‘Another(!) singular surprise at Masonic Week’

     

Belated coverage of Masonic Week 2017 slowly continues with this account of the 73rd Annual Consistory of the Society of Blue Friars on Friday, February 10 in Arlington, Virginia.

The proclamation of a new Blue Friar is a very closely held secret usually. I imagine only Grand Abbot Brent Morris and the new appointee are in the know for many months. This year there was an innocent and very temporary slip in social media that revealed this embargoed information. Did you catch it?

Michael Poll, of Cornerstone Publishers, Journal of the Masonic Society, Masonic research, etc. fame, was made Blue Friar No. 106 in a tradition launched in 1932 upon the formation of this unique fraternity comprised exclusively of Masonic published authors.

Bro. Poll had been away from Masonic Week for a long time, probably since it was last known as AMD Weekend, and his appointment to the ranks of the Blue Friars last month was to be his first trip back. Unfortunately, rough winter weather, with lots of snow forecast, menaced the District of Columbia area, and Mike’s flight was cancelled, preventing him from reaching us in Arlington. Even worse, it turned out that not one snowflake fell in the DC area!

Nevertheless Poll appeared at his two planned speaking engagements—Blue Friars and Masonic Society—thanks to quick thinking and technology. His Blue Friars address, titled “The Role of the Masonic Writer,” was video recorded and made available to us via the interwebs, to wit:

Unquestionably a first for the Blue Friars. Not that they’d want to make it a habit, but it’s good to know an option like this can save the day. But this isn’t even what is meant in the title of this edition of The Magpie Mason. No. Something else unexpected occurred that made the meeting even more memorable.

Nearing the end of the meeting, the Grand Abbot, who wields supreme dictatorial powers by the way, announced a surprise: Another Blue Friar was being made!

BF 107 was in attendance, sitting in near anonymity on the sidelines: Robert L.D. Cooper of Scotland!

Grand Abbot S. Brent Morris, right, greets Blue Friar 107 Robert L.D. Cooper of Scotland after surprising him with the prestigious appointment at the Society’s 73rd Consistory last month in Virginia.

Among the books Bob Cooper has authored are Cracking the Freemasons Code, The Red Triangle, and (my favorite) The Rosslyn Hoax. Please read The Rosslyn Hoax. He is curator of the Scottish Masonic Museum and Library, and is a true expert on the subjects that confound so many well intentioned Freemasons: Rosslyn Chapel, the Sinclair family, and the Templars. If you think you know something about these, do yourself a big favor and read Cooper’s findings.