Post by sid on Aug 10, 2008 21:03:36 GMT
Greetings,
Just received this & thought I'd pass it on:
I have not read F. de P. Castell's "Our Ancient Brethren". Nor am I a Freemason.
However, for what it's worth, I set out below two viewpoints that I found on-line:
1) Greg, Master Mason (G. Pappas "wisdom seeker") gave the book a 5 star rating on amazon.com, and commented:
"Excellent, If you are a Mason researching our past or thinking of becoming one, this book is for you!!!"
At this time, there are no votes on whether or not Greg's review was found helpful.
( www.amazon.com/Our-Ancient-Brethren-Originators-Freemasonry/dp/0766136515/ )
2) R. A. Gilbert in "Freemasonry and the Hermetic Tradition" wrote:
"To the conclusive demonstration of such links masonic writers of esoteric inclination have devoted their literary careers, only to have their work rejected as unsound by more prosaic masonic scholars. "Esoteric" masons, however, have been, and still are, mightily impressed by the apparent scholarship of authors such as the Rev. F. de P. Castells, who considered that he had proved beyond doubt the link with the Rosicrucians, and maintained that "Freemasonry originated with certain Hebrew mystics associated with the Temple of Jerusalem, and that they are represented by the Kabbalists of historic times." (Our Ancient Brethren the Originators of Freemasonry, 1932, p. 24)
Castells wrote during the 1920s and '30s, and although he was far from being the first masonic "historian" on whom occultists had drawn, he was among the most impressive, for he united his historical studies with a critical analysis of masonic rituals and their symbolism. And it is masonic symbolism that has proven always more irresistible to the occultist even than masonic history."
( www.mastermason.com/luxocculta/hermetic.htm )
Best
Sid
Just received this & thought I'd pass it on:
I have not read F. de P. Castell's "Our Ancient Brethren". Nor am I a Freemason.
However, for what it's worth, I set out below two viewpoints that I found on-line:
1) Greg, Master Mason (G. Pappas "wisdom seeker") gave the book a 5 star rating on amazon.com, and commented:
"Excellent, If you are a Mason researching our past or thinking of becoming one, this book is for you!!!"
At this time, there are no votes on whether or not Greg's review was found helpful.
( www.amazon.com/Our-Ancient-Brethren-Originators-Freemasonry/dp/0766136515/ )
2) R. A. Gilbert in "Freemasonry and the Hermetic Tradition" wrote:
"To the conclusive demonstration of such links masonic writers of esoteric inclination have devoted their literary careers, only to have their work rejected as unsound by more prosaic masonic scholars. "Esoteric" masons, however, have been, and still are, mightily impressed by the apparent scholarship of authors such as the Rev. F. de P. Castells, who considered that he had proved beyond doubt the link with the Rosicrucians, and maintained that "Freemasonry originated with certain Hebrew mystics associated with the Temple of Jerusalem, and that they are represented by the Kabbalists of historic times." (Our Ancient Brethren the Originators of Freemasonry, 1932, p. 24)
Castells wrote during the 1920s and '30s, and although he was far from being the first masonic "historian" on whom occultists had drawn, he was among the most impressive, for he united his historical studies with a critical analysis of masonic rituals and their symbolism. And it is masonic symbolism that has proven always more irresistible to the occultist even than masonic history."
( www.mastermason.com/luxocculta/hermetic.htm )
Best
Sid