…In ideological terms, modern Russian Freemasons, regardless of the “obedience” to which they belong, are people, as a rule, of democratic and liberal views, “standing on the positions of tolerance and humanism, moral philosophy, natural rights and human freedoms.
This is a non-estate, non-class, non-confessional and supranational organization in which the general dissemination of views, moral improvement, and mystical-symbolic practice is carried out."
It is clear that people of this sort can be said to be a godsend for Western strategists of reorganizing the modern world into a “democratic” one. American-style beginnings and a great misfortune for their own country.
Curious in this regard is the passage of O.F. Solovyov, who states the banal, in general, fact that world Freemasonry “undoubtedly sympathized with and indirectly contributed to the implementation of a coordinated policy of the West in the “Russian question””, but its independent significance in the collapse of the USSR, supposedly , did not have due to the absence on its territory “first of all, its main levers - lodges.”
Whether O.F. Soloviev wants it or not, it follows from this that he actually recognizes the generally indisputable fact that the so-called “national” Masonic lodges are one of the most powerful centers of influence of world Freemasonry on national states, its kind of fifth column in them. However, there is nothing new here. Catherine II suspected the Freemasons of this.
But let's return to O.F. Solovyov. So, in the 1980s. he claims that world Freemasonry did not have any independent significance in the collapse of the USSR, since it did not have Masonic lodges here. But now, after 1991. We already have more than one Masonic lodge and, if we follow the logic of O.F. Solovyov’s reasoning, the influence of world Freemasonry on domestic political events and the foreign policy of Russia should be very, very noticeable.
However, O.F. Soloviev has his own opinion on this matter. “The revival of brotherhoods is still slow, their impact on domestic and foreign policy is not yet visible.
At the same time, home-grown adherents understandably belong to the democratic camp and contribute to its success,” O.F. Soloviev assures us.
The venerable scientist pretends not to know that Russian Freemasons of the 1990s. these are not home-grown, but the most European (French)samples and lodges in which they belong are the most real or correct lodges, approved and recognized not only by the Grand National Lodge of France, but also by the Grand Lodge of England.
However, from the formal side, O.F. Soloviev is certainly right. Over the years of its existence in modern Russia, Russian Freemasonry has indeed been unable to achieve what it hoped for.
As S.P. Karpachev writes, “although the Grand Lodge of Russia is recognized by the majority of world obediences of a conservative direction, Russian royal art did not acquire any mass social base and did not turn into even a minimally significant social force; it was not able to provide itself with material resources, to create your center (temple), organize the publication of a periodical.
The entire history of Russian Freemasonry shows that it is alien to national foundations, borrowed from another civilization and, at least in the near future, does not have any serious prospects for development." “, he concludes pessimistically.
And again, we could agree with this if we did not know that in addition to patented, official Freemasonry in the form of official Masonic lodges, there is also, primarily in the West, unofficial Freemasonry, or semi-Masonry, the adherents of which share the views and goals of the Freemasons , but not wanting to bind themselves to routine work in the lodges, they “huddle” over their morality mainly in various kinds of elite Masonic clubs, foundations and commissions: the Magisterium, the Rotary Club, the Pen Center and others.
In the West, these organizations not only play the role of unique branches of Masonic lodges, but often directly replace them.
The fact that this kind of clubs for the elite appeared in the 1990s. and here, as has been repeatedly reported in the press. The composition of their participants is no big secret either. So the assumption that this is where one should most likely look for real modern Russian Freemasons is not without some basis. To be fair, it should be noted that the Masons themselves vigorously deny this. “With Freemasonry,” complains, for example, G.B. Dergachev, the Lines Club, Rotary Club, Order of Malta, B’nai B’rith and so on are often confused, i.e. Free masons are criticized for the activities of other organizations similar to them."
Moscow American Americanist professor O.A. Platonov holds the exact opposite opinion on this matter. If in America the Rotary Club or Lines Club are sub-Masonic organizations, then why should it be different in democratic Russia, which imitates the West in everything? Of course, one must understand that this is to a certain extent a speculative assumption. So let's look at the facts.
The first organization of its kind to copy Western models is Rotary International. arose on the initiative of a group of enthusiasts back in June 1990. Among its first members were such well-known people as the now former mayor A. Sobchak, banker V. Gusinsky, journalist E. Sagalaev and others. In 1992, the International Russian Club was created in Moscow.
Among its first members: M. Bocharov, P. Voshchanov, S. Fedorov, General K. Kobets - a total of 40 people. In the same 1992, following the model of the famous Bilderberg club, its Moscow counterpart was formed - the Magisterium club, which included: A. Yakovlev, E. Yevtushenko, S. Shatalin.
I did not forget to mention O.A. Platonov in his “Masonic” list M.S. Gorbachev and B.N. Yeltsin, who appeared at the initiation into “brother knights” of the Order of Malta (the first in 1990, and the second in 1994. ). Today no one defends M.S. Gorbachev, but B.N. Yeltsin found defenders.
The order into which B.N. Yeltsin was initiated, they claim, is Catholic and has nothing to do with Freemasonry. Everything would have been fine if the scandal had not happened. As it turned out from an interview with the Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta, he himself learned about the fact of the dedication of the Russian President only from press reports.
The confusion was resolved by the historian O.F. Soloviev, who found out that in fact M.S. Gorbachev and B.N. Yeltsin received initiation not into the Order of Malta, but only into the additional degree of “Knight of Malta” of the US Templar organization.
And these, whatever one may say, are already Freemasons, albeit “wrong” ones.
Be that as it may, the total number of Freemasons in modern Russia, as already noted, hardly exceeds the figure of 200-300 people. But these are only the “French Rite” lodges known to us, i.e. who came, or, more correctly, brought to us from France. But there are Masonic orders not only in France, but also in other countries. It is logical to assume that, taking advantage of the changes that occurred in Russia in the early 1990s, they also established, or at least tried to establish, their workshops here.
And indeed, information has already leaked into the press about attempts to establish in Russia the Masonic lodge “Great Light of the North”, working according to the acts of the Russian emigrant lodge of the same name in Berlin in the 1920s of the German Freemasonry system.
There were also reports about the formation in Moscow and St. Petersburg of several lodges belonging to the American Freemasonry of the York Ritual. But, unfortunately, we know nothing about their activities and quantitative composition.
