There is a wealth of information about Freemasonry on the Internet. Unfortunately some of that information is neither true nor friendly to the craft. I find even the anti-Masonic sites to be entertaining and although I do not dwell on them, I think it is important to know what our distracters are thinking and saying.

 

There are full text books on the craft on the Internet so how does one go about finding these books. As simple as it sounds, a good place to start with is www.Google.com. Do not type anything in the Search Box at this time; instead click on the word “more” on the menu just above the regular Search Box. This will bring out many of the hidden gems of Google but for now just click on “Book Search”

 

If you type in the search box the words “greater lights” (but without the quote marks) Google finds 77800 pages where the words “greater” and “lights” appear on the same page which includes the Holy Bible. Although it is an impressive search, it is not what we need as there is too much information to check. Now type in the phrase “greater lights” (this time with the quote marks) and the search is narrowed to 660 pages because Google is now only searching for pages for the words “greater lights” appearing together as a phrase. From this simple phrase search we can easily see that most of the books referenced are books on Freemasonry.

 

I need to point out that Google is very efficient and it makes a difference if you would have asked for “greater light” instead of the plural “greater lights”. The singular would have gotten you with 7000 more hits than search for the plural so you would have gotten the Holy Bible again because of Genesis 1:16 God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the stars. Please keep this is mind because if you do not come up with enough information to check out, you can always expand your search by changing the forms of the words you are looking for or by removing the quote marks.

 

Click on either the book’s icon or the link “Meaning of Masonry – Page 107” and let us examine what other information can be gleamed. First of all in the right-hand column you can see the phrase “Greater Lights” appears on pages 108 and 110 as well as 107. It is interesting to note that the capitalization of the phase is different on all three pages so this is proof that the Google Search is not case sensitive.

You can actually read the text in the left-hand column (note that “greater lights” is highlighted for you). At the top of the page there are navigation buttons allowing you to read the previous or next page. If you wish to read the entire book online, click on the “Title Page” link in the right-hand column and then just start turning the pages.

 

There is a link to the “Copyright” page. This is very useful information if you are going to borrow a copy of this book from the public library through their inter-library loan service.

 

Finally, there is a “Froogle” link in the right-hand column that will try to find people selling this book both new and used.

 

Just like ritual you will need some practice making these Google Searches before it becomes second-nature. If any you need any assistance in this endeavor, please email me at webmaster@Oasis52.org and I will be glad to help you if I can.