‘A simple symposium?’

    

Freemasonry in the United States likes symposia. Actually, in France too. Often day-long affairs, these events attract audiences of Masons either generally curious or drawn to a specific theme to hear the thoughts and scholarship of the empaneled speakers.

The Masonic Restoration Foundation terms its annual event a symposium. The Pennsylvania Academy does likewise for its biannual meetings. The California Symposium is next month. The George Washington Memorial has one planned for November. The Masonic Cons are symposia by another name. You get the gist.

How’s that for an etymology?

Aaanywaaay, there was a call for papers yesterday in preparation for “Now We Have Faces: The First Annual C.S. Lewis Symposium at Ulster University,” free willed (see what I did there?) for November 3.

Ignoring the nails-on-chalkboard solecism of “first annual,” this announcement illumined the novelty lightbulb I wear over my head. Brilliant! A symposium delving into one author!

Why don’t we do that in Freemasonry? Do we do that? I’m not aware of it being done.

Supposing such a symposium, I reckon it would have to focus on a prolific writer from a previous century. (The author must be deceased.) I’ll throw out a name: H.L. Haywood. A sharp thinker whose clear prose distilled Masonic teachings for readers of all levels. Plus, he was a member of my lodge ninety or so years ago.

I feel too tired to organize a day like this—and I don’t have the clout anymore—but it’s a good idea.

     

‘Filmmaker now directs PRS’

    

Dennis Bartok

The Philosophical Research Society, the center for study of hidden wisdom established by Manly P. Hall in Los Angeles in 1934, has a new Executive Director. Dennis Bartok is a longtime veteran of non-profit management who also has a background in making films.

Bartok, 57, is an alumnus of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts who worked in film as an actor, writer, director, and producer. He also is the author of A Thousand Cuts: The Bizarre Underground World of Collectors and Dealers Who Saved the Movies.

In the not-for-profit field, Bartok worked many years for American Cinematheque in L.A.

“I’m tremendously excited to be joining the Philosophical Research Society, an organization I’ve admired and enjoyed since I first wandered into the marvelous PRS bookshop in the early 1990s when I moved to Los Angeles,” Bartok says in the Society’s announcement from yesterday. “I’m hoping my experience engaging with the general public, artists, scholars, longtime supporters, and volunteers will help PRS expand its programs, exhibits, and outreach.”

See the full statement here.

     

‘A Missouri compromise in Royal Arch’

    

Shop at Freemason’s Hall

Mark Master Mason jewel.

The new issue of The Royal Arch Mason Magazine tells of an innovation in membership development in Missouri that sounds promising.

Kyle R. Palacios

The reporter, none other than MEGHP Kyle Palacios, explains how the Grand Chapter, with help from the Grand Lodge, enticed Master Masons with Capitular Masonry by conferring on them the Mark Master and the Virtual Past Master degrees. No joining fees.

On fifteen occasions spanning three months, eighty-five Masons received the degrees. Another forty-four were still in waiting. Those interested in continuing through to the Royal Arch Degree were steered to their local chapters.

This provokes much thought. I believe the long-standing structure of most chapters in this country needs rehabilitation. For starters, that VPM Degree should be retired. It no longer serves the original purpose we’ve all read about, namely that it qualifies one for the Royal Arch Degree. That isn’t necessary anymore, if it ever was. Not every grand chapter includes it among the body of degrees. If I’m not mistaken, neither Pennsylvania nor New Hampshire works it (maybe others too). Outside the country, Canada and England get by without it. Retiring this degree would ease the ritual burden borne by Royal Arch chapters, allowing them to concentrate on the necessary work: conferring the RAM Degree and educating the companions on the meaning of it all.

And the Mark Master Mason Degree? Maybe this could be the start of the degree’s return to the Craft lodge, where long ago it had been a side degree. I attach much importance to the MMM Degree, so I personally would prefer a proliferation of Mark lodges that would confer it on Master Masons. Such lodges are rare in the United States. Ohio has them. New Jersey has a few. I don’t think the Masonic family tree needs expansion, but maybe General Grand Chapter could make itself useful by showing a way to reorganize the system and create a distinct Mark fraternity (again, as in England, etc.). Or perhaps chapters could become the venues where only MMM and RAM may be received.

And the Most Excellent Master Degree? Maybe that could become a special degree for chapter, the way Super Excellent Master is for the Cryptic council. Or possibly a degree reserved for certain deserving companions, such as past HPs. I can’t think of everything, you know.

