Introduction
A. Radishchev, N. Karamzin, A. Griboyedov, A. Pushkin, M. Speransky, Pavel I, Alexander I, A. Suvorov, M. Kutuzov are names known to everyone. But world fame is not the only thing that unites them. However, not everyone knows that they all belonged to one of the most mysterious, little-studied philosophical movements in the history of Russia - Freemasonry.
Who are the Masons? Why does the controversy about Freemasonry continue today? Why did it attract great people? What are the moral aspects of the philosophy of Freemasonry and its influence on the formation of the worldview of people of past eras and the present? To answer these questions, it is necessary to turn to the history of Maonism.
The word "mason" in translation from English and French means "mason", and with the definition of "franc" - "free mason". The real history of Freemasonry begins with the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral in London under the guidance of the architect Sir Christopher Wren. The cathedral was built for a long time - from 1675 to 1710. It was then that a wonderful idea was born: in order to attract public attention to this long-term construction and to raise additional funds, to establish artels of masons who will “build” the cathedral without lifting a single brick, but only thinking about it. So among them were doctors, architects, lawyers, jewelers. At the beginning of the 18th century lodges arose where there were no real masons by profession. Representatives of the intelligentsia, merchants, nobles, priests and officials were attracted to the lodge by the absence of social barriers between the “brothers”, the real equality of the Masons, mutual assistance, and the protection of the interests of the “brothers” by all members of the lodges. At their meetings, the lodges discussed various theoretical and practical issues, simultaneously playing the role of political clubs, cultural, educational and philosophical societies.
The mason's tools became symbols of Freemasonry: a trowel, a plumb line, a compass, a square, a white apron. At the head of each lodge was a master, a venerable. The manager of the whole union was called the Grandmaster or Grand Master. The first theorists of Freemasonry also appeared: Andersen and Daugulier, who laid a philosophical foundation for Freemasonry, began to create its theory and structure. On June 24, 1717, a meeting of delegates of 4 lodges of “free masons” took place in the London pub “Goose and Gridiron”, who elected the Grand Lodge of England.
Freemasonry soon spread to France and other European countries. Traditions appeared, new symbols, Masons came up with a new story for themselves, dating back to the construction of Solomon's temple. The chief builder of this temple was appointed Adoniram, who was killed for not revealing the magic word spoken to him by King Solomon. This is the name of the god Jehovah. This legend of Adoniram underlies the initiation into the degree of mastery in Masonic lodges.
Over time, noble nobles began to join the lodges - courtiers and lords, but then the main principle of the Masonic charter was violated - non-participation in the political life of the country.
Freemasonry has evolved from a purely English phenomenon into an international organization. And European sovereigns feared that the "brothers", who often occupy high positions in governments, might act on the basis of the interests of the order in favor of other powers.
Freemasons preached a universal religion. Here is how it was said about it in the “New Book of Rules”: “In our time, a person freely chooses his faith, and only one religion is really obligatory for all, this is that universal, unifying religion, which consists in the obligation of each of us to be kind and faithful duty, to be a man of honor and conscience, no matter what name our religion is called.
In Russia, the first Masonic lodges appeared in the 30s of the 18th century. People join the order for a variety of reasons. For some, it was a tribute to fashion - they were attracted outer side freemasonry. Others saw in it a pure, lofty moral-philosophical teaching and devoted all their activities to the comprehension of the laws of brotherhood. Russian Freemasonry set itself the task of “knowledge of the secrets of being” through Christian tolerance and “the obligatory work of the conciliar”, which included self-improvement, spiritual creativity, enlightenment, and the construction of human happiness. The study of Masonic symbols, the keeping of Masonic secrets, and the peculiarities of fraternal relations brought a mystical mood to the order.
The "golden age" for Russian Freemasons was the reign of Catherine II. According to researcher T.A.Bakunina-Osorgina (published in 1939), in different cities countries from 1760 to the early 1790s. worked about 100 Masonic lodges of different systems. Two-thirds of them operated in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
With the accession in 1801 of Alexander I, the "silver age of Russian masons" began. Thousands of nobles, officers, officials, etc. again poured into the lodges. Masons proved themselves to be real patriots during the wars with Napoleon and the foreign campaign of the Russian army in 1813. After the war, during which “military camp lodges” were created, Freemasonry expanded even more . It was in the Masonic lodges that the future Decembrists began to take an interest in politics.
At the same time, the vast majority of Masonic lodges adhered to conservative views. In lodges, as in the 18th century, almost half of the members were foreign nationals. The turn of Alexander I to a reactionary policy in the early 1820s led to the fact that all secret societies, and among them, primarily Masonic lodges, were banned in Russia. This ban was confirmed by all subsequent emperors.
The Masonic tradition in Russia, numbering 90 years, was interrupted. But individual representatives of the Russian noble intelligentsia began to join English, Italian and especially French lodges during their stay abroad. In the 1880s in the French lodges of various systems, there were already dozens of Russian subjects. And we should not forget that Russian Freemasons have made an outstanding contribution to the development of Russian culture and public life second half of the XVIII and first quarter XIX century, in the Europeanization of the country, in the formation of the army and the state apparatus. The democratic ideals of the Freemasons contributed to the softening of morals and the birth of the people-loving ideology of the Russian intelligentsia.
The main moral and philosophical ideas of Freemasonry, in my opinion, were the following:
- The unacceptability of the monarchical state system.
- Masonic ideal - democratic republic
- All members of society are brothers. And neither language, nor rank, nor fortune, nor wealth makes any difference between them.
- The goal of Freemasonry is the destruction of Christian culture and its replacement by the Masonic world.
- Humanity is above the fatherland. Freemasonry must cross out the past of nations. It must create an international movement, the result of which will be the ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood among peoples.
- Ideas of national revolutions that will destroy the historically established states and lead to the creation of a Masonic superstate.
The main thing in the philosophy of Masons was and is a person, his spiritual state and harmonious development. Mutual assistance among the members of the order eventually turned into a system of charity. Freemasons build and maintain hospitals, clinics, research centers. Philanthropic foundations exist thanks to voluntary contributions from members of the fraternity and various donations. In pre-revolutionary Russia, on the initiative of the Masons, almshouses, schools, educational homes were opened. But charity is only part of the activities of the order, aimed at the benefit of mankind.
The progress of society is possible only in the absence of wars between states and within them. That is why freemasons oppose the resolution of conflicts by force. Each of the brothers can and should be useful, awakening the best qualities in himself. Freemasons of all directions believe: the acquisition of knowledge in natural and humanities, long and patient self-preparation will help them create an equal and just social system, a kind of temple of freedom, equality and fraternity.
Moral and philosophical aspects of Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace".
Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" was published at a time when Masonic societies in Russia had long been banned. But the events of the novel take us to the first decade XIX century when Freemasonry flourished in Russia. It is known that Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was a Freemason, he was looking for an opportunity in the brotherhood to comprehend and comprehend the world. His Masonic history begins in 1779: in the German city of Regensburg, he became involved in the sacraments of the order. Later, traveling around Europe, Kutuzov entered the lodges of Frankfurt and Berlin, and upon his return to Russia in 1783, he was recognized by the lodges of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Mikhail Illarionovich enjoyed great prestige among Masons of various degrees. At the initiation into the seventh degree of Swedish Freemasonry, Kutuzov was given the order name Green Laurels and the motto “Glorify yourself with victories”. This motto was fully consistent with the life of the commander.
Kutuzov gave more than 30 years to the brotherhood, it was he who stopped Napoleon, the demon of violence and lust for power in the understanding of freemasons, thereby realizing the main goal of the order - to achieve peace and tranquility. In Tolstoy's novel, Kutuzov is already a person with established convictions, he is not tormented by doubts as it happens with Pierre Bezukhov, who is just worried about questions of moral self-improvement. The bearer of these ideas in the novel "War and Peace" is Iosif Alekseevich Bazdeev, who produced on Pierre strong impression with his passionate sermon. The image of Bazdeev is written from a real person - Joseph Alekseevich Pozdeev, very popular among Moscow Masons. This circumstance, apparently, made us leave the name and patronymic of the character unchanged and make minor changes to his last name.
