All the information that mankind has today is obtained from the Freemasons themselves or drawn from the "artistic imagination" of writers: Dan Brown, Graham Hancock.
If we rely on the statements of the Masons, then the goals of their organizations are to preserve and bring spiritual benefits to all of humanity. In Freemasonry, there are 33 degrees of advancement on the spiritual path - 33 degrees. The stages of spiritual advancement symbolize three states: disciple, apprentice, and master. Each Mason recognizes the existence of the Great Architect (Builder) of the Universe. The Great Builder of the Universe denotes a hypothetical and neutral Supreme God, in which every Mason believes, depending on his personal religion. Those. The Great Builder of the Universe can be Jesus Christ for Christians, Allah for Muslims, etc.
The origin of the Freemasons comes from various sources:
1) lodges of free builders-masons;
2) the order of the Knights Templar;
3) the order of the Rosicrucians.
By the number of Masons in the lodges:
• USA - 2 million people,
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• England - 250,000, • Ireland and Scotland - 150,000.
The United Grand Lodge of England (UGL) is considered the oldest. A member of the royal family is usually appointed as a great master. Since 1967, the Grand Master of the UWLA has been Prince Edward, who has the right to inherit the throne.
It is necessary to consider the history of Freemasonry from the so-called operational direction of Freemasonry. Lodges are places where freemasons gathered to solve their problems and celebrate. In the lodges of free masons of the X - XII centuries. three categories of building skill improvement have been identified:
Apprentice - was trained under the supervision of a master.
An apprentice is a full member of the construction corporation.
Master - coordination of work in the box.
Nothing mysterious. On the lodges, rules were worked out and vowed to keep the secrets of their craft. Free masons of one lodge could count on the warm welcome and assistance of other lodges within a single building "corporation."
Since the 12th century, people who are not directly related to the craft began to be accepted into the lodges of the brothers-masons. The new Masons, the so-called speculative line of Freemasonry, taught free masons the rules of spirituality. Freemasons 'operational lodges became speculative freemasons' lodges.
The multinational composition of the operational lodges of free masons demanded the maintenance of religious neutrality and the creation of a Great Builder of the Universe to preserve the secrets of the craft. Each member of the lodge retained the right to pray to their own gods. The general profit and the safe preservation of the secrets of the craft within the construction brotherhood depended on the well-coordinated work of the team. The traditions of bricklayers have proven their worth.
In a tribute of respect and gratitude to the founders of Freemasonry, free builders-masons, speculative Masons continued and preserved their traditions: respect for foreign religion, the category of a student, apprentice and master, mandatory faith in the Great Builder of the Universe. Only there was no longer any secret. All construction "secrets and secrets of free masons" were successfully applied in practice. The most striking confirmation of the application of the secret building knowledge of masons is the construction of Washington.
By the beginning of the 17th century, there were still those in Freemasonry who had nothing to do with the craft of free masons.
Egyptian charter
The Ancient and Primordial Rite of Memphis-Misraim (DIUMM) - the hermetic and mystical direction of Freemasonry, has been known since the 18th century. Famous members of the Egyptian lodges were: Papus, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Count Alessandro Cagliostro, Helena Blavatsky.
It is difficult to trace the origins of the developed system of rituals of Freemasonry in the 18th century. As for Egyptian Freemasonry, the sciences, thanks to which we are now trying to unravel the secrets of the pyramids, Egyptology and Oriental studies, were developed just by the end of the XVIII.
According to the legend of the Order of Egyptian Masons, in the 1st century. from R. Kh. The Apostle Mark converted the Egyptian sage Ormus to Christianity and thus purified the Egyptian mysteries with the light of Christianity. Before the Crusades, purified by the Christian light, the Egyptian Mysteries were secretly practiced in Egypt, Palestine and Israel. Then the secret mysteries were passed on to the Rosicrucians (Order of the Knights of Palestine) and the Templars, who carried them to Europe in the 18th century. The legend was first described in a book by Mark Bedarrida, a Freemason of the Egyptian Rite.
Officially, the history of DIUMM begins with the Egyptian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1799, Napoleon, in addition to the regular army, took 500 people on a campaign, including engineers and scientists. At the direction of the emperor, the first studies of the pyramids were started. Scientists had to uncover the secrets of the tombs. It is said that the emperor managed to spend one night in the underground chamber of the Khuffu pyramid. In the morning he could hardly stand on his feet, was pale and was obviously mortally frightened by something. Napoleon did not explain the reasons for his fear to anyone. But this legend only heightened interest in the Egyptian heritage.
In 1810, the Egyptian charter was brought by the Bedarrid brothers from Egypt to France. After 1810, the Rite of Misraim spread to Switzerland, Italy, Australia, USA and Romania. Now DIUMM lodges operate in many countries of the world, including Russia and Ukraine.
As you can see, it is a stretch to talk about the existence of the Egyptian branch of Freemasonry before the 18th century. Distinctive features of the Egyptian lodges are considered a greater emphasis on the mystical and isoteric side of Freemasonry, the recognition of women's membership, and a long ritual of obligatory ceremonies. Membership candidates are encouraged to study Kabbalah, the magic of alchemy, and the Hermetic sciences. The temples of the Egyptian branch of Freemasonry are similar to the Egyptian temples, and the postures in which the ancient Egyptian gods stand are used in rituals. Like the ancient Egyptians, Egyptian Masons believe that mystical rituals have a spiritual effect on a person.
The Rite of Memphis is distinguished by the characteristic Egyptian vestments and decoration of the temple, images of the All-Seeing Eye (wadget). In the mythology of Ancient Egypt, Horus had one solar, one lunar eye (the All-Seeing Eye). In the struggle for primacy among the gods, Set pulled out Horus' moon eye. But after Horus's victory, the moon eye grew again. Since then, the eyes of Horus have been used in magic as an amulet warding off evil, and also associated with healing. To help the dead find their way beyond the grave, the Wadget was often depicted or carved on Egyptian tombstones. Reminiscent of a galaxy, the spiral under the eye of Horus is a symbol of the eternal movement of energy.
There are versions that the "Hieroglyphics" of Gorapollo, an Egyptian writer inclined to exaggerate the usual ancient hieroglyphs, had a huge influence on the widespread distribution of this symbol. 200 years later, at the beginning of the 17th century, Athanasius Kircher, a German encyclopedist and inventor, took up the interpretation of ancient Egyptian symbols and culture. Since then, the fashion for Egyptian symbolism has become commonplace.
With the advent of scientific research in the field of Egyptology and the popularization of the research results by writers, Freemasonry was enriched with Egyptian symbols and mysteries.
Egyptian men in government service to the pharaoh wore an apron. It was a narrow strip of leather attached to a belt. Brothers Masons, like the ancient Egyptians, wear a zapon, but cannot wear it until conflicts are settled. A Masonic initiate must wear a white apron in the box.
All speculative directions of Freemasonry, including Egyptian, left the symbolism "in reserve", and constantly maintaining interest in the theme of the pyramids, at the first occasion they used it to draw up a magical one-dollar banknote. The newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" expressed a version that the Egyptian and Illuminati symbols on the banknote are the result of the work of Nicholas Roerich, a Russian artist, writer, mystic, philosopher and freemason. He and his wife claimed that for some time they owned the sacred relic of the Freemasons, the Grail.
In America, Roerich had a reputation as a great guru since 1920; he was admitted to Masons in the 30s. XX century, immediately to the master, for special services.
Russian émigré Sergei Makronovsky (pseudonym of Nicholas Roerich), at the request of Henry Wallace (future US Vice President), was engaged in the design of the legendary one-dollar bill with the image of the pyramid and the All-Seeing Eye. In 1929, a year after the money was released, the Great Depression hit America. During the great economic crisis, dollars lost the confidence of Americans who preferred gold bars and coins. In 1933, Roosevelt, by Executive Order 6102, forced Americans to surrender all gold to the state, giving the Americans the abolition of Prohibition instead of gold. Roosevelt made Americans respect the dollar, and World War II helped the United States make other countries respect the dollar.
In 1944, at the meeting of the Allies in Bretton Woods, the dollar was recognized as the world currency of settlement between the Allied countries. Stalin did not mind, counting on America's help in arms and food supplies, and on a loan after the war.
Just 16 years after the introduction of the one dollar bill, the power of the Dollar was established. Roosevelt died in April 1945 of a cerebral hemorrhage, but the real cause of his death is seen in the fact that he was not ready to break off relations with the USSR, give up his words and support the idea of dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Spiritual symbols lose their spiritual purpose, serving purely mercantile goals and tearing the mysterious veils from the Freemasons. This is not a conspiracy theory, but just an enduring human desire to live better than others, using all possible means. Therefore, the best mystery and prayer of all the Freemasons of our time is the rustling of dollar bills and the clink of gold coins in Fort Knox.
