‘Masonic Hall Monitors at The ALR’

    

Thomas Smith Webb by Travis Simpkins.

What better way to commemorate the anniversary of Thomas Smith Webb’s birth in 1771 than to attend your research lodge for a dive into the history of Freemasonry’s ritual literature?

Actually, I guess initiating a candidate with Webb’s ritual might have been better. And passing him would have been good. And, sure, raising him could have been a great commemoration, but we don’t make Masons in The American Lodge of Research. We make ’em think.

The program Tuesday night in the French Doric Room at Masonic Hall was “Masonic Hall Monitors,” for which three experts united for discussion of the history and evolution of ritual ciphers, monitors, and exposures.

In truth, Webb’s birthday was the following day. Regardless, we think we arrived at the reason why exoteric ritual books are commonly called monitors: Because Webb titled his The Freemason’s Monitor; or, Illustrations of Masonry: In Two Parts, and the moniker “monitor” stuck.

etymology.com

The origin of the word “monitor” shows it derives from the Latin for “one who reminds, admonishes, or checks,” also “an overseer, instructor, guide, teacher,” according to etymology.com, so the term is apt, and seems to have become the aptonym many grand lodges use to title their books of exoteric Masonic rituals (charges, funerary ceremony, cornerstone dedication, etc.). Others call them manuals. How boring.

Anyway, we welcomed RW Sam Kinsey, Chairman of Grand Lodge’s Custodians of the Work; RW Michael LaRocco, Executive Director of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library upstairs on 14; and RW Ben Hoff, Past Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 and Past Grand Historian in Jersey. In concert, they gave a thorough review of these books, from Masonry Dissected, printed in London in 1730, and which gives the first known look at a Third Degree, to the forthcoming New York Monitor, due before the Grand Lodge Communication next May, and therefore just in time to provide our lodges the bona fide Installation of Officers ritual.

Wonderbook

1942 GLNY Monitor

In the Grand Lodge of New York, the Custodians of the Work is the team that maintains the integrity of the ritual our lodges use. I’d say the gist of Sam’s presentation is: Ritual changes over time. Sometimes, things need clarification or correction. Other times, the sensibilities of the present day might necessitate an addition or a deletion.

Sam Kinsey

Whatever the case, it is wrong to believe that Masonic rituals are the same from place to place, and that they have not been altered since 1717. Equally important is to view your ritual as more of a script to a performance than as holy writ that demands a rigid, unfeeling delivery. When appropriate, use inflection; watch your timing. Know the vocabulary. Remember you are educating someone.

Michael LaRocco

Bro. Michael followed Sam’s talk, wheeling a booktruck laden with antique and other vintage New York ritual texts into the room for a show-and-tell exhibit—including an original, from 1797, copy of Webb’s Monitor. This and the other books came from the Livingston Library’s archives and stacks; collectively, they illustrated Sam’s talk on how rituals change over time, requiring new printings to impart the ritual to new generations of Masons. The most recent publication of the Standard Work and Lectures came in 2019, shortly after a panicked grand secretary had discovered that the inventory of ritual books had dwindled to a single copy. The latest monitor, however, dates way back to 1989. That book is not current today, and the long anticipated update is coming, as noted above.

Bro. Ben was last to speak on account of his research paper “Monitors and Ritual Ciphers” spanning twenty-six pages. His specialty is forensic examination of Masonic rituals, and he owns an impressive collection of eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century ritual books—official and otherwise—on which he bases his theses.

He started us with a look into the Edinburgh Register House Manuscript from 1696, which shows us how short and simple Masonic ritual had been while also exemplifying how the structure has changed. What we today call a lecture is a long monolog delivered from memory by (hopefully) a gifted orator, but in a seventeenth and eighteenth century lodge, a lecture was a conversation. It was question-and-answer format, which actually lives on today. Think lodge Opening.

Between 1696 and today, embellishments were added to give literary depth to the symbolism. Most of these arose in the late 1700s from the books of three English authors. A Candid Disquisition, by Wellins Calcott (1769); The Spirit of Masonry, by William Hutchenson (1775); and, especially, William Preston’s Illustrations of Masonry, various editions of which began appearing in 1772. These authors get the credit for much of what we say today in lodge.

It really is remarkable how much of their prose basically remains intact. I’ve written about these books before, and I urge you to seek them out for your edification.

What we today know of ritual from between the 1720s and 1770s comes from ritual exposures that were printed without authorization (ergo exposures), but were bought anyway by Masons in need of handy ritual references. Masonry Dissected is a great source for seeing how fundamental lodge rituals were in 1730. The candidate is prepared, admitted, introduced, obligated, charged, and fed.

It also was not unheard of for brethren to handwrite their rituals for personal use.

