‘About Last Night: The RAM° at Chapter No. 3’

    

Officers and new Royal Arch Masons yesternight.

Scratch another one off the bucket list!

Enjoyed a great time with Chapter No. 3 of Royal Arch Masons in Philadelphia yesternight to witness the RAM° à la the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania. After twenty-seven years in Capitular Masonry, I really ought to have witnessed this ritual already, but somehow never got to it, and resolved during the summer to correct that. Months ago, I contacted M.E. Eric C. Stahley, Grand H.P. of the Grand Chapter to ask if he knew of any upcoming RAM degrees in the eastern part of the Keystone State; he enlisted the help of R.E. Tony Dintino, DDGHP of the First Capitular; he put me in contact with both MEGHP Amit Vyas and Secretary Brendan Shaw of Chapter No. 3; and they explained how to score free parking in the Masonic Temple’s neighborhood on the night of November 4, when the degree was scheduled. (For a New York City Freemason, that is the epitome of the Red Carpet Treatment! Or scarlet, as the case may be.) My deep thanks to all.

The point was to experience something new and maybe discern whatever aspects would make the ritual different from what I’ve always known at Scott Chapter 4. (In York bodies, I’m still affiliated in New Jersey.) I likely missed a lot of those variations, because I’m no ritual expert and, honestly, it’s been a long while since I’ve seen a Royal Arch Degree. But, I know both Chapter No. 3 (1758 or ’67) and the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania (1795) were founded before the General Grand Chapter (1797) and remain independent from it, which could indicate variations between No. 3’s rituals and those I know. And so there were.

A view of the stained glass in the South.

One huge distinction between the two systems is the VPM°. It’s no secret how Pennsylvania does without it, and I’ve long thought it is an extraneous step along the path that ought to be retired. Even the Chapter Opening differs. For example, when we grouped into threes to form the arch, the physical aspects were consistent, but some of the spoken words (not The Word) were not the same, so I was a little tongue tied at that moment. I was impressed to see thirty of us present, which made for even grouping into trios.

In the English system, Royal Arch aprons show a pattern of blue and red, symbolizing the continuity of lodge and chapter.

The officers did not speak their duties. In regalia, I was pleased to see the companions clothed in the English style. No. 3 does descend from the Ancients, not General Grand, after all.

‘It’s a beautiful room, but the acoustics are horrible,’ said one ritualist. He has a point! Voices seem to rise to the 52-foot ceiling. Unless a speaker faces you, it is hard to hear him.

They have veils, not banners, which is fair considering they meet in Renaissance Hall, the Masonic Temple’s Royal Arch room. The upholstery of the Grand Masters’ chairs are color coordinated with those veils but, again, Renaissance Hall.

Joshua has loomed above the East since 1906. 

The MEGHP in the East has the M.E. in his title, whereas New Jersey did away with that in recent years due to the bureaucratic mentality that shapes decisions there.

After the new Royal Arch Masons are instructed in the East, they are put through ritual movements I don’t think I’ve seen before. I’ll liken them to calisthenics. Not physically taxing, and I was too far away to hear what was said during, but it looked interesting. (Inadvertently reminds of the talk I used to give on mindfulness techniques for the lodge—even presented it inside Norman Hall in 2015.)

In the West. A painting of The Evangelist is above. December 27 is the red-letter date of Pennsylvania Royal Arch Masonry.

Some of the officer stations are different; three are seated in the West, which I think is consistent with Craft lodges there.

One illicit thing I was sorry to see, but it’s ubiquitous: Masons under age forty who cannot put away their phones. Placed in a triangular form about me were youngish Royal Arch companions who were texting or whatever the whole night. Again, it’s nothing new or unique to any single place, but I wonder why attend if you know you’ll use the phone to mentally exit the room? I’m there, feeling like I am witnessing history: visiting a chapter older than our country; sitting in Renaissance Hall, where the Grand Chapter has been meeting for a century and a half, and where countless MEMs have been exalted; and witnessing the RAM°—but I digress.

The Seal of Solomon in the crown of the ceiling.

Before the degree, the elected officer positions for the ensuing year were sorted out; the junior Past HP received his PHP apron; and a certificate for achievement in education was presented.

Outside Renaissance Hall.

