Freemasons: The silent destroyers - deist religious
cult based on the Knights Templar
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Freemasons: The silent destroyers - deist religious
cult based on the Knights Templar
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List of British Freemasons
Glossary of the Occult - definitions
Templars
Knights Templar. A religious, military and banking order (Knights of the
Temple of Solomon) founded by Crusaders in Jerusalem to defend the Holy
Sepulchure and Christian pilgrims; a kind of Foreign Legion. Founded by Hugues
de Payns with nine followers in 1118. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux drew up
the Templars rule, 72 articles, in 1128. Invented the checking account. The
world's first multinational. After Jerusalem was lost finally in 1244 the
order's prestige and credibility fell. Abuses of landed and financial poer
increased. King Philip the Fair of France ordered the arrest for of all French
Templars in a suprise raid on Friday 13th October 1307. The French Treasury
was located in the Temple in Paris, outside the King's control. Some captive
Templars confessed they worshiped Baphomet and the devil in the form of a
cat. French Templar leaders, Templar preceptor of Normandy Geoffroy de Charnay
and Grand Master Jacques de Molay were burnt at the stake for in 1312. The
Templars were disbanded in the 14th century and most of their estates were
given to the Knights Hospitallers.
Illuminati
A masonic sect founded by Adam Wieshaupt (the 'first man of the higher
wisdom') in Bavaria in 1778 claiming that the illuminating grace of Christ
resided in it alone.
Rosicrucian Society
A society professing esoteric religious doctrines, venerating the emblems
of the rose and the cross as symbols of Christ's resurrection and redemption,
and claiming various occult powers. The order believed an association was
needed in Europe that would guide rulers along the paths of wisdom and good
[C17: from Latin Rosae Crucis, Rose of the Cross, translation of the German
name Christian Rosenkreutz (b.1378 d.1484), supposed founder of the society]
Occult
Of or characteristic of magical, mystical, or supernatural arts, phenomena,
or influences. [C16: from Latin occultus, past principle of occulere, from
ob over, up + culãre, related to celare to conceal]
Freemasons
A widespread occult order, of Free and Accepted Masons, swearing oaths to
secrecy and mutual aid. Claims to have been founded in London in 1717.
Development of medieval Craft Masons, retaining secret signs and passwords
by which itinerant workers in the guild recognised each other.
Order of the Garter
The highest order of British Knighthood. It consists of the sovereign, 31
knight companions and extra members created by statute.
Theosophical Society
Founded by Elena Petrovna Blavatsky, author of Isis Unveiled (1877), in 1875.
Claims intuitive insight into the divine nature, but denies the existance
of a personal God. Claims to be derived from the sacred writings of Brahmanism
and Buddhism.
Knights of Malta
Military order of Knights who, by tradition, have been allowed to assassinate
anyone with impunity guaranteed by all the royal families in Europe.
More definitions:
The reception of a mason into the 33rd degree
Alchemy: The Science of decomposing and recomposing things, as well as of changing their essnetial nature and raising it higher--transmuting them into each other. While chemistry deals with lifeless matter, alchemy employs life as a factor, and deals with higher forces of nature and the conditions of matter under which they operate. In its lowest aspect, it deals with physical substances, but in its highest aspect it teaches the regeneration of the spiritual man, the purification of mind, will and thought, and the ennobling of all the faculties of the human soul.
Bilderberg Group: a powerful global elite,Group together with their 'sister' organisations-the Trilateral Commission (known also as the "Child of Bilderberg") and the Council on Foreign Relations plot the subversion and silent takeover of constitutional governments and world economy
Craft: the Craft is a term used to refer Wicca and Witchcraft.
Demon: (derived from "daemon") an artificial elemental created by a neurotic complex of energies and emotions, whether of one person or many, hence contraproductive or harmful in influence and effect.
Evocation: Calling elements or Gods/Goddesses to be present in ritual.
Earth Magic: The energy that exists within stones, herbs, flames, wind, earth,grass,water, and other such natural objects not listed here .
Folklore: Traditional sayings, cures, faerie tales,knowledge and folk wisdom of a particular locale which is separate from their mythology.
Gnosticism: the practice of several early and pre-Christian cults who believe that spiritual emancipation could only be achieved by the attainment of knowledge of the self. This idea of 'gnosis' through self knowledge and self love almost converges with satanic philosophies. The Catholic Church still regards the Gnostic gospels as heretical.
Golden Dawn Society: The Golden Dawn, founded in 1887, was an offshoot of the English Rosicrucian Society created twenty years earlier by Robert Wentworth Little, and consisted largely of leading Freemasons.The Golden Dawn, with a smaller membership, was formed for the practice of ceremonial magic and the acquisition of initiatory knowledge .
Higher Self: that part of us which connects our corporeal minds to the Collective Unconscious and with the divine knowledge of the universe.
Horned God: one of the most prevalent God-images in Paganism.
Illuminati: Illuminati is a Greek word meaning Illumination a name given to those who submitted to a Christian baptism. The Order of the Illuminati was established with some unspecified ties to the Masonic lodges of Germany orgin ; as a secret society within a secret society.
Jew-itch: name coined by some Pagans of Jewish origin who are actively seeking out the pagan roots of their birth religion.
Kabbala: mystical teaching from the Jewish-Gnostic tradition. Ceremonial Magick and the Alexandrian traditions are based in these teachings.
Lesser Magic: the art and ability bend people to your will through subtle management of your appearance and/or actions. This can be achieved through observations of body-language and character traits.
Lucifer: (Latin for "light-bearer"), name for the planet Venus when it appears as the morning star; Vulgate translation of the Hebrew expression for "bright one." The Hebrew prophet Isaiah used the term in a satirical allusion to the king of Babylon, describing the frustrated ambition of the morning star to rise higher than all the other stars: "How art thou fallen from heaven,O Lucifer, son of the morning" (quote from bible passage Isaiah 14:12).
Majestic 12: a top secret goverment created group to handle the supposed 1947 recovery and evaluation of a crashed alien space-craft in new mexico .
New World Order: an economic occult elite comprising less than 1% of the population. Their immense wealth and power enable them to exercise control over the governmental process, they effectively operate the country as a Feudal oligarchy.
New Age: the mixing of metaphysical practices with structured religion.
Occult: ("hidden, concealed") secret, esoteric; term used for magick and other esoteric arts and sciences, such as astrology or alchemy
Pagan: From the Latin word Paganus,meaning a "country dweller" the Church uses it as a derogatorily to describe any person who is not Christian, Jew or Moslem. A follower of a polytheistic religion
Qaballa: mystical teaching from the Jewish-Gnostic tradition.
Rosicrucian:The first mention of Rosicrucian is a 1614 German document that purports to recount the life of a legendary medieval knight, Christian Rosenkreuz, who traveled to Morocco and the Near East to acquire secret wisdom and the "elixir of life." The Rosicrucians, thereby, developed as a secret order of men and women who claim to possess wisdom that has been handed down from ancient times.
Shamanism: the practice of shamans which is usually ritualistic or magickal in nature, sometimes can be religious.
Skull And Bones: The Skull & Bones is a Society It is a Senior year society which exists only at Yale.Members are chosen in their Junior year and spend only 1 year on campus, the Senior year, with the group
Temple of set: originally formed in 1975 by disaffected members of the Churchof Satan led by Michael Aquino. The ToS has developed in a more Crowleyan direction, basing its belief on Set the Egyptian god of evil.
Teutonic Knights: German military religious order founded dueing the time (1190–91) during the siege of Acre in the Third Crusade. It was originally known as the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. Mary of the Teutons in Jerusalem. The order was one of nobles, and the knights took the monastic vows of poverty , chastity , and obedience.
Uncasting: uncasting is opening a circle at the end of a completed ritual.
Voodoo: polytheistic religion derived from worship of gods in African and the beliefs of Catholicism. Practiced mainly by the West Indians.
Wicca: an ancient religion based on the religion of the aboriginal Europeans involving the worship of the old Gods/Goddesses and the practice of magic.
Yggdrasil: one of the best known Tree of Life symbols. It unites all existence from the Underworld, to that of the Physical world.
Zodiac: The stars in the heavens divided into twelve main groups. Imaginary patterns are imposed upon various star patterns as an aid to remember the stars.In Astrology, the Zodiac signs signify personality types for the people born under them
nb. There are many other occult systems including Wicca, Satanism, Golden Dawn etc. etc.
"The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we
are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies,
to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers
of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed
the dangers which are cited to justify it."
President John F. Kennedy - address to newspaper publishers, April 27, 1961
Masonic News
The reception of a mason into the 18th degree - a Scottish rite ceremony
Printable word document
(1) Abolition of ALL ordered national governments
(2) Abolition of inheritance
(3) Abolition of private property
(4) Abolition of patriotism
(5) Abolition of the family as the cell from which all civilisations have stemmed.
(6) Abolitions of all religions so that the Luciferian ideology of a totalitarian elite may be imposed on mankind.
(1) USE TEMPTATION TO ENTRAP
To use monetary and sex bribery to obtain control of people already occupying positions in high places in ALL governments and other fields of human endevour. Once fallen they were to be held in bondage by application of political and other forms of blackmail and threats of financial ruin, public exposure, and physical harm.
(2) GET THEM WHILE THEY'RE YOUNG
Illuminati on the faculties of colleges and universities were to recommend students belonging to well-bred families for special training in internationalism. They were to be at first persuaded and then convinced that men of special ability and brains had the RIGHT to rule those less gifted. Three special Illuminati schools are located at Gordonstoun in Scotland; Salem in Germany; and Anavryta in Greece.
(3) TERMINATOR AGENTS
Blackmailed Illuminati puppets and Illuminati educated students were to be used as agents and placed behind the scenes of ALL governments as 'experts' and 'specialists' so they could advise the top executives to adopt policies which would bring about the ultimate destruction of the religions they werre elected or appointed to serve.
(4) TO OWN PUBLIC DISCOURSE
The Illuminati were to obtain control of the press and all other agencies which distribute information to the public. News was to be slanted so that the public would get behind Illuminati puppets and come to believe in a One World Government as the only solution to the world's problems.
