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Freemasoninformation.com The Holy Saints John, Duality in the Construct of One
By Br. Gregory Stewart, Los Angeles, California, USA The Saint’s, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, appear to Freemasons in several places in our catechisms. Their proximity and use in our rituals have been questioned for many years as to their use and placement. Looked at together, saint John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist serve to represent the balance in Masonry between zeal for the fraternity and learned equilibrium. The Saints John, stand in perfect parallel harmony representing that balance. From a historical approach, The Saint John’s festival is said to be a widely celebrated Masonic holiday. Traditionally June 24th (or the summer Solstice) is taken to be John the Baptist’s day, which is celebrated in many cultures around the world. According to McCoy’s Masonic Dictionary, the Festival of St. John in summer is a duty of every Mason to participate in, and should serve to be a renewal and strengthening of fraternal ties and a celebration of Masonry from “olden-times”. It functions as a connection between the past and the future. The festival, to non-Masons, has been called the “Setting of the Watch”, where ceremonial bonfires were lit after sunset. Tradition says that men, women, and children would jump through the fires for luck. Across Europe, this holiday is celebrated in many ways. With oak wreath crowns, wild flowers and birch branches. Families would feast and celebrate in union. The meanings of these ancient traditions are lost today on our society, but the link was made at some point to John the Baptist. The On-line Catholic Encyclopedia points to the birth of John the Baptist as 6 months before Christ, placing him on the summer solstice. It is thought that these festivals have been linked in character and content with the birth of John the Baptist. From the Masonic perspective we are given the balanced dualism of John the Baptist on one side and John the Evangelist on the other. Represented together this way represent the balance of passionate zeal with and learned knowledge of faith forming a space to reflect on to and channel our passion as well as our education/knowledge. Individually strong, together they stand as a harnessed focus of zeal and knowledge. This counterpoint is not just necessary to Freemasonry but can be applied to all areas of life. Taken as an abstract compilation of symbols, together they represent a well-balanced path towards enlightenment. The two dualistic figures as one, the Holy Saints John, balance each other in the Masonic year, but also in other areas too. One unique aspect that I found is in the application of the Alchemical symbols of fire and water. Alchemy has long been thought of as an early component of Freemasonry and using the alchemical symbols here may help the representations of the Saint John’s look more familiar. Saint John the Baptist, represented as the inverted pyramid, the Alchemical sign for water, representing the spiritual and emotional love. St. John the Evangelist, represented as the pyramid pointing up symbolizing fire that is the drive and will of action. When placed together, they symbolize the perfect balance of darkness and light, life and death, passion and constraint, will and emotion, winter and summer. Together both represent the interlocked star of Solomon, or the Square and Compass. This is an entirely open analysis, and made for the purposes of comparison, but it does offer a unique analysis of the juxtaposition of the Holy Saints John. In looking toward the future, St. John the Baptist Day is an appropriate celebratory day for Freemasons, as it is a good day to come together and reflect in out past and in our future. It stands to remind us, not just of our past, but also of a recommitment of our circumscribed passions. In all of our time they’re as a fraternity, union celebrations such as this one help us to reaffirm our ties that bind. Whether those ties be the bindings of fraternity or the familiarity of institution, we should remember the Holy Saints John’s, not just in our sacred Jerusalem’s but together in brotherhood.
