Esoteric
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This lecture was originally presented by Bro. Harvey Lovewell at the ANZMRC conference in Dunedin in 2022. Download the original lecture and supporting PowerPoint of this presentation here: The Belief in a Supreme Being?
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In this presentation we explore Ancient Symbolic Penalties, a thoughtful and challenging Short Talk Bulletin by K. W. Aldridge, which invites viewers to reconsider one of the most frequently misunderstood elements of Masonic ritual. Rather than treating the penalties found in our obligations as literal or archaic survivals, Aldridge frames them as part of a
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ANTIPODEAN SUMMER SERIES A selection of videos from the Quarries Archive.
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ANTIPODEAN SUMMER SEASON This week we’ve published a suite of Videos originally published in 2023 and 24. I hope you enjoy this selection of four lectures from the archive exploring the Philosophical World of Freemasonry.
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Good evening Quarrymen In the giving spirit of the season, here is a short Christmas release … This video explores The Apocalypse of Adam, a striking Gnostic text preserved in the Nag Hammadi Library, presenting Adam’s final revelation to his son Seth as a radical counter-history of creation. The work depicts humanity’s loss of primordial
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In this extended lecture, we explore one of the most extraordinary texts of early twentieth-century esotericism: The Hidden Life in Freemasonry (1926) by Charles Webster Leadbeater. A towering figure within the Theosophical Society and Co-Masonic circles, Leadbeater claimed that modern Masonic ritual is not merely symbolic but the vestigial survival of an ancient Egyptian initiatory
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Few symbols in the Third Degree speak with such austere eloquence as the Hour-Glass and the Scythe. Though familiar to generations of American Freemasons, these emblems are—perhaps unexpectedly—comparatively modern additions, shaped by the ritual innovations of Thomas Smith Webb and visually disseminated through the Doolittle engravings in Jeremy Cross’s True Masonic Chart. Yet their deeper
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Good evening Quarrymen This weekend learn why two of the most familiar symbols in the American Third Degree aren’t as ancient as you think—and their true story is far stranger, darker, and far more revealing. From Webb’s ritual innovations to Egyptian reaping knives, from the Fates’ shears to the apocalyptic sickle in Revelation, these emblems
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Long before Solomon’s Temple, before the tools of the builder became moral symbols, there was another origin story—one almost forgotten. In 1723, the Reverend James Anderson claimed that Noah and his sons were the first Freemasons, keepers of geometry and divine order who rebuilt civilisation after the Flood. This episode explores Anderson’s extraordinary idea that
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Good evening Quarrymen Was Freemasonry founded by King Solomon—or by Noah himself? In 1723, the Reverend James Anderson published The Constitutions of the Free-Masons and made a startling claim: that the Craft began long before Abraham, when Noah and his sons built the Ark “according to the Rules of Masonry.” In Anderson’s vision, all humanity
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What is the true origin of the Craft? Beyond its moral allegories and social history lies a stream of teaching as old as civilisation itself — the Ancient Wisdom. This lecture traces that lineage from the Golden Age of myth through the Mysteries of Egypt, Greece, and Jerusalem, revealing how their sacred science survives within
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A timeless exploration of one of Masonry’s most enduring symbols — the Ashlar. In this classic lecture by J. Fairbairn Smith, Editor Emeritus of the Detroit Masonic World, the transformation from Rough Ashlar to Perfect Ashlar becomes a powerful allegory of moral refinement and spiritual craftsmanship. Join us From the Quarries as we uncover the
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In ‘Secrecy’, an anonymous Masonic author reflects upon one of the Craft’s most elusive virtues—the sacred art of silence. Through meditative prose, the essay distinguishes Masonry’s private discipline of secrecy from mere concealment, portraying it instead as a spiritual method: the quiet shaping of character, the sanctification of fellowship, and the reverent guarding of truth.
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Good evening Quarrymen … coming to YouTube this weekend In ‘Secrecy’, an anonymous Masonic author reflects upon one of the Craft’s most elusive virtues—the sacred art of silence. Through meditative prose, the essay distinguishes Masonry’s private discipline of secrecy from mere concealment, portraying it instead as a spiritual method: the quiet shaping of character, the
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From the temples of ancient Greece to the tracing boards of the modern Masonic lodge, Euclid’s 47th Proposition—better known as the Pythagorean Theorem—has endured as a symbol of truth proven by reason. In this lecture, we explore its legendary origins, philosophical interpretations, and moral significance within Freemasonry. We’ll look at how figures like Albert Pike
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This video taken from a 1904 lecture by Rudolf Steiner explores one of the most profound legends in the Rosicrucian tradition—the story of Solomon, Hiram Abiff, and the building of the Temple. Drawing on Biblical archetypes, Hermetic philosophy, and the Temple Legend, the narrative traces the two great lineages of humanity: the Sons of Cain,
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This week’s video The Cable-Tow examines one of the Craft’s most enduring and mysterious symbols—part practical tool, part moral allegory, and part mystical bond. This presentation weaves together the work of many Masonic scholars to explore its origins, meanings, and uses across history, culture, and ritual. Join us as we trace the journey of the
From the Quarries 