Wiccan Masons

[bpire2002]

Hi bpire2002,
You may not as a Master Mason, but Grand Lodge of Texas and all other jurisdictions do. In the Masonic Tenets, there is no restriction placed on God. The question is who do YOU place your faith, not anyone else. If an individual who believed in a different God took an oath to a different God in whom they did not believe, the oath would not be binding. Might try some floor school to brush up on some of the primary tenets of the degrees.

My Brother, in the petition of the Grand Lodge of Texas you will find a question which says;

Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that you firmly believe in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the Divine authenticity of the Holy Scripture?

Do you see any plural God(s) in that question?

in the degrees and prayers do we say supreme architect(s) of the universe?

The answer is NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trust me brother, i know my floor work.
I believe a Wiccan believes in multiple GODS.

 

[Ashton Lawson]

You don't know Wicca as well as you think.

Most Wiccans believe that a creative force exists in the Universe, which is sometimes called “The One” or “The All”. Little can be known of this force. Most regard the Goddess and the God as representing the female and male aspects of The All.

Taken from here.

"The All" or "The One" certainly sound like a Supreme Being to me. Before you argue, consider the Triune nature of the Christian God wherein we find the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is yet worshiped and recognized as One, the Supreme Being, even though He is God in three parts.

Wiccans have a wide range of beliefs when it comes to the Afterlife. Some believe in ancient legends of a Summerland, where souls go after death. Here, they meet with others who have gone before, review and integrate their previous lives on earth, and are eventually reincarnated into the body of a newborn.

Sounds like a belief in the immortality of the soul.

Wicca also holds up several books as representative of a path to their beliefs, and generally primarily holds the Book of Shadows up as their "Holy Book."

Even in Texas, Wicca does not conflict with our Grand Lodge Laws on faith and recognition of a Supreme Being.

Not that it matters, but I post this as a devout Christian.

 

[bpire2002]

Wiccans, as followers of Wicca are now commonly known, typically worship a Goddess (traditionally the Triple Goddess) and a God (traditionally the Horned God), who are sometimes represented as being a part of a greater pantheistic Godhead, and as manifesting themselves as various polytheistic deities. Other characteristics of Wicca include the ritual use of magic, a basic code of morality, and the celebration of eight seasonally based festivals

Just going off what was described by another member of the forum.

I dont wish to argue

 

[Ashton Lawson]

I don't wish to argue either, Brother. Only to educate and learn where possible.

I personally think Wicca falls into an unusual gray area that is really up to the individual Wiccan. Wicca is not your typical religion, as it allows for its followers to seek their own path. There are those that may choose to believe in a Supreme Being, and those that do not.

My expectation as a Mason would be that those Wiccans who become Masons, choose and acknowledge the path that ends in recognition of a Supreme Being; in their understanding, "The All or The One."

 

[bpire2002]

Thanks

 

[drowen]

Brothers,
That is exactly why religion is never to be discussed inside the Lodge Room. When you speak of gods, from another perspective, Christians also believe in three gods, being God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. As far as magic, what did Jesus do when he turned water into wine, healed the sick or when Moses slapped the rocks with his stick and water came forth. I know, we as Christians call these miracles, but others don't do so. The term Holy Scriptures does not imply the Holy Bible. Scriptures can be found in the Holy Bible, Holy Quran, and many other books. We as Masons are a group that has evolved into an organization that is relgiously sterile. Commandery or Knights Templar however, is a horse of a different color. You take an oath unto Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior. I am not defending other religions, I am just saying Freemasonry allows for religious freedom. It is not my fault those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be going to hell.

 

[tom268]

I'm not a wiccan, but I had my years in the "esoteric world" before I returned to Christianity. The modern Wicca movement has much in common with freemasonry, not the less because Gerald Gardner, broadly seen as the founder of modern wicca, was a freemason. Therefore I have no doubt that many male wicca belong to the craft or are at least attracted to masonry.

I see no base on what freemasonry would require a monotheistic belief. Surely, masonry was created in a christian culture and was originally meant for christians only. But that was a time when non-christians were not considered socially equal, monotheistic or polytheistic was not the point of interest. Today, there is no requirement to prohibit polytheists to join masonry.

 

[drowen]

Well said tom268

 

[Wingnut]

I would agree and say that there is no monotheistic requirement in the GL Law book. It would also be an interesting discussion on some of the commonalities of stories in Christianity, Islam, Judaism and the believes from ancient Egypt and Greece.
to name a few:
stories of 2 brothers in conflict
resurrection or ascension into 'heaven' and an afterlife.
judgment for your deeds

 

[drowen]

Wingnut, you speak wisdom. Brother Albert Pike says it best in his wisdom inferred upon us into Scottish Rite literature when he speaks of the multiple religions involved.

 

[Christopher]

Wicca also holds up several books as representative of a path to their beliefs, and generally primarily holds the Book of Shadows up as their "Holy Book."

Just to double-check that you understand, there's no single "Book of Shadows". A book of shadows is simply a journal that Wiccans are taught to keep where they record what they learn over the years. This might include the spells they perform and their outcomes, potions recipes they've found useful, dreams they've had, and other useful information. You could say that it includes "revealed" wisdom in the sense that if you believe the universe works under predictable rules, then trial and error such as is recorded in a practitioner's book of shadows would reveal those rules and possibly insights into spiritual matters. However, it does not include "revealed wisdom" such as the direct revelation of a deity or prophet regarding spiritual matters. No book of shadows is considered authoritative by all Wiccans.

This "book of shadows" also does not include divinely-inspired morals or ethics by which practitioners are expected to live. The traditional Wiccan ethic, as I understand it, is summed up in two bites: the Wiccan Rede, and the Threefold Law. The Wiccan Rede is a term that can refer to several things, but is typically used to refer to the phrase "An it harm none, do as ye will." It's important to note here that the word "an" being used is an archaic English word that means "if". It's neither the word "and" nor a contraction of it. The Threefold Law states that whatever one does will come back to oneself three times over. Kind of like karma, but more extreme. So if one does good, one will receive three times as much good from other people, and vice versa.

Hope this helps. If something I've said is incorrect, presumably one of the Wiccan brothers will correct me.

 

[Cripps]

I must admit something. I don't know much about other religions. I am Anglican. I have sat in lodge with a Wiccan WM, and he us also deemed a holy man to the native community, we have had many conversations regarding the whole conversation. Masonry expects us to have faith in the supreme being, gender and faith if said being are not specified. Our final realization came down the this.... B.Y.O.G to masonry!
(Bring Your Own God)
We have an amazing organization that beleives in tolerance. Accepting one another for who we are, and apart of that comes from having faith, believing in something and someone higher, better, and more loving that we could ever be. Yet it also teaches us the struggle and try to emulate such a being.

This is also an unfair question. Since religion and politics are not to be discusses in lodge can not put one religion before another as "The correct" choice.

All we really need to do us beleive. Beleive in the SA, have faith that each brother you meet has morals, just look at the 4 cardinal virtues.

 

[JTM]

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