‘Four Crowned Martyrs Day’

    

Today is the Feast Day of the Four Crowned Martyrs, namesakes of the famous Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 in London, the first lodge of Masonic research.

Like so much in embryonic Masonic letters, the legend of the Four Crowned Martyrs vexes the reader. In short, there are competing stories about them which not only render divergent narratives, but even tell of different martyrs! What all these saints do share in common is being murdered on the orders of Emperor Diocletian. Not how you want to go.

Today, I’ll share a short piece written by one of the lodge’s first members, Bro. Adolphus Frederick Alexander Woodford, a Past Master of Lodge of Antiquity 2 and a Past Grand Chaplain of the United Grand Lodge of England. (More of his amazing biography at bottom.) This explanation of things appears in Vol. 1 of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the research lodge’s book of transactions for the period of 1886 to 1888. (I’ll also add that the Arundel Manuscript mentioned below has no originative connection to the Codex Arundel, Leonardo da Vinci’s writings on geometry and other subjects. However, both batches of papers were collected by the Earl of Arundel during the early seventeenth century.)

The Quatuor Coronati.

The Legend of the Quatuor Coronati is very interesting to Freemasons because in the legend, as in the Arundel MS.—a transcript of the more important portions of which follows—the Quatuor were originally four Craftsmen by name Claudius, Castorius, Simphorianus, and Nicostratus, “mirificos in arte quadrataria,” which though it is translated the “art of carving,” is literally “the stone-squarer’s art,” or the art of stone-squaring. They are distinctly called “artifices” artificers, although as the legend shows us, to the four artificers are joined four milites; whilst one Simplicius, converted to Christianity by the four during the progress of events narrated by the legend, is added to the stone-squarers, making nine in all. They are declared to have been Christians, “occulte,” secretly. Diocletian ordered an image of Æsculapius to be made, and after a contest and dialogue with “quinque Philosophi” Simphorianus, who appears to be the leader and spokesman, adds Simplicius to the number —now five—and refuses, on their behalf and with their consent, to make the image. They are brought before Lampadius the Tribune, who after reference to Diocletian, orders them to be stripped and beaten with scorpions, “scorpionibus mactari,” and then, by Diocletian’s order, they were placed in “loculi plumbei,” leaden coffins, and cast into the Tiber.

A certain Nicodemus is said to have raised the coffins and taken them to his own house; levavit says the legend.

Two years afterwards, Diocletian ordered the soldiers to pay homage to a Statue of Æsculapius, but four “Cornicularii,” or wing-leaders of the city militia, refused. They were ordered to be put to death in front of the image of Æsculapius by strokes of the Plumbata, “ictu plumbatarum,” and their bodies cast into the streets to the dogs, where they lay five days.

Then Sebastianus, with Pope Melchiades, is said to have taken up the bodies and buried them in the cemetery on the road to Lavica. By the use of the word “Arenaria,” allusion is made to the sandpits in which slaves and criminals were buried, but Christians never. But in order to conceal the catacombs from their persecutors, opening and entrances were made and used in the Arenaria to deposit the bodies of martyrs and the like in the catacombs. Here they seemed to have remained till the ninth century.

For though Melchiades appointed the day, 8th November, in the fourth century, and it is recognized as such in the Sacramentary of Gregory 200 years later, and Pope Honorius in the seventh century built a church to their especial honor, it was not until the ninth century apparently that Pope Leo translated the relics of the nine worthies to the restored and embellished church on the Cœlian Hill, now called the Church of the “Santi Cuatro Incoronati,”—Incoronati in modern Italian being identical with Coronati in mediæval and classic Latin.

It will be seen that the names have become confused as time has run on, and various appellations have been given to the four and the five. Originally the legend gives Claudius, Castorius, Simphorianus, and Nicostratus, and to these Simplicius is added. The remaining four in one of the earliest legends are said to be Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus. This makes nine in all—nine worthies—concerning whom there is no reason to disbelieve, no a priori objection to, the perfect truth of the legend. Clear it is that in process of time the facts of the story itself have become a little confused and the names intermingled, but there is no doubt from very early days the four or five have been commemorated on the same one day. In one martyrology, November 8th is thus commemorated “Senas ornantes idus merito atque cruore, Claudi, Castori, Simplicii, Simphoriani, et Nichostrate pari fulgetis is luce coronæ.” One early writer terms them fratres, but whether he means fratres in blood, in confession, or fratres collegii does not clearly appear.

From Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. 1

As is well-known, the Sarum Missal of the 11th century gives the names as in the Arundel Hagiology, but the names vary much in different legends and service books. Some of these differences are no doubt scribal errors, and some attest remarkably the variability and the uncertainty of tradition. For instance we find Castulus, Semphorianus, Christorius, Significanus, Clemens, and Cortianus, all applied to some of the nine. In some MSS. the five are found, not the four; in some, the four are mentioned, not the five. Nothing can be decided from such mutability of the legend, or even safely argued.

In one of the Steinmetz Constitutions, they are simply described as Claudius, Christorius, and Significanus, while in the beautiful illumination from the Isabella Missal, four only appear—with the emblems of Craft Masonry one and all: the square, the plumb rule, the trowel, and the gavel—though five are mentioned in the commemoration prayer, Simphorianus, Claudius, Castorius, Simplicius, and Nichostratus. This is explained in the Arundel legend by the fact that Simplicius was not one of the original four, but being a fellow-workman and secretly desirous of becoming a Christian, he was baptized by Quirillus, the Bishop, and so suffered martyrdom with the other four.

It may be observed here, that the legend is in itself purely Italian in its inception, though it has spread probably with the Craft Lodges into Germany, Gaul, and Britain.

There are several old Acta and Gesta Quatuor Coronatorum and several special Legends, Martyrologies, and Hagiologies, of the Coronati, and the subject still requires study and illustration, as no doubt many valuable similar MSS. remain unknown and uncollated in the Vatican Library, and the greater libraries, and even private collections of MSS. To Mr. J.0. Halliwell Phillipps, the English Craft owes its introduction to this most ancient legend and valuable link between the Freemasonry of the past and the Freemasonry of the present, as contained in the “Masonic Poem.”

The Arundel Legend is taken from a fine MS. of the 12th century, in the British Museum. Its proper reference is Ar : MSS., 91, f 2186. There is another copy of the legend in the British Museum, Harleian MSS., No. 2802, f 99. There is also a short notice of the Quatuor Coronati in Regius MS., 8, c, 7 f 165, of the 14th century.

In the Harleian MS., 2082, Simphorianus is given as Simphronius; in the Regius MS., the names are as in the Arundel, but in different sequence.

In Alban Butler’s Lives, the Four Crowned Martyrs are named Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus; and he adds, “five other martyrs called Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius, who had suffered in the same persecution are buried in the same cemetery.” — A. F. A. Woodford

The following biography of Woodford also comes from this first AQC volume.

Rev. Adolphus Frederick Alexander Woodford, born in 1821, gazetted Christmas Day, 1838, Ensign and Lieutenant Coldstream Guards, retired in 1841, matriculated at Durham University 1842, took B.A. degree and License of Theology in 1847, and M.A. degree some years after. Ordained Deacon in 1846, curate of Whitburn, near Sunderland, 1846-47, ordained priest July 1817, and in the same year presented to the Rectory of Swillington, Leeds, which he resigned in 1872. In 1852 he was Chaplain to Sir John Lowther, Bart., as High Sheriff of Yorkshire.

Initiated in the Lodge of Friendship, Gibraltar, No. 278, in 1842, and subsequently joined the following Lodges—Marquis of Granby, Durham, No. 124, in 1842, W.M. in 1844 and 1845; Philanthropic Lodge, Leeds, No. 304, in 1854, W.M. in 1858 and 1859; and Lodge of Antiquity, London, No. 2, in 1863, D.M. in 1878, under H.R.H. the Duke of Albany. He was exalted in Concord Chapter, Durham, No. 124, in 1848; joined the Philanthropic Chapter, Leeds, No. 304, in 1863, and its first Z.; and St. James’ Chapter, London, No. 2, in 1874, Z. thereof in 1882. Appointed Provincial Grand Chaplain of Durham in 1847, Provincial Grand Chaplain, West Yorkshire, 1860, and Provincial Grand Senior Warden, 1857, and finally Grand Chaplain of England in 1863.

Was first Chairman of the West Yorkshire Charity Committee from 1859-1870. He has been a constant contributor to the Masonic press, few names being better known than “Masonic Student,” one of his many noms de plume, and was the editor of the London “Freemason” and of the “Masonic Magazine,” from 1873 to 1886; and the author of Kenning’s Cyclopoedia, “Defense of Freemasonry,” “The Sloane Manuscript,” and other works—as well as of the learned introduction to Hughan’s Old Charges of the British Freemasons.

Bro. Woodford would die in 1887, so he didn’t see AQC Vol. 1 brought to fruition. He is one of the stars of this book, having written a variety of items in its pages, including an English translation of the legend from that Arundel Manuscript’s Latin. His name probably is familiar to you Rosicrucians, as he was among the organizers of the HOGD.

