Volume 66, No. 01
January-February 2019
The Magic Flute
- pg 10
The Rite Facts
ELS&L
Birthdays
pg 2
pg 6
pg 10
2 Seattle Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite Communicator
The Rite Facts
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 Gene Ulrich, 32° KCCH Treasurer Ill. Tom Lamb, 33° Almoner PRESIDING OFFICERS Gale Kenney 32. KCCH° Master of Kadosh, Consistory Adam Creighton 32° Commander, Council of Kadosh Bob Dearborn 32° KCCH Wise Master, Chapter of Rose Croix
In China, about 300 B.C., Mencius wrote “A master Mason, in teaching his apprentices, makes use of the compasses and the square. Ye who are engaged in the pursuit of Wisdom, must also make use of the compasses and the square.” Additionally, in a book called Great Learning, 500 B.C., we find that “A man should abstain from doing unto others what he would not they should do unto him; and this is called the principle of acting on the square.” Music written by Brother John Stafford Smith (1750-1836) of Inverness Lodge #4 in London was, at one time, used by an Irish Masonic Orphans’ Home as their song. Later it became a popular drinking song for many years known as To Anacreon in Heaven. Then, some years later, the music was adopted by Francis Scott Key to which he wrote the words to our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. In 1860 in Limerick, Ireland, there was found in a small chapel a stone dated 1517 with the following inscription: “I will serve to live with love & care Upon the level, by the square.”
When Brothers Richard E. Byrd and Bernt Balchen first flew over the North and South Poles, they dropped a Masonic flag on each Pole. Then, in the 1933-35 expedition, Brother Balchen tossed his Shrine Fez on the North Pole.
Bryan Reagan, 32° Venerable Master, Lodge of Perfection
The town of Keystone, near Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, was named by a gold prospector in 1877 for his York Rite Chapter watch charm.
Seattle Scottish Rite Center 1207 N 152nd St. Seattle, WA 98133-6213 206 324-3330 voice 206 324-3332 fax
The first registered livestock brand in Montana was the Square and Compasses dating back to before May 25, 1872 when brands were first registered. It is still in use today.
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.
Seattle Scottish Rite 3
News from the Personal Representative
We want to wish our valley members and their families a Happy New Year, as we resume our labors for another year. The leaders of the Seattle Valley are enthusiastic with our accomplishments in 2018 and look forward to another great year. We are on firm financial grounds, due, in great part, to the increased revenue from our rentals by the valley office and the oversight of the Finance Committee. We are in the midst of the winter months, with the short days and long nights, and the corresponding drop in temperature. However we are reminded how fortunate we are to live in the Pacific Northwest with moderate temperatures and not encountering the sub-zero temperatures in the other parts of our country. Summarizing the events since the last Communicator, our November stated meeting was our annual RWB dinner, recognizing the efforts of our senior leadership, with primary focus on recognizing those members achieving their 50 years in our Rite. At the meeting we were pleased to recognize Illustrious Charles Olmsted, 33°, our emeritus Almoner and Brother Al Dillon, who received their blue cap and spoke briefly on their 50 years in the by a cast from the Kadosh before the election of officers for 2019. The results of the election were as follows: Lodge of Perfection: VM; Bryan Regan 32°, SW; Kirk Stensvig 32°, JW Richard Brzustowicz 32°KCCH, Rose Croix: WM; Bob Dearborn 32° KCCH, SW; Jeff Hardin 32° KCCH, JW Gerry OBrien 32° Council of Kadosh: Commander: Adam Creighton 32°, Ian Hyde, 1st Lt. Cmdr; Arturo Ortiz, 2nd Lt. Cmdr Consistory:Master of Kadosh; Gale Kenney 32° KCCH, Prior; Bob Gunther, 32° KCCH, Preceptor:Don Schumer 32 Treasurer; Gene Ulrich 32° KCCH, Almoner: Tom Lamb, 33° Our first meeting in 2019 will be 15 January, and will be installation of the body officers, directors and committeemen for 2019, followed by our usual brief, but necessary business meeting. The meeting will start at 7:30 PM with dinner at 6:30 PM The Chieftain for the Knights of St. Andrew (KSA) will continue to be Brother Bob Guild. Brother Guild and our General Secretary, Dan Southerland attended the annual meeting of KSA in Texas in late 2018, and will be initiate new ideas and increased involvement of the black hats of our valley. This meeting will have been preceded by our EXCOM meeting on 5 January, where we will have met and started the planning and decisions for 2019 calendar. The results will be on our web page. We will be hosting Friends Night in January with the view towards interesting Master Masons to join our class of 2019. 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 2018 with 17 receiving their 32° caps in November at our Cap and Ring Ceremony. We resumed this ceremony after many years. The last one was held at the Broadway facility, when we moved to temporary locations. A new ring was constructed to meet the size restrictions of our Shoreline facility. We are looking forward to the involvement of our new Master of the Royal Secret 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.
