An absolutely central aspect of the internet is that it gives each of us the ability to express our opinions and experiences in an open forum. There are no publishers who have to be impressed, no magazine editors who need to like your work, all of us are capable of putting our thoughts and ideas out for the world to see. As you will likely already be aware, there are many Freemasons around the globe who have embraced this idea through the creation of personal or group blogs; and with today's post I will be looking at a number of these sites to bring your attention to the best Masonic blogs that the internet has to offer.
Before we begin our run through, I should explain that I will likely overlook some of the blogs that you may have enjoyed in the past (or, possibly, wrote yourself!). I had a few criteria in mind when making the selections which included things such as post frequency, original content and quality of design. I weighed up mostly these criteria to make the final selection of four blogs to highlight, so I'm very sorry if your favourite (or personal) blog wasn't selected!
Finally, I overlooked all blogs that had not been updated in the past three months. Unfortunately, there are many high-quality Masonic blogs that just aren't updated any longer (even this site would have almost suffered that cut!) and so I decided not to include them and instead promote those that are still going strong.
So, without further ado, here are four top-quality Masonic blogs (besides this one...):
Freemason InformationFreemason Information contains the blogs of a number of brethren that have brought their personal Masonic blogs together under the banner of a single site. Even when just focusing on the blog aspect of Freemason Information, you are looking at substantial updates on an almost daily basis. and not only are the blogs on Freemason Information updated regularly, but they are usually posts of a very high standard and with rigorous research put behind them. To be honest, if they hadn't brought their blogs together, it is likely that most of this list would have consisted of blogs now part of Freemason Information! If you haven't already done so, bookmark Freemason Information as one of the leading websites of the Freemasonry 2.0 vanguard.
Freemasons for DummiesWe move now from a site with modern design and a collective mentality, to an old-school looking Blogger blog run by an individual. The lack of pretty aesthetic and multiple authors shouldn't put you off though, because this blog comes from the mind of Bro. Christopher Hodapp - the author of Freemasons for Dummies and various other books on the Masonic theme. Chris writes about Freemasonry for a living, and whatever you may think about his books and appearances his blog is regularly updated with interesting and insightful material that comes from an American perspective.
Because of his publishing efforts, his posts do often revolve around people such as Dan Brown and he does his fair share of jumping on that marketing bandwagon; but one cannot blame a brother for throwing their hat into a very chaotic ring. For every post about 'decoding the lost symbol' or other such targeted information, there are great posts about local masonic halls or updates from jurisdictions around the globe. For an individual, the regularity of his posts is also unsurpassed as far as I can see - a valiant effort and one that deserves to be commended.
Pillars of the PorticoThis next blog is one that is attached to The Sanctum Sanctorum Education Foundation, and I have included it mainly because of its focus on the symbolism of Freemasonry and its relationship to the more esoteric traditions through history. Although not updated as regularly as the previous blogs, there are few other Masonic blogs that look at the esoteric side of Freemasonry in such detail.
Kabbalah and Alchemy seem to be the most favoured topics, but there are entries on Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism and other forms of esoteric knowledge. For the Mason who wishes to delve beyond the surface level of our ceremony and words, this offers some very interesting starting points that will undoubtedly pique your interest and make you want to continue your exploration of esoteric Freemasonry.
The Millennial FreemasonThis blog is of a much more personal tone than the three I have previously mentioned here, and as such represents the older style of blog as personal diary. This isn't to downplay how interesting a read it is though, and it is nice to see Freemasonry through the day to day eyes of somebody living and breathing it. Too often we write about the symbolism, ritual and history of Freemasonry (21st Century Freemason guilty as charged!) whilst overlooking the very real and central social component that it embodies so well.
There are quite a few Masonic blogs out there that focus on the individual lives of their author, but this one is among the best I have seen - thanks in no small part to all the wonderfully cheerful photos! A great Masonic lifestyle blog, and one that I highly recommend.
Conclusion
So there you have it, four Masonic blogs that are active and well worth your time. Of course, even though these four blogs are the ones that I chose in particular that doesn't mean that they are the only ones out there in the Masonic blogosphere. Unfortunately, many Masonic blogs fall into abandonment - lining the internet ghost towns with their stories of years gone by. Some of these older blogs are well worth a read anyway, so I would suggest that you don't completely ignore a blog just because it lies dormant. Freemasonry is a timeless topic, and if we're talking about posts from only one or two years ago then there is a lot of relevant and insightful information to be gained and it is a good thing that they do not disappear from our reach altogether.
If you know of any currently active blogs that I've overlooked, or you would like to link to your own efforts, please do let us know in the comments below. There are way too many to cover in an article such as this, so I would like to encourage you to let us know about any others by answering the question: what are your favourite Masonic blogs?
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