'Freemasonry's use of hip hop to deceive and destroy souls'

I'm perplexed as to what the point is of this video (see below).

It seems to be something produced by your typical conspiratorial "Freemasons Rule the World" crowd, and accuses the Masonic/Illuminati cabal for creating urban hip-hop music to keep the black community in poverty.

I found the video linked on a website that proclaims itself "Your hip hop music culture and lifestyle portal." They're proud to say "We eat breathe & sleep hop hop."

The article containing the video is titled "Freemasonry's Use of Hip Hop to Deceive and Destroy Souls."

Frankly, the video is a nine-minute mishmash of interviews and music that isn't worth viewing, in my opinion. Don't bother watching it all unless you've got time to burn. It includes weird statements such as Bill Gates' father created Planned Parenthood to lead to the elimination of the black race. How'd that work out?

But...

The material between roughly 5:45 minutes and 7:00 minutes is kind of intriguing, but not necessarily from a conspiratorial point of view.

Apparently at least one hip-hopper, KRS-ONE, has taken his cue from the same idea that led to the book and movie The Secret. Here is a line from his rap:

When someone says the rich get richer
Visualize wealth and put yourself in the picture.

If you're not familiar with The Secret, it is simply this idea: "Your thoughts create your reality." It's a simple philosophy, and it's true, as I've found in my own life. When I focus on the negative, more negative comes along. When I focus on positive, happy things, then positive, happy things and events appear in my life.

It's a secret I personally too often forget, but thankfully, usually I catch myself before I've created too much negativity and can turn things around by changing my perspective and beliefs and thoughts.

The conspiracy-minded video producer doesn't see anything positive about thinking positive. KRS-ONE's rap is followed on their video by these words:

Here KRS is pushing the "New Age Agenda," that says you are poor because of your thoughts (Translation: BLAME THE VICTIM!)

It is a way of thinking that leads to a lack of care and/or empathy for others who are suffering, because you are rationalizing it as, "Oh... it's their fault they are poor, or starving, or homeless, or raped, etc... due to their thoughts...."

One the one hand, the video-maker is saying that there is poverty in society because the Grand Cabal keeps it that way, and on the other hand is saying that to encourage those in poverty to think their way out of that poverty creates a "lack of care and/or empathy."

Confused? Me too.

Which is solid proof the Discordians must be the real Men Behind the Curtain.



Masons | Hip Hop | Illuminati | Freemasonry | Conspiracy Theory | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Great things are afoot

While I sit here making fun of conspiracy-minded fundamentalist anti-Masons, other people are doing and writing about much grander things, both inside and outside of Freemasonry.

I found on California Freemason Online a 2003 article by Bro. Jay Kinney titled "Is Freemasonry Afraid of Its Own Shadow: Masonry's Love/Hate Relationship with Esoteric Traditions," wherein he explores why mainstream Masonry tends to "consign to the lunatic fringe those Masons who have seen or do see connections or parallels between Masonry and the Ancient Mysteries, the great myths, and esoteric traditions." Interesting reading....

Edgewood Lodge No. 82 of Edgewood, New Mexico has republished W. Bro. Phillip Bennison's "History of the Craft." Bro. Bennison examines the different possible histories of Freemasonry, asking whether Freemasonry originated from Megalithic times, King Solomon, Athelstan, the Knights Templars, Medieval Stone Masons, William Schaw and King James I of Scotland, Box charities, the Invisible College or the Rosicrucians.

Pietre-Stone Review of Freemasonry gives us R. W. Bro. Don Falconer's "King Solomon's Temple: Symbol of Freemasonry," a look at the biblical history and Masonic symbolism of Solomon's Temple, the pillars of Boaz and Jachin, and the Ark of the Covenant.

W. Bro. Ronald Paul Ng, of Malaysia, interprets the First and Third Degrees of Freemasonry in light of Prof. Joseph Campbell's basic structure of myth, the Hero's Monomyth, in "The Philosophy of Freemasonry: Its Mythical Structure." The Burning Taper discussed Campbell's The Hero of a Thousand Faces and the monomythic structure in "The Power of Myth: Thou Art That" in February, 2006.

Earlier this week a news story that had nothing to do with Masonry fascinated me. It's about a Jewish man who grew up in a hippie commune in Oregon, who went on to become a radical Muslim, then gave it up to become a Baptist. Along the way, he became an informant for the FBI. CNN called him one of "God's Warriors." I guess some people, anyway, agree that Yahweh, Allah and Gawd are all the same God.

Earlier today, the brother who writes the From Darkness to Light blog let loose on something political he disagreed with that was on a recent X-Oriente Masonic podcast.

Bro. Brian at Grail Seekers posted a couple of interesting links, one to a site showing tattoos of Noon Blue Apples emblazoned with "to the prettiest one" in Greek. In addition to the tattoos, you'll find an interesting discussion of Discordianism and the late Robert Anton Wilson.

Another article Bro. Brian linked to is titled "Astronomy of Astrology", which explores the history of astrology from a scientific viewpoint.

And finally, for no apparent reason, I point you to a story about a cemetery in Meridian, Mississippi, that has gone to weeds since a Masonic lodge that had owned and maintained it since the 1890s sold it a few years ago.

Image: Keira Knightley as Guinevere in 2004's "King Arthur"

Masons | Masonic History | Astrology | Freemasonry | King Solomon's Temple | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com