Volume 65, No. 01
January- February 2018
Six Major Themes of Scottish Rite
- pg 7
Interesting Facts
50 Years
ELS&L
pg 2
pg 5
pg 6
2 Seattle Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite Communicator
Scottish Rite
Valley of Seattle
www.seattle-scottishrite.org
SCOTTISH RITE OFFICERS Ill. Ronald A. Seale, 33° Sovereign Grand Commander Ill. Alvin W. Jorgensen, 33° S:.G:.I:.G:, Orient of Washington Ill. Sat Tashiro, 33° Personal Rep. of S:.G:.I:.G:. pr@seattle-scottishrite.org Daniel Southerland, 32° General Secretary Communicator Editor secretary@seattle-scottishrite.org Ill. Brian Thomas, 33° Treasurer
Interesting Facts 14 US Presidents were Masons: Washington, Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, F.D. Roosevelt, Truman, Ford The House of the Temple contains a piece of the White House. It was donated by President Harry S. Truman on Nov. 22, 1952
Tom Lamb, 32° KCCH Almoner
Brother Robert Burns wrote the poem “Auld Lang Syne” now turned song for New Years.
PRESIDING OFFICERS
The American flag was ordered made by Brother George Washington. It was sewn by Betsy Ross, whose husband was a member of St. John’s Lodge, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thomas Lamb 33° Master of Kadosh, Consistory Todd Pike 32° Commander, Council of Kadosh Ian Hyde 32° KCCH Wise Master, Chapter of Rose Croix Bob Guild, 32° Venerable Master, Lodge of Perfection Seattle Scottish Rite Center 1207 N 152nd St. Seattle, WA 98133-6213 206 324-3330 voice 206 324-3332 fax
The Communicator (USPS 485-660) is published by the Valley of Seattle, A&A Scottish Rite, 1207 N 152nd St., Seattle, WA 98133-6213, for the benefit of its members, bimonthly and is mailed as a non-profit publication to all members of the Valley of Seattle and to specified other interested parties. $2.00 per member is assessed for the publication of The Communicator. Periodicals postage paid at Seattle, Washington and at additional mailing offices. The material contained within this publication is intended for the education and enjoyment of the members of the Masonic Fraternity and all material published becomes the property of Seattle Valley of Scottish Rite. Postmaster: Send address changes to — The Communicator at 1207 N 152nd St., Seattle, WA 98133-6213.
Most people are aware of the fact that the Statue of Liberty was a gift of the French people after their own republic came into existence. However, many are not aware that there is a Masonic link to the statue. Frederic Bartholdi, a Mason, designed it and the Grand Lodge laid the cornerstone of its base with Masonic Ritual
Seattle Scottish Rite 3
News from the Personal Representative W
e are in the midst of the winter months, with the short days and long nights, and the corresponding drop in temperature. We are reminded that we very fortunate in not encountering the sub-zero temperatures in the other parts of our country in the first few weeks of this new year.. You are reminded that our first meeting in 2018 will be 16 January, and will be installation of the body officers, directors and committeemen for 2018, followed by our usual brief, but necessary business meeting. The meeting will start at 7:30 PM with dinner at 6:30 PM
T
he body officers for the year will be:
Robert Guild, Venerable Master, Lodge of Perfection Ian Hyde, Wise Master, Rose Croix Todd Pike, Commander, Kadosh Tom Lamb, Master of Kadosh, Consistory This meeting will have been preceded by our EXCOM meeting on 6 January, where we will have prepared the 2018 calendar of our Seattle Valley events for the year. We are currently planning on developing a 5-year plan to perform all the Scottish Rite degrees.
W
e will be hosting Friends Night in January with the view towards interesting Master Masons to join our class of 2018. A special flyer will be prepared in the coming weeks on the plans and the exact date and times. We had a great class of 2017 with 12 receiving their 32o caps in November. We are looking forward to their involvement with us in the activities of the Seattle Valley meetings and degrees. Our February stated meeting will be a program by the staff of the Seattle Clinic of Early Life, Speech and Language, the primary charity of our Valley. The key speaker will be Jackie Brown, clinic director, who will speak on the needs of children and their parents as they struggle on this fundamental skill for growth, success stories and clinic challenges. Our March meeting will be the annual Remembrance and Renewal, which will be hosted by the Rose Croix. All meetings will be preceded with the usual dinner at 630 PM and the ceremony at 730 PM, followed by a brief business meeting.
