James O'Keefe pointing out this tattoo? What do you see?
(media.greatawakening.win)
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I have a question: Why do most masons only go to 3rd degree? What's the barrier to continuing on? Until recently, I thought the barrier was 32nd degree. I had heard that 33rd degree was honorary and you had to be awarded this degree -- you couldn't earn it, per se.
Is it a question of the type of Masonry you are in? I know there are different ranking systems depending on whether it's Scottish Rite or ??? (I forget the name, offhand).
Just curious, fren.
3rd degree is master mason.
It is the apex of standard masonic degrees. Any master mason may join Scottish rite or York rite (two different orgs) in order to pursue additional degrees. I know nothing about these except that to join the Shriners requires prior membership in one of these, but I dont recall which.
Think of 3rd degree as a bachelors degree. most people are done right there.
As for me, Im simply a master mason, 3rd degree. Nothing additional.
Thanks for the information, fren. I've had an "on the outside looking in" interest in the Masons for a very long time -- not to join, just to study. I have a copy of Duncan's Freemasonry and have read most of the books by Robert Lomas, et al. I find the symbolism and rituals fascinating. From what I've read, it doesn't seem as though most masons really understand the symbology to any great extent. I don't personally know any masons, so I've never been able to verify whether this is actually true or not -- It just seems like all of the books on the market have been written with the intent of trying to puzzle out this symbology.
I don't know whether you're familiar with Penny Dreadfuls, but they were weekly serial stories that were published for a penny back in the mid to late 1800s in England. One of the most prolific of the authors was James Malcolm Rymer. He is responsible for much of the mythos we have today surrounding vampires due to his tale, "Varney the Vampire," which inspired Bram Stoker to pen "Dracula." He also wrote "Sweeney Todd; A String of Pearls." Pick up any book on the subject of vampires and he'll be mentioned. Most scholars will tell you that there's very little information remaining on Rymer, but that's not really true. I did some research on him awhile back and discovered -- to no surprise to myself -- that he, too, was a Freemason. I've read Varney and a couple other of his tales and noticed a lot of occult and alchemical symbolism in them.
As it turns out, he was quite a fascinating person and rather an enigma. All of the scholars will tell you that Penny Dreadful writers were extremely poor, as they only earned a penny per line (and were very verbose in order to maximize the number of lines in their tales. Kek!) However, Rymer died with an estate worth 800,000 pounds and was listed as "Gentleman" for his occupation in the census. He managed to make himself quite the career as a writer. I suspect this is one area where we're being lied to.
He was linked to some rather interesting characters, too. His father-in-law had been arrested for protesting the stamp tax on periodicals and spent some time in jail over it. I've always wondered what the real story was on Rymer. I'd love to know what his lodge recorded about him.
At quick read of your post, Ill guarantee that you know more about it than I do.
I do know that for 1000+ years up until about 1900ish EVERY notable man in western society was a mason... including most of our founding fathers. And as far as I can tell, being a mason didnt get you entry into success, it was the other way around. Pretty much every heir to success, every college grad, every military or leo officer, every pro athlete, etc etc etc were involved. That all changed when the communists infiltrated the church and vilified the masons as anti-christians. Thats my take anyway.
You bring up the founding fathers...I have a hard time rectifying the fact that the good guys/founding fathers were Masons and yet Washington D.C. has all of this occult symbology coded into it (a lot of which people now consider to be "evil.") Pierre L'Enfant was the one who laid out the basic design of the city in George Washington's day. Surely Washington had an eye on the design, so.....?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-pierre-lenfant-and-washington-dc-39487784/
If the DS did infiltrate the Masons, I wonder exactly when that occurred. There's such a dichotomy currently with regards to whether Freemasonry is a good thing or a bad thing. I've always basically been on the fence about this, as it's difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff on this issue. Both sides have some good arguments. I tend to believe that the lower ranks have no idea what's really going on in the upper echelons, as the rituals and symbols are never fully explained to the folks on the lower end, who are left to figure this out on their own. The truth may be that the symbols (intentionally?) have two meanings. As above (good), so below (evil).
At any rate, it's a subject with much to ponder about it.