Contents
The President's Corner In Memoriam CYRIL BATHAM 1909-1996
From the Editor's Desk As I See It
The Romance of Chartres Shakespeare The Author Identified
Sam Houston: Bringing The Craft to the 21st Century
Discrimination What Does the All-seeing Eye See
The Eminent
Arrival of The Masonic Internet
Through Masonic Windows
the philalethes
The Journal of Masonic Research and Letters
WEBSITE URL http://www.freemasonry.org/psoc
Nelson King, 2nd V. President & FPS Editor
2 Knockbolt Crescent (416) 293-8071
Agincourt, Ontario FAX (416) 293-8634
Canada, M1S 2P6 E-mail: nking@shaw.wave.ca
or 71202.22@compuserve.com
OFFICERS
Royal C. Scofield, FPS President
655 W. Maryland Ave.
Sebring, OH 44672 216/938-6240
Robert G. Davis FPS 1st Vice President
P.O. Box 70
Guthrie, OK 73044 (405)-282-2037
E-mail: bobg@ezin.ne
Allen E Roberts, FPS Executive Secretary
P.O. Box 70, 110 Quince Ave.
Highland Springs, VA 23075 (804) 737 4498
FAX 804/328-2386
E-mail: 71154.1022@compuserve.com
Henry G. Law, FPS. Treasurer
2608 E. Riding Dr. Wilmington, DE 19808
(302) 737-9083
Harold L. Davidson, FPS Librarian
The Philalethes Society 1903 10th St. W.
Billings, MT 59102 (406) 259-1552
LIVING PAST PRESIDENTS
Philalethes Society
Robert V. Osborne, FPS
Robert L Dillard Jr. FPS
Allen E. Roberts, FPS
John Mauk Hilliard, FPS
Wallace MacLeod, FPS
Forrest D. Haggard, FPS
Our 50th Year of Publication
ContentsThe President's Cornerby Royal C. Scofield, FPS
In Memoriam - Cyril Batham, FPS
Annual Assembly, Feast & Forum
From the Editor's Desk by Nelson King, FPS
As I See It by D. J. Van Kirk, MPS
The Romance of Chartres by John Simon-Ash
Shakespeare The Author Identified -
A Freemason's Theory by Ted R. Bowling, MPS
Sam Houston: A Great Man and Mason by Bob Elknwood, MPS
Bringing The Craft to the 21st Century
by Walter P. Benesch, MPS
Discrimination
by Bob Dixon, MPS
What Does The All-Seeing Eye See
by E Scott Ryan, MPS
The Eminent Arrival of The Masonic Internet
by Rick Kasparek, MPS
Through Masonic Windows
by Allen Roberts FPS
ON THE COVER
This months cover is a photo of the stained glass window titled "La Dame De La Belle Verriere" in the "Romance of the Chartres" page 130. The article returns to the "Age of Light" a period which the author states is of enormous importance to Western Civilization. The years between the second half of the 12th to the first half of the 15th century. His discussion of the important events of the period including of the building of the cathedrals, gives new insight to this unique era when many of the arts and sciences were developed.
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by Royal C. Scofield, FPS
The Semi-annual Meeting of The Philalethes Society held in connection with The National Masonic Expo in Minneapolis is now history. Registration was 279 including 48 ladies. Brethren came from 19 states, the Province of Ontario and France.
There were seven different breakout sessions conducted by outstanding Masonic brethren from the United States and Canada. Planned activities took place all day Saturday and Sunday morning.
Saturday afternoon we saw the Masonic procession to the Weisman Art Museum, of the University of Minnesota, where the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, M. W. Brother Eric Neetenbeek, dedicated the "Theatre of the Fraternity" exhibit.
The semiannual Philalethes Society banquet was held Saturday night and nearly 300 heard The Reverend & M. W. Brother Forrest D. Haggard speak.
We thank the Minnesota Chapter of The Philalethes Society and their Brother Duane E. Anderson, The Grand Lodge of Minnesota, their Grand Master, the General Chairman Brother Gerald E. Rhoads, The Rev. Terry L. Tilton and other who made this a special event for Masonry. We remember those Masonic speakers who captured the attention of the brethren in the breakout sessions. It was a wonderful weekend for Masonry and particularly for The Philalethes Society. It was a real plus for Masonic Education.
Present at this gathering were representatives of the San Diego Chapter, our hosts for the 1997. Plans are now being made for the next Semiannual Meeting on September 27, 1997 in California. Watch for confirmation of this date.
NOTE
A District Education Officer for the Grand Lodge of Ohio reports that his Symbolic Lodge granted his request and gave him a Life Membership in The Philalethes Society instead of a Past Master's jewel. He can now use information contained in The Philalethes magazine to make short interesting talks as he travels about his district.
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In Memoriam CYRIL BATHAM 1909-1996
PHILALETHES LECTURER, 1992
Cyril Ernest Kila Northwood-Batham was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England, on June 29, 1909. He entered the insurance profession, and eventually became Head Office Underwriter of his firm. He was made a Mason in Jerusalem Lodge, No 686, in Bristol, England, on November 8, 1955. His work took him frequently to France, and in due course he affiliated with several lodges belonging to the National Grand Lodge of France. He was invited to become a full member of the Premier Lodge of Research, Quatuor Coronati, No 2076, in England, in 1969, being the 136th member from the time that the Lodge was instituted in 1886. He was installed as Worshipful Master in 1972 and served as Secretary of the Lodge, and Editor of its Transactions, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, from 1975 to 1985. He wrote a dozen or so major articles for that journal, chiefly concerned with the development of French Masonry and with the Grand Lodge of the Antients. He also contributed to various other Masonic journals. He served as Prestonian Lecturer in 1981.
Cyril was a kind and generous man, sensitive, courtly and affable, who constantly strove for accuracy, and tried to encourage younger scholars to do the same. In his honor, the Batham Royal Arch Lectures were instituted in England in 1985. In recognition of this accomplishments, he was invited to be the Philalethes Lecturer in 1992. He came to Washington, and presented an elegant talk on "The origin of Freemasonry: A New Theory" which was published in the society's magazine. Cyril Batham died in the Stratford Hospital, in England, after a brief illness, on October 10, 1996, aged 87.
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Annual
Assembly, Feast any
Forum
of The Philalethes Society
The Hotel Washington · District of Columbia
For reservations 1-800-424-9540
Friday, February 21, 1997
6:00 p.m.
Lecturer:
Richard H. Curtis, FPS
Editor: The Northern Light, NMJ
Forum:
A panel will answer questions pertinent
to Freemasonry
The Investment:
$29 each until February 11, 1997
at the hotel, $35 (if available)
Ladies are invited
Send reservations to:
The Philalethes Society (AFF)
P.O. Box 70 - Highland Springs, VA 23075-0070
Note; The Philalethes Society is one of the few (if not only) organization that adds nothing to cover the expenses of speakers and officials. In fact, the Society subsidizes the cost of this annual feature.
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BEST WISHES
1997 is fast approaching. My best wishes to each and everyone of you, for a Happy and Healthy New Year.
FIRST CLASS - TOP LINE
These are but two of the words that could be used to describe the Semiannual Meeting of The Society held in conjunction with the Grand Lodge of Minnesota's NATIONAL MASONIC EXPO. The Masons of Minnesota have every reason to be proud. Not only was your hospitality extraordinary, the whole weekend was superbly planned and executed.
To Most Worshipful Brother Eric J. Neetenbeek, and the Brethren of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, on behalf of the Society thank you for your hospitality, you made each and everyone of us us feel that we were at home. To Duane E. Anderson, FPS, thank you, your planning of the Semi-annual meeting and execution of the planning was a delight to behold.
Nelson King, FPS
SAY IT ISN'T SO
On September 18 and 22 members of the Grand Orient of France, The Droit Humaine of France. and the Grand Lodge Mixte of France, demonstrated in public and in Masonic Regalia against the upcoming visit to France of His Holiness The Pope. Yet once again Freemasonry has been dishonored by quasi-masonic groups, who profess to be Masons.
SPAIN
Our Society continues to grow. We now have a Corresponding Secretary in Madrid, Spain.
Jose Luis Menoyo
Apartado de Correos, 19261
28080 Madrid, Spain
Bro. Menoyo is the Editor of GENESIS, the official publication of Gran Logia de Espaia.
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by D. J. Van Kirk, MPS
The first decade of the 21st century will hold great promise and uncertainty. There will be many new technologies and events that will change how society thinks and functions while challenging us to address problems that never before existed.
The 1980's saw the advent of the microprocessor which triggered the stand alone personal computer. The 1990's were dominated by cheap lasers hidden in everything from CD-ROM drives to optical fibers. The result being the access revolution where the Internet now holds center stage. The next decade, according to the Futurists, will be shaped by cheap sensors that will give more powerful and smaller computers the ability to detect, anticipate and adjust to the physical world around them. Tiny cameras will be mounted on chips for increased video conferencing, they can also be mounted on a car to show you the road ahead. Inexpensive sensors will detect temperature, pressure, and all types of environmental conditions and correct our interior atmosphere almost instantly. Health care systems will be such that a person waiting in a Doctor's office will have his temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and a variety of other functions detected and recorded while sitting reading a magazine. When the Doctor arrives he will have all the information at his fingertips in the patient's chart. All of these innovations will bring about new ways of working and doing business.
