‘The Book of the Words & Esoterika’

    

If you need a gift idea for the Scottish Rite Freemason who has everything, might I suggest a gorgeous edition of indispensable AASR literature, bound by hand in leather, only recently published by Restoration Books? Choose either Esoterika or Sephir H’debarim (The Book of the Words), priced at $375 per volume. Of course there’s nothing stopping you from buying both, for a total of $750. Fully insured shipping and handling are included in the price.

Esoterika and The Book of the Words both were authored by Albert Pike. The former is his interpretation of the ritual and symbols of the three Craft degrees (with some humorous commentary on traditional Anglo interpretation of the degrees, and on the state of Masonic education in the 1880s). Restoration Book’s new printing is a recreation of the original production of the single volume of Esoterika that Pike had published and archived at the Mother Supreme Council. This title was resuscitated by Ill. Arturo de Hoyos, who edited and had it published for members of the Scottish Rite Research Society about five years ago. This title, in a more “normal” hardcover printing, is available at the A&ASR’s bookstore for a modest sum.

The Book of the Words is a dizzying historical and etymological exploration of esoteric words of Scottish Rite Masonry. No surprise that Pike, as he did in Morals and Dogma, pioneers what we today term comparative religious study, and of course there is plenty of ancient religion examined along the way. (Words of caution about Pike’s work in this field: His efforts were limited, naturally, to what was known during his lifetime. Archeology and Egyptology, to name two sciences we take for granted today, were – at best – in embryonic stages. In addition, Hebrew is a language of heavy nuance. What can you expect from the absence of vowels? Always be skeptical of those, Jewish or not, who have not studied the language for a lifetime when they translate and interpret Hebrew, because can get it wrong, especially those with a “believing is seeing” disposition. (When the Magpie Mason took the degree of Anointed High Priest four years ago, he was stunned and appalled that the ritualists could not frame to pronounce the Word of the degree. They’re all fine Masons, but Hebrew is not a Western language that, like Latin, is fairly easily rendered into modern English. Hebrew can be obstructive and crafty, especially in esoteric religious contexts that require structured lifetime study of Torah and Talmud as prerequisites. I’m sure Pike did his best, but some things may have been beyond his abilities or simply out of his hands, so I personally choose to take him with a grain of salt.)

The Book of the Words first was published in 1878 in a run of 100 copies. In 1999, the SRRS reprinted it with additional material and an introduction by Ill. De Hoyos.

Restoration Books says:

Each copy is bound in full navy blue Morocco goatskin with traditional hand-marbled endpapers and a silk ribbon marker. The binding design was painstakingly reproduced from a photograph of the original copy of Esoterika held by the House of the Temple archives, the only variation from the original being the signature of Albert Pike, tooled in gold, on the front cover. All gold tooling and top edge gilding is executed by hand. The Book of the Words will be bound in identical blue Morocco leather in matching style, with the only difference in design being the titling to the spine.

Bro. Arturo De Hoyos has generously offered to sign each copy and include the official foil stamps of the Supreme Council and/or the Scottish Rite Research Society along with the Grand Historian/Archivist Stamps. Each copy of Esoterika and The Book of the Words will also have a beautiful facsimile replica of an official 19th century Supreme Council bookplate tipped into the front of the book, along with a personalized “Ex-Libris” plate with the owner’s name placed below the Supreme Council bookplate.

These hand-bound leather editions of Pike’s Esoterika and The Book of the Words are strictly limited to one hundred signed and hand-numbered sets. These stunning books are sure to become highly collectible heirlooms worthy of being handed down for generations to come. For more information, please visit our project blog.

Restoration Books Bindery & Fine Press unveiled these masterpieces this weekend at the Masonic Restoration Foundation’s first conference, held in Colorado.

All photographs courtesy of Restoration Books Bindery & Fine Press.
    

‘Rose Circle and Rose Cross’

    

The details are being worked out still, but please know that next February the Rose Circle Research Foundation will host another of its world renowned conferences, welcoming to its podium none other than Dr. Christopher McIntosh in celebration of the new publication of his The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason: Eighteenth-Century Rosicrucianism in Central Europe and its Relationship to the Enlightenment in January by SUNY Press in its continuing Western Esoteric Traditions series. The date and location of this event are yet to be determined, but I think we can expect a Saturday afternoon in Manhattan.

