[Kenka]

Much interested in the masonic order, I wanted to know a bit more about their principles, customs, how members do interact with one another and what binds them. As far as I understand it, free masons have the common goal of bettering their own personality and are ready to support one another in tough times. This is a short summary of course but I would love to see if masonic GAFfers would like to discuss their role in the order, recent achievements made possible directly/indirectly by their affiliation and simply answer questions.

My first question is: how did you get in touch with the masons, first ? Also, and why were you willing to join them ? What convinced you ?

Thanks !

[Lionel Mandrake]

It's a bunch of dudes drinking beer and watching football.

[BocoDragon]

It's a bunch of dude's drinking beer and watching football.

There are still perks. Automatic access to GAF Gold. Not bad.

[bjb]

So you're under the assumption that certain GAFers are. in fact, legitimate free masons?

[GrizzNKev]

As far as I understand it, free masons have the common goal of bettering their own personality and are ready to support one another in tough times.

Why do you need to be part of a secret group to do this?

[Sentry]

I doubt GAF has any regulars who are legit freemasons.

[shira]

I doubt GAF has any regulars who are legit freemasons.

We do

[echoshifting]

I'm not, but a friend of mine is!

He got all weird and detached shortly after becoming a full-fledged member. Haven't seen him in about a year and I used to see him a few times a month. Never noticed the timing before...hmm.... o.O

[Kenka]

Why do you need to be part of a secret group to do this?

Good thing to ask, I don't think they are THAT really secretive. Maybe the very fact of looking for infos about them in order to understand them is part of some kind of preemptive training. It's very common with many private companies, this is not exactly spectacular.

I am heading this afternoon to a nearby lodge to ask the very same questions posted in this thread.

I doubt GAF has any regulars who are legit freemasons.

Yes, I do think some GAF dudes are masons. I mean, in America especially, being a mason is not something out of the ordinary, right ? And damn son, you got a clever avatar.

[CPS2]

We do

I read that to the tune of the stonecutters theme.

[MultiCore]

I read that to the tune of the stonecutters theme.

that'sthejoke.jpg


I would be interested in hearing all the Mason's most valued secrets, if in fact anyone who 'knew' them wanted to divulge them. It's for the greater good, comrade!

[Kylehimself]

Secret handshakes and annoying sayings that they wont let anybody else in on. It's like a boys club only creepy. I used to work with a few guys who were members and it was a constant annoyance.

Ride the goat bitches.

[devildog820]

We do

Nailed it

[Rapstah]

GAF has no freemasons. Leave your quest immediately 672,

[peace in palestine]

.

[TheKaeptain]

A few of my military friends that stayed in are Masons.

[SUPREME1]

Sounds cool and all, until you get to the part where you have to pledge your allegiance to the devil. Then it's just wierd.

Remember, they don't care what deity you follow, only that you do have one... so you can turn on said deity when it is time.

True.

[brumx]

hey guys my browser has the "pyramid eye" does that make me a mason?? anyways unless you get to 33 or really high up then you just do charity work stuff.

[Orayn]

My grandpa was a mason, my dad's a lapsed one, and my great uncle still goes to meetings on occasion. He wound up giving me a card and giving me the awesomely ominous advice that I should call the number on it if I'm ever in trouble - The man clearly has connections.

[Deadly Cyclone]

No Nick Cage pictures or Dan Brown references yet?

I always found the Masons interesting though. Love the history channel shows about the order.

[CornBurrito]

My grandpa was a mason, my dad's a lapsed one, and my great uncle still goes to meetings on occasion. He wound up giving me a card and giving me the awesomely ominous advice that I should call the number on it if I'm ever in trouble - The man clearly has connections.

You should call it and make a thread about it on GAF.

[gcubed]

I am. My lodge is dry too, no booze until later. Some of my best friends are other brothers in my lodge that I've only ever known for a few years. Its a great group of guys full of tradition and the more you're involved the more you get out of it.