In closing, I just want to explain that a big part of my laughter at the silly notion of Templar origins of Freemasonry derives from my wish for more Masons today to learn about the Four Crowned Martyrs and thereby appreciate the connection that stonemasons Claudius, Castorius, Simphorianus, and Nicostratus have to us. I’m not at all against embracing Christian history and legend, I just think what we choose to believe ought to make some sense because Masonic Templarism is fallacious.

     

‘This Saturday in the Enchanted Realm’

    

This just in: Azim’s Fall Ceremonial is Saturday afternoon! The Prophets of the Black Fez will fez more Prophets in a ceremony so moving that—I don’t even think the English language has the vocabulary to convey how moving it is.

This will be from noon to four o’clock in the French Ionic Room in Masonic Hall.

It’s just one man’s opinion, but I believe a Master Mason, beyond the lodge, needs only Royal Arch and Grotto. And a research lodge. And maybe Cryptic. But that’s it!

Due to a bizarre scheduling conflict, I cannot be there, so the Chaplain’s duties will require someone else’s attention.

Lunch will be served. As always, it’s BYOB. Hmmm…what else, what else?

Oh yeah! If you haven’t petitioned for membership yet, there’s still time. Click here.

     

‘New editor at The Plumbline’

    

“Behold, I will set The Plumbline in the midst of Masonic periodicals, and Chris Ruli shall be its editor.”

I imagine it went something like that, but all we have to go on is Chris’ modest announcement on social media:

On the thirty-third anniversary of The Plumbline’s release, I’m excited to announce that the Scottish Rite Research Society Board of Directors has elected me to serve as the publication’s editor.

The publication serves more than 3,500 members around the U.S. and abroad. Back in 1991, Rex Hutchens laid out the first issue (then just referred as the Society’s newsletter) and it became a source of news, commentary, perspective, and research. In taking on this position, I plan to shift it back to that original concept while also highlighting good papers whenever possible.

As a former contributor, I’m excited to see where this can go. It’s also nice to be associated with past editors like S. Brent Morris, Pete Normand, Robert Davis, Adam Kendall, and Aaron Shoemaker. Stay tuned.

Send your letters, requests, inquiries and anything else you want shared here.

The Plumbline of course is one of the benefits of membership in the Scottish Rite Research Society, with the annual Heredom collection of research papers and a bonus book.

Art de Hoyos

SRRS bonus book.

The bonus now in the mail to members is Étienne Morin: From the French Rite to the Scottish Rite by Arturo de Hoyos and Josef Wäges. The new Heredom is Vol. 31, edited by Adam Kendall with Associate Editor…Chris Ruli!

When he’s not authoring books, speaking before Masonic audiences, and editing others’ work, he’s out jogging. Congratulations, Chris!

     

‘Masonic Hall Monitors at The ALR’

    

Thomas Smith Webb by Travis Simpkins.

What better way to commemorate the anniversary of Thomas Smith Webb’s birth in 1771 than to attend your research lodge for a dive into the history of Freemasonry’s ritual literature?

Actually, I guess initiating a candidate with Webb’s ritual might have been better. And passing him would have been good. And, sure, raising him could have been a great commemoration, but we don’t make Masons in The American Lodge of Research. We make ’em think.

The program Tuesday night in the French Doric Room at Masonic Hall was “Masonic Hall Monitors,” for which three experts united for discussion of the history and evolution of ritual ciphers, monitors, and exposures.

In truth, Webb’s birthday was the following day. Regardless, we think we arrived at the reason why exoteric ritual books are commonly called monitors: Because Webb titled his The Freemason’s Monitor; or, Illustrations of Masonry: In Two Parts, and the moniker “monitor” stuck.

etymology.com

The origin of the word “monitor” shows it derives from the Latin for “one who reminds, admonishes, or checks,” also “an overseer, instructor, guide, teacher,” according to etymology.com, so the term is apt, and seems to have become the aptonym many grand lodges use to title their books of exoteric Masonic rituals (charges, funerary ceremony, cornerstone dedication, etc.). Others call them manuals. How boring.

Anyway, we welcomed RW Sam Kinsey, Chairman of Grand Lodge’s Custodians of the Work; RW Michael LaRocco, Executive Director of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library upstairs on 14; and RW Ben Hoff, Past Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 and Past Grand Historian in Jersey. In concert, they gave a thorough review of these books, from Masonry Dissected, printed in London in 1730, and which gives the first known look at a Third Degree, to the forthcoming New York Monitor, due before the Grand Lodge Communication next May, and therefore just in time to provide our lodges the bona fide Installation of Officers ritual.

Wonderbook

1942 GLNY Monitor

In the Grand Lodge of New York, the Custodians of the Work is the team that maintains the integrity of the ritual our lodges use. I’d say the gist of Sam’s presentation is: Ritual changes over time. Sometimes, things need clarification or correction. Other times, the sensibilities of the present day might necessitate an addition or a deletion.

