‘At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’

    

Moises Gomez photo

Without yet being present, I’ll begin coverage of Masonic Week 2022 with word from the Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees. Yesterday, MVS Grand Master Mohamad Yatim, accompanied by Grand Council officers, visited Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

While this solemn activity has become especially important in Masonic circles in recent years, the fraternity paying respect at the Tomb is a tradition. For instance, on October 19, 1925, the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction) visited the Tomb, taking a break from its deliberations at the House of the Temple.

In 1922, just several months after the Tomb’s installation, New York’s RW Bro. Solomon Holzer, Past Master of Daniel Carpenter Lodge 643, wrote to Grand Secretary Robert Kenworthy, saying he thought our Grand Lodge ought to encourage the Masonic Service Association to “place a suitably inscribed bronze tablet” on the Tomb, and should the MSA not succeed, the Grand Lodge itself ought to do it with the goal of holding a ceremony on November 4, the Masonic birthday of George Washington. I don’t think the idea went anywhere.

I expect to arrive at our hotel this afternoon, just in time to witness Adam Kendall take his place among the Society of Blue Friars. See you there.

     

‘Knight Masons on Zoom soon’

     

The three councils of Knight Masons located in New Jersey will host Mohamad Yatim for an esoteric talk that will be shared with Knight Masons everywhere via Zoom.

Mohamad will present “Zerubbabel: Lessons in Liberty and Truth” on Thursday, June 4 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. This will be available only to Knight Masons, and advance registration is required.

Also in attendance will be the Most Excellent Great Chief of Knight Masons of the USA.

If you are unacquainted, the Order of Knight Masons is one of the invitational groups appended to the York Rite in the United States, meaning Royal Arch Masons in good standing may be tapped for membership. It promulgates the Green Degrees of Irish Freemasonry, so the rituals concern the Second Temple in Jerusalem. (And they are available in various forms throughout the York and Scottish rites, so I’ve always had a hard time understanding why we need this Order in the United States, but I digress.)
     

‘A singular surprise at Masonic Week’

     
I better get to the Masonic Week coverage, although there won’t be much this time because I attended only three functions before heading home too early on account of a medical concern. So, I attended The Masonic Society’s ninth annual banquet, the Society of Blue Friars 73rd annual Consistory, and the Grand College of Rites’ annual meeting. But this edition of The Magpie Mason concerns the Allied Masonic Degrees meeting on Saturday, by which time I was well on my way home, where Bro. Mohamad was honored with a singular surprise.

I was there in 2002 at the former Hotel Washington when Grand Master James Olmstead inaugurated the Marvin Edward Fowler Award as his final action in office, presenting it to Herb Fisher (MVGM of AMD in 1981). Olmstead designed the glass piece, having a gentle green hue added to symbolize AMD beyond the fraternity’s emblem and wording on the surface of the beveled glass. It is awarded, and not necessarily meant to be given every year, to those designated by the grand master in thanks for outstanding service to the fraternity. Its namesake had died just two months before our meeting in Washington, DC. Marvin Fowler was one of those Masons who provided backbone to American Freemasonry, having served as grand master of AMD and grand master of the Grand Lodge of Washington, DC, and was a VIP in many other apartments of the Temple. He is remembered as one of the Masons who ensured the Masonic Week (then known as AMD Weekend) tradition continued through the years as chairman of the planning committee. He had been around for some time, having been coroneted at 33° Scottish Rite Mason back in 1943! (He was made a Mason at age 22.) I did not know him; in addition to the age difference, I was still somewhat new to AMD in 2002. Nevertheless, I felt it was a pretty emotional moment when the award was revealed to the brethren present, and its first recipient was asked to approach the East to accept it. Fowler’s son Ed was junior grand warden of the Grand Council of AMD at the time too, adding more fraternal warmth to the occasion.

Courtesy Moises Gomez

Fast forward 15 years, and it is Bro. Mohamad’s turn. Here he is, at left, receiving the award from outgoing Grand Master Lawrence Tucker.

