# Esoteric Freemasonry



## My Freemasonry (Mar 26, 2016)

In this edition of Symbols and Symbolism, we look at a reading from Albert G. Mackey’s _Encyclopedia of Freemasonry_ on the subject of Esoteric Masonry.

More installments of Symbols & Symbolism are available here and on YouTube.


That secret portion of Masonry which is known only to the initiates as distinguished from exoteric Masonry, or monitorial, which is accessible to all who choose to read the manuals and published works of the Order. The words are from the Greek, εσωτερικός, _internal_, and εξωτερική, _external_, and were first used by Pythagoras, whose philosophy was divided into the exoteric, or that taught to all, and the esoteric, or that taught to a select few; and thus his disciples were divided into two classes, according to the degree of initiation to which the had attained, as being either fully admitted into the society, and invested with all the knowledge that the Master could communicate or as merely postulants, enjoying only the public instructions of the school, and awaiting the gradual reception of further knowledge. This double mode of instruction was borrowed by Pythagoras from the Egyptian priests, whose theology was of two kinds-the one exoteric, and addressed to the people in general; the other esoteric, and confined to a select number of the priests and to those who possessed, or were to possess, the regal power. And the mystical nature of this concealed doctrine was expressed in their symbolic language by the images of sphinxes placed at the entrance of their temples. Two centuries later, Aristotle adopted the system of Pythagoras, and, in the Lyceum at Athens, delivered in the morning to his select disciples his subtle and concealed doctrines concerning God Nature, and Life, and in the evening lectured on more elementary subjects to a promiscuous audience. These different lectures he called his Morning and his Evening Walk.






 








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## Ressam (Mar 26, 2016)

My Freemasonry said:


> That secret portion of Masonry which is known only to the initiates



If only Mackey'd known that -- on 1 great day -- October 4, 1957, Humanity will launch first Artifical Earth Satellite &
Information Era will begin!
And there will be no -- "secrets" anymore. 

Dear gentlemen, had the telecommunication/internet effected Freemasonry?


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## Ressam (Mar 26, 2016)

JamestheJust said:


> The all-seeing eye of the god Ashur/Asar was known long ago.  Here he is keeping an eye on the gods that are accessing the Tree of Life.  Notice the handbags for storing the Water of Life and the Bread of Life.



Thanks for the answer!
So, you think that -- Telecommunications/Space Technologies didn't affect on Freemasonry?


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## Ressam (Mar 26, 2016)

JamestheJust said:


> And at the same time, Masonry has struggled to renew itself, being substantially encumbered by administrative structures that preserve the outer form without discovering the underlying intent of Masonry.



Could you, please, explain these words lil' bit more?
Thanks.


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## dfreybur (Mar 28, 2016)

JamestheJust said:


> Why do Grand Lodges not try to recover the genuine secrets?



Because until the new generation now petitioning few Brothers had interest in the mystical.  Masonry is the sum of the interests of our members.

The genuine secrets, whatever any one Brother thinks they are, are there for the looking.


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## Ripcord22A (Mar 29, 2016)

JamestheJust said:


> >Because until the new generation now petitioning few Brothers had interest in the mystical.
> 
> I rather think the genuine secrets include the design of sacred buildings and their placement in a sacred landscape.  While certainly mystical the knowledge is practical.
> 
> ...


 
The genuine secrets are what the individual brother makes them.  There isnt any actual secrets in the  way you speak of them. 

If you were on youtube you would be a Conspiracy Theorist.

  You do know that the degrees and everything in them was made up right?  HA wasnt a real person, he wasnt 187d by his employees.  IT WAS ALL MADE UP.  there are similarities to other historical figures but nothing was lost for real.  The stories are just that; morality stories to teach us to be better men.


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## dfreybur (Mar 29, 2016)

JamestheJust said:


> I rather think the genuine secrets include the design of sacred buildings and their placement in a sacred landscape.  While certainly mystical the knowledge is practical.



Lay lines and sacred geometry come from many ancient religions and have been inherited into but largely ignored by modern religions.

You've posted maps that show locations on lines hundreds of kilometers long.  Surveying was known in ancient Egypt but was large scale surveying that accurate?

When I consider Gothic architecture I think about the fact that it is currently analyzed with calculus but calculus was invented by Leipnitz and Newton centuries after Gothic cathedrals were built.  There are some geometry secret methods that were lost.  If we think of the lost master's word in terms of Gothic cathedrals, there is indeed indeed knowledge that was lost to the apprenticeship system and secrecy.

I consider the agreement that lost the word when Hiram Abiff was lost to be a cautionary lesson of that obsolete system and what happens when it is followed.



> Quite so, but it still surprises me that of all the GL in the world, over 3oo years, apparently none has tried to recover any of the genuine secrets.



There are all sorts of books on the topic of Masonic mysticism linking it to all sorts of roots.



> Are the GL the custodians only of buildings and money?



Bro Nagy makes the distinction between Masonry as a personal practice and Freemasonry as an organizational practice.  On that level, yes, grand lodges focus on the organizational practice.  Not exclusively, though.  Since GLs teach ritual and ritual contains secrets encrypted within it, GLs are a vessel that carries the secrets.

Those of us who have seen expert ritualists who can deliver degrees word perfect but can't discuss meaning to save their lives can lament that GLs are unknowing vessels for the secrets, but that's how it works.


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## Ripcord22A (Mar 29, 2016)

JamestheJust said:


> More specifically Hiram is a title.  Variants are Heru (Horus), Hercules, Hermes and Hera.


 those are all names of people/legends.  It wasnt Hercules Jon Smith.  It was Hercules.  That was his name.  It has since be used to describe some one who is very strong but that was not his title.


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## Ripcord22A (Mar 29, 2016)

I know several people named John or Jon; and Mike and David ect ect. that has nothing to do with anything


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## dfreybur (Mar 30, 2016)

JamestheJust said:


> More specifically Hiram is a title.



So are Professional Engineer (Civil) and Licensed Architect.


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