Marketing The SPIRITUAL FREEMASONRY Series

 

This is a Non-Fiction book on the early beginnings of Freemasonry, 1717-1740. Unlike most books on Freemasonry that are concerned with the “what” of Freemasonry, I have concentrated on the “why.”

 

The first part of this book has already been published in Japanese. It was divided into two for the Japanese market: history and ritual. The first part on the history of Freemasonry was published last year, and the second part on ritual is being translated for publication in 2020.  https://goo.gl/qzYiLV

 

Originally this was a single book of 540 pages, but I have divided it into four, two of which are now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Christopher-J.-Earnshaw/e/B07W4VFMV5/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

 

In this book I explain:

  • Why three educated and busy men decided to rewrite the ritual of a stonemasons’ guild, when they were neither stonemasons nor manual workers.
  • Why the first three Grand Masters give eight years of their life to this cause. Not only that, but why they felt it necessary to add a third degree to the ritual.
  • Why the literati and aristocracy of Europe were motivated to join these three men, an antiquarian, a Huguenot priest and a possible alchemist, in a room above a tavern to study the new degrees.
  • Why there is a “key to the rituals” that Desaguliers referred to in the Constitutions of 1723.
  • Why the first three Grand Masters were interested in “making good men better” even though they were not philanthropists.
  • Why the first three Grand Masters used steganography to hide secrets in the text, making the Ritual a puzzle for Freemasons to discover.
  • Why the Lodge at the Horn Tavern was so different from the other three Lodges whose “Constitution is Immemorial.
  • Lastly, and probably most importantly, why the English nobility (and later royalty) believed so strongly in what these three men had conceived that they lent their names to the enterprise by becoming its figurehead, Grand Masters.

There was obviously something important that the first three Grand Masters had done to the rituals when they rewrote them, that changed them in some way. The only way to find out was to compare the current ritual to the bits of ritual that exist from before 1717. That was the year modern Freemasonry was reinvented in what the Masonic Scholar Albert Pike called the “Revival.”

 

The allure of researching the early days of Freemasonry is that we can learn about the objectives of the first three Grand Masters, and thus answer the above questions.

 

Along the journey we will discover many strange facts about events leading up to the Revival of Freemasonry that have been lost to time:

  • The secret scroll owned by a librarian at Oxford University that might hold the formula for the Philosopher’s Stone.
  • The mysterious “figure behind the curtain” that probably guided the first three Grand Masters in rewriting the degrees.
  • The valuable documents that were destroyed during the early days of the Grand Lodge of England.
  • The first “black” queen of England whose son was Freemasonry’s first royal Grand Master.
  • Why the Bishop of London treated Pocahontas as “visiting royalty,” and what became of her
  • The Chinese mandarin who may hold the secret to one of the degrees.
  • The rival secret “Chinese” society that tried to bring down Freemasonry.
  • We will also meet some of the characters who became Grand Masters in the early years, such as:
    the duke who betrayed his country and ended his days in poverty, wandering the streets of Spain drunk
          out of his mind
    -  the Grand Master who killed a person in a duel, but was acquitted by a jury of his peers in the House of Lords
    -  the Grand Master who had to resign because he was Catholic, even though Catholics had been welcome in Freemasonry from the start of the Revival

Though the book looks like a history of Freemasonry, it is a detailed analysis of the alchemy in the three degrees. This content will be completely new to both the public and Freemasons alike.I also show that a Chinese Mandarin may be indirectly responsible for the structure and content of the First Degree, that the Philosopher’s Stone is “hidden in plain sight” in the Lodge and that a “Leading Light” of the day helped Freemasonry in the early days.

 

1      What is unique about this book?
 
It has been written by an “insider,” a Freemason of thirty-five years standing, a
33° Freemason and a Master of two Research Societies, who has responsibility for teaching other Freemasons.

