F.A.Q.

(Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions)

I. FREEMASONRY

I.1. Is a 33° freemason more important than a 3° freemason?
No.
There are three degrees in Freemasonry: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason. Some jurisdictions recognize a fourth degree as completing the third degree, while the Swedish Rite confers ten degrees.
Individual lodges elect their "Master" for a one or two year term, individual Grand Lodges elect their "Grand Master" for a similar term of office, but these are not degrees. What are called appendant or concordant bodies confer additional or "side" degrees that have no bearing on or authority over regular Freemasonry. [With the exception of a few jurisdictions such as the Grand East of the Netherlands and the National Grand Lodge of Sweden.] The most important concept to note is that freemasons meet as equals, "on the level".

I.2. What does A.F. & A.M. mean?
Ancient Free and Accepted Masonry.
Although the words represent historical ties, they are no indication of recognition or ritual. The definitions noted are not absolute in that several grand jurisdictions arbitrarily chose which terms to include in their name when they were constituted. Those Grand Lodges that don't use the appellation "Ancient", claim immediate descent from the "Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons under the constitution of England".
This Grand Lodge was constituted from four lodges on June 24, 1717 and designated "Modern", or premier. The "Moderns" and "Ancients" united in November 25, 1813 to form the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England [now styled the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England].
Lodges and Grand Lodges whose charters' roots derive from the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England, The Grand Lodge of Ireland, or the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland, use the expression, A∴F∴ & A∴M∴
Ancient or Antient freemasons:
Mostly Irish freemasons formed this Grand Lodge in London in 1751. Properly titled "Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England according to the Old Institutions". Also called Atholl freemasons, after the Third and Fourth Dukes of Atholl.
Free:
One theory is that a Free Mason was free with his Guild; he had the freedom of its privileges and was entrusted with certain rights. Another theory is that he was qualified to work in freestone, a soft stone used in ornamentation.
Free and Accepted:
This term was first used in 1722 in the Roberts Print; "The Old Constitutions belonging to the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons".
Accepted:
"Acception" was an Inner Fraternity of Speculative freemasons found within the Worshipful Company of Masons of the City of London. Operative members were "admitted" by apprenticeship, patrimony, or redemption; speculative members were "accepted". The first recorded use of the term dates from 1620.
Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. Albert G. Mackey. Virginia: Macoy Publishing. 1966.

I.3. Is Freemasonry anti-(insert religion)?
No.
Although a few individual masonic authors have commented unfavourably on individual religions, many more have written about the value of religion and religions. Freemasonry as a body is indifferent to religion, insofar as it has no opinion on individual religions.

I.4. Is Freemasonry a racist organization?
No.
Freemasonry has no bar to membership based on race, religion or creed. If there have been freemasons who have voted to reject an applicant for one of these reasons, it was an act inconsistent with masonic principles.

I.5. Do freemasons worship Satan?
No.
Freemasonry, not being a religion by any definition, does not "worship" any specific supreme being. Individual freemasons, dedicated to the principles of faith, hope and charity, brotherly love, relief and truth, by definition would not recognize Satan as a supreme being.
The baseless accusation goes back to the earliest days of recorded Freemasonry when-in the words of Dr. George Oliver-freemasons were: '...charged with the practice of forbidden arts; as for instance "raising the devil in a circle;" though the use they made of his infernal majesty does not appear; but from hints scattered about in other places we may surmise that it was for the purposes of divination, the discovery of hidden treasures, and other illegal designs, which were more openly avowed in the innovations of continental Masonry.' An anti-masonic letter, reproduced on page 9 of James Anderson's Constitutions of 1738, claims: "the Freemasons in their lodges, raised the devil in a circle, and when they had done with him, laid him again with a noise or a hush, as they pleased."

I.6. Is it true that members can never quit?
No.
No recognized Grand Lodge jurisdiction can coerce or compel membership. If a member wishes to cease being a freemason, he is free to do so. (Visit the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon website at http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/member.html to see how one jurisdiction treats the issue.)

I.7. Is Freemasonry male chauvinistic?
No.
That Freemasonry does not initiate women is not de facto proof of misogyny. Why then does it not allow women to join? This is a question that is potentially difficult to answer in our current age. There are several answers, none of which are guaranteed to give satisfaction.
At one time the claim was made that there were no female mediaeval stonemasons and therefore there could be no female freemasons. An appeal to tradition is not satisfactory; less so when contemporary research has demonstrated that, albeit few, there were female stonemasons.
The initiation ritual in most jurisdictions was designed to reveal a female potential candidate. There have been enough changes in the ritual over the last 300 years that an appeal to tradition in this case is also unsupportable.
An argument can be made that nothing is allowed to enter a masonic lodge that may lead to dissention among the members. This justifies the exclusion of any discussion of politics or religion, and has also been used to justify the exclusion of women.
A justification has also been proposed that a masonic lodge is, in the current new-age language, the Men's House; that the ritual is a form of male bonding.
The only real justification is that Freemasonry actively promotes and teaches certain social freedoms, one of them being the freedom of association. If freemasons wish to associate in a male-only environment, that then is their right and privilege as free citizens. No other justification or explanation is required.
It should be stressed that although women are not permitted to petition for membership nor attend lodge meetings, the female friends and relatives of freemasons are encouraged to attend or participate in the many social activities organized by lodges. The teachings and beliefs of Freemasonry are in no way or fashion misogynist.
There are two organizations initiating women that style themselves as masonic but are not recognized by regular Freemasonry. If you view you will find more information on them.

