‘Nazis vs. Freemasons’

    

Nazis vs. Freemasons documentary.

Sounds almost like a soccer match but, no, Nazis vs. Freemasons is a new film from Free Documentary on the subject of the Masonic archives looted by Nazi Germany during its conquest of Europe in World War Two; those records’ subsequent seizure by the Soviets; and the surprising return of 28,000 meticulously labeled files to their original owners, despite reluctance in the Duma, at the close of the last century.

Free Documentary is one of the many brands of Quintus Studios. Based in Germany, Quintus is an aggregator of documentaries it has uploaded to YouTube for more than ten years for our enjoyment free of charge.

Free Documentary

Nazis vs. Freemasons: Looting of the Lodges recounts the story of how and why Nazis, commanded by Alfred Rosenberg, plundered the Masonic buildings in Germany and the countries sacked by the German army, confiscating all kinds of archives, libraries, and possessions. The Masonic items later were shipped to Moscow, where they were lodged for more than fifty years.

Of Rosenberg, Holocaust Encyclopedia says:

On November 9, 1923, Rosenberg participated in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, which resulted in Hitler’s arrest. Tasked by Hitler as interim leader of the Nazi Party, Rosenberg struggled to prevent the Nazi movement’s disintegration. After Hitler’s release, Rosenberg returned to journalism and began his chief work, The Myth of the Twentieth Century, published in 1930…

Based on a selective reading of earlier works of philosophers, neo-pagan authors, and racial theorists, such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain, the volume embodied a dichotomist world view that positioned the “Aryan” and the Jewish “races” irreconcilably against one another. All the fruits of Western culture, Rosenberg posited, had evolved solely from the Germanic tribes; yet the Roman “priestly caste” which had arisen with Christianity had combined with Freemasons, Jesuits, and “international Jewry” to erode this culture and with it German spiritual values.

Free Documentary

From the Masonic perspective, the film highlights the explanation offered by Pierre Mollier, one of the Grand Orient of France’s best known scholars. We also hear from historian Patricia Grimsted, who brought the archives to light after the collapse of the Soviet government—and was denounced as a spy, among other experts.

Some takeaways from the film:

Free Documentary

◆ These archives are not mere inanimate objects and dry documents. They comprise nothing less than the fraternity’s lost “collective memory.” Facts unknown by anyone living, even about Lodge of Nine Sisters in Paris, have been exhumed to illumine our past.

◆ Nazi venom for Freemasonry wasn’t merely loathing of Enlightenment (and anti-fascist) thinking. Heinrich Himmler believed Freemasons “held mysterious esoteric powers.”

◆ The Soviets’ interest in Freemasonry was more practical. They wanted to know about Masonic political networking to learn if Masonry had members inside the Communist Party. Also, knowing that many Western politicians and generals were Masons, they sought to leverage Masonic knowledge to infiltrate that leadership.

There’s no sense in me writing at length about the documentary. Click the image at top and watch the 51-minute film, posted to YouTube about a week ago.

My thanks to Bro. Don for alerting me to the film’s arrival on YouTube.

     

‘A princess decapitated, a stairway ascended, and a Fellow elevated’

    

Appropriately hanging outside the Colonial Room in Masonic Hall are Franklin, Washington, and Lafayette.

That was one exceptional meeting of The American Lodge of Research we enjoyed last night! Two phenomenal research papers anchored what was a productive and memorable time together.

Attendance was up, probably because of improved communication and outreach both to our members and to those interested but haven’t joined yet—and also, I suspect, because the successes of the past two years of meetings speak for themselves.

Bro. Ziad was the first to present. His paper, with plenty of art and illustrations, is titled “The Masonic Journey of Princess Lamballe.” An engaging work of biography and history that reveals a very young lady’s entrance into the height of Parisian society (becoming a confidant of Marie Antoinette, no less) and how she parlayed her social station into Masonic membership in an Adoptive lodge, Loge la Candeur, where a demand for equality between the sexes was fomenting. La Candeur was an independent-minded force for feminine equality within the Grand Orient of France, to the point of antagonizing the Grand Orient leadership. The princess was present at this lodge’s inaugural meeting on March 21, 1775. Six years later, the women members decided they would rule and govern the lodge themselves, without male members’ direction.

