2020 Masonic Spring Ball magazine

PGL Southern Division 1863-2020 PGL Suidelike Afdeling

Masonic 46th

Spring Ball Magazine

Masonieke 46ste

Lente Dans Tydskrif In Support of the Masonic Homes for Seniors & Quadriplegics

Contents

T

here’s a deep respect and keen awareness, in our Ancient Craft, of our heritage and our history: of who we are as Freemasons, where we come from, and the men who came before us. You’ll notice that theme as you page through the articles in this magazine, and as South African Masons collectively prepare for our 250year anniversary in 2022.

But while we’re proud of our collective history, we’re also excited about the future; and while the events of 2020 came as a shock to many, as Freemasons we took them (mostly) in our stride. For most of the year our Lodge meetings have been held remotely. Our Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand Lodge AGMs were both on-screen events. The Spring Ball Committee, for example, didn’t meet in person for the eight months leading up to the Virtual Spring Ball event.

So I had to smile when I read RW Bro Graham Karstens’ Convenor’s Message in the 1988 edition of the Spring Ball Magazine. His biggest worries that year were the shape of the venue hall (some guests at the 1987 event were seated too far from the dancefloor) and the prices of drinks at the bar. How would that year’s Committee have responded to a national lockdown, and to hosting a Spring Ball dominated by videoconferences and social distancing?

Honestly, they would have been fine. They’d have made a plan. They always did. As MW Bro Geoff Edwards OSM – a Spring Ball stalwart and a beloved mentor to most of us younger/newer Masons – wrote in the 2017 Spring Ball magazine: “While there have been enormous changes to the world around us, major developments in technology and medicine and dramatic changes in our own country, those less fortunate than ourselves still need our assistance.”

And as Geoff concluded: “‘The more things change, the more they stay the same’ really does apply to the Masonic Homes project”... in 1988, in 2017 and now in 2020.

Bro Mark van Dijk Editor: Spring Ball Magazine

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Spring Ball Convenor RW Bro Tommy Hardiman Spring Ball Committee RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA RW Bro Avron Jacobson MSA Wor Bro Dennis Benadie Wor Bro Jan Venter Wor Bro Llew Lloyd-Jones Wor Bro Malcolm Gessler Bro Tertius van Zyl Bro Marco Petronio Bro Mark van Dijk

Special Thanks To

All Brethren of the Southern Division, and all our partners, who assist the Masonic Homes Project.

MESSAGES 3

The Acting Grand Master Die Waarnemende Grootmeester

5

The Provincial Grand Master Die Provinsiale Grootmeester

7

Our Sister Constitutions

9

Our Sister Divisions MASONIC INTEREST

11

The New Grand Master

12

Celebrating 250 Years of Freemasonry

20

The Masonic Homes for Seniors & Quadriplegics

22

A Masonic Life

25

A Masonic Year To Remember!

29

Instruction Manuals

31

A Master Criminal And A Mason

33

What Can We Tell Our Friends About Freemasonry?

35 Is Vrymesselary Steeds Van Toepassing?

37

The Masonic Experience

39

Die Uitdagings Van Leierskap

41

Enough Is Enough

43

Emblems of Freemasonry

49

Uniting Men, Even During Apartheid

50

Let Us Cultivate Brotherly Love

52

GLSA’s Rapid Response to Covid-19

From The Acting Grand Master Van Die Waarnemende Grootmeester

A

lthough the first Masonic Spring Ball of the Southern Division of the Grand Lodge of South Africa was held in 1975, the first magazine commemorating this event was only produced in 1981. The then convenor of the seventh consecutive annual Spring Ball, RW Bro Geoffrey Burchell, remarked in that magazine’s editorial that “… the road to our own Home for Seniors, we knew, would be a long, tough ride but we WILL get there soon.”

I attended my first Masonic Spring Ball in 1985 and the then Grand Master, Wor Bro George Groenewald OSM, stated in his message that the annual Spring Ball meant much more to him than enjoying a happy interlude from his daily avocation.

It was rather synonymous with and expressive of one of the cardinal and basic objectives of Freemasonry, namely the acknowledgement of and positive reaction to our duty and responsibility towards our fellowmen to be ever mindful and responsive to the needs of others, particularly those who, because of advancing years and/or health challenges, can no longer effectively and satisfactorily care for themselves.

As a result of the persistent hard work of the Brethren of this

Division over a period of at least 12 years, the first Masonic Home for Seniors was purchased in 1987, namely a block of flats called Desmain Lodge, which is still today the flagship in the Masonic Homes property portfolio of this Division.

Notwithstanding the challenges which we face in 2020 as a result of the Covid pandemic and although we are not able to attend a traditional dinner dance, the Brethren of this Division have again proved themselves worthy of the sentiments expressed so many years ago and we are able to enjoy a virtual celebration of those cardinal and basic objectives of Freemasonry.

It is therefore my honour and privilege to congratulate and thank everyone involved in organizing and supporting this year’s new innovation for this very important and necessary fund raising event.

Let us all enjoy it and thereby continue this proud tradition of showing the Grand Lodge of South Africa as the caring organisation, which our members know and believe in.

RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA Acting Grand Master

A

lhoewel die eerste Masonieke Lentebal van die Suidelike Afdeling van die Grootlosie van Suid Afrika in 1975 gehou is, het die eerste Lentebal tydskrif sy verskyning eers in 1981 gemaak. Die saamroeper van die opeenvolgende sewende jaarlikse Masonieke Lentebal, SV Br Geoffrey Burchell, het daarin geskryf dat alhoewel hulle geweet het dat die pad na hulle eie Huis vir Bejaardes lank en moeilik sou wees, hulle binnekort daarby sou uitkom.

Ek het my eerste Lentebal in 1985 bygewoon. Die destydse Grootmeester, HE Br George Groenewald ODV, het in sy boodskap vermeld dat hy die Lentebal as meer as ‘n aangename afleiding, weg van sy daaglikse roeping, beskou het. Dit was sinoniem met en beeldend van een van die vernaamste en fundamentele doelstellings van Vrymesselary, naamlik die erkenning van en positiewe reaksie op ons plig en verantwoordelikheid teenoor ons medemens om gedurig gedagtig en simpatiek te staan teenoor die behoeftes en gebreke van ander, veral dié wat vanweë gevorderde jare en / or swak gesondheid nie langer na hulleself kon omsien nie.

As gevolg van die aanhoudende harde werk van die Broeders

van hierdie Afdeling oor ‘n tydperk van ten minste 12 jaar, is die eerste Masonieke Huis vir Bejaardes in 1987 aangekoop. Dit is ‘n woonstel blok by name Desmain Lodge, wat nog steeds die vlagskip van die Masonieke Tehuis eiendoms portefeulje van hierdie Afdeling is.

Nieteenstaande die uitdagings wat die Kovid pandemie in 2020 veroorsaak het en alhoewel ons nie die tradisionele dinee dans hierdie jaar kan bywoon nie, het die Broeders van hierdie Afdeling weereens hulleself bewys en ons kan opreg trots wees op hulle. Laat ons dus daardie vernaamste en fundamentele doelstellings van Vrymesselary op hierdie nuwe en virtueel manier vier.

Dit is dus my eer en voorreg om almal wat betrokke was met die organisasie en ondersteuning van hierdie jaar se baie belangrike en baie nodige fondsinsamelings aangeleentheid in sy nuwe formaat geluk te wens en hartlik te bedank. Laat ons dit geniet en daardeur die tradisie voortsit dat die Grootlosie van Suid Afrika ‘n welwillendheids organisasie is waarin ons lede glo en waarop ons trots is.

SV Br John Smith ODV TVD Waarnemende Grootmeester

–3–

Thank you to WB Mike Burchell, Chairman, RW Bro Brian Rossouw OSM, to all the Directors of “Masonic Homes NPC�, and to all the Southern Division Brethren who give so willingly of their time to ensure the ongoing sucess of the Masonic Homes project.

The results speak for themselves!

Fraternally RW Bro Tommy Hardiman Provincial Grand Master

From The Provincial Grand Master

Van Die Provinsiale Grootmeester Southern Division / Suidelike Afdeling

I

n a world that appears to have been changing by the day since April 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic, restrictions and then lockdowns. Our everyday lives have been at the least disrupted, and for many, turned completely upside down.

We witnessed declines in stock markets all over the world, lack of certain types of everyday products for a while and a general sense of panic.

But through it all the beacon that is Masonry shone its light throughout the world once again, and as we have learned throughout the ages: when the going gets tough you can rely on the Freemasons, can’t you? As Freemasons we have had more contact with fellow Brethren around the world than ever in the history of the Grand Lodge of South Africa, we have taken the time to catch up with friends and Brethren around the globe on Zoom, Google teams & Webex etc.

This technology was always available to us, but we never thought to apply it to its full potential, but through this pandemic we have found this technology and it has brought completely new dimensions to what we are able to do going forward as we head into the “new normal” of post Covid.

If we ever doubted the relevancy of Freemasonry in the modern world then we can stop doubting because the colossal voluntary involvement and contributions to society over these terrible few months has been in evidence all over the world, so much so that I cannot even begin to start mentioning them here as I would need this entire magazine at least to list them.

From the manufacture and supply of PPE, to feeding the homeless and sponsoring medical support teams and staff, the caring and provision for our own members and their families in need, the mighty Masonic worldwide charitable network sprung into gear and flexed its muscles showing just why Freemasonry is the oldest, the largest, and the most well-known social, secular, charitable, & Fraternal, society on planet earth.

And as we step into the 46th consecutive Masonic Spring ball hosted for the first time ever as a virtual online celebration in aid of the Masonic homes projects for the Elderly and Quadriplegics, The GLSA Covid children’s feeding scheme, and for Little Mason van Dyk, I thank you my fellow Brethren and your families for all the hard work and dedication shown, and I thank our sponsors, advertisers, and members of the public for all your financial aid and contributions to these worthy causes.

Stay safe in these troubled times.

I

n ‘n wêreld wat konstant besig is om te verander sedert April 2020 agv die Covid-19 virus pandemie, beperkinge en daarna die Grendel tydperk, is ons daaglikse lewe onherroeplik beinvloed en vir meeste van ons heeltemal onderstebo gekeer.

Ons ervaar die agteruitgang van aandeel markte reg oor die wêreld en ‘n tekort aan alledaagse noodsaaklike produkte vir ‘n geruime tyd al. Baie individue en besighede ondervind ‘n verlies van inkomste en daar heers ‘n algemene gevoel van paniek.

Deur al hierdie negatiewe ervarings skyn die baken van Vrymesselary weereens sy lig helder reg deur die wêreld. En soos ons deur die eeue geleer het kan ons deur die harde tye altyd staatmaak op Vrymesselary. As vrymesselaars het ons meer kontak gehad met mede Broeders van reg oor die wêreld as ooit tevore in die geskiedenis van die Groot Losie van Suid-Afrika.

Ons het hierdie tyd benut om kontak te maak met vriende en Broeders wêreld wyd deur middel van Zoom, Teams, Webex, ens.

Hierdie tegnologie was altyd vir ons beskikbaar maar het nooit gedink ons sal dit ooit tot sy volle potensiaal aanwend nie. Deur die pandemie het ons weer hierdie tegnologie herontdek en dit het ‘n heel nuwe dinamika aan ons toekoms gebring wat ons in staat stel om met die “nuwe normaal” wat ons nou na COVID ondervind doeltreffend te bestuur.

As ons ooit getwyfel het in die relevansie van Vrymesselary in die moderne wêreld kan daardie gevoel met gerustheid laat vaar word want die massiewe vrywillige betrokkenheid en kontrubisies aan die samelewing gedurende die onaangename paar maande is beyws daarvan reg oor die wêrled, soveel so dat ek nie eers kan begin om alles hier te noem nie want ek gaan die hele tydskrif nodig hê om dit te lys.

Van die vervaardiging en verspreiding van Persoonlike beskermings toerusting tot voeding van die haweloses en borgskappe aan hulpspanne en personeel, sowel as die omgee en hulp aan ons eie lede en hulle families in nood het die magtige wêreldwye Masonieke liefdadigheids network tot aksie gespring en sy spiere gewys om weereens te bewys hoekom vrymesselary sonder twyfel die oudste , grootste en mees bekendste sosoiale sekulêre liefdadigheids broederskap op die hele aardbol is.

Hierdie jaar bied ons die 46ste agtereenvolgende lente bal vieringe aan, en vir die eerste keer in die geskiedenis op ‘n virtuele aanlyn basis ten bate van ons Masonieke huis projekte vir die bejaardes en kwadrupleë, die GLSA COVID kinder voedingskema en klein Mason van Dyk. Ek bedank u my mede broeders en julle families vir die harde werk en toewyding wat u die afgelope tyd gewys het. Ek bedank ook graag ons adverteerders, borge en lede van die Publiek vir julle finansiële bystand en kontribusies tot hierdie waardige doelstellings.