I.8. Does Freemasonry have a secret political agenda?
No. But of course we'd say that, wouldn't we?
A long-standing rule within regular English-speaking Freemasonry is a prohibition on the discussion of politics in a lodge and the participation of lodges or masonic bodies in political pursuits. Freemasonry has no politics, but it teaches its members to be active in civic concerns.
The accusation that Freemasonry has a hidden agenda to establish a masonic government ignores several facts. While agreeing on certain Landmarks, the many independent and sovereign Grand Lodges act as such, and do not agree on many other points of belief and practice. Also, as can be seen from our list of famous freemasons, and the next section, individual freemasons hold beliefs that span the spectrum of politics. The term "masonic government" has no meaning since individual freemasons hold many different opinions on what constitutes a good government, and Freemasonry as a body has no opinion on the topic.
A curious accusation is that freemasons are, or Freemasonry is, synarchist. Properly speaking, the word synarchy is derived from a Greek root meaning "to rule jointly" and denotes a government in which the people had a share together with the rulers, or several groups jointly ruled. The earliest usage noted in the Oxford English Dictionary is in a Bible commentary published in 1732.
The Marquis Joseph Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre (1842-1909) redefined synarchy as a "utopian" socio-political alternative to anarchy: "government by an elite of enlightened initiates." Author of a number of occult and socio-political books,1 Saint-Yves popularized the myth of the secret world of "Agartha" and believed in the existence of spiritually superior beings whom he believed he could contact telepathically.
Saint-Yves's philosophy was encapsuled by Umberto Ecco in Foucault's Pendulum, where he described Saint-Yves:
"He was determined to find a political formula that could lead to a more harmonious society. Synarchy in opposition to Anarchy. A European society ruled by three councils representing the economical power, the executive power and the spiritual power, that is, the churches and the scientists. An enlightened oligarchy through which class struggle could be eliminated."
Other popularizers of the term "synarchy" have been Guy Patton and Milko Bogaard.2
While conspiracy theorists and anti-masons will use the term "synarchy" and claim it is masonic, they fail to provide any factual proof but rely on logical fallacy and verbal sleight-of-hand to use the terms of their accusation as the proof of their accusation. Saint-Yves is not known to have been a freemason, but even if he had been, he did not speak for Freemasonry. Further information can be found at .]
1. Mission des juifs (Paris : Calmann Lévy, 1884), Clefs de l'orient (Paris : Didier & Cie, 1877), La théogonie des patriarches, Jésus (Paris : éditá la Librairie Hermétique, 1909), and Mission actuelle des souverains (Paris : E. Dentu, 1882),
2. Web of gold : the secret history of a sacred treasure, Guy Patton and Robin Mackness. London : Sidgwick & Jackson, 2000. xxxi, 331 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.. See Chapter 7: "Unseen Hands and Occult Influences" which refers to both Freemasonry and synarchy. LCCN: 00362642. Also see "Synarchy and Secret Societies" by Milko Bogaard who also writes for the quarterly journal The Rennes Alchemist in the United Kingdom. See vol. i, no. 2 (Feburary 2003), "Antient & Primitive Rite of Memphis Misraim" by Milko Bogaard.

I.9. Well, is Freemasonry liberal or conservative?
Freemasonry has no politics, but it teaches its members to be active in civic concerns. Individual freemasons hold and practice political beliefs that range across the spectrum. In Canada, one-time premier of British Columbia, W.A.C. Bennett was a laisez-faire capitalist, while Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas was a socialist. American masonic presidents have been both Republican and Democrat.
Depending on how one wants to define the terms, freemasons are generally interested in supporting and working within established social structures and could therefore be labelled conservative. On the other hand they are quick to resist such oppressive practices as led to the American War of Independence, so they can also be labelled revolutionaries. In the final analysis, freemasons and Freemasonry cannot be catagorized by their politics.

I.10. Is an Egyptian mystical resurrection ritual the lost secret of Freemasonry?
No.
From ancient Sumar to the present, some form of resurrection story has played a key role in all religions. It is only natural that the Hiramic legend in Craft Freemasonry should be mistaken for yet another version of this story. The "traditional history" or legend of Hiram Abif though, is not about resurrection but teaches the social value of fidelity and acts as a mneumonic for the masonic "modes of recognition". Its history is unknown but links to mediaeval mystery plays appear stronger than any association with Egypt. Any Egyptian iconography or symbolism in masonic concordant bodies can be clearly traced to the wide-spread interest in Egypt in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and not to any lost secret.
"The central figure of the ancient Egyptian Religion was Osiris, and the chief fundamentals of his cult were the belief in his divinity, death, resurrection, and absolute control of the destinies of the bodies and souls of men. The central point of each Osirian's Religion was his hope of resurrection in a transformed body and of immortality, which could only be realized by him through the death and resurrection of Osiris.1"
The legends of Osiris are based on earlier traditions regarding a pre-Egyptian king, named Assur. The resurrection of Assur is the foundation legend of Egyptian civilization. The first written accounts of Osiris come by way of historians such as Diodorus Siculus (1st C. BCE), Herodotus (5th C. BCE), and Plutarch (1st C. CE). They describe Osiris as a semi-divine king who abolished cannibalism, taught men and women to live according to law of ma'at, improved their morality, and, filled with love for mankind, set out on a quest to travel the world and bring the benefits of civilization to other cultures. Their commentary continues with mythological descriptions of the murder of Osiris by a jealous brother named Seth; his rebirth, accomplished by the magic of his sister/wife, Isis; and his second death, caused again by Seth, who dismembered his body and scattered the pieces up and down the Nile. After the utter destruction of Osiris his son, Horus, defeats Seth in an epochal battle thereby vindicating his murdered father.2
There is nothing to link this mythology with Freemasonry. Although the topic of several recent books, there is also nothing to prove that the Hiramic legend of Freemasonry is somehow a result of the death of either the boy-king, Tutankhamen (fl. 14th century BCE)3 or king Seqenenre in 1570 BCE.4
1. Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, E.[rnest] A.[lfred] Wallis Budge. London: P. L. Warner, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons: 1911. 2v : fold. col. fronts., illus., plates (part fold.) ; 26 cm. p. vii.
2. "Do Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Enshrine The Image Of Christ?" Richard Russell Cassaro. Ancient Mysteries: 2001.
3. The Murder of Tutankhamen: A True Story, Bob Brier New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1998. xx, 264 p : ill ; 24 cm. ISBN: 0399143831.
4. The Hiram key: pharaohs, freemasons and the discovery of the secret scrolls of Jesus, Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. London, Century: 1996. xiii, 384p,[16]p of plates : ill : facsims, maps, ports ; 24cm. ISBN: 0712685790.

