'The Last Degree'

  

This shot is an ECU of part of the stained glass window outside the library
at the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction's headquarters in Lexington, Massachusetts.

I regret not being in Chicago with my brethren and friends today. Right about now they, and many others, are behind closed doors, having the Thirty-Third and Last Degree of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry conferred upon them. In fact, I'd guess right at this minute the candidates are having their rings placed on their fingers.

One can find all kinds of Masonic rings for sale all over the place, but the Scottish Rite has only two rings that are part of The Work: those of the 14th and 33rd degrees. Of a different context, Albert Pike writes "...a ring was given to him as a symbol of the Divine Protection, and also as an emblem of Perfection." If there are two Masons who deserve the Divine Protection, they're Piers and Chris! God bless you both and all the brethren.

In addition, let me send Magpie congratulations to Matt Dupee of Pennsylvania, who has been elected to receive the 33rd Degree, and will be coroneted next August in Cleveland. Bravo Matt! (More names surely will be added here, as additional good news gets around.)
  
I'll close on a musical note - not Howie Damron! - but Mr. Frank Sinatra.

  

'The KJV at 400'

  
Yesterday, the American Bible Society in New York City hosted "On Eagles' Wings," a symposium commemorating the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. Four academic lecturers spoke at length on different aspects of the subject, from the political machinations that helped inspire the King James Version of the Holy Bible to contemporary efforts in the Caribbean to standardize Christian worship. After the lectures, producer-director Norman Stone screened his new film KJB: The Book That Changed the World. The daylong celebration complements the exhibition that opened Friday at the Museum of Biblical Art titled "On Eagles' Wings: The King James Bible Turns Four Hundred," which runs through September 18. The two institutions are located at 1865 Broadway (at 61st Street).

It actually requires at least one day of lectures, Q&A, film, and display of Bibles to broach the topic of the KJV and its global significance. What began as one item on a lengthy list of grievances submitted to King James I of England by a council of Puritan elders seeking religious liberty culminated in the production of a sacred text on which diverse religious and political factions could agree. Fifty scholars -- linguists, theologians, classicists, and more -- collectively dubbed God's Secretaries, labored for seven years to produce a Bible for not only England, but for the Americas also.

Dr. David Norton

David Norton is Professor of English at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His first book, A History of the Bible as Literature, won the Conference on Christian Literature Book of the Year Award in 1994. He edited the text of the King James Bible for Cambridge University Press. Dr. Norton is a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and of the New Zealand Academy of the Humanities. His latest book is The King James Bible: a Short History from Tyndale to Today published by Cambridge University Press.

Being first to speak, he had the biggest job of explaining history, theology, publishing, and related contexts, beginning with the evolution of Christian holy texts in the centuries previous to the coronation of Scotland's King James VI as England's King James I. Parts of the story are deceptively simple. For instance, 83 percent of the KJV text is the language of William Tyndale's Bibles of the 1520s and '30s. Tyndale (1494?-1536) was an early translator of Bibles for English readers, which made him a man wanted by authorities of both church and state. To avoid arrest, he fled to Europe where the publishing took place, however a reprinting of his revised New Testament was run in 1535 under the patronage of Anne Boleyn, and is the first volume of Holy Scripture printing in England. A skilled translator of Greek with a gift for language, Tyndale produced reliable texts that established a standard for Reformation thinking. He was arrested by Catholic authorities in Antwerp in 1535, and was tried, executed, and burned.

The major Bibles used in England that followed in Tynedale's path include the Coverdale and Matthew versions of the 1530s and, more significantly to this story, the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishops' Bible (1568) -- both Reformation favorites -- and the Rheims New Testament (1582), a standard text in Roman Catholic churches. It was the Bishops' Bible's 1602 edition that was the Church of England's standard text at the time James commissioned a new version; Norton used Powerpoint to illustrate some telling differences between the two.

Frontispiece of the 1602 edition of the Bishops' Bible.

The frontispiece of the 1602 edition of the Bishops' Bible is a busy piece of printing. To decode some of it: At top, the Tetragrammaton. Left side, representations of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Right, the Twelve Apostles. Beneath the text, a lamb, slaughtered and seemingly ready for the spit. The Four Evangelists are at the corners outside the text area.

