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Freemason

"FREEMASONS, n. An order with secret rites, grotesque ceremonies

and fantastic costumes, which, originating in the reign of Charles II,
among working artisans of London, has been joined successively by
the dead of past centuries in unbroken retrogression until now it
embraces all the generations of man on the hither side of Adam and
is drumming up distinguished recruits among the pre-Creational
inhabitants of Chaos and Formless Void. The order was founded at
different times by Charlemagne, Julius Caesar, Cyrus, Solomon,
Zoroaster, Confucious, Thothmes, and Buddha. Its emblems and
symbols have been found in the Catacombs of Paris and Rome, on
the stones of the Parthenon and the Chinese Great Wall, among the
temples of Karnak and Palmyra and in the Egyptian Pyramids
always by a Freemason."

Related changes

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

What links here

Special pages

The Freemasons (or just "Masons," and sometimes the Masonic Order) are a
"society of secrets." Less glamorously, their official purpose is a club that promotes

Printable version

"mutual intellectual, social and moral improvement."[1] They currently boast a

Permanent link

The "square and

compasses," an iconic
symbol of the Freemasons.

Some dare call it

Conspiracy

membership of about 6 million worldwide.[1]

Historically, the Freemasons claimed to be able to trace their origins to the craftsmen
who built King Solomon's temple, or even the builders who built the pyramids in
Egypt, but no one has even come close to providing good evidence for this. Its

What THEY don't want

modern form dates at least as far back as the 18th century, when the Mason's Grand

you to know!

Lodge of England was constructed, though it probably has origins in medieval

Eric Hufschmid

masons and cathedral builders.[citation needed] The Freemasons' official stance is that

Eurabia

they don't really know.[1]

Jesse Ventura

Masons traditionally recognize each other by various "secret" signs, including

wearing a ring with a Masonic emblem, various lapel badges, and sometimes the
famous Freemasons' handshake (when shaking hands, the thumb briefly strokes the
other man's hand in a certain way), though the last one is mostly restricted to
Freemasons in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Of course, these "secrets" all got
leaked a long time ago, so modern Masons may well use different means of
identifying each other, such as raising and donating millions of dollars per year to
hospitals, relief organizations, and local causes. (The most famous Masonic charities

Lee Harvey Oswald

being the Shriner childrens hospitals[wp] in North America.[2] )

Contents [hide]
1 Origins
2 Social utility
3 Masonic virtues and beliefs
4 Initiation
5 Appendant Bodies
6 Criticism
6.1 Religiously-Based Anti-Masonry
6.1.1 The Taxil Hoax
6.2 Nepotism

John Hogue
Zeeman crater
Sheeple wakers
Bryan Fischer
Mark Dice
Michael T. Snyder
Nico Haupt
Steve Milloy
Tomi Lahren
v-t-e

6.3 Criminal Conspiracy Theories

6.4 World Domination
7 The Masonic Goat
8 List of notable Freemasons
8.1 Hold on!
9 External links
10 Footnotes

Origins

[edit]

Freemasonry and its practices were inspired by the stonemasons' guilds that
existed in the Middle Ages. These guilds were formed to protect and pass down
trade secrets that were crucial to stonemasons, such as geometry, which enabled
them to create huge, intricate cathedrals from small drawings. The secret
handshakes and passwords now associated with Freemasonry were used by the
stonemasons to identify each other, which was important for keeping secrets in the
guild. The meeting place of modern Freemasons, the Lodge, was originally where
stonemasons would put their tools and draw up their building plans.
During the Renaissance, when guilds became obsolete, it was decided that
"operative masonry" (the actual construction of buildings from stone) would
provide an excellent platform for a new breed of Enlightenment-style thinking,
called "speculative masonry." Both speculative and operative masonry were called
"the Craft."

They're everywhere! A
RationalWikian in his Royal
Arch garb.

