‘Journal of the Masonic Society 46’

     
Editor-in-Chief Michael Poll announces the new Journal of the Masonic Society:

Issue 46 of The Journal of the Masonic Society is at the printers. Before long, it will be showing up in the mailboxes of members and subscribers. The line-up for this issue is an impressive one. Papers include:

• “Personal Ritual: A Contemplative Tool for Masonry Beyond the Lodge,” by C.R. Dunning, Jr.
• “Ancient Charges Scroll Case: Putting Craftsmanship Back into the Craft,” by Martin Bogardus
• “Who Are We, and Where Do We Stand?” by Robert L. Poll
• “The Boyer Model of Scholarship: Application to the Craft,” by Michael L. Moran and Seth C. Anthony
• “The Symbolism of Preparation,” by Mark St. John
• “Brother, Brother - Brother, Brothers,” by Anthony Whitehawk Cabello
• “Concept of Masonic Renewal: What Does it Mean to You Now and in the Future?” by Christian M. Christensen
• “Why Freemasonry?” by Barry A. Searle
• “Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism: Ludibrium or Logic?” by Michael E. Ludwig

The great collection of reading in this issue will also include the regular book reviews, “Editor’s Corner,” W. Bro. Greg Knott’s great “Camera’s Lens” feature, W. Bro. John Bridegroom’s “Masonic Treasures,” and more. If you are not a member or subscriber, you should be!


And in other Journal news, Mike shared this recently:


I have an announcement to make concerning The Journal of the Masonic Society that I am not happy about, and a second one that does bring me pleasure. First, it is with regret that I announce the retirement of Bro. Tyler Anderson as Book Reviews Editor of The Journal. I have very much enjoyed working with Bro. Anderson, and his work for the Society has been outstanding. We all wish him the greatest success in the future.

So, who will be the new Book Reviews Editor? That brings me to the second announcement. It is with pleasure that I announce the appointment of Bro. and Dr. Michael Moran as the new Book Reviews Editor of The Journal of the Masonic Society. Bro. Moran comes to us with considerable editorial experience and has been a frequent contributor to The Journal. I know Bro. Moran from his work with the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge and do look forward to working with him. I know he will bring The Journal top quality work and reviews.


The next major event on the Masonic Society calendar will be our annual meeting during the Masonic Week festivities on Friday, February 7, 2020. Come here Bro. Mark Tabbert present his new research into the Masonic life of George Washington, and enjoy a great meal together. The reservations info should be available soon.
     

‘New Jersey’s Masonic lodges’

      

Lots of great news coming out of the weekend.

Research lodge’s

festive board

First, mark your calendars for Saturday, November 30 for New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786’s Festive Board at Cranbury Inn. That’s the Feast Day of St. Andrew, patron saint of Scottish Freemasonry. Details are still being worked out, but 65 guests are welcome at $40 each, payable in advance. I’ll have more info soon and will post it on the Magpie.

A brother’s book

to be published

A relatively new Master Mason, Bro. Erich Huhn, will have a book published next month. New Jersey’s Masonic Lodges is due out October 28 from Arcadia Publishing. This is one of those 128-page paperbacks filled entirely with archival photographs that Arcadia prints. $21.99, available for preorder. From the publicity:

Across New Jersey, thousands of men have entered through the doors of Masonic Lodge buildings, also known as “temples,” over the fraternity’s more than 250-year history in the Garden State. These buildings, from humble meeting spaces to elaborate single-purpose centers, stand tribute to the memory and influence of one of the oldest fraternities in the world, founded on the tenets of faith, hope, and charity. From governors and U.S. Supreme Court justices, to carpenters and stonemasons, Freemasonry has welcomed men from all walks of life, and the temples they built have played important roles in the civic, social, and charitable life of many towns. Although some lodges have been lost, many still remain and are presented here for the first time through photographs and images collected from various historical societies, museums, libraries, and Masonic organizations. This book attempts not to serve as an encyclopedic source but rather to catalog and organize the development of the Masonic temples in New Jersey.

