Freemasons – National Geographic
Weller/Grossman Production
©2006 NGC NETWORK, US, LLC
Washington D.C. Capital City of the world Superpower. A city built to impress. A series of intersecting diagonals laid out on a grid. With each significant building carefully placed. It's also a city of symbols and secrets. But is there more to the design of Washington than meets the eye. The capital is the masterwork of a city planner; Frenchman Pierre L'Enfant, an old army buddy of George Washington. The First President played a key role in turning L'Enfant's visions into a reality that still can be seen today.
At the time, Washington was not just the first president of the United States. He was also a brother in the clandestine fraternity known as the Freemasons.
Dr. Steven C. Bullock, Author of Revolutionary Brotherhood: "There's a belief that built into that very strange city design that there are secret symbols. That they are Masonic emblems hidden in there."
High resolution satellite imaging provides a bird's eye view of what my be hidden in the layout of the nation's capital. First along the White House corridor, one of the Mason's most recognizable symbols; a compass. Then another symbol; the Masonic square emanating from Union Square. And even more intriguing, the pentagram, with it's roots to pagan worship and ties to Satanism can be traced throughout the major landmarks of northwest Washington. The final point of the star, the White House.
Compasses, squares, pentagrams; is this just a coincidence or this really a message. A message left by the Freemasons.
Brent Morris, Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal: "Freemasonry is a fraternity. To join the fraternity of Freemasons is to enter into the fraternity of fellowship with likeminded men."
Freemasonry is also known as the Craft. It's roots go back to the stonemason guilds of the middle ages. But by the late 17th and 18th centuries, it evolved into the gentlemen's club we know today.
From the United Kingdom, the exclusively male Masonic brotherhood spread to the continent and throughout the British colonies, including those in India and North America. There are currently more than 3 Million Freemasons worldwide. Freemasonry is most prominent in the United States with almost 2 Million members.
It is one the most significant moments in American History. The signing of a document that gave birth to a nation. Historical fact: Nine of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were Freemasons, and as the nation would grow, so would the Freemasons. Fifteen of the 43 American Presidents are also part of the fraternity.
Brent Morris, Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal: "Many people believe that the masons are much more powerful than they are; that we are force behind the founding of the United States, that we were the secret power behind the throne, that we have put our secret emblems on the dollar bill, that we are out to control the world."
Some claim the evidence of the Freemasons is there for all of us to see.
An all seeing eye sits on top of an unfinished pyramid. The all seeing eye is a pervasive Masonic symbol and could be seen on the mason's buildings all over the world. From a building in London, to a chair is Scotland, to a wall in Washington, D.C. To the Masons it represents God's mastery of the Universe.
Dr. Robert Heronimus, Author, Founding Fathers, Secret Societies: "Anti-masons look at the eye in the triangle and say "this is Satan or Lucifer in control of a group of individuals that are going to do his bidding. That's why the eye of the triangle is over the great pyramid."
Secret codes, hidden meanings; they've always been a part of the Freemasons' history, but the Masons claim that they are not a secret society at all. Rather, they are a society with secrets.
Dr. Steven C. Bullock, Author of Revolutionary Brotherhood: "The fact that we have secret handshakes, the fact that we have passwords, the fact that our meetings are private, is simply going to fuel the fires of their paranoia. Masons value secrecy as part of their tradition, and they are going to maintain it."
It is this insistence on secrecy that has placed the Freemasons at the center of history's most convoluted conspiracies.
Some blame them for Jack the Ripper's murderous rampage:
It's a chilling autumn night on a dark street in London. September 30, 1888. For the second time that night, a victim, a woman, lies dead; disemboweled, her throat slashed. Police see that this is no ordinary murder. It may be the work of the infamous Jack the Ripper. To this day, his murderous crime spree remains unsolved. But why?
One clue might be in a cryptic message chalked onto a wall near the square where the fourth murder took place: "the Jews are the men that would not be blamed for nothing". And what of the horrific way the body of Catherine Eddowes and other ripper victims was mutilated. Some say clues to this mystery leads straight to the Masons. From the Legend of Hiram Abiff.