Speculative masonry adopted the tools of operative masonry and used them as
symbols to teach moral and ethical lessons. For instance, the Mason's level symbolized how, in the Lodge, every
Freemason was "on the same level," no matter how grand or insignificant they were to the outside world.
During the 18th century Freemasonry was exported from the British Isles throughout most of the rest of the
world, in particular Europe, the British Empire/Commonwealth, and the Americas. This resulted in unique
qualities developing in various parts of the Masonic world and as a result there exist substantial differences
between, say, British, European and North American Freemasonry. Different forms of ritual are used as well as
different customs and usages and what holds true from Freemasonry in Iowa may not hold true in France, New
Zealand or Japan. In some cases these variations can be significant for instance, in the United States to attain
the 32nd Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (an appendant body to masonry, see below) takes a
couple of weekend classes and can be all done in a month. However, in places like England and Scotland, to
attain the 32nd degree is the culmination of 20 or so years of loyal and dedicated effort.
Three other factors also assisted the diversification of Freemasonry. The first is that basic Craft Freemasonry is
not a unified, world-wide organization. In most places in which Freemasonry is present, Masons are governed by
a completely autonomous Grand Lodge which operates at a state or national level hence Grand Lodge of
Scotland, United Grand Lodge of England, Grand Lodge of California, Grand Lodge of Texas, Grand Lodge of
Western Australia, Grand Orient of the Netherlands etc.
The second factor is an internal tension within Freemasonry between traditionalists (who wish to stick to the
traditional values of Freemasonry) and modernists (who see that as society evolves, so should Freemasonry). In
some cases this tension has caused the formation of schismatic Masonic organizations, most noticeably
organized around the admission of women (or not) and the admission of atheists (or not) into Freemasonry. The
overwhelming majority of Freemasonry keeps broadly to traditional lines and as such the more modernist groups
are broadly referred to as Irregular Freemasons.
The third diversifying factor is the establishment of a variety of appendant bodies to Freemasonry. The Masonic
legend concerns itself with a mythic narrative around the construction of King Solomons temple and appendant
bodies either extend this narrative (e.g. Cryptic Masonry) or delve into largely unrelated areas (Masonic Knights
Templar). The theoretical relationship between these appendant bodies and Craft Freemasonry is that the
appendant bodies are largely autonomous groups that just happen to draw their entire membership from the
ranks of Master Masons, but in actuality it varies greatly. For instance the Grand Lodge of Ireland will expel a
Mason belonging to any Masonic society it does not approve of but the Grand Lodge of New Zealand holds no
opinion on any non-Craft Masonic body and thus is considerably more relaxed on the issue of appendant bodies.
For the sake of clarity, this article is written from the perspective of regular masonry from a predominantly
English background.

Social utility

[edit]

For Freemasons, one of the most important ethical teachings is charity. In many English-derived lodges the
newly initiated Freemason is given an extensive lesson on the importance of charity to Freemasonry and Masonic
values in the Charge in the North East. Drawing on this and other endorsements of charitable activity with the
ritual and constitutions of Freemasonry, Freemasons are usually highly active in raising and distributing money
(often anonymously) in communities. This differs from Friendly Societies like the Oddfellows, Druids, Foresters
etc, which were formed as mutual support societies to provide a degree of financial security in the form of
medical and employment insurance, widows and orphans benefits etc. before public welfare became a
government concern.
Freemasons raise and donate millions of dollars (or local equivalent) to various charities each year. This is
particularly noticeable in the United States and England, but less so in Continental Europe and South America.

