Masonic Rituals for the Blue Lodge
The following exposures of Masonic ritual are provided in a
cooperative effort between Ex-Masons
for Jesus and Ephesians 5:11, Inc. Ex-Masons for
Jesus is a fellowship organization of men and women who have left the
Masonic Lodge and appendant bodies, such as the Order of the Eastern Star, Job's
Daughter's, the Order of Rainbow for Girls and the Order of DeMolay for boys. They
work with other Christians in an effort to equip them to lead Masons within their sphere
of influence to leave the Masonic Lodge. Ex-Masons for Jesus
may be contacted by e-mail, or by writing Ex-Masons for
Jesus, Box 28702, Las Vegas,
Nevada 89126.
Within Freemasonry, the color blue is a
symbol of universal friendship and benevolence, as it is the color of the
vault of heaven. Blue is the only color other than white which should be
used in a Master's Lodge for decorations. Within the Blue Lodge are
conferred the Craft Degrees. These Masonic rituals represent three degrees which are taken in
sequence. First, the Entered Apprentice Degree, second, the Fellow
Craft Degree and
finally, the Master Mason Degree. The Masonic rituals provided here are as practiced
under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Nevada, circa 1986.
These Masonic rituals are provided in the Portable Document Format (PDF).
PDF files can be read on almost any modern computer and printed on any laser
or ink jet printer to produce documents which have an identical layout regardless of the
system on which they are printed or read.
In order to examine these Masonic rituals, or print them, you will need to
have a copy of the Adobe Reader from Adobe Systems.
The Adobe Reader is available FREE at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
The Masonic ritual:
These electronic files containing the
full text of Nevada Ritual are Copyright 1997 Ephesians 5:11, Inc. The
Grand Lodge of Nevada publishes the ritual only in cipher form.
Republication of these files on another web site is a violation of Federal
Copyright Law.
Prince Hall Masonic Ritual
Prince Hall was a black man who was initiated into Freemasonry
in a military lodge. The lodge he later formed was recognized by
the Grand Lodge of England and therefore was regular in every
way. Never-the-less, many white Grand Lodges did not and do
not recognize Prince Hall Freemasonry as regular. Some have
recently recognized the Prince Hall Grand Lodges.
The ritual for Prince Hall Freemasonry is available on CDROM
Masonic teaching methods
The authoritative teachings of Freemasonry are conveyed in several
ways. The primary authoritative Masonic teaching method is ritual. Freemasons
are usually unwilling to reveal the contents of ritual to non-Masons. The
words in Masonic ritual are controlled very closely by the Grand Lodge in whose
jurisdiction the ritual is performed. Masonic ritual is always performed behind
closed doors, with a guard called a tyler, standing on the outside of the lodge room.
Only those who have proven themselves to be Masons and those who are
being initiated into the degrees of Freemasonry are allowed entrance.
Another primary authoritative Masonic teaching method is through small
books which are given to men when they are "raised" to the degree of Master
Mason. These small books are known as "monitors." They are
published, or authorized, by the Grand Lodges for distribution in the lodges in their
jurisdiction. Masonic monitors contain explanations of the meaning of the major
symbols used in Masonic ritual and explain the meanings of important portions of the
ritual, to help the less thoughtful Mason understand the teaching. There seems to be
a superset of material from which Masonic monitors are created. The monitor for a
particular jurisdiction consists of some core information plus elective information which
is selected from the superset. There is a great deal of similarity between the
monitors of various states. Usually, the symbols of Freemasonry are discussed in the
same order and the explanations use almost identical wording. Using virtually
any Masonic monitor, it is possible to prove that Freemasonry teaches a plan of salvation
which does not depend on faith in Jesus Christ. Still, some Grand Lodges
produce monitors which reveal far more than other Grand Lodges.
The content of Masonic Monitors
The Masonic monitors of more than a few states reveal that the meaning of
the Master Mason ritual is that Masons have been redeemed from the death of sin.
Christians know that anything which claims to redeem a man from sin is a plan of
salvation. The text used is derived from the writings of Albert G. Mackey, whose Manual
of the Lodge (1862) is the basis of Ahiman Rezon,
the Monitor of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina. Numerous Grand Lodges have
repeated Mackey's teaching:
It was the single object of all the ancient rites and mysteries practiced
in the very bosom of pagan darkness. . .to teach the immortality of the Soul. This is
still the great design of the third degree of Masonry. This is the scope and aim of its
ritual. The Master Mason represents man, when youth, manhood, old age, and life itself
have passed away as fleeting shadows, yet raised from the grave of iniquity, and quickened
into another and better existence. By its legend and all its ritual, it is implied that we
have been redeemed from the death of sin and the sepulchre of pollution. . . .and the
conclusion we arrive at is, that youth, properly directed, leads [us to the honorable and
virtuous maturity, and that] the life of man, regulated by morality, faith, and justice,
will be rewarded at its closing hour by the prospect of eternal bliss. . . The important
design of the degree is to symbolize the great doctrines of the resurrection of the body
and the immortality of the soul; and hence it has been remarked by a learned writer of our
order, that the Master Mason represents a man saved from the grave of iniquity, and raised
to the faith of salvation.