For the past 100 years, U.S. Companies have been built on a now fraying hierarchical management structure. This model will continue to erode to the point of wholesale abandonment. The company organizations will become closer to biological models. They will be weblike with flexible ever-changing relationship webs. Those who occupy a "rich" node on the web will wield enormous power. The individual that has the capability of adapting most quickly to these changing environments and conditions will do the best. When you think about a web like structure the first thing that comes to mind is not reporting to a particular office building but working out of their homes. Man is by nature a social animal. Working alone at home will cause him to lose the social intercourse that he now enjoys. No more sitting over a cup of coffee in the morning and discussing last night's football game or the latest fads or even the trends in the sock market. There will be a lack of face to face interaction on a daily basis.
Masonry in the Twenty-first century will have to be ready for these changes. We are not even sure what all the changes will be but we know this, man must have social contacts, it is inherent in his genetic makeup. We are going to have to consider the Lodge as a place of social contact as it once was in the past. Think back to the time of George Washington. The Lodge was a meeting place, a place where you could enjoy a light repast and heavy conversation, a Post office, where you would find out what had happened in the other parts of the 13 colonies, the news might be a month late, but at least you knew what was happening. There was little or no communication system then. We, in the 21st century, are going to have the utmost in communications but little social contacts. We must be able to provide a place where men are going to be able to sit face to face and enjoy each other's company more than we have ever before because that might be a Brother's only social contact for extended periods of time.
These men will be more educated, more creative and seek a higher level of intellectual interest. We have to be prepared to engage in this higher level of enlightenment if we are to interest them in becoming a member of our Fraternity. One way is by knowing our Fraternity inside and out. We have to know every thing about it so we can transmit that to these young people who will be seeking a place of social contact and intellectual stimulation. If this social intercourse is to take place we must train our Officers in interpersonal skills and relationships, and how to deal with people which is what Masons have always done in the past but we have lost due to the ever increasing technology that surrounds us.
Now we all know as we age that none of us like change. We like to wear the same old shoes with the creases in them because they are so comfortable, or the old sweater or jacket because it just feels right. But there comes a time when you have to get rid of that old sweater and those old shoes because our feet get wet when it rains and the cold blows through the sweater on the backside when you step outside. It's time then to go and get a new sweater and shoes. My Brothers we have reached that time in our Masonic Lodge history. If we are going to exist in the Twenty-first century we must change the way we do things. We have existed since 1771 in England when our modern Grand Lodge system as we know it was first formed. For the over two-hundred years of our existence we have grown into the worlds largest Fraternity. We have existed through World War I and II, Korea and Vietnam. The Russians, Japanese and the Germans tried to get rid of us. They did not succeed, we went underground, we still existed. Why? I believe that it was due mainly to our face to face social contact. It was one Brother extending his hand to another Brother, lifting him out of his sorrow and pain at a particular point in his life when he needed it. Helping him to live through the agony of the loss of a loved one, or a particular career. You can't do that for someone when you can not meet them face to face because you are working out of your house.
I have read many books on highly successful people in the United States and throughout the world. The one thing they have in common, besides hard work, is the fact that they all looked to the future. They did not concern themselves with what was going to happen a month or six months from now. They asked themselves what do I want my company to be five years from now? Ten years from now? They set that goal and then worked towards it, that is why those companies are successful because they continually look to the future and change with the world.
Our Grand Lodge has developed a Vision for Masonry and a Mission statement on how to get there. We are trying to change the way we "do business". There is nothing in the world that you can't do if you set your mind to it and you say, "I'm going to do it". That is the key or important phrase. Masonry will continue to exist even when you hear people tell you we are dying off just like the Grange, or the Oddfellows. The Lodges are closing, therefore Masonry is done for.
All we are doing is coalescing into a core group, a stronger group than we were before. We are coming together and forming the nucleus of a strong Masonry for the future. We are going to continue to exist into the 21st century. There are too many of us that want to see it happen, there are too many of us that are working to make it happen. If we all work together and accept the changes necessary to make it happen it will happen.
I've gone to small Lodges of forty and fifty members and have seen goals exceeded because the Brothers worked together to make it happen. One Lodge I remember in particular had a corned beef dinner as their main fund raiser each year. Nine-hundred and fifty pounds of corn beef they served in one night . That's an awful lot of corned beef, especially to be served in one night. They did it every year. How many did it take to make it happen? Only forty people worked the dinner. They had a goal, they needed funds for various projects that they wanted to do during the year and the Dinner was the means to raise the money. It worked! !
I was privileged to go to Grand Lodge of Oklahoma for the National Masonic Renewal Program. As part of the program we were allowed to ask Lodges involved in the program for the last four years what they have done under their renewal plan. The Brothers of Pawnee Lodge came in and they were typical Westerners, jeans, white shirts, bolos and ten gallon hats. They sat at the table and they were so excited that they could not sit still to tell us their story. They said, "We have never worked together so well as a Lodge since we have in the last four years. " What have you done? "We went down to the local City, there was a park that was run down and owned by the City. Nobody went there, it was a mess. We said if you will deed that land to us, we will take care of it. We will put in tables, barbecues, put our name across it and we will take care of it. " Pawnee Lodge in Pawnee, Oklahoma has the best looking park in the City and it is full every day of the week. The City now comes to Pawnee Lodge and says, "Can you help us with fund raisers, can tell us what to do?" They had a goal in mind. They had a common idea they worked for. To make the park the best one in the town, with the name Pawnee Lodge across it. And they succeeded. The Brothers came together and coalesced. It was apparent that it was going to happen.
We can meet the Twenty-first century, but we have to do it head on--to climb in through the back door. We're not going to go in a side window and we sure as heck aren't going to go underneath it. We have got to meet it head on. And I'm asking each one of you to meet it head on with me. Learn as much as you can about Masonry. Learn and disseminate that information. Go to your local clubs, your societies, anybody that will have you as a speaker and tell them our story, tell them what we do for people.
The Masons were known as the place to come if you wanted anything done in the community. You went to the Masons because they could make things happen. Why? Because they knew that they could do it. They had that feeling that no one can stop us. When we set our minds to something we can do it. My Brothers, I say we can still do it. Let's meet the challenge of the Twentyfirst century head on.
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by John Simon-Ash
The "Age of Light," a period of enormous importance to Western Civilization, extended from the second half of the 12th century to the first half of the 15th (roughly 1130 to 1492). This era was a turning point for a Europe emerging from a long and troubled time of invasion and destruction. The Age of Light was a rebirth of learning: a great pooling of philosophical and practical knowledge derived from many sources.
The final years of the 11th century were relatively peaceful. But Constantinople, seat of Eastern Christendom, was repeatedly besieged by Turkish forces. The Byzantine Empire appealed to the Christian West for mercenaries to combat the Turks, and the city was successfully defended. This victorious campaign, coupled with the decay of the Seljuk sultanate, offered incentive for a limited Western reconquest of the Middle East. Thus was the First Crusade launched: a military expedition to free the " Holy Places" of Palestine from the Turks and thus permit safe access to Christian pilgrims and merchants.
Overland through France and Spain and North Africa, or across the Mediterranean via the port of Marseilles, Crusaders (and later, European intellectuals) journeyed to and from the Near East. Particularly in France, an immediate effect was the elimination of rivalry among petty princelings whose squabbles had ravaged the land for the preceding centuries. The First Crusade was a disaster; some 600,000 never made it to the holy land. But a second wave launched by ruthless European barons succeeded in capturing Jerusalem in 1099. Subsequent Crusades led by European kings brought temporary control of the whole surrounding region. Though the Crusaders' reign was short-lived, other benefits lasted. One of these benefits was to clear some of the most quarrelsome warlords out of Europe.
Perhaps the most profound of these benefits was the enrichment of European culture through contact with the Moslem world. The Arab architecture, medicine, arts and sciences had absorbed much from the ancient cultures which preceded them. Jerusalem, the "Holy City," was a great crossroads of the Near East. Here the learning of Moslem, Jew, and Greek converged; exposure to this richly mixed Near Eastern heritage had a profound influence on the European mind.
Those Crusaders who survived to return came home profoundly changed by their sojourn in Moslem lands. Fascinated by the commercial treasures of the East: silks, spices, precious stones, exotic fruits and vegetables unknown in Europe, the Europeans soon established sea trade routes. Arab architecture, medicine, arts, and sciences had absorbed much knowledge from the ancient Greco-Roman traditions, and had a tremendous influence. All of this had the effect of releasing a huge pent-up energy.
In the wake of the Crusades, a religious fervor sometimes known as the "Gothic Crusade" spread over Europe. A major manifestation of this was the cathedral-building era, which has had no equal before or since. Beginning around 1137 with St. Denis Abbe Paris, under Abbot Suger, the great cathedrals were erected by itinerant stonemasons, known as the 'compagnons' or companions. These cathedrals displayed an extraordinary union of mystical vision and practical craftsman ship.
During the Crusades, many orders of Christian warrior-monks flourished. The greatest of these were the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon, founded in 1118 to defend pilgrims to the " Holy Land . " More commonly known as the Knights Templar, this Order established its headquarters the Temple Mount at Jerusalem. Guardians of trade routes to and from Palestine, the Templar Order became fabulously wealthy in international banking, which they practically invented. It is very likely that Templar money was a major factor in the financing of many, if not most, of the great cathedrals.
Among Moslems, the Sufi Mystery Tradition extended its influence throughout the Middle East. The Knights Templar seem to have had many contacts with the Sufi Brotherhoods, mystical orders within Islam which preserved many secrets of the ancient world. Sufi mystics had developed and retained the ideas of Sacred Geometry over many centuries. It was from the Sufis that much knowledge of harmony and proportion of Sacred Geometry was derived, which in turn went into the building of the cathedrals of Europe.