Masonic virtues and beliefs

[edit]

There are three (and only three) degrees in Craft Freemasonry, inspired by the degrees of the operative mason's
guilds:
Entered Apprentice (1st degree)
Fellowcraft (2nd degree)
Master Mason (3rd degree)
There is an "extension" to the Master Mason degree, that of Past Master (after a Master Mason is elected and
installed and completes his term as the Chairman of a lodge, usually taking a period of 1 year). In lodges
operating under the constitution of the Grand Lodge of Scotland the Mark Degree, an extension of the Fellow
Craft, is awarded in Craft Lodges rather than separate Mark Lodges as is the case elsewhere. Any other degrees
(such as being a 32nd or 33-1/3rd 33rd degree, VII Grade or what have you) is, in the English speaking world and
most of Western Europe, grades associated with one or other Masonic appendant bodies, not Craft Freemasonry
per se.[3]
Each of the degrees teaches the Mason something of the mythical history of Freemasonry along with moral,
ethical and allegorical lessons on the conduct of life.
The Entered Apprentice focuses on the importance of charity and the need for a member to have a sound moral
basis to their life.
The Fellowcraft degree is an exhortation to "learn such of the mysteries of nature and science as lies within your
[abilities]."
Having taught the fundamentals of a good and proper life in the preceding two degrees, the Master Mason
degree then summarizes the virtues and value of a life well led.
In short, Masonry encourages its members to be just, upright, and thoughtful
men who are loyal citizens and worthy contributors to all that is good in society.
If you do well enough, you get to drive around in a little car and wear a fez. [4]

Initiation

[edit]

There are two known branches of Freemasonry: the Regular (Guided by the
United Grand Lodge of England) and the Liberal (Represented by the Grand
Orient of France). To join Freemasonry one must be a free-born individual, must
Fezes on parade.
be "of mature/lawful age" (21 in some Grand Lodges, 18 in others), and must ask
to join of their own accord. Regular Freemasonry requests that its members be
men and hold a belief in a Supreme Being (whatever interpretation or name they want to give to it), while some
Liberal Freemasonry organizations like Le Droit Humain do accept women and/or atheists, and many allow one
to substitute the laws of physics as God(s). Before new members are accepted, they have to be approved by a
vote of the local Lodge members, who express their approval or disapproval of the candidate by placing black
cubes or white balls into a box.[5]
The initiation ceremony itself is notoriously peculiar, and involves the initiate being blindfolded, with his left
trouser leg rolled up to the knee and his shirt partially unbuttoned to expose his left nipple,[6] and a noose
placed around his neck. All of this supposedly has some arcane symbolism. The new member must promise to
uphold Masonic traditions and not divulge any of the society's secrets. Traditionally, this promise was
accompanied by various bloodthirsty punishments (such as having your tongue torn out and being buried alive
below the high water mark), however, in deference to modern sensibilities (and the simple fact that that is not
what Masons do) these lines have now been largely excised or euphemistically referred to as the "traditional
penalties."

Appendant Bodies

[edit]

In its wider sense, Freemasonry also includes several appendant bodies, such as the Shriners, the Knights
Templar (not to be confused with the historical Knights Templar, who some claim as the progenitors of
Freemasonry based on the most flimsy of evidence), and the Order of the Eastern Star (which admits women in a
non-Masonic ceremony and is thus accepted by much of the "regular" Masonic world). Also included are youth
groups like Job's Daughters (which, like the Shriners, are largely confined to North America), The Order of the
Rainbow for Girls (Rainbow Girls, for short), and The Order of DeMolay (The only group for boys, as the
aforementioned are girls-only groups).

Criticism

[edit]

Religiously-Based Anti-Masonry

[edit]

Many religions condemn Freemasonry, believing its ideals to be irreligious (i.e., "unChristian" or the equivalent),
or even that it actually constitutes an occult religion and keeps this secret from the public.
Catholicism has traditionally opposed Freemasonry because it saw Freemasonry as a secularizing force that
opposed the Church of Romes religious position as well as Freemasonry allegedly engaging in anti-Catholic
political and social agitation in France, Italy and the German states in the 18th and early 19th century. The truth
of this position during the 18th and 19th century is contestable, but it is certainly not the case today though
the historical legacy of earlier Papal Bulls banning Freemasonry had left a great deal of confusion today as to

