‘St. John’s Day planet alignment’

    

New York Post of June 8.

I’ve been watching the skies in recent weeks, enjoying the visibility of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, which is remarkable given the light pollution around here. I didn’t know an alignment was in the offing, but today I read how in fact six of our nearest celestial neighbors presented themselves linearly today, St. John’s Day.

Read all about it at space.com.

Despite the Second Degree’s encouragement to study astronomy, I don’t know what this means.

Maybe I’ll play the lottery.

     

‘What are you doing for St. John’s Day?’

     
How will your lodge celebrate St. John’s Day this time? I hope you’re planning something cool like this:

Suffolk Lodge 60 will host “a traditional English Festive Board or Table Lodge” on the EA° this Thursday.

(Okay, I think they mean Table Lodge. Many Masons think the two terms are synonymous, but they are not. If, for example, a degree is involved in any way, you’re at a Table Lodge, because it’s a lodge.)

Starts at 7 p.m. Menu: roast beef, roasted turkey, potatoes, vegetables, apple pie à la mode, with, of course, powder for the canons. Also a cash bar. The “tariff” for the affair is only $20.

Contact the secretary here to book your seat.

The lodge just marked its 223rd anniversary on December 7. Vivat!

Brethren, don’t forget the tobacco. And don’t forget to sing this:

     

‘Calvi and P2 Lodge topics next month’

     
Bro. Michael Kearsley, who served the United Grand Lodge of England as its Prestonian Lecturer in 2014, will return to New Jersey next month for another speaking engagement. On the first Saturday of December every year, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New Jersey hosts its Feast of St. John, which is highlighted by a keynote speaker. Rarely is there a Masonic topic—if I’m not mistaken, 2007 was the last such talk, delivered by Chris Hodapp, which was the only of these events that I’ve attended—but Bro. Kearsley is slated to break with form and present something of important and odd Masonic history.

Feast of St. John

Saturday, December 5

Social Hour at 5:30

Dinner at 6:45

Program at Eight

Fellowship Center

1114 Oxmead Road

Burlington, New Jersey

$45 per person

RSVP no later than Friday. Tables for eight or ten guests can be booked. Phone 609.239.3950, and have your credit card ready.

RW Michael Kearsley

RW Bro. Michael Kearsley will speak on “The Roberto Calvi Affair.” In addition to his Prestonian tenure, Bro. Kearsley served as the Right Worshipful Grand Orator of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex, and is a Past Master of four lodges, and is secretary of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076. His research is widely published—one paper garnered QC2076’s Norman Spencer Prize—and he is editor of The Square, among other distinctions.

Roberto Calvi, nicknamed “God’s Banker,” was murdered in outlandish circumstances in 1982 after being at the center of the billion dollar mafia-Vatican bank collapse that is said to have involved a Masonic lodge named Propaganda Due, or P2 for short.

Don’t Google it. Let Bro. Kearsley’s telling of the story stimulate you and leave you with much to talk about.
     

‘St. John’s Fest at Anthroposophy NYC’

     
On the first full day of summer—Sunday, June 22—the Anthroposophical Society in New York City will host its St. John’s Fest, a Festival Celebration and Potluck with Music, Song, Poetry, Thoughts, Food, and Friends at four o’clock. From the publicity:

St. John’s Tide is traditionally celebrated with a huge evening bonfire, around which we give back to the cosmos offerings of song, music and poetry. We won’t have a bonfire in our auditorium, but will certainly have music, song, and poetry. The opening presentation will be by Joyce Reilly. The artistic programming is coordinated by Dorothy Emmerson. As is our custom, we invite you into a beautifully decorated space, and will provide all liquid refreshment. The offerings of our buffet table are up to you. Please bring something yummy and seasonal to share with all.

Courtesy Anthroposophy NYC

We depend on your donations to make events like this possible so we’re suggesting a $5 donation to cover costs.

