I've never heard anyone describe exactly what is so evil about Freemasonry. That is, what is it about Freemasonry that turns a good man into a bad man. It's all innuendo and guilt by association.
More recently, "Unmasking Freemasonry: Removing the Hoodwink" by Selwyn Stevens, was written specifically for wives and families of Masons to explain how the oaths & rituals taken by Freemasons as they pursue elevated Degrees bring curses and demons upon themselves and their families: https://www.amazon.com/Unmasking-Freemasonry-Removing-the-Hoodwink/dp/1877463000
There are many others, but this satisfies the Rule of Three. I'm not saying I take what's written in any of these books 100% on face value, but every one of these books "describes what is so evil about Freemasonry, and what is it about Freemasonry that turns a good man into a bad man."
Wellllllll....only the first of those three quotes is actually from "Nature Boy," Tamsin. But I do take your point and won't say your extrapolation is not the song's lyrical subtext. It may very well be!
That said, according to his bio, songwriter eden ahbez was married for fifteen years to Anna (née Annette Jacobson) who died at 47 of leukemia in 1962. They had one child, a son, who drowned at the age of 22.
One unfinished Substack I've got concerns the whole fallacy of "Love Is Love," because clearly it's not. The way someone loves their marriage partner is different from how they love their children from how they love their pet from how they love sushi. C.S. Lewis explains it perfectly in his short book "The Four Loves," which is one of the reasons I ne'er finish the Substack; I'm basically regurgitating Lewis.
Thank you for your comment! Considering the song was penned in 1947, do you think it's possible your more cynical interpretation might be too dark?
No, not too dark, just taking the longer view, to include the interwar period as our "betters" turn out to have been completely detached from the past, were exploring "free love", and were seeking to detach the American middle class from its ideal of a family life with "unfree commitments" informed by Biblical teaching. Divorce was only in extremis. "Safe, legal (though not no-fault), and rare."
I'm free-associating between that Nature Boy himself, Jesus in trenchcoat! and my recent reading on the fallacy of naturalism. "If it's natural, it is good." "If it feels good, do it" is a teaching, and it is deduced from evolutionary biology for modern audiences.
I don't have a strong opinion on Nat King Cole one way or the other; carry on!
Listening to Van Morrison makes my blood sing as it courses through my veins. I’ve always loved his music. Not sure if I like the revelation that he’s a Freemason. Are they good guys or bad guys? The way things are going I’ll end up with no heroes. Jesuits- saw a Santos Bonacci video years ago about how they were the pinnacle of global evil. I’m Catholic so I dismissed it as a huh? moment. Now our current pope is the first Jesuit pope and I’ll be surprised if the church survives his tenure. Are these good guys or bad guys? I’m always suspicious of secret societies. My FIL was a mason and everyone thought he was the kindest person they’d ever met. Unfortunately, he was deceased by the time I met my husband so I never got to meet him. Feel like I’m living in a gnostic nightmare.
I think there are a lot of good men in Freemasonry but I'm not sure at the tip top levels you find such great guys. I think it's probably good for Van Morrison's career to have been a Freemason. I think he learned spiritual stuff inside Freemasonry. Did he make a deal with the Devil? If so, I don't see it; he was pushing back hard against the devil during Covid, and the devil was in Covid's details. He may be threaded into the Narrative in some way, but seems to me in recent years at least, he's on the "good guys" side. His music sure seems touched by God, does it not?
I've never heard anyone describe exactly what is so evil about Freemasonry. That is, what is it about Freemasonry that turns a good man into a bad man. It's all innuendo and guilt by association.