What I do realize is the time for rethinking and restructuring our Capitular Rite is upon us—has been for a long time, actually. It seems to me that about ten percent of Master Masons in America are Royal Arch Masons. I’m not against exclusivity in certain areas, but what we really are seeing here is negligence. The MMM and the RAM degrees are essential to Freemasonry. New, or old, or other jurisdictions’ ideas are needed to press these tools into the hands of our lodge brethren.

The Grand Chapter of Missouri seems to be reconnoitering for a way forward, and I’m interested in hearing more about its progress, and other ideas that may be germinating elsewhere.

     

‘Railroad Degree recap’

    

Wilmington & Western Railroad: ‘A Museum in Motion.’

So the Saturday before last was the long awaited occasion of the Railroad Degree in Delaware. Ionic Lodge 31 and Solomon 36 conferred the Third Degree outdoors alongside Red Clay Creek, to which we traveled by a historic train.

We were blessed with perfect weather: sunny blue sky at 63 degrees. I wound up with half my face sunburned, looking like Bro. Dreyfuss in Close Encounters, and I’m pretty sure that was the first time I ever wore sunglasses in lodge. A soothing breeze vexed the sound system, but the audio was more than adequate. From the bluegrass music played while the lodge was on Refreshment, to the spoken words emanating from the officers’ microphones, being outdoors did not diminish our sense of hearing. Nor did our sense of taste suffer. While the tenth hour ante meridiem is a little early for a plate of brisket, it was a wise menu choice to fortify us for an afternoon in the wild.

The brethren sold 140 tickets to this singular occurrence—my ticket was No. 139–and we, plus all the officers, ritualists, stage hands, and grand lodge staff occupied every square cubit along the periphery of the little patch allotted for the lodge furniture and the floor work. A small space indeed. Despite being outside, the circumambulating Senior Deacon had to negotiate some very tight corners.

Three lanterns about the altar.

And that furniture exhibits loving craftsmanship, with a railroad theme evident throughout. The Three Lesser Lights are railway lanterns; and the Master’s and the Wardens’ gavels are rail hammers, with short sections of genuine steel track for sounding blocks, for examples.

The sound of the gavel in the East.

Furniture not provided was seating; each man brought his own chair. Being in the Brandywine Valley woods meant planting one’s seat on terra that wasn’t necessarily firm or level. One sideliner in the north reclined a little too far, and found himself executing an oafish reverse somersault into the dirt! No physical injury reported, just some grass stains on his clothes. (Okay, okay, it was me.)

Sal Corelli photo

And on the subject of attire, when the hosts here tell you to dress casually, take them at their word. Overalls, train engineer garb, and similarly suitable garments distinguished the lodge officers from the rest, who sported denim, khakis, flannels, and sport shirts. Only one present had a jacket and tie (me again), but the informality of dress was meaningless against the skill and solemnity of the ritual work.

The preparation room.

Solomon Lodge provided the sole Fellow Craft, who benefited from a truly Sublime Degree of Master Mason. I’ve never been an expert ritualist, but I’m 95 percent sure the Delaware work is about identical to what we in New York have. Although being on a riverbank affords potential for some creativity. When the Ruffians get their comeuppance, hefty rocks are chucked into the flowing waters, making deep booming splashes signifying You Know What.

One curious difference is how their officers remain seated when addressed from the East. They salute, but do not stand.

Well, I stand to applaud these outstanding Masons for their degree work and for hosting a complicated event while making it look easy. (Next up: They’ll confer the “Cave Degree” in Tennessee in August.) Huzzah!

Sal Corelli photo

Sal Corelli photo

     

‘Vivat! £16K firing glasses’

    

BBC

A guest on BBC One’s Antiques Roadshow startled one of the program’s experts last week upon producing a pair of firing glasses dating to the eighteenth century. The episode, shot at Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland for this forty-fourth year of the show, was broadcast Wednesday night (and was shown again several hours ago).

Appraiser Andy McConnell appeared impressed by the glassware, which he precisely identified as not only Masonic firing glasses, which would be obvious to one in his field, but also as crafts from William Beilby and family.

BBC

McConnell explained the intricate process by which Beilby (1740-1819) enameled the pieces, before estimating their value at £16,000–which is ten thousand above the sum their owner had paid at auction.

“These glasses are absolutely the cream,” said McConnell, a historian and writer of glass topics. “So here we have the Masonic Compasses, and the Square on the other side, with this style of white floral branding around the top. They are a well known set.”

The British Museum shows such a tumbler, which it dates to 1768, on its website.

Anyway, enjoy the four-minute video here.

