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Freemasonary: A Journey Through Ritual and Symbol
What age-old meanings lie behind the strange, unchanging rituals and symbols of Freemasonry, and can we relate them to our contemporary lives?
Freemasons have their own answers to these questions, but they are not available to the outsider, nor are they couched in language that is relevant today. This book explains Freemasonry's part in a long tradition of mysticism, going back to the Middle Ages if not beyond, and shows the Craft to be a complex framework for inner growth, a developmental psychology which presents the Mason with a viable discipline for the pursuit of self-knowledge.
Freemasons have their own answers to these questions, but they are not available to the outsider, nor are they couched in language that is relevant today. This book explains Freemasonry's part in a long tradition of mysticism, going back to the Middle Ages if not beyond, and shows the Craft to be a complex framework for inner growth, a developmental psychology which presents the Mason with a viable discipline for the pursuit of self-knowledge.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 1, 2010
A personal exploration of freemasonry as a system of interior growth. Without claiming to be the definitive interpretation of freemasonry's meanings offers a guide to the freemason who wants to get more from the Craft than an ethical dining club.
June 22, 2019
ENGROSSING SYMBOLISM
After providing a brief if convincing history of the origins of Freemasonry, MacNulty, in what is a sympathetic treatment of this mystery tradition, reveals Freemasonry to be an effective, inspiring, and even addictive symbolic system for developmental psychology, that is to say, the ascent from base to higher consciousness, within a tight framework of self-labour, ritual and interpretation.
This is a small volume but I felt greatly enriched within the small amount of time it took me to read its thirty or so pages of text and seventy pages of beautiful illustrations.
This is a most unpretentious work, requiring only open mindedness and curiosity, and I felt greatly empowered by this brief overview of what is in effect a psychology of the self, but far more sophisticated and inspiring I found than modern popular psychology.
This book is an excellent resource, therefore, on a subject which by its nature is esoteric and the knowledge of which is hard to come by.
After providing a brief if convincing history of the origins of Freemasonry, MacNulty, in what is a sympathetic treatment of this mystery tradition, reveals Freemasonry to be an effective, inspiring, and even addictive symbolic system for developmental psychology, that is to say, the ascent from base to higher consciousness, within a tight framework of self-labour, ritual and interpretation.
This is a small volume but I felt greatly enriched within the small amount of time it took me to read its thirty or so pages of text and seventy pages of beautiful illustrations.
This is a most unpretentious work, requiring only open mindedness and curiosity, and I felt greatly empowered by this brief overview of what is in effect a psychology of the self, but far more sophisticated and inspiring I found than modern popular psychology.
This book is an excellent resource, therefore, on a subject which by its nature is esoteric and the knowledge of which is hard to come by.
May 24, 2015
I have come to find through my own experiences, other books and journey to seek more light, that Freemasonry is part art, part science, part philosophy. With that understanding, I felt that this book (with its many illustrations) provides the best explanation of the higher meaning behind the ritual, including the symbolism of the First, Second, and Third degrees were actually intended to mean. It provides a wonderful opportunity to contemplate profound, mind-expanding truths that will move you closer to the universal architect and his creation.
I would recommend this book to those that are Freemasons, or even someone remotely interested in the Craft. Even if the profound is of no interest, this book contains many full-color, full-page pictures & other graphics, including Craft Symbolism, the "Tools", Trestle Boards, etc.
I would recommend this book to those that are Freemasons, or even someone remotely interested in the Craft. Even if the profound is of no interest, this book contains many full-color, full-page pictures & other graphics, including Craft Symbolism, the "Tools", Trestle Boards, etc.
March 11, 2011
Sometimes the author was really wordy, which made it hard to understand the point at times. But, the information was good, and the pictures were really interesting. I would still recommend it to both Masons and non-Masons.
September 30, 2007
a must read
July 18, 2014
fascinating. Glad I read it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews