‘Orations in Ramsey’

    
It’s been a long day, capped with a great feast at Sagaponack, and I’m too tired and overfed to post a Magpie recap of the utterly mind-roasting event hosted this afternoon by the Rose Circle Research Foundation. And tomorrow I want to get to the New York Public Library to catch “Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” on its final day of exhibition. (It opened in October, and I just haven’t been able to get there. I missed MOBIA’s “A Light to the Nations,” and I ain’t missing this one!)

Where was I going with this?

Yes! Bedways is rightways now. I’ll post Rose Circle photos and info tomorrow. In the meantime, here is an update on New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786:

We are going on the road next month. When the lodge was organized nine years ago, we spoke of maybe holding our meetings in different venues around the state, for the sake of variety and to bring our work to lodges far and wide. The brethren of Hawthorne-Fortitude Lodge No. 200 in Ramsey approached us last year and offered their hospitality, ergo our presence on Saturday, March 12. Lodge opens at 9:30 a.m. Attire: suit and tie. Lunch to be served afterward.

On the agenda:

“Ode to Joy,” a paper on the glorious Ninth by Ludwig van, presented by Bro. Howard Kanowitz; and

“Masonic Trestleboards,” an A/V presentation by Bro. Ben Hoff.

I was going to have a paper of my own on the subject of Ramsay’s Oration and what I suspect is its proper context within the Romantic Movement in the arts of that period, but it is incomplete. Perhaps less time blogging would be helpful.

Hawthorne-Fortitude Lodge No. 200 is located at 24 North Franklin Turnpike in Ramsey.
    

‘Stellar Theology in the Lamp of Knowledge’

    

Nutley Lodge No. 25 continues its Lamp of Knowledge Lecture Series March 21 with a presentation by RW Bro. Rashied Bey, who will speak on “Stellar Theology and Masonic Astronomy.”

Lodge opens at 7:30 p.m. (almost exactly 24 hours after the Vernal Equinox). 175 Chestnut St. in Nutley.

Apprentices and Fellows, properly avouched, are welcome.

Bro. Rashied is a member of Cornerstone Lodge No. 37 under the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York.

‘Wendell K. Walker Lecture 2011’

    
Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 has announced the Annual Wendell K. Walker Lecture will take place on the evening of Thursday, March 24.

Bro. Trevor Stewart

on “Masonic Lodges in Colonial North America.”

The Players

16 Gramercy Park South

Manhattan

Cocktails at 7 p.m. in the Sargent Room (cash bar)

Dinner at eight in the Ball Room – $65 per person

Attire: Business

Open to Freemasons and their guests

Advance reservations are essential, and must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, March 18. Leave a note, with your e-mail address, in the Comments Section below (which will not be published) and I’ll send you the contact information.

Bro. Trevor Stewart is a retired lecturer who was educated at Birmingham, Sheffield, Durham and Newcastle universities. His academic work specialised in 18th century English literature, and his doctorate research focused on a coterie of gentlemen Freemasons who lived in the north of England during the Enlightenment period.

Trevor has continued to give fully documented papers on various Masonic subjects in American, Belgian, French, German and Scottish lodges – at both lodge and Provincial Grand Lodge levels – as well as in many English Lodges and Royal Arch Chapters, and in London’s ancient Guildhall. He also has taught in history seminars at Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard universities, which focused on newly discovered contributions which early 18th century English Freemasons made to the development and spread of Newtonianism. In October 2007 he was invited by the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge to give his paper titled “A Way Forward – Some Seminar Techniques.”

Trevor contributed papers on Freemasonry in the Enlightenment period to international conferences held at the Canonbury Masonic Research Centre in London, the University of Bordeaux, and the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry in Edinburgh in both 2007 and 2009. He has published several other papers in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the annual book of transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076; for Leicester Lodge of Research; for Hibiscus Masonic Review; and The Ashlar, the leading Masonic quarterly in Scotland. He edited the 2005 and 2006 editions of The Canonbury Papers for the Canonbury Masonic Research Centre in London. He also has edited From Across the Water, an anthology of eight past papers from AQC on North American Freemasonry in the colonial era.

In 2004, Trevor was appointed by the United Grand Lodge of England to be the Prestonian Lecturer, during which time his speaking tour brought him to the United States. He is a Past Master of three English lodges, including Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, and is currently Master of Lodge Sir Robert Moray No. 1641, a research lodge in Edinburgh. In December 2007 he was elected to Honorary Membership in both Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange, and St. John’s Lodge No. 1 in New York City. He recently was elected to Honorary Membership in Cincinnati Lodge No. 3 in Morristown, and Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge No. 10 in Westfield, and he is particularly delighted to be associated so strongly with New Jersey Freemasonry. He was created a IX° (Magus) by the Masonic Rosicrucians in Washington in 2007.

Trevor has held office in all of the Orders which grace the English Masonic landscape; is a Life Member of various Scottish Orders, including the Grand Lodge of the Royal Order of Scotland; has been honored with Grand Rank in the Rectified Scottish Rite in Belgium; and has achieved the 30° in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Germany. In the SRIA, the earliest modern Rosicrucian society, he was a member of its High Council, a Chief Adept of a Province, Director-General of Studies, and an active member of its Executive Committee. He edited the SRIA Transactions of 2005.

The Players is a private club founded in 1888 by Edwin Booth, Mark Twain, William T. Sherman, and a dozen others for the “promotion of social intercourse between members of the dramatic profession and the kindred professions of literature, painting, architecture, sculpture and music, law and medicine, and the patrons of the arts.”

The Wendell K. Walker Lecture is an annual event in memory of Bro. Walker, a beloved leader in the field of Masonic education.

Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 is one of the oldest fraternal and social institutions in continuous existence in the City of New York. Chartered on December 15, 1760, “Old No. 2,” as it is popularly styled, has, for two-and-a-half centuries, exerted a civilizing and fraternal influence in New York.

