This may sound like an odd question, but I was wondering if anyone knows if Tony Corinda was a freemason?
13 Steps to Mentalism
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On one hand I have my doubts on that but there are a handful of older guys that knew Tony such as Mark Lewis and I believe Alan Tipton that may be able to shine a brighter light on that question.
On the other hand, given the era Tony grew-up in, etc. it may very well be that he was a Free Mason. The post war years shined a rather favorable light on them because of how much they gave aid to countless communities as well as assisting in getting national economies up and moving (and no, not because of some covert Satanic plan... just logic and the philanthropic spirit they've always had when it comes to helping their respective communities, grow via commerce).
Based on the more honorable light and the positive sense of popularity such fraternities came to know following the war, it's quite possible he and others of note, belonged... but that's just my thinking out loud.
On the other hand, given the era Tony grew-up in, etc. it may very well be that he was a Free Mason. The post war years shined a rather favorable light on them because of how much they gave aid to countless communities as well as assisting in getting national economies up and moving (and no, not because of some covert Satanic plan... just logic and the philanthropic spirit they've always had when it comes to helping their respective communities, grow via commerce).
Based on the more honorable light and the positive sense of popularity such fraternities came to know following the war, it's quite possible he and others of note, belonged... but that's just my thinking out loud.
I actually met Mark but I've never heard of Alan though I will look him up. Do you think it really had to do with the era though? I mean there are supposed to be around 6 million freemasons today, and I did read that Lance Burton among other modern magicians are supposed to be freemasons as well. I really just stumbled upon this information; I was researching something not related at all and started down this road of research of famous freemasons; my research actually started with Walt Disney oddly enough.
Come now are you people telling me you have no idea what I'm talking about? Surely someone here has an opinion or knows something about this subject.
I'm curious as to why it is so important to you?
Yes, many magicians through the years were part of the Masons, including Harry Kellar and Howard Thurston... I believe Blackstone, Sr and Dante were also members. But Doug Henning wasn't nor dozens of other successful performers/designers that are out there.
But yes, the era has a lot to do with it. People from the late 1800's and early 1900s were part of a cultural revolution in which things esoteric, pseudo-intellectual and of course "secret societies" were all the rage; just about everyone belonged to some facet of Free Masonry/Templar ideology or something akin to the Rosicrucians. There were even revivals (supposedly) of various Egyptian and Greek cults, the Theosophical Society and far more other movements, more than I can count. All basically there because of social & cultural influences of the day, much of which can be seen in the architecture of the times; the Egyptian (primarily) motifs found in Art Deco and Grecian elements seen in Art Nouveau.
During the 20's and into the early 40s we found another wave of anti-Masonry put out through religious fanaticism, which drove the fellowship a bit more underground for a very short period. As stated, Free Masonry and similar groups came back into vogue following the war and the need to rebuild as well as expand various aspects of society in which the Western European idea was prevalent (just look around at what nations saw a boom in way of growth between 1948 and roughly 1968); just as the Masonic groups gave impetus to the Industrial age so we see their hand at the start of the Nuclear Age.
As early as 1972-73 a new religious zealot movement began with more "warnings" against Free Masonry, but the more escalated actions didn't come into vogue until the mid-1980s to "present". Unlike previous fear mongering by christian zealots however, the new expressions of paranoia resulted in a boost to Masonic memberships and growth in secret society culture. The size of such groups in today's world is substantial, placing the Masons back on the forefront (quietly) of the Information Age and it's growth.
In all the years I've studied this particular area (along with Grail lore, sacred blood lines, etc.) I've never found a single reason to view them as evil, sinister or in league with any kind of demonic force (quite the contrary). In most every instance I've seen the masons supportive of society, humanity and the general welfare thereof, only to have the church slap them in the face with a myriad of slanders and false witnessing of the likes to make one's head spin (seems they hate competition).
So I must say again, "Why is such association so important for you to know?"
Yes, many magicians through the years were part of the Masons, including Harry Kellar and Howard Thurston... I believe Blackstone, Sr and Dante were also members. But Doug Henning wasn't nor dozens of other successful performers/designers that are out there.
But yes, the era has a lot to do with it. People from the late 1800's and early 1900s were part of a cultural revolution in which things esoteric, pseudo-intellectual and of course "secret societies" were all the rage; just about everyone belonged to some facet of Free Masonry/Templar ideology or something akin to the Rosicrucians. There were even revivals (supposedly) of various Egyptian and Greek cults, the Theosophical Society and far more other movements, more than I can count. All basically there because of social & cultural influences of the day, much of which can be seen in the architecture of the times; the Egyptian (primarily) motifs found in Art Deco and Grecian elements seen in Art Nouveau.
