‘Masonic treasures on display’

    

Magpie coverage of Grotto Week in New Orleans is forthcoming, I promise, but let me just publish another time sensitive post before I delve into a ton of photos and memories.

Two of New York Freemasonry’s most treasured sites will be open to visiting groups later this month.

MCC photo

Next Monday, the 17th, the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica will gather at the Daniel D. Tompkins Memorial Chapel in Utica. The Masonic Chapel Walk and Talk will be guided by Mara Mulligan.

Everyone will meet in the parking lot of the chapel (2150 Bleecker St.), located on Grand Lodge’s Masonic Care Community campus, at six o’clock for the 90-minute tour.

Donations are welcome. Click here.

On Sunday, June 23, New York Adventure Club will spend a few hours inside Masonic Hall in Manhattan (71 W. 23rd St.), the headquarters of Grand Lodge. From the publicity:

What do notable New Yorkers like John Jacob Astor, Harry Houdini, and New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia all have in common? The answer: They were members of Freemasonry, the world’s first and largest fraternity dating back to the 1600s.

From separating fact from fiction behind this members-only organization, to exploring more than a dozen breathtaking spaces that have been painstakingly restored to their original grandeur, it’s time to uncover the secrets behind one of New York City’s most unique buildings like never before.

Join New York Adventure Club for a special access trip through the historic Masonic Hall, the headquarters of the Freemasons’ Grand Lodge of New York since 1873. Led by one of the New York Grand Lodge’s most senior members, this rare two-hour weekend experience through many of the Masonic Hall rooms will include:

🎩 An overview of the history and concepts of Masonry

🎩 The story of Masonic Hall and why it was completely rebuilt in 1911 as a towering 19-story building

🎩 A look inside nearly a dozen meeting rooms and their eclectic architectural styles, such as the Renaissance Room, Ionic Room, and French Doric Room

🎩 A special visit to the Hollender Room, featuring a two-story vaulted ceiling, subtle Mayan and Incan motifs, leaded glass bookcases containing rare books, and a statue of George Washington (a Freemason himself!)

🎩 Famous Freemasons who visited Masonic Hall since the late 19th century, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt

🎩 A trip to the famed Grand Lodge Room, a masterpiece of design containing iconic stained glass windows and other elements that are believed to have influenced the design of the ill-fated Titanic

🎩 A discussion of the Library and Museum within Masonic Hall. Open during weekdays, these rooms house rare Masonic books, artifacts, and regalia that offer a glimpse into the cultural and historical contributions of the Freemasons.

Cost per person: $39.98. Begins at two o’clock. Click here.

If you cannot attend this time, the group will do it again on Sunday, July 21 at 2 p.m.

     

‘Massachusetts Masons commemoration’

    

The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts will have a big anniversary to celebrate next Monday. From the publicity:

249th Commemoration

of the Battle of Bunker Hill

Monday, June 17

Join the Grand Master and a group of state and local dignitaries to pay tribute to the selfless acts of heroism during the early days of the Revolutionary War that paved the way for our liberty from the Crown. Her Excellency, Governor Maura Healey, and Most Worshipful Brother Hamilton will be among the speakers.

1:30 p.m.—Ecumenical Service at St. Francis de Sales Church, 303 Bunker Hill Street, Charlestown.

Procession to Bunker Hill Monument.

3 p.m.—Battle of Bunker Hill Commemorative Exercises.

Dress: Dark jacket, tie, and apron (aprons will not be provided). Don’t forget your top hat (requested, not required).

If your lodge is named for Joseph Warren or otherwise has a touchable connection to the American Revolution, this would make an ideal weekday happening. Maybe top it off with a historic pub crawl? Or, at least, walk the Freedom Trail!

Yesterday was the 283rd anniversary of Warren’s birth. He was killed in action against the British at Breed’s Hill, site of the monument shown above, in Charlestown. Monday will be the 249th anniversary of the fighting. Next year will be the bicentenary of the start of the monument’s construction.