 

I believe I have not only uncovered the purpose of Freemasonry, but also how and why the Three Degrees came to be written. I will show that Freemasonry is underpinned by alchemy, not theoretical but practical, spiritual alchemy.

 

2      Who is the target audience?

 

Mainly Freemasons, but also anyone interested in the history and ritual of Freemasonry. The book does not emphasize morality as many books on Freemasonry do, but rather it sees the ritual of Freemasonry as a puzzle devised to hide certain alchemical secrets.

 

I have intentionally included information on American Freemasonry, such as concerning George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Pocahontas to make the book interesting for the American market. I give an overview of the history of England prior to the establishment of the Grand Lodge of England as many Americans may not be familiar with it, and I also include some poems and songs that an English audience would know. Also, I have used two American rituals for reference, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and Duncan’s.

 

According to the United Grand Lodge of England, there are six million Freemasons world-wide, of whom the English-speaking members account for about half that number (USA, UK, India &c). There are 1.7 million Masons in USA, however, in non-English speaking markets such as China or Malaysia, English is often the second language. These members can be easily reached through various Masonic magazines and websites, please see below.

 

Masons tend to be from a higher economic demographic, in their 40-50s and well educated. They will not shy away from buying an expensive book when the information is pertinent.

 

3      My platform

 

I introduce some of the topics from this book (as a teaser for the book) on YouTube: “Spiritual Freemasonry.” I have made about 60 videos, and have had 75,000 visits to the site in a year, and about 2,000 subscribers.

As my background is in research, I often give lectures to various Masonic bodies on the historical background to the fraternity. I intend to travel to the Far East (especially Taiwan and HongKong), Europe and the States, lecturing and promoting the book.

I also hope to cooperate with Freemasons in the Grand Lodge of China (in Taiwan) as this book covers not only their Daoist roots, remembering that most ethnic Chinese came to Taiwan after the Fall of the Ming Dynasty, which is exactly the time-frame of my book, so the book will also appeal to the members there.

 

4      My background

British Citizen.
BA in Japanese and Chinese, MA in Transpersonal Studies, PhD in Neuroscience.
Past Grand Historian, Grand Lodge of Japan (GLJ)
Past Master of the Research Lodge GLJ
Scottish Rite
33° IGH, Chairman of Education Committee
Recipient of the Order of Merit GLJ for educational activities
CEO of a Medical Device manufacturer, living in Tokyo, Japan

 

To date I have authored ten books, one has been on a small publishing house’s best seller list for thirty years. Please see my website for details: https://earnshaw.jimdo.com/books-in-print/

 

5      Details about the content

Four books of about 83,000 words each (260 pages of A5 in 10.5pt font, single spaced) including:
40 images B&W, 25 images in colour, an index of 14 pages and 30 pages of references, each book.
Edited to Harbrace College (12th edition) standards, (though English spellings used).

 

The MS has been professionally edited twice; once by an American professor of English Literature (his endorsement is attached), and once by a professional British editor.

 

The reason the index to the book is 14 pages long is because the content has been written in many short sections, with lots of sub-headings (about 480+), as modern readers tend to prefer short sections to long chapters. It makes the content lighter to read, and easy to dip into. https://copyhackers.com/2016/02/short-long-content/  The index can be viewed on my website at http://chris-earnshaw.com

 

6    Further books and other rights

 

In the first two books published to date I do not reveal the secret concerning the “Twenty-fifth Signpost” that has “life-altering” implications. So far two books have been published Freemasonry: Spiritual Alchemy and Freemasonry: Quest for Immortality. I have been publishing the books on KDP about six months apart. I am planning to launch Freemasonry: Initiation by Light in April and the last book, Freemasonry: Royal Arch in September 2020

 

As there is a large percentage of Freemasons living in non-English speaking countries (about 3 million in French, Spanish, German and Chinese speaking countries,) the potential for subsidiary language rights is large.