I.11. Then you've got something to do with the Grail, right?
No.
Traditionally, the Holy Grail is the name of a legendary sacred vessel, variously identified with the chalice of the Christian Eucharist or the dish of the Pascal lamb. The great body of the Grail romances came into existence between the years 1180 and 1240, most in French. 1
Roughly, the story is that Joseph of Arimathea was cast into prison, then Christ appears to him and gives him a vessel, through which he is miraculously sustained for forty-two years until liberated by Vespasian. The Grail is then brought to Britain, either by Joseph and Josephes, his son (Grand-Saint-Graal), or by Alain one of his kin (Robert de Boron). Galaad (or Perceval) achieves a quest to find the vessel; after the death of its keeper the Grail vanishes. The Grail legend is closely connected with that of Perceval as well as that of King Arthur. The story is derived from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, which had a great vogue in twelfth century Britain.
Other stories will describe the Grail as a large emerald that fell from Lucifer's crown when he was thrown out of Heaven; the Philosophers' Stone; the Ark of Covenant; a book of Jesus' geneology, written by Jesus;2 the chalice used to collect Jesus' blood; the silver dish supporting John the Baptist's head; the sword used to cut off John the Baptist's head; the lance belonging to Longinus, the Roman soldier who transfixed Jesus' chest; or a secret Gospel written by Jesus. According to Graham Phillips, the Grail is the cup used by Mary of Magdala to perfume Jesus' feet. Daniel C. Scavone suggests that the Grail is the Shroud of Turin. Baima Bollone writes that the Grail is the container of the Holy Shroud. Flavia Anderson, in The Ancient Secret claims that the Grail is a round ball of glass filled with water held in a tree-like stand - the Thummim and the Urim. Suggestions that the Grail was Aladdin's lamp, the Golden Fleece or the Baphomet have also been made.
One of the oddest, but most popular, theories claims that the word Grail refers to a royal bloodline and that Jesus' descendents, through various secret societies, continue to manipulate global affairs.3 This is the theory that links the Grail to Freemasonry. Popularized by The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, a work of historical fiction, the theory has no supporting facts. Also see Section 1.4.
There is nothing in the ritual, beliefs or practices of Freemasonry that incorporates the Grail.
1. Wolfram von Eschenbach defined the grail as Lapis Exillis; Cf.: Graham Hancock The Sign and the Seal - A Quest for the Lost Ark of Covenant London, William Heinemann Ltd.:1992; Old French: Grand-Saint-Graal, also known as Grand St. Graal, and as History of the Holy Grail.
2. In order: Perceval ou Le Conte du Graal, Chretién de Troyes. composed between 1180 and 1240; Parzival, Wolfram von Eschenbach, 1210; Joseph d'Arimathie, Robert de Boron, 1202; Diu Crone Heinrich von dem Turlin, 1220; Didot-Perceval Anonimous, XIII century.
3. The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, H. Lincoln. London, Jonathan Cape Ltd.: 1982.

I.12. To dispel accusations of secretiveness, shouldn't Freemasonry be required to be more transparent?
No.
First, a distinction has to be made between "secretive" which implies wrongdoing, and "secret" which simply means private. Freemasons are private citizens who believe in all peoples' right to privacy.
As regards transparency, Freemasonry is not a public organization; it is a private society composed of private citizens who exercise that freedom of association and right to privacy enjoyed by all private citizens in western nations. Privacy is a fundamental human right recognized in the UN Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948), the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and in many other international and regional treaties. For example, Canadians are protected by the Personal Information Privacy Act (13 April 2000) while Australians are protected by the Privacy Act 1988 (See ISBN 978-1-877079-60-3).
That said, the names of elected leaders of masonic jurisdictions are often posted on their websites and contact information is often posted outside lodgehalls. Information is published about their philanthropic work, and friends and relatives are often invited to attend lodge functions. Where freemasons have formed charitable or property holding societies, these bodies file all documentation regarding officers and finances as is required by law.


II. ORGANIZATIONS

II.1. Who are the Illuminati?
An undocumented and undefined group with the unconfirmed goal of world domination. Much fiction has been written on the topic. Although the subject of much speculation, there is no documentation of any active and effective group currently using the name.
Conspiracy theorists who use the term have defined the Illuminati's goals, beliefs and structure; identified individuals whose actions may be interpreted as supporting these goals and beliefs; and used these goals and beliefs as defining links between otherwise unrelated events and individuals. What these theorists have not done is demonstrate or prove the existence of any such organization.
It is unfortunate that hucksters and paranoid cranks have so debased the term conspiracy that the real conspiracies, a real danger to a free and open society, so often go unreported or unremarked.
(See Section V Subsection 1. on the Bavarian Illuminati.)

