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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social groups & communities > Associations, clubs, societies > Freemasonry & secret societies
This book is the first to compare the shared cultural tenets of
ancient warbands and outlaw biker gangs. It argues that the values
of hyper-masculinity can be traced from the former into the
contemporary environment of the latter: codes of honour, loyalty
and bravery have prioritised small groups of males over women and
other men, creating a history of hyper-masculinity that shows
little sign of stopping. Indeed, Outlaw Bikers and Ancient
Warbands: Hyper-Masculinity and Cultural Continuity argues that
such hyper-masculine culture can be found in many male groups such
as the police, military and sports, and that if we want to
understand hyper-masculinity and face it as a society then we need
to recognize that outlaw bikers are a reflection of behavior that
has a very long tradition. This pioneering work explores these
issues from ancient times and into the future.
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, active in the last decades of
the 19th century, was the only order of its time that taught
practical occultism in the Western Mystery Tradition. This is the
first complete and undistorted account, tracing the origins,
founders, and practices of this very secretive order, which counted
among its members many of the well-known figures of late
19th-century occultism, spiritualism, and Theosophy, including Max
Theon, Peter Davidson, Thomas Henry Burgoyne and Paschal Beverly
Randolph. This scholarly work provides all the materials for
revisioning the history, assigning the Hermetic Brotherhood of
Luxor its rightful place as one of the most influential esoteric
orders of its time.
Following the appointment of its first aristocratic Grand Masters
in the 1720s and in the wake of its connections to the scientific
Enlightenment, Free and Accepted' Masonry became part of Britain's
national profile and the largest and most influential of Britain's
extensive clubs and societies. The organisation did not evolve
naturally from the mediaeval guilds and religious orders that
pre-dated it but was reconfigured radically by a largely
self-appointed inner core at London's most influential lodge, the
Horn Tavern. Freemasonry became a vehicle for the expression of
their philosophical and political views, and the Craft' attracted
an aspirational membership across the upper middling and gentry.
Through an examination of previously unexplored primary
documentation, Foundations contributes to an understanding of
contemporary English political and social culture and explores how
Freemasonry became a mechanism that promoted the interests of the
Hanoverian establishment and connected the metropolitan and
provincial elites. The book explores social networks centred on the
aristocracy, parliament, the learned and professional societies,
and the magistracy, and provides pen portraits of the key
individuals who spread the Masonic message. "Foundations &
Schism" (Sussex Academic, 2013), have been described as the most
important books on English Freemasonry published in recent times',
providing a precise, social context for the invention of English
Freemasonry'. Berman's analysis throws a new and original light on
the formation and development of what rapidly became a national and
international phenomenon.
Professor Carroll Quigley presents crucial "keys" without which
20th century political, economic, and military events can never be
fully understood. The reader will see that this applies to events
past-present-and future. "The Rhodes Scholarships, established by
the terms of Cecil Rhode's seventh will, are known to everyone.
What is not so widely known is that Rhodes in five previous wills
left his fortune to form a secret society, which was to devote
itself to the preservation and expansion of the British Empire. And
what does not seem to be known to anyone is that this secret
society ... continues to exist to this day. ... This group is, as I
shall show, one of the most important historical facts of the
twentieth century." -Quigley
The only history of ancient craft masonry ever published, except a
sketch of forty-eight pages by Doctor Anderson in 1723. To which is
addeed a history of the craft in the United States. And a well
authenticated account of the initiation and passing of the Hon.
Mrs. Aldworth, the distinguished and only lady freemason. By J.W.S.
Mitchell ...
CONSEQUITER QUODCUNQUE PETIT, CONSTANTIA DILLENGENTIA ET COR
IMMOBILE SANS PEUR
Freemasonry is worldwide, to know and understand in one country
is to know and understand in another although there may be some
language barriers, the mode of recognition is the same.
According to Modern Scholars, and Historians, Modern Freemasonry
officially began in London, England in 1717 at the Goose and
Gridiron Tavern.
