Post by Tamrin on Dec 9, 2008 6:53:14 GMT 10
Masons are secretive for several reasons:
- misunderstanding of their own Fraternity
- desire for privacy
- formal obligation to protect a few methods of recognition
Finally, yes Freemasonry does have some real "secrets". They are usually called the "modes of recognition", and they are the ways that one Mason can prove himself to another.
They are secret in that I and every other Mason have promised very seriously and sincerely never to give them to anyone who isn't a Mason. As Master of a lodge, I teach these modes of recognition to our candidates, and as an instructor in a Lodge of Instruction, I meet with candidates from various lodges, and make sure that they have learned them and remember them correctly. But I will not tell them to you or anyone else not entitled to them. Period. I promised I wouldn't. I gave my word.
Of course, there have been many cases through history of Masons who did not take their promises seriously, and who have revealed those secret modes of recognition. There are many many books printed which contain them. I'm not going to help you find them. If you did find one, though, and you read through it eagerly, skipping all that stuff about moral lessons and history, looking for the "big secrets", you'd find them, and you'd say "What a stupid and inconsequential bunch of crap! Those are the big secrets? Who cares?" And in a sense, you'd be absolutely right. They are only important because
They are secret in that I and every other Mason have promised very seriously and sincerely never to give them to anyone who isn't a Mason. As Master of a lodge, I teach these modes of recognition to our candidates, and as an instructor in a Lodge of Instruction, I meet with candidates from various lodges, and make sure that they have learned them and remember them correctly. But I will not tell them to you or anyone else not entitled to them. Period. I promised I wouldn't. I gave my word.
Of course, there have been many cases through history of Masons who did not take their promises seriously, and who have revealed those secret modes of recognition. There are many many books printed which contain them. I'm not going to help you find them. If you did find one, though, and you read through it eagerly, skipping all that stuff about moral lessons and history, looking for the "big secrets", you'd find them, and you'd say "What a stupid and inconsequential bunch of crap! Those are the big secrets? Who cares?" And in a sense, you'd be absolutely right. They are only important because
1. they let Masons prove themselves to each otherWithout that context, they are meaningless.
2. they are concrete representations of our promises to each other and the Fraternity.
The Statue of Silence was the first important commission for an original work of art
received by the young sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907).
The statue was moved from the New York City Lodge
to the Masonic Care Community of New York in 1922.