The program will begins at 4 p.m. Please plan to arrive by 3:30 to set out your food and get settled. We look forward to a delightful Mid-Summer festival. Contact Phoebe: email phoebe(at)artopathy.com.
     

‘Increase and Decrease’

     
I wasn’t going to write anything about Saint John the Baptist Day, but inspiration—if that’s the right word—sometimes comes unexpectedly, and the Mad Men episode broadcast tonight, the finale of season six that ended just minutes ago, got me thinking.

It’s not the plot or the characters, but only the wardrobe that got me started. The suit and tie Don Draper wears while exiting (for the last time) Sterling Cooper & Partners reminded me of the promotional art that appeared on the web in the weeks before the start of the season three months ago. To wit:

Courtesy AMC

As advertising goes, this is an enigmatic message that, of course, suits the complexity of the program’s dramatics. Duality. Coming and going. Past versus future. Draper, briefcase in hand, walking away but to work; and Don walking toward the viewer, holding a woman’s hand. The two Dons are aware of each other, metaphysically interdependent even, but they cannot interact as though they occupy extremes in a cyclical motion.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 3:30

In a darkly humorous scene in this episode that appears to draw from John 3, a minister accosts Don, absent from the office and drinking in a bar again, to deliver some helpful ministry, promising that Jesus can give not only eternal life, but relief from pain in this earthly existence. “I’m doing fine,” says Draper in dismissive retort. “Nixon is president. Everything is back where Jesus wants it.” The minister goads Don, provoking one of his kid-in-the-whorehouse flashbacks; he slugs the minster, and winds up in the Tombs to sleep it off. In the morning, he goes home to Megan and tells her he needs to get out of New York. He wants to go from East to West. To Los Angeles.

Courtesy Trevor Stewart

The Gospel of Saint John Chapter 3 is laden with dualities that echo the As Above, So Below foundation of the Western Mysteries. The verse quoted here can be interpreted as comment on the summer solstice, how the potency of one season surrenders to another. The two solstices are connected by their significances and their positions on the calendar. Significance: there are two Christian feast days that commemorate nativities – John the Baptist’s on June 24 and Jesus of Nazareth’s on December 25. (All other feasts mark deaths, if not martyrdoms.) Calendar dates: both of these feast days approximate the solstices. The summer solstice brings the peak of daylight embodied by the longest day; the winter solstice conversely is the shortest day that begins the lengthening of daylight hours for six months. Each solstice knowingly chases the other in perpetual increase-decrease. They cannot catch each other any more than the two parallel lines flanking the Point Within a Circle can connect.

The closing scene of this Mad Men episode shows Don, newly deposed from his agency and simultaneously acknowledging his alcoholism and looking for a new way forward, as he tries to connect for the first time with his three children, the oldest of whom, Sally, recently had complained about not knowing anything about him. Clearly, one of Don’s dual lives must increase, and the other must decrease, and not cyclically either, if he ever is to achieve harmony and peace in his earthly existence. He brings his daughter and sons to the closest thing he had to a childhood home, that whorehouse, which now in 1968 is a prominent part of the decay of what son Bobby calls “a bad neighborhood.” Don shoos them out of the Cadillac and onto the sidewalk, and explains this was where he grew up. Cue the music: Both Sides Now by Judy Collins.

Friends, the days will get shorter now. The days will be hotter for a while, but the daylight hours will diminish until the next solstice. Inevitable transition. Cyclical reversal. It is a great time to examine our own dualities, if necessary, to affect some adjustment. I know I need that. Or maybe just to resolve to gain the most light from the shortening daylight hour.

Have a wonderful summer. The Magpie Mason will be updated as news demands, but the time of (temperate) Refreshment is here.

