‘Rubicon conference: Shapers of Our Ritual’

    

The Rubicon Masonic Society will be back next month for its twelfth annual festive board and conference, this time rallying around the theme “The Shapers of Our Ritual.” Four Masonic educators will take turns discussing the four historical figures who, indisputably, have the most to say about the degrees and other ceremonies in our lodges today.

This will be the weekend of September 27 at Lexington, Kentucky. From the publicity:

➤ William Preston, presented by RW Andrew Hammer

➤ Thomas Smith Webb, presented by RW Timothy L. Culhane

➤ Jeremy Ladd Cross, presented by RW S. Brent Morris

➤ Rob Morris, presented by W. John W. Bizzack

MW Terry L. Tilton, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, will deliver the keynote address at the Festive Board, presenting “The Use of Scriptures in Our Ritual.”

Brethren, it is through ritual that Freemasonry connects us and communicates with us harmoniously through the hourglass of time to teach us its aim and purpose. Come and greet old friends, make new ones, and engage in an in-depth exploration of our ritual and the men who shaped it.

The festive board and conference are separate events; for tickets, hotel, and the rest, click here.

     

‘Justice.’

    

Masonic Exchange Store

“Justice, the boundary of right, constitutes the cement of civil society. This virtue, in a great measure, constitutes real goodness and is therefore represented as the perpetual study of the accomplished Mason. Without the exercise of justice, universal confusion would ensue, lawless force might overcome the principles of equity, and social intercourse no longer exist.”

William Preston

Illustrations of Masonry

Eighth Edition, 1792

Page 55

“The law of Justice is as universal a one as the law of Attraction; though we are very far from being able to reconcile all the phenomena of Nature with it. The lark has the same right, in our view, to live, to sing, to dart at pleasure through the ambient atmosphere, as the hawk has to ply his strong wings in the Summer sunshine, and yet the hawk pounces on and devours the harmless lark, as it devours the worm, and as the worm devours the animalcule; and, so far as we know, there is nowhere, in any future state of animal existence, any compensation for this apparent injustice.”

Albert Pike

Morals and Dogma

“Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander”

Page 829

“Justice as between man and man, and as between man and the animals below him, is that which, under and according to the God-created relations existing between them, and the whole aggregate of circumstances surrounding them, is fit and right and proper to be done, with a view to the general as well as to the individual interest.”

Ibid., Page 831

“A sense of justice belongs to human nature, and is a part of it. Men find a deep, permanent, and instinctive delight in justice, not only in the outward effects, but in the inward cause, and by their nature love this law of right, this reasonable rule of conduct, this justice, with a deep and abiding love. Justice is the object of the conscience, and fits it as light fits the eye and truth the mind.”

Ibid., Page 833

“The selfish, the grasping, the inhuman, the fraudulently unjust, the ungenerous employer, and the cruel master, are detested by the great popular heart; while the kind master, the liberal employer, the generous, the humane, and the just have the good opinion of all men, and even envy is a tribute to their virtues. Men honor all who stand up for truth and right, and never shrink.”

Ibid., Page 836

     

‘What’s the deal with…?’

    

Castle Rock Entertainment

‘What’s the deal with…?’ 

“I also present you with a new name; it is Caution; it teaches you that as you are barely instructed in the rudiments of Masonry, that you should be cautious over all your words and actions, particularly when before the enemies of Masonry.”

Illustrations of Masonry

“First Degree Initiation”

William Preston

That bit of wisdom lives on today in our New York Ritual of Initiation. It is phrased slightly differently, but the point still stands. Not every grand lodge’s ritual includes it, so I wonder about the social media presence of lodges that publicize the identities of those who are newly initiated or passed or raised. What’s the deal with that?

When I was brought into the fraternity, this was not done. There was no social media or even much of an internet at that time, but the lodge would publicize things in the local newspapers—but never the names and faces of candidates.

And don’t get me started on the way people dress for their Masonic ceremonies either.

     

‘Illustrations of William Preston’

    

The brethren in lodge assembled last Sunday.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education reached a milestone last Sunday when our members gathered in the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia for our first Emergent Communication held outside New Jersey.

LORE, as it has become known, was opened in due and ancient form inside the South Lodge Room, home of Alexandria-Washington Lodge 22, with thirty-two brethren present, hailing from jurisdictions around the United States, including Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In addition, Bro. Robert L.D. Cooper of Scotland and Bro. David Chichinadze of the Republic of Georgia were present too.

