Northern Lights District AF&AM of Montana

10/22/2026

Today’s Whispered Secret- fake Masonry on the internet.

There are a LOT of Masonic pages on Facebook, many of them with honest and true Brothers behind them. They share their lodge events, ongoings, accolades, and other fun features, like fun facts about the Craft, or whatever else you can think of.

But as we know with anything, there are always bad apples to spoil the barrel, and the same is true for “masonic” pages. Almost all of these pages claim to be masonic, and can be extremely convincing to all sorts of people, even Brothers who have been in the Craft for 30, 40, or 50 years or more. This is compounded by the fact that Masonry is essentially the same at its core, many different regions have slight or marked differences between what they do and how they do it. The symbols, rituals, and fellowship are essentially the same, but these slight differences can give fraudulent Masonic pages a leg-up to be all the more convincing.

It’s been a while since what I’m about to say has worked because Facebook changes things up unnecessarily and far too often, but once upon a time, you could look into a page’s “About” section and through a little easy investigation, you could even find out what country the page was based out of. Back in these days when I was smart enough to have it figured out, many pages claiming to be the “Grand Lodge of Texas” or the “Grand Lodge of Massachusetts” were actually based out of African countries like Cameroon (the most common one I came across).

As with anything fraudulent, though, the convincing is only as strong as grammar and conjecture. Misspelled words, unusual or clumsy grammar, poor punctuation, and obvious “dark” imagery can often stand out as red flags. In these days of AI, it gets even harder for some, but irregularities can always help. Phraseology helps identify the fakers, too. Any mention of Illuminati, Baphomet, “Hail the Light”, or promises of wealth beyond desire are all quite obvious red flags. Generally, any mention of WhatsApp is also a signal of a fake page. Some pages may even post pictures of stacks of bills as a lure to attract attention. It goes beyond Facebook, too. Instagram is lousy with fake Masonic accounts, promising many of the same things. In many cases, they’ll share just about any image with a square and compass on it, even trying to sell fake merchandise.

So now we’ve talked about “what” and “how”, let’s address the “why”. Fake Masonic pages are often created to exploit Freemasonry’s reputation for exclusivity, influence, and hidden knowledge. Their purposes may include collecting fraudulent initiation fees, impersonating legitimate lodges or Grand Lodges, gathering personal information, or luring people into investment and other financial scams. Some potential warning signs include promises of wealth, supernatural powers, influential connections, or guaranteed success; offers of online initiation without verifiable Masonic affiliation; requests for payment to obtain membership or certificates; and pressure to communicate privately or act quickly. While legitimate Masonic organizations may maintain social media pages, they will NEVER ask you for money over Facebook, WhatsApp, or Instagram.

Not only are these pages fraudulent and often with the intent to harm legitimate Masons or others, but they are a scourge and they damage the reputation of Freemasonry altogether by their existence.

Picture Credit (used as an example) to the Pennsylvania Masons, a legitimate Masonic account run by the actual Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. You can check out their version of this same cautionary tale via this link: https://pagrandlodge.org/protect-yourself-against-fake-masonic-facebook-pages/ .

Hopefully, we won’t have this issue here in Montana!

10/18/2026

Whoops- forgot on Wednesday, probably too much fun at Glendive’s Lodge of Perfection meeting. Anyways!

Today’s Whispered Secret- esoteric Masonry isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

It can be really easy to look at any aspect of Masonry and, as a non-Mason, pass judgement of it being weird or bizarre, and assume that because someone is a Mason, they go full-bore on all of it. They agree with all explanations of any image, sign, symbol, and so on. To use the most commonly seen symbol of masonry, the famous Square and Compass with a G inside, as an example- as a kid hearing (ill-founded) rumors, I was honestly a little creeped out by it. It’s odd how time makes fools of us all- now I see it and I know it as a representation of the camaraderie and fellowship that I have with other members of our great fraternity.