     

'ALR to meet next week'

    
From the Secretary's Desk:

The 352nd Stated Communication of The American Lodge of Research will be held in the French Ionic Room of Masonic Hall, 71 West 23rd Street, City of New York, on Tuesday Evening, December 27th, 2011 at Eight O’Clock, for the Presentation of Annual Reports, Adoption of the 2012 Budget, Unaffiliation of Members in Arrears, Proposed By-Law Changes, the regular business of the Lodge, the Public Installation of Officers for 2012 and the Public Inaugural Address:


The Beginnings of Indian Freemasonry
by W. Gilbert Ferrer, Incoming Master


The Master and Wardens summon your presence and invite other Master Masons to accompany you. At Six O’Clock, following the usual custom of the Lodge, members and their guests may dine together at their own expense at the Outback Steakhouse, across 23rd Street from Masonic Hall.

W. Bro. Ferrer is a Past Master of Shakespeare Lodge No. 750.

The proposed amendment to our by-laws concerns the meeting schedule, specifically changing one meeting from St. John Evangelist Day (December 27) to St. John Baptist Day (June 24) to avoid holidays and the inclemency of the winter season.
    

‘Second Circle: St. Andrew’s Day ... 2010’

    
Today is the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist, remembered fondly in Freemasonry as the anniversary of the day in 1717 when four lodges in London introduced (or revealed) Freemasonry to the world, and also formed the Premier Grand Lodge of England. But you know all that. Tonight is The Masonic Society’s New Jersey Second Circle’s celebration of St. John the Baptist Day (if you’re a Mason in or near New Jersey, you’re probably tired of hearing about it), and it occurs to me that I never even told you about our St. Andrew’s Day Feast that took place ... seven months ago! I’ll never catch up on all the past events I want to tell you about.

The following is the story that appears in the Spring issue of The New Jersey Freemason magazine:

The Masonic Society celebrates St. Andrew’s Day

The Masonic Society seized the Feast Day of Saint Andrew as an apt occasion for eating, drinking, and advancing in Masonic knowledge together. It was the first event in New Jersey for the growing education foundation, established in 2008 by several dozen Masonic educators, authors, researchers, curators, and others to serve the fraternity in North America. There are more than 70 New Jersey brethren among its 1,200 members.

Right Worshipful Ben Hoff, Grand Historian, shows the brethren how Masons centuries ago ritually gestured with their tankards and glasses at The Masonic Society’s Saint Andrew’s Day dinner November 30 at Bloomfield Steak and Seafood House.

A group of 30, coming from all over the state, and several wearing their kilts, assembled at Bloomfield Steak and Seafood House, a historic site built in 1670 that once hosted Bro. George Washington during the Revolution, for a full course dinner and an educational program supplied by two Grand Lodge officers. RW Ben Hoff, Grand Historian, spoke on the origins, evolution, and significance of toasting in Masonic ritual. What began as a means for Masons to quietly identify each other in taverns by holding their drinking vessels certain ways, became elaborate gestures that we still use today in our Table Lodges. RW Fred Waldron, District Deputy Grand Master of the Eighth Masonic District, addressed the brethren on the subject of Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland and Scottish Freemasonry, whose feast day is November 30.

“It’s not like Masons need excuses to get together for a great meal and the chance to learn about their Craft,” said W. Bro. Jay Hochberg, a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society who organized the event. “That is instinctive. We’re already planning our next dinner for Friday, June 24, 2011 – the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist – at a site in central Jersey.”

Membership in The Masonic Society is open to Master Masons. For information, visit The Masonic Society or contact W. Hochberg at euclid47@.... The Society’s annual meeting will take place Friday, February 11 during Masonic Week in Alexandria, Virginia; and its semi-annual will be held this summer in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Those who attend New Jersey Second Circle Gatherings receive a gift bag at the end of the evening, containing mementos and other items - modest but hopefully appropriate. (You should see what I'm procuring now for the next St. Andrew’s Feast in November.) What our guests last November received were “aids for the body, mind, and soul.” What follows is the explanatory literature included in each bag:

For the Body: Apple a Day!