II.2. Does the Trilateral Commission control the freemasons?
No, and before you ask, the freemasons don't control the Trilateral Commission either. There are more than 400 influential "think tanks" around the world; the Trilateral Commission is one of them.
See: NIRA's World Directory of Think Tanks. Tokyo: National Institute for Research Advancement, 1999 150-6034 Japan. ISBN 4-7955-6014-5 C3002

II.3. What is the Trilateral Commission?
Launched in 1973, the European Union, North America (the United States and Canada), and Japan - the three main democratic industrialized areas of the world - form the three sides of the Trilateral Commission. The Commission's members are about 330 distinguished citizens, with a variety of leadership responsibilities in business, politics (except for government positions), academia, and the media.
The full Commission gathers once each year: the 1995 meeting was in Copenhagen, the 1996 meeting was in Vancouver, and the 1997 meeting was in Tokyo. In addition to special topical sessions and reviews of current developments in the regions, a portion of each annual meeting is devoted to consideration of draft reports to the Commission. These reports are generally the joint product of authors from each region, who draw on a range of consultants in the course of their work. Publication follows discussion in the Commission's annual meeting. The authors are solely responsible for their final text. The 1994/1995 report, titled Engaging Russia, focused on our future Trilateral relations with Russia. The 1995/1996 reports were devoted to Maintaining Energy Security in a Global Context and to Globalization and Trilateral Labour Markets: Evidence & Implications. The task forces reported at the Spring 1997 meeting in Tokyo, focusing on developments and future prospects of the Asia Pacific community as well as on a reassessment of trilateral cooperation, i.e., on the management of the international system in the next decade. A separate publication contains the principal presentations at the annual meeting.
The Commission has three permanent regional offices in New York, Tokyo, and Paris. Further information and a list of Trilateral Commission publications can be found at: trilateral.org/pubs.htm

II.4. Who are the Bilderburgers?
In the main, a creation of Milton William Cooper [1943/05/06 - 2001/11/06] who reprinted the notorious hoax The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as fact, and wrote stories of an ongoing invasion of aliens from outer space.1 Three quotes from his book, "The Secret Government" follow:
"Throughout our history, the Aliens have manipulated and controlled the human race through various secret societies, religions, Satanic cults, witchcraft and occult movements."
"The headquarters of the international conspiracy is in Geneva, Switzerland. The ruling body is made up of representatives of the Governments involved as well as the Executive members of the group known as the 'Bilderburgers'." "The Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission and their foreign counterparts report to the 'Bilderburgers' society."2
Mr. Cooper's writings are, in the balance, fiction. He was reputed to have renounced his views on an alien invasion but not those regarding Freemasonry.
This fictional creation is not to be confused with the Bilderberg Conference. Started by Prince Bernhard in Oosterbeek, Netherlands in 1954, it is an annual three-day conference attended by a changing delegation of some 100 bankers, economists, politicians and government officers chosen by an international steering committee with offices in the Hague. Its main founder was the Polish political philanthropist Joseph Retiger.
Phyllis Schlafly refers to the Bilderberg conference as "Bilderberger" in her 1964 A Choice Not an Echo, in which she claims to have discovered a "secret meeting" in 1957. Both John Birch Society member Gary Allen, in None Dare Call It Conspiracy and William Bramley, in The Gods of Eden refer to the Bilderberg Conference as the Bilderbergers, stating that the conference refers to itself as such. Bramley further suggests a link with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. No proof or documentation for any of this is supplied.
Mention should also be made to David Icke's unsubstantiated claim, in The Biggest Secret - the book that will change the world, that shape-shifting reptilians are about to achieve complete control over Earth. Icke repeats several accusations addressed elsewhere in this FAQ. He also announced on the Terry Wogan talk show on BBC1 in 1991 that he was the Son of God. [See Them, Adventures with Extremists, Jon Robinson. p. 152.]
A public statement by the Bilderberg Conference
What is unique about Bilderberg as a forum is:
1. The broad cross-section of leading citizens, in and out of government, that are assembled for nearly three days of purely informal discussion about topics of current concern especially in the fields of foreign affairs and the international economy.
2. The strong feeling among participants that in view of the differing attitudes and experiences of their nations, there is a continuous, clear need to develop an understanding in which these concerns can be accommodated.
3. The privacy of the meetings, which have no purpose other than to allow participants to speak their minds openly and freely. At the meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued. In short, Bilderberg is a flexible and informal international leadership-forum in which different viewpoints can be expressed and mutual understanding enhanced.
To ensure full discussion, individuals representing a wide range of political and economic points of view are invited. Two-thirds of the participants come from Europe and the remainder from the United States and Canada. Within this framework, on average about one-third are from the government sector and the remaining two-thirds from a variety of fields including finance, industry, labour, education and the media.
Participants are solely invited for their knowledge, experience and standing and with reference to the topics on the agenda. All participants attend Bilderberg in a private and not in an official capacity.
Participants have agreed not to give interviews to the press during the meeting. In contacts with the media after the conference it is an established rule no attribution should be made to individual participants of what was discussed during the meeting. There will be no press conference.
1. Behold a Pale Horse. Milton William Cooper. Light Technology Publishing, Sedona, AZ: 1991. pp 267-332.
2. The Secret Government, The Origin, Identity, and Purpose of MJ-12. Milton William Cooper, May 23, 1989.