One unusual detail: Mohamad is a past master of Atlas-Pythagoras Masonic Lodge 10 in New Jersey. There are three other Fowler Award honorees who have links to the lodge. First, of course, is Thurman Pace, who served as grand master of AMD in 1994. In addition—and I had no idea of this until Bro. Moises Gomez pointed it out in the lodge’s March trestleboard—two honorary members of A-P 10 have received it: James M. Ward, past grand master of Mississippi (2004), and William R. Logan, past grand master of South Carolina (2016).

Congratulations, Mohamad! In addition to being proud to be your friend, I am in awe of your commitment to Freemasonry, and enjoy watching the tokens of esteem come to you.
     

‘Friday the 16th’

     
It’s September, so our Masonic lodges are emerging from hibernation. My lodge, Publicity 1000, will hold its first meeting of the new Masonic year on Monday, and another lodge I’m fond of will meet soon to host a brother who I like too.

Atlas-Pythagoras Masonic Lodge No. 10 will welcome Oscar Alleyne as the evening’s guest lecturer next Friday. His topic will be “The Tools of Symbolism.” See the flier below, but let me add one missing detail about Oscar’s Masonic work: He serves on the board of The Masonic Society! (Try to get that in there next time, Mohamad!)

See you there.

     

‘Masonic Week in review’

     
Since Masonic Week was only two weeks ago, I don’t feel overly remiss in now getting to sharing some news and photos from the event. We gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City in Virginia for the annual meetings and other happenings we enjoy.

What follows is by no means a comprehensive report of the activities, but is more like a “names in the news” summary. I do the best I can. I do not and cannot attend every meeting, so if I have omitted anyone, it’s nothing personal or intentional. It’s just difficult to keep track of all the elections and appointments. As so many brethren of The Masonic Society are ascending to the top echelons of the national governing bodies of the Masonic Week constituent fraternities, I use various “TMS” designations to identify Fellows and Members of The Masonic Society.

So, at The Masonic Society’s February 13 dinner, results of the elections of new officers and board members, and the elevations of new Fellows were announced to the more than fifty brethren and guests in attendance.

Ken Davis, The Masonic Society’s new president, displays the ceremonial gavel he is about to present to his predecessor, Jim Dillman of Indiana. Jim has guided the Society through a period of creative growth that is about to blossom in ways that will compel the Masonic world to take serious notice of our various doings. Sorry for being vague, but the announcements of the new initiatives are coming soon.

New Officers: Ken Davis of New Mexico is The Masonic Society’s new president. Patrick Craddock of Tennessee is the First Vice President, and I am the Second Vice President. Three new members have been added to the Board of Directors: Oscar Alleyne of New York, John Bizzack of Kentucky, and Mark Robbins of Minnesota.

Two TMS brethren were elected to become Fellows: again, John Bizzack, a frequent contributor to the pages of The Journal of the Masonic Society, and Michael A. Halleran, The Journal’s Executive Editor, and Past Grand Master of Kansas, and author, etc., etc.

Oscar Alleyne

In addition, Alleyne was the keynote speaker at the Society’s banquet. In remarks titled “The Masonic Scholar,” he employed humor and personal experience to illustrate the need for sober-minded responsibility in conducting Masonic research, especially in this age of frivolous internet sources offering misleading content. “I watched a young brother declare ‘Eureka!’ last week,” Alleyne said. “He visited a lodge in Montreal that had a set of aprons on display. One had these symbols: a set of blood drops, and a severed head. Well, this young brother said he stumbled upon an important find. He scoured the internet and found several references to John the Baptist—this apron, therefore was proof that John the Baptist was central in the Masonic world, and he was going to write a paper on it. This was exciting stuff.”

Courtesy A&ASR Jacksonville

“I politely informed him that the apron was for the Ninth Degree of the Scottish Rite, and that the jurisdiction he hails from no longer uses this apron, and it wasn’t anything significantly special. His response, deflated at best, was a resounding ‘Crap!’”

S. Brent Morris, Grand Abbott of the Society of Blue Friars, welcomes
BF No. 105, Michael Halleran of Kansas, to the Consistory.