The Laird family has been making Applejack in New Jersey since 1780. In fact, their distillery received the very first federal liquor license.

William Laird, a County Fyfe Scotsman, emigrated from Scotland in 1698 and settled in Monmouth County. Believed to be a distiller by trade, he applied his skills to the most abundant natural resource available in this area of the New World: apples.

Applejack was a well known “cyder spirit” throughout growing America. In the 1820s, evangelist John Chapman, better known as “Johnny Appleseed,” preached to congregations along the Ohio River Valley, and distributed apple seeds to his followers. He also instructed them in the production of Applejack, hence the continued popularity of Applejack in the region.

Robert Laird served under George Washington during the Revolution, and the Laird family supplied the troops with Applejack. Records show that prior to 1760, Washington wrote the Lairds, requesting their Applejack recipe, which the Lairds gladly supplied. Entries in Washington’s diary in the 1760s show his production of the “cyder spirits.”

Please enjoy this spirit in the spirit of Scottish heritage and New Jersey history.

Calmness for the Mind!

“There’s peace in a Larrañaga;

there’s calm in a Henry Clay…

And a woman is only a woman,

but a good cigar is a smoke.”

Bro. Rudyard Kipling

The Betrothed

1886

The brand Henry Clay was created in the 1840s in Cuba. Named after the American statesman who served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in the early 19th century, it was considered one of the finest of all Havana cigars. Henry Clay (1777-1852) also is remembered as Grand Master of Kentucky. He was an unsuccessful candidate for president, including a loss to Andrew Jackson, Grand Master of Tennessee, in 1828.

This cigar was made in the Dominican Republic. Its maduro wrapper, comes from the Connecticut Valley; the filler and binder leaves make a robust blend of Piloto Cubano-grown Dominican tobaccos. It is an old-world style, and full-bodied smoke, recommended for enjoying after a hearty meal. It perhaps is best balanced with a lighter beverage, such as a lager or a mixed drink with a vodka or gin base. Or maybe Applejack!

For the Soul: ‘The Prophet’

Khalil Gibran (1887-1931) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer. Born in modern-day Lebanon, he emigrated to Boston as a child. He is best known in the English-speaking world for his book The Prophet, a series of philosophical essays. First published in 1923, The Prophet never has been out of print. It is an early example of Inspirational fiction, and the book sold well initially, despite a cool critical reception. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind only Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

The eponymous prophet of the story is Al-Mustafa, who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years. He is about to board a ship which will carry him home when he is stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses many issues of life and the human condition. The story is divided into chapters, each poetically addressing an important aspect of existence.

“The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.”

It is hoped you will find his philosophy congruent with Masonic teachings, and that you will enjoy the beautiful language of Gibran’s prose. The edition of The Prophet included in your gift bag tonight was printed only three weeks ago.

And finally, a word about our venue. We’ll do it again here in November. Bloomfield Steak and Seafood House is an ideal place for Masonic meetings, not only because it returns us somewhat to our roots in the taverns, but the story of this particular building is amazing, and even involves some notable Freemasons. Here is how the Township of Bloomfield describes the site in its literature:

Back in the 1600s, they built for longevity. Take for instance the Joseph Davis House, now the Bloomfield Steak & Seafood House, at 409 Franklin Street. The house was built long before the introduction of cement and yet, “it will likely last 1,000 years,” said Ann Hardy, chairperson of the Historic District Review Board. The main walls are two feet thick at base and the cellar walls measure eight to 10 feet thick.

The Davis house is a monument to the early history of Bloomfield, the oldest of the town’s pre-Revolutionary War homes. It is listed on both the state and national historic registers, which do not dictate uses of listed properties. The home is used as a restaurant and no part of it is open for touring, but, “externally, you can still tell it is a very old house,” said Hardy. “It’s one of many houses in Bloomfield that have become different things over time.”

Built by Thomas Davis in 1670, the house was occupied by his descendants until 1903. It has been associated with many historic events:

• During the Revolution, a tunnel in the cellar ran to the foot of Orange Mountain and was used by women and children to escape the British.

