The Journal of The Masonic Society, Issue #29

V RE W IE

The Journal

Summer 2015

E! SU IS

Of The Masonic Society

Issue 29

Summer 2015 THE JOURNAL

Issue 29

REVIEW ISSUE FEATURES

OF THE

MASONIC SOCIETY WWW.THEMASONICSOCIETY.COM

ISSN 2155-4145

Executive Editor Michael Halleran editor@themasonicsociety.com

1427 W. 86th Street, Suite 248 Indianapolis IN 46260-2103 Editorial Committee Kenneth W. Davis - Review Editor Queries concerning prospective articles should be sent to: paper-submissions@themasonicsociety.com Design & layout John A. Bridegroom, FMS - Art Director Advertising Jay Hochberg, FMS - Advertising Director ads@themasonicsociety.com

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THE PROBLEMS WITH MORALS and DOGMA An Unabashed Literary Book Review

By Giovanni A. Villegas, MMS

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Subtle Masonic Manliness Product Reviews

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In Search of the Genuine Æthelstan

By Patrick C. Carr

Officers James R. Dillman, President Clayton J. Borne III, 1st Vice President Patrick C. Craddock, 2nd Vice president Nathan C. Brindle, Secretary/Treasurer Christopher L. Hodapp, Editor Emeritus Directors Kenneth W. Davis José O. Díaz Andrew Hammer Aaron Shoemaker Gregg Hall Gregory J. Knott Gord Vokes

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Journal Name. Year; Issue:pp-pp. © the Journal of The Masonic Society.”

Apart from Author’s use, no material appearing in the Journal of The Masonic Society may be reprinted or electronically distributed without the written permission of the Editor.

Published quarterly by The Masonic Society Inc. 1427 W. 86th Street, Suite 248, Indianapolis IN 46260-2103.

Full membership for Master Masons in good standing of a lodge chartered by a grand lodge that is a member of the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons of North America (CGMMNA), or recognized by a CGMMNA member grand lodge. (includes Prince Hall Grand Lodges recognized by their counterpart CGMMNA state Grand Lodge): $39/ yr., ($49 outside US/Canada). Subscription for nonmembers: $39/yr., ($49 outside US/Canada).

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SECTIONS 4 President’s Message 5 News of the Society 8 Conferences, Speeches, Symposia & Gatherings 9 From the Editor 24 Masonic Collectibles 36 26 Thoughts on the Craft 28 Book Reviews THE COVER: The cover shows the interior of Lightcliffe Lodge 3332, Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK. Chartered by the UGLE in 1908, the lodge is well known for its impressive décor, rich in Masonic symbolism. William Wynn Wescott (1848 – 1925), the co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, was a member and the lodge hosted lectures from notable Masons of the early twentieth century including esoteric scholar Arthur Waite (1857 – 1942) and physician and occultist Dr. Bogdan Edwards (1860- 1923). For more information on Lightciliffe Lodge visit the lodge website at http://www.lightcliffelodge.com .

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Uncovering Freemasonry’s History

by James Dillman, FMS

I

’ve been a frustrated writer for most of my adult life. I’ve made at least as many stabs at writing The Great American Novel as I have fingers and toes. I think I might have made it as far as chapter two a couple of times. The only positive thing I can truly say about my attempts to enter into the realms of Hemingway, Dickens, and Steinbeck is that word processing no longer forces me to waste paper and ink.

I’ve really never seen myself as a writer of novels, a very astute observation since, as previously noted, I’ve never written one. I was in my early twenties when I read my first few Mike Royko columns in the Chicago Tribune several decades ago, I was immediately enamored.

Royko had the best job any writer could possibly have. He could write about anything that popped into his mind, say, within reason, anything he wanted to say, and he only had to write about 750 words on the topic. I could only dream about having an open forum such as that.

My dream came at least partially true in February, 2014 when I was elected President of The Masonic Society. I had my own column, in a magazine no less. I could write up to 1000 words or so. My topic was only limited to some aspect of Freemasonry, which most of the last fifteen of years of my life had been devoted to. I had about three months between columns, plenty of time to choose a topic, to carefully contemplate what I would say, and to turn my thoughts into elegant prose. Yeah, right.

I am now hammering out the fifth iteration of this column. The other four are deservedly floating about in the netherworld, never to be laid eyes upon. I’m twelve days past deadline and I’m certain that my poor editor, Bro. Halleran, is tired of my excuses and is scavenging for needles to plunge into my Voodoo doll at this very moment. If you’re asking if there is a Masonic angle to any of this, the answer is yes, there is.

Is there really anything left to be said about Freemasonry, at least from an editorial perspective, that hasn’t already been said and discussed ad nauseam somewhere else? Obviously, at the moment, nothing comes to mind. I have now invested somewhere in the neighborhood of six or seven hours trying to come up with something to fill this space.

A mere one floor above where I sit in this office, in the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana, are a few thousand volumes of Masonic books.

Instead of trying to find some way to rehash a tired old argument or deliver some sort of rah-rah message, those six or seven hours would have been much better spent researching some aspect of Masonic history, philosophy, or symbolism that seldom, if ever, sees the light of day. It would have been easy to do an hour or two of research, take an hour to organize the notes, and another hour or two, at most, to craft a short research paper.

Now that I’ve called myself out, I’m going to challenge each of you to take a day, a week, or a month off from social media or your time-waster of choice and devote the time you would have spent to some sort of Masonic research. Go back and read the minutes of your lodge from fifty or one hundred years ago. Dig into one of those Masonic books on

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your shelf. Peruse your local lodge library or visit a municipal, university, or grand lodge library. Dig through some of those old boxes lying around in your lodge.

If you’re a true student of Freemasonry, which I believe most of our members are, it won’t take long to find something that will pique your curiosity. Look for additional sources. Take some notes. Draw some conclusions. Put it all on paper making sure to list your sources and give credit when you use someone else’s words. If this isn’t exactly your cup of tea, work on it with another brother or two.

Present your work to your worshipful master, lodge education officer, or the editor of your grand lodge publication. If you think it’s a topic of broad interest, submit it to TMS for publication in this journal. We are always looking for fresh material.

The number of Freemasons conducting actual research is small when you consider that there are six million of us around the world. When I stop to think about it, I’d be hard-pressed to come up with a dozen names. I’m certain there are a lot more people out there doing some very good work that I’m not acquainted with, but that doesn’t refute the point. A lot of valuable information will remain undiscovered simply because no one bothered to look for it.

You never know when you might break some new ground. I’ve made it a point, when I’ve had the opportunity, to ask some of our most prominent Masonic researchers how much important Masonic history lies hidden on the bookshelves and closets of America. They are universal in their response. There is a lot of it. Some history will only be of interest on a local or state level. That is no reason not to pursue it, but don’t bet the house that there isn’t something of national or world significance collecting dust in your lodge archives. Be curious. You’ll only find out if you look.

I look back at the hours upon hours spent discussing, and frequently arguing about, the most frivolous of Masonic topics- how we should wear our ring, how we should dress, what we should eat, one-day classes, proficiency, and on and on and on. You name it. How many minds did I change? Very few, if any. What might I have discovered if I had devoted even a small percentage of that time to research?

Perhaps nothing, but I’d have learned a lot. I might have imparted some knowledge to a few brethren as a result of my work. I might even have gained a better understanding of the use of the twenty-four-inch gauge, which teaches us to make valuable use of our time.

In a lunch with Brent Morris a few months ago, he related to me how he’d been doing some research in the Johns Hopkins library and came across an item tangential to what he was working on. A Google search of two words started him on a path to another research project that will yield some very interesting results. That’s how easy it can be. Consider taking an active role, even if it’s a small one, in uncovering a part of Freemasonry’s rich history. You never know where it might lead.

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News of the Society GEORGE WASHINGTON MASONIC MEMORIAL A LANDMARK The National Park Service announced August 4 (the anniversary of George Washington’s Master Mason Degree) it had conferred national historic landmark status on the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. Situated where Thomas Jefferson originally had envisioned the placement of the U.S. Capitol, the memorial was built between 1922 and 1970, funded entirely by Masons throughout the United States. A Park Service spokeswoman said the memorial was chosen “to connect people with the history in their own backyard.”

(Source: washingtonpost.com)

A CALIFORNIA COMEBACK, THANKS TO MILLENNIALS Young men seeking admittance to Masonic lodges in Ocean County, California are credited with reviving the fraternity in a cover story published in July in local media. “Local chapters have seen an upswing in membership over the past couple of years, nearly all young men interested in belonging to a greater cause,” reports OC Weekly. “Older Masons are delighted by this development.” The younger Masons are praised for assuming leadership responsibilities that middle aged Masons with family commitments are unable to task with priority.

(Source: ocweekly.com) NEW JERSEY MASONS CONFRONT THE PARANORMAL The brethren of Bridgeton Lodge in New Jersey invited Jersey Unique Minds Paranormal Society to visit the lodge and seek evidence of paranormal activity in the building this summer. The structure, dating to 1797, is thought by brethren there to be a place where spirits dwell. The news story says the investigators, employing electronic equipment, detected energy believed to be signs of paranormal presence, and one team member thought he had been touched by an unseen hand.

(Source: nj.com) KANSAS MASONIC HOME COMPLETES RENOVATIONS

AUBURN TEMPLE ALSO ON NATIONAL REGISTER The Masonic Temple in Auburn, Washington also was added to the National Register of Historic Places in August. The state’s Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation says the building is significant because of its direct connections to social history in the city. Built in 1924, the two-story building is the only fraternal hall in that city that is still in its original use.

(Source: auburn-reporter.com) 100 YEARS OF SEQUIM FREEMASONRY Also in Washington, Sequim Lodge No. 213 celebrates its centennial year with an exhibit of artifacts and memorabilia at Sequim Museum and Arts Center, and with a book, Freemasons in the SequimDungeness Area: 1915-2015, by John Majors. The two projects began as a PowerPoint presentation, but Past Master Majors pursued the facts and compiled a history of the community and its Masonic lodge.

(Source: sequimgazette.com)

The Kansas Masonic Home in Wichita announced the completion of its long anticipated construction and renovation project in August. The home now accommodates 201 residents in newly designed buildings that resemble houses, which reflects the goal of avoiding an institutional facility look.

(Source: kansas.com) CAPE COD MASONS REVEAL SECRET DANCE MOVES Brethren of Massachusetts’s Twentieth Masonic District have posted a video to YouTube of their various attempts at dancing. Using the Pharrell Williams song “Happy” as its soundtrack, the video is a montage of Masons in and out of lodge joyfully gyrating and flailing as if no one was watching. Search “Happy Freemasons” on the social media site.

(Source: capecodtoday.com)

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News of the Society ith great pride and appreciation, The Masonic Society welcomes the following brethren as our esteemed new members.

Anastasios Agelonias Wayne Douglas Anderson Edward R Baker Alexander P Boras Stanley Bradford Bowen David Bowers Dr. Robert H Brown Dr. Samuel Carranza Christopher L Clouse Rick Coles Denny Eddie Cottrell Jr. Luis M Cubero James Travis Davidson John William Dayton

Michael E Dixon Alan P Druckman Rodney J. Epperson Daniel D French Joseph M Ghiglieri Michael D. Gillard John Paul Gomez Donald L. Harkrader Doug Johnson Allen Peter Jolly III Terrell A Jones Richard Jay Jordan Fouad Kashouty Matt Kendall

‘ZIONIST FREEMASONS’ TO BLAME FOR TERRORISM, SAYS SAUDI In a Local Viewpoint guest-written column in Saudi Gazette, one Abdullah Al-Nasser of Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, explains his theory of terrorist origins. “When the Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State) appeared on the scene suddenly in an unprecedented manner in terms of strength, numbers, financial resources and military preparedness, it spread in Arab countries like fire, becoming a source of terror,” he writes. “It is a ‘tree of evil’ planted by evil hands to tear the region apart into small cantons fighting one another. This is a scheme hatched by the Zionist Freemasons. No doubt, Daesh is a Freemason organization.”

