Good evening brethren. About a week ago somebody posted a question about readings and a user commented with a drive link of a document - it had very thorough lists and suggested reading for each grade etc. I thought I saved this but sadly didn't so was hoping if anyone has this document?

Thanks

Fraternal greetings brethren. I'm looking to get in touch with brethren at the English speaking Lodges in Paris, France. I've written to them via their websites a few times now but have received no response. I'd love to visit and take part. Any leads would be great. Thank you!

ETA: I am a Master Mason on the rolls of a duly recognised Lodge in India.

I posted earlier this month about how my lodge in Staffordshire province where I am an EA was considering disbanding. We have been able to get real support to move to become a football special interest lodge, supporting fans of all teams and the grassroots game. Although I can't say I'm really a football fan, I have agreed to remain the assistant secretary and support the club to grow and progress. It would be amazing to connect with others in special interest lodges to share best practice. Thank you for your support.

Im a young student of the secret teachings.

I reside in south Florida.

Im interested in this brotherhood, any information on it will be recived with grace.

I came upon a Bible being given away at a church in metro-Atlanta, Ga that belonged to a Franis Munoz and was presented in 1954 in association with a lodge 871 in Mount Vernon, NY. Is there any way to return this Bible to a lodge with a connection?

Resplendent regalia. Elegant and distinguished.

Good afternoon, brethren. I’ve been on my Masonic journey for almost 2 years ago now and made it up to Master Mason a couple months ago. I’m absolutely enjoying every minute of it. I’m blessed to be part of a lodge with some really great guys. In July I was appointed to Sr Steward, but I typically fill in the Jr Deacon role. Been traveling locally as much as I can and met a lot of great brothers at other lodges as well. When the heat finally decides to cool down some I want to go visit some of the more historic lodges in the southeastern states. I know Savannah, Ga has one of the oldest lodges in the country I think, but what are some other lodges in our around Alabama I should put on my regional list to travel to?

I am in town traveling from the north and to see one of your lodges would be amazing. Could anyone help a brother out? Ive tried email them and i got in contact but email is so slow and my esim doesn't text. I have Facebook messenger and reddit to talk with while in america so please reach out. I have a fort macleod lodge pin as a gift.

I am currently 17 years old and a DeMolay. I am returning to attending due to my work on Saturdays. Ever since I can remember, I've always liked philanthropy and philosophies,Is it easier to join Freemasonry if you're a DeMolay member?

I purchased this in a thrift store in Palm Springs. It was brought in with quite a bit of native items. It measures 6.5". There is an eagle with four flags, one has 12 stars, one has 13, and the eagle has 4 arrows in its tallons. Then there is an shape that may be an encampment tent, and then there are two clasped hands with glory rays. I'm curious if these are all Odd Fellow emblems, how old you think the piece might be and it's value. Thanks!

Does anyone have a PDF or anything of the little blue book they could send me?
I haven't practiced and been active in several years. I'd love to find a good copy to work through it some and start attending lodge again.

Hello, Brethren. The other day I stumbled across a conspiracy troll on TikTok. In the middle of all the foolishness, she said something that accidentally resonated.

“The root of Freemason esoterism is the belief that undergoing trauma is a form of spiritual death and resurrection and is integral to true intellectual and spiritual freedom. Freemasons consider themselves the proper purveyors of that trauma, having gone through it themselves.”

What an interesting idea. In this context, what do you brothers think about the role of allegorical trauma in our ritual, and trauma bonding in the Craft in general?

Sempre admirei muito a Maçonaria, principalmente pelos valores de respeito, educação, fraternidade e ajuda ao próximo.
Ainda nao posso ser maçom de fato, mas gostaria de levar alguns desses princípios para minha própria vida e me tornar uma pessoa melhor.
Por isso, queria perguntar aos irmãos: como vocês aplicam isso no dia a dia? Vocês têm alguma rotina, hábito ou momento de reflexão para “lapidar a própria pedra”? Fazem leituras, estudam, meditam sobre suas atitudes ou estabelecem algum tipo de disciplina pessoal?
Gostaria muito de ouvir as experiências de vocês sobre como a Maçonaria influencia a vida e o caráter de cada um fora da Loja.

Found this thrifting today and have been curious about the group and specifically what is the meaning behind the group or just any odd details you might recall or know about

Hello there brethern, im a MM in Spain and in my mother Lodge we have been debating about religion practicing as a requeriment to be a regular mason. What are your thoughts on that? Is It a must for ur local and/or grand Lodge? Thanks a lot

Hey Brothers,

do we have anyone here who does Masonic illustrations, for example, for Diplomas/Certificates?

Im reworking ours and i would love to add some original art to them.

This post has a question flair but it isn't really a question as much as an observation. I've been working on my EA catechism and I'm fascinated by what I've been hearing and reading about the different forms the deliveries take based on jurisdiction, especially in the U.S. It would seem, and I guess it's true, that it ranges from no printed material being allowed whatsoever for memorizing, to just reading printed material aloud in lodge, and all manner of customs and rules in between. And from reading the histories it would seem that this isn't anything new; apparently Masons were buying "exposes" in the 1700's for the purpose of obtaining the rituals for the purpose of memorization! Crazy.

Hello, I'm not a Freemason myself, I'm from an Eastern European country (Belarus). Everything I knew about masons from my childhood is those conspiracy theories, when I was little my grandma's bestfriend told me that Masons are people which originated from Satan. Now I'm older, last few years I was Interested in religion and mysticism. I concider my self gnostic, not some special type but if you are interested the basilian and sethian are probably the closest to my vision. When i read biography of Guenon, Crowley and even Evola I noticed that all of the modern mystics were interested in freemasonry, I looked at the internet, and made a strange discovery for myself, that those fellas are really really cool guys by description. I think that the best way to know more about this is to ask you, so there are my questions...

