Freemasonry and the Alt Media

[Hermoor]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
An Avalon member has PMed me to ask this question:

Are you a Freemason?

So I thought I should copy my reply here.

~~~

Hi there, many thanks for the question — which I don't mind at all — and my sincere apologies for the long delay in reply! (Which is of no significance: just very busy here with a number of things at home.)

No, I'm not a Freemason, I've never once been approached or invited to be one, and I don't know any personally among any of my friends or colleagues.

Bill, the number of freemasons in the alternative media has concerned me for quite some time now.

Furthermore the top of every niche of note in the alt media appears to be occupied be a freemason who invariably has more followers than anyone else in those niches.

With respect, are you really not a freemason? If so, then what exactly are you and umpteen other alt media people a part of with the blatantly obvious grips/special handshakes/funny handshakes?

I'd be grateful if you'd reply as comprehensively as you're able.

Apologies for the following four posts to express my line of enquiry. I don't mean to clutter the thread up, but I think I'm limited to posting a maximum of five attachments per post.

Images 01 - 07 are more of a general preamble than anything else. Images 08 - 22 are all alt media people.

01. QE II and Russell Brand.



02. Ratzinger and Bergoglio.



03. Ratzinger and Blair.



04. Obama.



05. Ron Paul.

[Hermoor]

06. George Carlin and unknown? It appears George was in the big club after all. Oh, the irony.



07. George Carlin and Tavis Smiley.



08. Heavyweights from the early days of alt media. Zecharia Sitchin and Jordan Maxwell/Russell Joseph Pine.



09. Another heavyweight from the early days. Erich von Daniken with Bill.



10. The biggest alt media worker in Scotland, James English. Throughout Scotland it's widely known that English is a freemason. Here's English sharing a freemasonic grip with David Icke.

[Hermoor]

11. James English and Danny Christie.



Here's a special clip of English sharing a "special handshake" with Alex Reid. The point is it was so "special" that English deleted it from the original interview shortly after it aired. However, a canny observer saved the original footage. Here it is.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ehpW6jNl7zg

12. David Icke. The biggest alt media worker in England. For someone who has repeatedly denied being a freemason, Icke has firmly positioned himself between a rock and a hard place. Here's Icke and Bill.



13. Icke and Kerry Cassidy. Icke's knuckles are busy being pressed by a lot of different thumbs. It's Cassidy's turn here.



14. Sean Abl-Tabatai and Icke. This is from their days together with "The People's Voice" from 2013-2014. The project seemed to be a short-lived disaster.



15. Sonia Poulton and Michael Shrimpton. They also both worked on "The People's Voice". Handshakes of a feather flock together.

[Hermoor]

16. Alex Jones, the biggest alt media worker in the USA. Here he is exchanging grips with Chris Emery.



17. Richard Grove (?) and Alex Jones.



18. Bill and Steven Greer.



19. Bill and Alfred Webre.



20. Cassidy and Laura Knight-Jadczyk.

[Hermoor]

21. Richard Dolan and "Ex CIA Man".



22. An English cop and Luke Rudkowski at the 2013 Bilderberger meeting in Watford, England. This grip/handshake/secret society passe-partout got Rudkowski a hassle-free time with access to most areas.



There are dozens more alt media workers out there doing similar for those with eyes to see.

The alt media seems to be a totally rigged game, like every other aspect of our society.

Or am I incorrect, Bill?

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Hermoor (here)
With respect, are you really not a freemason? If so, then what exactly are you and umpteen other alt media people a part of with the blatantly obvious grips/special handshakes/funny handshakes?

No, I'm not a Freemason. (I can't think of any other way to say that! )

But you asked: "If so, then what exactly are you and umpteen other alt media people a part of with the blatantly obvious grips/special handshakes/funny handshakes??"

I do have to say, if I may, I didn't quite understand why I was included in that question. (I don't consciously have a 'funny handshake'!)

Maybe this might help a little, a very fun one-minute video from back in 2010:

David Icke's rheumatoid arthritis makes it impossible for him to shake hands properly

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=19bd2yTDkTI

On the other hand (as it were!), Jordan Maxwell did once tell me in passing that he was a Mason, though at the very lowest level.