Attempts to name the total number of Masons of all systems operating today in Russia are doomed to failure under these conditions. However, Professor O.A. Platonov believes that, at least, “the number of members of all Masonic lodges in Russia is at least two thousand people.” He also names the approximate number of Masonic lodges proper, that is, circles and groups in which the traditional rites and rituals of free masons are observed.
There are, in his opinion, no less than 160 of them.
Naturally, there is no evidence, since O.A. Platonov himself, apparently, is not a member of the Masonic lodges, has not seen Masonic lists, and has not used Masonic documentation. However, this circumstance does not bother him at all. O.A. Platonov compiles Masonic lists himself.
And since of the members of all Russian Masonic lodges of the 1990s, only G.B. Dergachev is known to him for certain, the venerable researcher involuntarily has to resort to a little trick and introduce, as already noted, into scientific circulation such a slippery concept as “an organization of the Masonic type " or "an organization pursuing Masonic goals."
It is clear that anyone can be classified under this definition.
O.A.Platonov fails. “Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, 1921-1989, until the 60s, a physicist, later a Jewish-Soviet public figure, an anti-Russian dissident, an agent of US influence,” we read in his famous Dictionary of Russian Freemasons. "Rauschenbach Boris Viktorovich, born in 1935, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the executive committee of the Soros Institute "Open Society" (Moscow, 1995)"; "Salkazanova F., presenter of Radio Liberty" (CIA service, USA)" etc., etc.
The total number of “Masonic-type” organizations, together with the Masonic lodges themselves, is at least 500, according to O.A. Platonov.
And the number of their members, but without adherents of the Masonic lodges themselves, is “no less thousand." This, by his definition, is the so-called “white Freemasonry” - that is, Masonic-type organizations that do not use the traditional rituals of free masons, but accept Masonic principles of life and are led, as a rule, by real Masons. First place, according to O.A. .Platonov, among them are members of Rotary clubs (there are several dozen of them in Russia).
Organizations such as the “Order of the Eagle”, clubs “Magisterium”, “Reform”, “Interaction”, “International Russian Club” and “Soros Foundation” are also very characteristic of “white Freemasonry”.
It is obvious, therefore, that O.A. Platonov does not know anything specific and worthy of attention about Masonic lodges in modern Russia and their members, and cannot know, due to the secret nature and closeness of the work of free masons. If it were different, he would, of course, name all the Russian Masons known to him and indicate the names of the lodges to which they belong.
The “Brief Dictionary” compiled by him is not a list of modern Russian Freemasons, but, at best, a list of Freemasonry representatives of the modern Russian intelligentsia, who have “revealed themselves” as members of dubious, from the point of view of O.A. Platonov, public organizations of a liberal-democratic persuasion.
The most consistent critic of O.A. Platonov and the Brief Masonic Dictionary or Masonic Gallery of modern Russia compiled by him was O.F. Soloviev. “The overwhelming majority of gallery owners,” he writes, are only members of the Pen Center, the Rotary, Magisterium, and Revival clubs, classified without evidence as products of Freemasonry... Former Foreign Minister A.V. Kozyrev found himself in their company. It is unknown why only his position is indicated, as well as that of E.M. Primakov, who replaced him...
In short, the list included almost all prominent figures of democratic orientation, including women; G.V. Starovoitova only for the post of Yeltsin’s adviser on national issues, which she left three years ago.” Of the almost 400 names listed in the “Concise Dictionary” of Russian Masons by O.A. Platonov, according to O.F. Solovyov, Only “recently deceased emigration figures” can be considered Freemasons; the current ones are unknown to him (O.A. Platonov - B.V.) ... A penny is the price of such a list,” concludes O.F. Soloviev.
One can agree with O.F. Solovyov when he notes the insufficient justification for classifying the majority of persons placed with O.A. Platonov as masons, such as: the former ambassador of the Russian Federation to Israel A.E. Bovin, the former mayor of St. Petersburg A. Sobchak , former adviser to the President G.V. Starovoitov and a number of others.
But already from the name of the list it is clear that it includes not only members of the Masonic lodges themselves, but also “organizations created to achieve Masonic goals.” And this is a completely different matter, although it is precisely this turn of the topic that sharply reduces the value of the work done by O.A. Platonov. But there seems to be no reason to especially attack him for this, as O.F. Soloviev does. Is it just for his subjectivity and excessive bias in assessing the phenomenon being studied, which he calls nothing less than a “criminal community”.
The weak point of O.A. Platonov’s work is that the source for his “Concise Dictionary” was exclusively publications in Russian and foreign periodicals - the source, as we know, is very, very unreliable.
There is no documentary evidence of membership in Masonic or semi-Masonic structures for most of the persons named by O.A. Platonov. But even this is not so simple. After all, there is no evidence of this kind, as we know, for many personalities of Freemasonry at the beginning of the 20th century. The main source for judging him is the often contradictory evidence and testimony of the Masons themselves, made by them many years after the events described. In the pre-revolutionary years, even a timid hint of Freemasonry from some “democrat” like N.S. Chkheidze or a “liberal”
V.A. Maklakov was not taken seriously except as the machinations of the “Black Hundreds”.
Why should everything be completely different in modern Russia?
Who knows - time will pass, maybe the current Russian “democrats” from the “Concise Dictionary” of O.A. Platonov will someday admit their involvement in Freemasonry and tell some journalist how according to the plans and drawings of the Great Architect of the Universe, and to put it simply, the financial and political elite of the West, they “rebuilt” and “equipped” Russia.
Conclusion
The course taken by Peter I towards the Europeanization of Russia led to the fact that, along with other innovations, Freemasonry came to our Fatherland. It came, but it never took root. Which is not surprising. Russia is not Europe, and the conditions of activity of free masons here (autocracy, serfdom, Orthodox faith)
were fundamentally different than, say, in France or England. True, the top of the rapidly Europeanizing Russian nobility willingly visited Masonic lodges. Much more difficult was the government's attitude towards them.
On the one hand, it, of course, could not fail to understand the danger and even unnaturalness of the existence of secret Masonic communities in an autocratic country. But it also did not want to directly object to the existence in Russia of a phenomenon so widespread in Europe.
Both Catherine II and Alexander I were, as we know, enlightened monarchs, whose liberal initiatives did not always find the proper response not only among the mass of the ordinary nobility, but also among its elite. The Freemasons' support for the liberal initiatives of Catherine II and Alexander I was costly under these conditions. Hence the favorable attitude towards the Freemasons in the first years of the reign of these monarchs.