0. Preparation
1. Novice
2. Minerval
3. Illuminatus Minor
4. Illuminatus Major (Scotch Novice)
5. Illuminatus Dirigens (Scotch Knight)
6. Presbyter (Priest)
7. Principatus Illuminatus (Prince)
8. Magus (Master)
9. Rex (Man-God)
08Dec06 - unsourced -
Lord Cavendish slept in a coffin
This photo might be of interest. I took it last Summer (2005) at Holker Hall Garden Festival and it shows clearly the Cavendish logo of the snake with a crown on its head!!
This serpent logo is everywhere on the estate and in the house. It is built into decorative mosaics in the garden and is printed on every piece of stationary in the shop etc. etc.
Rumour has it that Lord Cavendish slept in a coffin and that must relate to high level Free Masonic rituals or something like that. A friend who is very aware of these things looked at the house and spotted the copper roofed turret room that is central to the huge building and he said that he wouldn't be surprised if rituals were conducted there. He also said that he suspected there would be a large underground area and this has been confirmed. A friend knows someone who works at the hall and she said that the area underneath the hall is big enough for all the Royal family to shelter in case of an emergency!!
If anyone else knows anything re Cavendish family and Illuminati connections, let me know. James Casbolt's and David Icke's descriptions of the occult rituals are so difficult to accept and understand, as they are total anathema to anyone who has a good heart and who is gentle, peaceful and compassionate as we are.
The only way I cope is to imagine whole families who have been brought up to accept the rituals as 'normal.' They also have a different DNA and can't experience emotions as we do. If we practice 'sending' them love and compassion then I am sure the positive effects will be felt deep within them.....
In peace from Pen xx
Contact: "Penny" <peacepals1(at)tesco.net>
Ritualistic site noted as “place of
interest” by local deputies
By: Matthew Chew
Posted by editor Tue Nov 14, 2006
http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/ViewPost/16562
Kern County Sheriff's Deputies located a site in the Old Towne area last week they are categorizing as a "meeting place" or "site of interest" because of several unusual items located there.
Neighbors reported seeing suspicious activity by teenagers dressed in black or "gothic" attire. The teens were seen entering and leaving private property in a rural area of Old Towne through a barbed wire fence.
The Sheriff's department contacted the property owner to verify if the activity was authorized, which the property owner denied.
Sheriff's deputy Roy Scott said that the sight, "is definitely something of interest."
Aside from the issue of trespassing on private property, a great deal of work has been done on the land, for what appears to be some form of ritualistic gathering.
There is a large pit, with a fire ring at the bottom and some sort of stadium seating carved into the sides of the pit. It resembles an ancient amphitheater.
Across from the pit is a stone fire ring in the shape of a pentagram. Although associated with Satanic worship, a pentagram has been used by different cultures and religions throughout history.
There are also several animal skulls and bones on the site and a tree carved with a pentagram and an inverted cross. Sharks teeth are embedded at each tip of the pentagram. A beheaded skunk was found near one of the fire pits and a meat cleaver laying nearby the mutilated creature was confiscated by deputies.
Scott said, "It took a lot of effort and work."
The sheriffs are making routine checks of the site but have not yet encountered anyone on the property.
Scott said evidence found in the area does indicate recent activity, but currently the Sheriff's Department classifies the location only as a gathering place, or "place of interest."
http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/ViewPost/16562
By: Geoffrey Braslow
I read the article in the Nov. 8 Tehachapi News regarding sheriff's deputies investigating a site in Old Towne that had allegedly been used as a site for satanic ritual. The reporter then goes on to describe the pentagram as a symbol used by other cultures or religions such as Freemasonry. That touched a nerve.
First of all, Freemasonry is neither a religion nor a culture. Freemasons ask only that its members believe in a supreme being. Admittedly, the reporter did not say that Masons are evil, but he links them in the same article that reports on satanic ritual. In fact, Freemasonry in and of itself does not use the pentagram as one of its symbols. The inverted star, however, is used as the symbol of Order of Eastern Star, a group of charitable ladies who are sponsored by Masons. The photograph of the Masonic square and compass surrounded by the letter "G" is identified as having five points. But if the author looks carefully, he will see six and another point.
His reporting on the crime may be accurate, but had he done better research before writing this article, he would have known that the pentagram has been used as a representation of good things longer than it has symbolized Satanism. He is only sensationalizing. There are fifty pentagrams that adorn our own flag of the United States. The American Medal of Honor uses the pentagram. The pentagon is a pentagram. The pentagram is an ancient pagan symbol that represented nature and life and man's connection with the gods and goddesses. Freemasonry supports charities and education. To use it as an example in an article was irresponsible.
Secrets in the stone
First part of the initiation into the third degree
CLAIRE SMITH - The Scotsman - 28th October 2006
http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1594402006
ON THE south wall of Rosslyn Chapel, alongside the entrance historically used by women, is a very curious carving. It shows a blindfolded figure, kneeling between two pillars and holding a Bible, with a noose lying loosely around his neck.
To anyone familiar with the rites of Freemasonry, this carving bears a remarkable similarity to a Masonic initiation ceremony. But if Alan Butler and John Ritchie, the authors of Rosslyn Revealed, are correct, the resemblance is anything but coincidental.
Rosslyn has long been associated with Freemasonry, a worldwide secret society thought to have originated among the guilds of medieval craftsmen. But Butler and Ritchie believe the connection between Rosslyn and Freemasonry is more dramatic than anyone previously suspected - arguing that the beliefs of Freemasonry were first formulated by the stonemasons who built Rosslyn. They believe the chapel was not simply a reflection of the philosophy of Freemasonry, but its original inspiration.
In Rosslyn Revealed, they claim the beliefs of Freemasonry are rooted in the Ebionite philosophy of Sir William Sinclair and Gilbert Haye, creators of Rosslyn Chapel. Ebionites denied the divinity of Jesus Christ and exalted John the Baptist.
Ritchie says: "Ebionites did not believe in a hierarchical church. They believed every individual was unique and had their own relationship with God. They believed in the betterment of mankind and in man the artist. Freemasons also believe in the betterment of mankind, in education and the individual - we believe Rosslyn was the origin of that philosophy."
The authors believe that Haye, a polymath and former chancellor at the French court, came to Scotland because it had a reputation for independent thinking. The book argues that the master masons who came to Midlothian from across Europe to build the chapel between 1456 and 1496 became, in effect, the first Freemasons. The secretive nature of the craft, they say, was forged at Rosslyn, through rituals and ceremonies devised by Haye and Sinclair - linked closely to the beliefs of the Ebionites.
The carvings of Rosslyn are unlike those of a normal church because they reflect Ebionite symbolism rather than the more mainstream Christian tradition.
Ebionism had its origins in a pre-Christian mystery tradition and incorporated beliefs and symbols from Judaism, Islam and Egyptian and Persian traditions. Butler and Ritchie believe Sinclair and Haye enshrined these beliefs and symbols in the very fabric of Rosslyn - to ensure they were understood by future generations.
Many believe some of the leading figures of the Renaissance may have been Ebionites. But the sect, with its emphasis on individuality, was a threat to the hierarchical beliefs of the established church.
When Sinclair and Haye gathered the finest stonemasons in Europe to build Rosslyn, they paid them well. To ensure they kept quiet about the role of Ebionism and the mystical symbolism incorporated into the design of the chapel, Ritchie and Butler believe they swore their workers to secrecy by forming them into a society - binding them together with oaths, ceremonies and terrifying threats; the very roots of Freemasonry.
Ritchie says: "As it turns out, Rosslyn is far more important to Freemasonry than we thought. In fact, Freemasonry owes its very existence to the chapel."
In Rosslyn Revealed, the authors say: "The earl was faced with a problem. How would it be possible to pass on knowledge of the timeless truths carved into the walls of the chapel without divulging its secrets to the world at large and thereby bringing retribution down on his own head and that of his children [because Ebionites were viewed as heretics]? The creation of Freemasonry was his response."
Ironically, when the authors first embarked on their research almost ten years ago, they were sceptical about the chapel's supposed links with Freemasonry. Many of the carvings inside the chapel with supposed Masonic links were actually added in 1871, when the chapel was extensively restored - and Butler and Ritchie are convinced that the carving which visitors to the chapel are told is of the apprentice who built the so-called Apprentice Pillar, linked to a well-known Masonic legend, is actually the defaced image of an apostle.
However, they admit they were wrong. Ritchie says: "This is something which is so typical of Rosslyn. Every time you think you have worked things out, it throws up something which completely takes you by surprise."
While it might seems incredible to associate a tiny chapel in Midlothian with the very creation of a secret brotherhood which spread worldwide and played an important role in the creation of the American constitution, the link between Freemasonry with the Sinclair family is clear.
The earliest known Freemason lodge, Lodge 0, was recorded at Kilwinning in Ayrshire in 1598 and was associated with a Tironesian Abbey on Sinclair land. The oldest written records of Freemasonry are found in Scotland and the Sinclairs of Roslin were hereditary Grand Masters of Scottish Freemasonry.
The authors found a compelling piece of evidence in the "first degree tracing board" of Freemasonry, which shows three pillars, just like those at the front of the nave in Rosslyn Chapel. The pillar on the right, which is the most ornate, represents beauty and stands in the same place as the Apprentice Pillar - which has long been associated with Masonic legend.
Much of the metaphor found in theoretical Freemasonry, which was to become so powerful and widespread around the world, is based on different styles of architecture and stone craft.
And one of the most curious facts about Rosslyn Chapel is that it contains examples of many different styles of architecture. Ritchie says: "It has examples of every kind of arch and window that were available at the time. It is like a guide book, an instruction book for the guild."
Astronomy, in particular the planet Venus, has an important role in Masonic ritual and Ritchie and Butler believe Rosslyn was used as an observatory from which to chart the movements of Venus.
While the beliefs of Freemasonry have changed and been embellished over the years, the authors believe they have their core origins in the Ebionite belief systems incorporated into the design of Rosslyn. They write: "At the heart of Freemasonry we still find imperatives critically important to William Sinclair and Gilbert Haye. These include a deep reverence for John the Baptist, an enduring belief in justice, equality and fraternity, a reverence for the Noahide Laws of ancient Judaism and a recognition for that all-important part of the year around the autumn equinox.
"The same heady cocktail of Old Testament legend, Ebionite Christianity, mystery rite religion and a reverence for the human sprit that was personified by the 15th-century Sinclairs was passed directly to Freemasonry and in part survives with the craft to this day."
