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Post by Tamrin on Aug 10, 2008 7:18:55 GMT 10
1848 Compagnonnage illustration (T.B.?) Note Cybele, accompanied by three men (G.M.s?), in her chariot drawn by lions (the goddess Cybele was known as Asherah in Israel)
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Post by Tamrin on Aug 10, 2008 8:07:13 GMT 10
We owe a huge debt to the French for the Freemasonry we know today. Bear-in-mind that the result of the masonic revolution of the early eighteenth century was what subsequently excited the interest of the world and spurred on the Age of Enlightenment. Tracing that revolution, involving the establishment of the premier grand lodge, the changes to the first two degrees and the creation of the third, with its Hiramic Legend, we find that, according to our Rev. Bro. Neville Barker Cryer (pp.87/91), the premier grand lodge had a significantly disproportionate number of Huguenot émigrés among its members (including the main mover and shaker, Desaguliers) as well as other Calvinists, mainly Scottish (consider the auld alliance). Indeed, there is an aspect of its early history whereby the grand lodge may be thought of as a joint French and Scottish venture on English soil, something perhaps played down with the rise of Francophobia in the wake of the French Revolution and with the subsequent reign of Napoleon. Reference:Neville Barker Cryer, 2005, "Huguenot Freemasons" in Did You Know This Too?, Lewis Masonic, Hersham, Surrey The Masonic Marianne
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Post by Tamrin on Aug 10, 2008 10:14:05 GMT 10
One sometimes reads of the split with the Grand Orient of France (GOdF), established in 1736, being attributed to the participation of women: Not so! Women had participated to various extents for well over a century before the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) withdrew recognition in 1877, purportedly because the GOdF removed the requirement that its members have a belief in Deity. Some American grand lodges later removed recognition due to issues over territorial exclusivity. The issue of female participation was not an issue until an issue was required. A French Lodge of Adoption
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Post by Tamrin on Aug 10, 2008 11:12:46 GMT 10
On one hand, appreciating the role of Huguenot and other Calvinists in the changes wrought by the premier grand lodge, may give some an insight into the source of the newly introduced content of the rituals while, on the other hand, one may be not be so exasperated and ready to dismiss the proliferation of degrees on the Continent, when Brethren there took-up and further unfolded the theme introduced by Desaguliers and others. Meanwhile, Freemasonry in the U.K. was diverted by the appearance of the Antients and the controversy over the role of their Royal Arch degree (a theme which conflicted with that introduced by Desaguliers, et al.). Proliferation of Degrees
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Post by Tamrin on Aug 15, 2008 17:14:00 GMT 10
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Post by Tamrin on Aug 27, 2008 7:27:59 GMT 10
Indeed, there is an aspect of its early history whereby the grand lodge may be thought of as a joint French and Scottish venture on English soil, something perhaps played down with the rise of Francophobia in the wake of the French Revolution and with the subsequent reign of Napoleon. Yes Minister / Francophobia:Humour illustrates many truths. Turning to an episode of the TV series Yes Minister, entitled "The Challenge." we find the following exchange between the Minister, the Rt. Hon. Jim Hacker, and his Department head, Sir Humphrey Appleby: 'But after all, Humphrey,' I added, 'the Americans will always protect us from the Russians, won't they?'
'The Russians?' he asked. 'Who's talking about the Russians?'
'Well, the independent nuclear deterrent ...'
He interrupted me. 'It's to protect us against the French.'
I could hardly believe my ears. The French? It sounded incredible. An extraordinary idea. I reminded Humphrey that they are our allies, our partners.
'They are now,' he agreed. 'But they've been our enemies for most of the past nine hundred years.'
It only needed a few seconds' thought to realise the profound truth of what he was saying. Suddenly it didn't seem at all incredible—just common sense, really. If the bomb is to protect us from the French, that's a completely different matter, obviously we've got to have it, you can't trust the Frogs, there's no room for discussion about that! Jonathan Lynn & Antony Jay (Editors), 1983, Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister by the Rt. Hon. James Jacker MP, Volume Three, BBC, London, p.47. Similarly, I was disturbed by legitimate protests against nuclear testing at Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls, in the 1990's, seemingly being directed more against 'the French,' than against their government of the day. I doubt that, had the testing been by the UK, that the British people would have been collectively blamed.
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Post by Tamrin on Sept 11, 2008 15:05:22 GMT 10
Théroigne de Méricourt While French and American Freemasons have been known to promote the idea of their Craft’s involvement in their respective revolutions, other Freemasons, especially English Freemasons, have expended many words ‘disproving’ such allegations (e.g., see Reply #9, below). Usually their arguments have depended on the indisputable fact that there were Freemasons on both sides of both conflicts. However, I suggest this fact does not entirely debunk the possibility of there being a revolutionary tendency within Freemasonry. In promoting its cause, the revolutionary side in both conflicts more particularly appeared to appeal to Masonic principles, using Masonic allegories. For example, the ferment which gave rise to the French Revolution and maintained its momentum, was concentrated in a number of political clubs, the best known of which was the Jacobine, after which the others were generically termed and in which masonic allegories were fashionable. Théroigne de Méricourt founded one such club, “ Les Amis de la Loi” (“ the Friends of the Law"). We read: But her finest moment came when towards the end of February 1790 she made an appearance at the Club des Cordeliers. It was described by Camille Desmoulins in his newly founded paper Les Révolutions de France et de Brabant:
“I was about to retire,” he wrote, “… when the usher announced to the president that a young woman demanded to enter the Senate. It was the celebrated Mademoiselle Théroigne, who had come to ask to take the floor and to propose a motion. She was unanimously admitted to the bar. One member, overcome with enthusiasm on seeing her, exclaimed: ‘It is the Queen of Sheba, come to see the Solomon of the Districts.’ ‘Yes,’ replied Mademoiselle Théroigne, taking her cue from the words with great aplomb, ‘it is the fame of your wisdom which has brought me to your midst. Prove that you are indeed Solomon, that it is your prerogative to build the Temple, and that you will lose no time in building the Temple of the National Assembly.’”
Her proposal—to build a Temple of Liberty on the foundations of the Bastille—was received, wrote Camille, with a “fury of applause” and the assembly voted her the honours of the session. Source:Linda Kelly, 1989 (org. 1987), Women of the French Revolution, Hamish Hamilton, London, pp.23/4 Théroigne de Méricourt
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Post by Tamrin on Sept 14, 2008 10:50:29 GMT 10
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Post by Tamrin on Sept 16, 2008 11:11:56 GMT 10
The French Revolution and the Bavarian IlluminatiExcerpted from "The Romances of Robison and Barruel" by the Rev. W. K. Firminger. F.M. Rickard, editor. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, being the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, London." vol. l. 1940. pp. 31-69. (Excerpt)
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Post by Tamrin on Sept 16, 2008 11:27:50 GMT 10
Napoleon I and Freemasonry Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol. viii (1895). ed. G. W. Speth. Margate: Lodge Quatuor Coronati, No. 2078, London. pp. 188-89. The translated text of the letter is given in the linked article.
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