The Death of Princess de Lamballe
by Léon-Maxime Faivre, 1908.

  
In the end, she perished in The Terror, replete with decapitation. I like to think she and her peers’ Masonic labors continue today in the feminine lodges of France and elsewhere—several of which can be found a short distance away on 45th Street.

Next at the lectern was Bro. Daniel (I redact surnames here because I don’t know if the brethren prefer privacy concerning their Masonic membership), who gave us “Superstructure: A Philological and Historical Reimagination of the Middle Chamber and Winding Staircase.” Daniel is a rabbinical student whose insights into the Hebrew language, both modern and ancient, fuel his investigation into exactly what might be meant in the lecture of the Second Degree when it discusses that inner architecture of KST.

I think we all understand no one in Israel was employing the term “Sanctum Sanctorum.” Daniel plumbs the Hebrew, Aramaic, and English (and displays Greek and Latin) uses of the terms middle, chamber, winding, and staircase to extrapolate contexts that ensure we’ll never hear that degree’s lecture in the same way again. It may be possible that the climb to the Middle Chamber is not traversed via material stairs at all but, instead, could be a mental ascendance.

During the Q&A, the Brother Junior Deacon rose to exclaim that this was the finest research presentation he’d heard in many years. He also mentioned how the Greek word thalamus—as in cerebral cortex—means “inner chamber!” I similarly think this paper exemplifies the way scholarship in Freemasonry can add powerful life to the printed words Masons are expected to memorize for recitation. (And don’t ask about my attempt to deliver the few brief lines from the Junior Warden’s station!)

Speaking of printed pages, naturally both of these papers will appear in our upcoming book of transactions; they will bloom on the page because their oral presentations, even with PowerPoint, are an awful lot to absorb. The ALR has inked a deal with Westphalia Press and, when I finally finish editing, we can start pre-press. Hopefully will have the books in June.

There was some business to tackle before closing the meeting, and it is with great pleasure The ALR announces the election of its newest Fellow—that’s No. 50—is Piers Vaughan! Congratulations, Piers! There’s no need to explain why he was chosen.

The American Lodge of Research will meet again in June for more Masonic learning and our election and installation of officers.

     

‘Grand Orient condemns Rushdie attack’

    

Reuters

Salman Rushdie

In a statement published yesterday, the Grand Orient of France denounced the vicious assault on author Salman Rushdie last Friday in western New York, labeling it “a crime against freedom.” The unsigned letter protests religious extremism, particularly the Islamist ideology that fomented the attempted murder of the 75-year-old.

According to reports, Rushdie is in critical condition, but is expected to survive multiple stab wounds, albeit at the cost of an eye and other damage.

After publication in 1988 of his novel The Satanic Verses, Rushdie was named the subject of a fatwa—an official ruling in Islamic jurisprudence—issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then the theocratic ruler of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which demands Rushdie’s murder. Khomeini died in 1989, but the edict stands. The would-be killer is identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, who pleaded not guilty Saturday to charges of attempted murder and assault. (It means nothing in this Rushdie case, but Khomeini resided in France before returning to Iran and taking over the new revolutionary government after Freemason Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah, fled in 1979.)

“Religious extremists have always wanted to impose submission on all believers and unbelievers at all costs,” the GOF communiqué also says. “Today, it is political Islam that, to ensure its grip on consciences and the brigade of fanatical minds, wants to spread fear by intimidation, threats, imprisonment, torture, and killing women and men who refuse to submit.”

If you’re unacquainted, the Grand Orient of France leadership often opines publicly on social and political ideas and events.

“Freedom of conscience gives each and every one the right to believe or not believe; to practice a certain religion, to change, or have none; to be religious, atheistic, agnostic, or indifferent to religion,” the Masons’ statement also says. “Freedom of expression includes critical doubt and the right to disregard any power—political, religious, or otherwise.”

The Grand Orient of France is the eldest and largest of the Masonic orders in the French Republic, although it is not the one we Americans recognize. (We are in amity with the National Grand Lodge of France, created by the English in 1913.)

