It has been said that Freemasonry is an earthly symbol of a Heavenly archetype; that it is the Custodian of Law; the Home of the Mysteries and the Seat of Initiation. It holds in its symbolism the ritual of Deity, and the way of salvation is pictorially preserved in its work. The methods of Deity are demonstrated in its Temple Workings, and under the All-Seeing Eye the work can go forward. In its ceremonies lies hid the wielding of the forces connected with the growth of life of the kingdoms of nature and the unfoldment of the divine aspects of man. In the comprehension of its symbolism will come the power to cooperate with the divine plan.
However, it is realised everywhere that new life must be poured in and great changes wrought in the awareness and in the training of those who work through and in this media of truth. These changes must be carried out by those with a new vision and a new approach to life experience; for there is no question that the work to be done in familiarising the general public with the nature of the Mysteries is of paramount importance at this time. One of the media through which these Mysteries are intended to be restored to outer service and as an accepted part of the program for human living is the Masonic Fraternity, for it was established as a seed of future effort by the Grand Lodge on High for such purposes.
These needed alterations and revitalizations can and must be done. An experiment is being tried to see just what the response may be by the members of the Craft to a revitalised Freemasonry, built upon the blueprints of its intended seed idea (many aeons ago) and architectural design. Many experiments are thus being tried out within the Masonic movement, and one of these prominent efforts is being progressed and extended by the Masonic Order, Grand Lodge Ancient Universal Mysteries—AUM—who have accepted their responsibility for such an effort, and which welcomes to its Temple doors and admits to its privileges all worthy men and women of all creeds and of every race, whilst insisting that all shall stand upon the recognition of an exact equality of divine origin.
The Prophetic Symbol of Freemasonry
It is to be noted that there has never been a time, in the long history of humanity, (which is much older than the conventional and prime dates for its existence) when such dramatic episodes as the symbolic portrayals and happenings—of that which is dramatised through the Masonic ceremonial initiations—have not been present in some form or another, the evidence of which can be traced here and there in the ceremonials and symbolisms of the ancient rites of the race of men. The golden thread of what is now portrayed in the Masonic ceremonials, teachings and tradition, can be seen running through the Mysteries of past ages, through the symbolism of the world Scriptures, and through the many mystical and occult expressions of truth. That modern Freemasonry, however, is the child of the past and that it has inherited the secret tradition, whereby the Master Craftsmen of the world have trained the Builders of the One Temple of Humanity, and which—by many names—has led the seekers of the Light of past ages, is also significantly true.
We must ever bear in mind that Freemasonry, as we know it today, is an outer and visible sign of an inner and spiritual reality; and for those who can see with the inner and awakened vision, it bears the signature of truth.
The Beauty of Freemasonry
To portray adequately the wonder and the destiny of the human kingdom and race lies beyond the powers of any human pen, for it is the custodian of the hidden mystery, the veritable Treasure-House of God—and this is the great Masonic secret.
Only in the human kingdom are the three divine qualities and aspects found in their full potentiality—and together! In man is hidden the secret of life; in man is secreted the treasures of wisdom and love; in man is implanted the mystery of manifestation . . .
Humanity, and humanity alone, can reveal the nature of eternal life and divine consciousness, and portray what has lain hidden in the Mind of God, the Most High. This Mind must dwell in us in increasing efflorescence and revelation, for as human beings, we are intrinsically a part of this divine Mind, and this mind must reveal itself in the human race in ever greater fullness. To man is given the task of raising matter up into heaven, and thus glorifying rightly the form side of life through his conscious manifestation of divine powers.
The goal before humanity at this time—as we enter the Age of Aquarius, and for the 1006th time since the individualisation of man upon our globe, 21,688,411 years ago (written in 2011), and the Age for which the Spiritual Hierarchy have been preparing since the individualisation of man—is the attaining of the cooperative, group spirit, wherein we come to know ourselves truly as the keeper of the needs of our brothers, and thus produce a world-wide culture and civilisation expressing this realisation. This must indicate the part which the unit plays within the whole, and the interaction of the part within the greater structure. Nowhere is this type of realisation more soundly and effectively learned than in the Masonic training in fraternal group relations, for both men and women.
