They possess the secrets of antiquity, conduct mysterious rituals and, of course, rule the world. The idea of a global conspiracy of Masons is one of the most popular conspiracy theories. Let’s figure out who the Masons are and why they are still afraid of them.
Who’s Afraid of Freemasons?
“I believe in the existence of a secret world government,” said 45% of participants in a 2014 poll conducted by VTsIOM. The respondents confirmed: in their opinion, a certain organization or group of persons controls the actions of the authorities of many states and influences world politics. Many survey participants are not only convinced of this, but are also able to name those who are part of the organization. The most popular options are politicians, oligarchs, and freemasons.
In many ways, interest and even fear in relation to secret societies is fueled by the media. Materials about Freemasons appear frequently in the Russian media and arouse constant interest among the audience. For example, the release of the REN TV program “Strange Deed” about secret societies has received more than a million views on YouTube. At the same time, other episodes of the program are much less popular: for example, the program about time travel was watched about 300,000 times. The statements in the program about secret societies are extremely provocative. One of the experts of the program, for example, says: “All world wars are organized by the Freemasons, there is no doubt about it.”
The influence of the Freemasons on the political situation is believed not only in Russia. For example, during the 2012 election race in France, the two largest weekly magazines devoted several articles to the secret society. L’Express published the headline “Freemasons: How They Manipulate Candidates” on the cover, Le Point weekly responded with an article “Freemasons – Border Trespassers”. The topic aroused keen interest: usually retail sells about 73,000 copies of L’Express, but an article about Freemasons helped sell 80,000 copies. Now the author of the article, François Koch, maintains a separate blog on the website of the weekly devoted to Freemasonry.
Koch himself says: “This topic never ceases to interest readers. Mystery is what attracts attention. ” Materials about the Freemasons are consistently arousing interest, and provocative conclusions only strengthen it. The publications are constantly competing for the audience, so it is not profitable to refuse such a reliable way to attract readers. Traditional media are going through a difficult period: part of their potential audience goes to the Internet, so editorial staff will continue to turn to the topic of Freemasonry as a reliable source of readers’ attention.
The Legend of the Freemasons
When did Freemasonry appear? The Masons themselves trace the history of their society back to time immemorial – the construction of the Temple of Solomon. According to legends, the builders of the temple formed a brotherhood for mutual support and transfer of knowledge about architecture. The main mythological plots of Freemasonry are associated with the biblical era, for example, the legend about the death of the master Hiram.
According to legend, Hiram supervised the construction of Solomon’s temple. Under him, workers were divided into three categories – apprentices, apprentices and foremen. Labor was paid depending on what category the employee belonged to. The craftsmen, of course, received the most. For each “step” Hiram developed special signs and passwords: when the time came to receive payment for work, the builder with their help confirmed that he belongs to one of the categories. This led to the death of Hiram: one day, three workers decided to forcibly extort the password from him, according to which the foremen received payment.
According to another widespread version, the students were not interested in money – they wanted to find out the secret of architectural and world harmony, which was owned only by the great master Hiram. Whatever the reason, when the architect refused to reveal the secret, the workers killed him and buried him in the forest. On the grave of the killer, they left a branch of acacia, which took root into the ground – so other brothers-builders found out where Hiram was buried.
In this legend, the basic principles of Freemasonry are “encrypted”. The brothers are divided into apprentices, apprentices and masters – each degree reflects how fully the participant is involved in the life of the brotherhood. Freemasons exchange knowledge among themselves, while maintaining the secrecy of knowledge is fundamentally important. Members of the society perform rituals and are in search of the meaning of Masonic symbols. For example, the acacia branch symbolizes rebirth after death, purity and holiness. Reflecting on symbols is an important way of progressing through the hierarchy of degrees: discovering new interpretations, the student becomes an apprentice, and later – a master. It is important that Masons do not have uniform dogmas, therefore, the interpretation of symbols may differ significantly. Also, the legend of Hiram formed the basis of the ritual of the Freemason’s initiation into the degree of a master.
From legend to history
Historians of Freemasonry agree that the legend of Hiram is a purely symbolic story, and the origins of Freemasonry should be sought much later. Usually the beginning of Freemasonry is considered to be the medieval brotherhoods of masons, which is consistent with the name of the society (English freemasons and French franc-maçons mean “free masons”). In the Middle Ages, bricklayers united around large construction projects.
For example, many cathedrals were built over the centuries, and workers settled compactly near the site. It is believed that the very word “lodge”, which is now called Masonic associations, comes from the English lodge: so called the premises where the instruments were kept.
