‘The sound of music’

The October 21 Stated Communication of St. John’s Lodge No. 1, AYM will feature RW Bro. Robert L. Barrows, Grand Organist, who will present his lecture titled “Music in Ritual.”

I gather this is the paper he presented at last year’s Big Night at the Little Inn, so I can strongly recommend Magpie readers attend.

Magpie coverage of that evening last December can be read here.

Dateline: Freemasonry

From the Dateline: NBC website:

FRIDAY, OCT. 16: SECRETS OF 'THE LOST SYMBOL'

One of the world's most popular authors, Dan Brown, sits down for a rare and exclusive interview with NBC News' Matt Lauer to talk about his new book, "The Lost Symbol," the beliefs of the Freemasons, the power of the human mind, whether people can become gods and a little known science that may tie them all together. For the hour-long report, "Secrets of the Lost Symbol," set to air on Friday, Oct. 16 (9:00 p.m. ET), Lauer travels to Washington, D.C. to interview Brown and explore the backdrop and secrets of this new bestseller.

"Secrets of the Lost Symbol" will take viewers behind the scenes of the secretive brotherhood of the Freemasons in attempt to make sense of what is fact and what is fiction for all Brown's fans, and find out from the Freemasons themselves what he got right, and what he got wrong. The broadcast also goes in search of what Brown calls the true meaning of his book and why, he says, its so unlike his others. Additionally, he speaks with Lauer at length about the beliefs of the nation's founding fathers, saying "America wasn't founded a Christian country. It became a Christian country."

Dan Brown had been invited to address the membership of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, meeting in Washington, but could not attend as he is traveling to promote the new novel. He sent his regrets, from which I quote:

“In the past few weeks, as you might imagine, I have been repeatedly asked what attracted me to the Masons so strongly as to make it a central point of my new book. My reply is always the same: In a world where men do battle over whose definition of God is most accurate, I cannot adequately express the deep respect and admiration I feel toward an organization in which men of differing faiths are able to ‘break bread together’ in a bond of brotherhood, friendship, and camaraderie.”

‘Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job!’

     
By the way, have you heard Dan Brown has a new novel out? The Lost Symbol is setting sales records and, naturally, has the Masonic world wondering what its impact on the fraternity will be. Early concerns remembered the treatment Opus Dei received in Brown’s previous mega-seller, The DaVinci Code, which portrayed the Roman Catholic lay organization as practically a murder cult, and wondered if Freemasonry was in for a similar ride.

Truly, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the problem posed by The Lost Symbol is that Freemasonry is presented with too much idealism. Dan Brown’s Freemasonry consists of the most powerful men in Washington – the Senate Majority Leader, the Director of Central Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland Security, et al. – not united in a conspiracy to oppress and exploit, but banded together to preserve ancient wisdom until the time is right to reintroduce humanity to these mysteries.

Establishing parallels between, to borrow a title, the Secret Teachings of All Ages and noetic science, which in the story is explored by a lone scientist toiling inside a secret lab on the campus of the Smithsonian Institution, our author echoes a stirring message imparted by none other than Robert Davis and Jim Tresner, two of the leading educators of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Incidentally (or maybe not merely incidentally), the Scottish Rite is the specific form of Freemasonry the novel explores.

At the 2004 session of New Jersey Council of Deliberation, Bob and Jim were flown in from Oklahoma to speak on the potential Scottish Rite Masonry has to stir within its brethren the desire to help mankind recognize a new phase of collective awakening. The talk was so well received that Ill. Davis was brought back in 2006, when he presented his paper titled “The Purpose of the Scottish Rite and the Spiritual Awakening of the New Millennium: an Unworldly Partnership.”

Excerpted:

My Brethren, in the history of the world, there have been two periods when a spiritual awakening has taken place across every culture at the same time; where a striking transformation of consciousness occurred in unison across every major population group – all independently of one another – and which resulted in a re-definition of religion and a global awakening of man’s understanding of things spiritual and religious. These have been called Axial Periods because they gave birth to everything which, since then, man has been able to be. It was during these periods that we meet with the most deepcut spiritual dividing lines in history.

The first, and most profound period, occurred in a 500-year span from 800 B.C. to 300 B.C. It was during this time that China saw its two great teachers, Confucious and Lao-tze, from whose wisdom emerged the schools of Chinese philosophy. In India, the Hinduism of the Vedas was transformed by the Upanishads, which changed Hinduism from a polytheistic to a monotheistic religion; where Buddha, the “Awakened One” and Mahavira ushered in two new religious traditions – Buddhism and Janism. The concept of individual enlightenment came from this tradition. In the eastern Mediterranean region, the transformative prophets – Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, called forth from their people a new moral awareness which took Judaism to a higher level based on individual moral responsibility and where the idea of a messiah came into being. In Greece, Western philosophy was born. From Phales and Socrates to Plato and Aristotle, a new rational explanation of the universe was conceived; where moral consciousness was awakened and new metaphysical systems were born. “Know Thyself” became the watchword.

It was an extraordinary global transformation. Although the leaders who effected this change were philosophers and religious teachers, the change was so radical that it affected all aspects of culture because it transformed consciousness itself. It was, in fact, within the horizons of this form of consciousness that the great civilizations of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe developed. It was this form of consciousness that spread to other regions and became dominant worldwide. It was a consciousness that was self-reflective, analytical, and which could be applied to nature in the form of scientific theories, to society in the form of social critique, to knowledge in the form of philosophy; to religion in the form of mapping an individual spiritual journey. To this day, regardless of where we have been born, we live in the structure of consciousness that was shaped in this 500 year period. And it was within this structure that the intellectual and spiritual substance of Freemasonry was born....

Western civilization as we know it today is the product of four great movements that occurred over another 400-year period, all tied to the structure of consciousness which came out of the first Axial Period. These four movements were the Renaissance, the Reformation, the French Revolution, and the Industrial/Social Revolution....

It is time that we create an identity for the Scottish Rite that is uniquely ours in the family of Freemasonry – one which focuses on this original intent of our enlightened society of men....

We are moving into a new Axial Period.... We are on the cutting edge of something bigger than we know and, like the first Axial Period, the new one will redefine traditional paths of spirituality and shape the horizon of consciousness for future centuries. It too will have a great significance for world religions; and it will be driven by both an individual consciousness and a global one. And since this development will be global and connected with new forms of technology, religious futurists are suggesting that we can expect to see a convergence of cultures and religions this time, rather than a division as occurred in the first Axial Period. This has enormous implications for the Scottish Rite.

Seekers of Truth will search each other out and meet in conditions and atmospheres of mutual trust and understanding, with an eagerness to alter misconceptions about each other and prepared to appreciate the values of the other. Dr. Ewert Cousins, Professor of Religious Studies at Fordham University, forecasts that “the partners of this new conscious-raising enterprise will be mutually enriched by passing over into the consciousness of the other and discovering the synthesis of the greater and higher goal of their collective awakening.” In Masonry, we have long defined this as the search for the Lost Word....

I would love to give you all 4,262 words, but you get the idea. (To read more about Robert’s talk, click here, scroll down to the August 2006 issue of The Northern Light magazine, open the PDF, and turn to page 7.) For his part, Dan Brown crafts his protagonists as like-minded strategic thinkers. Brown, the optimist – maybe even the gnostic – wants his readers to view humanity as a brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of god, a global family poised to receive the wisdom of the ages, cleansed of obfuscatory dogma and stunting superstition. The message is delivered obliquely by the mystics of Masonry (not revealing too much to the uninitiated), but bluntly by the scientist. From page 504:

Katherine propped herself on her elbow. “And I promise, if we as humans can honestly grasp this one simple truth, the world will change overnight. I should preface this,” she said, “by reminding you of the Masonic mantras to ‘gather what is scattered,’ to bring ‘order from chaos,’ to find ‘at-one-ment.’ We have scientifically proven that the power of human thought grows exponentially with the number of minds that share that thought.”

Langdon remain silent, wondering where she was going with this idea.

“What I’m saying is this. Two heads are better than one, and yet two heads are not twice better, they are many, many times better. Multiple minds working in unison magnify a thought’s effect exponentially. This is the inherent power of prayer groups, healing circles, singing in unison, and worshipping en masse. The idea of universal consciousness is no ethereal New Age concept. It’s a hard-core scientific reality, and harnessing it has the potential to transform our world. This is the underlying discovery of Noetic Science. What’s more, it’s happening right now. You can feel it all around you. Technology is linking us in ways we never imagined possible: Twitter, Google, Wikipedia, The Magpie Mason, and others all blend to create a web of interconnected minds.” She laughed. “And I guarantee you, as soon as I publish my work, the Twitterati will all be sending tweets that say ‘learning about Noetics,’ and interest in this science will explode exponentially.”