Step into masonry a little further and the symbolism gets more and more intertwined. Before you know it, you’re looking at pictures of anchors and beehives and wondering what any of it has to do with bricklaying… you’ll have to join to learn more about this though. Suffice it to say, yeah, it seems weird to the uninitiated. But it’s not supposed to be weird, is the thing. None of it really is. It’s instead part of what Masonry has done since the beginning in 1717, maybe even earlier. With a good share of the population of the time unable to read, symbols were and important and concrete connection to the lessons taught in the degrees.

Now, in our debut post there was some discussion about the higher degrees of Masonry (even though, as a reminder, nothing outranks the 3rd!). And with each of these appendant bodies comes more and more in-depth and specific information relative to each aspect of those bodies. Most of us are familiar with the idea that something can have a meaning beyond what we see on the surface. A simple object can represent an important principle, like a beehive representative of industry, and a story can teach a lesson that goes well beyond its literal events. Freemasonry makes extensive use of this kind of symbolism, using familiar objects, allegories, and ceremonies to communicate lessons about morality, character, and how we ought to live.

There is a word for the deeper meanings and teachings found within a tradition like this: esoteric. In Freemasonry, the word esoteric refers to the deeper meanings and teachings found within its symbols, ceremonies, and traditions. Rather than simply presenting moral lessons as a list of rules, Freemasonry uses symbolism, allegory, and ritual to encourage its members to reflect on those lessons and apply them to their own lives. Some of these meanings and aspects of instruction are reserved for members, including certain ceremonies and modes of recognition, but their underlying purpose is to encourage personal reflection, moral development, and a deeper understanding of the Craft. While Freemasonry does have a private side, the term esoteric does not inherently imply anything sinister, conspiratorial, or supernatural. Rather, it describes the deeper moral and philosophical interpretations associated with the fraternity's teachings, including principles of character, personal responsibility, charity, fairness, and brotherhood.

You see- esoteric isn’t bad. It can be very interesting for the right people, or in the right mood. But for others, it’s just not their cup of tea.

Masonry is what you make of it, that is, what the individual brother makes of it, and the same is certainly applicable to esoterics of Masonry. You can be just content to experience the main basic concepts, or you can embrace the deeper and more introspective stuff. One brother may very well understand what the images below mean, and another (like myself) may only be able to briefly explain what little of them they know, and still another won’t be able to tell you anything at all (and no, it has nothing to do with degrees).

For example, I chose some esoteric images to include in the “cup of tea” photo below, and chose them because to me as a Freemason, I understand very little if anything about them.

Not to say they’re “weird” or “silly”, just more to say they’re, well, not my cup of tea!

We as Masons are encouraged to share our own unique perspectives, but admonished never to push our own perspectives onto others.

10/08/2026

Some of you eed to
Listen better……. Before you post🫢😵‍💫😵‍💫🤔🤔🤔

10/07/2026

Today’s Whispered Secret- what REALLY goes on inside that Lodge building.

There is a lot of speculation about what actually occurs inside a lodge during meeting nights. I think all of us have at least seen an image of the interior of a lodge room, and with the unusual scenery in most lodges you’ll find on Google, it might be hard to view it as anything other than strange.

To use myself as an example, prior to joining Masonry, I always thought the lodge rooms looked mystical and bizarre. Many of them had the characteristic checkerboard flooring which we as Masons call “the Mosaic Pavement”, a light blue or sky colored ceiling, odd chairs, an ominous-looking altar in the middle of the room, and unusual imagery around the walls.

You may have even seen videos out there, of varying degrees of accuracy, of stuff actually going on inside a lodge room. If you’re big into conspiracy theories, these videos are often posted without context, or dubbed over with other audio to make it seem like something else is happening, or otherwise manipulated to coerce you into believing there’s something sinister taking place.

You may be thinking, “how can you be so sure they’re manipulated or dubbed over?” Well, truth is I can’t say for certain that’s the case- but I can tell the difference between what some conspiracy “truth seeker” page posts and what actually goes on inside to make up the Masonry that I have literally unfettered access to.

This brings me to the other videos on the opposite end of the scale- some are presented with actual facts in mind, posted with context, nothing extra added or changed, in an attempt to accurately display some of the ongoings in a lodge. All of these videos, or most of them at least, frame a portion of lodge room antics in the context of what we in Masonry call “degreework”.

