Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

Just out of curiosity....


yoda

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 79
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Hmmmmm.....

 

Growing up, there were lotsa Masons/Eastern Star in my town.

Several girls I grew up with and dated were in Rainbow Girls.

 

First wife's family was very active and she was dabbling in it when we split.

 

Been invited to get involved in Masons several times - never did, not knowing much about it.

Shoulda done it long ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you sign up for that? I mean, do you have to have any relatives in there, do you have to give money, do you have to "be someone special" or you just go and say "hey folks I wanna become part of this group"?

 

Just curious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, Thunder had it right - "hey folks I wanna become part of this group." All you have to do is ask another Mason or contact a lodge, preferably locally as Masonry does not have a national or global governing body so some things can be different in various countries, states and districts. Traditionally, you have to ask three times but that's not always the case but, if the first time doesn't do it, ask two more times.

 

Joining Freemasonry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmmm.... Yup, you have to ask.

 

Interesting thing is the way that different groups, called "Lodges," will have different personalities. Ask. Then there will be - or should be - an investigation committee you meet with. It's a two-way street giving a potential member a chance to see if he likes the local group - and vice versa.

 

In many cases, there will be a suggestion that one may not fit well in the club. As any institution, some folks find plenty of interest and shared concerns, others find it boring and don't see any potential for learning.

 

On the other hand, both literally and metaphorically, one must open a book to read it; one must knock to enter. The institution predates the English Civil War. It is tied to the "enlightenment" in promotion of education and fraternity for both craftsman and academic.

 

Adolph Hitler and Joe Stalin both disliked Freemasonry intensely.

 

In Latin America, Simon Bolivar was one; ditto Benito Juarez, San Martin... The Guerra de la triple alianza had anti-Masonic Paraguay of the time against Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil where there were a number of Freemasons involved in the militaries of the time.

 

Hmmmm.... Interesting history, and I'm a history nut.

 

Dave... What do they do? Nothing, really. What does Rotary do? Imagine, in metaphor, you are in a huge auditorium with people of all kinds you might care to meet; walls filled with books you might care to read; teachers with much to offer on any subject and teachers who know little but caring for others. You can meet to study and learn, or come and go knowing there are friends when you might wish to have one, or may need one.

 

m

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My grandfather was a mason and a Shriner, I believe through the Scottish rite. When he died we had the Masonic ceremony as part of his funeral. His wife was an Eastern Star member, and when she died they also took part in the ceremony. In general though in the area where I live fraternal organizations have dwindled quite a bit, with most members being quite elderly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...

Adolph Hitler and Joe Stalin both disliked Freemasonry intensely.

 

 

Seems like there's quite a number of folks who share that view.

 

I'm not one who has a strong feeling one way or the other, because I have very little experience in the matter. But when I was approached in my youth, the guy selling it made it sound pretty creepy.

 

 

Perhaps he was just the one bad apple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you sign up for that? I mean, do you have to have any relatives in there, do you have to give money, do you have to "be someone special" or you just go and say "hey folks I wanna become part of this group"?

 

Just curious

 

This is 2010...all you need to join is a pulse.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...............do any of these masons do actual brick and stone work ?.....

 

 

Some maybe, but the official term is Freemason, people just shorten it to mason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a few notes here...

 

1. Just about all organizations have taken a "hit" after perhaps 1960, at least in Anglophone nations. The baby boomers weren't, in general, joiners whether in traditional religious, fraternal or service organizations.

 

2. Blackie, the Masons we're talking of here are what have been known as "speculative" Masons rather than "Operative" who work literally with brick and mortar. It's a matter of metaphor and allegory. You build a guitar with your hands, but you build your guitar playing with your mind and whatever it is that makes you, "you." It's no more of a cult than a Gibson forum that has folks with different musical, political and other outlooks on life...

 

3. "This is 2010...all you need to join is a pulse." It does seem that way in some places. Yup. It's not what the institution is about, however. One might make the same case for the Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis... churches, parent teacher groups...

 

4. "...I have very little experience in the matter. But when I was approached in my youth, the guy selling it made it sound pretty creepy." Yup. Some haven't learned the lessons of rhetoric as well as they should. I thought some were creeps when I was 20-something. Still do, sometimes. The guy broke the rules by "selling" the idea.

 

5. RE: sharing the view of Hitler and Stalin vis a vis the Masons. Yup. Quite a few share that perspective, frequently with similar ideas in other ways as well. Oddly, perhaps, Fidel Castro did not. Masons, Rotary, Boy and Girl Scouts have only succeeded in nations with a bit of religious and political tolerance; have lost membership or have been outlawed literally or functionally where there was not.

 

6. As for ages and numbers... We're finding more younger people looking for groups with similar outlooks whether it's a new band, wondering about religion or wanting to help build shelters and playgrounds in local parks. There's always a cycle. Baby boomers weren't good at "traditional" groups; younger folks think a bit differently, just as the boomers thought differently from their own parents.

 

7. All organizations and human "spare time" activities are the same: you only get out of them what you put in. It's the same as bands. Some are a real family; some just don't "work." Most are kinda in between with some doing the work and some just sittin' around saying it's not as rewarding as it should be. <grin>

 

BTW Saturn... that Monty Python thing is pretty funny.

 

m

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a few notes here...

 

1. Just about all organizations have taken a "hit" after perhaps 1960' date=' at least in Anglophone nations. The baby boomers weren't, in general, joiners whether in traditional religious, fraternal or service organizations.

 

2. Blackie, the Masons we're talking of here are what have been known as "speculative" Masons rather than "Operative" who work literally with brick and mortar. It's a matter of metaphor and allegory. You build a guitar with your hands, but you build your guitar playing with your mind and whatever it is that makes you, "you." It's no more of a cult than a Gibson forum that has folks with different musical, political and other outlooks on life...

 

3. "This is 2010...all you need to join is a pulse." It does seem that way in some places. Yup. It's not what the institution is about, however. One might make the same case for the Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis... churches, parent teacher groups...

 

4. "...I have very little experience in the matter. But when I was approached in my youth, the guy selling it made it sound pretty creepy." Yup. Some haven't learned the lessons of rhetoric as well as they should. I thought some were creeps when I was 20-something. Still do, sometimes. The guy broke the rules by "selling" the idea.

 

5. RE: sharing the view of Hitler and Stalin vis a vis the Masons. Yup. Quite a few share that perspective, frequently with similar ideas in other ways as well. Oddly, perhaps, Fidel Castro did not. Masons, Rotary, Boy and Girl Scouts have only succeeded in nations with a bit of religious and political tolerance; have lost membership or have been outlawed literally or functionally where there was not.

 

6. As for ages and numbers... We're finding more younger people looking for groups with similar outlooks whether it's a new band, wondering about religion or wanting to help build shelters and playgrounds in local parks. There's always a cycle. Baby boomers weren't good at "traditional" groups; younger folks think a bit differently, just as the boomers thought differently from their own parents.

 

7. All organizations and human "spare time" activities are the same: you only get out of them what you put in. It's the same as bands. Some are a real family; some just don't "work." Most are kinda in between with some doing the work and some just sittin' around saying it's not as rewarding as it should be. <grin>

 

BTW Saturn... that Monty Python thing is pretty funny.

 

m

[/quote']

 

 

 

 

Well said, very well said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...