 

6      Potential marketing media

 

Nearly every Grand Lodge publishes a magazine (in USA each state has its own Grand Lodge), and affiliated organizations such as Scottish Rite and York Rite also publish magazines. Pre-publication I will contact all these magazines, perhaps more than eighty, and offer a sneak preview. Post-publication I can syndicate some of the information or give a deeper dive, as I believe all editors are looking for new and interesting content. I am already in contact with the editor of the magazine with the largest readership, Scottish Rite, with 550,000 readers, a review of Freemasonry: Spiritual Alchemy will be published in March, and Freemasonry: Quest for Immortality in May. https://scottishrite.org/about/questions

 

The Grand Lodge of England reviewed the book in December, Issue 48 page 60. It can be found here: https://www.freemasonrytoday.com/magazine

 

 

http://chris-earnshaw.com    Twitter: @AuthorEarnshaw     

 


Index for Freemasonry and Spiritual Alchemy

   

Table of Contents

 

 

Index

1-14

Distinguished Preface

15

Prologos

17

  A New Theory on the Rituals of Freemasonry

20

    John Wilkins 1614-1672

20

    The Challenges that Wilkins' Book Faced

22

What are the Secrets of Freemasonry?

23

The Scope of this Book

25

Education

25

For the Brethren

26

References 

27

   The Ritual

28

   The Bible

29

   Chinese

29

   Consistency

30

Four-dimensional Chess

30

 References

31

 

Ch. 1: Templars, Guilds and the Reconquista

34

The Knights Templar

34

  Rosslyn Chapel and the Templars

35

The English Reformation

37

Dissolution of the Monasteries

38

Guilds in England  

40

  The Workings of a Guild

42

  Sacred Mysteries

45

  Miracle Plays, Mystery Plays and Morality Plays

45

  Was Operative Masonry a Guild?

47

  The Old Charges

49

Reconquista

50

Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity

52

Five Hundred Years of Change

53

References

54

 

Ch. 2 The House of Stuart: Gunpowder, Treason and Plot

55

History of the House of Stuart

55

James VI of Scotland and I of England, reigned 1603 -1625

56

  Plot inside a Plot

56

  The Gunpowder Plot

57

  The Divine Right of Kings

58

  Patriarchalism

60

  Witchcraft

60

Charles l, reigned 1625-1649

61

  The Wars of the Three Kingdoms

63

  Execution or Regicide?

64

  Two Religious Treaties

65

  Fifth Monarchy

66

The Commonwealth of England 1649-1653

66

  The Protectorate 1653-1658

67

  Richard Cromwell

68

  Levellers

68

  John Milton 1608-1674

69

Charles Il, reigned 1660-1685  

70

  Rats   

71

  The Father of English Medicine: Thomas Sydenham 1624-1689

73

  Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire

74

  Anti-Catholic Sentiments

76

  War with the Netherlands

77

  England Bankrupt

77

  More Resistance

77

James Il, reigned 1685-1688

79

  The Glorious Revolution

81

  References

82

 

Ch. 3 The End of the House of Stuart and the End of the World

84

William Ill, reigned 1688-1702 & Mary Il, 1688-1694

84

  Pretenders

85

  New Laws

86

  The Right to Bear Arms

86

  The Gin Craze

87

  Censorship

90

  Freethinkers

91

    John Locke, 1632-1704

91

    John Toland, 1670-1722

91

Anne, reigned 1702-1714

92

  A Thorn in Her Side

93

  Problem Palaces

94

  Longitude

94

  William Coward

95

  Pamphleteering

96

The Legacy of the House of Stuart

96

The End of the World: Catastrophes

98

  Comets

99

  William Whiston and the Deluge

100

  Astrologers in Opposition

101

  The Knighting of a Pirate

101

  The Second Coming of Christ

102

The House of Hanover

103

George l, reigned 1714-1727

103

  Indemnity

103

  Further Penal Laws

104

  The Forty-five

104

  Capitulation

105

  Summary

105

 