Life, however, has shown that the two bears (autocracy and Freemasonry) It’s difficult to get along in one den.
Contrary to the assurances of the “brothers,” their activities clearly went beyond the scope of purely spiritual work in the lodges and threatened to spread to what had always been considered the prerogative of the state in Russia (the publishing activities of N.I. Novikov, the fight against hunger, the opening of Masonic pharmacies, schools, almshouses ).
And in political terms, the activities of free masons, which were increasingly turning into an instrument of the noble opposition to Catherine II, were very, very suspicious. Particularly intolerant in the eyes of the Empress were the connections of Russian Freemasons with foreign countries and their attempts to establish such connections with the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich. The result of this first clash between the authorities and Freemasonry is known - the case of N.I. Novikov in 1792 and the unspoken prohibition of Masonic lodges.
However, the very idea of establishing, following the example of other European states, a close alliance between Freemasonry and the Russian autocracy did not die. Especially a lot was done in this regard under Alexander I during the time of M.M. Speransky, when things almost came to the introduction of the so-called state Freemasonry in the country.
However, crossing Freemasonry with Orthodoxy and autocracy turned out to be unrealistic and, as one would expect, Masonic lodges, despite seemingly strict government control, increasingly turned, especially after 1812, into centers of unity for those opposed to the power of forces, especially the military.
The logical consequence of precisely this order of things was the famous decree of Alexander I of August 1, 1822, banning Masonic lodges. Having suddenly lost any support “at the top,” Freemasonry in Russia began to quickly fade away - more than convincing evidence of its lack of any strong support in Russian educated society, and was able to revive only at the beginning of the 20th century, when the balance of social forces in the country was already completely different.
Having transformed in the second half of the 18th century, after liberation from compulsory service, into the freest, most privileged and financially secure class in the country, the Russian nobility finally received, previously missing from it, the opportunity to form from its midst that subtle mental intellectual layer that would become famous 100 years later as the Russian intelligentsia.
At its core, it was, of course, a pro-Western, cosmopolitan-minded circle of people, already initially oriented toward Western cultural and ideological values.
One of his fundamental ideological pillars was Freemasonry. Despite the falsity of the Masonic teaching, the intensified search by its adherents for the Masonic ideal, however, mainly not so much in the political as in the moral and ethical plane, greatly contributed to the awakening of the personality of the Russian intellectual, the individual principle in him.
In any case, many prominent people of the 18th - first quarter of the 19th centuries belonged to the brotherhood of free masons (N.I. Novikov, M.M. Kheraskov, M.I. Kutuzov, N.M. Karamzin, A.S. Griboyedov, P .A. Chaadaev, A.S. Pushkin) is indisputable and seems to indicate a noticeable role of Masonic ideology and practice in the cultural and intellectual life of Russia at that time.
The broad interpretation of Freemasonry as almost the only engine of culture, progress and democracy in our country does not find confirmation in the sources, although attempts of this kind were repeatedly made in the pre-revolutionary years. The roots of such phenomena in Russian history as the beginnings of peasant reform in the form of a decree on three-day corvee, military-bureaucratic socialism of the time of Alexander I (military settlements), the power of the “holy tsar”
(Order of Malta), even the organization of the Holy Alliance goes back, as argued, for example, by the famous historian G.V. Vernadsky, to those circles of Russian society of the 18th century that were united at one time by Freemasonry.
T.O. Sokolovskaya went especially far in this direction, who in her book “Russian Freemasonry and its significance in the history of the social movement,” published in 1907, directly wrote about the Freemasons as people whose activities allegedly prepared the decisive ground for the development of republican and constitutional ideas in Russia. T.O. Sokolovskaya, of course, objected.
“Contrary to the opinion of Mrs. Sokolovskaya,” S. Svatikov sharply stated in his review of this publication, “Freemasonry not only did not prepare the ground for the development of republican and constitutional ideas, not only was it not the forerunner of the Decembrists, but on the contrary, it was a reactionary movement. The Decembrists only then became active political fighters when they parted with Freemasonry,” he emphasized.
Of course, T.O. Sokolovskaya was not alone in her desire to “raise” Russian Freemasonry at any cost. From this, in fact, almost all of our liberal historiography, starting from A.N. Pypin and ending with the modern Russian historian A.I. Serkov, proceeded and proceeds, with rare exceptions.
“Some historians,” Moscow University professor A.A. Shakhov wrote at one time, polemicizing against attempts at an ideologically biased approach to Freemasonry, “fall into a strange delusion regarding Freemasonry. They see in it a bright cultural fact that occupies a prominent place in the history of enlightenment. They talk about the good aspirations of Freemasonry, about the Freemasons' sympathy for human progress, about their efforts towards moral improvement.
In the teachings of the Freemasons, we actually encounter similar phrases and words, similar ideas, always clothed in a foggy veil. But we do not find a definite content and direction in the activities of the Freemasons. They also did not leave any good traces of their activities. If we take a closer look at the activities of all these numerous orders, we will notice that all of their activities consist either in mystical sacred rites and the same mystical speculations, or in playing with formalities... Meanwhile, the harm of the phenomenon is beyond doubt."
Subsequent studies only confirmed the validity of this conclusion.
Russian Freemasonry, as the modern Russian historian O.F. Soloviev is forced to state (by the way, is very, very loyal to it), as a formalized movement has never served as an engine of social progress, has never been a champion of true democracy and has not contributed any " independent contribution neither to the field of politics nor to the sphere of social thought."
No less definitely on the issue of the “progressiveness” of Freemasonry in connection with the “truth”, which was supposedly personified by the activities of such famous members of Masonic lodges as N.I. Novikov and A.N. Radishchev, our philosopher and publicist spoke out at one time V.V. Rozanov.
Agreeing, in principle, with the fact that the Freemasons of the 18th – early 19th centuries preached “truth and highly human truth,” he rightly noted at the same time that this “truth” was clearly out of time and objectively harmful for Russia, since it spiritually disarmed her in the face of her worst enemies.
And if, V.V. Rozanov emphasized, God forbid, this truth “spread in tens and hundreds of thousands of sheets, brochures, books and magazines across the face of the Russian land, it would reach Penza, Tambov, Tula, embrace If, finally, Petersburg, the people of Penza and Tula, Smolensk and Pskov would not have the courage to repel Napoleon.