4 Seattle Scottish Rite
The last degree held in 2018 was the 27°, Prince of Adept, which concluded the first year of our four year cycle with the performance of 5 non-terminal degrees, in addition to the five terminal degrees. We also supported the performance of the 31° , which is called the Egyptian degree, with overtones of the time of the Pharaohs. The degree was held at the Valley of Everett, with Valley of Seattle members participating in the cast. We will initiate the second year of our four year plan to perform all 32 degrees of the Scottish Rite. Plans are underway to perform the 6° and 7° in the early spring. The 4° and 14° terminal degrees for the class of 2019 will start in March 2019.
As we start this year, it is important that our members put forth their energies in attracting new Master Masons into our Scottish Rite, and our Valley, in particular. Please invite those who may not be members to attend our Friends Night in early January. Our 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 2019 meeting at Southgate Masonic Center in Burien on 23 February starting at 9 AM. Further information can be obtained by contacting Brother Richard Syson at nosys@comcast.net. The Eastside Scottish Rite Club (ESRC) will expand its educational efforts to cover both the esoteric aspects of Masonry as well as in-depth study into the Master Craftsman program. The esoteric aspects and mystical concepts of Masonry will be held at the Issaquah Masonic Center (IMC) located in Issaquah, under the direction of Illustrious Brian Thomas on Wednesday, 30 January, starting at 7 PM. He can be contacted at bjt19@comcast.net or 425-226-0463. Myrtle Lodge meets at the IMC. The Master Craftsman course, based upon material from the Supreme Council will be held at the Eastside Masonic Center on Willows Road. No meetings in January or February. Please contact Dean Markley, secretary of the ESRC, wdeanm@gmail.com for upcoming dates on this aspect of Scottish Rite education. 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 post-meeting fellowship time together. This is becoming the highlight of our time together. Fraternally,
Sat Tashiro 33 Personal Representative
Seattle Scottish Rite 5
W
ith the holiday season behind us we look to the new year and a new schedule. Our installation of officers for 2019 will be held at our January 15 stated meting so we look forward to seeing you all here to welcome the new officers into their respective offices.
W
e are getting the class of 2019 together so please let me know if you need petition packets as we still have time to get them in and going. We will be announcing the degree date soon and getting the degree teams together so if you are interested in being a part let Sat or I know and we will get you involved.
A
lso please remember to RSVP for the dinners two days in advance so we can have an accurate account for the cook. Plus you can buy your 2019 yearly meal tickets online or when you come in. Just $100.00 takes care of you having to R.S.V.P. as you are always on the list, plus you save $35.00 doing it this way.
S
o we are always looking for new things for our members to get involved in. Do you have any great ideas? Let us know and we will see about starting new things. Its always great to see our valley embrace new things and grow. We have been bringing in great new members and would love to hear from you all. You may also want to think about becoming a Knight of St. Andrew or one of the many officers, so many ways to get involved and make this valley even better than we know it is now.
