‘Live respected and die regretted’

     

Associated Press

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich, died yesterday at Windsor Castle, just two months shy of his hundredth birthday.

Rather than try to compete with, or expand on, the many eulogies and other good thoughts prompted by the death yesterday of Bro. Philip Mountbatten, I think it best to forward to you Bro. David Staples’ summation, as expressed to the BBC earlier today.

Staples is the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Courtesy Met GL

Click to enlarge.

     

‘Bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls to life’

     

I had a feeling the recent discovery of Dead Sea Scrolls fragments would inspire more Lawrence Schiffman lectures, and so it has.

Register here.

     

‘Two Sages: Hall and Jung’

     

The Philosophical Research Society offers an online discussion that will address two thinkers who contributed mightily to the twentieth century refinement of esoteric thought. From the publicity:

Manly Palmer Hall

and Carl Gustav Jung:

the Story and Message

of Two Sages

Presented by Stephan A. Hoeller

of the PRS

Thursday, April 29

10 p.m. Eastern Time

Reservations here

Philosopher Manly Palmer Hall and visionary psychologist Carl Gustav Jung both revived the Esoteric Tradition. The future republication of Hall’s work The Secret Teachings of All Ages, and the recent publication of Jung’s Black Books (amplifying his Red Book) call attention to the contributions of these two sages.

Stephan A. Hoeller was Manly P. Hall’s principal lecturing associate at PRS for more than twenty years. He is a noted scholar and lecturer on Gnosticism and the message of C.G. Jung. He is the author of five books, and is president of Besant Lodge of the Theosophical Society in Hollywood.

     

‘Never gonna do it without the fez on’

Today, I finally make a point to sit down and watch D.W. Young’s documentary from last year The Booksellers. A few minutes in, a dealer of, what he calls, esoteric books is on camera. Didn’t catch his name.

     

Another National Grotto Day is in the books. At Azim, sixteen new Prophets received the mysteries of the Order in what was a fairly well attended ceremony, all things considered. I was genuinely moved by the atrociousness of the occasion.

I’ll have to update this edition of The Magpie Mason with photos when they become available later. We were enjoined from photographing, but an official photographer was on hand, and our Facebook page will have the evidence soon.

UPDATE:

Okay, okay. I’ll volunteer to be the photographer next time.

One additional great moment came when a lifetime achievement award was presented to Prophet Leon Weinstein in thanks especially for his keeping Azim alive years ago when all seemed lost. Then in 2010, this Grotto was revived by the arrival of a new generation, so the boos and hollers of Sympathy and Good Fellowship shall reverberate throughout Masonic Hall for future Veiled Prophets.

I had the chance to attend one of the Zoom conferences hosted during the winter in preparation for today’s nationwide event, and one of the facts I took away from the conversation is the awe in which Azim is regarded across the Enchanted Realm. Grottoes throughout the country are looking to New York City to learn how it’s done. Of course you’d expect that in any case, but it’s nice to hear.

   

‘History in Tennessee’

     

Courtesy Amazon

A new chapter in the history of Freemasonry in Tennessee was started today when the voting members of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee agreed it is time to extend the fraternal hand to their neighbors of the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge.

The two have coexisted since 1870. Details, like visitation, are not yet settled.

Congratulations everybody!

There remain six U.S. grand lodges that have yet to establish relations with Prince Hall Masonry.

Many thanks to Oscar for spreading the good news.

     

‘The ALR and YOU’

     

No kidding, I was just about to post a Do You Know Where The ALR Is? edition of The Magpie Mason, in hopes of learning from someone if it still is at labor, when I unexpectedly see the above notice in the new issue of The Empire State Mason.

I emailed a reply to the address provided, and I encourage you to do likewise.

Masonic education has a very limited appeal, unfortunately, and lodges of research are an even narrower niche, but I want to think Freemasonry in Manhattan can sustain a research lodge. Maybe we can.

If my email receives an informative reply, I’ll let you know. Actually, I’ll let you know either way.

UPDATE: There will be a Zoom meeting April 28 co-hosted by the Grand Master, the Junior Grand Warden, and The ALR’s Master ad Vitam to discuss membership, research topics, and more.

     

‘An Ode to the Freemasons’

     

Today is World Poetry Day. Poet Maria Matuscak penned the following verse, which was read aloud by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario one day in 2017 on the occasion of a cornerstone ceremony there.

