Masonic Bling

Caught this on Facebook this morning, good find Br. James.

Shaq shows off his Masonic ring, the “ring of his profession.”   I like his response to what it is. Listen to the conversation and you’ll get an idea of how most people respond when they see one.

Why saying Happy Holidays is ok.

The U.S. Constitution says in the first amendment that

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

The enactment of this prohibition prevented the Federal government from establishing a national church or religion or to excessively involve itself in religion in general but particularly to the benefit of one religion over another.

The outcome of this prohibition in the 200 plus years since its signing is today a pantheon of religious practice across America and a change in the national practice of faith.  In effect, the establishment of religious freedom has allowed for a unique form of national religion to emerge with its own set of practices, rituals, and traditions.  It is in effect, an American religion, established in the vacuum of any other religious tradition.

So as to make the point, every year 25 million Christmas trees are sold in the United States, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.  Each one of these 30 million trees are placed prominently in the home, business, or Public Square, and then decorated with elaborate representations of riches and finery so as to make this mundane tree of wood and leaf become something of a dramatic representation of splendor.  Once decorated, many place equally stunning packages of varying size and decoration beneath it.  And lastly, to punctuate the bedazzled tree and packages, many households hold elaborate parties within which many a carol is sung in its presence and special libations of holiday beverages (Eggnog anyone?)  poured in commemoration of the trees decoration.

Dog Nativity Scene Even Jesus Would Love! from bestweekever.tv http://www.bestweekever.tv/2010-12-21/dog-nativity-scene/

Amidst the special tree are a few ancillary affects which include a mysterious pot bellied man in a red suit who spreads cheer and mirth through magical gift giving, to whom many a child is taught to set out offerings of milk and cookies.  And, under many of those trees is a small decorative Crèche, often remade with the pop culture cons of the day in representation of its historical significance.

Amazingly, nowhere is this ritual practice and performance written down or made sacred through any writing or sacred tradition.

Rather, its ideas are passed to the public through the things we buy such as the soft drink Coke, or its harder cousin Budweiser which annually make images of how to celebrate the holiday with their products.  Or, in even more rabid devices created to influence your decisions in making purchases of gifts quelling your need to buy and collect for yourself and appealing to your need to appease the wants of those you love.

No, this American Religious tradition is unique and one within which art imitates life which is imitating art.  Not many of us pull the candy canes and twinkle lights out in October, yet stores slowly begin to remind us of the coming tree adulating season.

Mind you, they’re not saying here comes the Christ’s Mass, their saying here comes Christmas, here come the holidays, or just simply Happy Holidays.

In case you didn’t make the connection, every December 25th, we celebrate Christmas which, as religious traditions go, is the birth of the Christian Christ Jesus.  Yet, in the increasingly secular and religiously diverse America, we’ve kept the name of christmas (note the lowercase c) and created our own national religious holiday season.

But, this American Religion isn’t alone in its incorporation of the holiday and, in case you missed them, other religious holidays happen in December which only help to lend themselves to the greater notion of a Holiday Season so as to recognize everyone’s faith.

Islam celebrated Ashura on the 5th.  Ashura is the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar marking the climax of the Remembrance of Muharram.  It is a Shi’a Muslim day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH (680 A.D.)

Buddhism, the much admired Eastern tradition, had Bodhi Day on the 8th which is celebrated as the day that the historical Buddha experience enlightenment.

Catholic Christians Celebrate several special days along with the Christian Mass including Saint Nicholas Day on the 6th.  Saint Nick is perhaps the origin of the idea of Santa Clause as he is commonly called Nikolaos the Wonderworker for his secret gift giving.  Also in December is The Immaculate Conception day on the 8th which celebrates belief in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And the Feast Day for the Virgin of Guadalupe on the 12th which is to commemorate the vision on the Tepeyac hill by the recently converted Aztec Indian, Juan Diego, of the Nahuatl Virgin Mary.

Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, is celebrated from the 21st through the 28th in remembrance of the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt.

Pagan/Wiccan communities celebrate the Solstice with a Yule celebration on the 22nd.  Yule is most likely the Germanic source for much of our winter arboreal adulation as it is a winter holiday consisting of feasting and celebration at the changing of the solstice.  Today, the burning of a Yule log is a common theme which harkens back to this tradition.

On the 26th, Zoroastrian’s celebrate Zarathosht Diso, the death of Prophet Zarathushtra.  The celebration of this holiday, held annually on December 26th is often a private and personal one held within homes and temples without an external manifestation.