Okay, I added the Magpie part.

...Langdon shut his eyes. In the darkness of his mind, he found himself thinking about universal consciousness, about Plato’s writings on “the mind of the world” and “gathering God,” [and] Jung’s “collective unconscious.” The notion was as simple as it was startling.

God is found in the collection of Many, rather than in the One....

Langdon’s thoughts were spiraling now – dreams, memories, hopes, fears, revelations – all swirling above him in the Rotunda dome. As his eyes began to close again, he found himself staring at three words in Latin, painted with the Apotheosis.

E pluribus unum.

“Out of many, one,” he thought, slipping off into sleep.

The Lost Symbol is divided into 133 chapters, which I do not think is arbitrary, because it ought to remind us of Psalm 133, the timeless verse of Scripture that begins: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” This has been a narration of Western initiatic ceremonies for at least 1,500 years, when St. Benedict wrote it into his Rule for monastic life.



Knowing that many of you intend to read this novel, I won’t reveal plot twists and specific devices that concern Freemasonry, nor will I decode the puzzle above. However, I must say that what Ill. Bro. Davis says above about the Lost Word is heard in this story. Mr. Brown beat the copyright infringement suit brought against him in Britain by the co-authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, but I do suspect he owes Bob Davis a mention on the acknowledgments page of The Lost Symbol, at the very least.

I will say that I remain doubtful of Mr. Brown’s abilities as a novelist. The Lost Symbol is meant to be a thriller, yet it is notably unthrilling. Its plot takes place in a 24-hour period during which the heroes suffer unspeakable physical and psychological punishments, but carry on with a stoicism that would make the Black Knight look like a pansy. There are other problems, but you’ll discover them yourselves.

Read it if you must, but would someone please tell me where to find the big parking lot that Brown claims is behind the House of the Temple?
     

‘The Peoples’ Temple’

     

One of Allyn Cox’s interpretations of the cornerstone laying ceremony of the U.S. Capitol. It is found inside the George Washington Memorial Banquet Hall in the House of the Temple Cox is best known for his murals inside the House wing of the Capitol.

On this date in 1793, Bro. George Washington led the Masonic ceremony in laying the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. Believe it or not, the building as it stands now, was not completed until 1993, when restorations of the west front and renovations of courtyards were completed.

In a letter to Bro. Benjamin Latrobe, a key architect of the Capitol, in 1812, Thomas Jefferson calls the Capitol the “first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people.” It truly is a monument to human progress through individual liberty.
     

‘Prestonian pleasure’

     
Three Prestonian Lecturers walk into a bar. . .

From left: Gordon Davie, Prestonian Lecturer for 2005; John Wade, Prestonian Lecturer for 2009; and Trevor Stewart, Prestonian Lecturer for 2004. They appeared last night at Pantagis Renaissance, not as the Three Tenors, but as the Three Prestonians. It was the first time that three Prestonian Lecturers shared a podium, and it was for the noble purpose of raising thousands of dollars for the 32° Masonic Learning Center for Children in Scotch Plains. The Learning Centers are special education schools that teach children with dyslexia how to overcome the symptoms of the neurological disorder.

The Big Event finally arrived last night, and by all accounts the Prestonian Gala Banquet was an unforgettable affair and a successful fundraiser for our charity.

Complete coverage will be available in Issue No. 6 of The Journal of the Masonic Society, which will arrive in members’ mailboxes in a few weeks. To become a member of the Society, or to subscribe to the Journal only, click here.

In the meantime, perhaps the brethren might enjoy a look around. The Magpie Mason shot more than 150 photos during the evening, and I share some favorites here. My Facebook friends can see more.

Trevor Stewart, Prestonian Lecturer for 2004, expresses his fondest sentiments to Thurman Pace. This whole extravaganza was hatched last spring when Trevor suggested the idea to Thurman, who then set about assembling a planning committee.

MW William H. Berman, Grand Master of New Jersey, at left, presents the proclamations announcing that John Wade, Trevor Stewart, and Gordon Davie are now Honorary Grand Lecturers in the jurisdiction of New Jersey. (Note Trevor’s reaction.)

The Prestonian Lecturer’s jewel of office. The United Grand Lodge of England chooses one luminary in the field of Masonic education each year to travel throughout the jurisdiction and deliver his lecture. Sometimes they travel abroad. This photo is an extreme close-up of Gordon Davie’s jewel.