Erich Morgan Huhn is a historian of Freemasonry and fraternalism and a member of Cincinnati Lodge 3 in Morristown. He has degrees from Rider University and Seton Hall University. His work focuses on demographics and social history, with a concentration on the Freemasons and fraternities of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Adam, Ryan,

and Yasser to speak

I haven’t seen any of these outstanding Masons in years, especially Adam, and it’ll be good to shake their hands again.

Admission is free. This flier says it all. See you there.

Click to enlarge.

     

‘How to serve as lodge historian’

     
Busy day today. This morning, at New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, I presented this brief talk on the practical means of serving as historian of your lodge. This evening, I’ll do it again in J. William Gronning Council 83 of Allied Masonic Degrees. Fortunately, both groups meet in the same place: Hightstown-Apollo Lodge 41 in Hightstown, New Jersey.

What we have here is nothing I have written myself, but is an item I discovered inadvertently in the pages of the Grand Lodge of California’s annual book of proceedings for 1919. Actually, it originates in a Grand Lodge of Texas report, but I have not been able to find that. I don’t know if it also is from 1919 or from a previous year, or in what form it takes.

These books are excellent starting points for research into Freemasonry. They contain tons of statistics on demographics, finances, lodge locations, and other data, so much of the content is quite dry, but there also are written texts that make for interesting reading. The grand master’s message to the grand lodge assembled is one such item. Of wider interest is the report of the correspondence committee, assuming the committee has material to work with and that it knows what to do. What happens—or should happen—is the grand lodges in amity with the grand lodge in question send in their news (sometimes their own books of proceedings) to the correspondence committee, and this committee collates the information, selects what is thought to be most relevant, and compiles it all in its report for publication (not for reading aloud to the grand lodge meeting). Some grand lodges provide only basic news of who has been elected/appointed to grand rank, of notables who have died, and maybe some major legislation that passed. But then, other grand lodges provide troves of information for the enlightenment of Masons wherever dispersed about the face of the earth.

I gather that is what happened here. The Grand Lodge of Texas forwarded to California this primer on what a lodge historian can do to preserve the story of his lodge, keeping information that otherwise would go the way of most ephemera, so that future generations may know the real way and manner others have gone before. It’s a solid framework, but of course it could be expanded, depending on the needs and wants of your lodge.

Also, as you read, do keep in mind that this dates to an era when lodges were being chartered rapidly and in numbers across the nation.

So, here it is, verbatim from the book:

GRAND LODGE OF CALIFORNIA

BOOK OF PROCEEDINGS

1919

Correspondence Committee Report

HISTORY

If the Educational Committee could enlarge their activities so as to gather valuable material regarding the past history of the men and events connected with Masonry that are not embodied in the Grand Lodge Proceedings, and which will soon be lost, they would perform a lasting service.

The same statement also applies to individual Lodges. It is a most interesting study, but like the work of a Correspondence Committee, it must be necessarily a labor of love.

Texas

With a view to uniformity and comprehensiveness, and to assist those Brethren appointed to prepare their lodge histories, we suggest the following skeleton or outline of the work, which should be varied according to circumstances. And we here remark that all members of the lodge should lend their assistance and co-operation in this work, especially in gathering up the facts that do not appear in the lodge records.

SKELETON OR OUTLINE

OF LODGE HISTORY

CHAPTER I

Section 1 Geographical location surroundings, history, population, development and general conditions social, and otherwise, of the community

Section 2 Preliminary steps to formation of the lodge. Names of the Brethren actively concerned in the movement and of those who signed the petition for the dispensation or charter, their occupations. Masonic records and brief biographies. Other particulars of interest connected with them or the lodge in its early stages.

Section 3 If an old lodge formed prior to the adoption of the present form, a full copy of the petition with signatures would doubtless be of interest. Give name and number of the lodge that recommended the petition.

Section 4 To what Grand Master or Deputy Grand Master the petition was presented. His action thereon and the date. Names of the Brethren appointed Master and Wardens of the new lodge.

