‘Vernacular Universalism: Freemasonry in Haiti and Beyond’

     
Previous Magpie posts on Haiti have been getting a lot of traffic the past few weeks, so I went looking for reasons why—and found this:

The Abrazo Interno Gallery of The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center in Manhattan is the place to see the exhibit “Vernacular Universalism: Freemasonry in Haiti and Beyond” through June 23. There will be a panel discussion on Friday, June 22 at 6:30 p.m. From the publicity:

Courtesy The Clemente

In Haiti, during the colonial era, the Freemasons were one of the few European institutions that allowed black membership. Freemasonry still thrives in contemporary Haiti, and its visual world pervades the Haitian imaginary. The symbols that recur throughout this exhibition once tethered a web of ideas that stretched across the Atlantic, encrypting the most precious values of the Enlightenment.

Courtesy The Clemente

This exhibition aims to visualize the mesh of magic and reason; alchemy and science; trade and metaphysical exchange that has stretched into the 21st century. By focusing on Haiti, this exhibition sheds light on the relationship between colonized peoples and the Enlightenment. It suggests that for some, Freemasonry offered a path to becoming an agent of modernity, rather than its reviled “other.” This exhibition will be a timely and significant contribution to an understanding of Freemasonry through the lens of the Black Atlantic.

Courtesy The Clemente

This exhibition is compiled by Leah Gordon and transgresses the borders between fiction and non-fiction; reality and imagination and will feature original and commissioned works by Haitian, American, and European artists Yves Delva, Ernest Dominique, Marg Duston, Andre Eugene, Leah Gordon, Lazaros, Michel Lafleur, and Molej Zamour. The pairing of document and artifact mirrors the binaries between Magic and Modernity inherent in Haitian Freemasonry.

(The title is from a conversation about Haitian Freemasonry between Sibylle Fischer and Katherine Smith, and I thank them for their generosity in granting me permission to temporarily adopt it.)


The Clemente is located at 107 Suffolk Street, between Delancey and Rivington streets.
     

Masonic relief for Haiti

     

Brethren from the Grand Orient d’Haiti at Alpha Lodge, 2009.

Brethren, the Masonic Service Association of North America will make an appeal today (January 14) for contributions to help, aid, and assist the survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, according to an e-mail just received from Executive Secretary Richard E. Fletcher.

The Magpie Mason respectfully suggests the brethren channel their giving through this single, organized resource. Whatever goods you may be shipping individually probably will not reach their intended destinations, as the destinations themselves may no longer exist, and looting is rampant. Similarly, monies transmitted via ad hoc fundraising drives might not be received in their entirety, whereas every penny received by the MSANA will go to relief in Haiti.

“To All Poor and Distressed Masons, wherever they may be, dispersed over the face of the earth or on the water, here’s wishing them a relief from their sufferings, and a happy return to their native land, should they so desire it.”

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ADDENDUM:

MSANA’s appeal:

Appeal for Relief – HAITI

You’ve seen the destruction vividly portrayed by TV coverage. Much of Haiti is in ruins. All Haitians need assistance. Our Brothers in the Grand Orient D’Haiti desperately need assistance as they work with their communities in trying to rebuild their shattered lives.

Please forward to the MSA such funds as you feel appropriate to help our devastated Brethren and their families in this stricken jurisdiction. Please make checks payable to the MSA Disaster Relief Fund and send to:

8120 Fenton Street, Ste. 203,
Silver Spring, MD 20910-4785

Thank you very much for your help!

Most sincerely and fraternally,

RICHARD E. FLETCHER, PGM
Executive Secretary

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English Freemasonry assists also:

Information Release by The Freemasons’ Grand Charity of the UGLE:

14th January 2010

£30,000 IN RELIEF FOR HAITI EARTHQUAKE

Following the devastating earthquake which took place in Haiti on Tuesday 12th January 2010, the President of The Freemasons’ Grand Charity has approved two emergency grants totaling £30,000. The funds have been issued to the British Red Cross and Plan.

The 7.3-magnitude quake, Haiti’s worst in two centuries, struck at 1653 local time (2153 GMT) on Tuesday. The epicenter was within 10 miles of the center of the densely-populated capital, where around one million people live. More than 50,000 people are feared dead.