Regarding anyone else that I've ever been in touch with personally, I have zero information about whether they're a Mason or not.

Posted by Hermoor (here)
The alt media seems to be a totally rigged game, like every other aspect of our society.

Parts of it may be, for sure. But certainly not all. As I've expressed myself a number of times on this thread and several others, I'm extremely disillusioned with the alt media in general, for a whole raft of reasons — which is one of the reasons why I no longer take part in it with the sole exception of posting on Avalon.

[ExomatrixTV]

Posted by Hermoor (here)
...

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
...

Imagine all those who assume "handshake" equals "hard evidence" of being a "masonic plant" (nothing else to back up that claim) being also photographed doing the same handshake because everybody comes to a point that you will do something similar without realizing it ... this makes it super hilarious of course ... deep belly laughs to the end of time.

• Conjecture is the least interesting part of the conspiracy researchers expressions. Similar level to gossip & hear say.

cheers,
John Kuhles 🦜🦋🌳
Dutch 🇳🇱 NDE/Asperger

• Accusatory Claims in a Controversial Conspiracy Research World
• Widespread Conspiracy Memes vs Real Awareness!
• When an Accusation like 'Controlled Opposition' loses its value!

--o-O-o--

• @Bill Ryan quote:

It seems a rapid growing trend that more and more "alternative media platforms" spread accusatory claims with no real sources given, no honest proper context given ...

• source

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=iNwAlC8P4C4

[norman]

All those low "pistol at the belly" handshakes that many people do when they greet are derived from the flipped polarity.

'Normal' people do it unconsciously. The masonic versions are only different in their development for conscious flipside purpose.

There are other ways of reaching out to greet, even with the hands, that are not of that polarity.



However hard I try, I cannot imagine an image of Jesus doing a handshake of that kind.

[Kryztian]

So anyone who shakes hands and doesn't get it perfectly correct is a free mason? Wow, I am unconsciously a mason and I didn't even know it. Thanks for telling me.

As far as I know Freemasons only do their handshake things when they are actually in their Lodges. I've only been in a lodge once and it was about 16 months into the COVID quarantine. I was going to hear a masonic friend give a speech on a topic that had nothing to do with masonry. At that time every one was wearing masks, but they were just beginning to relax about distancing. When I entered the lodge all these guys were grabbing my hand to shake it before I could say anything. Saying "hello" or making eye contact seem to give them the authority to grab your hand I guess. I finally got found some hand sanitizer and then made sure my hands were behind my back so no one could grab them. I guess after months and months of quaranteening, they were waiting to put their hand shaking skills back into use again.

Are you saying Begolio and Ratzinger are Masons? Where is the proof of that? It is strictly verboten for Catholics to be masons, although there are a few who told me that everything changed after Vatican II. It didn't, and they clearly don't understand the rules.

I think you need a lot more than a photo of someone shaking hands to prove someone is a mason. Many Masons are quite public about the fact and some of them are secretive about it. And from what I understand, there are many different Masonic handshakes that communicate different things.

[ZenBaller]

There are certain terms in today's conspiracy and propaganda echo chamber like freemasonry that have a heavily negative connotation which is not exactly the case.

Without analyzing it too much, in previous centuries, masonry was created to protect knowledge and wisdom in a world where anyone could be burned or decapitated in the village square. Many of those lodges were sacred and guided by the Light.

As it usually happens, human ego emerges and power games begin. Many of those communities (not all) have gradually moved to the opposite extreme (power manipulation, satanism etc.). The dark side also created their own obviously.

I'm not a freemason, but I was invited to be one a few years ago. The specific lodge in Greece is quite harmless. I know many members, some of them are friends, even close ones. I can 100% confirm that there is nothing evil going on there.

However it's not anything mystical or special. All they do is gather consistently and talk about the general events of the world. The particular ones have no power. They are simply mid to high class business people (not the 1%).

Every month or so, one of them has to choose a subject and make a presentation. Like a forced seminar to prove that you are worthy. Most of them are really bored, so they just pick something historical, search wikipedia and say a few words on it.

They do follow certain rituals, like having the low ranked members serve the coffee and they are not allowed to talk at specific times. They are also more organized ones when someone levels up.

Through my conversations with them, it is quite clear to my eyes that this kind of secret communities are very outdated. In a world where information is abundant and even spiritually, the layers that connect us with higher realms are so thin, having secret societies is ridiculous and obsolete.

