april

palace of fine arts

trio

rock star shirt

ga, bill & cindy

jj Nov 2004

My New Operative Framework

The "secrets" of masonry have all been exposed and are readily available via net or book...
These secrets mean nothing to most people...who lack the framwork/context in which they can be understood
Masonry could be viewed as primal psychology/therapy or preparation for trancendence in that its degrees and rituals help the initiate to realize the "secrets" he seeks are already inside of him.
Only through self-searching, meditation and right action(living up to human potential) can these "secrets" be understood
The allegory and symbolism of freemasonry is both a mask and an x-ray machine...it conceals meaning superficially but under careful examination reveals all

JFM3 thinks Mason Lodges were the first gay bars

I always thought of the masonic society as a kind of social club for gays that eventually spun out of control.

Think about it. You're a gay man in europe 250 years ago. How are you going to find dates? There must have been some kind of secret society with special handshakes and signals which one could use to locate other gays without raising unwanted attention.

Now your gay club gets found out: "Um, no officer, we were all shirtless because we're in a kind of special club, acting out a morality play ... yes, we all believe in God ... um, we were doing "initiations", that impart uh ... special knowledge ... why certainly you can be a member, I can tell your a man of good report and ... uh, what? no, you can't go back there, it's only for, um, 33rd degree masons..." So now you have a social club for regular guys that's a front for your gay bar. Imagine how weird it all must have seen from there.

This is clearly what Crowley was doing with the O.T.O., at least along one axis of analysis.


Bogus Magus:
hahahahahaha jfm3 that's brilliant!

I am not sure if it has to be 'gay' exactly, though. I have always found that male-bonding thing to be more prevalent with macho males. I live in Wales now, and sombunall men's favourite pastime is to go out and play rugby (roughly, American football without armour) rolling around in the mud and grabbing each other - then they all go and mess around in the showers or a communal plunge pool, and then go get drunk and sing with their arms around each other. Suggest to them that they prefer the company of men to their wives and girl-friends though, and you'll really get into trouble.

Whereas, sombunall gay guys actually live the life those macho's only dream or brag about - having sex with a whole bunch of different people, picking up strangers with no hassle, coming several times a day, etc.

Does anyone know if anyone has written an 'alternative history' - to include kings, and occult groups, politics and religion - from a gay perspective?

Bogus Magus Asks...

BM:
Are we now assuming that Bob is an initiated Mason, or can we allow that he is a creative writer who does thorough research and then applies his imagination?

And if that seemed sufficient for him, can you see any need to really act it out?

Not being sarcastic - just curious...

I am aware that 'imagining tripping' might not be enough...even if people who have tripped can't always explain quite what they experienced or why they thought it an important event...

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JG:
wow...you got me...great point bogus
I don't know...the tripping analogy is really good too...is it just curiosity or ego or will to power? I was going to say I just want to KNOW, but maybe the better word is EXPERIENCE. I want to experience the rituals for myself...and draw my own conclusions and inferences from them...Study and reading and meditation are effective for cultivating the spirit of masonry in my everyday life...but maybe I want the shared experience, the common reference point in reality tunnels with other seekers.

I don't know if RAW would say if he is a mason...the masons I most admire don't advertise it...and don't need to. RAW's writings and the spirit of questioning without seeking conclusion he seems to possess inpsire me to live masonically whether or not I ever get accepted into a lodge

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BM:
h I agree that you should have the experience if you want it - I took acid way back when because I wanted to 'know' (or even just to experience my OWN confusion, rather than merely read about other people's reported experiences).

And I have a MYOB attitude to who 'is' a Mason, or 'is' gay, or owes a lot of money (or anything private). After all, in the E-Prime world I can only ask whether Bob 'has been through masonic initiations'.

That leaves it open as to whether the people running the rituals knew what they were doing (were entitled and part of a valid tradition) and also whether the initiate was doing it out of curiosity or some 'genuine' quest. And whether those binding oaths had any lasting effect, or can be shrugged off when you no longer believe (I have noticed that, for instance, those binding marriage oaths - 'till death do us part' seem to have lost their power, in the modern world).

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JG:
That depends on what your definition of Is is...