The Prestonians and the Mario Brothers.

Masonic Mirth: David, Trevor, and Aaron have a laugh.

Peninsula Lodge Masons, with Sam from Enterprise Lodge. From left: Gerry, Robert, Sam, and Nick. Gerry is the Freemason’s Freemason.

Officers of Nutley Lodge No. 25: Senior Deacon José, Worshipful Master Franklin, and Junior Warden Dave.

Brethren from Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge 10 in Westfield.

Thurman Pace, X, Trevor Stewart, and Grand Master Berman. No kidding: Without X, this event simply would not have taken place. He planned, executed and followed through until after everyone had gone home. A hundred Masonic affairs in New Jersey and Washington over the years would have suffered if not for this underappreciated and overworked brother.

Trevor Stewart and Mohamad. (Like I said, I shot 155 photos, and I swear Mohamad managed to get into about half of them.)

      

‘Magpie on the Move: the Fall Calendar’

    
(All events are subject to change.)

Friday, September 11
Scott Chapter No. 4, Royal Arch Masons, North Brunswick, New Jersey
Past High Priest Night.

Saturday, September 12
Prestonian Gala Banquet at Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Prestonian Lecturer John Wade and two past Prestonian Lecturers to speak at Black Tie banquet to benefit 32° Masonic Learning Center for Children.

Sunday, September 13
Maryland Masonic Research Society, Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club – Coho Grill
Columbia, Maryland at noon.
Bro. John Wade to give the UGLE’s Prestonian Lecture for 2009.

Monday, September 14
Maimonides-Marshall Lodge No. 739 in New York City (10th floor at 23rd Street.)
Past Prestonian Lecturers Trevor Stewart and Gordon Davie to speak.

Tuesday, September 15
Loyalty Lodge No. 33 in Union, New Jersey
Bro. Mohamad Yatim to speak on “V.I.T.R.I.O.L. and the Chamber of Reflection.”

Tuesday, September 15
Fairless Hills Lodge No. 776 in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
W. Bro. Ben Hoff, Master of NJ Lodge of Masonic Research and Education to speak.

Wednesday, September 16
St. John’s Lodge No. 1, Ancient York Masons, New York City
Bro. John Wade to give the UGLE’s Prestonian Lecture for 2009.

Monday, September 21
Nutley Lodge No. 25 in Nutley, New Jersey
RW Bill Thomas, Master of American Lodge of Research, to speak on “The Mystery of the Blue Slipper.”

Thursday, September 24
Peninsula Lodge No. 99, Bayonne, New Jersey
Entered Apprentice Degree and Festive Board using Ancients ritual c.1760.
(An exemplification of the First Degree, not a conferral.)

Thursday, October 1
Aurora Grata Lodge of Perfection, AASR, Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY
201st anniversary celebration: Feast of Tishri, with Sovereign Grand Commander.

Friday, October 9
Garibaldi Lodge No. 542, New York City (Grand Lodge Room at 23rd Street.)
The Entered Apprentice Degree of the French Rite, as worked in Italian by this unique lodge. Lodge opens at 8 p.m.

Sunday, October 11
Grand Master’s Day at Tappan, New York
MW Edward Gilbert to welcome the brethren to DeWint House, the historic site that was George Washington’s headquarters during the trial of Major John André. 2 p.m.

Wednesday, October 14
Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange, New Jersey
Piers A. Vaughan, world renowned expert on the Rectified Scottish Rite, to speak on “Willermozism.”

Saturday, October 17
Re-dedication of J.J.J. Gourgas gravesite memorial
By the Scottish Rite Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. Jersey City, New Jersey.

Monday, October 19
Union Lodge No. 19 in North Brunswick, New Jersey
Bro. Mohamad Yatim to speak on “V.I.T.R.I.O.L. and the Chamber of Reflection.”

Saturday, October 24
Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge
Masonic Cultural Center at Grand Lodge’s Elizabethtown campus, 9 a.m.
MW Glen A. Cook, Past Grand Master of Utah, to speak.

October 24-25
The Masonic Society’s inaugural Semi-Annual First Circle meeting
(With separate Board meeting) at Indiana Freemasons’ Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Wednesday, October 28
Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange, New Jersey
W. Bob Gilbert, Past Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, to speak on A.E. Waite’s mystical approach to Freemasonry.

