November, 1946
Contents
A THOUGHT FOR THANKSGIVING CHARLES C. HUNT, F.P.S.
WAGES OF A MASTER MASON Music in Masonry
FRATERNAL SECRETS THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY NEWS.
Humanitarian Freemasonry In Denmark HELP FOR THE WIDOW'S SON
The Goal and Means of Masonry LET US NOT FORGET
A THOUGHT FOR THANKSGIVING FROM EMERSON
By the late A. Gaylord Beaman, F.P.S.
The changes which break up at short intervals the prosperity of men are advertisements of a nature whose law is growth. Evermore it is the order of nature to grow, and every soul is by this intrinsic necessity quitting its whole system of things, its friends, and home, and laws, and faith, as the shellfish crawls out of its beautiful but stony case, because it no longer admits of its growth, and slowly forms a new house.
In proportion to the vigor of the individual these revolutions are frequent, until in somoe happier mind they are incessant, and all worldly relations hang very loosely about him, becoming as it were a transparent fluid membrane through which the form is always seen and not as in most men an indurated heterogeneous fabric of many dates and of no settled character, in which the man is imprisoned. Then there can be enlargement and the man of today scarcely recognizes the man of yesterday. And such should be the outward biography of man in time, a putting off of dead circumstances day by day. But to us, in our lapsed state, resting, not advancing, resisting, not cooperating with the divine expansion, this growth comes by shocks.
We cannot part with our friends. We cannot let our angels go. We do not see that they only go out that archangels may come in. We are idolaters of the old. We do not believe in the riches of the soul, in its proper eternity and omnipresence. We do not believe there is any force in today to rival or recreate that beautiful yesterday. We linger in the ruins of the old tent, where once we had bread and shelter and organs, nor believe that the spirit can feed, cover, and nerve us again. We cannot again find aught so dear, so sweet, so graceful. But we sit and weep in vain. The voice of the Almighty faith. "Up and onward forevermore."
We cannot stay amid the ruins. Neither will we rely on the new, and so we walk ever with reverted eyes, like those monsters who look backwards.
And yet the compensation of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, the loss of friends, seems at the moment unpaid loss, and unpayable. But the sure years reveal the deep remedial force that unlies all facts. The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character. It permits or constrains the formation of new acquaintances, and the reception of new influences that prove of the first importance to the next year; and the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardner is made the banyan of the forest, yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men. - Bulletin of Los. Angeles Consistory.
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QUOTATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES C. HUNT, F.P.S.
"Freemasonry is an organized society of men symbolically applying the principles of operative Masonry and architecture to the science and art of character building."
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"The Legend of the Craft deals in the main with historical personages, but it does not place them in their true historical settings, nor does it attempt to discriminate between historical and legendary tales told by ancient writers about these personages. This so-called legend is in fact a collection of legends, and historical incidents used indiscriminately, each being selected without regard to historical value solely for its application to character-building and its use as illustrative of such building."
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"From time immemorial stones have been get up as monuments of events and people. However it is not only as monuments that stones are to be regarded as conveying messages, from mind to mind, and from generation to generation. They are also symbols of divine ideas and ideals, of spiritual life, of basic principles, of fixedness of character. Certain stones called precious are symbols of priceless value and many other qualities. Building stones and precious stones are closely associated in the Biblical description of the New Jerusalem. The stones of the material city and temple are used as symbols of the New Jerusalem and the spiritual temple. Both are called God's House, God's dwelling place. Everything about King Solomon's Temple has a spiritual counterpart."
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"Masonry is the science and the art of building. In its operative character it deals with material structures, as a speculative science it applies the principles of the operative art to character building. In this application Masonry follows the practice of the Bible, for in that Book as in Masonry, the material Temple erected to God is but a type of the Spiritual Temple, 'the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens'."
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The History of Abraham and his descendants is a symbol of spiritual building. A long apprenticeship must be served before they could be fitted to leave their tents and settle in the promised land. It was not until the time of David that they could actually call the land their own. The tents gave place to permanent habitation and in Solomon's Temple the tabernacle gave place to the temple as a dwelling place of their God, but the greater truth of which King Solomon's Temple was the symbol was not understood until long afterwards when it was taught that it WaH not in material but in spiritual temples that God should be worshipped."
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By ELBOW BEDE, MPS
(Author, "3-5-7 Minute Talks on Freemasonry")
Each of us, when he petitioned for the degrees of Freemasonry was required to testify that he was uninfluenced by mercenary motives. Since then each of us has been rather frequently reminded that, as Freemasons, it is our part to give, rather than to expect to receive. Also, each of us has been reminded that the more he puts in the more he takes out. In contradiction of foregoing, we have been informed that we get out more than we put in. All of these admonitions, even if to an extent contradictory, have bearing on the "Wages of a Master Mason."
We hear a great deal about Corn, Wine and Oil as the Wages of a Fellowcraft, but it is as Master Masons' that most of our labor is performed. If we receive wages for the little time we labor as Fellowcrafts, why are we taught nothing about the Wages of a Master Mason? Do Master Masons labor without reward ? If the Wages of A Fellowcraft are Corn, Wine and Oil, what are the Wages of a Master Mason?
The reason that we do not find Wages of a Master Mason described in our ritual is undoubtedly the same reason which explains complete lack in our ritual of interpretation of our Symbols. As each Brother must find his own interpretation of a Symbol, and as that interpretation will be the correct one so far as he is concerned, so must each Brother find for himself his symbolic Wages of a Master Mason, and, so far as he is concerned, these will be the Wages of a Master Mason he will receive. He will find that he does not receive the same kind of Wages of a Master Mason as some other Brother, nor the same amount. Some are content with small Wages of a Master Mason. Some seek high Wages of a Master Mason. Many receive overtime payments. No Brother is overpaid, nor is any one underpaid. Each receives Wages of a Master Mason in proportion as he seeks them, in proportion to the effort he puts forth in earning them.