The British Red Cross has been awarded £20,000 to assist with their relief efforts. Red Cross volunteers in Haiti are currently assisting the injured and supporting hospitals who do not have enough capacity to deal with this emergency. The most urgent needs at this time are search and rescue, field hospitals, emergency health, water purification, emergency shelter, logistics and telecommunications.

Plan has also been granted £10,000 in support of their efforts in dealing with the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Plan’s priorities are assisting children and their families and getting people into safe accommodation wherever possible, as well as working with survivors to help ease their psychological trauma.

     

Haitian Masonry and Agape

   

W. Bro. David Lindez and three Masons from Haiti display the flag of Haiti.

Only at Alpha Lodge can the Master bring the brethren to Haiti without having to move the charter!

The journey through time and space took place Wednesday night, as the lodge catered to the five senses in recreating the Haitian Masonic experience, topped with the screening of a video documenting the St. John’s Day festivities held last June in Jacmel, Haiti.

We departed New Jersey upon entering the lodge room. The air was thick with incense of various aromas. The only illumination was the G and the collective glow of scores of candles: beeswax tapers about the altar; others in the South, West and East, and elsewhere about the lodge.

Do not adjust your monitor. This image captures the candle-lit, incense-laden atmosphere inside historic Alpha Lodge during its sojourn to Haiti.

W. Bro. David Lindez gave the brethren a history of Freemasonry in Haiti, a very colorful description that goes a long way toward explaining the highly esoteric nature of the fraternity there. It’s the story of Pasqually, Willermoz, Rectified Scottish Rite, Strict Observance, and Elu Cohens.

Then the brethren adjourned downstairs for the feast, a true Masonic Agape with exotic dishes (goat!) and other ethnic comestibles on the menu, all homemade right in the lodge’s kitchen by an experienced chef.

The Grand Orient d’Haiti dates to 1824. Its 6,000 brethren are at labor in 51 lodges found among numerous cities and towns. The lodge shown in the video is Parfaite Sincerite No. 4 in Jacmel.

This documentary shows the lodge’s annual public procession in celebration of St. John the Baptist Day 2008. Now it’s one thing to listen to Bro. Trevor Stewart discuss the Masonic processions of 18th century Britain, but it is quite something else to view the esoterica, solemnity, hierarchy and regalia of the Haitian brethren as they undertake their culturally significant ritual, enduring what looked like crippling heat, in a public square.

It is not easy to describe all that was captured by the camera, but it must be explained that the Freemasonry of this island nation is commingled with church, resulting in Masonic and ecclesiastic organizations running parallel, if not actually integrated. The hierarchy of those in the procession was evident. Those attired in regalia marked with Templar crosses comprise the inner ring of a huge throng of circumambulating Masons encircling the altar. A pyre actually, built of specially chosen woods with sacramental elements liberally splashed upon it and prayers inscribed on paper ritually placed within it. The next ring of celebrants is attired in what Scottish Rite Masons would recognize as Rose Croix regalia. Look closely! There’s Bro. David from All Seeing Eye Lodge in New York! Still others display the Triple Tau. The Master Masons, easily identified by their aprons, form the outermost ring of Masons; those outside of that are family and friends of the brethren. All carry candles to illumine the massive procession, except those bearing the banners of their respective Orders, plus one brother with a Flaming Sword. All are barefoot, for they know the ground where they walk is sacred.

The small group of men at the very center, those applying the sea salt, holy water and other elements to the ritual pyre, are not adorned with special symbols. Simple white. Everyone knows who they are.

And this procession is not mere marching. On the stone pavement about the altar is drawn a circular map of spiritual progression revealing the first 24 names of the Shemhamphorasch. (One must be very careful here. This is not for the casual, kidding himself Kabbalist. These divine signs often are exploited by hard-hearted manipulators of hedonists and other weaklings.) The brethren here affect ritual steps, just as one would upon entering or leaving the lodge, signifying their conformity with one another and with deity.

It is a dizzying demonstration. The heat of the pyre warms your face, and the humidity in the air hugs the body. The juxtaposition of familiar symbols with foreign rites renders the whole scene dreamlike and cinematic, and yet nothing to these Masons is more real and immediate than this ritual. The power of the union achieved by the brethren is palpable.

The film ends. The lights come up. We are returned from Haiti.