Masonic Education and Analysis
In this edition of Symbols and Symbolism, we look at a reading on the Ouroboros, that serpent devouring its tail as a representation of eternity and the passage of time. This symbol, while existing in a mainstream context, is little known outside of most esoteric and occult circles. Its use triggers very specific meanings for those utilizing it as part of their overall allegorical narrative.
You can find more installments here: Symbols & Symbolism and on YouTube.
To the unassuming public, the Freemasons are a society of likeminded men who come together to donate and raise money for good and charitable causes. But is this really true? Is the government a component of an underground Masonic society whose whole organization is a plot to form a one-world government?
Let’s look at the evidence.
The one world government, also referred to as the New World Order, is a theory that a select few elite people have a globalist agenda and aspire to rule the world as an authoritarian world government. This will replace sovereign nations and states and every country will become one under the same government. Culled in modern times out of Woodrow Wilson’s speech to Congress on January 8, 1918, in his Fourteen Points statement of principles for peace, he called for a League of Nations on the heels of World War I. In his list, point XIV calls for the formation of:
A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.
He closes that speech, saying:
An evident principle runs through the whole program I have outlined. It is the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.
Unless this principle be made its foundation no part of the structure of international justice can stand.
George Bush, in 1991, took up the phrase in a speech to Congress, not ironically in reference to making the world safe. In the address, he said:
I come to this House of the people to speak to you and all Americans, certain that we stand at a defining hour. Halfway around the world, we are engaged in a great struggle in the skies and on the seas and sands. We know why we’re there: We are Americans, part of something larger than ourselves. For two centuries, we’ve done the hard work of freedom. And tonight, we lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity.
What is at stake is more than one small country; it is a big idea: a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind — peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle and worthy of our children’s future. (minute 6:40 in the video below)
He says further on,
We will succeed in the Gulf. And when we do, the world community will have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or future, who contemplates outlaw aggression.
The world can, therefore, seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order, where brutality will go unrewarded and aggression will meet collective resistance.
(minute 49:42 in the video below)
You can read the full text of the speech at The American Presidency Project
Seemingly, this had less to say about world domination and more to insinuate peace, security and prosperity.
So where do the Freemasons come in?
As one the world’s oldest secular fraternal organizations, the Freemasons have been at the heart or involved in a number of the world’s most pivotal moments. Let’s take the United States for example. The most powerful country in the world and yet on of the newest. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were both Freemasons, and the influences of this society are seen throughout American state craft and culture.
Take a closer look at the Great Seal of the United States or the one dollar bill, The Great Seal bears the Latin phrase ‘novus ordo seclorum’ on the reverse, as proposed by non-mason Charles Thomson, translating to ‘new order of the ages.’
Yes, Ben Franklin was on one of the early committees to craft the early seal, but in the end, it was not his seal that was selected. Franklin’s seal, chose the more modest motto of “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God” Some believe that the final motto selected alludes to the phrase New World Order and is a preamble for “Freemasonry is the Church of Satan masquerading as a fraternal mystical philanthropic order.” and are “fronts for Illuminati (Masonic & Cabalist Jewish) central bankers who started the US as a vehicle to advance their New World Order” pinning the phrase to “Illuminati bankers [who] have been plotting the ‘new order of the ages’ (featured on the US dollar along with the uncapped Masonic pyramid) for thousands of years.”
Was the American government created with the purpose of one day becoming the one world government?
One of the main reasons that the Freemasons have been the subject of the New World Order theory is that they rejected the traditional and orthodox authority because it didn’t fall into line with their idea that all people were equal. Not just this, but Masonic societies around the globe been known to treat all people, regardless of religion, as equals. This belief is often seen as highly un-Christian and, therefore, made masons a focus for people who believe in the one world government.
But why are the Masons so secretive? What do they have to hide?
In this day and age where men and women are equal, why aren’t women invited to the Lodges all over the globe where these meetings take place? Many people believe that they are hiding something. Because of this secrecy, no one knows what really goes on except those who are involved in them. The Freemasons claim to be a charitable group yet they make no claims on the charities they donate to, and they ask for no official recognition. Why be so secretive?
Perhaps it comes out of another organization that has been linked to the Freemasons, the Illuminati.
The Illuminati was founded in 1776, which coincidentally is the same year that America became independent. The main focus and beliefs of the Illuminati was a mixture of several different religions, mysticisms and even heavily borrowed the Freemasons ideologies. The main goal — that they spoke about — was to make people happy and people could become happy by becoming good. They want people to reject judgment and prejudices and believe that everyone should out for everyone. Sound familiar?