II.5. What was the P2 Lodge?
Originally a lodge under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy, their warrant was revoked and a number of their members expelled for unmasonic conduct.
The P2 Incident was a by-product of three related factors; the vagaries of Italian masonic history, the joint effects of past repressions and social patronage on the Italian Craft, and certain defects in their Constitution.
Italian masonic history has been influenced by the political and ethnic history of that country and the P2 Incident needs to be placed in that context. Irregular lodges (not recognized by mainstream Freemasonry), both in France and Italy, had become quite political during revolutionary periods in their national histories, and operated as true secret societies. Italy has only been a united country since 1870 and regional, ethnic and traditional differences are still felt in contemporary Italian society. Italian society, then and now, has been said to largely run on patronage and favouritism. Few other Grand Lodges had recognized Italian masonry as regular until 1972.
Several Grand Lodges have been formed in Italy, the first in 1750, but all were proscribed or suppressed and, with the exception of the short period during the Napoleonic Occupation, Freemasonry was not revived until about 1860 when two Grand masonic bodies emerged. The first, the "Supreme Council Grand Orient of Italy" opened in Turin; later moving to Rome.
Although politics and religion were officially banned from discussion in lodges, in practice the Italian temperament views discussion of state affairs as a duty. In 1908 a schism resulted when the Grand Orient expelled a number of members for their political stance and the National Grand Lodge was formed. It continues to this day as an irregular body.
Masonry was again prohibited in Italy from 1926 to 1945. At this time several competing groups sprung up, out of which the Grand Orient of Italy and the National Grand Lodge resumed their leading positions. This Grand Orient was considered regular by many American Grand Lodges and extended recognition. It was recognized as regular by the English, Irish and Scottish Grand Lodges in 1972 and shortly thereafter by a number of other Grand Lodges who tend to take their direction from the United Grand Lodge of England. The following year, the majority of Lodges under the National Grand Lodge seceded and joined the Grand Orient, leaving the National Grand Lodge as a weak and splintered dissident group. Although the National Grand Lodge is not relevant to this article, this history of suppression, irregularity, political infighting, and class consciousness is.
In 1877 the Grand Orient granted a warrant to a lodge in Rome called "Propaganda Massonica". This lodge was frequented by politicians and government officials from across Italy who were unable to attend their own lodges. Although its potential for masonic mischief was recognized, there is no evidence that any was forthcoming. The lodge was not on the Grand Orient's registers but operated as the Grand Master's own private Lodge, allowing for the initiation of members whose names would not therefore appear on the Grand Orient's rolls. If any apology is needed, it should be noted that "an organization which had a long experience of great opposition to it, of political and religious damnation, and of being often forced to close up, is likely to view every influential friend it can get as important."
When the Grand Orient was revived after the Second World War it was decided to number the lodges by drawing lots; Lodge Propaganda drew number two, thus it became P2. It rarely held meetings and was almost inactive.
In 1967, Brother Licio Gelli, who had been initiated into a lodge in Rome in 1965, was placed in virtual control of P2 by the Grand Master of the day. He was considered to be a shrewd and successful businessman with a great gift for recruiting. In 1970 he was made secretary of P2 and subsequently a substantial number of well-placed men were initiated. In most recognized Grand Lodge jurisdictions, these practices would not be countenanced. An argument could be made that by Italian standards, nothing was amiss.
Gelli's growing influence became a concern of the then Grand Master who, in late 1974, proposed that P2 be erased. At the Grand Orient Communication in December 1974, of the 406 lodges represented, 400 voted for its erasure. In March 1975 Gelli accused the Grand Master of gross financial irregularities, withdrawing the accusations only after the Grand Master issued a warrant for a new P2 Lodge - despite the fact that the Grand Orient had erased it only four months earlier. P2 was considered regular; its membership was no longer secret and Gelli was its master. In 1976, Gelli requested that P2 be suspended but not erased. This nuance of jurisprudence meant that he could continue to preserve some semblance of regularity for his private club without being answerable to the Grand Orient.
By 1978, suspect financial arrangements involving the Grand Master prompted many other Grand Lodges to threaten to withdraw recognition, and the Grand Master resigned before his term expired. Gelli promptly financed the election campaign of the Immediate Past Grand Master, but the Grand Orient elected another candidate as their new leader.
In 1980, Gelli told a press interview that Freemasonry was a puppet show in which he pulled the strings. Italian Masonry was outraged by this, struck a masonic tribunal which in 1981 expelled him, and decided that P2 had been erased as a Lodge in 1974 and therefore any contrary action by a Grand Master had been illegal.
The same year the police investigated Gelli for a range of fraudulent activities and, in searching his house, found a P2 register of 950 names - mostly prominent people. Several government ministers resigned and the Italian Government fell. Gelli managed to get out of the country. A Special Parliamentary Commission found Gelli to have an obscure and opportunistic past and to count among his friends many such as the fraudulent banker Roberto Calvi (1920? - 1982/06/19), chairman of Banco Ambrosiano in Milan who was later found dead under London's Blackfriars Bridge, and the banker Sindona who was later jailed in the USA for fraud and suspected murder. The nature and aims of Gelli's alleged political intrigues have never been explained. From his South American hideaway, he has sent out obscure messages and has offered to give himself up to Italian police if certain conditions were met. The authorities have issued no public statement.
The President of the Parliamentary Commission of Investigation, while openly hostile to Freemasonry at the outset, eventually declared that Freemasonry itself had been Gelli's first and principal victim. While three successive Grand Masters (two now deceased and one expelled from Freemasonry) had manipulated secret funds, secret members, secret decisions and secret lodges, the body of Italian Freemasonry was neither guilty nor culpable in the P2 Affair.
At the Grand Orient Meeting of March 1982, no incumbent Grand Officer was re-elected.
Researchers are referred to a paper written by Kent Henderson, from which this article is excerpted:
The Transactions of the Lodge of Research No. 218. "Italian Freemasonry and the 'P2' Incident", Kent Henderson. Victoria, Australia: 1987 pp. 25-33. [ISBN 0 7316 2645 1].