One may find his Wages of a Master Mason in the gratitude of those for whom he has performed acts of kindness or charity. Another may collect his Wages of a Master Mason in the joy he derives from having taken cheer into a sick room. Still another Brother may find his Wages of a Master Mason in the gratitude of a Brother's family to whom he has been a mainstay during their hour of sorrow. One may collect his Wages of a Master Mason in the appreciation of Brethren to whom he has imparted something of Masonic knowledge. Another's Wages of a Master Mason may come in honors conferred upon him by Brethren whom he has faithfully served. Still another may receive his Wages of a Master Mason in the friendships that have come through his Freemasonry. Another may receive Wages of a Master Mason that to him seem sufficient when he is privileged to coach someone in the lectures; still another when he is given small parts in the ritualistic work. Another may serve his Brethren and earn his Wages of a Master Mason in the performance of civil duties in accordance with the admonitions of Freemasonry. There are many ways in which to earn the Wages of a Master Mason. Opportunities are many, many of them in no way related to Freemasonry, but each Brother must determine for himself how much and what kind of Wages of a Master Mason he is to receive. Each Brother receives Wages of a Master Mason in proportion to the effort he puts forth in finding opportunity and the effort he gives in earning them.
Wages of a Master Mason are not paid in gold or silver that may be stolen. Wages of a Master Mason may never be taken from the one who has earned them. Wages of a Master Mason are not paid in Corn, Wine and Oil that may be used for barter or exchange. Wages of a Master Mason are not paid in merchandise of commerce and trade that may deteriorate and moulder with the passage of years Wages of a Master Mason do not deteriorate or moulder. They are always freshly minted. Wages of a Master Mason are paid in those things that the Brother receiving them may keep in the repository of the faithful breast. They are paid in those things that remain secure in the hearts of his Brethren or others he has served. Wages of a Master Mason are priceless yet they have no intrinsic value. They can not be measured by any standard by which the value of intrinsic things is measured. A great diamond may bring a fabulous sum in the marts of trade, but that gives no standard by which to measure the priceless Wages of a Master Mason. A financier may lay away great sums in stocks and bonds. He may deposit great sums in his bank account and may rate high among the worshippers of pelf, but he possesses nothing that equals the priceless Wages of a Master Mason that are without intrinsic value. He has put into the hearts of those who know him nothing that may live after him. He has provided no standard by which the priceless Wages of a Master Mason may be measured.
There is no standard by which the Wages of a Master Mason may be measured. Wages of a Master Mason are measured only by the value placed upon them by those who receive them.
(The foregoing article, "Wages of a Master Mason" is a condensation of a book by the same title published and copyrighted by the Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., 35 West 32nd Street, New York 1, N.Y. - Editor).
The Cultivation of Music in Masonry Throughout The Centuries
Translation by Leo Fischer, F.P.S., of an article by Walter Zeller, published in German in "Alpina," Basel, Switzerland, in December, 1946.
While the churches, especially the Catholic Church, recognized at an early date the value of a uniform musical-liturgical order and strove to perfect the same, Masonry does not know any such union. This circumstance which is in itself strange finds its explanation in the nature and inner structure of Masonry and in its historical development, because in accordance with its moral and philosophical attitude the spoken word is deemed of greater importance than music.
In its inner structure Masonry has taken over the customs of medieval operative Masonry and has, especially, adopted the hierarchical princuple of the stonemasons' lodges, giving new symbolical meanings to customs derived purely from the manual trade. It is certain that the era of the great monuments of the builder's art, that expression of an epoch of unimaginable inner grandeur and magnificence, and with it the hypothesis of operative Masonry, the community of labor, had long been a thing of the past at the beginning of the 18th century, because where there was no building there could not be a workmen's lodge. The merry songs of the craftsmen had ceased long ago, and the disappearance of the workmen's lodges had resulted in the irretrievable loss of a wealth of songs that must surely have been of great worth. It is probable that but few of the oldest Masonic songs were based on the melodies of those operative Masons' Songs. As a whole, Masonry in its early stages contented itself with the adaptation of popular songs the words of which were changed to give them a Masonic meaning. Thus, in the course of time a multiform collection of songs accumulated which, according to its origin, expressed Masonic ideology in the English, French or German tongues. Considered as a whole, these songs and the scant instrumental music were intended for particular occasions and therefore belong to the category of occasions music, do not deviate from the forms in general use, and are entirely in accordance with the style prevailing at the time.
Anderson's Constitutions of 1723 already contain a number of songs, of which "The Master's Song," the "Warden's Song," "The Fellow Craft's Song," and "The Enter'd Prentice's Song" were sung while the Lodge was at labor. When Masonry spread to the continent, these songs came through France to Germany where the first collection of songs appeared in Altenburg, in 1746. In accordance with the custom of that period, the Wechselgesang (alternate chant or song) was used by us, also, that is, the songs were rendered alternately by the chorus and by solo voices. We know of two songs of this kind by Mozart, entitled "Two alternate songs for the solemn inauguration of the Lodge 'Newly Crowned Hope'," on January 14, 1786. The Masonry of the 18th and 19th centuries, largely a social organization, gave the preference to social songs, while the Masonry of our time, which occupies itself more with the mind, attributes more of a ceremonial importance to the music, especially to the instrumental music.