According to the Masons, Hiram Abiff was the Master Mason who held the secrets to the world's greatest structure, King Solomon's Temple, but his knowledge would cost him his life. Three fellow craftsman confront Hiram, and demand to know his secrets in order to become Master Masons. Hiram refuses to betray his secret trusts. One cuts Hiram's throat with a rule, another stabs him in the heart with a square, and the third delivers the fatal blow with a setting ball. The killers names are Jubala, Jubalo and Jubalum. Could they be the Jews referred to at the Ripper murder scene. What happens next to the murders is yet another tantalizing clue in the case. According to Masonic legend, after King Solomon ties the three Jews to Hiram's murder, he orders the three ritually killed; their throats cut, their internal organs removed; and that has led some straight to the Ripper case. The Ripper mutilated his victims in a similar fashion and some believe the strange message left behind at the murder scene refers to Hiram's killers; Jubala, Jubalo and Jubalum. What's more, this strange clue was ordered erased by London's top police official, Sir Charles Warren. Warren wasn't just the chief of police, he was also a member of the Craft, a mason. But the Mason's deny any connection to the Rippers crimes. They say they never use the term "Jews" in any of their ceremonies.
The legend of Hiram Abiff is an intrinsic part of one of Freemasonry's most solemn ceremonies; the raising of a fellow to a Master Mason, a.k.a. the 3rd Degree.
Rumors and conspiracy theories have swirled around the Masons for centuries. But why? What is it about this group of men that attracts such negative attention? Just who are the Freemasons?
Behind the closed doors of Naval Lodge, Washington, D.C., a scene unfolds; secret ceremonies and centuries old rituals take place on a regular basis. But tonight, National Geographic's Channels cameras roll as the Masons install a new Master. It is a rare, inside view of the Craft. Even today in the age of information, the veil of secrecy still lies over the Freemasons. The "Tiler", a Masonic officer elected by his brethren stands guard at the door of their meetings charged with preventing cowens[?] or eavesdroppers from learning the mason's secrets. It's a tradition hundreds of years in the making.
Although their legends trace their lineage back to biblical times, the real history of the Freemasons begins with the operative stonemasons of the middle ages; the builders of the great cathedrals and castles of Europe.
Thomas Jackson, Exec. Sec. World Conference of Grand Masonic Lodges: "Early _____________ masons…you had to keep an ability to producing something that the average man could not produce."
Richard Leigh, The Temple and the Lodge: "Being able to calculate things and have them work out at the other end in concrete reality seemed to be a magical operation and the person who could perform such operations was regarded as a magician."
The stonemasons jealously guarded the secrets of their trade. They developed secret handshakes and passwords in order to identify a fellow member of their craft. Then, during the enlightenment, a major change; wealthy aristocrats were allowed to join the guilds. They did not work in stone. They were called "Accepted or Speculative Masons". The Gentlemen were not just attracted by the secret and practical knowledge the stonemasons had, but also by the opportunity to fraternize, to meet in an exclusive club.
Dr. Steven C. Bullock, Author of Revolutionary Brotherhood: "By the time to get to the early 1700s, it's no longer a labor union, it is a gentlemen's club. Something happened. You see the train enter the tunnel and its painted red, and when it comes out of the tunnel, its painted green, and somewhere in the tunnel someone painted it, and we don't know who was in the tunnel and we don't know why they chose to paint it. That's sort of what happened to freemasonry."
1717 was a landmark year for the Freemasons. They established the United Grand Lodge of England which had authority over all lodges in England as well as the right to charter or create any new lodges. To go along with this central new authority, the Grand Lodge decided that it needed to formalize the rights, rituals and history of the Freemasons. The Masons chose James Anderson, a Scottish Presbyterian Minister living in London for the job.