     

‘Ukrainian and Russian Masonry on the Level’

    

Officers of both the Grand Lodge of Ukraine and the Grand Lodge of Russia attended the Annual Communication of the Grand Orient of Italy last month, according to an announcement from the GOI published last Wednesday. The statement did not claim specifically that the two parties met, but rather Masonry from the two warring nations was represented, among more than thirty other grand jurisdictions, at the event, held April 8 and 9 in Rimini.

The English language document translates some of Grand Master Stefano Bisi’s speech to the assembly, part of which addresses the war. Excerpted:

Stefano Bisi

It is a drama that touches our hearts, our bodies, and we hope that, in the end, reason will prevail and the guns will soon be silenced. Every man, every Freemason must bring a brick to build peace. And you who are here, dear Brethren—Fatih Sahin, Grand Secretary; and Maurizio Longo, Deputy Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Ukraine; and dear Brother Andrey Bogdanov, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia—do everything possible so that peace and harmony reign between your peoples. … Do everything possible and impossible so that the trenches are filled with flowers and trees, which will bear fruit that we will then share, sit at the same table, side by side.

The Grand Orient, founded in 1805, is the Masonic fraternity recognized by the grand lodges in the United States, but it does not have relations with the United Grand Lodge of England. The UGLE has recognized the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy since its launch in 1993.

Click to enlarge.

     

‘New book: Freemasonry in Haiti’

   

Theion Publishing

An announcement yesterday from Theion Publishing heralds the release later this year of Freemasonry in Haiti, a review of the Craft’s presence in the island nation that intends to illustrate “the intersections between the Occult and the Enlightenment.” From the publicity:

For this project, renowned photographer Leah Gordon is joined by Dr. Katherine Smith as editor of a selected collection of texts. This book also will feature an extensive introduction by Dr. Henrik Bogdan. … This publication aims to visualize the mesh of magic and reason; alchemy and science; trade and metaphysical exchange that has stretched into the 21st century. By focusing on Haiti, this book sheds light on the relationship between colonized peoples and the Enlightenment.

Read all about it here.

Leah Gordon was behind the exhibit “Vernacular Universalism: Freemasonry in Haiti and Beyond” at The Clemente four years ago. Henrik Bogdan will be among the speakers in the Grand Lodge of California’s symposium next month.

     

‘The downfall of the Freemasons’

    

From Elon Musk a few minutes ago:

The replies are even better.

I guess a Twitter user fee is coming.

     

     

‘Omar for President!’

    

George Filippidis photo

RW Omar Morris, as George Washington, with MW Richard J. Kessler, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, at yesterday’s re-enactment ceremony.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the first presidential inauguration of George Washington here in New York City in 1789, and the brethren commemorate the world-changing event with a re-enactment. You might not know this, but Washington was a Freemason (new book here), and the fraternity possesses the very KJV Bible on which he placed his hands while taking the oath of office.

Both were present yesterday inside Masonic Hall for the annual ceremony, with Bro. Omar Morris in place channeling the first president.

Omar was my lodge brother back when I was in New Jersey. He served as the Right Worshipful Grand Marshal during the previous administration there, and, if Providence is agreeable, he will be elected Junior Grand Warden in November—but first we’ll have to see how he does as president!

     

‘Freemasonry in Cuba’

     

‘You snooze, you lose’

    

“You snooze, you lose,” as we say in the Select Master Degree (and its variants), and I definitely feel self-defeated thanks to procrastination, disorganization, and some legit busyness. That which was lost to me, although I probably will get to it eventually, is a paper I have been intending, for more than a year, to write for my research lodges on a revealing story of nineteenth century U.S. Masonic history.

I’m hardly the first to have the idea. Jacob Norton (1814-97) is well known about the apartments of the Temple in Massachusetts. A Jewish man who was made a Mason in England, he emigrated to the United States seeking a better life, like so many. He continued his Masonic labors in a Massachusetts lodge, but his experience in the United Grand Lodge of England did not brace him for the sectarian Christian content of Craft rituals in 1850s Massachusetts.

Norton and several other Jewish Masons wrote the grand master to ask if reforms might be possible to achieve “universal fellowship,” in effect bringing their rituals into accord with English dechristianized rituals. The grand master advised the group to leave Freemasonry.

There are many colorful details about Norton that I believe would make his story far more vital than just some reproachful review of the way things were long ago in the Puritan Commonwealth. For instance, his Masonic penpals included Albert Pike and the founders of Quatuor Coronati 2076.

My paper would have concluded (and, again, still might) with the facts of a successor grand master who made a point of ensuring the Craft of his time was a brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God, thus making the two leaders’ words bookends that shape Norton’s life story within and without Freemasonry.

