‘Flashback Friday: The Mt. Nebo apron’

     
If I had to choose a favorite aspect of Masonic history—defined by period, rather than subject—I would pick Freemasonry in the United States from Colonial times to the Federalist era. Records, while not scant, are neither abundant nor pregnant with detail, so most of what we know derives from official sources, like grand lodge proceedings, which I believe tend to be more subjective (even political) than candid and complete. This means there are many pieces to find and fit into the puzzle, and it is fun to read what scholars come up with.

Mt. Nebo Lodge No. 91’s historic George Washington apron.

Then there are artifacts: the furniture, regalia, publications, folk art, ephemera, porcelain, ceramics, glassware, pewter, silver, gold, and, in this case, textile crafts that have survived the centuries, enduring inundations, conflagrations, thieving, and neglect. Things you can see and maybe touch today. As today is Independence Day in the United States, the inspiration of this week’s “Flashback Friday” is a certain apron kept for the ages by Mt. Nebo Lodge No. 91 in West Virginia.

Click to enlarge.

This Masonic apron created a buzz three years ago on the occasion of the lodge’s bicentenary celebration, at which time the apron was shared with the Masonic world, making the impression that it was something newly discovered when it really had been displayed on the north wall of the lodge room at Mt. Nebo for generations. That same year coincided with the hosting of the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry by the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria. The apron was displayed proudly inside the main lecture hall where I shot these photos on the first day of the conference. This apron was worn by George Washington. It is not the only such apron, and is not “THE” George Washington apron, which is a misnomer. It was a gift from the Grand Lodge of France, presented to Washington by Marquis de Lafayette.

When the apron was unveiled at ICHF, Worshipful Master George Alwin offered these remarks, copied from the lodge’s website:


“George Washington is known as a man of courage from his life as a general. He is known as a leader from his life as president. But George Washington was known as a man of character by his life as a Mason. During his life, Washington received two French aprons as gifts, which he cherished. One is known as the Watson-Cassoul apron. The second apron was presented to him by his good friend and fellow Mason, General Lafayette of France. That apron is before you now.

“When Brother Washington passed in 1799, the Lafayette apron was sold at a family estate sale for six dollars. Thomas Hammond, husband of Washington’s niece Mildred Washington, bought the apron. Hammond became a member of Mount Nebo Lodge in Shepherdstown, Virginia in 1815, and gave the apron to the lodge as a gift. Shepherdstown became part of West Virginia after the Civil War.

Courtesy Mt. Nebo 91

“In 1892, the apron was loaned to the Grand Lodge of Minnesota for their Annual Communication. In appreciation for the loan of such a valuable object, the Grand Lodge had a beautiful hand-carved frame built to display the apron. The Grand Lodge transported both the apron and the frame to Chicago, where a camera was available to photograph them. That photo is included in the Mount Nebo Lodge Bicentennial Brochure.

“For over a century, the George Washington/Lafayette apron has hung in Mount Nebo Lodge, protected from the sun in a dark lodge room. Without publicity and out of the public eye, it came to be known by many as ‘the Lost Apron.’

“Today, to celebrate the bicentennial of Mount Nebo Lodge No. 91 in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, I am honored to present to you the George Washington/Lafayette Masonic Apron.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

On July 3, 1776, Continental Congress Delegate John Adams, in a letter to Abigail, said of the Fourth of July: “It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” I hope you get some of that today, and I wish you a joyful Independence Day.
     

‘Exeter nixes EXESESO’

     

The Spring issue of ESSWE Newsletter, the periodical of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, reports the closure of Exeter University’s Centre for the Study of Esotericism. The text of the article is reproduced below.
(h/t Mark Stavish.)

Exeter MA in Western Esotericism

and EXESESO Close

By Mark Sedgwick

Exeter University has announced the closure of the Exeter M.A. in Western Esotericism and of the Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO). Both were started in 2005 by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, whose early death in 2012 triggered the closure of the program and of EXESESO.