T
he last degrees held in 2017 was a double-header day, where the 29o and 31o degree were held. The 29o is the degree associated with the Knights of St. Andrew, while the 31o is called the Egyptian degree, with overtones during the time of the Pharaohs. The cast of the degrees did an outstanding job As we start this year, it is important that our members put forth their energies in attracting new Master Masons into ouScottish Rite, and our valley, in particular. Please invite those who may not be members to attend our Friends Night in early January. The dinner will be complimentary to our friends with a brief program on the happenings at the House of Temple, and the status of the VMAP program.
O
ur two Scottish Rite clubs, sponsored by the Valley of Seattle, will be having their meetings in the coming weeks. The West Seattle Scottish Rite Club (WSSRC) will be having its first official meeting at Southgate Masonic Center in Burien on 10 February starting at 10 AM. Further information can be obtained by contacting Brother Richard Syson at nosys@ comcast.net. This initial meeting will feature a description of the Master Craftsman program, which is open to all Master Masons. The second is the meeting of the Eastside Scottish Rite Club (ESRC) at Issaquah Masonic Center (ESMC), located in Issaquah. It will be held on 31 January at 7 PM at the Eastside Masonic Center on Willows Road. Please contact Dean Markley, secretary of the ESRC, wdeanm@gmail.com for upcoming dates and the respective programs. Our third club in the south-end of King County is temporarily on hold. All Scottish Rite members of the Seattle Valley receive the Communicator, but may miss the fellowship with their fellow members within the valley and find the difficult-travel-miles to-and-from our Shoreline building a major problem. For these members, you are invited to attend one of the clubs in your area. Your attendance at the club meetings is tantamount to attending our stated meetings. For those who are able to attend our meetings at the Shoreline valley facility, you are always welcome to our pre- and postmeeting fellowship time together. This is becoming the highlight of our time together. raternally,
F
Sat Tashiro 33° Personal Representative of the S.G.I.G.
4 Seattle Scottish Rite
I
would like to start this with a wish to all for a Very Happy New Year, may you all be blessed with great health and prosperity in every journey you and your family partakes in this new year.
T
he future of our fraternity surly is looking bright. We here at Seattle Valley are working hard as ever to bring you all some great events. With the help of many are looking at so many new ways to have the fellowship and education be like never before. The times change so fast that sometimes it is hard to keep up. This is why we are striving to get our younger meembers involved in the planning along side our older members to get a great mix of fellowship.
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ow is the time to introduce those younger brothers in your lodges to the Scottish Rite. We all have them in our lodges you know, that brother that hungers for more? The one who wants to learn all about our great fraternity? Why have you not talked with him about the University of Freemasonry, of the Scottish Rite? Get them involved
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e are also planning to perform all the Scottish Rite degrees in the next 4-5 years. So if you have ever wanted to be in on eof your favorite degrees, now is the time to step in. We will coordinate them with our 2018 degree class so the new members can join us.
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here will also be several fellowship events along with some great speakers. We would also like to invite our ladies to join us at any of the open events as to show them how greatly they are appreciated.
D
id I hear someone mention beer? Well we are looking to start a brewers club. So if you are interested in making, learning to make, or teaching others how to make beer this may be the time. I believe there will also be some beer to drink, rumor has it. A Seattle Scottish Rite beer? Guess we will need to add another special tap to the lounge. Also dont forget we sponsor Beerfest benefiting Early Life Speech and language so keep your eyes open for the dates.
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e will be having our Installation of Officers on January 16th so we hope to see you all here. Your 2018 leaders for each body’s are as follows: Venerable Master Bob Guild 32° Lodge of Perfection, Wise Master Ian Hyde 32° KCCH Chapter of Rose Croix, Commander. Todd Pike 32° Council of Kadosh, Master of Kadosh Tom Lamb 33°Consistory. Congratulations to all and a very heartfelt thank you to all who manke this Valley such a great place to be.