Sam Kinsey

Whatever the case, it is wrong to believe that Masonic rituals are the same from place to place, and that they have not been altered since 1717. Equally important is to view your ritual as more of a script to a performance than as holy writ that demands a rigid, unfeeling delivery. When appropriate, use inflection; watch your timing. Know the vocabulary. Remember you are educating someone.

Michael LaRocco

Bro. Michael followed Sam’s talk, wheeling a booktruck laden with antique and other vintage New York ritual texts into the room for a show-and-tell exhibit—including an original, from 1797, copy of Webb’s Monitor. This and the other books came from the Livingston Library’s archives and stacks; collectively, they illustrated Sam’s talk on how rituals change over time, requiring new printings to impart the ritual to new generations of Masons. The most recent publication of the Standard Work and Lectures came in 2019, shortly after a panicked grand secretary had discovered that the inventory of ritual books had dwindled to a single copy. The latest monitor, however, dates way back to 1989. That book is not current today, and the long anticipated update is coming, as noted above.

Bro. Ben was last to speak on account of his research paper “Monitors and Ritual Ciphers” spanning twenty-six pages. His specialty is forensic examination of Masonic rituals, and he owns an impressive collection of eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century ritual books—official and otherwise—on which he bases his theses.

He started us with a look into the Edinburgh Register House Manuscript from 1696, which shows us how short and simple Masonic ritual had been while also exemplifying how the structure has changed. What we today call a lecture is a long monolog delivered from memory by (hopefully) a gifted orator, but in a seventeenth and eighteenth century lodge, a lecture was a conversation. It was question-and-answer format, which actually lives on today. Think lodge Opening.

Between 1696 and today, embellishments were added to give literary depth to the symbolism. Most of these arose in the late 1700s from the books of three English authors. A Candid Disquisition, by Wellins Calcott (1769); The Spirit of Masonry, by William Hutchenson (1775); and, especially, William Preston’s Illustrations of Masonry, various editions of which began appearing in 1772. These authors get the credit for much of what we say today in lodge.

It really is remarkable how much of their prose basically remains intact. I’ve written about these books before, and I urge you to seek them out for your edification.

What we today know of ritual from between the 1720s and 1770s comes from ritual exposures that were printed without authorization (ergo exposures), but were bought anyway by Masons in need of handy ritual references. Masonry Dissected is a great source for seeing how fundamental lodge rituals were in 1730. The candidate is prepared, admitted, introduced, obligated, charged, and fed.

It also was not unheard of for brethren to handwrite their rituals for personal use.

Regarding monitors, Ben explains:

Ben Hoff

The key thing to remember about all Masonic monitors is that they were not exhaustive ritual guides. The two key characteristics of a monitor that distinguish it from a ritual are the absence of any traditionally secret ritual material, and the inclusion of such other supplemental material as would be useful to running the lodge. This supplemental material included items such as procedures for installations, lodge consecrations, funeral services, cornerstone layings, recommended procedures for petitions, interrogatories, and similar matters. As for ritual material, only openly published illustrations included as expansions of the lectures, prayers, and similar non-controversial material are included.

Getting back to Webb, it was he who adapted Preston’s Illustrations for American use, making changes to ritual structure that comprise his Monitor. In his day, grand lodges in the United States didn’t have official standardized rituals, and they definitely were not publishing ritual books (remember what happened with William Morgan in 1826), so Webb made a career of traveling the states and imparting his version of the work to lodges.

Later still came the artistic renderings of our symbols by Jeremy Ladd Cross. His book, True Masonic Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor, is whence the familiar sketches we know of Craft and Royal Arch symbols came.

In addition to all these, were other authors’ coded ritual books of varying complexity and weirdness.

It wouldn’t be until the twentieth century that grand lodges in America would publish their own authorized ritual texts. In New Jersey, Ben explained, this was because some other guy was profiting from selling such books, so the grand lodge decided in 1967 to make the money for itself.

The hour was late—some of the brethren had to excuse themselves to catch their trains—so I had to end the meeting. I think everyone present got their money’s worth, and I feel good about it all. (I’m a fairly anxious Worshipful Master.)

Macoy Masonic Supply Co.

I had planned on giving a fourth talk on the subject of Macoy Masonic Supply’s reprinting of Robert Macoy’s 1867 Masonic Manual, but it seems the 750-book run has sold out, and I didn’t want to promote something the brethren cannot buy. It’s pretty cool, though.