The program and EXESESO opened in 2005, with Goodrick-Clarke as professor and a number of part-time lecturers, including Peter Forshaw (who now teaches in the Amsterdam M.A. program), Hereward Tilton, Clare Goodrick-Clarke, and Christopher A. McIntosh. It was the third European program of the kind, joining Paris and Amsterdam, from which it differed in that it was a part-time distance-learning program, taken over two years. It was supported financially by the Blavatsky Trust, a British charity set up in 1974 “to advance education in and promote or further the study of or research into religion, philosophy, and science” in cooperation with the Theosophical Society in England.

The program started with eight students, and within five years had admitted more than ninety M.A. students and several Ph.D. students. By 2012, five Ph.D. dissertations had been completed (one on Theosophy), and eight were in process (two on Theosophy). A small cloud over the program’s success was cast by occasional rumors of lack of rigor and of some students failing to distinguish clearly enough between academic study and their own personal practice, however, and according to a senior researcher who preferred to remain anonymous, Exeter was not entirely happy with the program. It consisted of a number of optional modules and two required modules before the thesis, one on “The Western Esoteric Traditions: Historical Survey and Research Methods” and one on “Theosophy and the Globalization of Esotericism.” This perhaps gave Theosophy a slightly more prominent position than some would see as appropriate, but only slightly, as the role that Theosophy has played in the development of modern Western Esotericism has certainly been major.

Goodrick-Clarke’s early death in 2012 marked the beginning of the end. According to Exeter’s press office, the decision to close the center and program followed “an internal review and discussions with the [Blavatsky] Trust,” and Goodrick-Clarke’s death “sat alongside consideration for the program as a whole.” Exeter’s press office was unable to comment on the conclusions of the internal review, but there were suggestions that it was not entirely positive. Exeter has made arrangements for the centre’s remaining Ph.D. students to complete their projects in the history department, where there are still scholars working on related subjects, such as Richard Noakes, whose research interests include Victorian psychical research, and Catherine Rider, who recently published Magic and Religion in Medieval England. But Europe now once more has only two M.A. programs in Western Esotericism, not three, which is an unfortunate setback for the development of the study of Western Esotericism in Europe.
     

‘Rosicrucian Digest: Martinism’

     

The new issue of Rosicrucian Digest, the periodical of the Rosicrucian Order, is devoted entirely to the subject of Martinism. It is the sixteenth such thematic issue expounding on aspects of the Rosicrucian tradition. The Rosicrucian Order’s sister society is named the Traditional Martinist Order.

As always, the Digest is available on-line, and there even are occasional on-line discussions on Facebook for further learning. 


The contents:

The Traditional Martinist Order—Introduction

Martinism: History of a Traditional Order

Take Back My Will by Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin

Martinist Lessons

Aurora: Jacob Boehme

Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin

Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings by Martinès de Pasqually

Of Errors and Truth by Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin

What Becomes of the Dead by Papus

Traditional Martinist Order Discourse: Kabbalah

Ieschouah, Grand Architect of the Universe

The Cloak

Martinism: The Way of the Heart

The Holy Spirit


Supplementary web articles also:

The Judeo-Christian Aspect of Martinism

Jakob Boehme: The Spiritual Awakening of the Teutonic Philosopher

The ‘Stage Set’ for the Agent of Omneity

The Traditionalist Martinist Order and Sacred Scriptures

On Equilibration: The Rose Cross Martinist at the Still Center

The Kabbalah: Secret Tradition of the West

The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix


I’m guessing there will be lectures and other programs on Martinism coming soon to the Rosicrucian Cultural Center, and I’ll pass along that information as it come.
     

‘Endeavour: Series Two’

     

Two years almost to the day after its American debut, the ITV detective series Endeavour, the prequel story to the popular Inspector Morse mystery series, returned to PBS this evening, concluding just minutes ago. This episode, titled “Trove,” sheds further light on the eponymous detective’s disdain for a particular “ancient fraternity.”

Roger Allam as D.I. Fred Thursday.

Long story short: Oxford police investigate two homicides and a burglary that are linked. Of course it is young Morse who breaks the cases and brings the guilty to justice. The guilty are shown to be Freemasons who rely on one another for criminal conspiracy. A third character, a police sergeant, confides to Morse that he has been tapped to join the local lodge; it is thought that this man makes a certain crucial piece of evidence disappear early in the inquiry into the first murder. Morse cautions him: You cannot serve two masters. Eventually, you’ll have to choose.