[TrumanCash]

I can recall shaking hands with someone and not getting it right the way most people do it. Sometimes it's just a clumsy grab that looks like a masonic handshake and I don't shake hands with women in the same manner as men.

Therefore, I do not think one can assume someone is a Mason from what their handshake looks like. Also, most Freemasons are lower level (blue degrees, the first three degrees). They are just regular people who have no idea that there is an insidious, hidden secret society within Freemasonry. The main idea of most nefarious secret societies is to maintain a benevolent facade while working their sociopathic machinations in secret.

Freemasonry was created by the Anunnaki thousands of years ago. They were sociopathic, human-looking, time-traveling ETs masquerading as "gods". They demanded to be worshiped and they presented a benevolent face but secretly taught human sacrifice and blood-drinking rituals such as were secretly practiced in the Great Pyramid.

I found out that is where the Masonic and Illuminati symbols originated. I covered all of this in THE EYE OF RA. In Albert Pike's "Morals & Dogma", for example, he reveals that the lower initiates in the first three degrees are not told the real meaning of the symbols, etc. In other words they're lied to by the higher level Masons.

I had a friend who officially left his lodge after achieving the 32nd degree because the oaths became increasingly horrific, so bloody awful that he couldn't stand it any more. It appears Masonry has ways to separate sociopaths from relatively ethical people. He had read my books and agreed with the research I did in exposing Freemasonry.

Therefore, IMO, I don't think people should be judged even if they are a Freemason. Most of them are just normies who haven't woke up to the fact that they have been deceived.

[gs_powered]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

On the other hand (as it were!), Jordan Maxwell did once tell me in passing that he was a Mason, though at the very lowest level.

Anyone who listened to Bill Cooper in the 90's would know this already, as he exposed Maxwell's connection to Free Masonry, BUT, at the same time I do enjoy listening to some of the analogies he makes regarding our daily perceived world and it's real true meaning.

He actually used to go around with Ralph Epperson on shows before the 90's pointing out all the symbolism regarding currency, architecture, basically everything the Government put their hands on...

I never did understand why would pass that much information while playing for the wrong team... controled opposition maybe?

[shaberon]

Posted by ZenBaller (here)
The specific lodge in Greece is quite harmless. I know many members, some of them are friends, even close ones. I can 100% confirm that there is nothing evil going on there.

That's because the Greek system was set up to counter the English system.

Briefly:


1820s -- Greece is subject to the Ottoman Empire

1830s -- worldwide love of Greece due to the massive and rich Greek diaspora. Europeans and Americans love it because they see "Christians" oppressed by Muslims; no recognition that Orthodoxy is Christianity and they're not. So it was kind of racist.

1840s -- Greek independence does not include Istanbul, and they are given a Bavarian government. At that point you have Euro cronies starting to walk all over Greek nationalists.


Here:

Through my conversations with them, it is quite clear to my eyes that this kind of secret communities are very outdated. In a world where information is abundant and even spiritually, the layers that connect us with higher realms are so thin, having secret societies is ridiculous and obsolete.

Yes, more or less; it was very poignant in the days where society would kill you for what you think. The first hated secret society?

Coffee houses.

Oh. They don't have a symbol, or a special name, but whoever went there was consuming the Devil's drink.

Never mind that it was acquired from those same Ottomans, and grows nowhere in Europe. It's the root of free speech.

A "secret" society might be the likes of the Carbonari, who recruited from Masonic Lodges; if something has an address and a way you can apply to it, then, it is, at most, "private".

The actual issues in Masonry cannot go obsolete until the mystery is solved, which mankind is not anywhere close to.

[Hym]

The entire "masonic handshake" thing you've noted is just silly and way over stated. There are so many ways we shake hands, especially the way we quickly hold on to just the fingers when the palms of others are almost closed.....I am aware of how many ways hands can be used as a neutral, or not, expression of greeting. You're reading things into the endless ways we shake hands that have nothing to do with masons. I am also surprised that you didn't know that Icke has had extreme rheumatoid arthritis for decades, which makes it impossible for him to shake hands normally. This is not to say that those secret, masonic handshakes and hand signals do not exist. They do.