II.6. What was Palladium?
In the early 1890s Léo Taxil purported to reveal the existence of "Palladium," the most secret masonic order, which practiced devil-worship. He recounted the story of its high priestess Diana Vaughan; and ended by publishing the Memoires d'une ex-Palladiste after her conversion to Catholicism. When doubts began to spread, Taxil realized the time had come to end the deceit. In a widely reported conference in Paris on April 19, 1897, he confessed that it had all been a hoax.1
After Taxil's public confession, Abel Clarin de la Rive (1855-1914) expressed his disgust and recanted his writings on Diana Vaughan in the April 1897 issue of Freemasonry Revealed, a magazine devoted to the destruction of the Craft. As much as he hated Freemasonry, Claren de la Rive had the integrity to admit Taxil's hoax in the following editorial:
"With frightening cynicism the miserable person we shall not name here [Taxil] declared before an assembly especially convened for him that for twelve years he had prepared and carried out to the end the most extraordinary and most sacrilegious of hoaxes. We have always been careful to publish special articles concerning Palladism and Diana Vaughan. We are now giving in this issue a complete list of these articles, which can now be considered as not having existed."2
Possibly the inspiration for Taxil's choice of name, but otherwise of little interest other than to masonic students, the Order of Palladium was a masonic society open to both men and women, founded in Paris in 1737. Termed a very moral society by Albert G. Mackey, it does not appear to have survived its founders.
1. New Catholic Encyclopedia. (R. Limouzin-Lamothe, s.v. Taxil, Leo)
2. See: Strange Masonic Stories. Alec Mellor. Richmond, Va.: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1982. p. 151.

II.7. Is the Club of Rome an Illuminati front?
No.
According to John Lear, Milton William Cooper and others, the Club of Rome is a front for the Illuminati, or the 'Cult of the Serpent' backed by an 'alien' or non-human vanguard, the so-called 'Greys'. An often quoted article, titled 'Pine Gap Base: World Context', written in French by Lucien Cometta and later translated into English by Dr. Jean Francois Gille, covers the same theme, with an equal lack of verifiable documentation.
The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 by Italian scholar and industrialist, Dr. Aurelio Peccei (1908-84), and Alexander King, with a group of scientists, economists, businessmen, international civil servants, heads of state and former heads of state from the five continents, but with similar concerns for the global future.
It currently has 27 honourary members, including a number of active and former heads of states as well as noted scholars. Soka Gakkai International President, Daisaku Ikeda, was nominated on February 28, 1997 as an honourary member by Club of Rome president, Dr. Diez-Hochleitner. Soka Gakkai is a lay Buddhist association in Japan founded on the premise that human beings inherently possess the ability to create value in their lives and, therefore, are able to live life to the fullest while contributing to the welfare of society. "Soka" means value creation; "Gakkai," society.
The SGI's relationship with the Club of Rome began with SGI President Ikeda'os friendship with Aurelio Peccei. Their dialogue on world problems was published as Before it is Too Late in 1984. Many books written by club members are available to the public, including the 1972 bestseller The Limits of Growth, which first linked economic growth to negative consequences for the environment. The club also maintains a web site at http://www.clubofrome.org.
The following are abstracts from a paper entitled "The Club of Rome - The New Threshold" by Alexander King which was read into the Congressional records of the United States on Tuesday, March 20, 1973:
"The Club of Rome is:
- a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity and acting merely as a catalyst to stimulate public debate, to sponsor investigations and analysis of the problematique and to bring these to the attention of decision makers.
"The Club of Rome is not:
- a club devoted exclusively to problems of industrial societies, attempting to find solutions to the difficulties of affluence, but a group concerned with the world system as a whole and with the disparities it includes.
- a group of futurologists, but of individuals who realise the necessity of attacking now longer term and fundamental problems which are difficult to approach with our present methods of government and which could give rise to irreversible situations.
- a political organisation, neither of the right or of the left, but a free assembly of individuals, seeking to find a more objective and comprehensive basis for policy-making.
- a body devoted to public propaganda for change - although, should we succeed in a better delineation of the elements of the problematique, we are convinced that our results should be made known universally through appropriate national and international organisations and the media."
Since the death of Aurelio Peccei and the retirement of Alexander King, the Club of Rome has developed an updated Charter under its president, Ricardo Diez Hochleitner and its secretary general, Dr. Bertrand Schneider.
More information and background is available. Those requiring further information should contact The Club of Rome Secretariat at cor.bs@dialup.francenet.fr

II.8. Did high-ranking freemason, Albert Pike found the Ku Klux Klan?
No.
There is no documentation or record that would suggest that masonic author, Albert Pike, was ever a member of the Ku Klux Klan, much less a founder or leader.
The 19th century Ku Kux Klan was originally organized by six Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee in the spring of 1866. It obligated members only to "have fun, make mischief and play pranks on the public." It was structured into a vehicle for Southern white resistance to Radical Reconstruction at a convention in Nashville, Tennessee in April of 1867 under the leadership of George Gordon. Several weeks later Nathan Bedford Forrest was offered the position of Grand Wizard.
On August 28, 1868 Forrest granted an interview to a reporter from the Cincinnati Commercial, in which he confirmed the existence of the Klan, declared his sympathy and cooperation with them, but denied his membership. In January 1869 Forrest issued "General Order Number One", the only directive to come from Imperial Headquarters, ordering the group be disbanded. Local branches remained active, prompting the U.S. Congress to pass the Force Act of 1870 and the Ku Klux Act in 1871. By the time the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Klan unconstitutional in 1882, it had practically disappeared as an organization although independent acts of violence were to continue under the banners of the American Protective Association and the Whitecap movement, among others. The growth, decline and transformation of the 20th century Klan has no connection with the original Klan, other than the name.
Confederate Lieutenant General and the Klan's first (and only) Grand Wizard, Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), was an Entered Apprentice of Angorona Lodge No. 168 in Memphis, Tennessee. There is no record of his having progressed further or having been active in Freemasonry. Not having received the Master Mason degree, under the rules of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, he would not have been considered a freemason.
Although 1915 Klan organizer Colonel William Joseph Simmons was a freemason, he was also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows, and eight other lodges. He was never a Grand Lodge or lodge officer in Freemasonry. There is no available documentation that Edward Young Clarke or David Curtis Stephenson were freemasons.
As a counterpoint, note that famous slavery abolitionist, John Brown was at one time an active freemason, while the two major proponents of the Ku Klux Act, Benjamin F. Butler and John Scott were also active freemasons. As always, it should be stressed that regular Freemasonry is not concerned with politics, leaving its members to act as their conscience dictates.
For further information and citations, view http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/kkk.html

