Are Mormons Freemasons in Disguise?

[VERN in IL]

My journey out of Mormonism began with the Mormon Temple. One night my husband was watching a documentary on Freemasonry and noticed how similar their temple rites where to those we participated in, in the Mormon Temple. At this point of my Mormon experience I had doubts off and on about the validity of Joseph Smith’s claims yet never deviled into any serious research. I was simply content in my ignorance, as I trusted in the words of the church leaders to quiet my concerns.


Instead of letting my husband’s discovery slip by like I did with so many doubts before I decided to check out his findings to see if there was any cause for concern beginning with the Mormon Temple. The Mormons are very ritualistic and symbolic when it comes to any of their religious ceremonies; everything has to be just right and done in a certain way to the point of being repeated until it’s done correctly.

You see this in their most basic rituals such the “sacrament” and “baptismal” ceremonies. In the sacrament ceremony if a priesthood holder misspeaks during the sacramental prayer he must start the prayer from the beginning. The baptismal ceremony is no different, the individual must be fully immersed in the water, if a piece of clothing, hair or a leg comes to the surface the individual is dunked again, if the priesthood holder performing the baptism flubs up the words the individual needs to be dunked again. When I was baptized into the Mormon Church I was dunked three times because I wasn’t fully immersed, or my Bishop misspoke the words he was suppose to say.

Their temple ceremonies are no different each handshake, sign and companying phrase must be spoken and delivered correctly. During the endowment ceremony each temple patron has a “packet” that contains articles of clothing they are to put on during the ceremony. The clothing has special meaning to the Mormon to the point of being buried in their temple clothing.

The Endowment Ceremony

The endowment ceremony is where the Mormons dress in their full temple clothing. Upon entering the temple, and before they can begin their endowment session each Mormon must remove their “street clothes” and dress in their temple clothing as a way of leaving behind the outside world, and entering God’s presence. Females dress in a white dress, slip, the sacred undergarment, knee-high hoes, and slippers. The Males dress in a white button-down shirt, tie, belt, and pants, along with the sacred undergarments. The reason for dressing in all white references purity, and since everyone is dressed the same there is a feeling of equality among the people.

It should be noted that those who are attending the temple for the first time will receive the “sacred undergarment” prior to dressing in their temple clothes, in a ceremony known as “the Initiatory”. Those who have been through the ceremony before will already have their undergarments.

(Women’s Temple Dress)

All Temple clothing including the dress, slip, slippers, white knee high hose (for women) and white shirt, pants, shoes

socks, slippers (for men) and the accessories which include:

green apron

sash

veil (for women)

hat (for men)

robe



These can be rented for a small fee or purchased in the temple. The green apron, sash, hat or veil and robe are all enclosed in a white cloth envelope.



After the Mormon dresses in their temple clothing they take their envelope containing the contents I mentioned above and head to the endowment room. While in the endowment room the Mormon watches a film that depicts the creation and fall of Adam and Eve from the churches point of view. During the film the participants will also learn the significance of their temple clothing.


Endowment Room in the Mormon Temple

Green Apron

The first accessory they put on during the ceremony is their apron, which looks like this:


As you can see the apron has what looks like leaves on the front. The Mormon learns during the ceremony that this represents the fig leaves Adam and Eve made in the garden after they yielded to Satan’s temptation. According to the temple film after they realized what they had done Satan tells Adam and Eve to take some figs leaves and make aprons to cover their nakedness, at this time the audience is then told to put on their aprons.



(As I look back on it now I wonder why we were commanded to obey Satan, and why have Mormons never made that connection?)



“Sacred” Undergarments

After the Mormon puts on their apron they are told the undergarments they have on represent the “coat of skins” God made for Adam and Eve upon leaving the garden. Another question which comes to mind is why the Mormons would wear the green apron which represents the fall over top of the garments which represents what God gave Adam and Eve prior to being exiled from the garden.

Another thing I think about is why they need to wear the apron when they are wearing their temple garments.



As a Mormon I was taught that the garments would serve as a protection for me, as long as I was worthy to wear them.

