Page 158 - Global Freemasonry

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

murmur words in Ancient Egyptian, stand before columns modeled on
Ancient Egyptian temples in silver aprons, white gloves and even more
strange costumes and make profound oaths. If a person who knows noth-
ing about Masonry is brought into one of their lodges, he will probably
think that he is visiting a comedy film-set, and perhaps not be able to stop

himself from laughing when he sees Masons in the course of the initiation
ceremony, with their eyes blindfolded, ropes around their necks, and
walking around with one bare foot. But, Masons, living in their secret
world, regard these strange ceremonies as very normal, and find psycho-
logical satisfaction in the mystical atmosphere of their lodges. After these
ceremonies, they sit and talk with one another about their beliefs that
"atoms have spirits and come together to form living things," that "the

world attained its balance because of the hidden intelligence in magma," or
that Mother Nature has created us very well" and other myths. This whole
charade is staged only to preserve tradition, and is so clearly devoid of rea-
son that it is amazing that such a system of ideas could still survive and be
defended.

The Masons' blind attachment to their traditions clearly shows the
great importance they give to the idea of the "landmark." A landmark is a
place or object that symbolizes something that has historical importance
or meaning. In Masonic language, landmarks are the rules that have been
passed down unchanged since the foundation of the organization. Why
did they not change? The Masons offer an interesting answer to this ques-

tion. An article published in Mimar Sinan in 1992 says:
Masonry's Landmarks are very old laws that have been passed on from
age to age and generation to generation. No one knows when they
appeared and no one has the right to change them or cancel them.
They are written and unwritten laws of the society. The unwritten laws
can be learned only from the rituals and rites of the lodge. There are six
written laws that can be found under the title "The Obligations of a
Freemason" first published in the English Constitution in 1723. 117

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