Frontispiece of the first edition of the King James Bible, 1611.

The frontispiece of the first edition of the King James Bible retains some of the same imagery. The Tetragrammaton (cut off in this photo) is at top. The Apostles underneath, with the Agnus Dei. The Evangelists remain at the cardinal corners of the text box. What's new is Moses and Aaron flanking the text, and in the text itself is the conspicuous credit: "by His Majesty's special commandment," a controversial hint at giving James almost godly authority, a phraseology that would be abandoned in 1629.

The title pages of the 1602 Bishops' Bible and the first King James Bible.

A comparison of the two title pages reveals a few differences, like the promise of a new text based on translations of the original tongues, which isn't exactly the case. Hebrew and Aramaic, of course would be the original languages for the books of the Hebrew Bible on which the Old Testament is based; and Greek would have been the mother tongue from which to translate original New Testament books. As stated above, based on what several of the lecturers said yesterday, 83 percent of the KJV comes from Tynedale's Bible. So what are the differences?

Let me start with language. Four hundred years on, we reflect on the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras as the birth of modern English and the golden age of English prose and poetry. Shakespeare, Milton, and their remembered contemporaries are, to most, the fathers of our language. At their time however, things were different. The people of the English-speaking world c. 1600 would have laughed at the notion that their mother tongue could in any way comprise an art form. The term "English literature" would have been considered an oxymoron, Norton said, and the KJV revolutionized nothing on its advent in 1611; it would be decades later, years even after the death of its patron the king, when the KJV began to be accepted widely (the Geneva, for one, was an enduring favorite), and it wouldn't be until the 18th century that it became THE Bible of the English-speaking Christian world. This Bible, Norton added, holds a unique status. There were other Bibles, but the KJV from 1660 on was the Scriptural text that served as a book of both truth and language, and over the next century and a half, when people eventually caught up to it in the mid 18th century, it became the English-speaking Protestants' word of God. This must be appreciated for the feat that it is, considering that dialects were many and varied in England itself, never mind the diversity found in the Americas and elsewhere.

There were folio-size editions for the clergy's use in church, and there were quartos for sale to individuals and families for use at home, but that's largely just commerce. To be clear, the King James Bible was crafted specifically for being read aloud in church.

The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, 1-5:

"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."

It is one of the most famous verses in English letters, theology notwithstanding.

Words, phrases, and understanding are the crux of translation, and when revising a text already in the same language, the decision to not change something is equally potent as the act of changing a word, phrase, or understanding.

William Tyndale's New Testament c. 1530, Gospel of John, Chapter 1, 1-5:

"That which was from the beginning declare we unto you, which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life. For the life appeared, and we have seen, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the father, and appeared unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye may have fellowship with us, and that our fellowship may be with the father, and his son Jesus Christ. And this write we unto you, that our joy may be full. And this is the tidings which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

The Bishops' Bible of 1568, Gospel of John, Chapter 1, 1-5:

"In the begynnyng was the worde, & the worde was with God: and that worde was God. The same was in the begynnyng with God. All thynges were made by it: and without it, was made nothyng that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, And the lyght shyneth in darkenesse: and the darknesse comprehended it not."

What also distinguishes the KJV from previous Bibles is the absence of marginal notes. These brief doctrinal notes next to the Scriptural verses existed to offer context and clarity, but to King James, some of them were intolerable. The Geneva Bible is the Bible of the Reformation, of the Puritans, and the Pilgrims; it was the first Bible brought to America and was the standard text for Christian worship in America until the KJV came to dominate. In the Geneva Bible's John 1 there were notes opining opposition to monarchial rule. To James, as editor-in-chief (he was highly knowledgeable in matters of theology and church) the doctrinal notes generally were undesirable, but those introducing ideas of disobedience to kings especially had to go.

