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canuck
Mastermason
Posts: 293
Registered: Dec 2009 |
 Posted March 24th, 2010 09:59 PM IP   
As I've stated over and over again - the concept of the Satan (even in the MOST humanistic versions of the satanism) is in conflict with the basic principles of the GAOTU and his attributes described in portions of the ritual work.
www.victorialodge.ca
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east_regalia
Unregistered
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Registered: |
Posted September 9th, 2010 12:10 AM IP
If Satan is not considered by the CoS to be a Supreme Being, then technically, a follower of Satanism does not belief in a Supreme Being.
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 9th, 2010 07:35 PM IP
But isn’t our insistence on the Belief of a Supreme Being founded on the principle that faith in that concept is required otherwise no oath or obligation would be beholden on the initiate? Then, it seems to me that a belief in the existence of Satan would just as assuredly validate the candidate’s obedience as any other faith.
Here in Illinois our current GM, M.W. Bro. Rick Swaney is a member if Vienna Lodge No. 150. Before his ascendancy to the Grand East, that lodge was previously notable for a landmark case of its Master, Bro. Crum in 1888. Vienna, Illinois is a very remote and rural place now and was even more so then. (You will find the town on the map near Paducah). W. Bro. Crum formed a society in the 1880s that discounted the Holy Bible as “an Old Jewish Book of Superstitions.” He published a tract while Master of that Lodge entitled “Believe or Be Damned.” The Grand Master then, M.W. Bro. Alex Darrah, expelled him for atheism an act which was appealed to at our Grand Lodge session in 1889 by the officers of his Lodge.
After trial those Brothers decided that the question was too vexatious of one for the Craft; and G.M. Darrah’s successor, Brig. General John Corson Smith, by order of the Grand Lodge delegates restored W. Bro. Crum. M.W. Bro. Smith then stated:
“While not in sympathy with the action of the Grand Lodge, and believing the Holy Bible to be the first and most important of the three great lights of freemasonry, I did not forget that I was there to enforce the laws and edicts of the Grand Lodge.”
For us in Illinois, the case proved that questions of belief can only be required of candidates, that once a Mason has been made a Master Mason that decisions of faith are left up to his conscience, that if a Brother were to loose his faith that neither the lodge nor Grand Lodge has the authority to demand his dismissal. The test, then, can only be made of a petitioner and I would have to say that a petitioner who believes in Satan must also believe as we do in Diety.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 9th, 2010 11:27 PM IP
Torence
This is an interesting area and somewhat confused by centuries of lack of clarity about the higher purposes of Masonry.
In my view the primary issue is whether the candidate agrees that there is some sort of Divine Plan to which he (or she) is willing to commit - even while not understanding much more than its existence. Such a Divine Plan presupposes the existence of the Supreme Being. Hence we require an obligation to that Being - and the taking of that obligation may invoke quite specific blessings from that Being.
Now if a candidate is committed to an alternative Being - here symbolised by Satan - then there is a question as to whether the plan of that Being (if that Being exists) is consistent with the Divine Plan. Obviously a Lodge would have difficulty if some of its brethren were committed to a dark Plan.
This however is detected early in the process when the candidate is interviewed (preferably in his/her home) and signs of dark orientation should be detectable by the interviewing brethren.
Now we can easily deal with brethren who later have difficulties with belief in God. We can look to see if their conduct and relationships still support the essential quality of our God which of course is Love. A brother who continues to express Love is oriented to the Supreme Being - regardless of whether his/her mental processes struggle with the concept
Cheers
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 10th, 2010 07:22 AM IP
Hello Bro. Holland-
You state:
> In my view the primary issue is whether the candidate agrees that there is some sort of Divine Plan to which he (or she) is willing to commit - even while not understanding much more than its existence.
My concern with this approach is that, perhaps unintentionally, such a precept smacks of dogma. When the overtly Christian elements were taken out of the work our fore Brothers sought to remove dogma, no matter how well intended, from the Masonic plan.
> Hence we require an obligation to that Being - and the taking of that obligation may invoke quite specific blessings from that Being.
