|
freemasonry society secrets, new york grand lodge |
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Masonic lodge
Freemasonry Society Secrets What secrets lie behind Freemasonry, and why are they kept out of view? At least one Grand Lodge is opening its doors wider, some say a little too wide, to allow easy access inside. Summary The doors to the lodge are still closed and tiled, as Masons like to say, but the doors to the Grand Lodge of New York have swung open so far that becoming a Mason can be accomplished in a single day. What is too little, what is too much in terms of secrecy? The jury is still out.
For more than two centuries, the Freemasons and their grandiose rituals have played a secretive, mysterious role in American life. One of the Masons’ symbols looks a lot like the all-seeing eye on the back of every $1 bill. And look whose picture is on the other side. Two Masonic leaders, Neil I. Bidnick and Thomas M. Savini, at lodge headquarters in New York, are opening up a bit to attract members. George Washington was not the first Mason, and not the only famous one. Mozart worked thinly disguised touches of Masonry into operas. Fourteen presidents and everyone from the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale to the comedian Red Skelton belonged. Masons presided when the cornerstone was laid at the Statue of Liberty. But the Masons’ numbers have been steadily dwindling — whatever their secrets are, they apparently do not have one for avoiding death — and their ranks have been graying. So the New York State Masons have followed other state Masonic societies in doing something that they would have once considered heretical: they are actively reaching out for new members. And, in the process, a famously reticent fraternal organization that now puts a premium on its community service has lifted its veil of secrecy just a bit. The Masons are not giving out the secret words that members are supposed to say to get into meetings (although these days, simply showing a dues card might do). But the Masons are giving public tours of the New York Grand Lodge Headquarters. So people can see the gilded ceiling, the marble walls, the benches along the sides for the rank and file and, at either end, the thronelike chairs for high-ranking Masons. And, in a conference room next door, there is more gold, though it is only paint on a copy of a larger-than-life statue of George Washington. The lodge also hired a public relations firm to spread the word about its 225th anniversary, which was last month. And the Masons have run advertisements in movie theaters and run one-day classes to award the first three Masonic degrees in a single session. Until then, would-be Masons had to spend months learning what they needed to know to rise from Entered Apprentice to Fellowcraft to Master Mason. “We’re still not thinking of it as recruiting or trying to amass people,” said Thomas M. Savini, the director of the library at the New York Grand Lodge Headquarters, on West 23rd Street and the Avenue of the Americas, “but I think we’ve reached a point where we realized that not saying anything isn’t making it any easier.” They had also reached a point where they could not ignore what others were saying about them in “The Da Vinci Code” and other bestsellers like “The Book of Fate” by Brad Meltzer. Excerpted from an article by James Barron in the New York Times dated October 4, 2006. For the complete article, see A Secret Society. Photo credit to Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times for top and photo of Bidnick and Savini. Books on Freemasonry:
Philosophy, History and Wisdom of Freemasonry by Michael R. Poll, editor (2006) A series of articles by various authors on aspects of Freemasonry, including jurisprudence, spiritual significance, Rosicrucianism, and world peace.
by John J. Robinson (1989) Traces Freemasonry back to the Knights Templar via the 1381 Peasant's Revolt in England. Reads like a detective story. Author was not a Mason when he wrote the book, but joined a lodge later.
by Christopher Hodapp (2006) Follows Freemasonry through the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers and the design of Washington, DC. Author also wrote Freemasons for Dummies.
by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh (1989) Looks for links between the Knights Templar and Freemasons, via Robert the Bruce, Scots Guard, and Rosslyn Chapel. The authors also wrote Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
by Robert L. D. Cooper (2007) Looks into Masonic structure, culture, connections, sites, and famous members. The author is curator of the Masonic museum and library in Scotland.
by Robert Lomas (2007) Follows a proposed path from Knights Templar to Freemasons, but that route did not produce evidence of connection. Author also wrote Freemasonry and the Birth of Modern Science.
Scotland's Century by David Stevenson (1990) Presents activities in Scotland during the 1600's which may have been linked to Freemasonry. Author also wrote The Scottish Revolution 1637-1644.
© 2010 S. Holst |
Neil I. Bidnick (left) and Thomas M. Savini at New York Grand Lodge Other books about societies with secrets and secret societies: A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry - in Two Volumes (1921) by Arthur Edward Waite. Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982) by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln. The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital (2002) by David Ovason. The Craft and Its Symbols (1985) by Allen Roberts. The Trial of the Templars (1978) by Malcolm Barber. Freemasonry: A Journey Through Ritual and Symbol (1991) by W. Kirk MacNulty. The Rosslyn Hoax? (2006) by Robert L. D. Cooper. The Meaning of Masonry (1922) by W. L. Wilmshurst. The New Knighthood (1994) by Malcolm Barber. Freemason's Guide and Compendium (1950) by Bernard E. Jones. A Dictionary of Freemasonry (ca. 1890) by Robert Macoy.
|