Ch. 4 Religious Turmoil

108

The Interregnum and Religious Freedom

109

  High Church

110

  Three Sets of Articles

110

The Abrahamic Faiths

110

  Protestantism

110

    Lollards: 1382

111

    Arianism: 1517

111

    Anabaptists: 1534

111

    Puritans: 1559

111

    Calvinism: 1640

112

    Socinians 1680

112

  Jews in England

112

    The Expulsion

113

    The Wandering Jew

113

  Catholics

113

    Anti-Catholicism

114

  Islam

114

Dissenters

115

Home-Grown Dissension

116

  Baptists

116

  Brownists

116

  Seekers

116

  Quakers

116

  Ranters

116

  Grindletonians

117

  Muggletonians

117

  Philadelphians

117

  Levellers

117

  Diggers

117

Enthusiasts                                                           

 118

Imported Dissension

           118

  Familists  

118

  Behmenists 

119

  Camisards

119

Controversies

119

  Millennialism

119

  Unitarianism

120

  Atheism   

120

  Deism    

121

The Assembly of the Divines

121

  Predestination  

122

  Purgatory

123

  Immortality

123

  Mortalism

124

  Heaven and the Afterlife

125

Prayer Book

126

A Touch Piece 

126

Summary

127

References

137

 

Ch. 5 The Enlightenment: from Bacon and Fludd to Newton and Leibniz

138

The History of Rosicrucianism

142

  Christian Cabala

143

  Robert Moray 1608-1673

144

  Francis Bacon 1561-1626

146

    New Atlantis  

147

    Shakespeare

147

    Spear-Shakers

148

    The Faked Death Theory

148

The Invisible College

149

  The Hartlib Circle  

149

  The Philosophical Society of Oxford                

150

  Gresham College

151

    Robert Boyle 1627-1691

152

    Isaac Newton 1642-1727

153

    Robert Hooke 1635-1703

154

    Small Fortunes  

154

The Royal Society   

155

  The Chelsea College Failure 1662-1678

156

  Difficult Years

158

  Some of The First Presidents of the Royal Society

159

  Antiquarian Presidents and Masonic Members

160

Natural Philosophy

161

  Natural Magic

162

  Greatrakes' Magic

162

  A Mechanical View of the World

163

The Enlightenment

164

Gottfried Leibniz 1646-1716

165

   Esoterica

166

  The Swedish Bishop, the Czar and the Freemason

166

  The Book

167

  Leibniz's Theology

167

  The City of God

168

  Two Kingdoms

168

  Leibniz's Binary Numeral System

170

  The Chinese Rites Controversy

171

  Chinese as the Universal Language

171

  The Silk Road

172

Arabic

173

Freethinkers 

173

The Society of Antiquaries of London

175

Troubled Waters

175

  The Darien Scheme

176

  The South Sea Bubble

179

Summary

180

References

183

 

Ch. 6 Alchemy and Three Important Alchemical Texts

184

Alchemy's Secrecy

185

Occult Studies

186

  Hermeticism

186

  The Emerald Tablet

187

  Picatrix

187

Alchemy - a brief history

193

Chinese Alchemy

194

  Elixir

194

Christian Alchemy

197

  Resurrection as Alchemy

198

  The Alchemical Bible

199

  The Alchemy of Prayer

200

  The Works of God 

202

Experimental Alchemy - The Alchemy of Puffers

202

  The Great Work

203

  Sulphur, Mercury and Magnesium - then Salt

205

  Vitriol   

205

  Birds as a Metaphor

205

  The Philosopher's Stone

206

  Dew  

207

    Dew and Resurrection.  