Over time, associations of builders acquired a shop organization. Strict rules appeared that governed the admission of new members to the fraternity, the resolution of conflicts between brothers, the procedure for payment of work and payment of compensation in case of accidents at a construction site. Like other medieval professional associations, the guilds financially supported the brothers in difficult situations.
With the end of the large-scale construction of cathedrals, by the 17th-18th centuries, bricklayers’ associations gradually fell into decay. In England, fraternities were increasingly joined by those who had nothing to do with construction, they were called “outside masons.” They were rich and enlightened people. In the middle of the 17th century, antiquarian Elias Ashmole joined the box – his collection formed the basis of the oldest public museum in Great Britain. At the end of the century, King William III of Orange became a Freemason.
Historians suggest that it was the “outside masons” who decided to create new educational societies in the “shell” of the existing brotherhoods of masons, so as not to attract too much attention from the authorities. The political situation in England at the end of the 17th century was turbulent; in 1688, another coup d’etat took place, called the Glorious Revolution. With instability in society, meetings of any kind are suspicious, so brotherhoods of builders could become a camouflage for meetings of enlightened and wealthy “outside masons”.
Freemasons inherited many of their symbols from medieval builders. The famous compasses and squares represent learning, the ability to draw boundaries and recognize the truth. The white apron of the student symbolizes the high ethical standards by which a Freemason should be guided.
The modern history of Freemasonry dates back to June 24, 1717. Then the representatives of the four London lodges gathered in the “Goose and Spit” tavern and decided to create a united Grand Lodge of London and Westminster. The small lodges continued to work as before, but beginning in 1717, their members held annual joint meetings, where they exchanged experiences. This scheme is repeated by modern Freemasonry – the Freemasons do not have a central governing organization. Several Masonic lodges in a certain territory are united in the Grand Lodge. Moreover, such a leading organization cannot exist on its own, it must be recognized by other Grand Lodges. Thus, the lodges are linked by international relations, much like diplomatic ones. Each lodge can conduct its own rituals and interpret Masonic symbols in its own way.
What are Freemasons doing?
To begin with, let’s figure out the definition of the concept of “Freemasonry”. According to the explanatory dictionary edited by SI Ozhegov, Freemasonry is “a religious and ethical movement with mystical rituals, usually combining the tasks of moral self-improvement with the goals of peaceful unification of mankind in a religious fraternal union.”
Sources allow us to imagine what the “moral self-improvement” was: memoirs, letters and personal diaries of Masons, including Russian ones. Head of the Department of Scientific Design of Exhibitions and Expositions of the State Museum of the History of Religion, Candidate of Philosophy Marina Ptichenko told more about this in an interview with Naked Science.
According to Marina Ptichenko, “the newly adopted brother had a mentor who helped him to follow the path of self-education. The Mason had to keep daily diaries and periodically report to the mentor on the work done. A person had to try to “live” every day – to reflect, think about his actions and thoughts at the end of the day. <…> One should also think about useful reading: which of the books had the greatest influence on him, made the greatest impression, and why, what strings of the soul he touched. Thus, a Freemason must constantly give himself the work to reflect on himself and his actions, while simultaneously “honing” and educating himself. There are very touching diaries in which some landowner who owned hundreds of serf souls wrote in his diary: “Today I indulged in anger, I am very ashamed,” etc. ” Reflection is also important for modern Freemasons.
Another manifestation of Masonic activity is the writing of the so-called “architectural works”. The genres of these works are traditional: report, article, essay, review, translation. According to the information on the website of the Grand Lodge of Russia, the topics of works can be problems of history, philosophy and symbolism of Freemasonry. The texts are read at lodge meetings, some of which can be found in the public domain on the Internet.
Historically, the activities of Freemasons are associated with charity and education. Many enlighteners of the 18th century were members of Masonic lodges, including Russian ones. For example, Nikolai Novikov, who became famous not only for the publication of satirical magazines, but also for the publication of rare historical sources, was a freemason.
Marina Ptichenko says: “Today, there is no special mystery around Freemasonry: we know how the rituals go, we even know some password words with which Freemasons recognize each other (although they periodically change them), and so on. architectural works of Masons, and special lodges are engaged in the history of Freemasonry and also publish the results of their research. “
What are the Masons not touching on in their meetings? Oddly enough, political issues. An outright prohibition on discussing politics in lodges is enshrined in the Anderson Constitutions. British Freemason James Anderson began to draw up this document after the appearance of the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster in 1717, in 1723 the book was published in England. It contains the history of Freemasonry and the basic rules that all Freemasons adhere to.
(to be continued)
