‘Philately Freemasons to examine Harry Potter symbolism’

     

The George Washington Masonic Stamp Club meets twice annually, and its second gathering of 2014 will take place Saturday, August 30 at the Baltimore Philatelic Exposition, President Walter Benesch announced during the weekend.

The club initiates members with a Master of Philately ritual, and dues consist of a single $20 payment for lifetime membership. Masons who in any way are interested in the unique mode of art collecting called philately should join.

The August 30 meeting will be held at the Hunt Valley Inn, across the highway from the Grand Lodge of Maryland, and will be open to the public. The program for the session will be “Is Harry Potter a Master Mason?” which will look at the Masonic symbolism found in the J.K. Rowling’s books. “This has been a very popular talk at various lodges, Masonic research organizations, and other Masonic bodies,” Benesch said. “What will be different is that some unique Harry Potter philately may come up for auction.”

Courtesy U.S. Postal Service

The U.S. Postal Service issued a series of twenty First Class “Forever” stamps inspired by the Harry Potter stories last November. Benesch explained how covers with the stamps were cancelled by the Mt. Vernon Post Office using the GWMSC cancellation stamp on February 22, 2014 (George Washington’s birthday). “This is a complete set of the stamps, one stamp per cover, with club’s Masonic cancellation,” He said. “There is only one such set in the world. The set will be up for sale, provided a collector is interested, and the proceeds of the sale of this collection of covers will go to support the club expenses and its selected charity.”

The meeting next month also will include door prizes and the sales of previous club covers. There may be balloting on prospective new members, although Master of Philately is conferred only at the annual meetings, the next to be held Sunday, February 22, 2015.