Think of degreework as a lesson taught through a ceremony rather than a classroom lecture. Members are presented with stories, symbols, questions, and challenges that are meant to teach important lessons about character and how to live a good life. They take part in the ceremony themselves, which helps make those lessons personal rather than simply something they read in a book.

The three degrees build on one another, with each introducing new ideas and deeper lessons. Much of the symbolism comes from the tools and work of ancient stonemasons, which are used to represent qualities such as honesty, self-control, fairness, and responsibility.

While some portions of the ceremonies are private to Freemasons, their overall purpose is not mysterious: degreework is a traditional way of teaching moral lessons, encouraging self-improvement, and giving members a shared experience that connects them with generations of Masons who came before them.

As for what goes down during the usual “meeting night” you may see posted in your local newspaper or the Lodge’s facebook… well, it can be a variety of things. It can be a surprise 70th birthday party for a brother, or a gourmet supper cooked by a brother who’s trying to do something nice for his Lodge, installation of officers, or just a regular ol’ business meeting. No matter what, though, Masonry’s main goal is always being accomplished- bringing good guys together for fellowship and camaraderie.

10/01/2026

Today’s (well, was supposed to be yesterday’s) Whispered Secret- Masons in Caves.

Whether we like them or not, we are fascinated by caves as humans. There’s just something so mystical about them, its hard to resist checking them out when we see one. Here in Montana, for example, in my many travels throughout the state, I look around especially in the mountains and when I see a hole in the rock face, my curiosity is piqued. How do I get there? What does it look like inside? Is it just a cave- a hole in the wall, so to speak- or is it a cavern- decorated by ornate mineral formations, like God’s handiwork done under the surface of the earth?

Of course, not everyone is like me. Many people dislike caves because it can seem to them to be a place of darkness, tight spaces, or disorientation due to darkness, or they perhaps might fear what they think is inside the cave. Is there some creepy crawly they don’t want anywhere near them? Is there a sharp drop just beyond the entrance? Or maybe, are there ghosts or something worse inside?

Of all the potential goods or bads in any cave or cavern, they’re just all-around unique places. And we as humans have a (very long) history of dealing with caves. It was these that provided us shelter in days before we knew how to build it. It was these that gave us some of our earliest canvases to draw, paint, and mark on. It was these that helped us hide from threats outside, kept us cool in the heat, warm in the cold, and much more. Humans have always had some unique call to caves.

Now, you may have seen some old photos floating around, maybe on TikTok or Facebook or whatever else, of Masons holding lodge deep down in a cave- often these posts come along with a lot of speculation on what they are doing there, why they chose a cave, and what kind of secrets they are conducting down there.

The secret we offer to you today is to shed some light on those questions- honestly. Because the brothers in those old photos didn’t choose the cave because it was hidden, underground, mysterious, or provided some dark communion with some “spirits of the underworld”- insert name here.

They probably just did it because caves are cool. Seriously. That’s it.

What then goes on down there? Well… we don’t know the exact particulars, even being Masons ourselves… not to say they’re not conducting some ultra-secret stuff, but because we just don’t know how the “cave lodge” sounds, as we really don’t do that in Montana. But based on what we can see in the photos, probably nothing different than what goes on in your local lodge building. Which, we’ll maybe touch on that sometime, but for now suffice it to say that it’s nothing all that exciting like the conspiracy theories hype it up to be.

So yes, the Masons in such photos are there probably because it’s mystical, but that’s probably all there is to it. It might look creepy and weird to you, but we say to each their own. Bottom line… we hold lodge in caves sometimes because it’s pretty darn cool. And when they’re regularly about 50°F on average year round… yeah, they are pretty darn cool.

09/23/2026

Introducing “Whispered Secrets”, a place where we divulge some Masonic secrets that are SO secret, some Masons might not even know them… although we’re starting today off easy!

Today’s Whispered Secret- the highest degree in Freemasonry.