The entire message, in French, can be read on the Grand Orient’s website.

     

‘For the Freemason who has everything’

    

What to give the Brother Mason who has everything? How about a reproduction lodge membership patent signed by none other than Benjamin Franklin? Or perhaps your lodge would want to display it? Or your Masonic museum?

Franklin added his autograph in 1785 in his capacity as Venerable Master of La Loge des Neuf Soeurs in Paris. Speaking of museums, those “Nine Sisters” are the Muses of Greek mythology.

The original membership patent was presented to Bro. Claude-Jacques Notte, an artist. Sorry to say I’ve never heard of him, nor does there seem to be any biographical information on the web, but he must have been plugged into the arts and sciences world of Enlightenment Paris that characterized La Loge des Neuf Soeurs. He seems to be remembered for a portrait of John Paul Jones.

Accompanying the reproduction document is an explanatory booklet penned by Pierre Mollier—a Brother Mason we do know, by reputation if not personally. He is a Masonic scholar and author whose latest book, Masonic Myths and Legends, was published this spring by Westphalia Press. He is the director of the Grand Orient of France’s Museum of Freemasonry in Paris. (Remember Neuf Soeurs was a G.O. lodge.)

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it regardless: I’m only sharing news of this commerce, and I have no connection to the seller or to any transaction.

     

‘Are the Ancient Landmarks Ancient?’

     

Policy Studies Organization’s World Conference on Fraternalism will do it again in Paris next spring.

The topic: “Are the Ancient Landmarks Ancient?”

That will be May 26-28, 2022 at the Grand Orient of France’s Museum of Freemasonry.

No word yet on a call for papers, but save the date. Hopefully this will be a live, in-person event available to see via the web.

     

‘Weird Fact Wednesday: Amity with the Grand Orient’

     
I hope to make Weird Fact Wednesday a regular feature here on The Magpie Mason, but I also said that of Throwback Thursday, and that isn’t working out. Anyway, today’s Masonic Weird Fact comes from 100 years ago.

You know that the Grand Orient of France became estranged from the mainstream Masonic world in the 1870s after deleting from its constitution an affirmation of belief in deity,* but did you know that grand lodges in the United States re-established relations with the Grand Orient during and after World War I?

(Actually, nearly every grand lodge in the United States broke off relations with the Grand Orient in 1867 on account of the GOF’s meddling in Louisiana Masonry, but that’s another story.)

The First World War transformed Western Civilization and many parts beyond, and it made lasting changes on Freemasonry as well. In the United States, there took place a membership boom that caused the chartering of lodges throughout the then 49 grand lodges, as newly sworn military men sought the rights and benefits of Masonic membership in anticipation of being sent overseas. Plenty of civilians petitioned for the degrees of the Craft as well, of course, and the cumulative effect of all this prompted the construction of who-knows-how-many Masonic temples, Scottish Rite cathedrals, Shrines, and other infrastructure nationwide—those grand marble or limestone or brick, etc. edifices that today have been or are being abandoned as we speak.

In Masonic international relations, the influx of more than a million Americans into France created situations where U.S. soldiers sought lodge memberships in France. The National Grand Lodge of France was only a few years old, but enjoyed the approbation of the United Grand Lodge of England because, frankly, the English created it. There also existed the Grand Lodge of France, which too had been delegitimized and then found itself embraced anew because of the war, but this Masonic Weird Fact concerns the Grand Orient, into whose lodges a number of Americans sought entrance.

“New York set the ball rolling in September 1917 by granting to its members the right to fraternize with the Masons of France during the war,” says a 1918 report by the Grand Lodge of Nevada. “New Jersey went further and unequivocally recognized the Grand Lodge of France and repealed its edict against the Grand Orient. In December 1917, the District of Columbia recognized the Grand Lodge of France without a dissenting vote. California appointed a committee to devise plans for renewing relations with the French brethren, and extended the right to its brethren to visit any lodges in France, Belgium, and Italy. In Kentucky, Utah, Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Alabama also favorable action has been taken enabling their members to fraternize with the craftsmen of France. With the return of peace, this will make easy the establishment of permanent relations of amity and good will.”