First published in 1992, The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason has been heralded as an indispensible text, and has fetched prices in the many hundreds of dollars in the secondhand book market. SUNY Press will offer this title at $80 per copy.

The publisher offers this summary of the revised text:

“This new edition of Christopher McIntosh’s classic book on the Golden and Rosy Cross order is eagerly awaited. The order stands out as one of the most fascinating and influential of the high-degree Masonic and Illuminist groups that mushroomed in Europe from the eighteenth century onward. Active mainly in the German-speaking lands, it recast the original Rosicrucian vision and gave it renewed vitality. At one point it became politically influential when the Prussian King, Frederick William II, was a member of the order. Historians have often perceived the Golden and Rosy Cross as having had a conservative, anti-Enlightenment agenda, but this study – drawing on rare German sources – shows that the matter was more complex. The members of the order practiced alchemy and operated a degree system that was imitated by later orders, such as the Golden Dawn. Like the latter, the Golden and Rosy Cross exerted a wide and enduring cultural influence. Both the alchemy of the order and its powerful ritual system are insightfully described in Christopher McIntosh’s clear and compelling style.

According to Rose Circle:

Christopher McIntosh was born in England in 1943 and grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford, and German at London University, later returning to Oxford to take a doctorate in history with his dissertation on the Rosicrucian revival in the context of the German Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment. After working in London in journalism and publishing, he spent four years in New York as an information officer with the United Nations Development Program, then moved to Germany to work for UNESCO. In parallel, he has pursued a career as a writer and researcher specializing in the esoteric traditions. His books include The Astrologers and their Creed (1969); Eliphas Lévi and the French Occult Revival (1972); The Rosicrucians (latest edition 1997); The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason (1992), based on his dissertation; The Swan King: Ludwig II of Bavaria (latest edition 2003); and Gardens of the Gods (2005). His fictional work includes the occult novel Return of the Tetrad (1998). He also has a long-standing interest in nature-oriented belief systems. He has lectured widely and is on the faculty of the distance M.A. program in Western Esotericism at the University of Exeter, England. His home is in Bremen, North Germany.

McIntosh is indeed a Freemason, a longtime member of Pilgrim Lodge No. 238 in London. This lodge was founded in 1779 by Germans in London, and still conducts its rituals in German. Read more about it here.
 
The Magpie Mason also is the publicist of the Rose Circle Research Foundation, and expects to unleash a blizzard of publicity later this year in support of this remarkable event. If you are interested in learning about Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, other esoteric disciplines, or European history, do not miss this conference.
   

‘ALR Transactions available now’

    
The 2008-09 Book of Transactions of American Lodge of Research will be mailed to members soon. Non-members can purchase copies through the publisher.

Previews of the index and first page of the papers are on the links.

To buy the hardcover, click here. To buy the softcover, click here.

There are three meetings of ALR on the calendar for the remainder of 2010. On Wednesday, September 29, there will be a Special Communication held upstate. The Centerville Masonic Center is located at 648 Centerville Pl., in North Syracuse. On the Trestleboard for this Communication is a presentation by RW Pierre F. de Ravel d’Esclapon, Worshipful Master.

Lodge opens at 8 p.m. Attire: business suit. There will be a pre-meeting meal. (Details TBA.)

On Friday, October 29, the lodge returns to Masonic Hall in Manhattan for its next Stated Communication. The Grand Lodge of New York is located at 71 West 23rd St. The lodge meets on the 10th floor, in the French Ionic Room. On the Trestleboard for this Communication is presentation by the Magpie Mason titled “The Emblem of a Pure Heart: The Pot of Incense as a Masonic Symbol.”

Lodge opens at 8 p.m. Attire: business suit. We will dine together informally next door at the Limerick House at 6 p.m.

The final meeting of ALR in 2010 will be the Installation of Officers on Monday, December 27 – St. John’s Day!

For a petition to become a Corresponding Member of ALR, click here.
   

‘Mother Columbian at 200’

It’s official! The bicentennial celebration of Columbian Council No. 1 of Royal and Select Masters, the Mother Council of the Cryptic Rite of Freemasonry, is scheduled for Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11, Illustrious Master William J. Thomas announced today.

On Friday, the celebration dinner will be hosted at the Yale Club, located at 50 Vanderbilt Ave. in Manhattan. Cocktail hour at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7.

Cost per person: $80. Make your check payable to Columbian Council No. 1. For mailing address, contact Secretary Christopher Allen at christopher.l.allen(at)gmail.com

Guest speaker: Ill. S. Brent Morris, 33°.