II.9. Isn't the Priory of Sion a masonic front, conspiring to restore the Merovingian dynasty and responsible for the Protocols of the Elders of Zion?
No, no, and no.
There is no proof that Pierre Plantard's Prieure de Sion existed before 1956, although it claims to have originated from an earlier organization, the Ordre du Sion, allegedly founded by Godfroi de Bouillion, Hugh de Payns, and a Calabrian monk named Ursus in 1099.
Allegations of masonic links to the Prieure through the Knights Templar and the Swiss Grand Loge Alpina are unproven. The wishful thinking of some freemasons and the suspicions of anti-masons aside, there is no proven, documented link between the Templars and Freemasonry. There is also no proof of any connection between the Swiss Grand Loge Alpina and Pierre Plantard's Dossiers Secrets, deposited in the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale in the mid 1960s. The first of these four documents, Les descendants Merovingiens ou l'enigme du Razes Wisigoth, dated August, 1965, purports to have been published by the Swiss Grande Loge Alpina. The Swiss Grande Loge Alpina has denied this.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a clearly documented fraud, unrelated to Pierre Plantard's Prieure de Sion.
There are few historical records of the Ordre de Notre Dame de Sion, with which the Prieure de Sion is often confused. After Jerusalem fell to Godfroi de Bouillon in 1099, an abbey devoted to Notre Dame du Mont de Sion was built on the hill of Sion to the south of Jerusalem; it is referred to in later documents and figures in several views of the city. A Father Vincent, writing in 1698, says:
"There were in Jerusalem during the Crusades... knights attached to the Abbey of Notre Dame de Sion who took the name of Chevaliers de l'Order de Notre Dame de Sion." 1
R. Rohricht, in his Regesta regni Hierosolymitani (Roll of the kings of Jerusalem), written in 1893, cites two charters: one of 1116 by Arnaldus, prior of Notre Dame de Sion, and one of 1125, in which Arnaldus's name appears with that of Hugues Payen, the first Grand Master of the Temple. The existence of the Abbey of Sion, at least until 1281, is attested to by E.-G. Rey in a paper in the 1887 Proceedings of the French National Society of Antiquaries, which lists the abbots who administered the abbey's property in Palestine.
These documents are the only historical record of the possible existence of a Prieure de Sion before 1956. Everything else that refers to an organization of that name finds its origin in four typewritten, and highly suspect, "publications" deposited in the Bibliotheque Nationale that all seem to lead back to a single source - possibly Pierre Plantard - and revealed by Gerard de Sede.2
It was he, along with Plantard, who deposited the Dossiers Secrets into the Bibliotheque Nationale, according to library records between 1965 and 1967. Eventually de Sede, Plantard, and the Marquis Phillipe de Cherissy had a falling out.
"After their quarrel Plantard made it known that the parchments in de Sede's book were fakes. In 1971 I received a letter from Phillipe de Cherissy implying that he was the author of the two parchments published by Gerard de Sede."
"Plantard trusted me because I was writing a book about him and he gave me the original documents." - Pierre Jarnac, The Archives of the Treasure of Rennes-le-Château
Jarnac produced the documents for a BBC documentary. A note on Parchment 1 in Plantard's handwriting stated "This is the original document faked by Phillipe de Cherissy which Gerard de Sede reproduced in his book L'Or de Rennes-le-Château.
In a forty-four page unpublished paper called Stone and Paper de Cherissy "describes how the documents were fabricated, how the ciphers were set and how they can be decoded." - Pierre Jarnac, The Archives of the Treasure of Rennes-le-Château 3
Although the actual existence of any historical Priory of Zion is unproven, authors Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln speculate that such a society existed and hypothesis entanglements with modern crypto-political forces, such as the Knights of Malta, the P2 masonic lodge, the Kreisau Circle, the Swiss Grand Loge Alpina, and various advocates of Pan-European Union:
"There was a secret order behind the Knight's Templar, which created the Templars as its military and administrative arm. This order, which has functioned under a variety of names, is most frequently known as the Prieure de Sion ('Priory of Zion')."4
Other books-Lincoln's The Holy Place and its sequel Keys to the Sacred Pattern; David Wood and Ian Campbell's GenIsis and GeneSet, which promotes the theory of alien origins for humankind; Picknett and Prince's Templar Revelation; Andrews and Schellenberger's The Tomb of G-d; Lionel Fanthorpe's Secrets of Rennes-le-Chateau; Ean Begg's The Cult of the Black Virgin; Elizabeth Van Buren's Refuge of the Apocalypse, which promotes the Merovingians-as-extraterrestrials theory; Alex Christopher's Pandora's Box; Lawrence Gardner's Bloodline of the Holy Grail; and Martha Neyman's The Horse of G-d-all accept the existence of the Prieure de Sion. None of them document any proof. Most of the information presented in Holy Blood, Holy Grail had already appeared in other French publications such as Gerard De Sede's book Le tresor maudit de Rennes (The Accursed Treasure of Rennes) in which de Sede claims the Merovingians descended from extraterrestrials from Sirius.
In Cosmic Trigger III Robert Anton Wilson explores the Prieure's claim to be descended from beings from Sirius and suggests that the whole story is a hoax perpetrated as a work of performance art. Some Christian eschatologists view the Prieure scenario as a fulfillment of prophesies found in the Book of Revelation and further proof of an anti-Christian conspiracy.5 The original material, however, seems to have issued from a single specific source and appears to be a product of Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair's imagination.
Steven Mizrach writes:
Yet this mysterious secret society brought itself to light in 1956 and is listed with the French directory of organizations under the subtitle "Chivalry of Catholic Rules and Institutions of the Independent and Traditionalist Union," which in French abbreviates to CIRCUIT - the name of the magazine distributed internally among members. Depending on what statutes one considers, Sion either has 9,841 members in nine grades, or 1,093 members in seven, with the supreme member, the "Nautonnier" or Grand Master of the Order being, till 1963, Jean Cocteau (1918-1963) french postmodernist playwright.6 While it is believed the head has been Pierre Plantard de St.-Clair up until recent times, he claims to have left that post in 1984, so it is not clear who runs the organization at this time.
Despite its registry, however, the organization remains untraceable, its given address and number leading to dead ends.7
Most writings about the Prieure touch on the legend of Rennes-le-Chateau and the Merovingians. Current theories also involve the inventor Barnes Wallis; the Cajun people of Louisiana; Johann Salvator, the young Hapsburg prince; lost cities of South America; the so-called "Baconian" theory, which suggests that Sir Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays; a "doorway unto the invisible" -a gateway to other dimensions; the Illuminati; and self-styled HRH Prince Michael James Alexander Stewart, 7th Count of Albany (Scotland).
The Hieron du Val d'Or, a mystic-cum-political movement at Paray-le-Monial, is also claimed by Jean-Luc Chaumeil, author of Le Triangle d'Or[France, Alain Lefeuvre: 1979] to be a part of this story. It too hinges on the discredited Dossiers Secrets.
Prince Michael dismisses the Plantard claim of a Morovingian bloodline as "wishful thinking" and has stated his belief that the Prieure was only created in 1956.8 Anglican Bishop Montefiore catalogues what he calls "79 instances ... of gross errors, vital omissions, gravely misleading statements or the adoption of way-out hypotheses."9
By the 1990s, even Lincoln had soured on speculating about the Prieure de Sion and Pierre Plantard. "In my old age, I've decided to stick to that which can be verified," Lincoln groused when asked for an update on the secret society.10