    

‘Masonic Week 2011: Knight Masons’

    
I thought I’d be done with posting reports of Masonic Week by now, but you get what you pay for. Once again, sorry for the bad photographs, etc., etc.


The Grand Council of the Order of Knight Masons met for its annual meeting last Friday morning, as did Great Chiefs Council 0.


My notes from this meeting are even worse than my other notes. I must have used my notepad as a coaster at some point, as there is a perfect circle, in Guinness residue, that has soaked through the first several pages of the book. But the highpoints of this meeting are still in my memory.

Our new Great Chief is M.E. Kevin B. Sample.



The Grand Staff of the Grand Council of Knight Masons of the USA
gather for their swearing-in.



M.E. Kevin B. Sample, left, is congratulated by his predecessor,
M.E. Edward Fagan. Note the signet of office on Kevin's gloved finger.


No warrants for new Councils were issued, but Grand Council is eyeing two possibilities that I suppose may be acted on this year. The rare title of Honorary Past Grand Senior Knight was bestowed on Dan Pushee and Buddy Wagner. Grand Scribe Doug Jordan, during his travels, was honored by the Grand Council in Ireland. Doug also announced he is stepping aside as Grand Scribe, and that Peter C. Cook will be taking over. The dormant position of Grand Superintendent is being reinstituted, to assist Councils with ritual work and maybe to help create more Councils. Several were appointed then: George Haynes will serve for Pennsylvania, and another Cousin was named for New York – nice small jurisdictions! – but I failed to catch his name. Total membership in the United States at the end of 2010: 7,950. (Please apprise me of any errors or omissions in the comments section below.)

In other news, Knight Masonry has caught on in England, which surprised me because I would have guessed it existed there already. A recent ceremony at Mark Masons Hall saw the constitution of new Councils there, thus Great Chiefs 0 may no longer initiate English Masons. (The purpose of Great Chiefs Council is “chiefly” to initiate Masons who reside in areas where no Councils exist.)

The next annual meeting will take place Friday, February 10. See you there.


Graphic courtesy of Bro. Jeff at Lodgical.
    

‘To know the unknowable’

    

“Aloha is more than a word of greeting or farewell or a salutation. Aloha means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. Aloha is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. Aloha means to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.”

Hawai`i Revised Statutes Section 7.5

Yes, that is public law in the State of Hawaii. It also says:

In exercising their power on behalf of the people and in fulfillment of their responsibilities, obligations and service to the people, the legislature, governor, lieutenant governor, executive officers of each department, the chief justice, associate justices, and judges of the appellate, circuit, and district courts may contemplate and reside with the life force and give consideration to the “Aloha Spirit.” [L 1986, c 202, §1]

What I would give to see the criminals who govern New Jersey live up to that standard.

But I digress. Just announced:

On Monday, April 4, Nutley Lodge No. 25 will host a highly distinguished Mason, who will present “Freemasonry and the Spirit of Aloha.”

This Brother is a Pennsylvania Past Master. He is a lifelong student of the martial, meditative and metaphysical arts having received the title of Kahu from Kahu Lanakila K. Brandt on the Big Island of Hawai`i along with permission to teach the ancient Hawai`ian metaphysical tradition known as po`ohuna. He is also a lineage disciple in the Chinese/Hawai`ian martial arts style of Grand Master Daniel K. Pai and the founder of Dragon Moon Martial Arts Association in Bristol, Pennsylvania. He is a member of four Blue Lodges, including Honolulu Lodge, and a member of numerous appendant Masonic bodies. An attorney at law by profession, he enjoys the history, teachings, tradition, and universal brotherhood found in the ancient and gentle Craft of Freemasonry.

Nutley Lodge No. 25 is located at 175 Chestnut St. in Nutley. The meeting (Master Masons only) will open at 7:30.

    

‘Masonic Week 2011: Blue Friars’

    
The annual meeting of the Consistory of the Blue Friars was the occasion of the welcoming of its 100th member: Alton Roundtree, a Past Master of Redemption Lodge No. 24 and the inaugural Master of David A. McWillliams, Sr., Research and Education Lodge, both under the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. You more than likely have heard of this brother, as his fame extends far beyond our nation’s capital and across the jurisdictions of Freemasonry. I’ll stand corrected, but I would say he is most celebrated for co-authoring, with Paul Bessel, Out of the Shadows: The Emergence of Prince Hall Freemasonry in America in 2008.



Bro. Alton G. Roundtree,
Blue Friar No. 100

I wonder if there is a single facet of Masonic history that can be told accurately and in a linear narrative, free of byzantine confusions, detours, and expectations of willing suspensions of disbelief, but I doubt that exists. The complicated story of Prince Hall Freemasonry is no exception, which explains the heft of the book Roundtree and Bessel produced. His Blue Friars paper last Friday is titled “The Two Conventions that Changed Freemasonry,” and it recounts the dizzying story of the 19th century rivalry between different Prince Hall grand lodges, vying for establishment, recognition and, naturally, members. Conventions held in 1847 and 1878, and larger-than-life characters like Thornton A. Jackson, figure hugely in the creation of modern day Prince Hall Freemasonry.

I don’t want to give away too much because you should read Out of the Shadows and because this paper will be published, possibly in Heredom.

Grand Abbott S. Brent Morris closed the meeting on a humorous note when, in thanking Roundtree for his presentation, he said “I am shocked – shocked – to find out there were feuds in Prince Hall Masonry, because in our Freemasonry....”

The Society of Blue Friars is a fraternity of Masons who are published authors. Both Morris and Roundtree are Founding Fellows of The Masonic Society.
    

‘Masonic Week 2011: Nine Muses’

     
There now are more than 400 councils of Allied Masonic Degrees in the United States, and they all are special, but there is one in particular that is constitutionally capped at nine members, all of whom are elected for life, and “who have made outstanding contributions to the field of Masonic Literature Research,” according to said constitution. It is called Council of Nine Muses No. 13, and it also meets only once annually, at Masonic Week during AMD’s various events.