There has been dispute among Masonic Historians that Freemasonry
origins date back to the beginning of mankind. There are theories
which date back to Adam and Eve, Solomon in the building of the
Temple in Jerusalem, the building of the Tower of Babel, Alexander
the Great, Leonidus king of Spartica, Noah in the building of the
Ark, the Ancient Mysteries, and so on. Whatever the case may be,
Freemasonry as it is today is based on all these theories, whether
true, fables, or just conjured stories, they are the baseline for
what we know today as Freemasonry.
According to Scholars, and Historians, Ancient Craft Masonry
commenced with the creation of the world, calling it Ano Lucis
(A.L.), "in the year of light" 4000 years prior to the Christian
era, thus, 4000 plus 2004 = A.L. 6004. Royal Arch Masonry dates
from the year the second temple was commenced by Zerubbabel, Anno
Inventionis (A.I.), "in the year of discovery," 530 years prior to
the Christian era, thus, 530 plus 2004 = A.I. 2534. Order of the
High Priesthood date from the year of the blessing of Abraham by
the High Priest Melchizedek, Anno Benedictionis (A.B.), "in the
year of the blessing," 1913 years prior to the Christian era, thus
1913 plus 2004 = A.B. 3917. Royal and Select Masters date from the
year in which the temple of King Solomon was completed Anno
Depositions (A. Dep.) "In the year of deposit,"1000 years prior to
the Christian era, thus 1000 plus 2004 = A. Dep. 3004. Knights
Templar date from the year of the organization of the ancient
order, Anno Ordinis (A.O.), "in the year of the Order," 1118 years
into the Christian era, thus 2004 - 1118 = A.O. 886.
HE OBTAINS WHATEVER HE SEEKS BY PERSEVERANCE, DILIGENCE AND A
STEADFAST HEART, WITHOUT FEAR.
Updated with a new preface, this study provides a comprehensive
biography of Thomas Dunckerley. An eighteenth-century success
story, Dunckerley rose from obscurity to a twenty-year-long career
in the Royal Navy, the centerpiece of which was the famous Siege of
Quebec. He retired from the navy to climb to the highest echelons
of English Freemasonry, holding Grand Masterships and Provincial
Grand Masterships across England and across Orders. He was a tender
family man, an inspiring leader and heroic patriot. He also had a
secret. When Dunckerley was in his forties, his mother left a
deathbed confession of her seduction and adultery-and his
illegitimacy. As Dunckerley revealed his mother's confession, his
friends and Masonic colleagues were thunderstruck to discover he
was not the son of a porter at Somerset House, but of the late King
George II. For his contemporaries and biographers, all good things
in his later career seemed to flow from this revelation. His
mother's confession was not Dunckerley's real secret, however. What
he actually hid, even from his wife of fifty years, was that the
confession, the seduction, the hidden royal birth were all lies-so
well-crafted that even now, more than two hundred years after his
death, they are still held as Masonic gospel.
In 1939, residents of a rural village near Chengdu watched as Lei
Mingyuan, a member of a violent secret society known as the Gowned
Brothers, executed his teenage daughter. Six years later, Shen
Baoyuan, a sociology student at Yenching University, arrived in the
town to conduct fieldwork on the society that once held sway over
local matters. She got to know Lei Mingyuan and his family,
recording many rare insights about the murder and the Gowned
Brothers' inner workings. Using the filicide as a starting point to
examine the history, culture, and organization of the Gowned
Brothers, Di Wang offers nuanced insights into the structures of
local power in 1940s rural Sichuan. Moreover, he examines the
influence of Western sociology and anthropology on the way
intellectuals in the Republic of China perceived rural communities.
By studying the complex relationship between the Gowned Brothers
and the Chinese Communist Party, he offers a unique perspective on
China's transition to socialism. In so doing, Wang persuasively
connects a family in a rural community, with little overt influence
on national destiny, to the movements and ideologies that helped
shape contemporary China.