GWMNM photo

Symbolic replica of the cornerstone.

In fact, hundreds of Masons were in Alexandria that week to join the centenary celebration of the Memorial’s cornerstone-laying ceremony, which was re-enacted the following day. Related activities included the annual meeting of the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons of North America and the City of Alexandria’s George Washington Birthday Parade, which terminated at the Memorial this time.

Two presentations were heard that afternoon from our own Bro. Howard Kanowitz and from a very special guest speaker.

Bro. Kanowitz reprised his poem “Redemption at Gettysburg,” which he delivered for the first time at LORE’s inaugural Stated Communication. (Look for it in the pages of our first book of transactions.) The six-part epic tells of Freemasonry’s civilizing influence extending even into the horrors of combat during the Civil War.

The headliner was Bro. Shawn Eyer, a native of Academia Lodge 847 in California who has been in residence at the Memorial, serving as Director of Education. He also is Editor of The Philalethes, the quarterly periodical of the Philalethes Society, the independent historical and literary society, itself reaching its 95th anniversary this year. Bro. Eyer presented a research work titled “Holy Symbols, Infinite Wisdom: Freemasonry’s Mystical Ground Plan in Prestonian Thought.”

Worshipful Master Craig thanks Shawn
for the valuable Masonic research and education.

William Preston was the author of Illustrations of Masonry. First published in 1772, and reprinted numerous times in the ensuing years, Illustrations is widely thought to be the source material for much of the ritual we today use in our lodges, but he has not been celebrated universally. Nineteenth century writers, like Albert Mackey and Albert Pike, derided Preston, Eyer explained, alleging his ideas on Masonic rituals and symbols lacked any sophistication, particularly anything that could nourish a spiritual appetite. Eyer vindicated Preston’s writings by bringing to light texts that are supplemental to Illustrations.

etymonline.com

Illustrations does not mean only pictures.

The long-forgotten writings, called the “Syllabus,” provide what Mackey and Pike most desired, as well as the thesis for Eyer’s eye-opening discussion that day. Suffice to say there was more to Preston’s thinking than architecture and physical senses.

Two Georgia Masons:
Danny from the state and David from the country.

LORE’s rental agreement for the room stipulated a limited time, so it was necessary for GLNJ’s Senior Grand Warden to close the lodge in ample form before the brethren exited into the hallways for chats and selfies. The LORE contingent divided into separate dinner parties headed for several restaurants in the area, with all the brethren doubtlessly feeling fraternally satiated by our meeting.

     

‘Jersey research lodge to host Shawn Eyer at Washington Memorial’

    

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 sent a delegation to Princeton Lodge 38 Monday night to demonstrate to the brethren there what a research lodge is and does, and our next meeting as a lodge will be an emergent—out of state!

We have rented a lodge room at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Virginia for a meeting on Sunday, February 19 at 4:30 p.m. as part of the Memorial’s cornerstone centennial and Washington’s Birthday celebrations. Our speaker will be Bro. Shawn Eyer, the Memorial’s Director of Education and the editor of The Philalethes magazine.

Shawn Eyer by Travis Simpkins

He will discuss “Holy Symbols, Infinite Wisdom: Freemasonry’s Mystical Ground Plan in Prestonian Thought.”

Shawn says:

William Preston (1742-1818) and his brethren devoted decades to the cultivation of the Masonic ceremonies and catechisms which underlie the common degree workings as they are now generally performed in English-speaking lodges. Despite the ubiquity of Preston’s work, many know little of Preston himself, nor of the specific characteristics of his style of Freemasonry. The Prestonian concept of Freemasonry will be explored in this talk, providing a new way to appreciate the common Preston-Webb lectures.

If you are a Master Mason in good standing in the area, please come visit and profit from this revealing presentation. (Bring Masonic identification and your apron, and be prepared to work your way inside a tyled Masonic communication.)

“LORE” will continue in the celebrations on Monday the 20th by marching as a unit in the City of Alexandria’s 2023 George Washington Birthday Parade, followed by the Memorial’s cornerstone ceremony re-enactment for its hundredth anniversary. Please feel free to march with us in the parade, and definitely don’t miss the cornerstone ceremony at the Memorial.

Other than that, New Jersey LORE will meet again on our regular schedule on Saturday, March 11 in our new meeting space at Freemasons Hall in North Brunswick, home of Union Lodge 19. Hope to see you at all the above.