More likely, they would have called on capable foreigners to conquer Russia, as Smerdyakov was going to call and as Sovremennik ideologically called them to do this; Karamzin would not have written his own story either."
Spiritually disarming the peoples opposing it and their intellectual, nationally-oriented elites, Freemasonry focuses its main attention on the so-called “ruling class” of society. The obvious heterogeneity of this class, the contradictions tearing it apart, have led and are leading to the fact that people whose cultural, ideological and political aspirations, despite belonging to the same social class, are far from the same, often end up in Masonic lodges.
It is not surprising, therefore, that already in relation to the second half of the 18th century, three streams can be distinguished in Russian Freemasonry: liberal, represented mainly by the Elagin Union, conservative (Swedish lodges) and mystical-enlightenment, represented by the Moscow Rosicrucians of the 1780s.
In the first quarter of the 19th century, there is no longer any need to talk about Rosicrucian lodges as centers of enlightenment and, along with the lodges of the Swedish rite (the Grand Directorial Lodge of “Vladimir to Order” and the Provincial Union that replaced it), now they can safely be counted among the conservative-protective wing of the free masonry in Russia.
Its liberal wing was now represented by the workshops of the French rite (the lodges of the United Friends, Palestine and the union of the Grand Lodge of Astrea).
It is hardly advisable to single out the so-called radical wing in Freemasonry in the first quarter of the 19th century, represented by the Decembrists, as some researchers suggest. The fact is that since 1810, Masonic lodges were taken under strict government control.
If this had not happened (who knows?), a number of Masonic lodges could indeed have turned into conspiratorial cells of an anti-government conspiracy, but this, as we know, still did not happen, and the radical brothers were of necessity forced to take the preparation of the anti-government conspiracy outside the Masonic lie
Another thing is that it was Freemasonry that largely determined not only the emergence and organizational construction, but also the tactical guidelines for the military conspiracy of the pre-Decembrist and first Decembrist secret organizations.
The reforms of the 1860s, having satisfied the basic aspirations of the liberal Russian nobility, thereby sharply narrowed the potential public base of Freemasonry in the country. The fact of the official prohibition of Masonic lodges also had an impact, undoubtedly. In any case, liberals in the second half of the 19th century did not want to risk their careers for the sake of the Masonic brotherhood.
The radicals from Narodnaya Volya and other similar organizations of common origin in the Masonic lodges had nothing to do. Of course, there have always been Masons “in spirit” in Russia, but as an institutionalized social phenomenon in the second half of the 19th century, Freemasonry ceased to exist.
Its revival became possible only at the beginning of the 20th century, when, on the eve of revolutionary upheavals in the country, Freemasonry was in demand from abroad by the politicking liberal Russian intelligentsia. The fact that both its political and mystical branches were imported from France in view of the special relations between the two countries at the beginning of the 20th century should not surprise anyone, it seems.
Unlike the lodges of Catherine and Alexander's time, which operated with the tacit permission of the government, political or Duma Freemasonry at the beginning of the 20th century was already underground and had an openly anti-government character. It was not initially focused on the spiritual work of the “brothers” in the lodges, but to seize power, destroy the empire and change the foundations of the then state system in Russia.
It is not for nothing that the main supplier of adherents of free masonry in these years was the Cadet Party, known at the same time as the party of the left-liberal Russian intelligentsia par excellence.
More radical than the left-wing Cadets were, perhaps, only the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Social Democrats.
The terrorist activities of socialist revolutionaries in our country are all too well known. The political aspirations of the then Social Democrats are no big secret either. True, there were, one might say, only a few Bolsheviks among the Masons, but which of them is more “to blame” for this? - that's another question. As for the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, they were more than willingly invited to the Masonic workshops. And it is no coincidence, since the fixed idea of political Freemasonry was the idea of creating a broad anti-government “popular front”.
Despite the short duration of their existence and a certain narrowness in understanding their tasks (the struggle in the Duma, mainly), Russian political masons undoubtedly made their contribution to the fall of the autocracy.
Of fundamental importance in this regard was their formation in August 1915 of the Progressive Bloc and the creation on its basis of a strong anti-government majority in the Duma. Relying on it, the leadership of the Supreme Council of the Great East of the Peoples of Russia, since the summer of 1916, has been heading for the forcible removal of Nicholas II from power and the establishment of a constitutional system in the country.
Of great importance in this regard was the establishment by the Freemasons in 1916 and early 1917. close contacts with representatives of the Russian generals (M.V. Alekseev, N.V. Ruzsky, etc.), which, in essence, made it possible in the February-March days of 1917 to ensure the bloodless nature of the abdication of Nicholas II and the implementation of the “royal art" of a smooth Masonic entry into power (the Provisional Government) with subsequent consolidation in it.
However, the Freemasons were unable to maintain this power in the context of the ongoing war and the beginning of the collapse of the state and its structures. October 1917 marked the end of political Freemasonry in our country.
But the struggle for progress and the constitution does not exhaust the activities of the Freemasons. Great importance in the teachings of the order has always been attached to the moral improvement of the “brothers”. It was precisely the last circumstance - the spiritual side of Freemasonry - that was precisely the invisible force that has always attracted many Russian intellectuals of a liberal persuasion to it.
So, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, the Masonic theme leads us to another, no less important problem - the spiritual quest of the Russian intelligentsia.
These quests evoke a strange, contradictory feeling. The desire to go beyond the gray everyday life and plunge into the magical world of unreality, otherworldliness, is generally understandable, and even, to some extent, natural for a person, especially when it comes to gifted and creative people.
It is also understandable that smart people, also creatively gifted in their own way, want to use this human inclination for everything mysterious and unusual to create various kinds of new religions, new lodges and “orders.” Something else is striking - the amazing ease with which self-proclaimed “teachers” have found and are finding their flock in our country, although, it would seem, before entering this or that lodge or occult circle, it would be worth thinking about: what or who is behind the preachers of the secret knowledge, new faith and new religion.
Spiritualists, Theosophists, Martinists, Philaletes, Rosicrucians, Sophians... The paths are different, but the goal is the same - the erosion of the national self-awareness of the people, and the main blow has always been directed against the “living force of Rus'” - its statehood, national foundations and Orthodoxy.
