What does drinking out of a skull signify?

reply to post by Shadow18433


what exactly are you wanting to discuss? Apparently it's a ritual in the York Rite and has a allegorical meaning. You think it's evil because you don't understand it. You hate masonry and all that is associated with it. The ones who went through this ritual seem OK with it and it's meaning. What would you like to discuss?

What does drinking out of a skull signify?

It signifies you're a few clowns short of a circus.

reply to post by network dude


First.......let me tell you....

'' i absolutly don't '' hate at all....masonry and all that is associated with it
i want to discuse positively and with respecful manners.

I understand that your Oath keep you from reveilling the truth about masonry, and '' i respect that...'' but you have to understand that we are in a Conspiracy Site and Conspiracy theorists want to explore to expose all secret conspiracies, it normal.....!

I also understand you feel, our desire to explore your dark sides, as a invasion and you want all your rituals to be keep secret. But there is no need to name us mason basher ...and other name calling...because we are NOT.....we are Truth explorators...!

And we are sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable...! sincerely...!

Please at least... try to understand us...!

Thank you...

[edit on 29-9-2009 by Shadow18433]

Originally posted by Shadow18433

i want to discuse positively and with respecful manners.

Not true. You keep posting fictions, and when it's shown that you haven't been honest, you simply ignore it. One cannot have a debate, repsectful or otheriwse, with someone who considers facts to be irrelevant.

I understand that your Oath keep you from reveilling the truth about masonry

This is precisely what I mean. No Mason has ever taken any oaths that keep them from "reveilling (sic) the truth about masonry". On the contrary, Masons give the truth about Masonry around here, and elsewhere, on a daily basis. Another fact you've conveniently ignored.

I also understand you feel, our desire to explore your dark sides, as a invasion and you want all your rituals to be keep secret.

Again, not true. Most parts of the ceremonies and symbolism are not secret, and are published by Masonic authorities to the generally public in the fraternity's monitors.

reply to post by Masonic Light


All non-masons are respecting you, as individuals, and having doubt on how masons are understanding and seing freemasonry should not be interpreted as offensive.

We all know about a Historic famous paragraph of Moral and Dogma, writed by one of the Greatest and respected Scotish Rite 33 degree Freemason....



Freemasonry Described by Albert Pike In Morals and Dogma, Pike wrote:

"Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it....

The truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason… ''



So if even apprentice freemasons are mislead by higher brothers Masons
it's '' Perfecly understandable'' that Non-mason are having doubts when you say you want to explain us what is really Freemasonry and also when you say that freemasonry have nothing to hide....

No need to take it personal......if all non-mason would listen and blindly beleive freemasons like sheeples, it would not be a sign of intelectual ability.





[edit on 29-9-2009 by Shadow18433]

reply to post by Shadow18433


sadly, you nor your kind will ever spend the intellectual effort to read the passages leading up to and following the passage you quoted from freemasonrywatch.org. If it makes you happy to continue to quote Pike out of context, then have a freakin ball dude. I or any other brother here will answer any question with truth and honesty about our fraternity. Your ability to believe us is your only blockade. For those who are intelligent enough to study masonry already know the truth, those who are too stupid to venture beyond Christian hate sites, well, they will get what they get.

If you have a real question please ask. But don't insult my intelligence by pretending to care about learning. Your previous posts speak volumes more than your empty words.

Originally posted by network dude
reply to post by Shadow18433

 

those who are too stupid to venture beyond Christian hate sites, well, they will get what they get.

You just said that everyone who is questionning freemasonry is either a christian freak or stupid.

i sorry to disapointe you but i am none of the two...

please If you can't discuss the issue with something resembling civility,
and decorum, don't post...

respectful manners please....we respect freemasons, please don't insult us, it will not lead to anything good anyways.., lets continue our research on the, Drinking out of a Skull Ritual of the 13th degree York Rite and also the 33th degree Schotish Rite....

Thnak you....

[edit on 29-9-2009 by Shadow18433]

Originally posted by Shadow18433

Originally posted by network dude
reply to post by Shadow18433

 

those who are too stupid to venture beyond Christian hate sites, well, they will get what they get.

You just said that everyone who is questionning freemasonry is either a christian freak or stupid.

i sorry to disapointe you but i am none of the two...

please If you can't discuss the issue with something resembling civility,
and decorum, don't post...

respectful manners please....we respect freemasons, please don't insult us, it will not lead to anything good anyways.., lets continue our research on the, Drinking out of a Skull Ritual of the 13th degree York Rite and also the 33th degree Schotish Rite....

Thnak you....