The hour has now come when the manifestation of this reality can—and for the first time and in truth—manifest itself on the physical plane in an organised group form. This is the coming glory, and the next revelation in the evolutionary cycle of the consciousness of humanity, of which masonry is a prophetic symbol and seed of future effort.
As above, so below . . .
Thus, we are faced with the truer work of Freemasonry in the coming cycle, which is to link that which is within with that which is without, with that which is above with that which is below, and to bridge the world of the tangible and known with that of the intangible and invisible realities.
Thus, it may be recognised by those who can see, that the work of the Masonic Fraternity is not an arbitrary and senseless system of symbolic procedures and ceremonial rituals, but that it is an allegorical portrayal of a great and divine process whereby the Will of Deity works out in relation to humanity, and that the Strength, Wisdom and Beauty of the divine creative power—through one of its mediums of expressions—stands revealed.
Under the symbolic rehearsals of the Masonic rituals and ceremonials the Plan is revealed for those who have the clue to the meaning of symbols, the numbers and the ritual. Masonry thus depicts the steady progress of humanity from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge, and from death to immortality, and in the degrees of its Lodge work we have an accurate picture of the progress of the human soul—from the time that soul appears in human form until the time when the great work is accomplished, and the candidate for illumination and worker in the Temple of the Lord ends his career merely as a human being to that of a risen Master of the Wisdom and a Creative Builder in the Light.
Thus, must be studied the pattern of truth which underlies the outer forms of Masonry, and which incurs two major lines of thought:
- The unfoldment of the Plan of Deity, revealed through the symbolism of the degrees of the Lodge work.
- The unfoldment of the individual as he progresses from degree to degree, mastering step by step the work of the Craft of “building” his body of light, until he finally takes his place as a risen Master, having conquered the conceptual limitation of death, and arising as an immortal soul.
Grand Lodge Ancient Universal Mysteries
Grand Lodge AUM, is the continuity of an effort conducted from 1935 to 1942 by an earlier Masonic Group, but whose aspirations and efforts proved a little premature for the contemporary minds of the Masons of that earlier period. It was temporarily disbanded but its generative impulse was not forsaken and patiently held within the inner Lodge of M.MM. until such a time—which was foreseen and planned for by some of the principal officers and members of that earlier effort—it could receive a fresh impulse and re-emerge, built upon the foundations of those earlier efforts, though requiring the input of a more enlightened group of younger Masons. This impulse was esoterically followed through and registered in 1977 (under the impulse of a 21-year cycle pertaining to the development and welfare of humanity) by a young Mason and a ten-year period of training and preparation began which culminated in the re-establishing of an AUM seed group upon the planes of outer service at the Wesak Festival of 1988. This group trained together for a further three years before emerging exoterically to establish AUM upon the outer planes of service in 1992. AUM has subsequently continued to expand internationally, admitting a steady stream of new members. It is to be noted, and interestingly so, that in order to complete and devise the newer and extended rituals of the Blue Lodge Workings, that such a group could not be found with enough M.MM. in one single country of an English-speaking nationality, and so the Grand Lodge AUM, was built up out of representatives from several prominent English-speaking countries, namely, the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa—which is all in keeping with the newer methods of discipleship-initiate training, in that the members of such a group need not be in incarnation in the same country, but that they should all be in incarnation at the same contemporary period of global history and period. Thus, all responding to and recognising the need, this band of brothers formed together and re-constituted the Grand Lodge Ancient Universal Mysteries.
Now that this has all been established and the rituals have been re-composed, the work of AUM is rapidly expanding around the globe, and first to South America (with the subsequent need for translations), with new Lodges opening up in Bolivia and Brazil, as well as parts of Europe.
Whilst preserving the Ancient Landmarks familiar to the Craft (even though many in the “Craft” have perhaps not the slightest clue about their meanings and significance), plus the skeletal outline of the essential structure and form of the rituals, AUM presents a revitalised form of Freemasonry in all applications of the Masonic Edifice. This includes a recomposition of the rituals, that is, in the essential rituals pertaining to the three Degrees of the Craft—which in AUM is “essential Masonry” and not “primitive Freemasonry” as these three essential degrees have been derogatively designated of late—plus the reinstatement of the Mark Degree to complete the Second Degree of Masonry, and the H.R.A. to complete the M.M.’s or Third Degree. Thus we work a system comprised of the symbolism of the five occult and essential initiations (symbolic of the five occult initiations pertaining to the training given by the Grand Lodge on High) within the Three Degrees of Freemasonry, in which is preserved an important Landmark pertaining to the three stages of human growth and spiritual evolution, and symbolic of the three stages of human progress through the three Crosses of the Astrological Zodiac, i.e., the Mutable, Fixed and Cardinal Crosses.
