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Cage Kicker posted:Southwestern CT, reasonably close to the sub base. Thank you for the info! I drove by a Masonic center the other day and it made me think after years of lurking maybe I should find out a good time just to go say hello If you don't want to just show up, you can use this which looks like it has a "please contact me" function. Good luck! Let us know how it goes  https://ctfreemasons.net/how-to-join/lodge-locator/
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Oct 1, 2019 19:28
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Emron posted:In my jurisdiction, it’s not so much that you have to be one, is that one of the orders involves swearing to defend the Christian Faith, which would be kind of awkward for non-Christians. Yeah, exactly. And even if you justify it to yourself, you're going to be publicly defending the Christian religion, praying to Jesus during meeting, wearing crosses all over your garb. It's not like blue lodge masonry where a nebulous belief in a higher power is good enough. Not to say you wouldn't get anything out of it. If it works for you, great!
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Oct 8, 2019 20:44
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Sub Rosa posted:I'm not in York Rite but the historical Templar had non-Christian members. Saladin himself in fact. Yeah, I joined the York Rite justifying it to myself as "well, yeah of course I'll defend the Christian faith, I'll defend anyone's right to practice their religion". And the lessons of the degrees and orders in the York Rite are really good (I mean, I literally wrote the book on it for North Carolina, and was a district inspector instructor for the KT). So I don't want it to come off like I'm trying to dissuade anyone from joining if they feel it's right for them. Just don't be surprised if you join and meet a lot of brothers who are like "FINALLY a space where I can be as unabashedly anti-Muslim as I want!"
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Oct 8, 2019 20:47
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BONESAWWWWWW posted:What about Royal Arch? Does anyone have experience with that? Yeah, the Royal Arch is, in many ways, the "completion" of the basic Masonic degrees. I think both the capitular degrees and the cryptic degrees are magnificent.
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Oct 9, 2019 13:26
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Yep, my old blue lodge is absolutely full of conservative Christians, and their eyes all glazed over when I tried to present a paper I wrote on the kabbalistic themes of Freemasonry, but there's a Traditional Observance lodge in NC that's much more interested in the esoteric/hermetic/ritualistic history of it all, and was super into the paper. So... it's definitely still a "thing", you just have to find the right crowd.
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Nov 15, 2019 14:39
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Last night I sat in lodge for the first time in 3 years - in a new state (PA), in a new part of the country, with about 30 other brothers who welcomed me as if I'd been a member there all my life. Immediately, I remembered why I had joined in the first place, and what I loved about the craft. Also I found out that next year, they're doing a 3rd degree in Washington's headquarters on the Brandywine battlefield, and they're using Washington's bible that he was entered/passed/raised on. THAT is cool.
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Nov 21, 2019 16:14
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Robotnik Nudes posted:I've been following this thread for a while and I'm goat-curious. I was wondering a few things: Robotnik Nudes posted:My spiritual leanings are pretty Hermetic with a Thelemic leaning and I understand that probably wouldn't be an issue, but I'd be very interested to meet some Kabbalah study buddies. How much would Masonry facilitate that vs independent study or say the A:.A:.? Robotnik Nudes posted:Do I have to know a local Mason irl to sit in or get inducted, or do Masons on the Wired count for a recommendation? Robotnik Nudes posted:Is there room in Masonry for someone a little on the scumfucc side of things, or is it pretty buttoned up? Robotnik Nudes posted:How long will it take me before I get to gently caress the goat? 
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Nov 22, 2019 15:05
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The lodges in the US trace their lineage back to the United Grand Lodge of England, so if you're looking for something that us US Masons would consider "regular", that would be the answer.
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Jan 15, 2020 21:36
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Uh, nah, not at all. Hell I'll write them too
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Jan 17, 2020 17:53
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Yeah, I'm an admitted pessimist, after trying to talk some sense into people down in NC. It was right after the Parkland school shooting I think and the GL wanted to start hosting gun raffles to benefit the children's home. Unrelated, but I thought it was tasteless timing. Also I thought it went against the whole philosophy behind "bringing nothing offensive or defensive into the lodge" by having a contest to give guns to your brethren. But I was shot down and called a liberal snowflake so what do I know Anyway, I'll always fight the good fight, and you all should too. Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Jan 17, 2020 |
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Jan 17, 2020 18:09
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Quote is not edit!