Prior to the installation of officers, the exiting Master delivers a lecture, and this year it was M.V. David Hargett’s turn. I believe he said the title of his paper is “Faith, Hope, and Love.” Of course that trio of virtues is known well to Freemasons, especially to those of us with a Rose Croix background.

It’s funny, but attending weddings over the years, I have noticed how common it is for there to be readings of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians for its discourse on love. I think it funny because it is clear St. Paul is not writing of romantic or marital love that would fit the occasion of a wedding; his subject actually is a form of charity, but he also makes it understood it isn’t the-giving-of-alms kind of charity, but rather the spiritual gift of brotherly love form of charity (from the Latin caritas) necessary to community life. And that is where Bro. Hargett was going as well on Saturday morning, despite the approach of Valentine’s Day.

“I am grateful for a fraternity that allows me to embrace all mankind,” he said. “All nations in a brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God.... Freemasonry is a sacred thing because we can see the religious faiths of all men, and use our own faith to bring us closer to God and to one another for the noble and glorious purpose of making brotherhood a reality....

“When a man knows how to pray, how to love, and how to hope, he’ll know Freemasonry.”

He said a lot more, but I believe that is the gist of his prepared remarks. I have no idea if he chose this message for that day for any particular reason, but it meant an awful lot to me. Furthermore, his soft-spoken delivery made this lecture sound like the most important thing said all weekend. Maybe it was.
     

‘Masonic Week 2011: Grand College of Rites’

    
(Many of the photos I shot at Masonic Week are blurry or otherwise unusable. Wanting to travel light, I brought my Panasonic Lumix – a perfectly serviceable camera – instead of the Nikon, which was a mistake for this kind of interior photography. Lesson learned. Won’t happen again.)

It was love at first sight, when I happened upon the Grand College of Rites while surfing the web for odd Rose Croix rituals one day about nine years ago. It seemed to me to be the perfect Masonic fraternity: one overall purpose expressed in one quality publication introduced at its one meeting per year. And I have looked forward to, and have enjoyed those single meetings yearly, and always look forward to Collectanea, the book produced by Arturo de Hoyos and the GCR’s Publications Committee.

The College hosted its 80th Annual Convocation Saturday morning in Alexandria, Virginia during Masonic Week, for the changing of the guard, the unveiling of the new Collectanea, and other necessary business, etc.


M.I. Franklin Boner invests our new
Grand Chancellor, M.I. Martin Starr,
with the jewel of office.

Our new Grand Chancellor is M.I. Martin P. Starr of Chicago, taking over for M.I. Franklin Boner. Among the necrology for the year is the loss of the Grand Seneschal, R.I. Sid Dorris of Tennessee, who passed away last fall. Taking his place in the officer line is R.I. Jeffrey N. Nelson of North Dakota, who is now Grand Mareschal (Grand Marshal).

And [drum roll please] our new Grand Seneschal is [fanfare please] R.I. Aaron Shoemaker of Missouri!

Aaron could not be with us this year, and yet he was with us because his labors for the College are vital.

In other headlines, three Fellows of the College were tapped to receive the Knight Grand Cross: Matthew Gibbon and Scott Schlappi, who staff the registration desk outside the meeting, and M.I. Starr, upon his installation as Grand Chancellor.

The College now has 1,222 members (excluding new members who just joined at the meeting).

Other notable deaths in the past year include two Past Grand Chancellors: William H. Thornley, Jr. (1998) and Frederick H. Lorenson (2003).

But about the new Collectanea: This, the 2010 publication, contains the Craft degrees of the Rite of Strict Observance, plus two high degree rituals from the 18th century. In introducing the text, Grand Archivist Art de Hoyos explained it is similar to that he’d published a few years ago in Heredom, but with some ambiguities and inaccuracies stemming from their translations corrected. Strict Observance, he added, was the rite promoted by Baron von Hund, and it is the ancestor of CBCS and the Swedish Rite. The two high degrees are translations of original French into German and into English here. They have Rosicrucian similarities, said de Hoyos, and these rituals were saved from confiscation by the Nazis during their destruction of Masonic lodges.

These Craft degrees are fascinating for their differences from the Anglo-American work we know so well. Unless I misunderstand, there is a break from Newtonian thought.

Said to the Apprentice:

“There is nothing here that does not present the opportunity for much contemplation. Apply yourself to it. To investigate mysteries is not forbidden to a noble student of wisdom. But do not err by placing too much confidence in your own opinions. The heart of man has its own hidden lacunae, and love of discovery makes one proud, and leads from one error to another. If you share your ideas with your Master, and lend yourself to his instruction, I do not doubt that when you become more familiar with our mysteries, which may still appear rather obscure to you now, you will praise three times that very day when you succeed in rejoicing in the Light.”

Said to the Fellow:

“You still find the doors to the innermost part closed. But I must not forget to mention the seven steps which you were so happy to climb today, and by which we actually brought you nearer to the entrance to the door of our sanctuary. They represent the seven principal virtues of a Freemason: obedience, silence, constancy, brotherly love, charity, courage, and resolution in death.

“These excellent qualities should not be lacking in any true Freemason; they are not mere adornments, but are rather essential parts of a good Brother. Obedience is the basis of all, and resolution in death is the last and most sublime test of our fidelity.

“Let everything, my Brother, that you have learned of our mysteries, be eternally locked away in your heart from all those who are outside. Submit to those who, as honest and true Brethren, offer you a helpful hand. Follow those whom we honor as the Superiors of our Lodges, and in the future they will open to you the inner sanctuary of our secret edifice, since you, my Brother, will explore the most profound sources of our mysteries, and will, as is much as is humanly possible, search and fathom them. If you discover something here and there that is obscure, then recall that the way to perfection is never free of all difficulties, and that wisdom often lays obstacles in the way, in order to keep lesser souls back, and to stimulate virtue.”