The National Park Service, with partners, has a more than week-long celebration underway already. Click here.

I cannot attend this one, but next year’s—the 250th—is on my calendar. Maybe see you there.

     

‘Bill Hosler, R.I.P.’

    

Bro. Bill Hosler circa 2018.

I just got home from what was the greatest leisurely week of the last thirty years of my life to learn of the death last Thursday of Bro. Bill Hosler.

I “met” Bill in the Masonic Light group, and he was one of the Knights of the North, and was on the ground floor at the launch of the Masonic Society, but you likely know him from the Midnight Freemasons and the Meet, Act and Part podcast. But he was irrepressible, so maybe you just know him via the electrical waves in the air.

Lady Tammi announced earlier:

The love of my life, Bill Hosler, passed away this past Thursday, unexpectedly. I am devastated and very overwhelmed, which has made it harder to make sure all who loved him is aware.

I do appreciate all who have reached out that loved him so much, as it has been helpful to me even if I can’t respond. I know he has been rejoined with so many that went before him who loved him, and I know our girl, Happy, greeted him at Heaven’s gate.

We will be sharing detailed service arrangements soon, but I did want those who loved him to know a service will be in Bentonville, Arkansas this Thursday and then a Masonic funeral service will be in Ft. Wayne, Indiana likely Saturday. Epting Funeral Home in Bentonville Arkansas is arranging all services.

Frankly, Bill wasn’t exactly the picture of health, and he and I would chat occasionally about how to manage various problems. He spoke from hard earned experience when cautioning me about these things. He always maintained his sense of humor—typically on the bawdy side—and that is the absence I’ll feel first, but he was a joy in discussion of Freemasonry. He had a lot of experience, having traveled around the middle of the country a lot in recent years. He possessed a wisdom about it all that will be missed especially.

Alas, my brother.

     

‘The Day the War Stopped’

    

Scott Clause/Feliciana 31

This one is killin’ me.

I’m a New York Mason; I’m currently in Louisiana; I’m also at labor in Civil War Lodge of Research 1865; and I still won’t be able to get to see The Day the War Ended!

This annual re-enactment of a Masonic moment during the Civil War takes place in St. Francisville, Louisiana in June. My trip to New Orleans for the Grotto Supreme Council happens to coincide.

The history tells of Bro. John Elliot Hart, of St. George’s Lodge 6 in New York, commanding officer of the USS Albatross, dying onboard his ship. A messenger was sent ashore to ask about the possibility of a burial, particularly a Masonic funeral. Confederate Army Capt. William W. Leake, Senior Warden of Feliciana Lodge 31, got word of it, and arranged a Masonic burial for his brother in the opposing naval force besieging his state for control of the Mississippi River.

Click here to read how Country Roads magazine describes it.

On Saturday, Masons from both Feliciana 31 and St. George’s 6 will re-enact that learning moment as part of a daylong celebration of local history and culture. Here is the itinerary:

Saturday, June 8

Downtown St. Francisville

All Day: Lodge Tours

Feliciana Lodge 31

Prosperity Street

9 a.m. National Anthem and Welcome

Feliciana Lodge 31

9:30 “The Day the War Stopped”

Jackson Hall, Grace Episcopal Church

10 a.m. Historical Re-enactment and Graveside Histories

Corner of Prosperity and Ferdinand streets and into Grace Episcopal Cemetery

11:30 to 1 p.m. Sixth Annual Jambalaya Cook-Off

Courthouse Grounds (across from lodge)

Noon to 2

Vintage Dancing and Music

Jackson Hall, Grace Episcopal Church

1 p.m. Jambalaya and Raffle Winners

Feliciana Lodge

1:30 to 2 Closing of the Lodge

6 to 10 p.m. Gala (music, food & drinks) $25

Magnolia Café

It’s a two-hour, 100+ mile drive each way—and I don’t have a car. So close, yet so far. Well, there’s always the Grotto’s Clown and Balloon Competition. Just as good.