The Original “Grand” Points of the degree work (which were taken out by the Lodge of Reconciliation in 1813 and then the substitutes were promoted by the Lodge of Promulgation in 1815) had the candidate represent the twelve different tribes of Israel, Benjamin, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulen, Isaacher, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Ephraim and Menessah and Benjamin as he makes his progress. Each taught the candidate to better understand him self and other men by experiencing the different qualities of man. When he is in the preparation room, for example, he represents Simeon who prepared the instruments of war before battle with the Schechemites. Our prohibition of certain objects in the Lodge hall was illustrated by the dishonorable and brutal way that Simeon and his Brothers avenged their sister Dinah with that tribe. When he is taken by the right hand he represents the Tribe of Issacher because they were an indolent tribe that needed to be pushed and led into battle. The experience is geared toward understanding yourself before contemplating the complexity of T.G.A.O.T.U.
> Obviously a Lodge would have difficulty if some of its brethren were committed to a dark Plan.
Not necessarily, there is the yin and the yang and the two could mingle within our tyled walls without necessarily causing conflict.
> This however is detected early in the process when the candidate is interviewed (preferably in his/her home) and signs of dark orientation should be detectable by the interviewing brethren.
I find it interesting that you use the term “interview” rather than “investigate.” At last year’s GL session in Illinois we had an hour long debate to change the old term with your new term. The old term won out and is still in use here in Illinois.
> We can look to see if their conduct and relationships still support the essential quality of our God which of course is Love.
The same two organizations, the L. of Reconciliation and the L. of Promulgation replaced “Love” with “Charity.” The scripture recitation that we use for the Fellow Craft degree, for example, in its King James version talks of “Love.” It was rewritten for us to speak of “Charity.”
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 10th, 2010 08:21 AM IP
>> In my view the primary issue is whether the candidate agrees that there is some sort of Divine Plan to which he (or she) is willing to commit - even while not understanding much more than its existence.
>My concern with this approach is that, perhaps unintentionally, such a precept smacks of dogma.
Certainly that can be regarded as dogma (opinion) and indeed Masonry takes a pride in speculation. If however Masonry were a science it would be possible to use the working tools in a moral sense and the existence of the Divine Plan would be able to be tested.
Indeed the primary characteristics of Earthly alignment with the Divine Plan can be directly observed in terms of being upright, level and square
>When the overtly Christian elements were taken out of the work our fore Brothers sought to remove dogma, no matter how well intended, from the Masonic plan.
The removal of religious dogma from Masonry is praiseworthy. You will however have noted that speculative Masonry has rather lost its way. Perhaps some interim guidance would be useful until the brethren regain the moral use of working tools
>>had the candidate represent the twelve different tribes of Israel,
In some rituals we are told that Moses set up a lodge during the wanderings in the desert - prior to the establishment of KST. I rather think that the Jewish clothing of Masonry is not original.
> Obviously a Lodge would have difficulty if some of its brethren were committed to a dark Plan.
>>Not necessarily, there is the yin and the yang and the two could mingle within our tyled walls without necessarily causing conflict.
The yin and yang certainly could but that is not the same as light and dark. A reading of the accounts of dark esoteric organisations may demonstrate that brotherly love is not a common characteristic.
Here is an order that follows a different god http://user.cyberlink.ch/~koenig/saturn.htm
>> King James version talks of “Love.” It was rewritten for us to speak of “Charity.”
My father had a saying "As cold as charity". Technically of course charity comes from caritas - Latin for "love" but as a sermonised subject it has become devalued.
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 10th, 2010 08:17 PM IP
> If however Masonry were a science it would be possible to use the working tools in a
> moral sense and the existence of the Divine Plan would be able to be tested.
Aside from the working tools, we also have for us the “new points” i.e. the seven liberal arts and sciences or “liberalia studia.” Originally they were the Greek “Circle of Education” and were described as the proper education for a free man “unlike the education proper for a slave.” Perhaps that is why so many in my class of Mason, (us Secretaries), do not take much time to study them.
I always point out that in our positions we cannot be fired. Slaves have to be sold.
