   The Dawning of "SPIRITUAL" Masonry
           by Norman Williams Crabbe, MPS
[Editor's note: In the interest of presenting various viewpoints, we present 
Brother Crabbe's thoughts on "Spiritual" Masonry]

    Masonry is faced with grave problems in the latter part of the 20th 
century and going into the 21st century. Membership is dwindling. The original 
purpose for Freemasonry is getting lost because of the tangents it has 
developed over the last two hundred years. The leadership is growing old while 
the young no longer find that being a Mason has any relevance to their life-
style. There are those among the Brethren, a few, who have the ability to help 
set things a-right and move Masonry forward on its True Course.
    I want to bring to the forefront the conclusion I have arrived at through 
the study of Freemasonry and elaborate on the original and true course Masonry
had, has, and will continue to have. Some of you will not agree with me; and I
expect some, a few, will loudly proclaim that I'm one hundred percent wrong.
Still I feel that it is time to bring Freemasonry into the 21st century and by 
so doing fall back on its original purpose. The TRUE purpose of Masonry must 
be brought back to center stage and again allow the Bright Light of Divine 
Wisdom to come to the forefront of Masonry's Mission. If Masonry is to perform 
its mission on Earth, then some of us will have to take the lead and in a 
small part, "Inform our Brethren." I am going to present facts. It is up to 
you  to search for the truth and thereby understand these facts.
    First: In order to move forward, a Medieval ruse must be exposed. To 
protect life and limb and escape a very real charge of heresy in the narrow-
minded Catholicism of the Medieval mind, Masonry went underground and took on 
the appearance  of being Stone Mason Guilds. Freemasonry may have hidden
behind the cover of the Middle Age Stone Mason Guilds but never was it the
other way around. Speculative Masonry was not derived from guilds of stone ma-
sons. Masonry alludes to the building of the Godhead within every human. Free-
masonry is the direct descendant and the continuing unbroken line of The 
Ancient Wisdom, Religious Divinity Schools. At one time only for the 
intelligence, the priestly class, it now is, in the form of Freemasonry, an 
updated version to indude the wisdom of Christ and others. By Initiation a 
young man was introduced into the Holy Mysteries. Afterward it was up to him 
to study and search out the truths behind the allegories.
    Second: Masonry, its forms and ritual, predate the deluge, going back to 
our pre-diluvian Ancestors. When man became a material thinking being, Masonry 
was planted in his Mind whereby he could have the knowledge of truth so his 
soul could bind back to his Creator.
    Third: The ritual, the three basic degrees, give the keys to life and 
death and allude to the knowledge whereby the soul, once enlightened, can 
spiritually commune with the Creator forever. Each subsequent degree, either 
York or Scottish Rite, is an embellishment on the Three Primary Degrees. Each 
offers one or more keys, or hints, as to the direction you are to follow for 
true spiritual enlightenment.
    Fourth: By symbolically causing you to die as Hiram Abif, you are shown 
that not only is there life after death but that there are many lives and 
deaths. (I reiterate I am giving you the First Key. It is up to you to 
discover the rest.) The symbol of Hiram Abif has many different levels of 
meanings.
    Fifth: This symbolic death is designed to lay before you the key that 
hopefully opens up the channel of communication to your innermost self; your 
soul. Your soul, your essence, upon participating in the Rites of Initiation 
either consciously or unconsciously recognizes the Message, and the pathway to 
salvation is illuminated.
    Sixth: Why is Masonry not a religion? Because Masonry only alludes to what
all Religions, in their true form, are teaching.  Every  world  religion  (if
Divinely inspired), from the beginning of man's material existence, has had 
and has within it the true keys for man's spiritual salvation. Masonry and its 
forerunners have carried that spark of truth in a secret allegorical form for 
thousands upon thousands of years. In so doing it has helped millions of souls 
enter into the place from whence they came and "there" be invested with what 
they had been divested. By learning this knowledge of divine truth while in 
material form, you will possess the keys by which your soul can, if it so 
chooses, remain in the spiritual realm.
    Seventh: Through study, a deep and life-long study, a Mason can learn 
about his soul. He can remove the veil that separates his material self from 
his spiritual self. He has locked up within him the key to true timeless 
salvation. Never more will he have to walk as a material being on planet 
earth. This is the goal of Masonry. This is its only true goal. The Masonic 
Fraternity was designed by the Supreme Architect of the Universe, placed 
within the mind of material man, so when man is Initiated into the Fraternity, 
his soul will hopefully take over and guide the material man to search out the
truth about material death and take the necessary steps to insure that the 
next material death will be the last.
    One very important last note. No one on the face of this earth can give 
you this knowledge! You must earn it yourself. The answers you wish to find 
are within you. You can study, ask questions, read, write, think, attend 
lodge, watch and participate in degree work and by all means attend your own 
place of worship, but in the end you yourself are responsible for making the 
needed discoveries. It actually becomes the business of your soul to educate 
itself.
    Sources: Rather then footnote enclosed is a Reading List.
           