Favorite heroes of L.N. Tolstoy pass difficult spiritual path in a painful search for the truth. They are carried away by false ideas, they are mistaken, they change internally, and in the end they approach the ideal of simplicity.
The entry of Pierre Bezukhov into the Masonic society falls on difficult period his life, connected with his marriage to Helen Kuragina. He suffers, realizing that not only was he deceived, but also deceived others. He considered himself guilty that he married without loving - this plunges Pierre into a deep crisis. “What's wrong? What well? What should you love, what should you hate? What is life for and what am I? What is life, what is death? What power governs everything? he asks himself. These reflections on the meaning of life are characteristic of goodies Tolstoy.
Pierre's coming to Freemasonry was important event, because it will help to find a way out for his internal throwing. He “thought and thought and thought and thought,” the author reports. But the more he thought, the “darker, more confused and hopeless the past, the future and, most importantly, the present seemed to him.”
During such reflections, when Pierre was immersed "in the highest warehouse of thoughts that a person can reach," at that moment an unfamiliar person entered the room. It was the old freemason Bazdeev, who came to Pierre to convert him. He immediately began a conversation about Freemasonry, offered to introduce Pierre into the “brotherhood of freemasons”, where he would find peace. In the penetrating look of the freemason, Pierre “felt hope and reassurance.” A week later, Bezukhov's reception was scheduled "to the St. Petersburg Lodge of the Northern Lights." Pierre was accepted into the lodge with all the rituals observed. The new life instilled new strength in Pierre, and after initiation into the Freemasons, he was “cheerful and restrained, as if joking at the whole world, knowing the truth.”
From the day of admission to the “fraternity of Masons” for Pierre, “a new life began - activity and self-satisfaction”. Soon, Pierre, supported by the Masonic brothers in his long-standing intentions, went to the estates "with a very clearly defined purpose: to benefit his twenty thousand souls of peasants."
Pierre finds the meaning of life in the philosophy of moral self-improvement as a means of eliminating evil in himself and the world. Why does Pierre, being an atheist and considering religion "unjust", join the Masonic society? Because I was attracted by the formulation of the goals of this society: by purifying and correcting the heart and mind of individual members of society, thereby correcting the human race and “opposing the evil that reigns in the world.” And he sincerely accepted the new teaching and believed in it. Pierre perceived Freemasonry not as a religious sect with its external ritualism, but as "the best single expression of the best, eternal aspects of humanity." Such a decision gave him for a while the illusion of a way out of the impasse caused by a sense of the aimlessness of existence. It opened the way for him to work for which he yearned. He had so many doubts and hesitations that he reached out to those who had faith and conviction in something: “Pierre, with bated breath ... experienced a joyful feeling of calm, renewal and return to life.” So, the desire to find something sustainable, the goal of life for oneself leads Pierre to Freemasonry ...
LN Tolstoy's words are known that he sees no significant difference between the basic principles of his teaching and the philosophical ideas of Freemasonry.
The meaning of true life is seen by him in spiritual love for the world and for the neighbor as for oneself. In his opinion, for people who have found the joy of life in spiritual love for the world, the fear of death does not exist. The spiritual being of man is immortal and eternal, it does not die after the cessation of bodily existence. Man's paths to true life are concretized in the doctrine of the moral self-improvement of man, which includes the commandments of Jesus Christ from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. cornerstone self-improvement programs is a commandment not to resist evil with violence. Evil cannot be destroyed by evil, the only means of combating violence is refraining from violence: only good, meeting with evil, but not being infected by it, is capable of defeating it in an active spiritual opposition to evil. Violence must not be proclaimed as a principle of life, as its law.
Tolstoy's thoughts on the victory over evil and on the realization Christian ideal universal brotherhood are consonant with the ideals of Freemasonry about the moral perfection of every person.
... So, “Pierre unwittingly became the head of St. Petersburg Freemasonry. He arranged lodges, recruited new members, took care of connecting various lodges ... He gave his money for the construction of temples and replenished, as far as he could, almsgiving, for which most of the members were stingy and sloppy. He almost alone, at his own expense, supported the house of the poor, arranged by the order in St. Petersburg ... ”, Tolstoy narrates. Pierre soon becomes convinced that many Freemasons entered society in order to acquire connections with strong and wealthy people, of whom there were many. “From under the Masonic aprons and signs, he saw on them uniforms and crosses, which they achieved in life.” Pierre saw that many representatives high society, who possessed no less wealth than he, and who took the Masonic oath to give all their property for their neighbor, shied away from making even a penny alms, and doubts began to creep into his soul. “In the passion of his studies and hobbies, Pierre, however, after a year began to feel how the soil of Freemasonry on which he stood, the more he left from under his feet, the more firmly he tried to become on it.” Pierre began to feel dissatisfied with his activities. He had no doubts about Freemasonry, but he suspected that "Russian Freemasonry has gone astray and deviated from its source." To sort things out, he travels abroad. There he receives the trust of many high-ranking officials, penetrates into many secrets, is elevated to the highest degree, and brings the plan of the order to Russia. This whole plan was based on “to educate people who are firm, virtuous, bound by the unity of conviction, which consists in pursuing vice and stupidity everywhere and with all your might and patronizing talents and virtue.” In Petersburg, he spoke to the “brothers”, spoke for a long time, but his speech made not so much a strong impression as excitement and was received coldly. His proposals were not accepted, and Pierre, without waiting for the formalities, left the box and went home.
Pierre failed to complete the work of self-improvement. The ideas of the Masons, which seemed to be close to him, failed to help him in resolving all his problems, and his activities did not give the proper results.
Moral and philosophical aspects of modern Freemasonry.
But Freemasonry lives on. In the 90s of the twentieth century. on the initiative of the French centers of Freemasonry, after more than a 70-year break, Masonic lodges appear in Russia. The new domestic Freemasons adopted the moral and philosophical ideas, traditions and spirit of the order, developed over the centuries-old history of the brotherhood. Today the Freemasons call themselves secret society, but a society with secrets, and argue that the brotherhood is engaged exclusively in the preservation of spiritual values. “Our facility is spiritual world individual, not society. According to unofficial data, there are 26 lodges in Russia different regions, which consists of about 500 people. On March 7, 2005 representatives of Masonic organizations from 12 countries of the world met in Riga. Among the Masonic lodges legally operating in Russia is the Grand Lodge of Russia.
“The Grand Lodge of Russia is the only regular Masonic organization on the territory of Russia, recognized by more than ninety regular Grand Lodges of the World Brotherhood,” this is how it is written on the official website of the Grand Lodge of Russia of the World Order of Freemasons. Lodge representatives report that they avoid politics. When asked whether there are people from the world of business and politics among modern Freemasons, they answer that they “may be”.
What will be the philosophy of Freemasonry in the future? Will it become an influential idea of modern times, or will Freemasonry be attracted only by secrets and mysterious rituals? Only time can answer all these questions.
Bibliography
- Aksenova M.D.. Encyclopedia for children. T. 5. History of Russia. Part 2. "Avanta +". M., 2001
- Bashilov B. History of Russian Freemasonry, M., “Ruslo” - “Community”, 1992
- Dolinina N. G. Through the pages of War and Peace. "Children's literature". L., 1978
- Elmanova N.S., Savicheva E.M. encyclopedic Dictionary young historian. "Pedagogy-Press". M., 1993
- Ermilov V.V. Tolstoy the artist and the novel War and Peace. M., 1961
- Zaydenshnur E.E."War and Peace" LN Tolstoy. "Book". M., 1966
- Tolstoy L.N. Sobr. cit.: In 12 t. M., 1987. - T. 4.
Interview with Evgeny Shchukin, Freemasonry historian and current member of the Imhotep Lodge
A lot has already been written about the brotherhood of freemasons, its history and teachings, symbols and rituals, and almost everything is known, despite the secret nature of the Masonic society. It is also not difficult to get information about modern Freemasonry as an organization, including in Russia - the websites of all Russian Masonic lodges are presented on the Internet. Of much greater interest are the Freemasons themselves - living people who, for some reason, decide to become part of one of the most mysterious and scandalous communities in world history. Who are they - Russian Freemasons? Why do they become members of this society? What are they waiting for and what are they looking for in Freemasonry? It is difficult to talk about all modern Russian Freemasons, so we decided to talk with one of the most active and creative Russian "brothers" Evgeny Shchukin, a translator, historian, who occupies an important place in Russian Freemasonry.
Eugene, which Masonic organization do you represent in this moment?
I am a member of the Imhotep lodge, which works in the system of Egyptian Freemasonry according to the Memphis-Mizraim charter. Prior to that, he was a member of the Grand Lodge of Russia (VLR) and worked according to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (DPSHU), held quite high positions in the VLR and DPSHU, in particular, the position of Deputy Secretary. In general, I have been in Freemasonry for 17 years, since 1993. Among my degrees of initiation are: the 32nd degree of the Scottish Rite, the degree of the Royal Code of the English model, the 33rd degree of the Memphis-Misraim Rite, the degree of S.I. Ancient Martinist Order.
How did you first meet Masonic ideas?
Like many Russian brothers, I first became acquainted with Masonic teachings through Tolstoy's "War and Peace", then the Soviet agitprop - "Behind the Facade of the Masonic Temple" by Zamoysky, and then an independent search for more objective and complete information, and then I immediately stumbled upon Albert Pike. And I immediately drowned in it, because it was a brilliant human being, there is practically not a single spiritually significant topic for me that he would not reveal. In particular, it was through him that I decided on my religious position which can be called universalism. He would not call it that, but in fact it was the universalist position that he formulated with his precise phrases, which determined a lot for me.
When a person enters Freemasonry, he is immediately warned that this is not a social insurance fund, that he will not receive any material assistance, but will only pay, pay and pay - contributions, contributions and again contributions.
What attracted you to freemasonry so much? Why did you choose Freemasonry among the many esoteric teachings and organizations?
There were some external circumstances, for example, dissidence. I was and remain an ardent anti-Soviet, and since Freemasonry in the USSR was persecuted and ideologically stigmatized, I was doubly interested in it. I perceive the ROC exclusively as a Soviet bureaucratic product and for me it was never an option spiritual search. Besides, it's exotic. In fact, nothing was known about Freemasonry in Russia, we did not have freemasons alive, all this was surrounded by an atmosphere of mystery, scandal, exoticism. I remember my surprise when I arrived in the States, where I was initiated, for an internship at small town for 30 thousand people on the border with Canada, and there the largest building was a Masonic temple with 8 floors. This is what struck me then: what was a secret in the USSR was completely open and obvious there - the most large building in a small provincial town. Exotic, in a word.
But there are more important things, internal, let's say. Freemasonry appeals to me in two of its aspects - vertical and horizontal. Vertically, it offers an organic synthesis of all esoteric traditions. different eras And different cultures, accumulates knowledge about them, allows them to be studied and creates the right atmosphere to study them. And in the horizontal plane - I spoke about this on the radio "Echo of Moscow" - this, among other things, is a way of reviving and uniting the Russian intelligentsia, i.e. intellectuals who, in addition to intellectual work, are also engaged in mental work. At the moment, Freemasonry seems to me the only organization capable of uniting the intelligentsia, and this is a very significant moment for me. That is, it is an association on the basis of both intellectual and spiritual. In particular, I adhere to the position that only religious people should be accepted into Freemasonry, although there are also disagreements on this issue in the Masonic environment. The fact that traditions in Freemasonry are associated with very beautiful rituals also adds to the attractiveness of Freemasonry.
North Quabbin Lodge Officers (Massachusetts, USA, 2010. Photo: flickr.com/photos/usonian/)
It is widely believed that membership in the Masonic lodge provides some special career opportunities, privileges, income. Can you, knowing the situation from the inside, confirm or deny this?
This opinion is absolutely not true. Freemasonry generally allows only functionaries of an exclusively bureaucratic type to earn on themselves. That is, there is only one paid position in the lodges - the Secretary, who for all these torments with paperwork receives some very low wages. And no one else makes money on this, except for some corruption schemes that were in the Grand Lodge of Russia in the 90s, and now hardly anyone can get anything there either. It’s just that when the VLR was just beginning to take shape, there were material receipts from fraternal organizations abroad, and some amazing things happened to them, in Russian traditions. When a person enters Freemasonry, he is immediately warned that this is not a social insurance fund, that he will not receive any material assistance, but will only pay, pay and pay - contributions, contributions and again contributions.
And how does your profane life compare with membership in a Masonic lodge? Does one interfere with the other?
Sometimes there are difficulties. For example, I gave an interview on the Ekho Moskvy radio, I could not give my real name, and I am also trying to delimit Freemasonry from work in a narrow sense.
Why are you currently working precisely according to the Memphis-Misraim charter, one of the most occult and esoteric? How do you personally feel about the occult practices?
I do not approve of them, I do not appreciate them, I do not believe in the possibility of manipulating the divine will, and I perceive magical rituals only as such - as attempts to manipulate the divine will. Mentally, I can turn to God, but without specific formulations, rituals, and so on.
However, despite this, Egyptian Freemasonry interests me for several reasons. Firstly, no one in the lodge forces anyone to do anything; there are no generally accepted occult practices. This is just one of the areas of Freemasonry, which, yes, traditionally unites people who are deeply interested in some esoteric topics. And the history of esotericism, the history of the occult has always attracted and interested me very much, I am generally a historian in my essence, although by education and occupation I am a linguist and translator. In addition to the fact that Freemasonry gives me the opportunity to deeply study the history of esoteric different centuries and countries, it also makes it possible to communicate with those people who are intellectually close to me.
Ceremony of entry into the Grand Lodge of France late XVIII century. Illustration from "Historia General de la Masoneria" (G. Danton, Spain, 1882)
How do you understand Masonic initiation? What is Initiation in Freemasonry?
In Freemasonry, it's pretty much just giving out a piece of paper. But this must be supplemented by personal conditions, and this already depends on the person. For many people, it is important to simply occupy different positions, influence, manage, but they have no desire for spiritual enlightenment. I actually consider initiation as structural points of the vector spiritual development as a way to improve yourself.
Can Masonic teaching be called religious, and Freemasonry itself a religion?
Masonic teaching can be called religious exactly to the extent that the philosophy of a religious person can be called religious philosophy. Freemasonry itself is only a tool for the practical realization of a person’s inner spiritual potential, religious, moral, and even physical, if a person from all Freemasonry suddenly chooses the idea of construction and starts building buildings on fresh air, Why not? After all, no one can forbid him to do this if he "sees it that way."
What is your attitude as a freemason to traditional confessions?
I don't like Christianity the most. This is my subjective point of view, although based on the literature I have read. I am very strongly against the institution of the priesthood, i.e. mediation between man and God. I am convinced that if God needs it, he can communicate with a person directly, and an intermediary is not needed, therefore I deny the sacraments, priests, etc. I do not see these minuses in Judaism, Islam, but there are many other things there - excessive formalization, restrictions invented by people that have nothing to do with God. And I don’t perceive non-monotheistic religions at all. Because I believe in a single creator, and I believe that everything else human delusions. Moreover, I am a supporter of the theory that monotheism is the original religion of mankind and only half-educated, uneducated, stupid people can various symbols transform a single deity into different gods.
At the moment, a completely totalitarian sectarian structure is the Bogdanov Grand Lodge of Russia.
But after all, Freemasonry also has rituals, landmarks, i.e. a kind of limitation, what do you think is the difference?
The difference is that in Freemasonry there is no formalization and restrictions on the vertical, but only on the horizontal - a ritual is what connects people, a ritual is very useful for creating a structure, but it is not needed to communicate with God.
What, in your opinion, is the role of Freemasonry in society, in particular, in modern Russia?
