‘The Bernie’

  

Monday night was the annual occasion of “The Bernie,” the dinner-lecture hosted by Shiloh Lodge No. 558. In its fifth year, it is formally known as the Bernard H. Dupee Memorial Lecture, and it was instituted by Bro. Matthew Dupee in honor of his father, a very devoted brother who missed only three stated meetings in more than 52 years of lodge membership, and who is remembered as “Brother Bernie,” the happiest Mason anyone knew.

Needless to say, it was a great night. Two hundred Masons filled the large dining room at the William Penn Inn (est. 1714) for a tasty meal, charming company, and an enlightening lecture by none other than RW James W. Daniel, Past Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England, and Assistant Secretary of Quatuor Coronati 2076, and Secretary of Lodge No. IV… of St. John Baptist Day 1717 fame, among other noteworthy handles. I wish I possessed some of his public speaking skills because he is able to communicate his information clearly while using humor to keep his audience engaged. It was a pleasure to listen to him.

RW James Daniel

His topic was provocative. In the migration of Freemasonry across the Atlantic, we always think first of the export of Craft degrees from the British Isles to the Americas, or of France’s “higher degrees” reaching the Caribbean. Bro. Daniel turned us around to see the transfer of certain degrees from the United States to England in his paper titled “Anglo-American Masonic Relations, 1871-90 (Or the U.S. and Us, 1871-90).”

I especially appreciated his effort to contextualize Masonic doings within the real world outside. It seems to me that many Masons, perhaps because our meetings are tiled, look at Masonic history as the story of something always apart from the world outside, as though the fraternity was a monastic order and its brethren frozen in time, cloistered behind their guarded doors. Of course that is not so; we go to lodge to escape the “concerns and employments” of the world for a short time before inevitably returning to it. Things take place outside that have obvious and lasting impacts on the tiled lodge. (Trust me. Talk to the accountant who completes your 990, or to the insurance agent who did away with your candles.)

Anyway, Daniel painted a picture of Anglo-American relations, and it is not what you might expect based on how things always have been during our lifetime, or even the fact that the American population during Daniels’ timeline was almost entirely descendant from ancestors from the British Isles. “The populations of the two countries were in the habit of disliking each other,” he explained. “Most Americans, when they thought of the British, disliked, distrusted, and sometimes feared them” out of tradition or habit.

Within Freemasonry at least there was one means of conciliating true friendship, namely the sharing of information. Thanks to Freemasons’ Quarterly Review, the magazine started by Bro. Robert Crucefix, Masons in England were able to read dispatches from American grand lodges, even on the unmentionable subjects concerning the Morgan scandal. “In tracing the various publications from the Grand Lodge of New York, we have been much gratified to observe that there is no studied concealment of facts; on the contrary, the Craft is fully informed of the circumstances that led to them, and what resulted,” the magazine reported, helping to change the image of Americans, prevalent among the English, as primitive, unsophisticated louts.

The flow of this information also abetted the sharing of entire Masonic rites. You probably are aware of the importation into England and Wales of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite from the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction during the 1840s, but you might not know other systems of degrees also made the voyage. Of the Cryptic Rite, Daniel shared a statement from the period:

“We cannot but look upon the introduction of Cryptic Masonry in England by an American Grand Council as one of the most important events in the Masonic history of this country tending to not only draw still closer the fraternal bonds that now happily unite the fraternity of the United States with that of our mother country, Masonically as well as politically, and also as being a preliminary step toward assimilating the Masonic systems of the two greatest nations.”

A powerful statement.

Daniel’s presentation was received with hearty applause. Let me tell you it was quite an audience. With Matt Dupee was Tom Jackson, Brent Morris, Ed Fowler, and other VIPs. Aaron, Jan, George, Chuck, and Jerry were among the familiar Pennsylvania brethren. I heard it said the New Jersey contingent outnumbered the Philadelphians! There was Mohamad, Henry, Nick, Rob, Howard (2011 recipient of The Bernie), John, Rich, and others.

Bro. Daniel's Bernie jewel.

Oh, The Bernie! Actually the Bernard H. Dupee, PM Medal for Masonic Excellence. Past recipients are Fowler, Howard Kanowitz, Reese Harrison, Yasha Beresiner, and Thomas Hopkins. And Bro. Daniel joins their ranks.

Presented in tandem with the jewel is a pair of purple socks, a tradition recalling the late Bro. Dupee’s own sartorial statement of individuality. And maybe proper attire for the Cryptic Rite.

Shame on me for not attending previous Bernie dinners. I even was approached about speaking once, but I chickened out and recommended Howard. Obviously that was the better move, but I’m kicking myself. This was a really great night.

Save the date: April 29, 2013 for the next Bernie.

Thomas Jackson and James Daniel.

Bro. Daniel receives the traditional Purple Socks from Bro. Dupee. I have a lot of respect

for Matt Dupee, based in no small measure on his having imparted a valuable lesson

in justice to his grand lodge in a court of law. You gotta respect that. Or at least I do.

     

‘Terrible news from New York’

    
I have been sitting on this news about New York grand masters for about a week, not knowing whether to share it here or what, but some out there in Masonic cyberspace insist full disclosure is the only way to fix the problems in Freemasonry, so here goes:

The Magpie Mason will be the guest speaker at Grand Master’s Day this October.