Said to the Master:

“You further beheld the body of a murdered victim, who was completely covered with blood. We have maintained this custom since time immemorial, as a sure sign that those who approach us are not condemned by their consciences for evil deeds, that they are pure and innocent, and that we can take them as true and faithful members into our bosom. What has been our reason for this I cannot yet reveal to you. Perhaps your own thoughts will lead you down the track of this mysterious custom....”



Past Grand Chancellor Franklin Boner, center, greets our two new recipients

of the Knight Grand Cross. Fellow Matthew Gibbon and Fellow Scott Schlappi

have been the brave guardians of the registration table for many years.

    

‘Thomas Smith Webb Chapter of Research’

    

You know about lodges of research, but what are not as common are chapters of research. Royal Arch chapters set to labor for the purpose of researching, accumulating, and presenting Royal Arch education for debate and discussion. Thomas Smith Webb Chapter of Research No. 1798, warranted by the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the State of New York, will meet next month.

Thursday, March 3 at 4 p.m.

Wolf Road Holiday Inn

205 Wolf Rd.

Albany, New York

Topic: the founding of Cedars Chapter No. 335 in Beirut last year.

Business: election and installation of officers. R.E. Piers Vaughan to be High Priest.

Piers promises meetings in Manhattan and elsewhere about the state during his term.

Also, please know the chapter’s 2010 Book of Transactions has been published, and is now available. Members in good standing will receive it either at this meeting, or through the mail. Others may purchase it through our website.
    

‘Cole mining’

    
Way back a long time ago, when I was a junior in high school, my teacher of U.S. history sadistically assigned his class, as requisite to passing the course, what seemed like impossibly obscure topics for research papers. Obscurity is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and to a 16-year-old underachiever, the prospect of delving into the life and work of one Thomas Cole, father of the Hudson River School in the fine arts, was akin to being sentenced to a gulag to mine coal, barehanded. This was far before the internet, Google, and the rest; it was merely the dawn of the PC age itself. Research meant legwork at the library, and my subject Thomas Cole required travel to the public libraries of neighboring towns which, to me, was as unheard of as Cole himself. It was a good thing my friend Tim had access to a car – would have been even better if one of us had a driver’s license – so to foreign libraries we went to achieve our respective advancements in knowledge.

If you had tried to tell me then that decades later I would happily drive 250 miles to enjoy lectures on topics ranging from our Mr. Cole to the KKK, I would have smacked you, but there I was at the Scottish Rite’s National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts last April being impressed by David Bjelajac’s talk, augmented by PowerPoint graphics of Cole’s work.

It’s funny what happens when you get a little culture in you.

Turns out Thomas Cole was a Freemason who made symbols familiar to the initiated eye key components in some of his work. Professor Bjelajac will appear at Cedar Grove, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, on Sunday, March 6 to present his lecture Thomas Cole, Freemasonry and the American Hercules.

Cedar Grove

Thomas Cole National Historic Site

218 Spring Street

Catskill, New York

The lecture will begin at 2 p.m., and tickets, at $8 each, will be available on a first come, first served basis.

From the Cedar Grove website:

Thomas Cole, Freemasonry and the American Hercules

Thomas Cole became a Freemason in Zanesville, Ohio, during the summer of 1822, and soon composed sublime mountainous views that drew upon Masonry’s mysterious emblems. First publicized in New York newspapers by William Dunlap, a brother Mason, Cole’s paintings captured the patronage of the Empire State’s Masonic elite. David Bjelajac, Professor of Art and Human Sciences at George Washington University, reinterprets Cole’s The Titan’s Goblet (1833), which honored New York Governor De Witt Clinton, Erie Canal builder, art academician and leading Freemason. This small, enigmatic painting draws upon Masonic ritual and Herculean myth, and looks forward to Cole’s famed Course of Empire and Voyage of Life series.



The Titan's Goblet is on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.



Thomas Cole's The Voyage of Life series
is on view at the National Gallery of Art.
This is Childhood.



The Voyage of Life: Youth.



The Voyage of Life: Manhood.



The Voyage of Life: Old Age.

Please pardon these low resolution images. Reproductions of these oil-on-canvas works are available in various media if you shop around.

From the National Gallery’s website:

Cole’s renowned four-part series traces the journey of an archetypal hero along the “River of Life.” Confidently assuming control of his destiny and oblivious to the dangers that await him, the voyager boldly strives to reach an aerial castle, emblematic of the daydreams of “Youth” and its aspirations for glory and fame. As the traveler approaches his goal, the ever-more-turbulent stream deviates from its course and relentlessly carries him toward the next picture in the series, where nature’s fury, evil demons, and self-doubt will threaten his very existence. Only prayer, Cole suggests, can save the voyager from a dark and tragic fate.

From the innocence of childhood, to the flush of youthful overconfidence, through the trials and tribulations of middle age, to the hero’s triumphant salvation, The Voyage of Life seems intrinsically linked to the Christian doctrine of death and resurrection. Cole’s intrepid voyager also may be read as a personification of America, itself at an adolescent stage of development. The artist may have been issuing a dire warning to those caught up in the feverish quest for Manifest Destiny: that unbridled westward expansion and industrialization would have tragic consequences for both man and nature.

The name Bjelajac is uncommon, so if it rings a bell for you, it may be because the professor is related to Bro. Michael Bjelajac, Past Master of Gate City Lodge No. 2 in Atlanta.
    

‘Masonic Week 2010: Society of Blue Friars’

    
This edition of The Magpie Mason is the fifth attempt to catch up on 2010 events I haven’t told you about. Every time I post one of these, I remember yet another, so this may take a while. In fact, this one dates to Masonic Week 2010, nearly a year ago, and I want to finish catching up before this Masonic Week arrives in only two weeks!