There’s a lot of speculation outside of Freemasonry as to the truly highest degree within the order. Often times, masons who have been involved for varying lengths of time- anywhere from just starting out to 50+ years- will be told in the course of a conversation with either a non-Mason or anti-Mason regarding secrets or what Masons “actually” do, that they’re “not high enough”, implying that there are secrets reserved for degrees above the 33rd, with some people claiming there are 96 or some odd degrees. Some claim more, others may not.

We as Freemasons, in a very general sense, do not know where they got that number from.

Pop culture, when referencing freemasonry, has a little part to play in this hype as well. One that I can think of immediately comes from a common source of casual introduction to Freemasonry through movies, the second National Treasure movie. For brevity I’ll omit telling how it goes, but in a particular scene, the protagonist makes a reference to a Mason being of the “3rd Degree in the Blue Lodge”.

The truth of the matter, very simply put, is that what he said with cinematic emphasis, is the Whispered Secret for today.

No matter what you see out there, no matter what Masonic order or organization, no matter what Masonic organizational chart, no matter what conspiracy theories are out there, there is just simply no degree higher than that of the 3rd Degree- Master Mason. Sure, 33 is a bigger number- and an honorable title- but any 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason had to first become a 3rd degree Master Mason… and is always “on the level” with any other brother of the 3rd Degree. To really understand the distinction there, we must look at how the Scottish Rite relates to regular Craft Masonry, what we call in the US “Blue Lodge”.

A very wise brother and close friend of mine who lives in Bridger, Montana once illustrated it to me like this: Blue Lodge is like a 3-story building, and the Scottish Rite is like the Ikea furniture that you put on each floor. He had more to say with respect to York Rite Masonry, but this is something we can address a little later. No matter the stuff you put in the building, 33 pieces of Ikea furniture, for example, can change the fact the building only has 3 levels.

To put in other terms, the regular lodges you’ll see on any street in any town house the highest degree Masons. They might not be as opulent or grand as Scottish rite buildings or Shrine temples, but that is the simplest fact there is. I am a Master Mason, and most of the Masons you may encounter are as well- if they’re not, they’re working their way to it.

York Rite builds on the story of Masonry, but even still- it is subordinate to Blue Lodge, and no matter the accolades in either the Scottish Rite or York Rite, no brother of the highest degree in either body outranks the 3rd Degree of Master Mason- regardless of whatever anyone else says.

Tune in next week for another Whispered Secret, coming to you on Wednesday, 9/30!

09/18/2026

In order to keep this page more exciting, we’ll be introducing a new feature starting next week- something we’re calling Whispered Secrets.

In Whispered Secrets, you’ll learn some of the secrets of Freemasonry not taught in degrees, but rather, learned by individual Brothers as they improve themselves one day at a time.

Also, if you’re into TikTok, check us out over there, where another feature will be dropping on October 6th, something called “Masonic Moments”.

In this weekly series, we’ll explore anything Masonic, whether it’s a lodge tour, a museum artifact, or even a trip to a cemetery to pay respects to a departed brother who might not have anyone else to visit him… or whatever else comes to mind!

TL;DR- Whispered Secrets starts here on Facebook on Wednesday, September 23rd… and Masonic Moments on TikTok starts October 6th. Join Max Knodel, Worshipful Master of Kyle Lodge 96 in Hinsdale, and see what neat things you’ll learn!

Hey… you still here? We’re also on Instagram… give us a follow and we’ll follow you back!

One last thing- as part of a quality and accuracy assurance from us to you, both programs will contain zero AI content- that’s right, all the thoughts, images, clips, and whatever else will be thought of and made up the old fashioned way… by an actual human.
(With Brother Max’s limited knowledge in graphic design… it’ll show!)

09/16/2026

It’s about time we announced our raffle prize winners!

1st prize of a whole hog goes to Herbert Fullerton, 2nd prize of a 4 burner Blackstone grill goes to John Britzman, and the 3rd prize of a 60 quart Yeti Rolling Cooler goes to Tim Newton!

Congratulations to you winners; and thank you all for buying tickets and supporting Valley County Schools.

As for what we’ll be doing for them with that money… well, just stay tuned- announcements to be made here!

09/12/2026