I'd do anything I could to help a fellow brother because I know what to expect from him, even if I never met him before.

I met someone I became friends with who was a Mason, I asked a bunch of questions and decided to join. I met a few guys from the lodge I was joining first to be able to ask more questions and meet a few different people.

[Copernicus]

I've put up sheetrock before, does that count?

[Kenka]

I am. My lodge is dry too, no booze until later. Some of my best friends are other brothers in my lodge that I've only ever known for a few years. Its a great group of guys full of tradition and the more you're involved the more you get out of it. I'd do anything I could to help a fellow brother because I know what to expect from him, even if I never met him before. I met someone I became friends with who was a Mason, I asked a bunch of questions and decided to join. I met a few guys from the lodge I was joining first to be able to ask more questions and meet a few different people.

Sorry to bump my own thread but the subscription option didn't work for some weird reason. I like what you wrote here because I firmly believe that a group of individuals who genuinely rely on one another and are kind and welcoming to one another is the key to happiness and also... power. To me, living without this harmony in my family or in my group of afghans feels so... artificial and forced.

On the other side, if you are surrounded with people to whom you can confess your deepest thoughts, ambitions and sins and still not get judged for that and receive a wise advice in return, that's just heaven.

I am actually interested in the masonic order even more after what I read from you but I fear that the bound formed with brothers may interfere with my big love for my countrymates. And this is what worries me.

[WanderingWind]

Like, people are always using "oh, he's a Mason" as a bad thing. Fuck that shit. If there really is a secret organization that opens doors to wealth and power, I'm all for it. As long as I can become a member.

But, you know, how?

[Bay Maximus]

Sorry to bump my own thread but the subscription option didn't work for some weird reason. I like what you wrote here because I firmly believe that a group of individuals who genuinely rely on one another and are kind and welcoming to one another is the key to happiness and also... power. To me, living without this harmony in my family or in my group of afghans feels so... artificial and forced. On the other side, if you are surrounded with people to whom you can confess your deepest thoughts, ambitions and sins and still not get judged for that and receive a wise advice in return, that's just heaven. I am actually interested in the masonic order even more after what I read from you but I fear that the bound formed with brothers may interfere with my big love for my countrymates. And this is what worries me.

Sounds like you should join a frat.

[Eschaton]

like joining a frat but without the parties

[FStop7]

My question is: Why did you make Washington DC a pentagram?

[Dark Stalkers]

like joining a frat but without the parties

Are there attractive women at least?

[thomaser]

Much interested in the masonic order, I wanted to know a bit more about their principles, customs, how members do interact with one another and what binds them. As far as I understand it, free masons have the common goal of bettering their own personality and are ready to support one another in tough times.

You just want to become a member of the Illuminati, admit it.

[Poimandres]

My question is, how heavy is the mystical side of things?

A friends father is in a pretty high up position, but it seems like he's almost exclusively focused on the community side of things. On the other hand, a neighbour was heavily involved for a number of years but eventually left because things started to get "too intense".

I'm just wondering what the balance is, and whether the spiritual/philosophical side of things is fundamentally the same as other mystical schools of though (Theosophy, Rosicrucians, Gnosticism etc)

[Bombadil]

AlphaNoid claims to be a freemason.

You should talk to him.

[Slime]

My question is: Why did you make Washington DC a pentagram?

While Pierre Charles L'Enfant (the designer of Washington, DC's street layout) was a Freemason, his alleged use of the pentagram in its design wasn't necessarily Masonic. In fact, I'd argue that it's not a pentagram at all. Much of his plan simply uses cross-crossing diagonal avenues in homage to the Gardens of Versailles, so there was bound to be something vaguely pentagram-like at some cross-section.