The Illuminati and the Freemasons are closely linked, and their beliefs are very similar, and its founder tried to infiltrate his organization into the contemporary Masonic lodge, but Weishaupt’s dream never say its full manifestation. Despite this fact, this is another reason why many believe that, together, they are one organization working together to bring about the New World Order. Because they want everyone to be treated as equals regardless of status, religion, gender, race or background, people believe that they are looking to create a world in which everyone is the same. What better way to do this other than create a one world government? If one government ruled the entire world then none of those things would matter and people would be truly equal.
One of the other big reasons that people believe that Freemasons are looking create a one world government is because of what happened in the founding of the United States.
In the 1776, the United States of America didn’t exist. It was simply known as Mundus Novus (New World) from a pamphlet written in 1503 by Amerigo Vespucci. The term was in opposition to the notion of an “old world” from which the age of exploration sprang. As the “new world” grew it took shape to include the 13 British colonies — each isolated from the other with degrees of different beliefs, different ideologies and even different religious practice (again, to a degree). They were made up of different races and ethnicities and all held widely differing political and societal beliefs. It was the organization by the Founding Fathers that sought to unify these disperate colonies under one government into a country that, after much bloodshed and heartache, would become known today as the United States. And what do we know about the founding fathers? That they were Freemasons.
It was the work of these founders that many see as the Freemasons unifying America under one government to be spread to the rest of the world. They started out with the United States, which many people dub the “practice country” and now have their sights set on the rest of the world.
Obviously, none of these plans for world domination are proven fact.
Yes, the founding fathers were Freemasons and yes they did work together to unite the 13 colonies to become the United States. And yes, the Illuminiaiti sought to infiltrate European Masonic lodges to spread their ideology across the globe, but there is no real evidence that they did so because they wanted to rule the world under a “one world-government” despite what Wilson and Bush said in front of Congress to the American people (neither of whom were Freemasons).
The Freemasons are not a secret society, they are simply very traditional — a fact that many people don’t understand. And in that tradition, world domination is the last thing on its mind, unless that domination is in the form of doing good works and promoting civil society.
Ultimately, masons do a lot of good in the world and they do it without expectation of anything in return. There could stand to be a few more people who aren’t in it for the glory and just in it for the good of mankind. And really, if it were to come to light that they were looking to establish a world free of judgement a prejudices, would that really be the worst thing in the world?
Selected Sources
Almost 6 months ago, on the day of the August, 2017, solar eclipse, I launched a project to publish the third book in the Symbolic Lodge series, The Master Mason. And, (almost) to the date of the January, 2018, lunar eclipse, that book went out to its backers and is available now to the public.
The Master Mason, our third step in becoming a Freemason, is out now.
The blurb for the book reads:
Third, in the journey of the Symbolic Lodge, The Master Mason is a formal exploration of the symbolism and allegory at work in the third degree of Freemasonry. Through that lens, this work seeks to find the hidden esoteric connections and their connections with the centuries-old ritual that crowns the process of becoming a Freemason. As with its predecessors, The Apprentice and Fellow of the Craft, this work seeks to find parallel with its esoteric siblings, the Golden Dawn, Thelema, numerology, tarot, the Kabbalah and other arcane and occult traditions.
The Master Mason is a work that strives to understand the process of becoming a Freemason.
As many traditions hold the keys to achieve a degree of perfection, within the Masonic tradition we are shown this path through the becoming of a master. Truly, this degree opens as a mystery, and concludes on another, illuminating a path towards perfection and purpose.
You can find the book online at Amazon
This article is one in a series exploring some of the ‘iconic’ notions of Masonic conspiracy theories.
As a Mason, there’s nothing better than a plausible conspiracy theory. However, one that makes even less sense now than it did a few centuries ago. This conspiracy says that the Earth is flat as a pancake and, for the really dark and mysterious, that it’s been one of the many attempts made by Freemasons to stifle intellectual progress and ignore scientific proof that says otherwise. So, with this in mind, let’s explore the conspiracy that says the Freemasons are behind Flat Earth Theory.
Freemasons cooked this one up some time ago. The argument is that, since the Earth is flat, the place we call home is in fact the shape of an average pancake. If you were to fling that pancake across a room, you would be closely replicating the orbit of the Flat Earth which would account for tidal action and all kinds of weird tilting activity on the planet.
A flying flat earth pancake would certainly help to explain why rain and snow sometimes comes down sideways as opposed to straight down.
Thanks to the wonderful minds of the wizards of Freemasonry (or is that magicians?), they claim that there is a reason why all of the water in the oceans don’t suddenly fall off the edge of the Flat Earth pancake. That’s because the edge of that pancake is encrusted with ice. The ice is so thick. In fact, that nothing can pass through it and slip off the edges. In other words, the Earth is more or less similar to a raised crust pizza. Just like the thick crust of a pizza keeps your toppings from slopping elsewhere, the crusty ice edge contains all the things on the planet.