In the early years the London Lodges were especially fond of opening their festivities, cornerstone layings, etc., by processions within and without the Lodge hall, which processions were preceded by trumpeters. This custom disappeared with the abandonment of public processions (at which the Brethren appeared in full regalia). The cultivation of music was now left more and more to the musical Brethren and can, therefore, not be judged in a general way. In spite of the scant amount of documentary data we are justified in assuming that the cultivation of music by Masonry was on a higher level in the past than it is at present. This assumption is borne out by the fact that not only members of the nobility and other prominent elements who deemed it an obligation to cultivate the arts belonged to the Masonic Fraternity, but artists such as Naumann, Mozart (father and son), Haydn, Hummel, Scheibe, Meyerbeer, Boieldieu, Lortzing, Loewe, Kreutzer, Spohr, David, Liszt, etc. If further proof is wanted to back up this assumption, we need only cast a glance at some of the specifically Masonic compositions of Mozart (cantata, funeral music), the execution of which without suitable instrumental music is hardly imaginable. A beautiful example of the cultivation of music by the Masons of that time is in connection with Mozart's last sojourn in Prague in 1791, where the maestro who was then already seriously ill, visited the Lodge "Truth and Unity" several times. Upon his fare well visit the Brethren received him by taking position in two ranks facing each other and greeting him, as he entered, with "Mason's Joy," a cantata composed by him in 1785. We know that in the Lodge "Royal York," in 1794, a cantata "especially made for this occasion accompanied by excellent funeral music," was sung.
The Masonic cultivation of music developed along similar and, in general, parallel lines, in France, Holland, Germany, and Switzerland. Singling out the Helvetian contribution to the creation of Masonic songs, we must mention the names of Abt, Angerer, Attenhofer, Fassbender, Ferdinand Huber, Dietrich, Jacobi, Richter, etc. Aside from these there is a considerable number of names of vocal and instrumental artists who took care of the cultivation of music in our Swiss Lodges and are still doing it. But not every Lodge is fortunate enough to have among its membership such an artist or artists, or, as in Zurich, even three of them and all professional musicians and belonging to the same instrumental group. This statement illustrates how the cultivation of music depends upon local conditions and must for this reason vary in the several Lodges. To be sure, there often are musical Brethren who play some instrument, as nonprofessionals, with more or less skill; but it often happens that their good will is greater than their ability and the musical performance is not a fitting accompaniment to the Masonic ritual. However good will must be appreciated, yet the presentation of any excuse for music during the ritualistic work in the Lodge must be avoided. Modesty may be a virtue, but in Lodge work we must not be satisfied with "Musisque pour les pastures," that is, music that does not amount to much and which would cast a queer reflection on our high-grade cultural and spiritual aims in Masonry. Noblesse oblige!
A musical program in the form of chamber music (such as a quartet of string instruments, etc.) would to the connoisseur no doubt represent the ideal. Unfortunately the requirements for this most presumptuous sort of music would in most cases be beyond the means of our Lodges, and for that reason such music could scarcely come into consideration for practical purposes, unless it should be decided to engage the services of a properly prepared group of artists. This is, in my opinion, only feasible in places where the arrangement of the hall is such that outsiders can be present without any violation of the secret character of our meetings.
Where the conditions for a proper use of music do not exist and where there is a lack of musical Brethren or members fond of singing, other solutions have to be found. The first thing that occurs to me in that respect is the use of grammophones with loudspeakers, although the objection is often heard that this is a purely mechanical reproduction of sound. This objection, which may be the result of a surfeit of radio or of unsuccessful trials (the greatest care in installation and treatment are a necessary condition) comes more frequently from laymen than from musicians. Laymen are very prone to speak of "canned music," and make use in their arguments of values that do not count in art which renders it more difficult to combat prejudices like these. However, in view of the great technical development of these apparatus and, especially, of the practically unlimited selection of the most magnificent compositions in the most perfect rendition imaginable, there can hardly be any doubt regarding the usefulness of such an installation. Seen from a practical point of view, its use does not lessen the activity of the musical Brethren in any manner, because both possibilities can be used jointly and be made to supplement each other in the sense of the richer use of music.
Here and there a Lodge may deem it necessary to renew old and worn-out instrument harmoniums or Pianos. In this respect, also, modern industry has provided new instruments that satisfy all demands. An instrument especially suitable for our purposes is in our opinion, the so-called Hammond organ which is not inferior to the church organ in tone volume and quality and the installation and space requirement of which are simple and inconsiderable.
In conclusion we would say a word regarding the use of music by Masonry, especially with reference to the present time. We all hope that out of the dreadful catastrophe there will come a better world, a world to the upbuilding of which Masonry is called to make a contribution worthy of its ethical and cultural aims. If we open our hearts and minds to the tremendous problems that have to be solved, we shall have found the soil which, fertilized by the spirit of Masonry, will give us new strength and vigor. Coupled with this happy confidence there is the desire for a vast development of the cultivation of music in Masonry, a wish that is not fathered by any ambition but is to many Brethren a need deeply rooted in their hearts.
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My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry Severs in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. Thus is to be my symphony. - William Henry Channing.
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The Philalethes - November, 1946; Volume 1, Number 6. Walter A. Quincke, F.P.S., editor. Publication schedule (tentatively set) during January; February; March; May; July; September; November, and December. Annual subscription, $3.00, payable in advance to: The Philalethes Society; Walter A. Quincke, President; 274 South Burlington Ave., Los Angeles 4, California. Readers of "The Philalethes" will find in each issue a well-rounded and practical text to please discriminating Masonic taste. - Editors of Masonic magazines are privileged to reprint any of the articles appearing in "The Philalethes," providing credit as to its source is given and a marked copy is sent to us.