• A wounded English soldier was taken in by the Davis family and nursed back to health. To show his appreciation, the soldier built the well that still remains on the property, and hewed the stone wash basin that sits next to the well.

• General George Washington and General Henry Knox stopped at the homestead for directions to Morristown and were entertained for dinner.

• In the late 1700s, when the home was occupied by Deacon Joseph Davis, worship services were regularly held in the house. Otherwise, the closest churches were in Newark or Orange. In 1796, when the First Presbyterian Church on the green was built, Deacon Davis, a founding member, provided, for the sum of eight pounds, the land on which the church still stands.

• The charter of Bloomfield was signed in the house’s “beam ceiling room” by General Joseph Bloomfield in 1796. A group of citizens meeting at the home named the town after Bloomfield, who was a New Jersey governor and Revolutionary War officer.

During the past two centuries, the Davis Homestead has been a farmhouse, hospital, church and restaurant. Only a handful of property transfers has occurred since Revolutionary War times, but what a tale the building tells from its early days!

There had been a Masonic lodge in Bloomfield for generations. Bloomfield Lodge No. 48 was chartered on November 9, 1824. It surrendered its charter exactly six years later, a victim no doubt of the Morgan scandal, but was revived in January of 1856 as No. 40. It no longer exists (it is part of the lineage of Essex Lodge No. 7), but it had been located on the corner of Broad and Liberty streets, practically right around the corner from this restaurant.

Bro. Joseph Bloomfield of Trenton Lodge No. 5, was among the founders of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, serving as its fifth Grand Master. During the Revolution, he was a major in the Third New Jersey Regiment. After the war, he served the state as attorney general before resuming military service as a brigadier general of militia. He served as governor of New Jersey for most of the time between 1801 and 1812, but upon the outbreak of war with Britain again, he served as brigadier general in the U.S. Army.

He returned to government service after that war, representing New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Well, I’m off to North Brunswick shortly to host tonight’s Second Circle Gathering. We have two dozen guests coming, and I want to make sure I’m the first one there. Hopefully it won’t take me seven months to tell you what happened!
  

‘Second Circle’s St. John’s Day’

    
The New Jersey Second Circle of The Masonic Society will host its Saint John’s Day Feast on Friday, June 24 in North Brunswick, New Jersey.

An evening of good company, good conversation, and good food, with the added attraction of a very special guest speaker, awaits you.

In honor of St. John’s Day, we will welcome to our podium the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University, who will tell us about a fascinating gnostic religion that dates back to antiquity, yet still survives today.

Dr. Charles Haberl’s topic is the Mandaean faith, a tiny Abrahamic religion that upholds John the Baptist as its ultimate teacher. This religion exists in and around Iraq, but is almost on the verge of extinction. What he has to say about the Baptist in particular should intrigue every Freemason, and the plight they suffer today makes Dr. Haberl’s presentation even more compelling.

Dr. Haberl also is an Assistant Professor at the Department of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures at Rutgers. He has served as an Undergraduate Fulbright Faculty Advisor and as a member of the Advisory Committee for Study Abroad Programs in the Middle East at Rutgers, as well as a juror and panelist for the United States Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes. With James McGrath of Butler University, he received an NEH grant to translate the Mandaean Book of John in 2010. We are very fortunate to have him.

The Masonic Society’s St. John’s Day Feast

Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m.

Sir John’s Restaurant

230 Washington Place, North Brunswick

$50 per person. Reservations are required and can be made ONLY by sending your payment, via PayPal, to: masonicrsvp@gmail.com no later than Monday, June 20.

Great food: Unlimited hot hors d'oeuvres (served butler style), your choice of entree is Baked Stuffed Chicken or Roast Top Sirloin of Beef or Broiled Stuffed Filet of Flounder. Plus side dishes, salad, desserts with coffee etc., and unlimited soft drinks. (Cash bar only.)