This is one example of the counsel I received from my church leaders about the significance of my undergarments:

“The promise of protection and blessings is conditional upon worthiness and faithfulness in keeping the covenant. Members of the Church wear the garment as a reminder of the scared covenants they have made with the Lord and also as a protection against temptation and evil. How it is worn is an outward expression of an inward commitment to follow the Savior.” (Letter for the First Presidency, October 10, 1988)



Markings on the garments:

The Mormon undergarments have some very distinctive markings on them below are the markings on the top portion of the garments.

Left Breast Mark, Right Breast Mark, and Naval Mark




When the garments became worn out I was instructed to cut out the markings and burn them before discarding the rest of the material. Considering after the markings are removed the garment material can be used as a rag or tossed in the trash one has to wonder if they believe the “power” of their protection lies within the markings, and not the garment itself.

In my investigation into the Mormon Temple Ceremony I learned that Joseph Smith was a Freemason. After learning this it wasn’t hard to surmise that he had appropriated what he learned in the Masonic ceremony, and then drafted the first Mormon Endowment ceremony. I say first draft because the ceremony has undergone many changes from when it was first instated by Smith until present day. Most Mormons are unaware of or not really care about Smith’s involved in Masonry, either way it’s still strong component in the core principles of their church, and most of them wear it every day of their lives.

The “square” and “compass” markings found on the top portion of their undergarments are Masonic in nature. I’ve found there’s very little “official” doctrine which would give us insight into the meaning behind the symbols; most Mormon references only say the markings have a “sacred” significance. However the temple ceremony does give us some clues as the meanings behind markings.

After the temple film is finished the patrons are instructed to proceed to the veil. The veil is a white curtain that goes from floor to ceiling; cut into the veil are the same markings found on the undergarments. According to the transcript from the endowment ceremony the meaning behind the symbols are as follows:

The mark on the right is the square, and it suggests to the mind exactness and honor in keeping the covenants.

The mark on the left is the compass, and it suggests to the mind an undeviating course leading to eternal life.

The naval mark suggests to the mind the need of constant nourishment to the body and spirit.

The knee mark suggests every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ.

In Mormonism’s Temple of Doom we read:

“The placing of magick talismans in underwear is common in witchcraft.” (William J. Schnoebelen/James R. Spencer, Mormonism’s Temple of Doom, 1987, pp. 13-14)

I wonder if the Mormons have ever really thought about the association between the occult and the symbols on their undergarments. Non-Mormons have jokingly called the undergarments, “magic underwear”. It sounds like they aren’t too far from the truth; even Mormons themselves believe they offer a protection from injury, temptation and sin. As I stated earlier it’s the markings the Mormons find scared not the cloth or design itself.

Anyone know the origin of those markings? I would like to do some research on this story and the history of these mystery markings.

[Pops2]

as a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints who has gone through the temple rites, I can tell you that this person is lying. based on their description of the cloths & the ceremonies they have obviously never been through the temple.
second Joseph Smith was not a mason when the mason hall was opened in Navoo IL. he was inducted into the masonic order at the time. attendance records indicate he almost never attended meetings except to see the induction of other new members.

[Allen W]

Quit a ramble Free Masonary, the Morman church, all the way to witch craft and the occult. The op doesn't know any thing about Masonry either.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by Pops2

as a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints who has gone through the temple rites, I can tell you that this person is lying. based on their description of the cloths & the ceremonies they have obviously never been through the temple.
second Joseph Smith was not a mason when the mason hall was opened in Navoo IL. he was inducted into the masonic order at the time. attendance records indicate he almost never attended meetings except to see the induction of other new members.

You got that right.
i am not LDS. But while living in AZ. I lived for 9 years with a LDS family, they were the nicest family I have ever met, and still remain friends to this day, even after 15 years after I moved back to WI.
Even went to Church a few times with them. I wanted to hear them sing.
Although I do have LDS people in my family background.
There is a small town just South East of Mesa, AZ, named Higley. Higley, AZ.
Those that settled Higley were LDS.
My last name is the same as that town.