Sunday, October 7

2 p.m.

DeWint House

20 Livingston Street

Tappan, New York

There will be a brunch beforehand at The ’76 House, and then we will begin the festivities at DeWint House, the historic site owned and operated by the Grand Lodge of New York which served repeatedly as Washington’s Headquarters during the Revolution.

Click here to see a bunch of photos and some more information on DeWint House.

And, hey, don’t shoot the messenger, okay?
    

‘The True Masonic Light’

  
Listen, when Brent Morris takes you aside twice in one night and tells you to post more often, you do what the man says. So here we go.

There actually is a lot of catch-up to do. Just in the past week or so was the Emulation ritual at Walkill Lodge, two of my nearly acceptable speaking engagements, the Scottish Rite symposium at Lexington, and — last, but certainly not least — The Bernie of 2012 on Monday night. I’m tired from just trying to remember it all. Magpie coverage of the above to come shortly, but first, because I posted this on ML a few hours ago unleashing the huge secret, is this bit of news.

Some weeks ago I mentioned there are things underway in New Jersey Freemasonry that portend a brighter future here. Well, I’m quarterbacking this one.

With a committee of six brilliant, audacious, and damned handsome visionaries, I am in the process of starting a new Scottish Rite Lodge of Perfection. If Supreme Council issues the requested charter, it would be named Architects Lodge of Perfection, inspired by the Grand Master Architect (12th) Degree of traditional Scottish Rite Masonry.

Click here to read a bit of Ill. James Tresner’s Vested in Glory, courtesy of the Valley of Bakersfield in California.

Its purpose would be to serve as a philosophical research society. It will not confer degrees, but instead would provide the academic study of Scottish Rite rituals, past and present, from Entered Apprentice to Royal Secret. The brethren would meet several times a year to discuss the rituals, symbols, and ideas. Readings of rituals, commentaries, histories, etc. would be assigned in advance with plenty of time to prepare for these meetings.

As the Master Architect Degree (A&ASR-SJ) says: “Wisdom is the True Masonic Light.” The degree synopsis in Ill. Arturo de Hoyos’ Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor and Guide says: “The ceremonies of this Degree are brief, but its significance is profound. Here you are taught the symbolic meanings of the Master Architect’s tools, the most important of which instructs us to solve the great problems presented by the universe, to know and understand the lofty truths of philosophy and to communicate it freely to others, particularly by our actions. Only the best and wisest in us and among us should rule. For if it be any other, the low and the ignoble will presume, and soon prevail.”

That summarizes the twin ambitions of this project. The tangible goal is to educate Scottish Rite Masons; the intangible aim is to build a generation of informed Scottish Rite Masons who should raise the standard of leadership for their Lodges, Councils, Chapters, and Consistories.

Membership would be open statewide to Sublime Princes in good standing in their home Consistories (although I can’t see us turning away brethren from other states if any want to participate).

The paperwork is well underway. If all goes smoothly, there could be a charter in August, which would lead directly to an inaugural meeting in September. I will post more about this in the meantime, but please wish us luck!
  

'Re-enactment relocation'

    
The first announcement said Federal Hall. A follow-up notice said St. Paul's Chapel, although I think that was an accident. Now comes word that the Grand Lodge of New York's annual re-enactment of the first presidential inauguration of Bro. George Washington will take place at Masonic Hall.

Bronze likeness of George Washington
taking the presidential oath of office.

Same day: Monday, April 30.
Same time: High Twelve.
Location: Renaissance Room, Sixth Floor, Masonic Hall.

This change was decided due to the lawlessness in the streets (my words, not Grand Lodge's) on and around Wall Street. In the interests of safety and preserving the historic George Washington Inaugural Bible, this very enjoyable celebration will take place under a Masonic roof.

It's a shame decent people cannot use public spaces, but that is where we are today as a society. And no, I do not believe Washington and the other Founders waged the Revolution and founded our free society so that there can be anarchy and filth in the streets. They created a land governed by laws, not a mobocracy. The French Revolution was mob-friendly. The American Revolution was very different. End of lecture. Sorry.

There will be a collation after the ceremony. Details, like cost, menu, etc., are yet to be determined.

If you can get there, please do so. You'll enjoy a singular occurance in Masonic culture.

Masonic Hall is located at 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.
    

‘See who wants admission’

     

Two of my favorite people talking
to each other: Bro. Oscar Alleyne,
who helped organize this event,
and Bro. Jason Sheridan, soon
to be Grand Director of Ceremonies
for the Grand Lodge of New York.

It was time for the long awaited evening of Emulation exemplification yesterday, when Wallkill Lodge No. 627 hosted an all-star line-up of ritualists from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex under the United Grand Lodge of England, named the Teddies for Loving Care Masonic Demonstration Team, in the Grand Lodge Room of Masonic Hall in Manhattan.

Click here for a little background.

I think it is safe to say the use of ritual in English lodges is misunderstood by most Masons in the United States. Here, for some seventeen decades, we have been enforcing uniform ritual work in each of our individual jurisdictions, concentrating so intently on perfect memorization and recitation that we really have forgotten the principal point of it all. The brethren in England do that also, I am told, but the difference is diversity of rituals within the single jurisdiction. Although Emulation is thought to be the only ritual in England, the truth is there is no standard work for UGLE. There are many rituals employed.