An Ode

to the Freemasons,

Gathered Here Today

Walk onward, brothers, arm-in-arm
towards the giants rising in your midst. Together you form a chain
……..which will ensure the monsters of poverty and intolerance
……..your line taught, unyielding to the false gods
…………..that feed the starving masses in your streets. For you
care not
Who is the Creator,
…….God or Man: the goal is simply to strive.
For you hold, you hold tight
And dear you are stone
And one of you cannot sink if his brothers hold him tight.
Whom but God could wrench the wounded man
……from your embrace? And you march forward,
……toward an ever-receding horizon, but the point is:
………..you march.
……………..And you do not stop.
……………..And those who cannot march on their own accord
……….you carry,
And the cornerstone too weighs upon your shoulders,
The one you brought with you here, today,
The one you set down as a reminder,
That one bears the weight of the whole,
That there may or may not be a final stair
…….but still you keep climbing
…….because the rain falls with equal benediction on you all.

Click here to see an interview with Ms. Matuscsk.

     

‘Bro. PacMan’

    

Courtesy Mamamayang Pilipino Lodge (UD)

Philippine Senator Emmanuel Dapidran Paquiao has been made a Freemason, having received the Entered Apprentice Degree in Mamamayang Pilipino Lodge (UD) in the Philippines.

Bro. EA Paquiao is known worldwide as Manny “PacMan” Paquiao, the devastating prize fighter who set multiple records in championship boxing in an amazing career that spanned almost 25 years.

In 2016, he was elected to his nation’s Senate as a member of the majority Philippine Democratic Party-People’s Power, which was cofounded in 1983 by Benigno Aquino (who, you may recall, was murdered that year in the event that spelled the end of the Marcos regime).

PacMan is retired from boxing, but I wouldn’t want to be a Ruffian in his Third Degree.

Freemasonry in the Philippines has inauspicious origins in the mid eighteenth century due to friction between British colonists who were Masons and the Spanish Roman Catholic authorities. It played out pretty much as you would expect with the latter harassing, jailing, and deporting the former. The Spanish government banned Freemasonry several times in the early nineteenth century. In later decades, Portuguese and German Masons were able to establish lodges, and in 1876 the Grand Orient of Spain made a provincial grand lodge, and so the fraternity was cemented in the country.

The Spanish-American War resulted in the Philippines coming under U.S. control, which was hugely beneficial to Freemasonry there, as grand lodges in California, Scotland, and elsewhere began establishing lodges.

The Grand Lodge of the Philippines was founded in 1912. Naturally its fortunes were shaped by the Second World War, but it flourishes today. In addition, there are thriving lodges of ethnic Filipinos in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere in the United States.

     

‘Cryptic Rite Festival this fall’

       

The Cryptic Rite companions of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts will gather for a day of degrees this October on the Hudson. (This is rescheduled from May 8.)

From the publicity:

Tri-State

Cryptic Festival

Saturday, October 9, 2021

Saugerties Masonic Temple

Royal Master Degree by Connecticut.

Select Master by Massachusetts.

Super Excellent Master by New York.

I haven’t seen Super Excellent since I received it 20 years ago. Looking forward to this!

To paraphrase Churchill, who was opining on something completely unrelated, “I would let the clever Masons learn Royal Arch as an honor, and Cryptic as a treat.”

     

‘National Grotto Day is near!’

     

National Grotto Day is approaching, but there is still time for you—well, maybe not you—to join Azim, the Most Handsome Grotto in the Realm!

The Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm is one of the many Masonic groups founded in the State of New York. Sure its primary activities run along the lines of seeing how many guys in gorilla suits can fit inside McSorley’s, but there also is a sincere humanitarian effort at the cause of it all. I personally recommend Grotto membership, seeing it as the perfect complement to the enlightening work of the Lodge and the numinous quality of the Chapter.

We’re doing it at Masonic Hall in Manhattan on Saturday the 27th. Yours truly will be the Chaplain in the life-changing ceremony. 

Click here for the petition. Fill it out (especially the felony part) and send it here. 

     

‘Ancient York’s sesquicentenary’

     

Three months from today, Ancient York Lodge 89 in New Hampshire will commemorate its sesquicentennial anniversary with what looks like a fantastic celebratory program. From the publicity:

Sunday, June 13 at 2 p.m.

150th Anniversary Celebration

The program for the afternoon includes:

Reconsecration ceremony conducted by the officers of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire, F&AM.