The Society of Blue Friars is a small group of a highly select membership: published authors in service to the Craft. One new Friar, having been nominated by a current Friar, is named each year by the Grand Abbott—TMS Founding Fellow S. Brent Morris of Maryland—and the 2016 inductee is none other than new TMS Fellow Michael A. Halleran, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Freemasonry in the American Civil War. In addition, he is the creator of Hiram A. Brother, a Freemason of legend who is the diarist known through the pages of Bro. Brother’s Journal. Each new Blue Friar speaks on matters of Masonic significance at the annual meeting, and Halleran regaled his audience with a Brother biography steeped in the colorful humor for which the illustrated history is known.

Jeffrey Nelson tries on the Grand Chancellor’s collar and jewel at the Grand College of Rites’ meeting of February 13. It looks good! That’s retiring Grand Chancellor Lawrence Tucker at right.

TMS Founding Member Jeffrey N. Nelson of North Dakota was installed Most Illustrious Grand Chancellor of the Grand College of Rites of the United States of America. At the meeting of the Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests, he also was appointed Grand Outer Guard. The GCR’s new Right Illustrious Senior Vice Chancellor is TMS Founding Fellow and Board member Aaron M. Shoemaker of Missouri. He unveiled the College’s new website that week.

On the GCR agenda are a few very important items:

• Those of us who love Collectanea can look forward to the reprinting and availability of previous editions.
• Some procedure must be devised for the issuance of regalia, and the return of the regalia. Sometimes there is a problem retrieving a jewel or something else important. It’s a vexing worry in the event of an officer’s death, so I’m curious to see how this develops.
• A tax-exempt foundation will be incorporated so that the GCR may receive artifacts, intellectual property, and other gifts in a manner that permits the donor to benefit from an income tax deduction. This has been in the concept stage for a few years, and I hope it is brought to fruition.
• In other news, some more practical goals are coming into view. Fellows of the GCR can look forward to membership jewels (die-struck pieces with cloisonné decoration) and certificates. No date announced on this, but it’s in the works.
• Mitchell-Fleming Printing, Inc., a vendor familiar to several Masonic fraternities, is the new printer of Collectanea, the new edition of which should be reaching our mailboxes in the coming weeks.

TMS Member Lawrence E. Tucker of Texas, having just completed his year in the Grand East of the GCR, was installed Most Venerable Sovereign Grand Master of the Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees of the United States of America. Upon taking office, the Most Venerable has the privilege of appointing the new Grand Tyler, and Tucker named TMS Founding Member John C. Elkinton of Texas to the position.

The 2016 Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees
of the United States of America.

MV Douglas Moore was the retiring Grand Master. He is very soft-spoken, so it was a little difficult to discern everything he said in his allocution, but he made some excellent points, including a call on all AMD councils to get organized within their respective states and to organize annual meetings. I doubt he meant business meetings, but rather what we in New Jersey have, for a number of decades, called Ingatherings. AMD brethren come together for a day of presenting papers and conferring a degree and whatever else. Always a great time.

I was there in 2002 when the Marvin E. Fowler Award was first presented, so I always take an interest in the new honoree. This year it is William R. Logan, Past Sovereign Grand Master.

The AMD Grand Council meeting has gotten shorter in recent years (thank you Moises?), but it’s still a full afternoon. Thankfully there usually are emotional highs, like the Fowler Award presentation, and other revelations:

MV Prince Selvaraj of Ontario and MV Doug Moore.

MV Prince Selvaraj, a very familiar face at Masonic Week for a number of years, is the Immediate Past Sovereign Grand Master of AMD in Canada, and now he also is Honorary PSGM of AMD for the United States.

Bro. James, secretary of the unfortunately named Illuminati Council in Illinois, presents outgoing Grand Master Doug Moore with honorary membership in that AMD council.

Illuminati Council (God, I wish for a name change there) No. 495 in Illinois sent its secretary, Bro. James, to the meeting to bestow honorary membership on Doug Moore. It obviously was a touching gesture that surely has an interesting backstory.

In other news, International Relations Committee Chairman Allen Surratt reported there is interest in both Italy and Brazil to see the Allied Masonic Degrees expand. The feasibility of this is being investigated.