Anyway, I kind of feel as though I lost out because of a new paper. Israeli scholar Peter Lanchidi has published “Jacob Norton and the Quest for Universal Freemasonry: Jewish Masonic Consciousness in a Christian Fraternity” (Johns Hopkins University Press). You might recognize his name from the Freemasonry on the Frontier collection.

Of course there was no competition; he’s a bona fide historian, and I’m a boneheaded hobbyist, but learning of this paper, which I have not read yet, admonishes me to get busy and resume the work I once somewhat was known for. I’ll start by clearing away the eight pounds of paper and debris from my desk. Tomorrow.

     

‘New tartan for the Cryptic Clan’

    

Not to be outdone by the Royal Arch Masons, the Cryptic Rite now advertises an official tartan for its companions. The former revealed its pattern last year, and the latter unveiled its purplish plaid today. From the Cryptic Clan publicity:

We are pleased to offer kilts and other tartan items using our registered General Grand Council tartan, woven in a 13-ounce and 80 percent wool/20 percent cotton blend. In addition to our five-yard kilt and seven-yard great kilt, we have a range of tartan kilt and dress accessories, including fly plaids, flashes, vests, cummerbunds, neckties, bowties, and pocket squares.

There also are ranges of General Grand Council Crest jewelry and accessories available to complete your kilt outfit. We are developing other items using the General Grand Council Crest that can be purchased for yourself, as gifts, or used as awards.

The items are unique to the General Grand Council and are not available anywhere else. The profits generated will be used to support CMMRF and other programs.

Twenty-six orders are needed to start production. Expect three to four months for delivery, but subsequent purchases should come faster.

I’m not a kilt guy myself, but maybe flat caps are in mind for future sales.

     

‘New meaning to Craftsman’s Wages’

    

Founders Brewing Co.

The brethren at the Detroit Masonic Temple have collaborated with their neighbors at Founders Brewing Co. to celebrate our Ancient and Honorable Fraternity.

Craftsman’s Wages is on tap at the bar. It is described as an “old fashioned German-style altbier” with flavors of “caramel, bitter earthy hops and apricot notes” and an alcohol content of 5.7 percent.

Why not take the tour of the Temple tomorrow night before visiting Founders to receive your Wages? Fifty bucks for the two-and-a-half-hour tour, followed by Craftsman’s Wages and some food.

     

‘News you can use’

    

Random News

In no particular order:

9) The Center for Fraternal Collections and Research aims to raise $5,000 via Crowdfunding to continue its work. Click here to help.

3) If you are not a subscriber to Biblical Archaeology Review, frankly a must read for the thinking Freemason, it offers a $5 annual rate right now. Click here.

11) The 2022 International Gathering of St. Alban’s Lodges will be held at St. Alban’s Lodge 6 in Bristol, Rhode Island September 30. RSVP here.

5) The June 18, 1967 issue of Observer Magazine actually printed Boaz during the 250th anniversary of the United Grand Lodge of England. Writing in The Guardian the other day, Chris Hall looks back.

12) Did you know the English have a lodge for cigar enthusiasts? Hazara 4159 has an illustrious history dating back to 1920, and in recent years was reoriented as a lodge for brothers of the leaf to smoke on the Square. Next meeting: Tuesday, May 17 in the Grange White Hall Hotel. RSVP here.

6) In Greece, an unnamed 36-year-old man was arrested for vandalizing the Masonic temple in Thessaloniki. Police said he damaged the door with an axe and also discharged a shotgun. No motive was mentioned.

2) What’s a fine cigar without a good drink? Maybe the Pickleback isn’t the ideal complement to a smoke, but read Bro. John Roberts’ history of the bizarre shot & chaser here.

13) In Latvia, the Riga Museum of World Freemasonry needs funds to complete construction and open its doors before the year is out. If you can help, click here.

1) When the Grand Lodge of New York meets in two weeks, the flag of Ukraine will be displayed on the dais in the East.

8) And finally, Quatuor Coronati 2076 will meet May 12 in Sheffield. Bro. Niall Johnson will present his “Taking French Leave: Masonic English Napoleonic Prisoners, 1803-1814,” winner of the Norman B. Spencer Prize. Four o’clock in Tapton Masonic Hall.

Historic England

7) Also in the U.K., the public agency Historic England, which works toward preservation of diverse legacy locations, has allocated £180,000 to benefit Phoenix Hall in Sunderland, which has served the brethren there since 1784. One of Trevor Stewart’s lodges, if I recall correctly.