While the Masonic angels inside the chapel are undoubtedly a piece of Victorian fancy, the Masonic initiate on the outside of the building may well have been the first of his kind.
Once again, the facts about Rosslyn Chapel may well prove to be even more extraordinary than the fiction. In the book, Butler and Ritchie write: "Long after interest in The Da Vinci Code has waned, Freemasons from around the world will still be making their way to Rosslyn Chapel. And that is how it should be, because without this extraordinary building Freemasonry would never have existed. Rosslyn Chapel is without any doubt the oldest and most important of all Freemasonic temples."
• Find out more about the authors' investigations at www.rosslynrevealed.com
Apprentice Pillar: nothing is as it appears
Second part of the initiation into the third degree
VISITORS to Rosslyn Chapel have always been fascinated by the so-called Apprentice Pillar, the mediaeval masterpiece at the right of the altar. At the foot of the pillar are the dragons of Yggdrasil and twined around the column is an everlasting vine which links all the ornate carvings in the chapel.
The legend told to visitors is that this pillar was carved by an apprentice in his master's absence - and that when the master saw its beauty, he murdered its creator.
Many have doubted the story. Early accounts speak of the Prince's Pillar, and the carving said to be the head of the apprentice shows signs of being roughly modified to make it seem like a young man.
Butler and Ritchie believe the pillar represents the tree of life, the mystical symbol found in the Jewish text known as the Kabbalah, which shows the connection of Heaven and Earth.
But they also found a strong link between the design of the pillar and the tale of St Matthew's staff. In the biblical story, Matthew, right, doubts Jesus and is told to plant his staff in the ground.
In the Bible story, the staff grows into a great tree, with "a vine twisted around it and honey coming from above" - and from the base of the tree springs a source of water and "creatures that creep and crawl".
Like everything at Rosslyn Chapel, this is not as it seems. The authors believe the association with St Matthew's staff was a cover story, to distract attention from the profusion of strange and rather un-Christian carvings covering the chapel walls.
And, while the story of St Matthew's staff is a conventional Bible story, it is also a link to a surviving Hebrew gospel, in which John the Baptist is exalted as a prophet.
Nothing is as it appears at Rosslyn. When investigations were carried out around the chapel in the 1980s, it was discovered that foundations for a much bigger building had been laid. Even today, Rosslyn looks curiously unfinished from the outside but, in the authors' view, this was done deliberately to keep the prying eyes of the bishops away from the interior of the church.
As they say, there is still much to be discovered and "what rites and secret services once took place in the chapel at night when the shutters were safely barred may remain forever a mystery to all of us".
But the miraculously preserved carvings reveal a world which encompassed Judaism, Eastern mysticism, and images clearly from China - and even possibly from America. "We can be certain that no single overriding religious belief dominates in this sacred spot," they write. "There is something for every believer here, in what was clearly intended to be a compendium of religious and philosophical thought."
FREEMASONRY FACTS
Doors of the Masonic Temple at Covent Garden in London
1 You don't have to be a Christian to be a Freemason. However, Masons do believe in a "supreme being". Masonic rituals refer to the creator of the world as the "divine architect".
2 The fraternity of Freemasonry uses the metaphor of a stonemason's tools and crafts to describe an esoteric system of morality.
3 The square and compass is the key symbol of Freemasonry. Some believe it is a metaphor for the need for moral responsibility balanced by reason.
4 There are three degrees of Freemasonry, each of which is accompanied by ritual around which there is great secrecy. Freemasons begin as Apprentice, and progress to Master then Grand Master.
5 Freemasons are sworn to secrecy when they become a member of a lodge, but identify themselves to each other using special handshakes, signs and code words.
6 Freemasons and the Catholic Church have never had an easy relationship. The current Pope, above, issued a decree saying the craft was "irreconcilable with the doctrine of the church".
7 The secrecy and oaths of loyalty of Freemasonry have brought it under suspicion from conspiracy theorists. In an episode of The Simpsons, Mr Burns hallucinates and sees talking flies saying: "Freemasons rule the world."
8 Around 200,000 Freemasons were exterminated in Nazi Germany.
9 John the Baptist, left, is the patron saint of Freemasons. His Saint's Day falls on 24 June - the summer solstice.
10 Scotland has the earliest recorded Freemason lodge in the world and also the lodge with the earliest written records. Robert Burns was a dedicated mason and made useful contacts at lodges in Edinburgh.
Seeing the light
The 'meditation room' where a candidate for freemasonry is left alone before being conducted to the 'Lodge' in order to be initiated into the first degree. Just before he 'recieves the light' the candidate, who is regarded of being still 'profane' must draw up his philosophical and moral testament - language on the skeleton's apron is French
http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1587572006
CLAIRE SMITH - The Scotsman - 27th October 2006
WHEN he caught sight of the bright red pentagon glowing above the great rose window of Rosslyn Chapel, Alan Butler almost let out a scream. At that point, he knew beyond doubt that Rosslyn was far more than just another medieval church.
By rediscovering the lightbox, forgotten for hundreds of years, Butler and John Ritchie, co-author of Rosslyn Revealed, moved closer to illuminating their theory that the truth about the chapel is even stranger than the fiction made world-famous by Dan Brown.
"It was a real Indiana Jones moment," recalls Ritchie. "Older inhabitants of Roslin village had told the story of a mysterious light which appeared in the chapel on St Matthew's Day [21 September]. But the story had been ignored by successive histories of the chapel."
While some eagle-eyed guides in the chapel had spotted the tiny window at the top of the east wall, few bothered to point it out to visitors. The tale of how Ritchie and Butler rediscovered the hidden lightbox and why it was key to understanding the chapel's secrets is told in Rosslyn Revealed, out today.
It all began when Ritchie, a resident of Roslin who has had a lifelong fascination with the chapel, discovered an old Victorian print of Rosslyn by Hill and Adamson. Taken in 1844, it shows the East wall before the Rose window was built. When he showed it to Nancy Bruce, a guide in the chapel and his second cousin, she pointed out the aperture above the window and said: "That must be where the light comes through on St Matthew's Day."
Ritchie, a former Reuters cameraman, trained a telephoto lens on the tiny opening and discovered it was in the shape of a pentagon and appeared to be lined with some sort of highly reflective material. He explains: "I thought 'we have got to test this' and went to buy a power torch." Thanks to the scaffolding currently built around the chapel to dry it out after disastrous renovation work, he was able to climb up and shine the torch through the aperture, while Butler stood in the centre aisle to see the effect. In the book, the authors describe what happened next: "At most, we expected a small glimmer of white light from the lamp to show above the East window in the comparative gloom of the chapel's interior, but we couldn't have been more wrong. Instead of the faint glimmer we had expected to appear in the lightbox, what met our eyes was a perfect orb of steady, strong, blood-red light."
Butler struggled to conceal his excitement from other visitors in the chapel, which included a Chinese film crew. "We were absolutely stunned. I made such a loud exclamation that my wife Kate, who was with me, had to shut me up. We knew at that moment that it had been deliberately created to do this and that the people who built this church were not Christians in the accepted sense of the word." The discovery delayed publication of the book until the authors had explored the implications of the mysterious lightbox. Without erecting scaffolding inside the chapel, it was not possible to get close enough to the window to find out exactly what the box was made of. Ritchie believes the red light may come from a precious gem and that the reflective sides of the pentagon are made from highly reflective mica. The shape is significant; the pentagon or its close friend, the pentagram, or five-pointed star, is a common feature in ancient civilisations - and an important symbol in Freemasonry. Many associate it with magic or satanic rituals, but it was once widely used as a symbol of Christianity, with the five corners representing the five wounds of Christ. By recreating a scale model using Perspex and mirrors, the authors managed to demonstrate that the pentagonal lightbox creates a red doughnut of light, which at a certain angle refines itself into a beam of pure white light. On 21 September, the book was at the printers, but Ritchie and Butler returned to the chapel to see if St Matthew's Light still shone in the chapel.
The pair and a few guides gathered at the back of the chapel in the early morning to see if the lightbox was still functioning. Even on a dim Autumn day, the group of witnesses saw the pentagon glowing with a strong red light. "I was absolutely stunned," says Butler. "I had to pinch myself; I thought I was having a dream. People don't find these sorts of things."
The discovery shed new light on another unusual feature of the chapel. While most medieval churches were built facing east, the precise direction was determined by the day the sun rose on the relevant saint's day [the saint to which the church was dedicated]. Rosslyn was built facing due east, although it was completed before the existence of accurate compasses.
And there was more. The position of the secret window meant the light shone through on just two days of the year - 21 March, the first day of spring, and 21 September, the autumn equinox, or beginning of winter. Ritchie says: "It is so exact that if it had been an inch either way, this phenomenon would not have happened on the day it does. That shows exactly how Rosslyn was built."
Ritchie believes the lightbox was partly obscured by the rose window created in 1871 but that before this it would have created a light which illuminated a certain point on the chapel floor. A similar phenomenon can be found at St Sulpice in Paris [also featured in The Da Vinci Code], where a light reflects along the Paris meridian at midsummer, and Chartres Cathedral. The mysterious church of Rennes le Château, source of the Templar controversy, has dancing blue lights, which appear in January.
Ritchie also believes the light also has a correlation with the chapel's founder William Sinclair, whose name translates as Holy Light.
For Butler, an expert on stone circles, megalithic structures and astro-archeology, the discovery of the lightbox is confirmation the chapel's roots are in beliefs which predated Christianity by thousands of years. Both authors believe the rediscovery of the lightbox is a key to unlocking the true meaning of Rosslyn Chapel. Butler says: "In a way, this goes back to pre-Christian beliefs, to sun worship. It shows Rosslyn is unlike any other church in the world - in effect it is a medieval stone circle."
The full significance of the way Rosslyn was aligned on a true east-west axis before the existence of accurate compasses has still to be explored - but it fits with Ritchie and Butler's belief that Gilbert Haye and William Sinclair, who built the chapel, were masters of astrology. Unlike any other church, the inside of Rosslyn Chapel was once fitted with shutters, suggesting it may have been used as a secret observatory.