It’ll be fine. I’m okay. D’oh!

     

‘Thomas Paine Day in New Rochelle’

     

Patch photo

Saturday will be Thomas Paine Day in the City of New Rochelle!

Paine was not a Freemason. There is some confusion about it on account of his writing a short book on the subject of the Craft, but he was not a Mason. The self-described atheist, who had difficulties supporting himself and was often viewed with suspicion, probably would not have been welcomed into a lodge of that period despite his value to the Revolution, however selflessly he contributed.

The book—a pamphlet, really—was published posthumously with the title On the Origin of Free-Masonry. Paine died on June 8, 1809 in Greenwich Village at what today is 59 Grove Street, now the site of Marie’s Crisis Cafe, a name alluding to Paine’s The American Crisis series of sixteen pamphlets (1776-83) exhorting the Americans to free themselves from British rule. A bronze plaque memorializing Paine can be seen on its exterior.

As a writer, Thomas Paine may have exceeded Thomas Jefferson as the wordsmith of the Revolution. (e.g., “These are the times that try men’s souls…”) His connection to New Rochelle is embodied by the farm that was given to him by the State of New York in thanks for his patriotic service and, frankly, to help him stay afloat.

But about Origin. It is entertaining. He begins: “It is always understood that Free-Masons have a secret which they carefully conceal, but from everything that can be collected from their own accounts of Masonry, their real secret is no other than their origin, which but few of them understand; and those who do, envelope it in mystery.”

Freemasonry, he continues, “is derived, and is the remains of, the religion of the ancient Druids, who, like the magi of Persia and the priests of Heliopolis in Egypt, were Priests of the Sun.” He explains how the use of the sun in our rituals and symbolism, which he gleaned from Prichard’s exposure Masonry Dissected, proves his theory, but there is more.

The colophon page explains how Origin came to be published.

 
In conclusion, Paine writes “I come now to speak of the cause of secrecy used by the Masons. The natural source of secrecy is fear. When any new religion overruns a former religion, the professors of the new become the persecutors of the old... A false brother might expose the lives of many of them to destruction; and from the remains of the religion of the Druids, thus preserved, arose the institution which, to avoid the name of Druid, took that of Mason, and practiced, under this new name, the rights and ceremonies of Druids.”

Paine’s writing on Freemasonry is wrong, but it is not nonsensical. There is a logic to his thesis that, frankly, is more solid than the weird suppositions about Masonry originating as a murderous Roman Catholic army deployed to the Holy Land. Paine’s pamphlet remains in print and can be had from your favorite bookseller. It is a quick read which I recommend to your attention.

     

‘My thanks to Eureka Chapter’

    

On the night before Eureka Chapter’s convocation, we went to Winter Garden Lodge 165 for its Fellow Craft Degree. A great night!

My thanks to Eureka Chapter 7 of Royal Arch Masons in Orlando, Florida for hosting me for a talk. I got bumped from the original March 7 convocation in favor of Juan Sepulveda—and, really, who could blame them?—but they got me there, wined and dined me, and hopefully enjoyed my presentation on what Jewish mystical writings known collectively as the Zohar say about certain Royal Arch symbols.

The meeting at Eureka was fun for me. I actually was drafted into an officer’s chair only to find the Opening and Closing rituals used are from the General Grand Chapter, so they are short and sweet compared to what I know from my chapter. A nice turn-out with about twenty Royal Arch Masons in attendance, including, I’m told, several who hadn’t been seen in some time.

Anyway, to summarize my talk, titled “Mystical Interpretations of Royal Arch Symbols,” as quickly as possible:

➤ In the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem, there is no High Priest, and consequently we each must be our own High Priest and govern ourselves accordingly.

➤ The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Book of Exodus as being covered in gold inside and out, which should remind us, as Royal Arch Masons, to be the same people inside and out. To be “good as gold” by letting our spiritual work give shape to our thoughts, words, and deeds so we are not projecting false images of ourselves and concealing weaknesses and failings.

