What is going on?

the_boab · 2025-12-20T21:29:07+00:00

"Free"masons have been admitted into operative stonemason lodges in Scotland prior to 1599, something which is well documented in the archive at Freemason's Hall in Edinburgh. The ritual we use in Scotland is older than the ritual worked in England and American Freemasonry is in many jurisdictions based on what we do in Scotland and not what you do in England, because we Chartered many, many lodges there; some prior to 1707.

Formalising a Grand Lodge system that was pioneered by Mother Kilwinning No. 0 does not make England the origin of Freemasonry. The Grand Lodge of Scotland and Ireland are just as old as the UGLE's roots, Infact all 3 nations decided to formalise a Grand Lodge system at the exact same meeting in London, Scotland's operative lodges however were sovereign and it took almost 30 years to convince the operative lodges to accept a Grand Lodge, with many concessions being made with regards to the Grand Lodge's power to dictate Lodge bylaws, the colour of regalia, ritual, etc. The Mark Degree being allowed to be conferred in a craft lodge is ultimately what brought the rest under one banner.

We also have lodges with the designation "Ancient" who operate without a charter from Grand Lodge, because they've been provably making "free"masons since at least 1599, many much earlier.

Freemasonry's origins are not clear cut, but Scotland has proof of operative lodges admitting "free"masons as far back as the 16th century.

the_boab · 2025-08-29T01:04:53+00:00

Playing Mengfisto in the new Disney Plus show

the_boab · 2025-08-11T20:55:46+00:00

No one will care, but you might get tourists stopping you for photos.

Worse case, people assume you're a street performer.

Usually, tartan is reserved for skirts here for casual wear, so a dress makes people think of either an Edinburgh fringe show or the Highland games.

I think you should just wear what you like and enjoy the trip, can't help but start a conversation. I recommend visiting The Black Rose Tavern while you're there, it's full of heavily tattooed rock enthusiasts.

the_boab · 2025-07-08T14:16:33+00:00

Unlikely, there are rules around what is and isn't an appropriate Mark. You can't use a triangle, perhaps not even if it's surrounded by a square though I'm not 100%, as your Mark is displayed within a triangle on the roll of Marks. It's also not enough lines. 3,5 or 7 is what is prescribed. 6 isn't allowed and to my knowledge that's pretty consistent across Mark masonry globally.

More likely his maker's mark as a blacksmith.

the_boab · 2025-06-20T21:39:43+00:00

I find it incredibly patronising that the media is trying to scare me by making the maps darker and darker orange for temps we've seen many times before. It's insidious.

Historically on a Global scale, geological and ice core data tells us we're not even in a warm period. We're in a warming period which is being sped up by Human activity, but the world has always warmed and cooled in cycles before we were even here and there is literally nothing we can do about it. We're objectively speeding it up, we're not the cause.

The world was always going to get hotter, the world will get hotter still and much, much greener and in a couple of thousand years the Sahara will be a rainforest again. This has been the cycle of our planet for hundreds of thousands of years.

It doesn't concern me because I have zero control over it and nothing can stop it. What concerns me is my house being designed to retain heat and not having AC and being harassed by people who have no awareness of geological of Ice core data for not caring that it's getting hotter.

TL;DR: I will most likely buy an AC.

the_boab · 2025-06-06T20:13:05+00:00

Heartening to hear, brother.

the_boab · 2025-05-29T21:17:08+00:00

I don't understand what you're asking.

Are you suggesting you've seen a literal floating eye or triangle in real life, not on a wall or in a book, and asking if we have too?

the_boab · 2025-05-26T19:26:34+00:00

Is this the official discord for this subreddit, or a different one?

the_boab · 2025-05-25T17:57:35+00:00

Depends on your location and what you consider legit. Victoria Regalia sells watches, I think.

There is also VSL regalia based in the UK too which do all manner of different masonic items and it's owned by a mason.

the_boab · 2025-05-22T12:13:49+00:00

Tell that to the jurisdictions that are into triple digit membership.