Anderson examined the existing documents and recent histories and codified them into a book called "The Constitutions of the Freemasons". It was published in 1723. One of the rules laid out in Anderson's Constitution is that: in order to become a Freemason, one must believe in God or supreme being, but it did not spell out 'who' or 'what' God was. The constitutions also forbid political discussions in the lodge and required masons to be good citizens.
The two main branches of masonry also developed during the 18th century. The Scottish Rite came from France, the York Rite from England. Both required masons to go through three levels or degrees. A mason's journey begins with the 1st degree known as the "Entered Apprentice." The next step is to become a "Fellow Craft", and the final step is the "Master Mason" a.k.a. the 3rd Degree.
The Scottish Rite offers 33 additional degrees while the York Rite only offers 10.
"Each of the degrees conveys a different moral and ethical principle and an obligee should do a different commitment within the Craft."
The highest degree in the York Rite is known as the Masonic order of the Knights Templar.
Mark Tabbert, Director of Collections Masonic National Library: "What distinguishes Knight Templar-ism for any other organization is that it is specifically a Christian organization. A man of any faith can join any part of Freemasonry except the Knights Templar. To be a Knight's Templar you need to be a professed Christian."
It's not the only link between the Freemasons and the Knights Templar. In 1736, Chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsay wrote a speech that cause quite a stir among the Freemasons.
"Ramsay's Oration" as it is known, put forth the theory that the masons were descended from the crusading knights of the holy land not the medieval stoneworkers. Although Ramsey never mentioned the Knights Templar by name in his oration, the Templars had a romantic and mysterious history and some Freemasons were quick to jump to conclusions. This connection to the medieval Knights Templar, whether true or false, put the Freemasons in the crosshairs of conspiracy theorists for years to come.
Edinburg, Scotland, January 2002. A motion is set before Scotland's Parliament. New guidelines that would require all Freemasons in government to register their memberships the motion is defeated.
Robert Cooper, Curator, Grand Lodge of Scotland Museum and Library: "In receipt times, there have been suggestions made that Freemasons should reveal themselves publicly and be recorded as Freemasons in some form of public register. Why that should be necessary is simply beyond me and beyond most Freemasons to phantom. Freemasonry has been around in Scotland for over 400 years and freemasonry is just about as Scottish as whiskey is."
The intricately carved walls of Rosslyn Chapel, a small church outside of Edinburg, Scotland may hold traces of the early Scottish masons. Known as the 'cathedral of codes', the carvings date back to the mid 15th century. Some images of _____________ a gravestone, may be evidence of the secretive and powerful Knights Templar presence in Scotland as well.
In Dan Brown's worldwide best seller, "The Da Vinci Code," the Knights Templar were at the center of the mystery surrounding the Holy Grail. The novel charts their journey from Solomon's Temple, across Europe and eventually to Roslin Chapel.
Historical records show the Templar's path to Scotland actually stared in the Middle East. In 1118, a French nobleman, Hugues de Payens established the poor fellow soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon in order to protect pilgrims on the road to the Holy Land. Originally composed of just nine knights, the Templars grew in power and prestige over the course of the next two centuries. Establishing one to first international banking systems. The Templars carefully kept the secrets of their order. They were suspected of conducting bizarre rites and initiation ceremonies. A number of European kings felt threatened by the Templar's wealth and influence, especially King Philip the IV of France.
So on October 13th, 1307, King Philip ordered the Templars disbanded, but the Templars may not have been completely destroyed. Some conspiracy theorists believe they may have found a safe haven in Scotland. Their secret rituals and initiations may have influenced the original Scottish stonemasons who later in the 17th and 18th centuries evolved into the fraternity know as the Freemasons.
Gargoyles, angels and mysterious symbols cover every available surface in Rosslyn. Images both pious and pagan in nature. At the opposite side of the church, are these crouching angels with their bent knees and hands over their hearts; poses strikingly similar to the ones the masons still use to this day in their rituals. And this stunning apprentice pillar stands to their right of the alter. The pillar and the legend behind it has strong overtones as well. It deals with working in stone and the relationship between the master mason and his apprentice the highest and the lowest degrees of freemasonry.