Nevada itself joined that list of U.S. grand jurisdictions in 1918. Others, as far as I know (there may be others), would include Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. (Louisiana rescinded recognition after a couple of years.)

In New Jersey, on May 18, 1918, MW Bro. William M. Thompson was appointed Grand Representative to the Grand Orient of France near New Jersey. On July 25, RW Bro. Justin Sicard de Plauzoles was appointed Grand Representative of New Jersey near the Grand Orient. Plauzoles writes:


Dear Brother and Most Worshipful Grand Master,

I have received with joy and gratitude the patent by which the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of New Jersey has constituted and appointed me its representative to the Grand Orient of France. I am very happy and proud of the title, and of your trust and confidence. The Freemasons of France and of the United States possess the same ideals for which formerly Lafayette and now Pershing have crossed the ocean.

At that time, at this time, at all times, we have fought together the same battles for right and liberty.

Henceforth, nothing shall be able to break the bonds of friendship which unite our nations.

The admiration and gratitude for your heroes make more precious the title which you have conferred upon me.

I thank my beloved brethren of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of New Jersey most heartily, and beg you to believe me to be your faithful and devoted brother.

Maréchal Bernard Magnan

Further correspondence between New Jersey and the Grand Orient ensued. In October 1918, the secretary of the GOF’s Council of the Order (in 1871, after France’s defeat by Germany, and the fall of the Second French Empire, the office of grand master was abolished—its final grand master being Bernard Pierre Magnan, Marshal of France—and was replaced by a President de l’Ordre) wrote to ask if GLNJ would object to the Grand Orient conferring the degrees of Freemasonry upon New Jersey natives currently located in France. New Jersey’s response was to say no blanket approval was possible, but that a waiver of jurisdiction would have to be granted on an individual basis. New Jersey’s Grand Master, speaking to the 132nd Annual Communication of his Grand Lodge in Trenton on April 16, 1919, said:


The resumption of our former friendly relations with the Grand Orient of France by the rescission of the interdict of non-intercourse led to correspondence which has indicated not only a lively appreciation of our action, but as well an apprehension of conditions arising from the war and American participation therein and a sense of the Masonic properties involved, that justifies making it in part a matter of record in this address.

And later:

The great war has convulsed nations, cost emperors and kings their heads, and disturbed the great heart of mankind, but Freemasonry emerges from the conflict stronger than ever in her history. The eyes of all the world are upon the craft. They realize the tremendous possibilities for good that rest in our organization, and expect great things from us in the reorganization of society. I have no hesitation in affirming that we will live up to every expectation.

Ours in an order that shall stand

A light upon a nation’s hill,

A voice forbidding all that’s ill—

A source of strength for all that’s good

In Justice, Love, and Brotherhood.

In the Grand Lodge of New York it was said: “We still question, nevertheless, the wisdom of the move, from a Masonic standpoint, and we trust New Jersey will, before long, reconsider the matter. We love her too much to see her go astray unwarned.” (The Grand Orient had chartered a lodge in New York City, which didn’t sit well with GLNY.)

I do not know when the American grand lodges resumed their fraternal divorce from the Grand Orient—or maybe they never did, and everyone forgot? Maybe the amity lasted to 1940, when the Grand Orient was shuttered during the Nazi occupation? I’ll keep reading.





*The story is more complicated than that. Writing his Modern Masonry, Joseph Fort Newton explains:

As a matter of fact, from its foundation till 1849, the Constitution of the Grand Orient contained no declaration of belief in deity, yet during all those years it was fully recognized by the Masonic world. In August 1849, the following clause was inserted in the Constitution: “Freemasonry has for its principles the existence of deity and the immortality of the soul.”