(Source: saudigazette.com.sa)

CLEVELAND MASONIC AUDITORIUM FOR SALE The Scottish Rite brethren in Cleveland, Ohio have listed the historic Cleveland Masonic Auditorium for sale. The 97-year-old local landmark, with 2,200 seats, is renowned for its excellent acoustics.

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James Martin King Steve Kruszka Jeffrey T Lank Clarke Lewis Ian M McHugh Andrew W. Morrison James Overfelt Jason M Pachomski Casey Palowitch Samuel LaRue Parker Sr. Leon Lamont Pettaway Jr Michael Pettinato William James Plunkett Michael Richard Ponte

Mark J Robson Nelson Jay Rose Jason W Short James E. Smith Colby J South Joseph E Sutton III Joseph Austin Terry Charles Hughes Tirrell Jay David Walker Kurt Victor Walleser John William Wilder Warren R. Young

Alan Jones, speaking for the Scottish Rite, said the fraternity spends $400,000 annually to maintain the facility, and endowed funds will be exhausted soon. (Source: cleveland.com) NORTH CAROLINA MASONIC CENTER UNDERWAY Four Craft lodges and the local Scottish Rite and York Rite bodies are one step closer to having their own meeting space again, as construction continues in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on a Masonic center. Cliff Pranke told the Winston-Salem Journal that the previous Masonic temple had cost too much to maintain. It was sold to a retail company. The new building is expected to be completed by the end of January 2016.

(Source: journalnow.com)

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Renew your membership now online at www.themasonicsociety.com

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Conferences, Speeches, Symposia & Gatherings October 3, 2015 Civil War Lodge of Research No. 1865 will meet Henry Lodge No. 57 in Virginia to hear Mr. William Connery, author and lecturer, speak on Civil War events in northern Virginia. Also planned is a tour of Fairfax City. Open to all Master Masons. http://bessel.org/cwlr October 10, 2015 Western New York Lodge of Research will meet at 10 a.m. at the Cheektowaga Masonic Center, located at 97 Lucid Drive in Cheektowaga, New York. Progress TBA. October 17, 2015 New Mexico Lodge of Research will meet.

Location and progress TBA. nmlodgeofresearch.org October 17, 2015 Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge to convene at the Masonic Cultural Center in Elizabethtown. Professor Kenneth Loiselle, author of Brotherly Love: Freemasonry and Male Friendship in Enlightenment France, to speak. Progress TBA. www.pagrandlodge.org/programs/academy October 21, 2015 Southern California Research Lodge will meet at 7 p.m. Progress and location TBA. www.theresearchlodge.org October 28, 2015 Masonic Lodge of Research in Connecticut will meet. Progress and location TBA. www.masoniclodgeresearch.org November 3, 2015 Golden Compasses Research Lodge to meet at 7 p.m. at 1000 Duchow Way in Folsom, California. Progress TBA. November 14, 2015 Western New York Lodge of Research will meet at 10 a.m. as a discussion group at the Masonic Service Bureau, located at 121 South Long Street in Williamsville, New York. Progress TBA. November 17, 2015 Northern California Research Lodge to meet at 7 p.m. at the Valley of San Francisco.

Election of Officers.

November 18-21, 2015 XIV World Conference of Regular Masonic Grand Lodges to convene at California Masonic Memorial Temple in San Francisco. http://www.wcrmgl.com November 21, 2015 David A. McWilliams, Sr. Research and Education Lodge in Washington, DC will meet. Progress and location TBA. mwphgldc.org December 2015 Arizona Research Lodge No. 1 will meet.

Progress and location TBA. Southern Arizona Research Lodge No. 2 will meet. Progress and location TBA. December 12, 2015 New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786 to meet at 10 a.m. at Hightstown-Apollo Lodge in Hightstown, New Jersey.

December 12, 2015 Tennessee Lodge of Research will meet at noon for its elections of officers at Hartsville Lodge No. 113 in Hartsville, Tennessee.

December 18, 2015 Scientia Coronati Research Lodge No. 4 will meet. Progress and location TBA. www.scientiacoronati.org December 18, 2015 Western New York Lodge of Research will meet at 10 a.m. as a discussion group at the Masonic Service Bureau, located at 121 South Long Street in Williamsville, New York. Progress TBA. December 23, 2015 Masonic Lodge of Research in Connecticut will meet. Progress and location TBA. www.masoniclodgeresearch.org January 16, 2016 Texas Lodge of Research will meet in San Antonio, Texas. Location and progress TBA. texaslodgeofresearch.org January 20, 2016 Southern California Research Lodge will meet at 7 p.m. Progress and location TBA. www.theresearchlodge.org

February 10-14, 2016 Masonic Week: The annual meetings of The Masonic Society, Grand Council of AMD, Grand College of Rites, Grand Council of Knight Masons, et al., to convene at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport in Virginia. www.yorkrite.com/MasonicWeek February 13, 2016 Western New York Lodge of Research No. 9007 to meet at the Cheektowaga Masonic Center (97 Lucid Dr. in Cheektowaga, New York) at 10 a.m. Progress TBA. wnylodgeofresearch.us February 21, 2016 George Washington Masonic Stamp Club will hold its annual meeting and related festivities at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia beginning at 1 p.m. gwmsc.tripod.com/index.html February 20-23, 2016 Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America to convene at Madison, Wisconsin. http://www.cgmna.org/ March 12, 2016 New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786 to meet at 10 a.m. at Hightstown-Apollo Lodge in Hightstown, New Jersey.

March 31-April 3, 2016 North American Masonic Academic Convocation, sponsored by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and hosted by Boston University Lodge, will feature lectures, discussions, social activities, and more. www.bulodge.org April 5-9 2016 Phylaxis Society Convention at Chicago, Illinois. Progress TBA. www.thephylaxis.org/ phylaxis/conv_2016.php May 2016 Conference of Grand Masters of Prince Hall Masons to meet in New Jersey. Progress TBA. http://www. conferenceofgrandmasterspha.org

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FROM THE EDITOR

A Review of Reviews

by Michael Halleran, Editor In 2013, the Journal ran its first product reviews, featuring Masonic regalia, jewelry, and apparel from Masonic vendors. Since then, we’ve received periodic calls to run another review edition, and I am pleased to have had a hand in producing this, our latest review issue.

Last time, we included reviews simply as another story in the magazine, running them together with feature articles about the fraternal experience. This time, we opted to include more reviews of all types. Thus you will find included here our traditional review of Masonic gear, as well as an expanded edition of our book review section, painstakingly compiled by our review editor Ken Davis, with a dozen books, both new and old, evaluated by our reviewers.

In addition, we have also expanded our review theme to include feature articles and columns in this issue. Arkansas’ Grand Senior Warden

T

IN OTHER NEWS As I write this, the XIV World Conference of Regular Masonic Grand Lodges is fast approaching. Eighty-eight grand lodges are slated to attend, forming the largest international gathering of the Craft when they convene in San Francisco on November 18-21. Similar to the Conference of Grand Masters of North America, which meets annually, the World Conference meets every year and a half, bringing grand lodge officers together to discuss Freemasonry. And while the North American conference is a fantastic event, the World Conference promises to be that and more, literally bringing Masons together from every corner of the globe.

A look at the guest list discloses sitting grand masters, past grand masters, and past and present grand lodge officers coming from ports of call as diverse as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Gabon, Germany, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mexico, Rumania, Togo, Tahiti, Serbia, Switzerland, not to mention many American and Canadian jurisdictions.

Facilitated by the Grand Lodge of California, the host for this session, the conference returns to the United States for the first time since 2008

his time, we opted to include more reviews of all types. Thus you will find included here our traditional review of Masonic gear, as well as an expanded edition of our book review section.

Patrick Carr gives us a review of the legend (and scholarship) of King Æthelstan and contributing writer Giovanni Villegas provides a feature reviewing Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma.

To round out the theme, our columnist Stephen J. Ponzillo reviews lodge dues in his regular contribution Thoughts on the Craft, and contributing columnist Yasha Beresiner reviews the great Masonic artist William Hogarth in Masonic Collectibles, all carefully laid out by our layout editor John Bridegroom.

And if those articles weren’t enough opinions for one issue, we have also included an excerpt from the January 1922 edition of The Builder offering a review (of sorts) on Masonic ciphers in our Voices from the Past section.

On behalf of the directors, officers and staff of the Journal, we hope you find these offerings pleasant reading and useful guides not only to the Masonic marketplace, but the study of the Craft in general.

offering a unique opportunity for North American grand lodges to attend without inconvenient travel.

This year’s topics include presentations on technology and the fraternity, membership standards in the twenty-first century, tolerance in contemporary Freemasonry, the history and legacy of liberty inherent in Freemasonry, Masonic charity, and the relationship of Craft Masonry with concordant and appendant bodies. In addition to the informative topics and presentations, the conference provides leaders of the fraternity with the opportunity to network and share ideas – something that the fraternity can never get enough of.

For more information about the XIV World Conference visit http:// www.wcrmgl.com .

ABOUT THE EDITOR Michael A. Halleran is the immediate past grand master of the Grand Lodge of Kansas A.F.& A.M.

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REVIEW

THE PROBLEMS WITH MORALS and DOGMA An Unabashed Literary Book Review

By Giovanni A. Villegas, MMS Morals and Dogma is Albert Pike’s most well-known work, considered by many to be a literary masterpiece containing a vast and diverse plethora of ancient knowledge from some of the world’s great religions and philosophies. It was made specifically for the Scottish Rite and was even once prescribed by the Supreme Council as mandatory reading to new Scottish Rite Masons. The trouble is that it was then, and still is to this day, a tedious book to read and a daunting task to comprehend. As a consequence, only a few Scottish Rite Masons have dared to claim an understanding of the entire book. Out of those few, some were either merely pretending to have understood in order to impress, or were truly deceiving themselves into believing that they actually did, criticizing with boastfulness those others who were admittedly in difficulty as being unable to discern wisdom and enlightenment.

However, the true test of understanding Morals and Dogma is finding the honesty to first admit that one does not fully understand it, or at least not immediately. Undoubtedly, the book is reserved to those who go further than just reading it. It is meant for those who eventually embark on extra research to discover the many contexts of the references made by the book, almost all of which, unfortunately, Pike never bothered to document or reference.

There are those who claim that a good grounding in symbolism and ancient Greek literature and mythology is a prerequisite before attempting to read the book, and that doing so might eventually prove difficult without a working knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit. There are also those who recommend that, because of the depth and profoundness of the book, pages should be read one passage at a time, to allow meditation on what was read, before moving on. Then there are those who say that the book is boring, badly structured as a literary work, and that it is unable to stay on topic as if written by someone suffering from ADHD. This article therefore attempts to dispel some of the misconceptions surrounding the book, so prospective readers may know what and what not to expect from it. It is important to note, however, that this article does not delve into the soundness and validity of the ideas contained in the book. That speculative aspect is reserved entirely to the book’s readers.

Rather, we confine ourselves to the technical 10 • SUMMER 2015

deliberation and literary critique of the academic reasoning and methodology the book employed. It is therefore an analysis of Morals and Dogma as a piece of literature and an assessment of why the book is so difficult to grasp, with some clues on how to understand it.

WHAT IS MORALS AND DOGMA? The complete title of the book is Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. It is a massive and denselywritten tome, first published in 1872 by the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Southern Jurisdiction, USA. In its original print, it was 861 pages long with an index adding up 218 more pages. The chapters are arranged according to the degrees of the Scottish Rite itself, serving as the philosophical

The familiar red and gold cover of a first edition of Morals and Dogma. From the early 1900s until the mid-1970s, copies were given to every new AASR-SJ member. Photo credit: Giovanni Villegas.