➤ Of the Cherubims atop the Ark, they play a role as a conveyance of communications. The lesson I relayed to the companions was a reminder that when prayers fail to reach the Heavens on their own, these golden angels represent angels who carry prayers to the Upper World. In our labors, we must have the right intentions to produce the right actions that are worthy of the correct angels to connect us to the Upper World.

➤ And the Tabernacle itself? As the Holy of Holies, where the Ark was placed, was separate from the rest of the Tabernacle, we should understand the need to distinguish what is special in life from what is ordinary. Observe the sabbath of your faith as best you can. Observe your holidays likewise. Even the new moon each month is a reason for renewal. Don’t waste these opportunities to jumpstart your spiritual life.

There was more, like the High Priest’s garments and breastplate, among other things. And the Q&A was lively and even fun, thanks to a few companions who already knew where I was going with this material. Somehow we all forgot to take the obligatory group photo because of the engrossing discussion.

I am grateful to Franklin and Ivan for the invitation and for all the first class care I received during this, my first visit to Florida. Even the weather cooperated. As part of his babysitting duties, Franklin took me to a few local spots that got my attention.

The Morse Museum is home to a vast collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s glorious crafts. I shot dozens of photos, but I’ll share just a few:

The Tree of Life is a massive leaded glass window made from 1928 to 1931 for his country home, Laurelton Hall, near Oyster Bay. After Tiffany’s death in 1933, avid collectors Hugh and Jeannette McKean purchased as many pieces as possible, which now comprise the Morse Museum collection.

Detail of the Science panel of The Tree of Life.

Detail of the Creation panel of The Tree of Life.

Madonna and Child window.

We also visited Prometheus Esoterica, which is kind of like a smaller version of Morbid Anatomy in Brooklyn. It’s a retail business, but one that has oddities and faux occultism stuff. Lots of Baphomets! There also is a surprising number of Masonic pieces as décor and for sale:

Prometheus Esoterica displays a noticeable number of Masonic pieces, especially Shrine and Templar stuff.

Hanging in the washroom(!) is this A&ASR-SJ 32° certificate. Ill Aaron Shoemaker translates: ‘We, the Inspector Generals, testify through these Letters Patent that our well-deserving Brother, Joseph Landon Fincher born forty-nine years ago and residing in Pensacola, Florida, whose name is subscribed in the margin by his own hand, holds the rank of THIRTY-SECOND DEGREE SECRET MASTER (Master of the Royal Secret) of the same Rite. Therefore, we exhort and beseech all Freemasons residing anywhere beyond the borders of our jurisdiction to recognize our Brother in his dignity and to extend the same observance toward their fellow brethren within our jurisdiction.’

Another fez, but at right is one of the big copies of Manly P. Hall’s Secret Teachings.

Also, the night before the chapter convocation, we went to Winter Garden Lodge 165 for a Fellow Craft Degree. And expertly conferred it was. The Past Master who sat in the East was the father of one of the Apprentices being passed. At the end, the new Fellows were asked for their thoughts on what had just transpired. They handled the question with humor and impressive insight, considering they were put on the spot after a hefty ritual and pretty late at night. Also, it was the 94th birthday of the Brother Tyler!

     

‘History by type and as ritual’

    

The Spirit of Masonry, essential reading, figures in Ben Hoff’s upcoming paper.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 will meet Saturday. Two weighty papers are scheduled. From the trestleboard:

“Classifying History Writing by Type” by Bro. Donald Elfreth. This admittedly subjective short essay attempts to fit various types of history writing into four broad areas. There are no firm divisions of these areas, and each may have, to some extent, elements of another. The presenter does not expect all to agree with his analysis, and he looks forward to a lively discussion at the conclusion of his presentation.

