‘Pennsylvania Academy in October’

     
It’s been too long—something like three years!—since I got to a Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge symposium. Two great attractions on October 27 probably will induce me to make the 300-mile round trip.

Josef Wäges and John Michael Greer will be the speakers. Greer is a prolific (to say the least) author of books on a multitude of subjects. His Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies has been a favorite of mine for years. Wäges is a Masonic speaker who gets around. Tapped for the Society of Blue Friars this year, Wäges also has become a regular on the Masonic speaking circuit. For example, he will appear at the October 20 meeting of Boynton Lodge Esoteric Research Group in Florida.

Anyway, from the symposium publicity:

October 2018 Speaker Information

Bro. Josef Wäges is a member of the Blue Friars, a member of Plano Lodge 768 and Fate Lodge 802, the Valley of Dallas of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Southern Jurisdiction), Fellow of the Grand College of Rites, a full member of the Texas Lodge of Research, Michigan Lodge of Research, and life member of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Editor of The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati, and On Materialism and Idealism. He is currently preparing the forthcoming books, Ecossais Masonry: A History of the High Degrees from the Scots Master to the Order of the Royal Secret, for Scottish Rite Research Society, and The Columbian Illuminati: The Improved System of the Illuminati.

ÉTIENNE MORIN

AND THE BAYLOT MANUSCRIPT

One of the most elusive questions of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite concerns its origins. Where exactly did it come from, and from what source do its rituals emanate? Many scholars have rightfully determined that Étienne Morin, also known as Stephen Morin, is the founder of this system, but it is even less certain precisely whence his authority came, let alone who Morin was. The truth is we have only a partial picture of who he was and the circumstances concerning his authority to establish the rite. Nevertheless, when one assembles all of the evidence and gathers still more, there is still enough light left in the fragments to project a more complete vision of the truth.

Bro. John Michael Greer was Entered, Passed, and Raised in 2001 in Doric Lodge 92 in Seattle, and also is a member of Queen City Lodge 131 in Maryland, and St. Johns Lodge 1 in Providence, Rhode Island. He is active in the Scottish Rite and the York Rite, and has served as presiding officer in all three York Rite bodies. He is also an active member of the non-Masonic Societas Rosicruciana in America. He is a professional writer with more than 50 books to his name, including The Secret of the Temple: Earth Energies, Sacred Geometry, and the Lost Secrets of Freemasonry and the forthcoming The Ceremony of the Grail: Ancient Mysteries, Gnostic Heresies, and the Lost Rituals of Freemasonry. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife Sara.

FREEMASONRY

AND THE SECRET SOCIETIES

Ever since Freemasonry came to public notice, some people outside the Craft have insisted that Freemasonry is a front for this or that conspiracy. The truth is far stranger: While Freemasonry generally has stayed out of the conspiracy business, an astonishing number of secret societies of all kinds have borrowed from Masonry. From the struggles over the Jacobite movement in 18th century Europe through the heyday of the Illuminati and the Carbonari, down to the struggle to the death between the Ku Klux Klan and such anti-Klan secret societies as the Order of the Flaming Circle and the Order of Anti-Poke-Noses, a great deal of modern history has been shaped by groups that picked up the tools of the Master Mason and put them to other uses.


Registration Information

Please recognize that a cost is incurred to the program for your registration. If you pre-register and subsequently determine that you will be unable to attend, please have the Masonic courtesy to cancel your reservation by the same method and providing the same information.

Registration will open at 8:30 a.m. with the program beginning at 9:30.
A lunch (requested contribution of $10) will be served at noon, and the program will be completed by 3 p.m. All Masons are welcome to attend. Dress is coat and tie.

All meetings are held at Freemasons Cultural Center in Masonic Village at Elizabethtown (1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown, PA).


Live stream of the Symposium

In an effort to allow as many people as possible to participate in the symposiums, the Academy Committee offers a live stream of each event. Additionally, those viewing the live stream may ask questions of the presenters via the live stream chat feature, the Academy Facebook group, and Reddit.

On the day of an Academy symposium, a live stream video will appear on the Grand Lodge YouTube channel here.