Section 5 When, by whom, and in what building the lodge was opened under dispensation. Minutes of the first several meetings or copious extracts or summaries thereof showing how the new lodge started off.

Section 6 If an old lodge chartered prior to adoption of present form, a full copy with signatures of the petition for a charter. To what Communication of the Grand Lodge was it presented, when, and where did the Grand Lodge meet, the report of the Committee on Lodges Under Dispensation or other committee thereon, and the action of the Grand Lodge. If refused, follow up the doings of the lodge till the charter was granted.

Section 7 Where, by whom, and in what building was the lodge constituted. Names of its officers given in the charter and installed, minutes or summary thereof, and the social or other functions incident to the occasion, if any.

Section 8 Any facts of general Masonic historical or local interest connected with the experiences and progress of the lodge, and of Masons in the community. Copious summaries of the minutes might be of service.


CHAPTER II

Section 1 List of all the Worshipful Masters of the lodge and the year in which each was elected and installed in chronological order.

Section 2 A roll, in chronological order, of all the members of the lodge since its first organization, those made Master Masons by the lodge in one column, and those affiliated in another.

Section 3 A list of all Brethren who have died while members of the lodge, with date of death and noting observance of the burial service, if any, with names of officers performing same, and other Brethren present.

Section 4 A brief historical account of the several lodge rooms occupied, the time of the occupancy of each and the circumstances connected with or causing the changes, the leasing or building of each. A mention of any of the old lodge furniture or appurtenances might be of interest.

Section 5 All traditions of interest connected with the lodge especially in the early days and contemporaneous events in the community in which the lodge or any of the Brethren were directly or indirectly concerned.


CHAPTER III

Section 1 Note time and circumstances connected with each visit of a Grand Officer, including the District Deputy Grand Master, to the lodge and the social functions, if any, incident thereto.

Section 2 If the lodge was named for other than the town or some noted historical or Biblical character, explain the circumstances with biography of the namesake if a person or history of the case.

Section 3 Biographical sketches of other prominent and deserving members of the lodge, past and present, but avoiding fulsome praises of the living.

Section 4 Special mention of any member or members of the lodge who have held office in any of the Grand Bodies of Masonry in Texas or elsewhere before coming here or in the public service local, state, or national.


CHAPTER IV

Section l Accounts with dates and full particulars including officers, members present, etc. of all notable functions or events in the lodge, public or private, such as a St John’s Day celebration, and public installations, Cornerstone ceremonies, or any other Masonic, patriotic, etc.


CHAPTER V

Section 1 Brief mention of other Masonic bodies in same town or county, with date of charter and other particulars.

To these outlines could be added other features of interest, especially of things not preserved in Printed Proceedings of the Grand Lodge.

Jesse M. Whited, Chairman
Committee on Correspondence
     

‘Diluvian Origins of Craft Masonry’

     

Maryland Masonic Research Society will meet again next month and hear a presentation by Jason Richards of The Masonic Roundtable. From the publicity:

Maryland Masonic

Research Society

Saturday, October 12 at noon

Birmingham Masonic Center

10800 Edmonston Road

Beltsville, Maryland

$20 for lunch. RSVP here.

Diluvian Origins:

The Influence of the Noahide

Flood Myth of Craft Masonry

Presented by Jason Richards, Past Master of Acacia Lodge 16 in Clifton, Virginia; member of The Colonial Lodge 1821 in Washington, DC; and co-host of The Masonic Roundtable podcast. Richards also is a writer, editor, and speaker on Masonic topics, having written for The Midnight Freemasons and The Voice of Freemasonry in the District of Columbia.

“Diluvian Origins” is a comparative study of worldwide flood myths that explores the similarities of various oral traditions and cultural memories of catastrophic flood events, and demonstrates the links between the Noahide flood myth and the York Craft Guild system, and examines historical records that imply the story of Noah was at one time a central theme in early 18th century Masonic Third Degree rituals.

