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I have often felt that ideas have a life of their own and when the time comes for them, they will present themselves to as many people as possible, to see where they can take root. Well, not only have others given this idea serious thought, but there's a site which is assisting exactly that, and has been doing so since at least 2008. What is more, much to my pleasure, it seems that we Celts are ahead of the times and leading the way in Freemasonry yet again. The group is founded in Breizh, (Brittany or Bretagne to you philistines).
La Fédération des Loges Libres et Souveraines is modeled upon a similar idea to those which inspired the creation of Clipsas and La Confederación Masónica Interamericana. The difference here is that while CLIPSAS is an organization for obediences who received their charters from The GOdF, and CMI is based upon a common geo-political origin, the motivation for La Fédération des Loges Libres et Souveraines is a resource dedicated to promoting lodges which are not associated with, nor wish to become part of any obedience. While I can hear the same old tired comments issuing from certain quarters, this is indeed an idea whose time has come. I predict we will see lodges in the US coordination with this organization or others like it and it will doubtlessly inspire the creation of new independent lodges here in the US and elsewhere.
Below I provide a free translation of the first post on their blog in June of 2008:
DO NOT CONFUSE THE ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM WITH FRATERNAL INITIATION
Hello to all.
The first article of this blog will be
dedicated to an ambiguity that literally plagues Masonic recruitment:
I refer to the confusion which is made by
the media between the Lodge (sacred space-time, or is exempted
initiatory education) and the obedience (it's structural organization whose role is to collect contributions and manage property assets).
The source of this confusion is very
easy to understand: just look to the high-sounding titles and how the members of the boards of these organizations are dressed to understand how
impressionable outsiders can be deceived by our words: We do not say, for example, "Chairman
of a Federation of Lodges" but "Grand Master of Symbolic Sovereign Power" ...
I am not decrying this aspect of masonic administration for its being a bit exotic, but I want to
emphasize it from the outset because it is the cause of many
misunderstandings and even many disappointments.
The problem is that things are
distorted from the start:
Initiation is a process that has come down
through the ages to us, which is primarily designed to put the individual
in touch with their inner nature, to help overcome ancestral
fears. It acts in the introspective mode so it presupposes a
sidelining of the world (this is the role of the Lodge, and also that
of the famous Secret).
But what does the seeker who knocks at the door of the Temple see? A structured masonry on the model of secular
societies, a storefront, local silkscreens such as one might encounter at supermarkets,
officials also easily identifiable, wearing in magazines, when it's
not in the street, elements of Masonic decorations that their
elders had the decency not to show off in public because they
represented for them the sacred symbols of their spiritual quest.
That is why after twenty years of obediential masonry I decided to leave this artificial world where
everything aims at inflating the human ego although the initiatory approach is
supposedly about controlling the ego.
And to my surprise, I found that I was far
from alone in this case: I had no trouble finding Brothers and
Sisters to constitute Independent Lodges, even better, thanks to the
internet, I've discovered that this type of Lodge was relatively widespread.
Hence the idea of this blog,
intended to offer our Lay Friends another vision of the Masonic Order which may be more relevant to the purpose of their personal research. Hope to see you on the Web.
"BREIZH."
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