The document discusses the Freemasons and their connection to science. It suggests that Freemasons were involved in secret scientific work, as evidenced by their role as stonecutters who helped build cathedrals. In a few brief sentences, the summary captures the key topics and ideas discussed in the original document.
Freemasons get blamed for a lot of things. Some think that a vast Masonic conspiracy has infiltrated our government and rules through its nefarious symbols to achieve a new world order.
Take a look at the back of a one-dollar bill: the all-seeing eye atop the pyramid is a well-established Masonic symbol—and Washington, the guy on the front, was a top-level Mason!
And this famous scene from “The Simpsons” claims that a Mason-like group, called the Stonecutters rigs the Oscars and prevents the metric system from gaining traction.
All of this is probably untrue (probably!)—but it shows how mysterious Freemasonry still is, about four hundred years after the fraternity was established. What gets lost in the conspiracies is how Freemasonry helped develop modern science. That’s what I’m going to talk about tonight.
Historians have described Freemasonry as “a science of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols.” Masons use a huge array of symbols to illustrate the fraternity’s principles, like fellowship, charity, education, ethics and leadership.
Legend says that Freemasonry grew out of a brotherhood of actual stonecutters who built the Biblical temple of King Solomon. Freemasonry is not associated with any religion, but it does require members to believe in a higher power or creator, which they call the Great Architect.
The bedrock symbol of Freemasonry is the lodge, where they meet to study and have ceremonies. Every aspect of the lodge represents a facet of Freemasonry: for example, the cornerstone stands for the beginning of an initiate’s Masonic journey, and the checkerboard floor represents Masonic light and wisdom versus the darkness and ignorance of the outside world.
Here are just a few key symbols:
The eye: literally represents the third degree of Masonic learning and omnipotence of the Great Architect
Sun: benevolence and charity, the most important Masonic virtue. Displayed prominently in the lodges.
Moon: a symbol of the ancients and passage of time, also the regularity of conduct of the Master Masons.
Hands: represents human actions. Those with “clean hands” can commit pure actions, unclean hands, you get the idea.
The square and compass represent moral rectitude and conduct. The “G” in the middle stands for either God and/or geometry.
Gavel or stonecutters’ hammer: presented to new initiates and stands for the purification of his heart.
Level: symbolizes the idea that all men are equal in the eyes of the Great Architect
Trowel: given to Master Mason, the tool for spreading cement among the temple’s stones, represents the unity of mankind and brotherly love
My favorite: the beehive, representing industry and teamwork.
Masons were given white lambskin aprons (white = purity, lamb = innocence) that displayed symbols according to their degree. You can see the square and compass at the top, the all-seeing eye, the checkerboard, the whole bit.
Initiates learn the multiple meanings of these symbols as they move up through the order’s ranks, called degrees. After attaining the third degree and becoming a Master Mason, they can continue their education with a variety of advanced lessons. (Scottish Rite, York Rite)
The whole purpose is to improve the character of its members, and thus improve society and the world.
Back to the original stonecutters: In the Middle Ages, stonemasons were in high demand--a lot of cathedrals that needed building. Many of these workers organized into professional groups in England and Scotland beginning in the late 17th century. Modenr freemasonry really started at this time.
Once they started recruiting wealthier and more educated members, they took on the name Freemasons, so as not to be confused with working stonemasons.
At the same time, the Enlightenment was in full swing. The Freemasons adopted many Enlightenment tenets in their philosophy, like reason, freedom and democracy. They merged these ideas with themes from stonemasonry—industry, geometry, logic and balance.
The Masons’ belief in the nobility of labor attracted many innovators to their ranks. One of them was John Theophilus Desaguliers, and through him, Freemasonry and modern science joined in the early 1700s.
Desaguliers was a leader at the Premier Grand Lodge of England and a fan of Sir Isaac Newton’s experimental philosophy—the idea that science should be based on experiments and analysis, and not merely religious teachings, or what we think of as the scientific method today. He also published dozens of studies on mechanics, optics and astronomy and invented the planetarium. He gave frequent lectures around London on Newton’s method, and presented Freemasonry and Enlightenment philosophy as one and the same.
Newton himself eventually hired Desaguliers as his assistant at the Royal Society, England’s leading scientific organization, where Newton was the president.
Desaguliers turned many of his scientific colleagues on to Freemasonry. He and his successors strengthened the link between science and the secret brotherhood by nudging more than 350 members of the Royal Society into the Masonic fold, including:
Naturalist and artist John James Audubon…
Erasmus Darwin, a physician, abolitionist, naturalist and grandfather of Charles Darwin, and ….
Physicist Benjamin Franklin.
Despite popularizing a lot of the scientific tenets we now take for granted, the Freemasons’ secrecy gave people the idea that Masons were an anti-religious cult bent on world domination.
In fact, the Catholic Church banned its members from becoming Masons in 1738.
The distrust blossomed in America in particular, and the biggest blow came from a farmer in upstate New York named William Morgan.
Morgan was a Mason but had had disagreements with his local Lodge, who had doubted his character—for good reason, as it turns out. In 1825 he threatened to write an expose of Freemasonry and a local publisher put forth $500,000 to guarantee publication. Then, Morgan vanished.
Some said he drowned under suspicious circumstances in the Niagara River, while the Masons claimed they had paid him $500 to leave the country. Either way, his body was never found.
Three Masons admitted to a conspiracy to kidnap Morgan, but denied they had injured or killed him. They received light jail sentences, angering Morgan’s supporters. Then Morgan’s book came out, which—when added to the social upheavals of the time--only fueled growing protests against the brotherhood.
Feelings ran so high that protesters formed the Anti-Masonic Party, and ran a candidate in the presidential election of 1828 hoping to unseat Andrew Jackson, who was a Mason. (It didn’t work.)
The damage had been done, and the secret brotherhood fell out of favor in many communities. Freemasonry was able to adapt in other ways. Until the 20th century, white Protestant men made up the bulk of the Masons. African-Americans who wanted to participate in the tradition formed their own lodges, called Prince Hall Lodges—two notable members were Thurgood Marshall and Duke Ellington. Even some women founded their own lodges.
Freemasonry also continued to produce leaders in society—here’s President Harry Truman, a 33rd degree Mason, in his tell-tale white apron.
Yet, the Mason’s prominent role in forming society as we know it, their symbolism and rituals remain cloaked in layers of mystery--and objects of fascination even today.