> You will however have noted that speculative Masonry has rather lost its way. Perhaps
> some interim guidance would be useful until the brethren regain the moral use of
> working tools.
That was a complaint made of us by Joseph Smith. He stated that Masonry was a religion “in apostasy” and he took from us our degree formula, the Twelve Grand Points, for use in the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony. That theft did not, however, play out too well for him. Organizing men to do our work on the same level as religious dogma has some unfortunate consequences. Such thoughts, like a man’s relationship to T.G.A.O.T.U. or even “Satan” are best left up to the individual, IMHO.
> In some rituals we are told that Moses set up a lodge during the wanderings in the
> desert - prior to the establishment of KST. I rather think that the Jewish clothing of
> Masonry is not original.
The Devil you say. :-)
> The yin and yang certainly could but that is not the same as light and dark. A reading of
> the accounts of dark esoteric organisations may demonstrate that brotherly love is not a > common characteristic.
I always wanted to write a self-help book and title it “How to Screw Everyone Out of Their Money and Tell Them What to Do with Themselves.” But that is just one of those projects that seem to get shelved. With the interest in the Age Group coming into the fraternity these days (I was raised 9/23/85 and was also then the age of 25) in the occult, vampires, etc. I think it to be expected that some non-traditional religious thought may be found among them; and we should not necessarily be closed minded about admitting them.
> Technically of course charity comes from caritas - Latin for "love" but as a sermonised
> subject it has become devalued.
My understanding is that the rewrite was done to promote a purpose for lodges to raise funds for the Boys and Girls Homes. The intent was to lessen attention and contributions to “the Local Lodge Box of Fraternal Assistance” and instead organize them around larger and more distant Charities. Now that so many of our Grand Lodges are giving up the large Charities that sustained them in the last century, I am hoping for a return for us to focus instead on that old Local Lodge Box.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 10th, 2010 09:57 PM IP
>the seven liberal arts and sciences or “liberalia studia.” Originally they were the Greek “Circle of Education”
Although the EA TB lecture in our lodge points out their connection to the Blazing Star. And of course the Greeks were as children to the Egyptians - knowing nothing of human history.
>non-traditional religious thought may be found among them; and we should not necessarily be closed minded about admitting them.
There is no problem with that. Problems however arise when a brother chooses to face darkness (separation) rather than light. At that stage the Light will withdraw rather than be curdled.
>I am hoping for a return for us to focus instead on that old Local Lodge Box
It would indeed be useful for the brethren to consider what is the work of the lodge when all the brethren are experienced MM. Surely the true work of a lodge of MM is not collecting cash?
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 10th, 2010 11:16 PM IP
> It would indeed be useful for the brethren to consider what is the work of the lodge when all the brethren are experienced MM. Surely the true work of a lodge of MM is not collecting cash?
Being a Lodge of Masters, each should operate to celebrate Leadership.
The Light of Leadership these days has been very well dimmed. The Ancients, were they to know our generation would find us to very well be lacking in this quality. Take for instance the modern practice of allowing Management to draft young men for sacrifice. They would think us a very cowardly class of man. In their day, the leaders were expected to be at the forefront of every fight; and the price for foolish adventurism and failure on their part would be paid in the coin of their own capture and even the forfeit of their own lives. Triumph has its own rewards and when achieved it must be distributed in equal shares to those who participated in the action that produced success.
Let us not as a fraternity allow ourselves to be counted among those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor failure. Let us embrace risk, even the hazards of new alliances and friendships that come part and parcel in this age of maximum diversity.
Just as the Lodge Officers exist to bring good men to light, preferably one candidate at a time, the Lodges themselves should exist to foster new Lodges preferably in those areas that the generation that immediately before ours abandoned and left in darkness which is the only product to be had from of fearful bigotry. Let us not perpetuate a new prejudice to replace the old; but instead work together and end it.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 10th, 2010 11:47 PM IP
>Just as the Lodge Officers exist to bring good men to light, preferably one candidate at a time, the Lodges themselves should exist to foster new Lodges
That rather suggests that the Divine Plan comprises only making good men (& women) better. I would suggest that TGAOTU has rather greater visions than that.