RV Mohamad and MV Doug.

And finally, for this meeting, among the advancement of the line officers, my friend Bro. Mohamad (TMS Member) is the new Junior Grand Deacon!

The irrepressible Reese Harrison of Texas.

Also in the AMD, Founding Fellow Reese L. Harrison, Jr. of Texas exited the East of the Council of Nine Muses. Unique in the AMD fraternity, Nine Muses consists of only nine members—well, nine muses—appointed for life, who rotate through the officer stations.

As is custom, the outgoing Sovereign Master presents a lecture of Masonic interest (not necessarily a research paper), and Reese spoke of metrics. Not as in sterile calculations of dimensions, but speaking movingly of a Mason’s need to lead a balanced life. Without invoking either the traditional 32° or Kabbalah, he spoke plainly of the perils of losing sight of the important aspects of life—family, community, business, et al.—while spending too much time pursuing the ultimately frivolous honors the Masonic fraternities confer. There is a practical problem for Masonic bodies, he explained, where someone accepts appointment to a board of trustees as just another honor, but is incapable of executing the fiduciary responsibilities. (I’ve seen that a number of times in my years in Freemasonry.) He spoke at length, I think without notes, recounting anecdotes and imparting wisdom drawn from a long (no offense, Reese) life. Perhaps an unexpected subject, especially from one who has been a Masonic Week regular for four decades, but a fitting and always timely one.

Former TMS Board Member Fred Kleyn is the new Master of Nine Muses.

In the Operatives, known formally as the Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers, the new Deputy Grand Master Mason for the Region of the United States of America is TMS Fellow George R. Haynes of Pennsylvania.

In the Order of Knight Masons, congratulations to you all.

Masonic Week 2017 will take place at the same hotel February 8 through 12. See you there.

I check into my room, go to the window to see what view there might be, and am confronted with multiple Templar crosses etched into the glass! Coincidence or Masonic conspiracy?!

 TMS Founding Members بافين دن. and Reed Fanning.

Reed and Prince Selvaraj of Ontario.

Michael, and TMS Members Ted and Ray.

TMS Founding Member Roberto and TMS Fellow Paul.

Although Stephen Dafoe quit the Masonic fraternity some years ago,
he is missed, and his presence is felt still.

Ted is the unofficial Masonic Week photographer.

Mohamad and Aaron in AMD regalia.

     

‘Masonic miscellany’

     
This edition of The Magpie Mind admittedly is a mess, but here are announcements of some great local events, so be sure to scroll all the way through.

Last weekend, I had the chance to enjoy some time in my alma mater’s main research library and, instead of doing something useful, I poked through a tiny bit of the thousands of unusual texts pertaining to Freemasonry. Here are just a few images:

• Tomorrow night, The American Lodge of Research will meet to hear Worshipful Master Michael Chaplin present his paper “Patron Saints of the Operatives.” Eight o’clock in the Colonial Room on 10 at Masonic Hall (71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan).

• Monday, November 9 is the deadline for booking your seat at the Scottish Rite Valley of Central Jersey’s Rose Croix celebration featuring Billy Koon:

Click to enlarge.

• Next Wednesday, Bro. Mohamad will speak at Livingston Masonic Lodge in New Jersey:

Click to enlarge.

• Congratulations to the new officers of the Masonic Library and Museum Association: President Aimee Newell, Vice President Brian Rountree, Secretary Cathy Giaimo, and, returning for another term, Treasurer Eric Trosdahl.

• The MLMA’s 2016 annual meeting is planned tentatively for October at the Lee Lockwood Scottish Rite Library and Museum in Waco, Texas.

• Speaking of Masonic libraries, the Grand Lodge of Nebraska dedicated its library and museum last month at the grand lodge headquarters in Lincoln.

• On Sunday, November 8, Cincinnati Masonic Lodge No. 3 in Morristown, New Jersey (39 Maple Avenue) will unveil the Morristown Masonic Center Museum and Library with an opening reception. Dignitaries to include the chairman of the New Jersey Historical Commission, the chairman of the Morristown Historic Preservation Commission, and RW Bro. Glenn Visscher of the Museum of Masonic Culture in Trenton (and a Past Master of the lodge). 

