In the News
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In this video I try something a little different from the usual From the Quarries format: a tier list of Masonic authors. A tier list is simply a ranked set of categories, from S (exceptional) down through A, B, C, and D. I’m judging these writers by a mix of usefulness to serious Masonic study,…
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Good evening Quarrymen A slightly different kind of video is coming to From the Quarries this weekend. This time, instead of a formal lecture or deep historical treatment, I’ve put together something more conversational: a tier list of Masonic authors. After well over 1,400 videos on the channel, I thought it might be interesting to…
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This omnibus explores one of the longest and most misunderstood tensions in modern religious and Masonic history: the relationship between the Church and the Craft. Drawing together three earlier talks, it examines the Catholic Church’s condemnations of Freemasonry, the question of whether Freemasonry is a religion, and the issue of its compatibility with Christianity. Grounded…
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In 2024 I ran a simple 10-question survey to capture how people actually see Freemasonry—Masons, non-Masons, and the simply curious. It generated a huge spread of responses and became the backbone of a conference presentation and video. Since then, the YouTube channel has grown to 33,000+ subscribers and the audience is much broader and more…
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Good afternoon Quarrymen This weekend I’ll be running an instant Premiere on YouTube of a new video titled The Belief in a Supreme Being? — a presentation based on a 2022 lecture by Bro. Harvey Lovewell. The exact start time is still to be confirmed, but the Premiere page will go live 24 hours in…
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As the northern hemisphere settles into winter, here in Australia we are heading into the height of summer—an arrangement that makes Christmas a season of Test Cricket, heat, bright light, and the mild absurdity of festive traditions conducted in shorts rather than coats. To mark the Christmas and New Year period, From the Quarries will…
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This presentation explores the strange and often contradictory world of anti-Masonic conspiracy literature, drawing on historical sources and modern examples to reveal how Freemasonry has been alternately vilified, romanticised, and misunderstood. Inspired by an essay by Australian journalist David Greason, this lecture traces the evolution of anti-Masonic thinking across Britain, America, Russia, and beyond, highlighting…
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From a candlelit initiation in Boston in 1775 to the solemn unity of Masons at Congressman John Lewis’s funeral in 2020, this film traces the extraordinary journey of Prince Hall Freemasonry—a brotherhood born from exclusion that became one of the most powerful moral institutions in African-American history. Told with historical precision and reverence, it follows…
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Today, the From the Quarries YouTube channel passes a remarkable milestone — 30,000 subscribers! Each of you has helped to build this digital Lodge of learning, stone upon stone, until it has become something far larger than any one of us. When I began this channel, it was little more than an experiment: could the…
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Good evening Quarrymen This weekend’s lecture traces the history of Freemasonry in Russia. It is a story marked by repeated cycles of growth and suppression: from the lodges of the eighteenth century, through Catherine the Great’s crackdown, the Decembrist movement, the long silence of the Soviet period, and the re-establishment of the Grand Lodge of…
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The story of Irish Freemasonry is one of profound continuity, stretching from the ritual pageantry of the Dublin gilds to the global influence of travelling warrants, and from the laughter of seventeenth-century satirists to the worldwide reach of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in our own time. To trace this history is to recognise that…
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This presentation explores the extraordinary history of Freemasonry in Japan — from its arrival in the treaty ports of Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki, through suppression, war, and renewal, to the thriving Grand Lodge of Japan of today. Along the way we will trace the unique interplay between foreign traditions and Japanese culture, illustrated with stories…
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This week’s video … For over three centuries, the Catholic Church and Freemasonry have been locked in one of history’s most enduring conflicts. From Pope Clement XII’s first condemnation in In Eminenti (1738), through Pope Leo XIII’s sweeping attack in Humanum Genus (1884), to the sensational Taxil Hoax and the modern rulings of the Congregation…
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Good evening Quarrymen Coming this Saturday, 23 August … a new deep dive: “Freemasonry & the Catholic Church—Three Centuries of Conflict”. From ‘In Eminenti‘ (1738) to ‘Humanum Genus‘ (1884), the Taxil hoax, and contemporary Vatican rulings, we trace the theology, politics, and myths on both sides—plus vivid case studies from Italy, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, and…
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This video traces the historical evolution of women’s involvement in Freemasonry from the 18th century to the present day, highlighting a journey from initial explicit exclusion to gradual, multifaceted inclusion. They reveal that while early formal Freemasonry barred women, isolated instances and legendary accounts suggest rare exceptions, primarily in operative lodges or through extraordinary circumstances…
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There have been thousands of eminent personages who have adorned the lodges of speculative Freemasonry since the establishment of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717. In this video we look at just seven of them, each one a leader in their respective fields, and each one a proud seeker of Masonic light. If you…
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Good evening Quarrymen This weekend we’ll be taking a brief look at some of the famous figures who have donned the lambskin apron as we present 7 Famous Freemasons. Stay tuned to the end when we reveal a ‘special guest star’! On YouTube Saturday 28 June.
From the Quarries 