Bly asseblief veilig in hierdie moeilike tyd.

RW Bro Tom Hardiman Provincial Grand Master

SV Br Tom Hardiman Provinsiale Groot Meester

–5–

From Our Sister Constitutions

Scottish Constitution

English Constitution

O

n behalf of all the Brethren of the English Constitution of South Africa, Western Division, I congratulate RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA, Acting Grand Master, and assure him and the Grand Lodge of South Africa of our continuing support in the years ahead. I also thank your Immediate Past Grand Master MW Bro David Duncan OSM for the sterling work undertaken and the wonderful relationships he maintained with all the Sister Constitutions throughout his tenure.

Brethren, during the past few months we have certainly experienced unprecedented times. Our charitable contributions and assistance of those less fortunate than ourselves have become even more important than before. The Annual Spring Ball is one of those occasions where we could all come together, albeit in a different form this year, to make such a contribution.

I therefore wish all the Brethren of the Provincial Grand Lodge Southern Division every success in their charitable endeavors, not only on this occasion but also with all their future fundraising efforts.

We look forward to seeing you again at our meetings, hopefully soon, as well as on our social occasions and in the Craft workings we all love so much.

RW Bro Ernest Malherbe District Grand Master South Africa, Western Division

I

t is once again my pleasure and privilege to convey to the Grand Lodge of South Africa Southern Division, Fraternal greetings from all the Brethren of the Scottish Constitution in the Western Cape, on whose behalf I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Right Worshipful Brother John Smith OSM/ MSA on his soon to be appointment as Grand Master.

Brethren, due to the advent of the Coronavirus epidemic, the events of the last four months or so have proven to be difficult and testing for us all, and have caused enormous disruption to our daily lives. As Freemasons, I am sure like me, that you are deeply saddened and disappointed at how suddenly and cruelly something so meaningful in our lives has been taken away from us, albeit temporarily, in terms of which all credit must go to the South African Constitution for ensuring that the Spring Ball, which is one of the most prestigious and looked forward to events on the Masonic calendar, will go ahead albeit in a very different format. The Scottish Constitution is of course committed to continuing its support of this wonderful initiative, the proceeds of which, do so much to assist so many people less fortunate than ourselves.

Brethren, If ever there was a need for closer co-operation between the four Constitutions that time is now, and I remain committed to further strengthening the ties which already exist between us.

Bro David Gallacher RW District Grand Master

–7–

Irish Constitution

I

t gives me great pleasure and is my privilege to write a message of support for your Spring Ball Magazine and to raise funds for the Masonic Homes which is a superb initiative to showcase to the profane world our endeavours to add value to society and what our beautiful order is all about.

Brethren, we find ourselves in strange and uncertain times. Let’s pause to think about those that have lost their lives, family members who are ill, and those who are worried about what their future holds, particularly those with concerns about their health or livelihoods.

But Brethren, let’s focus on the positive.

With great anticipation we all look forward to our Lodges reopening and enjoying the simple pleasures of going to Lodge and greeting all our Brethren well. Let’s endeavour to keep our Masonic Order as it was before this pandemic and work towards the protection of our “Ancient Landmarks” and our principles of Brotherly Love, Truth and Relief.

I wish to extend our best wishes to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Southern Africa (Southern Division) and we have every confidence that the function will be as successful as it has been in years gone by, albeit in a different format.

RW Bro Anton Alsemgeest Provincial Grand Master

From Our Sister Divisions T

he Eastern Division has a close relationship with the Southern Division. Not having Masonic Homes of our own, we regard the Spring Ball as an essential project which provides assistance to not only Masons and their families who have served the Craft well, but also to the public who find themselves in a situation where they are destitute or very needy. We gladly support their cause, and hope to be able to launch a similar project in our Division when the funding allows it. In that effort, we will lean heavily on the Southern Division for advice on setting up and maintaining such Homes, as they have a phenomenal track record in this regard. We support a number of needy causes in our division in Durban, and will therefore RW Bro Basil de Kock look at combining our efforts to support our own brethren and Masonic widows more, as the Southern PGM Division has done for many years.

Eastern Division

I RW Bro Godfrey Place PGM Northern Division

t gives me great pleasure to write a message of support for the “enhanced” Spring Ball 2020. As much as Covid-19 has impacted our lives in a negative manner, there have been certain advancements. No-one would ever have had the foresight to believe that much of what and how we act today is by virtual platforms.

It has forced us to think outside the box. This is very relevant in that to save the longstanding tradition of the Spring Ball, it had to be reimagined. In the past the Spring Ball was limited to essentially the Freemasons in the Southern Division, supported by a few visitors who attended its Annual General Meeting. Now with your foresight and embracing technology, the event is open to all Freemasons in the country as well as hopefully numerous international Brethren. By such vision, we hope that the fundraising efforts will be so successful as to secure the funds required to continue with the Southern Division’s projects, but with the much larger support we hope to be able to kick start other initiatives on a country-wide basis. By so doing, we are all able to contribute to the core of our order, which is founded on the principles of Brotherly Love, Truth and Morality. We as the Northern Division are proud to be associated with this event and look forward to making a meaningful contribution to the evening.

T

his year has had a devastating affect not only on the world and the Nation of South Africa but also on the GLSA and its many Lodges. Fraternal love and discussion are at the very heart of Freemasonry, and this fundamental aspect of our Order has been sadly missing during the Covid pandemic, for reasons that are both necessary and sensible in these difficult times. Nevertheless, we must continue to function during these stressful moments. The Masonic Homes for Seniors and Quadriplegics is very dependent on the Spring Ball for its financial wellbeing and survival. It is the lifeblood of the project and the need for funds this year is greater than ever. Freemasons themselves have had difficult times and many have endured hardship this year, but it RW Bro KJ Hutton is essential we support the Masonic homes in whatever way we can to ensure not only their survival, but that PGM they continue and grow well into the future. I therefore urge every Brother, Lodge and Provincial Division to Eastern Cape Divison do their utmost to support the Provincial Grand Lodge Southern Division as they endeavour to raise the funds to ensure the Masonic Homes flourish. It is essential that we Labour together in accordance with Masonic precepts for the benefit of all mankind.

A RW Bro Frans Appelgryn PGM Central Divison

l lei ek die Sentrale Afdeling “Vrystaat”, is ek met trots deel van die ander vier Afdelings. Saam as ’n span kan ons soveel meer vermag, want in getalle is daar mag. Ek wens u alle sterkte toe, en ons vetrou dat dié Spring Ball (al is dit in ’n ander formaat en nie die normale “fancy dressing”, geselligheid en flair soos normaal nie), ’n absolute sukses sal wees en indien sal met dié inisiatief dit u wildste drome oortref en dat u bo verwagting meer sal “in” met u fonds insameling, sodat dit kan aangewend word vir u projekte.

E

ven though I lead the Central Division “Free State”, I am proudly part of the other four Divisions. Together as a team we can do so much more, because in numbers there is power. I wish you all the best, and trust that this Spring Ball (although it will be in a different format and not the normal “fancy” dressing, sociability and flair), will be an absolute success and that with this initiative it will surpass your wildest dreams and that you will get more “in” with your fundraising so that it can be utilised for your projects.

–9–

M

ême si je dirige la division centrale «État Libre», je fais fièrement partie des quatre autres Divisions. Ensemble, nous pouvons faire beaucoup plus, car en nombre, il y a du pouvoir. Je vous souhaite tout le meilleur, et nous espérons que ce Spring Ball (bien qu’il soit dans un format différent et pas dans l’habillage «chic» normal, la sociabilité et le flair comme d’habitude) ce sera un succès absolu et si avec cette initiative elle surpassera vos rêves les plus fous et que vous en attendriez plus avec votre collecte de fonds afin qu’elle puisse être utilisée pour vos projets.

Sincere Best Wishes for yet another highly successful Masonic Spring Ball from the First Grand Principal, MEC Johan Britz, & the Officers of Supreme Grand Chapter

Congratulations on the 46th Masonic Spring Ball.

May your support of the needy continue to prosper and grow for many years to come.

Fraternal Greetings from MEC Martin Kotze and the Companions of Provincial Grand Chapter Northern Division

The New Grand Master At a Grand Lodge Conclave held on 9 May 2020, RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA, was elected as the next Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Africa.

By MW Bro Geoff Edwards OSM, Past Grand Master

R

W Bro John Smith OSM MSA was born in Graaff Reinet on 14 November 1955. His parents farmed in the Murraysburg district and John’s formative years were shaped in this almost idyllic environment. He attended the Union High School in Graff Reinet, where he played rugby, cricket, tennis and squash and participated in the debating and drama societies. He was elected as the Head Prefect in Grade 12 and matriculated with a University exemption in 1973.

He was then conscripted in the SADF for two years, where he attended the Infantry School and attained the rank of Second Lieutenant. John, as most of you are well aware, has a legal background. After completing his military service, he read for a B Juris law degree at Port Elizabeth University, where he served on the SRC and then read for a LLB law degree at Rhodes University. From 1981 to 1984 John was employed as a Public Prosecutor and a Legal Adviser. He was then called to the Cape Town Bar and practised as an Advocate from 1985 to 1995.

With the advent of the first democratic elections he decided to complete his Articles and he was admitted as an Attorney in 1996. He has practised at the Side Bar since then and he has owned and operated a highly respected Attorney’s firm since 2002. He was appointed by the Department of Justice as a parttime Commissioner of the Small Claims Court in 2000. The next year he was appointed as a part-time Military Judge (Citizen Force Reserve) by the Department of Defence with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In addition to his Attorney’s practice, he still regularly presides in both these Courts.

As far as Freemasonry is concerned, both John’s father and brother were committed members of Lodge de Vereeniging in Graaff-Reinet and it was natural for John to join them at a young age. He was initiated in 1976, passed in 1977 and raised in 1978.

He subsequently relocated to Cape Town where he joined Lodge de Goede Hoop in 1984 and served as its Presiding Master in 1990 and again in 2006.

John joined the Royal Arch Chapter de Goede Kaap in 1985 and was elected as the MEZ in 1991 and again in 2012. He was a member of the AASR Chapter l’Esperance between 1986 and 1992. He was invited to join the Royal Alfred Sovereign Grand Chapter Rose Croix (SC) in 2014 and the Royal Order of Scotland (SC) in 2016. He has been awarded Honorary membership of Lodge St Jan, Lodge Isandlwana, Lodge Westerford, the British Lodge (EC) and Lodge Southern Cross (SC).

John is, first and foremost, a leader and a contributor. His work on the Grand Lodge’s Ritual and Constitution Committees

RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA, with his wife Edelweiss and their daughter Andrae.

is legendary and he has made a real difference in both. It was inevitable therefore that once he really got started, he would progress rapidly through the ranks. He was appointed as the Provincial Grand Master (Southern Division) in 2008, a position which he filled with distinction. He was promoted to an Assistant Grand Master in 2012 and appointed as the Deputy Grand Master in 2017. In May 2020 he was elected to the position of Grand Master. Throughout his Masonic journey he has performed to an exceptional standard and the Order of Service to Freemasonry (OSM) was awarded to him in 2015.

Nobody has any doubt that John will be an exceptional Grand Master and his tenure is much looked forward to.

He has achieved similar success in the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of South Africa. He was appointed to the rank of Deputy First Grand Principal in 2015 and the First Grand Principal presented the Meritorious Service Award to Royal Arch Freemasonry (MSA) to him in 2018 for his exceptional contribution to this Supreme Grand Chapter.

As far as his home life is concerned, John is happily married to Edelweiss, an artist with her own studio at the V&A waterfront.

Edelweiss is very supportive of John’s Masonic activities and is a regular at our various functions. His eldest daughter, Teneille, was a teacher at Jan van Riebeeck High School and, in what must be the lowest point of John’s life, passed away unexpectedly in 2009 after suffering a stroke. His younger daughter, Andrae, is still very close to her parents and owns her own digital nomad company. The final and a very important part of the Smith family is Forest, their Border Collie who idolises John and gives him the sort of uncomplicated support and pleasure that only a “man’s best friend” can ever really provide.

Right now, of course, the objective is to get our new Grand Master installed amidst all the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s frustrating, but I know that I am talking on behalf of everyone when I assure you that it will be well worth waiting for.

– 11 –

Celebrating

250 Years

of Freemasonry

As Freemasons will be celebrating 250 years of the existence of the Craft in South Africa during 2022, this is an abridged version of the first 100 years thereof. Not only is space in this magazine limited, but a full account would comprise several hundred pages. An abridged account of the next 100 years will be published in this magazine in 2021, with the remaining period published in 2022.

By RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA

T

o appreciate the significance of the continued existence Freemasonry in South Africa since its establishment here in 1772, it is necessary to appreciate the roles which the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, Scotland, France and the Netherlands had therein.

The first Masonic meeting in Holland took place at The Hague in 1729 but it was only in 1735 that the first Lodge in Holland obtained a Warrant from the Grand Lodge of England (GLE).

Several further Lodges were established during the next 20 years under Warrants obtained from the GLE and it was only in 1756 that the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands (GLN) was formed with 10 Lodges under its jurisdiction.

In 1770 the GLE and the now National Grand Lodge of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (NGLN) concluded an agreement, called “The Convention”, in terms of which these two Grand Lodges agreed not to constitute any new Lodges within their respective areas of jurisdiction. As a result of the activities of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the NGLN had also established Lodges in Bengal, Ceylon and Paramaribo.

During 1771 Abraham van der Weijde, a senior Freemason in the NGLN and a captain of one of the VOC’s ships which sailed between Holland and the East, was vested with the authority from the NGLN to form a Lodge at the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived at the Cape on 24 April 1772 and called a meeting of all Freemasons living there.

On Saturday, 2 May 1772, ten Freemasons, being Pieter Soermans, Jacobus Alexander La Febre, Jan Coenraad Gie, Christoffel Brand, Petrus Johannes de Wit, Johannes Adrianus van Schoor, Barend Hendrik Reede van Oudtshoorn, Oloff Godlieb de Wet, Johannes Snyders and Abraham Chiron met in Kaapstad (Cape Town) under the chairmanship of Van der

Weijde and they decided to form a lodge, to be called Loge St. Jan de Goede Hoop (which name was later changed to Lodge De Goede Hoop).

Abraham Chiron had been a member of a lodge at Frankfurt on Main and had been a resident at the Cape since 1769. He was in the service of the VOC and was elected as the first Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop. The following Brethren were elected to the following offices: Jacobus La Febre as the Senior Warden, Pieter Soermans as the Junior Warden, Jan Gie as the Secretary and Christoffel Brand as the Treasurer.

There is no record of any formal consecration of the Lodge or the installation and investiture of the first Presiding Master and Officers and it appears that they immediately assumed office upon being elected. Van der Weijde duly issued a provisional Charter for Lodge de Goede Hoop, which was then registered as number 12 on the register of the NGLN. On 5 May 1772 these Brethren drafted a petition to the NGLN wherein it was recorded that the distinguishing colour of the Lodge would be dark green and that the seal of the lodge is Hope, which is represented by a maiden leaning on an anchor at the foot of a mountain on the summit of which the sun shines and whereto the figure endeavours to ascend with the legend Spes vincit omnia impedimenta, which means “Hope overcomes all obstacles”.

On 9 May 1772 the first meeting of the lodge was held in the Apprentice Degree and three candidates were proposed and balloted and Mr. Jan Stammer was initiated. He was thereafter duly employed by the Lodge at a weekly wage. The lodge was then closed and opened in the Third Degree and Brother Marthinus Bergh, a Fellow Craft, was raised to the degree of Master Mason.

– 12 –

On 21 May 1772 the lodge adopted a code of By-laws which provided, inter alia, that the lodge would not raise more than one Brother to the third degree at the same meeting. In July 1772 Barend Van Oudtshoorn was appointed as the lodge’s Sword Bearer as the sword of the Presiding Master was considered, not only to be a sign of his exalted office, but also as a sign of dignity. There is no record where these early meetings took place, but it was later agreed to lease a suitable building in which the Lodge could conduct its meetings.

Between 1772 and 1781 first and second degree meetings were held on the same day and the Presiding Master was elected and assumed office on St. John the Baptist’s day, being 24 June. It was a regular occurrence that visiting seafaring Brethren were passed to the Fellow Craft degree and/or raised to the degree of Master Mason and more than 400 degrees were conferred by the Lodge during this period. Notwithstanding this, the Lodge went into recess in 1784 due mainly to the lack of permanent members at the Cape.

On 24 June 1794 the Lodge was reopened by 11 Brethren who were permanently resident at the Cape, seven of whom were previously members of the Lodge. Brother Francois Duminy, who had been initiated in France in 1778 and who held several Masonic degrees which he had obtained in lodges in Europe,

was elected as the Presiding Master. Johannes Truter, later Sir John Truter, was one of the first members to be initiated in Lodge De Goede Hoop in 1794.

The previous By-laws were amended to limit the active members to 24 as it was deemed undesirable for any permanent member to reside outside Table Bay or to have an uncertain occupation. A period of three months was further prescribed before an Apprentice could be passed to the degree of Fellow Craft and 12 months before a Fellow Craft could be raised to the degree of Master Mason. The Lodge’s social life was not neglected and “Society Rooms” were constructed next to the lodge building where members and their families played billiards, skittles and miniature golf.

As a result of a war in Europe, the Cape came under British rule in 1795. The Lodge duly invited the English Freemasons who were stationed at the Cape to become honourary members.

Several British soldiers and sailors were thereafter accepted as members and were initiated, passed and raised. By 1796 the Lodge was meeting every Monday evening. In 1797 Brother Louis Thibault proposed Thomas (Anton) Anreith as a member and he was duly initiated. As Lodge De Goede Hoop had become well known, it started receiving petitions from visiting “military lodges” to form permanent lodges at the Cape. In 1798

– 13 –

In 1863 Sir Christoffel Brand sought permission to form a Provincial Grand Lodge. This was granted and he duly constituted it in the De Goede Hoop temple under the name: The Provincial Grand Lodge of Southern Africa.

an English military lodge called Lodge Africa No. 1 was formed in Cape Town with the support of Lodge De Goede Hoop, but subject to certain restrictions.

On 8 November 1800 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a daughter lodge as it then had ninety five members. Seventeen members of Lodge De Goede Hoop became members of this lodge, which was initially named Loge St. Jan de Goede Trouw and was registered as number 26 on the roll of the NGLN. This lodge’s name was later changed to Lodge De Goede Trouw and it has operated uninterrupted as a Masonic lodge in Cape Town since such date.

By 1800 Lodge de Goede Hoop was financially able to purchase its present property, which was called the garden Domburg. Brother Louis Thibault, an accomplished French architect who had arrived at the Cape in 1794, was commissioned to draw the plans for a new lodge building. The dimensions of the main Temple are identical to those of the Sanctum Sanctorum of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem as set out in the book of Kings in the Volume of the Sacred Law. Brother Herman Schutte, an emigrant from Bremen in Germany and also a member of the Lodge, was employed to build the Temple while Brother Anton Anreith, the renowned sculptor, was commissioned to sculpt certain statues, three of which still exist today. It is recorded that the foundation stone of the Temple was laid in 1801 in the presence of the Governor and several prominent members of Society as well as the Presiding Masters, Wardens and members of the Lodges.

In 1802 the Cape Colony was ceded to the Batavian Republic as a result of a peace treaty signed between Britain and France.

Brother Jacob Abraham De Mist, a Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN and a Commissioner General of the Batavian Republic was sent to the Cape to establish a government and on 7 July 1803 he consecrated the newly constructed De Goede Hoop temple. He further presented an endorsed Charter to the lodge confirming its formation date on 2 May 1772.

During 1804 Brother De Mist, upon his departure from the Cape, appointed Brother Johannes Truter as the Deputy Grand Master National of the NGLN, a position he occupied until his death in 1845. In 1806 the Cape reverted to British rule and during 1811 certain English speaking members of Lodge De Goede Hoop petitioned the Grand Lodge of England to establish an English speaking lodge in Cape Town.

The British Lodge was consecrated in the De Goede Hoop temple by Right Worshipful Brother Johannes Truter, who also installed the first Presiding Master with the assistance and support of the members of Lodge De Goede Hoop and Lodge De Goede Trouw. During 1812 Lodge De Goede Hoop gave a certain portion of its property to the City Council to extend Plein Street, on condition that it bore the name St. John’s Street in honour of the Patron Saint of Freemasonry. This street, which is approximately 200 meters in length, still exists today.

Right Worshipful Brother Johannes Truter was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Cape Colony in 1815 and opened the lodge’s Society Rooms (now called a Refectory) in 1816. In 1818 the British Lodge sponsored the founding of a further English military lodge, called the Union Lodge.

In 1820 Right Worshipful Brother Truter was knighted for his outstanding work as the Chief Justice and became known as Sir John Truter, being the first South African born person to be honoured by a British monarch in this manner. In 1821 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a second daughter lodge under the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) to accommodate its English speaking members. It was called the Good Hope Lodge and it was agreed that it would work according to the By-laws of Lodge De Goede Hoop and the Constitution of the UGLE. Its name was later changed to the Hope Lodge and it was agreed that if there was a conflict between the two statutes, the Lodges were expected to resolve it themselves.

In 1823 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a property committee with the sole task of managing its property, which committee still exists today. In 1824 Lodge De Goede Hoop established a third daughter lodge under the Grand Lodge of France to accommodate its French speaking members. It was called Lodge L’Esperance. In 1827 the permanent lodges in Cape Town, being Lodge De Goede Hoop (Netherlandic), Lodge De Goede Trouw (Netherlandic), the British Lodge (English), the Hope Lodge (Netherlandic / English) and Lodge L’Esperance (Netherlandic / French) as well as certain military lodges like the Union Lodge (English), were invited to participate in laying the foundation stone of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Somerset Road, Green Point which still exists.

In 1828 Sir John Truter was requested by the UGLE to establish a Provincial Grand Lodge for the English Constitution and he was duly appointed as the Provincial Grand Master. He was installed as such in the De Goede Hoop temple after the Brethren had attended a service in the Dutch Reformed Church in Adderley Street and had marched in procession and in full regalia to the lodge. He has been the only Freemason in South Africa who was the ruler of two Constitutions at the same time.

Brother Neethling, the Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop, was appointed as the Deputy Provincial Grand Master and Brother Burton, the Presiding Master of the Hope Lodge, was appointed as the Provincial Grand Secretary. In 1828 the

– 15 –

The House of Assembly of the Cape Parliament met for the first time in 1854 in the hall of Lodge De Goede Hoop, and Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand was elected as its first Speaker.

English Freemasons in Grahamstown petitioned the UGLE to form a lodge there and the first permanent lodge under the UGLE outside Cape Town, being the Albany Lodge was established there.

In 1830 the Lodge De Goede Hoop was invited to participate in laying the foundation stone of St. George’s Cathedral in Adderley Street, which about 400 Freemasons attended.

In 1834 Sir John Truter received a petition from Freemasons living in and around Graaff-Reinet to form a lodge and the third lodge under the NGLN was established in Graaff-Reinet, namely Lodge De Vereeniging. In 1835 Sir John Truter resigned as the Provincial Grand Master of the English Constitution due to ill health and Brother Burton was appointed in his stead.

In 1837 Brother Christoffel Josephus Brand, a grandson of one of the founder members of Lodge De Goede Hoop, namely Christoffel Brand, was elected as the Presiding Master of the lodge. In 1844 Andries Stockenström (later Sir Andries Stockenström) was initiated in Lodge De Goede Hoop and Brother Herman Schutte, the builder of the De Goede Hoop temple and other prominent buildings in Cape Town, died.

Sir John Truter, the first member of Lodge De Goede Hoop to complete 50 uninterrupted years of service and who had held the position of Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN for 41 years, died in 1845. On Saturday, 26 June 1847 Lodge De Goede Hoop conducted a ceremony in the De Goede Hoop temple to commemorate its 75th anniversary and the first Masonic Yearbook of Freemasonry, ever published in the Cape Colony, was presented to the lodge. The yearbook was compiled by

Brother De Lima, a member of the lodge and it comprised 88 pages of articles of Masonic interest. The ceremony was attended by members of all the Lodges and was followed by a lavish dinner in the society rooms.

In October 1847 Brother Christoffel Brand was appointed as the Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN. The original plan of the lodge only allowed the Presiding Master to sit in the alcove in the East.

In December 1847 the lodge decided to install a permanent chair in the alcove on the left of the Presiding Master which would be reserved for the Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN. According to the minutes of Lodge De Goede Hoop, the Presiding Master, Brother Overbeek, installed Right Worshipful Christoffel Brand in his new position as the Deputy Grand Master. At this time there was a bowling green and a miniature golf course in the area in front of the lodge, which is now a parking area.

In 1851 the Rose Croix Chapter de Goede Hoop was formed under the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Netherlands. This Chapter still exists today, but now under the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of South Africa.