SAINTS JOHN, SOLSTICES AND FREEMASONRY In many countries, Freemasons follow an ancient tradition and celebrate twice a year the so-called Solsticial Feasts, also known as Festivities of St. John, the Evangelist in December and the Baptist in June. As is well known, the inclination of the earths axis in relation with the plane of its orbit around the sun originates an apparent upward and downward movement of the sun. That is, during six months the sun rises and sets at points on the horizon a little to the south of those of the previous day, while in the other six months of the year, the movement is reversed and the sun slowly ascends toward the north. This is the cause for the changing seasons. The dates when the sun stops moving in one direction and reverses its apparent course are called solstices (from the Latin for sun and stop). The winter solstice, in the northern hemisphere, falls between December 21 and 22, and marks the suns lowest point above the horizon. It is as if the sun was approaching death, and in many cultures special ceremonies were performed, destined to prevent the continued descent of the sun, ensuring its rebirth, that is, the beginning of its northward journey. To this effect, fires of different kinds were lit, sometimes accompanied by human sacrifices. Possibly the Jewish ?feast of lights?, Hanukah, held in December, as well as the lights on the Christmas tree, have their origin in ceremonies of this kind. Freemasons, however, do not celebrate solstices for astronomical reasons, nor in remembrance of a pagan rite. Our purpose is both more elevated and more involved. It is important to understand it, for in these celebrations much of Masonic philosophy is expressed. The invariable course of the planets in heaven, the eternal cycle of yearly solstices and equinoxes (annus, the year in Latin, is related to the word for circle or ring, the anulus), constitute the most striking demonstration of the order that reigns in Nature. This order, however, must reflect an act of creation. Ordo ab Chao. In other words, the act of creation itself is a process of introducing order. The Book of Genesis makes this very clear, God separates light from darkness, water from water (sky and earth), the day from the night. Let me add a few more examples to expand on this concept. Let us imagine an artist, holding a palette with all the colors he intends to use. All the colors are there. But as long as the painter does not impose a certain order, placing dab after dab of color upon the canvas, the colors remain an incoherent collection of pugments. Only owing to the order imposed by the artist is the work of art born. Take another example. Should we imagine an orchestra, the best in the world, where we instruct the musicians to play each according to his hearts content, what would be the result? An intolerable cacophony! Only through the order established by the composer and interpreted by the conductor and the players, are the sounds of the instruments transformed into music. The genetic code of the human species has been deciphered. The Human Genome has been published, with all its 30 or 40 thousand genes. All that makes us human, from the color of the eyes, hair and skin to height, intelligence and inherited diseases, all of them are determined by the order of four basic elements arranged along the double helix of the DNA: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. I repeat, the chemical composition of the genetic code is invariable, only the order of these four bases introduces all the enormous differences between one individual and another. A last example, our English alphabet is composed of 26 letters. Other alphabets have a few more letters, or a few less. The point is, with less than thirty graphic signs we can represent all of world literature, philosophy and history. What distinguishes one idea from another, one word from the others, is simply the order in which the letters are placed. Order, then, lies at the base of reason, logic, all sciences, al creation. That is why we represent the divinity in our Order (note the name!) as the Great Architect of the Universe. The great builder who introduces order in place of chaos. Disorder is the law of madness. A disordered mind is the antithesis of reason. Let us return for a moment to the alphabet. Assume that all of Shakespeares works comprise a million letters. It makes no difference for our example if the number is not accurate. Assume, also, that we have a computer program that selects letters and spaces at random and sends them to the printer. According to the laws of probability, at a certain point the computer would print the entire works of Shakespeare in the right order. Fine, but any reader who has elementary knowledge of statistics will appreciate at once that the number of permutations involved is so huge that e have no way of expressing the time required to perform them. 1 Random combinations, then, could not have produced Shakespeares works. The work of one writer, a few books among the many thousands or millions that have been written. What shall we say, then, of the permutations required for designing a cell, a living organism, a human being? How many aleatory - chance - combinations would result in the atoms and molecules that compose the millions upon millions of galaxies and stars dispersed in the universe? Is that really a rational hypothesis? In my opinion, order in the universe is the irrefutable evidence that a superior reason does exist, inscrutable for us, which we designate the Great Architect. That is why we celebrate the solstices, in homage to the immutable order of nature that reminds us, day after day, year after year, that our lives must not be left to the rule of chance, the law of madness, but to that of order, reason, the logic of mathematics, the queen of sciences, represented in our Temples by the letter G placed in the center of the Lodge. Everything else in our institution arises from that fundamental premise. Tolerance, fraternity, equality, are but partial aspects of the inevitable conclusion that a well-formed soul must draw before the stupendous spectacle of a world ruled by order. Order is the mark of the Mason. Order in his manner of standing, walking, speaking, in the course of the ritual. Do we not say that a Lodge is regular when it is truly Masonic? Regular means following a rule, an order. Order, moreover, implies something else. It implies an objective, an end. The work of art if born when the artist orders the colors in order to achieve a certain result. Words are ordered by the writer or the poet to express his ideas. If all creation implies introducing order, and all ordering implies an objective, our world is not a theatre of the absurd, but the expression of an intention, an objective which we may be unable to conceive or explain, but which must necessarily exist because of the very fact that the world is in order and not in chaos. For those who are curious, taking a space as an additional character, the number of permutations would be 27 raised to the millionth power: 271,000,000.