NAME YOUR ENTREE when you transmit your payment.

It is NOT necessary to be a member of The Masonic Society to attend this special event. ALL Masons, their ladies, and friends are welcome to this fraternal and spiritual celebration of one of the Patrons of the Craft. Remember it was on June 24, 1717 when the Grand Lodge of England was formed, ushering in the age of modern Freemasonry as we know it.

Seating is limited, so no walk-ins can be accommodated. No reservations can be honored without advance payment via PayPal.
   

‘Happy Hour’

    

Fresh from the Secretary’s desk is official notice of the rescheduled Installation of Officers of The American Lodge of Research (postponed from St. John Evangelist Day due to the snow): Tuesday, January 18 at 5 p.m.

(Yes, five o’clock.)

ALR meets in the French Ionic Room at Masonic Hall, located at 71 West 23rd St. in Manhattan.

After the ceremonies, a bunch of us probably will dine at the Outback Steakhouse across the street.
    

Bro. Washington on St. John’s Day

    
Another Magpie Mason crosspost with the famous American Creation blog.


December 27 is the Feast Day of Saint John the Evangelist, and therefore is one of two major celebrations for Freemasonry (June 24, the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist, is the other). On the 27th of December, 1779, while encamped at Morristown, New Jersey during the Revolution, the Masonic brethren serving under Gen. George Washington celebrated the Feast Day in the Masonic style of that period, with a church service, a lodge meeting, and a meal together.

From the records of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey:

“…the headquarters of Washington, at the close of the year 1779, were at Morristown, in this State. The American Union Lodge, which was an army Lodge, whose Warrant had been granted by Colonel Richard Gridley, Deputy Grand Master of Massachusetts, was at that time with the army under Washington at Morristown. At the festival meeting of this Lodge, held to celebrate the festival of St. John the Evangelist, December 27, 1779, the record shows the presence of sixty-eight brethren, one of whom was George Washington.”



One of Washington's aprons
is displayed in the museum
of the Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania.

Considering the hardships faced by the Continental forces at Morristown (better informed historians know it was Morristown, not Valley Forge, that was the site of the most grueling, bitter winter for the troops during the war), it is not surprising that Masonic paraphernalia was not on hand for this celebration. The daunting feat of sending to Newark for the proper regalia was successful, and St. John’s Lodge No. 1 answered the call, providing the needed items. (St. John’s Lodge still exists, and will celebrate its 250th anniversary on May 14, 2011.)

It was at this meeting where a project was launched to bring some order and unity to the Masonic fraternity in the colonies by establishing a single grand lodge for America. Mordecai Gist, representing the Masons in the armed forces of Maryland, was made president of the committee that several months later would formally issue the call for this general grand lodge... with Gen. and Bro. George Washington as its Grand Master.

From this committee’s petition:

TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL,

The Grand Masters of the Several Lodges

in the Respective United States of America.

Union.    Force.     Love.

The subscribers, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in convention, to you, as the patrons and protectors of the craft upon this continent, prefer their humble address.


Unhappily, the distinctions of interest, the political views, and national disputes subsisting between Great Britain and these United States have involved us, not only in the general calamites that disturb the tranquility which used to prevail in this once happy country, but in a peculiar manner affects our society, by separating us from the Grand Mother Lodge in Europe, by disturbing our connection with each other, impeding the progress, and preventing the perfection of Masonry in America.