Under business, we elected to Corresponding Membership a dual New York and California Mason who also has been a professor and lecturer at several universities, including Columbia. He has submitted a paper already!

The American Lodge of Research will meet again in early 2025. We will hit the road on February 19 for a joint meeting with Dunwoodie 863 in New Rochelle. We’ll be back in the French Doric Room on March 31 for a French-themed program involving both Lafayette and Tocqueville. I’m working on arranging Zoom sessions too, but more on that later.

     

‘Time to join/renew QCCC’

    

If it’s November, it is time to join or renew with QCCC for 2025. Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle is the corporate side of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 in London. Membership in the lodge is limited to a small number of scholars who are elected, but guys like you and me may join QCCC, the principal benefit of which is possession of the treasury that is Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the lodge’s annual book of transactions.

QC2076 will meet one more time this year for its installation of officers on November 14 at Great Queen Street. Bro. Trevor McKeown, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, will become the 138th Master of the lodge.

For next year, the lodge has scheduled:

Thursday, February 20

Thoughts on the Early History of the Royal Arch

Christopher Powell  

Thursday, May 8

The Prestonian Lecture: The Second Grand Lodge, The London Irish & Antients Freemasonry

Dr. Ric Berman

Thursday, June 26

The Catholic Church and Freemasonry: From UK Foreign Office Files

Dr Jim Daniel

The meeting will be held in Bristol.

Thursday, September 11

Freemasonry and the Enlightenment: Insights from the Debate on the Eleusinian Mysteries

Dr. Ferdinand Saumaurez Smith

Open Meeting–Non-Masons are welcome to attend.

Thursday, November 13

Installation Meeting

Installation Paper

Someday I will visit, I keep telling myself. Click here to join QCCC or click here to renew your membership.

     

‘The return of The Magic Flute’

    

The Met

It’s almost time for The Magic Flute, Mozart’s Masonic opera, to return to The Met for its annual run. From the publicity:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s

The Magic Flute

The Metropolitan Opera

December 12-January 4

Tickets (from $35!) here

The Met’s family-friendly production of Mozart’s dazzling fairy tale returns, sung in English and running under two hours. Nimrod David Pfeffer and J. David Jackson share conducting duties, leading a standout cast in Julie Taymor’s magical staging. Tenors David Portillo and Duke Kim share the role of Tamino, the brave prince on a quest to win the clever princess Pamina, sung by sopranos Hera Park and Emily Pogorelc. The cast also features tenors Will Liverman and Sean Michael Plumb alternating as the luckless bird catcher Papageno. Sopranos Kathryn Lewek and Aigul Khismatullina alternate as the Queen of the Night. Basses Solomon Howard and Pectin Chen take turns as Sarastro.

Prior to the December 14 performance, children and families are welcome to join our Holiday Open House. The Open House is free to all ticket holders for the December 14 performance.

The Met

World Premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791. A sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte in the original German) was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The story is told in a singspiel (“song-play”) format characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and stage activity, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, ranging from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score.

The Met

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) was the son of a Salzburg court musician who exhibited him as a musical prodigy throughout Europe. His achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. He died three months after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte, his last produced work for the stage. The remarkable Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812) was an actor, singer, theater manager, and friend of Mozart who wrote the opera’s libretto, staged the work, and sang the role of Papageno in the initial run.

The libretto specifies Egypt as the location of the action. That country was traditionally regarded as the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity, whose symbols and rituals populate this opera. Some productions include Egyptian motifs as an exotic nod to this idea, but most opt for a more generalized mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone of the work call for.

The Met

Mozart and his librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder, created The Magic Flute with an eye toward a popular audience, but the varied tone of the work requires singers who can specialize in several different musical genres. The baritone Papageno represents the comic and earthy, the tenor Tamino and the soprano Pamina display true love in its noblest forms, the bass Sarastro expresses the solemn and the transcendental, and the Queen of the Night provides explosive vocal fireworks.

     

‘Happy Garibaldi anniversary’

    

Just in time for Garibaldi Lodge’s 160th anniversary year, a pipe maker, that I unhappily cannot identify, seems to have produced a briar bearing the handsome likeness of Giuseppe Garibaldi. This photo shows a page in the October issue of Arbiter magazine. It is being circulated on social media by Al Pascià to promote its Ovalina shape, two of which are seen resting on the page. Maybe this Garibaldi briar is made by that venerable pipe-maker, but I cannot find any info on the web about it.

Anyway, the actual anniversary of the lodge’s constitution passed on June 11, but the brethren will meet tomorrow night at eight o’clock in the Corinthian Room for its regular communication. (It’s impossible to choose a favorite lodge in the Tenth Manhattan District, but I’m drawn to Garibaldi because of the French Rite EA° it famously confers, in Italian, to the delight of hundreds of visiting Masons.)