Watching this was my first experience with Emulation, and it was fun. There are many interesting differences from what I know and have seen in my travels, but nothing so distracting or confusing as to be unrecognizable. And of course it helps to have read the ritual a number of times over the years.

The Teddies for Loving Care Masonic Demonstration Team travels and exemplifies ritual work to raise funds for its philanthropy, the goal of which is to provide teddy bears and other soft toys to children being treated by Accident and Emergency Units in order to calm the children and distract them from the distress of their injuries, making it easier for the medical staff to treat them. (We have a similar program here in New Jersey, where we hand Past Grand Masters highballs of single malt to soothe their anxieties caused by the surrender of authority, and I must say, it works like a charm.) Click here to read more about this clever program in England.

     

'The Templar test'

    
The dates of the next International Conference on the History of Freemasonry have been announced. ICHF will return to Scotland for 2013. Next up will be a repeated call for papers this summer, followed by the release of a list of chosen presenters in the form of a tentative conference agenda early next year.

No one has any idea which scholars will be selected to present which researched subjects, but I hope you will consider this challenge if you have bought into the Templar myth of Masonic origins. I predict no research paper will seek to advance the notion that our Masonic fraternal order has its roots in the medieval military order commonly called the Knights Templar, and I ask you to understand why.

Scores of accomplished academics and other skilled scholars from around the world will present their findings on a dizzying variety of subjects during the three days of this conference, but I don't think anyone will attempt to advance the supposition, which was born in about the mid 18th century, that Freemasonry descended from the medieval Templars. My challenge to you is simply to ask yourselves why that might be. In the very land where the Templars allegedly appeared out of nowhere to vanquish the English and save Robert the Bruce's rear end at Bannockburn, a three-day conference on Masonic history will make no claim of paternity against these alleged forefathers of Freemasonry.

Remain calm, be open-minded and circumspect, ask yourselves why that is, and form an objective answer.
    

'Sotheby's to auction Mozart letter to Mason'

    
If your lodge has a spare $400,000 laying around, you might cause your trustees to cast their eyes to Sotheby's, which will auction a letter signed by Bro. W.A. Mozart in which he seeks financial assistance from a brother Freemason.

Described by Sotheby's:

Mozart, right, in lodge.

Autograph letter signed "W.A. Mozart" to Michael Puchberg, June 1788. A frank and revealing appeal by Mozart for financial assistance, in which he discusses his famous string quintets in C major and G minor and the piano trio in E major, K.542.

Estimate: 200,000-300,000 GBP

It is the auction institution's May Musical Manuscripts sale, 29 documents in all, including a Mozart fugue not listed in Köchel(!), and a corrected music exercise by pupil Thomas Attwood. These papers are among the highlights on exhibit in New York City through Friday. The gavel of the auction will sound in London May 29.

For more information, contact the auction house's specialists in London.
   

‘Beethoven’s Tenth discovered in Masonic library’

  

Beethoven, by Andy Warhol, 1987.

WQXR host Naomi Lewin reports today on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday that a manuscript described as two movements of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 10 has been discovered in the archives of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library, located in Masonic Hall, the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of New York.

Livingston Library Executive Director Tom Savini is quoted only briefly, but the report explains that the manuscript may have seen the light of day already, just more than a century ago, when Masonic archives were being transferred from the previous Masonic Hall to the current building, and may even have been seen by Gustav Mahler, then the conductor of the New York Philharmonic, who was known for rearranging certain Beethoven works.

It never has been established if the great composer was a Brother in the Craft, although the themes of some of his best known works show Masonic thinking, and some of his collaborators, like Schiller, who wrote the Ode to Joy libretto for Symphony No. 9, were Freemasons.

The 5:35 audio of this Sunday, April 1 story can be heard here.

'99 Degrees of fun!'

    
"That's ninety-nine degrees of fun right there!"

Bro. Colin Peterson
Indiana


One of those wonderfully positive developments pending in New Jersey Freemasonry I mentioned in a post somewhere below is the symposium the Scottish Rite will host on May 19. Coming to the podium are Ill. Robert Davis of the Valley of Guthrie, Oklahoma; Ill. Chris Hodapp of the Valley of Indy; and Ill. Brent Morris of the Valley of, among others, Washington, DC.

I believe the reputations of these nationally treasured scholars and brethren speak for themselves, and I predict you'll learn not only some more about Freemasonry from their presentations, but also be shown new ways to look at our Craft.

Click here to register. It's only $50 per person, which covers breakfast and lunch, and souvenirs. This is open to (regular/recognized) Master Masons.

This is a Mohamad-Moises Production, so you are guaranteed an unforgettable day.
    

'Emulation exemplification'

  
Wallkill Lodge No. 627 will meet in the Grand Lodge Room in Masonic Hall to host brethren from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex of the United Grand Lodge of England for an exemplification of the Master Mason Degree in Emulation ritual.

Friday, April 20 at 7 p.m.
Masonic Hall, Second Floor
71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan

Often thought to be the official or—gasp!—only Craft ritual in the United Grand Lodge of England, Emulation actually is one of many rituals in England, but it is the most widely used within UGLE, and is the best known by those of us outside UGLE. (Of course UGLE has no official ritual. Imagine that.)

About twelve years ago, when I was a relative newbie in Masonry, I purchased from Bro. Yasha a weathered copy of the second edition (1970) of Lewis Masonic's printing of the ritual. Its introduction explains the history of Emulation.

