tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66118130001310921732024-03-19T00:35:44.573-04:00The Magpie MasonThe Magpie Mason is an obscure journalist in the Craft who writes, with occasional flashes of superficial cleverness, about Freemasonry’s current events and history; literature and art; philosophy and pipe smoking. He is a Past Master who tiles Publicity Lodge 1000 and pays the Craft their wages (IF any be due!) at The American Lodge of Research, both in New York City. He is a past president of the Masonic Society, which you should join now.Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.comBlogger1987125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-79055613409183453882024-03-16T20:09:00.077-04:002024-03-16T20:09:00.129-04:00‘A great Grotto day’ Grotto ceremonial today hosted by Simba in south Jersey. Grand Monarch Victor Mann and Grand Master Len Vander Horn were present.Great day today way out in Pennsauken, New Jersey—right outside Philadelphia—for a Grotto Ceremonial on this, the sixteenth day of International Grotto Month.The occasion brought together Prophets from five or six Grottoes, including Grand Monarch Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-61371573278687476722024-03-13T09:06:00.001-04:002024-03-13T09:06:29.442-04:00‘Hodapp at Nutley 25 in June’ Chris Hodapp will be in the New York area for a speaking engagement in June.D. Hosler photoNutley Lodge 25, located in Nutley, New Jersey, will host America’s favorite Masonic author, raconteur, Dummy, etc. on the night of Monday, June 17. The lodge is very easy to reach from the Lincoln Tunnel via Route 3.Lodge tiles at 7:30. See you there. Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-23139404858579713242024-03-11T05:23:00.000-04:002024-03-11T05:23:25.342-04:00‘We should ever be industrious ones’ kmyu.tvThe Bee HiveIs an emblem of industry, and recommends the practice of that virtue to all created beings, from the highest seraph in heaven, to the lowest reptile of the dust. It teaches us, that as we came into the world rational and intelligent beings, so we should ever be industrious ones, never sitting down contented while our fellow creatures around us are in want, Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-56274828335897744342024-03-10T11:05:00.000-04:002024-03-10T11:05:41.478-04:00‘Call for papers: The Scottish Enlightenment’ A productive and eventful meeting of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 yesterday morning. I can’t even complain about the commute, which passed without much aggravation—a singular occurrence! Two very engaging papers were presented, both of which successfully threaded the needle of speculative theses supported by research.Before all that, though, was Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-53842260508811507282024-03-08T00:54:00.000-05:002024-03-08T00:54:50.101-05:00‘Salon de la Rose + Croix returns’ The Salon de la Rose + Croix will return to the Livingston Library later this month for the lecture series. From the publicity:Livingston LibraryLive Lecture SeriesMarch 27 at 7:30 p.m.The Salon de la Rose + CroixFrom Darkness to Light:The Orphic and RosicrucianPath to Divine UnityA philosophical and spiritual exploration through the Orphic mystery tradition and Rosicrucian Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-12264586899792995392024-03-07T04:54:00.001-05:002024-03-07T05:23:07.599-05:00‘Daily Masonic Progress starts now’ This morning begins the collaboration of Craftsmen Online and RW Bro. Darren Allatt of Australia, blogger and podcaster extraordinaire. He has been guiding his own audience through his production, “Daily Masonic Progress,” and now he joins Craftsmen Online’s podcast team. His segments will appear on Thursdays.Craftsmen Online, while based in New York, is not an official voice Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-89075044113292667742024-03-05T06:20:00.005-05:002024-03-06T17:34:47.025-05:00‘Cole’s Constitutions?’ Donald-Kern paperBenjamin Cole’s Constitutions actually was printed in 1729, but was ‘prepared in advance of Lord Kingston’s installation as Grand Master in December 1728,’ according to Ian Donald’s and Marshall Kern’s paper. (Interestingly, Kingston would become Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland a few years later.)I learned of something Sunday night during a Zoom Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-86476869102079651232024-03-04T01:25:00.000-05:002024-03-04T01:25:26.412-05:00‘Try a Lodge of Discussion’ T. Maccarone photoLast Monday at Connetquot 838.You’ve heard of “lodge of instruction” and “lodge of improvement” and “lodge of research” and maybe others, but a new term came my way last week: “lodge of discussion.”That is what took place last Monday at Connetquot Lodge 838 on Long Island. I wasn’t there—wish I had been—and know only what was mentioned very briefly on social Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-30746120330380889622024-03-03T01:19:00.129-05:002024-03-03T01:47:55.912-05:00‘Mecca marks a magician’s birth’ Mecca Shrine chose McSorley’sfor its premier First Friday bash.The nobles of Mecca Shrine, the mother shrine of the entire Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine world, gathered at McSorley’s Friday night to commemorate the birth of one of their own.As you’ll see on his Mecca petition, Houdinicalled himself an author, lecturer, and mystifier.Harry Houdini, one of Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-40210833036005851402024-03-02T00:44:00.081-05:002024-03-02T00:44:00.157-05:00‘Show & Tell at research lodge’ Looks like a fun idea for a research lodge meeting next Saturday: an exhibition of pieces from a brother’s own Masonic treasures. From the publicity:Western New YorkLodge of ResearchShow and Tell:A Personal Masonic Collectionby RW Dan DiNataleSaturday, March 9 at 10 a.m.Valley of BuffaloCheektowaga, New Yorkand Zoom (click here)This research lodge maintains a busy schedule. Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-71782778115969131782024-03-01T00:17:00.091-05:002024-03-01T02:14:43.200-05:00‘Lady Mason story optioned for TV’ Great news from the world of books: Doneraile Court, Kathleen Aldworth Foster’s novel based on the life of “The Lady Mason,” Elizabeth St. Leger, has been optioned for adaptation for television.It’s an entertaining story that bridges, however improbably, Masonic history and the Young Adult genre of fiction. (I have a review of the book somewhere in the stack at The Journal of Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-79195634984729055692024-02-29T01:05:00.003-05:002024-02-29T08:42:57.944-05:00‘The Grand Master is a Chap’ Click here.Prince Michael of Kent is the subject of Wednesday night’s Chap’s Guide video.This study of His Royal Highness’ sartorial triumphs—look at those ties!—makes no mention of his Masonic life, but you know he is one of two members of the royal family affiliated with Freemasonry. HRH Prince Michael is the M.W. Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-89877901729666873822024-02-27T00:50:00.001-05:002024-02-27T04:22:22.846-05:00‘Lawyer advocates for Masonic remedy for loneliness’ Dall-e/attorneyatwork.comLast August, columnist Bull Garlington wrote a piece for Medium that expresses his alarm at the isolation and loneliness confronting the young people of Generation Z—and that prescribes membership in Freemasonry as a fix. He published a modified version of this essay yesterday in Attorney at Work, where he also is on the masthead, and this version has Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-2087323844186107492024-02-26T00:39:00.017-05:002024-02-26T00:39:00.162-05:00‘Ten questions for Freemasons’ William O. Ware Lodge of Research in Kentucky is circulating another questionnaire—the eighth—in its continuing Voices of Freemasonry study of Freemasons and our priorities for the Craft’s future.Bro. Dan Kemble, who I had the good luck to meet when the Masonic Society held a weekend conference in Lexington in 2017, sent the link Thursday to The American Lodge of Research, Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-39340270018968964852024-02-25T00:11:00.208-05:002024-02-25T00:11:00.145-05:00‘Freemason-Vatican dialog begins’ Life Site News“Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war.”Winston Churchill1954Masonic and Vatican sources announced last week how a recent conference in Milan at the Ambrosianeum Cultural Foundation has led to a “mutual understanding” that may lead to future talks.The February 16 meeting, organized by the Socio-Religious Research and Information Group, was attended by the grand Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-67143593095616678842024-02-24T00:43:00.070-05:002024-02-24T00:43:00.136-05:00‘Visit Cleopatra’s Needle on Tuesday’ The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts’ 26th District will host a lodge of instruction next Tuesday that will be open to the public (sort of) for a discussion by a New Jersey Freemason on the subject of an ancient Egyptian monument that is on display in New York City. From the publicity, courtesy of Bro. Dagoberto:Grand Lodge of Massachusetts26th District Lodge of InstructionTuesday,Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-33929374671694988632024-02-23T00:53:00.099-05:002024-02-23T00:53:00.206-05:00‘Bro. Norton