AUM has also revised the Masonic Constitution—which laid the ground-plan or blueprint for the Constitution of the USA—and which is thus reproduced in this AUM site for posterity as its Declaration of Masonic Purposes; thus giving the latitude for the training of Masons, the admission of both men and women according to the recognition of an exact equality of divine origin, i.e., that of souls in incarnation and laid upon the doctrine of rebirth and reincarnation—as illustrated in the sublime third Degree of Masonry—equal for both men and women, and illustrative of the fact that the soul may incarnate through a male body in one life and a female the next, in order to round out the experience of the soul. But to the soul, all is One.
The objective of AUM is to re-establish Masonry along certain hitherto neglected esoteric lines over the past couple of hundred years or so, not withstanding its very real and potent service rendered to humanity over this past period in its very broad charitable work for the upliftment and relief of the downtrodden and oppressed, the record of which is its own liberal testimony and not equaled by even the most charitable of capitalistic corporations.
But our efforts are also given to re-establishing FreeMasonry in the recognition that its Temple work is most beneficial to the welfare of humanity as it pertains to portraying its dramatizations of the spiritual rituals that illustrate the objectives of mankind towards its higher spiritual possibilities. Thus, Masonry will once again become more fully established in the human consciousness as “Academies in Higher Learning” in the spiritual arts and sciences according to the principles, practices and ritualistic forms of the Temple Builders under the guidance of T.G.A.O.T.U. To this purpose we are thus dedicated and our program includes an inner training program in meditation and study allied to the various Degree work as it is illustrated by the symbolism of the Masonic Degrees.
Disclaimer
It should also be pointed out that AUM does not seek to impose any interpretation of occult truth upon its members, but that it simply seeks to direct their studies and suggest various lines of thought in the effort to produce a unity of understanding between its participants pertaining to the work performed upon the Temple Floor, but also offers training to its members to formulate their own conclusions of truth in the light of their own experience and application of the Lodge work enactments and illustrations.
Nevertheless, it is also recognised that there is a real need for Masons to work together with a spiritual understanding pertaining to the meanings of the rituals, and their group work. The Lodges on earth have to be raised up into Heaven and the Lodge on High has to be materialised on Earth, and only by this fusing and blending of that which is below with that which is above can the true Temple of Initiation emerge.
It should also be mentioned that in AUM no pledges or “oaths” are exacted from any of its members in any degree that can be interpreted as pledges to a personality, whether that personality be of an individual or group form, or to any edicts that contradict one’s ethical or personal motivations, or to any limiting form of teaching. Our Masonic Oaths, communicated through our rituals, preserve the truer meanings of the occult secrets pertaining to each Masonic Degree and symbolised initiation, and only concern those attitudes which should exist towards the Higher Self and the esoteric truths revealed through the symbolism of our noble science in the light of the inner developing wisdom.
We do not issue invitations to join AUM and indeed make it most difficult for new aspiring members to apply . . . nor do we recruit. Each must find his or her own way to us, under the impulse of his or her own soul. Each interested person must therefore seek us out and apply of his own free will and accord. Every Applicant must be vouched for and sponsored by two member Masons of our Order; the usual investigations are conducted into the applicant’s background and character, and elected by a unanimous ballot.
Recognitions
AUM extends its recognitions universally to all legitimate Masonic Orders, recognising that they are all essentially part of one universal Masonic movement under dispensation from the Grand Lodge on High. Its three grand principles are Brotherly Love, Relief of Suffering, and the Cultivation of Truth, and thus it must be understood that the building of the Temple of Humanity as a Temple of Light is the one uniform objective to which all our efforts are subordinated, and that only through the practice of the Masonic principles will be found that which lies at the heart of all true religion.