The Brotherhood in the City of Brotherly Love- Masonic Temple Tour in Philly

The Freemasons are a guild that have surrounded themselves with mystery on purpose than by accident. We have all heard of them, if not in medieval history books, in the books of Dan Brown. Masons have hazy origin stories, historians offering different opinions, from the Knights Templar to the workmen guilds or unions of past days. While they may have been unnaturally fond of symbols and we in the company of Robert Langdon see things that aren't there, a  thank you is due to  the Masons is for the buildings they made. The Capitol building and the Library of Congress are beautiful testimonies to the skill of Masonic architects. The emblem of the masons is the compass and the ruler, they are steeped in science and building techniques and mathematics. Philadelphia boasts of a fairly large Masonic temple on one of the large streets in the city.There used to be an ancient temple of Solomon in Philadelphia which was destroyed and this new temple was built in place.

As you can imagine, if the buildings built by the Masons are so beautiful, how beautiful the building which they meet in would be. Also they are supported in furnishing and making their buildings by a long lineage of very powerful, rich and well traveled Masons. Interesting masons include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and many other members of the Government and various divisions of military. I walked past this temple and decided to step in on an impulse. I got the tickets for the next guided tour from a very twinkly eyed gentleman who looked a little like Santa Claus. It is generally one of the members of the temple who volunteer to give these tours and we were a group of some 10-15 people from various parts of the country and the world who took the tour. We had a funny, entertaining tour guide who even offered to show the "secret treasure" hidden in the dungeon for a small fee.

The Masonic temple sprawls over two storeys above ground and I do not know how many below. Each room looks like a work of art decorated with interpretations of various cultures- Byzantine, Egyptian, Arabian and colour based rooms as well.The Byzantine Room below is decorated with the traditional murals and colors of the period with Gods and goddesses representing various virtues painted above the doorways.

Every one of the rooms curiously has a clock right opposite the Grand Maester's chair. It's positioned so that the Maester who conducts and adjourns meetings can view the clock and keep track of time without obviously appearing to do so. All others have to make do with sneaking a quick sideways glance.

The biggest challenge with exploring the Masonic temple was half the time I did not know where to look, up/down, around, all this while keeping a ear out for all the interesting stories that the guide had for us. Even the roofs and pathways of this building are so intricately designed and assembled. Most roofs in the pathways are designed to reflect the night sky and morning sky. They look startlingly different with and without lighting apparently, but it being mid day I did not see this. 

Speaking of pathways and doorways, you are never safe from the treasures of the Masonic temple. As you walk along, paintings and frescoes rivet your eyes, as do paintings of famous masons. You might bump into marble busts and statues and encounter brilliant coloured stained glass windows at the end of your stairway. At every turn, you will encounter new and brilliant works of art and architecture. A funny tribute to a famous mason lies above one of the doorways. It is the carving of a turkey. It is a little known fact that Ben Franklin recommended that the turkey be made the national bird of the United States, claiming that the alternative- the bald eagle was a cowardly bird. So the turkey though not the national bird, now presides over Masonic banquets.

The most in-ostentatious of all rooms were the Knight Templar rooms. Considering the crusades, they all rode on and all the treasure they are supposed to have collected, the room resembles a spare meeting room. Its only statement is a deep red carpet and heavy mahogany furniture lending it an air of stability and solidity. This contrasts with the beautiful oriental carvings and gold leaf with dominates the Arabian room. It looks like a room straight out of the Arabian nights. Even the grand Maester's chair, while of a classic shape in most other rooms makes an attempt at grandeur.

 The other gold gilded and ancient room here is the Egyptian room. It was one of the first rooms to be constructed. According to the stories we heard, there are a lot of anachronisms in this room. It was made when Egypt was more in people's imagination than in the reality of explorers and such. The most curious of all is the roof which has zodiac medallions embedded in a rather large sundial, bordered with compasses. The walls are covered with hieroglyphics & the central seat to kneel on is used for induction rituals and other meetings.

 That ends this rather long blog post and the tour. It started and ended with the grand library which I unfortunately do not have a picture of. This is not the half of it. These are selected rooms which are open to tours and all other rooms including subterranean pathways are open to only members and members' families. Also, what I think is a very bad move for such an ahead of times organization, they still are an all boys club and do not recognize women members or women Masonic guilds. But as long as I got to see the tour, it was pretty awesome to say the least.