I recently watched an interesting documentary, Secrets of the Freemasons. Many of the early U.S. revolutionaries were freemasons; many masons helped plan the Boston Tea Party, although the Tea Party had non-masonic members as well. (Paul Revere, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, in addition to George Washington were masons.) Masons were influential in the founding of our country, helping write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; however, masons were a minority. For example, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was NOT a mason. There is even a painting showing George Washington III wearing a Masonic apron while setting the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol Building.
It was interesting to see how many U.S. Presidents and other famous people have been freemasons over the years. Some of these include:
- Harry Truman
- Bob Dole
- J Edgar Hoover
- Charles Lindburgh
- General John Pershing
- Both Franklin and Teddy Roosevelt
- Paul Revere
- George Washington
- Ben Franklin
- John Hancock
- Benedict Arnold
I’ve always wanted to know more about freemasonry. National Geographic was given permission to videotape a masonic ceremony where a new leader was installed. It was interesting to watch the ceremony and see some of the similarities, but also stark contrasts to the LDS endowment ceremonies. Some differences are easily notable, such as the clothing, swords, gloves, and it is an all-male environment. The aprons are highly varied, unlike LDS aprons which are green.
There was also a prayer circle (no women allowed, unlike the men), and a prayer at the altar. While there are differences, the similarities for those who have been through LDS temple ceremonies are pretty obvious. The carpenter’s square and the compass will also be familiar to LDS temple patrons, but the swords and other symbols will be different.
The altar in LDS Temple ceremonies contains LDS scriptures, while Masons allow the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament), Chistian Bible, and the Koran on the altar, as a nod to three Abrahamic religions. A requirement of freemasons is to be believers in God, or a Supreme Bring. One need not necessarily be a member of the Abrahamic religions, per se.
Some people associate masons with the New World Order, thinking they are responsible for many revolutions in the world. They don’t like the secrecy of the Masons (and some don’t like the secrecy of LDS Temples.) I found the following quote from Brent Morris sounded quite similar to an LDS explanation regarding this secrecy. As the credits roll,
I took a promise that I would not discuss it, that I would not tell anyone what the secrets are. Now I don’t care if you know what the secrets are, I mean good heavens. If you’re an intelligent person, you can find them in less than an hour’s worth of work, but I’m not going to tell you, because as a matter of honor I told you I wouldn’t.
I really thought it was quite an interesting video. It was interesting to me to see that there were more similarities than I had imagined, and the differences were also quite interesting. What are your thoughts?
Wheat & Tares 
I found that the more I have studied the Masonic ceremonies the more I have understood the LDS temple ceremonies. You start to understand in a small way what Joseph Smith was trying to do.
As a side not my grandfather was a Mason and my wife’s family are also masons. We also have an old Mason in our ward that still practices. I have learned a lot from him.
One more thing. I think it is a little unfortunate that we don’t have a more significant discourse about the temple and its ceremonies. I think there is a lot to learn by exploring different influences and perspective in regard to the temple.
I greatgrandfather and grandfather were Masons. It used to be that the Foreign Service (a part of the United States Civil Service, mostly those in the diplomatic corp) included Masonry — which gave people the social equivalent of a church family every where they went and one that cut across many racial, economic and ethnic lines.
It was the quintessential “men’s club” for so very long.
I don’t know a lot about Freemasonry but I have attempted to explore it as you have in connection with Mormonism. To say a requirement of freemasons is to be believers in God is misleading, as I recall atheists aren’t welcome, a belief in something is required at entry levels but at the higher levels there is a transition to revering Lucifer (supposedly not Satan).
I used to be an active mason a few years ago. The ritual on the video, the installation of a new master, is not one of the secret ceremonies. Non-masons and women are invited to attend those ceremonies, so they don’t contain the secrets that have many of the similarities to the endowment.
My wife attended an installation and thought it was so deathly boring she couldn’t understand why on earth I would want to be a mason. She said it was more boring the church! I don’t think its boring. I loved it when I was active.
Like the Apocrypha, IF indeed much of what is considered Masonry today (my Grandfather, “Gawd” rest his soul, was the Past (or is it Pass?) Master of the Fresno Masonic Temple back in the early ’80s), comes from Solomon’s temple, then it stands to reason that there are some eternal truths therein. Just as a few peculiar legends about the Catholic Church are notable to most LDS, including one where a veiled curtain is erected in some secluded room in the Vatican. According to this tale, the Pope, on very infrequent occasion (indeed, a few short-tenured Popes probably didn’t experience it), inquires of the Lord THROUGH this ‘veil’, summoning Him by rapping a pole with a mallet! Obviously I’m in no position to verify if that’s just some tall tale or not, but it’s eerily familiar.
