Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, and so I feel the need to go just a little off-topic and wander through some of the mythology that has arisen around the founding of the United States. One of the ideas made popular by recent works of fiction is that Freemasonry played a pivotal role in the birth of the United States. I have an interest in this because my own dear ol’ dad is a Master Mason and we’ve always talked about the various Masonic symbols that crop up in everyday life - like the all-seeing eye on the dollar bill, for example. I also saw a really interesting engraving of George Washington on exhibit during a visit to the New York Public Library where our first President was shown surrounded by Masonic symbols, wearing his apron. Fascinating stuff! 

But it’s really hard for us to know in this day and age just how much of an impact Masonry had on the founders of our country. Like the mythology surrounding the Knights Templar, it’s intriguing for those of us who write fiction, but it’s a fine line between fiction and fact.

One interesting site I found stated: “Benjamin Franklin was a Freemason whose unique socializing skills included attending gatherings of the English Hell Fire Club, a secret society focused on sex, pornography and politics.” (Darn, talk of the Hell Fire Club gives me ideas! But I digress.) So, according to legend, one of our best-known founding fathers was not only a pious Freemason and serious student of the sciences, but also a bit of a bad boy. Interesting. (Thanks to the Unencyclopedia for the hilarious image.)

Now I have to admit to not having read the Da Vinci Code. Mea culpa. I figure I’ll catch the movie someday on cable. (LOL) But I did read Two Crowns for America by Katherine Kurtz a long time ago. She’s not the first, nor the last I’m sure, to intermix real history with interesting ideas that came from the writer’s imagination. I think some of the best fantasy mixes real history - or ideas from it - with fantastical ideas straight out of the imagination. Hence the success of things like the Da Vinci Code, Kurtz’s Adept series (which I love) and so many other works of fiction including the popular National Treasure movies with Nicholas Cage.

So in that spirit of mysticism and adventure, Happy Birthday America!