"The story is simple this: the master mason in charge was given drawings of the pillar and asked to carve it. The original pillar was said to be in Rome and so he wrangled himself a nice vacation across to Rome in order to have a look at the original pillar. Whilst he was away however, his apprentice, probably getting impatient, decided that he would carve the pillar himself. When he returned, lo and behold he finds that the apprentice has already done what he said he could not do. In a fit of rage, he picked up a heavy setting mold and killed the apprentice."
These three heads above the baptistery are said to represent the Master, the murdered Apprentice and his Weeping Mother. There is no concrete proof between the connection between the Freemasons and the Knights Templar. Conspiracy theorists, however, link the two groups 543 miles to the South in the streets of Paris.
In 1789, the French people rose up in revolt against King Louis 16th in the firestorm of the French Revolution. For the first time in history, the people seized the power from a sitting king.
Daniel Pipes, Director, The Middle East Forum: "The French Revolution was something different. It was bigger, it was hard to explain, it broke the rules, and those of us who try to understand it, figure there must be someone or some small group of people who are behind it."
And suspicion landed squarely on the Freemasons. According to conspiracy theorists, the masons were avenging the Knights Templar. Philip the 4th had destroyed the Knights Templars in 1307 and now the mason's were lashing out against his descendant, Louis the 16th.
In 1797, a book called "Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism" was published by A. Barruel, a French priest.
"Barruel propagated the charge, the accusation, that the Revolution had been orchestrated by Freemasonry to topple the church. Barruel became the launch pad, the soil in which virtually all subsequent and anti Masonic theories were rooted."
Despite Augustin Barruel's assertions, there were very few scholars who believe the Freemasons were really responsible for the revolution.
"I have no doubt that some Freemasons participated in the French Revolution. It was a massive event and many people were part of it, but to ascribe to the Freemasons a plan, a set of goals that the French Revolution was part of, is a preposterous idea. No one controlled this. It was spontaneous."
But the Revolution sparked a wave of paranoia and unease that some continue to feel today. The conspiracy charges behind the Freemasons and the _____________[scene cut]
The members of Naval Lodge #4 located in Washington, D.C. have gathered to offer a rare glimpse into one of the Masons most treasured ceremonies. The installation of a new Master. There Freemasons have performed ceremonies like these behind closed doors for centuries and the tradition continues today. In the United States alone, there are approximately 2 million Master Masons. Conspiracy theorists in America are suspicious of the Mason's secrecy and their alleged power. It's been that way from the beginning since even before the United States was established.
American independence began with an event staged by men in disguise under the cover of darkness; the Boston Tea Party. On December 16th 1773 dozens of colonists boarded three British ships, the Dartmouth, the Beaver and the Eleanor. Fifty men split open 342 crates of tea with axes, and tossed the tea into the harbor. Earlier that night, the rebels had rendezvoused at the Green Dragon Tavern, the weekly meeting place for a Masonic lodge; the Lodge of Saint Andrew.
Dr. Steven C. Bullock, Author of Revolutionary Brotherhood: "There is a picture from that period, a hand-drawn picture for the period which says 'This is where we planned the Tea Party'."
And so the theory is born. The masons were creating chaos again. They planned and executed the Boston Tea Party. But did they?
The Boston Tea Party may have involved some masons but it was staged by a radical group called, the Sons of Liberty, not the Freemasons.
Mark Tabbert, Director of Collections Masonic National Library: "While many individual men who were Freemasons who participated in the Boston Tea Party, they did not gather together as masons to do that. the were involved in other revolutionary organizations, so it's a cross-membership."
The Freemasons' alleged involvement in the revolution does not end with the Tea Party. When the British arrived enforce almost a year and a half later, a warning went out amongst the colonists carried by Paul Revere. The man on horseback was also a mason.