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WM: Brother ______, if you are still willing to take the Obligation, say "I", repeat your name in full, and repeat after me. Candidate: I, _____ ______, of my own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and this Worshipful Lodge of Master Masons, erected to Him and dedicated to the memory of the Holy Saints John, do hereby and hereon solemnly and sincerely promise and swear that I will keep and conceal and never reveal any of the secrets belonging to the Degree of Master Mason, which I have received, am about to receive, or may be hereafter instructed in, to any person unless it shall be to a worthy Brother Master Mason, or within the body of a just and duly constituted Lodge of such, and not unto him or them until by due trial, strict examination, or lawful Masonic information, I shall have found him or them justly entitled to receive the same. Question: Why does Freemasonry dedicate itself to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist but not have any mention of Jesus Christ in its 'charges' or rituals? Answer: As an organization comprised of a plurality of religious faiths, it is not to be expected that any one religion should be represented except to deceive the naive and ignorant. The John's are allusions or references to alternative forms of "christianity" in which Jesus Christ is man only, not God-man, begotten not made from God. These alternatives are called "gnostic", heretical syncretistic sects that mix Hellenistic pagan religions with Neo-Platonism. Question: Why does Freemasonry forbid the use of Jesus Christ in place of the 'Great Architect of the Universe' in open lodge but contradistinctly emphasise the 'Holy Saints John'? Answer: See response supra. Question: Does Freemasonry have any relation to the heretical Johannite Sects of the Mid East known as the 'St. John Christians' who revere John the Baptist but despise Jesus Christ who they term the 'Vomiter of Lies'? Answer: Yes. The Johannite link is an allusion to a secret church of St John, i.e. a gnostic sect of Nestorian/Gnostic Christians who deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ. The use of the Johns is to lull Christians into acceptance of Freemasonry's religious allusions as legitimate. They are not legitimate references, but deceptive pretences designed to seduce the naive. The latent meaning is that the order is the secret church of Jesus Christ. This is a lie, but the naive are allowed to conclude this if they so wish. Masons actually who seek light/understanding are lead into the darkness of moral corruption and ego defence mechanisms. They are allowed to believe and speak nonsense under the auspices of the order by men, their dominant masters who know better but must conceal the Truth from their submissives. Question: Was not the Knights Templar accused of ascribing to the same Johannite Heresy, and does not Freemasonry promote itself in secret as being the direct descendants of the Knights Templar?
Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will support the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of the State of Nevada, also all the laws, rules, and edicts of the same, or of any other Grand Lodge from whose jurisdiction I may hereafter hail; together with the by-laws, rules, and regulations of this or any other Lodge of which I may become a member, so far as the same shall come to my knowledge. Question: What about the laws of the STATE of Nevada? Civil laws pursuant to the obligation may be circumvented at will. A noticeable omission that subordinates obedience to civil laws at best and subverts them at worst, by alienating the allegiance of the member from the family and state and religion to the Order who becomes the members family and authority. Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will answer and obey all due signs and regular summons sent me from the body of a just and duly constituted Lodge of Master Masons, or handed me by a worthy Brother of this degree, if within the length of my cable-tow. Question: But isn't Masonry Free?
Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will help, aid, and assist all poor and distressed Master Masons, their widows and orphans, they applying to me as such, I finding them worthy, and can do so without material to myself or family. Question: What about all poor and distressed NON Masons, their widows, and orphans? Answer: Masonry is a cult based upon mediocrity and mendacity. It is elitist, racist and misogynist. Masons come firstly. The notion of masons advocating democratic freedoms and rights is pure nonsense. It is a deceptive lie. Their practical volume of the sacred law is the book for tyrants by Machiavelli called The Prince, or the egotistic selfishness of the philosopher Ayn Rand (a woman!), who advocated a might is right, laissez-faire capitalism with no regard for social welfare for the disadvantaged. Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will keep the secrets of a worthy Brother Master Mason, when communicated to me as such, as secure and inviolate in my breast as they were in his before communication. Question: Then why does Masonry claim it is only the "Means of Recognition" that are kept secret? Answer: Masonic propaganda through the internet is a deliberate means of deception, by evasion, deception and denial of the Truth. There is much that they need to keep secret, and much fraud that they need to perpetrate to lure in new members. It is not what they say, it what they conceal that the public needs to know.
Question: What about when a NON Mason gives a sign of distress? Answer: No obligation required. Typical of an elitist and anti-social cult. Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will not give the substitute for the Master’s Word in any other way or manner than that in which I receive it, which will be on the Five points of Fellowship, and at low breath. Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will not wrong, cheat, nor defraud a Master Masons Lodge, or a worthy Brother of this degree to the value of anything, knowingly, nor suffer it to be done by another, if in my power to prevent. Question: What about wronging, cheating, or defrauding a NON Mason? Answer: See previous response, supra. Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will not knowingly strike a Brother Master Mason, nor otherwise do him personal violence in anger, except in the necessary of myself, family or property. Question: What about striking or doing personal violence in anger to a NON Mason? Answer: See previous response, supra.