But philosophically, the justification of a new Bible for the Church of England -- James never did succeed at introducing a revised Scripture for his native Church of Scotland -- was stated in the colorful prose of the preface. (The American Bible Society published in 1997 a book containing this introductory message in three formats: 1) a facsimile of the original 1611 pages, 2) the original wording, but in an orthography to accommodate modern American readers, and 3) an entirely modern format, with all Greek and Latin quotations, and all archaic English words and idioms rendered in modern standard English. This book, titled The Translators to the Reader: The Original Preface of the King James Version of 1611 Revisited is available through Amazon and other vendors.) Excerpted: "Truly, good Christian reader, we never thought from the beginning that we should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good ... but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against, that hath been our endeavour, that our mark. To that purpose there were many chosen that were greater in other men's eyes than in their own, and that sought the truth rather than their own praise."

Dr. Scot McKnight

Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University, in Chicago. Dr. McKnight has given radio interviews across the country, has appeared on television and regularly speaks at local churches, conferences, colleges and seminaries in the United States and abroad. Dr. McKnight earned his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham.

McKnight complemented Norton's talk by sharing additional information on the KJV's place in England, explaining there were two main rival texts, the Catholic version of the Holy Bible and the Protestants' Geneva Bible. The latter was very popular, thanks to its quarto size, Roman font, and accessible notes. The Catholic Church's Bible, called the Rheims New Testament, was the first English language Catholic Bible. First published in 1582 in France, it is interesting how the Church did not complete and authorize its own version of the Old Testament until 1610. Both Testaments are based on Jerome's Vulgate, the Latin translation from the fourth century, making them inaccurate and scorned by non-Catholics. At stake was more than who had the best translations of the Hebrew and Greek source materials; the King James Bible was to satisfy both Anglican and Puritan alike, and carry on the Protestant tradition at a time when Roman Catholicism vied for both ecclesiastical supremacy and control of the state.

There were times where choice of specific words had significant implications: church versus congregation; priest versus minister; and baptize versus wash, to cite three examples. The accord of Greek original text with desired context made for the winning formula, and so in devising a New Testament in the best obtainable language based on the original Greek, James I was said to have freed five from prison: the Four Evangelists and Paul the Apostle. In the latter's case, Romans Chapter 5 was cited as an illustrative instance of bearing toward the Greek by replacing "sin" with "offense."

Dr. Euan Cameron

Euan Cameron attended Eton and Oxford Universities, where he graduated with a BA in History and received a D.Phil. He taught History at the University of Newcastle upon Tynein, became the first Henry Luce III Professor of Reformation Church History, at Union Theological Seminary in New York; and held a concurrent appointment in the Department of Religion in Columbia University. From 2004 to 2010, he also served as Academic Vice-President in the seminary.

Dr. Cameron added more context to the story, explaining, among other things, that the King James Version was the right Bible for the right time. Reformation's "heroic confrontational phase" was embodied by William Tynedale early in the previous century, but by the time James had commissioned his Bible, it was time for "a more measured quality" to the voice of the Church of England. It was time for Anglican ascendancy.

However the success of the KJV is not due to its establishment within the Church of England alone. It is because it is the embodiment of the Reform-minded Christian message that all the faithful can embrace.

Mr. Norman Stone, director and producer of KJB: The Book That Changed the World.

After the lectures, it was time for the film premiere and discussion with the director of KJB: The Book that Changed the World. Produced and directed by Norman Stone, this 90-minute film documents the creation and significance of the King James Bible. Created for the translation's 400th anniversary, it features acclaimed British actor John Rhys-Davies as chief storyteller and guide.

Stone was youngest television producer/director at the BBC. He wrote and produced the highly acclaimed A Different Drummer about the blind and deaf Cornish poet Jack Clemo in 1980. Four years later, his career was established with the international success of Shadowlands, a drama on the love and grief of C.S. Lewis.

The movie tells of the turbulent politics (e.g. the Fawkes plot) of the Jacobean era and the intrigues in both state and church that were behind the creation of this holy text that changed the world.

As always, any errors or omissions in the reporting here are mine, and not the speakers'.
 

‘There Used to be a Ballpark’

    

There Used to be a Ballpark

Lyrics by Joe Raposo

And there used to be a ballpark

Where the field was warm and green,

And the people played their crazy game

With a joy I’d never seen.