whether or not Catholics can join Freemasonry as far as their church is concerned; soon thereafter Pope Benedict
XVI reaffirmed that the penalty of excommunication is still applicable and that joining Masonry would be a grave
sin. However, this is one-sided as Freemasons ask only whether a man believes in God, not what religion or
denomination they are. In Ireland, the lodge historically provided a neutral meeting-ground for moderates of
both sides of the religious divide and thus assisted in attempting to provide a more reasonable and sane solution
to the sectarian troubles caused by British occupation.[7]
Among Islamic opponents, Freemasonry is seen as a tool of European (and American) cultural imperialism as
well as undermining the absolute uniqueness of Allah by admitting men of all faiths as equal (a similar criticism
is leveled by Christian fundamentalists as well). Most Islamic states have banned freemasonry, Malaysia being
one of the few that havent.
However, the most persistent, vociferous and nutty critics of Freemasonry come from the evangelical Protestant
community, who attribute any and every evil to Freemasonry, from infant cannibalism to sex-orgies to shadow
conspiracies.

The logo for the Order of the

Eastern Star.

Masonic symbolism is another cause for suspicion, as it includes some

traditionally "occult" symbols such as pentagrams and hexagrams, as well as the
many emblems which associate Freemasonry with its origins in stonemasons'
guilds, such as trowels, aprons, set-squares and measuring compasses. The
Order of the Eastern Star mentioned above (and which admits women) is often
claimed to be satanic because of its logo, an inverted pentagram. While Satanists
do use inverted pentagrams, the symbolism in the Eastern Star logo is different.
It actually was meant to symbolize the star in the east that led the wise men to
Jesus on Christmas Day (which is exactly why it points down to point the way
there). The irony is that the Eastern Star is one of the least Masonic and most
Bible-orientated of the Masonic appendant bodies. But then again conspiracy
theorists are not good when it comes to grokking irony.
Among the self-styled Evangelical Christians who promote anti-Masonic
conspiracies are Jack T. Chick [8] , Texe Marrs and William Schnoebelen[9] .

The Taxil Hoax

[edit]

The Leo Taxil/Diana Vaughan hoax is one of the most well-known and far-reaching
efforts of anti-Masonic propagandists. In 1885, a journalist named Gabriel Antoine
Jogand-Pags, a rabid anti-Catholic who joined the Freemasons but was soon kicked
out, decided that he could get revenge on both organizations by publishing a lurid
hoax.
After feigning a conversion to Catholicism, Jogand-Pags wrote two books (the first of
which was a four-volume series) under the alias Leo Taxil. They told all about the
satanic orgies and child sacrifices that the Freemasons practiced. He also wrote that
they worshiped a demon called Baphomet. Needless to say it was bollocks of the most
preposterous order, but the French Catholic Church, which was at the time fighting a
losing battle against secularism, seized upon the Taxil hoax and popularized it, leading
to its adoption by contemporary and later anti-Masonic writers.
However, most damaging for the Freemasons was not the accusations of child sacrifice
and orgies (which only the most bat-shit insane anti-Mason still believes), but rather a
false quote purported to be from Albert Pikes Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and

Baphomet, the occult

demon that Freemasons
were claimed to
worship.

Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.[10] The Scottish Rite is (in the English-speaking
world) only one of many Masonic appendant bodies, but because of Pike (a major historical and literary figure in
the history of the rite), the fact that it possesses 33 degrees (and thus obviously is more important than 3degree Freemasonry), and the fact that it likes to consider itself the crme de la crme of Freemasonry, has
caused controversy out of all proportion to its actual significance. This fake quote published by Taxil has become
possibly the single most repeated Masonic passage on conspiracy websites:
That which we must say to the world is that we worship a god, but it is the god that one adores without
superstition. To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the brethren of
the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees: The masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the higher degrees,
maintained in the Purity of the Luciferian doctrine. If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay and his priests
calumniate him?
Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without
shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods; darkness
being necessary for light to serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and the brake to the
locomotive.
Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy, and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer,
the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the
God of Darkness and Evil. [11]