Attire: Black Tie.

On Saturday, Cryptic Companions have the rare opportunity to receive the Super Excellent Master Degree at Masonic Hall, located at 71 West 23rd St. in Manhattan. Collation to follow. Contact R.I. Allen for the specifics on this event as well.

The Magpie Mason is sorry he cannot attend either event. Friday is the celebration of my own Cryptic Council’s sesquicentennial. Yes, it was in 1860 that both the Grand Council of New Jersey, and Scott Council No. 1 were formed. And the Saturday is a busy day indeed with New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education in the morning, followed by J. William Gronning Council of Allied Masonic Degrees in the evening. There just aren’t enough days in the year!

Graphic courtesy of Jeff at Lodgical.
    

‘Old Masters Scotch Whisky’

As reported in the Summer issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society, there is a new blended Scotch whiskey named Old Masters, and it is to be exported to the United States next month.

Word comes now that the first shipment is en route... to right here, New Jersey, where the U.S. distributor is based.

At right is the packaging available in the United Kingdom. For the United States however, the bottle will be square, and the cap will be black, according to one comment left yesterday on the Dummies blog.

In an e-mail to the Magpie Mason last month, the U.S. distributor explained that upon arrival of this first shipment, those who have reserved their bottles in advance will be contacted about arranging their purchases. If I’m not mistaken, all purchases will be offered on-line only. To inquire, contact Mr. Richard Lombard-Chibnall, Director of U.S. Sales, at richard.lombard(at)lombardscotchwhisky.com

Here is what the brand’s website says:

Old Masters is a rich blend originally created for the Freemasons and has been carefully chosen from selected grain whiskies and specific Highland and Speyside malts. This is the perfect Masonic Gift for a Mason, Brother, Master or Past Master. If you are a mason to any degree you will appreciate the fantastic picture label on this bottle. This wonderful item would create a fabulous talking point before and after any Lodge meeting or dinner. It would also make a great prize for a Masonic raffle or initiation ceremony. This item is totally unique and original.

This item is not available in any shops and is in limited supply, making it very rare and collectable. This item is now supplied online in a Lombard’s Card Gift Box.

Tasting Notes:

“The perfect nose to experience blindfolded (how else...?) as the depth of the fruit and grain – and their happy intermingling – is astonishing. A few under-ripe gooseberries here. Light, graceful arrival with the early emphasis on a Speyside malt theme before some grain and oak kicks in. Pretty long with touches of cocoa though the fresh malt lingers. A high quality blend that doesn’t stint on the malt. The nose, in particular, is sublime.
92 points.”

Jim Murray,
Whisky Bible 2008

A bottle or two of Old Masters was on hand in The Masonic Society’s hospitality suite during Masonic Week in February, and I had “a quick one.” As the Book of Genesis says, “It is good.” I’m not a fanatic about Scotch whiskey, devoting my taste buds instead to the American whiskies bourbon and rye, while retaining my atavistic fondness for the sweet goodness of certain Irish labels, but I was impressed with this blended Scotch. It’s not the Macallan 18-year-old, but it’s a world apart from Johnnie Red too.
    

   

‘Masonic Stamp Club to meet’

    
From the George Washington Masonic Stamp Club:

The George Washington Masonic Stamp Club will meet Saturday, September 4 during the Baltimore Philatelic Exhibition taking place Labor Day weekend at the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

245 Shawan Rd. in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Phone: (410) 785-7000.

Parking is free. Use “BALPEX” for special room rates.

BALPEX Show – Three Day Admission: $5.
Fiday, September 3: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, September 4: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, September 5: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Details and map here.

The brethren will be found in Salon-E. The agenda:
1:30 to 2 p.m. – Assemble, trade Covers, and socialize.
2 p.m. – Call meeting to order.
2 to 3 p.m. – Meeting.

Speaker: Walter Benesch, GWMSC President, on “The Masonic Cowboy Stamps.”

Cover Chairman Mike Aulicino will do a GWMSC Cowboy Stamps cover with the special BALPEX pictorial postmark dated September 4, 2010, that will be available by ordering in advance, or while supplies last. Contact Mike at michael.aulicino(at)gmail.com

President’s Message for August-September:

The end of summer 2010 is swiftly approaching, which means we are getting close to our annual summer/fall meeting at BALPEX. The GWMSC will be meeting in Salon E, 1:30 to 3:00 on Saturday (my excuse for a late president’s message - I just found out our time and place). Lunch and dinner are on your own. The hotel restaurant a little costly for some members, but good quality. Less expensive alternatives are close by.