On 30 June 1854 the House of Assembly of the Cape Parliament met for the first time in the hall of Lodge De Goede Hoop and Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand was elected as its first Speaker. This hall later became the permanent venue of the House of Assembly of the Cape Parliament for the next 40 years. In 1856 Lodge De Goede Hoop held a special

– 17 –

ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands, which a large number of Freemasons attended. In 1858 Brother Johannes Hendricus Brand, the son of Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand and who became the President of the Orange Free State Republic in 1864, was installed by his father as the Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop. In 1858 the first lodge in Natal was formed, being the Port Natal Lodge under the UGLE in Durban.

In 1860 Right Worshipful Brother Christoffel Brand was knighted by Queen Victoria for his outstanding contribution as a politician and as the Speaker of the House of Assembly. In the same year certain members of Lodge De Goede Hoop petitioned the Grand Lodge of Scotland to grant a warrant for the formation of the first permanent Scottish lodge in Cape Town. This petition was granted and Lodge Southern Cross was consecrated in the De Goede Hoop temple by Sir Christoffel Brand, who also installed its first Presiding Master. Lodge Southern Cross has been a tenant in the De Goede Hoop temple since 1885. In 1861 the British Lodge in Cape Town celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

In 1863 Sir Christoffel Brand sought permission to form a Provincial Grand Lodge, which was granted and he duly constituted it in the De Goede Hoop temple under the name: The Provincial Grand Lodge of Southern Africa. He appointed and installed Brother Oloff Truter, a son of the late Sir John Truter, as the first Provincial Grand Master. In 1864 the first lodge in the Orange Free State was formed, being the Rising Star Lodge under the UGLE in Bloemfontein.

In the same year Sir Christoffel Brand consecrated Lodge Unie under the NGLN in Bloemfontein at the request of President Johannes Brand, his son. In 1865 Lodge Excelsior was consecrated in Willowmore. It is recorded that between July 1865 and March 1866 Lodge de Goede Hoop held 50 meetings. In 1866 the title of the English Constitution’s Provincial Grand Master was changed

to District Grand Master to distinguish the areas of Masonic jurisdiction abroad from those in England.

In 1866 the first lodge north of the Vaal River was formed, being Lodge Flaming Star under the NGLN in Potchefstroom.

In the same year Lodge St. Jan was formed in Malmesbury and Lodge Oranje was formed in Paarl under the NGLN. In 1868 the first lodge in Pretoria was formed, being Lodge Aurora under the NGLN. In 1868 the by-laws of Lodge De Goede Hoop were translated into English and in 1870 the members resolved that the minutes and the transactions should, in the future, be recorded in English as most of the members could not understand Dutch.

In 1871 Brother Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was elected and installed as the Presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop. Between 1772 and 1872 approximately 40 permanent lodges were formed in South Africa under the different Constitutions, mostly under the UGLE. Some lodges, unfortunately, did not exist for any significant period and their names have been erased, while others have been in existence for in excess of 150 years. In 1872 Lodge De Goede Hoop hosted a special ceremony in the De Goede Hoop temple to commemorate its 100th anniversary, which more than 200 members from all the lodges in Cape Town attended. In an address by the lodge’s Orator, Brother David Faure, a dominee in the Dutch Reformed Church, a journalist, a Supreme Court interpreter and later a Deputy Grand Master of the NGLN, the following sentiments were expressed, namely: • that Freemasons must become more active in the broader community; • that Freemasonry must make itself felt in society; • that Freemasonry must exert more influence on the profane world; • that Freemasons must promote the aims and tenets of Freemasonry in their communities.

Masonic Homes

For Seniors & Quadriplegics

The Masonic Spring Ball is the primary fundraiser for the Masonic Homes.

Here’s a closer look at the properties you’re supporting – and the lives you’re helping to change.

I

n 1974, RW Bro Andy van Niekerk OSM was appointed as Provincial Grand Master, Southern Division. In his installation address, he announced his vision to provide homes for seniors in need. Now, some four decades later and thanks to years of tireless hard work by dozens of Freemasons like RW Bro Geoff Burchell OSM, that vision is a reality.

Today, we own a block of flats for retired couples, three communal houses for retired single people and a communal home for quadriplegics. These properties are managed by Masonic Homes NPC, with the annual Masonic Spring Ball serving as the primary fund-raising event.

The Masonic Home for Quadriplegics

Desmain Lodge Our flagship property, this block of 13 flats in Plumstead, has become a Main Road landmark. The project is managed by MW Bro Geoff Edwards OSM, who is ably assisted by Joan Halls.

Geoffrey Burchell House

This specially equipped home caters for seven quadriplegics and two staff. GLSA Southern Division is fully responsible for the house itself, while the Quadriplegic Association (QASA), under direction of Wor Bro Danny Retief, takes care of managing the project.

This property in Bergvliet was our first Masonic Abbeyfield Home, and it set the standard for our future efforts. This Home is under the management of Wor Bro Mike Burchell and caters for the needs of eight residents.

Ted’s House

Andy van Niekerk House

Our second Masonic Abbeyfield Home, located in Rondebosch East, is managed by Lodge Hiram under the chairmanship of RW Bro Ronnie Smith. It houses seven residents.

Our newest venture opened in March 2010. Located in Bothasig, this property is our first Home for Seniors in the northern suburbs. It is managed by Wor Bro Jan Venter and caters for eight senior citizens.

2019 Pledges Our sincere thanks to the many individuals who contributed to the success of last year’s Masonic Spring Ball, and who continue to support the Masonic Homes. In addition to the magazine advertisements, “bricks” and charity auction purchases, the following generous donations were made in the form of pledges at last year’s event.

2020/10/1317:18

Donor

SPRING BALL PLEDGES + AUCTION - 2018

Peter Duckworth Lodge de Goede Trouw Marius Botha Lodge de Goede Hoop Bridget Benadie Lodge Simon van der Stel Lodge Cape Town English Constitution PGL Northern Division Dennis & Daphne Benadie Lodge Mutual Camps Bay Lodge PGL Central Division Alf Brönner Keith Hutton & Gerry Bicknell Scottish Constitution Lodge de Goede Verwachting Brandon & Mari Topham Clinton Barendse Excelsior Lodge 368 IC Frans Appelgryn Gareth & Aimee Place Godfrey & Linda Place Haiko Ruperti-Campbell Jim & Margaret Duggan Lodge de Vereeniging Lodge Koh l Noor Lodge Royal Alfred Losie Jacob De Mist Scot Jordaan Bernard Neuhaus

R Value

50 000,00 20 000,00 20 000,00 12 000,00 10 000,00 7 000,00 6 000,00 5 000,00 5 000,00 3 000,00 2 475,00 2 100,00 2 000,00 1 500,00 1 500,00 1 500,00 1 700,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00 1 000,00

Donor

du Toit van den Bergh Claudia & Michael Burchell Cyril Engelke de Oliviera Do Tui Tuanh Tam & Leon Shears Kenneth Marcus Lodge Johan van Riebeeck Lodge Unity SC Michelle Correia Simon Nash Star of the West Steve Horwood The Petronios Darren Bergman (LdGH) Lesley Symons Sheldon Topham Auction: Raymond Yosimbom Auction: Neels van Schalkwyk Auction: Krisna Keyser Auction: Attie

TOTAL

R Value 990,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 500,00 200,00 200,00 150,00 4 500,00 2 100,00 3 000,00 5 000,00

186 915,00

A Masonic Life As one of the masterminds of the Masonic Homes, RW Bro Geoff Burchell had unique insights into the initiative. In this paper, which he wrote in 2004, he shared his memories of those early days, and of his life in the Craft.

I

took my Third Degree in 1956, having been in Masonry since 1954. I progressed through the various offices until I became Master in 1964, and then again in 1969 and 1974. All the service I was able to give gave me much pleasure and satisfaction.

I was given office in Provincial Grand Lodge in 1965 and during 1974 proposed that we have a Masonic Spring Ball.

This was not very favourably received by PGL, but with PGLs permission I went ahead. With the assistance of Brothers G. Gross and R. van der Merwe we had the first Ball at the Heerengracht Hotel. The result was a small profit of R1000. We then carried on the Spring Ball for the next 13 years. The result was that we raised some R180 000. We then gave up running the Ball and handed it over to MW Bro Okkie Louw. What to do with these funds was not apparent to the officers of PGL, and despite our intention of making a home for our Seniors, nothing was done. So I went to MW Bro Louw and it was agreed that I must look around and see what was available.

Having searched the Peninsula for a suitable building, I narrowed it down to five possible places and then MW Bro Louw, Andy Van Niekerk and Norman Sandler went to see them. As a result we purchased Desmain Lodge for R360 000, taking a bond of R180 000. This consisted of 12 two-bedroomed flats and one single-bedroomed flat. During the next few years we built five garages on the site, paved the yard area, and redecorated the whole building. We have had up to six Masonic folks in residence, there and they have all received special reduced rentals in consideration of their income.

When MW Bro Graham Karstens became PG Master, he suggested that we needed another project to keep the Brethren interested. So again I went round, and as a result of discussions with the Abbeyfield Homes it was decided we would try and find a house suitable for such a home. This type of home is where the tenants have a bedroom of their own which they furnish, and they do their own cooking. The home must have the facilities for a good kitchen, dining room and lounge, and bathrooms sufficient for the tenants. They pay a nominal rent, which goes towards the running costs.

Eventually we found a house in Bergvliet, which was rundown but could be suitable. It was decided to buy it for the sum of R350 000, also because it had a large piece of ground at the back where we thought we could build some small houses for Seniors at a later stage.

My friend Bro Dave Lithgow again drew up the necessary plans so that we could go ahead with the alterations. A lot of work was required to alter the house to make it suitable for eight people to stay there. However, I was able to carry out the work as I had semi-retired then, and with the help of some of my old employees and Bros Graham and Alf Rhoodie it was completed and opened in June 1995. It has been fully occupied since then.

The House Committee under the chairmanship of Wor Bro Nick Leary has managed the affairs of the home very well during this period. I have served on this committee since its inception. We formed the Masonic Abbeyfield Society of South Africa and have continued our membership since then.

During 1978 I had a phone call from a Mr Horst, who was a friend of one of my own Lodge St James members, Wor Bro T. Surgeoner, who had died and left his house and effects to him. The proviso was that he would try and get the house to be used by elderly folk. He had tried to get hold of the English Grand Lodge, but they were not interested. However I went to see him immediately, and as a result I went back to PGL and it was agreed that we would take the house over and make the necessary alterations for another Abbeyfield Home.

The home was transferred to PGL free of charge, but we had to pay for the alterations. Again my friend Bro D. Lithgow drew up the plans and work commenced. However I became ill and had to have a bypass operation, so the work was finished by my two sons, who are also Masons.

It has been fully occupied by some six seniors and the House committee under the Chairmanship of Wor Bro Jackie Wentzel has carried on the affairs of home very well. A lot of additional work has also been done to improve the facilities for the residents.

– 22 –

During 1972 to 1977 with the help of MW Bro Graham Karstens we managed to get the ground at the back of the Bergvliet home divided up into nine plots and get the Council’s approval.

The whole process took almost five years, but in the end we succeeded. A lot of help was given by Wor Bro Brian Rossouw, who drew up the plans for the plots and houses. I obtained prices for building the homes, which came to R1.2 million. Nothing, however, was done as I was taken ill. When I had more or less recovered I again obtained prices, but the escalation had set in and the prices were then in the R2 million bracket, which made the proposed houses too expensive.

Brian Rossouw then suggested that we sell the plots, and after a great deal of work the plots were sold for over R800 000. It took time to get the deal settled, but eventually we had the funds and were able to pay off the two bonds we still had on the homes. It also left us with an amount over of some R450 000. This is now being used to buy a home for the Quadriplegics in Durbanville.

During all this time I served on the PGL Committee for over 30 years and was raised to the office of PG Orator. Also I received Grand Lodge Offices up to the rank of Grand Lodge Orator.

I joined the Supreme Council in 1965 and gradually moved

through the ranks until I was given my 33rd Degree. I was requested by MW Bro Phillip van der Spuy, MW Bro Charles Moore and MW Ben Klopper to help them form a Supreme Grand Council of South Africa, as we were still working under the Netherlands Grand Council. This was eventually accomplished.

The then Supreme Grand Commander of the Netherlands came out to South Africa to inaugurate the first Grand Council. I was made the SGIG for the Western Cape – an office which I held for 10 years until I was 75 years of age and then I had to retire.

From the time we bought our first home I helped see that all the minor repairs and renovations were attended to on all the homes and to the complaints as they occurred.

I faithfully attended my Lodge and my PGL work during all my years in office. I have grown spiritually and morally in my life through my belonging to Freemasonry, for which I am very grateful. I am pleased that I was able to do so much in bringing about the Homes for our Seniors.

Helping to Build Masonic Homes

Brick By Brick!

Lodge Cape Town

Russel & Lana Benadie

Malcolm Gessler

Beste Wense!

Louise du Preez

Best Wishes!

Best Wishes!