Lunch at noon. Presentation at 1 p.m. When booking your seat, please mention if you require a vegan meal, and reserve no later than October 8.


Just a few thoughts: It is true that what is religion to one man may be mythology to another, but in Freemasonry we do not look at the Book of Genesis as myth, as this first book of the VSL particularly informs Craft ritual and symbol. And, in Freemasonry, we spell it “Noachide.” Noah and his sons was one of the first topics I addressed many years ago as Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, so I remember the Graham Manuscript of 1726, which places Noah in the raising position we today know is held by our GMHA. I regret not being able to attend this event because I am curious to learn of the additional rituals or documents that explain. Of course there is Royal Ark Mariner, but that tells a different story. Highly recommended if you are able to attend. Enjoy.
     

‘Things to do this weekend’

     
Busy this weekend? Didn’t think so. Why not make some time to try these activities?


Rosicrucian Healing
Friday, September 13
6:30 p.m.
Rosicrucian Cultural Center
2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.
New York City

From the Rosicrucian perspective, the best way to treat any illness or dis-ease is by bringing both the psychic body and the physical body into an harmonious state. By developing our ability to maintain this state of harmony, we are able to bring even more health and vitality into our lives.

Join us in this experiential workshop where we will practice Rosicrucian healing techniques.


Actually, you might want to arrive at 5:45 for a meditation session. It’ll put you in the right frame of mind.


Saturday, September 14
9:30 a.m.
New Jersey Lodge of Masonic
Research and Education 1786
535 North Main Street
Hightstown, New Jersey

Two papers scheduled to be presented: Bro. Frank Conway on “A Masonic View of Benedict Arnold,” and myself on “How to Serve as Lodge Historian.”

Breakfast and lunch to be served. We should be finished by 1 p.m.


Saturday, September 14
1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Geometry Salon:
Vedic Squares
Click here.


Saturday, September 14
3 to 4:30 p.m.
“What Causes Dreaming?”
Masonic Philosophical Society
Whitestone MasonicTemple
149-39 11th Avenue
Whitestone, New York

During the early to mid 1900s, scientists believed that dreaming was a mechanical process that helped to reboot the mind each night. Through the years research has shown that the mind is doing more than acting like a computer. So what is the mind up to at night?

Many individuals speak to having prophetic dreams that speak to them of future events and feelings. There are those who say that they can connect with other realms each night through dreaming. Are they exaggerating their capabilities or is there something to deeper going on? Join us as we discuss this relevant and personal topic through the perspective of a Mason. Come ready to investigate What Causes Dreaming?


Through January 12, 2020
Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
(at 77th Street)
New York City

This exhibition on MW Bro. Paul Revere opened last week. In an email from the museum, I have been informed that “this exhibition does touch on his Masonic membership and network.”

I’ll be there Sunday morning.
     

‘Geometry Salons at Anthroposophy NYC’

     
Saturday afternoon, the Anthroposophical Society of New York City will host a talk on Vedic Squares. This will be the first in a series running through next August. From the publicity:

Geometry Salon:

Vedic Squares

Saturday, September 14

at 1:30 p.m.

Anthroposophical Society of NYC

138 West 15th Street, Manhattan

Suggested donation: $5

The Vedic Square is a variation on a typical 9×9 multiplication table, which is a source of many Islamic patterns and symmetric art patterns.

Steve Pomerantz

The Geometry Salon meets monthly to explore the intersection of Art and Geometry. Topics have included Islamic and Cosmatesque Design, Projective Geometry, Classical Constructions, Form Drawing, and more. Our main presenters are Steve Pomerantz, John Lloyd, and Steve Bass. We rotate facilitators to lead discussions and drawing through a range of examples taken from history.

Steve Pomerantz

Accessible to people with all levels of drawing experience. Bring your imagination—and a ruler, compass, paper, pencils. Additional materials that could be useful include: colored pencils, watercolors, and some paper at least 8½ x 11. We will have some extra supplies for people who need them.