It is difficult to say whether for this or for other reasons, but in the first years of Soviet power the OGPU did not touch occultists. It began to liquidate their circles only in 1925, and from the very beginning the attitude towards them was ambiguous. The fact is that the leadership of this department (Gleb Bokiy, Yakov Agranov) had certain plans to use the Freemasons in the interests of the Soviet state. The final liquidation of Masonic circles and groups continued as a result until the end of the 1930s.
Be that as it may, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the old Masonic centers in the country were finally liquidated. There were no suitable conditions for the emergence of new ones. When such conditions finally appeared with perestroika and the collapse of the USSR, then again, as at the beginning of the century, it could not have happened without the help of our French “brothers.” Thanks to their initiative and financial support, a new revival of Freemasonry in our country actually became possible.
Speaking about the prospects of the movement, the Masons themselves radiate optimism. “Freemasonry corresponds to the national character of the Russians. And the Slavic soul understands the metaphysical and mystical quests to which Freemasonry is committed,” the Grand Secretary of the Grand National Lodge of France, Tresturnel, assured a Pravda correspondent in 1992.
Subsequent events showed, however, that this, to put it mildly, is far from the case. However, we also have no reason to entertain ourselves with the illusion that in Russia, due to its supposedly unique national specificity, Freemasonry does not have the proper prospects.
There is certainly room, in the form of the liberal-democratic Russian intelligentsia, for introducing Masonic ideology into the public consciousness in our country.
***
Excerpt from Bracheva V.S.. “Masons in Russia: from Peter I to the present day.”
The history of Russian Freemasonry is replete with ups and downs in the views and influence of various conspirators on the power structures. Tsarism provided good food for the spread of Freemason ideology. They lived well after the October Revolution, considering the number of Jews at the helm of power.
The long post-war period reduced their numbers through repression and emigration. But immigrants from Russia/USSR have replenished the number of Masonic lodges in Europe.
Briefly about the influence of world Freemasonry
European scientists have modeled the face and essence of transnational corporations through mathematical analysis. They account for only a fifth of global revenue. But with groups of partners affiliated with them, they own most of the companies in the real sector of the world economy.
Their richest owners (the Morgan, Rothschild, Rockefeller families) are the creators of Freemasonry, as well as almost a dozen structures, the so-called world rulers. Whose “donations” are used in practice to carry out conspiracies against unwanted governments.
Ivan Perfilyevich Elagin - founder of the first Masonic lodge in Russia
Masons in the Russian government (surnames)
The second life in the Russian Federation of this conspiratorial community arose in the early 90s of the last century. World Freemasonry took advantage of the era of political and economic vacillation of an independent country. It was not difficult for him to use his secret and veiled means to create lodges, circles, and train new Russian politicians and economists in his systems.
The latter have become agents of Western influence, corrupting the country from within. Russian Freemasons of the middle of the last century - Bernstein, Niedermiller, Lebedev, Grunberg - did not hold a candle to the new replenishment of Russian Freemasonry. Namely, politicians Sobchak, Chubais, Yavlinsky, Gorbachev (president of the USSR, although not for long), Yeltsin (president of the Russian Federation), academician Abalkin. And also to hundreds of other Russian Masons, who were trained in person and in absentia in Western structures, often under the wing of the special services.
They mastered the program of activities of CIA influence agents and methods of intoxicating the masses in the right direction. And it was determined in each specific case by the European lodges and the World Government. Promoted through prominent Freemasons. The so-called privatization of state-owned enterprises in the Russian Federation is just one example of this. Its guides - Chubais, Yavlinsky, Gaidar - achieved their goal: billionaires emerged from the blood and sweat of more than a hundred million citizens of the country.
Similar to the Bilderberg Masonic Club, a Russian copy is being created - the Magisterium Club. It was in the secret bulletin of the club that an article by the dangerous world philanthropist J. Soros appeared about crazy dollars making history. A similar “Interaction” fund was maintained by major government officials E. Gaidar, K. Borovoy, E. Yasin, A. Pochinok, V. Bakatin and other agents of influence in the Russian government.
Lieutenant Colonel of the Corps of Railway Engineers. Poet. Participant in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813. During his service in Tomsk (1813-1817), he became close to M.M. Speransky and became his closest collaborator. Decembrist, member of the Northern Society. After the Decembrist uprising, he spent about twenty years in solitary confinement, demonstrating rare courage and self-control. Left “Masonic Memoirs”. He participated in the development of the plan for the uprising on December 14, 1825, speaking out for decisive action and involving the masses in the uprising. He was nominated as a candidate member of the Provisional Government. At the investigation, he presented a statement about belonging to a secret society and agreement with its plans, wrote that the performance on December 14 was “not a rebellion, as to my shame he called it several times, but the first experience of a political revolution in Russia, an experience venerable in everyday life and in the eyes of other enlightened peoples." Of the surviving Decembrists, he suffered the most severe punishment: he was sentenced to eternal hard labor, but was kept from 1827 to 1846 in solitary confinement in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress. In the fortress he was not allowed to communicate with anyone; the only books he was allowed to read were the Bible. Member of the “Elect Michael” lodge in 2nd class. Founding member and Grand Secretary of the “Eastern Luminary” lodge in Tomsk, 1818-1819.
With the word “Freemason” many associations emerge - the heroes of War and Peace, secret brotherhoods and rituals, the interests of the cynical world elites. However, this is not just a flair of the 19th century - Masonic lodges are as real today as they were then. Moreover, they still influence politics. The writer, founder of the magazine "Russian House" Yuri Vorobyovsky spoke about whether there are still masons and what goals they pursue in the "Radio Kuzichev" program.
Is Freemasonry anti-religion?
Anatoly Kuzichev: Let's talk about this surprisingly popular and completely incomprehensible and underestimated concept. What is Freemasonry, who are the Masons?
Yuri Vorobievsky: You are absolutely right. This is truly the antithesis of Orthodoxy. The fact is that we have a strange system. You say this in the presence of some well-educated, nice, normal priest or someone from the Orthodox audience about this - and immediately your interlocutor has a sore throat that tries to develop into a sarcastic smile, a nervous tic arises, people crawl right under the table. But, for example, on Mount Athos, where I often visit, and in Greece, the attitude is completely different.
Quite recently, a book by Archimandrite Epiphanius was published in Greece, which has already been translated into Russian, called “Freemasonry in the Light of Truth.” She talks about Freemasonry as an anti-religion. A cult, an object of worship, some semblance of a supreme being.
A.K.:Anti-religion or independent, new religion? Or another religion?
Yu.V.: We can say that yes, this is a different religion. This is precisely a religion with all the signs, as this learned archimandrite points out.
A.K.: That is, Freemasonry is a religion? New, with different symbols of faith, with a different meaning, apparently. With a different perspective.
Yu.V.: Freemasonry is a religion with a huge number of stolen symbols, including Orthodox ones. For example, the 33rd degree in Freemasonry has a double-headed eagle as its symbol. 30th degree - the horseman defeating the serpent.
A.K.: What degree?
Yu.V.: Hierarchy system.
A.K.: Ah, the hierarchical system - it is measured in degrees...
Yu.V.: Moreover, you know, there are places where the entrance is a ruble, and the exit is ten. In the first stages, a person is told that you are joining a lovely community of brothers. Men's order. What's bad? Well, there are a lot of them. And then they start calling...
How do Masons attract people?
A.K.: Tell me, Yuri Yuryevich, this is very important. Suppose a person comes up to me. The famous freemason Bogdanov, who even ran for president of the Russian Federation. And he will say: “Anatoly Alexandrovich, there is a proposal.” I tell him: "Interesting." - "Join our ranks." I say: “What about someone’s?” He says: “Listen, the most ancient order, male.”
And I ask: “Well, what’s the point? I understand what my faith, my religion, my Orthodoxy gives me. I understand what a full-time job on a TV channel gives me. And what does this give me?” - I’ll ask him. What will he answer me, I wonder?
Yu.V.: There is a certain material qualification. If you are rich enough, they will come to you. If they haven't come yet, they will. If you are influential and promising, of course, this can happen.
When I became interested in this topic in the early 1990s, I also had a good broadcast, prime time on Channel One. I had original programs. And so, using my journalistic capabilities, I ended up in a Moscow apartment. A nice couple, husband and wife, and in the future, in the near future, he will become the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia. She will receive initiation in Paris, in the women's box.
A.K.: Can we say names or not? Or awkward?
Yu.V.: I think you can already say, because they are already exes. Georgy Borisovich Dergachev. And his wife, Olga Sergeevna Gornostaeva, who died just recently, as an Orthodox person, you can pray for her. Thanks to the fact that she understood where she ended up, she gave me her documents, her diaries, which later turned into a book. There is also a film on this topic. The book is called "The Fifth Angel Sounded". Without false modesty, this is probably the only book about modern Freemasonry in Russia and in the world that is documentary.
A.K.: Yuri Yuryevich, but still, what does Freemasonry offer?
Yu.V.: Freemasonry offers international solidarity bonds. Every person is offered success.
A.K.: Ahh. This is the religion of success. If we say that it is a religion, it is a religion of success.
Yu.V.: Pride is encouraged. If they were a businessman, they would tell you, and this is actually true. You come to any large city, take a Masonic directory, dial the phone and say the right words there: “I am brother so-and-so.” And you will be helped. If you are, say, a retired lieutenant colonel, did not serve enough, did not become a general. You enter a knightly order, a military, one might say, knightly order. And after a certain number of years you are no longer just a general, you are a Kadosh Knight or someone else. These pompous names in Freemasonry are, in fact, sometimes funny. Here is the Knight Kadosh - in Hebrew "kadosh" means "holy". Imagine, a person says: “Very nice, I’m a saint.” They shake his hands and say: “And I am the Prince of the East, very nice.”
A.K.:Beautiful.
Yu.V.: Beautiful, but a little funny.
A.K.: Some kind of simple modernism. Now, Yuri Yuryevich, about some famous Russian masons.
About Freemasonry in Russia
Reference:
Alexander Pushkin. He joined the Freemasons in 1821. But his attitude towards the secret organization can hardly be called serious - among the poet’s papers, account books of the Masonic lodge were found, which he filled with his poems.
Commander Alexander Suvorov was one of the very first masons in St. Petersburg. In the capital's Three Stars lodge he achieved the degree of Master. And Suvorov brought his passion for organizing free masons from Konigsberg.
“Ever-green laurel” - this was the Masonic name M bore Ikhail Kutuzov. He had the highest degrees of initiation and participated in the meetings of the lodges of St. Petersburg, Frankfurt and Berlin.
The historian and writer Nikolai Karamzin was a member of the Masonic lodge for only four years. However, he stood up for his former brothers during the arrest of members of the order in Moscow.
Philosopher and Decembrist Petr Chaadaev bore the eighth degree of initiation into the order out of nine possible. He was a member of the St. Petersburg lodge, but left it, disillusioned with the meaningless rituals and empty talk.
Alexander Griboyedov took participation in the order seriously. The writer and diplomat saw the goal of the lodge as the enlightenment of Russia.
Participant in the collapse of the Russian Empire Alexander Kerensky was a member of the leadership of the para-Masonic organization "Great East of the Peoples of Russia".
A.K.: Some amazing names indeed. Okay Kerensky, okay even Karamzin - but Suvorov, Pushkin, Kutuzov, Griboyedov...
Yu.V.: Yes, this is the same clip that is prepared, that fires... And people have spiritual, ideal motivations. Of course, not all of us are businessmen, and not all of us are pragmatists. There are also humanists, candidates of science and aspiring writers. Of course, when a person is told that you find yourself in the same company as Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Karamzin... Good company, right?
A.K.: Also with Suvorov, Kutuzov, Griboyedov.
Yu.V.: By the way, the Bogdanov you mentioned, as I remember, simply said in his election slogan: “I represent an organization whose members...” - and begins listing them.
As for Suvorov, I had a special investigation - this is all wrong. He was in Konigsberg when his dad was governor-general of the new Russian region, so to speak. He was simply sent by his father to the box to probe. And in the Masonic books it remains that he was present at a meeting of the lodge. And off we go.
A.K.: But you didn’t become a Master?
Yu.V.: No, as far as I know.
Yu.V.: This, of course, is the desire of the Masons - to grab everything they can for themselves. Although, in fact, there are already a lot of people. Indeed, the 18th-19th centuries are such a fad.
A.K.: What's the fad? Enlightenment, mystery and terrible conspiracy theories? This is terribly interesting to everyone...
Yu.V.: And everything at the same time. Everything we are talking about now reminds me of a plot from the life of Macarius the Great. He walks through the desert and meets the devil. The devil is all hung with some kind of bubbles. The saint asks the devil: “Where are you going?” - “I’m going to the brethren.” - “What are you talking about?” - "For every taste".
For every taste. Indeed, the order has a very large experience, centuries-old. Therefore, for every taste. A retired officer, a promising businessman.
And it does have an effect. One day I came to Athos to visit my good old friend, the hieroschemamonk, who was our intelligence officer in Afghanistan, then he was a big businessman, he had factories abroad. Now he, in a shabby cassock, with sandals on his bare feet, says: “Listen, bring me your book about the Masons.” I answer him: “Father, why do you need this “Fifth Angel” here on Athos?” “You know,” he says, “I still have friends who are businessmen in Bulgaria. When they became rich, they came to them and said: “Guys, do you understand what we are? We are international solidarity, business." “Well, yes, we’ll think about it,” they answered. They thought somehow so sluggishly. Six months pass, they come again and say: “Guys, you probably didn’t understand our conversation. Bulgaria is a very small country. And cut off your oxygen, using international ones...” And the guys start to get nervous, they say: “How can this be, we are Orthodox people after all...” - “Oh, that. Yes you! We will introduce you to both the priests and the bishops." Bluff? I won’t comment on this moment now.
A.K.: No, please comment, this is fundamentally important, in fact. Your version: bluff?
Yu.V.: You know, Comrade Brzezinski called Russian Orthodoxy the main enemy of America. Remember this quote?
A.K.: Yes, we remember.
Yu.V.: If we speak in terms of war, "the main enemy." Agents are sent into the enemy camp.
A.K.: Always.
Yu.V.: So I was shocked at first by his words. Bluff or bluff? Then I thought: well... It’s unpleasant to go into this topic, to be honest. But I brought this book to him. Because these guys were confused, all the cards were knocked out of their hands.
This archimandrite, he wrote: “Look what happens in these rituals. At a certain stage of initiation there, some master of ceremonies says, when they knock on the box: “Who are you, what do you want?” - We are the children of Darkness, we want to enter and receive Light". Imagine if these are Orthodox baptized people!
Does the secret become clear?
A.K.: In general, are Masonic lodges secret organizations?
Yu.V.: You know, as the Masons themselves say, this is not a secret organization, it is an organization that has secrets.
A.K.: Is there a directory of Russian masons? View by name...
Yu.V.: Yes, you know, there is a Serkov reference book.
A.K.: G where to find him?
Yu.V.: Well, I think the circulation has passed.
A.K.: Is it possible on the Internet, do you think?
Yu.V.: Probably possible.
A.K.:Directory of Russian Masons. But modern ones are mostly not indicated.
Yu.V.: But we know many of them; they have already given interviews.
A.K.: For example? Except Bogdanov.
Yu.V.: Dergachev, for example. Previously, when Dergachev was the Grand Master, he said: “Only, please, under no circumstances should my name be mentioned anywhere, this is not accepted among us.” Now, apparently, everything is becoming easier. They ask another question. The names of famous politicians are mentioned. They say to me: “Listen, you’re there with the 33rd sign...”
A.K.: I’ve been leading up to this carefully and for a very long time...
Yu.V.: When they start calling names, I say: “My friends, if I cannot present a document, what can I say.” But I know one thing. That back in the early 1990s, in the Scottish Rite system (the powerful world Masonic rite), the Aurora Lodge was created in Moscow for English-speaking foreigners working here. Then, as far as I know, certain Russian VIPs, recognizable people, began to enter this box.
A.K.: AND from the Russian media elite, you are hinting...
Yu.V.: No, from a wide variety of Russian elites, including the political elite.
But there is another point. The fact is that in the Russian tradition, it is still not customary for a serious famous person to talk about this, unlike the American tradition. Everyone knows that Washington, the founder of the United States, was a Freemason. Great figure.
A.K.: We even know what architectural design Washington was built on. Don't know this story? Fantastically interesting story.
Yu.V.: Yes Yes. Masonic architecture.
In Russia they hide information about the Aurora lodge...
A.K.: Why?
Yu.V.: Yes, painfully unpleasant historical things. Look. "Golden Age" of Catherine, "Golden Age" of Freemasonry. Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov and his company were arrested at the very moment when Catherine realized: the epidemic was intensifying, and a huge number of nobles close to her, military and not only, it turns out, were swearing allegiance not only to her, the Empress, but also to that Great Master, which is located in Prussia. In Prussia, with which relations are terrible, it almost came to war. In modern terms, it smacks of high treason. The first wave of anti-Masonic government acts.
The second peak moment - gentlemen of the Decembrists. Everyone had connections with some kind of Masonic, para-Masonic organizations, almost all of them.
A.K.: They remembered Pyotr Chaadaev, for example...
Yu.V.: And most importantly, where all the threads led. The threads led, in particular, to Italy. This was the initiation name of Nubius; he was a very famous Freemason. Everything went from there. From the Grand Lodge of England, of course.
Well, the February revolution. The remarkable Orthodox publicist, Archbishop Nikon Rozhdestvensky, wrote a lot about the dangers of Freemasonry before the revolution. And one day he wrote: “One famous bishop came up to me and said: “Vladika, why are you writing all about these Masons? Who saw them at all, where are they? And do they exist at all?” These questions are also often asked to me.
And then several years passed after this conversation - and suddenly the Provisional Government, where 99 percent are mythical, non-existent Freemasons, gains power in a huge country.
A.K.: D and, led by a very specific Freemason Alexander Kerensky.
Yu.A.: And Nikon Rozhdestvensky was not just killed - his head was cut off. And this is a ritual Masonic moment.
Masonic symbols
Reference: Symbols around. Columns. The gateway for the initiate and the exit to the light for the seeker.
Columns of the Temple of Jerusalem. The symbolic columns are reminiscent of the obelisks covered with hieroglyphs that stood in front of Egyptian temples.
Steps. Steps may be depicted between the columns of the temple, which symbolize trials and purification by the elements upon receiving Masonic initiation.
Mosaic floor. The columns are followed by a mosaic floor with a checkerboard pattern of white and black squares. The symbolism of alternation suggests that in the area of our feelings everything is balanced with strict precision.