The Knights Templar negotiated with the Arabs for permission to do construction work in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Cyprus. After years of experimentation, stonemasons employed by the Templars developed the flying buttress. It was the flying buttress, along with the Near Eastern ribbed vault (replacing the old barrel or groin vault) which revolutionized the design of cathedrals. These innovations enabled cathedral walls to be built both much thinner and much higher. The new type of construction also permitted vast openings in which huge stained glass windows could be placed.
The craft of constructing sacred buildings was initiatic in the sense that craftsmanship has frequently been associated with spirituality. The idea of the physical Temple or Cathedral naturally lends itself to the concept of "sacred space", and therefore the spiritual Temple that each of us has the power to build within our own lives. The willing apprentice submits himself to the material in which he works, and, at the same time, to his own transformation. There is in this a three-way process between the craftsman, the tool, and the material.
Geographically the Age of Light originated in the Parisian Basin: a region known as the Ile de France which extends roughly a hundred miles around the city of Paris. Situated on the river Seine, Paris is surrounded by rich farmland. Crossroads of important trade and pilgrimage routes and the seat of French royal power, Paris was the administrative center of medieval France.
One of the first of the many great cathedrals built in this area was the Cathedral at Chartres, which in turn became one of the greatest centers of learning in Europe. And it is about Chartres that I intend to speak. According to researchers Rudolph Steiner and Rene Querido, the Chartres Masters and their pupils practiced a path of initiation with roots in the pre-Christian past. Early Celtic Christians (as well as the Knights Templar) held St. John of Patmos, author of the Book of Revelation, as their great exemplar and long maintained the Greek liturgical calendar as well as independence from Rome.
Christianity inherited many European Pagan customs; like many a great cathedral, Chartres was constructed on the remains of an ancient sacred site. The word Chartres itself derives from the Celtic word CAIRN, meaning 'place of the Altar'. More than two millennia prior to the erection of the Cathedral, Pagan Druidic priests knew of the telluric (volcano or vortex-like) powers which converged at this spot. Beneath an altar-like dolman was a grotto used as a Druidic temple; a wellspring within it was thought to be endowed with healing properties.
To the Druids and other Pagan believers, wells and caves symbolized the realm of Death and Birth, and were thus connected with Initiation. The subterranean waters were said to focus those telluric energies which favor altered states of consciousness, divination, healing, and initiation. Like most ancient Mystery Traditions, the Celts never wrote down their sacred teachings. Wisdom during the pre-Christian era was passed by word of mouth through the Bardic Colleges. Surely the first Christian clerics of Europe must have been converted Pagan holy men and women.
An interesting feature of the interior of Chartres is a huge circular labyrinth in the pavement of the Nave. Pilgrims could follow the labyrinth on their hands and knees, and thus perform a symbolic pilgrimage. It may be that this labyrinth was used in initiatory rites.
Over the ages, thousands had come to the sacred well at Chartres for healing and other ceremonies. From antiquity such springs also represented the flow of life from the womb of Mother Earth, the healing force of Divine feminine energy. This well was in use right up to the time of the French Revolution, when it was desecrated.
Interpreting the Bible for the illiterate common man of the Middle Ages required the use of symbols illustrating Biblical history and the central mysteries of life. The artwork of Chartres depicts Biblical stories as an allegorical initiatic process, a shift in one's sense of time to the timeless, symbolized through the medium of its stained glass windows and stone carvings.
In Medieval thought, the Virgin Mary, by the innate purity and perfection of Her soul, symbolized all human wisdom. Most of the European cathedrals, including Chartres, were dedicated to. 'Notre Dame' or Our Lady. The most treasured relic at Chartres was a veil that Mary was supposed to have worn. This veil drew thousands of pilgrims from all over Europe, turning Chartres into a thriving city full of merchants.
Another treasure of Chartres which survived until the Revolution was a "Black Madonna" -one of many "dark-skinned" statues of the Virgin Mary found elsewhere in southern France and Italy, areas where Christian Gnosticism once flourished. It seems a strong possibility that many of these statues began as Goddesses of the old Pagan religions, or were inspired by them. The essential Divine Female power had been Christianized.
In the eyes of the medieval world the individual human being was seen as being contained in finite space and time. To experience initiatic "union with God," is to be outside Time. This means connecting with timeless Truth by shifting to a reality beyond linear time. The feminine energy is essentially cyclistic. Cyclicity, the idea of Time as an eternal circle connecting all through the process of cycles, is the underlying principle behind many schools of mysticism.
The Black Madonna of Chartres was carried from the grotto every spring around May 1st, which coincides with the ancient Celtic feast of Beltaine. Her triumphal progress into the light of the sun celebrated the cyclic rebirth and renewal of all life. The Black Madonna remained above ground until the end of October. At Hallowmas (formerly the ancient Pagan feast of Samhain) Her ceremonial return to the underground grotto marked the in gathering of the crops of summer against the darkness of the winter months.
These notions of cyclicity, balanced harmony, and union with the Divine Feminine were linked at Chartres with the symbolism of the Black Madonna. The entire architectural plan of the cathedral is geometrically linked to the form of its beautiful South window, "La Dame de la Belle Verriere, " which depicts the Black Madonna.
There are no dead bodies in the crypt at Chartres, and there are few crosses. This is because Chartres has always stood for the triumph of life over death. The image of Virgin and Child pervades the entire cathedral.
By coincidence, or perhaps by design, the alchemical and Platonic metaphysics of light and sound as active principles entered into the mainstream of thought from the 12th to the ideas of the philosophers of ancient Greece had a strong appeal. Eventually however, a severe conflict developed between the rational approach of Greek philosophy (the way of logic) and the Fundamentalist dogma of the Roman Church. Reaction and repression arose; many books and people were burned. Such was the fate of the Knights Templar, whose wealth, learning, and power brought envy and eventual charges of heresy. Jacques DeMolay, Grand Master of the Templar Order, was peeled alive, and roasted to death on a slow flame in 1314 by the Inquisition.
Other rich and powerful nobles were beyond reach, however, and some championed the new learning. The Medici family of Florence were powerful bankers, traders, and patrons of the Arts. In Florence they established a Neo-Platonic school to preserve the heritage of the Classical Greco-Roman -world. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, many of its Hermetic manuscripts found their way to the court of the Medici.
Medieval Jewish thought ran a somewhat parallel course, striking a balance between the Greek rational/philosophical method and the dogmatic tenets of blind faith. The Jewish Kabbalists' sacred symbol was the Tree of Life. This portrays the evolution of consciousness into matter within time and space, symbolized by a series of Sephiroth or "spheres" representing various phases and aspects of reality and the human psyche. Each Sephira is a stage or level of manifestation of spirit into the material world.
Around 1100 a Kabbalistic school was founded in the Jewish quarter of Lunelle, near Montpellier in southern France. Other such schools had arisen in Moslem Spain, where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam met. These included a Kabbalistic school at Verona in Catalonia and the great University of Toledo in Castille, where Jewish Kabbalists and Sufi Masters mingled and exchanged knowledge.
Many Christians became interested in Kabbalah, which appealed especially to those who had been exposed to the Greek philosophers. The ideas of the Jewish "Tree of Life" in turn influenced European sacred art. At Chartres, a "Tree of Jesse" window (located below the West Rose) clearly depicts the Sepharothic Tree of Life. The Three Pillars (later borrowed by the Freemasons and incorporated into their ritual work) derive also from the Kabbalistic Tree.
In southern France arose the Albigensian heretics, who dared to claim that human beings could evolve spiritually and aspire to become Godlike. Another group, the Trouveres or Troubadours, originated in southern France. Like the wandering bards of Celtic times, they sang of legendary heroes, combining Arthurian legends with Pagan and Sufi themes in their tales of the Celtic Knights.
This Celtic oral tradition is faintly echoed in the 'mouth to ear' traditions of Freemasonry and other Crafts. In order to teach the unlettered, a practical non-written system of passing knowledge from Master Craftsman to apprentice had to be developed. It was vital that the apprentice submit himself to the will of his Master in the Craft. He learned the great Craft secrets by working alongside more experienced men under the guidance of the Master.
The ideas and designs of the Sufis, the Neo-Platonists, and the Hebrew Kabbalists all combined with pre-Christian ideas. All of these in turn were taught in the great Cathedral schools, and entered, or in some cases, reentered the mainstream of scholasticism in Europe.
The Cathedral School at Chartres was founded in the year 1000 by Fulbertus. At this, the greatest of the Cathedral Schools, wisdom was taught in the form of the Seven Liberal Arts. The school's great teachers and students exerted an influence which extended from England to Sicily.
The "Royal Porchway" at Chartres was completed in the year 1145. On the right-hand door of the Royal Porchway, the Seven Liberal Arts emblematically surround a sculpture of Mary. These Seven Liberal Arts were divided into the Trivium of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric, and the Quadrivium of Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astronomy. Thus we have "threeness" and "fourness. "
On the Royal Porch at Chartres allegorical representations of the Seven Liberal Arts are depicted in connection with the great scholars of Classical times. Pythagoras is represented both writing at the feet of Music, and teaching at the feet of Arithmetic. Euclid is seen at the feet of Geometry, while Ptolemy is the figure below Astronomy. Cicero is below Rhetoric, Aristotle below Logic, and Donatus below Grammar.