Regarding monitors, Ben explains:

Ben Hoff

The key thing to remember about all Masonic monitors is that they were not exhaustive ritual guides. The two key characteristics of a monitor that distinguish it from a ritual are the absence of any traditionally secret ritual material, and the inclusion of such other supplemental material as would be useful to running the lodge. This supplemental material included items such as procedures for installations, lodge consecrations, funeral services, cornerstone layings, recommended procedures for petitions, interrogatories, and similar matters. As for ritual material, only openly published illustrations included as expansions of the lectures, prayers, and similar non-controversial material are included.

Getting back to Webb, it was he who adapted Preston’s Illustrations for American use, making changes to ritual structure that comprise his Monitor. In his day, grand lodges in the United States didn’t have official standardized rituals, and they definitely were not publishing ritual books (remember what happened with William Morgan in 1826), so Webb made a career of traveling the states and imparting his version of the work to lodges.

Later still came the artistic renderings of our symbols by Jeremy Ladd Cross. His book, True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor, is whence the familiar sketches we know of Craft and Royal Arch symbols came.

In addition to all these, were other authors’ coded ritual books of varying complexity and weirdness.

It wouldn’t be until the twentieth century that grand lodges in America would publish their own authorized ritual texts. In New Jersey, Ben explained, this was because some other guy was profiting from selling such books, so the grand lodge decided in 1967 to make the money for itself.

The hour was late—some of the brethren had to excuse themselves to catch their trains—so I had to end the meeting. I think everyone present got their money’s worth, and I feel good about it all. (I’m a fairly anxious Worshipful Master.)

Macoy Masonic Supply Co.

I had planned on giving a fourth talk on the subject of Macoy Masonic Supply’s reprinting of Robert Macoy’s 1867 Masonic Manual, but it seems the 750-book run has sold out, and I didn’t want to promote something the brethren cannot buy. It’s pretty cool, though.

Under business, we elected to Corresponding Membership a dual New York and California Mason who also has been a professor and lecturer at several universities, including Columbia. He has submitted a paper already!

The American Lodge of Research will meet again in early 2025. We will hit the road on February 19 for a joint meeting with Dunwoodie 863 in New Rochelle. We’ll be back in the French Doric Room on March 31 for a French-themed program involving both Lafayette and Tocqueville. I’m working on arranging Zoom sessions too, but more on that later.

     

‘Morbid Manhattan Monday, Obscura Style’

     

Courtesy atlasobscura.com

I am baffled to no end over not having seen this headstone before, but with all the hours I’ve spent over the years inside Trinity Church and on its grounds, actively seeking Masonic clues on headstones and elsewhere, the final resting place of Bro. James Leeson eluded me until Bro. Isaac shared it on Facebook a little while ago. The credit goes to Laetitia Barbier, writing today on the Atlas Obscura website of her experience visiting Trinity. Barbier is a student at the Sorbonne working on a dissertation about the artist Joe Coleman (or perhaps has completed it already).

What is Atlas Obscura? I think that is answered best by the group’s three-part philosophy spelled out at the bottom of its website:

     1. There is something NEW under the sun, every day, all over the world.
     2. Around the corner is something that will SURPRISE the hell out of you.
     3. Atlas Obscura is for people who still believe in DISCOVERY.

(Earlier this year, a group of Atlas Obscura folks visited Masonic Hall to see the Livingston Library.)

Anyway, click here to see Ms. Barbier’s reportage. She does a great job of explaining the Masonic significance of the headstone, especially what is sometimes called the Masonic alphabet. We’ll forgive her for not addressing the Pot of Incense, a symbol not very well known outside the Craft. And check out Atlas Obscura too, which I am sure you will find to be worth your time.
    

‘To keep and conceal?’

Nutley Lodge Master Franklin Suco presents a gift to W. Ben Hoff in thanks for the lecture delivered there Monday night. Hoff is Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education in Trenton.

The yearlong Masonic education program at Nutley Lodge No. 25 continued in fine style Monday night with the appearance of W. Ben Hoff. The Worshipful Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education in Trenton journeyed north to share with the brethren one of his always illuminating presentations. This one concerned the history and diversity of ritual ciphers.

Ben is an avid researcher of Craft Masonry rituals – their history, variations and, when possible, their appearance in cipher books, official or otherwise. His personal library of ritual books includes genuine antique treasures like “The Master Key” by John Browne from 1794 (a book that even Mackey said was rare, and that was 150 years ago), and the more famous Antient ritual exposures from the 1760s, like “Three Distinct Knocks.” Of more modern publications, Ben has a library of American and English ritual books, some published officially, others not.