Blue Friar No. 93 Thomas W. Jackson, left, and the newest Blue Friar, No. 99, Pierre “Pete” Normand, Jr. react to a funny remark from Blue Friar 95, Mark A. Tabbert (not shown) at the 66th Annual Consistory of The Society of Blue Friars February 12 during Masonic Week 2010 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Friday, February 12, 2010

After the dual meetings of the Knight Masons, it was time for the 66th Annual Consistory of The Society of Blue Friars. The likelihood of cronyism is much lower here because, while it is not stated as such in the rules, it evidently is a longstanding tradition that those tapped to join the Consistory be published authors or otherwise reputable writers and educators. I’d rather hang out with these guys any day.

The perils of the snowy weather affected this meeting also. It was said, but I still don’t know if in jest, that Grand Abbot S. Brent Morris would not be able to attend, for although the major roads had been cleared of the record snowfall by Friday morning, he wasn’t about to shovel his driveway! Well, he’s earned that right.

So, the lovely and talented Tom Jackson of Pennsylvania – the mere mention of whom induces agita in some grand officers I know – assumed the presiding officer’s duties, and did a fine job of welcoming the 2010 Blue Friar – that’s No. 99, for those keeping score: Pierre “Pete” Normand, Jr. of Texas!

I’ll admit from the start that I cannot do justice to Bro. Pete’s Masonic resume, but here are the obvious highlights:

• Past Master of Sul Ross Lodge No. 1300, Texas;
• Past Master of St. Alban’s Lodge No. 1455, Texas;
• editor, (the former) American Masonic Review;
• Past Master and Fellow of Texas Lodge of Research;
• author, The Texas Masons: The Fraternity of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons in the History of Texas;
• editor, The Plumbline, the newsletter of the Scottish Rite Research Society;
• Honorary SGIG (33°), A&ASR-SJ; and
• Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society.

After 11-and-a-half months, my notes are among That Which Was Lost, but Pete’s address concerned something near and dear to the Magpie Mason’s heart: the origins and successes of what now is called European Concept and Traditional Observance practices. His presentation followed the outline sketched by someone else I’m fond of: Bro. John Mauk Hilliard. In brief, and with my own editorializing:

Excellence in ritual: Before thinking that phrase speaks for itself, please understand that the excellence involves more than perfect memorization and flawless recitation, because artistic ability is equally vital. You see, the benefit ought to belong to the aspirant, in the form of his comprehension and enlightenment. It is not about the ritualist and his next gold pin.

Masonic education: Lodges must teach the meaning of Masonry by instructing the brethren in the meanings of our rituals and symbols, as well as in overall philosophy, history, jurisprudence, and other aspects of Masonic culture. Why does this need to be pointed out?

Table Lodge/Festive Board: Is there a better way to spread the cement than to dine together, sharing a convivial ritual experience? Great food, great company, great conversation. We aspire to these in our other walks of life, so why not in the lodge?

Charity: The real thing, and not just having the treasurer cut a check to this or that or the other, but having the brethren sink their hands into the mortar of their community, giving their own time, talent, and toil to benefit others.

Attire: Proper dress for the Speculative Mason really should be black tie, plus regalia that is equally resplendent. It is often said in Masonry that it is the inner qualities of the man, and not his outer characteristics, that make him suitable to the Craft, but it is forgotten how that message originally was directed to wealthy Masons, and now it is commonly misinterpreted as an excuse for the less motivated among us (I’m as guilty as anyone) to not go the sartorial extra mile.

Exclusivity in membership: There is no reason to initiate every man with a pulse. In my jurisdiction, if you can fog a mirror, pay the paltry petition fee, and pass a criminal background check, you’re in. Consequently we are well stocked with men who really should have joined the Elks or Kiwanis. Those are worthy organizations that need good people too. Instead, they are Masons, and they are the reason why so many lodge events and projects are incongruent with the sophistication of our Order’s teachings and ethos.

Commitment: Whether a brother sits on the sidelines or labors his way to the East, every Mason needs to support his lodge in tangible ways. Attendance and participation are required. Lodges that do not demand these do not get them. My lodge has about 500 members, 450 of whom exist only in a database.

It’s a short list, and it is irrefutable. Amazingly, in 2011 these guidelines still are heretical to many.

I can’t wait for the 67th Annual Consistory next month on Friday the 11th.

    

George Washington Masonic Stamp Club

    
The Magpie Mason endorses philately, especially as an affordable, accessible form of art collecting.

The George Washington Masonic Stamp Club will host its annual meeting Sunday, February 27 at the George Washington Masonic Memorial for its 55th anniversary celebration and a conferral of “Master of Philately.”

The day’s schedule:

1 to 2 p.m. – Assemble, socialize, and review Covers.

2 to 4:45 – Meeting, followed by Master of Philately.

4:45 p.m. – Meet at Joe Theismann’s Restaurant (at the foot of Shooter’s Hill).

5:30 p.m. – 55th Anniversary Dinner. Ladies/guests invited. Dutch treat dinner; order off the menu.

Walter Benesch, GWMSC President, will be the keynote speaker, discussing “The History of Philately” with a slideshow and Q&A.

If you have not received the Master of Philately from the GWMSC, you may receive it with the others planning to attend. Please notify/reserve in advance with Secretary John Allen at gwmsc1956(at)gmail.com so your certificate will be properly prepared.

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GWMSC President’s Message

Winter 2011

This February 27 will be a very busy meeting. As is the tradition, we will meet in the North Lodge Room of the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. The meet, greet, and cover-trading will start at 1 p.m. Unfortunately, all the “Masonic Cowboys of the Silver Screen” covers, which were issued at the BALPEX meeting, have been sold (I think), but there will be a lot of other covers available.