The Trivium is connected with the Word which all Masons are said symbolically to seek: the "Logos." We define our universe through words; words are the handles by which we grasp and manipulate Reality. Words as Sound are also connected with the idea of Space, emptiness, the Plenum Void which contains all things. Logos itself is the Greek word for the point of origin from which all proportion is derived. Logos, the creative Word or principle of the Universe, is connected to absolute reason and is active in everything from stars to snowflakes. The Word unites all things, the finite and the infinite, the Square and the Circle. It is the absolute dimensionless essence of being.
The study of the Quadrivium was intimately connected with the metaphysical and mystical speculations of the Pythagorean tradition. To run briefly through the Quadrivium: Arithmetic gives us an understanding of Number; Geometry shows us Number in Space. Sacred Geometry not only concerns geometric figures obtained with ruler and compass, but deals with the harmonic proportions of human anatomy and theories of correspondences between the human body, the construction of sacred space, and the proportions and harmony of the Universe itself.
Astronomy is the knowledge of Cosmic Rhythm: charting the cycles of Sun, Moon, Stars and the year. Medieval Astronomy was closely linked with Astrology and the Twelve Planetary Signs. (three times four). To Christian mystics Christ was both the Sun and the Son; Mary was the Moon. And finally, Music as harmonics give us an understanding of number in Time, as well as of harmony and proportion.
So the construction of cathedrals expressed the harmonic proportions of Geometry and Number, especially the numbers three and four, the Square and the Circle. These were also embodied in rose windows, which incorporated number and light. Many of the architectural proportions of Chartres are based on the Septogram (seven-pointed star) and the Pentagram (five-pointed star), both ancient magical symbo Another inspiration was the intervals the harmonic musical scale, with its interleaving of fours and threes. Chartes itself was laid out "Ad Quadratum. "
Finally, the metaphysics of musical harmonics were incorporated into the proportions and sacred geometry of Chartres and many other great cathedrals. The leader of the Cistercian Order, Bernard of Clairvaux, was among the greatest influences on Chartres; the Cistercians led the musical mysticism of the NeoPlatonic Tradition.
The birth of the Gothic Cathedral is a result of the blending of many ideas. The Pagan, the Sufi, the Greek, and the Jew all made unique contributions. The Gothic cathedrals were the finest examples of Sacred Geometry ever produced in Europe, and they remain so this day.
"I asked a child walking with a candle
'From whence comes that light? '
Instantly he blew it out.
'Tell me where it is gone--
Then I will tell you where it came from. ' "
Sufi
Bibliography
Samson, Otto Von: The Gothic Cathedral (Princeton, 1956)
Querido, Rene: The Golden Age Chartres (Floris, Edinburgh, 1987)
Duby, Georges: The Age of the Cathdrals (Chicago, 1981)
Harvey, John: The Master Builder Architecture in the Middle Age (Harper & Row, 1969)
Branner, Robert. Chartres Cathedral, (Norton, 1969)
Stoddard, Whitney: Monastery an Cathedral in France (Harper & Row 1972)
Deuchler, Florens: Gothic (Universe Books New York, 1989)
M le, Emile: Notre Dame de Chartres (Flammarion, Paris, 1983)
Favier, Jean: The World of Chartre (Thames & Hudson Ltd. London 1990)
Male, Emile: The Gothic Image (Harper & Row, 1958)
James, John: Chartres The Masons Who Built a Legend (Routledge & Kegan Paul, Boston, 1985)
Miller, Malcom: Chartres Gthedral (Pitkin, London, 1985)
Swaan, William: Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages (Crescent Books, New York, 1982)
Begg, Ean: The Cult of Black Virgin (Arkana Books, London, 1985)
Charpentier, Louis: The Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral (Research into Lost Knowledge Organization, London, 1972)
----o----
Shakespeare The Author Identified
A Freemason's Theory
by Ted R. Bowling, MPS
INTRODUCTION
Have I gone mad? That's what I thought when I began to notice the similarities in the works of Shakespeare and teachings of Freemasonry.
Initial research disclosed several writers had written on Shakespeare and Freemasonry.
On the 1st of January 1872 there were 1335 Freemason's Lodges on the register of the Grand Lodge of England. Until 1867, all of the lofty names of our Noble English Literature, Shakespeare's was the only one borne by a Lodge on the English Register and no less than six were called after him. Raymond Burnette Pease, Ph. D., wrote: Here is a consideration of the greatest master of drama and seer into the human heart that the world knows, considered from the standpoint of Masonic teaching. Alfred Dodd, P.M., used Shakespeare's writings to show that he invented Freemasonry. A large part of his book looks at the play, Titus Adronicus, with comparisons to the Masonic Ritual. Dodd later denounces Shakespeare as the true author and argues that Francis bacon is the true author.
Problem The problem was voiced by Looney: We have before us a piece of human work of the most exceptional character, and the problem is to find the man who did it.
THEORIES CONTRARY TO TRADITIONAL SHAKESPEARE
Several Theories have been submitted to demonstrate that Shakespeare, the actor, did not write the works attributed to him.
Sir George Greenwood submitted two separate works pertaining to the problem. He concluded Shakespeare was incapable of writing the plays. Although he had no candidate for the real author, he concluded the writer was an unknown lawyer.
Francis Bacon: The Bacon supporters, mostly lawyers, point to Shakespeare's lack of formal education, they also point to additional factors. With the amount of legal information contained in the writings, the writer must have been a barrister. Some of Bacon's supporters believe he wrote works attributed to other writers, such as Greene. Some supporters use cryptograms to support their theory.
Problem with Bacon: Francis bacon was a lawyer; however' he preferred to write rather than pursue his legal profession. If Bacon wrote under the name of Greene; Why would Greene have referred to Shakespeare as the "upstart crow" in 1592? Also, Bacon outlived Shakespeare by ten years. Why did Fletcher and/or Beautmont and Fletcher help write the last several works attributed to Shakespeare?
Earl of Oxford: Supporters of Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, also note the lack of education on the part of Shakespeare. They display six signatures of William Shakespeare as evidence that he could not have written the many works. Based on the play, The Merchant of Venice, the requirement that a person with extensive knowledge of Italy surfaced. These supporters argue that Oxford best fits this requirement.
Problem: Oxford died in 1604, some 12 years before Shakespeare and nine years before the recognized date of Shakespeare's last play. Some of Shakespeare's greatest writings came after Oxford's death.
William Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby: In France, a professor dealt with the problem in about the same manner as the Oxfordians. In addition, his research disclosed the writer must have been at the Court of Navarre at Nerac in about 1583 based on the information contained in the play, Loves Labour Lost.
Problem: On one has ever placed Derby at the Court of Navarre at Nerac. At about this time Derby was believed to be on his way to Spain.
Marlow: The Marlow theory has few supporters as he was killed and pronounced dead by the Queen's Coroner years before the majority of Shakespeare's works were published.
PROFILE OF THE WRITER
Based on the above mentioned theories, the successful must meet all the listed requirements:
- 1. Be a member of the nobility.
- 2. Be an unknown or little known lawyer.
- 3. Be a writer with demonstrated ability to write the plays.
- 4. Be a traveler with in-depth knowledge of Italy.
- 5. Must have been at the Court of Navarre at Nerac in about 1583.
Additional factors: As the writing relate to an in-depth knowledge of sports, including falconry, the successful candidate must have been in a position to acquire this knowledge.
A synopsis of an article in Shakespeare Research and Opportunities references the article written by Bland, D.S. titled Arthur Broke, Gerard Legh and the Inner Temple. Broke's sponsors for admission to the Inner Temple were Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton, leading credence to the possibility that this Arthur Broke wrote the narrative verse, Romeus and Juliet from which Shakespeare drew. . .
If the candidate were a member of the inner temple, his position would be strengthened.
FREEMASONRY
Definition: Freemasonry is a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
Isn't Shakespeare's writings a beautiful system of morality? Isn't this system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols? The answer to both questions is yes.
THE FORMER GRAND MASTER
Former Grand Master Sir Thomas Sackville was born in 1536 at Buckhurst, Sussex, England. He was a statesman, poet and dramatist remembered largely for two achievements of significance in the development of Elizabethan poetry and drama: the collection, A Myrrour for Magistrates (1563) and the Tragedy of Gorboduc (1561).
Sackville settled in London in 1553. In 1558 he became a barrister and a member of Parliament. He began an extended visit to Italy in c. 1563 and returned on his father's death in 1566. He continued to serve the government, becoming a member of the Privy Council. He served on diplomatic missions to the Hague. He was also the Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Lord High treasure. He died 19 April 1608 in London at the Privy Council Table.
Sackville's father, a first cousin to Henry VIII's Anne Boleyn, held various positions governmental positions under Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Queens Mary and Elizabeth. He greatly enriched himself thereby.
Thomas Sackville received an excellent education. Local grammar school, Hart college, Oxford graduated M.A. He studied law at the Inner temple.
When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, he was constantly in private attendance on her person. On 8 June 1567, he was Knighted and created Baron of Buckhurst. He vacated his position of Grand Master of Freemasons, a position he had held since 1561. He plunged into affairs of the state and was made Earl of Dorset in 1604. He was Elizabeth's ambassador to negotiate her marriage to the Duke of Anjou. The marriage never took place. He also represented her on a special embassy in France. He was chosen to convey the news of sentence of death to Mary, Queen of Scots.