During the 20's and into the early 40s we found another wave of anti-Masonry put out through religious fanaticism, which drove the fellowship a bit more underground for a very short period. As stated, Free Masonry and similar groups came back into vogue following the war and the need to rebuild as well as expand various aspects of society in which the Western European idea was prevalent (just look around at what nations saw a boom in way of growth between 1948 and roughly 1968); just as the Masonic groups gave impetus to the Industrial age so we see their hand at the start of the Nuclear Age.
As early as 1972-73 a new religious zealot movement began with more "warnings" against Free Masonry, but the more escalated actions didn't come into vogue until the mid-1980s to "present". Unlike previous fear mongering by christian zealots however, the new expressions of paranoia resulted in a boost to Masonic memberships and growth in secret society culture. The size of such groups in today's world is substantial, placing the Masons back on the forefront (quietly) of the Information Age and it's growth.
In all the years I've studied this particular area (along with Grail lore, sacred blood lines, etc.) I've never found a single reason to view them as evil, sinister or in league with any kind of demonic force (quite the contrary). In most every instance I've seen the masons supportive of society, humanity and the general welfare thereof, only to have the church slap them in the face with a myriad of slanders and false witnessing of the likes to make one's head spin (seems they hate competition).
So I must say again, "Why is such association so important for you to know?"
Why is it important? Well it is a brand new area of magic I was previously completely unaware of until I stumbled across the information. As I said I was looking up Walt Disney and saw that he was a 33rd degree Freemason. I did not know what that meant
and started researching the subject. I eventually came to a freemason lodge site, I don't recall which one, that discussed magicians involvement in their society through out the years. By the way you state in your post "During the 20's and into the early 40s we found another wave of anti-Masonry..." But what do you mean by another wave? I don't think you mentioned anti-Masonry before that.
I will of course start searching myself, but would you direct me to some sites that go over the time period you mention when it became all the rage in the 1800s and the 1900s? I thank you very much for the history but it sounds like you are defending Free Masonry while belittling Christianity at the same time. I mean come one you are using terms "zealots," "paranoia," "false witnessing," 'slander," and "fearmongering" to describe Christians? Seems like a bit of a double standard as you describe the history. I also do not see why you need to write in a defending tone when I was not accusing Free Masonry of anything negative in my thread; I merely asked a few questions in regards to Tony Corinda and his possible connection to this society.
I myself am a Christian and I want you to know that I do not take offense to your description of Christians in your response; I just do not understand why you took a defensive position when all I am trying to do is gain information about the subject. What triggered my inquiry was when I read that the number 13 has meaning to Freemasons.
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Free Masonry is what most agree to be the “new face” of the original Knights Templar fellowship which came into existence shortly after the betrayal of the Knights by King Philip the fair and his puppet Pope (he had three popes murdered in order to get “the right one” on the throne). Their goal was to get their hands on the Templar treasure and in order to accomplish this; they created a propaganda ministry that demonized the Templars. Many were murdered on the eve of Friday, October 13, 1307 when the coo was initiated; a sort of “hunting season” opened up with many Templar’s being murdered in the torture chambers of the local Inquisitor and/or local governors, each of whom managed to get a cut of the wealth known to these individuals, including land holding and Nobel titles in some cases. Either way, it was a bloody and duplicitous era of events.
Free Masonry began in Scotland which is where many of the surviving Templars seem to have ended up both, prior to and after the aforementioned onslaught. This is where you will find what is known as the Scottish Rite or Order of the fellowship. Soon, other chapters rose up, especially in “the colonies” (America) where you will find noted leaders with names like Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, etc. both, as officers within the order as well as patriots and founding figures to a Masonic Vision – The United States of America. Not the “Christian” nation most believe, but rather a nation built upon Masonic ideas, one of which centers on the belief in a supreme being but not necessarily the God of biblical fame… at least, not in the way the majority of folks understand such things.
It is this latter element that resulted in acts of personal distrust and attack of the Masons by certain charismatic preachers and evangelists in the late 1700’s and again in around the Civil War era and onward. The propaganda is ALWAYS initiated and spurred on by religious fanatics.
Hopefully what I said in the previous explains a bit about the more “anti-Christian” view when it comes to this situation. Sadly, these same types of people are responsible for painting the whole of Christianity as an evil, vile and duplicitous thing – a cult of hypocrisy that want’s everyone to live in a manner that its own patrons cannot adhere to; instigators who willingly break the laws of Moses as well as the teachings of Jesus himself, by spreading malicious gossip (false witness) towards others for the sake of creating division within society.