Thursday, October 29
American Lodge of Research
French Ionic Room at GL of NY (71 W. 23rd St., NYC.) Opens at 7:30 p.m.
The Annual Meeting with election of officers, followed by W. Gilbert Ferrer’s presentation titled “The Anti Mason’s Toolbox: Abusing Logic to Attack the Craft.”

Monday, November 2
Nutley Lodge No. 25 in Nutley, New Jersey
Bro. Mohamad Yatim to speak on “V.I.T.R.I.O.L. and the Chamber of Reflection.”

November 4-8
Masonic Library and Museum Association’s annual meeting
To be hosted by the Henry Wilson Coil Library & Museum of Freemasonry in San Francisco, California.

Monday, November 9
Re-dedication of Daniel D. Tompkins gravesite
AASR-NMJ to assist United States Daughters of 1812 in restoration, and unveiling of the first Sovereign Grand Commander’s gravesite monument. 131 East 10th St., New York City.

Wednesday, November 11
Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange, New Jersey
Thomas R. Hughes, Grand Master of the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New Jersey, to speak on Freemasonry’s historic importance to African-Americans.

Saturday, November 14
Scottish Rite Day, AASR-Northern Masonic Jurisdiction
31° and 32° to be conferred at Valley of Southern Jersey by ritualists from across New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Saturday, November 14
Nutley Lodge No. 25 in Nutley, New Jersey
Heather Calloway, Director of Special Programs, Supreme Council of the A&ASR-SJ, to speak on “Significant Masonic Buildings in the United States.”

Sunday, November 29
Fairless Hills Lodge No. 776 in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
Annual Lodge Banquet with keynote speakers Thomas Jackson and S. Brent Morris.

Saturday, December 12
New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786
Meets at 100 Barrack St. in Trenton at 10 a.m. All Master Masons welcome.

‘A grave concern’

The committee charged with restoring the J.J.J. Gourgas gravesite memorial met today at the site to finalize the plans for the re-dedication ceremony to take place Saturday, October 17.

The progress achieved toward the re-dedication next month of the John James Joseph Gourgas gravesite memorial has been phenomenal. In less than a year, the final resting place of “the Conservator” of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite has been transformed from a forgotten, neglected thatch of weeds to its present state of restored dignity and quietude. And there is more work to come.

Gourgas died in 1865 in New York City, and because of a lack of burial space in the city, he was laid to rest in what now is called Bayview New York Bay Cemetary in Jersey City, New Jersey. The view from this gravesite at that time must have been very pleasing, as it faces New York Harbor and downtown Manhattan. In 1865 the spires of St. Paul’s Chapel and Trinity Church would have been the tallest visible structures; the Statue of Liberty was decades away from being assembled.

In 1938, the Supreme Council dedicated the current gravesite memorial. On October 17, 2009, after all the restoration has been completed, it will be re-dedicated. Supreme Council will open at Peninsula Lodge 99 in Bayonne that morning, and then we’ll take the short ride to the cemetery for the ceremony.

As above: The Gourgas gravesite memorial as it looks today.
So below: The site on August 5, 1938, when the memorial was dedicated.

Needless to say, The Magpie Mason will provide full coverage of the event, but in the meantime, all this restoration work must be underwritten. Pardon the brazen solicitation, but this is an expensive undertaking. If anyone cares to support this effort, please consider contributing a donation in any amount. Checks can be made payable to New Jersey Council of Deliberation, and mailed to:

Valley of Southern New Jersey
315 White Horse Pike
West Collingswood, NJ 08107
attn: David Herman

We welcome the financial assistance of not only individuals, but also lodges, grand lodges, Scottish Rite valleys, Councils of Deliberation, historical foundations and societies, and all like-minded conservators of American heritage and Masonic history.

A close-up of the memorial.

It is impossible to count all the Masonic headstones in this cemetary. Brethren from New York and New Jersey are interred here in great numbers, including past grand masters, Supreme Council active members, commanders-in-chief, and other dignitaries.

One of the more attractive headstones
sporting the Square and Compasses
(and the Odd Fellows links).

James W. McCarthy was Scottish Rite Deputy for New Jersey in the early 20th century. He was U.S. Attorney for New Jersey before becoming the U.S. District Court Judge for New Jersey. For many years, the Museum of Masonic Culture at the Valley of Northern New Jersey displayed a slightly larger-than-life bronze bust of this man, whose identity was lost to us until only a few years ago.