Later on, Taxil called a press conference where he promised to introduce one of his informants, named Diana
Vaughan. Instead, he confessed his hoax, lampooned the priests in attendance, then thanked them for their part
in spreading the tale and went on to retire in luxury.[12] Needless to say, the confession is overlooked by most
conspiracy theorists, and when it is acknowledged, it is (in that logical twist so characteristic of conspiracy

theorists), dismissed as Jogand-Pags falling victim to nefarious Masonic pressure.

Nepotism

[edit]

Freemasons are famous for their nepotism, allegedly often granting favors for fellow Masons, either for reasons
of fellowship and reciprocity or sometimes at the insistence of a superior. However, this is largely a fiction that is
constantly repeated by both anti-Masonic conspiracy nuts as well as those generally ignorant of Freemasonry.
The degree of "nepotism" within Freemasonry (based on personal and anecdotal evidence) is no more than you
would find in a church, a regimental association, a club, or any other environment in which people get to know
each other in a semi-formal way.
Nepotism and elitism naturally attracts criticism in that it leads to unfair advantages to individuals regardless of
personal merit. Added to this, the nature of a secret society means that outsiders cannot be certain to what
extent this nepotism is happening. In the UK, civil service organizations dealing with criminal justice such as the
National Probation Service and the Crown Prosecution Service but bizarrely not the police force require new
employees to sign a declaration stating that they are not a member of any fellowship organization such as the
Freemasons to avoid nepotism issues.

Criminal Conspiracy Theories

[edit]

One common allegation that draws on the "conspiracy of silence" that Freemasonry is supposed to inculcate is
that Freemasons were behind the series of attacks attributed to Jack the Ripper. The Ripper's mutilation of his
victims was supposed to represent the symbolic penalties imposed on a Brother who revealed the secrets of the
Lodge. According to people like Stephen Knight and Walter Sickert, it was a plot devised by Sir William Gull to
cover up the fact that Edward, Duke of Clarence and heir to the throne, had secretly married a prostitute and
fathered a child. (In fact, Sir William Gull was not even a Freemason, but this doesn't discourage the story.) Even
the mysterious message left behind by the Ripper, "The Juwes Are The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing"
was supposed to be masonic, with "the Juwes" referring to the 3 masons of masonic ritual who murdered Hiram
Abif: Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum. It should be noted that these men have never been called "the Juwes" before
this (because Knight simply made that part up, along with most of the rest of his "research"). This, however,
overlooks that almost all Masonic oaths (and certainly the ones in England, Scotland and Ireland) require the
Masonic initiate to swear to uphold the civil laws and authorities.

World Domination

[edit]
Many believe Freemasons to be prominent at high levels in many industries,
financial sectors and some government departments; they have long been the
target of conspiracy theories . Freemasons are often associated with the
Illuminati and the "New World Order", and believed by some to be pulling the
strings behind the United States government and others. Some of these
conspiracy theories are explicitly or implicitly anti-Semitic, associating
Freemasonry with an "international Jewish conspiracy."
However, these allegations of a world-wide conspiracy of domination can be
dismissed on two counts:

Anti-Masons have obviously never seen a lodge committee try and decide between sandwiches or sausagerolls for supper. Most Masonic committees would have difficulty in organising a piss-up in a brewery, never
mind controlling the minds and goals of 7 billion people.
If Masons really were in positions of power in industry and politics, we would have better jobs by now.
Some nations, especially those under totalitarian governments, have gone as far as making Freemasonry illegal
most famously, Nazi Germany (where Freemasons were liable for arrest and imprisonment in concentration
camps and made to wear the red triangle).[13]
In 1943, the Nazi occupation government in France created a propaganda film entitled Force Occulte (translates
into Occult Forces or Hidden Forces). This cinematic oddity attempts to link Freemasonry to all sorts of "Jewish
conspiracies" around the world, including world domination. The film's director, Jean Mamy (credited on the film
under the pseudonym "Paul Riche"), was executed after the war as a Nazi collaborator.
Today, some people think their secrets can be found on the deep web.

