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A Freemason Loose in San Francisco
When you think of San Francisco, Freemasonry is probably the last thing to come to mind. But David Miller of the SF Gate has a short and fairly interesting interview with a regular 26 year old guy who recently joined the Freemasons.
It’s not terribly in-depth, but there is some interesting stuff in it:
What do your friends think about your joining the Freemasons?
It’s quite funny to try to explain it to them. They’re like, “Isn’t that some sort of satanic cult?” It can be tough, especially in San Francisco. I don’t come across a lot of people my age wanting to talk about God, religion or righteousness. When I’ve tried to bring these things up at bars or parties, the conversation tends to die, although I think that is changing.
I think a lot of younger people are getting tired of our increasingly materialistic and shallow culture, and are looking for something more traditional. I know that was part of the appeal for me. You can only hang out in bars and go to shows for so long. I felt like I needed something more relevant and lasting.
That’s a really interesting point that I tend to forget: how you’re not supposed to discuss religion (or politics) in polite company. This is one of those social niceties that would never even occur to me because I’m pretty much constantly bathed in people talking about religion. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Question for readers: do you have people in the “real world” that you can talk about religion with? Have you ever had a really bad experience talking with somebody about religion socially? I bet there are some funny anecdotes out there around this topic.
(Also check out this “video game” called Secrets of Freemasonry - it’s actually more of a documentary in video game style, but looks cool anyway. I downloaded it but haven’t watched it yet)
December 15th, 2005 at 1:25 am
Most of the people I deal with are very hard to talk to on anything outside of normal dualistic conversation (Evolution vs Creation, Democrats vs Republicans, US vs Iraq, Iran, Terrorism, etc). No room for real open thoughts, no ability to question “official stories”. No room for “conspiracy”, philosophy, or anything outside of dogmatic religions (even if they don’t follow it).
One of my college friends, a rather simple guy (likes video games, drinking, and WWII-related things), is pretty easy to talk about when it comes to philosophy (like Star Wars and other Sci-Fi), even if he doesn’t really understand it. But, whenever I mention anything related to “conspiracy theory”, it’s like a switch is flipped. His normal, jovial mood is replaced by a saddened, hardened look, and he usually just says, “I’d rather not talk about that”. It’s like the cognitive dissonance is too great for him to handle, and he crawls into his shell, and tries to make it go away. It’s a little disheartening to see, but I’ve learned to accept that some people just can’t handle what’s “outside the box”. They just want (as one of my roommates says) sex, food, and sleep (with some beer when necessary).
December 15th, 2005 at 1:31 am
Sex, food, beer and sleep! Sign me up!
December 15th, 2005 at 5:34 am
You guys don’t live in the real world? Curses. I should have known this was all a dream.
Believe it or not, I HAVE been known to sit around discussing the mysteries of religion, politics, science, and all the rest. The conversations usually end up with people cracking jokes left, right, and centre, but there have been a few that enlightened me to certain alternative views of the world.
December 15th, 2005 at 6:11 am
Yeh, people tend to crack plenty of jokes, but I understand why. If the information is too threatening to their worldviews, a very powerful defense mechanism is to make fun of the incoming information. Unfortunately, I have yet to have the opportunity to truly sit down with someone who has an “enlightening” opinion (I like to call it a brain fuck, but I guess that’s just my phallic-nature, lol).
December 15th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
hell, you’ll have a hard time convincing any liberal minded person the values of manory or intiation (unless undgone in a very self uneffecting manner as daniel pinchbeck). try talking to people about magick and crowley. i choose my words like battles, to what affect will my intentions have in talking about this? for me to even remotely suggest what im interested in is not the point: i’m not here to educate humanity, feed people good feelings, or egaltarian crap. all are not equal in gnosis and kowledge and damn it, they dont have to be! i’d rather extend gnosis and knowledge to who seek it by sharing with people that can do the same for me. reading a book does not provide gnosis any more than buying jewlery makes you a pagan. people have no idea what belief means any more. as i live in san fransico, i want to check that article out. i’ve read all the very well published masonic “secrets” and the real secrets is what you undergo in the process of change.
December 15th, 2005 at 4:34 pm
people are hesitant to delve into areas of religion and the occult because they don`t generally have anything to say. the people who`ve had negative religious experiences will go quiet and those in religion will be offended by the opinion of a person not of thier faith. i am thankfull to have one or two friends that i can explore issues with that are cynical enough to bear the heat, as it were. i have burned a few bridges with people who i believed were flexible enough (a flexible baptist, haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!) to go around theological corners. but no. dogma bites.
December 15th, 2005 at 5:29 pm
Exactly! Nobody seems to understand any of this shit. It’s weird.
December 15th, 2005 at 5:50 pm
to add to be above comment, ideas of Nietzsche said that “the herd heres the wise man speak and blinks they too are wise.” or something similar. for people that are somewhat unaware of Masonic-based symbolsim, the Ordo Templi Orientis does a much better job in my opinion for seekers of the Gnosis.
December 15th, 2005 at 5:53 pm
man im in a dyslexic tumble today. repost: to add to my above comment, Nietzsche said that “the herd heres the wise man speak and blinks they too are wise,” or something very similar. for people that are somewhat unaware of Masonic-based symbolsim and systems of initiation, the Ordo Templi Orientis does a much better job, in my opinion, for male and female seekers of the Gnosis.
December 15th, 2005 at 8:06 pm
Nobody seems to understand any of this shit. It’s weird. ++
That’s the tricvk of it. Everyone wants a mystical or paranormal experience, a message from god, etc. The real trick is the transformation one undergoes while looking for it…that’s exactly why Freemasonry throws up symbols and allegories rather than just handing you a piece of paper that says “Be good to people, be responsible, clean up after yourself, and love your family.” People need help figuring out why.
December 15th, 2005 at 11:21 pm
“Because virtue is its own reward! Now clean up your room!”
December 16th, 2005 at 12:57 am
Fuck, it’s like all these little things you fixate on while you’re out there looking, trying to find the answer… those things don’t really matter in the end, do they? They’re just something to keep your attention focused, a symbol to hold in the mind while you’re transforming yourself. You think you’re solving the problem, but you’ve really just externalized the problems, put fancy clothes on them, because it’s easier to relate to that way. Great stuff. And no wonder they make it all mystical and secretive, because if you’re at the wrong stage of the game, and you hear what I just said, you arent ready for it and flip out….
In a way, it kind of makes me wonder about how people are always trying to implicate the Masons, etc into conspiracy theories. Because when you’re trying to understand a conspiracy, you’re doing exactly the same thing as I described above, latching onto reflections of your own turmoil. So it’s almost like even if you aren’t a member of the Masons, somehow you still have access to a less structured version of the transformative powers of their symbolism….
But it doesn’t matter! Hot dog!
December 18th, 2005 at 10:55 am
It would be interesting to hear from someone who applied to join and was rejected,
what the rejection was based on.
December 18th, 2005 at 11:27 am
Sorry, I submitted that without any context…I went to the interview link and read, in it he says he applied and was interviewed by 3 persons and then accepted. But is not allowed to attend some events.
December 19th, 2005 at 12:54 am
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