‘R.A. “Bob” Gilbert has died’

    

Manifestation

A figure sat within the chair

Which was not previously there;

A voice spoke in the darkness then

More subtly than the voice of men:

The message in the ear it spell’d

Was one great secret long withheld

And while I live, or when I die,

O Grave! where is thy mystery?

 — A.E. Waite

Tabatha Cicero photo

Chic Cicero and Bob Gilbert at a Golden Dawn conference, Bayonne Masonic Temple, 1998.

Bro. Robert A. “Bob” Gilbert died today, according to the sad news gradually making the rounds. I can’t eulogize him, having met him only twice, but he opened my eyes in a way that makes me very thankful.

Gilbert served as Prestonian Lecturer in 1997, traveling across England presenting “Freemasonry in Popular Literature.” And he went beyond the borders of the UGLE, somehow, improbably, visiting my obscure lodge in New Jersey.

Click to enlarge.

Bayonne Lodge 99 Worshipful Master Jeremiah Hawkins finagled the visit. As I recall, it actually was a Wednesday night meeting of my lodge, Menorah 249, and not Bayonne 99, when this occurred, but no matter. I never learned how Jeremiah booked Gilbert, but just now realized, thanks to the photo at top, that Gilbert was in town for an International Golden Dawn Conference hosted in my lodge’s building. (As I type this, the brethren there are outside the building celebrating their home’s centennial anniversary. Vivat!) That’s Tabatha Cicero’s photo of husband Chic with Gilbert, taken at that conference.

What the Prestonian Lecture experience did for me was to leave a first impression about Masonic learning. This was 1998, and I had been a Mason for about a year—and was starting to wonder why there wasn’t more to it, but felt too inexperienced to ask Where’s the rest? So, a guest lecturer, sojourning from England(!), to give a talk within a prestigious tradition, showed me here is one way to find what I seek. If not for that night, I may have abandoned the fraternity within a year or two. Therefore, to me, Bob Gilbert, Masonic historian, proved inspirational.

Five years prior to his visit to this humble lodge, he had been Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076. His byline is found in different volumes of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, and he authored and edited books. Also was renowned as a speaker in locales around the world.

The Bob Gilbert we’re likely to read about in the coming days is the mystical seeker who delved into the works of Arthur Edward Waite and the Golden Dawn but, also in those subjects, he was a perfectionist for historical accuracy. He knew those who lack a factual grounding in such pursuits are at risk of believing anything. That is not helpful, to say the least. Which reminds me of the talk he gave the second time I encountered him, at the October 2008 Rose Circle conference at Masonic Hall.

He was no longer a member of QC2076, but I hope there will be a typically comprehensive obituary in the upcoming AQC.

Alas, my Brother.