I arrived too late to join for dinner—had to finagle some time off from work to get there at all. Anyway, here is a little early history of Chapter No. 3 excerpted from the Grand Chapter’s 1870 book of proceedings:

The destruction of the Masonic Hall, by fire, in the year 1819, caused great loss to the Masons of Pennsylvania, in the burning of nearly all their old records. From the minutes of the Royal Arch Lodge, No. 3, and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, we have gleaned the following up to December 1812, from which time the records of the Grand Chapter are perfect. It is with great pleasure that we are able to present records which prove beyond question that Chapter No. 3, (now Jerusalem Chapter, No. 3,) of Philadelphia, is the oldest Royal Arch Chapter in the United States, and that the Grand Holy Royal Arch Chapter of Pennsylvania was the first Grand Chapter organized in this country.

   

The earliest records of Royal Arch Lodge, No. 3, now in the possession of Lodge No. 3, dated December 3, 1767, read, “that the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved;” thus showing that there was an older book of minutes which had been mislaid or destroyed. The minutes of Lodge No. 3 are perfect and complete from December 3, 1767, to the present date. The Ahiman Rezon, edition of 1825, page 79, says: “The first Royal Arch Chapter [in] America of which we possess a particular account is that held in Pennsylvania, anterior to the year 1758. This Chapter, working under the warrant of No. 3, was recognized by and had communion with a Military Chapter, working under a warrant 351, granted by the Grand Lodge of England; and its proceedings were subsequently approved by that honorable body, as appears from a communication from its Deputy Grand Master Dermott.”

   

The records of the Grand Lodge show that, on November 23, 1795, the Grand Chapter was opened under the immediate sanction of the Grand Lodge. The Grand Chapter met under the above sanction until January 5, 1824, at which time it became independent.

View of the Masonic Temple from the top
of the parking deck.

I don’t know when, but Jerusalem Chapter 3 dropped its proper noun name and reverted to its numeric name.

Here’s a 47-second video depicting Renaissance Hall:

     

‘Hiram Lodge’s 1750 EA°’

    

Hiram Lodge 1 Worshipful Master Clint Potter, who sat in the South for the degree, displays the lodge’s banner despite the breeze yesterday at Fort Nathan Hale in New Haven. My attempt to liven the banner’s color turned his wig blue!

On October 14, 1789, the recently organized Grand Lodge of Connecticut adopted an ordinance that caused every lodge entering an apprentice to forward to the grand treasurer three dollars from the fee paid the lodge by each initiate. I’m guessing that assessment has been increased since then, but what apparently has not changed is the ritual of the EA° worked by Hiram Lodge 1.

Established at New Haven on August 12, 1750, Hiram was chartered by RW Thomas Oxnard, then in his sixth year as Provincial Grand Master of New England under the premier Grand Lodge of England. Because Hiram antecedes its own grand lodge, and—from what I understand—still possesses the Oxnard warrant, it retains the freedom to work its 1750 vintage ritual. That is what ninety of us witnessed yesterday in an outdoor conferral of the First Degree on two candidates for the mysteries of Freemasonry, and that is what drew me to Fort Nathan Hale, site of the initiation.

Grand Senior Warden Mark Hawkins and Grand Senior Steward Bob Eubanks were very pleasant dining companions at the YMA Club and Lounge before the degree.

Not knowing the content of this ritual, I was expecting tradition similar to what unfolds in the ritual exposures Masonry Dissected and Three Distinct Knocks, which date to that general mid eighteenth century era. Instead, I was shocked to find this ritual is almost identical to… to… contemporary Grand Lodge of New Jersey work!

We received a commemorative coin yesterday.

There are a few big differences, but in the floor work and the dialogue among the lodge officers, the Entered Apprentice Degree we saw yesterday is mostly the same as one could see tomorrow night in a New Jersey lodge. Having spent nineteen years in New Jersey Freemasonry, its ritual remains cut, carved, stamped, etc. in my brain, despite my having left there a decade ago for the bluer pastures of New York. Those big differences are:

‣ When imparting the grip, there is a gesture named the “slip of interrogation.” It was shown to me prior to the degree, but I’ve never seen nor heard of it before—and, no, I won’t describe it.

‣ In explaining to the new apprentices the centrality of the Bible to the lodge’s doings, there comes (I think it’s called) the Bible Charge. Also previously unknown to me.

‣ I imagine every lodge has an oration delivered at the apron presentation, but Hiram’s is unlike any I’ve heard or read. It struck me as sounding somewhat modern, so I don’t know what to make of it. I was delighted to see the new apprentices were given quality aprons replete with cords & tassels.

‣ Conversely, and after the fact, I think I discerned something missing from what most of us know. My memory may be failing me, but I think the word of the degree was not imparted to the initiates in that same highly precise way and manner the rest of us might expect. Maybe my mind wandered or I’m just not recollecting it, but I think that was done more simply.