[edit on 29-9-2009 by Shadow18433]

please good sir, read it again. And this time, slowly. Those who will not look further than hate sites about masonry to learn about masonry most certainly do fall into the "stupid" category as far as I am concerned. Just like if you wanted to learn how to make chocolate chip cookies, you should look at www.bettycrocker.com, not www.cookiesareofthedevil.com. Don't attempt to misdirect my intentions. They are clear enough that a 4 year old could figure it out.

Originally posted by Shadow18433
don't insult us, it will not lead to anything good anyways.

see, if I was an antagonistic twit, I might take your quote out of context and claim you are threatening me. Since I am smarter than that, I will just use this as an example. An by the way, who is "we"?

I have been reading research studies today about NDEs.

The death experience is appropriate for this thread because IT IS THE CRUX of the skull/drink issue.

I don't know how to sum it up so that it makes sense for everyone, but your concepts of good/evil, God/Satan, right/wrong are incorrect.

The final paragraph of a study of 319 NDEs to see if people commonly experience a 'life review' (reviewing a portrayal of good and bad events during your mortal life) after death summed it all up. And by 'it' I mean IT.

From the answers that NDErs give regarding universal purpose/order, life and belief changes, and the life review, they all point towards love as being the key to life on earth. Ways of strengthening love are in helping others collectively and in our individual relationships. As we learn to love ourselves and to allow our love to nurture our fellow human beings, we are able to reconnect with God/Jesus/Supreme Being. Our soul is afforded a unique opportunity for growth by incarnating on earth. Therefore, the meaning of life is really to be uniquely human by exercising our free will and making the proper choices to nourish one’s self and others – our ultimate tool for soul growth and reconnection with the other side.

Some common themes:

- Universal loving creator

- Love of one another the key to our human experience

- Soul learning and progress by exerting free will in this domain to create reality

That's really what we are talking about here. Another summary quote from a study of 3,000 NDEs:

Anyone who expects to die when you die will be extremely disappointed.

It's like the poem I posted. A skeleton or skull is nothing more than organic detritus. The meaning of the ceremony probably varies from tradition to tradition, but to many it means that a dead skull is nothing more than a useless container. It is only a reminder that we all die, and that death is not an end to the soul, merely a change of state.

What could be more profound than in a moment of overwhelming self-examination for someone to realize that a skull is just a skull.

To wit:

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

reply to post by emsed1


The is a very profound post, Brother.

Addressing one's own mortality is a very difficult task. But, I feel, that once you overcome the inevitability of death it becomes much less a feeling of loss than one of change.

reply to post by emsed1


that poem is perfect. My father had an NDE a few years ago. He isn't the type to BS about important things. He claimed to meet with my grandfather, His wifes father (which is strange) and was told he wasn't done yet. Of course it could have just been a dream or whatever, but it could have been real.

As a disclaimer, he is the type to BS about almost anything unimportant. In fact he is locally famous for it.

Originally posted by network dude
reply to post by emsed1

 

that poem is perfect. My father had an NDE a few years ago. He isn't the type to BS about important things. He claimed to meet with my grandfather, His wifes father (which is strange) and was told he wasn't done yet. Of course it could have just been a dream or whatever, but it could have been real.

As a disclaimer, he is the type to BS about almost anything unimportant. In fact he is locally famous for it.

edit to add: I feel as if you should look at your life all the time and think if you died right now would you have regrets. If your answer is yes, then you should attempt to clear up those regrets as soon as possible. None of us know when our time is up.

Another theme among those who did experience the 'life review' was the way they felt looking at different moments in their lives.

These experiences resonate so much with the esoteric teachings of secret societies and profound works like Urantia and others.

Mainly my impression is that we are too hard on ourselves. We have been given a profound gift in free will and that comes with a profound obligation to learn from our mistakes.

“I felt as if life memories were running out of me, they were like flashes of things."
– Sheri

"No judgment other than how I felt about the incident.” – Bob A.

“Fear is at the core of our mistakes.” - Sheila

"What have you done to help your fellow man?” - Susan

“I saw how my actions rippled through the lives of others.” - Dee


From these comments and others, it is striking that the life review does not happen like many people are taught to believe. The notions of a higher being judging us on our actions and then sending us to heaven, hell, or any other place, doesn’t appear in any of the 143 responses. Furthermore, the life review appears to be a loving act and we individually choose to adjust our actions accordingly. Any other beings present during the life review are there out of compassion and are only there to help individuals. There is the element of correcting behavior in keeping with a greater, predetermined purpose.