The authors also believe the foundation stone for the chapel was laid on the day of a rare conjunction between Venus and the Sun which is associated with the Shekinah, the female aspect of God. The hidden window may have been used as a way of measuring the movements of the planets, particularly of Venus. And, if the authors' experiments are correct, the light the secret window projected on to the back of the chapel casts a shape remarkably similar to the Eye of Horus, the all-seeing symbol of Freemasonry.
Even a person looking at Rosslyn Chapel with an untrained eye can see aspects unusual for a Christian church. The roof is sprinkled with roses and stars, and there are more Green Men - symbols of paganism - than any other church in the world. Carvings in the chapel encompass symbols of Judaism, Hinduism, Islam - and encompass the nature and sun worship of the earliest human religions.
The authors are certain there is much more to discover about the secrets of chapel. After almost a decade of research for the book, Ritchie says: "We feel as if we have only written the introduction."
• Rosslyn Revealed by Alan Butler and John Ritchie is published by O Books at £19.95.
Ebionites who harboured a Pope's son
The Masonic 'meditation room' in Orleans, France
THE conventional story of Rosslyn Chapel says Earl William Sinclair created it in the woods to thank God for a long and prosperous life. But John Ritchie and Alan Butler believe Gilbert Hay, listed in histories as "tutor to the Sinclair children," was key to the creation of the chapel.
The authors believe Sinclair and Hay were Ebionites, followers of a pre-Christian mystery tradition which had survived since biblical times.
Previously, Hay had been an adviser at the French court, personally knighted by the King of France and a confidant of French duke Rene D'Anjou. Hay was one of the most educated men in Europe and, while at Rosslyn, assembled one of the world's great libraries.
Ritchie and Butler believe Hay's real motive in settling at Rosslyn was to supervise the building of the chapel, which, far from being a conventional Christian church, enshrined the beliefs of the Ebionite sect. The Ebionites, who denied the divinity of Jesus and exalted John the Baptist, were persecuted and outlawed under the Inquisition. But they still had powerful friends, including Pope Pius II, below, who before becoming pontiff travelled on a secret mission to Scotland.
As a diplomat, the future pope fathered an illegitimate child, which, according to expert historians, he left with Sinclair to raise as his own.
Having friends in high places was just one of the reasons Sinclair and Hay were left alone to fill their chapel with symbolism wildly different from that of the orthodox Christian Church.
As Ebionites, their beliefs were a fusion of Pantheism, Persian dualism and Judaism. The feminine principle was acknowledged alongside the masculine and the individual was encouraged to have his or her own experience of God.
Look around Rosslyn Chapel and the evidence is there, in the carvings of feminine symbols of roses, in the portrayals of the Veil of Veronica, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene.
In Rosslyn Revealed, Ritchie and Butler argue the Sinclair family, who are often taken to have been Knights Templar, were, in fact, Ebionites.
They ask: "Could it be possible Earl William Sinclair was a member of a family that had maintained its Ebionite, Jewish roots across 1,400 years of history?"
The evidence presented by Rosslyn Chapel seemed to indicate this could indeed be the case.
Factfile
'Whenever a Templar was received into the Order he denied Christ; he was forced to spit on a crucifix and often even to trample it underfoot' - Michelet
• Rosslyn Chapel was built between 1456 and 1496. Master masons came from all over the world to build it.
• The chapel has attracted some illustrious visitors over the years, including Sir Walter Scott, Dorothy Wordsworth, Queen Victoria, Robert Burns, Samuel Johnson, JMW Turner and Mary Queen of Scots. More recently, Michael Bentine, one of the original Goons, was a great enthusiast. He was a keen dowser and convinced Rosslyn was the centre of an unusually strong energy field. Rosslyn Revealed is dedicated to Bentine, below, while another unlikely expert is Rat Scabies, drummer with punk band The Damned. He wrote Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail with a journalist friend.
• In the 1560s a mob fuelled by John Knox and hatred of idolatry marched on the chapel to destroy it, but it was saved by local man Thomas Cochrane, who diverted the mob to Rosslyn Castle and its cellars of fine wine.
• The restoration in 1871 by the 4th Earl of Rosslyn was inspired by Queen Victoria. She was seduced by the chapel and appalled by its state of disrepair.
• The chapel is covered by a canopy and scaffolding, a result of disastrous repair work in the 50s. The inside of the chapel was coated in cement and became waterlogged. Rosslyn Chapel Trust, chaired by the current Earl, has applied for £11m of public money to restore the chapel.
• Some claim to have counted 110 green men in the chapel, as well as one highly unusual green woman. The men of the woods, with foliage emerging from the corners of their mouths, are an ancient symbol of man's interdependence with the natural world, and are also found in Hinduism.
• In The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Sir Walter Scott told the legend of the glowing red light which is said to emanate from the chapel when one of the Sinclairs is close to death. "O'er Roslin all that dreary night, a wondrous blaze was seen to gleam; 'twas broader than the watch-fire's light, And redder than the bright moonbeam."
Masons under anti-terror
surveillance after UDA infiltrates Scottish lodges
Another freemasonic 'Meditation Room'
MASONIC halls throughout Scotland are under covert surveillance by anti-terror police after the outlawed loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) successfully infiltrated the controversial secret society.
David Begg, the grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, told the Sunday Herald that Freemasons have been advised by police that lodges throughout the country – particularly in the west of Scotland – are under surveillance by officers targeting the UDA. One Fife lodge has been penetrated by loyalist terrorists who used the premises for fund-raising and operational planning. For more than 18 months, UDA member Steven Moffat used the St Kenneth Lodge in Kennoway as a cover for loyalist paramilitary activity.
The UDA is one of Ulster’s most brutal paramilitary organisations. Using the cover-name the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) it waged a campaign of sectarian assassination against Northern Ireland’s Catholics. One of its most notorious “brigadiers”, Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair, fled to Ayrshire after his expulsion from Belfast following an internecine loyalist feud.
Moffat is serving five years in jail after being imprisoned by the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month under the Terrorism Act 2000 for membership of a proscribed organisation and possession of firearms.
He was found with a Browning 9mm automatic pistol and ammunition at his home. Police also discovered flags, balaclavas and other paramilitary regalia, including documents detailing the UDA’s initiation ceremonies.
Police and prosecutors believed the items “were for the preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”. Moffat joined the UDA in Belfast at least three years ago.
The Mason’s Fife and Kinross provincial grand master, David Wishart, said Moffat had used the Masonic Lodge in Kennoway for UDA meetings for at least 18 months. A member of the lodge who was also in the Orange Order had arranged for Moffat and his loyalist associates to hold meetings in the Kennoway lodge. Wishart insisted that no other members knew the true nature of Moffat’s activities.
Once Moffat’s actions were discovered, the Mason and Orange Order member who assisted him resigned after being threatened with expulsion from the Masons.
“I was horrified to find out that this had been going on,” said Wishart.
Moffat, who was not a Freemason but often drank in the St Kenneth Lodge’s bar, used the Kennoway Masonic Hall for two types of meetings. Firstly, regular private “strategy” meetings with Moffat and 10 other men occurred over 18 months. The UDA members discussed their plans in a closed room while lodge members drank at the Mason’s bar in the same building.
The second type of meeting was fund-raising events for loyalist causes in Northern Ireland. Up to 70 people attended three fundraisers held at the Masonic Hall over an 18-month period.
Wishart said: “The UDA infiltrated and used us for their illegal purposes. These people are very clever. We were trusting; they gained our confidence and then we were manipulated.”
Kennoway Masonic Hall was closed for eight weeks for an internal Masonic inquiry following police raids in the area in connection with Moffat’s activities.
At the time of his arrest, Moffat was planning to hold an initiation ceremony for Scottish UDA recruits at the Masonic hall. Wishart has since altered hall letting procedures and leasing now has to be cleared by a committee and a lodge member must vouch for those letting the premises.
The Orange Order has been banned from using the Kennoway lodge’s premises. Previously, Orangemen regularly hired out the hall.
“Due to rogue members of the lodge linked to the Orange Order and the UDA we took the decision to no longer allow them the use of the premises,” said Wishart.
Senior police officers told Wishart that they were “mounting similar surveillance operations in the west of Scotland” against Masonic lodges which might have been infiltrated by loyalist terrorists.
“I can’t say if there is or isn’t a risk elsewhere,” said Wishart, pointing out that members of some of the 49 Fife lodges under his command were also in the Orange Order. One other lodge in Fife also allows the Orange Order to rent its premises for functions.
David Begg, the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, said if any lodges were involved in supporting the UDA they would be closed. He has warned Scotland’s 32 provincial masters to be extra vigilant but cannot compel lodges to introduce committee-led hall letting procedures similar to those adopted by Kennoway.
“We can’t tell lodges what to do. It is up to the trustees of each lodge but we will be producing general guidance in the near future,” he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1382899,00.html
Tuesday January 4, 2005
The Guardian
One of the problems with secret societies - especially the kind whose members exert a shadowy influence on the course of world events - is that they can be a bit difficult to track down. Never was this more true than of the Knights Templar, the ancient Catholic order rumoured, among other things, to know the whereabouts of the Holy Grail. Officially, the Templars don't exist, having been driven underground by the pope more than 600 years ago; in The Da Vinci Code, they are described as inhabiting "a precarious world where fact, lore and misinformation had become so intertwined that extracting a pristine truth was almost impossible". Nobody even seems to agree on what the Holy Grail is: some say it is the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper; others that it was used to collect his blood at the crucifixion. Needless to say, the Templars haven't been too eager to clarify any of this publicly.
Then, late last year, the group apparently made an unprecedented communication with the outside world. It emerged that the Templars were demanding an official apology from the Vatican, for having persecuted them in the 14th century - and that the Vatican was giving "serious consideration" to the matter. The demand came in a letter, signed on behalf of the grand master of the Templars. And for the conspiracy theorists who have pursued the knights for centuries, it was accompanied by a tantalising clue: an address. In Hertford.
If there is something implausible in the idea that huge stretches of world history have been secretly coordinated from a market town just north of the M25 - well, maybe that's what they want you to think. The local newspaper, the Hertfordshire Mercury, certainly seems convinced: over the past few months it has published several intriguing stories quoting local Templars, who told its reporter of a secret network of tunnels under the town that was still in use by the order. "It reaches beyond well known central Hertford locations," one Templar said, "including the tourist office, the castle, Monsoon, Threshers, the post office, Bayley Hall, and the council offices." Treasures of "immense importance" were hidden there, it was claimed. Was the quest for the Holy Grail finally about to come to an end? More surprisingly still, was it about to come to an end underneath Monsoon on Market Place?