Unsurprisingly, there is no EA Lecture as 1750 predates William Preston’s Illustrations by decades.

I do not know anyone from Hiram 1, otherwise I simply would ask about these things. Anyway, it all comprised a wonderful early evening (we were finished before eight o’clock) and, while the two new Masons looked utterly baffled, I don’t doubt this was a genuinely enlightening experience for them.

The ambiance amid the trees of Fort Hale was what one would expect for an outdoor degree: (very) casual attire among those of us on the sidelines, although some of us wore suits (I left my suit jacket in the car); tiki torches for illumination; bug spray in abundance; spotty audio quality (the mikes were not picking up half of what was being said). The lodge’s ritualists wore period wardrobe.

Wasn’t it too hot on that late August day, you ask? The Grand Architect’s Weather Department couldn’t have been more kind, giving sunlight-gilded azure skies enhanced by a calming breeze that seemed to sanctify the entire scene. Perfection.

Masons from a variety of places were in attendance. In addition to various points around Connecticut, brethren traveled from Massachusetts, New Hampshire (a delegation from Hiram Lodge 9), New York (me), and Pennsylvania. This resulted in diverse regalia on exhibit.

The Pennsylvanians, coming from Richmond-Solomon’s Lodge 3, dating to 1764, in Philly; and even Pittsburgh(!), were on hand because of their induction earlier in the day of MW Shane Dufresne into the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. Speaking of initiations, the TCL is on a roll lately in conferring its Sidonian Degree on grand masters. New Jersey’s MW Omar Morris will enter Elizabeth Forest on Thursday. I think my grandfather was a member there.

I got into town later than I wanted, but still had time for a beer at The Owl Shop. The beer of the week was Coors, which gave me and the bartender a laugh, so I had a glass of Peroni. A perfect lager on a warm summer day. Although not a great distance, the drive is an unpleasant slog through the most crowded highways in the Northeast. Didn’t buy any pipe tobacco this time.

The pre-degree supper was very good. I had a succulent chicken breast with thick zucchini rounds, broccoli florets, and penne. We gathered for the meal about a mile up the street at a historic banquet hall.

IYKYK.

I wish there had been the chance to explore Fort Nathan Hale. Its history involves the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and even the Civil War, although, naturally, there was no fighting then.

The customary group photo. After the degree, everyone gathered in the West just before 8 p.m. Sunset was more than twenty minutes earlier, so this is gloaming. Some crude editing makes the photo somewhat publishable.

If Hiram plans to repeat this outstanding event, make sure you get there.

     

‘Colonial EA° at New Haven’

    

Hiram Lodge 1

Hiram Lodge 1 in New Haven plans a Colonial EA° four weeks from today.

Dinner will be served at the Annex YMA Club, and the degree will be conferred at Fort Nathan Hale. (Hale was a Connecticut native.) Bus transportation is arranged to convey us the one-mile distance.

I’ve got my ticket, and you should go too.

Click here for tickets.

I wish I had more information for you. For example, I don’t know what exactly the Colonial EA° entails ritual-wise. I hope Hiram 1 is basing the degree on the available source material, like the ritual exposures of the eighteenth century, unless Connecticut has something in its archives that we haven’t seen before. We’ll find out soon.

Saturday the 29th would have been the John Skene Conference in Jersey, but with that cancelled, maybe you have the date free. Click here and I’ll see you there.

     

‘The author of our charges and prayers’

    

Born on this date in 1768:

Bro. Thaddeus Mason Harris!

Who?

Magpie file photo

Portrait of RW Thaddeus Mason Harris exhibited in the Boston Masonic Building.

The clergyman, Harvard librarian, and first Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts (nice resume) is the author of inspiring pieces of Craft lodge ritual familiar to—I think—most of the brethren in the United States, to wit: “You are now about to quit this sacred retreat of friendship and virtue…”

This has been embraced by grand lodges beyond the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and its phrasing varies a little from place to place. Here in New York we call it the Harris Charge, and it is a favorite among ritualists and all who value the meaning of Masonry. But that’s not all!

First, some biography.

Thaddeus Mason Harris was born July 7, 1768 in Charlestown, Massachusetts to William and Rebekah (Mason) Harris. He would be the eldest of seven children in a family that was uprooted by the Revolutionary War, literally having to abandon their home and possessions to walk to Choxet in 1775. His family in destitution and with his father dying in the winter of ’78, he had several homes during childhood.