Not to forget in Masonic tradition, St. John the Evangelist’s feast day on December 27th, most commonly celebrated on or near the solstice and a day to reconnect with your Masonic brothers after having been away.  Often, if celebrated, it is with a Festive Board or Table Lodge.

And, one of my personal favorites is the remembrance of Saturnalia, the Roman era festival held in celebration in honor of the god Saturn, the father of the god Jupiter.  In ancient times, this feast took place from December 17 through the 23rd and is thought to of begun around 217 B.C.E.  Ironically (or perhaps not) the holiday consisted of celebrations, gift giving, and visiting of friends.  The customary greeting for the holiday was “Io, Saturnalia!” Io pronounced “e-o”) which is a Latin interjection such as “ho” as in “Ho, praise to Saturn.”

With so many holidays and celebrations going on in December, it’s ok to step back and look at the months many celebrations and say Happy Holidays without stepping on your religious toes or secular admonishment of religion.  Because Congress shall “make no law respecting an establishment of religion” its up to us to celebrate however we want – be it as one of the 30 million christmas tree buyers or as Buddhist celebrating the day of enlightenment.  In either case, it make no difference, by the fact of our communal celebration we together are creating an American Religious Holiday.

Freemasonry and Fraternalism – call for papers

THIS IS AN UPDATE – due to scheduling issues, the date of the Symposium on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism has changed – it will take place on April 28, 2012. The call for papers has been extended to January 2, 2012.

CALL FOR PAPERS – Symposium on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism.  National Heritage Museum, Lexington, Massachusetts Perspectives on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism – Saturday, April 28, 2012

The National Heritage Museum will be holding its biannual symposium, Perspectives on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism, on April 28, 2012, at the museum, in Lexington, Massachusetts. We are now seeking paper proposals for the symposium.

The National Heritage Museum is an American history museum founded and supported by Scottish Rite Freemasons in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States. As the repository of one of the largest collections of American Masonic and fraternal objects, books and manuscripts in the United States, the Museum aims to foster new research on American fraternalism and to encourage the use of its scholarly resources.

The symposium seeks to present the newest research on American fraternal groups from the past through the present day. By 1900, over 250 American fraternal groups existed, numbering six million members. The study of their activities and influence in the United States, past and present, offers the potential for new interpretations of American society and culture. Diverse perspectives on this topic are sought; proposals are invited from a broad range of research areas, including history, material and visual culture, anthropology, sociology, literary studies and criticism, gender studies, political science, African American studies, art history, economics, or any combination of disciplines. Perspectives on and interpretations of all time periods are welcome.

Possible topics include:

• Comparative studies of American fraternalism and European or other international forms of fraternalism
• Prince Hall Freemasonry and other African-American fraternal groups
• Ethnically- and religiously-based fraternal groups
• Fraternal groups for women or teens
• Role of fraternal groups in social movements
• The material culture of Freemasonry and fraternalism
• Anti-Masonry and anti-fraternal movements, issues and groups
• Fraternal symbolism and ritual
• The expression of Freemasonry and fraternalism through art, music, and literature
• Approaches to Freemasonry – from disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transnational perspectives; the historiography and methodology of the study of American fraternalism

Proposals should be for 30 minute research papers; the day’s schedule will allow for audience questions and feedback.

Proposal Format: Submit an abstract of 400 words or less with a resume or c.v. that is no more than two pages. Be sure to include full contact information (name, address, email, phone, affiliation).

Send proposals to: Aimee E. Newell, Ph.D., Director of Collections, National Heritage Museum, by email at anewell@monh.org or by mail to 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA 02421.

Deadline for proposals to be received is January 2, 2012. For more information about the National Heritage Museum, see www.nationalheritagemuseum.org. For questions, contact Aimee E. Newell as above, or call 781-457-4144.

TheCall Prayer Warriors to pray away Masonic demons on 11/11/11

I picked this up through one of the channels that buzz on the internet about Freemasonry.

It seems a radicalized line of Evangelical Christianity is putting thought to action in a November 11th, 2011 call to action to liberate Michigan, the United States, and the rest of the world, from the demons of Baal.

More specifically, the call is to excise Baal, a demon that organizers John Benefiel and Anita Christopher from West Michigan prayer center claim “has been allowed to take control of geographic areas because of freemasonry.”

This isn’t something just hatched out of a moments thought.  It comes from an effort that has been on the drawing board for more than a year with this idea being the intense topic of discussion and prayer within their precincts under the religious organization Transformation Michigan.