“Monitors and Ritual Ciphers” by Distinguished Laureate Bro. Ben Hoff. A survey of history and development of Masonic Monitors and Ritual books, both coded (ciphers) and uncoded, along with their influence on the expansion of our ritual, particularly lectures.

I have read Ben’s well researched paper, and will host him at The American Lodge of Research in October to present it again as part of a multifaceted review of such books. You’ll hear about that when autumn approaches.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education meets at 9:30 a.m. in Freemasons Hall, home of Union Lodge 19, in North Brunswick. Light refreshments are served before, and a catered lunch ($20) after for those who booked in advance.

Now is still spring, and I will have to miss this meeting of LORE 1786 because it will coincide with the Grotto Supreme Council Session.

     

‘Parade of Planets heralds Publicity installation’

    

Let me now beg of you to observe, that the light of a Master Mason is but darkness visible, serving only to discover that gloom which rests on the prospect of futurity; it is that mysterious veil of darkness which the eye of human reason cannot penetrate, unless assisted by that light which is from above…

Charge of the Third Degree

The Perfect Ceremonies of Craft Masonry

1871

From where I now stand, just before sunrise, darkness visible is about all I get from looking skyward, as the impenetrable light pollution of the metropolitan area veils the heavens in artificial lumens. So, I can’t see the Parade of Planets currently on display.

Maybe you have better luck.

Still, the timing is impeccable. Later today, but well before sunset, my lodge will host its annual Installation of Officers. A celestial spectacle on the morning of our installation. Coincidence? I think not!

While I cannot attend this evening, I wish everyone all the best and a happy, successful year.

Astronomy is that Divine art by which we are taught to read the Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty of the Almighty Creator in those sacred pages, the Celestial hemisphere. Assisted by Astronomy, we may observe the motions, measure the distances, comprehend the magnitudes, and calculate the periods and Eclipses of the Heavenly Bodies. By it we learn the use of the Globes, the system of the World, and the primary laws of Nature, and while we are employed in the study of this science, we may perceive unparalleled instances of wisdom and goodness, and on every hand may trace the Glorious Author by His works.

Ibid.,

Second Lecture, Fourth Section

     

‘MRF returns to Philadelphia’

    

The Masonic Restoration Foundation will return to the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia August 23-25 for its thirteenth symposium, President Andrew Hammer just announced.

A program of fifteen speakers is planned. If I’m not mistaken, in a first for the MRF, almost half of the presenters are either current or past elected grand lodge officers, which I take to mean the mission of the Foundation has taken root in a good number of grand jurisdictions. If Observant lodges themselves are not proliferating, then at least the inspirations behind them are resonating, which is what matters to me. It is not necessary for a lodge to see itself as an Observant lodge—and in some environments it is inadvisable—so long as the characteristics of Observant Masonry are evident in the lodge’s culture. What are those traits?

“Simply put, Observant Masonry means observing the intent of the founders of Speculative Masonry. That intent was not to build a mere social club or service organisation,” Hammer writes in this essay. “While the Craft—like any other human organization—always has been burdened by men in its ranks who subverted the purposes of the fraternity to a more mundane or profane enterprise, that was never the intent of the institution. That intent was to build an institution that calls men to their highest level of social being, in a state of dignity and decorum, which could serve as a place for serious, mindful discourse on the lessons and meaning of life, and search for the better development of oneself. That intent means building a space where such an experience can be created, and carrying ourselves in a manner that is consistent with our highest ideals and noblest behaviors.”

If you are unfamiliar with the Observant concept, click here to find several links to useful readings.

The format of the MRF symposium remains unchanged.

On Friday, August 23, a Harmony will be hosted inside the Masonic Temple’s Grand Ballroom. Attire: black tie. Keynote: “The Fortitude of Hiram” by MW Brad Billings, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Texas.