Initially, in social terms, Freemasonry was planned as a narrow spiritual center that would affect the society around it. But Freemasonry has not fulfilled its task and is unlikely to ever fulfill it, because it is just a section of society. At some point, it began to work in reverse side, like a vacuum cleaner, began to absorb the tendencies of society into itself, and due to this, there are also financial crimes, and totalitarianism, and whatever. As far as I understand, at the moment a completely totalitarian sectarian structure is the Bogdanov Grand Lodge of Russia. But in this they are not far behind. South America, for example, where Freemasonry is also very totalitarian, where they have such centuries-old traditions - a military dictatorship. And in Italian Freemasonry, for example, absolute anarchy and chaos reign
What is Freemasonry in Russia in general? What is the approximate number of members of all Masonic lodges?
Freemasonry in Russia is represented by several groups of people who, in a competitive struggle among themselves, first of all, try to understand what Freemasonry is. And since at the same time they form Freemasonry in this country, here it turns out to be such an eternally unfinished, crumbling on the go and constantly changing appearance- just like a sand castle. It does not play any role in the life of the surrounding Russian society and is completely closed to itself and foreign Masonic jurisdictions.
In general, there are a little more than 600 Freemasons in Russia, about 250 in the VLR, about 350 in the OVLR, and about 50-60 more in other groups.
If a person applied and passed one interview, and found out that he does not want to become the governor of Kamchatka through Freemasonry, then this is enough, because it means that he is also bruised in the head.
What do you think, what are the general reasons why people join Masonic lodges in Russia?
Back in the mid-90s, one of our brothers, the most a strange man in our Freemasonry, a former policeman and in general a very simple and direct person, formulated this in his own manner, saying that we will all be here always and, despite all our disagreements, we will not go anywhere from here, because we are all bruised in the head. I would describe it this way, because in the 17 years that I have been in Freemasonry, I have seen people of absolutely all types, and this is what unites them all. We have, for example, semi-blissful people who have turned to esotericism, there are priests, representatives of official denominations, church-going people who are nonetheless interested in this. There are pragmatists, historians, for example, who study the material, plunging into it from the inside. There are cynics who are looking for some material, social benefits for themselves, some think to find bloody orgies or the secret of the philosopher's stone in our country, then, of course, they are massively disappointed and leave. It is difficult to identify any common causes. But we are all hurt. And I always put forward this argument in the lodge, when there is a vote on a new candidate, I always say the same phrase: a person applied in the 21st century to join the Masonic lodge. What else do you need? Why torture him? Let's take it! I personally believe that if a person applied and passed one interview, and found out that he does not want to become the governor of Kamchatka through Freemasonry, then this is enough, because it means that he is also bruised in the head. And there is no need for three interviews, as we do it, no discussions, debates, votes, re-votes, you must immediately accept
What are the prospects for Freemasonry in Russia?
Well, we have a very stormy one right now, active life, we are developing our new obedience, in one year we have come very far. We started with a lodge of 7 people, and in a year we have grown to 18, we have close contacts with the French center of our obedience, we gather 2 times a month in in full force work in the box, and this shows that our group is precisely cohesive, and this is what we were striving for. Freemasonry denies individual initiation, a person cannot be a Freemason outside the lodge, he must participate in its work constantly, and not for patents, but for an idea. This year has shown that we have great prospects, next year we will open another lodge, so everything is very rosy.
If you want to join the Masonic lodge, I would advise you to think a hundred times. I always say: you need to be prepared for the fact that this will not change anything in life. The initiation takes place inside, and if it does not happen, then it is not fate, then. It’s like in Foucault’s Pendulum in the chapter about umbanda - the main character’s girlfriend is “covered”, although she didn’t want it, and the Swede, dancing for 3 hours in the center of the hall, struggling to find unity with the spirits and writhing, does not receive anything and only tired.
To the question How does Tolstoy describe Freemasonry in War and Peace? given by the author Overdue the best answer is Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" was published at a time when Masonic societies in Russia had long been banned. But the events of the novel take us to the first decades of the 19th century, when Freemasonry flourished in Russia. It is known that Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was a Freemason, he was looking for an opportunity in the brotherhood to comprehend and comprehend the world. His Masonic history begins in 1779: in the German city of Regensburg, he became involved in the sacraments of the order. Later, traveling around Europe, Kutuzov entered the lodges of Frankfurt and Berlin, and upon his return to Russia in 1783, he was recognized by the lodges of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Mikhail Illarionovich enjoyed great prestige among Masons of various degrees. At the initiation into the seventh degree of Swedish Freemasonry, Kutuzov was given the order name Green Laurels and the motto “Glorify yourself with victories”. This motto was fully consistent with the life of the commander.
Kutuzov gave more than 30 years to the brotherhood, it was he who stopped Napoleon, the demon of violence and lust for power in the understanding of freemasons, thereby realizing the main goal of the order - to achieve peace and tranquility. In Tolstoy's novel, Kutuzov is already a person with established convictions, he is not tormented by doubts as it happens with Pierre Bezukhov, who is just worried about questions of moral self-improvement. The bearer of these ideas in the novel "War and Peace" is Iosif Alekseevich Bazdeev, who made a strong impression on Pierre with his passionate sermon. The image of Bazdeev is written from a real person - Joseph Alekseevich Pozdeev, very popular among Moscow Masons. This circumstance, apparently, forced us to leave the name and patronymic of the character unchanged and make minor changes to his surname.
Favorite heroes of Leo Tolstoy go through a difficult spiritual path in a painful search for truth. They are carried away by false ideas, they are mistaken, they change internally, and in the end they approach the ideal of simplicity.
The admission of Pierre Bezukhov to the Masonic society falls on a difficult period of his life, associated with his marriage to Helen Kuragina. He suffers, realizing that not only was he deceived, but also deceived others. He considered himself guilty that he married without loving - this plunges Pierre into a deep crisis. “What's wrong? What well? What should you love, what should you hate? What is life for and what am I? What is life, what is death? What power controls everything? he asks himself. These reflections on the meaning of life are characteristic of Tolstoy's positive heroes.
Pierre's coming to Freemasonry was an important event, as it would help to find an outlet for his inner turmoil. He “thought and thought and thought and thought,” the author reports. But the more he thought, the “darker, more confused and hopeless the past, the future and, most importantly, the present seemed to him.”
During such reflections, when Pierre was immersed "in the highest warehouse of thoughts that a person can reach," at that moment an unfamiliar person entered the room. It was the old freemason Bazdeev, who came to Pierre to convert him. He immediately began a conversation about Freemasonry, offered to introduce Pierre into the “brotherhood of freemasons”, where he would find peace. In the penetrating look of the freemason, Pierre “felt hope and reassurance.” A week later, Bezukhov's reception was scheduled "to the St. Petersburg Lodge of the Northern Lights." Pierre was accepted into the lodge with all the rituals observed. The new life instilled new strength in Pierre, and after initiation into the Freemasons, he was “cheerful and restrained, as if joking at the whole world, knowing the truth.”
From the day of admission to the “fraternity of Masons” for Pierre, “a new life began - activity and self-satisfaction”. Soon, Pierre, supported by the Masonic brothers in his long-standing intentions, went to the estates "with a very clearly defined purpose: to benefit his twenty thousand souls of peasants."
Pierre finds the meaning of life in the philosophy of moral self-improvement as a means of eliminating evil in himself and the world.
The above excerpt ((Volume 2, Part 2, chapters 3 - 5)) from the novel "War and Peace" (1863 - 1869) by a Russian writer (1828 - 1910) describes how Pierre Bezukhov was carried away by the ideas of Freemasonry and underwent an initiation ceremony to the Freemasons (see).
“I have the pleasure of talking to Count Bezukhy, if I am not mistaken,” said the passerby slowly and loudly. Pierre silently, questioningly looked through his glasses at his interlocutor.
“I heard about you,” continued the traveler, “and about the misfortune that befell you, my lord. - He seemed to emphasize the last word, as if he said: “yes, misfortune, whatever you call it, I know that what happened to you in Moscow was a misfortune.” “I am very sorry about that, my lord.
