Max: The Masons
Open Sesame
Mammoth sphinxes guard the House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, a formidable neo-Classical building in the heart of Washington, D.C. Inside, Egyptian hieroglyphics adorn a soaring atrium. The building's nine-foot-thick walls hold human remains. Bronze coiling snakes flank a large wooden throne, canopied in purple velvet, in a second-floor inner sanctum called the Temple Room, where men from around the world gather behind closed doors every two years. Over the centuries the select membership has included signers of the Declaration of Independence; George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and 13 other presidents; Senators Charles Schumer and Robert Dole; Chief Justice Earl Warren and other Supreme Court justices. Formally they are known as Freemasons, but most people know them simply as Masons. And this artfully forbidding edifice, a mile from the White House, is their southern headquarters.
Mammoth sphinxes guard the House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, a formidable neo-Classical building in the heart of Washington, D.C. Inside, Egyptian hieroglyphics adorn a soaring atrium. The building's nine-foot-thick walls hold human remains. Bronze coiling snakes flank a large wooden throne, canopied in purple velvet, in a second-floor inner sanctum called the Temple Room, where men from around the world gather behind closed doors every two years. Over the centuries the select membership has included signers of the Declaration of Independence; George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and 13 other presidents; Senators Charles Schumer and Robert Dole; Chief Justice Earl Warren and other Supreme Court justices. Formally they are known as Freemasons, but most people know them simply as Masons. And this artfully forbidding edifice, a mile from the White House, is their southern headquarters.
posted by Max Dobberstein at 4/19/2007 12:15:00 AM
8 Comments:
I looked into joining the Masons a while back - not long after reading Angels & Demons if I remember correct. Anyway, the Renton WA group that I spoke with seemed okay - at first. Then they confessed that there was a lot of bigotry and homophobia.
Apparently, there were two different "lodges" that met in the same building: the day lodge and the night lodge. All the guys I spoke with were part of the day lodge. One of them told me the night lodge was a little more, shall we say, progressive? Apparently the night lodge had fewer isssues with gays, non-white persons and other freaks of nature.
To this day, all I have to do is say "wrapped around the axle" and I can get Steph giggling. One of the guys we spoke with said this phrase about three dozen times in the space of 45 minutes.
I guess I won't be glad-handing my way up the old boy ladder via the Masons - but for a moment I thought it might be fun to join the conspiracy.
Actually, The House of the Temple isn't the headquarters of the Freemasons in any region. It is the headquarters of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, a seperate organization. Membership in the Scottish Rite is limited to members of the Freemasons, but it is an independent organization.
A common mistake, but a mistake none the less.
"Wrapped around the axle" gosh...Jason is right. The guy seemed ok-ish. I didn't like the idea of having to hang out with the goody-goody wives of these guys. Somehow, I just don't think I'd fit in. AND it was going to cost mucho $$$ to join from what I can remember. At the time we were way strapped for cash. All in all...I am very glad that we never went to more than that initial meet and greet!
Whoa.
Could it be that a member of the conspiracy reads our humble blog?
Steve, if that is indeed your real name, are you a member of the conspiracy?
R U teh IWDC MIB?? :)
fnord
For some reason I can't see Steve gettin' down big Willy style. :)
You don't even know Steve. Steve could be Stevie Wonder for all you know!
Just trying to be funny.....
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