In one of the final scenes, one of the killers desperately appeals to Morse, first suggesting it’s not too late to make more evidence disappear, but then warning him that he’s making powerful enemies who will destroy everything he holds dear.

Hmmph! The notion that a Mason would be unethical, and that another Mason would cover for him is… is preposterous.

It’s a great television program Check your local listings, or view here.
     

‘Flashback Friday: Three Extinct Knocks’

     
I had meant for Flashback Friday to be a weekly feature here for telling you about events that I’d neglected to write about in a timely manner, but I haven’t even posted Flashbacks on time. It’s not for a lack of overdue subject matter, believe me. I never even addressed the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry at Alexandria, and that was three years ago and alone merits several thousand words, plus a few dozen photos. I’ll get to it. Eventually.

But today we travel back to Friday, February 8, 2013 when the Grand College of Rites met for its annual meeting at Reston, Virginia. I confess my notes from this occasion are with That Which Was Lost, but the meaningful artifact—my copy of Volume 22, Part 1 of Collectanea, distributed to members in attendance and later mailed to those wherever dispersed over the face of the earth—is handy. I really have been remiss in not telling you earlier about this great service to Masonry.

But first—and bear with me a minute—speaking of ICHF 2011, early in the conference, Professor William D. Moore, then of UNC-Wilmington and now of Boston University, presented “Darius Wilson, Confidence Games, and the Limits of American Fraternal Respectability, 1875-1915.” Excerpted from his abstract:

“This presentation will examine the forty-year career of Darius Wilson, who founded the Royal Arcanum, assumed the title of ‘Grand Master of the Venerable Symbolic Grand Lodge Ancient Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry for the United States of America,’ and claimed to have developed a cure for deafness. Between 1875 and 1915, Wilson was both hailed for providing insurance to poverty-stricken immigrants and decried as a fraud who foisted worthless fraternal, medical, and financial certificates upon a credulous public. A resident of Boston, Massachusetts, Wilson was a member of Rochester, New York’s Yonnondio Lodge No. 163, F&AM, before he was expelled. Subsequently he was repeatedly arrested and tried for improperly selling Masonic degrees.

William D. Moore at ICHF 2011.

“Wilson provides a case study for the exploration of issues of authority, legitimacy, and confidence within the American industrializing economy, and will provide new perspectives for understanding both fraternalism and Progressive cries for governmental regulation at the birth of the twentieth century.”

With that taste of context established, here are some of the salient details and eye-catching curiosities from this volume of Collectanea, titled “Darius Wilson’s Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Ancient and Accepted Scottish Free Masons of the United States of America,” edited by Arturo de Hoyos, Grand Archivist of the Grand College of Rites.

The book opens with several pieces of Masonic legal documents concerning the expulsion from Freemasonry of Darius Wilson, deemed an impostor. It was March 1902 when the charges made against Wilson were sent to Charles W. Mead, Grand Master of New York. Wilson was accused of “clandestinely and unlawfully” assisting in conferring the degrees of Masonry upon one Theodore A Tripp. Wilson answered the charge with a denial, but a finding of facts states that Wilson, acting at his professional office located at 41 West 24th Street in Manhattan (only steps from the previous Masonic Hall, headquarters of the Grand Lodge of New York, which meets there still today, in two buildings constructed approximately a decade later) did serve as a senior deacon in ceremonies that imparted the grips, signs, and words of the degrees of Craft Masonry, allegedly under the auspices of a lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge of Ohio on Friday, December 13, 1901.

Evidence in the case against Wilson included a handbill advertising the availability of the degrees of Masonry, courtesy of “the new Grand Lodge of Ohio,” which stated it was forming Masonic lodges in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and in New England. This document runs several hundred words, but I’ll quote the first sentences to show the more things change, the more they stay the same. See if this reminds you of the lunacy seen all over the internet, thanks to self-described, self-initiated, and self-deluded “Masons” who create or lend their names to websites that purport to be lodges, among other shams.

“Would you like to be a Mason? There is no patent right on Masonry, and no man or body of men have exclusive jurisdiction to work any degrees thereof. All Rites of Masonry are equally legitimate and regular.”