In the last conversation I had with someone I found out was a pedophile, I asked him how he didn't get the deserved, violent abuse from fellow inmates when he did jail time for abusing his daughter. His answer was that once the judge in his sentencing acknowledged the masonic hand signals he slyly used, the entire demeanor of the judges order changed and the perp was sent to a minimum security prison on another less obvious charge, so that the inmates would not know why he was in there. The fact that he came from a family of masons and daughters of the eastern star had Everything to do how that unethical, victims-not-considered judgement was applied.

In President JFK's speech, April 27, 1961, he stated, "The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings." In spite of JFK being cock-deep into the muck of the secret machines attributed to this species of humans, he stepped further into the void that offers no real protections, by openly challenging their darkness...and the cub scout organization of entry into that world, oft called the masonic order. IT orders you or IT will exclude you, one way or one of the many other ways that are available.

I'm going to start my commentary with an experience I had with Dr. Bill Deagle, a final experience that I had to accept may end in being cut off from contacting him, which was okay with me since he was very kind and inquisitive, even sharing an insight, amongst the ones not publicly known, into how my spiritual and worldly name would sound in ancient Aramaic, thus leaving little need for further talk or emails....

Knowing that Bill had a direct and at times quite deadly animosity with the whole structure of the masonic world, view his Granada Forum lecture in the late 90's, I proposed a dual purpose approach to a solution to the darkness he experienced in viewing the masonic order from the inner sight of him being a, sometimes, seer:

I emailed him a proposal to create The Universal Toilet and Urinal Company.
The products would be made up of the crushed, marble and porcelain made, composited remains of masonic and satanic altars, doing to those in secret societies what they had done to humanity for eons. Dr. Deagle laughed, and my guess was that it was Michelle who banned me from any future contact, which was cool by me. It was my reminder to him from a friend that I appreciated his insights and learning from the little I could share with him.

This thing called "masonry" is but one the covertly occulted systems humans use that is aimed at gaining control, subverting honest effort and real community openness. It is made up of many who claim to have some religious or legal allegiance to some honorable code, but whose hidden practices of discriminating against anyone who does not favor them in contracts or associations exposes their loyalties as lies. It is very childlike and easy to spot. Every single portion of discrimination in the unions I have experienced uses its rules to keep its minions in its favor, all at the expense and loss of honest, smart and hard working members....actions that go directly against every protection written into every union charter and most importantly common law, everywhere. There are portions of the u.s. military, if not all, that commonly demand that once the rank of captain is reached a prerequisite to advancement is membership in at least one local masonic lodge.

My experience with masons, the secretive and the familial ones, from generations past and current elder siblings, has at all times been informative of another level of the many misdirects its users, human abusers that is, have attached themselves to as a means of gaining favor, not giving worth. I use it as a pejorative when describing any of the backhanded, unethical, abuses of power and position I see in the organizations I have met in the professional lives I have survived here in the states, tho I know it is common most everywhere else on this little planet.

It is so common in many countries that it would be ignorant not to measure personal and professional protections when planning career advancement while entering any profession. In every single case the attachment to the secretive codex has harmed the users, the masons themselves, yet the warning signs do not exist to those who comply that there is always a very negative, personally experienced consequence to all who bow down, to those who use the sacred waist nappy to wipe the lost jing effluent, the secret sauce excretions, the excrement from their lips.

It's all so cute, because the "betters", who are really the "Bitters", in the masonic order use the implied, and sometimes real, consequences of breaking the code of silence as all that is negative about being associated by colluding with their b.s., when in the real world the consequences of harming others, in their approved masonic way, is always much more personally destructive. These truths were the essence of the many things Dr. Deagle knew he had to expose, regardless of this world's consequences.

When I saw that there was an all black lodge in this country I had to laugh, recognizing the system of extreme insider subservience had also gained the obeisance of the previously oppressed. How many black rappers have embraced that darkness, this is easy to see. Why Dave Chappelle ended his series must have had something to do with Dave not taking the nappy, maybe just a bit enlightened by the words of Tupac Shakur warning of male, industry moguls demanding sex from him and his overt, lyric born exposure of their sickness. Not a Quincy-dence for sure.

[shaberon]

Posted by Hym (here)
This thing called "masonry" is but one the covertly occulted systems humans use that is aimed at gaining control, subverting honest effort and real community openness.

Would you be willing to distinguish English Freemasonry from masonry, the thing that built every stone building used by humans?