4) The Masonic Book Club confirms that Masonry Dissected will be published anew, thanks to all the pre-paid orders. Expect your copy in the mail in July.

10) The Anthroposophical Society of New York City will conduct a walking tour Sunday, May 1 to visit a number of locations in Greenwich Village that are historically important to the Society. Visit here for more info.

     

‘Masonic time capsule to be opened’

    

WHIZ photo

Another chapter in the catastrophic demise of the Zanesville Masonic Temple in Ohio three months ago will be written when the time capsule secreted in the structure will be opened in June.

WHIZ reported last week that the repository, which was installed on St. John Baptist Day 1902, will be opened on June 25.

The building, no longer owned by a Masonic entity but still home to Lodge of Amity 5 and other groups, was destroyed by fire in January.

The revelation of the box’s contents will be the highlight of a dinner at a local college; the event will be a fundraiser to prepare for building a new meeting place for the lodge.

     

‘The ALR’s new Fellows’

    

The vote took place during our meeting two weeks ago, but it was announced yesterday that The American Lodge of Research’s newest Fellows are…Arturo de Hoyos and S. Brent Morris!

If you read this website regularly you have an understanding of how important and treasured these brethren are. Both are titans in Masonic research, Masonic education, Masonic publishing, Masonic leadership. This fraternity would look very different if we didn’t have the benefits of Art’s and Brent’s industry.

As I always say (and possibly at some cost), the politicians come and go, usually unaccomplished, but the scholars provide consistent guidance and inspiration, as well as legacies after they’re gone.

Congratulations, brethren! Hopefully a meeting celebrating you both and showcasing your expertise can be hatched soon.

     

‘Making the Warrior-Mystic’

    

If I’m not mistaken, it has been a very long time since the Fourth Manhattan District’s Square Club convened a meeting, but the brethren are rebounding zealously this month with a dinner-lecture featuring what I think will be an inspiring message. The graphic above has all the particulars.

Bro. Angel Millar is Senior Warden of The American Lodge of Research, as well as the new editor of Fraternal Review, the periodical of Southern California Research Lodge. He is the author of several books on Freemasonry, and others, such as The Path of the Warrior-Mystic: Being a Man in an Age of Chaos (2021) and The Three Stages of Initiatic Spirituality: Craftsman, Warrior, Magician (2020). So his topic on April 27 is thoroughly conceived.

I don’t know what’ll be on the menu, but I do know we have many Filipino brethren in the club, so I’m envisioning lechon—probably the size of a Harley Road King.

My lodge, Publicity 1000, is a constituent of the “Glorious Fourth,” and I’ll try to organize a solid group turn-out.

Hope to see you there too.

     

‘Wendell K. Walker Lecture’

    

I.R.A. 2 photo

Oscar with Worshipful Master Matthew.

April really snuck up on me so I missed the Wendell K. Walker Lecture last night. It’s an annual tradition at Independent Royal Arch Lodge 2. This year’s speaker was Oscar Alleyne, President of the Masonic Society and Past Junior Grand Warden.

Oscar presented “Man’s Argument with His Inner Self.” Hopefully we’ll get to hear that in other venues in the future.

(I’m envious. My longstanding offer to speak on “Fire and Clay: Tobacco in Early New York Lodges” has ignited no response.)

     

‘The Spiritual Quest and Freemasonry’

    

For late spring, the Grand Lodge of California has planned an online symposium with three speakers of diverse experiences to be united in “The Spiritual Quest and Freemasonry.”

On Thursday, June 16, Henrik Bogdan, Josef Wages, and Lon Milo DuQuette will “debate the role of spirituality within the Craft.”

Attendance is free and open to the public. Register here. Will begin at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

     

‘Kybalion screening Saturday’

    

UPDATE: Another screening has been scheduled for Saturday, May 21 at seven o’clock.

In keeping with the news of films and videos in recent days, here’s an update on Ronni Thomas’ The Kybalion I told you about a long time ago: The movie was released earlier this year and has been shown here and there. On Saturday, The Kybalion will be screened in Brooklyn. From the publicity:

The Kybalion

Saturday, April 9

7 p.m.

Film Noir Cinema

122 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn

Tickets here

This film is an adaptation of the 1908 occult manuscript The Kybalion, and explores the seven principles of Hermetics. It is a surreal documentation of the supernatural world around us.

Q&A with writer Mitch Horowitz and director Ronni Thomas will follow after the film.

The Kybalion is not Freemasonry, but Hermetic thought is evident in the rituals of the lodge. I recommend The Kybalion text published a few years ago and edited by Horowitz.