     

‘Jersey research lodge to meet in the Washington Memorial’

    

GWMNM photo

Merry New Year! I wish you a 2023 even more positive than your own hopes for it.

Hey, if you will be in or near Alexandria, Virginia on Presidents’ Day and, especially, the day before, please feel free to join us at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. On Sunday, February 19 at 4:30, New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 will hold an Emergent Communication in one of the lodge rooms.

The room is booked and Bro. Shawn Eyer will be our speaker, discussing William Preston (I’ll have the specifics on the topic soon).

I’m inviting the brethren of A. Douglas Smith, Jr. Lodge of Research 1949, who meet in the Memorial regularly, and George Washington Lodge of Research 1732, from not far Fredericksburg, and other researchers to enjoy the time with us. You should come too!

The next day, President’s Day, the Memorial will host the centenary celebration of its cornerstone laying ceremony. And the City of Alexandria will hold its George Washington Birthday Parade earlier that afternoon; NJLORE is signed up for that as well, so march with us. It’s a public parade with, I expect, many Masonic groups in formation. It’ll be like it’s 1780 again or something.

     

‘Make our lectures and lodges a real force in society’

    

William Preston

It’s still the seventh for a few more minutes, so happy birthday to William Preston, born on this date in 1742. Preston, of course, is the author of one of the most significant Masonic texts. His Illustrations of Masonry gave shape to the lectures most American lodges use, 250 years after its initial publication.

There’s a lot to talk about regarding Preston and his work, but this edition of The Magpie Mason borrows from another author from a more recent century. Roscoe Pound was made a Mason at Lancaster Lodge 54 in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska; later in life, in Massachusetts in 1915, he became Deputy Grand Master, and helped launch The Harvard Lodge. At Harvard University, Pound served as dean of the law school for twenty years.

To be frank, he is one of those famous Masons whose public life sounds admirable, but whose opinions contain ideas that make me cringe, and I’ll leave it to you to investigate that. Regardless, also in 1915, Pound published a book titled Lectures on the Philosophy of Freemasonry in which he upholds four titans of Masonic theory and explains their enormous importance to our Craft. I say this book is essential reading.

William Preston is the first of the quartet he biographized and defined in historical context. It is a succinct Masonic life story that can save you the time needed to peruse any number of research papers printed in old editions of AQC. And I leave that to you as well.

Pound explains how Preston was a man of his times. Call it the Enlightenment or the Age of Discovery or the Age of Reason or what have you, but Preston’s era was characterized by all kinds of pursuits of empirical evidence, from scientific understanding of anatomy to exploration of the planet to understanding the heavens. What had been accepted as knowledge during the Renaissance no longer sufficed; the time for peering into the past had ended.

“That the eighteenth century was the era of purely intellectualist philosophy, naturally determined Preston’s philosophy of Masonry,” writes Pound. “At that time, reason was the central idea of all philosophical thought. Knowledge was regarded as the universal solvent. Hence, when Preston found in his old lectures that among other things Masonry was a body of knowledge, and discovered in the Old Charges a history of knowledge and of its transmission from antiquity, it was inevitable that he make knowledge the central point of his system.”

If you ever wondered how the pillars in the porch of KST came to be adorned with globes, a detail not found in Scripture and is weirdly anachronistic, it was Bro. Preston who metaphorically climbed up and installed them. “In other words, these globes are not symbolic, they are not designed for moral improvement. They rest upon the pillars, grotesquely out of place, simply and solely to teach the lodge the elements of geography and astronomy,” Pound explains.

It’s an insightful examination of the man and his Masonic legacy, and the remarkable portion is served in the concluding paragraphs when Pound explains that what was good for the late eighteenth century lodge isn’t right for today’s (1915) Masons. “I suspect we do Preston a great injustice in thus preserving the literal terms of the lectures at the expense of their fundamental idea. In his day, they did teach—today they do not.” Roscoe Pound, a proponent of new methodology in his profession, the law, wanted new lectures written to teach Masons in the early twentieth century about their modern age.

Roscoe Pound

“In Preston’s day, there was a general need, from which Preston had suffered, of popular education—of providing the means whereby the common man could acquire knowledge in general. Today there is no less general need of a special kind of knowledge. Society is divided sharply into classes that understand each other none too well and hence are getting wholly out of sympathy,” Pound continues. “What nobler Masonic lecture could there be than one which took up the fundamenta of social science and undertook to spread a sound knowledge of it among all Masons?”