Presentation by the Nashua Historical Society on Nashua in the 1870s.

Lodge history presentation by the officers and brethren of Ancient York Lodge.

Presentation by Worshipful Brother Christopher Murphy, Masonic lecturer, Past Master of Fibonacci Lodge 112 in Vermont, and Fellow of the Philalethes Society.

Music by Worshipful Brother Joseph Olefirowicz, world-renowned conductor and Minister of Music at First Church in Nashua.

And more!

Of course there will be a very special dinner, and that will incur a dining fee, so please reserve for that in advance here.

    

‘Salon de la Rose+Croix’

     

The Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of New York continues its virtual programming this month with its third annual Salon de la Rose+Croix. From the publicity:

Salon de la Rose+Croix

Thursday, March 25

7 p.m. RSVP here

This month we are proud to present the third annual Salon de la Rose+Croix, featuring Tony Crisos, Adina Dabija, and Milosz Jeziorski live on our YouTube channel. The evening will begin with a short lecture on the history and philosophical value of the Golden Fleece through existing literature and archaeological findings followed by a poetry reading by Dabija, and concluding with a presentation on esoteric art by Jeziorski.

     

‘Brent Morris to retire’

     

S. Brent Morris

I wouldn’t want you to be caught unawares, thinking it’s some April Fools prank, so with his blessing I share the news that S. Brent Morris is retiring from his employment situation at the Scottish Rite at the end of the month. The details will be discussed in Issue 52 (Spring 2021) of The Journal of the Masonic Society, which is at the printer now and will reach our members next month.

Don’t panic. Brent will remain active in the Masonic fraternity! He’s your Brother Mason. He just won’t be in the official management and the de facto spokesman of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction. He has served as editor of The Scottish Rite Journal and as strategic communications director for the Jurisdiction for many years.

Let’s be honest: the grand masters and other politicians come and go, but it is the steadying hand of experience, governed by wisdom and knowledge, that leads us for the long term.

His successor, Bro. Mark Dreisonstok, has been in place already. I’m told part of the institutional knowledge Brent has imparted is a reminder to consult both this blog and the other one each morning to see what’s going on in this fraternity. Mark holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University, where he specialized in medieval languages and literature, and has taught at many universities in the DC area. You may have read him in a number of Masonic periodicals and area newspapers.

Bro. Brent says he will take with him a portfolio of responsibilities—things he loves doing, such as editing the Scottish Rite Research Society’s annual Heredom, and the offerings of the recently revived Masonic Book Club. (The first of which, come to think of it, will reach us members in a couple of weeks.)

Brent is in his fiftieth year as a Freemason, and it wouldn’t be easy to enumerate the many stations and places in our fraternity where he has been an inspiring exemplar. Of course, he is a Founding Fellow of the Masonic Society. And a Past Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076–the first American to be such. Grand Abbott of the Blue Friars. Naturally, a 33rd Degree Mason and holder of the Grand Cross in the real Scottish Rite.

He was made a Fellow of the Philalethes Society in 1980. Get it? Brent was made a Mason in 1971, and was elected to join the forty Philalethes Fellows nine years later.

The Masonic credentials and accolades go on almost endlessly. (Oh, and he wrote and co-wrote a bunch of books, including Committed to the Flames and this handy book.) Outside the apartments of the Temple, Brent holds a Mathematics Ph.D. from Duke. He labored as the Executive of the Cryptologic Mathematician Program of the National Security Agency, and has taught mathematics and computer science at Duke and Johns Hopkins. His affiliations in the math world are as impressive and numerous as his Masonic ties.

If you know him, you know of his expertise with card tricks—in essence, another manifestation of mathematics. He even wrote a book on that.

(None of the other tributes to Brent Morris you’ll see will include this obscure trivia, but way back in the first decade of the century, when Masonic cyberspace was primitive and small, one of the little rascals who constantly made a spectacle of himself with his various frauds called Brent names in such a bizarre outburst, I laughed so hard, the bowl of my Peterson 302 popped off its stem and tumbled down my shirt, the burning tobacco ruining everything in its path.)

I have pleasant memories of meeting him for the first time at a nearby Masonic dinner in 2007, and other “experiences” too.

Best wishes to you, Bro. Brent! Thank you for what you have given Freemasonry. (The retirement bash better look like something Leo Taxil would throw.) I hope to shake your hand again soon.

     

‘Wednesday arts update’

    

Six items for you in tonight’s arts update.

