How Alchemists Dissolved Authority And Found Truths

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. Is it possible Albert Einstein had Masonry in mind when he said it?  And is it possible we Craft Masons owe a debt to the man from Ulm?  Trying to re-enact  the enlightenment as a time of discovery and depth really does do justice to the period. Oh dear, are made of the stuff-stout enough to handle the truth?   Finding truth is what ethical men do because it is uncomfortable. In this country, our claim to innocence piety or hubris has been removed in shame.  Inhumane acts will do that every time.  Maybe, it is time to examine the claim that Masonry was birthed of high moral standards and see if there is any truth to the statement.  The 18th century was a period of remarkable stories folded inside remarkable events.  It was a time when the Grand Tour began- for the first time, people traveled for enjoyment.  Most children died before the age of 5.  But in the 18th century, we see the growth of ideas about given children time to enjoy life and grow before being put into toil to survive. It was a time of break outs.   Respectable citizens  enjoyed masquerades in Venice, where they gambled and drank, where they were anonymous, flirtatious, outrageous and sensual.  Hogarth produced a picture for us, a vignette of  happily drunk masons finding their way home.  And masonry made fantasy into reality. In restricted class consciousness, common rubbed shoulders with royalty could experience a special sense of equality that did not exist outside Lodge doors.  It is hard to imagine masonry attracted men  because it was severe.  More likely it was able to compete well with the numerous gentlemen's drinking clubs  like the secretive, notorious Hellfire Club. And that zest for life dressed in our Sunday finery is still with us.