I have been interested in Freemasonry for over 20 years now and was almost initiated into the grand lodge of Freemasonry in Queen Street London UK.

I pulled out at the last minute through fear of having to give a speech to a group of people who I have never met.
Now I don’t think this was part of any initiation ceremony so I hope I am not breaking any rules by mentioning this however if I am please remove my post.

I went into this lodge and spoke to a well presented black gentleman who was wearing a ring with the square and compass on it. Later he contacted me and introduced me to two members of a lodge within the grand lodge.

They visited me at home and seemed like good men.

I had a date set where i was to attend and give a speech or toast and thank the two men concerned for welcoming me into Freemasonry.

One of the Freemasons told me a story about his son and that he gave an amazing speech on his initiation. This did not help the nerves i already had before he told me this.

Well anyway I did not attend and ended up giving some lame excuse for not being able to come. I felt defeated as my heart was telling me to not fear it and just go with it.

You see the problem is that I read so much on Freemasonry and all the negative things I had read started surfacing.

I hope I am not being inappropriate her but I may as well jump in at the deep end and talk about the connection between Freemasonry and Lucifer.

Now to many masons or those interested in masonry you may have heard or read some of Albert Pike’s material on Morals and Dogma. It clearly states that Lucifer is the god of Freemasonry, to further amplify this I delved into Theosophy quite heavily and noted that many theosophists past and present associated the light or the light bringer with freemasonry.

Having been brought up as quite a religious child alarm bells were constantly ringing in my conscience.

I don’t know what the connection is between the two or why Lucifer is even mentioned as being the god of freemasonry but if this off putting bit of information didn’t exist and if it wasn’t from such connected and credible sources I just may have taken the plunge on that very day.

Now I don’t know much but what i do know is that god’s adversary is Lucifer and I really would love to become a mason but with this hanging over freemasonry from my point of view I will always remain sceptical and doubtful if joining freemasonry is the right thing to do.

This is my first post and I aim to stick around and learn a lot more on the topic from those of you that are in the craft.

If one of you would be so kind as to address the connection between to two I would be most appreciative.

Peace and blessings.
Antonio.

Well I am twenty four hours away from my Initiation.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I didn’t think I would be nervous not being unfamiliar with standing up in public, but now that the hour approaches I find the gravity and enormity of it already make an impression on me.

Carl Claudy wrote in “The Masters Wages” about preparing oneself to receive the first degree of Freemasonry. His words were something to the effect of, take time to cleanse yourself, physically, mentally and spiritually to make yourself ready to receive the Light which is about to be given you.

Did anybody do anything special to prepare for the first degree?

Also from what I have read here and elsewhere a lot of what happens will fly right over my head as I am going through the degree myself. Fortunately I will be able to sit in Lodge as two more candidates are initiated after me so that will help me to absorb some more of the ritual and its meaning. Does anyone have any tips for the days following to help reinforce what I experienced?

Any advice is welcome.

Hi all,

i am a brethren of Mother Kilwinning “No 0” in Scotland UK.  I was reading on the homepage of “ask a freemason” about the history of freemasonary and read the above remark.  I have always known of the history of my own beloved lodge was much older than the above London lodge and wondered if anyone agreed with me that masonic Lodges was in Scotland when french templars came over to build abbeys around the 1100’s.  We have minutes of every meeting since 1642, and we uncovered a minute of a meeting from just the turn of the 1600’s. We were a Grand Lodge before the grand lodge of edinburgh was set up in 1736.  So if anyone wants to check this out, feel free.  I’m sure i’m not wrong.

I wanted to post a response to a recent PM I received.

This person wanted to know if his decision to augment his belief and upbringing in the Catholic faith with that of Buddhism would be a problem during his investigation. He said he thought he would have a hard time explaining it, and was uncomfortable asking the question on the Live Forum. Thinking that others might have a similar situation, I am reposting my reply here in edited form.

I welcome thoughts from others.
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Thank you for your heartfelt message, _____.

Your question is legitimate. But your fears are not.

The fact that you believe that there is a Supreme Being is all that matters. Freemasonry only asks that you have a belief in a deity. That’s it.

I am Catholic also. But my religious preference did not come up in an interview.

Here is what I suggest. Your particular search for the truth is of no business to anyone but yourself. You believe in a supreme being. Period. You believe that there is a God. Period. If anyone asks you anything else they are going beyond the bounds of Freemasonry. And you can tell them so.