• Bro. Ryan recently put the finishing touch on his greatly anticipated portrait of Bro. Prince Hall.

If you have been following his progress on this via social media, you could feel justifiably amazed by his balance of creativity and respect for his subject. There is no way to know exactly what Hall looked like, so Ryan instead rendered contextual elements to tell the story. Items depicted in the foreground and background and, of course, Hall’s regalia and gavel tell a remarkable life story with a veracity you can count on.

Prints are available for purchase now. Click here.

• Bro. Erik LaMarca, of Kosciuszko Lodge 1085 and Shakespeare 750, is the subject of the recent Craftsmen Online, one of a number of digital magazines serving New York Freemasonry.

LaMarca’s photography will be on exhibit next month at Solas Studio in a show titled “Revelation: Sight Through Symetry.” Click here to enjoy a look at a few pieces.

• Bro. Scott J. Watson’s latest venture into art history conducts us to a lodge in eighteenth century Vienna. Mozart’s lodge, specifically.

I’m sure we’ve all seen the painting showing the great composer seated in lodge. I’ve used it here on The Magpie Mason a number of times over the years.

Watson explains what goes on in the image, and one thing particularly zapped me. Watson has us cast our eyes to the East, where hangs a painting I somehow never before thought about.

Let Royal Ark Mariners who have ears hear. And click here. Sign up for his newsletter too.

• There is a mural decorating downtown Mt. Vernon, Ohio that will make every Mystic Prophet smile:

Courtesy Marty Trent

Unveiled (See what I did there?) in November 2017, but brought to the Prophets’ attention a few days ago in social media, It is painted on the side of the former Masonic hall in the neighborhood, and is a tribute to the groups that contributed to the local social scene. The nearly 3,000-square-foot piece was painted by John Donnelly, an art professor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

• I had intended to post something about this last year, but when I saw the Wall Street Journal had beaten me to it, I kind of forgot about it.  Rothko Chapel, the landmark ecumenical spiritual space in Houston, has reopened, following a $30 million renovation that took almost a year.

The rehabilitation was mostly structural in nature, with the building being bolstered to withstand the hurricanes the region receives. Mark Rothko’s 14 paintings arrayed throughout the chapel now benefit from a new central skylight and modern interior lighting. On the grounds without the chapel, the landscape has been stripped of all sights except for Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk, the crystal-shaped shaft perched atop a pyramid that arises from a reflecting pool. Dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1971, the artwork symbolizes the chapel’s purpose as a human rights locus.

Rothko Chapel marks its fiftieth anniversary this year. Click here for photos.

• And, finally—I can’t do this all night, you know—is the latest from Piecework magazine, which contains a brief article on aprons.

“Unfortunately for historians, makers of aprons did not sign their work,” writes Deborah Dwyer. “Newspapers of the period advertised professional embroiderers specializing in military and Masonic regalia; sign painters offered painted aprons, and stationers supplied engraved ones. Undoubtedly, family members made some aprons as gifts.”

Read all about it here.

     

‘The province in Freemasonry’

     

Courtesy Freemasonry Today

Bro. Aubrey Newman

The next speaker coming in the Open Lectures on Freemasonry series will be Bro. Aubrey Newman!

Practically a legend in the Craft, Newman is one of those eminent figures who make me wonder how they get it all done. The Past Junior Grand Deacon is a Past Master of Quatuor Coronati 2076 and a Past (2003) Prestonian Lecturer. He received the rare Order of Service to Masonry in 2017, at age 90, having been selected by HRH the Duke of Kent, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, himself.

Also, I think Newman was with us in the Masonic Light group years ago. I’ll have to check with Josh on that.

His subject on Saturday, March 20 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time will be “The Place of the Province in Freemasonry,” something that has been central to Newman’s research for many years.

Visit Open Lectures on Freemasonry here.

Bro. Oscar Alleyne’s lecture from Saturday is on YouTube:

     

‘A Craft lodge for craft beer lovers?’

     

UPDATE: Click here.

I think it’s safe to say some Freemasons occasionally express some curiosity about beer, yes? There are even those who diligently pursue a practical knowledge! Possibly an atavistic impulse from our tavern days.

Why, in my own understanding of Masonic theory, the talk of the sheaf of grain above the waterfall is an allusion to the alchemy of beer-brewing itself. (I’m still trying to confirm that with the grand lecturer.)

