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Originally posted by no1smootha
reply to post by Soupornuts
The first photos look like photos from a Catholic baptism to me, if the photos are of you then you should be able to find your father's name and much more from records at the Catholic church. The photo of the book isn't very clear but might be the Bible especially if it was a part of the photos from the Baptism. I am not Catholic but I did convert to Orthodox Christian which very similar to Catholicism, when I was Baptized the priest cut some of my hair as a part of the Baptism.
The page with the postcard from your maternal grandfather where you suggest he may have been a part of "St. Aldemar Commandery No. 18", which if he was would also be a good place to check as Freemasons keep great records of membership and if he was a member they'd be happy to tell you about it. You make another leap assuming he was in Theosophical Society (again contacting them would be fruitful if he was). The pirate flag and Indy sticker could be simply momentos. Grandfather's "shrine" seems like a fancy gated trellis at the entrance of a garden to me. Your grandfather was in the AF as well, yet another place to search for information about your maternal lineage.You are reading into the "meaning" of the image on the front of the card, I don't see anything particularly symbolic about it. However the photo of your grandfather and his ring, are you sure it was Masonic? Many fraternities have a ring, but if you are sure he was a Freemason then the Lodge near his house would be a good place to look as well. It occurs to me that most of the possibly Masonic aspects of your story are not your father at all but rather your grandfather. Your discussion of the Templar history is unrelated to your family history except by speculation, there is nothing from the postcard that firmly ties your father to the Templars. Anyway, not to diminish from you or your search. I think it will be a benefit to learn more about your family, I just think that you are looking in the wrong places for information.edit on 28-9-2012 by no1smootha because: (no reason given)edit on 29-9-2012 by no1smootha because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Soupornuts
If you want that information, use your fingers to type a search phrase into a search engine and go look it up, don't ask me to do it for you.
Says the guy who's only been studying these things "since February", trying to explain it to Masons who've been members for years.
Originally posted by Soupornuts
No, actually it's the other way around, you're jumping to conclusions.
And yet you believe you were only 3 days old when the pictures were taken, so how the hell can you say for sure you were never baptized? It's not like you would remember. It's not like your mother was forthcoming with any facts. Conclusions, jumping to them...
No, it wasn't a baptism, sorry.
...
Beside the point though, I wasn't ever baptized.
Any photographer wanting to shoot something indoors in a church without using a flash. Basic photography. There's not enough light in a church even during the day to use a slower film without a flash and get a good shot. Obviously using a flash during a religious ceremony would be distracting and frowned upon by the participants.
It was taken with Kodak Tri-pan X film, which is specifically for low light conditions.
...
What religion does baptisms under a lunar eclipse, and who uses low light film for an event normally done during the day ?
There's absolutely no way to tell from looking at that picture that there's really a hole in the oculus. Most churches using that design would really have a painting up there. (This isn't a stadium with a retractable roof... what the hell would they do when it rained? What about winter?) Basically, you're assuming it was open, and you're assuming it was a full moon, but if all you've got is a 24 x 36 mm piece of paper, and you don't even know what church that is, there's no way you can know for certain that it was really an opening or that it was really even at night.
That's why there is an enhanced shot of the full moon through the oculus in the ceiling of the church.