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I won't quote Wikipedia, but I'll go from the other side. There are a lot of closed clubs and societies in Britain. I don't know why, but it's probably the mentality that encourages it. Moreover, these clubs are rarely associated with religion, but they are all closed, i.e. only for their own people. These can be literary clubs, hunting clubs, whatever you want. But the Freemasons are a philosophical and religious club that began somewhere at the turn of the XVI-XVII century as a club of masons.
Bricklayer is one of the oldest professions, not a laborer at all. It was believed that the secrets of masonry were passed down by masons from generation to generation. Since ancient times, the most massive stone buildings were sacred in nature – these are most often temples. To build a magnificent temple, you need to use the secrets of masons. And it turned out that the masons were closest to the priests and the priesthood.
Masonic clubs, or lodges, as they are commonly called, were formed from artels of masons. At that time, they were certainly not a special caste. Why they suddenly took on the legacy of the Templars and Rosicrucians, turned to mysticism-is generally unknown. It is a secret society, a closed society, but not a secret one. Almost immediately, Freemasons appeared in France. Perhaps even the French Freemasons believe that they appeared earlier, but I think otherwise.
Freemasons are concerned with questions of religion, mysticism, world order, world order and influence on this world order. Now Masonic societies have grown a lot and are not at all what they originally were. In London, there is a large Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden, there is a museum of Freemasonry, a library. You can come, see, talk to the Freemasons. I was, I liked it.
I will answer Marguerite's additional question about the goals of Freemasonry. First of all, you need to understand that “Masons” as a single organization does not exist. There are many directions or statutes of Freemasonry, which may have completely different goals and rules. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that various areas of Freemasonry are often in a state of active competition and even hostility.
The most orthodox forms of Freemasonry do not accept women, do not accept atheists, and prohibit discussion of political issues in meetings, while, for example, French Freemasons (in particular, the “Grand Orient of France”) freely accept atheists and are more politicized. Among those that avoid political topics, some areas of Freemasonry (for example, in the lodges of the “Charter of Memphis-Mizraim”) are focused on the study of “occult sciences”, so to speak, while others are a kind of philanthropic clubs whose main activity is mutual aid and charity.
If we talk about what happens in the lodge during the meeting, then Masonic rituals are held there, most of which are now described in sufficient detail in the literature, and reports are read out on various topics, most often about Masonic symbolism and teaching. Some lodges practice special meetings, where non-Masons are invited, in particular, to read reports. For example, last year I gave a lecture on the history of religion at the Rite of Memphis-Mizraim Masonic lodge in Moscow.
To make it clear how widespread the practice of giving lectures and lectures in Masonic lodges is, for example, in the United States, it can be noted that the largest American philosopher of the XIX century, R. W. Emerson, has a program essay “The Transcendentalist”, which is published with the subtitle “A Lecture read by Ralph Waldo Emerson at the Masonic Temple, Boston, January, 1842” (“A lecture given by Ralph Waldo Emerson at the Masonic Temple, Boston, January, 1842”).).
The World Order of Freemasons (Freemasonry) is the oldest of the existing initiatory societies, a brotherhood of free believers, which considers its main goal to improve its members and, through them, the whole world. And the aim of the order and the means to achieve this goal is the work of its members-freemasons-on themselves in order to approach the moral ideal corresponding to the teachings of the religions chosen for themselves by each of them, as well as according to the esoteric and philosophical traditions of different centuries and different peoples. Therefore, the order considers the study of these sacred traditions and reflection on their symbols and ideas to be its main methods of work.
Traditionally, the teachings of the order are communicated to initiates through symbols and allegories, as has been the practice in various epochs in initiate societies around the world. Masonic theorists believe that the teachings of the ancient Mysteries have come down to our time in the form of symbols, in which each new initiate finds something of his own, since true initiation is purely subjective, in each case largely self-initiation, because no one can force a person to comprehend the sacraments if he does not want to. But if this person sincerely strives for their knowledge, he sooner or later comprehends them, refracting them through the prism of his own consciousness and thus assimilating and processing them within himself, due to his own education, intelligence and personal moral qualities.
Therefore, it is natural that in Freemasonry there are no strict dogmas, inviolable principles and postulates. We can only talk about the relative immutability of its organizational principles, the so-called landmarks. In the field of ideology, Freemasonry is open to any interpretation and interpretation. It is a society of people who are free, intelligent, and moral, and who consider it their duty to improve their own nature and help their fellow men in this improvement.
In its modern form, Freemasonry appeared in Scotland, England, Germany and France at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. and since then it has spread all over the world, especially taking root in continental Europe and America. Freemasonry is a product, carrier and distributor of European culture, and in many countries it became the source of the first secular ideology in the Enlightenment era, which had a significant impact on the fate of European civilization.
These questions have already been answered before, including me:
Who are Freemasons?
