‘Academy speakers are set in stone’

    

The Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge has its Fall Symposium plans set in stone, as it were, and the speakers will be Chris Ruli and Tyler Dow Whitaker. That’ll be Saturday, October 28 at the Masonic Village in Elizabethtown.

Chris Ruli

Ruli is a Past Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. He wowed us at the Masonic Society’s 2022 annual meeting in Virginia with his talk on facts and fictions in the roles Masons played in constructing the Federal City. You don’t want to miss him.

This time, he will discuss “Freemasonry’s Legacy on the American Presidency.” He is a gifted speaker, and you can believe he has mastered his subject. Chris has written a book titled The White House & the Freemasons that is to be released this month by Macoy.

Tyler Dow Whitaker

Also on the agenda is Tyler Dow Whitaker, an Indiana Freemason who will present “Operative Masonry in a Speculative World.” He also is an operative stone mason, employed in the field of cemetery monuments. In addition to his talk, Whitaker will craft a limestone piece (from the same stone as that used in the George Washington Masonic National Memorial cornerstone re-dedication in February) and will give it randomly to someone in the audience—so make sure you’re registered and in attendance!

The PAMK will post registration info on its website soon. Sounds like a great day.

I was invited to speak before the Academy a number of years ago. Sounds good to me, I said, but you should check with your grand master about it. So they checked, and the invitation had to be withdrawn. Story of my life.

     

‘Bizzack and Dunning at Pennsylvania Academy…in Philly!’

    

The next session of Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge will be hosted in the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia, rather than the usual venue on the Elizabethtown campus. That is part of the sesquicentennial celebration of the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

The speakers on Saturday, March 18 will be John Bizzack and Chuck Dunning! From the publicity:

Pennsylvania Academy

of Masonic Knowledge

Masonic Temple

1 North Broad Street, Philadelphia

Saturday, March 18

Registration 8:30 a.m. Program 9:30

W. Bro. John W. Bizzack on “Quandary in the Quarries: Rediscovering the Business of Our Masonic Lodges.”

W. Bro. C.R. “Chuck” Dunning on “Compassion and Gratitude in Masonry, Psychology, and Contemplative Practice.”

Read their biographic summaries here, but if you have read any of these eminent Masons’ books and other writings, you know theirs are voices to be heard.

I don’t see a link for advance registration, but I’m sure that’ll be added soon. And if you can’t be there, I bet the session will be streamed live and viewable on YouTube later as well. This is not to be missed.

Also, be on the lookout for a date in June to be announced for a rededication ceremony at the Temple. I’ll share it here when I know.

     

‘Pennsylvania Academy’s new team’

    

An announcement yesterday from the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge proclaims its newly reorganized leadership team. (Hey, I know some of these guys!)

Congratulations to you all!

If Elizabethtown is prohibitively far for you, the Academy streams its biannual sessions where the top thinkers in Freemasonry take to the lectern every March and October.

     

     

‘Keystone State dates’

    

The Pennsylvania brethren have announced upcoming events you may want to attend.

The research lodge will meet Saturday the 18th in Jim Thorpe. That’ll be one o’clock at Carbon Lodge 242.

Two presenters: Bro. Jerome Phillips on “The Five Orders of Architecture from Antiquity and Their Masonic Relevance,” and Bro. Aaron White’s “The Tyranny of Memory.”

I don’t know where Aaron is headed with that, but I’m certain it’ll be interesting. For your calendar, the lodge will meet next on December 10 at a site to be determined.

The Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge will convene its Fall Symposium on Saturday, October 22. The scheduled speakers are Bro. Tom Worrel and Bro. Dave Hosler, and you can read about them here.

In the meantime, the Masonic Library and Museum’s lecture series continues. On Saturday, July 16, Bro. Michael Ernst will present “Raising the Nile: Ethnicity and Politics in the UGLE Masonic Lodges of British Egypt, 1860-1956.” That will be both in person and online. Click here to read more about that.