• Looking around the interwebs, I recently found the finest source of Masonic news: The Past Bastard. Click here and be amazed!

• Madison Masonic Lodge No. 93 in New Jersey has undertaken the project of replacing the headstone of Jepthah B. Munn, who was Grand Master of Masons for the State of New Jersey in the 1820s. Donations are welcome here.

I shot these photos Monday in the Presbyterian cemetery across the street from the lodge and, as you can see, this stone has seen better times.

Munn deserves the overdue attention. He was grand master during the age when grand masters were graaaand! A quick history:

In 1837, the Grand Lodge of New York expelled a number of Masons and closed a few lodges that were at labor in New York City. (I haven’t yet learned why they were expelled.) These brethren regrouped and called themselves St. John’s Grand Lodge. At that time, the Grand Lodge of New Jersey adopted a resolution voicing its support of New York’s authority to expel these Masons. This resolution was passed to make it clear from the start that all New Jersey lodges were prohibited from having communication with this clandestine grand lodge.

However, St. John’s Lodge No. 2 in Newark (it became No. 1 later) ignored the prohibition and other, less formal, requests from individual grand officers, and had Masonic intercourse with these New York guys, hosting them in their lodge, etc. For their role in this, Jepthah Munn and John Darcy, both past grand masters, were punished by Grand Lodge of New Jersey for defying grand lodge’s order to not interact with those expelled Masons.

During all of this, some New York lodges, in retaliation for the New Jersey past grand masters’ meddling in this episode, refused to allow New Jersey Masons to visit their lodges. This feuding continued for a number of years, even into the 1850s. What has to be remembered during all of this is that this period is the tail end of the anti-Masonic era that came in the wake of the “Morgan scandal” that nearly saw the fraternity in New York and New Jersey wiped out. For example, in 1842 New Jersey Freemasonry consisted of 162 Masons in eight lodges. So this bickering is kind of like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Also, this episode is not all that unusual in the 19th century history of New York Masonry. In the early years of the 1800s, a split between the “country lodges” and the “city lodges” took place that really caused problems. Two very real grand lodges coexisted until 1827, when they united.

Anyway, the clandestine grand lodge Munn aided is not unknown to New York scholars (there actually is a New York lodge named after Munn). He was an interesting man: Born in East Orange in 1780, where there is a Munn Avenue; a renowned medical doctor, who served as president of the Medical Society of New Jersey in 1828, and a co-founder and eventual president of the Morris District Medical Society; a respected member of the New Jersey General Assembly.

He was made a Mason in 1804 in Paterson Orange Lodge 13; affiliated with Cincinnati No. 3 in Morristown, serving as Master from 1809 to 1814; was warrant master of Chatham Lodge 33 (now Madison 93) from 1814 to 1819; and affiliated with St. John’s No. 1 in 1850. Was elected Senior Grand Warden of Grand Lodge in 1817, and served as Grand Master from 1820 to 1824.

Because of his activity in the New York episode, Munn—and this is why I’ve been crazy about him from the minute I learned of him about seven years ago—was subjected to charges of unmasonic conduct in 1842. Charges dropped the next year. Censure was imposed by Grand Lodge in 1850, but withdrawn in 1852. He continued to attend grand lodge communications through 1860, until ill health slowed him down. He died in 1863 in Chatham.
     

‘The Bernie’

     

The flier above says it all. Click to enlarge. See you there.

(Thanks to Bro. Mohamad for the tip.)

     

‘Mohamadmania’

     
W. Mohamad Yatim is on the road again. He has five dates so far on his winter speaking tour of the central New Jersey area.

Monday, January 14 at Theodore Roosevelt Lodge No. 219 (82 Elm St. in Carteret), speaking on “The Chamber of Reflection.” (Open to Apprentices and Fellows.)


Monday, January 21 at USS New Jersey Lodge No. 62 (1201 Berlin Rd. in Cherry Hill), speaking on “The Myths Behind Who Killed Hiram Abiff.” (Master Masons only.)


