Niagara Falls Review
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1468402
The Mystery of the Masons
Sunday, March 8, 2009
By John Law, Niagara Falls Review
It's a secret society that hid treasure around the world during the American Revolution.
It's a centuries-old cult that once had William Shakespeare and Thomas Jefferson among the ranks.
It's a club so powerful, everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence was a member.
Actually, none of those are true, but they're part of the mythology surrounding Freemasonry, that fraternal organization with about five million members worldwide.
They aren't a cult, or a religion, or a service club. So what are they, exactly? And what were they up to in Niagara Falls this weekend?
Ontario Mason 'Grand Master' Allan Petrisor has a chuckle at all this talk of mystery. Yes, he admits, the Freemasons hold things close to the vest, but they aren't sworn to secrecy by some ancient ritual.
You just need to join to 'get it.'
"Those who aren't Masons wonder what it's all about, and you really never find out until you become a Mason," said Petrisor before speaking at a reception held by the Niagara District lodges Saturday at the Americana Resort. "It's a leap of faith."
Full story in Monday's Review.
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