As this declaration brought the Grand Orient into direct conflict with the Church—on the ground, as the clerical party affirmed, that it was setting up a rival religion—in September 1877, the following words were substituted:

Bro. Frédéric Desmons

“Masonry has for its principles mutual tolerance, respect for others and for itself, and absolute liberty of conscience.” For making this change, the Grand Orient was disfellowshipped by nearly every Grand Lodge in the world, especially in English-speaking lands, whereas it was only a return to its original position, when, as has been said, it was regarded as truly Masonic. The change was proposed, not by an atheist—if there be such a thing outside an insane asylum—but by Brother [Frédéric] Desmons, a Protestant Christian minister, the object being to parry the criticism that Masonry was trying to foster a spurious religion. At the same time it was left optional with the lodges to display or not to display the Bible in their ceremonies.
     

‘From the clay grounds between Succoth and Zeredatha?’

     
I’m always happy to turn the discussion to pipe smoking. Part of the unsung work inherent in being the Magpie Mason is assisting archaeologists identify clay pipes from centuries ago that they unearth in their digs by decoding the Masonic symbols displayed on the clay. It’s not that this happens every day, but it’s often enough that I would remark on it.

Click to enlarge.

Clay itself figures prominently in Masonic symbolism. In the First Degree rituals in many (most?) lodges in the United States, clay—formerly called “earthen pan”—is grouped with chalk and charcoal as symbolic of the Entered Apprentice’s qualifications. Chalk is said to be the freest of substances, thanks to the ease with which it can leave a trace. Charcoal is dubbed the most fervent, because when ignited the most obdurate metals will yield. And clay is called the most zealous because it is constantly employed in man’s service, and also ever reminds us that from it we all came, and to it we must all return.

Clay also is discussed ritually in lodge when it is explained to the Apprentice how GMHA fabricated sacred vessels for the Temple, as well as the two pillars in the porch.

Because of the mouth-to-ear transmission of ritual from one Mason to another that prevailed for generations before the introduction of official ritual ciphers, errors and anomalies made their way into the work. If I remember correctly, the ritual in New Jersey requires that “clay” be misspoken, with a superfluous second syllable, as “clay-ay.” Thus, the line is delivered: “From the clay-ay grounds between Succoth and Zeredatha.” (Taken from 1 Kings 7: “In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.” The Zeredatha vs. Zarethan thing is a whole other story.)

Anyway, this is about pipe smoking. Clay pipes were the ubiquitous standard for several centuries before French villagers discovered the superiority of briar, and began making pipes of that lightweight but durable wood. We’ve all seen the woodcuts and paintings from the Netherlands, England, and elsewhere depicting people of all ages smoking their luxurious tobacco leaves in clay pipes of various lengths. The churchwarden had a length of 16 to 18 inches, ideal for sparing your fingers the dangerous heat of the bowl. Other pipes measured a more convenient seven or so inches. Communal pipes made available in public houses started out at about 18 inches, but had a short section of the stem amputated to afford the next user a relatively clean section to put into his mouth.

So the clay pipe artifacts brought to my attention in this case are shown here. This pipe bowl was found in St. Mary’s Church in Mold in North Wales during renovations. (Photos courtesy M. Jones.)

We can discern most of the Masonic symbolism, but between the condition of the pipe piece, and the quality of the photos, and the artistic license taken in the design, some of the designs leave one guessing.

Click to enlarge.

Here we’re looking at the pipe’s bowl from the rear. The stem is broken and gone, but we understand this is the view of the pipe the smoker would see while puffing away on his New World tobacco. No question about the compasses at top. Perhaps that is meant to be a square at bottom, or a second compass, the two tools forming a frame inside of which is the radiant sun.

Click to enlarge.

On this side is shown three towers, a trio very commonly seen in English and Scottish (and maybe other) Masonic crests. No doubt about the square below the castles. Below that, however, are a few items I cannot decipher.

Click to enlarge.

On this side we have the crescent moon with Pleiades at the top. A very common pairing seen on tracing boards and other art. Below them is what I’ll say is a level. Below that is something I cannot guess at.

On the front of the bowl (seen only in that group photo above) is something from the vegetable world. Not tobacco leaf, but what seems to me to be a sheaf of wheat.

And finally, here is a photo that depicts a similar clay pipe, shown on a page of Les Francs-Macons et la Mer de la Loge au Quai, published last year to accompany an exhibit at the Grand Orient of France’s museum, in which the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library provided some assistance.