     

‘Academy speakers announced’

   

Sorry for the late notice here. I checked the Academy’s website recently to see what’s planned for this month, but the closed-for-COVID advisory was still up. Anyway, yesterday the committee announced a program is scheduled, and it is one that I’ll say is very different from the Academy’s usual offerings.

On Saturday, October 23, Chic Cicero, Tabatha Cicero, and Piers Vaughan will be the speakers at the Fall Symposium of Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge.

It’s like the Rose Circle all over again!

That’s at Freemasons Cultural Center on the Elizabethtown campus. Register in advance here. Check in that morning at 8:30. The program will start at 9:30. The day typically ends by 3 p.m. Wear a jacket and tie. Lunch costs ten bucks.

Magpie file photo

Chic and Tabatha Cicero are Chief Adepts of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. To my mind, that’s the real Golden Dawn, if you happen to be seeking an order, because the Ciceros continue the Israel Regardie stream. (I am not part of any GD order.)

Piers Vaughan is practically a ubiquity in Freemasonry, Martinism, and the “kindred sciences.” You know him.

Click here to read their bios on the Academy’s website.

     

‘Speakers chosen for Academy’

     

At the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge next time, the presenters will be Bro. Chuck Dunning of Texas and Bro. Victor Julian Avila Ametller of Cuba.

That will be Saturday, March 21 in the Freemasons Cultural Center (1 Masonic Drive) in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Check in at 8:30 a.m., and the program should start at around 9:30. Lunch will be served at noon ($10 per person), and the day will conclude around 3 p.m.

From the publicity:

Chuck Dunning

Chuck Dunning is an advocate, facilitator, trainer, and consultant in contemplative practice, with more than 30 years in the professional fields of higher education and mental health, as well as in Masonry and other currents in the Western esoteric traditions. Chuck’s consistent commitment is to the actual practice of contemplative disciplines to facilitate and enhance experiences of personal growth, social wellbeing, and spiritual initiation and transformation. Chuck’s Craft lodge memberships include Haltom City-Riverside 1331 in Texas, and Albert Pike 162 in Oklahoma.

He also is an honorary member of Sophia 767 in North Carolina, and Ancient York 89 in New Hampshire. Chuck’s Scottish Rite memberships are in the Valley of Fort Worth, Texas and the Valley of Guthrie, Oklahoma. His York Rite memberships are in Texas Chapter 362 and Texas Council 321, both in Fort Worth. He is a Full Member of Texas Lodge of Research.

As a professional, Chuck recently entered semi-retirement from serving as a student affairs administrator and adjunct faculty member at Texas Christian University, and from being a psychotherapist at TCU and in community agencies, hospitals, and private practice.

Victor Julian Avila Ametller 

Bro. Ametller is a native of Cuba and is employed as director of the National Masonic Museum of the Grand Lodge of Cuba, AF&AM. Prior to that role, he was professionally employed in the civil works sector in and around Havana. Victor joined the Craft in 2003 in Roman de la Luz Lodge 201, attaining the degree of Master Mason in 2007. He was first appointed a District Deputy Grand Master in 2015 and has plans to serve as Worshipful Master of Roman de la Luz Lodge in 2020. An active Scottish Rite Mason, Ametller has served in several offices in those bodies, culminating in his coronation as an Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspector General, 33º, in September 2016.


If you will attend, you will be asked to pre-register. I think an eventbrite page is coming. If you cannot attend, please know there will be a live stream shown here.
     

‘Pennsylvania Academy in October’

     
It’s been too long—something like three years!—since I got to a Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge symposium. Two great attractions on October 27 probably will induce me to make the 300-mile round trip.

Josef Wäges and John Michael Greer will be the speakers. Greer is a prolific (to say the least) author of books on a multitude of subjects. His Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies has been a favorite of mine for years. Wäges is a Masonic speaker who gets around. Tapped for the Society of Blue Friars this year, Wäges also has become a regular on the Masonic speaking circuit. For example, he will appear at the October 20 meeting of Boynton Lodge Esoteric Research Group in Florida.