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rationale and lecture of the degrees, yet containing none of the actual rituals and secrets. Although ritual motions and objects are elaborated upon, their descriptions are, nonetheless, omitted, thus making the book permissible to be read even by non-members of the Rite.

and established definitions, with the specific intent to prove his point or agenda. At times, he drifted from one subject to another without the latter having any real bearing on the topic being discussed.

The contents mainly consist of comparative religions, philosophies, etymologies, symbolisms, and even numerology. The primary themes are the secrets or “great mysteries” of ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Buddhist, Hindu, Judaic, Sufi, and Christian belief systems, used unrepentantly throughout the book in a rather painstaking attempt to link them to the degrees of the Scottish Rite and to Masonry as a whole, making the texts extremely lengthy and prolix.

Contrary to what most people think, Morals and Dogma is not Pike’s original work – or at least not all of it. In fact, it is contestable to even consider him as the book’s author since most of the contents were extracted from other sources. It would be more appropriate perhaps to regard him as the book’s compiler and editor. Yet, even assigning him the role of editor is inaccurate as most of the borrowed elements in the book were copied and added in full, not edited down, and rarely referenced in any case. Morals and Dogma, therefore, is more compilation than written work.

A DIFFICULT BOOK TO READ

NOT A PIKE ORIGINAL

Ill. Albert Pike, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, 18591891.

Because of the book’s sheer bulk, few Scottish Rite Masons bother to read it as a consequence. Those who do often have a hard time finishing it, claiming that the book is too deep and requires further meditation. The real reason, however, is the fact that sentences and paragraphs need to be read and re-read, over and over again, in order to be thorough and make sense of their meaning. The grammatical construction and writing style is unlike any in the modern literary community, as if it was written hundreds of years before its time. Likewise, to get a broader understanding, the reader is invoked to do extra research and crossreferencing of many of the works which, though unspecified, were alluded to in the book. A typical reader, therefore, who usually finishes a 900-page book in about 6 days, would probably take 6 more months to finish the 861-paged Morals and Dogma.

Some argue that Pike wrote in the Victorian-style prose of his time, making it difficult for us in the modern era to read. But this is untrue for many of the works of Pike’s contemporaries were fairly easier to understand. Also, if one would read Pike’s other works, such as the Book of Words and the Readings/Instructions in the Thirty-second Degree, it is clear that Pike’s writings in those works were understandable enough compared to Morals and Dogma. The problem therefore was not just in Pike’s writing. It was in his train-of-thought that went into the writing of Morals and Dogma itself and his attempts to make sense of all of them through clause-connections and reiterations.

Readers would notice frequent redundancies all throughout as one concept is repeated again and again, as if Pike was unaware that he was repeating himself. On many occasions, he chattered in circles, incorporating symbolism, massaged historical interpretations,

Knowing this helps explain why the book is so lengthy and difficult to understand; why the writing style is different from one section to the next; why the words seem to have been lifted from eons past; and why ideas shift from one topic to another. The real trouble is when Pike segued between excerpts and his own views without distinguishing his from the original texts, integrating them together into something completely different, and mostly during instances where the excerpts do not quite fit the subject or theme he was going for. He moved between authoring and quoting other sources without telling the difference, as if footnoting and annotating himself within the paragraphs themselves. This makes the book’s authenticity questionable as a historic work and indistinguishable to a personal essay.

In the academic community, omitting references is most definitely unethical, and lifting entire passages without credit to sources may be regarded as plagiarism. The run-on sentences created by such Frankenstein-like writing, and giving limitless references to things the writer expected the reader to know yet never otherwise explained (though they would have been explained in the original source), makes for a rambling narrative.

OPINIONS AND MISUSED FACTS The first several chapters of the book were spent reiterating the characteristics which Pike thought should be inherently Masonic.

In later parts, he indulged himself into writing more about his own personal views on mysticism and the Kabbalah. Nevertheless, despite the mixture of both intentionally selected extracts and personal opinions, the preface of the book still stated that perhaps SUMMER 2015 • 11

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it would have been more acceptable if Pike had “extracted more and written less,” implying that Pike’s opinions merit little as compared to the original works where most of the texts were extracted from.

Pike was an educated and highly intelligent man but he was extremely long-winded and oftentimes opinionated. He was stubbornly convinced that, with his lifelong studies of other religions and philosophies, wisdom would be gained by learning what others believed. With such zeal, it was only natural to want to share his conviction to everyone.

Unfortunately he had but one outlet: the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. It was the only avenue for expressing his takes and opinions related to his studies.

His plan was to “educate” all Scottish Rite This 1932 Edition of the book features a notice on the title page requesting return of the book to the Supreme Council upon the death or dimission of its owner. Photo credit: Giovanni Villegas Masons in the Southern Jurisdiction by planting his ideas as essential aspects of Scottish Then there is also the improper use of the name Lucifer in the Rite training. It was possible that Pike merely used the Scottish Rite text, “Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, to impart his own brand and interpretations of world religions and and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish philosophies, regardless of whether they had any connection or not souls? Doubt it not!” 3 Although intelligent readers of the book to the Rite. This may explain why so few of his injections had any would recognize the educated context of what Pike truly implied, plausible and verifiable correlation to the degrees of the Scottish they would still frown upon it and believe it wrong for him to use Rite and to the rest of Masonry. The teachings of Masonry are Lucifer in a scholarly sense. It may be technically correct, but it is clear and simple enough, but Pike emblazoned them with mystic undoubtedly inappropriate considering there may be readers easily interpretations and deep arcane meanings. He was so absorbed in misled by the use of the name. In fact, to this day, many critics his knowledge of ancient faiths and philosophic systems that he of Masonry still cite this Lucifer line from Morals and Dogma to tended to make the context of Masonry far more complex and condemn Masons as devil-worshippers. Pike should have given esoteric than it was ever meant to be. In fact, if the words “Mason” more emphasis on effective communication by clarifying his use and “Masonry” were completely removed from Morals and Dogma, of terms and names that could have been easily misinterpreted a Masonic reader would probably not recognize his own fraternity. instead of assuming readers to know what was being implied.

That is why it is important to remember that Pike’s pronounced opinions relating to Masonry are just that: his own opinions, nothing more.

IMPACT ON SCOTTISH RITE EVOLUTION To be fair to Pike and to Morals and Dogma, the book did contain in the Preface the disclaimer that “everyone is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound,” which is as well since there is so much within the book that majority of Masons would disagree to.

Although it was declared at the beginning of this article that it would not delve into the soundness of the ideas contained in the book, it is important to cite some examples. One example that perhaps no Mason would agree to is the line that says “The Blue degrees are but the outer court. The symbols are displayed to the initiate but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he understands them, but that he imagines to understand them. Their true explication is reserved for the Adepts, the Princes of Masonry.” 1 Another example that many legitimate historians would surely find appalling is the book’s claim that “the Templars were unintelligent and unsuccessful Jesuits... their watchword was to become wealthy in order to buy the world.” 2 12 • SUMMER 2015

As mentioned before, it is possible that Pike never really intended to write Morals and Dogma specifically for the Scottish Rite, but merely used the Rite as a conduit to promote his life’s work after years of studying world religions and philosophies. In fact, the early rituals4 of the Scottish Rite were more simple and straight to the point, having very little or nothing at all to do with religions or philosophies outside of their own inherently Judaic and European Christian contexts. However, the contents of Morals and Dogma, though arranged according to the degrees of the Scottish Rite, were exuberantly complex and injected with ideas that were alien to Masonic rituals. It was not until revisions were made to the rituals, in an effort to seemingly align them with the lectures in Morals and Dogma (although it should be the other way around, that the lectures are the ones that should be aligned with the rituals), when drastic changes in the Rite started to occur. That, however, is another story and requires another separate article for discussion some other time.

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Whatever the case, Morals and Dogma ushered a new era of increased Scottish Rite membership. Copies were freely given to every new Scottish Rite Mason of the Southern Jurisdiction from the early 1900s until mid-1970s. However, when members eventually succumbed and admitted the book’s apparent impenetrability, it was later deemed too advanced to be of any real help to new Scottish Rite Masons. In 1974, it was initially replaced by Henry Clausen’s Commentaries, which was itself replaced in 1988 by Rex Hutchens’s A Bridge To Light. The latter’s latest edition proves to be the best and most comprehensive amalgam so far of Morals and Dogma and the currently used Scottish Rite ritual called the Revised Standard Pike Ritual.

RECOMMENDATION Dan Brown fans or Illuminati conspiracy theorists looking for some clues on the secrets of Masonry would do well to avoid Morals and Dogma. Chances are they will be gravely disappointed and will probably find very little value on its contents. Many readers will also find the book to be dry and unreadable – not a book recommended for the casual reader.

On the other hand, if you are a Scottish Rite Mason, then Morals and Dogma, by general consensus, is considered essential reading.

However, if you are among the vast majority who find the book difficult to comprehend, the next best thing would be to read Rex Hutchens’s A Bridge To Light instead. It has many of the main elements of Morals and Dogma condensed within its pages and it is presented more understandably. It is considerably shorter despite having more extensive explanations of the Scottish Rite degrees themselves. Some say it is even better than Morals and Dogma for it stayed faithful to the core teachings of the Scottish Rite degrees themselves. Whereas Morals and Dogma had a colossal bulk of assorted information forcefully stuffed to the degrees, A Bridge to Light, on the other hand, took the degrees at their basic and sprinkled them only with whatever information was needed to exemplify their lessons.

Purists may prefer Morals and Dogma to read Pike himself, but they may wish to consult the Annotated Edition by Arturo De Hoyos. It has the exact texts of the original Morals and Dogma and incorporated with annotations on the original sources, texts, and contexts, something which the original version lacked yet so desperately needed in the first place, thus making it easier to cross-reference. The Annotated Edition also includes a new glossary, bibliography and index. Spelling errors have likewise been corrected, and set in clear easy-to-read type while retaining the original pagination within the body of the texts. It is also illustrated with many images from the original sources Pike had before him when he prepared the original. The new Annotated Edition is available in the Scottish Rite store of the Southern Jurisdiction.

CONCLUSION Morals and Dogma is a unique book. It has something for every scholar of world religions and philosophies, whether historian, anthropologist, or esoteric enthusiast. Researchers would no longer have to compile from various sources, as many are already compiled within the book, even if lacking source documentations. Although many would argue that it gives more insight on Pike’s manner of thinking than on actual facts, testimonies would indicate that the book had indeed made an impact on the lives of many, Masons and non-Masons alike. In fact, the book was so well received that it has attracted a cult following. Many groupies venerate Pike close to godhood, much like how Blavatsky is venerated by theosophists, or Crowley by occultists. There are even a few Scottish Rite Masons so moved as to consider Morals and Dogma their own personal Volume of the Sacred Law, replacing the Bible, or whatever book of faith, upon the altar of Masonry.

Although Morals and Dogma, arguably, had very little to do with the early degrees of the Scottish Rite, it cannot be denied that the religions and philosophies contained in the book do share the same goals and aspirations of the Rite and of Masonry in general: the betterment of the individual and society through a personal and collective desire to progress towards moral perfection.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Giovanni A. Villegas is a fellow of the Grand College of Rites of America and a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society.

He has written research papers, case studies and ritual works for the Allied Masonic Degrees, the Supreme Council A&ASR of the Philippines, and the Societas Rosicruciana In Civitatibus Foederatis. Among his works include Virtutes Secretum, Feast of Tishri: The Book of Adopted Ceremonies, and Aetatum Ordo: A Chronology of the Evolution and Development of Modern Rosicrucianism.

ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1: First edition of Morals and Dogma Fig. 2: Ill. Albert Pike, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, 1859-1891.