Over the past 200 years, many thousands of undergraduates have been
initiated into membership of Apollo - the Masonic lodge of the
University of Oxford. These have included such diverse figures as
Oscar Wilde, Osbert Lancaster, Samuel Reynolds Hole, Cecil Rhodes,
Edward, Prince of Wales and his brother Leopold, Charles Canning,
Hugh Trevor-Roper, Godfrey Elton and Roger Makins. Drawing on
archives held in the Bodleian Library, this book is the first
serious attempt to set the story of Apollo in the context of Oxford
life and learning as well as its wider social and political
diaspora. From the devastating numbers lost in the First and Second
World Wars, as well as those decorated for bravery, to the
significant number of Olympians who were members of the lodge, it
also charts the lodge's charitable work, its changes of location,
social events and adaptation to twenty-first-century life in
Oxford. Illustrated with archival material, portraits and Masonic
treasures, this is history in a minor key, but a minor narrative
with major implications, documenting the remarkable numbers of
Oxford freemasons with distinguished careers in government, law,
the army and the Church.
From supreme president to forgotten enemy, John W. Talbot lived a
remarkable life. Charismatic, energetic, and powerful, he founded a
national fraternal organization, the Order of Owls, and counted
senators, congressmen, and business leaders among his friends. He
wielded his influence to help causes close to his heart but also to
bring down those who stood against him. In So Much Bad in the Best
of Us, Greta Fisher's careful research reveals that Talbot was
capable of great evil, causing one woman to describe him as "the
Devil Incarnate." His string of very public affairs revealed his
strange sexual preferences and violent tendencies, and charges
leveled against him included perjury, blackmail, jury tampering,
slander, libel, misuse of the mail, assault with intent to kill,
and White slavery. Ultimately convicted on the slavery charge, he
spent several years in Leavenworth penitentiary and eventually lost
everything, including control of the Order of Owls. His descent
into alcoholism and death by fire was a fitting end to a tumultuous
and dramatic life. After 50 years of newspaper headlines and court
battles, Talbot's death made national news, but with more enemies
than friends and estranged from his family, he was ultimately
forgotten. A gripping true crime story, So Much Bad in the Best of
Us offers a mesmerizing account of the life of John W. Talbot, the
Order of Owls, and how quickly the powerful can fall.
Modern Freemasonry in the United States and Great Britain
celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2017 tracing its direct history
from the Grand Lodge of England founded in 1717. This text is
intended to provide a theory of origin for the Fraternity. It is
based on available sources, many of which are not Masonic in
nature, but cover the disciplines of history, religion, ethics,
economics, politics, and labor development. The book begins with an
overview of how the Fraternity initiated members in the seventeenth
and early eighteenth centuries, and includes the ancient Legend of
Noah. It then reviews how history is written and exams the
utilization of Biblical and legendary accounts in the development
of a country's, peoples', or organization's history. The text moves
on to the transition from craft guild to fraternal organization and
gives the full text of Freemasonry's four oldest documents: Regius
Poem, Cooke Manuscript, Graham Manuscript, and Schaw Statutes. This
is followed by a description of the London Masons' Company based on
the assumption that this city-wide organization of craftsmen
chartered in 1481 may have been the administrative precursor of the
Grand Lodge of England. The author then reviews the demise of craft
guilds and the rise of fraternal societies in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Additional chapters review the Masonic
approach to ritual, education, and ethical decision making. The
text closes with a discussion of the philosophy of Freemasonry as
well as comments and suggestions regarding Freemasonry's future.
The last chapter is a Scottish Charge appropriate to all men, not
just Freemasons.
Interpreting Masonic Ritual endeavors to addresses the depth of the
ritualistic experience through a discussion of what ritual means to
man as well as what man means to ritual. Ritual teaches us about
reality but we will not come to a full understanding of it if we
disparage what others do and view their actions from a position of
pseudo-intellectual or cultural superiority. Ritual is the core of
Freemasonry and is that thing which sets it apart from so many
organizations. It is the key to the Freemason's "secrets" and the
manner through which they transmit our "beautiful system of
morality." It is something to be treasured, maintained, taught,
elevated, evaluated, and, above, reinforced through proper
performance, decorum, and setting.
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