Magpie file photo

From the 150th anniversary.

Garibaldi 542 was the first lodge under the Grand Lodge of New York to work in the Italian language. There was confusion in the Craft at the beginning, as the lodge was trilingual—Italian, French, and English—so that the DDGM had to direct the Worshipful Master to keep the lodge’s proceedings in Italian, per the Dispensation granted by Grand Lodge.

The lodge’s namesake, of course, is the Italian freedom-fighter and Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy. Did you know Giuseppe Garibaldi resided in Staten Island for a time? Read more about Garibaldi 542’s history here.

Happy anniversary!

     

‘Where are AMD’s scholars?’

    

►

Brethren of the Allied Masonic Degrees have received the latest Allied Times newsletter, which contains all kinds of information on recent and upcoming events, including Masonic Week. Also of note is a message from the chairman of Grand Council’s Publications Committee concerning the upcoming edition of Miscellanea.

This, ideally, is the annual book of quality papers written by AMD Masons around the country and presented in their local councils. Looks like we’re getting a “best of” anthology of classics this year. Too little new material is being submitted by the council secretaries (or maybe submissions received aren’t that great) to fill the pages of a quality book, so most of this new volume comes from the past. Here’s the table of contents:

▪︎ 1939-1941: “The Union Degree,” by Wendell K. Walker

▪︎ 1939-1941: “Evolution of the Tracing Board,” by S. Clifton Bingham

▪︎ 1949: “Light From The Forty-Seventh Problem of Euclid,” by J. Edward Allen

▪︎ 1950: “Group Masonic Research,” by William Mosley Brown

▪︎ 1954: “Freemasonry Past, Present, and Future,” by William A. Thaanum

▪︎ 1981: “The Itinerant Degree Peddlers,” by S. Marshall Sanders, Jr.

▪︎ 1991: “Ray Shute and the A.M.D.,” by Keith Arrington

▪︎ 2024: “What Come You Here to Do?,” by Robert G. Davis

▪︎ 2024: “Forward of Freemasonry and the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824-1825 American Tour,” by B. Chris Ruli

Papers in AMD need not meet the same requirements one finds in research lodges. For starters, these do not have to be research papers, but rather information of “Masonic interest” is how I think the rule phrases it. The requirements aren’t at all rigorous, so standards in length, style, and content shouldn’t prevent everyone from participating. Naturally, not everyone is destined for this kind of work. AMD also needs ritualists, administrators, and organizers, but there ought to be someone writing the educational content of meetings.

This brings me to my principal gripe about Grand Council: It charters constituent councils too generously. The proof of this, in part, is seen in how practically no one in the country gets published in Miscellanea. I’m not sure if Charter No. 600 has been issued yet, but it’s close. Where are all the Masonic scholars in all these councils?

It took Grand Council almost forty years to issue Charter No. 83 in 1971 (to my council), but in the past fifty-three years it has cranked out more than 500? Fifty-three years when the Masonic population in the United States dropped from more than three million to 800,000? How does that make sense?

It doesn’t, of course, because AMD was meant to be small. It is not open to Master Masons; one must be a Royal Arch Mason, which precludes about 90 percent of Master Masons from joining. And one does not petition; one is invited into a council. And we cannot invite too many because each council is constitutionally capped at twenty-seven members.

Get it? It’s supposed to be a small, even elite, fraternity. One of the codgers who was still around when I was brought in twenty-three years ago called it the Ph.D. level of Freemasonry.

So, now that the Allied Masonic Degrees in the United States is supersized, where are all the writers? (Why am I not writing for Miscellanea is the obvious question, and my answer is complicated, but I do have reasons.)

To have your work published in Miscellanea, give the paper to your council secretary, and he will forward it to the Publications Committee.

UPDATE—October 30: Okay, a friend back channel called bullshit on my “reasons,” so I’ll share one here: Where are the dozens of Grand Council officers in this? If, say, eight of them submitted papers each year, we’d get a book. They all were appointed to their glamorous positions meritoriously, and there was no tedious cronyism at work, so what gives?

     

‘1764 MM° in November’

     

This sounds like a great day!

I don’t think I’m familiar with the “Book of Hiram.” A ritual exposure, I’ll guess.

I’ll see if Ben mentions it at The ALR on Tuesday.

     

‘Devotional: The Still, Small Voice’

    

It’s been more than a year, but I haven’t gotten used to being a Virginia Mason. Usually, joining a research lodge does not make one a Mason in that lodge’s grand lodge, but the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Virginia sees that differently, and so my affiliation with Civil War Lodge of Research means I’m a Virginia Mason. Still, it doesn’t come to mind until I receive some communication from the Grand Lodge, whether it’s the quarterly print magazine (look for my article on CWLR in the new issue!) or something in my inbox.

