Masons...

reply to post by no1smootha


having not read that part before, may I just say.....

ewwwwwwwwww.

reply to post by network dude


I concur...ewww! To each their own I guess. This practice is not present in either mainstream or mixed Freemasonry, being peculiar to Thelema (OTO).

Do what thou Wilt shall be the whole of the Law,
you can find the answers here oto-usa.org... and here oto-usa.org...
personally i am Thelemite an Ordained Minister in Eclessia Gnostica Thelema and a member of the A.'.A.'. which is the newest eveolution of the Golden dawn formed by Crowley. accordingly in mainstream masonry crowley was clandestine but too each their own. yes the O.T.O is a continuation of many groups including:
1.The Gnostic Catholic Church.
2.The Order of the Knights of the Holy Ghost.
3.The Order of the Illuminati.
4.The Order of the Temple.
5.The Order of the Knights of St. John.
6.The Order of the Knights of Malta.
7.The Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
8.The Hidden Church of the Holy Grail.
9.The Rosicrucian Order.
10.The Holy Order of Rose Croix of Heredom.
11.The Order of the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch.
12.The Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry (33 degrees).
13.The Rite of Memphis (97 degrees).
14.The Rite of Mizraim (90 degrees).
15.The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry (33 degrees).
16.The Swedenborgian Rite of Masonry.
17.The Order of the Martinists.
18.The Order of the Sat Bhai.
19.The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light.
20.The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,
and many other orders of equal merit, if of less fame. It does not include the A.'.A.'. with which august Body it is, however, in close alliance.
Love is theLaw/Love under Will!!

Originally posted by Beavers
What are your thoughts on Crowley and Thelema?

I personally find them quite interesting.

Just read The Book of the Law and am wondering why someone who is very famous in one religion can go off and create his own....

What do you mean by "famous in one religion"? Crowley was reared as a Christian. He then became a Buddhist in his 20's. He was never famous in either of these religions.

Later on, he synthesized most of the concepts of world religion in Thelema, and was himself sort of an agnostic pagan (his popular euphemism "Thank God I'm an atheist!" was actually more of a Zen koan than a statement of his own personal atheism).

Well... i did say I was new to all this

In a nut shell, i was trying to find out more about masonry. Thanks to forums like this, Mason's are labelled as world-conspirators with ultimately evil intent, but I have some friends with relatives who are masons that are some of the nicest people i've ever met.. so I thought the best thing to do would be to find out for myself..... maybe correct my opinion?

not knowing any masons (directly) i thought the best route would be to read up/research... and someone suggested crowley... (As the most decorated mason? -hence my 'famous in one religion' comment - apologies if this is incorrect!!) So i picked his most famous book? Liber Al - (love the play on words) and half way through it suggests sacrificing kids and dancing around in perfume made of their blood!!

this hasn't exactly done much to expel the gossip

I've asked a couple of times for other suggestions of things to read, but so far drawn a blank.... someone else suggested Albert Pike??

or should i just stop now?

Originally posted by southerndemolay
Love is theLaw/Love under Will!!

see this bit makes perfect sense... if i understand it correctly? do what you want, as long as it doesn't hurt others...

but other aspects of the book imply hurting others..

so i'm as clear as mud

reply to post by Beavers


Crowley was not actually a legitimate Mason. He received the three degrees of Masonry in an English-speaking lodge in Paris in 1904, but that lodge is what is known as clandestine, not having any Masonic authority, and not recognized as being legitimately "Masonic". Crowley's writings involve mostly occultism and ceremonial magick, but also display other of his interests: poetry, philosophy, social criticism, chess, mountaineering, etc. Very few of his writings relate directly to Freemasonry, and what little he did write about Masonry, he was often in error concerning it. He was a very interesting man and writer, but not a good source if you want to learn about Freemasonry.

Pike, on the other hand, is a pretty good source. Unlike Crowley, Pike was a real highly decorated, and highly respected Mason. But keep in mind when you're reading his work that Pike, like all Masons, only speaks for himself. It is not accurate to assume that all Masons agree with Pike, or with each other.

I would suggest you begin with "The Builders" by Dr. Joseph Fort Newton. An online version is available here:

www.sacred-texts.com...

Originally posted by Beavers

Originally posted by southerndemolay
Love is theLaw/Love under Will!!

see this bit makes perfect sense... if i understand it correctly? do what you want, as long as it doesn't hurt others...

but other aspects of the book imply hurting others..

It's a bit more complicated. The basic philosophy behind Thelema is that every human is a "star", one that possesses that higher, metaphysical will to be accomplished, which Thelemites believe is the meaning of life and reason for existence. In other words, we incarnated as humans for the sole purpose of carrying out the will. Doing this therefore becomes "the whole of the law".

It is the path of "love" because when acting upon it, the universe balances into harmony. If we act outside of our will, the balance is strained and we immediately run into obstacles.

The violent stuff in Liber AL is allegorical. Crowley explains their meanings in his commentaries to it. Basically, those verses refer to disciplining oneself through the practice of magick and yoga, and do not refer to harming others.

brilliant, thank you very much!

i couldn't find a copy of the builders on amazon, but there are a few PDFs online I'll have a read this weekend.

and thelema actually sounds beautiful when you put it like that!!

Originally posted by Beavers
i couldn't find a copy of the builders on amazon

The fine folks at Sacred Texts maintain Kindle editions of all the works available on the site for a pretty low price. Check their store.

Masons R bad mm'kay? you shouldnt become a mason just because somebody tells you because masons r bad mm'kay

Originally posted by TheGreatAppleKing
Masons R bad mm'kay? you shouldnt become a mason just because somebody tells you because masons r bad mm'kay

Is that you Mr. Mackey?