Have a Ball!

Geoff & Val Edwards

Andrae Smith Digital Nomad

Alles van die Beste!

Koos du Preez Best Wishes

Paul West

All the Best!

John & Lisa van Dyk Enjoy the Evening!

Eugenne & Chantelle Waynne

Samantha van Dyk Best Wishes

Stephen Smith Fine & Country Estate

Small Business Labour Services

John Smith

Acting Grand Master

Let’s Support The Homes!

Dennis & Daphne Benadie

Best wishes from Robert & Elisma Benadie

All the Best!

Edelweiss Smith Artist of Light

Nick & Mandy Jordaan

SOUTHERN OIL Swellendam

Best Wishes Grant Gerstener www.grandlodge.co.za

A Masonic Year

To Remember!

Chrissie & Alf Brรถnner, Val & Geoff Edwards, Louise & Dave Duncan, Avron Jacobson and Megan Lentz, and Edelweiss & John Smith let their hair down at the 2019 Spring Ball.

Grand Master MW Bro Dave Duncan OSM was joined by Grand Lodge and PGL Officers and representatives of the Sister Constitutions at the Southern Division AGM in September 2019 (above). At the event, Wor Bro Ross McIver, Past Master of Lodge De Goede Trouw and a popular PGL Warden, received his 50-year Jewel (right), while RW Bro Avron Jacobson of Lodge De Goede Verwachting received the Best Lodge Secretary award from PGL Secretary Wor Bro Llew Lloyd-Jones (far right).

John & Edelweiss Smith enjoy a quiet moment at the 2019 Spring Ball... while guests make some noise on the dancefloor (below)!

In September 2019 Wor Bro Jock Wood, Chairman of the Southern Inter-Constitution Education Committee, handed Bro Marco Petronio his life membership certificate and jewel (right); while Wor Bro Raymond Eyiomen and the Brethren of Lodge Marina saw a significant turn-out at their Installation; and Brethren of Lodge Simon van der Stel – Sean Stuart, Gary Hendricks, Louis Krige & Tebogo Mabunda – collected a tidy R15 000 cheque for winning the Potjie Competition at Durbanville Racecourse!

In October 2019 Bro Al’Oret Pukuta of Lodge Westerford (left) shared first place with MW Bro Geoff Edwards OSM at the annual Lodge Unity (Scottish) Ritual Excellence competition; while Wor Bro Hein van Rensburg was installed as the new Worshipful Master of Lodge Jacob de Mist (right).

At Lodge De Goede Hoop’s annual Christmas Working in December 2019, PGM and Convenor of the Spring Ball Committee RW Bro Tommy Hardiman advised Masonic Homes Chairman RW Bro Brian Rossouw OSM that the 2019 Spring Ball had raised R200 000 for the Homes (left); while residents of Desmain Lodge enjoyed their own traditional Christmas lunch later that month (centre). In February 2020, Bro Gary Hendricks of Lodge Simon van der Stel (right) provided lunch to the poor in Observatory as part of his own charity initiative.

In February 220, Wor Bro Dennis Benadie joined Wor Bro Marvin Mosie, RW Bro John Smith OSM MSA, newly installed Worshipful Master Mahmoud Patel, RW Bro Tommy Hardiman and Wor Bro Jan Venter at the Lodge Perseverance Installation.

In February 2020, RW Bro Avron Jacobson joined the GrandView team at the international GrandView Users Conference (left top); while just prior to Lockdown, Lodge Simon van der Stel raised Bro Tebogo Mabunda to Master Mason (left). Then the Coronavirus struck. In April 2020, Bros Michael Kern and Neels Nieuwenhuis of Lodge Marina managed to get hold of some desperately-needed bottles of hand sanitiser (centre); while in August Wor Bro Cobis Wilson handed over knitted baby beanies and jerseys to Badisa’s Hannie Visser in Piketberg, on behalf of RW Bro Morris Rozen and the Brethren of Lodge De Goede Verwachting (right).

And finally... If ever a picture summed up the year 2020, it’s this.

Freemasons got used to seeing each other online during the Covid-19 Lockdown. This screenshot is from the Grand Lodge AGM.

Instruction Manuals Are we referring often enough to the Instruction Manuals in Life and in Freemasonry? We can only go forward if we use them properly.

By RW Bro Cor van Zyl

E

verybody loves LEGO blocks. We are men and, as in Life, we don’t buy the small kits, we want the big ones. So, we go and buy the biggest LEGO truck we can find. We tear open the box and many bags of blocks fall out of the box. We then tear open the bags and end up with a huge heap of building blocks and we toss the box with the paperwork aside. To man, creating and building is part of our nature and DNA, or so we think, so we start building.

Every now and then we take a quick glimpse at the picture on the box and then continue building. Almost as everything starts to shape up nicely, we get stuck. We look at the box, then look at the project, look at the box and the project side by side...

Hmmm...

Domething is wrong. Only then do we decide to open the “Instruction Manual”, paging past the Safety Hazard pages, going back and forth until we get to the problem area. Often, we have to break down a part before we can start building correctly towards this master’s piece. No pain, no gain.

This is so similar in Life and Masonry. We start our Life and Careers so quickly and the, all too often, we get stuck. In Life the Instruction Manual is the VSL. When we return to the VSL we find answers and, unfortunately, sometimes we have to break down a part before we can start building correctly towards the masterpiece again.

The same principle applies to Freemasonry. The Instruction Manuals are the Rituals and Constitution. We cannot just periodically glimpse at the picture. If we are to progress we have to follow the Instructions until they become a habit.

– 29 –

A Master Criminal and A Mason If your friend is interested in Freemasonry and asks you to propose him to a Lodge, be careful before you decide. If you refuse, you may find yourself portrayed as an arch-criminal; in fact, the world’s most evil character.

By Dr Alan A Cooper

T

his happened to a Freemason called Moriarty, by reports, a wild Irishman interested in the occult, but no criminal.

He was turned into that master-criminal who in fact was supposed to have killed off the world’s master detective, Sherlock Holmes of 221B Baker Street, London.

The creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan-Doyle, is said to have been interested in joining Freemasonry and also an occult group called the Golden Dawn, to which Moriarty belonged. Moriarty refused to sponsor him. Perhaps Conan Doyle chose the name of his friend not merely out of pique, but to identify the arch-criminal who was to kill Sherlock Holmes in his novels about Holmes and his faithful ally, Dr Watson.

Conan-Doyle had been trapped, as it were, by his own creation in his many popular stories, written for the Strand Magazine of the early 1900s, and felt he should go on to new creativeness. So Moriarty was born. And what a criminal!

But the real Moriarty lived until 1923. Born Theodore William Carte Moriarty in Ireland in 1872, he ran away to sea as a boy and eventually arrived in South Africa to join the civil service as a customs officer. In that occupation, he joined St Blaize Lodge, Mossel Bay No. 1938, and was initiated on 28 July 1903, passed on 25 August 1903 and raised on 29 September 1903. He resigned from the Lodge on 31 December 1907 for what cause is not known. He must have moved to Port Elizabeth before then for he was the founder Master of the Irish Lodge Patricia No. 406 in 1906.

Of some erudition, he collaborated with a leading English Mason, known to us in the Western Division as our District Grand Master for many years, T.N. Cranstoun-Day, in writing a small booklet on ‘Masonic Etiquette’. The booklet was published with permission from both English and Irish District and Provincial Grand Masters and privately printed by H.W. Ware of Port Elizabeth in 1908. A copy of the booklet exists in the South African Library, Cape Town. It gives hints on Masonic behaviour in and out of Lodge.

Patricia Lodge was the last Masonic Lodge with which Moriarty was connected. He moved to England about 1911.

It is not known whether he took back with him his wife whom he married in South Africa about 1905. It is said that Moriarty

claimed a doctorate from Heidelberg University, but never went there.

On his return to England, he began to dabble in the occult.

He fell into that area overlapped by Masonry, Theosophy and the Order of the Golden Dawn. He favoured what is known as Atlantean Christianity – mystical Christianity with overtones of Atlantean origin. He also claimed he was a Rosicrucian. He put these beliefs into profitable use by forming “the Science, Arts and Crafts Society”, a front for his mystical Christianity. His pupils – some 40 – had to buy and read his one and only work, “Aphorisms of Creation”, and believed presumably his claim he was in psychic touch with long-dead sages.

It would appear that the real and the fictional Moriarty were strange characters. Conan Doyle must have been very perceptive.

– 31 –

Sincere and Best Wishes

for a memorable Masonic Spring Ball Event From the Worshipful Master and Brethren of Lodge De Goede Hoop (No. 1 GLSA)

W

e are about to celebrate 250 years of the existence of Lodge De Goede Hoop, which was founded on 2 May 1772, and is steeped in history, with its existence having stood the test of time, since its inception. Its members reflect key figures in South African Freemasonry and in South African Society itself.

As a member and indeed the presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop, it is always with reverence that I read the names on the name boards in the historic temple, who laboured before me at Lodge De Goede Hoop and who gave the lodge its rich character making up the 250 year milestone that we have almost reached.

When 2020 arrived and ushered in Covid-19, a pandemic that has brought the world and Freemasonry activities to a virtual standstill, I wondered how and whether the lodge could survive and that in fact this must be an event that no other Master had faced to date in the 250 years.

As presiding Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop, prior to the Covid 19 pandemic, at a festive board, a member of the Scottish Constitution gave me a gift, being a book on the history of Lodge De Goede Hoop from 1772 until 1972, which was published in 1972, on the occasion of the bi-centenary of its Foundation in 1772.

Having had the Spanish flu of 1918 compared with the Covid-19 virus, I paged to the recorded minutes of the Lodge in 1918 to determine whether the then Master was facing similar obstacles. When I reached the minutes it was recorded that the lodge had lost members of the lodge in the First World War, particularly the battle of the Somme. In October of 1918 , 102 years to the month , the minutes of the lodge record: “The reception meeting in October had to be abandoned because of the epidemic which raged so furiously during that month and led to letters of condolence being written to fifteen Brethren.”

My earlier assumption had been incorrect. There was indeed a Master of Lodge De Goede Hoop, who as going through a pandemic and First World War and the lodge survived, standing testimony to the resilience and dedication of its members. With the arrival of Covid-19, we saw member’s resilience and dedication, by taking to holding meetings via Zoom and expanding contact throughout the world to other lodges overseas and our lodge members who live overseas.

Our members have risen to the challenge to the extent our lodge has had greater reach around the world than ever before. This dedication and commitment by our members has left me in no doubt that our lodge will continue for a further 250 years and beyond, and that no future acting Master should be concerned, as the members of Lodge De Goede Hoop will ensure its existence and prosperity into the future.

Wor Bro Malcolm Gessler Worshipful Master, Lodge De Goede Hoop

What Can We Tell Our Friends About Freemasonry?

Our Order has been called a secret society, and for that reason many of its members are of the opinion that nothing may be told concerning it without violating an obligation. Nothing could be further from the facts.

By RW Bro Morris Rozen

W

e have nothing to hide – rather the opposite!

Freemasonry is a Society with secrets, and these are very few indeed. We can tell our friends who are interested in Freemasonry some of the things for which it stands and some of its basic beliefs.

Every Mason must believe in God, the creator of the universe and the father of all mankind. This is not an expression of theology, but rather one of faith. Every Mason believes that the Volume of the Sacred Law is the great light in Freemasonry and is the rule and guide of his faith.

There are also certain basic beliefs concerning man himself which form a part of our Masonic beliefs. First, man is immortal.

This lesson forms one of the basic thoughts of our Masonic teachings. Man has the right of choice and the sum of his choices form his character. In the final essence, character determines destiny so far as the individual is concerned.

Man has two great duties: to love God and esteem Him, and to love his fellow man as himself. By example, Freemasonry teaches the use of prayer as the means of human communication with the Divine. Freemasonry believes in the exercise of brotherly love as a means of accomplishing the great objective of mankind, the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God. Freemasonry practises charity in its own ways through the operation, even here in South Africa, of our Masonic Homes. We care for some of our deserving members who approach old age, provide aid for our widows, and education for the orphans of its Brethren, as well as those parents who may not be able to afford the cost of educating their children.

Freemasonry is an institution devoted to teaching. It teaches man tolerance and courage, good citizenship, and develops character through the inculcation of its tenets of brotherly love, relief and truth. As its primary objective, Masonry seeks to build a better world by building better men to live in and govern it. In practising its tenets and inculcating morality and the acceptance of the responsibilities of citizenship, our Order is seeking to lay the foundation stones of a stronger and better world.

Freemasonry is not a religion, though it is religious in that it believes in and worships God. It also teaches that what man

believes about God is his own business. This is the basis of his choice of religious affiliation, which belongs to the individual.