Anyway, from the symposium publicity:

October 2018 Speaker Information

Bro. Josef Wäges is a member of the Blue Friars, a member of Plano Lodge 768 and Fate Lodge 802, the Valley of Dallas of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Southern Jurisdiction), Fellow of the Grand College of Rites, a full member of the Texas Lodge of Research, Michigan Lodge of Research, and life member of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Editor of The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati, and On Materialism and Idealism. He is currently preparing the forthcoming books, Ecossais Masonry: A History of the High Degrees from the Scots Master to the Order of the Royal Secret, for Scottish Rite Research Society, and The Columbian Illuminati: The Improved System of the Illuminati.

ÉTIENNE MORIN

AND THE BAYLOT MANUSCRIPT

One of the most elusive questions of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite concerns its origins. Where exactly did it come from, and from what source do its rituals emanate? Many scholars have rightfully determined that Étienne Morin, also known as Stephen Morin, is the founder of this system, but it is even less certain precisely whence his authority came, let alone who Morin was. The truth is we have only a partial picture of who he was and the circumstances concerning his authority to establish the rite. Nevertheless, when one assembles all of the evidence and gathers still more, there is still enough light left in the fragments to project a more complete vision of the truth.

Bro. John Michael Greer was Entered, Passed, and Raised in 2001 in Doric Lodge 92 in Seattle, and also is a member of Queen City Lodge 131 in Maryland, and St. Johns Lodge 1 in Providence, Rhode Island. He is active in the Scottish Rite and the York Rite, and has served as presiding officer in all three York Rite bodies. He is also an active member of the non-Masonic Societas Rosicruciana in America. He is a professional writer with more than 50 books to his name, including The Secret of the Temple: Earth Energies, Sacred Geometry, and the Lost Secrets of Freemasonry and the forthcoming The Ceremony of the Grail: Ancient Mysteries, Gnostic Heresies, and the Lost Rituals of Freemasonry. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife Sara.

FREEMASONRY

AND THE SECRET SOCIETIES

Ever since Freemasonry came to public notice, some people outside the Craft have insisted that Freemasonry is a front for this or that conspiracy. The truth is far stranger: While Freemasonry generally has stayed out of the conspiracy business, an astonishing number of secret societies of all kinds have borrowed from Masonry. From the struggles over the Jacobite movement in 18th century Europe through the heyday of the Illuminati and the Carbonari, down to the struggle to the death between the Ku Klux Klan and such anti-Klan secret societies as the Order of the Flaming Circle and the Order of Anti-Poke-Noses, a great deal of modern history has been shaped by groups that picked up the tools of the Master Mason and put them to other uses.


Registration Information

Please recognize that a cost is incurred to the program for your registration. If you pre-register and subsequently determine that you will be unable to attend, please have the Masonic courtesy to cancel your reservation by the same method and providing the same information.

Registration will open at 8:30 a.m. with the program beginning at 9:30.
A lunch (requested contribution of $10) will be served at noon, and the program will be completed by 3 p.m. All Masons are welcome to attend. Dress is coat and tie.

All meetings are held at Freemasons Cultural Center in Masonic Village at Elizabethtown (1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown, PA).


Live stream of the Symposium

In an effort to allow as many people as possible to participate in the symposiums, the Academy Committee offers a live stream of each event. Additionally, those viewing the live stream may ask questions of the presenters via the live stream chat feature, the Academy Facebook group, and Reddit.

On the day of an Academy symposium, a live stream video will appear on the Grand Lodge YouTube channel here.
     

‘Masonic Knowledge on March 17’

     
Don’t forget the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge next month. I’m going. Ric Berman and Adam Kendall will be the presenters at the spring session. I haven’t seen Ric in two years, and I cannot even remember the last time I met up with Adam. From the publicity:

Pennsylvania Academy

of Masonic Knowledge

Saturday, March 17 at 9:30 a.m.