In a document offered by Wilson in his defense, the same logic was applied toward the High Degrees of Masonry and even the Shrine, as memberships in something dubbed King Edward Consistory 32° and something else named Aleppo Temple of the Mystic Shrine were offered free of charge to the intrepid men of the new Masonry. “Our Scottish Rite is neither the Northern or Southern Jurisdiction or either of the ‘Cerneau Rite’ Supreme Councils, but it is the genuine Scottish Rite as worked in Scotland, and ours is the only Supreme Council that was ever authorized by Free Masons of Scotland to work the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in the United States. If you desire to take the degrees from the 4° to the 32° inclusive, and can come to my New York office during my office hours… I will arrange to have the degrees conferred upon you without any cost to you whatever, after which I can offer you something of perhaps greater interest.”

You get the idea, but I’ll point out the inconsistency of both insisting that “all Rites of Masonry are equally legitimate and regular,” and boasting of having “the genuine Scottish Rite as worked in Scotland.” Of course it is hilarious, especially if you possess a rudimentary knowledge of Scottish Rite, but it also is a “logic” key to today’s fakes, phonies, and frauds.

Courtesy Prof. Moore

In the end, Wilson—who is identified as grand master of this rite by a note within the text of the ritual—was expelled from the Grand Lodge of New York. Collectanea is unambiguous with the facts of Masonic jurisprudence; Professor Moore’s paper was lenient with Wilson.




(I chatted with Moore after his presentation, and it turns out he was a volunteer at the Livingston Library years ago.)

Now, to the ritual.

The language of these EA, FC, and MM degrees is, for the most part, easily recognizable to Masons today. The origins of these degrees are unknown, but there are elements of French work and custom. In fact, the Grand Orient is mentioned several times in the text in ways that suggest a relationship. French Rite ritual had been used in New York City in Grand Lodge of New York lodges for more than a century by this point. Regardless, there are unfamiliar idioms, some quirky, others hugely significant.

The Lodge Opening: The lodge is “well guarded,” not tiled. The Wardens, not Deacons, take up the Word. The Word is changed semi-annually. Visitors remain outside until after the “Family Work” (lodge business) is completed. Business is done on the EA Degree. The lodge is alternately called the “Respectable Lodge” and “Respectable Workshop.”

The lodge is opened, in part, with the members, in unison, giving a sign, a battery, and this, “the mysterious acclamation”: “Houze. Houze. Houze.” Or “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” (This “houze,” as best I can guess, is a cousin of “huzzah,” a variation of “hurrah” or “hooray.” Anyone knowing for sure is asked to post a comment below.) In voting, the members raise their right arms, and “noisily” slap their hands on their thighs. To speak, a member first must obtain permission from the Master (imagine that) and, while speaking, make a hand gesture that I take to be a familiar one to Apprentices.

The initiation: An officer named Master Expert attends to visitors, ensuring they can prove themselves. Candidates for initiation are seated in the East, where the Master tends to interrogatories. These questions, perhaps unsurprisingly because we don’t know what, if any, inquiries were made into the characters and standings of prospective members, are not queries meant to elicit biographical information, but are mostly rhetorical questions intended to justify to the candidate the lodge’s existence. For example:

“If Masonry is good, why should not all good Masons rejoice when any profane is made a Mason, no matter whether by one Rite or another?”

And:

“Do you know that the Ancient and Accepted or Scottish Rite Masonry, the kind practiced by us, is the only universal Masonry—that is, the only kind that is practiced in nearly all, if not in all, countries of the world?”

Indeed, this appears to be a French Rite, or often called Scottish Rite, Entered Apprentice Degree, very similar to what the celebrated Garibaldi Lodge No. 542 works in Italian in New York City. There is Brother Terrible. There is “swordplay,” I guess I’ll call it. There are symbolic trials of fortitude and endurance, and sensory stimuli (e.g., a drink of water flavored with quassia). There are philosophical questions posed to the candidate by the Master (e.g., “What is ignorance?” “What is your opinion of fanaticism and superstition?” “What is error?”)

A first journey (widdershins) involves various spatial challenges, and symbolizes life’s passions, conflicts, and obstacles. A second journey (clockwise) is easier deliberately to symbolize “the effect of constancy in following the road of virtue.” A third journey, from West to East, is conducted silently and effortlessly as reward for perseverance.