Saturday, August 24 will see the program of speakers, including names you know well and some you will want to get to know. The presentations:

Fraternal Greetings

and Opening Address

Masters of Ceremonies

Rt. Wor. Bro. P. J. Roup

Senior Grand Warden

Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania

Rt. Wor. Bro. Andrew Hammer

President, MRF

Master, Alba Lodge 222,

Washington, DC

Building Rectitude With Relevance:

The Next Generation of Masonry

Rt. Wor. Bro. Andrew Hammer

Walled Gardens, Chesterton Fences,

and Living Lodges

Wor. Bro. Erastus Z. Allen, PM,

Lodge Ad Lucem 812, Pennsylvania

Treasurer, MRF

Cutting Stones:

The New Observant Lodge

Bro. Anthony Augay,

Senior Warden

Robert Burns Lodge 59, Nevada

Most Wor. Bro. Louis Castle, PGM

Robert Burns Lodge 59

The MacBride EA Degree

Lodge Alba 222

Victory Through Harmony:

Transforming an Existing Lodge

Wor. Bro. Donald Carducci, Master,

Victory Through Harmony 94, Quebec

Rt. Wor. Bro. Jean-Frederic Dicaire

Victory Through Harmony Lodge 94

The Way We’ve Always Done It

Wor. Bro. Patrick Craddock, PM,

Prometheus Lodge 851, California

Vice-President, MRF

Are We Not Men?

Rt. Wor. Bro. Oscar Alleyne,

Past Junior Grand Warden,

Grand Lodge of New York

Time, Patience, and Perseverance:

Dealing with Challenges

in the Observant Lodge

Wor. Bro. Dan Kemble, PM,

Lexington Lodge 1, Kentucky

Rt. Wor. Bro. Dana Scofield, PM,

Fibonacci Lodge 112, Vermont

Rt. Wor. Bro. Robert McLeod, PM,

Templum Phoenix Lodge 57

New Brunswick

Most. Wor. Bro. David Cameron

Grand Lodge of Canada

in the Province of Ontario

Moderator: Bro. Andrew Hammer

A Prince Hall Perspective

on Observant Masonry

Rt. Wor. Bro. Kevin Wardally,

Grand Senior Warden,

MW Prince Hall GL of New York

Closing Address

A New Design Upon the Trestleboard

Rt. Wor. Bro. P. J. Roup

Closing Discussion with Speakers

Moderator: Bro. Andrew Hammer

Will the Magpie Mason be in attendance? I’m afraid only for the Friday banquet. D’oh! I am already committed to speak at the John Skene Masonic Conference across the river in Jersey on Saturday. As I’m sure all of you know too well, there are only so many Saturdays. But you should go.

Click here for registration. Click here for the hotel.

     

‘A big anniversary and a St. John’s Day procession’

     

Williamsburg Lodge 6

Williamsburg Lodge 6 in Virginia has a great day planned to mark both St. John’s Day and the lodge’s semiquincentennial birthday. Next month, the brethren, bolstered by the presence of Grand Master Jack Lewis, will open a public meeting of the lodge before heading outdoors. From the publicity:

Williamsburg Lodge 6 AF&AM

233 East Francis Street

Williamsburg, Virginia

Saturday, June 22

Join us in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Williamsburg Lodge and St. John’s Day.

Most Worshipful Jack K. Lewis, Grand Master of Masons in Virginia, will be in attendance.

9 a.m. – coffee and fellowship

9:30 – open lodge (all are welcome) with presentation by RW Don Moro, Grand Organist

10:30 – procession to Bruton Parish Church led by fifes and drums

11 – church program, prayer, and presentation of an eighteenth century Masonic sermon

11:20 – recession to the lodge for lunch and open house

Formal dress for lodge officers with full Masonic regalia. Coat and tie for brethren.

I would love to get down there for one of these events. Can’t make this one, as I’ll be speaking at a Masonic luncheon in New Jersey. June 22 is St. Alban’s Day, which coincidentally will be my topic. Visiting Williamsburg 6 is on my list though!

      

’The First Degree, 1717 style!’