Freemasons Cultural Center

Masonic Village

1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown

Register here

Bro. Richard (Ric) Berman was the 2016 Prestonian Lecturer of the United Grand Lodge of England. Berman is the author of Foundations of Modern Freemasonry now in its second edition; Schism, which examines the conflict between the Moderns and Antients; Loyalists & Malcontents, a history of colonial Freemasonry in the American Deep South; and Espionage, Diplomacy & the Lodge. Bro. Berman, a Freemason for forty years, holds Senior London and Provincial Grand Rank. He is a Past Master of the Marquis of Dalhousie Lodge 1159 (EC); Treasurer of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 (EC), England’s premier research lodge; and a PM of the Temple of Athene Lodge 9541 (EC), the research lodge of the Province of Middlesex.

Foundations: New Light

on the Formation and Early Years

of the Grand Lodge of England

2016 Prestonian Lecture

The lecture explores the evolution of Freemasonry, queries long-standing myths, and explains the step change that occurred with the creation of the first Grand Lodge of England in 1717. Ric outlines the connections between Freemasonry and the British establishment in the eighteenth century, and how and why its leaders positioned Grand Lodge as a bastion of support for the government.


Bro. Adam G. Kendall is the editor of The Plumbline for the Scottish Rite Research Society and a member of its governing board. He is a Past President of the Masonic Library & Museum Association, and the former Collections Manager and Curator of Exhibits for the Henry W. Coil Library and Museum at the Grand Lodge of California.

For more than a decade, he has presented at several international symposia—most notably, the World Conference on Freemasonry & Fraternalism at the National Library of France; the British Association for American Studies at Exeter University (BAAS); the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry (ICHF) in Edinburgh; the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH); The Quarry Project, University of California Los Angeles; and the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts. In addition to his public presentations, documentaries, and exhibits, he has published several essays and reviews in notable publications such as the European Journal of American Culture, Western Museums Association, The Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, The Journal of the Philalethes Society, Heredom, and Ahiman: A Review of Masonic Culture and Tradition.

Bro. Kendall is a Past Master of Phoenix Lodge 144 in San Francisco, and a full member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 in London.

The Geometry of Mystery:

Ancient Egypt, Freemasonry,

and Secret Societies

The opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 set off a world-wide craze for all things Egyptian-inspired, but it was by no means the first wave of “Egyptomania.” Ancient Egypt has been a land of mystery and wonder for the West for three thousand years. It has influenced art, architecture, mathematics, literature, and religion. This presentation is an examination of the real and imaged cultural legacy of Ancient Egypt, the history of the romanticism of this venerable civilization, and how its powerfully influential tradition of exotic and esoteric wisdom claimed by secret societies and mystical fraternities is only loosely based upon historical reality.

Please recognize that a cost is incurred to the program for your registration. If you pre-register and subsequently determine that you will be unable to attend, please have the Masonic courtesy to cancel your reservation by the same method and providing the same information.

Registration will open at 8:30 a.m. with the program beginning at 9:30 a.m.

A lunch (requested contribution of $10) will be served at noon, and the program will be completed by 3 p.m. All Masons are welcome to attend. Dress is coat and tie.
     

‘Pennsylvania Academy’s plans for October’

     
The Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge has announced its plans for the October 28 meeting. This flier tells the tale:

Click to enlarge.

     

‘Masonic March madness!’

     
There are so many great things for the thinking Freemason to do this month! Check out some of these events within the apartments of the Temple and without.

Thursday, March 2 – Washington Lodge 21 in the First Manhattan District will meet at 7 p.m. in the French Doric Room on the tenth floor of Masonic Hall (71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan). Program: A lecture on American Talmudist and Washington Lodge Brother Israel Baer Kursheedt given by the lodge’s own W. Bro. Tessler.

Friday, March 3 – New York Open Center will host an open house with a discussion of Esoteric Quest at 7:30 p.m. Free admission. 22 East 30th Street in Manhattan. From the publicity:

The Open Center’s Esoteric Quest conferences have now run for over 21 years and are some of the world’s leading events on the Western spiritual paths. We invite you to join us for an informative and engaging evening in which we will briefly review the remarkable history of the Quests and look forward to the upcoming Esoteric Quest in the Western Isles of Scotland in August. The Outer Hebrides in the North Atlantic are where Celtic and Norse cultures mingled, where megalithic standing stones dot the landscape of the isles of Lewis and Harris, and where big skies, mountain vistas, and the ever present rolling sea provide the context for our thirteenth Quest. Join us for a convivial and entertaining evening. All are welcome.