Fig. 3: Previously exclusive to Scottish Rite Masons and must be returned to the Supreme Council upon death of owner.

NOTES 1 Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (The Supreme Council, 33° SJ, USA, 1872), 819.

2 Pike, Morals and Dogma, 819.

3 Pike, Morals and Dogma, 321.

4 Rituals as early as those from the Francken Manuscript, 1783, up to those used prior to Albert Pike’s reworking in Magnum Opus, 1857, were almost unadorned with the esoteric complexity of Morals and Dogma.

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Searching for more light is one thing, doing it while wearing a sublime apron is something else again. Check out the “Eastern Light” Past Master’s Apron by The Craftsman’s Apron (www.craftsmansapron. com) for a real leather apron with lots of depth and detail. Enhanced with a golden laurel wreath of achievement for having nobly served the lodge (or suffered through countless green bean casseroles), the bib of the apron represents the veil of secrecy and is adorned with a representation of both deity and geometry. An elegant Past Master’s jewel designed by the Craftsman’s Apron crowns the design and stands head and shoulders above run-of-the-mill aprons. Fit and feel were excellent. The imported lambskin is weighty (6.75 ounces), finely grained, with a luxurious glide to the touch. Set off with all-natural (not synthetic) royal blue cotton trim and backing, the apron is available in rectangular modern style

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$22.99/100% Cotton. Available in M-3XL.

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and cool, even on a hot summer day, and featured an embroidered square and compasses discretely placed on the left breast. $37/ S-3XL. Free Shipping.

Out and about, whether it’s on the court, or in field or stream, we suggest the Augusta Winning Streak Crew for cool and stylish comfort. Odor resistant and with 92% poly-8% spandex, this shirt comes in Royal Blue (shown), White, Red, Black, and Maroon, and can be embroidered with your favorite Masonic design or with a stock square and compasses in a variety of colors. $30/S-3XL. Free Shipping.

FOR THE BROTHER WHO HAS EVERYTHING ELSE Not one of the working tools of our profession (although perhaps overlooked), Hiram’s Key, is a big bottle opener in a small package.

The size of a credit-card, and milled from a slab of stainless steel, this little beauty can tackle the toughest projects from Plzeň to Golden, Colorado, or your favorite micro-brewery just down the street. A perfect gift for the Mason who has everything. $15/Stainless Steel

MACOY MASONIC SUPPLY: MASONIC SPORTSWEAR Whether hitting the links, working out, or playing a game of pickup, Macoy’s sportswear (www.macoy.com) lets you show your Masonic colors.

On the back nine, or at the nineteenth hole, the Reebok PlayDry® Athletic Polo is specially designed to keep you cool and dry with moisture-wicking performance.

Featuring a welt knit collar, three, dyed-to-match buttons, and hemmed sleeves with the Reebok logo on the left bicep, you can customize this shirt with a square and compasses, your lodge name or number, or your custom design, to create a truly one-of-a-kind shirt.

Our sample, in Royal/ White (as shown) was light

SUMMER 2015 • 15

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

Voices from the Past - 1922 Edition Cipher Keys - A Review A letter to the editor of the January 1922 edition of The Builder magazine asked the editor “why is Masonry so strict in forbidding any use of printed ciphers?” In a product review of sorts, the editor replies.

It may interest you to know the will of the Craft at large on this matter. While he was Grand Master [in 1918-19], Joseph W. Morris of Oklahoma, made exhaustive investigation of the subject, during which he wrote to Grand Secretaries of all the Grand Lodges. A catena of the replies he received was printed in the Oklahoma Grand Lodge Proceedings: you will care to see the result. The question was, “Does your Grand lodge permit the use of Cipher Keys?” The answers are condensed [below]:

Brother Morris summed the whole question up in a forceful manner.

“To adopt a key to our esoteric work would mean that eventually the conferring of the degrees would have little effect on the initiates and they would be possessed with the idea that Masonry is not such a hidden treasure after all....Adopt a key; do away with our lecture force and schools of instruction and you will have dealt Oklahoma Masonry a blow from which it will never, never recover.”

“Cipher Keys,” The Builder (January 1922) 30-31.

Washington.

I am happy to saw we do not.

North Carolina. We have no such thing and know nothing about it.

Massachusetts. Possession of one here is sufficient grounds for expulsion.

California.

No, the obligation prohibits it.

Arkansas.

No, we are drastically against it.

Wyoming.

Yes, we have it. Don’t like it very well.

Nevada.

No. No, No! Louisiana.

Forbidden in this jurisdiction.

Alabama.

No key of any kind is used.

New Jersey.

We have none.

Nebraska.

An offense to use it.

Minnesota. We have it here. The brethren in general know nothing about it, and I doubt if one in a hundred could make anything out of it.

Illinois. If you decide to accept it, well and good, but we have always frowned upon such action.

Florida.

Don’t have it. Always voted it down.

Colorado.

Yes, we use them, but they are a ghastly thing.

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COMMENT

In Search of the Genuine Æthelstan

By Patrick C. Carr, MMS The tenth century English King Æthelstan has been referred to as the “Unknown King,” despite his importance to pre-Norman English history, and in the affectionate esteem he is held by Freemasons, where his name is spelled without the Æ ligature. But either way one spells it, and despite the familiarity of his name, we are led in many different directions concerning just who he was and what his import is to the Fraternity. While Athelstan has received much recognition throughout the York Rite of Freemasonry, many Masons know virtually nothing concerning his legacy or who he actually was. He is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the Blue Lodge system, but his legacy is reserved for the appendant bodies of the York Rite of Freemasonry. 1 A Lot of Unknowns Historians too, are confronted with many uncertainties about Aethelstan.

We know when he acceded to the throne (in 924), and that his accession was disputed, delaying his coronation until 925, but we do not know when he was born. Aethlstan’s mother’s identity and status are uncertain and his childhood remains largely blank; he never seems to have married and probably left no offspring. After his death in 939, Aethelstan was buried...in an abbey in Wiltshire.

That Aethelstan conquered Northumbria, brought the rulers of other parts of Britain to swear oaths of loyalty to him, and twice defeated those who dared rebel against those oaths we can assert with confidence. 2 Athelstan was generally recognized as the King of the Angles and the Saxons, but he regularly took the title of King of England, the first such use of this title in the history of the British Empire.

Athelstan literally means noble stone, much like the throne in Kingston upon which he was crowned and anointed with holy oil in 924. Even in the fourteenth century, his name was still being invoked when land was granted: This land and twig I give to thee, As free as Athelstan gave it to me, And I hope a loving brother you will be.3 Athelstan inherited a large and well augmented kingdom from his Father. He seemed intent upon augmenting the kingdom that he had inherited. He was involved in several great military conflicts. He was successful in defeating the King of York and his ally, the King of Dublin.

He successfully captured York, but was attacked from the north in 937.

His successful victory at Brunanburgh sealed his kingdom and created a long and lasting peace. Many years after the conflict, Athelstan’s struggle was still known as the “great war,” much like that of the First World War.

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Athelstan was generally recognized as the King of the Angles and the Saxons, but he regularly took the title of King of England, the first such use of this title in the history of the British Empire.

His family was well connected, especially through marriages to the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Germany, as well as the Province of Aquitane. Through these various connections he was able to build many strong connections and to insure that his reforms and changes were put into place.

He created a coinage for the realm, and refurbished many of the towns.

He also called together many national assemblies of bishops and lords and imposed strict controls over buying and selling, as well as created a uniform code of laws. This is where our Masonic teachings start to combine to create the legends that we put forth in our rituals.

By the tenth century the polity of the Anglo-Saxon realm had taken an enduring shape. If the monarch was to guarantee stability, it was necessary for him to act in a formal and deliberate manner. He assembled a council of religious men and wise men. From this meeting would come the emergence of a centralized monarchy which would spawn the birth of civil service, a judiciary and a representative parliament.4 Athelstan’s rule was noted due to his desire to improve upon the legal reforms of his Grandfather, Edward the Great. He was well known as a collector of religious relics and spent time and resources in founding churches throughout the kingdom. His household was also the center of English learning throughout his rule and education was a top priority in his court.

But setting aside what we know about his political, social and military achievements, we must ask ourselves, why is he important to Freemasonry?

A Masonic Search Through the Manuscripts There are several different manuscripts that mention King Athelstan in Masonic history. One of the first is the Regius/Halliwell Manuscript.

This manuscript is believed to have been written sometime between the late 1300s and the fifteenth century. The manuscript states that Masonry was brought to England by King Athelstan during his reign between 924 and 939. It states, in part: In Egypt he taught it full wide, In divers lands on every side; Many years afterward, I understand, Ere that the craft came into this land.

This craft came into England, as I you say, In time of good King Athelstane’s day; He made then both hall and even bower, And high temples of great honor, To disport him in both day and night, And to worship his God with all his might.

This good lord loved this craft full well, And purposed to strengthen it every part, For divers faults that in the craft he found; He sent about into the land.5

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This is the earliest mention of King Athelstan from a Masonic standpoint, as discovered by James Halliwell in 1840. It states that Athelstan loved the Craft since it had been imported into England from Egypt and made temples to God for worship. We know this to be, in part, factual since Athelstan did indeed create many churches during his reign.

But Athelstan appears in other manuscripts, as well. There are several drafts of manuscripts that have become known as Freemasonry’s Gothic Constitutions. One of these is known as the Cook Manuscript, (edited

by Matthew Cook in 1861) written sometime around 1450. It reads in part: And after that there was a worthy king in England, called Athelstan, and his youngest son loved well the science of Geometry; and he know well, as well as the masons themselves, that their handicraft was the practice of the science of Geometry. Therefore he drew to their councils (or took counsel, or

lessons, of them) and learned the practical part of that science in addition to his theoretical (or book) knowledge. For of the speculative part he was a master. And he loved well masonry and masons.

And he became a mason himself. And he give them charges and usages such as are now customary in England and in other countries. And he ordained that they should have reasonable pay. And he purchased a free patent of the king that they might hold an assembly at what time they thought reasonable and come together to consult. Of the which charges, usages and assembly it is written and taught in our Book of Charges; wherefore I leave it for the present.6 The Cook MS diverges from accepted historical fact and presents us with the legend of Athelstan; it mentions Athelstan’s son, but historians are fairly certain that the King had no issue. Is it possible that Athelstan actually sired an heir, but it was hidden from the public?

The Cook MS also speaks of Masons and Masonry nearly five hundred years before speculative Masonry is known to exist. Clearly this could simply be a reference to operative builders and their practices, but there is no concrete historical or empirical evidence that such an assembly was held in the way that we Masonically teach it today.

From the mid-sixteenth Manuscript we read:

century

Lansdowne

Thereat was he himselfe and did help to make Masons and gave them Charges as you shall heare afterwards, soone after the Decease of St. Albones there came Diverse Warrs into England out of Diverse Nations so that the good rule of Masons was dishired and put downe vntill the tyme of King Adilsion in his tyme there was a worthy King in England that brought this Land into good rest and he builded many great workes and buildings, therefore he loved well Masons for he had a Sonne called Edwin the which Loved Masons much more then his ffather did and he was soe practized in Geometry that he delighted much to come and talke with Masons and to Learne of them the Craft, And after for the love he had to Masons and to the Craft, he was made Mason at Windsor and he gott of the King his ffather a Charter and Commission once every yeare to have Assembley within the Realme where they would within England and to correct within themselves ffaults & Trespasses that weere done as Touching the Craft, and he held them an Assembley at Yorke and there he made Masons and gave them Charges and taught them the Manners, and Comands the same to be kept ever afterwards And tooke them the Charter and Commission to keep their Assembly and Ordained that it should be renewed from King to King.7 Again we see the legend of Athelstan (termed Adilsion in this manuscript) being put forth as creating and spreading Masonry throughout the kingdom. Edwin is mentioned once again as his son as in previous SUMMER 2015 • 19

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manuscripts. We do know from the historical record that Edwin was not Athelstan’s son but was instead his half-Brother, Edmund. It is entirely possible that Edwin could be a scrivener’s error that has been passed down through the generations.