The Emulation Ritual's Master Mason
tracing board, as depicted in the 1970
printing of the ritual by Lewis Masonic.

Emulation Working takes its name from the Emulation Lodge of Improvement whose committee are the custodians of this particular ritual.... The Emulation Lodge of Improvement for Master Masons first met on 2nd October 1823. The Lodge was formed for Master Masons only, and worked, in its earliest years, only the Masonic lectures. However by about 1830 in accordance with general practice the ceremonies were also being rehearsed—always with considerable attention to accuracy, so that no alteration might inadvertently become practice. The Lodge of Improvement has met uninterruptedly since those days, so soon after the settling of the ceremonies by Grand Lodge in 1816, for the purpose of demonstrating unchanged, so far as has been humanly possible, the Emulation Ritual in accordance with the original method. Since June 1965 the variations permitted by the Grand Lodge Resolution of December 1964, with consequential amendments, have also been periodically demonstrated.

There was no officially sanctioned publication of the ritual until 1969.

One cannot reveal on the web the differences between this ritual and our rituals that might further induce you to attend this event, but differences are present, and are obvious in symbols and Working Tools. In fact, as regard the Compasses, Emulation makes a striking theological point that is bound to raise eyebrows. And of course there are "Americanisms" that are absent from this English work.

Believe me, if you read this blog regularly, a guy like you has nothing better to do on a Friday night. Get to Masonic Hall. Bring your regalia and identification.
    

'ALR on the 29th'

     

The American Lodge of Research will convene its 353rd Stated Meeting on Thursday, March 29 at Masonic Hall.

71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.

     

‘Tree of Life Seminars’

    
The brethren of the Scottish Rite of Washington, DC and the fratres of the Masonic Rosicrucians of DC will co-host a series of seminars beginning next month, featuring knowledgeable speakers offering eight approaches to learning about the Tree of Life as a “Pathway to Enlightenment.”

More great news: one need not be physically present in DC. These sessions will be available via the web. Admission to all eight seminars, whether in person or via the internet, costs $90, but those who register before Saturday, March 10 will benefit from a discount, bringing the total cost to $75.

You can’t go to the movies eight times for $75. Or $90.

The schedule: All sessions will take place on Sundays, from 4 to 6 p.m. Panelists for discussion: TBA.

March 25 – Kabbalah and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Dr. Darryl Carter.

April 22 – Sufism and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Dr. Julianne Hazen, Director of Sufi Studies, Sufi Center, Medina, New York.

May 20 – Vedanta Yoga and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Ill. George R. Adams, 33°, GC.

June 17 – Science and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Dr. Pierre Gaujard, Physicist.

September 16 – Buddhism and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Ven. Bhante Katugastota Uparatana, Buddhist Chaplain, American University, Washington.

October 7 – Esoteric Christianity and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Fratre Marcel Derouches.

October 21 – Taoism and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Dr. Darryl Carter.

November 11 – Freemasonry and the Tree of Life, Pathway to Enlightenment, presented by Ill. George R. Adams.

Read about the presenters here.
   

‘Masonic Week 2012: The Badge of a Mason’

     

“...more ancient than the Golden Fleece
or Roman Eagle; more honorable than
the Star and Garter, or any other Order....”

We have it all wrong, you see. We Freemasons go about it backward. My own opinion of the Freemason's apron is that the youngest Entered Apprentice ought to be presented a lavish, gleaming garment, embroidered in bullion, bejeweled brilliantly; fashioned by “a man skillful to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, stone, and in timber; in purple, blue, fine linen, and in crimson.” But then, as the brother progresses through the degrees, along the path of places and stations, improving in his labors, his apron should lose these embellishments, gradually, until the time he deserves the white lambskin. When he has mastered his Craft.

Admittedly, this sounds laughably romantic—and I know it is unworkable and impossible, so I won't pitch the idea to anyone but you—but it would do us so much good.

In the meantime, belated Magpie coverage of Masonic Week 2012 continues with a quick stop at the table of The Craftsman's Apron, staffed by Bro. Patrick Craddock. The vendors at Masonic Week change every year, and most of those present this time are easily forgotten, thanks to their marked up mail order goods. And then there is Bro. Patrick. Despite photographing his wares and chatting with him here and there, I managed to forget to shoot a photo of him, but the following is a display of his work. (Pardon the watermark on each shot.)

Bro. Craddock custom makes aprons, designing them to the clients' specifications, but look under the flap, and you'll see what makes the apron unique to he who wears it. INSET: Another variation on the personalization under the flap.

About a month ago, I started a discussion in my mother lodge's Yahoo! Group about aprons. I had been perusing the new catalog from one of the overpriced mail order companies, when I got to thinking about plain white aprons, and how the brethren in New Jersey do not own their own. It's some kind of absurd custom that Masons here, when attending their lodges or visiting others, wear whatever regalia is provided in the anteroom. Many lodges do not give the matter much thought, resulting in aprons that should have been retired ages ago still being made available for use. Past Masters and grand lodge officers own, care for, and carry their own regalia. All Master Masons should. They should buy themselves white aprons, and the carry cases needed for proper care. It's a matter of respect and responsibility for oneself and for the Order.