In his preteen years, Harris lived with different families. At ten, he resided in Templeton with the minister of that town, and it was there where he became affected with a love of books. At eleven, he relocated to Shrewsbury and lived with a minister who provided a fatherly influence. At fourteen, he left for Cambridge with the goal of enrolling in the recently organized Harvard University. It wasn’t to be, yet, due to finance, so he returned to his remarried mother, now in Malden.

Unsuccessful in finding employment, his grandfather, Register of Deeds at Cambridge, made Thaddeus one of his secretaries. There, he befriended a minster who encouraged him to enter college, and, in 1783, Harris enrolled in Harvard. Truly a kind of existence that would be popularized a century later in the stories of Horatio Alger.

Harris was eulogized by his successor as pastor of The First Church of Dorchester, Rev. Nathaniel Hall, who related this story:

...he set off to meet his mother, as by previous arrangement, in Boston; having nothing, in possession or prospect, but a few coppers which he had transferred from his trunk to his pocket as he left his room; and these—so strong were his benevolent sympathies—he gave to a poor crippled soldier that he met on his way, and who, faint and famishing, solicited his aid. As he went on, deeply depressed at his destitute condition and in despair at his seeming fate, he perceived something adhering to the end of his rude staff he had cut on the way; and found it to be a gold ring, into which his staff had struck itself as he walked, and having engraved upon it the words “God speed thee, friend,” its pecuniary worth proving sufficient for his present exigency; and its moral value, incalculable; helping to clothe him in what he felt he needed a cheerful faith and confidence in God. The whole incident, acting upon his sensitive nature, and predisposed as he was to see in everything which befell him a peculiar and sacred significance, subdued and overwhelmed him; and appears to have given to his character a stronger religious determination. “That motto,” in his own words, “has ever been the support of my faith when it was feeble, and the strength of my heart when it was faint.”

He graduated Harvard in 1787 (in the same class as John Quincy Adams, who would become an avid anti-Mason forty years later). After Harvard, Harris spent a year working at a school in Worcester, but returned to the university to pursue theological studies. Harvard appointed him its Librarian in 1791, and he served for two years before being ordained as Unitarian minister of the First Parish Church in Dorchester, from which he retired in 1836. He earned a Doctorate of Theological Studies from Harvard in 1813. He died April 3, 1842 at Dorchester, and is buried in the Old North Burying Place in Uphams Corner, Dorchester.

RW Benjamin Huntoon

Harris’ Masonic eulogy was delivered by Bro. Benjamin Huntoon, himself a notable in his Grand Lodge, having served several stints of Grand Chaplain before becoming Junior Grand Warden in 1853. Excerpted:

Of the many incidents in his early life; the precocious developement of talents, which gave promise of intellectual eminence the ardent thirst for knowledge, and the almost instinctive acquisition of learning, which attracted the admiration, and secured the patronage of strangers as well as friends—and those signal instances of the remarkable, if not miraculous smiles of a gracious Providence upon his orphanage—and the encouraging tokens of Divine aid in his despondency, which always kept alive a fervent glow of pious gratitude in his heart, and spread the brilliancy of hope upon every gathering cloud of after discouragement, like the bow of promise, that brightens athwart the lowering tempest, and bid “God speed” to his every literary effort and holy enterprise, of these, and the numberless vernal blossoms of that delicate constitution of mind, which ripened into so mellow a harvest of unassuming goodness of that tender sensibility, which seemed like a lid, “which God had placed over the eye of his soul to guard its holy crystal from impurity”—time will permit me to say nothing. These are details, which belong to the biographer, rather than the eulogist….

The writings of Dr. Harris in the departments of Literature and Natural History, Theology, Biography, and Antiquity will form a solid and durable monument of his claims to public esteem and gratitude. They deservedly hold a conspicuous rank and occupy a large space in our National literature. His Natural History of the Bible, a work of great learning, diligent and extensive reading, has met with an honorable reception, and passed through several editions in England.... As a Scholar, a Naturalist, Antiquarian, and a Divine, the memory of Dr. Harris will go down to posterity with enduring esteem and lasting reputation. As a man, in the social relations of obliging neighbor, entertaining associate, and facetious companion for he had a vein of good humored wit and innocent pleasantry—Dr. Harris has left a pattern of amiable excellence, of which it is difficult to speak too favorably, and which will not soon be forgotten, by a large circle of acquaintances, extending from Maine to Georgia.