The Masonic Ritual Record As we delve deeper into the history versus legend of Athelstan we see several different paths. First, in the York Rite Sovereign College of North America, we see the dates and the calling of the Knights and Craftsmen together at York in 926 under the patronage of Prince Edwin. At this meeting it is believed that the Old Charges and several points of agreement were crafted. These are: 1. The Master Mason must be steadfast, trusty and true and render perfect justice to both his workmen and his employer.

2. The Master Mason shall be punctual in his attendance at the general congregation or Assembly.

3. The Master must take no apprentice for less than seven years.

4. The Master must take no apprentices who are bondsmen but only such as are free and well born.

5. The Master shall not employ a thief or maimed man for an apprentice but only those who are physically fit.

6. The Master must not take craftsmen’s wages for apprentices’ labor.

7. The Master shall not employ a thief or immoral person.

8. The Master must maintain a standard of efficiency by not permitting incompetent workmen to be employed.

9. The Master must not undertake to do work which he cannot complete.

10. No Master shall supplant another in the work undertaken.

11. The Master shall not require Masons to work at night except in the pursuit of knowledge.

The points, as taught in the York Rite Sovereign College of North America are: 1. Those who would be Masons and practice the Masonic art are required to love God and his Holy Church, the Master for whom they labor and their Masonic brethren, for this is the true spirit of Masonry.

2. The Mason must work diligently in working hours that he may lawfully refresh himself in the hours of rest.

3. The Mason must keep the secrets of his Master, his brethren and the Lodge, faithfully.

4. No Mason shall be false to the Craft but maintain all its rules and regulations.

5. The Mason shall not murmur at fair compensation.

6. The Mason shall not turn a working day into a holiday.

7. The Mason shall restrain his lust.

8. The Mason must be just and true to his brethren in every way.

9. The Mason shall treat his brethren with equity and in the spirit of brotherly love.

10. Contention and strife shall not exist among the brethren.

11. The Mason should caution his brother kindly about any error into which he may be about to fall.

12. The Mason must maintain every ordinance of the Assembly.

13. The Mason must not steal nor protect one who does.

14. The Mason must be true to the laws of Masonry and to the laws of his country.

15. The Mason must submit to the lawful penalty for any offense he may commit. 9

12. No Mason shall speak evil of his fellows’ work.

13. The Master must instruct his apprentices in everything they are capable of learning.

14. The Master shall take no apprentice for whom he has not sufficient labor.

15. The Master is not to make false representations nor compromise any sins of his fellows. 8

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It takes little imagination to realize that these Charges and Points should be the basis of our institution and were needed during the early days of the Craft in order to create some type of continuity of conduct. Indeed, these are the Charges and beliefs of all Masons worldwide even today.

In comparison to the Order of Athelstan, these Charges and Points seem to mirror each other. Again we realize that there was, at least historically, some type of meeting. We do not know the particulars of the meeting since there seem to be no actual written records dating to

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that time period concerning the General Assembly. What we do realize is that whatever meeting was held, it did indeed produce results that are practiced even today among the Craft.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR A self-employed entrepreneur in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, Patrick C. Car, 33, serves the Grand Lodge of Arkansas as the Right Worshipful Grand Senior Warden. Patrick is an active member in many of the Masonic appendant bodies and currently serves the Western Arkansas Scottish Rite Bodies as the Venerable Master of the Lodge of Perfection.

Family is an important part of Patrick’s life and he has served the youth orders in Arkansas in several capacities alongside both his daughter and wife.

That said, it should be noted that the Order of Athelstan does assist us historically in at least one area. The Order of Athelstan admits that King Athelstan had no sons and points to his half-Brother Edwin as being the catalyst for the meeting at York. Either way, we see in the Masonic tradition that some type of meeting was held and that both of the Athelstanian-legend born degree systems agree to that point.

A Summation No matter where we look in the historic record of the times of Athelstan’s life do we even begin to see many of the references that we teach in our Masonic rituals and legends. What we do see, however, is a strong and noble King who was centered upon his devotion to Deity and his commitment to education and law. Through these facts of his life we can agree that Athelstan caused many things to be done that would change the landscape of England forever. All of the Manuscripts that relate to the story of King Athelstan, from a Masonic sense, were written at least five hundred years after his reign. This can lead us to believe that they were hyperbole and not historically accurate. This can be from a desire of the writers of the various manuscripts to want to place the provenance of the young Craft upon the noble shoulders of King Athelstan. There is nothing wrong with attaching such a noble order as the Masonic Fraternity to one who taught the belief in God and the laws of Creation. These are indeed noble tasks. Indeed, we do this as we teach the second section of the Master’s Degree. Perhaps Kings Athelstan is no more than an object lesson to teach Masons what good, upright conduct and beliefs are. He could very well be the same archetype character as Hiram.

While we cannot ever know exactly what impact King Athelstan and his rule did directly for the Craft, we can agree that King Athelstan and his actions provided the world with a laudable set of values in which we should meet, act, and part. Whether or not it directly impacted the creation of the Fraternity is irrelevant. What it did manage to do was place the beliefs of the King strictly into the rituals and the belief systems that Freemasonry teaches still today.

NOTES 1 Sarah Foot, Aethelstan: the First King of England, New haven: Yale University press, 2011 (Kindle Edition), Prologue, 1.

2 Ibid.

3 Peter Ackroyd, Foundation: The History of England From Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors (Thomas Dunne Books, 2011), 69.

4 Ibid, 70.

5 The Regius Manuscript. (2015, April 18). Retrieved from The Regius Manuscript: http://regiusmanuscript.com/ 6 The Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, (2015, April 18). Retrieved from The Matthew Cooke Manuscript with Translation: http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/ texts/cooke.html 7 The Traveling Templar. (2015, April 18). Retrieved from Freemasonry and King Athelstan: http://www.travelingtemplar.com/2011/12/freemasonry-and-kingathelstan.html 8 F.W. Kidd, Arkansas Freemasonry (Frederick W. Kidd, 1908), 15-16.

9 Ibid., 16-18.

SUMMER 2015 • 21

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he scene amidst which C

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Masonic Exposures: Ephemeral Pamphlets William Hogarth’s lifetime – between 1685 and 1764 – spanned that period in English history which saw the birth of organised Freemasonry in London in 1717. His unique chronicle of British society showed London and Londoners at their best and worst and Freemasonry was an integral part of that society.

To understand Hogarth’s involvement with Freemasonry, both artistically as well as personally, we need to appreciate the Masonic environment in those early days. James Anderson’s first Book of Constitutions in 1723 established freemasonry on a strong footing as an institution of consequence although it caused tensions among members of the Craft, the aristocracy in particular. These were themes Hogarth

M

and behind him a corpulent John Desaguliers appears as Sancho Panza. The monkey in Masonic gear represents the ‘aping’ of freemasonry by the Gormagons. The original advertisement publicising this ‘new’ Society stated that the new Order had recently arrived in England and was founded by the Emperor of China, thus the four Chinese sages leading the procession, itself an allusion to the public Masonic processions that had just began to appear in the streets of London. The ladder, bucket and mop, tavern signs and other emblems show Hogarth to be au fait with Masonic matters.

asonry Brought To Light By The Gormagons… is a classic Hogarth print that combines the many elements that have made his work unique and depict his genius at its best.

was to depict in his famous Masonic engravings. For instance, the Duke of Wharton had threatened the withdrawal of all of his supporters from Grand Lodge because he had not been re-elected Grand Master in 1724. Hogarth exploited, as any good caricaturist would today, this situation. The first of his Masonic prints is Masonry Brought To Light

By The Gormagons, first published in December 1724. It is a classic Hogarth print that combines the many elements that have made his work unique and depict his genius at its best. The print is a masterpiece describing and satirising the circumstances of Wharton’s ‘desertion’ of Grand Lodge and the formation of a competing body.

In this wonderful print, symbolism is rife: the ancient craft of freemasonry is represented by an old lady riding an ass, James Anderson, (this apparently being the only known image of him) has his face far too close to her backside for comfort, implying the Scottish Presbyterian Reverend’s subservience to the society. A tall and prominent Duke of Wharton stands in the guise of Don Quixote, directing the proceedings 24 • SUMMER 2015

There is no exact date of William Hogarth’s initiation into freemasonry.

He is recorded, however, as one of nine members of the Lodge meeting at the Hand and Apple Tree in Little Great Queen Street, Holborn, when it was consecrated in November 1725. He became a joining member, in 1730, of the newly constituted Corner Stone Lodge which amalgamated with St George Lodge in 1843 and is now the St George and Corner Stone Lodge No 5.

John Wilkes (1727-97) was also a ‘victim’ of Hogarth’s satirical pen. Hogarth’s detailed and accurate 1763 depiction of the controversial champion of liberty became a major issue of contention between the two men. It depicted with pitiless accuracy Wilkes’ physical defects, his distinctive squint and cynical grin which was a recognisable feature of the politician as well as his arrogance and defiance. So accurate was this depiction that in August of that year the son of a Scottish Jacobite challenged Wilkes to a duel in Paris, having recognised him from Hogarth’s print!

A self-portrait depicting Hogarth painting Thalia, the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry, 1757–1758.

This was Hogarth at his best displaying that very special ability

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meeting at the Vine Tavern, Holborn which Hogarth also frequented. The antagonism between the two Brethren was to lead to the best known of all of Hogarth’s Masonic prints, namely Night, one of a s set of 4 prints collectively titled Times of Day, of which Night was the fourth. The set of four prints are to be seen in context as they tell a story of a day’s happenings in the streets of London. The last print reflects the not uncommon late night celebrations in the back streets of the city. Freemasonry, identified still as a dining and drinking club, falls into this bracket of revelry. Thomas De Veil, wearing his Master’s collar and jewel, is blatantly drunk, being helped home by the Grand Tyler at the time, Andrew Montgomery, ‘Garder of ye Grand Lodge’, a well known and popular figure amongst masons. The print, typically, is filled with detail and innuendo. Celebrations are on because it is the anniversary of the restoration of Charles II, on 29 May 1660.

Detail from Hogarth’s 1724 print Masonry Brought To Light By The Gormagons.

to portray the character of his subject, superimposed on life-like features easily recognised by his contemporaries. The potrait print also expressed Hogarth political views. The squint, the flag bearing the word Liberty and Wilkes’ overall posture had connotations of falsehood and hypocrisy. Wilkes interpreted this painting as a betrayal and not a portrayal and expressed his anger in an essay. Hogarth retaliated with a print emphasising Wilkes’ indebtedness and the bitter exchange continued for some time, finally the more elderly Hogarth surviving Wilkes’ attempts to oust him as the leading political commentator. Some years later Hogarth’s portrayal was to be vindicated when John Wilkes found himself imprisoned for publishing libels. It would appear that it was during this period, in 1769, five years after Hogarth’s death, that John Wilkes was made a freemason in prison, by special dispensation of the Deputy Grand Master Charles Dillon. He became a member of Jerusalem Lodge, now no 197. In later years the Grand Secretary Thomas French and other Grand Officers were to deny that his initiation ceremony took place whilst he was incarcerated at the Old Bailey.

The barber is performing his art as a surgeon. In the background is the sign of the Rummer and Grape Tavern in what is now Northumberland Avenue. There is considerable significance to the content of the chamber pot being poured over De Veil’s head. It is a commentary and gibe at De Veil who was involved in the legislation banning the popular trade in gin. On one well-publicised occasion, the unfortunate De Veil, whilst testing the liquid content of a bottle in a tavern, inadvertently found himself gulping down a mouthful of urine! De Veil, known to be a heavy drinker and womaniser, was nonetheless quite an extraordinary character. He had had no fewer than 4 wives and 25 children. He had fought in the War of the Spanish Succession and when appointed Stipendiary Magistrate in 1738, acted decisively and with passion. Hogarth’s humiliating depiction of his fellow mason went beyond any consideration of fraternal loyalty.