Their aim is to mobilize churches, people, and ministries on 11/11/11 to bring a Great Awakening of America by reaching Muslims with the love of Christ, Raise up the Black Prayer Movement, bring to light Pro-life and Family Issues with Biblical Social Justice.  Also on their prayer agenda is the hope to raise Economic Conditions in Michigan and Returning our Nation to a Biblical Worldview and Preservation and Safety of America.

Oh, and they want to do it, explicitly, with the eradication of Freemasonry and Islam in mind.

Rachel Tabachnick on Talk to Action has a synopsis of the planned attack from Transformation Michigan on November 11th.

This last aspect comes out of the West Michigan Prayer Center which bills itself as a trans-denominational Kingdom Building Ministry dedicated to preparing the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they aim to achieve their goals by trespassing with teams in Michigan intercessors at Mosques and Masonic lodges in the state to perform a “divorce” ritual from Baal.

Luckily, the organization has a website that talks about their plan, and they’ve made a video about it too.

What really strikes a cord is their reason for doing this and how they came upon their logic for it.  It’s disagreeable enough that any group sees the need to impose their religious ideology on other faiths, but to take it to others houses of worship to impose their ideology seems more a bully provocation than a sweet welcome to the neighborhood greeting.

Freemasonry gets wrapped into the equation through a series of conference calls on the subject hosted by Transformation Michigan, the group behind the November 11th call to action.   In the audio call below, from 4.11.2011, deals specifically with their supposed connection of Freemasonry and Islam in a talk given by Pastor Bill Suddeth.
 

Suddeth comes out of R.A.M. Ministries which is a branch of the International Society of Deliverance Ministers, a denomination of Apostolic Pentecostal Evangelism, which is itself a fairly young line of Christianity.  What Suddeth believes, and tells this audio audience, is that as Islam is big in Dearborn Michigan, it is in fact the Shriners who have opened the door for radical Islam with their logos (Scimitar, Star, and Isis) and rituals held in their temples.  Given that Masonry is the path to Shriners, the Masons are therefore the target for his consternation, aka witch-hunt.  Listen for yourself to the audio recording and judge their ideas and actions for yourself, and correct me if I’ve missed anything.

The sad thing is that no one among Suddeth’s, Warzywak’s, or Christopher’s ministries have EVER taken the time to reach out to local Freemasons or Shriners to ask them about it, at least in any way within which they make claim.  Suddeth says as much explaining with Rick Warzywak the need for spiritual Special Forces to eradicate these demonic influences.

Suddeth has an interesting webpage dedicated to the subject of Tearing down the Strongman Freemasonry and his 50 state tour, for which he takes a love offering to come out and give an 8 hour lecture on the links between Freemasonry and Islam.

Suddeth, a self described former drug addict and alcoholic, is dubbed the foremost expert of what Freemasonry is doing to America, and has his teaching on the web, which you can watch here.

It’s long, but you must watch the video above.

The sad thing is that Suddeth had a father who was a Mason and took him to Shrine parades.

Somewhere in this miasma these groups have directly linked Freemasonry with Islam as conduits by which Baal has been allowed into America.  Their goal is to dismantle the idolatrous worship structures, which includes the Masonic lodge.  Using biblical references of destroying idolaters, which is in a manner a religious hate speech, they admittedly have maps to locations and teams of prayer warriors ready to intercede for you.  Throughout the speakers us military terms to refer to their prayer intercessors and use innuendo of “striking first” to drive out

This is like a Jack Chick cartoon book made manifest.  What strikes me is that this kind of activity is a violating act of religious in toleration and really only a step or two away from inciting some act of violence against those who don’t see faith in the same way that they do especially when using language that is a clear reference to violence.

As a side note, much of the call to action for this intolerance comes from John Benefiel and Cindy Jacobs who were both endorsers of Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Perry and his prayer event in Houston a few months back.

So, on 11/11/11 and you’re in Michigan, keep your eyes out for TheCall prayer warriors trespassing intercessors at your lodge to offer up a prayer.  And, if anyone has a lead for where and when Suddeth is going to be in So Cal, I’d love to get wind of it to sit in and have a chat with him.

Paranormal Activity 3 and the Masonic nexus

It’s Halloween, time for spooky movies, and the new film Paranormal Activity 3 does a terrific job in delivering the spooktacular. If you haven’t followed the series, Paranormal Activity 3 is actually the first story installment of the trilogy giving us the foundation of its Paranormal predecessors.