           Reading List
      (Revised August, 1993)
*) The meaning of Masonry  ... Wilmshurst
+ ) The Temple and the Lodge  ... Baigent/Leigh
= ) The Holy Bible . . . King James Ver.
= ) The Jewish Kabbalah   .  . . Historical
= ) The Other Bible-Ancient Esoteric Texts  ... Barnstone
= ) The Greek/English Interlinear New Testament ... Tyndale
= ) The Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament  ... King James Ver.
= ) The Nag Hammadi Library  ... Robinson
= ) The Upanishads  ... Hindu Bible
= ) The Holy Koran  .... Muslim Bible
*) The Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry  ... Dr. G. Olivver, D.D.
*) Morals and Dogma  ... Albert Pike, 33
:) Ex Oriente Lux  ... Henry
z) Anglo-saxon Israel  ... Rutherford
z) Mind and Maggic  ... King
#) The Occult World  ... Sinnett
*) Duncans Ritual of Freemasonry  ... McKay
:) The Mysticism of Masonry  ... Clymer
 +) Born in Blood: The Secrets of Masonry ... Robinson
 +) Holy Blood/Holy Grail  ... Baigent/Leigh/Lincoln
?) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance  ... Pirsig
?) Jonathan Livingston Seagull ... Bach
*) The Grand Lodge Ritual Book ... Maryland, DC, Scotland
*) The Secret Teachings of All Ages: Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic &
    Rosicrusian  ... Manly P. Hall
=) The Supreme Identity  ... A. Watts
=) The Way of Zen  ... A. Watts
#) Atlantis  ... Donelly
=) Revelations  ... Edgar Cayce
The Secret Doctrine 1 & 2  ... Blavatsky
=) More Than Wanderers: Spiritual Disciplines for Christian Ministry
    ... J.C. Fenhagen
:) I.N.R.I. De Mysteriis Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis  ... Frater Achad
:) The Kybalion; Hermetic Philosophy  ... 3 Initiates
:) The Rosicrucian Philosophy; the R.C. Creed  ... G.W. Plummer
:) The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary  ...  K.V. Eckartshausen
:) Constantly Creating Circumstances  ... G.W. Plumrner
:) Codex Rosae Crucis, D.O.M.A.  ...M.P.Hall
*) History of Initiation  ... G. Oliver D.D.
:) Philosophy of Fire  ... Clymer
:) The Science of Death  ... G.W. Plummer
#) Tour Notions of the Theosophical S.  ... Theosophical S.
Quarterly Publications ... Theosophical S.
#) Roots of Ritualism in Church & Masonry  ... Blavatsky
?) The Story of Philosopy  ... Will Durant
z) Karma: T. Universal Law of Harmony  ... Hanson & Stewart
#) Esoteric Buddhism  ... Sinnett
?) History of Western Philosophy  ... Bertrand Russel
*) Masonry in the New AgeLynn F. Perkins
   
   
   Book Search under the Topics:
   Religion/Philosophy/New Age.

*) Freemasonry +) Knights Templar
:) Rosicrusian #) Theosophy = ) Religion ?)

Philosophy & History  z) Unclassified Occult