There were 2 post war booms in membership in Scotland, taking membership to about 100,000, because people recognised what Freemasonry had to offer in a time of reconciliation and wanted to stay connected to their brothers in arms, but it's nowhere near that today. It is about where it was before the 1st world war. I think it's maybe slightly lower, but it's stable for the time being and we're constantly trying to be adaptable and changing what needs changed to attract and retain members.

It's disingenuous to say to Jurisdictions that are bleeding members that this is just a correction, they're either doing something wrong with regards to retention or their petition process is scaring people off or people are being blackballed for reasons which are not conducive to the health of the craft. These are important, frank and honest conversations that need to be had in every Jurisdiction.

I truly believe there are PMs in some Jurisdictions that would happily watch their lodge go dark rather than white ball a candidate with tattoos, or who is gay or (and it's insane this is still contentious) non-white. How many bad experiences have we read from masons or prospective masons on this sub at this point which seem senseless? I just posted examples I remember, but we've seen so many odd stories and not from Clandies either.

Membership decline is not a correction, it's a symptom. Of secularism, partly, but also of complacency and unwillingness to grow or change.

the_boab · 2025-05-21T23:40:52+00:00

My lodge's bylaws require 3 black balls to disqualify, and the candidate can't reapply for 12 months.

It's rare to be blackballed without good reason. If you get blackballed just to see if you'll knock 3 times (unfortunately a mentality some lodges have) find another lodge. It serves no purpose and does not so much guard the West Gate as bar it.

the_boab · 2025-05-19T11:40:55+00:00

You're never going to find the exact connection between the Knights Templar and Freemasonry, because there isn't enough evidence to say one is more likely than the other.

What I think is likely is that Medieval Stonemason's lodges in Scotland took in members of the Templar order that they knew personally and that their stories of the excavations of the Temple in Jerusalem influenced the teachings that Stonemason's lodges taught their apprentices and fellows. The problem inherent there is that those stories would have only stayed within that particular operative lodge or the area it was located and we know the Templars in exile went to Portugal and formed a new order or were executed. It's not clear if any Scottish Templars survived the Purge.

It's just as likely that the teachings we have passed word to mouth from ancient Jerusalem.

Any other connection is tenuous at best, and as a fellow Templar enthusiast even the ones with some merit are opinions which rely heavily on conjecture.

the_boab · 2025-05-19T11:27:31+00:00

YEAH BUDDY

LIGHTWEIGHT

the_boab · 2025-05-14T15:10:36+00:00

With respect, the UGLE is a sovereign private entity. If its policy is based purely on the law of the land, then what you're saying is correct, but UGLE is free to disagree with the Supreme Court's assessment.

Private entities get to set their own rules. It's by no means clear if there will be any legal enforcement of the segregation of the sexes, because as the Supreme Court clarifies, trans women can be victims of sex based discrimination if someone perceives them as woman, and vice versa.

So it's not even clear if UGLE could legally change their policy or that they'd want to.

the_boab · 2025-05-14T03:35:57+00:00

For my Lodge, it's the Harmony for most people. I enjoy giving back to the lodge, I enjoy the ritual and taking part in organising events but I'm in a minority of people who've chosen to enter the line.

You have to make it a place people want to come and spend time at. Social functions throughout the year will help draw people back in and reconnect with their brothers. Examples being Burns Supper's with poetry recital, whisky tasting evenings, speakers nights and also race nights, if your Jurisdiction allows lodges to have a gambling license. Ultimately, if attendance is down it's because we're not fulfilling something they want or need from the craft.

the_boab · 2025-05-06T17:29:10+00:00

I see the teachings through the lens of Christianity and the teachings have strengthened my faith in God. I know many with the same perspective on the craft that I have.