By the way, wouldn’t you think that if the Flat Earth Pancake/Rising Crust Pizza was spinning through the air that it would eventually smack into another flat planet going the other direction? Well, the Freemasons have thought of an answer for that. Simply, there is no solar system.
We are the only pancake/pizza planet floating, or spinning, through the universe. In fact, we really aren’t spinning, rather we are, more or less, hovering around a section of space that is just big enough for our flat planet to exist in.
Spoiler Alert! Movies produced in Hollywood that hint at anything related to life outside of the tiny atmosphere our flat pancake/rising crust Earth is hovering inside is straight up bunk. We know this because Freemasons created the sci-fi genre to entertain the masses and to make us all feel insignificant in a ginormous universe that does not exist outside of the imagination of Hollywood. The same goes for the small screen, too. Star Trek is a fine example. Why was it that each ‘foreign’ land that the Enterprise explored had gravity, people who resembled humans — most of whom could speak and understand English and oddly enough looked like an Earth landscape? Simple. Because none of it is real.
It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see through this one (pun intended). All the work put into creating the fake solar system and the equally fake landings on the Moon and other space exploration is part of the façade.
If the Earth is like a pancake, why do we see pictures and video of other planets that don’t look like our flat one? That’s because the top astronauts and scientific officials at NASA are all deeply involved in Freemasonry. Their goal is to keep us thinking that there is more out there and, by giving us round looking objects to gaze at with wonder, we grow to appreciate our flat pancake we call home just a bit more. Don’t even get me started on the fake Space Shuttle.
The word ‘flat’ has a secret meaning to Freemasons.
It’s sort of a secret code word, you know, part of the ever-growing list of secrets that include special handshakes, phrases, riddles, symbols and games used to identify one Freemason from another. F.L.A.T. stands for “Freemasons Live Above the Rest of You.” Admittedly, Freemasons are supposed to be brilliant but Mensa intelligence may not be part of that package. Otherwise the statement would really read F.L.A.T.R.O.Y.
One place where Freemasonry has gained its best foothold is in the education system. With a particular focus on Earth Sciences, have you ever wondered why maps of the world are flat? That’s not because it makes them easier to draw on. It’s because Masonic teachers in your educational past were slowly planting the seeds of doubt into your young and impressionable minds. Sure, there were globes present in the classroom, but that was just to satisfy the non-believers. Take a look at any published atlas, road map or tourist street map — They’re all flat.
Sure, if you can ever figure out how to fold them back up you may sense why flat maps work so well in keeping the theory alive.
Well, there you have it. The flying pancake/rising crust pizza of a planet of ours could very well be flat. We’re just not all that interested in racing off to the ice edge to find out for sure. So, we’ll just accept the things we have learned and dream about the possibility that Freemasonry has screwed it up from the start in an attempt to dumb us down and take over the world. The entire flat world. We can’t really explain sideways snow or rain nor can we say for sure whether there are other planets as flat or round as we’ve seen pictures because we really only have pictures and video to go by. CGI may have been invented by Freemasons in order to solidify the Flat Earth Theory. We’d like to think of our planet as a round marble spinning around other, brighter space marbles but the pizza analogy keeps grabbing our attention. Especially the rising crust part. Maybe Freemasons cooked that up idea to distract us with a tasty food example to keep us off their trail.
To say there is a Flat Earth Theory to begin with is an absurd enough notion. To suggest the Freemasons are behind the Flat Earth takes things down that conspiratorial rabbit hole of suspended belief in reality. The earth isn’t flat. Freemasonry isn’t hiding that it is. Freemasons celebrate the round globe atop one of its pillars when entering the masonic lodge (something the ancient world did, too) and utilize the compass (or dividers) as one of its key symbols. If you think the earth is flat, you probably need to get off the internet and spend some time in a text book.
American Freemasonry, in context, is challenging to understand as it relates to the rest of the world. In many ways American Freemasonry mirrors the form and function of the lodge but, because it grew-up in the crucible of democracy that was itself, at the time, unique and new to the world at large. American Freemasonry is so different, that it has its own unique designation as “American.” But why does this difference exist? To understand this question, it would take an outsider to examine American Freemasonry. And who better than a Frenchman.
To put American Freemasonry into context I spent some time talking to Alain de Keghel, who is the author of the new book American Freemasonry: Its Revolutionary History and Challenging Future (you can read the press release on the book here) and help shed some light on Freemasonry in North America.
