The initiates of this closed brotherhood pursue mystical enlightenment through ritual based on ancient alchemical and occult teachings, although at street level Freemasonry is no more than a charitable networking fraternity.
Little is revealed to its brothers about the most high-ranking members and rituals of this organization that has over five million followers worldwide. Initiation and secrecy have always been Freemasonry's currency since its mainstream development in the 18th century, from the merging of the many craft guilds with the mystically-inspired knightly orders.
Ideas of absolute loyalty, secrecy and misinformation are so intrinsic to the structure of Freemasonry that even those already initiated to the official highest ranks, are not surprised to hear rumors of even more secret and elusive grades of initiation and power, which may not even be attainable to the most loyal brother.
As a small-town American Grand Master (also a PHD in Divinity and Baptist minister) notes in the foreword to "The Second Messiah" by Freemasons Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas: "I have been led to believe there is some truth to the accusations leveled against Masonry that only the top (HIGH) degrees know the truth". This mature Grand Master had been initiated into all of the official degrees, but would not have had an adequate lineage or attitude to progress further. It is said that a specific ritual involves being required to spit upon the crucified Christ - refusal to do so is commended as the correct response, and a sign of individual strength. However, it is thought that those who do desecrate the cross are rewarded with higher initiation.
Many conspiracy theories concerning Freemasonry exist in popular modern culture, however, the movement's international power and influence lie in its quasi-aristocratic ranks, the orders of the Knights Templar and the Knights of Malta, who as the "princes" of Freemasonry are required to pursue the evolution of Man's consciousness according to their Rosicrucian initiation and beliefs.
It is apparent that the acceptance of the craftsmen of the Renaissance by the knightly orders was an attempt by the aristocratic classes to keep control of the newly developing middle class, who were discovering great freedoms of expression, education and understanding. Thus, by the promise of initiation into mystical secrets, loyalty to the hidden aristocratic masters was ensured.
The feudal systems that were beginning to collapse all over Europe with the growth of democratic ideas had an opportunity to remain in absolute power, albeit now from behind the curtain.
According to Knight and Lomas the Grand Master of York Rite Freemasonry must always be a prince of royal blood, and the hereditary head of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, as decreed by King James II, must always be a St. Clair of Rosslyn, who rules over the Supreme Council of the 33rd degree based in Edinburgh. However, recent history has seen other Supreme Councils form to rival Edinburgh, particularly the Supreme Council in Washington DC. It is interesting to note that the world domination blueprint 'The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Sion' are signed by the "Representatives of Sion of the 33rd degree", and that within the five Knights Templar priories the senior officials are refered to as "the Elders". However, these historically incendiary plans came to be (and still are) attributed to the Jewish people, and were a major cause of the Holocaust.
At the tip of the power pyramid there have always been claimants to the iconic position of "supreme scion" of the entire aristocratic Dragon and Grail bloodlines - as is currently the case with Prince Nicholas de Vere, Prince Michael Stewart, and Prince Otto von Hapsburg. This ultimate authority within the secret power structures is what makes general Freemasonry so open to manipulation. As Tobias Churton states in his book "The Gnostics", also an excellent British TV series:
"Discovered in Hungary among the archives of the Festetics family in 1893 was a document entitled Aureum Vellus seu Fratrum Rosae Crucis (1761). It shows a hierarchical system founded in 1757, influenced by Freemasonry and linked with the same. It outlined the nine grades of Junior, Theoreticus, Practicus, Philosophus, Adeptus Exemptus, Magister, and Magus. These grades were to form the basis of grade systems of Masonic or quasi-Masonic Rosicrucian systems which have continued to the present day. The system presented inherent problems which have beset such organizations ever since - the greatest problem being that of Authority. All goes well until there is a scandal or a dispute about the direction of the Order. At such time, the Superiors are sought - always in vain - when, frequently, a mystagogue appears who claims that he or she has opened a direct line to the new archon (and may therefore be demonic) and is to be obeyed thereon."