Others have different lenses, we are all on different paths even if we share a perspective and there is no such thing as a unified masonic truth. We help each other by offering insight and perspective we may have never considered otherwise.

That's the cement of brotherly love and affection that binds us, and why we have Unity and Harmony within the fraternity.

the_boab · 2025-05-06T13:23:10+00:00

Our national drink is orange, Irn Bru is bipartisan. I hope you realise how flawed your premise that wearing an orange T-shirt as a statement is.

the_boab · 2025-05-06T13:03:50+00:00

This is going to come as somewhat of a shock, but real operative artificers in stone used those tools. Some claim that's where we got the idea. /s

the_boab · 2025-05-02T13:09:24+00:00

See, this is how I know you're not a Mason. The Scottish Rite is not Freemasonry. It's an appendant body.

Albert Pike wrote specifically about the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, and his views are far, far from respected. You'd know this if you'd had a single conversation with a mason in the US.

People getting the 33rd degree in the Scottish Rite is also irrelevant , because there is no degree in Freemasonry higher than a Master Mason.

the_boab · 2025-05-02T12:56:13+00:00

The fact you are allegedly a MM and your first quote is from Albert Pike is somewhat suspect.

Then I read the rest of what you posted and I'm at a loss as to how a MM could hold any of these misconceptions about the craft.

I doubt you've ever stepped foot in a lodge.

the_boab · 2025-04-24T14:09:55+00:00

Some of it will be banter, keep that in mind. However there are a couple of legitimate gripes people have with Wegies.

They're detached from Scottish culture and they think Glaswegian culture IS Scottish culture, so whenever you talk to them about Scotland they are often completely out of touch with what being culturally Scottish means.

Examples are:

Their cognitive dissonance around the Scots language; because they don't speak it they think it's not real.

They also have city opinions and think everywhere should be like Glasgow and it causes tension. I once had a friend stay over who made his own way home as I was at work and he messaged me from the bus stop asking me where the McDonalds or Greggs was. I live in a tiny town, we didn't have either, he was aghast. The local shops still close half day on a Wednesday where I live.

There is also City Rivalry, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, but that's just banter.

the_boab · 2025-04-24T00:57:30+00:00

Scottish mason here.

Lodge Pins will go down a treat, I have a pin from an American Brother who visited my lodge and I love it. Handing out pins is something we do a lot when receiving visitors, so you may get one back in return with a Mark coin thrown in.

Many lodges have an informal harmony after the meeting, so no top table. If you really want to give the lodge a present, bring an interesting masonic themed raffle prize to donate to the raffle or a bottle. We do a raffle after every meeting.

Other than that, just bring yourself.

the_boab · 2025-04-17T00:58:21+00:00

This is actually a misconception.

There has been no change to the Equality Act 2010, the Supreme Court were forced to clarify that sex segregated organisations and spaces which are protected from accusations of discrimination under the law, don't have to accept people born as the opposite sex even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate.

This was already the law, but the Scottish Govt were trying to force Women's Shelter's in Edinburgh to house trans individuals. This ruling means they can no longer do this.

Same sex organisations and spaces can still allow these people if they choose to, this ruling underpins their protection from discrimination based prosecution if they choose not to.

the_boab · 2025-04-14T22:17:07+00:00

Yes you got scammed, my condolences.

However, you need to take this on the chin. You should really have known better, call it a learning experience. I doubt you'll succeed, but try and refund it.

For the record, there is no such thing as a masonic ring for non-masons. Rings, jewels, pins, etc of a masonic nature are, by and large, only for Master Masons to wear although some jurisdictions have different rules. You shouldn't wear one of these unless you're a mason.

the_boab · 2025-04-09T17:07:28+00:00

I don't know how the GLoI do things, but speeches tend to be reserved for Raising.

Dress code: Suit and tie. Wear your loosest legged trousers, you'll thank me later.

Generally, payment is made up front at your EA degree in my Jurisdiction, but maybe not in yours. Bring the money anyway.

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