He was not alone; George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock were also prominent Freemasons. But enemies of the Craft have exaggerated or overemphasized the role of the Freemasons. They claim the Freemasons wrote the Declaration of Independence. In truth only 9 of the 55 who signed it were Masons and its author Thomas Jefferson was not one of the them and when it comes to the U.S. Constitution, only 13 of the 39 were approved the document were or later became a Freemason.
Brent Morris, Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal: "Freemasons indeed were influential in the founding of our country. You can rattle off a list of Masonic revolutionaries and it's a who's who. George Washington leads the list, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, the Marquis de Lafayette, those were all Freemasons. So was Benedict Arnold. We don't make a big a deal about Benedict Arnold as we do about George Washington."
Thomas Jackson, Exec. Sec. World Conference of Grand Masonic Lodges: "Freemasons certainly did have a major impact on the creation of the United States of America. Freemasonry itself, did not."
But what about the unfinished pyramid and all seeing eye on the one dollar bill. The image on the single is actually the great seal of the United States. The seal was originally designed by a committee that included Ben Franklin, a mason. It may sound suspicious, but neither the eye nor the pyramid were Franklin's ideas and Franklin never put the seal on the dollar bill. That happened in 1935 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a 32nd degree mason, ordered the change. Still the Freemasons deny that there is any hidden message on the seal.
Thomas Jackson, Exec. Sec. World Conference of Grand Masonic Lodges: "The all seeing eye on the reverse side of that dollar on top of that pyramid simply represents the all seeing eye of God and its used by numerous organizations for that same purpose it certainly is not a limited Masonic emblem.
The lists and the allegations go on. That the streets of the Capitol city are laid out in a certain pattern to form the square and the compasses, the emblem of the Freemasons. Some believe that a satanic pentagram was also incorporated into the city's design. That the Washington monument is an Egyptian style obelisk a pagan inspired icon; and when George Washington laid the foundation stone for the U.S. capital, he did it in full Masonic regalia, but the Masons deny the allegations about their symbols being placed in Washington, D.C.'s layout.
Thomas Jackson, Exec. Sec. World Conference of Grand Masonic Lodges: "You could probably go to any major city in the world and lay the square and compasses on the street maps of that city and it would fit conveniently in some location.
Brent Morris, Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal: "They point to this inverted pentagram pointing to the White House and say 'oh my gosh! This is a sign that the masons and their satanic cabal have taken over the world.' Well, if you look at the map, if you look at the street, its not completed. I kind of wonder to myself, if the Masons are so all powerful that they could stick this secret pentagram into the layout, so how come they didn't complete it ?
On the other hand, America has certainly been influenced by the presence of the masons. If you've ever used the lines "on the level," "be square with someone," and "given the 3rd degree," you have the masons to thank, and every time a gavel strikes in a court room you might be hearing a bit of Masonic tradition.
The Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency and the United Nations; are these part of a military industrial complex that help protect and defend the nations of the free world, or is it a nameless secretive government; accountable to no one initiated by Harry S. Truman? He wasn't just the 33rd president of the United States, he was also a 33rd degree grand master mason.
Brent Morris, Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal: "If you view the ending of World War II with atomic bomb and the United Nations as bad things, then obviously you would view Harry Truman as a bad person and if you want to conclude that it was the Masonic influence, you certainly can. Of course it could have been the Baptist that did it also. Harry Truman was a Baptist longer than he was a mason, uh, so maybe it was the Baptist that were responsible for dropping an atomic bomb and the United Nations."
The claims against Truman formed a basis of 20th and 21st century charges against the modern masons. With membership centered around some of the most powerful names in the public eye; J. Edgar Hoover, Charles Lindbergh, Bob Dole, Arthur MacArthur, John J. Pershing, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the guise of a secret Masonic power base gained credence. How else could so many Masonic brothers rise to such important positions within society? Rather than dispel the rumors, the Freemasons have maintained their veil of secrecy, until now.