A
little update on the building. We are currently getting the new roof put on. They are in full speed up there and it should be done in short order. I believe I will have the plans in from the architect to share at the January stated so we look forward to seeing what can be done to take full advantage of our great building and grow into the future. Again your input as a member is so important as we want to have a building designed by its member to take us into the future for many years to come.
I
would like to wish everyone a Very Prosperous New Year. We are always here for you if you need. Remember the center is open during the week for you to stop in to say hello. If there is anything we can do to make your Scottish Rite journey more memorable just let us know. As we look to the future and build on what we have we are still a great place to be wether its to stop in to visit the library and check into the many books or hang out in the members lounge. While you are at it bring your lodge brothers and show them around so they can see what they are missing. Fraternally, Dan Southerland, 32° General Secretary
6 Seattle Scottish Rite
early lIFE SPEECH & LANGUAGE
Making a Difference Dear Donor, It’s a new year and I’m excited to reach out to you on behalf of Early Life Speech & Language! Because of you, I have been able to go to speech therapy and my family doesn’t the worry of having to pay for it. I’m grateful for my Speech Language Pathologist, Alice. She’s patient and kind and loves working with me to improve every week. Every dollar you donate goes to helping kids just like me. And every kid that is lucky enough to go to Early Life Speech & Language will have the chance to succeed in life without the worry of speech holding them back. Thank you for all you do, please know that I’m grateful for your support and so are all of my friends at Early Life Speech & Language! To make a donation, please visit our website at www.earlylifespeech. org. Sincerely, Grant 6-years-old
Seattle Scottish Rite 7
The Magic Flute By I. M. Oderberg The year 1991 marks the bicentenary of the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna on December 5, 1791. During the current year numerous tributes have been paid to his remarkable genius; here we shall focus upon his masterpiece and last completed composition, The Magic Flute. While his libretto has been derided until recently as "childish" and unworthy of the superb musical score, Goethe remarked that "More knowledge is required to understand the value of this libretto than to mock it!" (The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera: An Interpretation of the Libretto and the Music, by Jacques Chailley, a composer as well as an eminent professor of music, provides the well-researched material that does justice to both the music and libretto, illuminating the whole opera with his knowledge of the music of the latter part of the 18th century, and the currents of ideas circulating through the courts of Europe and among scholars). To shed light on Mozart’s intention we need to examine the opera against the background of Masonic ideas, symbols, and ritual connected with the process of initiation, a word much bruited abroad those days, and misunderstood then as it is in our own time. During the period of Mozart’s lifetime, Masonry was prominent in Viennese society. Mozart himself was eleven years of age when he composed a song set to a Masonic text for his physician, a Mason who, treating the boy for smallpox, had saved him from being pockmarked. When he was twelve, Mozart also composed Bastien and Bastienne, a small work still performed occasionally; its first performance was in the gardens of Dr. Anton Mesmer, whose theory of animal magnetism was libeled by Parisian medical opponents as "quackery." Dr. Mesmer is today best known for "mesmerism," quite often misrepresented as being the same as hypnosis. Many of Mozart’s early contacts were Masons, some of them close friends. Others were members of Illuminati circles flourishing at the time. In Paris, the Comte de Cagliostro — not a charlatan as certain vested interests to this day would have us believe — tried to purify the existing Masonic lodges in France, and finally set up his own "Egyptian Rite" which admitted women as well as men in a kind of "Adoption" adjunct. Some suggest that Mozart knew Cagliostro and that the name Sarastro, given by the composer to the High Priest of Isis and Osiris, was an allusion to Cagliostro. More generally, however, the name is thought to have been derived from that of Zoroaster or Zarathustra, a reformer of the ancient Persian religion. The story of The Magic Flute deals with the entry into a course of spiritual development by Prince Tamino, son of a king who evidently had some acquaintance with the training since he had spoken to Tamino rather often about Queen of the Night, leaving Tamino with “unbounded admiration” for her. That Tamino is attired in Japanese clothing already introduces an Oriental note. The beginning of the opera indicates the preparatory labor that Tamino and Pamina — the leading feminine character — must perform on the threshold of their initiation. As for Papageno, a Birdcatcher, standing for average humanity, and his later companion Papagena, they undergo corresponding mini-trials, “but in a tone of comedy.”
