Origin of Freemasonry

supayazazel (33)in #history • 6 years ago

Appeared in Europe between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, modern masonry has often been described as "a peculiar system of morality, under the veil of allegories and taught by symbols". It presents itself as a training tool, with a particular method based on the symbolism of construction, allowing its members to develop their capacity for listening, reflection and dialogue, to transmit these values to their environment.

It is an institution of an initiatory, philanthropic, symbolic, philosophical, discrete, harmonic, selective, hierarchical, international, humanist and with a federal structure, founded on a sense of fraternity. Affirming to aim at the search for truth, the philosophical study of human behavior, science and the arts and the promotion of social and moral development of the human being, guiding him towards his personal evolution, in addition to social progress, and exemplifies its teachings with traditional symbols and allegories taken from masonry or, more specifically, from the Real Art of Construction, that is, from the builders of medieval cathedrals

The squadron (symbol of virtue) and the compass (symbol of the limits with which any Freemason should stand with respect to others) are perhaps the two best-known Masonic symbols. Here also appear the letters "G" and "A", which represent the Great Architect of the Universe

The compass has been considered among us as the emblem of the exact sciences. The notion of rule, of righteousness or is also on the other hand in the base of the Chinese kuei. The degrees of the opening of the compass symbolize, in the Masonic tradition, the possibilities and the degrees of knowledge, 45 ° refers to the eighth, 60 ° to the sixth and 90 ° to the fourth. Freemasonry, by limiting the opening of the compass to 90 ° maximum, indicates with it the limits that the individual would not know how to penetrate. The 90 ° angle reproduces the square. Since the squadron is, as we know, the symbol of matter; the compass is the symbol of the spirit and its power over matter. The compass opened at 45 ° indicates that the material is not completely dominated, while the 90 ° opening fully realizes the balance between the two forces; the compass becomes just square.

The Great Architect of the Universe, usually expressed with the acronym GADU, is a traditional symbol in Freemasonry whose content, interpretation and relevance vary according to the masonic current in question.

For the Anglo-Saxon current, the GADU represents the Supreme Being, a Masonic principle whose belief and invocation in the practice of the rite are essential. For the continental current, establishing the condition of belief in a Supreme Being means limiting the freedom of conscience of its members, so neither the belief in the GADU nor its invocation are prescriptive.

The three degrees of Freemasonry are:

Apprentice - is the first degree, that of the initiates, with which a person becomes a Mason; in this degree the Mason, faces himself and must overcome, beginning to control their passions (excess of the 5 senses).
Companion - is an intermediate degree, where the Mason is dedicated to learning; in this degree the Mason sees how the outside world perceives it and learns to perceive the outside world.
Teacher - is the third grade, in which the Mason is required to participate in most aspects of the lodge and Freemasonry. In this degree, the Mason is confronted with the reality of death, faces the immortality of the soul and eternal life.

Just as white (color of the Degree) is the synthesis of all colors, the 33rd Degree is the synthesis of all the previous Degrees. The Free Mason has acquired the universal gnosis, like the Eagle with open wings that carries in its flight a sword between the claws: The light that expands on the world. And in the film, under the sword, is the emblem of Richard Heart of Lion: Deus Meumque Jus, since "having been created in the fullness of our rights, we all have the right to exercise them without exception." The initiation process has ended. The Eagle insists with its liberating and enlightening flight to achieve the constitution of the Holy Empire and the restoration of the assiduous Golden Age.