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(This article was adapted from a charge given a newly initiated candidate in July, 1811. It is at the same time a sermon and an exposition of the principles of Masonry. - The Editor).
"As you are introduced to the first principles of Masonry, you are to be congratulated on being accepted into our ancient and honorable Order. Ancient, as having existed from time, immemorial, and honorable, as tending in every particular to render all men so, who will be but conformable to its precepts.
No institution was ever raised on a better principle or more solid foundation. Never were more excellent rules and useful maxims laid down than are inculcated on all persons when initiated into the mysteries of this Order.
Monarchs through the centuries have been encouragers and promoters of our Craft, and have never deemed it derogatory to their dignity to level themselves with the fraternity, to extend their privileges and to patronize their assemblies.
As a gentleman and a Mason, you are now bound to a strict observance of the moral law as contained in the holy writings; to consider these as the unerring standard of' truth and justice, and to regulate your life and actions by their divine precepts.
Herein your duty to God, to your neighbors, aml to yourself is duly inculcated. Your zealous attachment to these duties will always earn for you the esteem of the public as well as the Craft.
As a citizen you are to be a quiet and peaceable subject and just to your country. You are never to countenance disloyalty or rebellion, but patiently submit to lawful authority.
In your outward demeanor you are to be particularly careful to avoid censure or reproach; and on every occasion to beware of those who may artfully endeavor to insinuate themselves into your esteem, with the view to betray your resolutions or make you swerve from the honorable principles of this Infititution.
Let not interest, favor or prejudice bias your integrity, or influence you to be guilty of dishonorable action; but let your conduct and behavior be a credit to the Craft.
Above all other virtues, you are to practice benevolence and charity, these being the most distinguishingly characteristics of this venerable Institution.
The pleasure of contributing toward the relief of others can only be experienced by the sympathetic person who, supposing himself in their unhappy situation, listens to their complaints, bewails their misfortunes and speedily helps to relieve their distress.
A punctual attendance at our meetings is next required, more especially on the duties of the Lodge to which you will belong. There, as in all other regular meetings of the Fraternity, you are to behave with order and decorum, that harmony may be preserved and the business of Masonry properly conducted.
You are not to use unbecoming language; you are not to introduce, support or maintain any dispute about religion or politics; or behave ludicrously while the Lodge is engaged in what is serious and important.
You are to pay proper deference and respect to the Master and presiding Officers.
You are to diligently apply yourself to your work in Masonry that you may become proficient therein, for your own reputation and the honor of the Lodge in which you have been received.
Altho your regular appearance at our meetings is earnestly solicited, yet Masonry is not meant to inter fere with your necessary vocations, for these are on no account to be neglected.
To conclude, you are to keep sacred and inviolable the mysteries of our Order; and if ever, in the circle of your acquaintances, you may finall one desirous of becoming a Mason, you are to be particularly attentive not to recommend him, unless he will conform to our rules; that the honor, glory and reputation of our Institution may become more firmly established, and the world at large more firmly convinced of its benign influence.
It is hoped that you will estimate the real value of this charge and ever imprint on your mind the sacred dictates of truth, honor and justice.
My Brother, let me personally urge you to ever: wear a Masonic emblem, keeping in mind that by so doing, you claim Membership in the greatest Fraternal Order ever known to man, and that your conduct will always be a measuring rod by which many will judge this Order to which you now belong."
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I love the Springtime with the breath
Of flowers that bloom afield,
The azure skies, the birds and bees
The fragrance woodlands yield.
I love the Summer sunshine too,
And cool refreshing showers,
The fields of grain with golden hue
That blends with summer flowers,
I love the Fall with ripened fruit,
And harvests safely stored,
And homes where hearts with joy are mute
O'er Autumn's bounteous hoard,
I love the Winter with its snows
O'er hill, and valley spread
When Nature in her sweet repose
Her cares and toils have shed.
I love the seasons as they call
From skies, and moors, and heather
I praise the God who made them all
With varied kinds of weather.
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By JAMES K. REMICK. M.P.S.
Newly enrolled members within the Masonic brotherhood who have had little or no information on the subject, are momentarily disturbed when they discover that there is offered to unwary buyers publications purporting to set forth the secrets of Masonry.
It is not a new thing and each generation seems to supply certain queer mentalities, who either from the incentive to, be vicious or having a monetary motive have offered the public such a poor exhibition of literature that it would seem incredible a reputable publisher or dealer would find the time or space for it. The naturally resentful brother need have little concern. These purveyors of so-called secrets are as far from having entered the inner sanctum as they are from being commercially dignified. It is reasonable to understand that should all of Masonry be concealed under secret ritual no light could ever shine to beckon into the fold those who may have attained to the honor. Masonry has nothing to hide or to secrete. To the contrary it expounds the doctrine that has led mankind from the unthinking clod to his present attainments, and it is that journey wherein lies the secrets that sordid gold-gathering would befoul.
Enlightenment within Masonry is an individual attainment and the door is closed upon the real secrets until opened from within. The ritual of the Craft is but symbolism and the real secrets are only heard by a beholding brother and never peddled by profanes.
It is perhaps appropriate to term the inner mysteries recondite rather than secret; so what could a purveyor of clandestine compilations know of the silver cord or of the golden bowl. The ladder of Jacob and its place in human history and effort is beyond the ken of a literary bootlegger. It requires the talents of an honest man to uncover and practically apply the real secrets of Masonry, and such a man has neither idle time nor incentive to besmirch his honor with a tawdry offering that could only interest the morbid. The secret of the Inner Chamber is for those only who are worthy and have attained to the high honor and the right to abide therein. The "open sesame" is the recondite property of the individual and is never purchased in the market, nor is there a short path to the door thereof.