There are two obligations. The first is rightly called an obligation for the way its bonds the candidate to his new brethren; the second is actually an oath, for the way it binds the candidate to the authority of his new lodge and grand lodge. The language of both is standard Masonic usage, and the penalty of the degree is consistent with what you’d expect.

There is the “triple bise,” as our French brethren might say, although this one includes a plant on the lips. No comment.

The second degree: It is worked in a Lodge of Companions. The degree strikes me as mostly standard European Masonic ritual, except for a few conspicuous allowances for modernity. The Industrial Revolution never impacted the ritual my lodge works, and I bet the same can be said of yours. Here, however, we find a frankly delightful alchemical nod to Bro. James Watt:

“Among men, one of the manifestations of life is the movement of blood, like the movements in a steam engine, which are repetitions of expansions and condensations of steam. In the engine, the actuating force is the fire which changes the water into steam in the boiler. Forced to find an outlet, the steam pushes the piston and excapes by an orifice to be condensed by the cold air, and returned to a reservoir as water, [and] reintroduced into the boiler by a feeding pump. This is perpetual so long as the fire, water, and air are thus utilized.”

And a moment later, some thoughts on natural electricity from the Worshipful Master—and remember this comes from the early years of man-made electricity. Excerpted:

“With electricity, the most intense heat known to man can be produced. Under its devouring influence, the metals volatize in an instant, and stones melt like the snow in a hot fire.”

The Number Five is presented by five symbolic journeys about the lodge, each involving a pair of working tools or Liberal Arts and Sciences. Most are familiar, but there also is the “pinch,” a small crowbar. The five physical senses are discussed as “symbols of our spiritual faculties.” And the letter G? It is “the image of universal intelligence,” as Geometry supports Astronomy, which “has given us the courage to measure the sun, moon and myriad other stars…”

It is worth noting that the Word of the Rose Croix Degree is imparted here, as explanatory of the neophyte’s fourth journey in this degree.

The third degree: A Lodge of Masters, termed the Middle Chamber, receives the Companion seeking advancement in the form of “an augmentation of salary.” You know what he’s getting at. The talk, again, goes philosophical, as the candidate is asked to describe his understandings of “right,” justice, and conscience. Whatever his answers, it is the Worshipful Master who informs the lodge that:

“Right is that which we are permitted to do in accordance with the dictates of our conscience. Each man has the right to assure, protect, and develop his material existence, his intellectual faculties, and his moral qualities…. Justice is the highest of virtues; it makes us respect the rights of others and render to each that which belongs to him. This virtue is then essential to every true Mason…. Conscience is the sense of justice which we have naturally in us in our quality of reasonable beings. It is the cry from the heart of man, the marvelous voice which he hears from the depths of his soul, which tells him that which is just and good, and which saves him from inclination to evil.”

The Wilson ritual’s greatest departure from the work standard in most of America is embodied by “the cooling corpse.” There is no candidate raising in this MM°, but rather the Companion is conducted toward a coffin (occupied by the previously made MM, dubbed the Respectable Master). The trials of our GMHA are consistent with what you know, but with a different tool here, and a different injury there, and the hurried burial of “Hiram Abiff or Adon Hiram” (sic) differs a bit, but in the degree’s spiritual essence we see something highly unusual.

Arturo de Hoyos at the meeting.

The exemplar MM in the coffin is raised to his feet in a way you’ll know. The Worshipful Master exclaims: “Our Master has returned today. He is reborn in the person of [candidate’s name].” Of course, the talk of rebirth catches the eye. The mainstream of Freemasonry does not promise the supernatural, especially in the forms of resurrection or reincarnation. The degree continues, taking another Rose Croix turn with the WM saying “Thus day by day, each hemisphere afflicted by the absence of the father of light, assumes again, when he reappears, its cheerfulness and brilliant dress; thus, the torch of genius and of truth dissipates the shades of ignorance and error.” The Wardens reply: “Let us unite, my Brothers, to celebrate the return of light and truth.” Then follows the obligation (no surprises), and the instruction in the Five Points of Mastership: “hand to hand I greet you as a Brother; foot to foot I will support you in all your laudable undertakings; knee to knee the posture of my daily supplication shall remind me of your wants; breast to breast, your lawful secrets, when entrusted to me as such, I will keep as my own; and hand over back, I will support your character in your absence as in your presence.”

