Masons

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Wow, really - even if I have a vagina they'd help me?

My mother's dad was one, and some of his sons. That's vewwwwy intawesting.

Hmmm.

Ponders.

They'd help my brother even more, I assume?

Scottish rite free masons used to be a big branch of those folks ..And you can guess they have their own branches and branches are associated with how far back that particular Masonic temple can trace their origins back too .
Different branches = different rites / groups

Family has always been.
I am a Rainbow girl and eligible to be an Eastern Star.Just never seemed to get around to it.
F.A.T.A.L.

^ did not know that. Now I wonder if that was what my grandpa was in...his family is from Scotland and heritage was important to him.

I don't know much about freemasons. My Dad didn't join, much to my grandpa's dismay. That's one of those things I wish I would have thought to ask about while my grandpa was still alive. All I know was that he used to volunteer a lot, help out his community and my grandma said now and then that it was in part due to mason values/things. Beyond that, all I know is my one uncle used to chew my dad out over not joining as it apparently was hurtful to my grandpa. If it was political or powerful, it was beyond my comprehension. My grandpa was a down to earth guy...did stuff like farmed, built his own house, made ice cream and bowled. Pretty low key.

A couple of things.

Recently, the Masons were running recruitment ads on TV in the US. So I don't believe it's invitation-only anymore, I mean I guess you may still need to be "invited" but maybe they're willing to meet people who might be interested. My impression is that the membership is tanking and consists mostly of codgers.

I know somebody in Spain who belongs to Opus Dei and apparently suspects the Masons of nasty conspiracies of some sort, but I never asked him for specifics nor do I know whether this is OD doctrine or just his personal opinion.

My wife had a 2nd cousin who belonged to a Jewish Masonic Order. They showed up to his funeral wearing their aprons and insisted on performing some sort of ritual. The rabbi seemed annoyed. FWIW that would seem to suggest one needn't be Christian to be a Mason.

Regarding fraternities. I don't know what sort of fraternity Izzie has in mind, but there is definitely a positive correlation between American fraternities/literary societies and Freemasonry. BTW although I said American some of those organizations have a presence in Canada although the approach is different at least given the one example I witnessed personally.

I do think there's a good justification for both women-only organizations and men-only organizations. Feel free to disagree.

Greek Life isn't very prevalent in Canada. It was banned at most universities because of safety concerns with hazing. I hadn't thought of Literary Societies. I'm active in one. Hmmm.

This is all really interesting. Thanks!

I dont know about college Frats.

The Freemason themselves are type of Fraternity. So joining the Lion's club while also being a Freemason would be redundant I would think.

Opus Dei were the baddies in the movie version of the DaVinci code. And they are...somehow connected (as enemies or as allies or something) to the Masons and the Knights Templer and all of that other conspiracy minded psuedohistory in that novel. IRL OD is a militant Catholic society centered in Spain. Interesting that you say that a real life member feels real life enmity with the Freemasons. So there probably are some kernals of truth embedded in the DaVinci code fable about how these secret societies view each other.

The real Illumanati were about "bringing the ideals of the Enlightenment to Bavaria in the 18th Century" and was somewhat like the Freemasons of that time. And the Catholic Church started all of that hysterical slander against the Illumanti because they felt threatened by the Enlightenment. So its believable that factions within Catholicism would also feel threatened by the Freemasons.

I am a sort of apologist for Opus Dei. They are very conservative, they have some secrets, and they also have an "inner order" of members who commit to celibacy. OTOH they aren't the least bit Puritanical, and the people I know who belong party all the time with other OD members and quite frankly have a lot more fun than I do. The kids grow up in that milieu, have tons of friends whose families are also members, and typically marry them (although there's no requirement to marry within the cult). TBH it's like Mormonism but with coffee, alcohol, and lots of Spanish cuisine.

I've never heard of Opus Dei and never read Da Vinci Code. I didn't know there were so many sub-sects or other orders. I never even stopped to think what a rotary club is, even though there are some near me. MR says his dad was a Mason but they were estranged and he doesn't know much about what it meant, except that his dad was an abusive SOB.

How about The Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes? Does that count?

I belonged to a College Fraternity that was formed around the same time Joseph Smith was active in upstate NY. You might well question how somebody who claims to be on the AS could have belonged to a fraternity, however I joined during the days of the Counterculture when most cool kids were rejecting anything traditional such as fraternities, along with freshman beanies, parietals, etc. — even the school yearbook changed from the traditional format to mostly a collection of photographs (note that as the 70s progressed the yearbook mostly reverted to its previous form) as well as changing its traditional name (also eventually restored). The fraternity I joined was known as a "drug house" i.e. it was where students went to obtain recreational drugs which were strictly illegal then but the police seemed to have lost their zeal for enforcing those laws. Ironic because I personally used very little. But I was tolerated and it was way better than a dormitory, also most socializing took place under the influence of alcohol which seemed to have a leveling effect with respect to social skills.

So these fraternities were called "literary societies" because they were originally formed as clubs for reading, discussing, and authoring literature in the vernacular i.e. English, because formal instruction was entirely in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew in the days when they were founded. I might add that those schools, which are usually referred to as "colleges" nowadays, were actually finishing schools 200 years ago and the "students" were teenagers.

So I mentioned Canada because I felt obligated to, having called them "American", given that they did have a presence in Canada, at least then. So my experience was that I visited a chapter at McGill (a few of their members had visited our chapter and they knew who I was) and my impression was that the approach was different. Apart from the obvious difference that they returned their beer bottles to the Provincial store rather than throw them in the trash as we did, they also didn't do any of the "Animal House" stuff and were actually quite snooty. I tagged along to a party at a big house in Westmount where I was woefully underdressed, then when I told my relatives in Châteaugay about that they expressed a great deal of class-conscious resentment. But yes there was an influence in Canada, at least at the time.

Last edited by MaxE on 04 Sep 2023, 8:58 am, edited 2 times in total.

I joined the Racoon Lodge and once you join you can never leave.

EDIT:

The Opus Dei "Vatican".

The most succinct way to answer ALL of Isabella's questions all at once....

This is how the Freemason's view themselves.





THIS is how SOME outsiders view them:





And this is how MOST outsiders view them:

You have to believe in a higher power, cannot have committed a felony ( have a good character).A fellow Mason is a Brother, a fellow Eastern Star is a Sister.

If you know the Lodge your Gramps was a member off they will be happy to tell you what they can about him.They have records of members.

The Da Vinchi Code, whilst not necessarily non-fiction, is loosely based on reality and I personally very much enjoyed it. You should read it, Isabella!

I read it and hated it. There was a lot of action but very little character development.