Separating facts from fiction concerning the Masons is no easy task. The historical record indicates that in 1717 in London four lodges came together and formed the Grand Lodge, the basis of Freemasonry today. A Book of Constitutions was published in 1723. Earlier references to Masons occur in England and Scotland in the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries, but that predates the recorded history and is the place where legend mixes with actual events.
Langdon offers his students a mini-lecture on the Masons, quoting the standard definition of one of the world’s oldest and largest brotherhoods: “Masonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols” (31). Masons seek to establish an unbroken line from King Solomon and Hiram Abif, the legendary architect of the Temple of Solomon. Stonemasons had existed for centuries and in Europe throughout the Middle Ages they built the grand cathedrals. They held a great secret knowledge—how to lay the keystone of an arch so that it would not collapse. These masons were organized into guilds, and much like trade unions today, they protected their membership by guaranteeing a certain exclusivity. Apprentices worked to learn the craft and become master masons, who in turn mentored and initiated the next generation. Since masons moved to wherever there was work to be done, they developed a set of verbal signs and gestures that would permit one mason to recognize and validate one another. These “operative” stonemasons and their guilds gave an organizational impulse to the “speculative” masons, who emerge perhaps as early as the sixteenth century, but who are no longer necessarily the craftsmen of yore. These “free” Masons consisted of groups of men coming together to read and discuss the texts of the day, among them the esoteric writings, works on alchemy and astrology, Biblical texts and interpretations, non-canonical books, and legends of the Bible. Many key writers and works would make themselves known in English translation, including the work of the Rosicrucians. Slowly these new “masons” begin to construct elaborate connections, from the Egyptian pyramid builders to Solomon and his Temple, to the Crusades when the Knights Templar supposedly discovered the Temple and its secret in Jerusalem. When the Templars were dissolved and dispersed throughout Europe, according to legend some came to Scotland to build Rosslyn Chapel that was featured in The Da Vinci Code.
So the Masons have two traditions: One is related back to the craft of the stonemasons, best symbolized in the well-known Masonic symbol of the square and the compass, and the capital letter “G” for “Geometry” and for God. The other is the esoteric and occult traditions coming from the Ancients and Solomon’s Temple that are reflected in Temples with their ceremonial rooms, rituals, and symbols.
Masonry is not a religion. But Masons are united by a belief in a higher power, often designated as The Great Architect of the Universe (TGAOTU). Open to men regardless of their religion, the Masonic lodges were, and are, a natural place for men to gather seeking answers to the accursed questions of existence. Who made me? What happens when I die? Or as Mal’akh expresses in the opening pages of the novel and then repeats: The secret is how to die”(3). In modern times the Masons sponsor and fund many charitable activities and campaigns that have improved the lives of millions. Is it any surprise then that in the Untied State, a country based on liberty and religious freedom, that the Masons would have enjoyed such popularity?
Masonic symbol
Masons, however, have generally practiced silence as regards their critics. The very fact that many were members, but some were not, and that the ceremonies of initiation were not publicly open, has led to an enormous amount of misinformation and pure nonsense to be published. And in so many ways simple coincidence is taken as “causality,” even when the simple association of people, places, or events would not lead to a conclusion of collusion or secret dealings. Nonetheless, some people love conspiracy theories, and such theories flourish when they go unchallenged. Such is the lot of the Masons, and Brown’s important contribution might be to open the eyes of non-Masons and encourage them to explore in greater depth the Masonic beliefs and traditions. Langdon does dismiss the “misinformation about the Masons” that his students, as well as today’s readers, can find on the Internet to inform their “surprisingly warped conceptions about the brotherhood” (26). Readers who do decide to study and pursue this topic further should be careful to evaluate the sources and the veracity of the claims in the flood of information they will be exposed to.
ANTI MASONRY: POINTS OF VIEW
www.masonicinfo.com
PIETRE-STONES: REVIEW OF FREEMASONRY
www.freemasons-freemasonry.com
YORK RITE MASONRY VIDEO
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwdP2Cf_knA