Friday, February 1 at Hightstown-Apollo Lodge No. 41 (535 North Main St. in Hightstown), speaking on “Masonic Membership Promotion and Retention.” (Open to Apprentices and Fellows.)


Monday, February 25 at Cincinnati Lodge No. 3 (39 Maple Ave. in Morristown), speaking on “Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East.” (Master Masons only.)




Tuesday, March 5 at Loyalty Lodge No. 33 (1912 Morris Ave. in Union), speaking on “The Myths Behind Who Killed Hiram Abiff.” (Master Masons only.)
     

'Coming attractions'

  
The Magpie is attracted to bright, shiny things, so there you go.

Upcoming events in and near New Jersey

Friday, February 17 at the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York: historical program in commemoration of the bicentennial of Prince Hall Masonry in the State of New York. 454 West 155th Street in New York City. Open to the public.

Sunday, February 19 at DeWint House in Tappan, New York: Bro. Mark Tabbert, Director of Collections at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia to deliver the keynote speech at this Grand Lodge of New York celebration of George Washington's birthday.

Wednesday, February 22 at Sons of Liberty Lodge in Secaucus: Bro. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge, will speak on "Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East."

Thursday, March 1 at the Scottish Rite Valley of Rockville Centre
28 Lincoln Ave., Rockville Centre, NY

"Pillars of the Porch: The Duality of the Masonic Experience"
By Ill. Steven Stefanakos, 33°
and
"The Frontispiece of the 1611 King James Bible from a Masonic Perspective" by SP Oscar Alleyne

8 p.m. Open to Master Masons.

RSVP to valleyofrvc(at)gmail.com

Saturday, March 10 at Advance Masonic Temple in Long Island City, New York: Quest XXXII. (See post below.)

Thursday, March 15: Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2's annual Wendell K. Walker Lecture delivered by W. Bro. David Lindez, titled "That Which Wendell K. Walker Held Most Dear." 7 p.m. in the Empire Room, 12th floor, of Masonic Hall. 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan. Open to Apprentices and Fellows. Attire: business suit.

Collation to follow at Aleo restaurant, 7 W. 20th Street. Fixed price menu at $60 per person. Reservations no later than 5 p.m. on March 9 are required. Contact Bro. Charles Henry George at charlesgeorge252(at)earthlink.net

Friday, March 16 at Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge in Westfield: Bro. Andrew Hammer, Past Master of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 in Virginia, will speak on "Observing the Craft," the thesis of his book of the same name.

Saturday, March 17 at NJ Lodge of Masonic Research and Education, being hosted by Palestine Lodge in Princeton. Papers to be presented. 10 a.m.

Monday, March 19 at Fidelity Lodge in Ridgewood: Book Club and Discussion Group to review Laudable Pursuit by the Knights of the North. 7:15 p.m.

Thursday, March 22 at Peninsula Lodge in Bayonne: Bro. Andrew Hammer, Past Master of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 in Virginia, will speak on "Observing the Craft," the thesis of his book of the same name.

Thursday, March 22 at Alpine Tilden Tenakill Lodge in Tenafly: Bro. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge, will speak on "The Chamber of Reflection - V.I.T.R.I.O.L."

Saturday, March 24 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania: program TBA.

Thursday, March 29 at The American Lodge of Research, at Masonic Hall in New York City: Bro. Conor Moran on "Freemasonry and the Holocaust." 8 p.m.

Thursday, April 12 at Peninsula Lodge in Bayonne: Bro. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge, will speak on "The Myths Behind Who Killed Hiram Abiff."

Saturday, April 14, hosted by St. George's Lodge (GLNY) at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, New York: symposium featuring four accomplished Masonic educators.

Thursday, April 19 at Mountain View Lodge in Haledon: lecture on "The Emblem of a Pure Heart: The Pot of Incense as a Masonic Symbol."

Thursday, April 26 at the Scottish Rite Valley of Central Jersey: the Magpie Mason to address the Past Most Wise Masters Dinner.