Are there now Masonic lodges that are the successors of the first one? What do they do and can I join them?
What literature should you read to learn more about Freemasonry?
In fact, the Masonic “mason” has nothing to do with the construction of temples or masonry.
In his work Occult Freemasonry, Ragon, the famous and learned Freemason of Belgium, rightly or wrongly, reproaches the English Masons for having omaterialized and dishonored Masonry, which was once founded on the Ancient Mysteries, by adopting, due to a mistaken notion of the origin of the craft, the names “Fran-Masons” and “Fran-Masons”. This mistake, he says, was due to those who associate Freemasonry with the building of the Temple of Solomon. He scoffs at the idea and says:
“The Frenchman well knew that when he assumed the name of a free mason, there was no question of building the smallest wall, but that he, being initiated into the hidden Mysteries called Freemasonry, which could only be a continuation or renewal of the ancient Mysteries, became a 'mason' in the likeness of Apollo or Amphion. …The ancient, initiated poets, when they spoke of the foundation of the city, meant by this a statement of Doctrine. ( not rocks) Thus Neptune, the God of understanding, and Apollo, the God of hidden things, appeared as masons to Laomedon, the father of Priam, to help him build the City of Troy – that is, to establish the religion of the Trojans.”
This may not be a very clear quote from Ragon, but the point is that the freemason is an allegory.
Freemasonry is based on three main degrees; the triple duty of a mason is to study where he came from, what he is, and where he is going; that is, to study God, himself, and the future transfiguration. This is Freemasonry.
Literally translated from English and French – “masons”. But, probably, they mean “Frank-Masons”, or so-called “freemasons” – and this is already a brotherhood and conditionally” secret ” society with a long enough history (only official – more than 300 years), its rituals and traditions, which likes to attribute its origins to the society of Rosicrucians, ancient Egyptian priests and others like them.
“What kind of Freemasons are these? — What is it? ” he asked. “I'd like to explain this to you better,” I said. “You can't put it in two words. There are many versions, dozens of books have been written… But to put it in a nutshell, it's such a secret society… — What kind of fucking secret is it, if dozens of books have been written about it? It's like we had a secret society on a construction site. Three guys were building materials from the site communizdili and sold to the side, and we were silent, every day put a drink. The foreman, however, was given money… — Nope… Still communizdyat! “Well,” I said, ” you're wondering about Freemasons. The same thing…”
– Y. Polyakov, “Goat in milk”
Thank you for your reply)
Can you tell us what exactly the goals of their community are? It is rumored that it is Freemasons who have an influence on the world order, and that many famous people are directly related to, and even belong to, their community?..
In the 18th century, a secret organization of Freemasons appeared in France. In the literal sense of the word( translated ), Freemasons are “freemasons”. This is what the first Freemasons called themselves. Not everyone could join the” freemasons”, it was necessary to have an invitation from another mason, as well as to pass the rite of initiation into a secret organization. During the rite of passage, the participants asked the Masonic candidate various questions, and only then unanimously either initiated or did not initiate him. If a person was accepted as a Freemason, he had to place a pair of compasses and a square on the sacred book as shown in the picture to complete the rite of initiation. The compass that crosses the polygon below is the main symbol of Freemasons. The goal of Freemasonry is to establish world prosperity, charity, spiritual development and self-knowledge. It is worth noting that the purpose of Freemasonry and the rite of initiation into Freemasonry remain unchanged to this day. Since the founding of the freemasons ' organization, Freemasonry has spread quite rapidly: first in Europe, then in North America, and in Russia in the 19th century. Now there are Freemasons all over the globe, excluding Antarctica, the Arctic and Greenland. The place of concentration of Freemasonry in any country or city is called a Masonic lodge. Among the Freemasons were such outstanding personalities as Peter the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy. Many Decembrists were also Freemasons. The Order of Freemasons is a spiritual, philosophical, and magical organization, not a political or economic one. Freemasons have never sought and do not seek world domination. At meetings of Masonic lodges, their members most often discuss global or spiritual issues of humanity.
I myself can't boast of exceptional knowledge, but I highly recommend watching the video of Freemasonry researcher Leonid Aleksandrovich Matsikh about Freemasonry on the Kultura channel, published several years ago.
Lecture ” Who is afraid of freemasons?” It is devoted to Freemasonry in general, and “Metaphysics of the Northern Capital” is devoted to Freemasonry in the Russian Empire, as well as representatives and traces of Freemasonry in St. Petersburg.
ACADEMIA. Leonid Matsikh. “Who's afraid of freemasons?”
ACADEMIA. Leonid Matsikh. “Metaphysics of the Northern Capital”
I don't know who the Masons are, but the Masons are an esoteric organization of “freemasons” who use symbols and legends about the construction of the temple of Solomon. Their main goal is charity and self-development based on the belief in one God.