Hogarth reached the peak of his Masonic career on his appointment as Grand Steward for the year 1735. His name will forever be associated with the Grand Steward’s Jewel now known as the ‘Hogarth type’, which he designed in the same year on the occasion of the formation of the Stewards’ Lodge.

The jewel was in use until 1835 when it was superseded by a new centenary jewel and is now an exceedingly rare collector’s piece.

Hogarth often Hogarth’s portrait of Col. John Pitt (1698-1744) shown wearing Hogarth’s distinctive jewel. Photo credit: The antagonised his contemporaries and Library and Museum of Freemasonry is seen as a controversial painter at best and cantankerous and spiteful at worst. He died in his home in Chiswick in 1765 and left behind an accurate pictorial account of In 1736, Hogarth found himself at loggerheads with one Sir Thomas England in the first half of the 18th century. de Veil (1684-1746), a justice of the peace and a member of the Lodge SUMMER 2015 • 25

The Cost of Belonging: Is it Enough?

by Stephen J. Ponzillo, III, MMS The Masonic Society’s Facebook page is a place where brothers share thoughts on current issues of Masonic interest. Recent postings on the subject of dues and fees became one of those topics that engendered much comment. Are we paying enough to support the lodge? As the conversation on Facebook evolved, it generated much thought on Freemasonry. Do we fund the lodge at levels which ensure interest and growth? What level of dues or fee increases seems reasonable?

Let us consider how the financial support of a lodge, its programs, and buildings are funded today and compare that funding level to a prior year. The level of financial support reveals the value that brothers place on membership in what we are proud to call the world’s oldest and largest fraternity. How much a brother spends on fraternal matters is not the only measure of the extent to which he values his membership.

However, the level of financial support is certainly a measure of commitment to the success of lodge activities. Perhaps we can gain some perspective by looking back at the peak membership years of the 1950s and early 1960s. How much of a man’s income in the late 1950s needed to be devoted to membership in Freemasonry? Did the cost of joining deter membership? What level of participation in lodge and collateral body activity existed? To answer some of these questions, I looked at my father’s activity in the fraternity during the late 1950s to glean evidence. When my father became a Freemason in 1957, what did the world look like relative to family income, the cost of goods, and the fees and dues needed to belong to the fraternity?

As they do today, initiation fees in the 1950s varied throughout the country. For my father to petition his lodge in 1957, he paid a seventyfive dollar fee. The lodge had not changed that fee since the 1930s.

Yearly dues during this same period were $12.00. To understand what those figures mean in today’s money, let’s examine the following chart.

Analyzing this chart and comparing 1957 to 2014, there are some conclusions that stand out. The cost of a home and a new car compared to the average family income remain almost unchanged. The cost of a ITEM Average Family Income Average Cost of a house Average Cost of an Automobile Cost of Gallon of Gas Cost of Loaf of Bread Initiation Fee Annual Dues 26 • SUMMER 2015

gallon of gas on average is almost unchanged as a percentage of income while a loaf of bread is actually less expensive today on a percentage of income basis. However, the level of support or the value of dues and initiation fees has declined from 1957 to 2014.

In 1957, about 15% of my Dad’s jurisdictional membership became Shriners, 10% became Scottish Rite Masons and 15% joined the York Rite. For the purposes of this discussion, we will use the cost to my father to be a Shriner. If you were a York Rite Mason and became a Shriner, you paid initiation fees and dues to lodge, Royal Arch chapter, commandery as well as the Shrine. Easily, the investment for the first year’s membership, including fees and dues, might average $250.00.

While it is certainly true that comparisons in the value of what money will buy and what goods cost in 2014 and 1957 is not always an exact science, it is illuminating. If the average family income in 1957 was $5,000.00, and it cost $250.00 to be a Shriner, that equated to 5% of a family’s income. Using the $69,821.00 average family income for 2014 and the 5% figure to become a Mason and a Shriner, that figure would rise from $250.00 to $3,491.00. To many, that may seem an outlandish figure. However, it does help explain the financial commitment that was being made to become a Freemason, let alone a York Rite Mason and a Shriner in 1957. Today without the York Rite or Scottish Rite requirement, it costs almost $700 to be a Shriner with fees and first year dues included. Therefore, it can be argued that a $250.00 blue lodge initiation fee with $68.00 yearly dues and having a $295.00 Shrine initiation and $90.00 per year dues, or a total of $700.00, is actually less money in 2014 than it was in 1957. In 1957, 5% of a $5,000 yearly income was required to be a Shriner. It 2014, it requires 1% of the family income to be a Shriner.

We often are told that our ancestors in 1957 were concerned more about members and money and less about quality and commitment from the members. While the issue of quantity vs. quality is probably a debate for a future article, we know that the activity of members from the

1957 % OF 1957 INCOME $5,000.00 $20,000.00 400% $2,500.00 50% $0.24 0.0048% $0.19 0.0038% $75.00 1.5% $12.00 0.24%

2014 $69,821.00 $270,200.00 $32,500.00 $3.29 $1.98 $250.00 $68.00

% OF 2014 INCOME 387% 47% 0.0047% .00281% 0.36% 0.01%

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’50s and early ’60s rivals that which exists today. During the ’50s and ’60s symbolic lodge officer lines were full, and that collateral bodies, including the youth groups and ladies’ groups, flourished.

As the membership declined and grew older in the 1980s, there developed an unwillingness to raise the funds needed to maintain buildings, have quality refreshments, and become active in community events.

Rather than raise dues, Dad’s own lodge eliminated refreshments after lodge in order to reduce expenses. Attendance dramatically declined.

With few new members, the membership began to diminish and the pressure to not raise the dues on members with fixed incomes became overwhelming for many lodges. In fact, the few Masonic lodges with significant assets began to supplement the members’ dues obligation with “the dead men’s money” which was invested. In these cases, the actual cost of symbolic lodge membership was subsidized.

At the same time, many lodges and grand lodges wished to honor those who had reached the fifty year mark in membership with more than a pin and a certificate. The thought was that if a man had paid dues for fifty years, he was due the reward of “free membership.” Thus, at the very time that men were living longer, lodges exempted them from dues and often assessments depriving lodges and grand lodges of needed funds. This was to prove to be a financial drain as dues increases were still difficult to pass. Declining numbers and older members, many at 71 years of age and having dues waived, created financial issues that many lodges could not overcome. The net result has been buildings sold and lodges merged, or closed. Thus, the men of the 1950s and ’60s became generally unwilling to raise the cost of membership after expending significant funds to become members.

Does the cost of membership and willingness to step forward financially alone indicate how much we value our membership? No – certainly, how we live our lives and support one another are examples to others of what Freemasons value. However, we cannot support twenty-first century Freemasonry with mid-twentieth century funding. Unless we fund activities, buildings, and charitable endeavors at similar levels (of percentage of income) as our fathers and grandfathers, we invite disaster.

Why were those men willing to make the commitment of time and resources in the 1950s? They valued what Freemasonry could give them. What was that gift of Freemasonry? It was the buttressing of the values of brotherhood, service to a brother and to the community.

They valued the connections, or as we would say today, the networking, that membership provided. Those connections were valued in the community, at work, at home, or in places of worship. Those men came to the aide of each other and the community with time, the lodge’s resources, and their own money. They are and were great examples to all of us today. However, as their income increased, too many veteran Masons were unable to understand how the increase in prices and wages translated into increased costs to operate a lodge.

The world of 2015 is a different place than that of 1957. In terms of human rights, perhaps a better place. In terms of the challenges we face today, not always better than 1957. Nevertheless, the Freemasons of 1957 and the Freemasons of 2015 share the common belief that the Fraternity gives to its devotees more than it gets. The gift of Freemasonry is the brotherhood which is provided to each man. That brotherhood and the teachings of brotherly love, relief, and truth cannot be measured in silver or gold. A lodge is a number of brothers duly assembled... and not a building. However, today without a building that is clean, well-maintained, and accessible, members would be discouraged in

attendance. Upon seeing a Masonic building in a run-down condition, the community would conclude that the Masons are not a vibrant part of the community. Thus financial support is vital and the level of that support speaks to how members value the organization.

We know that a reassessment of Masonic dues and fees is underway throughout the fraternity. One example of that reassessment is the traditional observance lodge movement. As one of their central elements, traditional lodges call for a better initiatory experience as defined by ritual performance, but also the need for first-class member attire, quality paraphernalia, and quality food and drink. This necessitates increased dues, fees, and additional expenditures. Outside of the traditional lodge movement, lodges today sponsor dinner theaters, lodge trips and outings, special festive boards, and activities only limited by the imagination of members, leaders, and the rules of the lodge. All of these cost the members money. They also become signs of success and of how the members value their membership.

The brothers of 1957 attended and supported events of a similar nature.

They were joiners and, as men in their 20s, 30s and 40s, were active. As the fraternity demonstrates it is still active making a difference in the community and still teaching its ancient and valued beliefs, more young men will seek us out. Young men value the connections they can make with other men of all ages. They expect value in their membership and when initiation fees and dues explanations elicit responses such as, “Is that a month?” and the response is, “No, it is for a year”, then we need to reassess.

When yearly dues will not pay for the cost of building maintenance, repair, and refreshments beyond cookies, we need to reassess. Clearly, each lodge needs to answer the question, “Is it enough?” Members need to understand what it costs to operate the lodge. The obligation to help in that understanding rests with the Worshipful Master and the officers.

Freemasonry teaches men to be better men. It teaches that all are on the same level in their membership. It cannot sustain itself unless the cost of belonging equates to a belief that our membership is valuable and worth our time and yes, our money.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen J. Ponzillo, III is a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, Past Chair of the Conference of Grand Masters of North America, KYGCH-4, 33° AASR, retired school principal and university lecturer.

NOTES

G.L. of Maryland Proceedings (1957), French Bray, Baltimore, Maryland.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census Current Population Report, Consumer Income, Series P-60, no. 29. June, 1958.

United States Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports “Consumer Income,” Washington, DC, (June 1958) www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/ p60-029.pdf.

Candace Rich, The Fifties Web “Year By Year History”www.fiftiesweb.com/pop/ prices-1957.htm.

My Budget 360 “Comparing the inflated cost of living today from 1938 to 2013: How the US Dollar has lost incredible purchasing power since 1938,” http://www.mybudget360.com/cost-of-living-1938-to-2013-inflation-historycost-of-goods-inflation/.

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A Guide to Masonic Encyclopedias

by Tyler Anderson, MMS The cosmos of Masonic scholarship is a great tangled net of obediences, grand lodges, degree systems, concepts, characters, and organizations. As we read through histories and papers, old and new, inevitably we find references to groups with which we are not familiar, or terms that seem to be used differently than we would expect or understand. And who was this Edward Spratt? When the nuances of the text hang on these references, we know we are missing something, and it can be extremely frustrating! The internet can be useful but of course is not very trustworthy, even when a search yields a hit. What is the reader to do?

Enter the masonic and fraternal encyclopedias. A slog through online booksellers will offer a large number of such books, but most of them are written by melodramatic authors intellectually unacquainted with their topics, and seem meant to prove the grand conspiracies swirling in the authors’ heads, rather than to be useful.

There are, however, a few that are products of true scholarship, which I highly suggest as bedside table references.

MACKEY Of course, there is Albert Gallatin Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, originally published in 1873, subsequently reprinted, and then later expanded by other authors. An original copy will run about $2500, but the later, three-volume set, most recently published in 1946, can be had for $100, or, if you watch used bookstore shelves carefully, you might be able to land it for $50. Being more than 1200 pages of work, it is an unbelievable resource, if an investment in shelf space.