Friday, March 3 – The Gurdjieff Foundation of New York will hold a new introductory session at 6:30 p.m. in the lecture hall at Quest Bookshop. Details here:

Click to enlarge.

Sunday, March 5 – The School of Practical Philosophy will present a new Plato Study Day titled “Plato’s Path to Prosperity.” Click here.

Sunday, March 5 – Anthroposophy NYC will present Anne Keller-de Wild, who will present “The Five Temperments: An Open Secret, Continued.” Details here.

Tuesday, March 7 – My favorite chapter of Piers Vaughan’s latest book concerns the Archangel Raphael, and on this night the Scottish Rite Valley of New York City will host Piers (33°, MSA, PMWM, etc.) for a reading of this very chapter and a book-signing. Details here:

Click to enlarge.

Wednesday, March 8 – Mariners Lodge 67 in the First Manhattan District will meet at 7 p.m. in the Doric Room on the eighth floor of Masonic Hall (71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan). Program: Voyage into Mystery Chapter X: “Secret Origins of the Illuminati” presented by Josef Wages. From the publicity:

Who were the Illuminati? Why was it formed? Is there a connection to Freemasonry? Does it still exist, and is it behind the “New World Order?”

Bro. Josef Wages is a famed Masonic author who is one of the principal editors of the book The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Ritual and Doctrines of the Illuminati. (Copies of the book and Illuminati jewelry will be available for sale.) Open to Apprentices and Fellows.

Program will be followed by Mariner’s legendary maritime-themed Festive Board at 9 p.m. Reservations are a must. Click here.

Friday, March 10 – The Fourth Manhattan District (my home) will host a Grand Lecturer’s Convention. These are amazing happenings. Bro. Richard Kessler, the Right Worshipful Grand Lecturer, will discuss a certain aspect of the meaning of Masonry. A real treat, especially for those of us new to New York Freemasonry and are unaccustomed to knowing Grand Lodge officers who can discuss Freemasonry brilliantly. At Masonic Hall: 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.

Saturday, March 11 – New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 will host the Magpie Mason! A Past Master of the lodge, I will tender my first presentation to the brethren in a really long time. Titled “Question Everything (And Answer as Best You Can),” I’ll recount the history of Masonic education, and explain how attainable an advancement in Masonic knowledge really is, even for the timid seeker.

We meet at Hightstown-Apollo Lodge 41 in Hightstown.

Thursday, March 16 – The inimitable Andrew Hammer, president of the Masonic Restoration Foundation and author of Observing the Craft, will present the 2017 Wendell K. Walker Lecture, hosted by Independent Royal Arch Lodge 2 in the First Manhattan District. All info on this flier:

Click to enlarge.

Thursday, March 16 – The Mythology Roundtable of New York will meet for Mesopotamian Mythology Class at Brooklyn Brainery at 8:15 p.m. From the publicity:

Mesopotamia, the ancient “Land Between Two Rivers” in present day Iraq, was home to many different gods. Though less-well known today than the pantheons of ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, the gods of Mesopotamia had just as many grand adventures, big personalities and poignant observations on the human condition. We know them today thanks to a rich ancient literature, including the famous “Epic of Gilgamesh,” the first example of written epic poetry in world history.

In this class, we’ll meet the most important gods of Mesopotamia: tempestuous Inanna (the original femme fatale), wise Enki, monster-slaying Ninurta, and many more. We’ll hear the story of the great “two-thirds divine” hero Gilgamesh and uncover the original context of familiar names like Ishtar and Lilith. We’ll also learn how these gods were worshipped, and how the worship affected history, up to and including the modern world.

This class is a general introduction to the myths and legends of Mesopotamia. No previous knowledge of the subject matter is required.