208

  Codes and Cyphers

208

  The Death of Alchemy

209

Early Practitioners of the Royal Art 

209

Alchemists in Seventeenth Century England

210

  Robert Fludd 1574-1637  

211

  Kenelm Digby 1603-1665

211

  Thomas Browne 1605-1682  

212

  George Starkey 1628-1665

213

  Robert Boyle

214

  Isaac Newton  

216

  Elias Ashmole 1617-1692 

216

Three Important Texts

216

  Book of Lambspring

217

  Mutus Liber   

218

  The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine  

219

  Secrets Disclos'd   

220

Christianity challenged

221

A Modern Alchemist - Fulcanelli c.1920s 

221

Alchemy the Foundation of Freemasonry 

222

  References  

225

 

Ch. 7 Freemasonry, the Revival and Exposés

226

A Short History of Freemasonry

227

Scottish Freemasonry

229

  The Connection between Rosslyn Chapel and Freemasonry

230

Operative Masonry

231

  The Acception

232

  Old Charges

233

  Operative Free-Masons "do much mischeif"  

235

Freemasonry in London  

237

  Princess Pocahontas 1596-1617 

238

The New Jerusalem 

239

Sir Christopher Wren, Architect, 1632-1723 

240

    London as 'The New Jerusalem'

240

    The Tree of Life and the Axis Mundi    

241

  Four Original Lodges whose Constitution is Immemorial

243

  Speculation  

243

  Sudden Growth

244

  The Horn's Interesting Membership

248

  The Goings-on at the Lodge at the Horn Tavern

249

A Tale of Two Cities            

252

  Queen Sophia Charlotte

252

  Other Points of Interest

253

  The Four Lodges

255

The Premier Grand Lodge

257

  The Growth of the Grand Lodge

257

The First Three Grand Masters

257

  Anthony Sayer, c. 1672-1741

258

  George Payne, 1685-1757

258

  John Theophilus Desaguliers, 1683-1744

261

Rewriting the Degrees

262

Exposés

262

  Free Masonry according to the Scriptures, c1690

263

  Edinburgh Register House Manuscript, 1696

264

  A Mason's Examination, 1723

265

  The Grand Mystery of Free Masons Discover'd, 1724

265

  Masonry Dissected, 1730

266

A Successor

267

References

271

 

Ch 8 The Nobility and Modern Freemasonry

271

Noble Grand Masters

272

1st Noble Grand Master: John, Duke of Montagu, 1690-1749

275

  The First Constitutions

277

  Valuable Manuscripts Destroyed 1720

277

  Anderson's Constitutions of 1723

279

    The Debut of Hiram Abif

279

    Other Constitutions

280

  The Constitutions of 1738

281

  The "Self-Appointed" Noble Grand Master

281

2nd Noble Grand Master: Philip, Duke of Wharton, 1698-1731

285

3rd  Noble Grand Master: Francis, Earl of Dalkeith, 1695-1751

286

  Since Then    

286

Contributing Factors to the Premier Grand Lodge's Success

287

  Masonic Presidents of the Royal Society

287

  Knights of the Garter

287

  The Order of the Bath

288

  Gentlemen of the Bedchamber

288

  Foundling Hospital

289

  Spalding Gentlemen's Society

290

  The Leisured Classes

290

  Catholicism

291

Challenges to the Premier Grand Lodge

292

  The Royal Arch Rite

292

  The Great Schism

293

  Coats of Arms

295

The Act of Union

296

  The Substitute for the Lost Word

296

Modern Freemasonry

297

  The Monitor

298

Summary

300

References

303

 