If people want to criticize those Lodges, fair enough.

This is not a monolithic system like that of the Pope. Painting it all with one stripe is like criticizing "Football". If I find some players and clubs are up to no good -- which they frequently are -- do I conclude that a sports organization is controlling and destroying the human race?

I'm not sure that it is understood that Albert Pike is nearly irrelevant, and that Masonic Rites (i. e., "higher degrees") are optional programs which are not Masonry. There are only four degrees of Masons.

[Hym]

Posted by shaberon (here)
Would you be willing to distinguish English Freemasonry from masonry, the thing that built every stone building used by humans?

If people want to criticize those Lodges, fair enough.

This is not a monolithic system like that of the Pope. Painting it all with one stripe is like criticizing "Football". If I find some players and clubs are up to no good -- which they frequently are -- do I conclude that a sports organization is controlling and destroying the human race?

I'm not sure that it is understood that Albert Pike is nearly irrelevant, and that Masonic Rites (i. e., "higher degrees") are optional programs which are not Masonry. There are only four degrees of Masons.

Please, do tell. And to the origin of Freemasons in the Isles, they included a very deep sense of commitment to noble causes. I have an ancestral link with a Cathar in Languedoc, Albigeois. It, like many helpful paths, has been taken over by greed and political exclusivities, for centuries. The differences between the American experiences in lodges hopefully is in great contrast to the original actions and intentions of the Path. There have been more than a few invitations to "secret" initiations I have rejected, including scientology and the kabala, and the ones, the many, from masons in this country are included.

In contrast to all of that I have been invited to learn other paths, without charge or any initiation. I have learned and absorbed some of those cultures and practices because they resonate deeply with me, to the point that I have taught those methods to those born into those paths. For me it's all about loving the human connection those methods have given me. That time of hiding anything helpful to others is passing quickly and in many instances is long gone. Since that is the case, and since almost all of the insights that are of value to any individual are likely now available for open sourcing, I'd appreciate your insight................

It is quite obvious that "free" masonry is not a monolithic entity bound by strict codes that never adapt to each incursion into the varied nature of each culture. For the most part it is service-full to community charities and is a general space for superficial service to those who are poorer than most. That is why I called the initiation into the first degrees of that order "cub scout". My experience from the core of the business communities here and generational family ties it is nothing positive like that at all.

It is widely varied, as is English Freemasonry to the real art and skill of stone craftsmanship, which ironically is often the only remnant of civilizations long gone, without wasting time noting the semantic differences between Masons, Freemasons and Freemasonry, a difference which makes no sense in this context.

The secrecy is the rub, but this thread was lost long ago in the preoccupation with handshakes. The dirty deeds permeate a vast number of secret societies, not just the ones I personally can attest to from the experiences of family members, who likely will never acknowledge what they have lost by participating in those societies, especially since the two, three, living ones are directly, quite financially rich as a result of those associations, being laden with the highest titles in their professions. It's not their financial position that is any problem, not at all. Good, very good for them, but remove those consequential associations with freemasonry and they would have not had those advantages against others not so ancestrally and professionally locked in. Maybe I'd have had some relationships with them during this lifetime. No worries. No regrets. I'm sure they'd admit it all if we ever talked again.


If there is such a pure, honest and forthright, living masonic path that does not abrogate the spiritual rights of its members, then please do share that with us. I highly appreciate your honesty, your discoveries, your research and your writings, especially because I don't always agree with your interpretation of those studies, rare as those disagreements may be.

[shaberon]

Posted by Hym (here)
If there is such a pure, honest and forthright, living masonic path that does not abrogate the spiritual rights of its members, then please do share that with us.

Okay. I can only give you the real origin, and cannot answer what people freely do based on later decisions.

In those "hard-working" medieval times, in actuality a peasant only worked about half the time. Rain and weather stopped some of it. The rest of it was the great number of rites, such as Saint's days, one or more every month. On these holidays, guilds of craftsmen would do parades and plays. In this way, the masonic guild was not really any different from leatherworkers, carpenters, or anybody else. The difference was in the craft itself. Masonic projects were often international and lasted for years.

Thus, if you were a mason and went to another country, you couldn't talk to your boss, but certain symbols such as handshakes could identify you as an apprentice, journeyman, etc.

In the 1100s, masons from the Benedectine order of Tiron went to work in Scotland.

