Volume 64, No. 02
March - April 2017
Six Themes of Scottish Rite
Beer Fest
ELS&L
Dinner Sale
pg 5
pg 6
pg 11
2 Seattle Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite Communicator
Scottish 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 Dan Southerland, 32° General Secretary Communicator Editor secretary@seattle-scottishrite.org Ill. Brian Thomas, 33° Treasurer
Did you know? The name of the Supreme Council reveals history, tradition, and accomplishment. The official, full name of this Supreme Council is: “The Supreme Council (Mother Council of the World) of the Inspectors General Knights Commanders of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the Thirty-third degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America.” The name “House of the Temple” is traditionally associated to the word
Tom Lamb, 32° KCCH Almoner
Heredom, a significant word in high degree freemasonry, a derivation of
PRESIDING OFFICERS
thus referring to the Temple of Solomon, which is central to Masonic
Richard Brzustowicz 32° KCCH Master of Kadosh, Consistory Jud Chapin, 32° KCCH Commander, Council of Kadosh Jack Stewart, 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.
which, suggests the Greek words hieros-domos, meaning “Holy House”, ritual and symbolism. The House of the Temple is home to several unique museums, exhibits and collections. It has been accessible to the public for tours since 1915, when the building first opened its doors. The building’s design was widely praised by contemporary architects, and it won John Russell Pope the Gold Medal of the Architectural League of New York in 1917. Fiske Kimball’s 1928 book American Architecture describes it as “an example of the triumph of classical form in America”. In the 1920s, a panel of architects named it “one of the three best public buildings” in the United States, along with the Nebraska State Capitol and the PanAmerican Union headquarters building in Washington, D.C. In 1932, it was ranked as one of the ten top buildings in the country in a poll of federal government architects. The House of the Temple is designated as a contributing property to the Sixteenth Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Seattle Scottish Rite 3
News from the Personal Representative O
ur recent cold spell reminds us that winter is reluctant to pass, yet the days are slowly getting longer, and spring is around the corner. The office staff extend our best wishes to all members and their families of the Seattle Valley for a prosperous and healthy new year. Dan Southerland has been appointed by the SGIG, Al Jorgensen, to be our new General Secretary, and he is rapidly becoming adjusted to the broad responsibilities of this very important position in our Valley.
With a heavy heart we report upon the passing of one of our senior members and a Past Grand Master, MW Richard Mecartea, in late mid-January. The January meeting was our annual installation of officers. Prior to installation a new election was held for the 2017 officers of the Lodge of Perfection, since our new secretary, Brother Southerland, had been elected in November to be the incoming Venerable Master. In accordance with the bylaws a General Secretary cannot be a body officer. The officers elected at the meeting were Brother Robert Guild as Venerable Master, Joe Marll as Senior Warden and Ron Swasey as Junior Warden. I was very pleased have four Illustrious brothers join me in the installation. They included Mark Conlee, 33o, Greg Goodrich, 33o, Brian Thomas, 33o, and Jeff Craig, 33o. They all did an excellent job. We were also honored to present to Brother Garold Prouty his blue cap for his 50 years in the Scottish Rite. He was capped, presented his certificate and made some brief comments. Two petitions were read and approved for the Class of 2017. The speaker at our February meeting was Brother Kyle Grafstrom, 32o, on historical perspective of Masonry in the West. We also balloted upon another petition for the Class of 2017. I want to also reiterate and acknowledge the participation of recent affiliates and our recent black hats in our Seattle Valley, in our many activities this past year. It is encouraging for all of us. The number of black hats participating is the largest in many years, and many had received their 32o in the past two-three years. The enthusiasm continues. My appreciation go out to the members of the Financial Committee for the Seattle Valley, who have provided a needed insight into our investments, and which will provide the basis for bid get decisions assuring our continued growth. Their financial acumen will assure our financial stability into the future. MEMBERSHIP, MEMBERSHIP, MEMBERSHIP. The number generated by our General Secretary regarding the membership and their ages indicate the continuing need to gain more members for our Valley to offset the losses from age. We need to grow our classes in the coming years. The Venerable Master, and the membership committee are planning on some events to invite those Master Masons who are not yet members of the Scottish Rite. The General Secretary has membership packets to give to interested Master Masons. OUTLYING CLUBS. The meetings of our two new clubs, one in the South-end of King County meeting at Verity Lodge, and the other in the Eastside meeting at Issaquah Masonic Center are continuing and gaining momentum. e urge all Scottish Rite members, who wish to maintain contact on happenings within the Seattle Valley and are difficult-travel-miles from our Shoreline building, to attend one of the clubs in your area. Join these clubs. Information on the meeting dates and times should be obtained by contacting the office or the club contacts. Please contact Joseph Marl of the Southend Scottish Rite Club at josephmarll@gmail.com, or Brian Thomas of the Eastside Scottish Rite Club at 425-213-3464. SAT TASHIRO 33°
Personal Representative of S:.G:.I:.G
4 Seattle Scottish Rite
I