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Jan 17, 2020 18:11
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Sub Rosa posted:Forget social media, the really terrible stuff was the stuff I heard in person since after all, amongst your brothers sworn to secrecy is a safe place to say all the racial slurs, right? Yeah very same experience here.
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Jan 17, 2020 21:22
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Yeah and considering shaking hands is one of the tenants of our order, we're like, doubly as at risk.
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Mar 12, 2020 23:53
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NC GM just released a recommendation that all lodges stop meeting, and that he'll take no action against that charters of any lodges that don't meet for a few months.
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Mar 13, 2020 16:47
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Yeah NC released another decree like "I know we said you should stay home but uhhh okay now I'm ordering everyone to stay home"
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Mar 21, 2020 21:38
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What a wild time to be a Mason, but at least a lot of the quiet voices that have plagued my experience with the fraternity are finally coming to the surface and are being called out. The Grand Master of NC is having a joint public meeting with the PHA Grand Master tomorrow, to discuss harmony between the lodges, and the way that that harmony has fallen by the wayside over the years. And the VITRIOL that people have over this meeting is astounding, though not at all surprising. Half of the comments are people accusing him of being a political pawn and supporting communism, and half are very supportive and trying to remind folks that we're trying to further the Brotherhood of Man - something that's not political and is, in fact, one of the very tenets of Freemasonry. My heart goes out to the Grand Lodge of NC; They've done a lot right during the protests, despite heavy backlash. It's still far from perfect, but it's very heartening. I'm curious if other people have seen similar in their jurisdictions?
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Jun 13, 2020 04:07
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If the forums end up going away, thank you all for introducing me to Freemasonry and starting a journey that's lasted almost a decade now. In other news, the statue of Albert Pike in DC outside the Scottish Rite temple was torn down. I have mixed feelings about that, but I'm not going to mourn it.
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Jun 25, 2020 13:38
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I've been away from Freemasonry for a bit, and especially have distanced myself from a number of NC masons because of... we'll say un-Masonic thought. But the Grand Master of NC just put out this statement and it is VERY good. I haven't seen any southern Grand Master put out such a strong statement against right wing extremist groups yet, so that's great. edit-- poo poo I read the Facebook comments. Nevermind, my faith in the institution is lessened again. Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Jan 8, 2021 |
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Jan 8, 2021 19:21
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I can only speak to the York Rite in the US, but it's made up of three parts here: The Royal Arch The Cryptic Council The Commandery of Knights Templar The degrees of the first section "complete" the story from the Blue Lodge degrees, and are really good. The Council is sort of like DLC content that adds light to the story, but isn't "necessary" per se. And then the Commandery culminates in the order of Knight of the Temple, which DOES require a vested belief in Christianity. The thing is, when you sign up for "the York Rite", at least where I did it, you sign up for all 3 in one go. So, the issue of Christianity does get tied to the York Rite as a whole.
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May 13, 2021 13:10
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Straithate posted:This is exactly how it is presented in the ritual and how most people interpret it. I have know many members of varying faiths, I myself am not Christian... one of my officers when I was EC was Jewish - so it certainly varies. Yep, I was EC of a Commandery and am Jewish, and things are worded the exact same way where I come from. I left the York Rite though, mostly because it had (weirdly) the most hateful and bigoted masons I've ever met
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May 17, 2021 00:05
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I'm technically in both the SJ and NJ and even I had no idea this was a thing!
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Aug 31, 2022 21:34
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Sub Rosa posted:Congrats to North Carolina for being the first jurisdiction (I think?) to elect an openly gay Grand Master. Huh, I've met Kevan a few times and had no idea. That's pretty cool though, we desperately need more queerness in masonry.
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Oct 2, 2022 17:21
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Sub Rosa posted:Apparently it was a contentious and difficult election even though he had been in the grand line the usual years. So I'll say I expect the people making it difficult had an idea. Ah, okay, yes, now that sounds a bit more like the NC Masonry I know. 
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Oct 3, 2022 17:15
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I was VERY hesitant to scroll down and see the comments... But they were all positive! That warms my heart.
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Feb 7, 2024 05:17
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