We deplore the miseries of our countrymen, and particularly lament the distresses which many of our poor brethren must suffer, as well from the want of temporal relief, as for want of a source of LIGHT to govern their pursuits and illuminate the path of happiness. And we ardently desire to restore, if possible, that fountain of charity, from which, to the unspeakable benefit of mankind, flows benevolence and love. Considering with anxiety these disputes, and the many irregularities and improprieties committed by weak or wicked brethren, which too manifestly show the present dissipated and almost abandoned condition of our lodges in general, as well as the relaxation of virtue amongst individuals, we think it our duty, Right Worshipful Brothers and Seniors in the Craft, to solicit your immediate interposition to save us from the impending dangers of schisms and apostasy. To obtain security from those fatal evils, with affectionate humility, we beg leave to recommend the adopting and pursuing the most necessary measures for establishing one Grand Lodge in America, to preside over and govern all other lodges of whatsoever degree or denomination, licensed or to be licensed upon the continent, that the ancient principles and discipline of Masonry being restored, we may mutually and universally enjoy the advantages arising from frequent communion and social intercourse….”

While Washington was not named in this petition, it was made known that he was the choice of the brethren. Washington did not accept the position, and the general grand lodge in America never came to fruition.
  

‘... and the darkness comprehended it not’

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

John 1:1-5


The Magpie Mason wishes the brethren a joyous St. John’s Day.

‘A happy St. John’s Day’

   

The Master of Fairless Hills Lodge No. 776 in Pennsylvania, presents a gift to the Rev. Canon William Rauscher in thanks for his talk on religion and Freemasonry today. Rauscher has been a Mason for 40 years.

I enjoyed a terrific afternoon in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania today, driving out there to join the St. John’s Day celebration at the invitation of the lodge’s Worshipful Master. Scores of other Masons, family, friends and the curious converged on the lodge for a full program of cordial ceremony, food and intelligent conversation.

The keynote address was provided by a very thoughtful man and a delightful speaker. The Rev. Canon William V. Rauscher spoke, mindful that about half the audience members were not Freemasons, on the subject of religion and Freemasonry. He began in broad terms, describing religion as the human need to have “a general belief in powers larger than oneself” to allow “the experience of harmony with oneself and with God.” And Freemasonry he defined with familiar language: “A system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated with symbols that give insights into life, service and brotherhood.”

Masonry is not a church, he explained, although it can serve as a “spiritual anchor” for men who rightly understand its “short morality plays” as lessons of charity, fraternity and wisdom. “There is nothing incompatible with traditional religious beliefs,” something attested by the many clergymen who cherish their Masonic affiliations. Indeed Masonry’s “spiritual content is its most attractive and significant” offering. The degrees are the “embodiment of the simple words of the one eternal religion: the brotherhood of man, the fatherhood of God, the Golden Rule, the hope for everlasting life.”

“We need it today more than ever.”

He touched on other factors that shape Freemasonry’s relationship with religion, including the secrecy of the fraternity, and also anti-Masonry, defining the foes of Freemasonry as varying from mainstream religions to communist regimes to “extreme radical secularists” whose aim is to have “a society without any rules at all.”

A very well received talk.

In other Fairless Hills Lodge news, the Worshipful Master has unveiled his schedule of lodge events for the coming year. Not unlike New Jersey’s Alpha and Nutley lodges (see below), this lodge is heavy on education.

Jan. 20 – The Magpie Mason speaking on the Four Cardinal Virtues.

Feb. 17 – Bro. Matthew D. Dupee, Esq., PM speaking on “Freemasonry in Europe.”

March 17 – Bro. Jerry Hamilton, PM on “The True Meaning of Masonic Ritual.”

April 21 – Three speakers: Bro. Rev. William D. Hartman, Grand Chaplain, on “George Washington and Freemasonry.” Bro. Walter Lamont on “Music and Freemasonry Around the Globe.” And Bro. Carl L. Swope, DDGM on a topic to be announced.

May 19 – Bro. Aaron White, PM of Kite and Key Lodge No. 811 speaking, appropriately, on “Traditional Observance Lodges.”

May 23 – The ceremony of initiation! The EA° will be conferred at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Va.

May 27 – The lodge will visit Kite and Key Lodge, which meets at the Allentown Masonic Temple.

Oct. 20 – The MM° will be conferred by Past Masters. Speaker: Bro. Frank Walker, PM of Texas, comparing Pennsylvania and Texas rituals.