So *this* becomes the first formal Lodge with recorded minutes, etc., and since there were no beliefs other than Catholic, that is what they were.

The difficulty is that by the 1200s, you get an ongoing series of conflicts between Scotland and England. So by the point the Lodge opens its doors to "non-masons", of course it is going to be politically charged.

The "Path" as developed in the 1500s in Scotland is:


Meditation on Building the Temple of Solomon.

That's essentially non-denominational, entirely concerned with morality and peace.


Solomon represents the era of Psalms which is not even Judaism.

Well, that's easy for me personally, to deny Abrahamism has any clout, I don't have to have a "religion" to see historical Solomon as this archetypal figure.


In the 1700s, Chevalier Ramsay grew up near Rosslyn Chapel and as a young man, "decided" that the Templars were this and that, and that Masons were the "true inheritors" of Templarism.

He went down and said this in London around 1736, swallowed wholesale by most of the English. The seed in this puppy is the doctrine of revenge. From that point you get what might be called "radical freemasonry".

All of the issues about fair treatment of Jews then played out through the Lodges, some for, some against, until Napoleon was the cause that allowed free admittance.

The international Masonic Congresses of the 1700s found Ramsay had no leg to stand on, and that the "origin" problem of Masonry was unsolvable and they have no "heritage" especially connected to anything of the past. Those ideas failed, but they didn't die.

In themselves, Lodges are relatively powerless in terms of "superstructure". Obviously P2 or Propaganda Due' is one of the biggest scandals ever; but before it was even investigated, Masonry kicked it out by declaring it irregular. And that's it. Other Masons washed their hands of the association. Doesn't really affect the P2 very much as they just continue to operate in the same way, at least until they got caught.

[Denise/Dizi]

To me, I believe the handshake of the Freemasons are nothing more than one individual telling another they are brethren, and telling them which position they hold or have held in the past... But I am not a Mason so I could be wrong. I believe they are a group of individuals willing to help one another for the benefit of the group... No different than any other group... They just tend to have places of power on this planet.. Which makes them a target.

I believe the Masonic world is really a group of individuals learning things the general population do not know, and gaining benefits from knowing that information.. As such, the handshake would tell them who is who and what you can divulge and discuss...

I have to say, I have only met a few freemasons, and they seemed normal to me, and not evil at all.. In fact they seemed proud to be Masons, and genuine individuals of good character..

[Denise/Dizi]

To me, the term free mason has meaning in itself.. "Free" means without ties that bond, dues owed or taxes levied... and masonry, to me? Is a talent, skill or artform... essentially a craft... If you are a Mason, and a part of their lodges, you are a free individual or "Free Man"...

So if you put it together, I had to surmise that freemasonry meant it included "Free Masons..." So Free means they are not bound by the same ideals, laws, rules and codes that the rest of humanity are.. And they are in the craft of masonry. Perhaps they are no longer in the craft of constructing things of masonry, but they would still be "Free" under the title of their organization itself... And in my area, their lodges are mostly in mason built buildings... (Bricks, and mason built).. In my local area, there are many brick buildings owned by the Freemasonic order.

So how did they get the title of being "Free"? And why would it be a secret? Well, perhaps they were granted freedom, yet told that if they were to share that knowledge, then everyone would want that same freedom from debt, obligations, taxes... so by doing so you are willing to lose your life, or the life of someone that you love?

I was told once that when taxes really began to keep the masons from working on the castles of those in power, they decided to stop working... So they were granted freedom of such things, so long as they kept working and didn't tell the masses. They pay back into the society, and as far as I can tell they collect monies and help other Masons if they face a loss, etc... They collect property and finances, and it grows just as any union would...

I believe they are free from the taxes required when it comes to state and local taxes, and because they form a union, they are apart from the federal system financially.. Much like Scientology, I believe they ask about your religious affiliation when you become a Mason, but I could be wrong.

I am just postulating what I feel it may mean and guessing. I believe the handshakes probably tell other masons what position they hold or have held in the past, and that they are a mason in general, maybe even what they're hoping to accomplish in that meeting...

As an order they would of course, protect eachother as any group would... They would promote from within, and they try to make sure that all deal are fair and square...