[naturelover]

Originally Posted by VERN in IL

Anyone know the origin of those markings? I would like to do some research on this story and the history of these mystery markings.

Do you have a link for that quote?

.

[deaconjim]

To answer your question...

Some Mormons probably are Masons, but they would hardly be "in disguise".
The Mormon Church is most definitely not part of Freemasonry, although it is possible that Joseph Smith might have borrowed some elements of his ceremonies from the Masons.

Whatever the case, I doubt the author of this article knows enough about either organization to make any kind of authoritative comparison of the two.

[mnn2501]

To the O.P.
Sorry, no other way to put it: Perhaps you should do some honest research yourself before posting a load of carp like that.

[bluesky]

The endowment ceremony is heavily derived from Masonic sources and in my personal experience is accurately described in the OP.

[snoozy]

Who cares? If there were elements of Masonry in their religion, why is that something to be disguised? Are freemasons a criminal gang?

[chickenslayer]

What's the matter with you? You're not supposed to talk about it in public, now everyone knows

[mekasmom]

Actually I have heard some fundamentalist Christians teaching the same type thing about Mormon/Mason similarities. I don't really know anything about either, but the teaching is a bit common in some fundamentalist circles. It's kind of like that saying "looking for demons on doorknobs" when people look for the bad in anything that is different than they are.
Brother Hagin use to tell everyone " Don't go looking for demons on doorknobs" meaning not to be so busy looking for the speck in someone else's eye you miss the beam in your own.

[thequeensblessing]

Yes, there are many, many "ex-mormon" letters, exposes, blogs, and confessionals all over the internet. Most of them read similar to this one, having just enough fact tossed into the mix along with the many falsehoods, and being directed at non-members, obviously, (who wouldn't know the fact from fiction) that they could likely all be written by the same person. This "letter" or expose, or whatever it's supposed to be, isn't worth refuting.
As an endowed member of the Church who has been through various temples all around the nation, I can safely say that this person has a very warped slant on what goes on in the temple and if they truly ever went through the temple, they only did so once, or went through so long before having written this that they forgot what really happened and just made up stuff to fill in the blanks.
This very posting smacks of an attempt at expose, so I won't deem it worthy to go into something I consider sacred in light of that (casting pearls before swine and all that...) but I will say that we don't think our underwear is "magic" or holds any "magical properties". That's just stuff and nonsense that no rational person believes. We do view it as symbolically the "Armor of God", reminding us of covenants we've made, the Word of Wisdom, etc. If we truly believed they held some magic powers to keep us safe and protected from physical harm, then wouldn't all worthy mormons who wore their garments faithfully be practically immortal?
What drivel!

[bluesky]

Originally Posted by thequeensblessing

Yes, there are many, many "ex-mormon" letters, exposes, blogs, and confessionals all over the internet. Most of them read similar to this one, having just enough fact tossed into the mix along with the many falsehoods, and being directed at non-members, obviously, (who wouldn't know the fact from fiction) that they could likely all be written by the same person. This "letter" or expose, or whatever it's supposed to be, isn't worth refuting.
As an endowed member of the Church who has been through various temples all around the nation, I can safely say that this person has a very warped slant on what goes on in the temple and if they truly ever went through the temple, they only did so once, or went through so long before having written this that they forgot what really happened and just made up stuff to fill in the blanks.

As an endowed ex-Mormon with a pretty darned good memory I think it's an accurate description, although limited, of what happens in the temple. Please point out the "falsehoods" in the above description.

I've never know any LDS who believed that their temple garments were magical. Sacred and significant, yes - but magical, no.

[arabian knight]

Whats the big deal IF they are or not, or just a little??
Many signers of the Declaration of Independence were Masons~!!!!!
This should not be a consideration for condemning anybody.

[thequeensblessing]

Originally Posted by bluesky

As an endowed ex-Mormon with a pretty darned good memory I think it's an accurate description, although limited, of what happens in the temple. Please point out the "falsehoods" in the above description.