I won’t give away the plot (big house, bumps in the night, and Ghost Hunter esque videography) but in the climax of the movie, the audience is treated to a glimpse of perhaps why the activity is so paranormal and a tease of things to come. Its a fun film and perfect for the season and with the end of the film, I can only say that there needs to be a pre-prequel to tell the story of the apparition/demon Toby and what really is going on at Grandmas house.  But it was the end of the film that I found myself pulling it into the Masonic nexus of freemason symbols.

Neared its end, there came a scene that made me chuckle and find a thread to pull with a link to Freemasonry. In the films transition from a faux cinéma vérité into a DIY shaky camera aesthetic, a la Blair Witch Project, we catch a glimpse of the why the activity is so paranormal. This is the last 15 minutes of the film that Derrick Deane of Fandango.com says “.. will ‘Mess You Up For Life’” which is right about where we find the Masonic connection.

It’s obvious that the sinister Paranormal Activity is coming from somewhere. Its not so obvious from where.  Its not the benign ghosts from the Disney Haunted Mansion, or the night vision sleuthing of Syfy’s Ghost Hunters. On the wall, in the manner of the Satanic Panic films from the 80′s, is the Luciferian leverage to make it really creepy.

If you go watch the film, pay attention to the unicorn.

In the blur between the faux cinéma vérité and shakey cam we, from the vantage of the hapless cinematographer and stepfather Dennis, find ourselves looking for the missing wife and step kids amidst a flurry of things that go bump in the night. There, on the all where the cute and cuddly unicorn once rested is a modified Magical Triangle of Solomon followed by a quick camera pan to the infamous Sigil of Baphomet on the opposite wall.

While, neither of the symbols are truly freemason symbols, the Magical Triangle comes out of a tradition of King Solomon, the wise king and one third Master Architect behind the construction of the great Temple constructed in his name to house the ark of the covenant.

Christian tradition holds the wise king was benign and kingly in status, but when you read deeper into the subtext of Judaism and Islam, as Lon Milo Duquette does in his book The Key to Solomon’s Key: Is This the Lost Symbol of Masonry?, we discover a king, prophet, and wizard, on the level of the great eastern Magi. Duquette writes “…he [Solomon] could talk with animals, fly through the air on a magical carpet, and cause others to fly through the air to him.” One other thing Solomon is thought to of done was summon evil spirits. The Triangle comes out of a work called The Lesser Key of Solomon the King or Clavicula Solominis Regis, a work originally translated by MacGregor Mathers who, in occult circles, was a well known Golden Dawn mage and Masonic devotee in the rebirth of magical spiritualism.

As the symbol goes the triangle with the circle, Duquette refers to is as the Magical Triangle within which Solomon commanded evil spirits. As it was used in ritual practice, it was a place on within which the magician inscribed on the ground to hold the demons he summoned. While it looks good in the movie on a wall, the symbols when used to summon “evil spirits” it is to be made 2 feet from a Magical Circle on the ground in evocations.

The Sigil of Baphomet is a bit more abstract in the Masonic landscape. Coming out of the work of French Occultist Eliphas Lévi, the pentagram with a rams head is more a device to illustrate (represent) evil than serve as any summoning symbol. Often the illustration includes the words Samael and Lilith which are inscribed in the middle and come from the work La Clef de la magie noire, by French Occultist Stanislas de Guaita. Guaita was a student of Levi’s work and elaborated in image to Levi’s conception. The Church of Satan website says of the symbol “…oriented in the opposite direction, the pentagrammatic Star is nothing more than a symbol of iniquity, perdition, blasphemy: its two points in the air become the horns of the foul Goat threatening Heaven, and whose head is framed with the stellar pentacle, with its low ears in the side branches, and its beard in disorder in the single lower point.”

Levi’s work, in time, became important in the occult world at the rise of spiritualism in the late 1800′s along side with tarot cards, Ouija boards, astrology, and séances. Evidence of Levi’s influence can be traced into the workings of the Golden Dawn which is in and of itself an extrapolation of Masonic degree work.

So, with those two images at the end of the film, from an occultist’s point of view, it’s easy to see the film maker’s idea of connecting the Paranormal Activity to some form of magical summoning from which the terror ensues. Without a doubt, the two symbols have been absorbed by the black magic community and fallen into the material culture of all things evil, with Paranormal Activity 3 becoming the latest instance. As viewers watch the film and begin to ask themselves the meaning of the two symbols, it makes me wonder if it will incite another decade of Satanic Panic as it did in the 80′s or if the sinister black magic of the cinema will be treated as just another work of cult fiction made to titillate the timid with the evils of witchcraft and black magic shrouded in the horror things that go bump in the night.

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