Alexandre Lebreton
The word schizophrenia comes from the Greek schizein (to split) and phrên (mind), and literally translates as split mind, fragmentation of the mind, duality. Several things link Freemasonry to schizophrenia and the concept of duality, starting with the powerful symbol of the lodges: the mosaic floor of black and white tiles on which initiates take their oaths: the clash of opposites, the multiple and the One, good and evil intertwined and inseparable...Freemasonry is dual, it has two natures in one. Freemasons themselves say that everything they do in the lodge has a double meaning. The rituals have a meaning other than that which they would have in the profane world (the world of the uninitiated). The Worshipful Master strikes the gavel at the beginning of the lodge meeting and declares: ’We are no longer in the profane world,’ implying that we are now in a sacred world. The Worshipful Master thus sanctifies the space and time. In the lodge, the deeper meaning of actions and words is hidden, everything is different, everything is fragmented, and words no longer have the same meaning; even ages, hours, and dates are different. Newly initiated individuals cannot perceive or understand the true nature of the cult to which they have already sworn allegiance and obedience...
