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What Masonry means to people
Their thoughts on the Meaning of Masonry
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Turning The Hiram Key
Find out what Masonry means to Robert by reading his latest book,
Turning The Hiram Key.
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By anlgp (Steve) |
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I agree with what you said on talkshoe. I think it's a way for me to see myself from my internal and external perspective. |
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By Rob |
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I work in Local Government and it is such a shame that I and Brethren in similar situations can't celebrate our Membership amongst colleagues. There is still fear that one will be regarded and treated differently in the career stakes.What changed attitudes so much that there is so much antagonism now towards Freemasonry? That would be auseful attitudinal study! |
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By KEV |
i would like to say, that freemasonry was in my family for generations, and my stepfather was a worshipful master at one of the lodges in Wales.
He was someone who I respected and conducted his life in a very mild and humble way.
I believe, that by following the teachings of freemasonry, and by being a freemason made him the man that he was, and the man I wish to be....
I believe and hope that freemasonry will grow, and continue for many generations to come! |
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By alan |
Few people in the English speaking world are aware that Brazil was founded by masons (Adonhiramita rite), slavery was abolished in Brazil through a masonic movement (non-violent and in stages) and Brasilia is based on old masonic designs from the 1880´s.
Loges are called Lojas (also the name for a shop in Portuguese - both are from the arabic though the roots are different: in arabic, al laj, is a raised dias or holy place, where, for example, couples are married). There is also widespread acceptance that much of the philosophic rites are adapted from Sufism.
Esoteric masonary is now growing, with a younger membership, and is still very active, especially in smaller towns. |
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By John J. Graham |
Dear Robert;
Thank you so much for your contribution in writting "Turning the Hiram Key" a truly wonderful book! Although I come from a long line of Masons in my mother's family(Am Rev War Period), I am a Regular Master mason of Los Altos Lodge 712, in Los Altos, California. I am also Royal Arch Mason of California, Palo Alto Chapter No. 93, Palo Alto Commandery No. 47. Palo Alto Council No. 51 Even with this backgroung I learned more about the Craft than I had expected
but I am concerned that if to much is exposed we will lose the value of the "Secrets" as a private institution.
Masonary is what every man should strive to achive in his lifetime. that is my insight from being in the Craft. Masonary changed my life from what I thoght was best to what is even better today. In short, Iam better person for it.
Iam currently reading The Book of Hiram, and plan to read all of your and Chris's works.
Your in the Craft
John |
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By Shinobi |
Hey All
I have read The first three of Roberts books and have found them to be very enlightening. Through sending my questions of why we are here to the universe, I have found that his books along with others that I have been led to have taken me to the same mountain top via different roads.
I am a Ninja and have studied this art form as well as many others. I believe they are all branches of the same tree.
What I have found is that both groups share the same ideas and that they share a common source. one has been influenced by western thinking and the other by eastern thinking. Both were at one stage held secret from respecting political/religious groups in power at the time.
Both strive to make the individual responsible for his actions and to increase the soul voltage of each and everyone of us through our actions on this earth. This is what keeps the universe of gods creation growing.
Both authors write in a very informative and respectful manner, after all only by asking the questions that they have, have they come to the truths that they have explored. As with Ninjutsu each brother is like a streetlight on a dark and lonley road. Offering protection and guidence through a world with no formal intstruction booklet.
I am not a mason though I do know several and often talk about "the craft" with them from what I have learnt on my own road of enlightenment. I have always found them to be open and honest in our dealings which gives me a great respect for you all. |
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By Kashkichap |
I find this subject matter to be very fulfilling in terms of having a better grasp of our society's history as a whole. I have always had trouble with the teachings of catholicism. More so after surviving the residential school experience. There was just too many questions that were never answered and this left a void in my understanding of life. Throughout my young years i came across this subject either by accident or by fate. It has only been the last ten years that i have slowly began to read the books coauthored by both Lomas and Knight. I must say that it has enlightened the conversations we have had about many things since then. I am currently reading a book written by Graham Hancock. I have read Hiram Key, The Second Messiah and Uriel's Machine. I feel more informed now about what our history is. This is the kind of knowledge i was yearning to learn about.