I will admit a bit of personal animosity towards all aspects of organized religion in that I’ve been a victim of their prejudice and hate filled venom because of my own spiritual views as well as sexuality issues. But that doesn’t change the fact that an ass is still an ass by any other name…
RESOURCES?
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Masonry
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Freemasonry
- http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/thomas_paine/origin_free-masonry.html
- http://www.msana.com/historyfm.asp
Here’s one of the fanatical “anti-mason” groups
Also look into related groups like;
The Rosicrucian Order, AMORC
- http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/rhr/index.htm
- http://www.rosicrucian.org/about/mastery/mastery08history.html
Knights of Columbus are a Mason based group w/religious overtones.
Craig thank you very much for all the resources and history. Like I said I am new to this information and find it quite interesting to study. I do not yet know if I will have opinions in a positive or negative way until I have studied enough myself including whatever books I can find. Though I understand your feelings about Christians or other people expecting others to live a certain way that they do not, I would say that most people who follow a religion in or work in a certain trade do so in a mediocre way. Of course when you are claiming to be religious this takes on more meaning. Even the Bible states that many are called but few are chosen; in fact there are multiple verses where it discusses how most so called Christians will be rejected by God on judgment day. Many of the New Testament books are actually letters to various churches telling them to stop distorting God's word by having their own traditions and ways of doing things. This was a problem then and it is a problem now. As far as myself, I have gone through a lot of changes in my life. I started really thinking about certain things I have done or do and whether I should be doing these things as a Christian; I don't even know if I will continue practicing card magic which is what my main area is in magic. I do not think that it is right when Christians are hateful of others which I see a lot of, and this is not what Jesus taught. However, I do agree that I cannot be accepting of others beliefs or call such my brothers and sisters. That does not mean that I avoid people at all it just means that we will not be close friends. Jesus was known for preaching to all people and defending prostitutes and others; he did not hate or look down on anyone he just hates the sin. I also do not look down on anyone and I acknowledge that I am a sinner as well; the difference though is that when a Christian understands something he does is sinful he must stop doing that action; it is always a struggle, but personally speaking I have been able to give up various things due to the grace of God. Of course I never stop making mistakes though. According to the Bible all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. From what I understand my job is to be the best example I can of how Christ says we all should live and not to be hateful or intentionally make others feel bad about how they live their lives. I do not know how much understanding you have of Christians other than first hand encounters, but I hope I have shown you some of the psychology of a true Christian as I understand we are to be. Thank you again for the links I will be busy for a while.
I appreciate you passion when it comes to your faith but do understand that I am an ordained minister (believe it or not) and have degrees in religion/religious history, so I know a little bit about things... especially when we add in the fact that my family has had ministers in it of one sort or another for at least 3 generations that I'm aware of; most of them faith healers and other such operators along with a handful of Spiritualists and a snake charmer or two. (Mega Holy Rollers, if you would).
My contention stems from the actions and efforts of today's Christian Right trying to force everyone in this nation to live in accordance to what they think is right & wrong... forgetting that our ancestors came here to get away from a Theocratic environment such as they are now trying to create vs. a define separation of church & state. Sorry but NO ONE has the right to tell me how to live my life; so long as I bring no harm or deliberate loss to others and strive to live a good life in all ways -- one based on love, forgiveness, acceptance and wisdom -- then I am not a threat to anyone or anybody e.g. it's time to stop gushing out all the lies, promoting fear, and taking actions that encourage social division... it's time for Christianity, Islam and Judaism to GROW UP and stop with their pettiness OR for the masses to simply put them all in their place...
... John Lennon my of had something on that front...
My contention stems from the actions and efforts of today's Christian Right trying to force everyone in this nation to live in accordance to what they think is right & wrong... forgetting that our ancestors came here to get away from a Theocratic environment such as they are now trying to create vs. a define separation of church & state. Sorry but NO ONE has the right to tell me how to live my life; so long as I bring no harm or deliberate loss to others and strive to live a good life in all ways -- one based on love, forgiveness, acceptance and wisdom -- then I am not a threat to anyone or anybody e.g. it's time to stop gushing out all the lies, promoting fear, and taking actions that encourage social division... it's time for Christianity, Islam and Judaism to GROW UP and stop with their pettiness OR for the masses to simply put them all in their place...
... John Lennon my of had something on that front...