‘R.A. “Bob” Gilbert has died’

    

Manifestation

A figure sat within the chair

Which was not previously there;

A voice spoke in the darkness then

More subtly than the voice of men:

The message in the ear it spell’d

Was one great secret long withheld

And while I live, or when I die,

O Grave! where is thy mystery?

 — A.E. Waite

Tabatha Cicero photo

Chic Cicero and Bob Gilbert at a Golden Dawn conference, Bayonne Masonic Temple, 1998.

Bro. Robert A. “Bob” Gilbert died today, according to the sad news gradually making the rounds. I can’t eulogize him, having met him only twice, but he opened my eyes in a way that makes me very thankful.

Gilbert served as Prestonian Lecturer in 1997, traveling across England presenting “Freemasonry in Popular Literature.” And he went beyond the borders of the UGLE, somehow, improbably, visiting my obscure lodge in New Jersey.

Click to enlarge.

Bayonne Lodge 99 Worshipful Master Jeremiah Hawkins finagled the visit. As I recall, it actually was a Wednesday night meeting of my lodge, Menorah 249, and not Bayonne 99, when this occurred, but no matter. I never learned how Jeremiah booked Gilbert, but just now realized, thanks to the photo at top, that Gilbert was in town for an International Golden Dawn Conference hosted in my lodge’s building. (As I type this, the brethren there are outside the building celebrating their home’s centennial anniversary. Vivat!) That’s Tabatha Cicero’s photo of husband Chic with Gilbert, taken at that conference.

What the Prestonian Lecture experience did for me was to leave a first impression about Masonic learning. This was 1998, and I had been a Mason for about a year—and was starting to wonder why there wasn’t more to it, but felt too inexperienced to ask Where’s the rest? So, a guest lecturer, sojourning from England(!), to give a talk within a prestigious tradition, showed me here is one way to find what I seek. If not for that night, I may have abandoned the fraternity within a year or two. Therefore, to me, Bob Gilbert, Masonic historian, proved inspirational.

Five years prior to his visit to this humble lodge, he had been Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076. His byline is found in different volumes of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, and he authored and edited books. Also was renowned as a speaker in locales around the world.

The Bob Gilbert we’re likely to read about in the coming days is the mystical seeker who delved into the works of Arthur Edward Waite and the Golden Dawn but, also in those subjects, he was a perfectionist for historical accuracy. He knew those who lack a factual grounding in such pursuits are at risk of believing anything. That is not helpful, to say the least. Which reminds me of the talk he gave the second time I encountered him, at the October 2008 Rose Circle conference at Masonic Hall.

He was no longer a member of QC2076, but I hope there will be a typically comprehensive obituary in the upcoming AQC.

Alas, my Brother.

     

‘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.

     

‘How about a nice game of (Rosicrucian) chess?’

     
A mention of chess is sure to halt me in my tracks; add the name Rosicrucian to the word chess, and I’ll do a double take; and expose to me the notion of a Rosicrucian chess set on the anniversary of William Butler Yeats’ birth, and I’ll take a minute to blog about it. And that’s what happened today. Perusing my favorite social media site, I happened upon a link to a vendor of such chess sets, sometimes also known as Enochian Chess.

Designed by MacGregor Mathers & Co. in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the nineteenth century, Rosicrucian Chess retains all of the chess piece names that you know, and most of their freedom of movement (the queen is afforded one different capability from what we have in standard chess), but the pieces are pyramid shaped and as many as four players may compete. With sets of pieces for four players, the pieces are in four colors, and they represent the Elements. Red for fire; blue for water; yellow for air; and black for earth. The purposes of this chess variant are divination, meditation, and recreation—which some of us could say of traditional chess!

The chess board has more to offer than the two-tone surface reminiscent of the floors of Masonic lodges, as you can see in these photos borrowed from icehousegames.org that show a Golden Dawn symbol within each of the 64 squares.

Courtesy icehousegames.org

Courtesy icehousegames.org

Courtesy icehousegames.org

Don’t ask me about the rules of the game. I haven’t a clue, but Israel Regardie writes of them in his The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic.