Fraternally, Dan Southerland, 32° General Secretary
Seattle Scottish Rite 5
Fifty Years a Scottish Rite Mason We celebrate those distinguished brothers who have achieved the honor of being in Scottish Rite for 50 years in 2017. Our recipients are Dale Bendal 32°, William Boone 32°, Gary Card 32°, Ellis Corets 32°, William Hazerd 32°, Donals Kind 32°, Virgil Mudd 32°, William Mueller 33°, Gerald Nelson 32°, William Page 32°, James Rosi 32°, Micheal Sanft 32°,Frank Walters 32°, Stephen Weiss 32°. We Congratulate and Thank all our 50 Year Members
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eARLY lIFE SPEECH & LANGUAGE
Making a Difference Maddie and Erik are 6 years old. Erik has been coming to us for 2 years now while Maddie has been coming to us for 1½ years. Erik was frustrated with himself because his “voice wouldn’t work”. While Erik was in his sessions, his Speech Language Pathologist noticed that his sister, Maddie, was having problems with her “S”. Now, as a result of their therapy, both kids are no longer nervous about going to school and they’re both chatty and confident. These kids make every day brighter at Early Life Speech & Language!
Seattle Scottish Rite 7
The Six Major Themes of the Scottish Rite
We often get so wrapped up in the minutia of the lessons which are taught in the Scottish Rite Degrees that it is easy to overlook the over-riding themes which are presented in the Rite. Almost every Mason knows that the Degrees of Freemasonry represent the journey of a man’s life. For example, it is often said that the Entered Apprentice Degree represents the journey of youth; the passage a young man takes as he begins to consciously weigh the differences between right and wrong, ignorance and knowledge, good and evil, and starts to mold the character he will fashion for himself, using the influences of his life as his guide. He has, in a real sense, been initiated by the circumstances of his life; for good or bad. Freemasonry provides him a stable image for life building, and admonishes him to start over if his first attempt didn’t go so well. Likewise, we think of the passage of the Fellowcraft as one where the initiate takes stock of his progress in life; a kind of a review of what he knows, and doesn’t know, what has worked for him, and what still remains to be done. He makes an accounting of what he has learned from his experience, his upbringing, friends and acquaintances, education, culture, and community. If he is like most men, he reaches a point where he has studied just about everything in his life but himself. He becomes consciously aware that life is not just about outward appearances, tasks, money, and relationships. He feels a hunger for additional meaning. Masonry informs him that, to feel complete, he ultimately has to affirm himself. This requires a different kind of journey all together. I n Masonry, we think of this more intimate and deeply engaging step in the journey to manhood an important awakening for each man. In ritual terms, it is called “passing the outer door of the temple.” As one of the oldest institutions serving men today, we also know this is a stage of the journey that four-fifths of the male population in the world will never choose to take. Yet the consequences of not knowing oneself are staggering. One of the goals of Freemasonry is to help men take this most significant step forward with their own life. The journey to mature masculinity doesn’t stop for the rest of us just because some guys choose to exit the train. For the man who sincerely sees Freemasonry as a transformative art, everything it suggests to, and instructs him from that point in his life where he consciously decides to work on himself, has to do with his awakening consciousness.
8 Seattle Scottish Rite
The Scottish Rite knows this aspect of a man’s journey well, as it is itself the product of the great movements in history which were all tied to the structure of consciousness. The point of awakening consciousness is precisely where the Scottish Rite joins each man’s journey. The experience of the aspirant through the degrees of the Rite is supposed to be his journey to a higher awareness. It is designed to carry him to a higher level of insight. It is a progressive system of awakening consciousness. Its power lies in its ability to integrate its lessons into the psyche of each individual, meeting him on the level of his own experience, and giving him an opportunity to be transformed by the path of his own life. For men, life needs to be seen as a journey. Freemasonry is built on the clear understanding that men need to be engaged in their own quest for self-improvement. The Scottish Rite facilitates this fundamental psychological need in men. Here are the six major themes a Scottish Rite Mason encounters on his journey to an awakening consciousness:
The Perfect Elu Tradition
A brother becomes an Elu in the first degree of Masonry when he receives the Apprentice’s prayer. Hands are laid upon his head and he is anointed as one of the “elected” or “elite” entering the Brotherhood of Man. He has been selected by his peers because they see his potential to rise among the best to become the small elite of enlightened minds. But even though he is chosen, he may not become enlightened. God has made men with different intellectual and spiritual motivations and capacities. The Elu Principle avows that, from the ranks of men who desire to improve themselves in Masonry, some will take on the pursuits and occupations of the initiate’s life. These will become the Perfect Elus, the continuators of Creation who will receive the highest levels of knowledge and insight. These will become the gifted and enlightened men.