As the kind Pastor, the religious counsellor, the sympathizing friend, in all the varying “lights and shadows” of ministerial trial and duty, he exhibited a heart full and overflowing, with the milk of human kindness and fellow-feeling. Most truly did he “rejoice with those that rejoiced, and wept with those that wept.” In his every look and deportment there was manifested a singleness of intention, a simplicity of purpose, a gentleness of spirit, a patience of love, and a meekness of charity, of rare attainment on earth. In his manners, there was an affability, frankness and child-like sincerity which won the affection and confidence of all who approached him. His very countenance seemed radiant with the pure benedictions of a generous, disinterested soul, communicating instinctively its gladness or its gloom to every beholder the faithful mirror of all the workings and emotions the cloud and sunshine of the inner man.

In his study, there was an arrangement, a classification, an order, in every department of intellectual pursuit, of learning, and of business, which enabled him to avail himself of all his stores of knowledge, and of interest, with the greatest facility and the most indubitable exactness. “He had literally a place for every thing, and every thing in its place.” This, with his constant and most assiduous employment of time, enabled him to perform an amount of literary labor, and practical good works, truly astonishing, considering his many interruptions from sickness and constitutional debility….

This exclusive and appropriate service cannot be deemed obtrusive or uncalled for by any who “would live respected, or die regretted” by their fellow travelers to that country “from whose bourne no traveler returns.”

The elevated rank, the conspicuous station, which Dr. Harris held in the various departments and distinguished offices of the Masonic household; the many important services which he rendered by his talents and his virtues, by his active labors, and personal sacrifices, entitle him to the full meed of Masonic gratitude and love. He was an ardent, consistent, steadfast Mason. He brought the energy of his gifted mind—the patronage of his immaculate reputation and the weight of his personal character—as a willing offering to the altar of Freemasonry—for which generous oblation, he has received, and will ever receive, the respect and veneration of the Fraternity through all coming time. His first great Masonic work was the editing of a collation, revision and publication of the Constitutions of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, a quarto volume, printed at Worcester, Mass., 1792. A work which he accomplished with the accustomed diligence, and “known fidelity” with which he performed every enterprise confided to his care. His various, occasional addresses, while Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge—his Masonic defenses—anonymous tracts and his volume of Masonic Discourses, published in 1801, constitute a large part, and valuable portion of the Masonic classic literature of America. They contain a faithful and dispassionate exhibition of our principles, in that chaste and captivating style, that graceful and easy diction, that forcible and earnest language which characterize all the productions, which he has given to the public. They are a rich legacy to our Fraternity from an accomplished mind, a ripe scholar, and an intelligent Mason, and they will connect his name and his memory with whatever is dear and hallowed in our recollections of his amiable virtues and personal endowments….

 

Front cover of RW Huntoon’s eulogy.

In the Masonic heart he will be held in undying remembrance—with the immortality of the affections. In that simple memorial, of the justly appreciated services, which he had rendered to the cause of Freemasonry, in the capacities of Grand Chaplain, and Corresponding Grand Secretary, given by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, A. L. 5816, this sentiment is forcibly expressed in the touching inscription: Memoria tenemus, quæ non remunerare possumus. (Memory shall retain a sense of obligation which we can never remunerate.)

In the fiery ordeal, that inquisition of prejudice, that hurricane of malignity, through which our Institution has been forced to pass, Dr. Harris was firm and unshaken. From his age, his character, his profession, and high standing in Society, he was selected as a prominent mark for the shafts of anti-masonic proscription and vituperation. His extreme susceptibility to the veriest breath of censure, his shrinking delicacy of feeling at every rough accent of reproach, made this attack the more unmanly, not to say cowardly. He was frequently insulted by printed papers sent to him, containing the most scurrilous abuse of his character, as a Christian and a minister of the gospel, because he would not, with the vaunting, self-styled champions of religion, piety, and patriotism, renounce our time-hallowed Institution—whose principles he had early espoused, whose patrons he deeply revered, whose members he sincerely loved, whose generous philanthropy, and expansive charity accorded with the native feelings and instinctive promptings of his large, noble, and humane heart, his Brotherly Love, and universal good will to man. His whole character was the complete impersonation of Masonic benevolence. His only prayer, for his most abusive traducers, was “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Title page of 1819 edition printed in Philadelphia.