At the end, the Worshipful Master delivers the Allocution, a fairly lengthy and poetic legendary history of Masonry that renders GMHA superior over Solomon, as it is Hiram who is “the personification of humanity working and struggling without ceasing, succumbing sometimes, but always returning stronger, more active and more courageous to continue the march and arrive at the supreme end—eternal truth.”

▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼ ▲▼

Pierre 'Pete' Normand
Grand Chancellor, 2013

At our meeting back on February 8, 2013, a new Grand Chancellor was installed. Pierre “Pete” Normand of Texas is well known about the apartments of the Temple, especially the libraries and reading rooms. He most definitely is an education Mason, perhaps best known for championing the 21st century revival in American Masonry that has become known collectively as the “Traditional Observance” movement. Pete’s lodge, St. Albans No. 1455 in College Station, helped spark that revolution when he co-founded it ... in 1992!

In other news, the College’s Knight Grand Cross was awarded to several greatly surprised brethren. It was fun watching Bill Brunk, Paul Johnson, and Joe Manning be summoned to the East, and a great honor to stand with them and receive the prestigious award. I don’t want to gush, but I’ll say it means a lot.

     

‘One flew east, one flew west’

     

Fantasy Films

‘Summer Solstice with the Rosicrucians’

     
I am looking forward to the “Sophia Tradition” lecture later today at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center (6:30 at 2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. in NYC, if you’re interested), but coming Saturday afternoon, the Rosicrucian Order will celebrate the Summer Solstice.

From the publicity:

The Summer Solstice is one of the four solar celebrations of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the height of Summer, and provides a time of the greatest power of the Light. In celebration of this festival, which has been commemorated throughout human history, Rosicrucians consider the harmony of the four elements.

Our discussion will include a consideration of the significance of the Solstice in world spirituality and cultures across the ages, and astrological and other esoteric considerations. Participants are invited to share their own experiences of the Summer of the year, and its resonances in their lives.

The facilitator of this workshop, Steven A. Armstrong is a professional historian, philosopher, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay area. He serves at the Grand Lodge in Membership Services. He is an active member of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC and the Traditional Martinist Order, serving as an officer in both.

The workshop will take place from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. At three o’clock the Imperator's Universal Attunement Exercise will begin.


At the same time on Saturday and continuing into Sunday at Rosicrucian Park in San Jose, California, the Rosicrucian Order will host these events:

Saturday

Noon – Imperator’s Universal Attunement (Grand Temple)

12:30 – Summer Solstice Ceremony (Grand Temple)

1:30 – Tour of the Rosicrucian Research Library

Sunday

Noon – Rosicrucian Peace Day Ceremony in the Rosicrucian Peace Garden

12:30 – Tour of Rosicrucian Park
     

‘What would a wise person do now?’

     
It’s such a simple idea couched within that easy question.

What would a wise person do now?

It is the overall theme of Part 1 of the School of Practical Philosophy’s five-section course of instruction in workable wisdom. That’s practical philosophy—the lessons deal in What Is, and not the speculative What If.

I am winding down my first term as a student in the School, with a penultimate class this evening and the final class next Friday at the School’s townhouse on East 79th Street. I have decided, without any hesitation, to proceed into the second course, aptly named Part 2, which will begin in late September and run into early December. While I have promoted hundreds of events over the years, and encouraged Magpie readers to attend them, it’s very rare that I push membership in any group, but the School of Practical Philosophy surely would be of interest to anyone who regularly reads this website.

Part 1 is a fast-moving pastiche of disparate topics. It is introductory, geared to touch on ten ponderous, vital techniques of realization. At their root is Plato’s hopeful belief that wisdom is innate within each of us, and the lessons clear pathways in the mind by imparting exercises that compel wisdom to triumph over equally instinctive obstacles (e.g., ego, emotions, negative feelings, desires, et al.) so that a state of higher consciousness can be attained and can become one’s default setting in every waking moment. It’s about attaining a state of being, not just a state of mind.