It would therefore not be surprising if Joseph’s Smith brief ‘dalliance’ with Freemasonry spurred further inquiry which resulted in the Temple ceremonies that we have today. Much of what is mentioned in the D&C wasn’t just simply rained down from on high, but a result of inquiry. Line upon line…
Now imagine if Joseph Smith had joined the “Stonecutters”…LoL
One reason my husband left the church. Became a trust issue about seemingly needless secrecy and a authenticity issue about the origins of the lds temple ceremonies when they were so similar to Masonic ones. To me, likely that mason dalliance was inspired as part of Joseph smiths divine path. Lastly, the way money is managed, which I don’t take issue with.
For me, it’s interesting, but my faith in Lds is much more inspired by the high moral standards of our members, the beauty of the home teaching outreach, and the respect for traditional family design, and love for all people. That speaks to my soul that this is a divine church.
Do the Masons consider the ceremonies to have begun with them or do they think the ceremonies have an earlier date of origin?
My understanding is that historically, the Mason believed (past tense)that their ceremonies originated with secret masonic knowledge held by the builders of Solomon’s Temple, and brought back to Europe with the Crusaders.
Modern masonic scholarship disavows this connection, and says their origins can be traced back only as far as the late medieval period. The problem is that when Masonry became standardized in this age, many (most? all?) of the source texts were intentionally destroyed, so it’s doubtful it will ever be discovered.
Dave,
I agree. I wish there was much more talk about the temple so that people would understand it better. I have heard several people familiar with masonry and LDS temples ceremonies state that Masonry really helped them understand the LDS endowment.
I also agree with the Other Clark: Joseph Smith believed that the masonic ceremonies originated with King Solomon, but it is really of Medieval origins. Listen to Greg Kearney’s very interesting chat with John Dehlin: http://mormonstories.org/mormon-stories-podcast-005-masonry-and-mormonism-and-interview-with-greg-kearney/ (Perhaps I should transcribe this–it is a really good interview.)
One should add that a lot of the interesting parallels with masonry are in adoptive masonry. That was one of the forms of masonry that allowed women to participate. It originated in France I think in the late 18th century. The Relief Society (especially as a parallel institution to the MP) has a lot of parallels as do some of the LDS temple clothing. It’s not clear however whether Joseph or company had been exposed to adoptive masonry despite some of the interesting parallels.
While masonry is medieval a lot of the stuff adopted came out of the general Renaissance discovery of new texts (largely due to the sack of Constantinople). So you had say Giordano Bruno adopting a lot of paganism (hermeticism and platonism) and using it to critique the scholastic tradition (largely an Aristotilean take on what had been a more platonic Christianity in late antiquity). And Bruno was a major influence on early masonry. There were lots of other sources of influence from Renaissance use of the ideas and texts of late antiquity including the Art of Memory which itself has a lot of parallels to how Mormons do the temple.
That’s not to deny it basically was created in the late 1500’s. However it’s simply wrong to assume it was created out of nothing even if one can’t trust its stated accounts. (Which even masons acknowledge) It’s also true that a lot of 19th century Mormons gave more credence to these origin myths from within Masonry than they probably should have.
Just to clarify, it’s the mason part that was literally masons (i.e. construction worker guilds) that was medieval. That is they had levels and secret signs to see who was really a part of the guild so that non-guild workers could be identified. This was partially akin to what unions did in the US in the 20th century but in an era with poor communications. This was then adopted by various intellectuals in Scotland at the end of the 16th century, combined with various esoterica and Christian traditions. Then the movement became popular among the elite and powerful in the 17th and 18th centuries.
So you have a literal tradition from literal masons combined with esoterica and questioning that wasn’t really approved by the mainstream. Especially parts of renaissance thinking tied to late antiquity as I mentioned. (i.e. platonism, hermeticism, and other broader esoteric traditions and folk traditions)
It seems like most people weren’t sorry to see the five points of fellowship deleted from the endowment, but I was because of the Masonic story. The way I heard it told, Hiram Abiff’s body had deteriorated in its shallow grave and when his friends came to lift it out, the five points were required to keep it all intact. I’ve always seen that as a touching scene, the gentleness of the friends in bringing him out of his grave. They were his “saviors,” lifting him up.
Clark, as far as adoptive masonry, I think that we should remember that Joseph Smith was exposed to masonry only briefly, went through the three degrees all in one day (a process that usually takes weeks or months for a normal mason), and he didn’t attend regularly after being made a member. So I believe influences between masonry and the endowment should be understood as quite loose, perhaps improvisatory.