Gregory Stewart (GS) Why write American Freemasonry? What inspired Alain de Keghel to be the one to write it?
Alain de Keghel (AdK): American Freemasonry is an issue which keeps rather controversial in some countries abroad, while people writing, reporting or simply delivering messages about it, not always simply knowing what matters. Quite often they sincerely believe to be aware but they never, by themselves, experienced American Freemasonry which is very diverse. America, as a whole, is a wide country and the addition of people of different creeds, different ethnic origins, different languages and specific cultural areas of origin, making together what we call the “melting pot.” And because I had myself the privilege to live in the USA for a long period of time, benefiting also from the Fraternity of American Masons before of that, for example in Germany and Japan, I felt that it may be useful to share this quite rare experience in writing a book without prejudice. Even though I keep of course a specific cultural French reference simply because my basic roots are there, I tried to do it without any partisan point of view. This requires being familiar with American history which includes also the political side.
Of course any one will agree that Freemasonry shouldn’t interfere in politics — but nobody can ignore the geopolitical dimension of the origins of the American Revolution and the French-British competition of two major powers that included important Masonic Figures like Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, La Fayette and of course George Washington. But we have to consider also other Freemasons and political actors like the Admirals Cornwallis and Grasse-Tilly who both took a decisive part along with Rochambeau in the famous battle of Yorktown (October 19, 1781) paving the way to the American independence.
Anyone may conceive that as a former diplomat and a Freemason I have indeed an acute interest in those aspects of French-American relationships as well from an international point of view as from both Masonic and historical ones. All these elements inspired me to write a book to try also to share the analysis from outside America. But I never intended to deliver a message which would pretend to be the “unique truth” which simply does not exist. Objectivity is a noble goal but I frankly believe that it does simply not exists.
GS: The French-British competition? Do you mean the anglo war or some other conflict?
AdK: I was referring more generally to the geopolitics at this period of time where the two then “super powers ” and kingdoms where competing all over the world. And for sure in America during the American Revolution.
GS: The press release for the book puts emphasis on the fact that American Freemasonry was “deeply influenced by the experiences of many early American political leaders, leading to distinctive differences from European lodges.” I’m curious if you could elaborate on this or, perhaps, give an example of one of those influences and what difference it’s manifested into.
AdK: In answering your previous question, I was just referring to major figures and early American political leaders while explaining why I choose to report and analyze American Freemasonry “with French eyes.” America, meaning the United States of America, is a young Nation and it appears to me important to refer to the early roots of this First power in the world today if we try to better understand how it evolved in the run of centuries since the famous arrival of the Mayflower with European refugees looking for absolute freedom of religion. Since absolute freedom of thought belongs to the most fundamental aims of Freemasonry, I would say that many of the first American political leaders spontaneously felt very comfortable with the political philosophy of the Enlightenment which is important for Freemasons all around the world. If you read the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence from Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, you very easily will find references to basic principles and values which belong to the patrimony of the Masonic Order. And it is not by chance because many writers of these texts were Freemasons. By the way, we see here the long lasting influence of this way of thinking since the values they referred to, are still accurate today. It is, to me, the most convincing demonstration that Freemasonry, while preventing of mixing in politics, is by definition a place where the civil society may find some references to ideals and principles of an ethical and political nature.
But, unlike in Europe, the same American segments of the society who emigrated to preserve their sacred right to practice their belief without fearing prosecution, these segments of society have also sometimes developed “protective reactions” which may seem contradictory to their aims. I refer here more specifically to the famous Morgan affair which I explain in my book. This was a major challenge to American Freemasons leading once to the candidacy of an “anti-Masonic party” running for federal elections. Since then, we can observe that the memberships of American Freemasonry kept totally away from its involvement in the political life of the American society.
European lodges never experienced this kind of extreme challenge and still keep outmost interested in debates over new issues like bioethics, control of birth, justice or death penalty just to list a few examples. In some countries, like France, lodges used to be a kind of “laboratory” or think tank where these kinds of issues belong to, of course beside and outside of the political partisan debate. This is one of the major distinctive differences with American Freemasonry which avoids playing any societal role and privileges the practice of ritual and of charity. It is not a critique but simply a matter of fact.
Another major difference remains, of course, and reflects specific social specificities on both sides of the Atlantic. In America white and black lodges work, mostly but not exclusively, seperately. In France, Masonic lodges are places where this kind of separation simply does not exist and could not be possible. But here again it is part of different histories.
GS: I’ve had the chance to speak with both Margaret Jacob and Arturo De Hoyos, so I’m familiar with their exemplar work on Freemasonry, but I’m curious why you chose them to pen the forwards for this book?
