Since long, Freemasons have been accused of everything from practicing sexual deviancy to engaging in occult rituals to running the world. In recent years research about Freemasonry has become popular again, not least of all when The Lost Symbol was published a 2009 novel written by American writer Dan Brown. In contrast to the claim made in " The Lost Symbol "and Brown’s earlier book “The Da Vinci Code” however there never was a  lodge in Scotland with records back to 1599, that was a first stonemason handworkers guild, but it handworker stonemasons never had anything to do with Freemasonry. The Masons are not descended from the Knights Templar. It is claimed, that the first time this myth was ever 'floated' was in 1737 in France when a Scotsman (Chevalier Michael Ramsay) was supposed to have presented a lecture which made the claim. The only ones claiming such fanciful connections today are naïve Masons, in fact most Masons today are not educated people (there is only one or two). Truth is Ramsay never presented this lecture (it was a 'written' Oratio) and as can be read by anyone who does the effort to do so there is no reference in there to "Templars", only to Knightly participants on the crusades. Used by Dan Brown and others as inspiration another influential  book was titled "The Temple And The Lodge" followed ten years later by the equally fictional "The Hiram Key." Book books refashioned a myth created by Baron von Hundt in 18th century Germany (see below). The Temple And The Lodge also interprets the graves of returning Scottish Knights from the crusades falsely as those of 'Knights Templar'. In spite of sensational literature the early Freemasons did not see any connection with Egypt, the Temple of Solomon, and one could ad also not ‘the rebuilding of London after the great fire’ or that ‘Washington DC’ was built according to Masonic influences.

 

For updates click homepage here