Since we have so many new members, here is a little information about BALPEX. It is an American Philatelic Society Accredited National Level Exhibition. Or, in meaningful words, it is not only a stamp show, but an exhibit of major collections in a competition. You will see things on exhibit you will never see anywhere else! Of course they are educational, but what is more important is they are fun. The exhibit is sponsored by the Baltimore Philatelic Society (BALPEX), Inc. The GWMSC has been having its summer meeting there since the 1970s or earlier. The show will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. If you are just coming for the meeting and a little of the show, great, but it is a wonderful way to spend Labor Day weekend if you have the time and energy. Children are admitted free (unsure of the age limit) and they have a special activity room for meeting philately experts, and collecting free stamps donated by the members. The usual entrance fee for adults is around $10.

For Maryland Masons, this is just across from the road that takes you to the Grand Lodge of Maryland. The address is: 245 Shawan Rd., Hunt Valley, Maryland. (Exit 20E off I-83 north of I-695.)

I know we have missed some possible First Day Covers this year, but I understand that our Cover Chairman will have something special as a giveaway at the meeting. Hopefully it will be related to the program: “Masonic Cowboy Stamps.” Earlier this year, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative set called “Cowboys of the Silver Screen” with four heroes of my and older generations: William S. Hart, Tom Mix (my mother’s favorite), Gene Autry (my personal favorite), and Roy Rogers (once called America’s favorite). Where they all Masons? If so, of which lodges? Is that information lost? Hopefully you will find out at the meeting. It will be a fun program.

As usual this will be an open meeting. Bring guests, friends, children, etc. We will of course have our door prize and cover sales before and after the program. We will vote on any new applications prior to the program, so bring in some membership applications. Hope to see many of you there.

Walter P. Benesch, President, GWMSC


Secretary’s Notes:

Hold Sunday, February 27, 2011, on your calendar for the conferral of the Master of Philately for any Life Member present who has not already received the degree. Details and map here.

Please keep me posted of any e-mail address changes for you or any other Life Member by contacting me at GWMSC1956(at)gmail.com

Trivia: Modern Day “Hidden Masonic Symbols” from the American Revolution: October 16-19, 1981, was the Yorktown Bicentennial Celebration for the 200th anniversary of Rochambeau’s Surrender at Yorktown, which ended the American Revolution. A small Royal Arch symbol watermark, along with the initials “JRA,” appears on eight of the 11 official First Day of Issue covers released by the Yorktown Bicentennial Committee in 1981. This was not a Masonic plot, but was simply a mark left by the YBC’s Philatelic Chairman, yours truly, on the commemorative envelopes he’d designed and produced for the YBC and the Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission. Nearly 50,000 total covers were produced there, including covers for the Rhode Island Heritage Commission’s reenactment of the March to Yorktown. Would these then be considered Masonic covers? That’s a matter of opinion. Probably yes, but primarily because of those Freemasons actually involved in winning American independence (and somewhat because of the Masonic symbol).

Yours in Freemasonry,
John R. Allen, Secretary
    

‘Ceremony at Shakespeare’

    
RW Bro. William J. Thomas, the recently installed Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of New York, will be presented the apron of that high office in a public ceremony on September 2 at Shakespeare Lodge No. 750.

The invitation has all the details.

    

‘Florence Day’

    

Some gravesites become secular shrines for modern pilgrims. (Think Elvis Presley.) Others are the sites of mysterious annual traditions. (The three roses and half-consumed bottle of cognac left for Edgar Allan Poe, for example.) At the final resting place of William J. “Billy” Florence, the nobles of Mecca Shrine Temple initiated a modest commemoration of the life of the co-founder of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. July 25 was that celebration, the third annual Founders Day (on the Sunday closest to the Florence’s birthday), in the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

In 2008, Noble Isaac Moore, who now is Outer Guard of Mecca Shrine in New York City, with then Potentate Mike Quigley, Chief Rabban Sanford Gottesman, and Noble Jim Reichman conceived the event out their fraternal regard for their famous founder, and their unshakable commitment to relishing a day of eating, drinking, and smoking. There was a desire on the part of other Shriners to dress up the event Sunday and make it more officious, but Isaac & Co. are having none of that, and if you know anything about Billy Florence and the creation of the Shriners, you’ll agree with them.

