‘Grotto research college?!’

    

I don’t know what to think of this. My wariness of novelties in Freemasonry, compounded by knowing hardly anyone is interested in research, leaves me skeptical. Yet I hope to be proven wrong.

What’s he talking about?

Two weeks ago, an announcement came via social media heralding the start of the “College of the Enchanted Persian Rite” within the MOVPER.

The Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm is a Masonic fraternity open to Master Masons that serves as a kind of valve to release energy constrained by the formality of Craft lodge life. During its early decades, there were grand lodges that prohibited Grotto activities in lodge buildings because of its emphasis on frivolity. Like the Shriners, the MOVPER adopted charitable aims, which had the effect of calming doubtful grand masters.

The organizers of this fledgling college say:

Introducing the College of the Enchanted Persian Rite or, for short, CPR. This will be an association that is about research, study, and creative works pertaining to Grotto, Persia, etc.

Contact any member listed to gain membership information. As of now we will be doing intake at Supreme Council. We will host Zoom meetings throughout the year, and receive copies of material Prophets have published, researched, or studied.

We are not about changing ritual; we are about studying and sharing knowledge. Anything the College does is open to the realm.

I’m not familiar with inaugural Shahanshah Vizier (presiding officer) Avi Nash, but evidently he is with Sitara Grotto in El Paso, Texas. Their website says:

Monarch Avi Nash commenced on his Masonic journey in 2003 in Beaumont, Texas, where he was raised as a Master Mason.

Avi Nash

His path soon led him deeper into the enchanted realms of fraternal brotherhood, joining the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm on October 18, 2017, as a member of El Texa Grotto in Fort Worth. Demonstrating his commitment to the Order’s charitable mission, he proudly purchased his first Enchanted Lantern in support of the Humanitarian Foundation in 2019. A natural leader and ritualist, Avi was elected Master of Ceremonies of El Texa Grotto in 2020 and elevated to Chief Justice in 2021. His dedication, charisma, and vision culminated in a landmark moment on March 8, 2025, when he was installed as the Charter Monarch of Sitara Grotto, becoming its first reigning leader and guiding light. In addition to his role as Monarch, he continues to spread joy and goodwill as Sitara Grotto’s beloved Doctor of Smiles.

Monarch Nash’s Masonic legacy spans a wide constellation of affiliated bodies, including York Rite, Scottish Rite, the Grand College of Rites of the USA, the Order of the Sword of Bunker Hill, Order of Eastern Star, Order of the Amaranth, High Twelve International, National Sojourners, and Heroes of ’76, and he holds Honorary Membership in the Order of DeMolay.

Adding to his distinguished service, Monarch Nash is the author of The Masked Khurasan: Al-Muqanna, The Veiled Prophet, a rich and illuminating historical biography designed to educate and inspire fellow Prophets about the legendary mystic Mokanna, whose veiled legacy continues to echo through the Realm.

There actually are aspects of Grotto that are surprisingly erudite. When I joined years ago, I poked around to learn more about what I’d gotten myself into, and quickly found the entire Grotto identity is based on an epic poem published in 1817 by English poet Thomas Moore. “The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan” is part of the poem “Lalla Rookh.” Brittanica says:

Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore (born May 28, 1779, Dublin, Ire.—died Feb. 25, 1852, Wiltshire, Eng.) was an Irish poet, satirist, composer, and political propagandist. He was a close friend of Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The son of a Roman Catholic wine merchant, Moore graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1799 and then studied law in London. His major poetic work, Irish Melodies (1807-34), earned him an income of £500 annually for a quarter of a century. It contained such titles as “The Last Rose of Summer” and “Oft in the Stilly Night.” The Melodies, a group of 130 poems set to the music of Moore and of Sir John Stevenson and performed for London’s aristocracy, aroused sympathy and support for the Irish nationalists, among whom Moore was a popular hero. Lalla Rookh (1817), a narrative poem set (on Byron’s advice) in an atmosphere of Oriental splendour, gave Moore a reputation among his contemporaries rivaling that of Byron and Sir Walter Scott. It was perhaps the most translated poem of its time, and it earned what was till then the highest price paid by an English publisher for a poem (£3,000).

This CPR is invitational, which makes me more skeptical, but if you want to get involved, I guess talk to your Grotto’s secretary, who probably won’t know a thing about it. If you like research and education, there may be a research lodge in your area that would love to see you at its meetings.