8 Seattle Scottish Rite
The action opens in a wild, mountainous place where Tamino is pursued by a serpent. He loses consciousness, a symbolic death, a " rehearsal" of the final initiation, itself the conscious experience of what actually occurs unconsciously to us during the death process. This was an open hint of what was understood to have anciently taken place in the Greater Mysteries during initiation. The candidate who was successful "returned" to self-consciousness aware of all that had happened, and from then onward could speak — if he would — of the experience with the "authority" of direct knowledge. Only those candidates capable of coping with the enormous stress involved as the soul is freed from the entranced body, and can endure being aware of what takes place after a normal death, were allowed to even attempt the trials. Tamino’s encounter with the serpent is resolved by three veiled ladies — Messengers of Queen of the Night who symbolizes "Nature still virgin and uncultivated" — who kill the monster. Papageno enters and takes credit for saving the prince, only to be punished by the Messengers. His mouth is padlocked to prevent him from chattering (his name aptly means a parrot). Shown a portrait of Pamina, the Queen’s daughter who has been kidnapped, Tamino promises to free her. The Messengers give him a magic flute, and Papageno a set of magic bells. (Some have translated the word zauber to mean "enchanted," but it is the flute that creates "magic" in the sense of enchantment. This fits in with Wieland’s view that its purpose was "to smooth out the difficulties of the mission." Possibly there is an esoteric meaning which obviously would not be defined. Similarly with Papageno’s "bells" which in the score are called stromento d'acciajo [or steel instrument]. Perhaps it was intended to cause amusement, as a sort of counterpoint to the magic flute [pp. 123-5].) Later, the prince, guided by three boys, comes to three temples marked Temple of Wisdom, Temple of Reason, and Temple of Nature. Tamino learns that Sarastro is not the malevolent being he had been told of. He finds Papageno, who is with Pamina. Monostatos, an evil Moor who covets Pamina, chases them, but Papageno’s magic bells force him to flee. Sarastro then enters with his retinue. He punishes the Moor for his misdeeds and, after having seen Tamino and Pamina united, separates them so that they each can triumph over their trials. Tamino and Papageno are led to the crypts of the temple, where they are subjected to various temptations that they must overcome in silence. Tamino obeys, but Papageno finds it almost impossible to remain silent. Meanwhile, Queen of the Night gives Pamina a dagger with which to kill Sarastro. Monostatos tries to seduce Pamina and snatches the dagger, threatening her with it. But Sarastro appears and drives him off. Pamina overcomes her despair and sets off to join Tamino. As Papageno remains attached to worldly pleasures, Sarastro gives him a companion of his own kind: Papagena. Finally, in the temple crypts, Tamino, accompanied by Pamina, passes through the trial of Fire and Water*: he is worthy to win his beloved. The powers of Night are vanquished. *Reminiscent of the biblical reference to baptism by water and by fire, the latter standing for the full awakening of Mind. What does it all mean? What is the main theme of the opera? Surely, it refers to the transmutation of character from raw material to enlightenment, the process of our maturation into full humanhood. Tamino has had to pass through various trials including the preliminary testing of his courage, humane qualities, and intuition. At that point his motives in seeking initiation are examined. Finally, achieving his goal, he is united with Pamina who, having passed through her own testing, also has attained enlightenment. On one level, these characters represent various aspects of human nature playing out a drama that takes place within each of us. We should now look at what some symbols mean in the context of the opera: for instance, Ingmar Bergman’s film version included compasses among the stage decor. The compass is the now well-known symbol of the Masonic “Grand Architect” of the Universe, usually interpreted as God, a personalized image for the great creative intelligences rendered in the Qabbalistic view of Genesis by the plural word Elohim.