And the air was such a wonder

From the hot dogs and the beer.

Yes, there used a ballpark, right here.

And there used to be rock candy

And a great big Fourth of July

With fireworks exploding

All across the summer sky.

And the people watched in wonder

How they’d laugh and how they’d cheer.

And there used to be a ballpark, right here.

Now the children try to find it

And they can’t believe their eyes

’Cause the old team just isn’t playing

And the new team hardly tries.

And the sky has got so cloudy

When it used to be so clear

And the summer went so quickly this year.

Yes, there used to be a ballpark, right here.

    

‘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!
  

‘Bloomsday to go a Twitter on Thursday’

    

It deserves more attention in Freemasonry, but James Joyce’s novel Ulysses is the story of a man named Leopold Bloom, who happens to be a Freemason. The story is famous, albeit not widely loved, in literature because its plot is patterned after Homer’s Odyssey, the author uses unknown vocabulary and stream-of-consciousness narrative, and the novel was banned and burned for allegedly being obscene until a court decision rendered the novel safe for American readers.

But it is newsworthy this week because all the action in the story takes place on June 16, 1904, known in literary circles as Bloomsday, and this Thursday – Bloomsday 2011 – the entire text of the novel is supposed to be Tweeted on Twitter. I say supposed to be because I don’t know who will text the novel’s approximately 265,000 words, divided into that medium’s 140-characters-per-message format, or why.
    

‘A night at Navesink’

  

I just learned that Bro. Tim Wallace-Murphy will return to New Jersey this Friday night to appear at Navesink Lodge No. 9 in Red Bank.

True to form, Bro. Tim will speak on "From Egyptian Mythology to Jewish Mysticism; Rome and Greece to the Druids and the Gnostics," according to the lodge's announcement. He will trace the development of the Western esoteric tradition through the centuries to the advent of Templars, Rosicrucians, and Freemasons, and continue to the present.

If you haven't met Tim anywhere on his never ending tour, you surely have encountered his many books or have seen him in any of numerous documentaries, where he is called upon to explain matters of the Western mysteries.


And if you can get to Red Bank, it'll be well worth your time. The lodge does require reservations, and will accommodate the first 95 guests who contact Bro. Fred Stein at devilsfan37(at)verizon.net

Navesink Lodge is located at 152 Maple Ave. Dinner will be served at 6:30. Admission is free, and is open to Apprentices and Fellows. Copies of Tim's books will be available for sale.

‘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.
   

'210 in 2011'

  
Brethren, be sure to raise your glasses at some point today. (No time like the present!) On this date in 1801, the Mother Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree was formed in Charleston, South Carolina.

And this year marks the 20th year of the Scottish Rite Research Society's labors. What better way to celebrate both milestones than to enroll in the SRRS?

Members of the SRRS who were
in good standing in 2010, are now
receiving both Volume 18
of Heredom, and Albert Pike's
Masonic Formulas and Rituals.

Grand Archivist and Grand Historian Ill. Arturo de Hoyos has published the fruits of his recent years of research and editing. Titled Albert Pike's Masonic Formulas and Rituals, this beautifully bound and hefty work of scholarship is a time capsule that transports us to the era before Albert Pike revised the Scottish Rite's rituals, creating the fraternity we know today. In its pages, we see what Pike and his contemporaries knew as their corpus of rituals, although we enjoy the benefits of modern publishing.

In addition, and in yet another instance of the SRRS serving the Craft at large, this book reveals the three lodge degrees (and more) of what was Adonhiramite Masonry, affording us a look into a French Masonic order of the 1780s wherein Adoniram was the architect and builder of King Solomon's Temple. This is almost archeological in perspective, considering the bloodbath of revolution that nearly would eradicate Freemasonry in France several years hence.

And that's not all! (Are ya following me, camera guy?)

There are early versions of York Rite degrees and orders, and the four degrees of the True Masonry of Adoption. Championed by some of the same French elites behind the Adonhiramite rite, this system of degrees brought women to see the light by which Masons work.