Anyway, it didn't take long for that discussion on-line to go off-topic. I complained about our grand lodge's endless laws and rules that, in this case, needlessly require everyone here to wear the exact same regalia. (The inspiration for this, I suspect, is the same mentality that stifles other aspects of individuality and creativity, namely there are those who cannot bear to see someone enjoy what they themselves cannot. As a past grand master told me one night near the end of his term of office years ago, governing New Jersey Masons requires treating us like children.) But my main point still stands: Master Masons should exercise choice and responsibility by acquiring their own regalia, and having it ready to wear when needed. Like adults.

It saddens me to know New Jersey Masons never will have the freedom
to wear regalia of their own design.

Look at the potential for greatness here! Where lodges have the freedom to adopt their own regalia, they may devise a design of their own, or work with Bro. Patrick on a design, or just select an appropriate symbol or two with their lodge name and number. To do something unique is a great privilege, brethren, don't pass up the opportunity!

Bro. Craddock makes the regalia of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee.

And, as you'll see on his website, Bro. Patrick
offers a variety of personal items too.

Coverage of Masonic Week will continue with Knight Masons, Allied Masonic Degrees, and, of course, The Masonic Society!

     

‘Lunch with Trevor’

Bro. Trevor Stewart in the spotlight.

One of the changes made at Masonic Week this year was the addition of a Friday luncheon. It was hosted by the Grand Council of Knight Masons, which seems determined to liven up things a bit. Like an idiot, I slept through the Grand Council’s annual meeting at eight in the morning (in all fairness, I had just driven down to Virginia, arriving at the hotel at 6 a.m., and I was bushed), which included degree work and other “must see” attractions. But I wasn’t about to miss lunch, especially with Trevor Stewart slated to speak!

(If you haven’t attended a Grand Council of Knight Masons annual meeting at Masonic Week before, then you cannot appreciate how necessary the changes wrought at this meeting are. It was at the 2011 meeting, approximately three-quarters through an intricately detailed financial report of some 30 minutes, that I cried out “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?”)

This luncheon was a success, as shown by the production value from start to finish. The officers entered the dining room in a formal procession, led by a bagpiper. (Knight Masonry originates in Ireland, and our degrees are dubbed “The Green Degrees.”) A talented harpist provided perfect music for ambiance. Dull formalities were minimized. Host and guest exchanged presents. And of course there’s Trevor.

He spoke on the nature and history of knighthoods, mentioning some—it probably is not possible to list them all—of the knighthoods among the many colorful titles in Freemasonry, before explaining the more general and historical purposes and meanings of various knighthoods. I didn’t take notes, but I did shoot some photos:

From left: our harpist, Past Great Chief Kevin Sample, Trevor, Cousin X, and Cousin Aaron.

Our bagpiper. (Sorry, didn’t catch his name.)

The exchange of gifts: Kevin gave Trevor a beautiful fountain pen, and Trevor reciprocated with a copy of his book Looking Back, Looking Forward.

Trevor Stewart is one of the best speakers on the Masonic scene today.

'Grand College of Rites 2012'

    
Hard to believe it has been two weeks since Masonic Week, but time flies. I think that's why a certain depiction of the hourglass shows the icon of time as having wings. Anyway, before more time slips away and I forget what happened, I'd better get on with the coverage of Masonic Week 2012.

I must begin with the annual meeting of the Grand College of Rites, not only because it's at least a decade-long tradition of mine to extol on-line this interesting little band of brothers, but also because Aaron was dogging me yesterday for pictures. It's the least I can do, so let it never be said I don't do the least I can do.

Collectanea is the annual publication of the Grand College of Rites. It contains rituals, jurisprudence, and other literature of rites that are dormant or otherwise unknown to Masons in America. The new book is out. Volume 21, Part 2 continues the archiving of highly unusual German rituals. (Read about Part 1 here.) Its title is Rituals of the Flaming Star: German Esoteric Bricolage from Der Signatstern and Other Sources.

Grand Archivist Arturo de Hoyos, the researcher, editor, and translator behind each edition of Collectanea, describes this text:

The following Masonic rituals have been translated from a 20th century German typescript formerly in the possession of Frederic Mellinger (1890-1970). Mellinger was a pre-World War I associate of Rudolph Steiner and later a disciple of Aleister Crowley. After the latter's death, Mellinger had extensive contact with Hermann Metzger, the leader of the Ordo Illuminatorum, a Swiss confederation of Masonic, Gnostic, and Rosicrucian orders under Metzger's direction. The rituals are composed as a bricolage of sources, the primary one being Der Signatstern... a 16-volume work published in Berlin, 1803-21 (and in) 1866 in parts, in three editions; its first five volumes contain important documents which are, however, thrown in unordered disorder. These parts contain the posthumous Masonic papers of the Minister von Wollner; it was arranged and verified by Friedrich L. Schroder, whence all belonged and from whence taken.

We lack any certain information on the dating and the authorship of these adaptations from Der Signatstern and other Masonic rituals. It is likely that the texts have been edited by more than one hand and they may have been employed or intended for use in more than one esoteric group. The choice of 'Minerval' and the symbolism of the owl in the Neophyte degree are taken directly from the historic Order of the Illuminati. The references to the 'Mizraim-service' point to the influence of Rudolph Steiner, who had a co-Masonic group by this name....