In 1589 he was made a Knight of the Garter and negotiated a peace with France in 1591. As Lord Steward, he presided over the trial of the Earl of Essex and passed sentence on him. The coming of James I to the throne in 1603 did not affect his position at all.
He married Cicely Baker, a daughter of a Privy Councilor in 1555, who bore him four sons and three daughters and outlived him. Their marriage seems to have been a happy one.
Henry Machyn, citizen-tailor of London, noted on 27 December 1561, there came riding through London a Lord of Misrule, gorgeously dressed and accompanied by a hundred horsemen with chains of gold, who rode into the Inner Temple; "for there", he writes in his dairy, "was great cheer all Christmas. . . and great revels as ever for the Gentlemen of the Temple every day, for many of the council were there.
This dairy entry corroborates the meeting held by Grand Master Thomas Sackville on St. John's Day in December 1561. Note the meeting was held in London, and not at York as some believe and some question if the event took place at all.
The queen had deputized officers to break up the Grand Lodge. Some of the officers agreed to be admitted to the order. A play was presented to invited guests along with the deputized officers. The Queen wanted the play staged at the Inner Temple to be presented at Court. The play present at Court was Gorboduc
Traditionally, some play or ritual would be performed commemorate the admittance of newly made member especially on St. John's Day. The play would have be Masonically related; such as what we now recognize as "I Legend of the Temple."
GORBODUC
The play, Gorboduc concerned an aged King not heeding good counsel and dividing his kingdom, giving each of his two sons a part. The younger of the two new Kings, Porrex, killed Ferrex, the elder in order to have all the original kingdom. Videna, the wife of King Gorboduc, then killed Porrex. The subjects of the realm rose up and killed both Videna and Gorboduc throwing the kingdom into anarchy.
Queen Elizabeth had issued an edict against plays touching on religion and politics. Coincidentally, Grand Master Thomas Sackville decided to travel to Europe to continue his education. He was gone from England from about 1563 to the death of his father in 1566. The play, Gorboduc, was not presented again during the Queen's lifetime.
Shortly after the death of Queen Elizabeth, essentially the very same play was presented under the name of "King Lear. " Can other similarities be found in the writings known to be from Sackville and the writings attributed to Shakespeare?
The first works attributed to Shakespeare were the three parts of Henry VI. Compare Gorboduc, known to have been written by Sackville:
The father shall unwitting slay the son,
The son shall slay the sire and know it not. (5.02.212)
From 3 Henry VI:
Alarm. Enter a son that has killed his father, dragging in the body...
Enter a father that killed his son, bringing in the body. (3HVI 2.05.54-101)
Is there a Masonic allusion in the three parts of Henry VI?
Compare from Masonic ritual:
I now present you this Lambskin or white leather apron.
From 2 Henry VI:
Here Robin, and if I die, I give thee my apron. (2HVI .03.071)
If Queen Elizabeth became upset over the play, Gorboduc. because it alluded to politics; Why was King James I not upset when King Lear was presented?
The answer might be that King James I was a member the fraternity. There is evidence James I was a member the "Lodge of Scoon and Perth" in Scotland.
CONCLUSION
Sir Thomas Sackville, Past Grand Master of Freemason meets all the requirements of the profile of the person most likely to have written the works attributed to Shakespeare.
He was:
1. A member of the nobility.
2. An unknown or little known lawyer.
3. A writer capable of writing the Plays.
4. A traveler with in-depth knowledge of Italy.
As the Queen's ambassador to negotiate her marriage the Duke of Anjou and as her special embassy in France, would have been the most likely person to have been at Court of Navarre at Nerac in about 1583.
His father was a member of King Henry VIII's entourage. Sackville would have been a position to acquire the necessary knowledge of sports, including falconry, while accompanying his father on Henry VIII's sporting outings.
He also was a member of the Inner Temple.
CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS
1. Why write under someone else's name?
First, Sackville had already been reprimanded by the Queen for the production of Gorboduc.
Secondly, it was the custom of the time that nobles not write fiction under their real names.
Thirdly, should any play offend the Queen, or should the Queen s fragile government be overthrown, the identity of the true writer would not be revealed.
2. Why Shakespeare?
Shakespeare, from Stratford-On Avon, had a hometown friend in London who owned a printing shop. Shakespeare was mobile, he did not own vast estates which would have been forfeited to the crown should the Monarch be displeased with the writings. Should the need arise, he could retire to the interior of the country and remain there until he was forgotten, then he could go abroad and so be free.
3. Could Shakespeare be trusted? The Holy Trinity Church at Stratford, where William Shakespeare was baptized and is now buried, was built by Stonemasons. The several graves in the churchyard marked with the square, compasses and three castles mark the graves of Stonemasons. At a time when the stone building trade was declining, the graves would indicate a Lodge remained in the area and possibly accepted non-operatives as speculative members, as the church was completed. Shakespeare's father, a glover and a holder of several positions in the Stratford government would have been a prime candidate for membership. He would have been in a position to provide the Lambskins or white leather apron as well as the symbolic white gloves. Once William became 21 years old he would have been in a position to join the Lodge. William was 21 years old when he left Stratford for London. If William Shakespeare was a Freemason, if only a Fellowcraft, he could have been trusted.
4. Was William Shakespeare a Mason?
Clearly, the person who wrote the works attributed to Shakespeare was a Mason. The works progress through the three degrees of Symbolic Masonry. The poems start with the writing of Venus and Adonis, representing youth and beauty. The works progress into the plays representing strength and manhood such as King Henry VI, Richard III, Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, etc... To be a Master Mason required the Mason to be of noble birth. Once William Shakespeare became a member of the nobility by virtue of a Coat of Arms being recognized for his father in 1599, plays alluding to the themes of the third degree are produced. These are the plays alluding to wisdom or the workings of the mind such as: "Hamlet" and Macbeth". The play Measure for Measure, short titled, MM, was produced at about this time. Could this MM be an allusion to Master Mason. Does the play, "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," be another allusion?
5. Would the pattern of two plays a year mean anything to Freemasons?
Yes. As Freemasons celebrate the Saint John's days in June and December, an appropriate ceremony is in order. "A June, while "A Winter's Tale" might be appropriate for December.
6. Is there any other evidence to suggest the Shakespeare had Masonic connections?
Yes. John Shakespeare would make his sign, the compasses, instead of signing his name ever to official documents when he was an officer of Stratford. Anciently, it was a requirement the Master of the Lodge be a nobleman. The Warden would preside over the Lodge in the absence of the Master. Therefore, the non-nobleman could only progress to the rank of Deacon. The compasses is the symbol of the Deacon. To be a Grand Warden required a member to be of noble birth. This may explain why the Coat of Arms was obtained for John Shakespeare and not William. If the of Arms was granted to William, be would have been a nobleman, but not of noble birth.
7. Sackville died in 1608 and Shakespeare wrote six to eight works after 1608. Explain the discrepancy.
When Sackville died, he would have been working on several projects. With the assistance of some member of the craft, these works would have been completed in 1609 or 1610. Shakespeare retired and returned to Stratford in 1609 or 1610. There is a marked difference in the plays produced from 1599 and 1608, such as "Hamlet" and Macbeth" and those produced from 1608 to 1613, such as, "The Tempest", "A Winter's Tale" and "Two Noble Kinsmen". Fletcher is recognized as having assisted Shakespeare with his last several writings. It is important to note, Fletcher's father, and Sackville worked closely, especially during the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots.
8. Did the last works of Shakespeare complete the last teachings of Freemasonry?
Yes. "Two Noble Kinsmen", one of the last plays, if not the last play, attributed to Shakespeare, written with assistance of Fletcher, has an important Masonic Theme. Three widowed Queens approach a Duke for assistance to recover the bodies of their husbands who had been killed in battle. The bodies were recovered and received a peaceful burial.
With this play, the final teaching point of Freemasonry is presented to the public. Since time immemorial, the craft has had the teaching of the immortality of the soul. This play progresses beyond the immortality of the soul to a Christian Theme.
We are taught by Revelations, that on the glorious morn of resurrection, our bodies will rise and become as incorruptible as our souls.
Clearly, Brother William Shakespeare, the actor, the Freemason, understood and believed this doctrine. He therefore ordered his body buried seventeen feet deep in the church floor, the grave covered with a stone with a warning to curse the man who moved his bone.
So Mote It Be
REFERENCES
Parkinson. "The Bard Of Avon Lodge" ' A record written in 1872 for private circulation.
Pease. " Masonic Parallels in Sator Of Freemasonry, London 1937.
Dodd. "The Secret Shakespeare" Rider & Co London. MCMXLI.
Hope, W. And K. Holston, : "The Shakespeare Controversy", (Jefferson, NC, 1992)
Gibson, N.H., "The Shakespeare Claimants", (NY 1962)
Bland, D.S., "Arthur Broke, Gerard Legh and the inner Temple"' a synopsis of an article in Shakespeare Research and Opportunities; Vol nos 7-8, 1972/74
New Encyclopaedia Britannaica, 29 volumes, __ , Univ. Of Chicago, 1985, vol 7
Kunitz, S.J.& H. Haycraft, "British Authors Before 1800 A Biographical Dictionary, (NY 1952)
Cauthen, I.B. Jr., "Gorboduc or Ferrex an Porrex" by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton., Ed. By Cauthen, Jr., Univ. Of Nebraska Press, 1961.