     

‘Appropriately in Rockland’

Another autumn event on the Magpie Mason’s schedule is Grand Master’s Day at Tappan. On Sunday, October 11, MW Edward Gilbert, Grand Master of New York, will welcome the brethren to DeWint House, the Revolutionary War historic site owned and operated by the Grand Lodge of New York. Appropriately for Masons, it is located in a county called Rockland.

Never been there, so I don’t know what to expect, but there will be a brunch at 11 a.m. at Old ’76 House, reputed to be the oldest tavern in New York – and that’s saying something! – having served the public since 1686. The festivities at DeWint House will begin at 2 p.m.

What the two historic sites share in common is the treason of Gen. Benedict Arnold. You know the story: the once admired Continental Army general betrayed the Revolution by attempting to help the British capture the West Point garrison. His contact was Major John André, who was captured, tried and executed for his espionage. DeWint House repeatedly served as a headquarters for George Washington, including during the trial and execution of André in 1780, while Old ’76 House was known as “André’s prison” because he was incarcerated there during his trial.

Left: Old ’76 House. Right: DeWint House. Both are located in historic Tappan, in Rockland County, New York, just a few minutes over the New Jersey border. Come October, the landscape should be beautiful, with the leaves turning and the air acquiring its autumnal chill.

DeWint House is the oldest surviving structure in Rockland County, and is renowned as an excellent showcase of Dutch Colonial architecture. It has been owned and operated by New York Freemasonry for more than 60 years. In 1966 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The adjacent Carriage House serves as the visitors center and offers many exhibits of George Washington and other historic interests.

An additional Masonic link is the 20° of the AASR, titled “Master ad Vitam.” The degree has been rewritten a number of times during the past two centuries. In 1896, a drama was added that told a fictional story of Frederick II of Prussia visiting a lodge in 1763. A story within the drama tells of a spy who gains entrance to the lodge with a patent that actually was a map of a fortress. The spy escapes, but a Gen. Wallraven was caught and sentenced to life in prison for his complicity in the espionage. His sentence is reduced to exile.

In the aftermath of World War I, when American sentiment toward people and things German was cold, and when Masonic lodges banned the German language from lodge activities, this degree was rewritten again, with a new setting and new historical characters, substituting Washington for Frederick the Great, and Arnold taking the place of Wallraven.

I wonder if the New York Scottish Rite brethren ever conferred this degree at DeWint House. Seems like a natural fit.

How it was done in ‘Antient’ times

   

Peninsula Lodge, No. 99 in Bayonne, New Jersey will exemplify an Entered Apprentice Degree in Antients ritual c. 1760 next month.

At its Regular Communication of September 24, Peninsula Lodge, No. 99 – the Magpie Mason’s mother lodge – will host a special event that mixes Masonic education with a great meal, plenty of toasts, and perhaps even more mirth than the lodge usually enjoys... and that’s saying something!

On that evening, W. Bro. Ben Hoff, Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education, No. 1786 in Trenton, will visit the lodge to quarterback Peninsula’s officers through an exemplification of a ritual that otherwise exists only in rarely seen texts.

This very singular occurrence is an EA° compiled from primary 18th century sources, namely the ritual exposures known as Three Distinct Knocks, and Jachin and Boaz, as well as other texts. This is the ritual of the Antients, the branch of Freemasonry that solidified following the public debut of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1717. The Antients began as Irish Masons in London whose lodges welcomed working class men, soldiers, and merchants, in contrast to the nobility, middle and upper class, and academic elites found in the Grand Lodge’s lodges. (Freemasonry in the United States descends almost entirely from the Antients, who formed their own grand lodge in 1751 called Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England, according to the Old Constitutions. In 1813, the two grand lodges merged, forming the United Grand Lodge of England.)

Anyway, about this ritual.

“Eighteenth century degrees took place in taverns or hotel function rooms rather than in the formally arranged and decorated lodge rooms we use today,” Ben explains. “All lodge arrangements were temporary and symbolic. Officers stood in their places, and decorations were either small and portable, or were temporary. While the ‘Moderns’ represented the lodge with floor cloths or elaborate floor drawings, the representations in ‘Antients’ lodges were almost entirely symbolic.”

“This symbolic lodge should be at least six feet tall and four feet wide to allow for the placement of the candidate and three tall candlesticks within the diagram, while officers stand around the outside,” Ben added. “Ideally, it should be positioned within the open area of the U-shape table typically used at table lodges. Notice the X-shape cross should be extended below the rectangle proper to create the three ‘steps.’ Leave enough room around the outside of the diagram for the officers to stand while still allowing the candidate and his conductor to move around the outside of the diagram for the circumambulation.