    

RCI Lodge 3556

A lodge in London, which specializes in unconventional communications augmented with finer dining, has an exemplification of a rare initiation planned for next month. Royal Colonial Institute Lodge 3556, meeting at Freemasons’ Hall, will demonstrate how the First Degree of Masonry might have looked in 1717.

I’m assuming this will be based on ritual exposures from later in the eighteenth century, but still I’d expect a faithful recreation of the experience. Click here for tickets for the June 13 meeting, demonstration, and dinner.

The lodge has a fascinating history. According to the Metropolitan Grand Lodge’s website:

It was consecrated on January 10, 1912 for the purpose of enhancing the ties of the then Empire and Craft; and between the resident and non-resident Fellows and Members of the Royal Commonwealth Society (formerly the Royal Colonial Institute).

Connections with brethren abroad remained strong throughout the First World War and when, in 1939, the Duke of Connaught resigned as Grand Master of UGLE, he remained as Worshipful Master of the lodge and was able to welcome the District Grand Master of Japan, as well as representatives of the grand lodges of Cuba, Peru, Greece, Yugoslavia, and more. Upon Connaught’s death in 1942, the Grand Master noted at his successor’s Installation “…it is the meeting place of brethren who are now in London but whose homes are many thousands of miles away… Though the members of this Lodge may be drawn from many parts of the Empire, they meet in lodge on common ground and for a common purpose.”

It was in the 1950s that the lodge began a tradition of hosting talks and lectures. Fast forward to 1972, and the links with the Commonwealth were further strengthened at an emergency meeting of the lodge where members were joined by 203 members of other Commonwealth lodges. This meeting was to be the forerunner of the Commonwealth Lodges’ Association, a relationship which the Royal Colonial Lodge proudly still retains.

The Centenary History of the Lodge, written in 2012, concludes: “…the lodge has provided a meeting place for Commonwealth brethren through two World Wars and through times of hardship, financial depression and financial prosperity... Perhaps in looking back we can gain more strength to move forward.”

The Royal Colonial Institute Lodge is a Metropolitan Lodge, meeting at Freemasons’ Hall twice a year. The June meeting is aligned to UGLE’s Quarterly Communication so that members and brethren visiting from abroad can maximise their time in London. It attracts Past Masters with an appetite for finer dining across London in a more relaxed atmosphere, with Festive Boards held at private clubs and non-mainstream specialist venues.

The lodge does not take initiates and therefore performs no ceremonial work other than the annual Installation. Instead, the aim of the lodge is to have fun, unique, and educational meetings. Aiming to reach 100+ members by the end of this year [2023], the RCI supports the development of the Commonwealth Lodges’ Association (of which it is a member).

But about this event, the lodge says:

The regular business meeting of Royal Colonial Institute Lodge 3556 will tyle at 5 p.m. and will last approximately thirty minutes. After the lodge has closed, the Elizabethan Lodge will quickly set up, and the demonstration will begin, which is anticipated to finish around 6:15.

Please note: this event is for Master Masons and above only. No EAs or FCs are allowed to attend, as per Information for the Guidance of Members of the Craft.

For those who wish to dine afterwards, there will be pre-dinner drinks at 7 p.m. in the private drawing room at Fortnum & Mason (Piccadilly) with dinner served at 7:30.

Click here to see the impressive dinner menu and to purchase tickets.

     

‘Sizing up the Master’s Chair’

    

Most of the class today at Masonic Hall.

Today I completed the suite of classroom instruction available to lodge officers in the Fourth Manhattan District of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York. Or at least I think I’m done. I’m not aware of anything else.

Since January, I have enjoyed four Saturdays for the Protocol class, Road to the East (two days), and today’s Master’s Chair course. Having taken these in fairly rapid succession, I can say there is much overlap and redundancy in these three. I went through the Masonic Development Course in 2015 and, honestly, I don’t recollect much except it makes a good introduction to the fraternity—but these three could use some restructuring. Or maybe that’s intentional because not everyone will enroll in all the courses.