The Philalethes volume XLVIII. 1995 Tennessee Craftsman
----o----
A Great Man and Mason
by Bob Ellenwood, MPS
Sam Houston was born in Timber Ridge Church, Rockbridge County, Virginia on March 3, 1793. His family moved to Tennessee in the Spring of 1807. His father had suffered some financial hardship and had sold their farm in Virginia. He passed away before the family moved to Tennessee. The family lived on a farm that Sam's father had acquired before he died.
Sam had trouble getting along with his older bothers so he "ran away" from home and lived on an island in the middle of the Tennessee river with some Cherokee indians. One of the tribal chiefs there "adopted" Sam as his son. This chief's name was Oo-loo-te-ka John Jolly]. He gave Sam the Indian name of Co-lon-neh (the Raven). Sam lived with these Cherokee Indians until he was eighteen years old.
In 1813, Sam enlisted in the U.S. Army. Shortly there after he was promoted to Sergeant, then a few months later he was made an Ensign and transferred to the 39th Infantry. There he served as a Lt. in the Militia under General Andrew Jackson against the Creek Indian "Red Sticks. " He was severely wounded in an attack upon the Indians. Having been shot first in the thigh with an arrow and having had it removed, Sam charged to try and inspire his men to attack. During this charge Sam was shot in the right shoulder and right arm having a ball lodged in each of them. He was left to die since the doctors didn't think his wounds could be healed. Quoting from Sam Houston's writings:
"One ball was extracted, but no attempt was made to extract the other, for the surgeon said it was unnecessary to torture me, since I could not survive till the next morning. I spent the night as soldiers do, who war in the wilderness, and carry provisions in their knapsacks for a week's march. Comforts were out of the question for any; but I received less attention than the others, for everybody looked on me as a dying man, and what could be done for any, they felt should be done for those who were likely to live. It was the darkest night of my life.
"On the following day, I was started on a litter, with the other wounded, for Fort Williams, some sixty or seventy miles distant. Here I remained, suspended between life and death, for a long time, neglected and exposed. I was finally brought back, through the Cherokee Nation, to my mother's home in Maryville, where I arrived in the latter part of May, nearly two months after the battle of the HorseShoe."
"This long journey was made in a litter, borne by horses, while I was not only helpless but suffering the extremist agony. My diet was of the coarsest description, and most of the time I was not only deprived of medical aid, but even of those simple remedies which would, at least, have alleviated my sufferings. Our toilsome way was through the forests where we were obligated to encamp out and often without shelter. No one around me expected me to recover. When I reached the house of my mother, I was so worn to a skeleton that she declared she never would have known me except for my eyes, which still retained something of their wonted expression. "
He lay all this time before they decided that he would not die and tried to do something with his wounds. He carried bad scars of this battle for the rest of his life. He served in the 39th Infantry from July, 1813, until May 1818, when he resigned. This is when and where he and General Andrew Jackson met and became close friends.
Sam Houston had very little formal education, however, when he decided he wanted to become a Lawyer and was told that it would take him approximately eighteen months study and work to pass the bar examination, Houston didn't believe this and studied law at Nashville, passed the Bar and became a Lawyer in six months (approximately one-third the time).
Sam Houston joined Cumberland Masonic Lodge, No. 8, he was Initiated on April 19, Passed to the degree of Fellow Craft on June 20, and Raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on July 22, 1817.
Sam demitted from Cumberland Lodge on November 20, 1817, and reaffiliated on June 21, 1821. During this period he supposedly was a charter member of Nashville Lodge, No. 37. He served Cumberland Lodge as Junior Warden and, in 1824, attended Grand Lodge as a Past Master. He was recorded in one place as having demitted from Cumberland Lodge on January 20, 1831; however, he is listed in the proceedings of 1828 as having been suspended for un-masonic conduct.
Some time in 1820, Sam ran for the office of District Attorney and was elected District Attorney of Davidson District in Tennessee. He served twelve months very successfully and then resigned to return to the regular practice of law.
In September, 1821, the former enlisted man aspired to a high office--that of Major General in the Tennessee Militia--and was elected. He certainly had made good his boast that those who taunted him about joining the army in the ranks would hear from him.
Then Brother Sam was elected, in 1823 and 1825, and served two terms as a congressman in the House of Representatives from Tennessee and was a Major General. On October 1 of 1827, he was elected Governor of Tennessee.
Quoting Judge Jo C. Guild, who knew Sam Houston well: "Houston stood six feet six inches in his socks, was of fine contour, a remarkably well proportioned man, and of commanding and gallant bearing, had a large, long head and face and his fine features were lit up by large eagle-looking eyes; possessed of a wonderful recollection of persons and names, a fine address and courtly manners and a magnetism approaching that of General Andrew Jackson. He enjoyed unbounded popularity among men and was a great favorite with the ladies. "
Then on January 22, 1829, at the age of 37, he married an 18-year Lady, named Eliza Allen, but for some reason (speculation was, on the part of those against Houston, that she left him) was very unhappy with her so he resigned as Governor, left his wife and moved to the Indian Territory where he lived again with his adopted father and remarried an Indian woman by the name of Talahina (Tiana), and worked closely with and for the Cherokee Indian Nation in what was to become Indian Territory, setting relations with the other Indian nations back in the early 1800's.
Quoting from A History of Oklahoma by Grant Foreman, page 9, "Another element of that period that was to color the history of Oklahoma was the arrival in June, 1829, of Sam Houston. From pique and disappointment he had abandoned his high office of governor of Tennessee to live among the Cherokee Indians in the future Oklahoma. He came up the Arkansas River and landed near the mouth of the Illinois to join his old Cherokee Friend, Chief John Jolly, who lived a mile or two up that stream on the east bank. After remaining here a while he continued to Fort Gibson and three miles northwest of the fort on the road to the Creek agency established himself in what he called Wigwam Neosho, where he set up a little store. Here he took deep interest in the welfare of the Indians, whose difficulties and suffering enlisted his warm sympathy. He wrote many letters to the department at Washington in which he endeavored to secure redress for them and discipline officials whom he blamed for many of their wrongs. At the same time, however, he was scheming with the influence he had with President Jackson to secure lucrative contracts to ration the Indians it was hoped would be emigrated from the East, if Jackson's plans for removal should materialize. Houston returned to Fort Gibson from Washington after his plan failed, and in 1832, departed for Texas, where he helped make history for that future state. "
Actually, Talahina's name was Diana or Dianna Rogers. She was a member of a very famous Cherokee family and the wife of Cherokee leader, David Gentry. She was a tall and beautiful woman, the daughter of Captain John "Hell Fire Jack" Rogers, one of the most prominent white men in the Cherokee Nation. Her brothers were: Captain John Rogers, Jr., William Rogers and Charles Rogers, all famous Cherokee Indians. She was also some kin to Sequoyah. One of her uncles was John Jolly. She appeared to be more a "white woman" because she was less than a quarter Cherokee Indian, probably closer to "one-sixteenth Cherokee and fifteen-sixteenths Scotch and English. "
Quoting: "The popular tale is that Houston lay in the gutter of life suffering from the wounds of his marriage failure and drank himself through a period of three years." Nothing could be farther from the truth, for this was one of the most productive periods in Houston's life. If Houston were "The Big Drunk" this is a perfect application of Lincoln's purported request to know the brand name of the whiskey which General Grant drank so that he could issue it to his other generals.
"Sam Houston accomplished more during these three years than many men do in a lifetime. During his years with the Cherokees, Houston made two trips to Washington to assist in negotiation with Jackson and the War Department, and his negotiation to end the warfare between the Osages and the Creeks and the Cherokees was the most successful in thirty years of attempted settlements. A long-range reform program in the Indian Agency system as well as removal of agents of questionable ability and honesty resulted from his intervention; through his political column in the Arkansas Gazette and the pamphlets of Tah-lohn-tus-ky and Standing Bear, Houston spearheaded the Indian Bureau reform programs. "
Then on October 21, 1829, Sam Houston was made a citizen of the Cherokee Nation (Tribe) by tribal action. He then journeyed to Washington D.C. vested with "all the rights, privileges and immunities" of a tribal member. There he was officially received as the Ambassador of the Cherokee Nation by the then President of the United States, Andrew Jackson.
In late November of 1832, he went to Texas, made application to live in Stephen F. Austin Colony. In 1832, when Sam Houston moved to Texas, he affiliated with Holland Lodge No. 36 of LA. It later became Holland Lodge No. 1 of Texas. On December 20, 1837, he presided over the meeting which established the Grand Lodge of Texas. Then he demitted from Holland Lodge on July 14, 1842, and was next reported as a member of Forest Lodge No. 19, in Huntsville, TX, in 1851. Then, as a member of the first convention, April 1, 1833, he chaired a committee to write a constitution for the republic of Texas. Actually he wrote most of it himself, and then he was elected general of the militia. On November 3, 1835, Texas declared independence and Houston was elected as Major General to command the Army. On March 2, 1836, he was a member of the convention that declared absolute independence and they named him Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. This was his 43rd birthday. It was during this time that Houston served as Commander-in-Chief during the Texas war for independence from Mexico and won a decisive victory over General Santa Anna (another Mason) at the battle of San Jacinto where Texas lost five men and Mexico over 1000. Following the slaughters at the Alamo and Goliad, Commander-in-Chief Sam Houston and his army defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto and took Santa Anna a prisoner. This was on April 2, 1836, and during this engagement General Sam Houston was again wounded. His right leg was terribly hurt. Then on May 5, 1836, Houston turned the command of his armies over to Major General Thomas J . Rusk because of his wound.