And finally: “Preston of course was wrong—knowledge is not the sole end of Masonry. But in another way Preston was right. Knowledge is one end—at least one proximate end—and it is not the least of those by which human perfection shall be attained. Preston’s mistakes were the mistakes of his century—the mistake of faith in the finality of what was known to that era, and the mistake of regarding correct formal presentation as the one sound method of instruction. But what shall be said of the greater mistake we make today, when we go on reciting his lectures—shorn and abridged till they mean nothing to the hearer—and gravely presenting them as a system of Masonic knowledge? Bear in mind, he thought of them as presenting a general scheme of knowledge, not as a system of purely Masonic information. If we were governed by his spirit, understood the root idea of his philosophy, and had but half his zeal and diligence, surely we could make our lectures, and through them our lodges, a real force in society…. I hate to think that all initiative is gone from our Order and that no new Preston will arise to take up his conception of Knowledge as an end of the fraternity, and present to the Masons of today the knowledge which they ought to possess.”

I can see how preserving remnants of Prestonian lectures in our degrees today fossilizes the fraternity in the amber of the 1700s. (Is that perceived as irrelevance by some who disappear after the Third Degree? Or the First?) But you have to be careful what you wish for.

If you know Roscoe Pound from outside Freemasonry, then you are aware of his thinking in the legal profession and on social issues. This public Pound of 1915 seems to be mostly forgotten today, but he would be at home among, say, the city prosecutors who refuse to prosecute criminals. His call for new lectures—and he stipulates a careful trial process, although I didn’t quote it above—isn’t nonsensical, but I’d worry how that would go. Would understanding the Physical Senses be replaced by today’s wacky gender theory? Could the Arts and Sciences be supplanted by political environmentalism? Might post-colonial revolutionary doctrine convert Solomon into a Phillistine?

I won’t say it can’t be discussed, but you have to be very cautious about reforming Masonic identity.

     

‘Our established mode of government’

    

“A Vindication

of Masonry”

By Bro. Charles Leslie

Vernon Kilwinning Lodge

Edinburgh

May 15, 1741

Printed in Illustrations of Masonry,

Second Edition,

by William Preston, 1775 

Excerpted: 

Masonry is a progressive science, and is divided into different classes or degrees, under particular restrictions and injunctions of fidelity, for the more regular advancement of its professors in the knowledge of its mysteries. According to the progress we make, we are led to limit or extend our inquiries; and in proportion to our genius and capacity, we attain to a greater or less degree of perfection. This mode of government may sufficiently explain the importance of Masonry, and give us a true idea of its nature and design.

Three classes are generally received under different appellations. The privileges of each are distinct, and particular means are adopted to preserve these privileges to the just and meritorious. Honor and probity are recommendations to the first class, in which the practice of virtue is enforced, and the duties of morality inculcated; while the mind is prepared for social converse, and a regular progress into the principles of knowledge and philosophy. Diligence, assiduity, and application are qualifications for the second class, in which an accurate elucidation of science, both in theory and practice, is given; human reason is cultivated by a due exertion of our rational and intellectual powers and faculties; nice and difficult theories are explained; fresh discoveries are produced, and those already known are beautifully embellished.

The third class is confined to a select few, whom truth and fidelity have distinguished, whom years and experience have improved, and whom merit and abilities have entitled to preferment. With them the ancient landmarks of the Order are preserved; and from them we learn and practice those necessary and instructive lessons which dignify the Art, and qualify its professors to convince the uninstructed of its excellence and utility.

This is our established mode of government when we act in conformity to our rules: hence true friendship is cultivated between different ranks and degrees of men, hospitality is promoted, industry rewarded, ingenuity encouraged, and all unnecessary distinctions are lost in the general good.

     

‘Imitate the glorious example’

    

The Colonial Room on the tenth floor of Masonic Hall is not our usual meeting space, but we were able to make do despite the frumpy looks of the place.

On this date in 1772, Freemasons in London gathered in the Strand at a tavern named the Crown and Anchor for “A Grand Gala in Honour of Free Masonry.” It was a famous place; all kinds of groups met there. In attendance were Lord Petre, the new Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England; and William Preston, Worshipful Master of the lodge that met there.