The Masonic Craft Beer Society, located in the United Kingdom, began during the bleakest days of the pandemic last year when five Masons found each other in social media, and bonded over their appreciation for beers and ales. Today, they are joined by thousands more, and there now is talk of possibly establishing a lodge.

Where might such a lodge be set to labor (and called to refreshment)? I don’t know, but the MCBS gives a physical address in Torquay (which is the site of a certain mythical inn).

Read all about it here.

The Brother Junior Warden may have his hands full.

    

‘Architecture order demolished’

     

J. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington, DC. Is there a reason why the headquarters of the FBI has to resemble some Eastern Bloc state security ministry?

Executive Order 13967 has been demolished, razed, bulldozed, etc.

That was the document signed in December by then President Donald Trump for the purpose of resetting standards of aesthetics in the designs of certain future federal government buildings. It would have given preference to Classical styles over the shit we have that, for example, looks like it was transplanted from 1972 East Berlin.

Oh well. It was a good idea. (Based on what I’ve seen on social media, I realize that some of you don’t understand how it’s about national identity. The public buildings created for us are expressions of who we are. So, when the architecture looks like it has been copied from a science fiction movie about dystopia, it negates the esteem in which we ought to regard ourselves, and that contributes to the many forms of social collapse we are witnessing every day.)

Background here and here.

    

‘Jacob is ’21 Sankey Lecturer’

     

The prestigious annual Sankey Lecture in Ontario is reverting to its customary schedule this spring with a highly promising event to be streamed live.

Professor Margaret Jacob, who deserves a fair share of the credit for the 21st century revival of interest in Freemasonry, will take to the lectern four weeks from today.

Jacob is the author of The Radical Enlightenment: Pantheists, Freemasons and Republicans (1981); Living the Enlightenment: Freemasonry and Politics in Eighteenth Century Europe (1991); The Origins of Freemasonry: Facts and Fictions (2005); and others.

The graphic above has the particulars. Click here to attend.

     

‘From Taverns to Temples’

     

Courtesy historical-markers.org

And, speaking of Masonic meeting places in early America (see post below), there will be an online presentation Saturday afternoon that promises to be historically interesting.

W. Bro. Mike Comfort, director of the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania, will discuss “From Taverns to Temples: Homes of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania since 1731.”

From the publicity:

Saturday, February 27

3:30 p.m. Eastern

Free—click here

“From Taverns to Temples” is an illustrated presentation on each of the different locations in Philadelphia used for meetings of the Grand Lodge from its inception in 1731 until the present. The paintings and photos show what was once there and what is there now, narrated with other historical and Masonic information.

W. Mike Comfort, PM, Melita Lodge 295 in Philadelphia, is the director of the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania. A Temple University graduate (B.A. Journalism) he has been a lifelong devotee of historical and genealogical research. He currently serves an advisor to both the History Committee and the Committee on Native American Regalia, Boy Scouts of America, an organization he has been part of for 50 years.

UPDATE: The lecture has been uploaded to YouTube:

     

     

‘NEW BOOK: Masonic Almanac’

     

The first volume of a collaboration of Mark Tabbert and John “Bo” Cline is available now!

(I get excited about these things.)

Almanac of American Freemasonry 1730-1774 is: “the listing and activities of every known Masonic lodge in North America from 1730 to 1774. This information is presented chronologically, by colony, and by chartering source.”

Get it through Lulu here.

Also from the publicity:

The information therein contained is unparalleled. Proceeds of the book will pay for new editions and the publication of Vol 2: 1775-1799 which is 50 percent completed.

Foreword by Shawn E. Eyer.

Contents:

• Glossary of Terms, Abbreviations, and Contractions
• Part One: Chronology of Masonic Events (1730 — 1774)
• Part Two: Chronology of Lodges by Colony and Location
• Part Three: Lodges in North America by Chartering Source
• Part Four: Lodges in North America by Colony

Appendices:

• British Military and Colonial Militia Lodges in North America
• Lodges in Canada
• Caribbean Lodges
• Biographies of American Provincial Grand Masters
• Famous American Freemasons
• Bibliography
• Alphabetical Listing of Lodges (1730-1774)

You know the authors. Bro. Mark Tabbert is the Director of Collections at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. He is a member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 in London, and is the author of several other books. And Mark was a member of the Masonic Society’s Board of Directors for a number of years. The late Bro. Bo Cline served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Alaska and then was the President of the Masonic Society from 2012 to 2014. We lost him to the Lodge on High last July. Bo was a great friend to have.