As Grand Chaplain, RW Thomas Lee Varner, Jr. emails the brethren occasional essays in which he explores the various Biblical references in Craft ritual. (Virginia’s is very similar to New York’s.) The following is Thursday’s Devotional and is shared here with the kind permission of its author.

This monthly devotional has been approved by the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Jack Kayle Lewis. It is the latest in a series discussing Biblical references in our ritual.

The Still, Small Voice

In both the Entered Apprentice and Master Mason degree lectures, we learn that there was not the sound of any tool of iron heard in King Solomon’s temple while it was being built. Why was that? We know that the stones and timbers were cut and prepared elsewhere using iron tools, so the issue was not that the iron was unclean or that it polluted the temple. The scriptures are silent on this point, but perhaps it was that, because the workmen were building the house of God, that a holy and reverent silence needed to be observed. The only sounds were the low commands of the overseers, the whispering of the ropes as they lifted the stones into place, and the tapping of the wooden mauls as they set the timbers upright. They were guided by “that reverential awe which is due from a creature to his Creator” as expressed in the Entered Apprentice degree charge, and were exercising “those truly Masonic virtues, silence and circumspection” as noted in the emblem of the sword pointing to a naked heart in the Master Mason degree lecture. The reverent silence was also needed for them to hear when God spoke to their hearts any additional commands needed for the building.

We say that we were first prepared to be a Mason in our heart, and since we are engaged in the building of our own spiritual temples, it is important for us often to observe a holy and reverent silence to do that work. Psalm 46 instructs us to “Be still and know that I am God.”  A favorite story is that of Elijah in 1 Kings who, after defeating the prophets of Baal and receiving a death sentence from Jezebel, fled to Mt. Horeb, the same mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments. God told him to stand and watch, and then sent a mighty windstorm, a tremendous earthquake, and finally an enormous fire, but He was not in any of them. He then spoke to him in a still, small voice, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” And that is how God often speaks to us, not in extraordinary miracles or immense demonstrations of power, but in gentle murmurs to our soul. As Masons, what are we doing here? Our ritual suggests that we are here to make each other better, to extend brotherly love and support to each other and our families, to be moral examples to our community, and to uphold the traditional American values of love of God, love of country, and love of family. In our daily lives filled figuratively with the deafening banging of drums and clashing of cymbals, it is often difficult to hear God’s voice and what He wants us to do. But we know that the Bible contains His still, small voice, and we would do well to set aside quiet time and prayer to make ourselves familiar with it. I assure you that when you seek God, He will not fail you. As it says in the Entered Apprentice lecture, “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.”

My thanks to our Grand Chaplain for his Devotionals, and for allowing me to share this one here.

     

‘The wait for Waite is over’

    

Yesterday afternoon, Weiser Antiquarian Books released its anticipated latest catalogue—no, not another Crowley collection—comprised largely of titles from the study of one Arthur Edward Waite. There are 101 books in this batch, and more than half are written or edited by our Masonic Brother.

Weiser Antiquarian Books

And there are a few about Waite, such as the elusive 1932 “Check List” of his writings, published privately (and this copy is signed) by H.V.B. Voorhis, a Past Master of The American Lodge of Research, and a friend of Waite.

A number of the books have been sold already, including—drat!—one first edition (1924) of The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, a hardcover in VG+ condition. But there are many more from Waite on subjects including Alchemy, Éliphas Lévi, Hermeticism, Holy Graal, Kabbalah, Magic, Paracelsus, Tarot, Thomas Vaughan, and more. Not Freemasonry though.

Other authors featured in Catalogue 287 include Johann Georg Faust, Manly P. Hall, MacGregor Mathers, Israel Regardie, and more.

(Hey, with Hanukkah just two months away, if someone were to make me the gift of this two-volume set, I’d be one happy and grateful reader!)

     

‘The first Masonic medal’

     

Leftfield Pictures/History Channel

A segment from the once popular television program Pawn Stars uploaded to YouTube this week exhibits what was called “the first Masonic medal.” The token has George Washington in profile and the date 1797 on the obverse, and a collection of Craft lodge symbols on the reverse.

Leftfield Pictures/History Channel

Not knowing much about such a thing, pawn shop proprietor and star of the show Rick Harrison summoned an expert numismatist and appraiser to explain what it’s about. David Vagi, director of Numismatic Guaranty Company in Florida (he is flown to Vegas for his appearances), is renowned as an authority on coins from the ancient world, but I’m skeptical about his knowledge of things Masonic. As you know, our fraternity is a quirky society with practically endless possibilities and improbabilities in its material culture, as we’ll see here.