Outside of Masonry, Florence is remembered as a famous actor, which is notable considering the only other actor of that era anyone knows is infamous for murdering the president of the United States. Florence and Walter Fleming were Freemasons who had become frustrated with the absence of an outlet for merriment in Freemasonry. Of course this was the Victorian age, not too long after Freemasonry had left the taverns for its own dedicated temples, having emerged chastened from the devastation wrought by the Morgan scandal. It was a time when grand lodges banned alcohol from its lodges, and when the lectures of the degrees would be transformed from fraternally bonding group interactions to the monologues we know today. Blue Lodge Masonry was solemn and sober, and its charitable impulses were channeled outward to show everybody that Masons were good guys.

Perhaps the most comprehensive history of the Shrine is the book “Parade to Glory” by Fred Van Deventer. It doesn’t appear to be a very candid history – cleaned up for an innocent readership – but it may be the only book on the subject.

Anyway, the weather last Sunday was perfect for an outdoor event. About two dozen Shriners, their ladies, and other Masons like myself were in attendance. Michael G. Severe, Deputy Imperial Potentate, made the trip all the way from his home in Colorado!

The commemoration consisted of readings from Scripture, words of appreciation expressed by Potentate Ted Jacobsen, Severe, High Priest & Prophet Reichman, Oriental Guide Avery Toledo, and others. Past Potentate Gottesman read aloud the lengthy inscription on the bronze tablet in front of Florence’s impressive monument. It is William Winter’s eulogy of Florence:

By Virtue cherished, by Affection mourned

By Honor hallowed and by Fame adorned

Here Florence sleeps, and o’er his sacred rest

Each word is tender and each thought is blest.

Long, for his loss, shall pensive Memory show,

Through Humor’s mask, the visage of her woe

Dale breathe a darkness that no sun dispels,

And Night be full of whispers and farewells;

While patient Kindness shadow-like and dim

Droops in its loneliness, bereft of him

Feels its sad doom and sure decadence high

For how should kindness live, when he could die!

The eager heart, that felt for every grief;

The bounteous hand, that loved to give relief

The honest smile, that blest where’er it lit

The dew of pathos and the sheen of wit:

The sweet, blue eyes, the voice of melting tone

That made all hearts as gentle as his own;

The actor’s charm, supreme in royal thrall

That ranged through every field and shone in all.

For these must Sorrow make perpetual moan

Bereaved, benighted, hopeless and alone

Ah, no! for Nature does not act amiss

And Heaven were lonely but for souls like this.

But about the eating, drinking, and smoking: Most of us adjourned to the Bushwick Country Club, an exclusive resort on Grand Street. Beers, ribs, and oysters, with cigars for some, were enjoyed with great pleasure. A sudden rain kept everyone off the golf course (miniature), but there was plenty else to do.

With some time to pass between the memorial ceremony and lunch at the Country Club, I remained inside the Green-Wood Cemetery to look for Masonic headstones and other notable sights. To wit:

I don’t know who Capt. C.A. Mathisen was, but he must have taken his Freemasonry very seriously. In addition to the Square and Compasses on the front of his mausoleum, there are leaded stained glass windows showing other Masonic symbols on all sides.

Not every Mason’s gravesite was so grand. Here are some more “normal” headstones, but keep scrolling to the end for a special sight.

The name on the mausoleum reads Van Ness Parsons. No indication of a Masonic affiliation, but one would think a man entombed inside this pyramid surely was a Rosicrucian of some kind! Although some websites say he was an Egyptologist, but without saying anything more certain.

Of course that is a sphinx on the right. Flanking the entrance is Jesus as an adult, holding a lamb; and Mary holding the infant Jesus.

I do not know what type of stone this is, but the sphinx is eroding.

A winged solar disk, above the entrance of the pyramid.

    

    

Not far from the main entrance of the cemetery is this sort of Tree of Life mural on the side of a building on 18th Street at Fifth Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

    

‘Number 9’

    
Issue No. 9 of The Journal of the Masonic Society is in the mail to Society members now.

Contents include:

“The Way Less Traveled” – Stephen M. Osborn on some of the intangibles of Masonry.

“A Possible Cabalistic Explanation for the Point within a Circle” by Leon Zeldis.