There are also a multiplicity of references in the texts to the fraternal ventures of the German Masonic bricoleur Theodor Reuss. Among his numerous endeavors, Reuss was co-founder with Leopold Engel of a late 19th century German revival of the Order of the Illuminati, an associate with Steiner in the German Section of the Theosophical Society, an English Freemason and Masonic Rosicrucian, and the founder of the co-Masonic Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). Crowley's claim that 'Reuss was in the habit of initiating people with the merest skeleton rituals boiled down from those of Continental Masonry' is a fair description of the following texts. Although Crowley attempted in 1921 to usurp control of the OTO from Reuss and rewrote a majority of the rituals to fit within his new religion of Thelema, Reuss firmly rejected Crowley's leadership and innovations....

And these rituals in Collectanea themselves? Skeletal rituals of Continental co-Masonry is a good way to put it.

The Minerval Degree is recognizable to those who know Scottish Rite Craft work. It's not synonymous in content because it is a bare bones ritual, but it certainly is congruent in theme and style. I suppose it is called Minerval because the candidate (male or female) aspires specifically to search for Truth (as opposed to enlightenment), so there is the logical fit with the Roman goddess of wisdom. There is a Dark Chamber, as in the Chamber of Reflection, outside the temple (not lodge) itself. I don't want to give away too much, but I cannot resist sharing this one detail: Imparted in a charge from the presiding officer to the candidate, and reiterated in the obligation, is this demand, one that is most foreign to mainstream Anglo-American Masonry.

You will, in fact, be asked to consecrate yourself, and your present and future private, social, civic and state influences and powers, to the service of our Order; to use them only to the advantage of, and never to the detriment of, the Order.

Considering this ritual's origins, it is not hard to understand that those initiated into this order were not your neighborhood plumbers and shoe salesmen. German Masonry of this period was reserved to the titled and influential.

Following is another First Degree, that of Apprentice of the Veritas Mystica Maxima Freemasonic Lodge. And a lodge it is, unlike in the previous ritual. Herein is a Worshipful Master and Wardens, and ritual language that is very similar to what was predominant in England and America at that time. In fact, these sayings are entirely recognizable to your ear today. But overall, this ritual is more akin to Scottish Rite or Continental Masonry in most of its content. Upon the lodge's Opening, all the brethren invoke unmistakable Kabbalist prayer. Where Anglo-American rituals allude to Kabbalah fundamentals (if that indeed is what happens), there is nothing oblique about this ritual's intention, going as far as to employ certain Hebrew terms.

Also odd is how the candidate, while required to divest himself of clothing and be attired in a new way, is allowed to retain any jewelry he/she might have. I suppose this is another accommodation of royal, noble, ecclesiastical, and other titled personages, with their signets of office, seeking admission.

This ritual is not quite skeletal. There is meat on the bone and marrow within. Before the candidate undertakes a ritual journey, the Worshipful Master says to him:

Man is blind from the cradle to the grave, and however fervent may be his ardent desire for the Light of Truth, yet he is unable to find it, whether by his own efforts or with the assistance of friends. We belong to a community that has, from antiquity, devoted itself to this Light, and whosoever joins with us must enter upon the journey to seek this Light. Thrice must you travel from morning until evening and again until evening; and that you may not stumble, a Sister or Brother who has gone this way before you will conduct you.

During the first leg of this journey, the element of water is introduced in a rite of purification. "This is the way to self-awareness," says the Senior Warden. "Man believes he knows himself, but your restriction  demonstrates that you are blind and captive in self-deception."

Then, while traveling south, where the element fire awaits the candidate, the Junior Warden says "This is the way to self-control. The fires of passion blaze around you and threaten your corruption. Whoever emerges unhurt from this fire is near the Light!"

And finally, headed east, the element of air is applied, at which time the Senior Warden says "Hail to the air! This is the way to Truth! Be true to yourself, O Seeker, or you will fall into an abyss from which there is no escape!"

I can only imagine it in the original German.

The journey is not all. Before being brought to light, the candidate takes a certain libation to simulate the bitterness of life. The obligation, taken on the Gospel of Saint John, is free of admonishment of temporal penalty, and instead warns that the soul may "wander aimlessly without peace in space for time immeasurable" should the vow be broken.

It's beautiful material. What follows is an Opening of a Chapter of Rose-Croix, heavily Christian,  and a truncated Knight of the Rose-Croix Degree. The initiate is a Scottish Chief Master and Knight of Saint Andrew, indicating a different sequence of degree progression from what Scottish Rite Masons know, but the AASR Knight of Rose Croix will have no difficulty following this ritual. Where the archangel Raphael is mentioned insufficiently once in the current AASR-NMJ Rose Croix Degree, here he is properly ritualized as the candidate's conductor. I think it is okay to say Raphael is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek Hermes, Roman Mercury, and Egyptian Thoth: messenger of the gods.

And indeed the word of the degree, while the same spelling as our AASR degree's, has an entirely different true meaning that reorients our attention to the element fire, and recalls to our minds the "occult science after the manner of Hermes."

And finally, this edition of Collectanea offers the VIIº of the Grand Council of the Mystic Templar Magus of Light: Companion of the Graal and Theoretical Rosicrucian of the Brothers of Light of the Seven Churches in Asia.

