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"Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom" -
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"Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom" -
Khephra on Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:52 am
See Aftermath News for the complete article, which includes images.
Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom
By Adam Tschorn
IN LOS FELIZ, across from a 7-Eleven on North Vermont Avenue, a few dozen men in their early 20s to late 80s share a dinner behind closed doors. Some wear full tuxedos with bow ties and jeweled cuff links, some have shoulder-length hair, and others wear open-collared shirts that reveal the slightest filigree of tattoo arching across their chests.
Over Italian food, retired lawyers and judges sit elbow-to-elbow with owners of scrap metal yards and vintage clothing boutiques. They hold forth on philosophy, the weather; they rib each other and joke about saving room for cannoli. As they reach for seconds, they reveal skull-cracking rings emblazoned with a compass and a square.
Meet the millennial Masons. As secret societies go, it is one of the oldest and most famous. Its enrollment roster includes Louis Armstrong and Gerald Ford, and it has been depicted in movies such as “The Da Vinci Code” and “National Treasure.” Once more than 4 million strong (back in the 1950s), it has been in something of a popularity free-fall ever since. Viewed with suspicion as a bastion of antiquated values and forced camaraderie, the Masons have seen membership rolls plummet more than 60% to just 1.5 million in 2006.
Only now the trend seems to be reversing itself, and nowhere more noticeably than in Southern California. The reasons seem clear.
_________________
"Sacred Activism is the fusion of the mystic's passion for God with the activist's passion for justice, creating a third fire, which is the burning sacred heart that longs to help, preserve, and nurture every living thing." - Andrew Harvey
Khephra- Number of posts: 700
Age: 44
Registration date: 2008-08-11 
Re: "Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom" -
Sascrunch on Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:47 am
In Colorado we are experiencing the same resurgence. The problem is that with such a large generation-gap (most of the “Boomers” never joined, so it’s generally men under 35 and men over 70) the senior members are rarely interested in masonry or attend Lodge for the same reasons that attract the younger members.
BTW, if you’re a mason, please check out the TSS discussion board for good esoteric & masonic conversation:
http://www.thesanctumsanctorum.com/
BTW, if you’re a mason, please check out the TSS discussion board for good esoteric & masonic conversation:
http://www.thesanctumsanctorum.com/
_________________
In true religion there is no sect, therefore take heed that thou blaspheme not the name by which another knoweth his God.
~ Aleister Crowley
Sascrunch- Number of posts: 40
Location: Colorado
Registration date: 2008-08-13 -
Re: "Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom" -
worlock93 on Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:55 am
It's funny to me the way people always stick "secretive" in there somewhere when talking about masonry. Sensationalism sells papers and all, but you have to admit that it's a pretty silly descriptor for a group that advertises it's contact info in the yellow pages, has individual lodge webpages and have large, easily readable signs in front of their easily accessed and well lit buildings. 
Secretive is a group that meets robed and masked, under cover of darkness, one days calculated by complex astrological data, in the basement of a pizza hut. You know, like the illuminati.
Secretive is a group that meets robed and masked, under cover of darkness, one days calculated by complex astrological data, in the basement of a pizza hut. You know, like the illuminati.
worlock93- Number of posts: 30
Registration date: 2008-08-16 -
Re: "Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom" -
Khephra on Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:44 pm
worlock93 wrote:It's funny to me the way people always stick "secretive" in there somewhere when talking about masonry.
Females might have a different experience, no?
_________________
"Sacred Activism is the fusion of the mystic's passion for God with the activist's passion for justice, creating a third fire, which is the burning sacred heart that longs to help, preserve, and nurture every living thing." - Andrew Harvey
Khephra- Number of posts: 700
Age: 44
Registration date: 2008-08-11 -
Re: "Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom" -
worlock93 on Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:57 am
Khephra wrote:Females might have a different experience, no?
No more different an experience than any male who isn't a mason. A few minutes with google or a trip to any decently stocked bookstore will reveal all the Masons have to offer and more. Actually, in my experience, someone who peruses a few select books will have more information on the meanings of Masonry than the majority of you average Masons do. Exclusivity isn't the same as secretive.
worlock93- Number of posts: 30
Registration date: 2008-08-16 -
Re: "Secretive Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom" -
ankh_f_n_khonsu on Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:46 am
worlock93 wrote:Exclusivity isn't the same as secretive.
I think you've made an important distinction here. However, the dichotomy may hinge upon perception. For those on the outside, exclusivity can seem pretty damned synonymous with secrecy. Anyway, I think the bottom line is that the "secrets" of Freemasonry are well documented within the public domain and available for any who have the gumption to search.
ankh_f_n_khonsu- Number of posts: 395
Registration date: 2008-09-16 -
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