If so, has a lodge of MM nothing to contribute beyond the human race?
Another way of asking the same question is to ask if humans have any obligations to the rest of Creation? If so, can those obligations be acted upon in Lodge.
The answer to the last question takes us far in finding the purpose of Masonry
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 11th, 2010 06:29 AM IP
> Another way of asking the same question is to ask if humans have any obligations to the rest of Creation? If so, can those obligations be acted upon in Lodge.
At our Grand Lodge session in 1908, here in Illinois, when the fraternity was in great turmoil over the innovation for us of organizing and building a retirement home for the aged (the delegates then felt so strongly against the notion that they stripped the GL Treasury of 2/3rd of its funds so that the endeavor had to be done from scratch), our Grand Orator proposed a new purpose for FreeMasonry, the Championship of Global World Peace.
In the years ahead, however, it was found that the opportunity for us to revitalize came with moving with the nation and against the Kaiser. Tens of thousands of young men sought the Masonic experience as something to be done. Many wished to have it before they went to war; most were made to wait until their successful return. The fraternity formed Lodges and clubs exclusively for the rank and file, mostly profane soldiers and then wrestled with the need to alter the standards for admission to fulfill the promise upon their return from war.
Despite eons of search, the development of new technologies exhausting every endeavor of exploration, all we have is what our senses show us. What if out of the whole of this creation, we are the only things capable of being self aware? The rest then is for our use and is at our disposal. Should we act as Creations Proprietor’s or mew our actions because of some vague wish that we are not alone?
Life, it seems, is about struggle. We know that we are because we struggle. As Masons we know we are in it, Life that is, because we move, sometimes violently, with the questions proposed to us once we become aware of ourselves. Gathering together as Lodges, then, the Lodge knows it exists because it struggles. Take away the fight and Lodges immediately begin to wane away. More Masonry has historically been found when we are the seat of sedition rather than sedation. The elderly Mason must make way for men still capable of great effort.
If you can accept what I say here, that the catalyst for us has always been in the tussle, then we can get back to the original question. Do we gain more with The Temporal Devil being at work in the World, or when the Loving and Everlasting God acts alone?
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 12th, 2010 07:08 PM IP
>What if out of the whole of this creation, we are the only things capable of being self aware?
There are many humans who say they have telepathic contact with a great range of other entities. I recall a man who could fix all sorts of vehicles without training. He told me that he would talk to the car and it would tell him what was wrong and how to dismantle and reassemble the components.
>Life, it seems, is about struggle. We know that we are because we struggle.
In the Buddhist tradition this is supposedly only because we are ignorant of the true nature of life.
> Do we gain more with The Temporal Devil being at work in the World, or when the Loving and Everlasting God acts alone?
That is a profound question. It seems that the state of humanity - blind to spiritual reality - is not a natural state and that some higher powers are quite interested in what sort of human race will emerge from the artificially imposed darkness.
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 13th, 2010 09:04 AM IP
> I recall a man who could fix all sorts of vehicles without training. He told me that he would talk to the car and it would tell him what was wrong and how to dismantle and reassemble the components.
That confirms my belief that the 1970 Chrysler Newport that I used to drive was haunted. But I think the Ghost was Jewish. Instead of saying “Vroom-Vroom” or “Boo” when I turned the ignition key, the machine would just let a out spooky “Oy” and do nothing.
> In the Buddhist tradition this is supposedly only because we are ignorant of the true nature of life.
But where there is struggle, there is life; and without it we all seem to melt and fade away. I think that we all know it from the friendships that we make here, most of them older than ourselves. Our finest are feisty and seem to remain with us forever. The pleasant are but shadows among us; and we will struggle in the future again just to remember them.
We see the concept in nature too. When the dinosaurs grew too comfortable, they met their end. For us here it was the Buffalo, down your way the Emu and platypus. Creatures that give up the will to fight go away while the more rabid and shark-like ones flourish in endless diversity.
> That is a profound question. It seems that the state of humanity - blind to spiritual reality - is not a natural state and that some higher powers are quite interested in what sort of human race will emerge from the artificially imposed darkness.
In the example that I already gave, there seems to me to be some mis-guided thought that war, for man, is some sort of an un-natural condition. If I understand you correctly you harbor a wish or prayer that we are progressing, linearly, towards some sort of a peaceful solution. Such a namby-pamby goal seems to me unreal.
History has shown that we are not who we are without war. Civilizations wane away, without it. The manly thing to do, it seems to me, is to embrace it as a regular component of us. Now, I am neither a military nor a particularly law and order sort of character. Though I cannot help but notice in my time here (I will be celebrating 25 years of active service in this fraternity on the 23rd of this month) the large majority of the men who I have raised have that experience. We do not attract too many Bible thumpers; and the ones who seem to try us out are usually found out to be here for mercenary motives of their own.
Satan may just be as necessary to sustain this universe as Him Who Does All Things Well. The Trimurti illustrates this idea especially well. Our Evangelical types believe in a day when that particularly entity will be vanquished. However, I propose that the reason that we cannot describe a world without devilishness, is because such a universe cannot exist. It would collapse under the weight of its own righteousness.
In the meantime, we, as Masons, might as well enjoy the need for him as well as Him, ride the ebbs and flows of this reality and be satisfied when we can cause the currents to run in our favor. Let us not allow ourselves the indulgence of waiting for someone else to come and face him for us; but stand with Him when we can and make use the other for disposable labor when erecting that eternal house not made with hands.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 13th, 2010 06:03 PM IP
>But where there is struggle, there is life; and without it we all seem to melt and fade away.
This may be a case of generalising from the particular.
>we are not who we are without war. Civilizations wane away, without it.
There is an interesting discussion of whether it is possible to have steady state civilisation by Doris Lessing in the Sirian Experiments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopus_in_Argos
There are of course gods of war and they do have reality and actively seek followers. But my god is a god of love.
>Satan may just be as necessary to sustain this universe as Him Who Does All Things Well
That may be somewhat cultural statement, but still there is a natural polarity in Creation that provides something to push against. This is well stated in Cssmic Doctrine by Dion Fortune http://www.awakening-intuition.com/...___Qabalah_.pdf
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 14th, 2010 06:11 PM IP
I am still digesting the "doctrine;" But the better question to ask, it seems to me, is if it is possible to describe the need for a rainbow to a blind man rather than the rainbow itself.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 14th, 2010 09:39 PM IP
Torence
Is your God a God of Love or is s/he a God of War? Or perhaps a God of something else?
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 14th, 2010 11:10 PM IP
It is not in my power to describe the indescribable. What words I use will always fall short, “T.G.A.O.T.U.,” “Him Who Does All Things Well, “The Supreme Manifestation,” “God in Eleven Dimensions.”
We can only hope to communicate something of what we know of Him to our fellow creatures by describing something of our relationship with Him. And I know that each of us if we work at it, work being essential to what we are as FreeMasons, can have with Him, a delicate liaison.
If you do not mind indulging me in my humble ramblings, I know myself to be as a singular flower in a field of grass. My days are numbered as are the blades around me; but only He can comprehend how many. Today, I flourish by the warmth of the sun, as symbolized here in Illinois by the ornament upon Senior Deacon’s staff, his grace. I am fed by Him that we see here also represented by the Crescent or Wet Moon on the Junior Deacon’s staff that brings the rain. We are blessed with the friendships and fellowship shown in the abundance of the Cornucopia posted on the Steward’s rods. But as I am alone in my field the wind brushes past me, His breath, His word, His reminder to remember Him in these days which to me seem the meridian of my existence. When I am gone no trace will remain. What was me will return to dust, save the relationships that are His Great gifts to me.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 16th, 2010 10:27 PM IP
>When I am gone no trace will remain.
No sense of ascending to the Grand Lodge Eternal?
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 17th, 2010 12:34 AM IP
They don't want me and the other place thinks that I am going to take over.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 17th, 2010 01:01 AM IP
>They don't want me and the other place thinks that I am going to take over.
Leaving aside the levity, it seems that your situation is not entirely comfortable.
Do you have a sense of how to proceed?