Seattle Scottish Rite 9
The serpent in pursuit of Tamino is none other than the biblical serpent who tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, in order to acquire self-consciousness and thereby the awesome capacity to choose their (our) own course of thinking, speaking, and acting: our own course of living. In their study of Mozart, Jean and Brigitte Massin wrote: A young, idle aristocrat is out hunting and finds himself disarmed by the sudden irruption of his blindest vital instinct (the symbolism of the serpent did not wait for Jung, but was established in that sense in all hieroglyphic traditions). The first awakening is of love. To the cries of alarm that he had emitted when alone and face to face with himself, the answer is the call to emerge from himself . . . — Cited in Chailley, p. 119. This may serve modern psychological theory, but it is inadequate from a theosophical perspective, which suggests that The Magic Flute and other works arising out of man’s higher nature, introduce us into the mysteries of the cosmos and ourselves as integral parts of it. Sarastro, in this context, as High Priest and Grand Hierophant, is the initiator and revealer of the Mysteries which had a meaning in the old days far different from that held by some today. The Hierophant was the chief interpreter of the sacred knowledge. The solemnity of the initiation scene in the pyramid is evident, especially to those who seek to enter the spirit of it. The impact of the final scene is profound when the "wedding" of Tamino and Pamina is seen as a consummation indeed, the union of the higher and lower selves in each human being. The effect upon us is due on the one hand to the sublime music, and on the other to Mozart’s interpretation of the libretto — for he not only tried to penetrate into its essence, but also edited Schikaneder’s text (as others have done since the first performance so that the question sometimes is asked: "Which libretto?"). In other words, the moving effect of the opera as a whole is due to the magical blend of rich, philosophic ideas and Mozart’s music. To single out one or two symbols in the opera: the flute is "magic in the sense it creates magic." Pamina reveals its origin later in the opera: it did not come from Queen of the Night but from her consort, the former Grand Hierophant — a "Priest-King" reminiscent of Hermes Trismegistos — predecessor of Sarastro. The opera’s main characters are associated with the Sun and Moon and the four Elements of antiquity: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. These are the subtle essences of the elements out of which our physical world and cosmos were formed — not to be confused with the common elements with which we are familiar. We can picture Tamino and Papageno on a vertical line descending from Sarastro/Sun, while Pamina and Monostatos are descended from the Queen of the Night/Moon. In a horizontal alignment Fire (Tamino) warms Water (Pamina) out of its frozen state; while Air (Papageno) lightens the heavy aspect of Earth (Monostatos). An intimate relationship or kind of dialogue between each person and the opera is needed to probe into the meanings of its symbols and even of the stage decor. That is when the real magic of understanding emerges within oneself: born in the heart, in the center of one’s being. The result will vary with each individual, with the meaning unfolding more and more deeply each time such communion is established.
10 S e a t t l e S c o t t i s h R i t e
Messages Happy Birthday!
Congratulations from all your Scottish Rite Brethren To our members over 90 who have reached a very important birthday!
January
February
Roy Brown 1-14-1921
Brian Kirkpatrick 2-28-1925
Edward Hauff 1-23-1924
Donald McKenzie 2-11-1929
Rudy Coffing 1-29-1924
Cecil Sundbeck 2-18-1929
William Ellzey 1-08-1925 Gordon Mc Carrell 1-19-1926 William Dodd 1-26-1929
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S e a t t l e S c o t t i s h R i t e 11
www.seattle-scottishrite.org
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EVENT
January 5, 9:00 AM: Excom Meeting January 15, 7:30 PM: Stated Meeting with Dinner at 6:30 February 2, 9:00 AM: Excom Meeting February 19, 7:30PM: Stated Meeting with Dinner at 6:30 * All events subject to change.
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