     

‘l’Hermione aux U.S.A., Part II’

     
Last night was the highly anticipated lecture at Masonic Hall by Bro. Alain de Keghel of France, who spoke on the friendship and camaraderie between two eminent Freemasons of centuries past: Lafayette and Washington. Bro. Alain is one of the organizers of the visit of the Hermione replica to the United States and Canada underway now. The ship will arrive in New York City in about ten days.

Alain de Keghel, Martin Kanter, and Misha at Alain’s lecture last night, in conjunction with the arrival July 1 of the replica ship Hermione to New York City, of which Alain is one of the organizers.

It was an eagerly received talk, and it was great to see friendly faces in the audience. It all came about last month, when Bro. Marty Kanter attended the World Conference on Fraternalism, Freemasonry, and History in Paris, and met Bro. Alain, one of the presenters. The event last night concluded and we exited the Ionic Room at about 7:30, at which time I took a short walk to 12th Street to catch a movie. A French movie titled In the Name of My Daughter. Long story short: It is a drama based on real people and events concerning a shady business deal and the apparent murder of an heiress on the French Riviera. In one scene, the sketchy lawyer who would become the murder suspect is asked how he knows the local mafia boss. “He is a Freemason,” he says, “from a different lodge.”

It’s important to network.

Much of the audience at the lecture last night.

The Summer Solstice is here! Saint John’s Day is near. Have a great one.
     

‘l’Hermione aux U.S.A.’

     

You didn’t think the Hermione would visit New York City without some Masonic commemoration, did you?

It’s a replica of Lafayette’s ship actually, making the voyage from Port des Barques, whence Lafayette came in the spring of 1780, to the New World, making twelve stops along the East Coast—from Yorktown to Nova Scotia—today through July 18, including a July 1-4 stay at the South Street Seaport. Click here for the New York schedule of events.

Courtesy hermione2015.com

One of the organizers of this celebration of Franco-American history is a Freemason from France, who will be a guest speaker at Masonic Hall later this month. From the publicity:

A Lecture by Ill. Alain de Keghel, 33°

Saturday, June 20

Six O’Clock

Masonic Hall, Ionic Room

71 West 23rd Street

New York City

Alain de Keghel

Ill. Keghel will give a talk on Franco-American relations, focusing on Washington, Lafayette, and other historical figures who helped America win independence. Keghel is a well-known and highly respected author and speaker. He also is instrumental in the upcoming visit of the replica of the Hermione, the ship that brought Lafayette to the United States in 1780. Space is limited.


Bro. Keghel is the author of Two Centuries of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in France, 1804-2004; Freemasonry in North America; and the newly published The Challenge of American Masonry: A Strong Tradition Facing Changes, among other titles.

You may be interested in an exhibit now open through December of next year at Fraunces Tavern Museum titled Lafayette, which features twenty Lafayette-related historical objects owned by the museum, including the Marquis’ pistols and the general’s sash he wore, and bled on, at the Battle of Brandywine.

Courtesy Fraunces Tavern Museum

     

‘French orientation’

     

I enjoyed another great evening in Freemasonry at the Old Lodge, one of my favorites of all the lodges at the Grand Lodge of New York’s Masonic Hall in Manhattan. It was an education night, with two of the lodge brethren presenting histories for the benefit of Apprentices and others most likely to benefit from “a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.” Don’t we all?

First, Bro. Mischa, a former Grand Orient of France Mason, spoke at length on the history and philosophy of, and some of his own experience in, the Grand Orient, which is the oldest and largest Masonic obedience in France. (You may have heard how two of the victims in the Charlie Hebdo atrocity in Paris last week were Freemasons, both of the Grand Orient.) It is not the French Masonic authority we in the United States recognize due to the Grand Orient’s decision in the 1870s to drop the belief in God landmark. A little more complicated than that. Click here.

