Review | The Freemasons The Ancient Brotherhood Revealed

Well this is intriguing!

I’ve always had a macabre interest in the occult and clandestine knowledge, wanting to have a more comprehensive understanding of one of the most highly publicized and twitter talked groups: The Freemasons. 

I knew already that the Freemasons were a movement that originated from actual freemasons; craftsmen who were into the building and construction trade. I also knew that the whole “satanic” thing that the groups were notorious for were in fact a hoax! They’re also not related to the illuminati by the way.

Description Summary: A great guide for those new to the subject of Freemasonry  and would like to have a comprehensive timeline of the mysterious brotherhood.

Rating

Book Summary: (Skip to Review)

Johnstone takes an in depth look at the influential organization that made its way popularly into many aspects of our lives. In the beginning we explore different origin theories presented by the author before emerging into the factual periods of history where it is first noted that the brotherhood was founded (year 1717). 

Then it is an outlook of the inner workings and beliefs of this brotherhood, and the notable persons of interest who either supported it or rejected ; all of them playing an integral part of how the organization grew and functioned. 

Johnstone examines the rituals and positions found in Freemasonry, as well as it’s values before finally closing off the book with a list of famous Freemasons and the history of women in Freemasonry.

Review

Review

Main Thoughts

If you’re a complete novice and want to dabble into the occult, this book is a good place to start. Everything is lined out clearly, chapters are separated by clearly defined topics although sometimes the author deviates a bit and the writing gets carried away. Nonetheless, what I like about this book is that the author explains the myths that surround it and the actual history of real life occurrences and people so you get a good mix of both.

I think with the way each topic has a subtitle instead of a long book of endless writing is a smart way to tackle the scatterbrain nature of this organization. This is also a way for the reader should they like to know more they can easily refer to the title and go on to research more. Furthermore, the author provides numerous resources that can be found in the glossary at the end of the book.

Story (And what I took from it)

This was an interesting read. I might not be able to retain everything written in this book but I’ll sure be able to retain the new information I’ve gotten out of it. There are many misconceptions surrounding Freemasonry, and although I do not fully share the sentimentalities with that shared by the author I also don’t view them as this “wholly evil demonic cult that ought destroy civilization and create a whole new world order”. 

If you were thinking like the previous thought you are thinking then about another notorious organization called The illuminati; yep those David Icke vids are about them. The illuminati is another movement that integrated itself with Freemasonry in order to validate their existence and be seen in a sophisticated light. (Yup tea….).

That being said it is quite ridiculous of me to water down the works of the initial Freemasons because of their allegiance to the group; they created many wonderful buildings with splendid architecture and their initial meaning is quite different than the more modern Freemasonry thinking that emerged years later. I don’t trust modern Freemasonry and I think mankind is too individualistic to actually create a universal new world order. 

Writing Style

The writing style is well done; not fancy or too dry to the point that it makes you think it’s a school textbook. I did doze off a bit in the middle once things started to get a bit too historical for me; personally I like the myths and the conspiracies that surround it more. 

Criticism?

The author viewed them in a positive light and I got the impression he even empathized with them (The Freemasons). For non fiction historical books, I prefer it if the author was not so blatantly biased to one group because it can influence your opinion as a reader on the topic at hand. 

I wished he wrote more about women in Freemasonry and it would have been nice to see direct quotes from the women actually initiated into the organization. 

Do I recommend? Yes if you need a starting point somewhere this is a good start.

---

What do you think? Are you interested in the occult as well? (Or do you find it utter nonsense lol).

More like this? Sign up to get the latest!