I don't claim to have read all of this already; I received my copy only a week ago. Whenever I receive a tome of this scope, my first action is to turn to the Rose Croix chapters (pun!) and see what's going on there, and then I try to begin at the beginning. I'll be gnawing on this for a number of months, so if you see me clutching this to my chest, it may be best to just wave hello from a distance. In the meantime, join the Scottish Rite Research Society.
  

'Sunset on ICHF 2011'

 

The George Washington Masonic Memorial,
overlooking King Street in Alexandria, Virginia,
site of ICHF 2011.

 
The third International Conference on the History of Freemasonry is itself history. The fourth conference will be convened in the north of England in 2013, and the fifth will take place in Ontario in 2015.

Bound for ICHF

    
Wow! When I said in the post below that I may be spending too much time blogging, I didn't think I'd take a sabbatical of 90 days, but that's how it worked out for a variety of humbling reasons.

The Magpie Mason will be back to its usual tricks in June with coverage of things Masonic. I still have to tell you about the Rose Circle conference, Trevor Stewart at The Players, a few great nights at Nutley Lodge, and even some events from Masonic Week. Man, that feels like it was five years ago. Plus, there's my lecture to the Joseph Campbell Foundation's New York City Chapter, and some other odd, improbable curiosities. There are many other things that I'll get to during the course of the summer, as the recollections return to view. Hope I don't forget anything.

Oh yeah! The Masonic Society's New Jersey Second Circle Gathering. Our St. John's Day Feast on Friday, June 24 in North Brunswick, New Jersey. A very special evening is planned!

At the moment I'm off to bed so as to arise in four hours to drive to the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the site of the 2011 International Conference on the History of Freemasonry. Been waiting two years for this.

Complete Magpie coverage, etc., etc., to come. Monday.
    

‘Templar no more’

  
Last month, I decided to annul my standing and rank in the Knights Templar, the chivalric branch of the York Rite of Freemasonry. I have received the demit certificate. Below is the text of my letter requesting the same, addressed to Trinity Commandery's Recorder.

March 18, 2011

Sir Knight and Dear Mario,

I have acquired some degree of experience in Freemasonry over the years, so I know that requests for demits sometimes are meant to send negative messages. I assure the Fratres of Trinity Commandery that no such malice or other hard feelings are at work in my decision to leave the Knights Templar. I know that no explanation is required when asking for a demit, but I want my brothers and friends to know that this is a consideration of conscience for me; an entirely personal and difficult decision reached after a lot of thought. You see, I am not a Christian. I never have been a Christian, and I’m sure I never will become a Christian; therefore my membership in the Order has been based on a fundamental untruth that I have come to regret. My religious faith was no secret to those who recruited me for membership, nor was any membership standard withheld or misstated to me at the time, but what happened is my own views of how to manage the discrepancy have evolved over the years, and I now realize this tough choice is necessary.

This is not to say I feel any shame or guilt for my decade of membership in the Knights Templar. Quite the contrary! I believe the Order of the Temple is among the most vital initiatic ceremonies in the entire corpus of Masonic degrees, and furthermore that this ritual in the hands of Trinity Commandery is brought to its most profound potential. More than the best commandery, we all know that Trinity is a very special band of brothers. It has been my great honor and privilege to have been inside the Asylum with Thurman Pace, Bud York, Mel Melendez, R__ M______, John Corrigan, and so many others.

In addition, I have always been proud of my efforts for the betterment of the Order. Contributing toward Trinity’s ritual work; laboring for seven years as editor of the New Jersey supplement of Knight Templar magazine; and serving in 2007 as Grand Historian have been enriching experiences that I always will treasure.

But it is time for me to go. I will see you all in our other stations and places amid our other labors, so this is not goodbye.

Thank you all!

I was halfway through writing the letter when I realized it was the birthday of Jacques DeMolay. Entirely coincidental. My good friend and brother John had been Grand Commander until March, so I waited until he had left office before sending this request. The timing of the date was not intentional, unless my subconscious was getting the best of me.

