of written instructions. If he lived in that time why doesn’t he just tell us how it is supposed to be, that way we could get it straight from the horses mouth?

Possibly, this concept is well over my head and the reason I don’t believe is because I don’t understand, but as a Mason it is not for me to say that he is right or wrong in his belief and to explore and accept the world around me. However, personally I place this idea in the same boat as time travel which, I believe, will never be possible simply for the fact that if it will exist it would have always have existed.

Five million years after we discover the secrets of time travel, someone would have gone back in time and stopped Hitler and it would have never happened. Someone would have gone back in time to be the first to discover time traveling to be eventually credited to the same cave-man that invented fire. The burning of the library at Alexandria would have been stopped or at least all the documents would have been saved and we would have known exactly how the ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids.

But, as always, I could be wrong (I am a man after-all) so I guess I will just keep reading and questioning.

Till next time…

SF

The more I read, about Freemasonry and religion, the more of the same patterns begin to appear in different texts from different time periods. Mainly, issues of the symbols and obligations are being shown as anti-Christian. Something else I have seen is that Christianity is the only mainstream religion that has a problem with Freemasonry. In this text I want to bring up some of the biblical quotes referenced to in these anti-masonic writings and discuss, what I believe, is the true meaning of the scripture. I also will try and turn the tables on common organizations, using biblical scripture, to prove their involvement in the occult and anti-Christian practices.

Freemasonry is a fraternity that is dedicated to make good men better through only accepting men that have not committed a felony and have faith in a supreme being and by using the tools of the Lodge, as analogies, as the proper way to live ones life.

Masons only accept a candidates that are free from felony, for the simple reason as to only accept good natured men. This proves to the lodge that he is aware of the laws of the land and that he holds those laws as true and just and will defend those laws at all costs. Masonry only accepts men that live by the laws placed upon them by the governing bodies of their home country, because if they can not live their life by following the rules of the Nation, they can not live by the laws of the Books of Sacred Law, placed upon them by God.

Faith plays a huge role in Masonry, mainly because; we believe that to truly be a good man, one needs to have faith in God. During the obligations, the candidate is asked to place his hand on the Book of Sacred Law and to make a pledge to his deity that he shall fulfill his duties to his Brothers, neighbors, community and country. What good is an oath given to a unbelieved in God with no regard for the writings in his book of laws? Freemasonry looks only for those they can trust in to better the fraternity and the community.

The symbols used in a Lodge of Freemasons are used to give the candidate a means by which they can visualize the way Masons are required to live life. Teaching us to be upright in all our dealings; to divide our time evenly with work, family and study; to treat all men with equality, regardless of their personal color, creed or nationality; and to life life in moderation, never overindulging in one aspect, such as in food or drink.

The Book of Sacred Law is simply the book that is placed upon the alter on which the obligation is given. This book is the book of which the candidate holds to be the true bible according to his personal religion, be it Jewish, Catholic, Buddhism, Christian, Muslim, or… well… thats all I can think of at this time, but the point is that if your religion has a sacred book, use it here. Again we are a fraternity of good men and we believe that good men exist all over the world, not just in places where Christianity lives.

Because of the requirement that one must believe in God (as to not offend our brothers of other faiths and keep our fraternity open to every good man we use the term “The Great Architect of the Universe” to mean God) to be a Mason, the Catholic Church deemed us a religion. In an attempt to spread the Church into more aspects of our lives, they demanded that we acknowledge the Catholic Church as the One true church. When the Grand Lodge refused the order, we were deemed an occultic religion, of worshiping other Gods and supporting idols. Christianity soon followed.

Today there are many anti-mason authors out there who are writing entertaining books, following their Christian beliefs, using quotes from esoteric Masonic authors, like Albert Pike, and spouting out biblical texts that proclaim Freemasonry worships Satan, has an anti-Christian agenda and killing any man who utters the name Jesus Christ.

While it is true that Masons do not allow the discussion of Jesus, it is also true that we do not allow talk of religion of any kind. In the same way that religion is not discussed in most business meetings or political assemblies. Masonic meetings need to take the different beliefs of its members into account and, in a way to avoid segregation, disallow any talk of religion. For this reason, Christians claim that this is how we are pushing Jesus out of our Lodge and have anti-Christian agendas.

I have already discussed worshiping Satan in an earlier post so I will not delve into this issue any further, however I will say that this is a huge issue and through twisting references and using biblical texts out of context, they make a very strong argument. So much so that, if I was not as hard-headed and decided to look up their quotes and read their references, I would have believed their claims and never became a Freemason.

Freemasonry is no more a religion than the government, for they are the ones who make up the laws of the land, judge its suspected criminals and condemn its convicted. Freemasonry is simply a way for good men to bond with other good men whom they can trust and respect without fearing persecution of personal religious beliefs, national origin or political agendas.