(1947 Ed. Ahiman Rezon, pages
141-2, Monitor of South Carolina) PDF file source document.
The central figure in the third degree ritual of Freemasonry is Hiram Abif (or
Abiff). Hiram is unjustly killed, buried and then raised from the grave.
Toward the conclusion of the Legend of the Third Degree, the new Master Mason
is told that he should imitate Hiram Abif so that he may get into the celestial Lodge
above, where the Grand Architect of the Universe (the Masonic god) presides.
The Kentucky Monitor reveals the identity of Hiram Abiff in a
discussion of various religions:
All believed in a future life, to be attained by purification and trials; in a state or
successive states of reward and punishment; and in a Mediator or Redeemer, by whom the
Evil Principle was to be overcome and the Supreme Deity reconciled to His creatures. The
belief was general that He was to be born of a virgin and suffer a painful death. The
Hindus called him Krishna; the Chinese, Kioun-tse; the Persians, Sosiosch; the Chaldeans,
Dhouvanai; the Egyptians, Horus; Plato, Love; the Scandinavians, Balder; the Christians,
Jesus; Masons, Hiram.
(pages XIV-XV, Kentucky Monitor)
PDF file source document.
Notice the parallel sentence structure in the last line. It clearly states that: Hiram
is to Masons as Jesus is to Christians.
Download Masonic Monitor
The Nevada Master Mason Monitor
is available in a 93.6KB PDF file. The download time should be
about one minute with a 28.8KB modem. The Nevada monitors are the shortest and most
cheaply produced of all the monitors we have seen. There are three booklets in the
Nevada set, one for each degree. The monitors for some states are over
five hundred pages long. Due to file sizes and transfer times, it is impractical
to download larger monitors in PDF format.
Many monitors are available on
CDROM.
The Adobe Reader is absolutely necessary to read the Nevada Master Mason
Monitor PDF file. The Adobe Reader is
available FREE at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
Christians do not remain Masons
Because most Christians do not know about Freemasonry, some are led to
join a Masonic Lodge. After they join and become active in Freemasonry, they
begin to understand what is being taught in Masonic ritual. Christians who think
about the meaning of the words in ritual end up leaving Freemasonry. Many go
quietly, because of fear. Others are under so much spiritual bondage, as a result of
being involved in the occultic religion of Freemasonry, that they remain somewhat
dysfunctional as Christians. Spiritual healing can be instantaneous, or it can take
years, depending on the individual and God's will. Be wary of any church
leadership who are former Masons. Unless they are able to fully reveal the evil
nature of Freemasonry, they may not be free of Masonic bondage. Former Masons should
be examined carefully before they are allowed to take any teaching or leadership role in
the church.
Men, who have left the Masonic Lodge after coming to understand what
Masonic ritual teaches, have sometimes felt compelled to reveal the contents of Masonic
ritual to the public. Many are reluctant to do so because of Masonic history.
During the early 19th century, Capt. William Morgan worked with a printer named Miller to
publish the rituals, as practiced in New York. The printers shop was set ablaze and
Morgan was abducted and murdered. As his body was never recovered, there was
no conviction for murder. However, several Masons were convicted of his
abduction. Even through intimidation and persecution can be intense for
those who reveal the "secrets" of Freemasonry, exposures of Masonic ritual have
continued since 1727, ten years after the founding of the Grand Lodge of England.
Exposures of Masonic ritual have continued for more than two centuries for
several reasons. The most compelling reason is so that other men will not be
ensnared in Freemasonry. Christians who become ensnared in Freemasonry sooner or
later realize that Masonic ritual teaches a plan of salvation which is not based on faith
in Jesus Christ, but rather on the basis of imitating Hiram Abiff, the (prototype) Masonic
savior. Galatians 1:8-9 reveals that the penalty for teaching a false plan of
salvation is eternal condemnation. Christians have no choice but to repent.
Copyright 1997 Ephesians 5:11, Inc. Republication on
another web site prohibited. |