To discover the secret of the All-Seeing Eye entails the labor of ages. To fathom the reason for the Masonic apron is to acquire knowledge known only in full measure by the Priest Kings of millenia past. To understand and appreciate the significance of the sweet incense from the Masonie censor is to be in Fraternal communion with the Musters who long since have graduated their earthly tenure.
And yet the soul in darkness labors in the delusion that the secrets of Freemasonry can be had for money. They have never been sold; they cannot he bought in the market; they are acquired through sacrifice and unfoldment.
Ten commandments have been vouchsafed for our guidance, to which we may add the eleventh that traffickers in worthless printing may well observe. Most applicable is this latter day admonition - "Mind your own business."
Be not disturbed, Masonry nor its Principles have ever been bought or sold.
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NEW MEMBERS
Earl Stanley Brickell, 3412 South "G" St., Tacoma 8, Washington.
Donald R. Ellis. P. O. Box 906. Oxnard. California
Robert Wallace Halliday, 1000 Lake Road, Conneaut, Ohio.
Dr. Ross Hepburn, P.O. Box 484, Christchurch, C 1. New Zealand.
Burt Bernard Stemmons, Avilla, (Jasper County) Missouri.
John Urzidil, 32-51, 81st Street, Jackson Heights, Long Islands New York.
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RE-AFFILIATIONS
Albert Knight, 10 Lincoln Avenue, West Barrington, Rhode Island.
Jerry R. Marker, Box 3, Oklahoma City 1, Oklahoma.
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CHANGES OF ADDRESSES
Edward E. Hedblom, M.P.S., 1770 Sherman St., Denver 6, Colorado.
John Mosssz, F.P.S., 11 Boulevard des Philosophes, Geneva, Switzerland.
Arthur C. Parker, F.P.S., Naples, New York.
(When requesting a correction or a change of address, kindly give the old as well as the new addresses,together with your postal zone number, if you have such. This prevents waste. - The Editor).
Passe 8
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Humanitarian Freemasonry In Denmark
By FREDERICK K. LAUTERBACH, M.P.S.
(Translated from the German by Leo Fischer, F.P.S.)
Motto: "The United Grand Lodge of England acknowledges only the three degrees: the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason, including the Royal Arch.
The Grand Lodge of London was founded on June 24, 1717, and on December 6, 1737, it constituted in Hamburg the first German Lodge of Masons which was first named "La Loge d'Hambourg," then, after 1741, "Absalom," and finally, after 1766, "Absalom zu den drei Nesseln." The Lodge last named, according to a patent dated October 30, 1740, was constituted by the Grand Lodge of London as Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg and Lower Saxony, and this Provincial Grand Lodge became on February 4, 1811, the famous Grand Lodge of Hamburg.
In Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, the first Danish Masonic Lodge, St. Martin, was formed without a charter in 1743. The St. John's Lodge Zerubabel was founded in Copenhagen in 1743 or 1714 and received its charter in 1745 from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg and Lower Saxony and, shortly after, from the Grand Lodge of London. The Lodge St. Martin received its charter in 1749, and its Worshipful Master, Count Christian Conrad Danneskjold-Laurvigen, was appointed by the Grand Lodge of London as Provincial Grand Master for the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway which were then united. The "Strict Observance" was introduced into Denmark in 1765, and on May 5th the Lodges at Copenhagen were dissolved and the Mother Lodge Nordstjernen, with two Daughter Lodges, Zerubabel and Phoenix, was constituted. In 1767, the Lodge St. Martin was taken into the Lodge Zerubabel which thereupon merged with the Lodge Nordstjernen under the name of Zorobabel til Nordstjernen, while the Lodge, Phoenix ceased labors. The Danish and Norwegian Lodges were received as "Praefektur Binin" headed by Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, and the Danish-Norwegian Provincial Grand Lodge under the Grand Lodge of London was thereby dissolved. In 1778 Landgrave Charles of Hessia, who called himself Protector et Superior Ordinis in Dania, took charge.
After the famous convention of Wilhelmsbad, in 1782, the Danish and Norwegian Masonic Lodges worked in the Rectified Rite, Chevaliers bienfaisants de la Sainte Cite, Rite ou Systeme rectifie, with Duke Ferdinand as General Grand Master and Landgrave Charles as Coadjutor, and later, in 1786, as Provincial Grand Master. After the Duke's death, Landgrave Charles was by royal rescript of November 2, 1792, appointed General Grand Master of Free-Masonry in Denmark, which office he held until his death in 1886, when Prince Christian, who later became King Christian VIII, assumed charge as supreme ruler of Danish Masonry. Upon the latter's death, in 1848, King Frederick VII became General Grand Master.
During the first years of the reign of King Christian VIII, strong Scandinavian sympathies had developed among the enlightened classes of the population of the three Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, while relations with Germany were getting more and more strained. At the centenary of Danish Masonry In 1846, the representative of Swedish Masonry made the statement that Masonry in the three countries named was well suited to be an important link in the Scandinavian movement for the foundation of a United North. It is, therefore, easy to understand that under the circumstances then prevailing, the Masonic high degree system which, moreover, was incorrectly called the Swedish System and which in Sweden attained to such importance and growth in the Swedish Grand Lodge, gained sympathy in Danish Masonry and, to a no lesser degree, with the new General Grand Master and his immediate environment who were also Masons. To this must be added the ceremonial pomp of the Swedish System, the systematic relation and the entirely Christian character of the system and, besides, the circumstance that the organic law of June 6, 1848, had established a constitutional form of government in Denmark, while in the Swedish Grand Lodge there was absolute sovereignty, with the king of the land as supreme and unrestricted ruler. In 1862, King Frederick VII was initiated into the Swedish System at Frederiksborg Castle, in Hillerod, by his good friend, the Swedish crown prince Charles, who later became King Charles XV of Sweden and Norway. On March 16, 1868, the eighth Masonic Province was constituted by a Declaratio qua demo constituitur VIII - va Provincia, and on the 21st of the same month, the Danish Grand Lodge was inaugurated. Crown Prince Frederick, later King Frederick VIII, became in 1872 the head of Danish Masonry, and upon his death the present king of Denmark and Iceland, Christian X, took charge of the supreme command of the order as V:.S:.V:.