and Masonry’s universality’ Click here to register.Late afternoon on a Thursday might not be the most attractive timing for an online presentation, but our speaker is domiciled in Budapest where it’ll be 10 p.m. If he can do it, you can too.Peter Lanchidi is an art historian who has found his way into the study of Masonic history via, as I understand it, a Judaic prism, writing in the academic world aboutMagpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-89267120051671974592024-02-22T00:59:00.000-05:002024-02-22T00:59:10.183-05:00‘Exploring Plato’s Cave’ thoughtcoMaryland Masonic Research Society just announced a change of format for its meetings. Starting next month, the speaker-at-a-lectern program will be replaced with group discussion. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” will be examined. From the publicity:Maryland MasonicResearch SocietySaturday, March 16 at 11 a.m.Silver Spring Lodge 215RSVP hereAs we start our 45th year, we Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-90430416928120555112024-02-20T00:50:00.024-05:002024-02-20T00:50:00.239-05:00‘The Story of Prince Hall—Told by Prince Hall’ Bro. Prince Hall will return to Odenton Lodge 209 in Maryland this spring. Not the real Prince Hall of course, but RW Stanley Conyer re-enacting “In Search of Light.” Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-72024790621678474912024-02-19T01:44:00.046-05:002024-02-19T01:44:50.864-05:00‘Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?’ Click to enlarge.Lunch is on me if you are able to research, write, and present an essay on the Brother Freemason mentioned in the newspaper story above.This offer is open to members in good standing of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, and the offer expires December 31 of this year. Expected is a biographical accounting of Rev. Sheville within and Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-28169009232510240472024-02-18T08:44:00.000-05:002024-02-18T08:44:09.934-05:00‘Table Lodge: Freemasonry in Finland’ Finland EmbassyThe American Lodge of Research is reviving our tradition of hosting a table lodge annually, so plan to join us Tuesday, March 26 as we begin New York’s hundredth anniversary celebration of the Grand Lodge of Finland.Richard T. SchulzCome to Masonic Hall’s French Ionic Room at 7:30 p.m. Right Worshipful Richard T. Schulz, Grand Secretary, will deliver the keynote,Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-4355398556594963492024-02-16T19:14:00.063-05:002024-02-18T07:26:30.904-05:00‘MAGI is here!’ They’d been teasing it for an interminable three weeks but, several hours ago, Bob Cooper and Mark Tabbert finally gave us the gift of M.A.G.I.A podcast, Masonic Authors’ Guild International is “for educational purposes and perhaps entertainment.” I’ll just share the publicity:Welcome to the Masonic Authors’ Guild International (MAGI), where each week two historians review and Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-9264728893280039302024-02-16T16:27:00.000-05:002024-02-16T16:27:24.109-05:00‘Justice.’ Masonic Exchange Store“Justice, the boundary of right, constitutes the cement of civil society. This virtue, in a great measure, constitutes real goodness and is therefore represented as the perpetual study of the accomplished Mason. Without the exercise of justice, universal confusion would ensue, lawless force might overcome the principles of equity, and social intercourse noMagpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-39187810469180980182024-02-15T00:25:00.152-05:002024-02-15T00:25:00.192-05:00‘Library-museum seeks new director’ The Allen E. Roberts Library and Museum of the Grand Lodge of Virginia seeks a new Executive Director. (God, I’d love to be Executive Director of the Allen E. Roberts Library and Museum!) From the publicity:GL of VirginiaExecutive Director of the Allen E. Roberts Library and Grand Lodge of Virginia AF&AM Museum will be a scholar and manager active in all aspects of the Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611813000131092173.post-9370210081040548852024-02-14T01:39:00.002-05:002024-02-14T03:20:47.795-05:00‘Scottish EA° Working Tools’ My lodge had the honor of initiating two candidates for the mysteries of Freemasonry Monday night. I’ve always enjoyed the variety shown in rituals around the Masonic world; the following example offers not only different language in defining the familiar Working Tools of the Entered Apprentice Mason, but also reveals a Working Tool unknown to lodges in the United States.Under Magpie Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.com0