In addition many of these subjects felt like LOVE is the tool of the fourth dimension. It flows through our existence and connects all of us together.

In my humble opinion I think the hell concept has been blown way out of proportion by religious leaders that use it to control our behavior and conform to their wishes.

The harshest judgment we receive when we die is from OURSELVES. When we review our lives in real 3D surround-sound technicolor smell-o-vision we get to experience the feelings and thoughts of those whom we impacted when we acted good or bad.

Our mistakes are life-lessons. The endgame is to know ourselves, to learn from our mistakes, to use every moment of this physical and temporal lifetime to love others, to create our own reality through free will and ultimately advance in our spiritual existence.

A question - if you could step outside yourself in a certain scenario where you made a bad decision that affected others, and you could feel what they felt, and think what they thought in that moment, would it change your behavior in the future?

If you had acted out of selflessness and love instead of ego would it have enriched you and your fellow man?

It kind of makes me look at my life and my mistakes in a new light. The guilt that festers inside from things I perceived were huge mistakes might not even be necessary. Maybe the ones I thought I hurt really didn't think it was that big of a deal.

Conversely, perhaps there are times when I acted out of self-gratification at the expense of others, and by not considering my actions I hurt them deeply but I didn't even realize it.

When we talk about what earth-shaking secrets are concealed by secret societies, I think it's finding out the answers (and I don't have them) to three important questions.

- Where did we come from?

- Why are we here?

- What will happen to us?

Unfortunately when trying to consider these questions it sometimes brings a crisis to me. Suddenly my job means nothing, my possessions mean nothing, all the time I spend doing things other than loving others seems like a waste of time.

Thanks for reading.

reply to post by Shadow18433

And yet, there is nothing dishonest about us.

reply to post by kingswillquiver

Actually, king, Freemasonry is not a religion as it doesn't meet the requirements of religion. Freemasonry doesn't require a belief in the Christian faith, just a belief in a Higher Power. Freemasonry holds no partiality towards any one religion.

Last November I joined the York Rite and the Order of the Temple is a beautiful ceremony and as I enjoyed it.

Solomon is a revered figure in the Bible. Most Christians believe Solomon to be one of the wisest figures mentioned in the Bible. And no Freemasons don't worship King Solomon, legend says in ancient times Lodges were dedicated to King Solomon.

Are you a Christian, kingswillquiver?

reply to post by kingswillquiver

Actually you can use any of the Holy Writings to take the Oath of a Mason, it depends on the faith of the person taking the Oath. My good friend and Brother Mason is a Jew and took his Oath on the Torah.

[edit on 29-9-2009 by KSigMason]

reply to post by Shadow18433

Not all anti-Masons have been respectful. I've been called many names and accused of many things, but when Freemasons fire rhetoric back we get accused more of rude behavior.

what are all those last OFF TOPIC POSTS all about.....
a strategy to derail the thread..!


and scooterstrats please let me redirect you to help you.....

Originally posted by scooterstrats
I tried to follow and respond to a post about (paraphrase) "riding the goat". I was able to read the thread for a while,then got a message saying "you dont have access etc." What the hell is this? Is this the fabled "beyond top secret " deal? If so, how does one ingratiate himself to access it? The post was here for a while, even if in error. I tried to ask this in the board questions site, but got a robo-response. Any help bros?


Sorry to be off topic, dont know where else to ask after redirection from the Board Questions forum !

[edit on 9/28/09 by scooterstrats]

just do like i did and go to the appropriated ATS thread please...i already post a complaint about it, and waiting for the response.....
The ATS Issues Thread


Please can we just focus on the OP subject.....and please freemasons respect our desire to explore those paths, from what i know...ATS is not a '' Cummunist web site '' so let us also talk about the Drinking out of a Skull Ritual, without insulting us.......

Thank You....





[edit on 29-9-2009 by Shadow18433]

In Nam an officer named patton claiming to be son or grandson or reincarnation of general of same name from WWII drank from a skull to prove how cool he was.

Also heard of a Buddist Koan about a guy dying of thirst wandering in the desert who trips in the dark at night and finds a cup of water which he drinks and it saves his life. As dawn breaks he sees the cup is a skull crown filled with maggoty water. Death giving life produces bodhi.

reply to post by Shadow18433

Ahhh,it's cool shadow,someone smarter than me explained why the thread in questions was deleted. As I was told, it only tried to ridicule Freemasonry with no basis for doing so. So i can dig that.

reply to post by emsed1

Awesome poem, emsed1. I remember my Order of the Temple conferral, excellent ceremony - poetic itself.

I don't get why facing one's own mortality is a bad thing.