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 17th, 2010 08:03 AM IP
As Masons we inherit some remarkably well turned phrases, a common consensus for Deity. For many, Casualty and Mortality are described as much as a Reunion as it is a Separation. But we cannot assume that our fellows are in any sort of agreement even with the general concepts. Ascribing to one religion or another, one philosophy or another an issue is of the most intimate and personal sort requiring neither great intellect nor sensitivity to resolve. T.G.A,O.T.U. must Love the Common Man because He made so many of them.
We are because we struggle; and all of us are eventually caused to scuffle with our own formulizations in order to explain life and death. All that we see and experience can just as well be an accident as it may be purposeful. We are cursed from all of His creatures because we are the only ones who can comprehend our own demise.
The Christians believe in absolute death. When we slough off the baggage of our earthly cloaks, we simply cease to be until that “great getting up” morning. But what then? Can the Eleven Dimensions manifest a Universe of Light without Darkness? Radiation without Absorption? Static without Movement? These are all His Great Gifts and how we use them to develop our relationships to one another, in the end, will be all that matters.
You ask if Masonry owes something to mankind as if its purpose is to organize and operate Large Charities. But Checkbook Charity is unMasonic. The element of work must be included in order to formulate the comradeship that for us makes it all worthwhile. For that the Local Lodge Box of Fraternal Assistance will best be restored and then utilized and our work be done first in our own bailiwicks rather than anything broad or global.
Last night, I was invited to two first degrees in another city (Joliet, Illinois). We had a guest brother attending from Ireland to see our work. We are a global fraternity, yes, but what mattered then was the experience Elwood Lodge No. 919 provided for the two Local men being introduced to the beauties of fraternity. The Irish connection, though rich, was superfluous.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 17th, 2010 08:36 AM IP
>We are because we struggle;
Perhaps generalising from the particular
>All that we see and experience can just as well be an accident as it may be purposeful.
Some brethren come to a point where it is perfectly obvious (beyond belief and debate) that Life has a Meaning. This is reflected in Holy Royal Arch where we are told that when we have seen God, faith and hope fall away and all that is left is charity.
>We are cursed from all of His creatures because we are the only ones who can comprehend our own demise.
It is perhaps more correct to say that the human race is unusually challenged in being arbitrarily(?) deprived of the ability to see the inner worlds. It seems that animals (and very young children) see the Spirit at work but older humans do not. (The technical mechanism to prevent the inner sight is energy blocks on the etheric and mental)
>The Christians believe in absolute death.
The Christianity I was taught explained that the moderately impure soul needs a period of purging before achieving heaven.
Perhaps you are referring to orthodox Judaism - where as far as I know there is not a clear teaching on post-mortem experiences.
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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pfeifco
Master Mason
Posts: 973
Registered: Apr 2007 |
Posted September 17th, 2010 07:01 PM IP
Back to the original Question - Is Satan a higher power?
Answer - No! he is a lower power.
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 17th, 2010 09:16 PM IP
Reverting to the original question, perhaps the question is improperly based upon "you had to believe in a Supreme being or a higher power."
The use of the indefinite article confuses the proposition.
The proposition actually is that you ought (in most orders) to believe in The supreme being by any name that you choose.
This is therefore directed to The highest power not A higher power.
Then the issue of Satan may be resolved along the lines of the Inbreath and Outbreath of the Creator. The Outbreath is towards creation, density and separation and has associated higher powers. While the Inbreath is towards lightness and union.
Some orders prefer the Outbreath as it provides more scope for the experience of Will under Law.
Others prefer to return to the Source of All.
And perhaps some orders like to think that they straddle both - serving two masters.
The Source of All of course both breathes out and in (tsimtsum) and is tolerant of all - within the natural rhythms of Creation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzimtzum
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 18th, 2010 06:50 AM IP
> The Source of All of course both breathes out and in (tsimtsum) and is tolerant of all –
> within the natural rhythms of Creation.
We struggle with the limitations of our language when describing the indescribable; and many of us may error expending almost all of our time and energy in exercises that indulge us in the end in nothing but selfish narcissism. While Masonry is an aid to understanding ourselves, the Masonic experience will compel a man to go out of our tyled walls and affect his surroundings without evangelizing that which is an effective enough argument in and of itself.