In his book Scarlet and the Beast the author talks about idol worshiping and biblical texts that tell us how God feels about such things:

The only symbols God forbade were those that were said to represent Him. In Deuteronomy 4:12, Moses reminds Israel that when the Lord spoke to them at Horeb, they:
“heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude [symbol]; only ye heard a voice.”
(Deuteronomy 4:12)
In 4:15-16 and following,
Moses explains the injunction against figures or images:

“Take ye, therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude [symbol] on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female…lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them….”

(Deuteronomy 4:15-16)

Symbols, figures, or images of God were of pagan origin and usage, leading to the worship of creation or even to the worship of demons in place of God. Therefore, God forbade His people of such practice.

I do not argue this point at all however this scripture has nothing to do with Freemasonries because we do not worship anything in the Lodge and the only symbols that are used in Masonic Lodges are tools of the trade and show us, through analogies, how to live our lives as a Freemason.

Now, however, I want to point out something else mentioned in the bible that many, if not all Christians have either forgotten about or choose to ignore. In Deuteronomy Chapter 22 verse 5 we learn how women are to dress.

The woman shall not wear that which pertains to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination to the LORD your God.

(Deuteronomy 22:5, AKJV)

There are many other parts of the scriptures in Deuteronomy that many choose to ignore such as…

You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together.

(Deuteronomy 22:10, AKJV)

You shall not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.

(Deuteronomy 22:11, AKJV)

If any man take a wife, and go in to her, and hate her, And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name on her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: …

But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she has worked folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shall you put evil away from among you.

(Deuteronomy 22:13-14, 20-21, AKJV)

You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself outside you must dig a hole with the spade and then turn and cover your excrement.

(Deuteronomy 23:13, NETfree)

There must never be a sacred prostitute among the young women of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute among the young men of Israel. You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute or the wage of a male prostitute into the temple of the LORD your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the LORD your God.

(Deuteronomy 23:17-18, NETfree)

When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please, but you must not take away any in a container.

(Deuteronomy 23:24, NETfree)

You must not have in your bag different stone weights, a heavy and a light one. You must not have in your house different measuring containers, a large and a small one. You must have an accurate and correct stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the LORD your God is about to give you. For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent to the LORD your God.

(Deuteronomy 25:13-16, NETfree)

So, as we see from the rest of the book of Deuteronomy, if a woman is not a virgin at the time of marriage we MUST stone her to death, you ARE allowed to consort with prostitutes, as long as you don’t bring them to church. You ARE allowed to steal your neighbors grapes as long as you don’t take any with you and, most importantly, you can NOT have separate measuring cups in your kitchen, and for God’s sake NEVER EVER plow your fields with a John Deere and a Ford at the same time!

I don’t mean to make light of biblical scripture but I am sick and tired of those holier-than-thou people who vomit out the words of God, picking and choosing what to put in and take out. If you claim to be a Christian and try and force everyone around you to to live by your book, then you too must live by those same words completely and fully – All women must wear dresses only or go to HELL!

Beside, I am not Jewish so the laws of the Old Testament do not apply to me, because in his sermon on the mountain in the book of Matthew, Jesus declares that Christians shall follow his new laws and not those of the Old Testament.

When I think about it, it is rather easy to show how any given organization has roots in the occult, satanism, or witchcraft. All it takes is a bit of imagination and the ability to jump to conclusions. For example on the Green Peace website they refer to God on over 60 separate pages but never once do they tell us WHAT God they are worshiping, but obviously, because of there close contact with nature, they have Wiccan affiliations. According to the Wiccan code, Principle #2 stresses the importance of care of the environment and was prepared over four decades ago.

It is obvious by the descriptions of the Knights Templar’s emblem of the cross, given by Albert Pike, that the Red Cross has adopted the same swastika design adopted by the Nazis of Hitler. So with this reasoning we can assume that anyone involved with the Red Cross are Jew hating, white supremacists and believe that genocide is the way to true world peace.

This is all complete hog-wash I know, but when these same arguments are posed about a secret society, such as the Freemasons, people whole-heartily believe it. We kill what we fear and we fear what we don’t understand. Ignorance is the breeding-ground for hatred and unfounded judgment, and we all know what Jesus says about judging…

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why behold you the mote that is in your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye.

(Matthew 7:1-5, AKJV)

Well thats it for now and I think I am done with the religion / mason thing. Seems that people are only regurgitating irrelevant bible scriptures that do nothing but confirm that the conclusions and facts that they came up with, about Freemasonry, are indeed heretic and occultic in nature and prove Satan worshiping. However, the conclusions that they come up with are based on speculation and putting hidden meanings where none should be, and using Mason authors quotes out of context to make their point stand out more.

To prove my point, I want to show you how, using the anti-masonic societies techniques, I am a Satan worshiper.

From the text on this site I actually said that, in referring to my Masonic teachings… that we worship “Lucifer the Devil”!

The funny thing is that I can also show that the people who run Gospel.com loves Satan as well. Just go to their site and search for documents that say, I love Satan, and you will get over 1000 page hits.

Anyway, thats enough for now, I think next I will start looking into the allegations of the Masons plotting a New World Order under a One World Government. This might be a little harder to dispute for the simple fact that I am only a 3^rd degree MM.

Till next time…

SF