Ch. 9 Jesuits - The West meets China and the Dao

303

  The Silk Road

304

  Chinese Dynasties

305

  The First Dynasty

305

  The Ming Dynasty

306

  The Fall of the Ming Dynasty

308

  Han Synthesis

309

  Confucianism

310

  Chinese Emigration

311

  Heaven and Earth Societies

311

  TianDiHui and Freemasonry

315

Jesuits and China

320

  Martino Martini 1614-1661

321

  Jesuit Scholarship

322

  Philippe Couplet 1623-1693

323

  Persecution of the Jesuits

324

  Candida Xu 1607-1680

325

  Chinese Rites Controversy

327

  The Needham Question

328

Leibniz

329

Dao

332

  The Dao Lineage

333

  Immortality

334

  Yin-Yang  

335

  YiJing

336

  The Teachings of the DaoDeJing

337

  The Great Daoist Mountains

338

  The Dao Alchemist

338

  TianMing and the Divine Right of Kings

339

  Daoist Light

340

  Anno Huang-Di

340

  The Philosophical Language Again

341

Summary

342

References

347

 

Ch. 10 The Mandarin, the Gormogons and the Philosopher's Stone

347

Shen FuZong   福宗 c1660-1691

348

  Flanders and Paris

348

  Rome

349

  Paris again, then London

350

  Shen's Legacy

351

  Shen's Connection with the Dao Temple

351

  Godfrey Kneller Kt

355

The Chain of Transmission

355

  Thomas Hyde's Later Career

357

  The Mystery of Hyde's portraits

358

  Others of Hyde's Antiquarian Acquaintances

359

The Gormogons

362

  Who was Chin-Quaw KY-pop

362

  Origin of the Name Gormogon

363

  Gormogons in Popular Culture

365

  The Mystery of Masonry brought to Light by ye Gormogons

367

Summary

369

  References                                     

372

 

Ch. 11 Steganography and Twenty-four Signposts

372

Hidden Secrets

375

The History of Steganography

377

  The Practice of Steganography

378

  Double Associations                 

378

Masonic Ciphers

378

The Baconian Cipher

378

Mercury, or the Secret and Swift Messenger

379

The Signposts

379

  The Secret Key to the Signposts

380

  Clovis ad Mysterium

381

  Twenty-Four Signposts

381

    1st Degree

382

    2nd Degree

384

    3rd Degree

386

  Layering in the Ritual

386

The Union of 1813

387

  De-Christianizing the Ritual

387

The Prayers and Lessons

387

  Prayers

388

  Lessons

389

Other Interesting Correspondences

390

  The Conundrum

390

Summary

390

References

392

 

Ch. 12 Alchemy by Degrees

393

Initiation

393

Soft and Hard Aspects of Freemasonry

394

  How the Signposts Tie In

394

  Eureka!

394

  Coded Text

395

Three Alchemical Books

396

The Soft Aspect of Freemasonry - Ritual

396

First Degree

396

  Initiation by Light

397

A Dao Initiation                                  

399

  The Dao Initiation and the First Degree

401

  The Ritual and Dao Correspondences

402

  Concerning Light

403

  The Lesser Lights

404

  The Great Books

405

  The Tenets and Cardinal Virtues

405

  Obligation of the First Degree

406

The Book of Lambspring 

406

   Alchemical Lesson in Psalm 133

407

   The Apron of the Degree

407

   Summary            

407

Second Degree

408

Mutus Liber

408

  The Alchemical Effect of Mutus Liber

408

  Duegard

409

  Obligation

409

  The Apron of the Degree

410

Summary

410

Third Degree

410

A Second "Key to the Secrets"?

411

The Mystic Christian Resurrection

413

  Unfinished Temple

413

  The Death of Hiram Abif

415

    Three Inconsistencies

416

    Three Blows

416

  The Broken Column Lecture

416

  The Lost Word

417

  Resurrection, Reincarnation and Rebirth

418

The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine

418

  The Philosopher's Stone

419

  The Apron of the Degree

420

The Hidden Story in the 3rd Degree

422

  The Two Anomalies

422

  Fitting It Together

426

Other Soft Aspects

423

  Oaths and Penalties

424

  Secrecy

424

  The Sign of Fire

425

  The Holy Saints John

425

The Level and the Tau

426

  What is a Tau Cross?

426

  Why is the Triple Tau in a Blue Lodge?