Nov. 17 – Bro. George R. Haynes, PM on “Lodge Models and Model Lodges.”

Nov. 29 – The Annual Lodge Banquet, featuring Bro. Tom Jackson, Past Grand Secretary.

In addition to all that, this lodge has a great program, devised by the aforementioned Bro. Haynes, called “One Lodge, One Book.” The lodge purchases copies of a book of Masonic significance, and mails those copies to all the lodge’s brethren. The result is improved attendance at lodge, and meaningful discussions at meetings, said the Worshipful Master, who recalled how Hodapp’s “Freemasons for Dummies” doubled lodge attendance. The book now being provided is the new one from Bro. Robert L.D. Cooper of Scotland titled “Cracking the Freemasons Code,” which is one of those great books that makes Masonry comprehensible to non-Masons without forgetting to teach Masons themselves a thing or two also.

Worshipful Master, you’re going to have an amazing year! See you on the 20th.
   

2009 at Alpha Lodge

Lord Cannock and David Lindez last December at Alpha.

2009 events at historic Alpha Lodge No. 116

56 Melmore Gardens in East Orange. Easily reached by Route 280, the Parkway, etc.


Wed. Jan. 14 - Junior Warden Robert Morton on “From Whence We Come.”

Wed. Feb. 25 - Special Multimedia Presentation on Haitian Freemasonry, with a catered Haitian Agape. $10 at the door. 7:30 p.m.

Wed. March 25 - World famous Masonic author and lecturer Dr. Tim Wallace-Murphy to speak on “The Enigma of Rosslyn Chapel.”

Wed. April 8 - Visit by Oliver Kruse, Orator of the Swedish Rite in Germany, to give a paper “An Introduction to the Swedish Rite.”

Wed. April 22 - Presentation by the Worshipful Master on the Johannite traditions in Freemasonry.

Wed. May 27 - Academic presentation of Masonic research papers by brethren of Alpha Lodge:

“Archetypical Influences and the Molecular Impact of Sacred/Secret Words in Masonry” by Dr. Mardoche Sidor;

“The Pillars of Masonry” by Michael Terry; and

“Reactions to Music in Freemasonry” by Nathaniel Gibson.

Wed. June 24 - Summer Solstice Agape Observation of St. John's Day (talk to be given by the Worshipful Master on “Planetary, Lunar and Solar Influences in Masonic Movement, Stations and Places.”

Wed. Sept. 9 - RW Rashied Sharrieff-Al-Bey of Cornerstone Lodge No. 37, MWPHGLNY, will speak on the “Hidden Work of our Gentle Craft.”

Wed. Oct. 14 - Presentation on “Willermozism” by VW Piers A. Vaughan, world renowned expert on the RER.

Wed. Oct. 28 - Dr. R.A. Gilbert speaking on Br. A.E. Waite’s mystical approach to Freemasonry.

Wed. Nov. 11 - Visit by MW Thomas R. Hughes, Grand Master of the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New Jersey, to speak on Freemasonry’s historic importance in the black community.

Plans for St. John’s Day

While normal people devote time and energy in December planning things to do on Christmas or Hanukkah or New Year’s Eve, there exists a subculture of people like myself who plan for St. John’s Day.

Unfortunately it appears that the Festive Board I had been hoping St. John’s Lodge would host at Fraunces Tavern on the 27th is not to be, but of course in Masonry we have the law of duality, which guarantees something else is bound to pop up.

And so it has.

Tonight, Bro. Makia will be installed into the Solomonic chair of Fairless Hills Lodge No. 776 in Pennsylvania. His first event in what will be a very productive year will be a St. John’s Day celebration at the lodge on the 27th. More than great fellowship and food, the day will include The Rev. Canon William V. Rauscher, a longtime Mason from New Jersey, speaking on “Religion and Masonry.”

Very much looking forward to being there.