AdK: Because I am today mainly dedicated to research and academic activities, writing books and sharing my knowledge as a scholar all over the world. I spend a lot of my time working with Universities and Libraries which simply belong to the natural environment to collect and share accurate information and reliable sources. Having spent many years in the USA and still keeping the good habit to visit your country at least once a year, I have an ongoing good relationships with American academics.
Margaret C. Jacob, PhD, is best known as a professor of history at the UCLA and is one of the world’s foremost Masonic scholars. She is considered a pioneer in the field of the history of civil society with emphasis on Masonic history. For that reason it was important to me to have her delivering, also to American readers, a point of view which matters.
For other reasons, my old friend Art de Hoyos appears to me as one of the American Masons best entitled to write comments on my research since he also is recognized worldwide for his sophisticated Masonic education and knowledge. A Grand Archivist and Grand Librarian of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction he allowed me, as a French life member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, to implement very important research activities in Washington, DC in order to put more light on the French-American Masonic ties throughout time.
But let me also refer here to my other friend, the past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California, John Cooper, who also agreed to write an important afterword taking into account what we together did in the nineties and later on for the promotion of inter-Masonic exchanges in Sacramento, Edinburgh and in Paris.
As a matter of fact, these choices reflect a reciprocal confidence of people having different experiences but sharing the same values and one goal: building bridges among people of goodwill!
GS: The title of the book, its dust jacket and interior art leans heavily on the pantheon of American early American Freemasonry. In your work, how deeply did you delve into the other ‘American’ Freemasonry in say Mexico, Canada and further down into South America?
AdK: I am very grateful to you for this question which provides me the opportunity to embrace American Freemasonry in its diversity as I honestly did in my research. If you read my book you will learn that I was also for several years a French Diplomat in charge of representing my country at several inter-American bodies: Organization of American States, ECLAC (a specific body of the UN for economical affairs in Latin America and the Caribbean countries), the Inter-American Bank of Development and the American Regional Health Organization (OPS). My American overview includes, for this reason, a global analysis with a special focus on Latin America. But in my present book, I do not write about this specific and very important dimension. But I just have directed and published, early in July 2017, a new book totally dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean region. It may be soon also translated in Spanish.
GS: What is this book? Is it out now or is it coming soon?
AdK: This book was meanwhile published — in French so far — in July 2017: L’ Amerique Latine et la Caraibe des Lumieres, Dervy, Paris. It is about to be translated into Spanish and edited in Buenos Aires, Argentine.
One word more about Canada: the Freemasonry in this country belongs to the Conference of American Grand Lodges and I have of course also included a chapter to present it to English speaking readers.
GS: Interesting in your follow up there, you say Canada belongs to the CoAGL (Conference of American Grand Lodges) Why do you think that is?
AdK: It is not an opinion but a matter of fact. Mexican Grand Lodges similarly also included into this masonic regional conference.
GS: In the press release, you establish that there’s a difference between American and European lodges. Could you illustrate a few of what your work defines as differences?
AdK: The answer to this important issue is in fact easy: I have honestly tried to compare both sides and readers will discover in my book what I consider as fundamentally different. So if you allow me would prefer not to elaborate here and to keep the “surprise” for those who will read. But you may have already noticed that I was referring to one major difference. The “racial issue” simply does not exist in European lodges — unlike in America. It appears to me to be a very important difference but there are others which I address in my book. Maybe some reactions of American readers and a kind of dialog could arise from that.
I must confess that this would be of outmost interest for me and some way a privilege to establish such an exchange and dialog with American readers.
GS: Do you think these differences have affected membership levels on both sides of the pond?
AdK: For sure these differences had and still have, in my opinion, an impact on the memberships — but mainly on the influence or input of the Masonic values in the civil society. If you simply look at American statistics — and I do it also quite extensively in my book — you will realize that the memberships is steadily declining in American Lodges since the late 40s of the last century, while it is increasing in France. It is clearly one of the results of differences in addressing Masonic education, societal topics and actual issues.
Masonic education and Masonic tradition are of course both important. But young people connected with a very demanding society expect certainly more.
GS: Do you think the European version of lodge work could be implemented straight out of the box in America?
AdK: I would never say: “Do like us, and you will do better.” It would be, first, very arrogant — but also inaccurate because every society has its own rules resulting from history and culture.
But you raise a good question. Would it make sense to try to experiment with other practices? This is what some American Grand Lodges have already have begun to implement with some impressive success. It is the case in California, for example. No one has a miraculous recipe to offer. But “building the bridges,” a principle I was several times referring to in the run of this interview, may be part of the solution. It is my conviction that everyone has something to learn from encounters in a global world or a “world village” as someone once said. It is part of cross culture, a reality of modern times.