I suppose that is too ambitious after only the introductory ten weeks, but after eight Friday nights, I do not doubt that after assiduous study through the five courses it is attainable, and I expect to work my way through to the end. (I should mention there are no exams or quizzes. You learn because you want to learn.)

It would be wrong to reveal details of the School’s proprietary instruction, and it is not my job to intrude into their marketing, but just to share a bit of what we have covered these past weeks, I’ll explain a little.

In any explanation of the School, it is necessary to begin with The Exercise, a multi-stage, yet silent and motionless, process that arouses one’s waking consciousness. Again, I won’t give it away, but it is an activity of the mind—not to be confused with meditation, which is something else—that focuses on the five physical senses to squelch the confusions, distractions, stresses and other externalities that actually cause us to go about our day in a state of “waking sleep,” meaning we can be engaged in our usual daily activities without being fully mentally aware.

It works. And it is something worth undertaking more than once a day—as an antidote whenever the concerns and employments of the world threaten to lessen our ability to be fully awake.

Some of the principal principles of Part 1:

What would a wise person do now? – It’s so deceptively simple. This uncomplicated idea, when put into practice—again, remember this is about practical philosophy—can have the result of changing you. Had I the presence of mind to ask myself this question earlier in life, I could have avoided all manner of trouble and aggravation countless times. What would a wise person do now? It applies to any occasion. Try it.

My word is my bond. – You say you’ll meet your friend at eight o’clock, but you don’t arrive until 8:20. Every time. It’s not a superficial tic. It is a discrepancy between who one claims to be, and who one is. And of course it is a principle that applies to far more serious matters.

Whoever or whatever is in front of you is your teacher. – As observation is the primary method used in the course, we are to practice approaching life with an open mind, and we begin to see more clearly what is true and what is not true.

What you give your attention to grows. – In the process of waking up, there are only two useful states of attention: Attention Open, where the attention is not caught by anything in particular, but open to everything in general; and Attention Centered, where the attention is focused on one thing with great clarity and precision. Choice is possible only when we begin to wake up.

There are many more. You get a few of these principles and practices each week.

In addition to schools located around the country, the School of Practical Philosophy offers distance learning. Whichever your choice, go for it. I cannot imagine anyone regretting it. It is a wise thing to do.
     

‘St. John’s Fest at Anthroposophy NYC’

     
On the first full day of summer—Sunday, June 22—the Anthroposophical Society in New York City will host its St. John’s Fest, a Festival Celebration and Potluck with Music, Song, Poetry, Thoughts, Food, and Friends at four o’clock. From the publicity:

St. John’s Tide is traditionally celebrated with a huge evening bonfire, around which we give back to the cosmos offerings of song, music and poetry. We won’t have a bonfire in our auditorium, but will certainly have music, song, and poetry. The opening presentation will be by Joyce Reilly. The artistic programming is coordinated by Dorothy Emmerson. As is our custom, we invite you into a beautifully decorated space, and will provide all liquid refreshment. The offerings of our buffet table are up to you. Please bring something yummy and seasonal to share with all.

Courtesy Anthroposophy NYC

We depend on your donations to make events like this possible so we’re suggesting a $5 donation to cover costs.

The program will begins at 4 p.m. Please plan to arrive by 3:30 to set out your food and get settled. We look forward to a delightful Mid-Summer festival. Contact Phoebe: email phoebe(at)artopathy.com.
     

‘Stories That Can Change Your Life’

     
I’m drafting a Magpie post that will praise the School of Practical Philosophy, and explain why you should enroll, but in the meantime an unsolicited, unremunerated, etc. advertisement of upcoming events we learned about in class last night.

Next month, a three-night series titled “Stories That Can Change Your Life” is scheduled. Each night is to be unique in content, and requires separate registration. (This is the New York City school on East 79th Street.) From the publicity:

Stories That Can Change Your Life

Can a story change your life?

An ancient legend teaches that if you enter a spice shop and do not even buy anything, you will leave smelling a little differently than when you walked in. So it is with stories, with their capacity to enrich and enlarge our lives and remind us of truths we may have forgotten.

Come listen to “Stories That Can Change Your Life” three Mondays in July. Invite family and friends for evenings of good company, engaging conversation and light refreshments.

Click on these links for tickets: Mondays, July 7, 14, and 21
at 7 p.m. $10 each evening.


Also, Mr. David Beardsley will return to the school on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. to present his lecture “Homer’s Odyssey as Spiritual Quest,” described thusly:

Along with the Iliad, Homer’s Odyssey is the wellspring of Western literature. It offers a glimpse into the lives of humans and gods in ancient Greece and a rousing adventure story with evil monsters, beautiful goddesses and narrow escapes. But it’s also an allegory of a soul journeying from multiplicity and strife back to unity and love. Overcoming trials and temptations, including a visit to Hades, Odysseus casts off his warlike persona and learns to restrain his senses and desires. In this presentation we will trace his return from darkness to light, his reunion with his family, and his reclaiming “my very self,” the rightful ruler of “my native land.”

$15 per person. Click here for tickets.


I attended Mr. Beardsley’s lecture last month, and can tell you it is very worthwhile, and that tickets sell out.
     

‘BOTA Vibratory Attunement’

     
Builders of the Adytum in Philadelphia will host—and open to the public—a special ritual working later this month. This Vibratory Attunement Ritual will be worked Saturday, June 21 at 3 p.m. (after the regular 1 p.m. study group) at the First Unitarian Church, located at 2125 Chestnut Street.

From the publicity:

Courtesy BOTA

BOTA members, their guests, and the general public are invited to participate in this beautiful ritual of healing and transmutation by building patterns of harmony through ancient vibratory formulae of color and sound.

I attended a presentation of this ritual in April in Manhattan, and I found it very interesting. Knowing only a whiff of conversational knowledge about esoteric uses of sound and color, I was very lost, but not hopeless. The ritual involves enough elements that are very familiar (archangels, cardinal directions, prayer, meditation, Scriptural passages, et al.) so that those experienced in other esoteric streams can grasp what’s being done.
     

‘The moon is in the east’

   
“When the sun and the moon are separated by the entire extent of the firmament, and the moon is in the east with the sun over against her in the west, she is completely relieved by her still greater distance from his rays, and so, on the fourteenth day, she is at the full, and her entire disc emits its light.”

Vitruvius
The Ten Books of Architecture
Book IX, Chapter 2


It’s a pleasure to read Vitruvius. Augustus was fond of saying how he found Rome built of brick but left it made of marble, but history remembers it was Vitruvius who made the transformation a reality. His decalogue on architecture encompasses far more than the technical know-how on constructing enduring buildings for all human needs. He provides insight into the ancient mind, and how it knowingly set about ordering life in that age. That long sentence quoted above is Vitruvius borrowing from Berosus, the Chaldean historian.

Moonlit Sea by Shoda Koho, woodblock print, 1920.

Anyway, you know the Summer Solstice is near when the Rosicrucian Order’s monthly Full Moon Meditation comes at the nine o’clock hour. I recommend this rewarding experience to you, and remember it is not necessary to be a member of the Order to participate.

June’s Full Moon Meditation will take place on Friday the 13th at 9:30 p.m. I have class at the School of Practical Philosophy and cannot join you, but gather at the Rosicrucian Cultural Center (2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. in Manhattan) for a period of mindfulness exercise at 9:30, after which the group will proceed to a nearby park for more spiritual work under the gaze of the full moon.

Trust me, if you’ve never done such a thing, this is fun if nothing else, but if you know about meditation, then this exercise will suit you in ways more direct.
     

‘Rosicrucian Mystical Weekend’

     
The Rosicrucian Cultural Center in New York City (2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard) will host its June Mystical Weekend.

Saturday, June 7

1 to 5 p.m.

Discuss Spiritual Laws with Dr. Lonnie Edwards,

author of Spiritual Laws that Govern Humanity

and the Universe.

Sunday, June 8

1 to 3 p.m.

Second Temple Degree Review Forum

with Julian Johnson (open to members

in the Second Temple Degree or beyond).

3 to 3:30

Guided Meditation: overall exercise

and vowel intonations.

3:30 to 4

Silent Meditation

4 to 5 p.m.

Convocation