If, however, you offer information on your own—tell someone all your thoughts without prompting—people can think you are strange. It is just human nature. And you can be blackballed for being strange! If I tell someone that I was brought up Catholic, but as a theologian believe that we should all be searching for an ecumenical solution and a reinvention of the sacred—then perhaps I would not have been allowed to become a Mason!

The fact is, the God thing will probably not even come up. You already answered “yes” to the question of belief in your petition.

But someone could ask you again, just for clarity: “Do you believe in God?” And you could say yes. Or you could say, “What do you mean by God?”

That raises a red flag. Do not answer a question with a question. Just answer yes.

Religion is not a topic in Freemasonry. Men of all religions and beliefs come together for fellowship. That’s it. Men who believe in God but don’t know where they fit in are also Masons.

But in a weird way, if you try to make an issue of your faith—try to explain too hard and ask too many times if your particular idea of God is accepted—you may in fact raise a red flag that you could be here for the wrong reasons—like you are here to try to convert people or something. Or that you’re just strange…

We are here for fellowship, friendship, and fun. We do good things and have fun together. And we can choose not to hang out with someone who seems strange or too hung up on things.

Does that make sense?

As for Buddhism ...

The problem with Buddhism in America is that a lot of people don’t understand it. If you were to say you were a Buddhist and ask if Buddhists are accepted you run the risk that someone might see that group as one that actually doesn’t believe in God (it’s true, a lot of people just don’t know). All it takes is that one ignorant guy in a group of otherwise intelligent men who has it confused—and that guy says “I don’t want one of those “Buddhist atheists” in my Lodge. And he doesn’t recommend you. I’m not saying it will happen that way, I’m just saying that you’re bringing up something that nobody has asked you about. Why would you do that?

Freemasons are just men. We want to be around people we understand. We check religion at the door. Don’t try to explain your religion. If you don’t check it at the door you risk alienation.

Hope that helps. Since you believe in a Supreme Being, say, “Yes, I believe in a Supreme Being.” And leave it at that. If someone instead says “tell me about your religious beliefs,” say, “I believe in God.” If someone (illegally, in Masonic terms) says “What religion are you?” You could say, “None of your business,”—but that sounds like you are hiding something. OR you could just say “I believe in God, but I belong to no organized religion.” Period. Then shut up.

In other words, you don’t have to explain your views. Don’t.

And we’ll never discuss it again.

Hope that helps.

Now relax.

Bob

Two years ago I asked a mason if I could join the fraternity. He invited me to the lodge one night and I spoke with him and three other men who asked me questions and answered mine. Two of them signed my petition and I was ready for the next step. I was told that it goes to their committee, then I will have a visit to my home.

Over the next while, I made the mistake of listening to some other people’s jaded opinions on freemasonry and I made the mistake of visiting some web sites with silly, false claims. I became nervous and I withdrew my application. I did send them a nice email thanking them (I basically said to them that the timing was wrong for me).

Now, i’ll get to my question.... I would wish to petition again. Would there be any type of bias against me for pulling out previously?

Thanks in advance for any opinion on this.

Helo everybody!my name is Eugen and im from Romania.i’m not a mason and my english can be a mess but im sure we will have a nice chat.now...ill make an introduction:i don’t belive in satanico-ufologistico-draconico-etc masonry conspiration and i don’t belive that the world can be rulled as a single force economy and ideology(i can proove that but this is not important for this topic) .now...many good(eaven very good)and very important personages from the romanian history were masons and the negative ones were anti-masons.is a fact.so...my impression about masonry is that is a group of different mentalityes who work together globaly for implanting a system of values for the society and being united by the common purpose:progress peace unity etc.nothing is perfect but this thing is definitlly good.also i belive that today masonry is not what it was in the past and is just a small piece from this hudge number of forces who make the world spinning around.also i know freemasonry played an important role in the history(or not necesarry freemasonry but many freemasons did)and i also understand why this organisation atract alot of enemyes.
All good till now but i have my own doubts or c about this very popular subject.that’s why i created this topic and i intend to make it like a puzzle.so ill make a set of questions and after ill get the answer of each one ill analyse ur answer and put the next one.but before ill tell u my conclusion from ur answer/s and u can correct me if im wrong.is also a challenge.LET’S BEGUIN:
1.freemasonry is the oldest fraternity and is definitlly the most popular at this moment worldwide when we talk about secret/discreete/select organisations.are there other ones except you with a closed importance(not necesarry in popularity)?and if they are tell me some names please