RW Rochie comfortably assuming his Staff Officer duties.

Anyway, the Glorious Fourth’s new Staff Officer, RW Bro. Rochie Santos, expertly guided us through the more than four hours of instruction and comprehension tests. For clarity, I’ll explain that I am going into the East of The American Lodge of Research next month. I did the Craft lodge bit nearly twenty years ago—and I ain’t doing that again, despite knowing Publicity Lodge would be far easier to govern than was my previous lodge.

Truly, Masters of research lodges do not require this kind of instruction. These lodges do not confer degrees or become involved in the ceremonial formality that demand so much care. We open; we close; we ballot. That’s the ritual workload. Official Visits do not occur. Meetings are few. It’s pretty stress free. (Well, to me it is. I’ve done this before also: a unique thirty-month stint as Master of New Jersey’s research lodge many years ago.)

The Master’s Chair class is heavy on etiquette and protocol, just like the aptly named Protocol class. And, unsurprisingly, Master’s Chair also delves into law and customs, just like Road to the East. But it is good and wholesome instruction, and it probably is beneficial to receive it outside one’s own lodge, where familiarity and casualness might dull the senses.

A few things I learned today:

• If the District Deputy Grand Master opts to close the meeting of his Official Visit, he is to be addressed as Worshipful Master. I think this is the opposite of what I learned long ago in New Jersey, where he would be addressed by his full grand lodge title. I think.

• If seeking dispensation to form a new lodge, no fewer than seven petitioners are required. In my day in Jersey, that number was forty, but I think I heard it was reduced in recent years, resulting in an Observant lodge being launched.

(Seven?! I think my lifelong ambition of starting Don Rickles Lodge just advanced one big step.)

• The Master and Wardens of a lodge may demit. While in office. Wow. Another contradiction from New Jersey’s law—otherwise, I’d have done it!

The American Lodge of Research will meet Tuesday, June 25 at 7 p.m. in the Empire Room for its elections and installation of officers, the new Master’s inaugural paper, and whatever necessary business. That paper will be “It’s Just Common Sense: Thomas Reid and the Fellow Craft Degree.” It’s drafted in my head. I just have to sit down and write.

The Stated Meetings of the coming year:

Tuesday, October 29

‘Masonic Hall Monitors’

A multifaceted review of Masonic ritual ciphers, monitors, and exposés. My old friend RW Bro. Ben Hoff, who succeeded me in the East of New Jersey’s research lodge, has written a new study of these texts, and tells of their history, diversity, and why they are essential reading.

Also, RW Sam Kinsey, our Custodians of the Work chairman, will talk to us about both New York’s latest ritual book and the upcoming monitor—the first since the ’80s. And RW Michael LaRocco, executive director of the Livingston Library, will exhibit a collection of antique, exotic, and otherwise notable ritual books. Oh, and yours truly will briefly discuss the newly reprinted Macoy Monitor from 1867.

Monday, March 31, 2025

‘A Night for the Marquis

and the Count’

As part of New York Freemasonry’s celebration of the Lafayette bicentenary, we will host Bro. Chris Ruli, author of Brother Lafayette, soon to be published, for a discussion of the Masonic aspects of the great man’s farewell tour of the United States in 1824-25. Also, Bro. Erich Huhn, who will be Junior Deacon of the lodge by then, will discuss Alexis de Toqueville’s thoughts on Freemasonry, gleaned from his own tour of the U.S. in 1831-32.

Monday, June 30, 2025

The blessed event!

RW Yves will be installed Master of The ALR.

Those are the mandatory constitutional meetings. We also will go on the road for a Special Communication, likely to New Rochelle. There probably will be a collaboration with New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786. There might be something with another jurisdiction’s research lodge. There will be Zoom meetings to bring together our members wherever dispersed about the face of the earth. And maybe more opportunities I haven’t thought of yet.

Who knows? I’m a strange guy.