GS: Are there, or do you know of any examples of this implementation?
AdK: Of course yes. I know that specifically at least one Grand Lodge has recently engaged in this policy. It is the Grand Lodge of California.
GS: What do you hope American’s take away from reading American Freemasonry? What do you hope European (or non-American) Masons to take away from it?
AdK: In writing American Freemasonry, first in French, I had mainly in mind to explain to my fellow European Masons what I have learned from my American Masonic experience because they too often have a poor knowledge of America in general and quite often misunderstand it. I had claimed, in a previous answer, to build bridges, and my book is part of that. As an American Publisher, Inner Traditions (American Freemasonry’s publisher) accepted the idea to have my book also translated into English and edited in the USA. I was of course delighted to contribute this way to entertain a dialog with my American Fellow Brethren which is also part of building bridges and reciprocal confidence. At a period of time where the flow of information obeys the law of instantaneity and of superficiality, within the so called social networks with their “like” and “friends” who never encounter beside on the networks, I do hope that my writings may help to develop a better understanding founded on knowledge and not on prejudice.
Maybe, American Masons eventually could also be interested to discover how a French freemason sees them? But I may be mistaken and possibly nobody cares? Let us try!
I remain modest in my ambition.
You can find Alain de Keghel’s new book American Freemasonry: Its Revolutionary History and Challenging Future, published by Inner Traditions – Bear & Company, on its website American Freemasonry, and at American Freemasonry on Amazon
I had the opportunity to talk to the the director of the work, Johnny Royal, and try to catch a glimpse of the Royal Art before it hits the big screen.
Haven’t heard of the film? You can catch a preview of it here:
33& Beyond: The Royal Art Of Freemasonry Trailer from TriCoast Studios on Vimeo.
Masonic Traveler (MT): Johnny, thanks for taking the time for this.
Johnny Royal (JR): My pleasure. Thank you for your time.
MT: Let me start right into the thick of it, why did Johnny Royal make this movie about Freemasonry?
JR: In 2010, as I was going through the rituals of the Blue Lodge degrees, I felt a calling to share the depth of the emotional experience I had while going through the work. My dad died when I was 14 and I searched for answers and until I encountered Freemasonry, I was looking for answers on spirituality. The film is the hero’s quest and is a love letter to our fraternity.
MT: Reading some of the different blurbs on the film, it seems the final work took some time to emerge, seven years as the release tells it. I’m curious how the story you wanted to tell evolved over that time. Did it move in ways you hadn’t anticipated?
JR: When we finally finished filming we had over 140 hours of footage. One of the main reasons the film took so long was because I really didn’t understand what the story was until I studied all of the footage. I began to understand that there was an alchemical thread which ran through all of the dialogue. The more I understood this, the more I began to shift my story which added 3 years in post of editing, coloring, etc.
MT: Does the film end where you thought it would when you started the project?
JR: Not at all. It turned into a masterpiece and exceeded every expectation I had. In particular, using my own life experiences to create the umbrella of the story arc.
MT: For the title, you use 33 and Beyond. I have to ask, how does that play into the themes of the film.
JR: This movie covers the American Masonic system so we go through the Blue Lodge up through the 33rd degree and all of the York Rite bodies which constitutes the name of the movie.
MT: I’m fascinated to see how the hero’s journey plays out in your film. I’m curious how you see the notions of the hero’s journey play out in the the masonic traditions. Do you find any other philosophical themes at play in the rituals that take place behind the lodge room door?
JR: The idea of the hero’s quest in the film aligns with the thinking of Joseph Campbell. In Masonic rituals we have all of these characters who represent heros and villains. This leads to the idea that we have the individual ability to either be the hero or villain in our daily lives.
MT: Who do you see as the audience for 33 and Beyond? Is it approachable by masons and non-masons alike?
JR: The audience is both public and Masonic alike.
MT: With the premier taking place this weekend in San Francisco, are their upcoming dates that readers can catch the film release in the coming weeks?
JR: We just launched the pre-orders for the Blu-Ray and DVD at www.TheRoyalArtMovie.com and will follow up with a full theatrical schedule.
MT: Any chance 33 and Beyond will make it to the digital streaming platforms for the wide audience?
JR: Yes early next year.
You can catch the red carpet premiere at The Grand Lodge of California in San Francisco and participate in an exclusive Q&A with featured Masons from the film as they answer questions and explore the Masonic tradition.
To get tickets for the October 13 premier, and find more information, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-royal-art-of-freemasonry-tickets-37676125305.