To resume: Masonry began in Denmark under the old English system introduced from London through Hamburg, then it changed to the Rectlaell Rite, through the Strict Observance, and finally it adopted the Swedish System. The latter was the only prevailing system in Denmark until the humanitarian Grand Lodge of Hamburg founded, in 1900, a Danish subordinate Lodge known as "Christian til Palmetraeet." The reason for the re-introduction of humanitarian Masonry into Denmark was a natural desire on the part of a few free Danes for a form of Masonry with a basic law admitting persons of any religion, leaving a Lodge the right to disburse and manage its own funds, and providing that in order to be an officer of the Lodge, it was sufficient for a member to be a Master Mason. The reintroduction of humanitarian or universal Masonry into Denmark unfortunately resulted in a very serious difference of opinion between the Danish Grand Lodge and the Grand Lodge of Hamburg, which was in reality based on nothing but the relation between territorial right and the right of a system: On the one side there was a Masonic body which used its might to maintain that the existing state of affairs alone was entitled to prevail, while on the other there was an endeavor to defend the right of independent spiritual life and development of thought, because "the divine spirit has many rays and what is good for one is not good for the other."
As stated above, the Danish St. John's Lodge Zerubabel in Copenhagen received its charter in 1745 from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg, under the Grand Lodge of London, and 155 years later another St. John's Lodge in Copenhagen, Christian til Palmetraeet, received a charter as a regular and perfect Lodge of Masons from the successor of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg, the Grand Lodge of Hamburg, which linked the past with the present in Denmark's Masonry. The charter granted by the Grand Lodge of Hamburg to the Lodge Christian til Palmetraeet was dated November 17, 1900, and on January 17, 1901, the highly esteemed Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Hamburg, Brother Carl Wiebe, himself consecrated the Lodge.
Owing to the power and might of the Danish Grand Lodge, humanitarian or universal Masonry in Denmark has found it difficult to forge ahead: per ardua ad astray It has so far not been possible to have all Danish Masons acknowledge that in the Royal Art of Masonry one may legally work in different ways, provided the manner in which the work is done proves by its regularity and perfection its Masonic character and worth. Furthermore, that the idea that in Masonry might creates right does not, and never will, fit into the beautiful and lofty ideology of Masonry.
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By MILFORD E. SHIELDS M.P.S.
".... Veiled in allegory - help for the widow's son . . . ." As we contemplate help for the widow's son in the cryptic light of allegory a deep light of personal responsibility becomes apparent - responsibility of the widow's son.
The relation of son and mother is immutable. The affection of son and mother is pure beyond flaw. Nothing sensual, nothing selfish, nothing mundane, nothing discordant binds them together. Their love is not as husband and wife, not as brother and sister, not as friends, nor yet as sweethearts. The love of a son and a mother is a most sublimating and sacred virtue. And when the mother is a widow this love becomes abundantly stronger, immeasurably more infinite.
As we cleanse our hands and purify our hearts and draw aside the sable veil of allegory, we begin to observe the splendor of the great impending dawn.
Standing by the widow's side in the black throes of the night, we can begin to see and, seeing, translate to the widow what our hearts conceive and our eyes behold. We can see the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man; we can see friendship and morality and brotherly love; we can see reason, peace and Infinity; we can see joy and ecstasy and bliss.
And we can take the widow by the hand and lead her into this beautiful dawn, into this exquisite day. For the widow is poor, dazed, groping humanity, her bereavement the loss of the light. And we as Masons are her sons, and we as Masons prayerfully and eternally search out the light. And light is help. Yes, there will be light, there is light - and help for the widow's son, and through her son there is help and hope and glory for the widow.
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ALBERT FREDERICK CALVERT, F.P.S. and SUESSKIND KRAMER, F.P.S.
We regret to announce the passing into the "Grand Lodge Above" of Brothers Albert F. Calvert, of London, England during June, and Suesskind Kramer, of Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 10.
Made a Mason in 1893, Brother Calvert was the author of many Masonic books, including "Grand Stewards and Red Apron Lodges"; "Bi-Centenary of Grand Lodge, 1717-1917"; "The Life of Peter Gilkes"; "Anthony Sayer, First Grand Master in 1717," and "Old Engraved Lists of Masonic Lodges."
He was the editor of the "Masonic Secretaries Journal"; the founder and editor of "The Authors' Lodge Transactions," and he delivered lectures in Research Lodges in all parts of England.
During May, 1937, Brother Calvert was elected a Fellow of the Philalethes Society, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Sir Frederick Pollock, F.P.S., of England.
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Brother Kramer was made a Mason in 1919, in Maccabean Lodge No. 1000, S.C., of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Later he demitted to Hillbrow Lodge No. 3046, E.C., of Johannesburg. He was the Past Princ. Sojourner of Hillbrow Chapter No. 3046, R.A.M., E.C.; The Register of Marks of Hillbrow Mark Lodge No. 741, E.C.; the Past Assistant District Grand Secretary of Transvaal, and the Past Deputy District Grand Director of Ceremonies of Transvaal.
