Freemasonry as a philosophy is a complex symbolic system embodied in a secret ritual. The ritual visualizes a peculiar philosophy from the time of the English Renaissance and the Enlightenment, a way of thinking. This book answers the question What is Freemasonry? - as a philosophy and as a fraternal society - beyond conspiracy theories. It explores the real role of Masonic lodges in history, especially during the bourgeois revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Contents

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Essence of Freemasonry as a social phenomenon and philosophy

• What is Freemasonry?
  • Is all of this true or any of it?
  • Definition of Freemasonry
• Freemasonry as a social phenomenon
• Freemasonry as a philosophy
• Symbols, myths and rituals of the Freemasons
  • The meaning of symbols, allegories and myths
  • Freemasonry and Religion
  • Masonic wages, working tools and construction
  • King Solomon's Temple – The Lost Truth
  • Hiram Abiff
  • Sacred numbers
• Main theories about the origin of Freemasonry
  • From operational to symbolic craft
  • The Templar theory
  • The intersection of the two theories

The socio-historical role of Freemasonry in England and the USA

• The role of Freemasonry in England
• The role of Freemasonry in the USA
• Masonic architecture and urban planning in Washington, D.C., USA
  • The Capitol and White House Buildings
  • The Washington Monument
  • Sacred space
  • The Scottish Rite
  • The Grand Lodge
  • Prince Hall
  • The monuments
• Influences of Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry on Freemasonry in the world

Conspiracy theories and the real influence of Freemasonry

• Some conspiracy theories
  • The image of Freemasonry as a conspiracy in the media and fiction
• The Real Influence of Freemasonry in Today's World

Documentary sources and written evidence of Freemasonry

• Masonic Museums and Libraries
• Masonic literature
  • Non-fiction (primary sources)
  • Historical and analytical literature (secondary sources)
  • Conspiracy literature (deliberate forgeries and literary fantasies)