Pierre blushed and, hastily lowering his legs from the bed, bent down to the old man, smiling unnaturally and timidly.
“I did not mention this to you out of curiosity, my lord, but for more important reasons. He paused, without letting Pierre out of his sight, and moved on the sofa, inviting Pierre to sit down beside him with this gesture. It was unpleasant for Pierre to enter into a conversation with this old man, but, involuntarily submitting to him, he came up and sat down beside him.
“You are unhappy, my lord,” he continued. You are young, I am old. I would like to help you to the best of my ability.
“Oh, yes,” Pierre said with an unnatural smile. - I am very grateful to you ... Where do you want to pass from? - The face of the traveler was not affectionate, even cold and stern, but despite the fact, both the speech and the face of the new acquaintance had an irresistibly attractive effect on Pierre.
“But if for some reason you find it unpleasant to talk to me,” said the old man, “then you say so, my lord. And he suddenly smiled unexpectedly, a fatherly tender smile.
“Oh no, not at all, on the contrary, I am very glad to meet you,” said Pierre, and, looking once more at the hands of a new acquaintance, he examined the ring closer. He saw Adam's head on it, the sign of Freemasonry.
“Let me ask,” he said. - Are you a Mason?
- Yes, I belong to the brotherhood of free masons, said the traveler, looking deeper and deeper into Pierre's eyes. - And on my own behalf and on their behalf, I extend my brotherly hand to you.
“I’m afraid,” said Pierre, smiling and hesitating between the confidence inspired in him by the personality of a Mason, and the habit of mocking the beliefs of Masons, “I’m afraid that I’m very far from understanding how to say this, I’m afraid that my way of thinking about everything universe is so opposite to yours that we do not let's understand each friend.
“I know your way of thinking,” said the Mason, “and that way of thinking of which you speak, and which seems to you the product of your mental work, is the way of thinking of most people, is the monotonous fruit of pride, laziness and ignorance. Excuse me, my lord, if I did not know him, I would not speak to you. Your way of thinking is a sad delusion.
“Just as I can assume that you are in error,” said Pierre, smiling weakly.
“I will never dare to say that I know the truth,” said the freemason, more and more striking Pierre with his certainty and firmness of speech. - No one alone can reach the truth; only stone after stone, with the participation of all, millions of generations, from the forefather Adam to our time, that temple is being erected, which should be a worthy dwelling of the Great God, - said the freemason and closed his eyes.
“I must tell you, I don’t believe, I don’t ... believe in God,” Pierre said with regret and effort, feeling the need to tell the whole truth.
The Mason carefully looked at Pierre and smiled, as a rich man who held millions in his hands would smile at a poor man who would tell him that he, the poor man, did not have five rubles that could make him happy.
“Yes, you do not know Him, my lord,” said the Mason. “You cannot know Him. You don't know Him, that's why you're unhappy.
“Yes, yes, I am unhappy,” Pierre confirmed; - but what am I to do?
“You do not know Him, my lord, and that is why you are very unhappy. You do not know Him, but He is here, He is in me. He is in my words, He is in you, and even in those blasphemous speeches that you have spoken just now! said the Mason in a stern, trembling voice.
He paused and sighed, apparently trying to calm himself.
“If He weren’t there,” he said quietly, “we wouldn’t be talking about Him, my lord. What, who were we talking about? Who did you deny? he suddenly said with enthusiastic severity and authority in his voice. - Who invented it, if it does not exist? Why did the assumption arise in you that there is such an incomprehensible being? Why did you and the whole world assume the existence of such an incomprehensible being, an omnipotent being, eternal and infinite in all its properties?… – He stopped and was silent for a long time.
Pierre could not and did not want to break this silence.
“He exists, but it is difficult to understand Him,” the freemason spoke again, looking not at Pierre’s face, but in front of him, with his old hands, which, from inner excitement, could not remain calm, sorting through the pages of the book. “If it were a person whose existence you would doubt, I would bring this person to you, take him by the hand and show you. But how can I, an insignificant mortal, show all omnipotence, all eternity, all His goodness to the one who is blind, or to the one who closes his eyes so as not to see, not to understand Him, and not to see, and not to understand all his abomination and depravity? He paused. - Who are you? What you? You dream of yourself that you are a wise man, because you could utter these blasphemous words, - he said with a gloomy and contemptuous smile, - and you are more stupid and madder than a small child who, playing with parts of an artfully made watch, would dare to say that , because he does not understand the purpose of these hours, he does not believe in the master who made them. It is difficult to know Him... We have been working for this knowledge for centuries, from the forefather Adam to the present day, and we are infinitely far from achieving our goal; but in our misunderstanding of Him, we see only our weakness and His greatness ... - Pierre, with a sinking heart, looking with shining eyes into the face of the freemason, listened to him, did not interrupt, did not ask him, but with all his heart believed what this stranger told him. Did he believe the reasonable arguments that were in the Mason's speech, or did he believe, as children believe, the intonation, conviction and cordiality that were in the Mason's speech, the trembling of the voice, which sometimes almost interrupted the Mason, or these brilliant, senile eyes, grown old on that the same conviction, or that calmness, firmness and knowledge of one's purpose, which shone from the whole being of the Mason, and which struck him especially strongly in comparison with their omission and hopelessness; - but with all his heart he wanted to believe, and believed, and experienced a joyful feeling of calm, renewal and return to life.
“He is not comprehended by the mind, but is comprehended by life,” said the freemason.
“I don’t understand,” said Pierre, fearfully feeling doubt rising in himself. He was afraid of the vagueness and weakness of the arguments of his interlocutor, he was afraid of not believing him. “I do not understand,” he said, “how the human mind cannot comprehend the knowledge you are talking about.
The Mason smiled his meek, paternal smile.
“The highest wisdom and truth is, as it were, the purest moisture that we want to absorb into ourselves,” he said. – Can I take this pure moisture into an unclean vessel and judge its purity? Only by inner purification of myself can I bring the perceived moisture to a certain purity.
– Yes, yes, it is! Pierre said happily.
– Higher wisdom is not based on reason alone, not on those secular sciences of physics, history, chemistry, etc., into which mental knowledge breaks down. There is only one supreme wisdom. The highest wisdom has one science - the science of everything, the science that explains the entire universe and the place of man in it. In order to accommodate this science, it is necessary to purify and renew one's inner man, and therefore before you know, you need to believe and improve. And to achieve these goals, the light of God, called conscience, is embedded in our soul.
“Yes, yes,” Pierre confirmed.
“Look with your spiritual eyes at your inner man and ask yourself if you are satisfied with yourself. What have you achieved by being guided by one mind? What are you? You are young, you are rich, you are smart, educated, my lord. What have you made of all these blessings given to you? Are you satisfied with yourself and your life?
“No, I hate my life,” Pierre said, grimacing.
- You hate, so change it, purify yourself, and as you purify, you will learn wisdom. Look at your life, my lord. How did you spend it? In violent orgies and debauchery, receiving everything from society and giving nothing to it. You have received wealth. How did you use it? What have you done for your neighbor? Have you thought about the tens of thousands of your slaves, have you helped them physically and morally? No. You used their labors to lead a dissolute life. That's what you did. Have you chosen a place of service where you would benefit your neighbor? No. You have spent your life in idleness. Then you got married, my lord, took on the responsibility of leading a young woman, and what did you do? You did not help her, my lord, to find the path of truth, but plunged her into the abyss of lies and misfortune. A man insulted you and you killed him and you say that you don't know God and that you hate your life. There is nothing tricky here, my lord! - After these words, the freemason, as if tired of a long conversation, again leaned on the back of the sofa and closed his eyes. Pierre looked at this stern, motionless, senile, almost dead face and silently moved his lips. He wanted to say: yes, vile, idle, depraved life, and did not dare to break the silence.
The Mason cleared his throat hoarsely, like an old man, and called for a servant.
- What about horses? he asked, not looking at Pierre.
“They brought the change,” answered the servant. - You won't rest?
- No, they ordered to pawn.