Joseph was perhaps moved by the masonic pedagogical approach with its emphasis on symbolism and the sobriety of tokens, signs and penalties. Apart from the pedagogical structure, the endowment has an entirely different purpose, meaning, and orientation. Masonic elements give the endowment a sort of timelessness, a feel of something ancient. But apart from this theatricality, the endowment is entirely a Mormon construction: the story of Adam and Eve falling and being taken into the presence of God. None of this has anything to do with masonry.
MH:
This Mormon Matters Podcast is also excellent, and also shares some personal experiences and insights that have led to a deeper appreciation of the Endowment.
It is interesting to me, when we talk about the history and origins of the Masonic rituals, we don't really pull back the layers far enough, and we usually stop at medieval origins. The rituals, and what they are expressing, seem to go much deeper back in our common human history, experience, and society than is often visible at first glance. One example can be found from looking at the (now removed) penalties. This recent posting, Purloined Penalties is a good example of stopping at the Masonic rituals, and not digging any deeper to see where these particular ritual aspects (penalties)of Masonic and LDS ritual came from and why or how they might have been incorporated into the experience.
(Hmm, this might get long, I apologize. The following is neither succinct or concise, and the moderators can feel free to edit or delete this reply.) Here are some passages from "Dreamtime and Inner Space: The World of the Shaman", by Holger Kalweit. They come from the chapter titled "Rituals of Dismemberment". Seeing, or reading, the Masonic ritual (as well as considering ritual items like bones, or additional myths like the Hiramic legend), or the LDS Endowment with these in mind might bring additional (or different) understanding of these rituals.
The whole chapter (and book) is informative and worth a read, but maybe these few bits I have pulled out can add some further thoughts about why there are so many striking similarities and profound differences, no only between the Endowment and Masonic ritual, but also in primitive rituals and experiences.
I have asked this question on many sites when Masonry is brought up, and never get an answer. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.
Question: In the 1960’s, 1970’s,1980’s the First Presidency said several times that members were NOT to join secret organizations and Masonry was one such organization. The Brethern no longer bring this up. Does anyone know why members were told to stay away from secret organizations (mainly Masonry)and why today it is never mentioned, and why members are now allowed to be Masons. Thank you.
When in high school I was a member of Rainbows, the girl organization of Masonry.
There is Masons for men, Eastern Star for women, Rainbows for teen girls, DeMolay for teen boys. Rainbows and DeMolay prep for Masons and Eastern Star.
I know nothing of the Oddfellows and Rebekahs of which my grandparents were members.
Yes, the Pope performs a ritual which is an ancient temple ritual, and they do not understand why they do it or where it came from. Same with Mass, and the Eastern Orthodox has ancient temple rituals that they do not know where it came from or why they do it. Also when a King or Queen is crowned their coronation ceremony is from ancient temple rituals. Watch Queen Elizabeth’s coronation and you will recognize temple things. Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was the first the public was allowed to witness thanks to the new media of television. Very interesting.
@17- My understanding is that when Joseph Smith allowed women to receive their endowments, masons interpreted the move as him breaking his masonic vows of secrecy (as masonry was only for men at the time)and expelled all Mormons from their ranks as traitors to the cause. This continued for more than a century, with Masonic lodges (especially in Utah) barring Mormons from membership, and Mormons (as far back as Lorenzo Snow) admonishing members to stay away from the Masons.
In the past 20 years or so, both organizations have reconciled, and as of five years ago, the grand master of the Utah lodge is active LDS. The Trib did a feature on him and his views.
As to why the Church switched from pro-mason (JS, BY, HCK, and others were mason, and Eliza Snow famously said “mormonism is masonry”.) to anti-mason is interesting, and I’m aware of a few theories. Four of the most common are:
1) Masonry and Mormonism are both time consuming, and there’s not enough time to be fully active in both; LDS leaders prefer one to be active in Mormonism.
2) Oath making and oath keeping is serious business. The church doesn’t want members to get into situations where other (masonic oaths) conflict with covenants and commandments.
3) There’s no need to join masons, because all the truths found in masonic lodges are found in temples. If the masons have it and “we” don’t, then you didn’t need it anyway.
4) Secret Combinations are of the devil. Masons are secret societies, therefore they are of the devil. A related theory (usualy brought up when one points out JS was a mason) is something along the lines of “At one time, the masons were a good and honorable organization, but it has been infiltrated with satanic influences. The vast majority of masons in the lower degrees are honorable men with good intentions, but the organization itself is the devils tool, and this becomes clearer in the higher degrees.”
Take your pick.
Wow forgetting, your quote regarding shamanic dismemberment and ego “death” recathetced the experience for me, the description while metaphorical was spot on target.
Howard,
If it caused any pain, and not just a revitalization of ego loss and a return to a primordial state and oneness, I apologize. It didn’t seem like something that would need a trigger warning.