Spoken to the candidate following his obligation:

Beloved Brother of Light! In this degree you cease to be a Mason. Now commences your course and study as an esoteric Rosicrucian. You are a Companion of the Graal, a Magus of Light and now receive the first instructions concerning the true purpose of the Rosicrucian and mystic symbols and hieroglyphics....

In presenting the work to the Fellows assembled, R.I. de Hoyos remarked that in preparing this edition of Collectanea, he received assistance from a brother officer for the first time. I didn't catch who that is, but I take it as a sign that good people are being appointed to the officer line.

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Other highlights of our meeting.

Outgoing Grand Chancellor Martin P. Starr, left, asks Fellows Gary Ford
and Sean Graystone to take a bow, upon receiving the Knight Grand Cross.

M.I. Martin P. Starr, our retiring Grand Chancellor, delivered his allocution, recapping the events and concerns of the past year. Along the way he invited Sean Graystone and Gary Ford to the altar to receive  the Knight Grand Cross. Congratulations brethren!

The GCR is looking to incorporate to attain tax-exempt status as an educational foundation, in part to make it easier to receive bequests.

If I heard correctly, 2011 ended with the GCR having 1,256 Fellows on the rolls. If I may say so myself, I take a little pride in that number, having used a number of Masonic on-line forums over the years (long before this blog and the GCR's website existed) to encourage brethren to seek membership, and to encourage their patience when, in the old days, some time would elapse between initiating contact and receiving a reply. I always say it is the best $15 you can spend in Freemasonry. Collectanea is a treasure every year and, admit it, you want to tell your buddies in lodge that you're a Fellow in the Grand College of Rites.

In finance matters, I think Grand Treasurer Gary Hermann said there is $117,000 in the bank. That is a stunning sum, all things considered. Legend says a cache of GCR literature and records are being held, I think, in California, without an easy way to recover them. I say cut a check and buy those papers back, if in fact their true disposition is known.

Past Grand Chancellor Reese Harrison displays a vintage Grand Chancellor
jewel recently discovered, which will be the model used for all future jewels.

David L. Hargett, Jr. is the new Most Illustrious Grand Chancellor

of the Grand College of Rites of the United States of America.

He is the tenth native of North Carolina to attain the office.

Past Grand Chancellor (2007) Reese Harrison introduced and installed our new M.I. Grand Chancellor, David L. Hargett, Jr., dubbing him "the Indiana Jones of North Carolina Masonry" for his relentless search for knowledge.

R.I. Aaron Shoemaker, Grand Mareschal, takes to the podium to deliver his report

as the GCR's webmaster. He does notice you guys aren't visiting the

website's History and Story of the Innovators pages, so check 'em out.

M.I. Starr greets our Past Grand Chancellors in the East.

Part of the sizable New Jersey contingent at Masonic Week. From left:
Richard, Mohamad, Michael, and John.

This and the entire Masonic Week program will relocate in 2013 to the Hyatt Regency in Reston, Virginia. Hope to see you there.
    

'Starting our second decade'

    
On this date in 2002, New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786 met for the first time, creating a safe haven in our jurisdiction for the thinking Mason. At the research lodge (known informally as LORE), we don't waste potential on simply memorizing Masonic ritual. We use ritual as a kind of map to guide us on a quest to find the meaning of Masonry. Beyond the written or spoken word of ritual lies another world of deeper understandings and contexts. There is search and research, and neither has much to do with whether the Masters of Ceremonies know when to ground their rods.

After ten years and 135 papers, LORE begins our second decade. Our next Regular Communication will take place Saturday, March 17 at 10 a.m. at Palestine Lodge No. 111 in Princeton.

In an upcoming post, I'll share the details of several unusual occurrences and developments being planned here in New Jersey. They're all good things, which, frankly, is what makes them unusual. One of them involves our lodge of research, and it is a long overdue project that adequately marks the start of our second decade. Until then, I'll leave you with the essay I wrote seven years ago for the Knights of the North Masonic Dictionary. I was reminded of this last week when I happened upon it in, of all places, the website of Golden State Chapter of Research. The Masonic Dictionary site is maintained by Stephen Dafoe, despite his exit from the Craft. He has mine and many others' gratitude for keeping these websites alive.

Education: The Unspeakable Masonic Word

When we speak of "Masonic education," we are needlessly redundant. Freemasonry is education, simultaneously moral instruction, spiritual enlightenment and intellectual growth so that a man may come to know and improve himself. But this isn't supposed to be a solitary activity; Freemasonry also is a brotherhood. The Master Mason Lecture explains the symbolism of the Beehive: "He who will not endeavor to add to the common stock of knowledge may be deemed a drone in the hive of nature, a useless member of society, and unworthy of the care and protection of Masons." Together the brethren seek "that which was lost." What was lost? Truth. It is that search after Truth that makes Freemasonry philosophical, and where there is a love of wisdom, education is the act of courtship.