We will meet in a beautiful sunny room generously provided by Anthroposophy NYC. We are requesting a $5 contribution from everyone to cover the use of the space.

Future dates: October 12, November 9, December 21, January 11, February 22, March 14, April 18, May 16, June 6, July 11, and August 8.

Steve Pomerantz

At September’s meeting, we will be drawing patterns based on magic squares from the Vedic Tradition, which John Lloyd learned from Pieter Weltevrede and Mavis Gewant.

In October, Steve Pomerantz will show us how to draw Cosmati patterns. In November, Steve Bass will be showing us how to draw Rose Windows. In December, Steve Pomerantz will continue to show us how to develop Cosmati patterns. In January, Kelly Beekman will be show how to draw the planetary seals of Rudolf Steiner (based on a seven pointed star). In the Spring of 2020, we will explore patterns from Islamic Cultures and learn how to draw the Shri Yantra from the Vedic Tradition.

Geometry images below are by Steve Pomerantz.

‘The UGLE Americans?’

     
And from our Masonic Weird Facts Department…

Did you know the United Grand Lodge of England has not one, but two Craft lodges at labor on United States soil?

In St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, there are Harmonic Lodge 356 and its daughter lodge St. Thomas 9679. The former marked its bicentennial anniversary last October, and the latter reached its 20th year last November. They are part of the District Grand Lodge of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. Masonic Hall is located at 10 Wimmelskat Gade in the capital city of Charlotte Amalie.

And you shouldn’t have English lodges without a chapter, so there also is Zetland Chapter 356, chartered in 1871 by the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England.

     

‘Traubenfest: Sunday, October 6’

     
The official announcement is posted: Traubenfest is scheduled for Sunday, October 6!

Traubenfest, meaning “Strawberry Grape Festival,” is the annual all-day Oktoberfest bash hosted by the lodges of the Ninth Manhattan District at German Masonic Park in Tappan, New York.

Gates will open at 11 a.m., and the festivities—plenty of German food, beer, and music—will continue to sundown. It is a rain-or-shine event. Plenty of free parking. Admission: $5 for adults; free for children under 14.

German Masonic Park is located at 89 Western Highway South, very close to DeWint House, if you want to make more of a day of it.

Always a good time, and we never seem to suffer bad weather. (Watch, I probably just jinxed it.)
     

‘Book Club: Campbell and Ehre texts’

     
Bro. Jeph has announced the topics of the next Fourth Manhattan District Book Club meeting of October 16:

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, and The Three Legged Table by Victor T. Ehre, Jr.

The book club will meet in the Wendell K. Walker Room on the ground floor of Masonic Hall at 7 p.m. The meeting will be open not only to all Masons, but also to interested people who are not Masons.

The Power of Myth is not a work authored by Joseph Campbell, but actually is taken from the lengthy interviews of Campbell for PBS by Bill Moyers in 1985 and 1986, which were broadcast in six one-hour episodes in the summer of 1988, shortly after Campbell’s death. They speak in some detail of the definition of myth, of the forms of myths, and, naturally, of Campbell’s work in delineating what he terms the monomyth.

Their interview, perhaps inevitably, turns to Freemasonry. Excerpted:


Moyers: Is the Masonic order an expression somehow of mythological thinking?

Campbell: Yes, I think it is. This is a scholarly attempt to reconstruct an order of initiation that would result in spiritual revelation. These founding fathers [of the United States] who were Masons actually studied what they could of Egyptian lore. In Egypt, the pyramid represents the primordial hillock. After the annual flood of the Nile begins to sink down, the first hillock is symbolic of the reborn world. That’s what [the Great Seal of the United States] represents.


There is more significant talk of ritual and its potential powers, as well as a wealth of other subjects of interest to thinking Freemasons. Professor Campbell is beloved for making the esoteric aspects of mythologies accessible to the general public, and this book often surfaces in conversation in Masonic intellectual circles as the most useful entry point into Campbell’s work. Even if you cannot participate with the Book Club, do make a point of reading The Power of Myth when you can.