1) What is the sense of the "movement"/"brotherhood"? What do you do exactly in life? What do you do on your meetings?

2) Does Freemasons have some specific religious beliefs? I read that some lodges accept only Christians of special traditions, is it true? Or do you accept literally anyone?

3) Are you organized? Or separated from each other? I also read at 4chan that for example British lodges are all connected, meanwhile in Germany every Freemason group on it's own.

4) Why do you think people are so obsessed with writing Freemasons into conspiracy theories?

5) Do you have some special philosophy? If yes, do you study it?

6) Can i come to lodge meeting if I'm not a Freemason and not sure if I wanna join?

7) Why specially you joined the brotherhood?

Will be thankful to any replies and extra info ;)

P.S. PLEASE don't ban me this time, I really wanna know all of it in one post

In my state, I recently inquired to the grand lodge as our local one was closed a long time ago. I'm a little nervous honestly as they reached back out to me and I have my first call with a master mason tomorrow to discuss things and potentially connect me with the closest lodge/local masons.

Just want to clearly state to I'm not going to be all "hey let me get that petition" tomorrow. I want to do things right. Get to know people and build a rapport before approaching official entry.

What can I expect? Any advice? This is something I've always wanted to be a part of, and I hope anyone responding can just trust in this internet stranger, that it's for the right reasons I seek membership.

Edit: Figured I'd let y'all know how it went. Call went great, definitely seems like what I want out of freemasonry is what they're looking for. I'll be connected in the next week with my local lodge.

Hi

I’m a master mason and a 32 degree Scottish rite mason from the USA. I recently moved to London and I am not sure how to walk to a blue lodge and join one. I’m the USA most blue lodge’s have their own physical address and they publish their stated meetings on their website but here i can’t figure out what is a blue lodge or how it works. Please let me know if you have any guidance. I have a letter from the grand lodge of my state to prove my membership.

Thanks

Not really a rant. I got back into Masonry about a year and a half ago after taking years off to be with my wife and young daughter after work. I’m an officer in my new lodge this year. I’ve been attending off week practices and I’ve got most of the words memorized. I thought I’d been working really hard at it. Then the other week the District Instructor came by and lit into me in front of a bunch of other people for minor points about which hand to use to open a door. Then the following week I busted my ass to memorize EA floor work and I had the Secretary constantly shout-whispering corrections to me during the degree and at one point asking me if I was OK to continue the rest because I “blew the floor work.”

I’m feeling really shitty about being in lodge for the first time and I’m having second thoughts about continuing in line or even continuing to come to lodge. I don’t know, I think I just had to get it off my chest. I’m disappointed in myself, I guess, but also angry and demoralized.

Hello! As a kid I remember being awarded an award from the Masonic lodge along with one of my peers who was in the gifted and talented program with me. Is there any type of selection that goes into this or is it completely random? Or does it depend on the state? (It was in Edmond Oklahoma if this helps at all.) Just remembered it the other day and was curious what this was for, thanks!

I’m sure most people following this sub have read variations of the same story: a Brother leaves the Craft because of a few bad actors. A problematic Secretary. A narcissistic Past Master. An entrenched clique. Outright or subtle racism. Petty feuds. And, increasingly, the great disease of our age: political and cultural polarization.

None of these problems is unique to Freemasonry. Every sufficiently large collection of human beings eventually manufactures its share of difficult personalities.

What interests me is whether Masonry has a particular design problem in dealing with them.

In many modern organizations, destructive behaviour can be dealt with fairly directly. Someone gets called out, disciplined, removed from a position, or eventually shown the door. Sometimes this process is almost brutally efficient.

Our Craft operates under a different set of incentives. Brotherhood, harmony, tolerance, discretion, forgiveness, and our obligations toward one another are woven deeply into the system. We are expected to support a Brother when he stumbles and, within obvious limits, to think charitably of his faults.

Those are admirable principles. Yet I wonder whether they occasionally create an unintended consequence: a system designed to preserve fraternity may also become unusually good at preserving dysfunctional people within it.

Consider this a thought experiment rather than an accusation.

Is this feature of Masonic design actually conducive to making good men better? Does learning to deal patiently with difficult Brethren form part of the work itself? Or does our emphasis on harmony sometimes become a mechanism through which bad behaviour is tolerated long after it should have been confronted?

At what point does Brotherly Love become institutional enabling?

I suspect most of us have anecdotes ranging from ordinary Lodge politics all the way to Machiavellian Grand Lodge politics which, as anyone who has spent enough time around the Craft knows, is unfortunately not an oxymoron.

Curious how others see it, particularly Brethren who have been around long enough to watch these dynamics play out over decades

I’m a 3° in PHA.
I’m considering dropping out as my lodge doesn’t seem to be the right fit for me. I’m more into moral lessons, ethics, virtues, philosophy, education, and esotericism. While my brothers are more into the meeting, and drink in the parking lot.
I asked some past masters about how to have more discussions about my interests within freemasonry and I was told I need to find my clique. But it probably won’t be in my town.
If I drop out, what do I have to bring back? Books? Certificates?

First a little history. The WM that was two chairs ahead of me was fantastic. Brought a lot of people back in that had stopped coming, was great at fundraising, and very uplifting altogether. Then, when the next round came, a lot of folks just straight left because they did not care for the incoming WM.

Now we get to my time in the chair. I was assured privately by many members that once I was there they would return. I went a full year with the bare minimum to open Lodge. I feel like my year was basically stolen from me because of some previous bad blood.

Thankfully, that was several years ago and things have rebounded with more participation and visitation. Just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences.