Those members of the Technocratic Union who still hold to the traditions of the old Order of Reason have found a refuge in an organization founded by one of the Order's original conventions, the Craftmasons. Meeting at Masonic Lodges, these religious technocrats are not willing to simply abide by the edicts of the despotic Queen Victoria. In fact, most of them view the move to a secular Union as blasphemous and completely against the founding principles of the old Order. Loyal to their vision of God as the architect of the universe, they plot to regain control of the Union and return it to its proper course.
Masons are generally members of the old Cabal of Pure Thought, Guild, and Artificers, but this is by no means a rule. There are no small number of Electrodyne Engineers, Void Seekers, and Hippocratics among their ranks, and some of these are their most vocal advocates, constructing evidence for the biblical flood from geological and archaeological evidence, refusing to allow science and religion to be put at odds.
The center of Masonic influence is London, but there are powerful contingents elsewhere in the world, particularly in colonial holdings. America, even though it has gained its freedom from the empire, retains strong Masonic influences, even though advocates of the new Union seek to demonize them and turn popular opinion against them. Similarly, support on the continent is strong, if waning, particularly in Protestant countries like Germany and Switzerland, though they advocate no specific form of religion.
The heart of the Masons, those remaining members of the Cabal have the most to lose by the Union's new direction. Their Convention officially dissolved by the White Tower, they refuse to let go of the influence and power they have obtained. Some pay lip service to the New World Order, others openly oppose it, but all work to undermine its success by cutting off influence to those areas of government and politics which it controls. Given their power in the Anglican Church, itself a construct of the Cabal, theirs is a force to be reckoned with.
Unfortunately, the influence of the old Cabal is limited outside of England. Since most of their power rests in the Church of England, they have little to no influence over the churchs in other Christian nations, Catholic or Protestant. This may well prove to be their fatal weakness, as the New World Order spreads its power throughout the empire, unrestricted by religious differences and placing its authority in such universal institutions as the police and government.
One of the two conventions birthed from the Craftmasons, many of the Artificers still hold to the religious paradigm of their forebearers. Mostly architects and other 'traditional' craftsmen, they are constantly in conflict with the more scientific minded of their brethren, who are growing far more numerous and espouse a secular paradigm which is anathema to the old school. While the Gabrielites are the more influential group within the Masons, the Artificers are the most numerous and the most devout.
However, as fewer and fewer people practice the old trades and the traditional tasks of the craftsman are taken over my machines and factories, their numbers dwindle and a sense of grim inevitability grips those who cling to the old ways. There is little place in the modern world for blacksmiths and weavers, and the Artificers suspect that, even if they can wrest control of the Union back to their side, that little could be done to stop this trend.
The second of the two conventions spawned by the Craftmasons during the Middle Ages, the High Guild does not suffer quite as much from the split between old and new ways of thinking as do the Artificers. In truth, little has changed in the basics of their paradigm since the days of the Italian Rennaissance. True, some of the more modern guildsmen, who read the works of the French physiocrats and Austrian school economists, look down on the more traditional Masonic members of their convention, but in the end it comes down to what works and they will adapt as necessary to whatever the pravailing paradigm is, be it scientific or mystical.
Much of their involvement in the Masons is fueled by this same self-interest. The Masons control much of British government. Thus, they are currently the side to back. However, once their influence wanes, the Guild has no qualms about abandoning them for the new direction Victoria has planned. This lack of commitment enrages many of the Gabrielites, but they profit too much from the economic influence of their Guild brothers to openly speak out against them.