Egregoros

@sirchris Yea I think the banking families operate out of there and I fear America was somehow started by this group. Like Rome parlayed or something. maybe not.

@commandlinekid I even think that while the USA won the Revolutionary war against England, I don't think we ever broke away from the City of London. They've always owned us. It's all optics.

@sirchris Might be. I do keep thinking of that documentary about the Vatican/London/Washington.

Also, isn't it something you can't get a picture of the Oval office I guess it is without a huge Obelisk in the background? Almost like saying... "This is what you're really pledging to."

@commandlinekid
As a 32° Scottish Rite Mason I have not received this memo. But our brotherhood surely is transcendent of nation state or a politics. We've had many Persian in Iranian visitors to our lodge. We've had visitors from our most adversarial countries in our lodge. It seems like masonry transcends nation state and seems to be a superstate.

Is it weird to be 32 and not 33 ?

@cjd @commandlinekid honestly, the 33rd is very rare. You need to spend your entire life in service to the Lodge and then maybe. They do give it away to high status people honorifically to Presidents, etc.

How many years did it take to get to 32?
Was it like major dedication or just showing up every week for year after year?
Was it a goal, or did you just end up moving up the ladder until you were there?

@cjd @commandlinekid
I took advantage of the fact that the light was going out in Freemasonry. I got my first three degrees in a long weekend because DC was like 85 plus years old people being busted in from nursing homes. Honestly the 4th through 32° is also like a 4-day weekend. So while you need to be credentialed and there is a lot of training it's generally like one of those trainings you get from your company over a long weekend in addition to bonding.

@cjd @commandlinekid
Now that masonry is back in black people are following the proper courses of action with regards to the blue lodge which is the first 3°. But I still think that the Scottish rite masonry degree 4°- 32° still just maybe Thursday through Sunday. There's not just Scottish rite there's also Shriners and there's Knight's Templar and a bunch of other stuff. I would say it's a racket but the do's are pretty low.

@cjd @commandlinekid
According to Google it takes between 3:00 and 12 months in the United States to become a master Mason. Other lodges may require a year or more between each degree in other countries such as Europe and maybe Great Britain.

@cjd @commandlinekid
In the UK it generally takes 12 to 18 months though it can take up to 3 years depending on the lodges schedule. Also, most lodges are closed for the summer. It's called going dark. In France it's two to three years. This is all new Intel to me so we're learning it together.

@cjd @commandlinekid
> The 33rd Degree in the Scottish Rite is very rare. It is an honorary degree, not something a person simply works through and earns in the ordinary sense. It is conferred by the Supreme Council, and only on a limited basis, typically in recognition of long service and exceptional dedication to the Rite. It has also sometimes been conferred honorifically on prominent public figures.