“Is he really going to leave and leave me alone without finishing everything and promising me help?” thought Pierre, getting up and lowering his head, occasionally looking at the freemason, and starting to walk around the room. “Yes, I didn’t think so, but I led a despicable, depraved life, but I didn’t love her, and didn’t want it,” thought Pierre, “and this man knows the truth, and if he wanted, he could reveal it to me” . Pierre wanted and did not dare to say this to the Mason. The passer-by, with habitual, senile hands, having packed his things, buttoned up his sheepskin coat. Having finished these things, he turned to the Earless and indifferently, in a courteous tone, said to him:
“Where would you like to go now, my lord?”
“I? ... I’m going to Petersburg,” Pierre answered in a childish, indecisive voice. - Thank you. I agree with you on everything. But don't think that I'm so stupid. I wished with all my heart to be what you would like me to be; but I never found help in anyone ... However, I myself am primarily to blame for everything. Help me, teach me, and maybe I will ... - Pierre could not speak further; he sniffled and turned away.
Mason was silent for a long time, apparently thinking about something.
“Help is given only from God,” he said, “but the amount of help that our order has the power to give, he will give you, my lord. You are going to Petersburg, give this to Count Villarsky (he took out his wallet and wrote a few words on a large sheet of paper folded in four). Let me give you one piece of advice. Arriving in the capital, devote the first time to solitude, discussing yourself, and do not enter the old paths of life. Then I wish you a happy journey, my lord,” he said, noticing that his servant had entered the room, “and success ...
The traveler was Osip Alekseevich Bazdeev, as Pierre learned from the caretaker's book. Bazdeev was one of the most famous Freemasons and Martinists of Novik's time. Long after his departure, Pierre, without going to bed and without asking the horses, walked around the station room, pondering his vicious past and with the delight of renewal imagining his blissful, impeccable and virtuous future, which seemed to him so easy. He was, as it seemed to him, vicious only because he somehow accidentally forgot how good it is to be virtuous. Not a trace of the old doubts remained in his soul. He firmly believed in the possibility of a brotherhood of people united for the purpose of supporting each other on the path of virtue, and this was how Freemasonry seemed to him.
Arriving in St. Petersburg, Pierre did not inform anyone of his arrival, did not go anywhere, and began to spend whole days reading Thomas of Kempis, a book that was delivered to him by no one knows who. Pierre understood one and all the same when reading this book; he understood the pleasure, unknown to him, to believe in the possibility of achieving perfection and in the possibility of brotherly and active love between people, opened to him by Osip Alekseevich. A week after his arrival, the young Polish Count of Villarsky, whom Pierre knew superficially from St. Petersburg society, entered his room in the evening with that official and solemn air with which Dolokhov's second entered him and, closing the door behind him and making sure that there was no one in the room there was no one except Pierre, turned to him:
“I have come to you with a commission and a proposal, Count,” he told him without sitting down. “A person very highly placed in our fraternity has petitioned for you to be admitted to the fraternity ahead of time, and has offered me to be your guarantor. I regard the fulfillment of the will of this person as a sacred duty. Do you wish to join the brotherhood of free stonemasons on my guarantee?
The cold and strict tone of the man whom Pierre almost always saw at balls with an amiable smile, in the company of the most brilliant women, struck Pierre.
“Yes, I wish,” said Pierre.
Villarsky inclined his head. - One more question, Count, he said, to which I am not asking you as a future Freemason, but how an honest man(galant homme) I ask you to answer me with all sincerity: have you renounced your former convictions, do you believe in God?
Pierre considered. “Yes… yes, I believe in God,” he said.
“In that case…” Villarsky began, but Pierre interrupted him. “Yes, I believe in God,” he said again.
“In that case, we can go,” said Willarsky. “My carriage is at your service.
All the way Villarsky was silent. To Pierre's questions about what he should do and how to answer, Villarsky only said that the brothers, more worthy of him, would test him, and that Pierre needed nothing more than to tell the truth.
Entering the gate big house where the lodge was, and going up the dark stairs, they entered the lighted, small hallway, where, without the help of servants, they took off their fur coats. From the hallway they went into another room. A man in strange attire appeared at the door. Villarsky, going out to meet him, said something quietly to him in French and went up to a small closet, in which Pierre noticed robes he had never seen before. Taking a handkerchief from the closet, Villarsky put it over Pierre's eyes and tied it in a knot at the back, painfully trapping his hair in a knot. Then he bent him to him, kissed him and, taking him by the hand, led him somewhere. Pierre was in pain from the knotted hair, he grimaced in pain and smiled ashamed of something. His huge figure, with lowered hands, with a shriveled and smiling face, followed Willarsky with unsteady, timid steps.
After leading him ten paces, Villarsky stopped.
“Whatever happens to you,” he said, “you must endure everything with courage if you are determined to join our brotherhood. (Pierre answered in the affirmative by inclining his head.) When you hear a knock at the door, you will untie your eyes,” Villarsky added; I wish you courage and success. And, shaking hands with Pierre, Villarsky went out.
Left alone, Pierre continued to smile the same way. Once or twice he shrugged his shoulders, put his hand up to the handkerchief, as if wishing to take it off, and lowered it again. The five minutes he spent with his eyes tied seemed like an hour to him. His hands were swollen, his legs gave way; he seemed to be tired. He experienced the most complex and varied feelings. He was both afraid of what would happen to him, and even more afraid of how he would not show fear. He was curious to know what would become of him, what would be revealed to him; but most of all he was glad that the moment had come when he would finally embark on that path of renewal and an active and virtuous life, which he had dreamed of since his meeting with Osip Alekseevich. Strong knocks were heard at the door. Pierre took off his bandage and looked around him. The room was black and dark: only in one place was a lamp burning, in something white. Pierre came closer and saw that the lamp stood on a black table, on which lay one open book. The book was the gospel; that white, in which the lamp burned, was a human skull with its holes and teeth. After reading the first words of the Gospel: “In the beginning there was no word and the word was to God,” Pierre went around the table and saw a large one filled with something and open box. It was a coffin with bones. He was not at all surprised by what he saw. Hoping to enter into a completely new life completely different from the former, he expected everything extraordinary, even more extraordinary than what he saw. The skull, the coffin, the Gospel - it seemed to him that he expected all this, expected even more. Trying to arouse in himself a feeling of tenderness, he looked around him. “God, death, love, the brotherhood of man,” he said to himself, associating with these words vague but joyful ideas of something. The door opened and someone entered.
In the weak light, which, however, Pierre had already managed to get a closer look at, a short man entered. Apparently from the light entering the darkness, this man stopped; then, with cautious steps, he moved to the table and placed on it his small, leather-gloved hands.
This short man was dressed in white, leather apron, which covered his chest and part of his legs, was wearing something like a necklace around his neck, and a high, white frill protruded from behind the necklace, fringing his oblong face, illuminated from below.
- Why did you come here? - asked the newcomer, according to the rustle made by Pierre, turning in his direction. – Why do you, who do not believe in the truths of the light and do not see the light, why did you come here, what do you want from us? Wisdom, virtue, enlightenment?
The moment the door opened and in came Unknown person, Pierre experienced a feeling of fear and reverence, similar to the one he experienced in confession as a child: he felt face to face with a completely alien in terms of living conditions and with a person close to him, in the brotherhood of people. Pierre, with a breath-taking heartbeat, moved towards the rhetor (that was the name in Freemasonry of a brother who prepares a seeker to join the brotherhood). Pierre, coming closer, recognized in the rhetorician a familiar person, Smolyaninov, but it was insulting to him to think that the person who entered was a familiar person: the one who entered was only a brother and a virtuous mentor. Pierre could not utter a word for a long time, so the rhetor had to repeat his question.
“Yes, I ... I ... want updates,” Pierre said with difficulty.
“Good,” said Smolyaninov, and immediately continued: “Do you have any idea about the means by which our holy order will help you achieve your goal? ...” the rhetorician said calmly and quickly.
“I ... hope ... guidance ... help ... in renewal,” said Pierre with a trembling voice and difficulty in speech, which comes from excitement and from the unaccustomedness to speak in Russian about abstract subjects.