Brother Kramer was a regular contributor to the "Masonic Journal" and the "Masonic World", of South Africa, and all his writings were characterized by his universal outlook and the teaching of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. He obtained recognition for his Masonic work by being elected, in March, 1946, a Fellow of the Philalethes Society, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of A. Gaylord Beaman, F.P.S., of Los Angeles, California.
Two kindly personalities are lost in the passing of Brothers Calvert and Kramer, but those who knew them cherished their friendship and their lives have been enriched because it was their privilege to call them "Brother."
(Signed) Walter A. Quincke
President
"The Philalethes Society"
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By MARIUS LEPAGE, M.P.S
Being an Oration delivered in Volney Lodge, Laval, France, on November 25, 1945.
Translated from the French by Leo Fischer, F.P.S.
Note of Translator. - For a better understanding of the following Oration, we must explain that in most Latin Lodges the candidate, before being admitted into the Lodge proper in the E. A. Degree, is for some time confined in a dark room, the "Chamber of Reflection." Upon his introduction into the Lodge he has to undergo various testy among them those of the Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Upon being brought to Light, he is welcomed by the Orator who, in Latin Lodges, is a very important officer. - L.F.
CHAPTER 1.
First Steps on the Path of Initiation
It is the duty of the Brother Orator to welcome newly initiated Brethren. This is a task I have always enjoyed. My fervent Masonic heart rejoices when I see come into our midst good men capable of assuring the prosperity and perpetuity, material as well as spiritual, of the Masonic Order.
However l have never experienced that joy to a higher degree than today. After five years of silence and persecution, our reconstructed Temple echoes again to the sound of the gavel and of the batteries of joy.
We have experienced great sorrows, and there have been desertions. This is why I can almost find it in my heart to rejoice over the attacks that we have suffered, because they have driven self-seeking and weak members from our Lodges. It has been a severe lesson; but I hope it has been a useful one and Masons will cease to waste most of their hours of labor in fruitless discussions which do not belong into our Lodges.
You come to us during a period of the total renewal of Masonry. Not as regards its goal and its methods which, as you will see later, remain as they have been handed down to us by generations of Brethren engaged in the symbolic preparation of the Perfect Ashlar. But it would be astonishing and, perhaps, not desirable if Masonry, being a human institution, were to pass through the turmoil of the modern world without being affected by it.
In the course of the debates to which you will listen in this Lodge, the current problems will be mentioned repeatedly, and I shall not now deviate from the duty which our traditions assign to me; that of saluting you on your first steps on the Path of Initiation.
I can give you but elementary and fragmentary notions. Little by little, the work in the Lodge will put you in contact with Masonic philosophy, in which your Brethren will assist you with their experience and their advice. You will learn the secrets of the Degree of Fellow Craft and then those of the Master Mason.
On the day when you will be admitted into the Lodge of Master Masons, in what we call the Middle Chamber, you will, as the "Masonic Constitution" informs us, have acquired the plenitude of your Masonic rights. Yes, you will, administratively and formally. But spiritually? Far from it! It will take many years of effort and study before you will begin to see the "True Light."
I can, however, assure you that you will attain to the true knowledge if you are determined not to be Masons in name only.
Masonry is not a political society, it is not a mutual-aid society, though Masonic brotherhood is not a vain word. It is something higher than a philosophical society: it is an "Initiation."
My newly promoted Brethren, let us take together the first steps on the path that lies before us. It Swill not be my privilege to accompany you along the entire way: you must travel that alone. But I can show you the way. It is rugged and insecure, like the one you traveled in the course of your first voyage. However, from the first steps on, the acacias will bloom above your heads. What matter the thorns so long as you can gather the flower and it will sweeten your life with its perfume?
As you were meditating in the dark chamber into which we put you upon your entry into the outer precincts of our Lodge, you desired light. All was darkness about you; especially your soul was in darkness. But in the darkness there shone a feeble light: a material light symbolical of the torch that was illuminating the Chamber of Reflection: the invisible, spiritual light of the spirit of our Institution which; beginning with your first contacts with us, has been hovering about you, gently enveloping you and removing you from the outside world.
You were about to be reborn into a new world and were able to say with the Apostle "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." (St. John, 1, 9).
While traditional Masonry observes the feasts of both Saints John, it gives a certain precedence to the Forerunner, Saint John the Baptist, he of whom the Evangelist said: "He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." (St. John, 1, 8).
It is thus that your very East lesson in Masonry, before you were ever accepted into its bosom, was to invite you to establish contact with the Light and acknowledge that the Light exists. You enter what we call a Saint John's Lodge, to which title we add another distinguishing it from its Sister Lodges. Another step forward. Beginning with your passage through the Chamber of Reflection where an insignificant glimmer barely separates the darkness from the Light, you must understand the role and essence of that Light. "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came into his own, and his own received him not." (St. John, 1, 10-11).
If you had been able to understand the symbolism of the Chamber of Reflection, all the rest of our irritation would have been superfluous.
Because, together with the Masonic symbolism, during the entire period of your tests and your years as an Entered Apprentice and a Fellow Craft, we do not teach you anything but the profound truth of the Gospel of Saint John, which formerly lay on the pedestal of the Worshipful Master and still lies there in the Anglo-Saxon Lodges: The Light is in you; it, is in yourself that you must seek the Truth: the last step of the spirit in quest of knowledge is to find himself. "Whoever you may be, dig deep, the source is at your feet," said Nietzsche. No, not even at your feet, says our symbolism. Do not dig anywhere than in your own breast, because it is there that you will find the source.