Most active Freemasons are active in their own churches, synagogues, temples or mosques.

No Freemason of any consequence tries to hide his identity, nor does he sneak off in the dead of night to keep a rendezvous at some dark and lonely place. We have nothing to hide – rather the opposite! Our many buildings and temples carry the Masonic emblem. This must be obvious to the world at large that here is a place where Freemasons meet. No attempt is made to disguise these buildings or erect false signs.

We have much to give the world by putting into active practice the fundamental principles and ideals of our Craft. This is the main purpose of our Freemasonry and this is no secret. In this day and age we find ourselves living in a world torn by conflict.

A world torn apart by political, racial, and moral unrest. It is a noisy, unstable world full of problems, difficult situations where populations are split and torn apart because of their own political agendas. Tolerance is something that has never been displayed by most of these groups and sects. If only all the politicians in every country of this world were active and practising members of our Order, this planet of ours would surely be a far happier and safer place to live in.

– 33 –

Is Vrymesselary Steeds Van Toepassing?

Die slegste ding aangaande die basiese beginsels van Vrymesselary is dat hulle nie baie verander nie. En die goeie ding aangaande die basiese beginsels van Vrymesselary is dat hulle nie baie verander nie.

Deur Agb Br Freddie Diener, APGM, GLSA Noordelike Afdeling

D

ie basiese beginsels en doelwitte van Vrymesselary is vandag net so toepaslik soos dit vir ons voorouers was, en hierdie basiese beginsels en doelwitte is verseker net so nodig vandag soos wat hulle vir ons ouers was.

Om goeie mans beter mans te maak Vrymesselary was nooit bedoel om ‘n toevlugsoord vir gevalle mans te wees, wat hervorming nodig het nie. Dit red nie siele nie, genees nie alkolisme nie, hervorm nie afgedwaalde mans nie, of om geldverduisterende hoofde van maatskappy weer op die pad van eerlikheid te plaas nie. Die feit is dat die reëls en gebruike was spesifiek ontwerp, om sulke mans uit te hou.

Vrymesselary het nog altyd hoë standaarde vir hulle lede en kandidate gehad.

Betrokkenheid in gemeenskap Vrymesselary moedig hulle lede aan om meer betrokke te raak in hulle gemeenskap. Dit moedig Vrymesselaars aan om vrywillig dienste aan te bied, skenkings te maak, en om in hulle woonbuurte, kerke, en plaaslike regerings betrokke te raak.

Opsoek na die waarheid Losies is nie ‘n kerk en Losie vergaderings en rituale is nie bedoel om kerk bywoning te vervang nie. Vrymesselary moedig lede aan om meer pro-aktiewe rolle in hul geestelike gemeenskap te vul.

Opbou van selfvertroue Die losie verbind u met ‘n klein groepie mans van verskillende lewensvlakke en help u om hulle op ‘n persoonlik basis te leer ken. Die uitvoering van seremonies bied die lede selfvertroue en ondervinding, om in die openbaar te kan praat, en op dieselfde tyd word hulle aan tradisies blootgestel wat oor duisende jare strek.

Bevordering van broederliefde Die Vrymesselaars se seremonies is daar om manne van uiteenlopende agtergronde en van oral in die wereld bymekaar te bring deur die gedeelde ondervinding wat in die tempel plaasvind. Vrymesselary bring mans saam wat andersins miskien nooit mekaar sou ontmoet het nie en dit strek oor alle sosiale, ekonomiese, goddienstige en politieke verskille wat ondervind mag word.

Verskaf tydlose beginsels Die beginsels van Vrymesselary is eenvoudig. Om dit na die heel basiese vlak af te breek, bied Vrymesselary sy lede ‘n veilige plek waar hulle vir ‘n wyle kan wegkom van die konflik en stryd van die buite wereld, terwyl die onderwerpe, wat onmin tussen mense kan laat ontstaan, buite die Losie se deur gelaat word.

Vrymesselary het nog altyd gestreef om by die veranderende behoeftes van sy lede aan te pas, terwyl die karakter, norme en oorheersende filosofie van Vrymesselary behoue by.

Graag wil ek ook gesien word as iemand wat altyd omsien na die Engelse lede van ons Aloue Orde en haal dus ‘n gesegde van Nelson Mandela aan wat ek uiters toepaslik vind aangaande leierskap wat deur ons as Vrymesselars toegepas behoort te word: “Leadership is about giving people hope and giving them a vision.”

Three Candles Three candles burn in darkened room, Three candles lighting the Sacred Book The square and compasses, the level and the plum.

While round about the neophyte, The brethren stand and vow to keep Him company upon the journey East In quest of wisdom and a caring heart.

For the call is out for builders by the line and rule, To build on earth a house of light Adorned with love and human dignity.

– Walter Marshall MacDougall – 35 –

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The Masonic Experience Freemasonry is a journey we do not travel alone, but it is only the individual who can feel the change in himself.

By RW Bro Keith Hutton PGM, GLSA Eastern Cape Division

L

ooking back over my life I have realised that my early years in the Lodge gave me a sanctuary, an oasis of peace and tranquility from the busy and hectic life as a director of a large construction company.

The Lodge room is where one can put aside the strife of life and enter an atmosphere where all is quiet and orderly, where each officer has his prescribed duty and each Brother works together with perfect ease and confidence. In the Lodge our members meet and get to know one another and to share common hopes and ideals. It is this philosophy of life that Freemasonry has given me and others that has governed our attitudes and actions in life.

I was initiated into Lodge Fidelity, No. 34, and was particularly struck by the individual attention and friendship given to me on the night of my initiation. That impression has never left me. The early years are perhaps the most important for this is the time when the character of a Mason is formed.

My belief is that the time between progressing through the three Craft degrees is of great significance. This is when the principles and concepts of Freemasonry should be explained and developed by the candidate’s mentor. All too often candidates are rushed through the degrees by a Lodge in order to fulfil the perceived need to perform ceremonies. The majority of candidates cannot totally comprehend what the ritual or the ceremony means without some general explanation – and this requires time.

I am sure that we have all experienced new members leaving the Craft for differing reasons; primarily, I dare say, because they were neglected in the early stages. We need to engage and enthuse new Brethren and instil in them enthusiasm and the hunger for Masonic Knowledge. Once we get Freemasonry in the heart of a Brother it is there forever.

The principles of Freemasonry can be interpreted differently by each Mason although we all have to conform to Grand Lodge principles, but it is in the craft Lodge that the individual

is influenced most. Here we meet and embrace a common goal and find that as the years pass by, we have achieved a richness and fulfilment of life.

Freemasonry shapes character. I have this unshakeable belief that Freemasonry is good for the soul; it gives to all of its members, whatever their profession or talents, something that will make their lives more interesting and successful. It operates on each of us individually but to see Brethren develop in confidence and understanding is a joy to behold. A quality I have seen affect and change many Brethren in different measure.

It is the diligent and knowledge thirsty Brother who gains the most. Freemasonry is a journey we do not travel alone but it is only the individual who can feel the change in himself.

As we progress through the ranks and eventually become a Master, we are individually developing our various interests in this great institution. We all serve our Lodge in differing ways, some devoting their whole Masonic career to their Lodge office, ritual or lectures. Others become involved in administration as Provincial or Grand Lodge officers and perhaps pursue one or more of these interests.

Whichever career we chose to follow, we all meet as friends and work together for the advancement of our personal understanding of what it takes to be a good Freemason.

Outsiders who are not members of our order will continue to question Freemasonry. Those of us who embrace the philosophy and principles of Masonry have a duty to prove to them that men can meet in friendship and unity for the good of all.

God made man in His own image, so to “Know Thyself” is to know and be closer to the GAOTU. This is the cornerstone of Freemasonry.

It has been the centre of the Craft since it began and should never be lost sight off. Truth, Morality and Brotherly Love, the suppression of all human weaknesses, and to become a respected and useful member of society based on Masonic principles.

– 37 –

Die Uitdagings van Leierskap Die dalende lede talle in ons Losies is nie ’n verskynsel wat uniek is vir ons tyd in die geskiedenis van Vrymesselary nie. Dit is ook nie ‘n verskynsel wat ons in ons land of in ons Konstitusie uniek ervaar nie. Inteendeel, gebeur dit wêreldwyd en in die meerderheid van Konstitusies.

Deur Agb Br Tony Bosman, APGM, GLSA Noordelike Afdeling

D

eur die eeue het lidmaatskap in Losies vermeerder en gekrimp. Dit is nie noodwendig ‘n ritmiese siklus nie, maar daar is ‘n paar algemene aanwysers of gebeurtenismakers wat verband hou met hierdie groei en inkrimpings. Byvoorbeeld, tydens tye gedurende en na ‘n oorlog, is daar ‘n geneigdheid om ‘n groei in ledetalle te sien. Namate die lewenskwaliteit van die groter gemeenskap verbeter en die selfbevrediging stadia van sosio-ekonomiese toestande meer algemeen word, neig die getalle in Losies om af te neem.

Om dit eenvoudig te stel, wanneer mense mekaar nodig het, is hulle geneig om na ‘n instelling of samelewing te soek wat hulle kan voorsien met die nou verbintenisse wat hulle benodig. Hierdie gedeelde etos word die sametrekkings krag wat hulle vas hou.

Stelselmatig, wanneer die behoefte aan afhanklikheid daal, maak mens staat op tasbare of materiële dinge vir bevrediging.

Ek wil nie die indruk skep dat dit die enigste rede is waarom daar by die Orde aangesluit word nie, vêr van dit. Wat ek wil voorhou is, dat as mens, is een van ons kern eienskappe, dat ons sosiale wesens is wat grootliks op selfbevrediging gefokus is.

In die moderne tyd het die samelewing die produk geword van ‘n selfbevredigings kultuur, wat meer en meer eis, dit vinniger eis, met die verwagting van die aanspraak daarop. Ons tegnologie leer ons om minder afhanklik van mekaar te wees en meer afhanklik te wees op inligting, konnektiwiteit en die tegnologie wat dit lewer. Ons leer om by digitale groepe aan te sluit en hulle te verlaat sodra ons behoefte vervul is, of daar is ‘n voorval wat ons nie aanvaarbaar vind nie en daarom beweeg ons na die volgende digitale groep toe. Miskien begin die tendens in ons fisiese of werklike lewens groepe uit te speel.

Dit bring my by die aspek van Leierskap en die samegaande uitdagings daaraan verbonde. Baie van die jonger geslag is nou selfgeleid en selfgerig. Hulle het nog nie die vaardigheid geleer om ander te lei nie. Toe ons die voorreg gehad het om lid te wees van Losies met groot ledetalle, was dit nie ongewoond dat die paadjie van ‘n Vrymesselaar, van Leerling tot Agbare Meester, oor ‘n tydperk van tien of meer jaar sou strek nie.

As gevolg daarvan het die jong Vrymesselaar baie style en metodes van leierskap ervaar van talle Agbare Meesters en Oud Meesters wat as hulle Mentors opgetree het. Tans is dit egter nie ongewoon dat ‘n jong Vrymesselaar binne n tydperk van vyf of minder jare die Meester van die Losie word nie. In die beperkte tyd is hy gelukkig om die leierskap van twee Meesters te ervaar.

Oud Meesters is min, Mentors is min en leiding vir die jong

Meester is ongelukkig nie wat dit moet wees nie. Om sake te bemoeilik, vind ons ook dat dit noodsaaklik is vir ‘n Oud Meester om weer die amp van Agbare Meester te aanvaar.

Die Oud Meester wat van ‘n ouer geslag is, het die verwagting dat die junior lede die hiërargiese orde van dinge natuurlik sal verstaan en respekteer en daarvolgens optree. Dit is ‘n verwagting wat ons weet nie meer in die werklikheid gevestig word nie.

Tog hoor ons dikwels kommentaar dat die sukses van ‘n Losie ‘n weerspieëling van sy Leierskap is. Alhoewel daar waarheid in hierdie persepsie is, is dit nie ‘n aspek wat afsonderlik staan nie.

Ons kan sien dat daar ‘n veelvoudige dinamiek by die spel is.

Ons Losies is van nature hiërargies. Hiërargieë vereis struktuurvlakke en dit vereis ‘n leier. Soos die jong Vrymesselaar vandag vinnig in ‘n posisie van leierskap binne die Losie vorder, moet hy ook leer om die vaardighede te ontwikkel om ander te lei. Vir sommige is dit natuurlik, vir ander moet dit ‘n kognitiewe proses wees. Hy word nie net uitgedaag deur die gebrek aan ondervinding en tekort aan mentorskap nie, maar terselfde tyd het hy nie die gereedskap en die kennis om die leiers van die verlede te lei wat nou aan sy hoë amp onderworpe moet wees nie. Die ouer generasie Agbare Meester staar weer die uitdaging in die gesig om ‘n self geleide generasie te lei en het ook tot op ‘n mate ‘n tekortkoming. Ek het nie die antwoord nie, maar ek glo dat dit vir albei die gevalle, noodsaaklik is om deurlopende introspeksie en persoonlike ontwikkeling te kweek as ons Losies suksesvol moet wees.