I am not familiar with Victor Ehre’s The Three Legged Table: The Three Principles of Life Living, but here is what Amazon says:

Isaac Newton’s Second Law of Inertia postulates that a body in motion tends to continue at the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an outside force. The book, The Three Legged Table, challenges the reader not to accept things in their lives as they are, but presents the three Principles in every person’s life and how one can affect the changes needed to redirect them towards the goals they seek. The Three Legged Table offers eighteen words that, when they are applied to the Personal, Social, and Spiritual principles which govern your life, will give you the choices to redirect the path you are on. This book will not only focus you on how to achieve success through these powerful words, but will also point out the pitfalls in life that often keep people from reaching their fullest potential. How can you achieve your fullest Personal Growth? There are only five words to greater success. How can you achieve greater Social growth? There are only ten words you need to live by to achieve stronger social interactions and success with others. Finally, how can you achieve greater Spiritual Growth and peace in your life? The Three Legged Table offers the three words that will lead you to understanding and recognition of God’s involvement in your Life. The Three Legged Table reaffirms the truth that each and every one has one Most Valuable and Precious Resource. To achieve your Maximum Potential and complete Balance in your life, a commitment to the eighteen words shared here to your fullest abilities and talents will allow you to apply the outside forces of change Isaac Newton postulated to alter your course through life and achieve lasting growth, success and peace.


Those 18 words? They are divided into three axioms, but I will give only the 10-word saying here since you will know it: “Treat others the way you would want to be treated.”

Taking on two titles for a single meeting of a book club is risky, but it should make for a lively evening together.
     

‘Their primitive Mason mark’

     
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Derbyshire maintains a busy presence on social media (and frequently does me the honor of sharing links to this website), and this morning published this poem by an unknown writer.

Mason Marks

They’re traced in lines on the Parthenon,

Inscribed by the subtle Greek;

And Roman legions have carved them on

Walls, roads and arch antique;

Long ere the Goth, with vandal hand,

Gave scope to his envy dark,

The Mason craft in many a land

Has graven its Mason mark.

The obelisk old and the pyramids,

Around which a mystery clings,-

The Hieroglyphs on the coffin lids

Of weird Egyptian kings,

Syria, Carthage and Pompeii,

Buried and strewn and stark,

Have marble records that will not die,

Their primitive Mason mark.

Upon column and frieze and capital,

In the eye of the chaste volute, -

On Scotia’s curve, or an astrogal,

Or in triglyp’s channel acute,-

Cut somewhere on the entablature,

And oft, like a sudden spark,

Flashing a light on a date obscure,

Shines many a Mason mark.

These craftsmen old had a genial whim,

That nothing could ever destroy,

With a love of their art that naught could dim,

They toiled with a chronic joy;

Nothing was too complex to essay,

In aught they dashed to embark;

They triumphed on many an Appian Way,

Where they’d left their Mason mark.

Crossing the Alps like Hannibal,

Or skirting the Pyranees,

On peak and plain, in crypt and cell,

On foot or on bandaged knees; -

From Tiber to Danube, from Rhine to Seine,

They needed no “letters of marque;” -

Their art was their passport in France and Spain,

And in Britain their Mason mark.

The monolith grey and Druid chair,

The pillars and towers of Gael,

In Ogharn occult their age they bear,

That time can only reveal.

Live on, old monuments of the past,

Our beacons through ages dark!

In primal majesty still you’ll last,

Endeared by each Mason mark.

Anonymous

     

‘Next year: Freemasonry on the Frontier’

     

Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 will return to the United States next September to host another conference. “Freemasonry on the Frontier” will be hosted at the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in Boston September 18-20, 2020.

Hilary Anderson Stelling

I don’t know how this is possible, and maybe I’m wrong, but it looks like only one presentation will address Freemasonry in New York! On Saturday the 19th, Hilary Anderson Stelling will deliver “Early New York City Mark Medals.” Looking forward to it. (Although I guess Jeff Croteau’s paper on Cerneau will include New York history too.)