Cutter and hammer. To implement his work, the student is given tools - a chisel, representing an established thought, a decision made, and a hammer - the will that puts them into action.
Stone. A rough stone is placed next to one column, and a cubic stone is placed next to the other. Symbolically, the Masonic work consists in cutting away the rough stone to improve the creations of nature.
The Worshipful Master's Gavel. The gavel is used by the Worshipful Master of the Lodge, the First Warden of the Lodge and the Second Warden of the Lodge in carrying out ritual work.
Plumb. Used by masons to check the verticality of walls. For a Mason, the plumb line is a symbol of truth. Truth not as an abstract logical concept, but truth as the correctness of words and deeds before God and society. The level is used by masons to check the levelness of surfaces. Used by free masons as a symbol of equality between people.
Compass and square. In this emblem, the compass represents the vault of heaven, and the square represents the earth. A compass combined with a square is perhaps the most common of all Masonic emblems, symbols and signs.
Book of the Sacred Law. One of the three main lights of free masons. This is the main book of the religion professed by the brothers present in the lodge meeting. The Radiant Delta is the most important symbol of the Masonic Temple.
All-seeing eye. A triangle with an eye placed inside it, a sign of enlightenment or the principle of consciousness.
A.K.: The enumeration of symbols immediately raises many more questions than understanding.
Yu.V.: The topic is very interesting.
A.K.: We immediately recall the coat of arms of the GDR.
Yu.V.: Yes, hammer.
A.K.: Hammer. With this very, as it is called...
A.K.: And then we remember the dollar with this shining eye in a triangle. And then... Whatever we remember. And we think: “Lord my God.”
Yu.V.: And you know, each of these symbols, right off the bat, has the most important meaning for our conversation today. Look, these two columns, Jachin and Boaz, are at the entrance to the temple.
In addition, this is an ancient Gnostic sign of the equivalence of good and evil. If good and evil are equal, then there is no Truth, Truth with a capital T. If this is so, then there are, in fact, no criteria of morality or ethics. And there is a purely Masonic topic in this regard called “ethics in time.” What was unethical yesterday is ethical today.
We now already know about euthanasia for children in Belgium. The so-called Overton windows.
A.K.: What was unacceptable suddenly becomes first acceptable and then mainstream.
Yu.V.: A purely Masonic topic, by the way.
A.K.: Yes? How interesting, listen. But still: all these signs and symbols, sometimes on the coat of arms of the GDR, sometimes on the dollar sign - are they all an accident?
Yu.V.: Well, sorry, Freemasonry simply created the United States of America.
A.K.: And then? Disappeared from the base?
Yu.V.: And now, of course, they are the most influential. Although sometimes they say: “Well, Freemasonry was popular in the 19th century, now it’s already a museum...”
How many Masons and where are they?
A.K.: So, Masons are among us, there are many of them. Another thing is that they mostly do not introduce themselves...
Yu.V.: A little.
A.K.: A little? How do you estimate their numbers?
Yu.V.: Well, I think that in Russia there are several hundred Masons of the regular rite, that is, correct Masons.
A.K.: But these are all people, if I understand their logic correctly, of the highest echelon.
Yu.V.: Not all, of course, not all. If we talk about America, then this is a Masonic state.
Why, indeed, wherever America appears, war, revolution, chaos begins everywhere.
There is a purely Masonic formula - it, in fact, is at the head of all documents, as we wrote before: “Proletarians of all countries, unite!” And it says: “Order out of chaos.” That is, it is necessary first to create chaos so that the exhausted peoples the world said: yes, as much as possible, wars, revolutions and everything else, immorality.
A.K.: And here I am - all in white...
Yu.V.: Yes, and then someone comes out - all in white. In the language of Orthodox eschatology, we know who it is.
A.K.: Yes, listen, how interesting.
Yu.V.: And the project is Masonic. Diabolical, of course.
A.K.: On the one hand, the conclusion is very simple, just shockingly simple. Yes, indeed, there is such a structure, like many others. It is truly powerful - many people join it, driven by their own pride, by the religion of success. Moreover, they deliver what they promise. Like any transaction with this force, it is successful at a certain stage. But for you and me this is terrible. This is Satanism and diabolism - that's all.
Yu.V.: Absolutely right. We talked about cheating. About treason to your state. About betrayal of God. About betrayal of human nature itself. I am addressing our Orthodox patriotic audience. I would like to say: my friends, with God’s help, we will remain faithful.
A.K.:There's no better way to say it. I would like to thank, of course, Yuri Yuryevich, the author of the book “The Fifth Angel Sounded the Trumpet”? And a postscript about the dollar...
Help:
let's look at the dollar.
Let's start with its front side: we immediately pay attention to the coat of arms of the US Department of the Treasury.
Then we move to number 1 at the top right. From behind the inner upper left corner of the shield, an owl peeks out behind the number - a symbol of the satanic Bohemian Club, registered in the Bohemian Grove.
Next we see a pyramid, at the top of which there is an all-seeing eye, at the base of the pyramid are the same Roman numerals. We add them up and we get the number 666. Under the pyramid is the slogan: “Novus Ordo Seclorum”. Literally means "New Order of the Ages." But what is more correct, especially today, is the “New World Order,” which the world’s elites so often talk about.
Let's draw the pyramid to the Jewish star. The angles point to the letters, forming the word "mason". Above the pyramid we see “Annuit Coeptis” - “He contributed to our endeavors”, or “Beginning Time”. "He" is the architect (eye). According to other sources, it is translated as “God blesses our deeds.”
13 leaves on an olive branch in an eagle's paw. 13 olives in a branch. 13 lines and stripes. 13 arrows in the eagle's paw. 13 five-pointed stars above the eagle's head. 13 letters in "E Pluribrus Unum". 13 stones in a pyramid. 13 letters in "Annuit Coeptis". In the center of the bill is a large letter N - the 13th letter in the ancient Greek alphabet. 13 is the mystical number of Satan.
Fold the dollar in half. So much for the great double-sided seal of the United States. On one side are the priests, on the other are the masons.
This is such an interesting gang, and the goal of this gang is simple - to make of us a worldwide cosmopolitan herd without clan or tribe. The purpose of the Freemasons is written on a ribbon in the eagle's beak on the right. Of course, this Latin is translated so that the people are not afraid: “Unity in diversity.” But in reality - “One people out of many.” And the width of a dollar, by the way, is 66.6 millimeters.