To really get to know Harris, I recommend to all thinking Freemasons his book Discourses, Delivered on Public Occasions, Illustrating the Principles, Displaying the Tendency, and Vindicating the Design, of Free Masonry, first printed in 1801. There’s a lot he shares in its more than 350 pages. Chapter 1, for instance, recalls the Charges of a Freemason in Anderson’s Constitutions, but benefits from generations of hindsight and from Harris’ wise counsel. He’s simply more instructive and specific.

This book includes several items you may have memorized during your tenure as a Freemason, such as:

The Ancient Prayer,

at making or Opening.

Most holy and glorious Lord God, the great Architect of the Universe; the giver of all good gifts and graces: Thou hast promised, that where two or three are gathered together in thy name, thou wilt be in the midst of them. In thy name we assemble, most humbly beseeching thee to bless us in all our undertakings, that we may know and serve thee aright, and that all our actions may tend to thy glory, and to our advancement in knowledge and virtue.

*And we beseech thee, O Lord God, to bless this our present assembling; and grant that this our new Brother may prove true and faithful. Endue him with a competency of thy divine wisdom, that he may, with the secrets of Free Masonry, be able to unfold the mysteries of godliness. And may he and we walk in the light of thy countenance; and when the trials of our probationary state are over, be admitted into the Temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ! — Amen.

*This paragraph is to be omitted, except when a candidate is about to be initiated.

A prayer used at opening a Lodge.

May the favor of Heaven be upon this meeting; and as it is happily begun, may it be conducted with order, and closed with harmony. Amen.

A Prayer used at closing the Lodge.

May the blessing of Heaven rest upon us, and all regular masons! May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue cement us! — Amen.

And, of course, our Harris Charge (a longer form than what you might know):

Charge at the Closing of a Lodge

You are now to quit this sacred retreat of friendship and virtue, to mix again with the world. Amidst its concerns and employments, forget not the duties you have heard so frequently inculcated, and forcibly recommended in this Lodge. Be, therefore, diligent, prudent, temperate, discreet. Remember also, that around this altar you have solemnly and repeatedly promised to befriend and relieve, with unhesitating cordiality, so far as shall be in your power, every brother who shall need your assistance: That you have promised to remind him, in the most tender manner, of his failings, and aid his reformation. Vindicate his character when wrongfully traduced. Suggest in his behalf the most candid, favourable, and paliating circumstances, when his conduct is justly reprehended. That the world may observe how Masons love one another.

These generous principles are to extend farther. Every human being has a claim upon your kind offices. So that we enjoin it upon you “to do good unto all,” while we recommend it more “especially to the household of the faithful.”

By diligence in the duties of your respective callings, by liberal benevolence, and diffusive charity, by constancy and fidelity in your friendships, by uniformly just, amiable, and virtuous deportment, discover the beneficial and happy effects of this ancient and honorable institution. Let it not be supposed that you have here labored in vain, and spent your strength for nought; for your work is with the Lord, and your recompense with your God.

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be ye all of one mind. Live in peace. And may the God of love and peace delight to dwell with and to bless you!

I’ll close this long edition of The Magpie Mason with what I consider an oddity:

A Prayer, said at the opening

of a Lodge,

or making a new brother used

by Jewish Free Masons.

O Lord, excellent art thou in thy truth, there is nothing great in comparison to thee; for thine is the praise, from all the works of thy hands, for evermore. Enlighten us, we beseech thee, in the true knowledge of Masonry: by the sorrows of Adam, thy first made man; by the blood of Abel, thy holy one; by the righteousness of Seth, in whom thou art well pleased; and by thy covenant with Noah, in whose architecture thou wast pleased to save the seed of thy beloved; number us not among those that know not thy statutes, nor the divine mysteries of the secret Cabbala. But grant, we beseech thee, that the ruler of this Lodge may be endued with knowledge and wisdom, to instruct us, and explain his secret mysteries, as our holy brother Moses did (in his Lodge) to Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar (the sons of Aaron) and the seventy elders of Israel. And grant that we may understand, learn, and keep all the statutes and commandments of the Lord, and this holy mystery, pure and undented unto our lives end. Amen, Lord.

     

‘A look inside Strict Observance Lodge’

      

GCR

Did you know the Grand College of Rites has aprons? They are available, at $70, by mailing your check(!), payable to the Grand College of Rites, to PO Box 550, Black Mountain, NC 28711-0550. We certainly may wear these at the Annual Convocation in Virginia during Masonic Week each February, says Grand Registrar Rick, and also where your grand lodge permits diversity in clothing when, for example, we present educational talks based on Collectanea, and about the GCR, etc.