My task now is to try as hard as I can to think back, to reach back more than ten years, to remember why I joined. The real reason, beyond being recruited by trusted friends. I know what I think today, but what was on my mind then? There is something important in there.
  

‘Orations in Ramsey’

    
It’s been a long day, capped with a great feast at Sagaponack, and I’m too tired and overfed to post a Magpie recap of the utterly mind-roasting event hosted this afternoon by the Rose Circle Research Foundation. And tomorrow I want to get to the New York Public Library to catch “Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” on its final day of exhibition. (It opened in October, and I just haven’t been able to get there. I missed MOBIA’s “A Light to the Nations,” and I ain’t missing this one!)

Where was I going with this?

Yes! Bedways is rightways now. I’ll post Rose Circle photos and info tomorrow. In the meantime, here is an update on New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786:

We are going on the road next month. When the lodge was organized nine years ago, we spoke of maybe holding our meetings in different venues around the state, for the sake of variety and to bring our work to lodges far and wide. The brethren of Hawthorne-Fortitude Lodge No. 200 in Ramsey approached us last year and offered their hospitality, ergo our presence on Saturday, March 12. Lodge opens at 9:30 a.m. Attire: suit and tie. Lunch to be served afterward.

On the agenda:

“Ode to Joy,” a paper on the glorious Ninth by Ludwig van, presented by Bro. Howard Kanowitz; and

“Masonic Trestleboards,” an A/V presentation by Bro. Ben Hoff.

I was going to have a paper of my own on the subject of Ramsay’s Oration and what I suspect is its proper context within the Romantic Movement in the arts of that period, but it is incomplete. Perhaps less time blogging would be helpful.

Hawthorne-Fortitude Lodge No. 200 is located at 24 North Franklin Turnpike in Ramsey.
    

‘Stellar Theology in the Lamp of Knowledge’

    

Nutley Lodge No. 25 continues its Lamp of Knowledge Lecture Series March 21 with a presentation by RW Bro. Rashied Bey, who will speak on “Stellar Theology and Masonic Astronomy.”

Lodge opens at 7:30 p.m. (almost exactly 24 hours after the Vernal Equinox). 175 Chestnut St. in Nutley.

Apprentices and Fellows, properly avouched, are welcome.

Bro. Rashied is a member of Cornerstone Lodge No. 37 under the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York.

‘Wendell K. Walker Lecture 2011’

    
Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 has announced the Annual Wendell K. Walker Lecture will take place on the evening of Thursday, March 24.

Bro. Trevor Stewart

on “Masonic Lodges in Colonial North America.”

The Players

16 Gramercy Park South

Manhattan

Cocktails at 7 p.m. in the Sargent Room (cash bar)

Dinner at eight in the Ball Room – $65 per person

Attire: Business

Open to Freemasons and their guests

Advance reservations are essential, and must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, March 18. Leave a note, with your e-mail address, in the Comments Section below (which will not be published) and I’ll send you the contact information.

Bro. Trevor Stewart is a retired lecturer who was educated at Birmingham, Sheffield, Durham and Newcastle universities. His academic work specialised in 18th century English literature, and his doctorate research focused on a coterie of gentlemen Freemasons who lived in the north of England during the Enlightenment period.

Trevor has continued to give fully documented papers on various Masonic subjects in American, Belgian, French, German and Scottish lodges – at both lodge and Provincial Grand Lodge levels – as well as in many English Lodges and Royal Arch Chapters, and in London’s ancient Guildhall. He also has taught in history seminars at Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard universities, which focused on newly discovered contributions which early 18th century English Freemasons made to the development and spread of Newtonianism. In October 2007 he was invited by the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge to give his paper titled “A Way Forward – Some Seminar Techniques.”

Trevor contributed papers on Freemasonry in the Enlightenment period to international conferences held at the Canonbury Masonic Research Centre in London, the University of Bordeaux, and the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry in Edinburgh in both 2007 and 2009. He has published several other papers in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the annual book of transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076; for Leicester Lodge of Research; for Hibiscus Masonic Review; and The Ashlar, the leading Masonic quarterly in Scotland. He edited the 2005 and 2006 editions of The Canonbury Papers for the Canonbury Masonic Research Centre in London. He also has edited From Across the Water, an anthology of eight past papers from AQC on North American Freemasonry in the colonial era.