– What concept do you have about Freemasonry?
– I mean that Freemasonry is fraterienité [brotherhood]
; and the equality of people with virtuous goals, ”said Pierre, ashamed, as he spoke, of the inconsistency of his words with the solemnity of the moment. I mean…
“Very well,” said the rhetorician hastily, apparently quite satisfied with this answer. Have you looked for means to achieve your goal in religion?
“No, I considered it unfair, and did not follow it,” Pierre said so quietly that the rhetorician did not hear him and asked what he was saying. “I was an atheist,” answered Pierre.
- You are looking for truth in order to follow its laws in life; therefore, you seek wisdom and virtue, do you not? said the speaker after a moment's silence.
“Yes, yes,” Pierre confirmed.
The rhetor cleared his throat, folded his gloved hands on his chest and began to speak:
“Now I must reveal to you the main goal of our order,” he said, “and if this goal coincides with yours, then you will profitably join our brotherhood. First main goal and the foundation of our order, on which it is established, and which no human power can overthrow, is the preservation and transmission to posterity of some important sacrament ... from the most ancient centuries and even from the first person who has come down to us, on whom the sacraments, perhaps, depend the fate of the human race. But since this sacrament is of such a nature that no one can know it and use it, if one has not prepared for a long-term and diligent purification of oneself, then not everyone can hope to find it soon. Therefore, we have a second goal, which is to prepare our members, as far as possible, to correct their hearts, purify and enlighten their minds by those means that are revealed to us by tradition from men who have labored in the search for this mystery, and thereby make them capable of perception of it. Purifying and correcting our members, we try thirdly to correct the entire human race, offering it an example of piety and virtue in our members, and thereby we try with all our might to oppose the evil that reigns in the world. Think about it, and I will come to you again,” he said and left the room.
“To resist the evil that reigns in the world ...” Pierre repeated, and he imagined his future activities in this field. He imagined the same people as he himself was two weeks ago, and he mentally turned to them instructive and mentoring speech. He imagined vicious and unfortunate people whom he helped in word and deed; imagined the oppressors from whom he saved their victims. Of the three goals named by the rhetor, this last one, the correction of the human race, was especially close to Pierre. Some important sacrament mentioned by the rhetorician, although it aroused his curiosity, did not seem to him essential; and the second goal, the purification and correction of himself, interested him little, because at that moment he felt with pleasure that he was already completely corrected from his former vices and ready for only one good thing.
Half an hour later the orator returned to convey to the seeker those seven virtues, corresponding to the seven steps of Solomon's temple, which every Mason had to cultivate in himself. These virtues were: 1) modesty, observance of the secrets of the order, 2) obedience higher ranks orders, 3) kindness, 4) love of humanity, 5) courage, 6) generosity and 7) love of death.
“Seventhly, try,” said the rhetorician, “by frequent thinking about death, bring yourself to such a point that it does not seem to you a more terrible enemy, but a friend ... who frees the soul, languishing in the labors of virtue, from this miserable life in the labors of virtue, to introduce it into the place of reward and calm.
“Yes, it must be so,” thought Pierre, when, after these words, the rhetorician again left him, leaving him to solitary reflection. “It must be so, but I am still so weak that I love my life, the meaning of which is only now being revealed to me little by little.” But the other five virtues, which Pierre remembered fingering, he felt in his soul: and
courage, and generosity, and kindness, and love for humanity, and especially obedience, which did not even seem to him a virtue, but happiness. (He was so happy now to get rid of his arbitrariness and subordinate his will to that and those who knew the undoubted truth.) Pierre forgot the seventh virtue and could not remember it.
The third time, the rhetor returned sooner and asked Pierre if he was still firm in his intention, and whether he dared to expose himself to everything that was required of him.
“I am ready for anything,” said Pierre.
“I must also inform you,” said the rhetorician, “that our order teaches its teachings not only in words, but by other means that, perhaps, have a stronger effect on the true seeker of wisdom and virtue than verbal explanations only. This temple with its decoration, which you see, should have already explained to your heart, if it is sincere, more than words; you will see, perhaps, in your further acceptance of a similar way of explaining. Our order imitates the ancient societies that revealed their teachings with hieroglyphs. A hieroglyph, said the rhetorician, is the name of some thing that is not subject to feelings, which contains qualities similar to the one depicted.
Pierre knew very well what a hieroglyph was, but did not dare to speak. He silently listened to the rhetor, feeling in everything that the trials would immediately begin.
“If you are firm, then I must begin to introduce you,” said the rhetorician, coming closer to Pierre. “As a sign of generosity, I ask you to give me all your precious things.
“But I don’t have anything with me,” said Pierre, who believed that they were demanding that he hand over everything he had.
- What you have: watches, money, rings ...
Pierre hurriedly took out his wallet, watch, and for a long time could not remove the wedding ring from his fat finger. When this was done, the Mason said:
- As a token of obedience, I ask you to undress. - Pierre took off his tailcoat, waistcoat and left boot at the direction of the rhetor. Mason opened the shirt on his left chest, and, bending down, lifted his trouser leg on his left leg above the knee. Pierre hurriedly wanted to take off his right boot and roll up his trousers in order to save a stranger from this labor, but the mason told him that this was not necessary - and gave him a shoe on his left foot. With a childish smile of modesty, doubt and mockery of himself, which appeared on his face against his will, Pierre stood with his hands down and his legs apart in front of his brother rhetorician, waiting for his new orders.
“And finally, as a sign of candor, I ask you to reveal to me your main passion,” he said.
- My passion! I had so many of them,” said Pierre.
“That addiction which, more than any other, made you waver in the path of virtue,” said the Mason.
Pierre was silent for a while, looking for.
"Wine? Overeating? Idleness? Laziness? Hotness? Malice? Women?" He went over his vices, mentally weighing them and not knowing which one to give priority to.
– Last time I tell you: turn all your attention to yourself, put chains on your feelings and seek bliss not in passions, but in your heart. The source of bliss is not outside, but within us...
Pierre already felt this refreshing source of bliss in himself, now filling his soul with joy and tenderness.
Soon after this, it was no longer the former rhetorician who came to the dark temple for Pierre, but the guarantor Villarsky, whom he recognized by his voice. To new questions about the firmness of his intentions, Pierre answered: “Yes, yes, I agree,” and with a beaming childish smile, with an open, fat chest, unevenly and timidly stepping with one bare and one shod foot, he went forward with Villarsky put to his bare chest with a sword. From the room he was led along the corridors, turning back and forth, and finally led to the doors of the box. Villarsky coughed, they answered him with Masonic knocks of hammers, the door opened before them. Someone's bass voice (Pierre's eyes were all blindfolded) asked him questions about who he was, where, when was he born? etc. Then they again led him somewhere, without untying his eyes, and as he walked, allegories spoke to him about the labors of his journey, about sacred friendship, about the eternal Builder of the world, about the courage with which he must endure labors and danger. During this journey, Pierre noticed that he was called either seeking, then suffering, then demanding, and at the same time they knocked with hammers and swords in different ways. While he was being led to some subject, he noticed that there was confusion and confusion between his leaders. He heard how the surrounding people argued among themselves in a whisper and how one insisted that he be led along some kind of carpet. After that they took him right hand, put it on something, and with the left they ordered him to put the compass to his left chest, and forced him, repeating the words that the other read, to read the oath of allegiance to the laws of the order. Then they put out the candles, lit alcohol, as Pierre heard it by smell, and said that he would see a small light. The bandage was removed from him, and Pierre, as in a dream, saw, in the faint light of an alcohol fire, several people who, in the same aprons as the rhetorician, stood against him and held swords aimed at his chest. Between them stood a man in a bloody white shirt. Seeing this, Pierre moved his sword forward with his chest, wanting them to pierce him. But the swords moved away from him and he was immediately bandaged again. “Now you have seen a small light,” a voice told him. Then the candles were lit again, they said that he needed to see the full light, and again the bandage was removed and more than ten voices suddenly said: sic transit gloria mundi. [this is how worldly glory passes.]