The new Collectanea, the annual transactions of the Grand College of Rites, has been reaching mailboxes lately. Volume 26, Part 3, titled History and Ritual of the Strict Observance Lodge St. Andrew of the Three Sea-Leaves (1767-90), contains the history and ritual of the Strict Observance Lodge &c., &c. And there are “bye-laws” too. This is a hefty volume of more than 200 pages, as opposed to the skinny editions of recent years. It is very interesting though, even to me, and I’m not drawn to Templar and Templar-derivative stuff, like Strict Observance. (Here in New York City, we used to have Lodge of Strict Observance 94, but I don’t know its origins or fate.)

A few items that stand out:

• In the Ritual of the First Degree, the Rite of Destitution is described by the lodge Master: “You were then stripped bare and deprived of all metal. Money, honor, treasures are external things which are subject to corruption and changes of fortune. Anything that is subject to external accident and change cannot possibly constitute our true happiness. We therefore undressed you in order to lead you back to yourself alone, so that you might seek your only happiness in yourself, in the true greatness of your soul.”

The correct book cover, albeit with a typo.

An alternative version in the footnotes reads: “By your discarding and leaving behind all metals, we sought to remind you of the state of innocence, when you did not need them; at the same time, we wanted to give you the warning not to build your happiness on a perishable and destructible treasure.”

• In the Apprentice Degree, the initiate receives the name Tubal Cain.

• The “symbol of the Apprentices” is “A column shattered at the top, but standing firm on its base, with the inscription: adhuc stat.” [“It still stands.”]

• Emperor Joseph II’s historic decree on Freemasonry, called Freimaurerpatent, is quoted. Regulation 2 is interesting:

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Masonic gatherings shall not be permitted in any county town where there is no regional government office, still less in the countryside or, in the case of a private individual, at his country-seat, and in respect of the holding of such gatherings the same bounty shall be set for their detection and punishment as exists by charter for games of chance, because every assembly of different classes of people cannot be left to itself, but must be under the known direction and supervision of tried and tested men, and those who act contrary to this should also be personally punished for disobedience.

• And in that Code of Lodge Bye-Laws we find scores of detailed instructions on acceptable behavior. And there are detailed job descriptions for officers. Being in my final weeks as Tiler of The American Lodge of Research, I was attracted to:

Instructions for the Brother Tyler

or Decorator

1. The Brother Tyler or Decorator shall arrange the decoration and lighting of the Lodge.

2. If any decorative items are missing or damaged, he shall report it to the Brother Steward.

3. He is assigned to the Brother Steward, whose orders he must carry out.

4. He is subordinate to the Master of Ceremonies, whose orders he must carry out.

5. He shall instruct the Serving Brethren, indicate to them their proper places at Reception and Table Lodges, and hire them to serve at them, but he must also see to it that at Table Lodges they receive a little entertainment and are not forgotten.

6. When one Lodge has something to communicate to another, or a Visiting Brother of distinction has been invited, then it is his duty to deliver the tickets to the proper place.

Collectanea for 2025 is an engrossing read thanks to the intricate details that show us how a late eighteenth century lodge in Europe operated. The Templar aspect isn’t distracting at all. In fact, I doubt a modern commandery member would have any interest in reading this book. Even the seventy “bye-laws” of Lodge St. Andrew of the Three Sea-Leaves, which are said to originate “from the period of the Templar System,” read like Masonic regulations one would expect from that time and place.

If you are not a member (our members are styled Fellows) of the Grand College of Rites, but you are interested in quirky Masonic history and rituals, please consider joining. The GCR keeps things simple: one meeting per annum, $20 dues, one mission. Perfect. Click here.

     

‘The five senses at Nutley 25’

    

I’ll try to catch up recapping recent events. Maybe work my way backward, starting with a visit to Nutley Lodge 25 in New Jersey last Monday.

It was my first time back since 2016, so I wasn’t surprised to meet mostly new faces, but being with Bill, Joe, George, Ed, Rowland, et al. seemed like old times. I was invited over to present a talk from the lectern, so I delivered my explanation of how a Scottish philosopher’s eighteenth century findings on man’s five physical senses came to be included in our Middle Chamber Lecture.