In 2004, Trevor was appointed by the United Grand Lodge of England to be the Prestonian Lecturer, during which time his speaking tour brought him to the United States. He is a Past Master of three English lodges, including Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, and is currently Master of Lodge Sir Robert Moray No. 1641, a research lodge in Edinburgh. In December 2007 he was elected to Honorary Membership in both Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange, and St. John’s Lodge No. 1 in New York City. He recently was elected to Honorary Membership in Cincinnati Lodge No. 3 in Morristown, and Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge No. 10 in Westfield, and he is particularly delighted to be associated so strongly with New Jersey Freemasonry. He was created a IX° (Magus) by the Masonic Rosicrucians in Washington in 2007.

Trevor has held office in all of the Orders which grace the English Masonic landscape; is a Life Member of various Scottish Orders, including the Grand Lodge of the Royal Order of Scotland; has been honored with Grand Rank in the Rectified Scottish Rite in Belgium; and has achieved the 30° in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Germany. In the SRIA, the earliest modern Rosicrucian society, he was a member of its High Council, a Chief Adept of a Province, Director-General of Studies, and an active member of its Executive Committee. He edited the SRIA Transactions of 2005.

The Players is a private club founded in 1888 by Edwin Booth, Mark Twain, William T. Sherman, and a dozen others for the “promotion of social intercourse between members of the dramatic profession and the kindred professions of literature, painting, architecture, sculpture and music, law and medicine, and the patrons of the arts.”

The Wendell K. Walker Lecture is an annual event in memory of Bro. Walker, a beloved leader in the field of Masonic education.

Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 is one of the oldest fraternal and social institutions in continuous existence in the City of New York. Chartered on December 15, 1760, “Old No. 2,” as it is popularly styled, has, for two-and-a-half centuries, exerted a civilizing and fraternal influence in New York.

    

‘Masonic Week 2011: Knight Masons’

    
I thought I’d be done with posting reports of Masonic Week by now, but you get what you pay for. Once again, sorry for the bad photographs, etc., etc.


The Grand Council of the Order of Knight Masons met for its annual meeting last Friday morning, as did Great Chiefs Council 0.


My notes from this meeting are even worse than my other notes. I must have used my notepad as a coaster at some point, as there is a perfect circle, in Guinness residue, that has soaked through the first several pages of the book. But the highpoints of this meeting are still in my memory.

Our new Great Chief is M.E. Kevin B. Sample.



The Grand Staff of the Grand Council of Knight Masons of the USA
gather for their swearing-in.



M.E. Kevin B. Sample, left, is congratulated by his predecessor,
M.E. Edward Fagan. Note the signet of office on Kevin's gloved finger.


No warrants for new Councils were issued, but Grand Council is eyeing two possibilities that I suppose may be acted on this year. The rare title of Honorary Past Grand Senior Knight was bestowed on Dan Pushee and Buddy Wagner. Grand Scribe Doug Jordan, during his travels, was honored by the Grand Council in Ireland. Doug also announced he is stepping aside as Grand Scribe, and that Peter C. Cook will be taking over. The dormant position of Grand Superintendent is being reinstituted, to assist Councils with ritual work and maybe to help create more Councils. Several were appointed then: George Haynes will serve for Pennsylvania, and another Cousin was named for New York – nice small jurisdictions! – but I failed to catch his name. Total membership in the United States at the end of 2010: 7,950. (Please apprise me of any errors or omissions in the comments section below.)

In other news, Knight Masonry has caught on in England, which surprised me because I would have guessed it existed there already. A recent ceremony at Mark Masons Hall saw the constitution of new Councils there, thus Great Chiefs 0 may no longer initiate English Masons. (The purpose of Great Chiefs Council is “chiefly” to initiate Masons who reside in areas where no Councils exist.)

The next annual meeting will take place Friday, February 10. See you there.


Graphic courtesy of Bro. Jeff at Lodgical.