April 27-29 at three locations: New Jersey Symphony Orchestra to perform a program of Mozart's Masonic funeral music, and similarly themed pieces by other composers.

Saturday, April 28 at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library at Lexington, Massachusetts: 2012 Symposium on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism.

Monday, April 30 at noon at Federal Hall, New York City: the annual re-enactment of the first presidential inauguration of Bro. George Washington on this, the 223rd anniversary of that historic moment. Naturally, the George Washington Inaugural Bible will be on hand.

Monday, April 30, hosted by Shiloh Lodge (GL of Pennsylvania) at the William Penn Inn in Gwynedd: the fifth annual Bernard H. Dupee Memorial Lecture, presented by RW James W. Daniel, Past Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Saturday, May 5 at a restaurant to be announced: The American Lodge of Research's dinner-lecture, hosting W. Bro. Adam Kendall of the Henry Wilson Coil Masonic Library and Museum in San Francisco.

Saturday, May 19 at the Valley of Central Jersey in Bordentown: Scottish Rite Symposium featuring Ill. Robert G. Davis of Oklahoma; Ill. Christopher Hodapp of Indianapolis; and Ill. Brent Morris of Washington. $50 per person. More info TBA.

'Mohamadmania'

Bro. Mohamad Yatim is on tour. Catch him at any of these New Jersey dates:

Tuesday, January 24 at Olive Branch Lodge No. 16 in Freehold.

Topic: Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East.


Wednesday, February 22 at Sons of Liberty Lodge No. 301 in Secaucus.

Topic: Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East.

Thursday, March 22 at Alpine-Tilden-Tenafly Lodge No. 77 in Tenafly.

Topic: The Chamber of Reflection - V.I.T.R.I.O.L.


Thursday, April 12 at Peninsula Lodge No. 99 in Bayonne.

Topic: The Myths Behind Who Killed Hiram Abiff.

OPENING ACT: Foghat!
  

'It's all in the balance'

     

There are huge plans afoot in New Jersey Scottish Rite Masonry that will reverberate throughout the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in 2012, and these plans all concern teaching Scottish Rite Masons what it means to be Scottish Rite Masons. (The event advertised in the graphic above is not one of them. It's only a hint of what's to come. A far more substantial, but still inconclusive, clue is found here.)

Sounds simple, right? Like it might be the primary reason and most frequent activity of the fraternity? Nah, didn't work out that way. Teaching Scottish Rite Masons what it means to be Scottish Rite Masons actually is a pursuit that has to be pitched, lobbied for, protected, and seen to fruition flawlessly, so that a follow-up effort even can be worthy of discussion. It's a sad state of affairs for what used to be called the College of Freemasonry, but after so many decades of the Shrinerization of Freemasonry, this is where we are. For now.

This Stated Meeting of New Jersey Consistory will be the first meeting convened since our initiation of about twenty brethren in November. In fact, it is inspired by one of those new 32° Masons. He exited the auditorium after the completion of the Camp Scene explanation, and asked Bro. Mohamad a question about the numerology of the Camp. The two then approached me at the secretary's table, where I was stamping passports and handing out membership packets, and put the question to me. I was mortified. Engrossed in the humdrum of stamping this passport, stuffing that envelope, and otherwise administrating the minutiae, I couldn't answer a simple question on the spot.

And so, the inspiration of this event on January 10.

It will be a tiled lecture for 32° Masons only, but not just for New Jersey Consistory brethren. In fact, the guest list includes several Scottish Rite Masons from Pennsylvania already.

The bad news is the lecturer will be me. If you can withstand that, please join us for a philosophical exploration of the allegorical story of Constans, which some have not even seen yet, and a more temporal definition of the Camp Scene, which at the very least will answer that brother's question.
 

‘In the neighborhood’

    
A post for the benefit of our local and somewhat local brethren: Two great nights coming up in early February.

On Monday, February 7, Nutley Lodge No. 25 will continue its Lamp of Knowledge lecture series, hosting W. Henry of Humanitas Lodge No. 1123 in New York City, who will lead us into the Chamber of Reflection, so to speak, for an explanation of the many intriguing symbols that await initiates in the Scottish Rite tradition of Craft Masonry.