“The VSL should be on a small table or pedestal (a chair will do) in front the WM’s station, the square and compasses arranged as EA. Place three candles in tall holders in the East, West and South of the diagram. The East candle should be slightly to the north to allow the candidate to approach the pedestal/chair for the OB.

“The officers for this degree are the Master, Wardens, Deacons, Secretary (Treasurer is optional) and an Immediate Past Master, who would take the place of a Chaplain or Marshal. The officers should stand in their accustomed places OUTSIDE the diagram, except for the Secretary and Treasurer, who stand together in the North. The Wardens should carry their columns held vertical in their right hands. The Deacons would have their long rods, grounded unless otherwise in use.”

And the rest? You’ll just have to see it yourself. There is food and drink, call and response – a true multi-sensory experience worthy of the Middle Chamber Lecture’s instruction! – and even singing. (Or, more accurately, there is Bro. Matthew Birkhead’s Enter’d ’prentices Song. It remains to be seen if the brethren can sing.)

The Magpie Mason had the good fortune to witness this exemplification at Ben’s mother lodge – Highland Park, No. 240 – several years ago, and it was one of the greatest evenings I’ve enjoyed in 12 years in Masonry. At the end of the night, everyone present was glowing, and not only from the wine. Even if they didn’t intend it, they learned something very important about the history and culture of Freemasonry – the primary goal, of course, of this blog.

Brethren, seating will be at a premium that night. I expect a huge turn-out from the lodge and the surrounding district, so if you would like to attend, let me know by e-mailing me at ____ as soon as possible.
     

New AASR blog and French site

There’s a new blog in town... and it addresses a long overlooked facet of Masonic education. Ill. Cliff Jacobs of the Valley of New York City released this announcement today:

Illustrious & Distinguished Brothers, Sublime Princes, Brothers All: The New York State Council of Deliberation, under the leadership of the Deputy for the State of New York, Ill. Peter J. Samiec, 33°, is pleased to announce the launch of a new site devoted to Masonic research: the New York State Council of Deliberation Blog. Although created as a blog, the site is not a forum for debate. Instead it will serve as the repository for Masonic research papers. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: Freemasonry including both the York and Scottish rites, Rosicrucianism, Templarism, Kabbalism and Western Mystery Traditions. In order to avoid issues of copyright infringement, authors of papers submitted must be able to assert their moral right to be identified as the sole author of the created work. Reference material used in the creation of the work should be properly cited. Authors retain all intellectual rights over their research papers and shall indemnify the New York State Council of Deliberation from any third party claims resulting from the publication of articles on the website. Please e-mail your papers to: Ill. Clifford Jacobs, 33° Valley of New York waznojake2001 (at) yahoo.com Please submit text in the Word format and graphics in the JPG format. The first paper: “A Historical Perspective of the 29th Degree,” by Mete Talimcioglu, MSA, Commander-in-Chief of the Valley of New York. You can access the site by clicking here. Please be sure to bookmark! – “The game’s afoot...” Respectfully & fraternally submitted, Ill. Clifford Jacobs, 33° Valley of New York

The Magpie Mason has learned of this only from Ill. Cliff’s announcement moments ago, but on the surface it seems the inspired work of the Rose Circle Research Foundation, on whose board Cliff serves, is crossing over to New York Masonry. A good thing. ▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲ Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Bro. Guy Chassagnard, a researcher-author from Le Delta Quercy-Rouergue Lodge No. 1173 in France, also announced today on Masonic Light that one of his Scottish Rite brethren has created a bilingual website to serve as a public repository of Masonic documents and books.

I wish to let all the members of the list know that a French Mason (Scottish Rite from 1st Degree) has just opened a website which is to be a public Masonic library of books and documents. It may be used in French and in English. You may find and get documents (pdf) from the site. You may freely subscribe and have your own books and documents offered to other viewers. No fee, no censorship. I think it is a very good project to support. Have a look to the first 50 documents which may be freely loaded and get them if you want. Brotherly, Guy

Merci Frère Guy!

‘The Magic Flute’

AMC Theatres is working with the Metropolitan Opera to bring marvels of the stage to the big screen, and on Wednesday, Mozart’s The Magic Flute will be shown nationwide at 7 p.m. in all time zones.