The meeting will follow at 2 p.m., with the election of new members and the usual business (which is usually very short). This will be followed by the conferral of the Master of Philately. All those who have been accepted into the Club, but have not received the degree can receive it at this time (at no extra cost, but you must be present to receive the degree). It is only at the Winter meeting that the Degree is conferred. After the Degree, elections will follow. This meeting will be the beginning of the 10th year I have served as your President. I would love to turn it over to another dedicated philatelist but will serve another term if it is the will of the Club. Alas, until the 1990s, it was generally only a two-year term.

As is the tradition, after the meeting, we will retreat to Joe Theismann’s Restaurant for a dinner. We will order off the menu, and while the kitchen prepares our food, we will present a PowerPoint program titled “The History of Philately.” We have gained many new members over the past few years, many are new to collecting, and this will be a very appropriate talk for these new members, and hopefully for experienced collectors too. I know everyone will enjoy the illustrations.

Happy New Year to you all. Please come to our meeting and join the fun. Even better, bring a bunch of new applications and applicants to receive the degree.

Walter P. Benesch,
President, GWMSC
   

‘In the neighborhood’

    
A post for the benefit of our local and somewhat local brethren: Two great nights coming up in early February.

On Monday, February 7, Nutley Lodge No. 25 will continue its Lamp of Knowledge lecture series, hosting W. Henry of Humanitas Lodge No. 1123 in New York City, who will lead us into the Chamber of Reflection, so to speak, for an explanation of the many intriguing symbols that await initiates in the Scottish Rite tradition of Craft Masonry.

Henry also is Senior Deacon of The American Lodge of Research, the premier education lodge in the United States, and is active in other research bodies.

Apprentices and Fellows, properly avouched, are welcome to attend this lecture.

On Wednesday, February 9, at historic Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange, our good friend and Brother Rashied Bey returns to the podium. Rashied is with Cornerstone Lodge No. 37, under the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York, and is very well known about the apartments of the Temple.

RW Rashied will speak on properties of astronomy found in Masonic ritual and symbol.

Also that night, W. Mohamad Yatim, Past Master of Atlas-Pythagoras Lodge No. 10, will visit Madison Lodge No. 93, also to speak on the Chamber of Reflection.

Curious things are happening in some of the lodges here. An amazing line-up for the week ... and that’s even before we get to Virginia for Masonic Week! I’ll need extra cigars and whisky to sustain myself. Let me also point out that all three of these traveling lecturers are of The Masonic Society family. Rashied is a Fellow, and Henry and Mohamad are Members.
    

‘No. 11’

    

(I admit it. I’m trailing the Dummies blog.)

The new issue, No. 11, of The Journal of the Masonic Society is in the mail to our more than 1,200 members now.

What I’m most excited about is the appearance of the first piece by New Jersey’s own Bro. Ben Hoff, the Right Worshipful Grand Historian. Ben is a kind of forensic historian of Masonic ritual, in that he consults, compares, and contrasts the original source documents (ritual exposures, ciphers, monitors, jurisprudence, et al.) to determine the origins and changes of many ritual elements.

A favorite refrain in Masonry is “We’ve always done it that way,” but Ben’s research belies that simplistic belief, showing that no, we haven’t necessarily always done that, either that way or another way. His paper in this issue of The Journal explains the origins and evolution of how initiates are clothed, received, and conducted. There is much more to it all than you might guess.

His writings are taking the shape of a book, and we at The Masonic Society are proud to serialize his work, chapter by chapter. Believe me, no one else in Masonry is doing the kind of research that Ben does. As I write this, Ben is putting the finishing touches on his next installment, in which he explains a peculiar manuscript’s influence on the Master Mason, Past Master, and Royal Arch degrees. A must read!

Other attractions in this issue include Bro. Shai Afsai’s story about his lodge – Redwood Lodge No. 35 in Rhode Island – and a question of symbolism and conscience. Bro. Peter Knatt on an intersection of British military history and Freemasonry. And a lot more, including editorials, columns, photography, and other features.

I cannot be unbiased, but I can say accurately and respectfully that this is the finest Masonic periodical in North America. And it is only one of the benefits of joining The Masonic Society. We also offer an exclusive (as in, no bogus Mason silliness) on-line forum abuzz with thousands of conversations, discounts on books and other necessities, and tokens of membership like no other – like our stunning patent, on parchment with hand-stamped was seal. For 39 bucks a year! Click here to get involved.
    

‘Search and Research’

    
The Magpie Mason enjoyed a good, but extremely busy, week. The American Lodge of Research held its Installation of Officers on Tuesday, and yours truly was installed Junior Deacon for the year. This gives me a lot to think about, for a number of reasons, but mostly because I’ve been Master of a research lodge previously (New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786). Every experience in Freemasonry opens my eyes to something, but those years with New Jersey’s research lodge taught lessons like no other – and I say that having served in the East of a Craft lodge and four other Masonic bodies – so I hope to be more valuable to ALR than most Junior Deacons.

Anyway, among the thoughts ricocheting around my mind are: What is Masonic education? What does it mean to be a lodge of Masonic research in 2011? What are Masons seeking when they want to learn, and how do they expect to learn? What should I expect of them?

The vexing challenges arise from the fact that lodges of research are anomalies in Freemasonry. The culture of Freemasonry in the United States is summarized by the characteristics of 99.999 percent of the Craft lodges here: superficial unions of men; the overwhelming majority of whom do not participate in anything their lodges do; haphazardly united in name only, thanks to decades of aimless membership development. Lodge activities differ little from those of Elks lodges and other clubs of generic fraternity. If there is a form of education, it is confined to ritual memorization, occasionally interrupted with something about George Washington. I’m aware this reads like an indictment, but it is a fair assessment of the general scene in this fraternity. Some lodges are exceptions, but they comprise a tiny minority, and their positions as lodges of learning are anything but secure because they prove our status quo need not be. Conversely, the research lodge has a very specific purpose which unites a corps, although usually a small one, of laborers who do that work.

What is Masonic education?