The man who has persuaded the Vatican to consider apologising, Tim Acheson, meets the Guardian in icy morning fog in Hertford, wearing smart pinstriped trousers and a thick winter overcoat. His midnight-blue sports car is parked nearby. "As you might expect," he says, setting the tone for the day, "there are going to be some things that I'm not able to discuss."
Acheson claims to trace his ancestry to a renowned Scottish Templar family of the same name, though he won't confirm his own role in the group. Might he just be a practical joker who managed to fool the Vatican? "That could well be, couldn't it?" he says, as we order coffee in a Hertford establishment closely modelled on All Bar One. "I can't tell you anything to prove that I'm not. I think that would be a perfectly reasonable theory."
There is, however, sound historical footing for the idea that a Vatican apology might be warranted. The Templars were victims of their own success: they had been granted the right to operate, during the era of the Crusades, with unprecedented freedom, levying taxes and growing rich by establishing some of Europe's first banks. (According to legend, they also invented the biscuit.) Envy and hostility ran high, until, on Friday, October 13 1307 - the original unlucky Friday the 13th - hundreds of Templars were arrested in France. They stood accused of homosexuality, of devil worship, of crimes "horrible to contemplate, terrible to hear of", in the words of King Philip of France, who ordered the arrests. They were tortured, by the Inquisition, into admitting heresy, including their scandalous belief that Jesus had had children with Mary Magdalene. Their grand master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake a few years later, and the Templars were officially disbanded by the Pope.
But only officially. "The vast majority of Templars either escaped, or didn't escape, but survived," Acheson says. So how did they end up in Hertford? History records that a number of them were imprisoned in Hertford Castle, but how did Hertford become a centre of operations? "I can't really tell you that. All I can tell you - it's going to be quite vague - is that they flourished in western Europe." He explains that there is a stained-glass window in St Andrew's Church, just down the street, that contains a clear metaphorical allusion to the Holy Grail, and a cryptic hint that it might be hidden in Hertford. In the picture, Acheson adds, Jesus and Mary Magdalene are looking at each other "in a very meaningful way". (Later, I find the window, interrupting local parishioners who are decorating the church for Christmas. I think I can see what Acheson means about Jesus's expression, although mainly he just looks a bit depressed.)
Among the many things that don't quite add up about the Templars' request for an apology is: why now? Why break the silence, drawing all manner of unwanted curiosity from Grail hunters and Da Vinci Code tourists? Public accountability is a laudable goal, but it's hardly something you expect from the secret rulers of the universe. Indeed, when a group of amateur archaeologists recently announced their intention to investigate Hertford's tunnel network, someone posted a message on a local website warning that anyone who tried would be "dealt with". The message read: "Anybody intending to find out more, let alone discover hidden areas of the labyrinth, should check their life insurance policy very carefully indeed."
Acheson simply says he thinks it would be fitting for the Vatican to issue their apology in time for 2007, the 700th anniversary of the start of the Templar suppression. "Among my peers, there are people like me who believe that these issues deserve further attention ... There's a new generation coming through that strongly believes it's time to be a bit more open. I'm part of that generation." Besides, he says ominously, "Things are about to happen that will deserve attention."
The notion that "things are about to happen" recurs throughout the Templar conspiracy theories that clog up the internet. Seemingly, 2000 had been awaited as a watershed, the moment the Templars' secret knowledge would cascade into the public domain. It didn't happen, of course.
So what sort of "things" is Acheson talking about?
"I can't tell you."
OK. But could you maybe give me a rough idea of the timescale? Are these things going to happen this year? This decade? Next century? "I honestly can't tell you. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can't tell you."
Acheson takes me on a walking tour of Hertford, and proves a knowledgeable guide, but a frustratingly cryptic one, too. So I decide to take matters into my own hands and head for Monsoon. Gemma, the manager, responds far more patiently to Grail-related inquiries than might arguably be her prerogative. There's no tunnel beneath the shop, she insists, "just the store room" - but it's "definitely haunted. When we have sales meetings there you can hear someone walking over our heads, or doing the vacuuming. But upstairs, the shop's closed and empty."
Has she ever found anything unexpected down there? Like maybe a cup, or something? "No," she says. "But there is ... the Accessorize cupboard." She leads the way through the store to the adjoining branch of Accessorize, pushing past a display stand of silky hats towards a corner cupboard. Opening it, she points to a square piece of metal resembling a manhole cover, sunk into the floor. "We don't know what's under there. But there's a strange smell." She enlists a colleague, Jo, who has worked there longer. "Have they ever looked underneath there?" Gemma asks.
"Yes," Jo replies. It would be atmospheric to be able to report, at this point, that her eyes open wide with terror, that she starts to tremble. But she doesn't. "It smelt a lot," is all she can remember.
Generally, in fact, the people of Hertford seem rather reticent on the subject of the Grail. Do they know something they're not telling? Eventually there seems nothing for it but to abandon any attempt at subtlety and ask Acheson directly.
"Tim," I say, as we walk through the fog back to his car, "do you know where the Holy Grail is?"
We stop at the kerbside to let an articulated lorry pull out. Then we cross the road, past a Mazda dealership, towards the car park.
"No," Acheson says after a while, with a thoughtful expression. "No, I'm afraid I don't."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1382899,00.html
by Shirin Aguiar 14/12/2004
A FORMER top cop has blamed the influence of freemasons within the police for continuing racism in the force. The comments come as a new report found Black and Asian cops are over-disciplined.
http://www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?key=5198&grp=55&cat=163
Black officers face a double- whammy of discrimination Former Flying Squad commander John O'Connor claimed today that freemasons still wield massive power within high ranks and that black people, who do not join the secretive groups, lose out in the power struggle.
Scotland Yard insider O'Connor was speaking after the launch of an inquiry report led by retired union boss Sir Bill Morris, into Met police racism.
O'Conner told BBC London that white people who did not join the masons were also at a disadvantage. He also criticised the Morris Inquiry, saying it's recommendations were not hard-hitting enough to bring about lasting change.
The Morris Inquiry has confirmed the worst suspicions of the Met's black and ethnic minority officers that they are treated far harsher than white colleagues by their managers purely on race grounds.
Ethnic minority officers face glass ceilings because the reluctance of managers to pull them up on minor matters means a lack of constructive criticism and support, which "will ultimately damage career progression."
Erring on the side of caution: Sir Bill Morris The report also found that minority ethnic officers are more quickly subject to formal processes where white officers would not be so subject or they are deprived of management support vital to develop as a police officer.
The inquiry has asked Commission for Racial Equality, led by Trevor Phillips, and the Independent Police Complaints Commission to launch further investigations into discrimination.
The force has come under fire in the report from the 11-month Morris Inquiry, which surveyed its 43,000 employees. The probe by Sir Bill was launched following several investigations into allegations against officers from ethnic minorities.
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), it examined whether ethnic minority officers were more likely to face disciplinary investigation, and whether their grievances were less likely to be dealt with than those of white colleagues.
The inquiry heard from black and Asian staff that they were disproportionately more likely to have formal complaints made against them.
The inquiry also found that the MPS has not complied with the recommendations of the Gurpal Virdi report of 2001, an embarrassment for incoming Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair who earlier told the inquiry: "The MPS has therefore complied with all the recommendations of the Gurpal Virdi report."
The inquiry called on the MPA to convene a case conference on Gurpal Virdi and the role of Commissioner Sir John Stevens.
Mr Virdi was arrested and sacked from his job after the force claimed he had racist hate mail to himself and other officers. He was later cleared when an employment tribunal found he had been the victim of an official witchhunt against him.
The Morris inquiry also said that race played a part in the treatment of Superintendent Ali Dizaei and called for a full independent review of his case.
Dizaei, who is now borough commander in Hounslow, was the target of a £4 million investigation by his own colleagues for almost five years before being acquitted of allegations of dishonesty last year.
Giving evidence to the inquiry in June, Dizaei said: "My eating habits were of particular interest to my accusers. Ten statements were taken in the local restaurants I ate at to see whether I ate halal meat.
"A four-page statement was taken from the canteen manager as to whether I eat curry on a Thursday. Colleagues tapped his phone, involved the FBI and planted someone in his gym who was "wired up to lead me into criminality."
The inquiry slammed the Met's directorate of professional standards (DPS), headed by Blair, for its 'Al Capone' style of conducting discipline inquiries.
Anesta Weekes QC, part of the inquiry team, told Blink: "The culture within the DPS was that a number of people who gave evidence spoke of the attitude that you're guilty, so I'm going to find the evidence. Often they are not communicating how things aregoing."
The inquiry expressed concern that there was no common understanding of diversity within the force and that it remained "at worst a source of fear and anxiety and at best a process of ticking boxes".
The report also warned that efforts to promote the message of diversity could have been "counter-productive" and the force may now be experiencing a "backlash". It warned: "This would be catastrophic. The policy is right, it is the approach and the application which we believe needs to be reviewed."
Speaking at the launch today, Sir Bill Morris said: "This is a radical and ground-breaking report setting out a reforming pathway to change both within the MPS and nationally."
The 288-page document contains 37 major recommendations, including the appointment of a new civilian post at deputy commissioner level to co-ordinate and deliver all support services within the force."
Sir Bill recommended changes for the police training centre at Hendon in north London. He said: "We are concerned that the gateway to the Metropolitan Police Service, Hendon, needs to have a greater degree of supervision and scrutiny. A bad habit picked up at Hendon can go through the career of a police officer."
Deputy Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said: "We accept that more needs to be done to support officers under investigation and to provide appropriate welfare.
"To this end we are developing a package of measures specifically for this purpose that will be delivered by a dedicated unit. I will now study the detail of the report and consider how its conclusions and recommendations can help us do this."
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, commented: "There is continuing racism in the police as there is in every other institution.