Mischa spoke about more than the G.O. actually, offering insights into the “strange alchemy” of how one can find his way into the Craft. Leaving aside the more than twenty smaller obediences in France (feminine, mixed-sex memberships, and others), he addressed elements of the Grand Lodge of France and the National Grand Lodge of France, the latter being the one recognized by the grand lodges in the United States. Masonic membership typically is obtained through a personal relationship, he explained, specifically through a private conversation between two friends in which a Freemason suggests to his friend that he might be interested in the society of like-minded individuals who enjoy philosophical exchanges. It’s a subtle thing. The French brethren, of any lodge, do not practice the showmanship common to the United States; there are no billboards, bumper stickers, lapel pins, or rings. Mischa also explained that Grand Orient Masonry puts philosophy before philanthropy, another fundamental difference between our two cultures. I suppose it could be said that our not recognizing each other means more than the absence of political amity; it also says we wouldn’t know each other. Throughout France, even in small communities, it is common for lodges from the three jurisdictions to co-exist. It seems there isn’t competition for members because each grand jurisdiction has a different demographic. For example, the Grand Orient attracts education professionals and socialist party members, and the National Grand Lodge draws from among conservative thinkers and men with spiritual inclinations. It’s not that Grand Orient Masons have no interest in the metaphysical, but their concentrations in those matters are left to them, without any requirement set by the grand jurisdiction.

So, let’s say your friend the Mason has approached you in discreet conversation, suggesting you might want to consider being initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry, and you agree. What happens then, Bro. Mischa continued, is an investigation by the Grand Orient lodge of this prospective newcomer. Three interviews are conducted, one to discover biographical information, another to identify the nominee’s political views, and the third to discuss religious and philosophical thinking. This is done in lodge. If I understood Mischa correctly, the prospective candidate is hoodwinked. And the brethren lob their questions at will. When it is time for balloting, a 75 percent majority in favor is required for election to membership by initiation.

Can you think of anything more foreign to the American Masonic experience? How many of us would survive?

For the Apprentice Degree, the aspirant is hoodwinked. He will spend his first year as a Freemason as an Apprentice, and a silent one at that. He will speak in lodge only to deliver his personal speculative thoughts on what the ceremony of initiation and its symbols mean to him. The Second Degree involves five perambulations and lessons in the Arts and Sciences, and the Physical Senses. No hoodwinking. No Orders of Architecture. And the Letter G is presented as emblematic of Geometry, Gnosis, Genius, Gravitation, and Generation (as in creativity). The Third Degree brings the Fellow Craft through the Hiramic legend, making a Master Mason.

The famous colored engraving depicting a French Masonic initiation. This and six other exposure images are displayed in the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library, having been donated by a Brother from I.R.A. No. 2 three years ago.

In his closing remarks and during Q&A, Bro. Mischa shared more very interesting information. Old Number 2 has a sister lodge under the GLNF: Evangelist Lodge in Cannes. In Grand Orient Scottish Rite, the text placed upon the altar may be “any book of moral value.” That the split of the Grand Orient from the rest of the Masonic world also involved the G.O.’s relationship to “a nascent grand lodge in Louisiana that admitted black men.”

Mischa’s presentation was very well received by the brethren, all of whom had questions and insights, but this left little time for Bro. Michael’s discussion of lodge history, but he managed to share fascinating facts concerning early lodge brethren who played historical roles in spreading the Light of Masonry in the young United States, assisting the establishment of a lodge in Ohio, and a chapter in Connecticut. And the archives of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania hold more clues concerning Old Number 2’s authority to work the Royal Arch Mason Degree. Michael said he is still researching, and hopefully the fruits of his work will be shared before long.

(As always, any errors or omissions are attributable to me, and not to the speakers.)
     

‘Letter to the Editor’

     
A letter to the editor in yesterday’s Washington Times cannot escape comment.

First, the letter:

Originally published 5 a.m., February 25, 2010, updated 11 a.m., February 25, 2010

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Reject Freemason-led

church, state separation

Freemasons should not be allowed to open a bureau in Brussels to lobby against religious organizations in European Union institutions. Leading Freemasons and critics of Freemasonry agree in substance that Freemasonry promotes a total worldview of early gnosticism, as it has been carried to the modern period, especially by the kabbalah and theosophy.