Question: What about not having illicit carnal intercourse with a NON Mason's wife, widow, mother, sister, or daughter? Answer: See previous response, supra. Question: What about not having illicit carnal intercourse with a Master Masons SON? Answer: See previous response, supra. Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will not be present at the initiating, passing, or raising of an old man in dotage, a young man under age, an irreligious libertine, an atheist, a person of unsound mind, or a woman, knowing them to be such. Question: But doesn't Freemasonry claim to be responsible for the concepts of Freedom of Conscience, Equality, Liberty, and Justice? Answer: Any claim to liberty and justice made by the Craft are lies designed to dupe the ignorant. It is an elitist cult infested with dominants who lure and seduce morally weak individuals into dependence upon them as submissive masons. Comment: Another Masonism it seems. Up is down and down is up. Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will not be present at the initiating, passing, or raising of a candidate clandestinely, nor hold Masonic intercourse with a clandestine Mason, or with one who has been suspended or expelled, knowing him to be such, until duly restored. Question: You mean like how the Fascist P2 Lodge of Italy, Argentina, Chile, Greece, France, Switzerland, Britain, and the U.S. was counted as 'regular' by you because it was a 'regular' and 'duely constituted' lodge of the Grand Orient of Italy who you had granted 'regular recognition' to, but how you consider African-American Prince Hall Masonry 'irregular' and 'clandestine' because they are not 'men free born and well recommended'? Answer: Neurotic masons need to blind themselves to the facts of criminal activities of masons to preserve their dependence upon the masters of the order unperturbed by Truth. Denial and disavowal is their mantra.
Question: But Freemasonry isn't a cult right? Answer: It is assuredly a behavioural programming cult comprised of dominants and submissive in a symbiotic relationship of mutual exploitation. WM: In token of your sincerity, kiss the Holy Bible on which your hands rest. Comment: But remember Brother the oaths you took were only to other FreeMasons...
WM: Brother ______, in your present situation, what do you most desire? Candidate: Further Light in Masonry (prompted). Worshipful Master: Let the Brother be brought to Light. Comment: The Light of Lucifer...
Comment: Obviously .... |
Worshipful Master: * * *. (Strikes his gavel three times.)
Their Jesus is not the Christ but a man only. It is an organization of
blasphemy to normative Christians which stands in agreement with the
abuse of the Christian Bible and St. John and denial of Jesus Christ
as true God and true man.
It is a fraud designed to deceive the public and masons into thinking
that they can be masons and Christians too. That is not possible, save
as a Christian heretic or apostate which denies the divinity of Jesus
Christ.
Note well that St. John omits the institution of the Holy Eucharist
during the seder meal on Holy thursday, according to the Scriptural
narrative. The other, Synoptic Gospels' authors declare the divinity of
Jesus Christ and that the sacraments through His church are instituted
by Him for the salvation of all believers.
Freemasonry is a counterfeit salvation into self-absorption and delusion
that seduces seekers from their faith, so they use as a pretence and
facade, the most gnostic of the Evangelists to hide the order's animus
to the claims of religion, any religion. The mason is gradually seduced
away from normative morality into a new age world of false morality in
which the member withdraws from his former life's attachments and
substitutes them with Freemasonry's false promises. the member becomes
thusly increasingly dependent upon the order as a parental surrogate and
authority figure until the member is so completely dependent upon the
order that he will lie or commit criminal acts on its behalf, for he has
nothing else in this world or the next to sustain him and dare not
oppose the peer pressure of his fellow masons' retaliation.
Answer: There are initiation fees and annual dues to be paid. The true cost is
the de-individuation of one's personality by submission to the mob mind
of the masonic cult. Instead of knowledge and liberty, the mason grows
ignorant and bondaged within a guilded cage of degrees designed to
dazzle the neurotic mind from realizing the process of debasement into
which it has willing succumbed.
Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will not give the Grand Hailing
Sign of Distress of a Master Mason, except for the benefit of the Craft while
at work or for the instruction of a Brother, unless I am in real distress; and
should I see the sign given, or hear the word spoken, I will hasten to the
relief of the person so giving it.
Furthermore: I do promise and swear that I will not have illicit carnal
intercourse with a Master Mason’s wife, widow, mother, sister or daughter, nor
suffer it to be done by another if in my power to prevent.
To all of which I do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, without any
hesitation, mental reservation, or secret evasion of mind in me whatsoever;
binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my body severed in
twain, my bowels taken thence, and with my body burned to ashes, and the ashes
thereof scattered to the four winds of Heaven, that there might remain neither
track, trace nor remembrance among man or Masons of so vile and perjured a
wretch as I should be, should I ever knowingly or willfully violate this, my
solemn Obligation of a Master Mason. So help me God and make me steadfast to
keep and perform the same.
WM: Senior Deacon, remove the cable-tow; we now hold this Brother by a
stronger tie.