"Without a shadow of a doubt, some people have in the disciplinary structure focused more on their colleagues who are black or Asian. This is completely unacceptable. It is something that myself, Sir Ian Blair and others are determined must change."
http://www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?key=5198&grp=55&cat=163
November 10, 2004
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1351696,00.html
From Richard Owen in Rome
ROCCO BUTTIGLIONE, the Catholic politician and papal adviser whose views on homosexuality and marriage cost him his job as an EU Commissioner last month, yesterday caused further controversy by claiming that his successor was a Freemason.
Signor Buttiglione congratulated Franco Frattini, the Foreign Minister, on his nomination as EU Justice Commissioner, the job for which Signor Buttiglione had been nominated by Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister.
But he went on: “I hope his hearings go well and that nobody asks him if he is a Freemason. If they do they will only be repeating the same injustice that was done to me.”
Signor Frattini, who has been Foreign Minister since November 2002, yesterday held talks in Brussels with José Manuel Durão Barroso, the new European Commission President, ahead of confirmation hearings at the European Parliament next Monday and Tuesday. Senhor Barroso hopes his entire Commission will be confirmed next Thursday by Euro MPs, enabling it to take office the following Monday.
Freemasonry, which was banned under Mussolini, flourished under the Christian Democrats in postwar Italy, and remains legal. But it is still viewed with suspicion by the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church.
It has been a highly sensitive issue in Italy since 1981, when a secret and illegal right-wing Masonic lodge known as P2 — Propaganda Due — was broken up amid public scandal.
Nearly a thousand members of P2 were named, including senior figures in business, politics, banking, journalism, the intelligence services and the military. The scandal brought down the Christian Democrat-led Government of Arnaldo Forlani, which had tried to keep the details secret.
Signor Frattini and Signor Berlusconi declined to comment on Signor Buttiglione’s outburst. Lapo Pistelli, an Italian left-wing Euro MP, said that it was a “poisoned dart. I have no idea if Frattini is a Mason or not, but I have no doubt that, unlike Buttiglione, he will appear at his hearing fully prepared and there will be no unpleasant surprises.”
However, Mario Borghezio, a Northern League Euro MP, said that he hoped Signor Frattini was “independent of the occult powers which control Europe”.
Signor Frattini, 47, a parliamentary deputy for Signor Berlusconi’s Forza Italia Party since 1996 and former head of the parliamentary commission overseeing the intelligence services, is widely admired for his competence and equanimity.
Last night Signor Berlusconi held a meeting of his Centre Right coalition to discuss the nomination of Gianfranco Fini, the “post Fascist” Deputy Prime Minister, as the new Foreign Minister. Signor Buttiglione, far from returning to relative obscurity as Italy’s Minister for European Affairs since his rejection by Euro MPs, has defiantly maintained a high profile through public meetings and interviews, in which he has lambasted the “totalitarianism” of an “over secularised and politically correct Europe”.
Last weekend he began a campaign for a return to “traditional religious values” in public life, and said that thousands of people all over Europe had offered support for his campaign to inject “Christian family values” into politics.
A survey this week showed that 61 per cent of Italians were against gay marriage.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1351696,00.html
Charlie Holmes 18Oct04
I am writing an article , which is nearly finished, about Florence and it's connections (all coincidence of course) with Nimrod Egypt/Babylon etc. starting with the fact that the symbol of the city of Florence is the Fleur di Lis which said to be the symbol of Nimrod. The Patron saint of Florence is Saint John and so on.
The Knights of Malta are all over the shop and the head man is English (at the moment) and we go into world wide conspiracy stuff .. But if we stick to my local neck of the woods and Phoney Baloney's holiday on the medieval highway to Jerusalem
So Blair stays at Cusona which is in the town boundries of San Gimignano you should put a picture of it as it's towers look well masonic .. Modern day Knights Templars (poggibonsi)
Alchemists (poggibonsi) http://www.ordo-militiae-templi.org/starten.htm
Club Unesco San Gimignano (Sienese) http://www.archeosofica.org/eng/eng.htm
Rotary Club Valdelsa
Carlo POSARELLI
Via delle Monache, 1
50050 GAMBASSI TERME (FI)
Tel. 055-2614224
http://www.comune.siena.it/clubunescosiena/main.htm
http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14554172&method=full&siteid=50003&headline=council-code--removes--freemasons-name_page.html
The code of conduct for Coventry City Council staff has been amended to take out direct reference to the Freemasons and Roman Catholic societies Opus Dei and the Catenians.
All three organisations objected to the code which said staff should declare their membership of "non-public organisations" to their superiors.
The council's standards committee, which is chaired by a judge and includes independent members, changed the wording of the code.
They deleted overt references to Freemasons, Opus Dei and the Catenians. But they made it clear staff who were members of them should still declare it, because the groups were covered by the new wording.
The new ruling reads: "You must therefore declare your membership of any organisation whose rules or requirements of membership could be regarded as suggesting a degree of loyalty to that organisation.
"This could arise by reason of an organisation having an obligation of secrecy about its rules, its membership or conduct and/or a commitment of allegiance or support to that organisation. Such organisations may or may not be charitable concerns and they may also have a local, regional, national, or international aspect."
The Freemasons' legal and democratic services director, Chris Hinde, said they wanted the committee to know they considered themselves a "completely open organisation".
He added: "You can go to the office of the Provincial Grandmaster in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and they'll give you their yearbook on payment." Judge Brian Farrer, chairing the meeting, asked if they had mentioned the "awful punishments" wished upon any Freemason breaching secrets of induction and elevation to the second, third and fourth levels, which included "being tethered and exposed to low tide".
Mr Hinde said no. The judge went on: "The loyalty of being brothers in an organisation where they address each other as brothers, and you say that's not going to be of a nature which will influence them? I think it's self-evident it's going to influence them."
http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14554172&method=full&siteid=50003&headline=council-code--removes--freemasons-name_page.html
The Duke of Kent is the 'Grand Master' of freemasonry's governing body, the United Grand Lodge of England. http://www.grandlodge-england.org/ugle/whos-who.htm Interesting then that it is the Duke's Personal Assistant, Andrew Palmer, that organised the Turnberry Bilderberg conference, the last one to take place in the UK. http://www.bilderberg.org/1998.htm#palmer
Though it has been suspected by many, the formal link between the highest levels of freemasonry and the elitists who meet at Bilderberg is finally out. No wonder there's such secrecy at these conferences. It could be that Palmer is simply a highly trusted man? Or it could be that he knows how to keep his mouth shut.
And the masonic connection shouldn't come as such a big surprise. The political class and professions featured at Bilderberg: banking; industry; royalty; the law; politics, are all associated with freemasonry. The chief mason's trusted PA has been organising secret conferences of European royalty and the heads of the Western world's oil and banking cartels. Any self-respecting democracy would put them under investigation for criminal conspiracy, treason at least.
Labour MP Chris Mullin's brave attempts to lance the boil of secret societies from British Government has been substantially thwarted. Promised lists of freemasons in the criminal justice system, a good place to start, never materialised. But there is some good news, all freemasons in local government are about to be forced to declare their crooked hand.
As Carl Jung said "The maintenance of secrets is like a psychic poison, which alienates their possessor from the community." Maintainers of secrets such as these can not take part in community life honestly. High public office is logically impossible for a mason, yet masonry is the glaring ommission from the register of members interests in the Lords and Commons. Without masonic membership being required the register of members' interests is a farce.
According to those who have left 'the craft', when a freemason is being initiated into the third degree he is struck on the forehead in the dark, knocked back either into a coffin or onto a coffin shape. His fellow masons then lift him up, and when he opens his eyes he is confronted with the skull and crossed bones of a mason who 'broke his vow of secrecy'. Having willingly putting himself under a threat of death no mason of third degree or higher can be trusted, particularly in public office. He is hoodwinked literally and metaphorically, alienating himself from the community.
A comedy initiate prepared http://www.masonicteddies.co.uk/candidate.html
Apart from the satanic death's head imagery at Yale University's Skull and Bones club (of which both U.S. presidential candidates are members - see later in this bulletin) one of the central rites of initiation includes a mockery of Jesus Christ's death on the cross.
In the Old Testament passover rite the sacrifice of a lamb bestowed power on its blood to 'mark God's faithful apart'. In midrashic, messianic, harmony Jesus was the New Testament 'lamb of God' whose death paved the way for the sins of those who believe in Him to be 'passed over'. In the same way as door lintels are covered in the Old Testament the Christian faithful ask God to spiritually cover buildings and people in the blood of their savior, Jesus Christ.
Compare this, if you can stomach it, with the masonic Grand Orient initiation ceremony quoted by author of one investigation, John Robison:
"A candidate for reception into one of the highest orders after having heard many threatenings denounced against all who should betray the secrets of the order, was conducted to a place where he saw the dead bodies of several who were said to have suffered for their treachery. He then saw his own [masonic] brother tied hand and foot, begging his mercy and intercession. He was informed that this person was about to suffer the punishment due for this offence, and that it was reserved for him (the candidate) to be the instrument of this just vengeance, and that this gave him the opportunity of manifesting that he was completely devoted to the order.[Skull and Bones lodge at Yale, to which Bush and Kerry, belong is known as 'the order']
"It being observed that his countenance gave the signs of inward horror (the person in bonds imploring his mercy all the while) he was told, that in order to spare his feelings, a bandage should be put over his eyes. A dagger was put into his right hand, and being hoodwinked, his left hand was laid on the palpitating heart of the criminal, and he was ordered to strike. He instantly obeyed; and when the bandage was taken from his eyes, he saw it was a lamb he had stabbed."[Robison, Proofs Of A Conspiracy p.299]
Bush and Kerry are old pals from Yale http://www.bilderberg.org/skulbone.htm
Can those who have been through similar rites to these be put in positions of public trust? Are either Bush or Kerry fit to lead the most powerful nation the world has ever seen? Where are their loyalties? This year's presidential elections, what with the revelations over insecure voting systems and vote fixing, look set to be a total charade. http://www.votescam.com
Illuminism operates within the already secret confines of outwardly respectable freemasonry and has been doing so for over 200 years.
There are three solid critiques of Illuminism. John Robison's 'Proofs of a Conspiracy', Abbe Barruel's 'Memoirs' and Seth Payson's 'Proof of the Illuminati'. Initiation rites and degrees are cited and appear to be similar to the current day Skull and Bones at Yale. Unfortunately all three books are roughly 200 years old and one might quite reasonably question whether this organisation still exists. The Collins dictionary is open-ended: 'A masonic sect founded in Bavaria in 1778 claiming the illuminating power of Christ resided in it alone.'
But I had some proof recently that Illuminism is still alive and recruiting. A marshall arts instructor in London said he had been approached to join a 'secret group of enlightened people' that wished to bring the world together in harmony. His views on nationalism and religion were sought but he refused to join saying that he didn't feel comfortable with the person trying to recruit him, he didn't trust him.
Young men between 18 and 30 are considered the prime targets to join the Illuminati. The pitch, in a nutshell, is that 'national governments and monotheistic religion cause wars. They must therefore be overthrown by clandestine means'. The promise of economic security is the carrot. Rituals which threaten death for breaking vows of secrecy are the sticks which keep members in line. "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
The final irony is that though you may join to 'bring an end to war' you are not told that members of the society are the ones in key military, economic and political positions to start the wars. The society's motto "ORDO AB CHAO" means creating chaotic situations - such as wars - so that the society can steer the outcome.
The way freemasonry, and within it illuminism, operates every day within the highest echelons of western political and financial power should come as no surprise. After all, the concept of a corrupt secret service within an ostensibly legitimate secret service is the theme of some of the western world's most engaging works of film and TV fiction. Len Deighton's The Ipcress File, Robert Redford's Three Days of the Condor and even the BBC's most popular TV series Doctor Who and the Daleks. Which brings us right back where we started. The Doctor's creator, Terry Nation, is said to have modelled his evil 'Daleks' on Heinrich Himmler's SS.
http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/index.html
If you're new to understanding the freemasons (this is good medicine for freemasons' families too because it's freemasonry minus the lies) you can take a free introdutory course of three 'degrees' at the essential Freemasonry Watch website. http://www.freemasonrywatch.1index.html As this knowledge is invaluable you might like to download the entire site using offline browsing software such as Teleport.
Back in the late 1700's several German masonic lodges closed, rather than allow Illuminists to operate secretly within them. The master's closing speech at one of these lodges, quoted by Barruel, was recorded: "Brethren and Companions, give free vent to your sorrow; the days of innocent equality are gone by. However holy our mysteries may have been, the lodges are now profaned and sullied. Brethren, and companions, let your tears flow; attired in your mourning robes attend, and let us seal up the gates of our temples, for the profane have found means of penetrating them. They have converted them into retreats for their impiety, into dens of conspirators. Within the sacred walls they have planned their horrid deeds, and the ruin of nations. Let us weep over our legions which they have seduced. Lodges that may serve as hiding places for these conspirators must remain forever shut, both to us and to every good citizen." Which is why it is essential that membership of these societies is declared for anyone standing for public office.
Published: 2004/03/10 22:33:06 GMT
By Emma Simpson
BBC News, New York
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3500022.stm
An initiation ceremony at a Masonic Lodge in New York has ended in tragedy after a man was killed during a ritual for new members.
William James was accidentally shot in the head when a lodge member used a real gun instead of a blank pistol by mistake.
The alleged gunman, a freemason aged 74, has been charged with manslaughter.
It was supposed to have been the climax of the initiation rituals at the Southside Masonic Lodge in Long Island.
Police said that William James was forced to sit in a chair with a gun pointed straight at him.
Cans were placed on a small platform around his head.
When the gun was fired another member was supposed to knock the cans off as if they had been hit by bullets.
The aim was to frighten their new recruit.
But Albert Eid, a long-serving freemason, had two guns in his pocket, one with blanks and one with real bullets.
He apparently pulled the wrong one, killing Mr James.
The initiation rituals and symbols of the Masons have long been shrouded in secrecy but the grandmaster of the New York State Freemasons issued a statement denying that guns played any role in official lodge ceremonies.
William James was apparently being sworn into a select group within his lodge but it was a prank which went fatally wrong.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3500022.stm
Published: 2004/03/10 09:48:03 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3548433.stm
A bomb attack on a Masonic lodge in the Turkish city of Istanbul has left
one person dead and six injured.
Provincial governor Muanmer Guler said one of the bombers also died in the attack, and the other was wounded.
They started shooting before detonating their explosives at the entrance to the building, where 40 people were dining.
No group has admitted carrying out the attack. In November, more than 60 people died in Istanbul in a series of explosions blamed on Muslim militants.
Those blasts, carried out by suicide attackers, targeted Jewish synagogues and British commercial and diplomatic buildings in Istanbul's European section.
Tuesday's blast took place in the largely residential Asian area of the city.
The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Istanbul says security is more lax in the area.
The secretive international society of Masons is seen by radical Islamic groups as a supporter of the policies of Israel and the United States.
Mr Guler told the Associated Press news agency the number of casualties could have been higher, had the attackers managed to get past the entrance of the restaurant on the ground floor of the lodge.
Eyewitnesses said that one of the attackers chanted an Islamic slogan before he detonated the bomb, killing himself and a waiter.
"Everyone was panicking, everyone was asking where their friends were," one man told AP.
The second alleged assailant was taken to hospital with abdominal injuries and possibly a severed arm.
November's attacks in Istanbul led to the arrest of several people accused of belonging to an Islamist militant group with ties to al-Qaeda.
Kurdish separatist militants and shadowy left-wing guerrillas are also suspected of being active in Istanbul.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3548433.stm
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/localgovernment/story/0,9061,1122200,00.html
Helene Mulholland
Tuesday January 13, 2004
Councillors with masonic links will in future be forced to declare their membership in order to avoid conflicts of interest in town hall decision-making.
The Standards Board for England decision potentially ends a two-year tussle under the new code of conduct over freemasons who stand as councillors.
When the code was first introduced in April 2001, an argument erupted over whether elected councillors should be made to reveal their freemasonry on the register of interests.
The matter was subsequently left to local authorities, which have the powers to strengthen the code locally. Some councils decided to introduce this requirement, while others declined.
There are 300,000 freemasons in England and Wales, although the number of councillors who belong to the organisation remains unknown.
The standards board has now issued guidance confirming that membership of the Freemasons must regularly be declared under the councillors' code of conduct, under the auspice of its charitable activities.
Under the code councillors must disclose their charity membership on the register of interests.
The guidance was issued after the united grand lodge admitted that part of freemasons' annual subscription fee to their lodges goes to the Freemasons' Grand Charity, which ranks as the second biggest charity donor, second only to the national lottery.
The standards board issued a statement which states: "Freemasons must register membership of their freemason lodge on the register of interests and, where appropriate, declare their membership as a personal or prejudicial interest before, or during, council meetings."
The united grand lodge retorted by accusing the standards watchdog of singling out its members.
UGL media manager and grand officer Chris Connop, said: "It is more a matter of principle and the fact that we are being singled out and being targeted. There are other organisations that are not being mentioned. You do not have to declare the golf club you belong to, yet a lot gets decided on golf courses. We think this is based on ignorance and prejudice and a misunderstanding of what freemasons stand for.
"When we become freemasons, we promise we will not use our membership for professional or financial gain. We can get thrown out for doing it."
A legal challenge had not been ruled out, he added. "This has never been tested in court," he said. "I certainly do not think this is something we would let rest."
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/localgovernment/story/0,9061,1122200,00.html
"The Flying Squad saw themselves as a race apart didn't they."
"Yes." [Sweeney writer: Troy Kennedy-Martin]
"They were a law unto themselves. And I think that's probably why corruption proved to be so manifest in that organisation - partly the way they worked. I remember talking to serving officers at that time [1974] about the portrayal of Jack Regan, we were getting a little bit of pressure from on high. The Metropolitan police was part of a structure then which was almost impervious to any kind of criticism then wasn't it?"
"Yes" [Troy Kennedy-Martin]
"As a digression, there was a programme as I was listening to in the car driving back from Ireland which was about the Race Relations Act saying at that time when I think Callaghan brought in his first race relations act in the sixties, a little bit ahead of when we were doing this, they had to leave the police out of it because the police were not prepared to be told how they should behave in terms of race relations.
I went, as we all did, to some of the do's. And there was this, I thought, rather unhealthy alliance between 'the bar', barristers that worked at the criminal bar, and judges and senior police officers, you know it was, to no small extent, masonic. Certainly a freemasonry in terms of the way they reacted and related to each other.
We did hint at that from time to time. I think we pushed it as far as we could."
http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0003.html
The routine management of the Army is the responsibility of The Army Board, the composition of which is shown in the following list. (this includes responsibility for all forms of appointments, ranking and promotion TG)
Decisions made by the Army Board are acted upon by the military staff at the various headquarters worldwide. The Chief of the General Staff is the officer responsible for the Army's contribution to the national defence effort and he maintains control through the commander and the staff branches of each of these headquarters.
Each military headquarters is organised along exactly the same lines with identical branches at each level in the chain of command.
http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0003.html
http://www.sundayherald.com/31830
see also http://www.propagandamatrix.com/blair_protection.html
LETTERS between Labour and Tory ministers and correspondence relating to Thomas Hamilton's alleged involvement with Freemasonry are part of a batch of more than 100 documents about the Dunblane mass murder which have been sealed from public sight for 100 years.
The documents include a letter connected to Hamilton, which was sent by George Robertson, currently head of Nato, to Michael Forsyth, who was then Secretary of State for Scotland.
Until now it was thought that a 100-year public secrecy order had only been placed on one police report into Hamilton which allegedly named high-profile politicians and legal figures. However, a Sunday Herald investigation has uncovered that 106 documents, which were submitted to the Dunblane inquiry in 1996, were also placed under the 100-year rule.
The Scottish Executive has claimed the 100-year secrecy order was placed on the Central Police report, which was drafted in 1991 five years before the murders, to protect the identities of children named in the report. Hamilton had allegedly abused a number of children prior to his 1996 gun attack on Dunblane primary school in which 16 primary one children and a teacher died before Hamilton turned his gun on himself.
However, only a handful of the documents, which the Sunday Herald has discovered to be also subject to the 100-year rule, relate to children or name alleged abuse victims.
The most intriguing document is listed as: 'Copy of letter from Thomas Hamilton to Dunblane parents regarding boys' club, and flyer advertising Dunblane Boys' Sports Club. Both sent to Rt Hon Michael Forsyth, MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, by George Robertson MP.' Also closed under the 100-year rule is a 'submission to Lord James Douglas Hamilton, MP, Minister of State at the Scottish Office, concerning government evidence to the Inquiry'.
