Esoteric aprons

[paul]

I noticed an apron with an agenda not discussed much in Masonry.




I wonder if there are other examples.

[LorrB]

Another amazing coincindence... a very good friend of mine just this morning emailed my a copy of a paper he wrote and one of the images was that of the apron above.

I have asked him to post the paper on this site, but I am sure he will not mind me posting this little excerpt in the meantime.

At first glance, Freemasonry banned sexuality. There is no reference to it, save for a picture of a Masonic apron depicting something which resembles a phallus. Noreference at all to the feminine side.

Man could therefore think that Freemasons despise women, but this would be a superficialand wrongful opinion. Actually, Freemasonry's task consists in an alchemical work, at spiritual level, which allows the masculine psychological aspect to be reunited to its feminine counterpart. This union is endogenous. The Hindu doctrine teaches how to awake the kundalini, the inner energy, which is represented as a coiled serpent that sleeps in the Muladhara, the lowest chakra. When this force is awakened, it
begins to rise up through the spine, ascending through each chakra progressively.

When the serpentpower reaches the last centre, or Sahasrara Chakra, which is located in the crown6, the Yogi loses his individuality in the ocean of SatChitAnanda or the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute and becomes one with the Lord or Supreme Soul.

In the Western tradition the same idea is expressed by alchemy, the main task of which is not to transform lead into gold, but to activate a psychological process of selfknowledge: Know thyself.

Each human being has his own inner polarity, namely animus (masculine)
and anima (feminine). Through a longlasting inner work – in Masonic terms: to polish one's rough ashlar – man unifies the polarities, thus restoring oneness. The union of opposites is known in hermetic philosophy as mysterium coniunctionis (mystic union) or coniunctio oppositorum (union of opposites). Both terms describe the climax of opus magnum (great work). Through the continuous fusion of opposites, spirit and matter are transmuted on an ever higher level. Finally, the creation of lapis philosophorum, the philosophers' stone, is achieved.

Excerpt from
ESOTERICISM AND SEXUALITY
By: Giovanni Lombardo

[paul]

The presence of Hindu aspects in modern Masonry (e.g. the Veils) indicates that 18th century brethren must have been familiar with Hindu polarity practices. Nevertheless they chose to exclude it from English Masonry.

Fortunately mixed Masonry allows some options - for example having husband and wife as the Deacons.

[vajranagini]

Oh I dunno about the "feminine being absent"; that CAVE hovering right above the phallic-liiking tower looks "feminine" enough to ME. Can you tell me what that is inside it? Looks like LIONS. If so, then I will make a reference to a joke: What is a lion?

Answer: A 500-lb. pussy that eats YOU.

[paul]

The lion in the cave is likely an alchemical reference connected with the furnace below

[vajranagini]

Possibly. Notice too, that they are MALE and FEMALE lions. Also, lions although generally considered SOLAR, are also connected with Aphrodite, who rode in a chariot drawn by lions in her aspect as Bellona, a War Goddess. The Hindu Goddess Durga/Lalita/Chandika is also portrayed as seated on a lion. The lion was considered more "kingly"; the tiger more savage and uncontrollable.

It is TRUE that sex is not discussed in exoteric Freemasonry, but anyone who has ever read Francis King's "Secret Rituals of the OTO" knows that "phallicism" is THE "big secret" of OTO, and "one of the more important truths of Freemasonry" as Crowley put in in his Confessions. Actually, that statement is a LIE.

The phallus has no real raison d' etre without the kteis, therefore it is an ERROR to assert, as Crowley does, that "the Phallus" is the "supreme" symbol and woman/kteis merely "an expedient". In any case, the phallus is merely the 'delivery boy' ; a man without a penis can STILL 'fulfil his "biological imperative", i.e. make someone pregnant, (with a little HELP, of course) but a man without his gonads is S.O.L., penis or not!

The Shiva Lingam of Hindu fame, is NOT merely a "phallus" as most assert; without its pear-shaped YONI base, it is NOTHING AT ALL. Even the famous Narmada River banalinga, perfectly egg-shaped stones revered as "natural" lingams, are demoted to mere 'eggs of Brahma' if they do not sport the RED blotches or stripes representing "Shakti", or the FEMININE aspect. With them, the stones are automatically 'sacred" and can be worshipped "as is". In the absence of the blotches, a yoni base is required. It is said that unless Shiva's lingam is "contained" by His consort Parvati's yoni, the lingam will destroy creation with its fiery wrath.