I have a lengthy answer to this question that can be read at the bottom of this post, but to put it quickly, while Freemasonry has its few lodges of research, I believe each Craft lodge should be a lodge of search.

We search for Light. We search for The Lost Word. At a certain point, we search for our Operative Grand Master. In short, we seek Truth. It is philosophical inquiry that can begin with a look in the mirror, and can continue without limit in all directions thereafter.

In a lodge of search, the Speculative Freemason should think about what Masonic ritual and symbol mean to him. And he should say so, and should defend his thoughts by answering questions about them.

In most of the Masonic world, this takes place in the Craft lodge where, after each degree, the aspirant presents what is called a Piece of Architecture. This is an essay of personal reflections on what the preceding degree and its symbols mean to the candidate. These are not research papers; they are speculative interpretations on a personal level. They are read aloud in lodge, and the presenter then defends his thesis by answering the brethren’s questions. This can happen several times in the period between degrees. That period can exceed a year. Or two. Presenting his Piece(s) of Architecture is a requisite to advancing to the next degree. It even might begin at the petition phase, when the Master asks the prospective candidate to explain, in writing, why he wants to become a Freemason.

Does your lodge do this?

What does it mean to be a lodge
of Masonic research in 2011?

Research, among other purposes, should tell us what those who preceded us did in their searches. Some cleared paths for us to follow; others show us where not to go, provided we are paying attention. The researcher sifts through clues – historical facts and fictions – for the sake of explaining why the present is how it is. These data should be used to inform one’s search, because too many Masons embark on their spiritual work without realizing their aspirations are based on myths and legends. Of course myths can be as instructive as facts, but I see too many Masons basing their identities on certain non-truths, and I doubt that’s a sustainable approach to life.

The very first research lodge was Quatuor Coronati No. 2076 in London, which was set to labor in the 1880s. Its self-determined mission was (and is) to separate myths and legends from the genuine history of our Order. (e.g. Before QC2076, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jesus, et alia were Freemasons. After QC2076, they are not and never were. That’s a simple summary, but incredibly and inconceivably it was a drastic demarcation.)

Most members of research lodges do not even attend the lodge meetings. Maybe they are content to receive in the mail the annual book of transactions. Perhaps they desire even less than that: only to be able to say they’re members. It is a miniscule minority – not even one in a thousand – who research and write papers, and present them from the podium, intending them for peer review and publication.

To be a lodge of Masonic research and education is to swim upstream and to pursue labors with scarce resources and sparse company. Without Masonic search taking place in the Craft lodges, Masonic research is an opportunity untouched by nearly all Craft Masons.

I’m rambling, but in answer to the question What does it mean to be a lodge of Masonic research in 2011, I am reminded of a phrase often repeated in the Gospels: He that has ears to hear, let him hear. That is not a question of physical deafness, but one of cognition and understanding. Maybe even gnosis, if I may be so bold. Its speaker essentially is saying You who “get it” should pay special attention right now. The lodge of Masonic research and education should shine its Light, and – if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor – those who have ears will hear.

In a lodge of Masonic research, the Speculative Mason should decode the meanings of Masonic ritual and symbol in the contexts of specific theses. That is, don’t simply aggrandize the fraternity by repeating how Famous Man X was a Freemason, but examine Bro. X’s life to try to determine how Masonry might have affected the man, and consider that when describing how the man affected his world.

What are Masons seeking when they want to learn,
and how do they expect to learn?

There is no single, specific answer to that first question. Every man is looking for something that speaks to him directly. To the second question, based on what I see, I am hopeful that thinking Masons are motivated to read – I mean books, not just websites – and to travel. The night after ALR’s installation, I returned to the same room for the Regular Communication of Kosciuszko Lodge No. 1085, where Bro. Erik spoke on the life of Tadeusz Kosciuszko. (See post below.) The Master was quite surprised to see how many visiting brethren were present, in addition to the seven Apprentices and Fellows who have ears to hear.

What should I expect of them?

All I ask is a willingness to do a little work. It’s not for my benefit. The gain is yours. Be a thinker. Read useful material, and think about it, and question it. Don’t expect to have everything spoon fed to you, or at least not after your Ceremony of Passing. Be responsible in your autonomy, in your labors.

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Six years ago, the think tank named The Knights of the North was challenged by Bro. Stephen Dafoe of Alberta to author a collection of essays to populate a website to be called Masonic Dictionary. Topics from A to Z were addressed by KOTN’s few members whose writings often recall The Devil’s Dictionary, but were offered in complete candor, sincerity, and hope for a better tomorrow for Freemasonry. (The website promises we’ll be back soon, but after this many years I think it’s safe to say KOTN more or less morphed into The Masonic Society, an independent education foundation worthy of your time.) I was assigned the letter E – for Education – a topic Stephen titled “The Unspeakable Masonic Word.” Below is the complete text.


When we speak of “Masonic education,” we are needlessly redundant. Freemasonry is education, simultaneously moral instruction, spiritual enlightenment and intellectual growth so that a man may come to know – and improve – himself. But this isn’t supposed to be a solitary activity; Freemasonry also is a brotherhood. The Master Mason Lecture explains the symbolism of the Beehive: “He who will not endeavor to add to the common stock of knowledge may be deemed a drone in the hive of nature, a useless member of society, and unworthy of the care and protection of Masons.” Together the brethren seek “that which was lost.” What was lost? Truth. It is that search after Truth that makes Freemasonry philosophical, and where there is a love of wisdom, education is the act of courtship.