Friday, March 17 – Atlas-Pythagoras Masonic Lodge 10 in New Jersey will welcome back Past Prestonian Lecturer (2014) Michael Kearsley, who will speak on “1814 Consolidation and Change: The First Year of the United Grand Lodge of England.” Details here:

Click to enlarge.

Saturday, March 18 – The Rose Circle Research Foundation will bring renowned scholar, author, Freemason, Fama translator, etc. Christopher McIntosh back to the lectern to present “New Light on the Golden Dawn.” From the publicity:

In the founding of the 19th century English occult society the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a key role was played by an alleged German Rosicrucian adept named Fräulein Anna Sprengel, who had the magical motto Sapiens Dominabitur Astris (the wise person overcomes their stars). In this lecture, historian Christopher McIntosh reveals a sensational discovery he made about Fräulein Sprengel, and speaks about its significance for the history of the Golden Dawn.

Ticketing information is still to come.

Saturday, March 18 – A great day is in store at the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge in Elizabethtown. The publicity:

Click to enlarge.

Monday, March 20 – The Rosicrucian Order will host a celebration of the Spring Equinox. If you’ve ever wondered about your harmonious relationship among your fellow man, nature, and deity, here’s a great opportunity to learn from the Grand Master. 6:30 p.m. at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center at 2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. in Manhattan.

Saturday, March 25 – The C.G. Jung Foundation will present a daylong seminar led by Michael Conforti, Ph.D. titled “Time of the Forgotten: Trauma, Memory, and Healing.” Details here.

Monday, March 27 – The Mythology Roundtable of New York will meet to discuss the new issue of Parabola magazine, “The Search for Meaning,” at 6:15 p.m. in the Kristine Mann Library at the C.G. Jung Foundation. 28 East 39th Street (fourth floor) in Manhattan. A mandatory reading assignment to prepare for the discussion.

Wednesday, March 29 – I don’t know what is going on with The American Lodge of Research. It hasn’t published a book in about six years. I haven’t received a mailing in two or three years. The website is gone. The Yahoo! Group is effectively shut down. At Masonic Week a couple of weeks ago, a past officer confided the lodge is basically dead, and yet its Faceypage still hints at activity. A meeting on this evening with RW Pierre de Ravel d’Esclapon, a Fellow of the lodge, presenting “The Vatican and Freemasonry: A History of Misunderstanding?” Eight o’clock in the Jacobean Room in Masonic Hall.

Thursday, March 30 – The Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library’s lecture series will continue with DeMolay International Grand Master Bill Sardone speaking on Jacques DeMolay. 6:30 p.m. at Masonic Hall in NYC.

And in April…

Saturday, April 1 – QUEST XXXVII at Scottish Rite Masonic Hall in Rockville Centre, New York. 9 a.m. “A Way of Life.” See flier below:

Click to enlarge.

Wednesday, April 5 – RW Hammer returns to New York City for a great Table Lodge:

Thursday, April 6 – The Scottish Rite Valley of New York City will host its annual Feast of the Paschal Lamb, with Ill. Richard Kessler, 33° delivering the address. This Past Most Wise Master will be there! Details here:

Click to enlarge.

     

‘Pennsylvania Academy next month’

     

Click to enlarge.

     

‘Current events in the Keystone Craft’

     

Courtesy Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania

Sorry to say I will not be able to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge’s Fall Session tomorrow in Elizabethtown, but there is some other news from the Keystone State to share.

Actually, first of all, the PAMK session will be streamed live. Click here at about 9:15 a.m. The first speaker should take to the lectern at 9:30.

Speaking of Elizabethtown, this just in: On Saturday, November 12, Mark Tabbert will be the guest speaker at the annual banquet of Abraham C. Treichler Lodge No. 682, discussing the Masonic career of George Washington. The lodge meets at E-Town, but this affair will be hosted at the Spring Garden Conference Center in Middletown.

Only $25 per person, and you can look forward to a great meal served family style. Book your seats by e-mailing the lodge secretary here or by visiting the lodge website and paying with PayPal.