(For the record, Golden Dawn is not my thing. While I believe intuitive acceptance complements our pursuit of the rational, most systems of esoteric teaching are beyond my abilities and interests. HOGD is one of them, but if you’re so inclined, I would steer you toward here, the order led by Chic and Tabatha Cicero, although I do not know if they play this chess.)

Well, I’m off to lodge now. Will be visiting Cincinnati Masonic Lodge No. 3 in Morristown, New Jersey to greet Chris Hodapp on his current speaking tour.
     

‘HOGD conference next week’

  

Magpie file photo

Charles 'Chic' Cicero

The moment some of you have been waiting for is almost here. The 2013 Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Conference, led by Chief Adepts Chic Cicero and Tabatha Cicero, will be held in Ontario Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13. It is open to the public, and tickets are available here.

What is HOGD? This Order is a modern incarnation of the Rosicrucian movement, and has an initiatic lineage, via Israel Regardie, connecting it to the original Golden Dawn founded in Britain in 1888.

The agenda for next week (from the publicity):

Friday July 12

5:30 p.m. - Meet and Greet

6:30 p.m. - Introduction

7 p.m. - The Bornless Ritual: An analysis of the origins, development, and ritual elements of the Golden Dawn's powerful invocation rite.

Socialization

Saturday July 13

10 a.m. - Formal Introduction

Magpie file photo

Tabatha Cicero

Ceremonial Magic of the Golden Dawn: A workshop which will focus on audience participation in learning ceremonial techniques. This is an active workshop which includes practice as well as theory. The rituals taught will include the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, The Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram, and a step-by-step analysis of Israel Regardie's Opening by Watchtower.

Tarot Magic: Different systems of magic and divination provide us with a variety of patterns or blueprints of the universe as well as the pattern of the human soul. The Tarot is a perfect tool for divination, meditation and personal growth because the universe is completely defined or patterned within the context of the cards of the tarot deck. This lecture will emphasize how Tarot Cards can be used as skrying symbols for spirit vision work, focal points for meditation and dream work, and as talismans that are charged to invoke the divine forces that are associated with each card. 

Lunch

Tarot Talismans: Working with the Angels of the Tarot: The cards of the Tarot represent real, living forces and powers that comprise the universe. Because of this the cards of the Tarot provide the perfect medium for the creation of magical talismans. Each tarot card has one or two Hebrew angels associated with it. These angels can be visualized by building a "telesmatic" image from the correspondences and colors attributed to the various Hebrew letters that comprise each tarot angel's name. This lecture also explains how to use Ritual Card Spreads in a magical ceremony to invoke the power behind the Tarot symbols.

Into the Shewstone: Golden Dawn Enochian Magic - 
The Golden Dawn incorporated the Enochian work of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelly into its highest teachings, where it became an astonishingly effective and powerful synthesis of both theoretical and practical occult philosophy. This slide lecture will examine the basics of the Enochian system with special emphasize on Enochian color magic utilizing the Enochian Watchtowers, the Four Worlds of the Qabalah, and the four Color Scales of the Golden Dawn. The audience will also learn how to skry into an Enochian Pyramid.

For the record, the Magpie Mason keeps a deck of Tabatha's Babylonian Tarot on his desk at all times. (My thanks to Mark Stavish for the lead.)
  

‘Grand Commander Chic’

     

The Magpie Mason congratulates Right Eminent Charles "Chic" Cicero upon his installation Saturday as Grand Commander of Knights Templar of Florida. He is well known as one who imparts the wisdom couched within esoterica, not only in Freemasonry, but also in Rosicrucian and Golden Dawn circles, and he's a veteran of several of Rose Circle conferences. Perhaps most importantly, he is married to Tabatha Cicero, a well known esotericist in her own right. Here they are together at the April 2008 Rose Circle Research Foundation conference at the Grand Lodge of New York.

Folks, take my advice and visit the Grand Encampment website each month to read the Grand Commander's messages in the Florida supplement of Knight Templar magazine. You won't regret it, so start now with his May message.