The always accommodating website of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon says:

The first performance of The Magic Flute took place on September 30, 1791 at the Theater auf de Wieden. Mozart was now a member of the New Crown Freemason Lodge, and was suspect to the Austrian emperor, a prime mover and benefactor in Mozart’s compositional life. Knowing that the Masons are soon to be outlawed in Vienna, Mozart realizes that The Magic Flute is his last chance to ensure that his esoteric knowledge gained through Freemasonry reaches the rest of continental Europe. The Magic Flute must become the metaphorical journey into the Enlightenment questions and ideals that remain unanswered, yet can be through Freemasonry.

Some of the Masonic symbolism in this opera is not recognizable to most in the English-speaking Masonic world. What is at work here is the alchemical and esoteric language of Continental Masonry, and keep in mind this opera is a work of art, and not a ritual exposé. That said, there is plenty of dialog about harmony and Light. You will see pillars, deltas, squares, circles, vesica piscis... and an initiation into a brotherhood in a temple, repleat with “Follow me.”

The Met itself offers this synopsis:

Three ladies in the service of the Queen of the Night save the fainting Prince Tamino from a serpent (Introduction: “A serpent! A monster!”). When they leave to tell the queen, the bird catcher Papageno bounces in and boasts to Tamino that it was he who killed the creature (“I’m Papageno”). The ladies return to give Tamino a portrait of the queen’s daughter, Pamina, who they say is enslaved by the evil Sarastro, and they padlock Papageno’s mouth for lying. Tamino falls in love with Pamina’s face in the portrait (“This portrait’s beauty”). The queen, appearing in a burst of thunder, is grieving over the loss of her daughter; she charges Tamino with Pamina’s rescue (“My fate is grief”). The ladies give a magic flute to Tamino and silver bells to Papageno to ensure their safety, appointing three spirits to guide them (Quintet: “Hm! hm! hm! hm!”).

Sarastro’s slave Monostatos pursues Pamina (Duet: “You will not dare escape”) but is frightened away by the feather-covered Papageno, who tells Pamina that Tamino loves her and is on his way to save her. Led by the three spirits to the Temple of Sarastro, Tamino is advised by a high priest that it is the queen, not Sarastro, who is evil. Hearing that Pamina is safe, Tamino charms the animals with his flute, then rushes to follow the sound of Papageno’s pipes. Monostatos and his cohorts chase Papageno and Pamina but are left helpless by Papageno’s magic bells. Sarastro, entering in great ceremony (Chorus: “Long life to Sarastro”), promises Pamina eventual freedom and punishes Monostatos. Pamina is enchanted by a glimpse of Tamino, who is led into the temple with Papageno.

Sarastro tells his priests that Tamino will undergo initiation rites (“O Isis and Osiris”). Monostatos tries to kiss the sleeping Pamina (“Men were born to be great lovers”). He is discovered by the Queen of the Night, who dismisses him. She gives her daughter a dagger with which to murder Sarastro.

Sarastro confronts and then consoles the weeping Pamina (“Within our sacred temple”). Tamino and Papageno are told by a priest that they must remain silent and refrain from eating, a vow that Papageno immediately breaks when he takes a glass of water from a flirtatious old lady. The old lady vanishes when he asks her name. The three spirits appear to guide Tamino through the rest of his journey and to tell Papageno to be quiet. Tamino remains silent even when Pamina appears, which breaks her heart since she cannot understand his reticence (“Now my heart is filled with sadness”).

The priests inform Tamino that he has only two more trials to complete his initiation (Trio: “Why, beloved, must we part?”). Papageno longs for a cuddly wife but settles for the old lady. When he promises to be faithful she turns into a young Papagena but immediately disappears.

After many dangers, Pamina and Tamino are reunited and face the ordeals of water and fire protected by the magic flute.

Papageno is saved from attempted suicide by the spirits, who remind him that if he uses his magic bells he will find true happiness. When he does, Papagena appears and the two plan for the future and move into a bird’s nest (Duet: “Pa-pa-pa…”). The Queen of the Night, her three ladies, and Monostatos attack the temple but are defeated and banished. Sarastro joins Pamina and Tamino as the people hail Isis, Osiris, and the triumph of courage, virtue, and wisdom.

A list of theaters screening The Magic Flute is here.

This production of The Magic Flute is the same as that broadcast on public television in 2006, and subsequently released on DVD. (Photo courtesy of PBS.)