The Masonic Goat

[edit]

Masons, anti-Masons and the general public alike sometimes refer to Freemasons as "Goat Riders" or some-such.
The connection between Freemasonry and goats is a long-standing one and its origins are lost in the mists of
time. Undoubtedly, anti-Masons would say that it is proof positive that Masons worship the devil in the form of
Baphomet, as the goat skull forms an inverted pentacle yawn
The phrase "riding the goat" is often used in a joking manner around the Lodge, mostly in conjunction with
initiations. However, no goats are ever ridden. It is possible that "goat" is a corruption of GAOTU, or Great
Architect of the Universe.[14]
Sometimes it backfires. In the early days of Johannesburg, several wives of Lodge brethren came across a goat,
wandering near the Masonic Hall. Thinking it belonged to the Lodge, they with some difficulty
(wo)manhandled it onto the Lodge grounds, where it was later found by its irate owner.[15]

List of notable Freemasons

William "Bud" Abbott (Half of the Abbott & Costello comedy team)

[edit]

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (astronaut)

Benedict Arnold (Revolutionary War general who switched sides to the Limeys)
John Jacob Astor (millionaire)
Gene Autry (actor, singer)
Johann Christian Bach (composer)
Sir Joseph Banks (1744 - 1820)
William "Count" Basie (Jazz composer & musician)
Irving Berlin (composer)
Mel Blanc (Actor & Voice-over artist)
General Omar Bradley (WWII US Army general)
Ernest Borgnine (Actor)
James Bowie (Frontiersman, Inventor of the Bowie knife. Died at the Battle of the Alamo.)
James Buchanan (President)
Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
Lord Randolph Churchill (1849 - 1895)
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Nat King Cole (singer, pianist)
Samuel Colt (firearms manufacturer)
Davy Crockett (politician, frontiersman)
Erasmus Darwin (Yes, he was Charles Darwin's grandfather. Yes, he came up with the theory of evolution.[16]
No, this does not prove evolution is a Masonic conspiracy![17] )
Bob Dole (Senator)
James Doolittle (WWII US Army general)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (physician, creator of Sherlock Holmes)
Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury and thus Head of the Anglican Church(1887-1972) He also
performed the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Gerald Ford (President)
Henry Ford (entrepreneur)
Sir Alexander Fleming (1881 - 1955)
Benjamin Franklin (politician, scientist)
James Garfield (President)
John Glenn (Elder of the Presbyterian Church, among other achievements)
John Hancock (Yes, that John Hancock)
Warren G. Harding (President)
J. Edgar Hoover (Director of the FBI)
Burl Ives (Actor & singer)
Andrew Jackson (President)
Jesse Jackson (politician, activist, minister)
Admiral Earl Jellicoe (1859 - 1935)
Andrew Johnson (President)
Lyndon B. Johnson (President) - Johnson was initiated into the 1 st Degree, but never pursued the masonic
degrees, as his congressional duties took too much time
Robert Jordan (author)
King Edward VII (1841 - 1910)
King Edward VIII (1894 - 1972)
King George IV (1762 - 1830)
King George VI (1895 - 1952)
King William IV (1765 - 1837)
Rudyard Kipling, in whose short story The Man Who Would Be King[wp] freemasonry features heavily[18]
Marquis de Lafayette (Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier: French aristocrat and military officer
who fought in the American Revolutionary War)
Charles Lindbergh (aviator)
William McKinley (President)
James Monroe (President)
General Sir John Moore (1761 - 1809)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer, whose opera The Magic Flute contains many Masonic references[19] )
Joshua Abraham Norton, aka "Emperor Norton the First" (1819 - 1880)[1]
Daniel O'Connell (Irish Parliamentarian, brought about Catholic Emancipation and struggled to repeal the
Union between the Kingdom of Ireland and Britain.)
James K. Polk (President)
Cecil Rhodes (1852 - 1903)
The Ringling Brothers (Circus promoters. Yes, all seven of them, and their father.)
Roy Rogers (actor)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (President)
Theodore Roosevelt (President)
"Colonel" Harland Sanders (Founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken)
Peter Sellers (actor)