Royal Arch, or Sacred Vault Tradition
One of the great mysteries of life is that no man can know the principle of his own life. No single element of life has an intrinsic, essential reality of its own. The power and action of will, movement, of thought, memory and dreams are all mysteries. Yet we have a natural impulse to seek the unknown, to seek God in the mystery of our own being. The Royal Arch Tradition maintains that a man must gain access to the knowledge of the Divine truth only by seeking ever deeper within his inmost self, his soul. In Masonry, the crypt or vault is an inward symbol reminding us that it is the internal and not the external qualifications that make a Mason. A man’s soul is his spiritual dimension of the universe, the inmost part of his being where alone he may feel and realize the nature of God and find peace within himself. .
Seattle Scottish Rite 9
Ancient Mysteries Tradition The Ancient Mysteries tradition is one of those timeless checks and balances which remind us that our concept of Deity must be felt within because it cannot be wholly conceived intellectually. A society’s concept of God and the universe changes over time with its scientific development. The objective of the Mysteries was to cause a change in the initiate’s condition of mind wherein he could feel the common core, or universal truth, in all religious traditions. The methodology Masonry employs to treat topics that cannot be known or explained is to mystically inspire a feeling about these higher principles through the use and expression of symbolic images, emblems, and hieroglyphs. This was the way of the Mysteries. Rather than a prescribed routine of creed, the Mysteries invited their initiates to seek, feel, compare and judge in order to awaken the mind and develop its creativity. The Ancient Mysteries Tradition affirms that the gap often created by the insufficiency of popular religions and dogmas can be filled by reason and virtue.
Knighthood Tradition Every man needs to possess at least some knightly energy. Being a knight is one of the essential archetypes of manhood. Freemasonry draws on the Knighthood tradition which dates back to the Crusades. Knights were expected to be the most gallant and virtuous of men. Such men dedicated themselves to the defense of right in the world. Their basic ideals were family unity, moral education, courage, honor and courtesy. A Mason is first and foremost a moralist, a philosopher, a symbolist and spiritualist; but he is also a soldier of honor, loyalty, duty and truth; actively engaged in the warfare of life. The Knighthood Tradition declares that the fight for the very best virtues against ignorance, tyranny and fanaticism is a constant engagement. Life is a battle for good and to fight that battle heroically and well is the great purpose of man’s existence. We all progress upward toward perfection through the same life struggle. Our goal is to live up to the promise of the Elus. This is the essence of true Masonic Knighthood.
Secret Tradition There is no essential secret in Freemasonry since it is, above all, an aptitude and a state of mind. It is a virtual secret to the uninitiated much like literacy is to an illiterate. Secrecy in Masonry is synonymous with mystery. A mystery is a reality which has not yet been fully understood. The major goal of our lives, as Masters of the Royal Secret, is to unravel the mysteries of our own life. The Secret Tradition represents the quest for equilibrium in the universe, the harmony and unity of the whole, and its application to our personal lives. This is the ultimate quest of mankind, and teaches us above all else to reverence ourselves as divine immortal souls and to respect others as such, since we all share the same divine nature, intelligence and ordeals. This requires LOVE, which is the true word of a Master Mason, the Royal Secret and Holy Doctrine of the every true brotherhood.
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Messages Happy Birthday!
Congratulations from all your Scottish Rite Brethren to our members over 80 who have reached a very important birthday!
January William Aiken 1/11/1927 David Mace 1/18/1937 Bob Haggbloom 1/23/1937
February
Richard Gerber 2/21/1937 George Walters 2/22/1937
George Pirrie 1/25/1937
Polo shirts are in! just $25.00
S e a t t l e S c o t t i s h R i t e 11
C a l e n d a r
MONTH
TIME
www.seattle-scottishrite.org
EVENT
January 6th: 9:00am Excom Meeting January 16th 7:30pm Stated Meeting Installation of Officers, 6:30 Dinner February 20th 7:30pm Stated Meeting Dinner 6:30
* All events subject to change.
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Scottish Rite of Freemasonry 1207 N 152nd St. Shoreline, WA 98133-6247
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