There is a somewhat new blog by and for Pennsylvania Freemasons that I learned about only this week. Masonic Rezon (if you recognize that second word, you probably know it alludes to the Grand Lodge’s book of constitutions) was launched at the end of last year, and offers this mission statement:


Welcome to the Masonic Rezon. A blog spot for the Right way to do Freemasonry. We are Pennsylvania Freemasons. We do things a little bit differently, but the big picture is still the same. This blog is solely for the purpose of expressing our feelings of what Freemasonry is about, and how we, as a fraternity, strive to make those around us better. We will be keeping our commentary open to the public and upright in discourse. We expect that those commenting do the same. I hope you enjoy what follows.


Masonic Rezon is not an academic forum, esoterica teaser, or avenue for finding one’s way into Freemasonry’s too numerous appendages. It consists of heartfelt, short writings by Craft lodge brethren who share their thoughts on real life Masonic meanings. Sometimes, when you’ve gained more experience in Freemasonry than you ever really wanted, it is healthy to reflect on intuitions and interpretations on the point of it all—such as those published here by these Masons.

Check it out here.

And finally, it was announced recently that all back issues of The Pennsylvania Freemason magazine, dating back 62 years, have been uploaded to the Grand Lodge’s website for you to enjoy. Click here.
     

‘Check out the Pennsylvania Academy in October’

     
The Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge has announced the line-up of speakers for its October session. From the publicity:

Pennsylvania Academy

of Masonic Knowledge

Presents

Heather Calloway

Christopher Murphy

John Hairston

Saturday, October 15

Freemasons Cultural Center

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

Check back for topic information and biographies, coming soon!

The next session of the Academy of Masonic Knowledge will be held October 15, 2016, in the Deike Auditorium of the Freemasons Cultural Center on the campus of the Masonic Village in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Registration will open at 8:30 a.m. with the program beginning at 9:30 a.m. A lunch (requested contribution of $10) will be served at noon, and the program will be completed by 3 p.m. All Masons are welcome to attend. Dress is coat and tie.

Pre-registration is required.

To pre-register, please send your name, address, Lodge name and number, and telephone here.

Please recognize that a cost is incurred to the program for your registration. If you pre-register and subsequently determine that you will be unable to attend, please have the Masonic courtesy to cancel your reservation by the same method and providing the same information.


As noted above, the Academy will follow-up with the speakers’ bios and topics, but in the meantime, I can explain the little that I know.

Heather Calloway

Heather Calloway is Archivist & Special Collections Librarian and an Assistant Professor at George Washington College in Maryland. Her connection to Freemasonry runs deep, as she served the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction) as Director of Programming, as the Museum Curator, and as the Digital Media Director at the House of the Temple in Washington, DC. Freemasonry runs in her family as well. You may have heard of Danny Calloway, a Past Grand Master of Masons in New Mexico. Heather is a favorite speaker among those of us who get around to such events. I look forward to hearing her again.

Chris Murphy

Christopher Murphy is the Charter Junior Warden of Fibonacci Lodge 112, the first Observant Lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge of Vermont. He is a full member of Vermont Lodge of Research 110, and is a member of the Philalethes Society. I think I saw somewhere on Facebook that he is to present his paper “The Tavern Myth” at the Academy. He has had this published in The Philalethes, but I do not know what it entails. I am wondering if it complements what Shawn Eyer has been saying for several years, and I am really eager to hear it for myself.

John Hairston

John Hairston is at labor in Harmony Lodge 2 under the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Washington, and is the author of Landmarks of Our Fathers: The Critical Analysis of the Start and Origin of African Lodge No. 1. It’s not just that he wrote a book. This brother wrote a book that cites research that could turn everything we think we know about African Lodge upside down. A compelling thesis I want to hear directly from the writer!

Let me also say it is not necessary to be a Pennsylvania Mason to attend the Academy’s sessions. Just follow the directions for registration and follow the directions on GPS, and you’ll be fine. I’ve been attending on and off for about seven years, and it’s always a great time. I don’t even mind the six-hour, 300-mile roundtrip. It’s that worthwhile.