would like to start my first Communicator by letting you all know a little about me. I have been a scottish rite mason since the class of 2014, hmm not very long and know I have huge shoes to fill. I so love this valley and the brothers in it. So when I was offered the position of your general secretary it was a dream come true. I come from a property management background with finance thrown in for good measure. I am a past master of Ashler #121, and also busy in York Rite. I am also an AG with Bethel #77 Jobs Daughters. Huge thank you’s go to Greg Goodrich for his continued support and guidance, to Sat Tashiro for all he does for me and our Valley. Also to the Ill Al Jorgensen for giving me this opportunity to serve. Thank you all! I believe I have found a great home here at the Seattle Valley and look forward to serving you all to the best of my ability. We have many things going on here at the valley as most of you know. The new class for the degrees will be starting March 25th with the 4th and 14th degrees being conferred. We look forward to seeing you al there and either helping in the degrees if you like or helping by being here to support the new brothers. At our March stated meeting we will have our Remembrance and Renewal Ceremony that will be done by the Council of Kadosh. The April stated meeting we will host Angelique Leone of the Early Life Speech & Language Center to talk about how they are doing and what is new. With them in mind put April 8th on your calenders to attend their annual beer fest. This is their biggest fund raiser and need all of our support. Even though our classes have started for this years degrees that will not let us slow down in growing our valley. We are always looking to grow and so if you know brothers who are looking to further their knowledge in our great fraternity invite them to dinner or bring them to see one of our speakers. We will be hosting the MWGM Jim Mendoza in May at our Feast of Kadosh, what a perfect time for an invite! We also have our annual Celebration of the Craft coming up on May 20th. There are several things we as a valley could do on this day. We could have a viewing party or host a phone bank to name a couple. If any of you have any great ideas of what you would like to see or participate in please contact me as I look forward to hearing your great ideas. Fraternally, Dan Southerland, 32° General Secretary
Seattle Scottish Rite 5
FT CRA RS BEE
LIVE. D.J
NT SILE ION T C AU
Y TAST D O O F
SATURDAY APRIL 8, 2017 NOON
to 5:00p.m.
seattle scottish rite
masonic center 1207 N. 152nd St. Shoreline, WA
tickets available at brownpapertickets.com $ $ #2558835 door advanced
30
35
6 Seattle Scottish Rite
HELPING KIDS SPEAK Join the thousands of drivers sporting Masonic license plates. You are invited to support your Masonic affiliation and the Scottish Rite Masons’ ongoing charitable commitment to providing speech therapy for children at Early Life Speech & Language with specialized “Helping Kids Speak” license plates. Visit our website: http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/sphks.html to purchase your plate. You must be a washington state vehicle owner and a Mason. You can even go wild and personalize the plate. Prices start at $55.00 and $28.00 of each purchase goes to Early Life Speech & Language, formerly Rite Care of Washington. Your support helps fund the therapy that our kids receive. The children and their families benefit from this as we provide parenting classes and speech therapy for the kids at no cost to the families.
Seattle Scottish Rite 7
THE SIX MAJOR THEMES OF THE SCOTISH RITE
W
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. In 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. 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.
8 Seattle Scottish Rite
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:
A
The Perfect Elu Tradition
O
Royal Arch, or Sacred Vault Tradition
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.
ne 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. .
ROSE CROIX TRADITION
Among the easiest of emblems to interpret, the rose and cross is one of the great combinationymbols of Freemasonry, second perhaps only to the square and compasses. To the Christian Mason, the cross refers to Jesus Christ. But in a broader sense, it symbolizes self-sacrifice for the sake and redemption of mankind. The rose, being among the most beautiful of flowers, symbolizes perfection, and represents hope in a new awakening, renewal, a resurrection of life. The two together (Rose Croix) symbolize faith and hope in immortality won through sorrow and sacrifice. The Rose Croix Tradition informs us that the world is what it is, and we should focus on how to deal with it so that good and the law of love may prevail. This requires a constant fight within our self, and in society. Faith in God and mankind is Wisdom; hope in the victory of good over evil gives Strength, and charity towards all living creatures through respect of life, tolerance and selflessness is Beauty.
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.
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!
March
April
Eugene Adamson 3/5/1926 Elroy Conant 3/7/1925 Richard Upchurch 3/8/1926 William Mattson 3/9/1920 Herbert Bridge 3/12/1925 Myron Maxwell 3/12/1927 George Artim 3/13/1923 Ralph Hansell 3/21/1922 James Toner 3/21/1925 Robert Bean 3/22/1927 Fred Maxam 3/23/1918 Roy Cox 3/24/1926 Jim Stephens 3/25/1921 Robert Marks 3/26/1927 James Tuggle 3/29/1927
William Johnson 4/6/1924 Edgar King 4/8/1922 Richard Bowser 4/13/1926 Earl Bothell 4/13/1927 Edward Hyde 4/18/1921 William Byers 4/24/1925 Hardy Day 4/27/1923 Raymond Lundy 4/28/1927
Join The beer stein club Order your beer stein today with your name on it and show your Scottish Rite pride. Only $45.00
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
www.seattle-scottishrite.org
TIME
EVENT
Saturday March. 25th
09:00 am
ExCo Meetings (Library)
Tuesday March 21st
6:30 pm
Stated Meeting (Renewal & Remembrance)
Saturday April 1st
09:00 am
ExCo Meetings (Library)
Tuesday April 18th
6:30 pm
Stated Meeting
March
April
* All events subject to change.
DINNER SALE! There is still time to get a great deal on yearly dinner tickets. Buy now for the great price of $70.00 . You still save $20.00
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Scottish Rite of Freemasonry 1207 N 152nd St. Shoreline, WA 98133-6247
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