Wat ek graag wil doen, is om elkeen van julle Broeders te vra, om na jouself te kyk en na te dink oor daardie deel van u Belofte wat u geneem het, om die doelstellings van Vrymesselary, na die beste van u vermoë te bevorder, as ook jou belofte om die Grondwet en Wette van die Groot Losie te gehoorsaam. Sou jy voel dat jou verwagtinge nie nagekom word nie en dat jy nie jou regmatige belonings ontvang nie, doen selfondersoek en vra vir jouself of hierdie emosie n weerspieëling van jou verpligting is, of is daar dalk meer plek om die ruwe klip glad te maak?

My Broeders, ons het almal ‘n verpligting om die Meester van die Losie te ondersteun, voordat ons verwagtinge ons dade laat vaar. In hierdie proses om ons verwagtinge te bemeester, bereik ons een van die vele doelwitte van selfverbetering, op die Masonieke pad om ‘n Tempel van gladde stene word. Laat daardie eienskap van verdraagsaamheid beoefen en bemeester word, sodat ons die voorbeelde van leierskap vir die volgende generasie Vrymesselaars kan wees.

– 39 –

Enough Is Enough “Enough is Enough” is an initiative which was launched by the United Grand Lodge of England in 2019 in an attempt to refute unfair allegations made by and to stimulate more meaningful interaction with the profane. This Personal Letter by Dr David Staples, Chief Executive of the UGLE, was placed as a full page advertisement in The Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian.

A

t the United Grand Lodge of England, we value honesty, integrity and service to the community above all else. Last year we raised over £33 million for good causes. As an organisation we welcome individuals from all walks of life, of any faith, age, class or political persuasion.

Throughout our 300 year history, when people have suffered discrimination Freemasonry has embraced them into our Lodges as equals.

The United Grand Lodge of England believes that the ongoing gross misrepresentation of its 200,000 plus members is discrimination. Pure and simple.

We owe it to our membership to take this stance, they shouldn’t have to feel undeservedly stigmatised. No other organisation would stand for this and nor shall we.

I have written to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to make this case.

I appreciate that you may have questions about who we are and what we do, so over the next six months our members will be running a series of open evenings and Q&A events up and down the country. These will be promoted in the local media and on our website. I am also happy to answer any queries directly.

Please feel free to write to me here at Freemasons’ Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ and I will come back to you. We’re open.

Dr David Staples Chief Executive United Grand Lodge of England

– 41 –

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Emblems of Freemasonry With the formation of the many Grand Lodges over the last 300 years, various “emblems” have become widely used in the rituals and traditions. Some are common to all, others are peculiar to our Constitution, whilst others have become discarded as rituals evolved into their present forms.

By Wor Bro Raymond Franks

A

ll emblems have a practical meaning and a symbolised reference peculiar to the degree in which they are used. I will attempt to mention various Emblems I have encountered including those depicted on our Tracing Board, without encroaching on their symbolic usages, rather in a hope of expanding the inquisitive minds of the Brethren to visit Lodges of our own and Sister Constitutions. To discover answers to many questions can be most fulfilling, rewarding and awaken our Masonic curiosity.

Tracing Board It is a most informative emblem with its many symbols which have evolved into their present forms. It can be a single device collectively for the three craft degrees or three single devices, one for each degree. In the Operative Lodges of old, the Overseers (Foremen) traced the work to be undertaken in a specially prepared sand area, which was smooth and clean. Once the work was complete the “Trace” was erased and a new trace was made

for the next day’s work. Today’s tracing boards are still used for instructional purposes, laying out the path through the degrees for the initiates, step by step, with a view of increasing their understanding of that degree as more is revealed.

The Lodge It is positioned from East to West and North to South thereby indicating the universality of Freemasonry.

The Sacred Symbol The Sacred Symbol which is found in all Lodges alludes to the “G” the “G.A.O.T.U.” whose all seeing eye is upon man wherever he is. In some Lodges the “Tetragrammaton” is used.

The Ashlars and Lewis These are also known as the Rough and Cubic stones. Referring back to operative Masonry, the Rough Ashlar represents the start of an apprentice mason’s journey through life and his quest to overcome the many challenges in order to become a true Mason.

– 43 –

The Perfect Ashlar is the final product, a perfect a stone of a perfect die and fit only to be tried by the Square and Compass. The work of a true craftsman.

The Perfect Ashlar is normally suspended by a metal cramp dovetailed into the stone, representing the son of a mason supporting his parents, namely a Lewis.

24 Inch Gauge Possibly it could be a derivative of a “Cubit “as used by the antient builders and architects and then evolved into the equivalent of “2 Feet”. It is an instrument of measurement used to measure the work to be done and estimate the time and labour it will take. It can be divided into three equal sections of each 8 inches, representing a 24 hour day with three 8 hour intervals. One for a work period, another for sleep and refreshment and the other for worship and helping or assisting a brother in time of need.

The Maul or Mallet and Chisel The Chisel, although small, is a solid tool without which no forming or trimming work can be completed. In the hands of the Craftsman, aided with the help of the Mallet (common Maul), work of intense beauty can be achieved. As a prime example of this skillful combination, view the “Apprentices Column” in the Rosslyn Chapel.

The Gavel This is an emblem of authority and used by the Worshipful Master and his Wardens The Mosaic Pavement The Mosaic Pavement is the beautiful flooring of a Freemasons Lodge. It points out the diversity of all creatures and uncertainty of all earthly things. It teaches us humility, not to be proud or boastful and be aware of His Ways.

Lever or Crowbar As you may rightfully assume, it is used to move objects of great weight or bulk. With this extra power and strength you are taught to use it for more noble purposes.

The Two Pillars B & J These were mounted at the entrance of the King Solomon’s Temple and are referred to in many masonic degrees. Purportedly they were made hollow to act as a depository to house the secrets (knowledge) available then to mankind. One made of bronze and the other of brick with the purpose of withstanding destruction by either fire or flood. (Refer 1 Kings Chapter vii verses 15 to 22.)

Tessellated Border The Indented or Tessellated Border forms a skirt-work around the Grand Design of masonry and reminds us that to enjoy our many blessings of life with which we must carry out the tenets of our Order.

The Staircase In our Constitution the Staircase with its seven steps represents a candidate’s careful progress into Masonry.

The Winding Staircase Symbolic in other Constitutions and Orders, it represents a candidate’s progress from the 1st. to the 2nd degree.

Jacob’s Ladder It guides a Mason’s advancement in life by practicing the many masonic virtues, especially “Faith, Hope and Charity” which are interwoven throughout the many Orders of Masonry.

Architectural Columns Each Craft Lodge has Three Grand Pillars depicted either on the Tracing Board or the Candle Sticks or mentioned in their ritual.

Their architectural designs depict the three classical Greek styles of Ionic, Doric and Corinthian representing Wisdom (WM), Strength (SW) and Beauty (JW).Three rule a Lodge, however five hold a lodge and here reference is made to the additional two Antient Roman architectural orders being the Tuscan and Composite designs.

The Clay Tablet In olden times a copy or mould of important architectural designs was made. This would act as a guide and also prevent their loss.

On our tracing board, this image of a clay tablet housing the impressions of the Five Orders of architecture has been included.

This is to assist us in remembering their emblematical significance and usage.

The Square The Square depicted on the tracing board is today’s practical version of the 49th Problem of Euclid or Pythagoras’s Theorem, i.e. The sum of the squares of two sides equals the square of the hypotenuse.

Originally a cord of 3 units was used for the opposite side (3x3=9) Next a cord of 4 units was used for the adjacent side (4x4=16) Finally a cord of 5 units was fastened to form the hypotenuse (5x5=25) All cords being pulled tight, a perfect 90 degree or right angle was formed. Hence the “3+4+5” being a sacred symbol among the antient architects.

Historical references exist dating back over 4000 years to the importance of this ratio being used to ensure the perfect square work of antient structures. Possibly even the Pyramids.

It is used to “Prove” work and ensure bringing rude matter into due form.

The Level It is used to lay levels and prove horizontals. Every building foundation (Entered Apprentice), if laid out on the level, has every possibility of becoming a true and lasting structure.

The Plumb-Line (Plummet) One of the most useful tools used throughout the ages is the Plumb-Line. By using it, it is a sure way to keep a building vertical and the mason true. The Leaning tower of Piza is a perfect example of moving away from the vertical or true path.

Three Windows Whilst not mentioned by other Constitutions, the principle of spreading the light of Freemasonry beyond the confines of our Lodges should be an objective of us all.

The Sun & Moon The Sun, being a glorious luminary, regulates and enlightens the day. As the sun is always at it meridian in some parts of the globe, with the Universality of Freemasonry, the sun must always be at its meridian to the Order. The sun to rule the day, the moon to

– 45 –

govern the night and the Master to rule and govern his Lodge.

The Pencil This enables the skillful Architect to delineate the work in elevation for the instruction of the craftsmen.

Compasses Once the plans are drawn, the architect can proceed to estimate with accuracy and precision the limits and proportion of the structure’s external parts. All to keep within the bounds of good and evil. It is an emblem peculiar to the Worshipful Master.

The Skirrit Whilst unknown in our Constitution, it is referred to as a working tool. It is an instrument which acts on a centre pin with a cord wrapped around it. When a line is drawn with the cord it provides a straight line to enable work to be marked out accurately.

Trowel Whilst the Trowel is depicted on our tracing board, it is no longer mentioned in our rituals. Today it is used in the proceeding degrees. Nothing can be united without the adequate spread of Brotherly Love to form a harmonious Lodge structure. The perfection and durability of the building depends on the suitable disposition of the cement. Be aware of who is invited into your midst, it could cause discontent and disharmony. The Lodge or the “building could fall”.

Nine Stars Referring to Pythagoras’s Theorem, if we use the first four “square “ numbers ( 1,4,9,16) and then subtract each number from the next one we get: 4-1 = 3 The Entered Apprentice steps – Three rule a lodge 9-4 = 5 The Fellow of Craft Steps – Five hold a Lodge 16-9 =7 The Master Masons steps - Seven or more make it Perfect.

These are necessary to gain admission to the Middle Chamber.

But the Nine steps are for the Fellow of Craft to gain the knowledge of a Master Mason.

The Slipper Slipping of the Shoe refers to an antient custom in Israel. The shoe played a part in the bartering system in Hebrew Law. We read in the book of Ruth Chapter 4 verses 7 & 8 that it was an antient custom in Israel when completing a transaction. The seller would “slip off “his shoe and hand it to the buyer as a testimony of an accepted deal.

Forget-Me-Not Flower This could well be one of the more recent acceptable masonic emblems. Whilst it appears as a small lapel pin, it serves as a very powerful symbol to us all. Traditionally it originated to show the existence of Freemasonry even under oppressive banning laws.

The Beehive The Beehive is a very old masonic symbol that is still used in many countries. It originated well before the advent of the Grand Lodges. There are seven bees shown flying around it to represent the number to make a lodge perfect. The Beehive teaches us that as we are born into the world as intelligent and rational human beings, so we ought to also be industrious ones. Not to stand by with listless indifference to our surroundings.

The Ark The Ark is an emblem of safety and our trust in the Great Architect of the Universe, that God guided the Ark to safety and saved the human race from utter destruction. There is a proceeding degree dedicated to this legend.

The Straight Edge It may be insignificant, but this straight piece of wood can be used to ensure surfaces are completed with the utmost of perfection, even and level. Hence with the correct instruction and nurturing from his brethren an Enterered Apprentice can rise to be a perfect Mason, level and true, who in turn can use his skills to help and guide others in brotherly mentorship.

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rom the Worshipful Master and Brethren of Lodge De Goede Trouw, we wish to extend our Best wishes to all Brethren at this our first (and hopefully last) Covid Spring Ball. We trust you are all safe, healthy and in good spirits.

As our little lodge has grown over the years when prospective new brothers interview, we make a point of letting them know that our lodge is one where we actively encourage them to bring needs to us to fill. We do this so that from the outset they are aware we are not about ourselves, we are not only inwardly focussed, but look outwards to society to see where we can help, where we can add value to the world around us. Over the years we have demonstrated the goodness of our craft by our deeds in the world around us, carrying on the long tradition that for our little lodge, goes back over two, almost three centuries.

We are often reminded in our workings that we are encouraged – no, INSTRUCTED – that no man lights a candle and hides it from the world, that we are to be a light to those around us. When we are amongst our Brethren we are just another light among the many in the room. It is out there in the world that we are to make our light visible. We have taken this simple instruction to heart.

