--- In [email protected], Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Jul 14, 2007, at 8:56 PM, off_world_beings wrote: > > > This is the tip of the iceberg of the strange history of > > Freemasonry. I am not interested in this as a conspiracy theory, but > > it is some fascinating history. > > > Fortunately, from the POV of Masonic scholarship--which Europe has > several endowed chairs for Masonic research at major universities-- > the presentation and arrangements of facts are far from the real > truth of the matter, which is much less fanciful, but the truth > (being better than fiction) is IMO much more interesting. > > For authentic input on the broader Masonic phenomenon going on back > then, check out the work of late great scholar Dame Frances Yates > like The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, The Rosicrucian > Enlightenment--and if you really want to grasp the origins, The Art > of Memory (which is on the ancient art of ars memoria). If you'd like > to grasp that such sciences existed in medieval Scotland, read > Scottish professor emeritus David Stevenson's The Origins of > Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590-1710. These are all modern > classics. > > If you want to grok how Freemasonry helped put an end to the feudal > system, check out Born In Blood by Robinson. It also goes on to show > how the same principle of universal freedom exemplified by the craft > in Europe, was brought to the US. > > The great operative (as opposed to speculative) Freemasonic > monuments, many became the first universities of the western world > which gave rise to the idea of the arts liberale and free education > for all>>
Great, thanks ! Like you say the truth is better than fiction. Most people react to Freemasonry as if it must be evil, but it is just a historical phenomena that most high school history classes ignore. OffWorld
