What are the Masons?

Question

What do they do, why is it a secret society, are they part of Illuminati? and what is that?

Answer 1

Freemasonry is an oath bound fraternal order of men who derives from the medieval fraternity of operative Freemasons. we adhere to many of the Ancient Charges laws, customs and legends of operative Freemasonry we are loyal to the civilian government under which we exist we inculcate moral and social virtues by symbolic application of the stonemasons' working tools and by allegories lectures and charges. Freemasonry obligates its members to observe the principles of brotherly love, equality mutual aid secrecy and confidence. we have secret modes of recognition that permit members to recognize each other as brothers. we require a through examination into the mental, moral and physical qualifications of a petitioner and we admit men into the fraternity by secret ceremonies based in part on old legends of the Craft.

we are not a secret society but rather a society with secrets. suggest if you are interested in more information you contact a man whom you know to be a Mason or go to a local Masonic Lodge. if a local Lodge is not close by then contact the Grand Lodge of Masons in the State in which you reside.

Answer 2

The Free masons are not a secret society though some of their rituals are secret. They came from the society first created by the masons (stone masons). They have nothing to do with the Illuminati, the fictitious priory of Zion or any other secret, arcane or non-existent group.

Answer 3

The Masons are a secret organization that many say has existed since the birth of the Constitution. In fact many of our forefathers were said to be Freemasons. Many compare the Freemasons to dark magic but it is no such thing although they do have an amazing influence on politics and art. (or so many have said) I also became interested in Masons after reading Angels and Demons, the book made them sound so intriguing. What you should know is that the Freemasons are basically stonebuilders, they have an amazing influence in architecture. If you want more information on Freemasonry visit the source webpage and it will give you plenty of information. When I was researching Freemasonry I found it interesting to know that Clark Gable once belonged to the Freemasonry organization. As well as many other famous names such as:
Benjamin Franklin
Harry Houdini
Thurgood Marshall
Wolfgang Mozart
Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt
George Washington
and many more of our former presidents

Answer 4

The Freemasons are a much maligned NOT secret society:

"Freemasonry is not a secret society, cult, religion or anti-Christian sect, nor is it behind the Illuminati, although it is often accused of being such. Membership does require belief in a Supreme Being and there is a Masonic Bible, usually the King James Version of the same book accepted by those Christians who accuse the Masons of being anti-Christian."

The "Illuminati" are the mainly figments of conspiracy theorists' imagination:

"The Bavarian Illuminati have cast a long shadow in popular history thanks to the writings of their opponents; the lurid allegations of conspiracy that have colored the image of the Freemasons have practically opaqued that of the Illuminati. In 1797, Abbé Augustin Barruél published Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism outlining a vivid conspiracy theory involving the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians, the Jacobins and the Illuminati, during the course of which Barruél blamed all of what he regarded as the disasters of his times such as the French Revolution on the said groups. A Scottish Mason and professor of natural history named John Robison started to publish Proofs of a Conspiracy Against all the Religions and Governments of Europe in 1798. Robison claimed to present evidence of an Illuminati conspiracy striving to replace all world religions with humanism and all nations with a single world government.
More recently, Antony C. Sutton suggested that the secret society Skull and Bones was founded as the American branch of the Illuminati; others think Scroll and Key had Illuminati origins, as well. Writer Robert Gillette claimed that these Illuminati ultimately intend to establish a world government through assassination, bribery, blackmail, the control of banks and other financial powers, the infiltration of governments, mind control, and by causing wars and revolution to move their own people into higher positions in the political hierarchy.
Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, claimed they intended to spread information and the principles of true morality. He attributed the secrecy of the Illuminati to what he called "the tyranny of a despot and priests."
Both sides seem to agree that the enemies of the Illuminati were the monarchs of Europe and the Church; Barruél claimed that the French revolution in 1789 was engineered and controlled by the Illuminati through the Jacobins, and later theorists even claimed that the Illuminati were responsible for the Russian Revolution of 1917, although the order was officially defunct prior to 1789. Few historians give credence to these views; they regard such claims as the products of over-fertile imaginations.
Conspiracy theorists highlight the link between the Illuminati and Freemasonry. It is also suggested that the United States' founding fathers — some being Freemasons — were rife with corruption from the Illuminati. The symbols of the All-seeing Eye and the unfinished pyramid in the Great Seal of the United States are cited as an example of the Illuminati's ever-present watchful eye over Americans.
While Weishaupt's group did not survive into the 19th century, several groups have since used the name Illuminati to found their own rites, claiming to be the Illuminati. Groups describing themselves as Illuminati say they have members and chapters (lodges) throughout the world.
About the time that the Illuminati were outlawed in Bavaria, the Roman Catholic Church prohibited its members from joining Masonic lodges, on pain of excommunication. This was done as a general edict, since the Church believed many lodges to have been infiltrated and subverted by the Illuminati. Cardinal Ratzinger (later to become Pope Benedict XVI) stated, in a document by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on November 26, 1983, that the "Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic associations remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and, therefore, membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful, who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion."
According to Principia Discordia and several other Discordian works, the Bavarian Illuminati was revived or rediscovered in the 20th Century under the leadership of Mordecai Malignatus (Robert Anton Wilson, who also wrote about the group under the pennames Mordecai the Foul and Reverend Loveshade). In the original Steve Jackson Games card game Illuminati and in the trading card game Illuminati: New World Order that it is based on, the Bavarian Illuminati is an enemy organization of the Discordians."

Answer 5

These days it's a social club. It started out as a craft guild for people who traveled around building cathedrals in the middle ages. They're just having a little fun with the secrecy. I know nothing about the Illuminati.

Answer 6

Ther are 2 groups called the masons, they are made up of govorment officials. the first group used to be a secret society, but they were discovered and went public, pretending to be like an elks lodge or something, then they created a new sect... both of them still exsist today. the new one is still "secret" but they pretend like the public one is the only one

Answer 7

fraternal order, largest worlwide society - where MEN meet in service to God and to serve others as a community. Started in the early 1700's as a secret society to practice their "craft".
brotherhood of Man.
Some believe this is more than a fraternal order - more like a religion.

Answer 8

Here is a website where you can learn more about the masons.
www.grandlodgeofvirginia.org/whomason.htm
Here is a website where you can learn more about Illuminati.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati
As far as I can tell they have nothing to do with each other.