There are several books that describe what is allegedly so evil about Freemasonry. Here's three:
Tom McKenney's "33 Degrees of Deception" makes a strong argument that Freemasonry is a Death Cult that increasingly reveals its dark fealty via the rites and rituals Freemasons go through as they ascend through Degrees: https://www.amazon.com/33-Degrees-Deception-Expose-Freemasonry/dp/0882704389
"The Brotherhood" by Stephen Knight doesn't go as far as to call Freemasonry a Death Cult, but does persuasively argue that a once benevolent organization has become corrupted and hypocritical: https://www.amazon.com/Brotherhood-Secret-World-Freemasons/dp/0880291133
More recently, "Unmasking Freemasonry: Removing the Hoodwink" by Selwyn Stevens, was written specifically for wives and families of Masons to explain how the oaths & rituals taken by Freemasons as they pursue elevated Degrees bring curses and demons upon themselves and their families: https://www.amazon.com/Unmasking-Freemasonry-Removing-the-Hoodwink/dp/1877463000
There are many others, but this satisfies the Rule of Three. I'm not saying I take what's written in any of these books 100% on face value, but every one of these books "describes what is so evil about Freemasonry, and what is it about Freemasonry that turns a good man into a bad man."
Thank you for your comment!
Homer the Great?!?
Absolutely fucking incredible. How have I not heard of this until now?
Perhaps the timelines/multiverses are melding? "There are more things in heaven and earth, RickRolled, than are dreamt of in our philosophies...."
Thank you for your comment!
Excellent article!
Thank you so much, Christa!
"Just to love and be loved in return."
"Love is love."
"No matter who you love."
Or how. Yikes.
Wellllllll....only the first of those three quotes is actually from "Nature Boy," Tamsin. But I do take your point and won't say your extrapolation is not the song's lyrical subtext. It may very well be!
That said, according to his bio, songwriter eden ahbez was married for fifteen years to Anna (née Annette Jacobson) who died at 47 of leukemia in 1962. They had one child, a son, who drowned at the age of 22.
One unfinished Substack I've got concerns the whole fallacy of "Love Is Love," because clearly it's not. The way someone loves their marriage partner is different from how they love their children from how they love their pet from how they love sushi. C.S. Lewis explains it perfectly in his short book "The Four Loves," which is one of the reasons I ne'er finish the Substack; I'm basically regurgitating Lewis.
Thank you for your comment! Considering the song was penned in 1947, do you think it's possible your more cynical interpretation might be too dark?
No, not too dark, just taking the longer view, to include the interwar period as our "betters" turn out to have been completely detached from the past, were exploring "free love", and were seeking to detach the American middle class from its ideal of a family life with "unfree commitments" informed by Biblical teaching. Divorce was only in extremis. "Safe, legal (though not no-fault), and rare."
I'm free-associating between that Nature Boy himself, Jesus in trenchcoat! and my recent reading on the fallacy of naturalism. "If it's natural, it is good." "If it feels good, do it" is a teaching, and it is deduced from evolutionary biology for modern audiences.
I don't have a strong opinion on Nat King Cole one way or the other; carry on!
Listening to Van Morrison makes my blood sing as it courses through my veins. I’ve always loved his music. Not sure if I like the revelation that he’s a Freemason. Are they good guys or bad guys? The way things are going I’ll end up with no heroes. Jesuits- saw a Santos Bonacci video years ago about how they were the pinnacle of global evil. I’m Catholic so I dismissed it as a huh? moment. Now our current pope is the first Jesuit pope and I’ll be surprised if the church survives his tenure. Are these good guys or bad guys? I’m always suspicious of secret societies. My FIL was a mason and everyone thought he was the kindest person they’d ever met. Unfortunately, he was deceased by the time I met my husband so I never got to meet him. Feel like I’m living in a gnostic nightmare.
I think there are a lot of good men in Freemasonry but I'm not sure at the tip top levels you find such great guys. I think it's probably good for Van Morrison's career to have been a Freemason. I think he learned spiritual stuff inside Freemasonry. Did he make a deal with the Devil? If so, I don't see it; he was pushing back hard against the devil during Covid, and the devil was in Covid's details. He may be threaded into the Narrative in some way, but seems to me in recent years at least, he's on the "good guys" side. His music sure seems touched by God, does it not?