Another document relates to correspondence between the clerk of the Dunblane inquiry, which was presided over by Lord Cullen, and a member of the public regarding 'possible affiliations of Thomas Hamilton with Freemasonry ... and copy letters from Thomas Hamilton'.
SNP deputy justice minister, Michael Matheson, said: 'The explanation to date about the 100 -year rule was that it was put in place to protect the interests of children named in the Central Police report. How can that explanation stand when children aren't named? The 100-year rule needs to be re-examined with respect to all documents.'
Matheson has written to the Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd, asking why the 100-year rule applies and how it can be revoked. He has so far had no response. He also asked First Minister Jack McConnell to explain the reasons for the 100-year order but received 'no substantial answer'. Matheson is to write to Colin Boyd a second time, in the light of the discovery that more than 100 other documents are also sealed, asking him to account for the decision.
A spokeswoman for the Crown Office said: 'In consultation with the Crown Office and the Scottish Office, Lord Cullen agreed that in line with the age of some of the individuals involved and named in the inquiry, the closure period would be 100 years. The Lord Advocate is considering issuing a redacted copy of the productions, which would blank out identifying details of children and their families. A decision on this has yet to be made.'
http://www.sundayherald.com/31830
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2776409.stm
The case concerns non-payment of Skye Bridge tolls
18feb03
A Skye Bridge protester is asking judges to reopen a case presided over by members of a "secret society".
Robbie the Pict believes there is an extensive legal membership of the Speculative Society (Spec), an elite debating club founded in 1764.
His legal challenge relates to his conviction at Dingwall Sheriff Court in November 1998 for failing to pay the Skye Bridge toll.
He wants his appeal, which questioned the legality of the Crown paperwork authorising the tolls, to be reheard before judges with no connections to the society.
It is important to stress that no conspiracy is suggested by the petitioner
However, Advocate Depute Raymond Doherty accused him of presenting a "fanciful" case backed by little evidence.
Robbie's petition was originally brought in December at the justiciary appeal court.
However, it was continued because one of the judges, Lord Osborne, was a known member of the historic society.
Robbie read from a 44-page speech when the case called before Lords Gill, Kirkwood and Wheatley on Tuesday.
He claimed that the Speculative Society has Masonic connections.
He asked the three judges whether they were freemasons - a question they declined to answer.
"The petitioner will argue that it is not unreasonable to suggest that membership of a closed order with unknown preferences is a potential threat to the impartiality of a publicly salaried judge," he told the court.
He said that this applied "in particular when brother judges and other parties subject to judgement are members of the same sodality".
Robbie said that Sir Iain Noble, chairman of the Skye Bridge Company, and Sir Angus Grossart, financial adviser to bridge builders the Miller Group, were among the current members of Spec.
Three appeal judges are considering the petition
He said it was an exclusive body which "would allow the elite to self-perpetuate at the incidental expense of the non-elite, despite their merits".
He also referred to 21 court cases which he said had been presided over by judges who were Spec members.
"It is important to stress that no conspiracy is suggested by the petitioner," he said.
"However, the well, or even not so well informed observer, were he appraised of the above, could reasonably perceive the possibility.
"The well-informed amateur of justice is appalled to contemplate the possibility of corruption arising from... Spec presences."
He called for an independent public inquiry into the issue.
However, Mr Doherty accused Robbie of being himself, with strong feelings concerning the Skye bridge issue.
"I would submit that the concerns advanced by him are fanciful rather than reasonable," he said.
In its own literature the Speculative Society describes itself as a secret brotherhood bound by intangible ties of shared loyalty and common tradition.
The present membership said it was nothing more than a light hearted debating club.
The three judges will give their ruling at a later date. [if they get round to it]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2776409.stm
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=352254
By Jason Bennetto
15 November 2002
Freemasonry describes itself on its website as the "UK's largest secular, fraternal, and charitable organisation". So why does the new Archbishop of Canterbury think it is a secret society with dubious spiritual credentials?
And why does Dr Rowan Williams also believe that Church of England ministers should not belong to the Brotherhood, an organisation he describes as incompatible with Christianity?
His views will be greeted with astonishment by the significant number of senior clergymen and Christians who are members of the 350,000-strong Craft, who have organised a slick media campaign to counter bad publicity.
The Freemasons of England now have a website – www.freemasonry.net. The United Grand Lodge of England says that it is not a "secret society", but merely holds private meetings. "Freemasonry does not try to replace religion or substitute for it. Freemasonry requires a belief in God and its principles are common to many of the world's great religions," it says.
"There are elements within certain churches who misunderstand Freemasonry and confuse secular rituals with religious liturgy."
It adds that many of its members are Anglicans and Catholics and would be "dismayed that the churches should attack Freemasonry".
But some observers believe that at the heart of the Craft – and known only to those who reach the highest levels – there is a sinister quasi-religion based on a composite Masonic God, known as Jah-Bul-On.
In his 1984 book The Brotherhood, Stephen Knight turned the spotlight on the inner workings of the Masons. "I have spoken to 57 long-standing Royal Arch Freemasons [one of the most senior groups], who have been happy to talk to me.All but four lost their composure when I said, 'What about Jah-Bul-On?'," he wrote.
A spokesman for Dr Williams said yesterday that many Christians believed that Jah-Bul-On was considered to refer to the "incarnation of Satan". He added that the Masons promised in the 1980s to drop any reference to Jah-Bul-On because of the offence it was causing.
In a letter to Hugh Sinclair, a man who for years has been investigating the Brotherhood, Dr Williams said: "I have real misgivings about the compatibility of Masonry and Christian profession." He later said he questioned whether it was "appropriate for Christian ministers to belong to secret organisations" and expressed "anxiety about the spiritual content of Masonry".
He also raised the issue of "back scratching" and the possible debt clergymen may feel towards fellow members of the Craft. The relationship between Freemasons and the Catholic and Anglican churches has been a complex and at times a fraught one.
Dr Williams' spokesman said: "From the end of the 19th century a lot of Anglican clergy got involved in Freemasonry. In the 20th century a number of very senior clergymen were Masons. In the 1960s people started turning against the idea of secret societies and a number of Anglican ministers saw it as possibly Satanically inspired."
The influence of the Brotherhood within the Church of England has continued and the Freemasons acknowledge that many clergymen and Anglicans are members.
Leading Mason Church of England clergymen of the past include the former Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher, who headed the Church of England from 1945 to 1961. He held the senior post of Grand Chaplain for the United Grand Lodge of England.
Robert Milburn, the former Dean of Worcester, held the same senior Masonic post as the Archbishop.
John Habgood, the former Archbishop of York, told the General Synod that he believed Freemasonry was a "fairly harmless eccentricity" and later expressed the view that he did not see any conflict in being a Mason and a Christian.
In July 1987 the General Synod, the governing body of the Church of England, ducked the issue when bishops endorsed a report looking into whether being a Christian and a Freemason were compatible.
A working party concluded that Freemasons who belonged to the church did not think there was a problem, while non-Masons thought there were difficulties. The issue has not been debated since.
At one stage Catholics were banned from being Freemasons, but the two are no longer seen as incompatible providing Catholics belong to a British branch of the Masons.
Critics believe this is partly due to the influence of members of the Brotherhood within the Catholic church.
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=352254
A leading historian has been appointed the UK's first-ever Professor of Freemasonry in a three year research programme to investigate alleged masonic collusion in organised crime.
Dr Andrew Prescott of the British Library has taken up the post at Sheffield University to oversee the £250,000 project which has been funded by the London-based United Grand Lodge of England and the Yorkshire West Riding Province of Freemasons.
Leaders of the 300,000-strong masonic fraternity have guaranteed Dr Prescott unrivalled access to its files, and have also instructed masonic lodges and chapters throughout the United Kingdom to co-operate with his research. This will include investigations into freemasonry's alleged link to corruption, conspiracy to murder and the operation of gangland-style criminal networks.
But the move has angered a leading critic of freemasonry who claims the project will be completely invalid unless the Brotherhood's entire membership list is made public.
The initiative to set-up the three year research programme came last year when senior freemasons were alarmed at mounting criticism of the organisation's attempts to open up to public scrutiny.
Masonic lodges around the country hold regular open days to allow the public to visit their temples and to meet leading local freemasons. Two years ago the province of West Kent launched a masonic roadshow to visit shopping centres throughout the county.
The roadshow's purpose, according to an internal masonic document, is to: "encourage the view that freemasonry is a force for good" and "to open freemasonry to public view and show that it is not a 'secret society.'"
One of the UK's leading critics of freemasonry, however, has dismissed such displays as no more than thinly disguised PR. He his also highly sceptical that the Sheffield University research project will produce any substantial results.
Martin Short, author of Inside the Brotherhood, told the IJR: "The only document of any significant value is the organisation's membership list."
He added: "If Dr Prescott can't publish that type of material then the entire research programme seems an entire waste of time. We will have to wait information he requests from the masonic leadership and what he then does with it."
In his book, which was published in the UK in 1989, Short makes a number of claims that freemasons have taken part in corrupt activities involving the police, local government, the City and the security and intelligence services.
Dr Prescott, who is not a freemason, told the IJR that he will keep an open mind about his research over the next three years. "There are a whole range of issues that need to be investigated, and given the tens of thousands of documents involved, then it may take some time to establish our priorities."
But he does not rule out conducting detailed investigations into alleged masonic wrongdoing. "If there is evidence of conspiracy or criminal involvement then such activities will be thoroughly pursued."
This week a senior masonic official told the IJR that the controversial organisation will co-operate with any of Dr Prescott's investigations.
John Hamill, the director of communications at the United Grand Lodge of England, said: "We can't make our membership list available for public inspection because we are prevented from doing so under the Data Protection Act."
But he pledged that any allegations of criminal conspiracy will be taken seriously. "We already work closely with the Local Government Ombudsman over allegations of corruption involving masonic councillors and council officials.
"Over the past five years the ombudsman has received some 79,000 complaints and yet only 22 involved allegations of masonic involvement."
And he believes allegations of corruption involving Masonic police officers is equally rare. "The Police Complaints Authority tell us that over the past 15 years they have only received 33 complaints involving al