Henry also is Senior Deacon of The American Lodge of Research, the premier education lodge in the United States, and is active in other research bodies.

Apprentices and Fellows, properly avouched, are welcome to attend this lecture.

On Wednesday, February 9, at historic Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange, our good friend and Brother Rashied Bey returns to the podium. Rashied is with Cornerstone Lodge No. 37, under the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York, and is very well known about the apartments of the Temple.

RW Rashied will speak on properties of astronomy found in Masonic ritual and symbol.

Also that night, W. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge No. 10, will visit Madison Lodge No. 93, also to speak on the Chamber of Reflection.

Curious things are happening in some of the lodges here. An amazing line-up for the week ... and that’s even before we get to Virginia for Masonic Week! I’ll need extra cigars and whisky to sustain myself. Let me also point out that all three of these traveling lecturers are of The Masonic Society family. Rashied is a Fellow, and Henry and Mohamad are Members.
    

‘On the Magic Square’

    
Last night was the long-awaited appearance of Bro. Steve Burkle at Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge, where he spoke on “The 47th Problem of Euclid and the Magic Squares,” an exploration of historic and esoteric aspects of the Pythagorean Theorem. Steve is a prolific writer and presenter of research work, keeping busy in a variety of venues, including the AMD. His lecture was the last in the lodge’s “Enlightening the Temple” series, that brought to the podium seven guest speakers during the year, including Rashied Bey, Trevor Stewart, and Tim Wallace-Murphy.

On the historical side, Steve explained the known origins – mathematical and historical – of the Theorem, and explained away the clumsy manner in which it is explained in the lecture of the Third Degree. In the process, he told us about John Dee and a curiosity named Plimpton 322. The former, of course, was the 16th century English esotericist and mathematician. The latter is an ancient Babylonian cuneiform, numbered 322 among the G.A. Plimpton Collection at Columbia University, and might be the best known artifact to show mathematics in archeological history. It dates to 1900-1600 BCE, and it reveals the most advanced mathematics known previous to ancient Greece because it teaches how to form right triangles akin to the Pythagorean way.

The 47th Problem of Euclid is key to Freemasonry because it is elemental to the design of the universe. In short:

In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle).

Often written as the equation:

a² + b² = c²

With the number 3 being a common denominator of deity, there are many ways the triad speaks to divinity. Plato’s three-fold principle has Thought (father/generative power), Primitive Matter (mother/passive principle), and Kosmos (offspring/product). Plutarch, writing of Isis and Osiris, continues along this thinking and explains that within this right triangle the perpendicular is the masculine; the base is the feminine; and their offspring (Horus) is the hypotenuse. (Read the Master Mason chapter in Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma for a smarter rendering of this. Regardless of how much or how little one might meditate on geometrical theorems, this particular one can be appreciated as part of the “DNA” of the universe.)

Bro. Steve later explored numerology and gematria, linking the Pythagorean Theorem to what is called the Magic Square. A Magic Square is a matrix of rows and columns containing numbers that all agree on the same sum, no matter which direction is taken to add those numbers. To wit:

I think what I like most about Powerpoint presentations is how I can
photograph the images, instead of frantically taking notes!

Then, combining the geometry of the Pythagorean triangle with the numerology of the Magic Square and the cosmic implications of Kaballah, Steve illustrated his theory of a kind of code that defines the universe.

Read more about Steve’s presentation here. He explains Masonic symbolism very poetically and cogently, especially regarding the place occupied by the initiate upon taking his oath and obligation.

The Worshipful Master thanks Bro. Steve for the lecture.

Worshipful Master Mohamad Yatim deserves hearty praise for his work this year, a term during which he not only successfully governed the lodge’s traditional operations while setting attendance records with his lecture series, but also remained on top of the ever increasing mandates of the grand lodge. I am proud to know him, and am very excited to be working with him in 2011 at the Valley of Northern New Jersey, where we will be part of a group that revives a long-dormant Masonic education program. More on that later this fall.