Then, on May 22, 1836, Sam Houston then went to New Orleans where he was treated by the same doctor who had treated him nearly thirty years earlier. This doctor said had Houston not been treated when he was he would have died as mortification had already begun to set in, in his leg. This wound was to bother him a great deal for the rest of his life.
On September 5, 1836, Sam Houston was elected President of the Newly formed Texas Republic he took the oath of office on October 22, 1836. And even though his candidacy was announced only twelve days previous to the election, he received 4,374 of the total of 5,104 votes. His term expired on December 12, 1838.
Sam Houston meet and fell head over heals in love with Margaret Lea sometime in the summer of 1839. They were married on May 9, 1840, now Sam was 47 years, two months and seven days old at the time. He served two years in the House of Representatives of the Texas Republic while Mirabeau Lamar was President. Lamar was a disaster as President, spending the nation into insolvency and at the end of Lamar's term Houston was elected for the second time and served again as president from December 13, 1841, until December 9, 1844. Sam served as President through some very trying times. On November 20, 1836, Sam Houston wrote President Andrew Jackson to inform him Santa Anna was on his way to Washington D. C. Also, letting Jackson know that he, Houston, hoped Texas could become a state of the United States. He was President of the Texas Republic when it voted to become a state on February 16, 1846.
After having served as first and third Presidents of the Texas Republic; he then labored hard for the admission of Texas to the United States and this wish, of his came to fruition on December 29, 1845. After the United States House of Representatives voted to annex Texas in January of 1845 and the U.S. Senate in February and President Tyler signed the bill on March 1, 1845 it was up to Texas. The people of Texas voted to ratify this action on October 13, 1845 Then on February 16, 1846, the Lone Star Flag of the Republic of Texas was lowered and the Stars and Stripes were raised over Texas.
At this stage of his life Oliver Dye wrote of Houston: "He was fifty-five years old, a magnificent barbarian somewhat tempered by civilization. He was of large frame, of stately carriage and dignified demeanor and had a lion like countenance capable of expressing fiercest passions. His dress was peculiar, but it was becoming to his style. The conspicuous features of it were a military cap, and a short military cloak of fine blue broadcloth, with blood-red lining. Afterward, I occasionally met him when he wore a vast an picturesque sombrero and a Mexican blanket. "
Then he was elected and inaugurated as Governor of Texas on December 2 1859, and served from then until 1861 Thus he served as Governor of Texas tried very hard to keep the U. S. together and tried to prevent the Civil War, even to the extent of being the people's candidate for President against Steven A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, withdrawing from the race during the campaign in an attempt to keep the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, from being elected because Houston was not convinced that Lincoln would try and hold the U.S. together. Sam Houston was dedicated to the U.S. first and Texas second. Both were very important to him. When Texas succeeded from the Union, Governor Houston refused to accept it. When the roll was called and Houston's name was called he was no where to be found so the Lt. Governor was inaugurated as Governor.
Later, on his way home, he stopped in Brenham, where Houston was asked to make a speech he refused. His old solider comrades and other friends at Brenham insisted that he speak. He firmly refused until the excitement became intense; excited groups of secessionists gathered upon the street corners, and declared that it would be treason against the Confederate Government to permit Governor Houston to speak against the secession. The court house was densely packed, and as Governor Houston arose to speak, cries were heard: "Put him out; don't let him speak; kill him. " At this moment Mr. Hugh McIntyre, a wealthy planter of the community, and a leading secessionist, sprang up on the table and drew a large Colt revolver saying, "I and 100 other friends of Governor Houston have invited him to address us, and we will kill the first man who insults, or who may, in any way attempt to injure him. I, myself think that Governor Houston ought to have accepted the situation, and ought to have taken the oath of allegiance to our Confederate Government, but he thought otherwise He is honest and sincere, and he shed his blood for Texas independence. There is no other right to be heard by the people of Texas. Now, fellow-citizens, give him your close attention; and you ruffians, keep quite, or I will kill you."
The Civil War turned out just as Sam had predicted. He had said all along that the south didn't have a chance of winning. Sam Houston died at the end of the Civil War on July 16, 1863, at the age of 70 years, four months and thirteen days.
One of Houston's writings was: "The great misfortune is that a notion obtains with those in power that the world, or the people, require more governing than is necessary. To govern well is a great science, but no country is ever improved by too much governing. Govern wisely and as little as possible! Most men think when they are elevated to position that it requires an effort to discharge their duties and they leave common sense out of the question. "
Sam Houston left his wife and eight children, when he died.
In summary: Houston was elected to congress in 1823 and 1825. He was elected Governor of Tennessee in 1827. Then served as Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Military, was elected and served as President of the Texas Republic twice and a member of the house of representatives once, served as Senator from the State of Texas and served two terms as Governor of Texas. Quite a career, even for a great Mason.
NOTES
1. J.C. Guild, Old Times in Tennessee, page 262.
2. Famous Cherokee Indian who invented the Cherokee Alphabet. It was so simple they could master it in a few days and soon a large part of the tribe employed the new alphabet in uses never known to them before.
3. Sam Houston with The Cherokees, 1829-1833 by Jack Gregory and Rennard Strickland. University of Oklahoma Press.
4 By Oliver Dyer, of the shorthand staff of the Senate in his Great Senators of the United States .
5. From The Autobiography of Sam Houston by Day & Ullom, page 254.
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Bringing The Craft to the 21st Century
by Walter P. Benesch, MPS.
Preface
Originally this paper was to be a satire. However, after many months of meditation and consideration on the topic, I have come to realize what is presented should be given serious consideration.
Those Masons who still believe the Masonic myth that no man or no body of men may make innovations in the Craft must dismiss those thoughts as an erroneous concept. A brief look at the history of the ceremonies and rituals will quickly prove that myth false. You must therefore open your minds to the new ideas presented here. Constructive criticism, comments and intelligent debate on this topic is welcomed. Personal attacks, unconstructive criticism, grumbling and general negativity will not!
Others may greet these ideas with a great deal of criticism. But before jumping onto a negative frame of mind remember I too once thought the topic a joke. No longer! We are about to come to a new century and even a new millenium. All things must change or become stagnant and die. The proposed changes presented need careful consideration.
Introduction
In the middle of the 19th century, the Craft faced serious declines and almost extinction in many areas of our country. Many Lodges were still reeling from the Morgan Affair. Something had to be done to turn the Craft around . The Brethren of the Scottish Rite introduced the idea of putting on the degrees in dramatic form, upon a stage. Elaborate backdrops, modern gas lighting, and special effects were introduced. The Brethren were taking advantage of the latest technological advances. Beautiful costumes and regalia were included. The results was a dramatic increase in membership. Men soon heard about the beauty and wondrous theater associated with Masonry. They wanted to see what was offered. Obviously the benefits were not just for the Scottish Rite but for the Blue Lodges too, since you must be Master Masons to be a member of the Scottish Rite. The changes did not stop with effects of modern staging and elaborate costumes reached into the York Rite and even the Symbolic Lodge. Many lodges instituted the use of costumes and scenery. When electricity was brought into the cities and counties in America, Masonry quickly replaced the old gas lighting with the new incandescent lights. The Craft was keeping pace with the new technologies. Special lighting effects were added. More and more dramatic renditions of the degrees were introduced. Our numbers swelled.
The result of these innovations in the body of Masonry are evident. Around the country one can see many great and beautiful Masonic structures which were paid for by the Brethren who came to the Craft to experience the beauty of the degrees and showed there gratitude with considerable contributions. The rolls of the Craft continued to increase throughout the first half of new century. When W.W.I broke out, the Brethren were seen in every aspect of the war effort. In the 20's, the returning Brethren continued to pour money into the Craft as a form of gratitude for the splendor and beauty as well the profound experience they received. W.W.II again saw the Masons in the forefront of the war effort. The high point of membership was reached with the returning veterans and their interest which continued for another decade. However, that flocking to the Craft soon cooled and now in many places has slowed to a trickle. Thus we are experiencing the graying of the Craft and a doubtful future.
It is time to look again at the Craft with critical eyes and to find new ways and ideas which will convey the meaning and beauty to those who no longer seek out the Craft. No doubt, the Craft will have to open its doors to all men, no matter what color, race, or religion. Likewise, the various Masonic Grand Lodge will have to recognize each other even if they don't necessarily believe the same things nor have the same color of members. But something more is needed. We need to also look at the wave of technological innovations with society in the next century. In the past technological advances in the Craft increased our members. But look at a technology we did not take advantage od and that may have impacted the Craft in a negative way. What was that technology? Photography!
Photo Realism, the Cinema and the Decline of Masonry
In 1839 Fox Talbot invented the camera. This invention forever changed the way mankind viewed their world But not until it was available to the masses. The first cheap camera appeared around 1888. However, it was not until the beginnings of this century that photography became a dominant form for recording the event of this world. The photograph became a means of immediate testimony. The photo represented a realism, a means to capture experience.
Photojournalism offered a world in a series of unrelated pictures. The past and present were reduced to a set of anecdotes. Life, death, heaven and earth were reduced to a photo image. The camera made reality manageable and opaque. It denied the interconnectedness and continuity of life and the world. The mystic tie of all mankind was reduced to a picture. For example the photo became life itself. This was vividly evident in the name of the first mass-media magazine of this century Life. The title only added to the confusion. Are the pictures of life, or are they life. The magazine answered the question for us in it's first edition when showing a new born child it announced "life begins.." The replacement of the photo for the experience of reality has deprived us of both the once metaphysical and mystical side of life.