Hard to break myself of the is habit...seems easier to slap a label on everything so I don't have to analyze too deeply and can make quicker decisions. But the MYOB attitude is my own as well...a friend of mine told me he had faced some stiff resistance in our lodge when he married his partner. he didn't announce it or anything, but the same guys I had trouble with were always asking if he'd met any hot girls or offering to take him out for drinks and hunting. So he was forced to bite his tongue until he went through his initiation, and even now is carefulabout who he talks to in lodge...This really takes away from the spirit I was seeking in masonry, tolerance & the brotherhood of all men should include radicals, men who love men and women too if you ask me...But I'll have to learn to keep it shut and conform in outward appearance and manner if I want to experience a ritual.

That brings me to a point you raised...
Quote:
That leaves it open as to whether the people running the rituals knew what they were doing (were entitled and part of a valid tradition) and also whether the initiate was doing it out of curiosity or some 'genuine' quest


Are men who claim to be masons, yet ignore the principles which masonry would seem to be built upon, qualified to give degrees...It would seem a requisite for giving degrees would be an understanding of them and the message they carry...If one is unable to translate that message into something personally meaningful and then put that into action in their lives what kind of mason are they? And how can they pass what doesn't exist on to anyone else, regardless of whether they have a valid "connection" to the craft.

BTW...I dropped acid last saturday and read degree rituals and masonry books for 36 hours straight without sleeping...maybe that's part of the problem...
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Further Adventures in Masonry

my maternal great grandfather was also a mason but he also died before I was born...

I posted my experience right after it happened last Thursday night...On Friday I got a call from the Worshipful Master about to be installed

He and I had a good talk and told me that even if I was not interested in pursuing masonry further I would be wise to make peace with the 2 brothers I had conflict with. I agreed and asked him if I was welcome to return next thursday...I plan on going back an apologizing for bringing my politics into the lodge and for losing control of my passions, I will not apologize for my politics or ideals so we'll see how it goes. He asked me what brought me to masonry, what I am seeking and what I expect...the last question gave me some pause and I admitted I had no idea...I would be swearing oaths to secrecy on something which I KNOW NOTHING....he insinuated that most of masonry's secrets are readily available to anyone looking, especially the rituals so I spent all day readin the first 3 entered apprentice, fellow craft and master mason...The problem is just as I told the worhsipful master, NO LACK OF INFORMATION...BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE?

I formally apologized to 2 brothers for bringing my politics into lodge and letting my passion get the better of my reason. Most of the others had gotten wind of my "showdown in the kitchen" & thought the whole deal was BS. I went home feeling good cuz I had done what my dad would have expected me to...I admitted my trespass, but I stayed true to who I am and what i believe(weird choice of words, eh?). I could never apologize for what I think, even if I should think a little more before my mouth throws it out into other people reality tunnels. I readliy admitted that I had been hot-headed...hell that was one of the reasons I am going to lodge in the first place...to circumscribe my passions with restraint...tempus loquendi, tempus tacendi....The Master Masons to whom I was trying to explain why nuking the entire Middle East is not a really Masonic thing to do should know a little better, they live in San Francisco. I offered the Deacon the chance to whiteout his signature off my app and turned me down...It only takes one blackball vote to keep me out, but I'll choose being turned away over giving up any day of the week. I brought the first three degree rituals that I had printed off an anti-masonic website into lodge and showed the worshipful master of a lodge in Hawaii to see if they were the real deal...He said they sure as shit were...then I asked him if he had read RAW's description of a degree ritual in The Earth Will Shake...he laughed and said it was the best he's ever read because it wasn't just scripted lines like a play...but captured the setting, emotion and experience as best can be put to paper...I can't wait to see what all the fuss is about if I get the chance

What would Jesus Do? (...if he were president)

Would Jesus spend $140 BILLION ON WAR when a single child in any nation goes hungry?
Would Jesus ever invade another country?
What about to preempt a danger that turned out not to exist?
Would Jesus continue to occupy this country for over a year (so far) and institute martial law on its people?
Would Jesus offer a no-bid contract to Halliburton to profit off this occupation at the expense of US taxpayers?
Would Jesus pay the truck drivers and janitors and line cooks imported from the far corners of the world the SAME OR MORE than his own soldiers?
Would Jesus physically and psychologically TORTURE other humans held as
Prisoners of War?
Would Jesus hold men prisoner for YEARS without facing charges?
Would Jesus turn an unpopular minority into a scapegoat for the real problems with the country?
Does Jesus ever say he hates GAYS or MUSLIMS anywhere in the new testament?
Would Jesus be in favor of laws that stand in the way of two people who love each other?
Would Jesus give a tax break to corporations and the rich?
Could Jesus forgive a man who pridefully refused to admit his sins and trespasses?

Where I've been...

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