“Down the Path of Proper Research” – President Michael R. Poll on the benefits of solid scholarship, and the perils of the alternative.

“Our Esoteric Odyssey: How We Resurrected a Long-Lost, 220-Year-Old Masonic Oddity” – a literary labor of love by Randy Williams and Stephen Dafoe.

“A Trip to Cuba: One Man’s View of a Masonic Journey” by Gerald Connally, who went with his lodge brethren to Cuba on a humanitarian mission... only to become honorees in a historic fraternal celebration.

“Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler at Etoile Polaire Lodge No. 1” – Let the good times roll! The Masonic Society at Polar Star Lodge by Marc H. Conrad.

“Masonry in the Mountains: 2010 Masonic Spring Workshop in Kananaskis, Alberta” – Reportage by Editor Randy Williams.

“Alchemy and the First Degree of Freemasonry” – A take on symbolism by Donald J. Tansey.

“Hallowed Halls” – Poetry by Jason E. Marshall.

“The George Washington Masonic Memorial Freemasons’ White House Stones Exhibit” – News from Alexandria by Mark A. Tabbert.

“Cryptic Council of Research” – A York Rite variation of the research lodge model by Jonathan Horvath.

Plus:

President’s Message: “Come on Down and Find Out” – Michael Poll on the great city of New Orleans, where the Society will host its Semi-Annual Meeting, September 24-25.

From the Editor: “Tooting Masonry’s Vuvuzela” – Editor-in-Chief Christopher Hodapp on why the Masonic Order should be clear about its own identity... and not be bashful about it.

Book Reviews:

The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners For The Modern Man, by Brett and Kate McKay.

Haunted Chambers: The Lives of Early Women Freemasons by Karen Kidd.

Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions by Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney.

AND!

Masonic Treasures: Mendocino Lodge No. 179’s Past Master Jewel from 1868, and:

News of the Society

Conferences, Speeches, Symposia & Gatherings

Masonic News from around the world

...and Old Masters Scotch Whisky.

The cover shows “Silence,” by Beaux-Arts sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, located at the Grand Lodge of New York’s Tompkins Chapel in Utica. (Photo by Christopher L. Hodapp.)

Membership in The Masonic Society costs $39 per year, and I promise it will be the best 39 bucks you’ll spend in Masonry.
    

‘Mythology and Mysticism’

    
Mythology Cafe, the New York City chapter of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, met for its monthly dinner-lecture last night, despite the disruption in the neighborhood caused by the visit of President Obama across the street. Our topic was “Mythology and Mysticism” in a conversation capably led by Morrin Bass, one of the principals of the New York Awareness Center.

The understanding of mysticism presented at Mythology Cafe causes me to concentrate especially intently to follow what is being said, as one might if conversing with a person whose primary language is foreign. It is a language barrier I encounter almost every time I attend these meetings. This is not because I’m any kind of ascetic follower of a messiah (I am far more interested in the messages than the messengers), but because I think I see the group’s terminology as the product of modern innovating; it is mostly a pastiche of Jungian psychology and what I can only call “New Age” self-improvement. I am not complaining – and it must be remembered we’re part of the Joseph Campbell Foundation! – but I always think there is a larger context that goes unmentioned or even missed.

In leading our discussion, Dr. Bass explained the purposes of mythology and mysticism, saying, in part, that both are necessary in the communication between the subconscious and the conscious, a process that is essential to those who want to change themselves, which she said is the essence of spirituality. Myths are stories that transcend space and time, using universal archetypes to reach each person on an individual level.

Mysticism, if I understood her correctly, offers a means to affect reality.

Tapping into a modern story to illustrate how transcending time and space can alter contemporary reality, she reminded us of the more serious implications of Back to the Future.

The very popular comedy is a fun movie, for sure, but also one that depicts a youth, with the aid of a wizard-figure, who journeys back through time to “tweak” the character of his father and reshape the present. “It’s up to us what to take as reality,” she said. “Our past can be our future. Our future could be our past.” Persephone, Orpheus, Beowulf, and others were cited as examples of ageless stories of transcending existence.