I would wager that few casual questions about Freemasonry would not be at least touched upon in its leaves. That said, it is still largely Mackey’s work, and while the (fewer) organizational and (many) biographical entries are impressive, the bulk of the work is an encyclopedia of symbolic, religious, and historical terms, and is a product of late-nineteenth-century Masonic thought and writing.

While remarkable and useful, its scope and intention is possibly larger than a casual reader might require. Still, if you find it, buy it.

STEVENS In 1899 (second edition, 1907), Albert Clark Stevens published probably the first modern encyclopedia of American fraternal and symbolic orders, The Cyclopaedia of Fraternities. A third of the length of Mackey, at 444 pages it is still nothing to sneeze at.

It focuses exclusively on American fraternal organizations—some Masonic but by volume mostly not—as such. Stevens’s work was 28 • SUMMER 2015

published on the heels of the unprecedented fraternal, temperance, and “secret society” activity and expansion which followed the Civil War. The Cyclopaedia is augmented by tables and graphs, as well as charming illustrations showing relative sizes of organizations in the nation, family trees of fraternal groups, and so on. Due to the swell and bust nature of American fraternalism, and the vintage of its publication, this volume is a best bet for finding reference to longextinct groups. Stevens’s work is long out of print, but very luckily can be had as a hard copy reprint from a digital file via Google books and the Espresso Book Machine (ondemandbooks.com). I had my copy custom printed by The Tattered Cover in Denver for only $15.20.

WAITE Very much a book of its time, Arthur Edward Waite’s A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry was first published in 1921. Waite was himself a Freemason but was also a member of the Golden Dawn, as well as a founder and member of other esoteric societies.

Above all, Waite was a scholar of the occult and Western mysticism in the theosophical tradition. He even cocreated a reasonably well-known tarot deck, and his encyclopedia flows directly from these areas of study.

The entries gravitate toward esoteric groups, both those known historically and some probably only surmised, and also the elaborate European and Ancient World degree systems and rites, many of which move beyond demonstrably Masonic connections. Albert Pike enthusiasts and buffs of ancient mystery cults will find Waite’s 946 pages (1970 combined-volumes edition) an invigorating resource. Used copies can be found for only a few dollars online, leaving no good reason why it shouldn’t be on the shelf of every scholar of Freemasonry with an interest in esoterica.

COIL The true successor to Mackey’s work is Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia, authored by Henry Wilson Coil in 1961, with a revised edition edited

by Allen E. Roberts in 1996. Coil’s expansive work came out just as the mid-twentieth-century boom of American fraternalism was passing its high point, and it represents a much more modern mindset and language than Mackey’s decidedly Victorian approach. Coil’s terrain is broad indeed, with more than 700 pages

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containing more than 1700 entries. The material tends more toward the historical and concrete, and Coil was unafraid to dismember and dispel fallacious myths which over the centuries had grown within the common conceptions of Masonic thought. Copies of the revised edition, and reprints of the original, are widely available through a host of online sellers, for a variety of prices. It is unlikely to be found cheap, but even an unopened revised addition at a full price of around $75 is a worthy investment, as Coil’s work is surely the best modern, reliable, nuts-and-bolts encyclopedia of Freemasonry available.

SCHMIDT In the vein of Stevens’s organizational encyclopedia is Alvin J. Schmidt’s Fraternal Organizations, published in 1980 as part of the larger series The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions, which includes two other volumes covering labor organizations and social service groups. Schmidt’s encyclopedia of the American fraternal landscape is written from a modern, academic vantage point. Its 410 pages are organized strictly alphabetically (Stevens’s work is broken into sections of dubious benefit), and has a few very concise appendices, including a fascinating chronology of American fraternalism. In addition, an introductory essay offers an extremely interesting approach to fraternal life and organizations from a sociological standpoint. New copies will set you back over $100, but used copies are generally available for only a few dollars.

AXELROD Finally, the most recent comparable work of which I am aware is The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders by Alan Axelrod. At 287 pages, it sounds somewhat smaller in scope, but its coffee table size format stretches those pages pretty far. Although, once again, this book is out of print, used copies can be found literally for pennies online. It is worth infinitely more. Like Schmidt’s book, it is organized on a straight alphabetical line, and also has a strong—if a bit less academic—introductory essay on the natures and purposes of fraternal organizations. As the title suggests, its contents go far beyond entries on groups here in the United States. Axelrod includes a considerable amount of material on European orders of all bents, West African secret societies, and Asian groups and phenomena

through history, from the Assassins in medieval Syria to the Yakuza of modern Japan. The intended audience of The International Encyclopedia is probably a bit less specialized than that of the other works discussed here, but the information is still strong and useful, and it does not devolve into the sensationalism of other such works one finds published at the close of the twentieth century.

All of these encyclopedias come highly recommended. Mackey is a must-have for the studious Freemason, while Coil will be a best bet for the modern reader on the Craft. Stevens and Schmidt will be of greatest use in more broad historical research on fraternalism, but Waite will offer some esoteric counter-balance.

Axelrod is the most fun to read and is most likely to interest the whole household. While I have used all of these as references in my own research and writing, they are in themselves simply excellent and enjoyable books. I regularly find myself grabbing any one of them, opening to any page, and seeing where the cross references take me. Instead of surfing the web, and becoming entangled in the morass of misinformation, I would suggest surfing one of these encyclopedias. Delving into the wealth and engrossing strangeness of the Craft and other societies throughout history is a pursuit of great benefit and a component of Masonic education not to be overlooked.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tyler Anderson is past master of Sandia Mountain Lodge 72 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received his BAFA in art history from the University of New Mexico, where he worked at the University Art Museum for nearly a decade. He is an avid collector of fraternal regalia and photography and a writer on the subjects of travel in New Mexico and American fraternalism.

Anderson is a staff reviewer of this journal.

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IN PRINT

Book Reviews: Current Loyalists and Malcontents: Freemasonry and Revolution in the Deep South

by Ric Berman Having lived in the deep South for at least half of my long life, I will readily admit that it was the title that drew me to this book.

If only for his research, Berman deserves high praise. In preparation for this book, he prowled the dusty stacks of Oxford Brookes University, the former Oxford School of Art; the Bodleian Library, Oxford University; the University Library, University of Cambridge; and the Library and Museum of the United Grand Lodge of England, London.

The preface which, alone, could readily serve as the core of another book, while rather long and very detailed, is worth the time and effort to read. It sets the stage for the corpus of this work and, in a sense, serves as a signpost toward people and events to come.

The introduction, again, rather lengthy and detailed, recapitulates the French, Spanish and English colonial activities from the middle years of the sixteenth century to the emergence of Charleston, South Carolina, as the pre-eminent commercial, financial, political, and social center in the early eighteenth century. It, too, is worthy of the reading.

Berman puts flesh on the bones of the personages, great and small, who march through the book’s 192 pages—not including three appendices, a selected bibliography, endnotes, and index.

As with the preface and introduction, so the indices and endnotes.

They are long, detailed, and capable of serving as the base for other books and, more importantly, they well reward the diligent historyloving reader.

If you have read Samuel Pepys’s famous seventeenth-century diary, and enjoyed the day-to-day details of the life and personalities of that time, you will surely enjoy the word pictures Berman draws for you.

If you like your history larded with swashbucklers, adventurers and perhaps even a few knaves and ne’er-do-wells, Loyalists and Malcontents will not disappoint.

Reviewed by Noah Shapiro The Old Stables Press, Goring Heath, Oxfordshire, England (2015), 192 pages Paperback £15 (US$20) 30 • SUMMER 2015

The Craft Driven Lodge

By Daniel D. Hrinko The craft in the title of Daniel D. Hrinko’s book refers to two Masonic meanings of the word: craft as in the practice and purpose of Freemasonry and Craft as the fraternity’s members. Starting broadly by defining what men seek in almost any voluntary endeavor, it expounds on this with the story of how and why these desires were acted upon in the creation of the author’s Masonic lodge.

Part One of the book draws on Brother Hrinko’s background as a psychologist. Gently, but with a definite goal, the author expounds on four principles that he and several companions used to guide them in determining what could make Freemasonry more meaningful, purposeful, and significant in their lives. The principles: 1. Everyone has a voice.

2. Everyone sees the vision.

3. Everyone has a role.

4. Leadership lets the workers work Part Two elaborates on the use of the four guiding principles, explaining how they were put into practice in the formation of Arts and Sciences Lodge 792 under the Grand Lodge of Ohio. Each chapter and subsection discusses a practice adopted by the lodge, explains how the members arrived at it, and further clarifies why the practice advances the four principles.

For example, the lodge places multiple Volumes of Sacred Law upon the altar when at labor, each representing the faith of a member of the lodge. This practice, the reasoning that led the membership adopting the practice, and the way the practice relates to the principles of the craft are illuminated.

Since Arts and Sciences has adopted many of the practices of a “traditional observance” lodge, The Craft Driven Lodge might be relegated to the list of the number of titles concerning such lodges.

However, cataloging it exclusively as such might miss its greatest strength. This work is neither diatribe nor polemic. Its tone is gently persuasive, attempting to draw fellow Masons to its methodology rather than, of necessity, to its outcome.

The brotherly, but well informed, tone of this book should appeal to all thoughtful Masons, especially those wishing to understand the process of a “craft driven lodge.” It should be especially appealing to those who believe there must be more that we can get from and give to our fraternity.

Reviewed by Donald I. Crews Macoy Publishing (2014), 128 pages Paperback, US$36

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Brotherly Love: Freemasonry and Male Friendship in Enlightenment France

by Kenneth Loiselle The cornerstone of Freemasonry is brotherhood. Using solemn ceremonies, the fraternity creates “ritualized friendship” that can build stronger bonds than those of blood. Brotherly Love considers this bond through three phases of eighteenth-century French Freemasonry.

This book, authored by Kenneth Loiselle, an assistant professor at San Antonio’s Trinity University, considers friendships among Freemasons from the days of the Old Regime to revolutionary France. Far too many Americans dodge the study of European history, with the result of a rather superficial grasp of France during the middle-to-late eighteenth century. This book provides insight into several distinct roles of French Freemasonry during this period.

First, we view Freemasonry in the 1730s as a British (and notably Jacobite) import that was routinely “hounded by the state and the Catholic Church.” In a discussion of Chevalier Ramsay, we read of his 1737 efforts to have the organizations officially endorsed by the Crown. This is followed by a description of the rituals incorporated in the initiatory degree of Old Regime Masonry. Drawing on more than twenty different manuals, Loiselle’s descriptions are not intended as an exposé but rather as the establishment of the central theme of the book: ritually grounded friendship.

The book then departs on an interesting side trip as it investigates the creation of lodges of adoption. After strongly stating the case against mixed-gender lodges, adoption lodges are presented as a method of combating, chiefly in metropolitan France, the “specter of sodomy.”

Central to this study of friendship is the recently uncovered correspondence among a group of Masons between 1737 and 1759.

These 487 letters are used to demonstrate the lasting connections created by Masonic friendships and are excellent examples of the constant rediscovery of primary documents such as those contained in the “Russian archives” which were returned to France in 2000.

Brotherly Love concludes with the resurgence of Freemasonry during the last decades of the Old Regime and in Revolutionary France.

Printed orations and other written records are skillfully used to point out the central nature of friendship. It was this characteristic that caused some to voice concern over the rapid increase in the number and size of lodges. The warning takes voice in the master of Bons Amis lodge: “His principal justification for this anxiety was the incompatibility he saw between large lodges and the Masonic attempt to create lasting friendship.” The rush to revolution

crushed many of the hallmarks of the Enlightenment. Gone were the academies, salons, and Masonic lodges. While the revolution’s slogan Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité stresses fraternity, lodges were (and are) built around friendship. The role of Freemasons and the influence of Masonic principle during this transformative period have been argued as either critical or inconsequential by historians.