426

  The Triple Tau

427

  The Tau in Geometry

428

  The Past Master's Apron

428

The Left Side

429

Slippers and Gloves

429

Working Tools

430

Circumambulation

430

Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences

432

Regularity of Lodges

433

Etiquette

433

Summary

433

References

435

 

Ch. 13 Lodge, Laboratory and Temple

435

Conjunction

436

The Hard Function of Freemasonry

437

  The Form of the Lodge

427

    Da Yu大禹c.2,200-2,100 BC

437

  Three Great Pillars

437

  The Brazen Pillars

438

  The Covering of a Lodge - the Starry Decked Heavens

438

  The Altar

438

The Furniture of the Lodge

439

  The Volume of Sacred Law

439

  Square and Compasses

439

    Western

440

    Leibniz

441

    Chinese

442

    Chinese Mythology

443

The Alchemical use of the Square and Compasses

443

    Squaring the Circle

445

    Rebis

446

The Ornaments of a Lodge

446

  The Mosaic Pavement and the Indented Tessel

447

  The Blazing Star

448

The Three Lesser Lights

448

The Three Movable Jewels

448

  The Rough Ashlar - Pu

449

  The Perfect Ashlar - Yu

449

  The Trestle Board

450

The Immovable Jewels

450

The Situation of a Lodge - Four Cardinal Directions

451

The Lodge and Dao Correspondences

452

Kabbalah - Stage Directions

452

  The Tree of Life           

454

  The Hiramic Tragedy on the Tree of Life

455

Other Points

455

  Squaring Stones for the Construction of King Solomon's Temple

455

  Francis Bacon's New Atlantis

456

  Salomon's House

456

  Masons - the "Sons of Light"

457

Summary

457

References

459

 

Ch. 14 The Quest for Immortality and the Twenty-Fifth Signpost

459

The Valley of Dry Bones

460

  The Soul

461

Christianity: Immortality and Mortalism

461

  Luther's Protest

462

  Tyndale's Bible

463

  Mortalism

464

  The Protestant Response to Mortalism

465

  Pre-Revival Mortalism

466

  The Three William Cowards

466

  Post-Revival Mortalism

467

The Importance of Mortalism to Freemasonry

467

  Immortality in the Degrees of Freemasonry

468

  Resurrection in Freemasonry

470

  Desaguliers' Immortality

471

Symbols of Immortality

471

  The Tau Cross

471

  Acacia

472

  Forget-me-not

473

  Other Images of Immortality in Freemasonry

473

  Symbolism in Paintings

474

Dao and Immortality

474

  Ge Hong

474

  Qi, Jing, Shen

475

  The DaoDeJing on Immortality

475

  Denkoroku

476

Alchemy and Immortality

476

  The Lesson of the Three Alchemical Books

477

The Alchemy of Death

478

  Long Livers

479

  21 grams

479

  Immortality Nowadays

480

The Twenty-fifth Signpost

481

Summary

482

References

485

 

Epilogos

485

A Summary of the Book

486

  Concerns and Fears

488

  Aspirations: A New Jerusalem

489

  Axis Mundi

490

  A Peculiar System of Morality

490

  The Philosopher's Stone is Broken

490

  Then and Now

491

  Fraternization

492

Challenges Facing Freemasonry

492

  The Major Challenge

494

  Misunderstanding Freemasonry

494

  The Craft & The Cross

496

  Is Membership Declining Worldwide?

496

  Does Freemasonry Conceal Secrets from Members?

497

  Are Standards Dropping?

497

    A Masonic Dress Code

498

    Memory Work

499

    The Ancient Landmarks

501

Anti-Masonry

502

  Masons and the Goat

503

  Devil Worship!

504

  Freemasonry's Relationship with Catholicism

505

The Spiritual Temple

505

  The Bible

505

  Hidden secrets

506

Opportunity

509

   The Fourth Era of Freemasonry

510

   Yes, butters

510

Conclusion

512

References