Under these conditions, why should we not simple abide by the faith of our fathers? As we learn from the outset in traditional Masonry that Truth is offered to us in the guise of the symbolism of St. John, and begin to read the luminous text thereof: "In the beginning there was the Logos, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . ." (St. John, 1, 1. Abbe Alta's translation).
But we Masons are so constituted that we will not allow ourselves to be caught in the nets, gilt though they may be, of any revealed religion. We are opponents of the dogmatic religions; we are outsiders as far as they are concerned. With the Mason who properly understands his art, this is not a calculated a wilful attitude, but, more honestly, a congenitai impossibility. They may say that this impossibility, shows a certain weakness of spirit. To us, on the contrary - an outer manifestation of our alleged satanism - it is a source of profound joy. Being open to all manifestations of the Spirit, wherever they may be found, we are the recipients of the Only Truth emitted under so many forms. "The initiatory vocation is found among those spiritual vagabonds who roam through the night, after having deserted their school or their church because they failed to find their True Light in it." (Oswald Wirth, "The Mysteries of the Royal Art," p.78).
You have joined those vagabonds, you have undertaken the great voyage, and, knocking at the door of the Lodge, you have been created, received and constituted Freemasons. You have been initiated.
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By MURRAY M. FRIEDMAN M.P.S.
The more one reads the Masonic ritual appertaining to the first three degrees, the more is one impressed by, and must marvel at, the wealth of moral principles it endeavors to inculcate, and the choice and felicitous phrases used. Small wonder then at the immense attraction increased and not detracted by repeated readings and attendance at the ceremonies. One can only hope that the originators and as one can only assume there must have been, subsequent framers of the ritual are known, so that due tribute may be paid to them from time to time.
The new initiate, bewildered as he often is, cannot fail to be impressed by that part of the ceremony dealing with the foundation or cornerstone and the impressive way in which emphasis is laid upon the virtue and necessity of charity. But even before, a candidate enters the Craft, it is sometimes solely through our charitable activities that he gains some knowledge of the nature of the Craft. It is also not uncommon for the members of an investigating committee to indicate to a candidate that, if he is accepted, he may expect liberal calls upon his purse in the cause of charity.
However important the pecuniary aspect in Freemasonry, another aspect of charity is emphasized in our ritual which is of no lesser importance. Indeed, in our present-day world, striving so hard for peace among all mankind, yet still torn by the strife of conflicting ideals and ideologies, the other aspect assumes an importance which cannot be overemphasized. The clue to this other charity is to be found in the presentation of the tools in the second degree wherein we are admonished to make our passions and prejudices coincide with the exact line of duty. In other words, we are cautioned to be charitable in our thoughts and ideas.
One need not be an erudite scholar or student of history to be able to point to the numerous occasions when unguarded passions and arbitrary prejudices have caused, and resulted in, the commission of evil, unatonable sins upon members of the human race. Our passions and prejudices must be held under control with taut reins if we are to be clear and clean-thinking towards our fellow-men. If indeed "there is no religion hider than truth," then this other aspect of Masonic charity instructs us that in the search for truth our quest will fail unless and until we can learn to be charitable in our ideas.
Now more than ever before, if peace is to mean something more than a mere cession of actual warfare, it is our duty and the duty of others, to be more charitable in recognizing, and making concessions too the ideas of others. Passions and prejudices must go, to be replaced by truth.
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The Philalethes Society is considered the most practical agency for the promotion of a closer bond of union between Freemasons of the different counttries and Masonic Jurisdictions. It aims to disseminate knowledge and spread the LIGHT and TRUTHS that are embodied in Freemasonry.
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In meek and humble garb I comes as many had before
To seek the lessons of the Craft, I knocked upon the door,
And as I walked in darkness, with neither staff nor rod,
A brother was beside me, and I put my trust in God.
And knooling at the Altar, before the one Great Light,
I gave a pledge to Him above, to walk and act aright.
And when on me the Apron, of spotless white was tied,
I knew that I would wear it, with honor and with pride.
I learned that we should use our time in serving God and others,
Extending helping hands to friends, and aid to needy brothers.
It is my hope and prayer today, that I may live and be
As good and true as I was taught, in my E. A. degree,
Again, I knocked upon the door, when came another night,
To see if I could find within, some more Masonic Light.
The same true friend was there again, to still my fears and cares,
And lead me on to Light once more, and to some Winding Stairs.
As up these steps of Three and Five, I slowly made my way,
Some lessons there were taught to me, to guide me through each day.
And then some further steps I found, in numbers they were Seven,
With words of how the planets move, betwixt our earth and Heaven
These things were all explained to me, to help prepare the way.
For further Light I might receive, upon another day.
Some Wages then I did receive, as Craftsmen have before,
And mode my way around the Lodge, and went outside once more.
With firmer step l come again, to make a fervent plea,
For further Light to guide me on, in Life and Masonry.
I walked as many more have done, from West to farthest East,
The high and low, the rich and poor, the greater and the least.
Within the Book of Life I found, was written there for me,
A Faith in God, Love for mankind, and boundless Charity.
If I would be an Architect, and build my house with core,
Designs upon my Trestle Board, will make it wondrous fair.
My journey on the road of life, I know will safer be,
If in my heart I always keep, the Truths of Masonry.
Pray when the Master calls for me, He will find it written there
That by the Plumb and Level, I have lived upon the Square.
(This poem was written by Brother Charles C. Lindsay, M.P.S., a member of Cheyenne Lodge No. 1, of Cheyennes Wyoming, and sent to the Grand Secretary on March 5, 1941.)