Pierre gradually began to come to his senses and look around the room where he was and the people in it. Around a long table, covered with black, sat about twelve people, all in the same robes as those whom he had seen before. Some Pierre knew from Petersburg society. An unfamiliar young man was sitting in the chairman's seat, wearing a special cross around his neck. On the right hand sat the Italian abbot, whom Pierre had seen two years ago at Anna Pavlovna's. There was also a very important dignitary and a Swiss tutor who had previously lived with the Kuragins. Everyone was solemnly silent, listening to the words of the chairman, who held a hammer in his hand. A burning star was embedded in the wall; on one side of the table was a small carpet with various images, on the other there was something like an altar with the Gospel and a skull. Around the table were 7 large, in the sort of church, candlesticks. Two of the brothers led Pierre to the altar, put his feet in a rectangular position and ordered him to lie down, saying that he was throwing himself at the gates of the temple.
“He must first get a shovel,” one of the brothers said in a whisper.
- A! Please, please,” said another.
Pierre, with bewildered, short-sighted eyes, disobeying, looked around him, and suddenly doubt came over him. "Where I am? What am I doing? Are they laughing at me? Wouldn't I be ashamed to remember this?" But this doubt lasted only for a moment. Pierre looked around at the serious faces of the people around him, remembered everything that he had already passed, and realized that it was impossible to stop halfway. He was horrified by his doubt and, trying to evoke in himself the former feeling of compunction, he threw himself at the gates of the temple. And indeed a feeling of compunction, even stronger than before, came over him. When he had lain down for some time, they told him to get up and put on him the same white leather apron that the others had on, gave him a shovel and three pairs of gloves, and then Great master turned to him. He told him to be careful not to stain the whiteness of this apron, representing strength and purity; then he said of an unidentified shovel that he should work with it to cleanse his heart of vices and condescendingly smooth over the heart of his neighbor with it. Then about the first men's gloves he said that he could not know their meaning, but he must keep them, about other men's gloves he said that he should wear them in meetings, and finally about the third women's gloves he said: the essence is defined. Give them to the woman you will honor the most. With this gift, assure the purity of your heart to the one you choose for yourself as a worthy stonemason. And after a pause for a while, he added: “But observe, dear brother, that the gloves of these unclean hands do not adorn.” While the great master was saying these last words It seemed to Pierre that the chairman was embarrassed. Pierre became even more embarrassed, blushed to tears, as children blush, began to look around uneasily, and there was an awkward silence.
This silence was broken by one of the brothers, who, having brought Pierre to the carpet, began to read to him from the notebook an explanation of all the figures depicted on it: the sun, the moon, the hammer. a plumb line, a shovel, a wild and cubic stone, a pillar, three windows, etc. Then Pierre was assigned his place, showed him the signs of the box, said the input word, and finally allowed to sit down. The great master began to read the charter. The charter was very long, and Pierre, from joy, excitement and shame, was not able to understand what they were reading. He listened only to the last words of the charter, which he remembered.
“In our temples, we do not know other degrees,” the great master read, “except those that are between virtue and vice. Beware of making any distinction that might break equality. Fly to the aid of your brother, whoever he may be, instruct the erring one, lift the falling one, and never bear malice or enmity against your brother. Be kind and welcoming. Kindle the fire of virtue in all hearts. Share happiness with your neighbor, and may the envy of this pure pleasure never be disturbed. Forgive your enemy, do not take revenge on him, except by doing good to him. Having fulfilled the highest law in this way, you will find traces of the ancient majesty you lost.
He finished and, rising, embraced Pierre and kissed him. Pierre, with tears of joy in his eyes, looked around him, not knowing how to respond to the congratulations and renewal of acquaintances with which he was surrounded. He did not recognize any acquaintances; in all these people he saw only brothers with whom he burned with impatience to set to work.
The great master banged his hammer, everyone sat down, and one read a lesson on the need for humility.
The great master offered to perform the last duty, and an important dignitary, who bore the title of alms-gatherer, began to bypass the brothers. Pierre wanted to write down all the money that he had on the alms sheet, but he was afraid to show pride in this, and wrote down as much as others wrote down.
The meeting was over, and upon returning home, it seemed to Pierre that he had come from some long-distance travel, where he spent decades, completely changed and lagged behind the former order and habits of life.
Many of us got an idea about Freemasonry through historical and fiction. But is it true? There are many myths that actually have nothing to do with reality and only distort the impression of this rather ancient teaching.
Myth one. Freemasonry is a sect
Has very little in common with sects. Rather, it is an esoteric society whose members are engaged in a spiritual search. Outside the Masonic lodge, the life of its members is not controlled by anyone, a person can do anything, for example, go to church.
Myth two. It is known that many belonged to Freemasonry prominent people, for example, Peter I and Pushkin
We will never know for sure. Lists of Freemasons are kept inside lodges and are not made public. Therefore, we can only assume that this or that person was or is a Mason ... By the way, the members of the lodges themselves are forbidden to talk about their associates.
Myth three. Masons rule us
Rumors of a "Masonic conspiracy" are complete nonsense. Freemasonry is not political force and cannot influence the life of the state in any way. There is also no evidence that any representatives of power structures are members of Masonic lodges. Moreover, at the meetings of the Masonic lodges, talking about politics is prohibited.
Myth four. Freemasonry accepts only "chosen ones" - representatives of the elite and bohemian circles. For example, businessmen, lawyers, scientists, writers, artists
Freemasonry's motto is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". Therefore, anyone can theoretically become a Freemason, regardless of their social or professional affiliation. Another thing is to be prepared for the fact that you will have to pay dues, as in every society, and they are not symbolic here ... And in order to accept spiritual initiation, you need to have a certain level of development. Therefore, as a rule, people from certain social circles and with an appropriate level of material wealth come to Freemasonry more often.
Myth five. Membership in Masonic lodges can lead to career or financial gain
Nothing like that happens. The Masonic organization is a secret order where people come for the sake of spiritual interests, and not a public structure. Therefore, membership does not entitle you to any social status. Moreover, members of the order are generally not recommended to talk about their belonging to Freemasonry. Thus, it does not give any priorities.
To everyone who comes here. If it turns out that a person has come for any social or wealth, it is immediately eliminated.
True, one of the main activities of the order is charity. Required element ritual tradition- the so-called "Widow's Mug". This is a bag with which all members of the lodge go around, and everyone has the right to put his donation there. Then these donations go to charitable purposes. Members of the order can also provide assistance to their brothers in distress.
Myth six. Freemasons identify "especially worthy" and invite them to join the order
In fact, direct campaigning is prohibited here. A member of the order can hint that he has an acquaintance in these circles, you can recommend a candidate. No more…
Myth seven. When joining the order, candidates go through complex rituals.
We mainly know about the introductory rituals of Freemasonry from Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace", which describes the scene of Pierre Bezukhov's admission to the Masons. In our time, they have also remained practically unchanged: a survey under a bandage, tests by the elements ... But they are all symbolic.
Myth eight. Freemasons do not accept women, at least in Russia
Now mixed lodges have appeared in Russia, where women are also accepted. Although traditionally only men were selected for Masonic organizations.
The fact is that in Masonic rituals there are a lot of so-called security elements. For example, many of them are related to weapons. The lodge is entered under arches of swords. The first thing the initiate sees when the bandage is removed is a semicircle of people with swords in their hands pointed at his chest. This ritual semicircle symbolizes the rays of the sun... To properly wield cold weapons, one must be a very prepared person. I think that's why for a long time women were not allowed into the order.
Myth nine. Freemasons recognize each other by special signs
Oddly enough, it's true. Freemasons can recognize each other by a special handshake. There is also a certain word that is used by members of the lodge. But this is quite an archaic tradition.
Myth ten. Freemasons are forbidden to talk about the activities of the order
This is also true. Otherwise, the existence of the order will not make any sense at all. The Masonic organization was closed from the very beginning, which means that the spiritual knowledge received by its members is not revealed to the uninitiated. After all, in order to perceive them, a person must have a certain level of spiritual development and training.