Every Mason I have ever met has been genuine and kind... I don't think they're evil.. I think they're fortunate to have their freedom, and that freedom comes with the price of secrecy. One must have some character that allows the secret be kept... And I believe as a group that treats their fellow Masons with respect, they do protect each other, help each other, etc. Whether that includes law breaking citizens, child trafficking and or pedophilia, I doubt it. The Masons I have met were of solid character and moral values as far as I could tell...

I don't know if I am right or wrong, or partially, but it makes sense to me.

[JackMcThorn]

I was a Freemason for 6 years until 2o18. Long story short, I left america for a long while as some of you know and returned last year. I did not continue to maintain my membership. However, if you leave or are discharged you are considered a clandestine mason; having had some knowledge of ritual and other things.

Freemasons are vetted to a high degree. Due to my bipolar diagnosis, my lodge overlooked some of my 'issues' with the law. There was a senior individual [state leadership] that was distressed at my membership and I had wrote him an extensive letter describing my trials. Upon the next meeting with him he told me 'I have no words.' So my membership was no longer in jeopardy at that time.

One of the organizations within the organization is the Shriners and they maintain a series of hospitals for children in america who need care and do not have the means for conventional hospitals and doctors. My daughter required a surgery in her youth and the Shriners did indeed help her at the time. I gave back by my participation as a mason. [Not as a Shriner.] To be qualified for a mason to become a Shriner there is a significant donation required. Which I was not in the position to do at the time.

Just about everything you would want to know about Freemasonry is available online. There really isn't any secrets any longer other than any personal information about members. If this is a rabbit hole you are interested in, little will hold you back. One member was removed from my lodge early when I started for collecting information about members and posting it online which was forbidden.

The most important qualification of a mason is the belief in a higher power. The next qualification is a clean record. These are good men. They engage in a plethora of charity for those less fortunate. Besides the ancient rituals, charity takes up a lot of the time. The core values of a mason are faith, charity, and brotherhood. Some lodges have a variety of professions represented. Some err more on the side of blue collar workers, while some white collar workers. Many times men affiliated with the law are represented, judges, lawyers, police. Some of the older men are very successful individuals and contribute extensively to the upkeep of the lodge and the charity work.

During rituals or degrees there are certain 'grips' [handshakes] but these for my lodge were mostly just during the ritual; which did not occur at every meeting. Only one of the masons when shaking my hand seemed to use a grip but it was not the same for the ritual 3rd degree. It felt more like shaking hands with a woman; which I never mentioned. It was not a hearty full hand shake. When some people point out that men who place their hand on their heart for the national anthem a certain way supposedly shows they are a mason, I made my inquiry and this is not true.

Most lodges have a library and full of old books and correspondence. I spent time in the library reading and found a gem. It described the organization of the Tea Party during the american revolution in Boston, and the masons who planned and executed this event. On the day of the event, only a letter T was documented in the meeting minutes.

You see the need for secrecy in older times was more paramount. Everything was done by way a human intelligence which is personal. Eavesdropping, theft, social engineering, tradecraft; you get the idea. So even when the origin of block masons and engineers working on extensive sensitive projects, a degree of secrecy was required. Well at the time of the american revolution secrecy was paramount to keep the english in the dark. Especially since the americans did not fight in the conventional uniformed manner. So the point is a lot of this 'secrecy' issue is really old school and ritual minded. A mason would say it is not a secret organization but an organization with secrets. People fear what they do not know, if they know: what they do not know. And due to experience, people were killed for reasons.

Now I brought a little of this up one day someone on PA was determined to think masons are evil and etcetera and so forth. This person told me well you weren't high enough in the organization. Well if you study what is available online you will see that a 3rd degree mason is the cornerstone of freemasonry. The other aspects are all extra work, extra credit. But without the Blue Lodge masons, those other bodies do not work. In as little as one 2 day week-end, a Saturday and Sunday training for 8 hours each day, a mason can finish the 29 degrees of the scottish rite in the state I lived in and leave on Sunday as a 32 degree mason. This is not exactly fair to the thinking mind that the months it takes to make it to the third degree would be overshadowed by a week-end training. [The 33rd degree of the Scottish Rite is an awarded degree for service and actions becoming.] [There is no national body of freemasons in america, only state leaderships, every state a little bit different. There are supposedly over 3 million masons in america and many millions more throughout the world.] So a 32 degree mason sounds impressive if you do not know the process. But the heart is in a 3rd degree mason.

I think there are bigger fish to fry; based on my experience. But think what you will.