The instruction is clear: it is not about whose light burns brightest, it is the principle that the slightest light can illuminate an entire room full of darkness and many are the stories of how a simple meal had made someone’s day, how a quick phone call saved a life.

We are encouraged by the ancient principles established in our order and there is one that to us stands apart. This is the principle of correspondence, as above, so below, so inward, so outward. By applying this principle in our lives, we can bring about change in our own lives and those of others. If one wants to feel loved, one must express love, if one wants to receive, one must give, the very experience of our own lives and our craft must start with us as individuals and by extension with our Lodge.

We extend our warmest wishes to all this Spring Ball. May brotherly love and charity be with you all.

T Pedersen Master, Lodge De Goede Trouw

Uniting Men, Even During Apartheid It is a little known fact that during Apartheid in South Africa there was only one organisation permitted to fraternise or socialise with Coloured people and to treat them as equals within their shared environment. This organisation was Freemasonry. The information in this article is based on input from RW Bro Morris Levin OSM, a Past Deputy Grand Master, who had played a leading role in the lengthy and sometimes candid negotiations which led to this unique breakthrough.

By Bro Desmond Lemmon-Warde

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he process began in 1970 at the Provincial Grand Lodge headquarters in Cape Town. Morris Levin and senior Masonic officials of other constitutions met with over forty coloured men who were members of Prince Hall Lodges and who were anxious to join the Grand Lodge of South Africa (GLSA). Prince Hall Masonry, which had existed in South Africa for over seventy years, was as yet unrecognised by ‘Regular’ Freemasonry.

Resolutions necessary for GLSA approval, which included disbanding the existing Prince Hall Lodges, were drawn up and signed by the Prince Hall members.

The next step was to present the case to the government.

Full membership for coloured people was impossible under Apartheid laws. The Group Areas Act, the Liquor Act and the Assembly Act effectively banned socialising between ‘whites’ and ‘non-whites’. Conditions Morris recalls as being “very stringent” in order to “overcome the expected opposition from the government” were formalised and the decision to go ahead with the proposal was made at a Provincial Grand Lodge meeting on 25 August 1973.

In 1977, after three meetings with the Department of Home Affairs, a meeting was held with the then Prime Minister John Vorster and the head of intelligence, General van den Berg. van den Berg, an old school friend of the Grand Master, Eddie Conradie, urged the Prime Minister, who had been “dragging

his feet” to “move it” and grant permission.

The final breakthrough in negotiations came through an “unexpected support” met during the opening of a home for the aged. A number of Freemasons, including Morris Levin, were present. The support came from the Prime Minister’s wife, who was the nominated patron of the home. After hearing Morris’ case, which argued that it was “a worldwide opportunity to show that we are not racist”, she assured him she would see what she could do. Morris recalls with a laugh that “the next thing we knew we got a letter from Mr Vorster granting permission!”.

On 19 November 1977, in a series of workings going right through the day, the Prince Hall members were Initiated, Passed and Raised (the first, second and third degrees of Freemasonry), this taking place at the De Goede Hoop Temple in Cape Town.

Morris remembers that there were “hundreds of people” and it was as “hot as hell”. After all the workings had been completed, the Grand Master consecrated the new Lodges, Perseverance and Phoenix, and a mixed banquet attended by over 400 people followed.

Through the remaining years of Apartheid it was possible to accept coloured and Muslim men as full members and several of them have proven their ability and willingness to serve Freemasonry by achieving high office in the Grand Lodge or in Provincial Grand Lodges around the country.

A Mason

A Mason’s hand is a hand that helps, That lifts the fallen one, That comes, in need, with a kindly deed To him whose strength is gone.

​A Mason’s eye is an eye that smiles And his a cheering voice; He spreads the light dispels the night And makes the world rejoice.

A Mason’s heart is a heart that loves The best that is good and true He stands the friend, his best to lend, Under his banner blue.

Over the earth in stranger lands, Where distant peoples dwell, The eye, the grip, the life, the lip, Of love unchanging tell.

– Carl W Mason – 49 –

Let Us Cultivate

Brotherly Love How would one “cultivate” Brotherly Love, and what mindset does one need to adopt to achieve this?

By RW Bro Godfrey Place PGM, GLSA Northern Division

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he principal tenets of Freemasonry are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. It is necessary not to overlook the word “principal”, for it signifies that, while our fraternity lays the greatest emphasis on these three teachings, yet there are others which must not be overlooked.

By a “tenet” of Freemasonry is meant some teaching so obviously true, so universally accepted, that we believe it without question. Examples lie everywhere about us. Good health is better than illness; a truthful man is more dependable that a liar; it is better to save money than to waste it; an industrious man is more useful than an idle one; education if to be preferred to ignorance.

These are but a few of the countless examples of teachings that no intelligent man can possibly question. Everybody takes them for granted. They are Tenets.

Freemasonry considers Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth to be teachings of this kind, true in the sense that no man can question them; they are obvious, self-proving, and axiomatic (self-evident). It is not uncommon for men to consider Brotherly Love, while highly desirable, as not practicable, and therefore but a vision, to be dreamed of but never possessed. It is challenging for Freemasonry to call these “tenets”, thus stating that they are plainly and obviously and necessarily true. Unless you grasp this, and see that the teachings of Freemasonry are self-evident realities, not visionary ideals, you will never understand Masonic teachings. For Freemasonry does not tell us that the principles of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth ought to be true, that it would be better for us all if they were true – it tells us that they are true. They are tremendous realities in human life, and it is as impossible to question their validity as to question the ground under our feet, or the sun over our heads. Our question is not whether to believe them or not, but what are we going to do with them?

Love places the highest possible valuation on another person.

A man’s mother or father, his wife or sweetheart, his children, his intimate friends, he values not for advantages he may gain from them, not for their usefulness, but each one in his own person and for his own sake. We work for such persons, we make sacrifices for them, we delight to be with them; that in detail and practice, is

what is meant by love. In this, we realise that a Lodge is a Happy Place, which is the theme of the Provincial Grand Master for this year. It is a place we want to be, we look forward to seeing our Brethren, and we enjoy the time spent with them.

What then, is Brotherly Love? Manifestly, it means that we place on another man the highest possible valuation as a friend, a companion, an associate, a neighbour. “By the exercise of Brotherly Love, we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family.”

If we look at our ritual for the First Degree, we see that we acknowledge the fact that Freemasonry is universal in the catechism, where the following is recorded: What is the form of the Lodge?

That of an oblong square, from the East to the West, from the North to the South, from the earth to heaven and from the surface of the earth to its centre.

How do you explain this?

Freemasonry is general, it extends over the whole globe and all BB dispersed thereon form but one Lodge.

We do not ask that, from our relationship with our brothers, we shall achieve any selfish gain. Our relationship with a Brother is its own justification, its own reward. Brotherly Love is one of the supreme values without which life is lonely, unhappy, and ugly. This is not a hope or dream, but a fact. Freemasonry builds on that fact, provides opportunity for us to have such fellowship, encourages us to understand and to practise it, and to make it one of the laws of our existence, one of our Principal Tenets.

Relief is one of the forms of charity. We often think of charity as relief from poverty. To care for the helpless or unemployed is deemed usually a responsibility resting on the public. As a rule, the public discharges that responsibility through some form of organized charity financed by general subscriptions or out of public funds.

Once again turning to our ritual; in the Chamber of preparation, when we were all placed in a position of great danger, the following was said to us:

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The GAOTU has made man a dependent being, and we look upon mutual dependence as a great bond of friendship. It will be your duty whenever you find a Brother in difficulty and danger to help and succour him to the best of your ability.

Our conception of relief is broader and deeper than doling out money. We fully recognize the emergency demands made by physical and economic distress; but we likewise understand that the cashing of a check is not necessarily a complete solution of the difficulty. There sometimes enters the problem of readjustment, of rehabilitation, of keeping the family together, of children’s education, and various other matters vital to the welfare of those concerned and through the whole process, there is the need for spiritual comfort, for the assurance of a sincere and continuing interest and friendship, which is the real translation of our principal tenet: Brotherly Love.

Masonic relief takes it for granted that any man, no matter how industrious and frugal he may be, through sudden misfortune, or other conditions over which he has no control, may be in temporary need of a helping hand. To extend it is not what is generally described as charity, but is one of the inevitable acts of Brotherhood. Any conception of Brotherhood must include this willingness to give necessary aid. Therefore, Relief, Masonically understood, is a tenet.

Truth, the last of the Principal Tenets, is meant something more than the search for truths in the intellectual sense, though that is included. “Truth is a divine attribute and the foundation of every virtue. To be good and true is the first lesson we are taught in Masonry.” In any permanent Brotherhood, members must be truthful in character and habits, dependable, men of honor, on whom we can rely to be faithful fellows and loyal friends. Truth is a vital requirement if a brotherhood is to

endure and we, therefore, accept it as such.

Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth are the principal Tenets of Masonry. There are other tenets, also: Teachings so obvious that argument is never necessary to sustain them. With this in mind, we must ponder the teachings of the craft as we progress from Degree to Degree. You may not find them novel, but novelty is unimportant in the light of the knowledge that the truths upon which Freemasonry is founded are eternal. The freshness of immortality is on them because they never die; in them is a ceaseless inspiration and an inexhaustible appeal. They are tenets of Freemasonry because always and everywhere they have been tenets of successful human life.

To summarise, Freemasonry instils in its members a moral and ethical approach to life: it seeks to reinforce thoughtfulness for others, kindness in the community, honesty in business, courtesy in society and fairness in all things. Members are urged to regard the interests of the family as paramount but, importantly, Freemasonry also teaches and practices concern for people, care for the less fortunate and help for those in need. In short: Freemasonry Cares.

Freemasonry has at its heart the three core principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.

Brotherly Love. Every true Freemason will show tolerance and respect for the opinions of others and will behave with compassion and understanding to his fellows.

Relief. From earliest times Freemasons have been taught to help those in distress without detriment to their dependents, and to give their support to outside charities.

Truth. Freemasons strive for truth both in their view of themselves and in their dealings with others. Masonry requires high moral standards and its members endeavour to uphold these principles in their public and private lives.

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GLSA’s Rapid Response to Covid-19 3

The shock of the national lockdown presented an opportunity for Freemasons to reinvent the way we perform our duties.

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By Wor Bro Evangelos Doucas and Bro Enrico Calandro

e are living in interesting times indeed. A new virus, reported for the first time in Wuhan in China in December 2019, hit South African shores on 5 March 2020, forcing drastic, unprecedented social and economic adjustments witnessed by all people and industries of the country and its economy. In response to the National State of Disaster announced on 15 March 2020, the GLSA was also forced into a historical drastic measure. With a communication issued by the Grand Master on 22 March 2020 all active/physical Masonic activities related to the GLSA were suspended. Our lives in our Order were drawn to a temporary halt. This, however, became an opportunity for us to reinvent ourselves and the way we performed our duties as Freemasons.

The GLSA has for a number of years been keeping up with the latest technological trends. In 2016 its Grand Committee implemented a sophisticated database system, GrandView, to keep in order all records of our Grand Lodge and to communicate more effectively with our members. This was formally introduced in 2018. With an eye towards the future, our Chain’s Conference in Bloemfontein in March 2020 discussed the extended use of digital platforms for remote meetings and online communication systems.

This came in handy a few days later with the advent of Covid-19.

In response to the lawful lockdown, which prohibited public gatherings and more, we witnessed, very successfully, the commencement of Board of Management meetings online. The way was paved by such Lodges as Koh-I-Noor and De Goede

Hoop, both using the online platform Zoom. Also, using the same platform, Lodge de Goede Hoop held an online Wake in which we recalled stories related to a late Past Worshipful Master, Wor Bro Ron Kessler. There were a number of other online events around the country, including educational evenings and discussions, and regular International Masonic Town Hall meetings facilitated by Lodge Cape Town.

It must be stressed, though, that the digital technology underpinning our activities cannot be embraced without due precautions. Our Order is based on Secrets that allow us to recognise each other and to progress towards higher Degrees. The digitalisation and uncritical sharing of our Rituals can lessen the candidate’s experience and place both our Order and our Brethren at risk of misunderstanding or stigmatisation by the profane world. The Grand Committee decided, therefore, that there would be no online degree workings of any sort whatsoever.

They say that in times of crisis and chaos, opportunities come about. What we see here is a great opportunity to witness our Order grow from strength to strength by showing that it is a caring organisation for its members.

It is a privilege to see our Order maturing even further and bravely embracing change, adapting to society and remaining in the forefront and relevant to us as Freemasons and the world at large; our ‘guide and friend’ through these most challenging and trying times; our support system and foundation in our quest for deeper self knowledge as more mature men.

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