Click here for the entire program. Click here for the brochure.

From the publicity:


The Conference, “Freemasonry on the Frontier,” focuses on key individuals and their lives, and broader themes, including the influence of the Irish and Scottish, Prince Hall Freemasonry, and the social and political impact of Freemasonry locally and nationally.

The Conference has been structured to reflect the westward expansion of the frontier from the Atlantic coast in the early eighteenth century, through the Midwest in the late eighteenth century and nineteenth century, to the Pacific coastal states at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth.

Our intention is to make certain that there is adequate time for attendees to question speakers and raise their own points, and to generate a stimulating discussion and debate across the floor. We have a world class line-up including Bob Cooper, Curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland; Brent Morris, Editor of Heredom; Mike Kearsley, ANZMRC and Prestonian Lecturer; Ric Berman, the outgoing Master of QC and Prestonian Lecturer; Walter Hunt, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts; Andreas Onnerfors, Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg Sweden, the incoming Master of QC; and other leading national and international speakers.


To register, click here.
     

‘The Dead’s Hero’s Journey’

     
The Aish Center on West 36th Street (between Eighth and Ninth) is a locus for Jewish learning and cultural activities. It offers a variety of resources to you online, one of which is a podcast series recently launched that aims to interpret some of the songs you’ve known for years. One of these, posted to YouTube last month, looks at the Grateful Dead’s “Terrapin Station,” which Rabbi Adam Jacobs describes thusly:


“Terrapin Station” discusses the concept of the Hero’s Journey—the quest to understand life and the striving to arrive at an elevated destination. It shows how each of us inhabits more than one world simultaneously.


“Terrapin Station” was written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. The Hero’s Journey, as defined by Professor Joseph Campbell, is a staple of storytelling as old as, well, storytelling. Thanks to Bro. Marco, who illustrated it in his 2008 Rose Circle lecture at Masonic Hall by recalling the character arc of Luke Skywalker, I’ll ask you to remember Skywalker’s actions in that original Star Wars movie from 1977 when you look at this:

Click to enlarge.

Aish’s Terrapin Station podcast:


     

‘Gurdjieff intro at Sheen Center’

     

The Gurdjieff Foundation’s next Introduction to the Gurdjieff Teaching will take place at the Sheen Center on Friday, October 4 at 6:30. “The event will be hosted by two senior members of the Gurdjieff Foundation, and provide an overview, a chance for exchange, and also feature a film on the subject of search,” according to the foundation’s website. To RSVP, send an email here.

The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture is located at 18 Bleecker Street, between Mott and Elizabeth streets.
     

‘For this, and this alone, does a man become a Freemason’

     
“Labor is an important word in Masonry; indeed, we might say the most important. For this, and this alone, does a man become a Freemason. Every other object is secondary or incidental. Labor is the accustomed design of every Lodge meeting. But do such meetings always furnish evidence of industry? The labor of an Operative Mason will be visible, and he will receive his reward for it, even though the building he has constructed may, in the next hour, be overthrown by a tempest. He knows that he has done his labor. And so must the Freemason labor. His labor must be visible to himself and to his brethren, or, at least, it must conduce to his own internal satisfaction. As we build neither a visible Solomonic Temple nor an Egyptian pyramid, our industry must become visible in works that are imperishable, so that when we vanish from the eyes of mortals it may be said of us that our labor was well done.”

Johann Christian Gaedicke


Gaedicke was a Mason in Germany, initiated in 1804 at age 41. A bookseller by day, he went on to author seminal books on Masonic vocabulary, so his elegant assertion here on the subject of labor is fitting. Nor is it surprising that he was a favorite of Albert G. Mackey, who of course would go on to write his own Lexicon and Encyclopædia of Freemasonry. It is in Mackey’s encyclopedia where I found this quotation of Gaedicke’s. (Mackey also alternately spells it Gädicke.)