1. The Grail Quest or The Orion Archetype and The Destiny of Man Part V-G: The Priory of Sion cassiopaea.org/cass/grail_5g
2. Ibid.
3. Sources And Documents Exposed. ukmasons.com/sources
4. The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Baigent, Michael, Leigh, Richard, and Lincoln, Henry. London: Transworld Publishers, Ltd. 1983. ISBN: 0 552 12138 X pb.
5. Evangelicals; Globalists Together. Tim and Barb Aho Watch Unto Prayer: watch.pair.com [2001/01/03]. Merovingian/British Israel deception and infiltration of apostate Christianity: freedomdomain.com [2001/01/03].
6. Jean Cocteau. Fifield, William. USA: Columbia University Press, 1974.
7. Prieure of Sion: the Mystery Deepens. Steven Mizrach fiu.edu/~mizrachs/priory-of-sion-more [2001/01/03].
8. The Artist Currently Known as Prince Michael. Tracy R. Twyman. dagobertsrevenge.com/articles/pminterview2 [2001/01/03].
9. The Grail Quest. loc cit
10. The Jesus Conspiracy. CarpeNoctem: October 2001. carpenoctem.tv/cons/jesus. Also found at conspire.com/priory [2001/01/03].

Benjamin Franklin 	Deputy Grand Master, Pennsylvania
John Hancock		St. Andrew's Lodge, Boston
Joseph Hewes 		visited Unanimity Lodge No. 7, Edenton, North Carolina: Dec. 27 1776
William Hooper 		Hanover Lodge, Masonborough, North Carolina
Robert Treat Payne 	attended Grand Lodge, Roxbury, Mass.: June 26, 1759
Richard Stockton 	charter Master, St. John's Lodge, Princeton, New Jersey: 1765
George Walton 		Solomon's Lodge No. 1, Savannah, Georgia
William Whipple 	St. John's Lodge, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

George Washington 	raised: Fredericksburg Lodge, Virginia: 1753
Benjamin Franklin 	Lodge at Tun Tavern, Philadelphia: 1731
Rufus King			St John's Lodge, Newburyport, Massachusetts
John Blair 			First Grand Master, Virginia. Williamsburg Lodge No. 6
Gunning Bedford Jr.	First Grand Master, Delaware. Lodge 14, Christina Ferry, Delaware.
John Dickinson 		Lodge No. 18, Dover, Delaware: 1780
Jacob Broom 		Lodge No. 14, Christina Ferry, Delaware, 1780
David Brearley 		First Grand Master, New Jersey: 1787. Military Lodge No. 19
Daniel Caroll 		St. John's Lodge No. 20, Maryland: 1781, Lodge No. 16, Baltimore
Later became freemasons:
Jonathan Dayton 	Temple No. 1, Elizabeth Town, New Jersey
James McHenry 		Spiritual Lodge No. 23, Baltimore, Maryland: 1806
William Patterson 	Trinity Lodge No. 5, New Jersey: 1788. Berkshire Lodge No. 5, Stockbridge, Ma

Nicholas Herkimer (1715-1777),	St. Patrick's Lodge, Johnstown, New York
Morgan Lewis, 					Grand Master, New York
Jacob Morton, 					Grand Master, New York
Israel Putnam (1718-1790)
Rufus Putnam (1738-1824), 		Master, American Union Lodge
Baron von Steuben (1730-1794), 	Trinity Lodge No. 10, New York City
John Sullivan (1740-1796), 		Grand Master, New Hampshire
Joseph Warren (1741-1775), 		Massachusetts Provincial Grand Master
David Wooster (1710-177), 		Master, Hiram Lodge No. 1, Connecticut