I am a Canadian of aboriginal descent and i am now beginning to appreciate what our legends are about. There was always a missing element to the stories and most times, even my parents could not provide the answers. For myself, i will continue to read your books and the other books written by other authors about the same subject.
I don't think it should be a secret. I think the knowledge should be made available to anyone who wishes to know. Even more so with our young people. Our knowledge of our history was put to rest when Europeans began coming over to settle on this side. Everything about our customs and traditions were wiped out. Through the research you have written, i am now beginning to have a better understanding and appreciation about our history. Our stories are much the same that they tell of the same fate that befell upon our society. Keep up the good work. I have other experiences to share but for now i will keep it short and i hope you can include me in your correspondence. |
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By S Baiocchi |
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I have a great respect for the foundations of Masonry. I was a lost soul 30 years ago when a friend of mine told me the story of Hiram. At first I told him he was crazy. Then I found the story in an old book. I read the story and also about the excavation of the Temple by the Knight's Templar. I felt almost at once that I had found something that had a direct connection to my life. I unfortunately can never become a Mason. My past behavior won't allow me. ( I wasn't always a nice guy)... anyway I began to read more and more about the craft. Then something began to happen,... I was changing! My negative aspect began to recede. Then positive thing's started to happen and even the people in my life took a turn for the better! The more I studied the more I began to realize that this must be something that had purpose for the betterment of those who are a part of Masonry. It truly has changed my life from afar. Mr Knight and Mr Lomas wrote in THE BOOK OF HIRAM that Masonry was dying. I think that it has stalled and that the Old Builder's must have known that as the world turns people change. So must the outlook of Masonry. The Guild must find a way to rebuild the temple using the Ashlars of the Old for the foundation of the new. In this world of instant gratification and T.V. duplicity... the Builders must find a way to continue into the future while finding common ground with the present. I know that when I speak of Masonry to most of the people I meet, that they have a false impression of what masonry is about. Maybe the Guild can start to rebuild by using modern media with a touch of exposure? I'm not saying to open the doors and throw a party, but to realize that as a race we have advanced very quickly in the last 200 years. It has had a profound negative effect on everything from our view on God to how we deal with each other as people. Zero tolerance is the new "buzz" of the order of thing's. This is nothing short of malice. It is time for the guild to Change. To become a better tool for those who seek to use them for the positive improvement of mankind in these modern times. With all the Movies Like the Da Vinci code the time could never be better to effect a change. I hope that the master of the craft find the sweet spot to bring the past into the future. Thanks for letting me have my say... to all the brothers both here and gone, God Bless and may you live with Hope never fading. |
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By Charles |
FreeMasonry means being apart of something thousand of years old, in a word History.
FreeMasonry means also free thinking.
FreeMasonry a way of life, a way to encourage others to suceed, advance and learn.
Hi, my name is Charles, I joined the lodge in 1989. I had always seen very respectable men and women going and coming from the Masonic Hall. I admit I was also quite curious for my Dad was a Mason but said little about it except that "Freemasonry will never hurt you or anyone else and in fact we help many".
I entered and worked my way through the lodge not missing a step / station, including Scottish Rite and Knights Templar. I wanted to learn as much as possible and did just that. I in turn have assisted or taught many other very capable men. It certainly builds character of the highest calibur.
I am the type of person that will always asked questions about things I'm interested in as well, questions like why you were placed here or there in the lodge? If someone could not answer me I asked others or researched for the infomation to find out why? I found also that what they {the older men or officers} did not tell you was also most important {you need to think and read between the lines}. I followed up with other readings too including most books from this website. I have always had the greatest of faith as well and I know there is no such thing as coincidence, ever! Things happen for a reason. What we read what we suddenly notice or tune into. Also, I have always been one to notice detail and changes to that detail {or myself and changes to myself} I did notice a correlation developing between the knowledge I was attaining and a closer relationship with God and believe it or not Angels as well. May sound a little silly I know but it really is true.