That said, if it was intentional, the explanation is simple. As you can tell from the name and the Square and Compasses symbol, much of Masonry's symbolism relates to architecture, as well as important figures connected to it, geometry, and mathematics. Of particular note are Hiram Abiff (allegorical chief architect of the Temple of Solomon), Euclid, and Pythagoras. The latter is held in particular esteem for being the traditional discoverer of the Pythagorean theorem, and is by extension connected to the golden ratio, a numerical constant seen as almost sacred in the world of architecture and aesthetics. The pentagram makes use of this, was seen by Pythagoras and his followers as representing mathematical perfection, and as such was used as their primary symbol. If the symbol is ever used in Masonic imagery or ritual, it would without a doubt be used in this context, and not the "evil" interpretation steeped in Judeo-Christian mythology, popularized by medieval (but mostly 19th century) occultists.

[ronito]

There's probably not many masons on GAF. Lots of mormons though, they're sorta close.

[tearsofash]

I've always been curious about freemasonry. I'm in the Ordo Templi Orientis, and we have our roots as an Academica Masonica. I'm interested in its symbolism and ties to King Solomon and that sort of thing.

[snacknuts]

I dated a girl for a few years and when her family was convinced she and I were going to get married, her grandfather asked me to join his lodge or order or whatever. I knew things weren't going to work out with the goal, and the fact that I had to have some sort of god were both good enough reasons to keep me from taking him up on his offer.

[XANDER CAGE]

Sounds cool and all, until you get to the part where you have to pledge your allegiance to the devil. Then it's just wierd. Remember, they don't care what deity you follow, only that you do have one... so you can turn on said deity when it is time. True.

[xbhaskarx]

My grandpa was a mason

Free, or paid?

[blainethemono]

I did a documentary on the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Santa Fe for a film school project back in 2002/2003. It was a pretty great experience. They let us interview several members and film inside their temple, and they even let us attend/film one of their dinners. I remember they had this big dark empty room in the basement that had nothing in it but a gurney in the center of the room and it scared the hell out of me. They seemed like cool people though, and they had some pretty interesting stories to share.

[DarkFlow]

So you're under the assumption that certain GAFers are. in fact, legitimate free masons?

It's not hard to become a mason. My grandfather was a master Mason and from what I understand you can just drop by a lodge and ask about joining.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Is there no help for the widow's son?

[B.K.]

Freemasons run the country!

[Kwixotik]

Being exposed to, but not entering, secret societies through members of my fraternity has thoroughly creeped me out. One of them read me the creed of a secret society on campus, which included power and influence as its main principles and included the vow to vanquish any foe that stood in the way of acquiring those things. Well, fuck that. Doesn't sit well with me.

[mattiewheels]

I remember they had this big dark empty room in the basement that had nothing in it but a gurney in the center of the room and it scared the hell out of me. They seemed like cool people though

lol yikes!

[Nightshade1765]

A few of my farternity brothers are masons, and when asked about it they usually just say, "Well, we get out of college in four years, but liked the fraternal system. Which the Freemasons are very similar to, so we joined." (I believe fraternities are actually mapped after their structure).

So in short, it's a way to keep a lifestyle. Or, just having a group of dudes with similar interests to hang out with.

[DigitalDevil]

I doubt GAF has any regulars who are legit freemasons.

Wrong. I'm a mason.

[Stinkles]

I dated a girl for a few years and when her family was convinced she and I were going to get married, her grandfather asked me to join his lodge or order or whatever. I knew things weren't going to work out with the goal, and the fact that I had to have some sort of god were both good enough reasons to keep me from taking him up on his offer.

They actually don't care if you're an atheist, they just require that you are spiritual in some way. The wonder of thenuniverse and the unknowable nature of reality will both stand you in good stead and you won't be lonely in that regard.

Most lodges are actually very progressive in this regard.

Um, probably.

[WanderingWind]

Wrong. I'm a mason.

Tell me more.

[mt1200]

Do you guys have to pay some fee to the fraternity/lodge?

[Plywood]

My question is: Why did you make Washington DC a pentagram?

To freak people out.