Can’t make the premier? You can catch 33 & Beyond, the Royal Art of Freemasonry in select cities in the coming months, including: Nashville, TN, Los Angeles, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Guthrie, OK, Alexandria, LA, Charleston, SC, Philadelphia, PA, New York, NY, Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI.
To preorder your DVD copy of the film, visit: The Royal Art Movie website.
Want more, read the press release from SFGate on about the World Premiere of The Royal Art of Freemasonry Documentary.
New book coming in October, American Freemasonry: Its Revolutionary History and Challenging Future
Freemasonry bears the imprint of the society in which it exists, and Freemasonry in North America is no exception. While keeping close ties to French lodges until 1913, American Freemasonry was also deeply influenced by the experiences of many early American political leaders, leading to distinctive differences from European lodges.
Offering an unobstructed view of the American system and its strengths and failings, Alain de Keghel, an elder of the Grand Orient de France and, since 1999, a lifetime member of the Scottish Rite Research Society (Southern U.S. jurisdiction), examines the history of Freemasonry in the United States from the colonial era to the Revolutionary War to the rise of the Scottish branch onward. He reveals the special relationship between the French Masonic hero, the Marquis de Lafayette, and the Founding Fathers, especially George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, including French Freemasonry’s role in the American Revolution. He also explores Franklin’s Masonic membership, including how he was Elder of the lodge of the Nine Sisters in Paris.
The author investigates the racial split in American Freemasonry between black lodges and white and how, unlike French lodges, women are ineligible to become Masons in the U.S. He examines how American Freemasonry has remained deeply religious across the centuries and forbids discussion of religious or social issues in its lodges, unlike some branches of French Freemasonry, which removed belief in God as a prerequisite for membership in 1877 and whose lodges operate in some respects as philosophical debating societies. Revealing the factors that have resulted in shrinking Masonic enrollment in America, the author explores the revitalization work done by the Grand Lodge of California and sounds the call to make Freemasonry and its principles relevant to America once again.
Alain de Keghel served as chair of the Supreme Council of the Grand Orient of France from 2002 to 2008. In 1994 he became a lifetime member of the Scottish Rite Research Society (Southern U.S. jurisdiction). The chair of an independent European Masonic Research Society, he has worked with the Philalethes Society in North America and with the research lodge Quatuor Coronati no. 8 in Germany. He is the former Consul General of France in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and lives in Paris.
American Freemasonry: Its Revolutionary History and Challenging Future
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Calling this is a ‘unique event’ is meant quite literally. This will be the first time a play combines all the variables of being explictly about the Masonic experience, taking place present day and not historically themed or a dramatization of a historic event, written by a Maine brother and not a former Scottish Rite degree or Brother Carl Claudy play, and performed for the public with no cover charge. All those variables make for a unique moment in Maine Masonry and the Portland theater scene as no previous Masonically sponsored show has brought all these variables together.
The show is open to the public and all are invited, whether Masonic brother or curious about Freemasonry or just a theater attendee looking for a new experience, men and women, though the show is not thematically relevant for youth. This is not semi-public nor in open lodge, but a fully public informal event. Optional dinner at 6:30, show at 7:30, normally scheduled Stated to follow for attending brothers. Guests are invited to stay after the show to discover more about Masonry. No tickets or entry cost, but those who come for dinner are asked to give a small donate to cover food costs and RSVP for a head count. Other attendees, in lieu of tickets, are invited to instead contribute to the Lodge’s annual collection of personal items that are boxed together for the homeless. A donation can be something like a wool hat or a toothbrush.
The play, written 2016, was loosely inspired by the Rudyard Kipling short story of the same name, which is about a soldier discovering how a lodge transcends world problems and turns enemies into friends on the level. The play is about a guy that left Masonry after the first degree on the eve of his father not being voted in as Master, and who would also leave the Craft to soon die heart-broken. Years later, when Masonry is a forgotten bitter taste, the guy finds himself unexpectantly attending Lodge. Here he discovers what Masonry really means, comes to terms with his father’s death, and understands why even in the face of disappointment his father still encouraged him to stay with Masonry.
The play will be presented as a reading. This is not to be confused with poetry readings but is a performance without formal set or costumes and with script in hand. While eliciting interest in staging future or more eleaborate productions is welcomed, the goals of this reading is to share a local brother’s creative work, get writing feedback for further development, introduce a new social activity into Lodge culture, open the lodge to visitors and remind brethren that Masonry isn’t just about memorizing ritual but it can go wherever one wants to take it.