My own understanding of mysticism is best expressed by the great F.E. Peters, a favorite professor during my university days. From his book Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Works of the Spirit, excerpted:

Mysticism is sometimes taken as the esoteric understanding of God and His works given to a few chosen souls, or as the immediate apprehension of, and even identity with, God Himself. In either case, mysticism found a profound, if occasionally troubled, place in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The sources of the trouble are not far to seek. For one thing, such a privileged understanding seemed to create ‘a church within a church,’ an elite group of believers who, if they did not often trouble those latter members of the flock, certainly troubled their shepherds. And among some of the adepts, their special understanding, their ‘gnosis,’ which they at least thought was more profound, and perhaps even more authentic, than that possessed by the ordinary believer, had the effect of reducing what might be called ‘ordinary revelation’ to an inferior status and, as an occasional corollary, of freeing the adept from the ‘ordinary observance’ prescribed by that other, public revelation. And finally, the mystic’s intuitive leap into the neighborhood, or even the very bosom, of God seemed to violate one of the most profound and strongly held beliefs of the three monotheistic faiths, that in the utter transcendence, the absolute otherness, of God.

Professor Peters’ take on mysticism surely is not foreign to Freemasonry, certain avenues of which are traveled by brethren who discern in its rituals and symbols secrets they appropriate for themselves. I admit to being guilty of this to an extent, but the position held by myself and those like me is not necessarily of our own making. When a member of a private society that exists to explore morality, eschatology, and other adult concerns always is surrounded by fellow members who offer nothing but “kid tested, mother approved” frivolity, even his simple sincerity in studying the rituals and lectures can make him look like an isolated hermit by comparison. He may resign himself to that identity, or embrace it, but it is not entirely of his own creation.

“If a man knows more than others,
he becomes lonely.”

  

C.G. Jung

Everybody should be actuated by both an acknowledgement of a need for self-improvement, and by a strong desire to work toward and achieve that development. I have to do a better job of understanding that there are different methods and language others employ toward that end.

The next meeting of Mythology Cafe will take place Wednesday, August 11 at 7 p.m. at Ciao Stella, located on Sullivan Street, between Bleecker and Third. The topic will be “The Evolution of Religious Belief.” Click here for a description of the topic.

    

‘Yes! We’ve got a video!’

    
Just brought to my attention: a video for the York Rite written and produced by Hodapp.



    

‘Elbow Square’

    

At New Jersey’s 2010 AMD Ingathering today, the ritualists who conferred the Degree of St. Lawrence the Martyr, joined by the brethren who presented papers, rally around Grand Superintendent Paul Ferreira (wearing collar) at the end of the day. Forty-three AMD Masons attended this celebration of Masonic culture at J. William Gronning Council No. 83 in Freehold. Next year’s Ingathering will be hosted by DaVinci Council in Westfield.

On behalf of the Master, Wardens, and brethren of J. William Gronning Council No. 83 of Allied Masonic Degrees, I thank all who contributed to the great success enjoyed today at the 2010 Ingathering. We had three deeply thoughtful papers presented – one meticulously researched academic paper, one cathartic personal essay, and one speculative paper delving into spiritual symbolism – all provocative and gratefully received. Then a Lodge of Saint Lawrence the Martyr was opened on “Elbow Square” to admit dozens of candidates into the Order of St. Lawrence.

Brethren came from across New Jersey, plus Pennsylvania and Upstate New York. Right Venerable Matthew Dupee, Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees, joined us, as did New Jersey’s new Grand Superintendent, RV Paul Ferreira, both praising the scholastic and ritual work on display.

Gronning Council’s own Bro. Ben Hoff presented his well tested thesis titled “Possible Common Origins of the Royal Arch and Master Mason degrees” (with his trademark hand-outs). Excerpted:

Ben Hoff.

“It is often said that the Royal Arch Degree is the ‘completion’ of the Master Mason Degree. This seems apparent from the stories or legends told in the degrees, where the Royal Arch legend focuses on the recovery of the Word whose loss was the principle point of the legend in the Master Mason Degree. The story of Solomon’s Temple and its builders continues. But the word ‘completion’ implies far more than mere connection and continuation. It implies finality and the restoration of essential unity….

“The author of this paper proposes that, at one time, there were two different, competing versions of the Master Mason Degree. One was the Hiramic Legend version disclosed by Samuel Pritchard [in his Masonry Dissected exposure], which continues to this day as the Master’s degree. The other survives, just barely, as the Past Master Degree, with its left over pieces included with an unrelated story in the Royal Arch Degree.”

Bro. Ben draws from a number of embryonic Masonic rituals to illustrate how the MM and RA degrees we know today came to be. It is a dizzying exploration of Masonic history rendered comprehensible thanks to Ben’s finely detailed explanation of it all.