When Vagi termed this piece “literally the first Masonic medal; what they call Masonic pennies,” I lost faith in his evaluation. But he also said it was struck by Peter Getz, a Pennsylvania Mason who worked as a silversmith and engraver, which is corroborated by historical and numismatic sources.

And then there’s the November 1974 issue of The Pennsylvania Freemason, the periodical of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. A short article accounting for the then seven medallions known to have been commissioned by the Grand Lodge (I don’t know if there have been more from the past fifty years) says:

Click to enlarge.

Washington 1797 Medallion

The rarest medallion in the collection is the Washington medallion struck by Grand Lodge in 1797.

It was struck in recognition of the anticipated election of Bro. Washington as General Grand Master of Masons in the United States.

The proceedings of Grand Lodge, dated January 13, 1780, states:

“The Ballot was put upon the Question: Whether it be for the Benefit of Masonry and ‘a grand Master of Masons thro’out the United States’ shall now be nominated on the part of this Grand Lodge…

Sundry, respectable Brethren, being put in nomination, it was moved that the Ballot be put to them separately, and His Excellency George Washington, Esquire, General and Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States being first in nomination, he was balloted for accordingly as Grand Master, and Elected by the unanimous vote of the whole Lodge.”

 

This action of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania did not meet with favor by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. The office was never established.

It created the belief among Masons that such an office did exist, and that Washington occupied it. The error was further compounded by the abbreviated legend on the reverse of the medal:

“G.W.G.G.M.” – George Washington General Grand Master.

The medal is of bronze, 1 3/8 inches in diameter and 1/16 inch thick. One side of the medal has the bust of Washington in uniform and carries the legend “G. Washington, President, 1797.”

The reverse side shows emblems of Masonry surrounded by the inscription “AMOR • HONOR • JUSTITIA,” and the initials “G.W.G.G.M.”

Around the rim on both sides is a rope-like design which could symbolize the cable tow.

The medal closely resembles both in drawing and execution the Washington half dollars of 1792 engraved by Bro. Peter Getz of Lancaster, Pa., a Past Master of Lodge No. 43, F&AM of Lancaster.

Two of the three known medals are in the Grand Lodge collection.

In the end, Mr. Vagi valued this piece at $40,000, “maybe a touch more.” Mr. Harrison and the seller did not achieve a meeting of the minds.

If you’re scratching your head over “the Washington half dollars of 1792” because Washington didn’t appear on a U.S. coin until 1932 (and he would have been appalled at the suggestion his likeness should appear on the Republic’s money), don’t doubt your sanity. “Medals, tokens, and coinage proposals in this interesting series [of Washington pieces] dated from 1783 to 1795 bear the portrait of George Washington,” says the guide known informally as “Yeoman’s Red Book.” “Many of these pieces were of English origin and were made later than their dates indicate.”

Whitman Publishing, LLC

“Dies engraved by Peter Getz of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, are believed to have been made to produce a half dollar and cent as a proposal to Congress for a private contract coinage before the Philadelphia Mint became a reality,” the book also says. Now, if you have one of those, you could be looking at six figures, depending on which one and its condition.

     

‘Retired Senator made Mason on Sight’

     

Bro. Pat Roberts, retired U.S. Senator in white apron, and MW Jack Kyle Lewis are flanked by four of the Grand Lodge of Virginia’s District Deputy Grand Masters after the Grand Master made Roberts a Mason on Sight last Wednesday at Andrew Jackson Lodge 120 in Alexandria. (I nicked this photo off Shelby’s Facebook.)

A longtime reader—there literally are several of those—saw the post the other day about Naval Lodge, and took the opportunity to tell me about something novel in the Grand Lodge of Virginia.

Last Wednesday, the sixteenth, Grand Master Jack Lewis exercised a prerogative very rarely seen in the jurisdiction by “Making on Sight” retired U.S. Senator Pat Roberts a Mason. He is a member of Andrew Jackson Lodge 120 in Alexandria. This lodge, now in its 170th year, meets inside the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

Sometimes it is called “at Sight,” and it is found among Mackey’s Landmarks, although not every grand lodge permits it.

There was no mention of this on the Grand Master’s schedule, and I don’t see anything official about it. I was able to find a few mentions on Facebook. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next issue of The Herald. All I know about Sen. Roberts is he represented Kansas in the Senate from 1997 to 2021, and served in the House of Representatives for sixteen years beforehand.

Congratulations to all involved!

The Grand Annual Communication is a few weeks away. Richmond is too far for me, but I hope to attend someday.