“A remarkable new discovery by international best selling author, Philip Gardiner, has revealed that Ian Fleming based his fictional character on occult knowledge he had accumulated over the course of his life.

The new book, The Bond Code, reveals how Fleming included special etymological and numerological codes within his Bond novels to re-create ancient sacred tales of deep psychological importance. Drawing upon esoteric knowledge and an understanding of alchemy, Ian Fleming produced a work no different to the tales of the Holy Grail or dragon slaying fairy tales, within which lay the ancient understanding of human wisdom.

The author, Philip Gardiner, is an expert on esoteric philosophy and etymology and realised there was a code at play when watching the film, Live and Let Die. For two years he researched Ian Fleming and read his novels, discovering vast amounts of information previously unrealised.”

(via PRLog)

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As a gay African American man, how do you feel about allegations that the Masons have a history of racial and homophobic policies or practices?

Things vary from lodge to lodge. The city I live in has a few dozen lodges. I know that in the past, and speaking on a global level, there are lodges that have not allowed blacks, lodges that have barred Jews and lodges that have kept out Catholics.

What about gays?

I have not heard of any lodge that has a policy that does not allow gay men in.

You believe that in the past or present, there have never been lodges that discriminated against homosexuals?

I’m not saying that. But I will say that I have not heard, before or after my induction, of a lodge that openly discriminates against gays. However, my friend who is a Mason is gay, but he is not out, and feels that if did come out, that it would be a problem in his lodge. There are people being inducted in my lodge who are surprised that I am allowed in as an openly gay man.

None of that bothers you?

American society does not accept gay people or black people. But I don’t wake up every day and walk out of my home thinking about that. I don’t live my life that way.

Full Story: The Advocate.

(thanks Trevor).

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Friend, Brother, and Technoccult contributor Ben, aka Honky-Tonk Dragon, weighs in on the issue of racial seperation in Masonry:

Flawed and antiquated as it is, I love Masonry, I’ve found a lot of Light, acceptance, and friendship there. But being a radical conservative, traditionalist liberal, I found a lot of distasteful hippocracy in the split of Black and White lodges. There is a lot of concern among Masons that Masonry is dying, that young men do not see it as relevant to their lives, or even worse, that those who do see it only as a means of networking and professional advancement. I personally believe a lot of that has to do with the fact that many young men who might otherwise be drawn to an organization whose goal is the fraternal, collective pursuit of refining personal morality, are turned off by racial segregation. What is so moral about enforcing and maintaining racial segregation? Especially in an organization which claims to be egalatarian, and encourages men of all faiths, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu to come together as brothers?

Full Story: Honky-Tonk Dragon.

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Nationwide, Masonic groups operate in a separate-but-supposedly-equal system in which whites typically join one network of Masonic groups, called Grand Lodges, and blacks typically join another, called Prince Hall.

But in the South, it goes further: White-controlled Grand Lodges in 12 Southern states do not even officially recognize black Masons as their brothers - the Masonic term is “mutual recognition” - and in some cases, black lodges have taken similar stands.

Full Story: Yahoo! News.

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