Today is the national holiday Labor Day here in the United States. I normally do not seize on holidays for thematic content for The Magpie Mason, but I see it differently today thanks to a discussion on Facebook I saw earlier. A venerable Mason in my former grand jurisdiction has created a group where the brethren may openly discuss the shortcomings of the Craft there, not in complaint or derision, but in the spirit of seeking a better way forward. This post today concerns social media. I have edited it sharply for length to use here:


As we Masons begin labor in our Lodges, please consider the recommendations in this post. Thanks.

Social Media Thoughts

and Commentary

I am convinced that social media could well be a solution to help solve some of the issues that plague our Grand Lodge. If used properly, I believe that we could utilize the reach of social media to address issues such as recruiting new members, retaining absent brothers, educating ourselves and the uninformed, and reinforcing core Masonic values.

As some of you might know, I underwent a very serious surgery this past February and as a result, I had a lot of time on my hands recovering from the operation…. While sitting in my comfy chair, I observed many posts covering after-meeting get-togethers, dinners, and other social functions.

Very rarely did I see anything written about the greatness of our fraternity, what it means to be a Freemason, or simply the honor of being a Master Mason. I wondered why so much time and effort went into posting pictures of smoking cigars, or eating and drinking, and claiming “another night of friendship and brotherhood.” I even saw a post with brothers in high positions of Grand Lodge leadership mocking another brother for something he had said. Yet, I found nothing written about the beauty, the mystery, or the honor of being a New Jersey Master Mason. Imagine if social media posts were inspirational, aspirational, and/or informational….

Why not address subjects as “Why I became a Freemason,” “What Freemasonry has done for me,” or “A year in the life of an active Freemason and his lodge.” With very little effort, I can identify at least a dozen other subjects. Along with a thought-provoking or informative article, why not post it with a picture of your lodge building, lodge room, or something with a Masonic theme?... I think posts that reflect our feelings about this great fraternity will be more helpful in attracting new members and retaining our absent brothers than scotch and cigars.


I can’t argue with that.

Regular readers of The Magpie Mason know I’m not against enjoying cigars, spirits, and fellowship, but I am against making these extra-curricular activities the focus of the lodge. (That is what, for example, the Grotto is for.) There is labor, and there is refreshment—and even during refreshment we are ever reminded to keep our wits. I have seen years worth of the Facebook posts our good brother laments above. I’ve seen dozens of photos of guys’ socks, their motorcycle rides, their restaurant entrees, and other attractions anyone could enjoy without ever considering becoming a Freemason. And this is nothing new. More than a decade and a half ago, I visited a lodge in New Jersey to join in its sesquicentennial celebration. The keynote speaker was the current grand master, who really had nothing Masonic to say, but instead spoke insistently and happily that Freemasonry could be stripped of its teachings, rituals, and symbols without detriment, because we’ll all still be friends anyway. That’s a kindergarten mentality that ripples through that jurisdiction.

We are here for our labors. Masonic Man is at once the builder, the raw building material, and the finished building block. Strip the Craft of its lessons and modes of instruction! Indeed.

In the wake of the Black Death in 14th century England, King Henry VI and Parliament endeavored to check the power of masons with a law that superseded the masons’ own regulations for wages. It became a felony for masons to gather for their “yearly congregations and confederacies” whereby these Statutes for Laborers “be openly violated and broken, in subversion of the law, and to the great damage of all the Commons.” The penalty for masons meeting illegally included imprisonment, fines, and ransom “at the king’s will.” The Statutes of Laborers were repealed under Queen Elizabeth I, as they were shown to have carried “no force or effect.” The labors of masons will not be infringed.

We Speculative Masons have our signs, grips, and words to demonstrate our fitness to receive Masons’ wages. We wield our Working Tools. Our lodges open for labor. Those labors include making Masons, and imparting good and wholesome instruction. You get the idea, but not everyone does.

Embedded somewhere, but I know not where, in the Masonic corpus is the Latin “Ora et labora,” meaning “to labor is to pray,” borrowed from Saint Benedict’s rule for monastic life. But that’s a topic for a future Labor Day.