I sometimes wonder if, in sharing his experience of conversion with others, Alma the Younger also had moments of cathexis. Experiences like this don’t fade, and although he expressed “my soul is pained no more (Mosiah 27),” the memories of the event would have remained vivid, as they should and do.
Alma the Younger’s experience can be read in light of the quotes above, including a spiritual being being intimately involved (in this case prompting or initiating the sequence).
For myself, the temple ritual, when experienced, will also often recall personal memory(s) of this.
Sometime, if you want, I would like to hear more about your experience.
I don’t know about Salt Lake attitudes but my Bishop threatened to disfellowship the young men involved with Demolay in our ward. The parents had to throw a fit and embarass the Bishop to get him to back off. So not everyone is open to this involvement.
Not sure if the color of the apron counts as significant difference. Does anyone know how much has changed in mason rituals since Joseph was exposed? Our temple ceremony has changed a lot since the first one. I have to assume that 100+ years of tweaking on both sides has added to the current differences.
I have to admit I don’t know much about the masons but I have read where you have to really know what things mean before you go through them. I know that would have made my experience in the temple that much better.
“Temple prep” is anything but.
forgetting,
I finally read your long comment. It seems more appropriate to discussing the symbolism of baptism (death/resurrection) than it does to the endowment, which focuses more on the fall of man through sin. I suppose it could be a form of spiritual death, but I guess I still don’t understand the point you’re making. I’m just thick, I guess.
Correction to my comment #18 above. The story was in the Deseret News. Link is here http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695265549/A-Mormon-Mason-New-grand-master-is-the-first-in-a-century-who-is-LDS.html?pg=all
forgetting,
No apologies necessary, it was something I needed to revisit and now plan to again. The quote speaks to the essence of the wound in the wounded healer. The shamanic initiation results in the deconstruction of one’s material world (sell all you have, give to the poor, follow me), it results in a turning away of the material with ultimately a profound understanding of the illusion the material world actually is and a spiritual reconstruction takes place of much greater substance. Indeed a death and rebirth. Ego collapse occurs as the healer cooperates with his own social character assassination (social suicide?) which is timed to coincide with reaching the scorched earth point of the material deconstruction, a point of great psychological despair. The ego(s) don’t actually die but it feels that way at that time, but in practice they are greatly reduced. Ego or “face” is a mental construct mortals need as protection (defense) with which to interface in this rough and tumble world. Mortals take it for granted that creditability and credentials are required to be taken seriously by others but they aren’t the the currency spoken in the light of the spirit world, rather authenticity, openness and truth serve as spiritual currency to open discussion and merge in love. So “ego death” leaves the shaman defenseless (meaning naive, inexperienced) with regard to spiritual warfare (which is quite real btw) if it weren’t for the dismembering which is actually an attack on his now defenseless spirit fragmenting it. Assuming one has survived the life threatening parts of the initiation, this part is the worst, it inflicts a deep psycho spiritual pain at the time and some of it remains as a lingering ache. You might think of it as getting special forces ready for battle by putting them in a real (but limited) firefight to bloody them up for experience. It leaves a scar and I was returned to that wound by the veracity of your quote, thank you for posting it.
This is the second time you’ve posted something that rang profoundly true to me. These are subjects few mortals have knowledge of. Is this an intellectual interest of yours or are experiencing a significant spiritual awakening?
MH: I don’t think your thick. We are in the middle of packing and moving to my wife’s next traveling assignment. I would like to write a more thoughtful response and explanation, and once the dust settles after this weekend I will do that.
Howard: I appreciate your thoughts. I have been studying and researching the healing and cultural practices of an indigenous peoples from southeastern Siberia (from the part of the world and language family that gives us the word shaman), this however was proceeded by a significant spiritual awakening and healing several years ago. Likewise, when we catch our breath from this quick move I will be more thoughtful in a response to you.
#5 Nate: “Non-masons and women are invited to attend those ceremonies, so they don’t contain the secrets that have many of the similarities to the endowment.”
I wish our marriage/sealing ceremony was similar, since it doesn’t contain the covenanted info in the endowment. Would be nice to let families be a part of it for new couples.
For me, there are lots of differences with Masons, but enough similarity to conclude that Joseph Smith was influenced by things of his day. That doesn’t change anything for me on how I see the church and temples, just maybe adjusts my view of how prophets work.
I was also interested in freemasons a while ago and think many believed that it was a “secret” and “ancient” fraternity going back to Solomon’s temple days…but we now know it didn’t really exist prior to the early 1700s.
Something tells me there are things in mormonism that are kinda like that…we think we know things restored were ancient…but maybe they aren’t all the same as what we think.