William Taft (President)

Harry S. Truman (President)
Mark Twain (author)
Robert Wadlow (The tallest human ever)
John Wayne (actor)
George Washington (President)
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) The chap that defeated Napoleon
Adam Weishaupt (Yes, he founded the Illuminati, now get over it!)
Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple Computer Inc.)
Abraham Zapruder (The amateur film-maker who captured the assassination of President Kennedy)
Adolph Zukor (Film producer)
and the list goes ever on

Hold on!

[edit]

Why are so many influential people Freemasons? Probably because people that wish to be influential join
organizations one as old as the Freemasons is bound to attract their interest. And a list of Freemasons who
never gained any fame would make a very, very long list.
Besides if the names weren't famous, just like the ones David Icke heroically list, we could likely just be
making them up in order to throw you off our trail.

External links

[edit]

Grand Orient of France

Masonic Info

(a site which takes the time to answer critics of freemasonry)

United Grand Lodge of England

Freemasonrywatch

(conspiracy theorist site)

The International Order of Freemasonry for Men and Women Le Droit Humain American Federation
Forces Occulte

- The abovementioned anti-Masonic propaganda film.

Freemasons reveal all! [20]

Footnotes
1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Thinking of becoming a Mason?

[edit]
" United Grand Lodge of England. 2009.

2. Those men with the fezzes .

3. In some parts of the world Craft Freemasonry is governed by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and thus for
them, Freemasonry is ruled by 33rd Degree Masons. But this is mostly in South America and some parts of Eastern
Europe
4. If you're in the Shriners (a subset of Freemasonry found in the U.S. and Canada), that is.
5. Originally, both black and white balls were once used, but black cubes were introduced to differentiate them from
discolored white balls. Incidentally, this is where the term "blackballed" comes from.
6. Which may help to discourage women from trying to join
7. The Irish Catholic Daniel O'Connell was famously the Master ("Chairman") of the Dublin Lodge 189, before leaving
the organisation when the Church outlawed it among Catholics
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/oconnell_d/oconnell_d.html As a partial response to both Freemasonry and
the Catholic prohibition of it, American Catholics created their own "secret society" called the Knights of Columbus.
8. http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1074/1074_01.asp Check out his tract "That's Baphomet?" on his
Chick.com website
9. http://www.masonicinfo.com/schnoebelen.htm
10. http://204.3.136.66/web/SRpublications/DeHoyos.htm#i8
11. Copied from http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry06.html#universal
http://204.3.136.66/web/SRpublications/DeHoyos.htm#i11
12. http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/taxil_confessed.html

See also

13. For instance, Cuba is the only Communist state which allows Freemasonry to exist.
14. This replaced the original term, "God Of All Things" (GOAT), which may have been the original source of the
confusion.
15. A Century of Brotherhood, DEG Vieler, 1996, pg 248
16. Charles Darwin wasn't the first to think this up. Charles just expanded on the natural selection part of it.
17. Disturbingly common idea. You can't have a Youtube video exposing evolution without Erasmus Darwin
mentioned, with his masonic status emphasized.
18. Ironically, the 1975 film version [wp] was directed by and starred only non-masons
by Sean Connery and Michael Caine, and John Huston directing)
19. Mozart and Freemasonry

(the lead roles being played

20. There are quite a few imitator groups out there that Conspiracy Theorists love to quote, so it would be a good idea
to look out for those

Categories: Conspiracy theories Organizations

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