Next, Venerable Howard Kanowitz, Past Sovereign Master of J. Howard Haring Council, asked the stimulating question “So How Come You’re Not a Templar!” Excerpted:

“There are amongst the infinite number of Masonic bodies one I choose to single out amongst several, which outright demand of their members advocacy of a religious point of view. Off and on these several decades since I became a Mason, not many times but enough, I have been asked the same question ‘So, how come you’re not a Templar!’ The answer to that question is the subject of this paper and will call upon all my skills as a whitewater navigator, for I can find no way to address the issue other than to point out the differences between Christian and Jew, and how in the presence of the same God, we got that way.

Howard Kanowitz.

“The object of this paper is not to criticize, nor to advocate. Rather, despite the discomforting words to follow, I write this in the Masonic spirit, as an effort to promote an understanding of a minority view of the religious side of Masonry; to aid in the appreciation of who we are, Christian and Jew.

“As an Entered Apprentice, again as a Fellowcraft, and finally as a Master Mason, I was told – I was assured – that there is no conflict between Masonry and the duty I assume in my understanding of God. I have long held that since there is only one God, the God of us all, that it is only our understanding of God that separates us. The truth as to who got it right and who got it wrong will be revealed to us when God is ready, and I’m willing to take my chances on my chosen religion. You see, I’m not worried about who got it wrong, because I’m not prepared to say that any of the other monotheistic religions got it wrong.”

Venerable Bro. Howard borrowed from various literary works, history, his own experiences, and other sources to explain to the brethren how identification with the Crusades by some Masons can be antagonizing to other Masons, and he did so convincingly and diplomatically.

Along the way, Gronning Council turned itself into a Lodge of Saint Lawrence the Martyr for the purpose of conferring the Degree of St. Lawrence the Martyr, a ritual that is centuries old, and was used by Operative Masons in the shires of northern England. The degree teaches fortitude and humility. A candidate in this degree is said to be “introduced, received and admitted as a Brother of Saint Lawrence.” After the degree, Bro. Ben explained to the brethren that many of the ritual elements of this degree are borrowed directly from English Craft ritual. In fact, the ritual of this degree states that a candidate is “a worthy brother of a lodge dedicated to Saint John,” a serendipitous foreshadowing of the next paper presented.

Bro. Matthew Riddle, a new AMD Mason from the newly chartered DaVinci Council in Westfield, continued the religious theme with his speculative interpretation of the importance of Masonic lodges being dedicated to the Holy Saints John. Excerpted:

Matthew Riddle.

“In the opening of lodge, in the exchange between the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden, we hear it is our obligations that make us Masons. We learn a new obligation for each degree, where we are given new responsibilities and penalties. However, there are a few elements which are found in each of the obligations which too often are passed over; we hear the phrase ‘in this lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, erected to Him and dedicated to the Holy Saints John.’ But what does this mean?”

Bro. Matthew ventures into the New Testament, explaining his understanding of the Gospel of Saint John (“In the beginning was the Word….”) as a path to wisdom and virtue.

He writes: “If John the Baptist represents the Entered Apprentice, the one who wears his apron with the flap turned up, then it is St. John [the Evangelist] who is representative of the transformed man, the Initiate who has been raised and wears the apron with the flap turned down. The ways in which we wear our aprons as the degrees progress is very significant when we understand that the equilateral triangle has always been a symbol of deity and the square has always been a symbol of the manifest world. When the flap is turned up as the Entered Apprentice wears it, our perception and experience of divinity is of a transcendent deity: God is above and outside of us. However, when as a Master Mason, the flap is turned down it is a symbolic gesture of the transformation of our experience of deity. Divinity now is immersed in the manifest world, God is imminent in his Creation and we experience the ‘Divine Indwelling,’ where the Word has become flesh which is one of the main points of emphasis in the Gospel of John.”

In fact, there were common elements found in all the papers presented, and in the degree as well, that unified them as though there was a theme for the day. It was only happenstance, but the harmony of it radiated warmly and brightly for the betterment of the fraternity. (A fourth paper was scheduled for presentation, but the hour was late, and the writer, Bro. Steve Burkle of Cushite Council, graciously offered to withdraw his “The Masonic Ashlar and the Kabbalistic Cube of Space.”)

The 2011 Ingathering will be hosted by DaVinci Council next summer on a date to be announced.