To deny an entrant who, at a particularly youthful stage, can comprehend Satan, an easy enough entity to detect in the “Light” of crime, mayhem, intrigues and tragedies that are all around us; but in his immaturity cannot yet fathom the shadowy and “Dark” energy between the lines that gives us Masons such hope, is denying him access to those vehicles of Truth that will assist his progression.
Why should we charge up our organization with such an uncharitable energy? Would we not, if we were to universally adopt such a policy unchallenged, then champion bigotry? Is this question, hypothetically proposed by this case, answered properly by an absolute ruling or is it better resolved by a generalized statement; and if so, what form would such a statement take? Is it a question to be answered by the Local or Grand Lodge or the individual conscience of the membership expressed when the white ball elects, the black cube rejects? Is it, by our existing rules, a proper question to be asked in the first place?
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 18th, 2010 07:05 AM IP
>To deny an entrant who, at a particularly youthful stage, can comprehend Satan..... is denying him access to those vehicles of Truth that will assist his progression.
The difficulty in my experience is twofold:
- the Light may be "curdled" by presence of self-centred darkness and withdraws to protect itself. Thus the presence of a dark brother may disable the lodge for working with the Light
- the dark brother may tend to disturb the brotherly harmonies - as a consideration of the history of various light-dark lodges and the biographies of their brethren may demonstrate.
It is however possible to transcend light and dark. I have yet to meet a human who has accomplished this, although some seemed to claim it.
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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S. T. Lehane
Master Mason
Posts: 1568
Registered: Oct 2006 |
Posted September 19th, 2010 09:05 AM IP
When they hand you the white ball and the black ball, (with very little instruction on how to use them), the choice is entirely yours.
Personally, for the good of the Lodge, I would be inclined to use the black ball on a Satanist. And I wouldn't be "wrong" in doing so.
As for "denying him access to those vehicles of Truth that will assist his progression..." that is not really the concern of a Lodge. We're not here to save evil men from themselves. We're here to make good men better.
Fraternally!
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 19th, 2010 05:59 PM IP
>We're not here to save evil men from themselves.
Quite so.
It may however be worth distinguishing darkness (that we all share) from evil.
For example, excessive devotion to Masonry may result in damaging neglect of family relationships. Would that be evil?
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Torence Evans Ake
Past Master
Posts: 54
Registered: Sep 2010 |
Posted September 19th, 2010 09:02 PM IP
The question has been posed here that if a man believes two points, A. in Satan and B. that Satan represents a higher power is that belief enough to deny him entry in light that the candidate may be unsure in his relationship to Him Who Does All Things Well? I asked with whom the power to decide the question is vested? We seem to be in agreement that it is with the individual Mason voting while present in his lodge. The question is not fit for a Local Lodge or the Grand Lodge to make the decision for us.
Private or personal feelings should never be allowed to influence the discharge of the solemn duty of voting regarding the conferring the degrees in Masonry. It being the internal qualifications of a man to be made a Mason, any inquiry should be as to such qualifications. Other circumstances, though they may excite our feelings, may also elicit prejudice. If tried by the Great Light of our Profession, the candidate is found to be of “good report,” our duty in casting our ballot for him is clear. Once admitted, his progress should not be subject to arrest except for causes that may subsequently spring into existence.
FRaternally,<br />
Torence Evans Ake<br />
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois<br />
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois
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russellholland
Master Mason
Posts: 996
Registered: Feb 2005 |
Posted September 19th, 2010 09:46 PM IP
A man cannot serve two masters - and neither can a lodge.
While it may well be that dark paths are ultimately illusory, the associated entities often prey upon unwary brethren.
If a brother follows a dark path his or her presence in a Light lodge will make inner tyling impossible. It would be better that such a brother seek out the various grey and dark orders that exist in many countries.
Russell Holland
Caboolture 266
UGLQ
Australia
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Freemason Discussion Group :: Freemasonry :: Religions And The Craft :: Is Satan a higher power?
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