This is an atheism that attempts to encompass everything in a notion of universal brotherhood or cosmic harmony without the true God. It combines an appeal to spiritual ideals like freedom, fraternity and equality with the imposition of a materialistic pragmatism that reaches both the political order and all elements of private life. It most commonly has attempted to present itself as a deism that all reasonable men supposedly would accept. However, like the historical phenomenon of deism in general, it appeals to reason and teaches that God is the Great Architect, who supposedly created the world but then left it for reasonable men to run. It denies reason’s ability to reach knowledge of the natural moral law and reduces all to a mystical/pragmatic imposition of laws by reasonable men.

In pursuit of its basic project of transforming society into a secular state and undoing its Christian traditions, Freemasonry has enlisted Protestants and Jews to forge a notion of separation of church and state that eventually will undo laws and policies sustaining basic moral law, especially in relation to marriage, sexuality and abortion.

Paul Kokoski
Hamilton, Ontario

Where does a Magpie Mason begin?

Let me explain that by “bureau in Brussels,” the letter-writer is reacting to political activity undertaken by one member of one Masonic organization who got some publicity last week with his grandstanding. Jean-Michel Quillardet is a past grand master of what is called the Grand Orient of France, one of the very few Masonic bodies that allow atheists to join, a choice it made in the 1870s. Because of that change of rules, the GOF has been alienated from what one might call the “mainstream” of Freemasonry, and therefore neither M. Quillardet nor the GOF has any authority to speak for the millions of Freemasons in the United States, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere around the globe whose lodges welcome only those who believe in a Supreme Being. (How Masons define “Supreme Being” for themselves is their business, and not the fraternity’s.)

It is unfortunate that M. Quillardet ties his political activity to his Masonic life. I suggest he join a political party that reflects his views, and stop dishonoring Freemasonry with his public foolishness.

M. Quillardet’s publicity appears in the February 18 reportage of the EU Observer:

Freemasons keen to open office

in EU capital

18.02.2010 @ 09:41 CET

A French freemason has said that part of the movement is keen to open a bureau in Brussels to lobby against the rising influence of religious organisations in the EU institutions.

“The Masonic orders should practice politics in the positive sense of the term: So that despite their own partisan divisions, they speak out on the side of secularism and voice their disagreement with this or that governmental or European decision,” Jean-Michel Quillardet, the former Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France, told Belgian daily Le Soir in an interview out on Wednesday (17 February).

He said that Masonic lodges in Europe remain divided on the subject, with some more “shy” than others of attracting publicity by opening an office in the EU capital. But he added that practical problems are more important than the divisions and sketched out an agenda for the future outfit.

“I think we will one day manage to create a general Masonic delegation, for the sake of free-thinking in the European institutions. It’s possible politically. It’s less possible at the financial level, as we have infinitely smaller resources than the churches,” Mr Quillardet explained.

The mason said that the Brussels bureau’s first task would be to promote the idea of citizenship:

“It is necessary to impose the universal idea of the Enlightenment, which consists of the notion that people are citizens and European citizens before being Jewish, black, Maghreb, homosexual, heterosexual.”

Mr. Quillardet explained that the Grand Orient de France has already created a cell which attempts to bring together all the lodges in Europe.

In 2007 it organized a pan-European Masonic congress in Strasbourg, with subsequent meetings in 2008 and 2009 in Greece and Turkey. The 2010 event is to be in Portugal.

He added that in 2008 European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso for the first time met with delegates from a group of lodges including his own and in the same year wrote a letter to the international congress in Athens.

“We told him that apart from its Christian roots, Europe owed much to Greek and Roman philosophy, Renaissance humanism and the Enlightenment. We obtained representation for Masonic orders and for groups which defend secularism in Bepa,” he said, in reference to the Bureau of European Policy Advisers, a high-level policy analysis unit in the EU commission.

The Barroso letter was “for us a recognition on the intellectual landscape,” Mr Quillardet explained.

True Freemasonry is a spiritual order that allows its members to decide sectarian religious matters for themselves. Atheism not only is not accepted in the “mainstream” of the fraternity, it is entirely antithetical to Freemasonry, the teachings of which encourage Masons to frame their every thought and deed in the context of service to deity, neighbor, and self.