When giving these talks, Ben always brings a batch of these texts for the brethren to see and handle. Monday night we had the chance to peruse a variety of books, including a handwritten ritual book, in code, from Aurora Lodge No. 3 in New Hampshire (which no longer exists). I think it was a 19th century vintage. Its code was the “dreaded single-initial” abbreviation style, as opposed to the unique symbol characters in the ciphers of New Jersey and elsewhere. And he also distributed brief excerpts from New Hampshire’s official ritual book of 1948. In both samples, it was hard to decipher everything because that jurisdiction’s language differs very slightly. But other variations are major, like the absence of Deacons taking up the Word during the opening.

The proliferation of ritual exposures was natural, Ben explained. Although published commercially and without official sanction of the Grand Lodges, these books were mightily sought by the brethren for use as memory aids. Even those books published by anti-Masons for the purpose of diminishing the fraternity’s mystique and allure were snatched up by Masons struggling to study independently. “We’re not supposed to write (the secrets of the degrees),” he added, “but nobody ever said anything about buying.”

One might be tempted to think the study of Masonic ritual ciphers would be dull and dry. The truth is the real story of Freemasonry is encoded in those pages. The comparison of one modern ritual to its ancestors reveals more about the Craft than any dozen lame “Templar Chapel Decoded!” type books on the point-of-sale rack in Barnes & Noble. But it requires patience, and it is necessary to read history for context. From there you can see with your own eyes how the lodge of the tavern became the lodge of the temple; how lectures were taken away from the brethren assembled and assigned to a lone orator; how Openings were changed from the EA° to the MM°; and how beautiful prose was excised by ritual committees that had no idea of the meaning and purpose of those words.

There were changes arising outside the temple as well.

William Morgan’s ritual exposé resulted in the scandal that almost destroyed the fraternity in the early 1800s. To cope and attempt a comeback, many of the Grand Lodges sent delegates to the Baltimore Convention in 1843, where the feasibility of a nationwide standardized ritual was seriously proposed. The anti-Masonic movement of the era produced America’s first political third party: the Anti-Masonic Party, which enjoyed significant electoral success, even electing a governor in Vermont.

During the Civil War, the prolific author Rob Morris devised his Mnemonics system, which he offered as a potential standard ritual for the country’s recovering Masonic fraternity. That ritual is seen today in the work of Connecticut’s lodges, among others.

The advent of ritual books caused the fraternity to obsess over its ceremonies. By having the printed word for reference, Masons became devoted to letter-perfect performance of the degrees. Ceremonial form became more important than instructive substance, and passing generations of mistaken Masons came to believe there never have been changes to their rituals. Sound familiar?

“The essence of ritual is not the precision of the words,” said Hoff, whose research will result in a book on the evolution of Craft ritual, the chapters of which he presents as papers to our research lodge. “Originally there was no standardized ritual. To this day in England there is no standardized ritual!”

The point, he added, is that these ceremonies need consist only of their necessary initiatory elements (the entrance, circumambulation, etc.). This does not mean anything goes in the degrees, but rather lodges do not have to be the cookie-cutter clones we have today. “Lodges with non-standardized rituals have brethren who are more passionate about preserving their lodges’ rituals and heritage.” They have to be more careful; they don’t have books to pass around. “They also spend more time visiting other lodges to see what they do differently. It’s cool!”

As regards New Jersey’s ritual, what we see today printed in plain English in our books once was merely commentary on the actual ritual, which we know in code. This added commentary gradually became incorporated into the ritual itself, making the ritual more complicated... resulting in the demand for written texts.

New Jersey ritual ciphers date back more than a century, to “King Solomon and His Followers: A Valuable Aid to the Memory.” The MM° Opening in this unauthorized book shows the Deacons being summoned to the West; charged by the SW to satisfy themselves that all present are MMs; and then traveling East by the North and South. No Word is taken up. Instead, a Deacon halted in front of an unfamiliar brother, until he was properly avouched.

Another unofficial New Jersey cipher, titled “Ecce Orienti” circa 1918, begins with a 13-page discussion of the Essenes, a term used to confound the uninitiated (and incidentally a term used about 30 years before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls).

The publishers of both of these books also printed versions for other Masonic jurisdictions. Remember this was the golden age of fraternalism, when publishers, manufacturers and vendors of all kinds could earn their livelihoods by gratifying the needs of the hundreds of thousands of men who comprised the countless fraternities, benefit societies, and other groups upon which people depended for their social lives and economic security. The codes employed in these pages are recognizable to Masons today.

The same is not true of the aforementioned Browne’s “The Master Key.” That author devised a cipher that replaced vowels with the letters of his last name.

A = B
E = R
I = O
O = W
U = N
Y = E

So, of course, the use of a B could indicate an intended A... or it could just be the B.

The Magpie reader who can decipher the following phrase will receive a pint of Guinness and a fine cigar next week at the Alex Mark Hilton.

Thrko Ngbndthrc Rbftwoth