In order to offer a clearer understanding of the Craft, members of Naval Lodge #4 in Washington, D.C. opened their doors to National Geographic. They offered a rare glimpse into the inner workings and earliest traditions of their organization. The officers installation ceremony.
Robert Cooper, Curator, Grand Lodge of Scotland Museum and Library: "An Installation Ceremony is essentially to install the Master of a Lodge. All the office _____________ are also installed into various positions within the Lodge. So it's really a big day for most Freemasons and very pleasant and enjoyable too.
It all begins with a brief introduction by the Grand Master of Washington, D.C. The Lodge's chaplain head towards the alter. Adorned with a Tanakh or Hebrew scriptures, a Koran and a Bible offering a testament to the spiritual diversity recognized by masonry today.
Ceremony: Grand architect of the universe, God of all beings of all worlds and of all times we pray.
The ceremony is riddled with ancient traditions dating back hundreds of years. The most elaborate and symbolic part of the service is the installation of the Worshipful Master, the head of a Masonic lodge. During this process the Master is given certain objects symbolizing the qualities he needs to lead the lodge.
Ceremony: The Rule directs that we should punctually observe our duty press forward into the path of virtue and neither inclining to the right nor to the left in all our actions have eternity in view. The line teaches the criterion of moral rectitude. So avoid the simulation in conversation and action and to direct our step to the path which leads to a glorious immortality.
Every officer installed is also given a jewel which he wears round his neck signifying his individual duty. For example, he senior warden is entrusted with a level, representing a sign to all masons to meet on the level without regard to social, political or religious status.
Dr. Robert Hieromimus, Author, Founding Fathers, Secret Societies: "The rituals are symbolic. Freemasonry is more about symbolism than it is about the physical world, because symbols are a real important connection to our consciousness. They know that looking at a symbol is going to give you more information internally than any amount of words that you can discuss or talk about, so they build mysteries around these symbols."
Who are the Freemasons in the 21st century? They claim to be a fraternal organization. Dedicated to taking good men and making them better. They also claim to being philanthropists, donating large sums of money to charity, but despite their good works, suspicions remain.
Elaborate ceremonies, mysterious symbols, and ancient rituals only add fuel to the fire of conspiracy theories surrounding Freemasonry. Some conspiracy theorists even go so far as to say that masons run the entire world.
Dr. Steven C. Bullock, Author of Revolutionary Brotherhood: "I don't think that Freemasons run the world. I don't even think that Freemasons want to run the world."
Thomas Jackson, Exec. Sec. World Conference of Grand Masonic Lodges: Freemasonry, certainly, has never had any intent to become involved with a worldwide domination of a civil society. We do hope that we can have some influence on the evolution of that civil society in a direction that promotes the rights, the freedom and equality of mankind."
Although Freemasons deny the accusations, they do confess to keeping their share of secrets.
Daniel Pipes, Director, The Middle East Forum: "I think part of the allure of freemasonry was the secrecy. I think it was benign secrecy. It was a secrecy back in the 17th and 18th century that was necessary in order to conduct open, liberal secular discussions. We today associate secret groups with revolutionaries."
Robert Cooper, Curator, Grand Lodge of Scotland Museum and Library "Freemasons and privacy is not different from virtually every other walk of life. Every family has it's secrets it want to keep private, every corporation has its boardroom secrets that it wants to keep private, every government has secrets within the highest levels of the organizations."
The Freemasons, however, just seem to be a lightening rod for negative attention. Their insistence on secrecy does not help their reputation. Could a nameless serial killer be identified as a mason? Can the overthrow of a King? The founding of nation, and the control over world economies all be the secret manipulations of Freemasonry. Whether conspiracy theory or dark secret, the absolute truth about the Freemasons may never be known.
Brent Morris, Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal: "I took a promise that I would not discuss it, that I would not tell anyone what the secrets are. No I don't care if you know what the secrets are. Heavens, if you're an intelligent person, you can find them in less than an hour's worth of work. Uh, but I'm not gonna tell ya. It's a matter of honor. I told you I wouldn't."