There are quite a few, ranging from tiny, to much larger.
To begin with, the sacrament prayer DOES NOT have to said exactly correctly, to a word, or it must be repeated. It's totally at the discretion of the bishop and rather minor errors or omissions can, and often are, overlooked. Anything glaring or a large ommission would certainly need to be remedied however. Second, we don't remove our street clothes upon entering the temple as an effort to "leave the outside world behind", but to, again, put upon ourselves the armor of God, to unify ourselves as a body of saints and to put on our bodies a symbol of purity and holiness, which is white. Also, depending on what ordinance you are performing in the temple (baptisms, endowments, sealings, etc.) you don't necessarily wear the same things. But we don't make any effort to blot out the outside world. We don't necessarily even think about the outside world because the inside of the temples are so breathtakingly beautiful, but we are taught principles to take with us into the "outside world" as she called it. Another small, but equally important note is that very, very few temples rent temple clothing. Only a handful of them, perhaps the largest ones. Most do not. I've never been to a temple that sold temple clothing, or anything else, inside the temple...never.
As for the more glaring error, the main one, which is an error in thinking or of putting "facts" together, I'll explain this way. Joseph Smith joined the Masons in Nauvoo, well after the Kirtland temple had been built. The initiatory portion of the temple ordinances was already being practiced in Kirtland, before Joseph had any personal knowledge of anything Masonic in nature. And as far as similarities between the Masonic temple rites and the Mormon temple ordinances or any symbolic similiarities, I can only say that Mormons wear their sacred undergarments all the time, in and out of the temple. I don't know of any Mason who wears his masonic garb out on the streets. Mormon temple goers also don't use, heft, hold, or fondle any physical compass and/or square as the Masons do. The symbols may well have been "borrowed" from the Masons, but they hold entirely different meanings today, similar to the way the cross of mainstream christians has little to do with the ugly means of exectution it stood for in it's day. Today it is a beloved and revered symbol of the Savior.
To quote a well-respect Mormon and Mason, "the two are not mutually exclusive or inclusive. The simple fact is that no one ever received their endowment in a Masonic lodge and no one has ever been made a Mason in an LDS temple."

[mekasmom]

Originally Posted by thequeensblessing

To quote a well-respect Mormon and Mason, "the two are not mutually exclusive or inclusive. The simple fact is that no one ever received their endowment in a Masonic lodge and no one has ever been made a Mason in an LDS temple."

Please don't be offended by this question...
Has it ever been stated to you, or is it stated in Mormon services that the symbols go back to Nimrod and the building of the original temple he built?

I ask because this what fundamentalists teaching say about the masonry symbols and their original meaning. So, because I am not Mormon, I am curious if that is what is told to you or not?

[thequeensblessing]

Originally Posted by mekasmom

Please don't be offended by this question...
Has it ever been stated to you, or is it stated in Mormon services that the symbols go back to Nimrod and the building of the original temple he built?

I ask because this what fundamentalists teaching say about the masonry symbols and their original meaning. So, because I am not Mormon, I am curious if that is what is told to you or not?

This theory has been floating about for a long time, however, I don't believe the church actually supports this idea. I'm relatively sure they do not.

this site explains a little better, or more succinctly than I could.
http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/r...le_masonry.htm

[Cornhusker]

Seems like a lot more than usual anti-Mormon stuff floating around lately.
Probably doesn't have anything to do with Romney running for president?

[deaconjim]

I know that what most uninformed people say about Freemasonry is totally off base, so I can only assume the same thing goes for Mormonism.

[VERN in IL]

Originally Posted by naturelover

Do you have a link for that quote?

.

http://lifeafterministry.wordpress.c...other-rituals/

I found out about the Mormon clothing while at the LDS web site looking at their pantry food offerings...

You can see the marks the article criticizes down that page, lots of PICTURES.

Originally Posted by Cornhusker

Seems like a lot more than usual anti-Mormon stuff floating around lately.
Probably doesn't have anything to do with Romney running for president?

The Great White Horse Prophecy must be fulfilled.