In “It’s Just Common Sense: Thomas Reid and the Fellow Craft Degree,” I share what is known of the Second Degree before the influence of William Preston is felt; then we see Preston in his print shop, where he very well might have worked on Reid’s An Inquiry into the Human Mind; and then we hear Preston’s paragraphs on physical senses. The talk is almost half over by the time I get to Reid’s treatise, zeroing in on his second chapter, titled “Smelling.” (It would require too much time to sample Reid’s thoughts on all the senses.) In short, Dr. Reid, who founded The School of Common Sense, authored the words on the five senses in the 1760s that Preston <cough> borrowed for his book Illustrations of Masonry in the 1770s, which is the basis of so much of what we say in lodge to this day. When connecting those dots, I had to cite New York’s version of the Middle Chamber Lecture also because more of Reid’s words are evident there than in New Jersey’s, which only briefly has some of that source material. I hope it all left a palatable taste in the brethren’s mouths.

In fact, the Q&A mostly was about the differences in New York and New Jersey rituals. The audience was surprised to hear about the intricacies of our New York material. We have a bigger Middle Chamber production. Without even getting into our optional long form, New York lodges’ Second Degree lecture has organ music and singing—and I swear I once saw some soft shoe on the Winding Staircase! (Although that may have been a dream. Robert Morse was there.) Before wrapping up, we chatted about Garibaldi Lodge’s exotic EA°, which left an impression on those brothers who experienced it.

My thanks to Worshipful Master Nicholas Luciano for allowing me to do this. It’s always a great time at Nutley. I hope they bring me back one night. If you’ll be in the neighborhood, Monday the 18th will be the occasion of the Official Visit of the District Deputy Grand Master.

     

‘A Historic 1820s Table Lodge’

    

Ben Hoff has researched the period accuracy of the ritual to be employed in this table lodge, so expect something different from the usual.

Tonight’s convocation of Scott Chapter 4 in New Jersey was most enjoyable. I think I counted fifteen Royal Arch Masons in attendance for the occasion of the Official Visit of RE Michael Flaherty, District Deputy GHP.

We elected two Master Masons to membership by initiation, and two Royal Arch Masons to membership by affiliation. Companion Flaherty delivered an educational talk on the veils. Drawing from ritual, Scripture, and personal reflections, he explained meaningful symbolism of the banners to help us better understand what we Royal Arch Masons do in our chapters.

U.S. Mint

The Keystone State.

A good question was posed afterward: Why do chapters in New Jersey hang four banners, but chapters in Pennsylvania hang three? No one was certain of the exact answer. I kept my mouth shut—I’m learning!—because some people get cranky when I offer some information. Questions like this usually can be answered simply, as historical facts circumvent poetic interpretations. Long story short: Jeremy Ladd Cross wrote the four-banner arrangement into his book of 1819, therefore that is what the General Grand Chapter stipulates. New Jersey, being a member of the General Grand Chapter, consequently uses the four. Pennsylvania is not part of the GGC, and they use a ritual inherited from the Ancients of England. Just as Pennsylvania lodge ritual is distinct from everything else in America, their Royal Arch ritual too is different. It’s the Keystone State! Let ’em do what they want.

And, while I was there, I learned of this event coming next month.

Union Lodge 19 is our landlord—as it has been through most of our history since the 1850s—and its Master, W. Bro. Eric, is our Principal Sojourner in chapter. He told us about this table lodge.

I know the story of William Morgan is nothing to celebrate but, being how 2026 is the bicentenary of that disaster, which ignited the anti-Masonic panic of the 1820s and ’30s, we ought to teach each other about it. I’m always surprised when I encounter a Mason who knows nothing about the “Morgan Affair” and the resulting political turmoil in the Northeast, but not everyone knows.

So, the particulars are shown in the flier above. All I can add is Eric says the table lodge ritual is authentic to the period, as researched by Ben Hoff, New Jersey’s “go to guy” for the history of Masonic ritual. If Ben says this is the way they did it 200 years ago, you can toast with confidence. He is a Past Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, where he writes prodigiously about how Masonic rituals evolved over the centuries.

Keynote speaker Craig Applebaum is our immediate Past Master at the research lodge. While I haven’t heard this specific talk from him, I don’t doubt it will be informative and engaging.

Sorry to say I probably won’t be able to attend. My speaking engagement in Oklahoma will be St. John’s Day, and the cable tow stretches only so far. But you should go!

If this subject interests you, please add the research lodge’s meeting of Saturday, September 12 (9:30 a.m.) to your calendar. That’s when I will discuss the Anti-Masonic Party in New Jersey. I’ll talk about the Morgan Affair as a necessary introduction to the topic of the political movement in the Garden State that almost killed off the Masonic fraternity there. By the time the hysteria abated, there were only a couple of lodges and a few dozen Masons still standing. (And you thought there were problems now!) The lodge also meets at Union 19 in North Brunswick.