We know this because of the book that was inspired by the affair: Illustrations of Masonry, published later that year. I believe there are half a dozen books that have given shape (rituals, language, customs, jurisprudence, etc.) to the Freemasonry that we have inherited, and all six date to the 1700s. What has come to be known as “Preston’s Illustrations” might be the most consequential of them.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Something else occurred on this date. I mean today. 2022. My lodge raised four Fellow Craft Masons to the Sublime Degree.

The ritualists were great despite being nervous and self-conscious. I think the Master mentioned there could have been more rehearsal time, but I followed along in my ritual cipher (as Tiler, I’m outside the lodge room), and I’d say any error or omission was unnoticeable. Nothing obfuscated the candidates’ comprehension—and that’s what matters to me.

I’ll close this edition of The Magpie Mason with an excerpt from Illustrations concerning the Master Mason Degree. You’ll recognize these phrases and ideas in different constructions of contemporary rituals:

Your zeal for virtue, your honor as a gentleman, your reputation as a mason, are all equally concerned in supporting, with becoming dignity, the character in which you now appear; let no motive therefore make you swerve from your duty, violate your vows, or betray your trust; but be true and faithful, and imitate the glorious example of that celebrated artist, whom you have this evening represented. Thus you will prove yourself worthy of the confidence which we have reposed in you, and deserving of every honor which we can confer.

     

‘2022 Prestonian Lecture’

    

Magpie file photo

Obtaining this scant information was like extracting secrets from the proverbial Bone Box, but that’s what I do for my readers. You three mean a lot to me.

Bro. John Hawkins will be the 2022 Prestonian Lecturer, presenting his “The Royal Family and Freemasonry.”

I certainly would be interested in hearing that. For three centuries, Freemasonry in England has courted royal patronage, beginning with the Duke of Montagu, Grand Master in 1721. Subsequent grand masters have included princes, dukes, earls, the occasional marquess, plus the odd viscount. And, of course, there were those kings at the Navy Lodge 2612.

Anyway, that’s all the information I was able to learn at this time. My thanks to W. Bro. Tony Harvey, the Prestonian Lecturer of 2012, for answering my query. He also says Bro. Hawkins will present his lecture at Nottinghamshire’s Installed Masters Lodge on June 1.

W. Bro. George Boys-Stones is still on duty, presenting his lecture, “A System of Morality,” through the current term, which is an extension of his 2020 tenure that was interrupted by the pandemic. In fact, he will be speaking tomorrow at Lodge of Antiquity, where William Preston served in the East in 1774. I had him booked for dates in New York and New Jersey a year and a half ago, and maybe that still can be salvaged. Hope ends in fruition.

Commemorative bookplate for those who buy
Bro. George’s book tomorrow.

The Prestonian Lecture is a tradition in the United Grand Lodge of England, and is named for William Preston (1742-1818), who published his Illustrations of Masonry in 1772, which informs the rituals worked in a great many Craft lodges to this day.

Congratulations Bro. Hawkins!

     

‘Deceased on this date two centuries ago’

     

William Preston by Samuel Drummond

William Preston died on this date in 1818. My friend Ben, the most prolific scholar in New Jersey Freemasonry, once described Preston to me as “the original Magpie Mason,” and for good reason. He is often remembered inaccurately as the author of Masonic rituals in the late 18th century, but in truth he was an anthologist of the rituals and lectures that are so influential to our degrees today. An editor and printer by profession, Preston was naturally inclined to gather and compile elements of the Craft degrees and other customs he witnessed into a holistic—if that’s the right word—body of ritualized lessons in the meaning of Masonry.

His book, Illustrations of Masonry, was reprinted an unusual number of times in the first years of its existence, with changes made along the way, and was the basis of Thomas Smith Webb’s own Freemason’s Monitor, which really was a key source in the development of rituals in the United States.

He was an amazing figure in and out of Freemasonry. If you undertake no other form of research into the Craft’s history, make a point of reading Preston, and reading about him. He is near and dear to my heart in large part because he was expelled from Freemasonry in 1777 by the Premier Grand Lodge, but he didn’t stop serving for the benefit of the fraternity and, a decade later, the Grand Lodge reversed itself and restored Preston to all the rights and benefits of Masonry.

And, of course, he is the namesake of the Prestonian Lecture, established posthumously with a bequest from Preston who, again, was raised to the Lodge on High on this date 200 years ago.

Read about William Preston at Masonic Dictionary here; at the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon here; and at Masonry Today here, for starters.

I know it’s a holy day, but raise a glass of whatever you’re enjoying to the memory of a Mason to whom we are greatly indebted.