Because Freemasonry’s teachings intentionally address the fundamental and perpetual curiosities of man, it can accurately be said that it is education without limit in both appeal and scope. Truly any wholesome field of study or discipline intersects somewhere along Freemasonry’s path of learning and much of Masonic teaching coincides with the Humanities. Masonry reveals itself through ritual. These centuries-old ceremonies are a framework, or more accurately, a map that each Freemason may follow in his search for Truth. To summarize just one aspect of this process, as an Apprentice, the newly initiated Mason is taught to subdue his passions while letting the Four Cardinal Virtues guide him toward candid self-awareness. From this ceremony one finds commonality with Plato and Aquinas. The former saw these virtues as a recipe for a perfect society; the latter adapted the virtues for the betterment of an individual’s attitudes, values and behavior. Next, as a more experienced Mason called a Fellowcraft, he is shown the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences: Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy guide the Masonic student as they had the thinkers who gave Western civilization its Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment, with all the culture contained therein. A proper understanding of the Arts and Sciences empowers Masonic man to make his mind the rational master of his primal Five Senses of hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling and tasting, and so this progress builds upon the Platonic-Thomist foundation. In the Third Degree of Freemasonry, the Master Mason is sufficiently aware of his place in the universe so as to fear no danger, not even death itself. Ultimately, upon exiting the Holy of Holies for the final time, the Master Mason goes gamely “into that good night” knowing that there is no sting of death and no victory of the grave, but only eternal life.

We have dubbed Education “The Unspeakable Masonic Word” because it seems like no one ever talks about it. In my experience, research lodges, study groups and the like are treated like red light districts where only the furtive venture in search of the forbidden. So at first you’re pretty much on your own. To get started, think about what you most desire to know about Freemasonry, and then go find the answers. Easy? No, but it shouldn’t be. Depending on the subject, a researcher can spend months looking for a long out-of-print book; even years can pass before inadvertently coming across a needed factoid in an unexpected source. Naturally the internet delivers limitless information, but – even as with books – one must exercise discriminating choice. Again, let the ritual be your map. Choose an unfamiliar word, an odd phrase, a seemingly antiquated idea. Then define it. Identify its Masonic significance and apply that meaning to a broader context of how it could benefit others; and then translate that idea into your own words so that you take possession and internalize it. Once it is yours, it is there as a tool for use in your growth, and it’s there for good. Repeat the process, as needed, for life.

That education is interwoven in Freemasonry is a reality that predates modern Masonry itself. In the Old Charges – the dozens of manuscripts penned over the course of more than three centuries prior to the start in 1717 of the Masonic Order we know today – are found clear procedures on how new members of the building trade were to be schooled in their craft over long spans of time. In the Halliwell Manuscript, believed written in the 14th century and the earliest of these documents, are found the “Fifteen Articles for the Master Mason,” including:

 3. He must take apprentices for seven years, his craft to learn.
11. He must be both fair and free and teach by his might.
12. He shall not disparage his fellow’s work.
13. He must teach his apprentice.

Nor is there anything extraneous about the grave consequence awaiting the unskilled, untested, and unlucky operative builder in the ancient world. The pre-Biblical Babylonian ruler Hammurabi set down a legal code that included:

If a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work sound, so that the house he has made falls down and causes the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. If it causes the death of the son of the owner of the house, they shall kill the son of that builder.

Clearly the importance of education in the building arts is indisputable. (Remember that the funny-looking cap you wore at graduation is called a mortarboard.) Today Freemasonry’s instruction is all presented in allegory and symbolism, but the education is no less crucial to the Speculative Mason’s life. Tragically few seem to understand or want to understand, and this power goes neglected in the quotidian realities of contemporary Masonry. Why? Because it is hard work! In mastering his Craft, Masonic Man spends his life relentlessly scrutinizing himself, the condition of his fellow man and of the world, and the role of the Great Architect of the Universe in it all. It is not by accident that the hard labor of constructing in stone is the metaphor through which Masonry’s instruction is imparted. Nor is it by chance that the seeker of the degrees of Freemasonry is repeatedly tested for his willingness to proceed further. While the teachings of Freemasonry are universal – “Every human being has a claim upon your kind offices.” – it was never intended for every human being to enter its temples, and yet its doors have been flung open for many years allowing practically any man to enter. Consequently, the libraries that once were busy beehives have been converted to other, more simple purposes, their books locked away in storage, forgotten. (Indeed the word “temple” itself, as in a place for conTEMPLAtion, has been abandoned for the monotonous “Masonic center.”) Simultaneously, the discussions that once compelled Masons to reconsider their opinions, to re-examine their very lives, and to improve their world have been replaced by charity walk-a-thons and other activities that, while helpful, should be entrusted to our neighbors in the Lions, Kiwanis and Elks organizations. While organizing and staging a charity fundraiser is a big job, it is child’s play compared to the vital challenge of metabolizing Masonic thought, and achieving that state of being where the heart of Jerusalem meets the mind of Athens.

In the fundamental duty of educating oneself and one’s fellow Masons, we today are not negligent. We are uninformed, and the craziest thing about it is that the ritual tells us what to do. Remember the advice imparted to you upon your first knocks on the Inner Door: “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” One’s search is a personal endeavor, but there are friends to help you along the way. When enough of us start speaking aloud about Masonic education we can restore to its rightful place the paramount purpose of Freemasonry: to labor together in replenishing the “common stock of knowledge” in our pursuit of Truth.

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And speaking of The Devil’s Dictionary and the formation of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, here is how the Dictionary defines Freemasonry (hat tip to RW Fred Waldron):

FREEMASONS, n. An order with secret rites, grotesque ceremonies and fantastic costumes, which, originating in the reign of Charles II, among working artisans of London, has been joined successively by the dead of past centuries in unbroken retrogression until now it embraces all the generations of man on the hither side of Adam and is drumming up distinguished recruits among the pre-Creational inhabitants of Chaos and Formless Void. The order was founded at different times by Charlemagne, Julius Caesar, Cyrus, Solomon, Zoroaster, Confucious, Thothmes, and Buddha. Its emblems and symbols have been found in the Catacombs of Paris and Rome, on the stones of the Parthenon and the Chinese Great Wall, among the temples of Karnak and Palmyra and in the Egyptian Pyramids – always by a Freemason.