Its author/director has over 200 theater shows under his belt, ranging from community theater acting to historical re-enactments to technical work to directing Off-Broadway to writing an award-winning musical. Currently, he can seen acting lead in Scottish Rite Northern Masonic Jurisdiction degrees and in 2016 was in a largely improvised 2 act gangster themed show for DeMolay and Rainbow. To direct his own show is a lifelong dream and Masonry provided the much needed source of inspiration while seemingly aligning the stars. Brother Joy is a member of Portland’s Triangle Lodge #1, Gorham’s Harmony Lodge #38, Scottish Rite NMJ and is the webmaster for the Maine Lodge of Research.
For more information, contact playwright/director Brother Aaron Joy at aronmatyas@hotmail.com or call/text 646-597-1583 (leave a message) for more information, questions, and to RSVP for dinner.
What: A one act Masonic themed play, In The Interests Of The Brethren
When: November 13, 2017
Where: Deering Lodge #83 AF&AM, 102 Bishop Street, Portland, Maine
Cost: Free (donation suggested for dinner following)
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The following is an adjusted version of the introduction for a new book I’ve been working on, The Master Mason. This work is the culmination of nearly a decade of consideration and contemplation over the complexities of what it means to become a master in the masonic system of initiation. It is not the complete work and serves as an introduction to the broader themes explored in its subsequent pages. In a nut-shell, the work is an exploration of Freemasonry and how it relates to the Hermetic tradition, the Kabbalah and other esoteric systems that have at various intersections crossed paths with what we know as Freemasonry today.
You can read more on the release of The Master Mason, at: Between the Sun and Moon, A Master Mason is Born
So, with that in mind, I present to you,
“To be or not to be” are the immortal words written by the eminent bard of Avon, William Shakespeare. His question appears in the story of Hamlet made by a lost son striving to find answers to what would, by most, be an unfathomable question which is the essence of the third degree. “To be” is perhaps the oldest of the New Age paradigms stirring echoes across theologies of all cultures said best in the application of the Golden Rule as to do unto others which is Being itself. Like the Golden Rule, in order to do unto others, we must first understand ourselves, the innerness of our being such that we can Be in the first place. This lesson is not something that is wholesale unique to the fraternity of Freemasonry, or this degree, as we find the idea of the Golden Rule transcribed across millennia and within every theological system. So too do we find the testament as a personal gospel of finding our truth. For most, truth is mythology whose philosophical lessons are lost in the dogmas of its authority – its commentaries on the philosophies become more valuable than the philosophies themselves and the value of what was said is lost to the dominion of those who hold authority over them. We must interpret the truths for ourselves so as to find their resonance within us. This is the entirety of the lesson of the third degree, the marrow in the bones of antiquity within which the truth spans all landscapes if the seeker looks deeply enough into its composition. But, as with any concept, truth is itself mutable as generations add or redact its communication creating ever fluctuating permutations and confluences of its principle concepts. Truth is truth, no matter how others dictate its interpretation. It is our own internal mechanisms that decide it for ourselves. For the Mason reading, we, as Hiram, perish in custody of our virtue which in turn is the vehicle of our metaphoric resurrection in being made perpendicular again, a zenith we find in the number three as the union between one and two, duality itself made whole. By reading the degree, whether in the Scottish or York Rite telling, the overtones are distinctly Christian but like the Christian Church itself, the tradition existed well before the consummation of the Gospels and illustrate the depth of antiquity for what they 
What a long road. After a series of unforeseen setbacks, life creeping up and doing what it does best and a few tweaks to the material — The Master Mason, A Treatise on the Third Degree of Freemasonry is ready to become a reality.
As with the past books, this work is being made available to early adopters through a Kickstarter campaign designed to provide a mix of old and new rewards for those students of the work to commemorate its publication.
Following the path laid out thus far in The Apprentice and The Fellow of the Craft, The Master Mason sets out to complete the path of the Symbolic Lodge giving us firm footing in the climb into the Lodge of perfection. Focusing on the nuances of the degree, the Master Mason ritual is an enigma of sorts in that it’s telling follows a divergent path from its predecessors. It is because of this difference that those who undergo it’s rites experience something new in their becoming a master. As with the earlier works, The Master Mason delves further upon the Kabbalistic Tree of Life taking the necessary detours to explore the symbolism and history of the ritual.
For those veteran contributors, you’ll notice a significant difference from the previous campaigns. This change is some of the lessons learned in undervaluing and short sighting some of the hurdles that come with self-publishing a book like this. If you’re new to this book series and collecting the work, there are definitely opportunities to become a sponsor and ensure a spot in the progress of the Great Work.
And, because of the special history of bringing this work to life, I thought it only fitting to launch it on the day of the full solar eclipse in 2017. Truly, a day from darkness into light.
My thanks to you, in advance, for your support in this passion project of mine.
