My Brother's Been Invited To Join The Masons, Can anyone tell me anything about them? Options

Hey guys,
My 20 year old brother has apparently recently been approached by a member of Freemasonry, and asked if he wants to join. I know practically nothing about the group myself, aside from occasionally having heard probably the usual dark rumours. From the little reading I tried to do on the group probably close to 15 or so years ago, I did get the impression that they were Luciferians...although I wasn't able to really confirm anything definite. I apparently had a great uncle who was a member of the group, but true to form, he never said much about it.

The single main question I wanted to ask is if it's true or not that they are in fact Satanists...if they are, I'm almost certain my brother isn't going to want to join. I haven't bothered to look up info about them elsewhere on the Web, because I figured I'd get two very polarised depictions of them. One portraying them as baby eating demoniacs who perform the proverbial "unspeakable rituals with sheep and street urchins," (to quote Phil Hine) and the other portraying them as radiantly glowing beings of light and the authors of democracy; the saviours of mankind.

I know neither of the above images are therefore likely to be correct...but can anyone possibly give me one which is somewhere close to the truth?

This post has been edited by Petrus: Dec 21 2007, 08:44 PM

Two of my good friends are high degree Masons. Actually, they are the same 2 friends who initiated me into the Golden Dawn. Open up Regardie's GD textbook, and right away, it starts on about both Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism. When Rosicrucianism became an official order, only Freemasons were allowed.
In my understanding, from a historical and lineal point of view, Freemasonry sits smack dab in the center of the Western Esoteric Tradition. Without it, we would never have had the Golden Dawn. Sure, they are pretty much just a men's scotch club these days, but the knowledge is still there. While browsing through my friend's Masonic library, one thing became very clear: whatever the members DO is irrelevant. Freemasnry itself, its history, its symbolism, etc absorbed into itself the ancient, pagan Mystery Schools (from Chaldea, Greece, Egypt, etc) and in doing so preserved the esoteric knowledge and symbolism of the West for future generations.
In conclusion, if your brother has an avid interest in the Western Esoteric Tradition, then he can only benefit from being a member.

Also, from what I've gathered, besides being a social club, the development of our moral selves is a main aspect of Freemasonry. So there's that, too. But I'm not a member yet.

Here's some cool articles on Freemasonry and esotericism:

http://www.hermeticinstitute.org/docs/esot-freemasonry.pdf

http://www.hermeticinstitute.org/docs/chamber.pdf