Because Freemasonry's teachings intentionally address the fundamental and perpetual curiosities of man, it accurately can be said that it is education without limit in both appeal and scope. Truly any wholesome field of study or discipline intersects somewhere along Freemasonry's path of learning, and much of Masonic teaching coincides with the Humanities. Masonry reveals itself through ritual. These centuries-old ceremonies are a framework or, more accurately, a map that each Freemason may follow in his search for Truth. To summarize just one aspect of this process, as an Apprentice, the newly initiated Mason is taught to subdue his passions while letting the Four Cardinal Virtues guide him toward candid self-awareness. From this ceremony one finds commonality with Plato and Aquinas. The former saw these virtues as a recipe for a perfect society; to the latter they were for the betterment of an individual's attitudes, values and behavior. Next, as a more experienced Mason called a Fellowcraft, he is shown the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences: Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy guide the Masonic student as they had the thinkers who gave Western civilization its Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment, with all the culture contained therein. A proper understanding of the Arts and Sciences empowers Masonic man to make his mind the rational master of his primal Five Senses of hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling and tasting, and so this progress builds upon the Platonic-Thomist foundation. In the Third Degree of Freemasonry, the Master Mason is sufficiently aware of his place in the universe so as to fear no danger, not even death itself. Ultimately, upon exiting the Holy of Holies for the final time, the Master Mason goes gamely "into that good night" knowing that there is no sting of death nor victory of the grave, but only eternal life.

We've dubbed Education "The Unspeakable Masonic Word" because it seems like no one ever talks about it. In my experience, research lodges, study groups and the like are treated like red light districts where only the furtive venture in search of the forbidden. So at first you're pretty much on your own. To get started, think about what you most desire to know about Freemasonry, and then go find the answers. Easy? No, but it shouldn't be. Depending on the subject, a researcher can spend months looking for a long out-of-print book; even years can pass before inadvertently coming across a needed factoid in an unexpected source. Naturally the internet delivers limitless information but, as with books, one must exercise discriminating choice. Again, let the ritual be your map. Choose an unfamiliar word, an odd phrase, a seemingly antiquated idea. Then define it. Identify its Masonic significance and apply that meaning to a broader context of how it could benefit others; and then translate that idea into your own words so that you take possession and internalize it. Once it is yours, it is there as a tool for use in your growth, and it's there for good. Repeat the process, as needed, for life.

That education is interwoven in Freemasonry is a reality that predates modern Masonry itself. In the Old Charges - the dozens of manuscripts penned over the course of more than three centuries prior to the start in 1717 of the Masonic Order we know today - are found clear procedures on how new members of the building trade were to be schooled in their craft over long spans of time. In the Halliwell Manuscript, believed written in the 14th century and the earliest of these documents, are found the "Fifteen Articles for the Master Mason," including:

3. He must take apprentices for seven years, his craft to learn.
11. He must be both fair and free and teach by his might.
12. He shall not disparage his fellow's work.
13. He must teach his apprentice.

Nor is there anything extraneous about the grave consequence awaiting the unskilled, untested, and unlucky operative builder in the ancient world. The pre-Biblical Babylonian ruler Hammurabi set down a legal code that included:

If a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work sound, so that the house he has made falls down and causes the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. If it causes the death of the son of the owner of the house, they shall kill the son of that builder.

Clearly the importance of education in the building arts is indisputable. (Remember that the funny-looking cap you wore at graduation is called a mortarboard.) Today Freemasonry's instruction is all presented in allegory and symbolism, but the education is no less crucial to the Speculative Mason's life. Tragically few seem to understand or want to understand, and this power goes neglected in the quotidian realities of contemporary Masonry. Why? Because it is hard work! In mastering his Craft, Masonic Man spends his life relentlessly scrutinizing himself, the condition of his fellow man and of the world, and the role of the Great Architect of the Universe in it all. It is not by accident that the hard labor of constructing in stone is the metaphor through which Masonry's instruction is imparted. Nor is it by chance that the seeker of the degrees of Freemasonry is repeatedly tested for his willingness to proceed further.

While the teachings of Freemasonry are universal - "Every human being has a claim upon your kind offices." - it was never intended for every human being to enter its temples, and yet its doors have been flung open for many years allowing practically any man to enter. Consequently, the libraries that once were busy beehives have been converted to other, more simple purposes, their books locked away in storage, forgotten. (Indeed the word "temple" itself, as in a place for conTEMPLation, has been abandoned for the monotonous "Masonic center.") Simultaneously, the discussions that once compelled Masons to reconsider their opinions, to re-examine their very lives, and to improve their world have been replaced by charity walk-a-thons and other activities that, while helpful, should be entrusted to our neighbors in the Lions, Kiwanis and Elks organizations. While organizing and staging a charity fundraiser is a big job, it is child's play compared to the vital challenge of metabolizing Masonic thought, and achieving that state of being where the heart of Jerusalem meets the mind of Athens.

In the fundamental duty of educating oneself and one's fellow Masons, we today are not negligent. We are uninformed, and the craziest thing about it is that the ritual tells us what to do. Remember the advice imparted to you upon your first knocks on the Inner Door: "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." One's search is a personal endeavor, but there are friends to help you along the way. When enough of us start speaking aloud about Masonic education we can restore to its rightful place the paramount purpose of Freemasonry: to labor together in replenishing the "common stock of knowledge" in our pursuit of Truth.





Brethren, lodges of Masonic research have been proliferating across the United States in recent years, with some jurisdictions having more than one at labor. Go get involved. If your Masonry induces you to see beyond the knife and fork, and through the misguided corporate charities, and above the pointless pageantry of saluting this and that popularity contest winner, then you'll derive profit and pleasure from a research lodge. Me? I'm a Past Master of one, and Senior Deacon of another. It is in these places where you meet a special kind of Mason. The guys who, to invoke Dafoe again, "get it."