Lodge has been and remains a truly great adventure and learning experience for me.
Thanks for reading |
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By Lisa the Merry Hag |
I'm an American woman. My father is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Shrine. He's been a Mason for over 60 years now. (His father was a Master Mason.) Although during my lifetime he has never been very active in the craft, if has had a big effect on me. I was always curious about it, though I knew next to nothing about it as a child. I knew it was a good thing, an honorable thing—sort of like being a knight. (I little knew then how close I was to the truth.) When I was 14, I went with an aunt to visit a cousin several states away. I remember very clearly while we were driving to the bus station, my father said to me, "If anything should go wrong, if you should be in trouble, just go to any Masonic Temple and tell them that your father is a Mason, and they will help you." I still get tears in my eyes when I relive that, just as I did at the time.
In early adulthood I was still curious, and realized by then that in some unclear way, there was much more to the Masons than a club which did good works. I knew that in some vague way they were connected to the Knights Templar, another shadowy and interesting group I knew little about. I am an artist, and have always had a strong mystical bent. I began to dabble in Masonic studies, but never really ventured in deeply until about five years ago. I had always said that if a woman could be a Mason I would be one, but it wasn't until a fairly recently that discovered that was possible. Over the last five or six years I have been studying a great deal about Freemasonry and about the Templars, ancient Egypt, hermetic practices in Europe, the Grail romances, sacred geometry, and everything I can think of that is somehow related. (One might say I'm obsessed.) This has been extremely interesting, especially when seen through the light of my extensive study of the old religions of the Great Goddess which I began in the 1980s. These Templar/Masonic studies have included some of your books. I read The Hiram Key, and found it fascinating. I recently reread it as lead up to The Book of Hiram which I'm just finishing. I think they're excellent, though there are some certain aspects that I'd be interested in discussing with you at some other time.
By this time I probably know more about Freemasonry than I daresay many Masons do, although I have held off on some specific ritual-related studies until after I am a Freemason myself. I have found a Co-Freemasonry Lodge in Chicago, and I'm in the process of applying for membership. I can hardly wait. I can only imagine how proud I will be to belong to the Masons, and I expect also to feel a certain sense of awe over that which I will have become a part.
I believe it is EXTREMELY important that Masonry continue to live. And I believe Lodges should return to the use of the old rituals. (I know that probably won't happen in most lodges.) It's incredibly valuable that you have preserved them, and are making them available. I understand well how the loss of what seems like a small old-fashioned detail eliminated in an effort to simplify and modernize, could change the true meaning entirely. It reminds me a bit of the most unfortunate trend that began here about 25 years ago, of modernizing the interiors of old churches. The usual practice was to strip away all the ornament, carving, light fixtures, furnishings, and in Catholic churches even the statuary. Sometimes they even destroyed old stained glass. Then they would paint the place white to brighten things up. The result is that instead of reverently entering a dark and silent Sacred Cavern lit only by candles and magical colored light, one now saunters in to worship in what looks and feels like a gymnasium. Something critically important is lost.
I think it might help Masonry dispel the idea that there is something sinister going on, if they were more open about the public face of Masonry—the charities, the emphasis on education. I have seen portions of the first three degrees televised, and that seems harmless enough—though probably tough for the general public to understand.
However, I do believe deeply that some parts of ritual, some lines of knowledge are not, and were never meant to be, for public comsumption. For one thing there will always be only a select few who understand these things. Of course, because Masonry has meanings at so many levels, much can be offered publicly that would be generally understood at the first few levels only. It seems to me that it's the overlaps and relationships of various meanings that begin to lead to the heart of the matter.
Anyway, I didn't intend to go on so long. Suffice it to say that I think Masonry is one of the highest callings available in this time, and one of the very few places where one can pursue ancient and mystical truths in fellowship with other people.
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