Loiselle addresses these points of view and leaves us to consider to what extent was friendship a positive value, and to what extent it represented a possible threat to patriotic unity. These questions would continue to be voiced by national leaders as recently as the twentieth century.

This book has much to offer anyone interested in the development of Freemasonry. It, like many short-run books from academic presses, carries a steep price tag. Looking beyond the “sticker shock,” you will find a valuable resource that spans a range of topics related to Freemasonry, the Enlightenment, and Revolutionary France. Academics will benefit from understanding the greater role of the fraternity beyond simply being mentioned alongside of the salons, while students of Freemasonry will be rewarded by viewing how Freemasonry was incorporated into the fabric of French social and political structure.

Reviewed by Wayne E. Sirmon Cornell University Press (2014), 280 pages Harback, $59.95 The Crescent and the Compass: Islam, Freemasonry, Esotericism, and Revolution in the Modern Age

by Angel Millar Angel Millar’s book is an excellent review and description of Freemasonry in North Africa and the Middle East. It does not investigate comparisons between symbolism and elements of mythology but is based more upon empirical data.

The book’s purpose is to explore “spiritually and radical thought within Islam” and “connections between Muslim revolutionaries, activists, groups, thinkers, and ‘the global Masonic movement.’”

It is well researched and calls judgment on “established” correlations within previous research. Millar is transparent in his research, complete with endnotes and full citations, ensuring that relationships are supported by evidence and not based on descriptions “applicable to virtually every religious or esoteric phenomenon,” such as the fraternity’s tenets of brotherly love, relief, and truth. In fact, the lack of authors’ study and incorporation of early Masonic documents influenced Millar’s motivation for writing The Crescent and the Compass.

Of the two main sects in Islam, the book focuses on Shi’ism, as well as Sufism—the latter is the religion’s mystical side—and SUMMER 2015 • 31

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notes similarities between its esoteric rituals and those of Masonic initiation. Millar demonstrates how Islamic esotericism was incorporated by Aleister Crowley, Noble Drew Ali, and Abdullah Quilliam.

Historically, Millar brings to light how the lodge was a place for free thinkers, revolutionaries, and anticolonialists to meet and recruit.

Prominent figures, such as Sayyid Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, went further and used Masonic lodges for political aims. Importantly, Millar holds the reader’s hand and traces the historical development of how the “subversive, Zionist conspiracy to oppress a nation’s people” came to be a prevalent belief in the Middle East today.

Millar’s book includes the names and places of initial and early lodges in the Middle East and North Africa and their origins—a testament that Millar’s The Crescent and the Compass is a must-have on any bookshelf for those who wish to enrich their knowledge of Freemasonry in Middle Eastern studies.

Reviewed by Jay S. Williams Numen Books (2014), 79 pages Kindle e-book, US$1.99

The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati edited by Joseph Wäges and Reinhard Markner, translated by Jeva Singh-Anand Available for the first time in a single volume, The Secret School of Wisdom contains the degree ritual for the mother of all conspiracy theories, the Bavarian Illuminati. The book presents the degree system of the Illuminati in the form it took about 1783, when the order was at its height. It is a scholarly work, first and foremost, and includes an informative introduction by the editors that precedes the presentation of the translation. The degrees and related material are presented in order beginning with the lowest, Minerval Novice, up through the highest of the Greater Mysteries. Though a necessary volume for the shelves of anyone with a serious interest in the Bavarian Illuminati, or eighteenth-century continental Masonry, readers with more general interests in Masonic ritual, or Enlightenment thought will also find the work very interesting. It is a handsome volume, and very well bound.

The Order of the Illuminati, though not originally conceived as such, eventually grew to become a full-blown system of Masonic degrees. It attempted, with limited success, to infiltrate Masonic lodges in order to co-opt the reputation and infrastructure of 32 • SUMMER 2015

Masonry, thus hiding in plain sight. As a secret society, however, the Order of the Illuminati was an utter failure. The wealth of original source material from the Illuminati is largely due to the incompetency of the order to keep its secrets. As a result we have virtually everything needed to paint a clear picture of the inner workings, the philosophy, the (formerly) secret teachings, and the degree work of the Illuminati. The Secret School of Wisdom is a welcome publication of some of the documentary history most central to understanding the Illuminati.

The substantive introduction is brief, but indispensible. Wäges and Markner include necessary background and context to the several degrees and to the system as a whole. Although a thorough introduction to the ritual that follows, it is not a history of the Illuminati, nor does it offer extensive biographical sketches of the major personalities involved, beyond what is necessary for orienting the reader to the documents translated. Readers will also do well to resist the temptation to thumb to the final chapters to “eavesdrop,” as it were, on the secret doctrines reserved to the highest-ranking members in the Mysteries Class. Read along and imagine the progress of the degrees. There is plenty of information here to satisfy the imagination as the reader ascends from the Minerval Novice, through to the highest degree of the Greater Mysteries, the Philosophical Sage.

The system of degrees is divided into three main classes: the Minerval Class, Freemasonic Class, and the Mysteries Class.

One entered the Order of the Illuminati as a novice, without ritual initiation, the point of which seems to have been a general introduction to the order and assertion of control over the initiate.

This stage is followed by the first proper degree, the Minerval degree, where more of the structure and “General Statues” of the order are revealed. This is followed in turn by the Illuminatus Minor to complete the Minerval Class. The Freemasonic Class includes an extensive revision of the three symbolic degrees, as well as higher degrees of “Scottish Freemasonry.” This class also includes a highly idiosyncratic interpretation of the rituals and chief symbols of Greemasonry.

Only the first two degrees from the Mysteries Class—Lesser Priest and Lesser Regent—are complete with instructions for conferring the degree. The first of these also includes a preliminary “lesson,” that repeats many familiar enlightenment themes. The Greater Mysteries, it must be said, are disappointing, at least for the modern reader. The two highest degrees are unfinished, and are represented by a single long lecture for each. As the editors point out, it seems unlikely that these degrees were ever conferred. More disappointing than the unfinished state of the highest degrees is the content of the two lectures. What we have are two long and incongruent philosophical lectures by founder Adam Weishaupt.

The lecture of the penultimate degree, the oddly named Docetists, is a long presentation of Weishaupt’s version of philosophical idealism. The lecture that comprises our only source for the content of the highest degree, the Philosophical Sage, is particularly hard on the ears of modern readers. The highest mystery seems to be an unoriginal pastiche of Enlightenment ideas and a philosophy of history obsessed with the consequences of the biblical flood on the subsequent history of the human race.

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The book is very readable, and anyone with an interest should find it an accessible, even fun, read. We can be thankful to the editors for contributing to a clarification of the historical record, and shedding light on a subject often obscured by misinformation and fantasy. There is still too little quality work on Weishaupt’s Illuminati, and The Secret School of Wisdom is the most important contribution to the serious scholarship on it. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in just what the infamous Illuminati were up to behind closed doors.

Reviewed by Phil Schoenberg Lewis Masonic (2015), 447 pages Hardcover $39.95

entire package provides an excellent Masonic education resource.

There really is no reason not to have a copy of this important work.

If you don’t have a copy, I highly recommend you pick up one in some format today.

Reviewed by Michael R. Poll Available in multiple free or low-cost paperback, e-book, and Web editions

MEET THE REVIEWERS

Book Reviews: Classic The Symbolism of Freemasonry

by Albert G. Mackey

It doesn’t take a new candidate long to realize that symbolism is deeply woven into the fabric of Freemasonry. While the candidate may readily learn that fact, he may spend the rest of his life trying to properly understand the meanings of those symbolic lessons. Left on his own, the new Mason may be overwhelmed by the teachings of Freemasonry, as well as its symbolic method of teaching. It may truly be as if he were blind without a guide.

Albert Mackey, in his book The Symbolism of Freemasonry, provides the Masonic student with a classic study of the symbolism employed in Freemasonry. While it is a comprehensive work, some claim that it is lacking in the deeper aspects of symbolic education. But even if utilized only as an introductory tool to the study of symbolism, this is a book that should be read and studied by all Masons. For the new Mason, it will provide a good foundation in Masonic symbolism and whet the appetite of the more philosophical students for further study. For the experienced Mason, it is a good study guide and reference tool. The synoptical index alone is of great value for a fuller understanding of our words and methods.

In addition to clear explanations of many of the symbolic lessons in Freemasonry, the work provides a condensed history of Freemasonry and some of the disciplines which may have played a part in providing portions of its legends, rituals, and dogma. The

Donald I. Crews is past master of Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge 2 in Cincinnati. His book, Cincinnati’s Freemasons, was released by Arcadia Publishing in October 2014. By profession, he is a librarian.

He is a member of the Masonic Society, Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 Correspondence Circle, and the Scottish Rite Research Society, and he is active in the Ohio Lodge of Research.

Michael R. Poll is the owner of Cornerstone Book Publishers. He is a fellow and past president of The Masonic Society, a fellow of the Philalethes Society, a fellow of the Maine Lodge of Research, secretary of the Louisiana Lodge of Research, and full member of the Texas Lodge of Research.

Phil Schoenberg is a member of Albuquerque Lodge 60, New Mexico. He received his BA and MA in philosophy from San Jose State University. He is currently completing his PhD in philosophy at the University of New Mexico.

Noah Shapiro is past master of Bent Lodge 42, Taos, New Mexico, and past grand marshal of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico. He is currently deputy grand lecturer for the Second Masonic District of New Mexico and junior warden of the Lodge of Research of New Mexico. He has been a freelance writer and editor for more than thirty years.

Wayne E. Sirmon is a past master of Texas Lodge of Research, where he currently serves on the Editorial Committee. A history instructor at the University of Mobile, he served the Grand Lodge of Alabama as chairman of the Masonic Education Committee for eight years. He is a staff reviewer for this journal.

Jay S. Williams, PhD, is past master of Sandia Mountain Lodge 72, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and chair of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico’s Committee on Foreign Correspondence. He is a former college instructor and current technical writer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He is a staff reviewer for this journal.

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F

reemasonry and the founding of the United States have been intertwined since the very beginning. Now discover the brotherhood of Freemasons at the center of Dan Brown’s novel, The Lost Symbol. Follow fictional symbologist Robert Langdon’s factual trail through the streets and monuments of Washington D.C., and into the innermost lodge rooms and temples of the Masons.

Best-selling author of Solomon’s Builders and Freemasons For Dummies Christopher Hodapp has created the definitive guide to the symbols, legends, and mysteries of The Lost Symbol.

Take an insider’s trip to uncover the true stories behind the Freemasons and the nation’s capital, and interpret the clues and claims of Brown’s book.

From Masonic presidents, secret codes, and esoteric rituals, to curious cornerstones, monuments, and symbols, Deciphering The Lost Symbol is the only key you need to unlock the secrets and the truth behind Dan Brown’s fiction.

ISBN: 978-1569757739 Ulysses Press. Paperback, 208 pages, US $12.95 (ADVERTISEMENT)

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Masonic Treasures

The Masonic Baseball Game In faded writing, you can just make out the words “Masonic Baseball Game, June 25, 1921.”

Although we have no record of what lodges played in the game, or the score, the undoubtedly spirited game drew a large crowd at Union League Park, a minor-league field formerly at 15th and H St. N.E in Washington, DC. The brethren of Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington had worked very hard to sell tickets to the game, raising more than $600 for charity.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Admiral, and brother, Robert E. Coontz — at the time Chief of Naval Operations.

Coontz later became famous for creating the Naval Research Laboratory. After the game, the ball was inscribed and presented to Naval Lodge.

— Isaiah Akin, Historian, Naval Lodge No. 4, Washington, D.C.