The photographs took the place of internal reflection. The need for spiritual advancement was replaced by a black and white image and later a moving image on a large screen. The photo replaces memory. The photo is no longer a picture, it is a fixed image of an event It holds the image unchanging for as long as the photo itself remains. But pictures do not preserve meaning. The photo offers an appearance devoid of the severed from all living experience. The photos are images of strangers. The photo records without discrimination The Daumier cartoon of Nadar (an early French photographer) in his balloon with his hat flying off in the wind while he is photographing the city of Paris from the air holds a suggestive answer as to what the camera has become. The camera is the eye of God. But in the hands of HUMANS?? ! ! ! ! !
What has been the impact? The camera and its images have replaced God. This has only increased with the advent of moving pictures. As the cinematic realism and especial effects have taken photography to new heights. The photo, the motion picture (a direct outgrowth of the photo) is now colorized. Special effects added. The new physical and metaphysical reality is presented daily in multimedia, multiplex cinemas. The mystical search for meaning and God is now replaced by a multimodal media experience.
Do you doubt this last statement. Look at religion and Masonry. The decline of the traditional churches and Masonry correspond directly with the rise of colorized photojournalism, TV and the cinema. Masonry can no longer compete with the stark, cosmic and dramatic images of the silver screen. Can we dramatically show a man die, soul arise out of the body, show the confusion often experienced at death only to attempt to reach his remaining loved one as in the movie Ghost? No, we can't.
The values and the relationship with our spiritual source, to our ancestors, even to deity are now reduced down to a series of images or motion pictures. Even death is shown as motion picture reality not real life. Is there any wonder that those who have lost touch with values and the mystical side of their own spiritual nature think nothing of replicating the violence and murder seen on the TV and motion picture screens with no thought of consequence or guilt? Photos are TRUTH. No need to look behind them!
I am GOD! The perfect example of this is the photo of the Vietnam Policeman shooting a hand cuffed prisoner. The moment of death is captured for ever. The horror of the act etched in our minds. The thoughtless cruelty of the executioner evident, right? What the photo doesn't convey is that the prisoner being killed was one of the greatest terrorists in South Viet Nam. The one being killed had killed countless times including friends and family of the policeman and countless Americans. Yet the image has over taken the facts. The image has made us a god without context. This applies a hundred times more for the motion picture. All judgment is gone. The camera defines our reality. Social change is now based on images, not thought (think of the reactions to the nightly news of such sights as the African famine and the fall of the Berlin Wall and a thousand other examples). Politicians know this well. The photo-op has become a part of the political genre. The image is the radical weapon in posters, newspapers, pamphlets, news broadcasts, etc.
Here is the key to the fall of Masonry. New technology was the savior of Masonry in the 19th Century through the first half of this century has now become its anchor. The sets, costumes, temples and symbols no longer can hold the imagination and stimulate the mystic nature of the man. Today's humans experience far more in a movie than any ceremony or ritual can give him. The image has become the reality. No longer are the morals and symbols of Masonry important in the context of the multimedia blitz of Dolby sensurround sound and special effects of the movie theater.
This is not meant to be a judgment against photography nor motion pictures. It is just a statement of how they can be perceived. If used properly they can enhance both thought and memory in a positive way. Photos are a form of history. A relic from our past. As Berger notes (page 61): "If the living take that past upon themselves, if the past becomes an integral part of the process of people making their own history, then all photographs would acquire a living context, they would continue to exist in time, by holding arrested moments. "
Should Masonry then transform the rituals and ceremonies into elaborate movies with top name stars and multimillion dollars of special effect? No. But not for the reason most may consider. Photos and movies are technologies invented in the last century, and just perfected and utilized in this century. It is too late to use them if we are thinking about the next century.
What does the future hold? Will new means of visualization and reality emersion further impact the Craft? Can Masonry take advantage of evolving image and symbolic representations as it did in the last century? Can we tap into the emerging technologies to improve the Craft or are we just going to creep into the sand and become as extinct as the trilobite that covered the earth 400 million years ago? Let us once again look for the answer in the new technologies.
Virtual Reallty
Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computer generated graphics, motion, sound to simulate an artificial world. In the VR world the user can move through various areas and places. They experience multiple sensory through sounds, head mounted displays and tactical gloves and suits in an artificial world. VR uses are just beginning to be explored. To give you a brief idea of what is currently being experimented on in VR labs here is what NASA and George Mason University are doing on a Joint project.
NASA's Johnson Space Center with GMU has developed "Science Space", a series of virtual reality microworlds for teaching science concepts and skills that students have difficulty mastering. The goal is to examine whether virtual reality's sensorial immersion can help students remediate misconceptions and construct accurate mental models of abstract science concepts. The central research goal is to examine whether virtual reality's physical immersion and multisensory experience can help students remediate misconceptions and construct accurate mental models of abstract concepts.
To achieve these goals NAS created an environment called Newton World. The sensorial immersive VR has promise as an interface for inquiry based on microworlds in a number of ways:
1. VR supports true learning-by-doing. Students control the environment and experience the behavior of objects in the virtual world.
2. VR is three-dimensional. This sensory immersion interface represents objects in a three-dimensional environment and facilitates multiple frames of reference. These capabilities have the potential to enhance the meaning of multidimensional phenomena and provides insights into scientific visualization (Erickson, 1993).
3. VR offers multisensory communication. Students can see, hear, or feel "invisible" factors affecting the behavior of objects. Learners are able to perceive abstractions that they cannot sense in the real world. Such multisensory stimulation are valuable in learning and recall.
4. VR motivates users. Users are intrigued by their interactions with physically immersive environments, inducing them to spend more time and concentration on a task (Bricken & Byrne, 1993).
Another benefit is the multiple modes of immersion through sensory representation which increases the saliency of key concepts. If one "is" a bouncing ball (i.e., immersively perceiving the world from that sensory perspective), one is aware of relative velocity on many more sensory dimensions than simply watching a ball move as an external observer. Think of the impact if a candidate is the object of the Masonic allegories in a VR environment.
The newest stage in the development of VR is strikingly familiar to Trekies (Star Trek fans to those who are not). In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the crew's R&R (recreation & relaxation) time is often spent on the starship' s "HoloDeck" -a walk in theater where interactive 3-D holograms create the illusion of strolling through a Pacific northwest rain forest, or recreate the world of a favorite work of fiction. Not to be outdone by science fiction, scientists today can pick up a headset and control wand and enter their own version of a HoloDeck--a three-dimensional virtual reality environment that lets them immerse themselves in visual and auditory representations.
The CAVE
The CAVE was originally conceived in 1991. The intent was to design a VR system that avoids the current limitations of VR systems such as poor image resolution, isolation from the real world, and inability to simultaneously share virtual experiences with multiple users. The CAVE is a projection-based VR system. The illusion of immersion is created by projecting stereoscopic computer graphics into a cube composed of display-screens that completely surround the viewer. These effects in the CAVE can be coupled with a head and hand tracking system to produce the correct stereo perspective and to isolate the position and orientation of a three-dimensional input device. A sound system adds to this effect.
The viewer explores the virtual world by moving around inside the cube and manipulating objects with a wand-like device. The CAVE blends real and virtual objects in the same space so that a person has a view of his/her own body as they interact with the virtual objects.
The physical dimensions of a CAVE may be approximately 10-foot-square room. In a darkened lab, projectors and mirrors overlap multiple images on each screen. Inside the CAVE, the users wear stereoscopic glasses to turn the projections into hologram-like images (remember the 3D glasses of the '50's?). Six to 10 people can stand in the CAVE and view the projection. Control of the images and the world may be by one of the participants or by an outside observer. If all in the CAVE are wearing the glasses, all will experience the same situations.
The CAVE enables users to visualize computer graphics in a way that cannot be done on a traditional workstation screen. Some of the current applications the CAVE technology is being used for include:
- 1. The Cosmic Explorer a research tool for exploring the stages of the evolution of the Universe.
- 2. Modeling Superconductors on Massively Parallel Computers to provide insight to the still unsolved problem of graphically representing superconductors .
- 3. Regional Scale Weather Display Users explore the landscape, weather evolution, and patterns in a period of 120 hours as if they themselves were a thousand miles tall.
- 4. Visualization of the Molecular Dynamics of Cancer Here molecular dynamics simulations are used to observe the behavior of a protein that regulates the growth of cells. The study of this protein is particularly relevant because changes in its molecular structure can lead to uncontrolled cellular growth and cancer.
Could the CAVE be used in Masonic ceremonies and lodge rooms? NO! At least not now. It is far too costly and requires much too much programming and high end computing. However, that is in this century. Remember it took almost 50 years for the camera to become available to the general public at an affordable price (1839 to 1888). Why all these examples of the CAVE technology and virtual reality? Because they could hold an answer to a possible future of Masonry!
The Virtual Masonic Cave of the Future
The CAVE and other VR technologies were developed in the 1990's. If we add 25 years for the cost and future development to reach a mass market, a CAVE type environment may be ready for the office and home by the year 2015, if not earlier. By that time Masonry may be ready to take advantage of the technology to offer a new and even more realistic way to portray the degrees.
The advantages are immediate. The multimodal input would be far greater and have a significantly greater impact than our traditional degrees. The VR lodge would offer stunning visual effects that would stimulate the candidate. The potential for a positive psychological and even mystical experience would be far greater than in any current lodge environment. At the same time we could insure that the images are not devoid of meaning and context, thereby avoiding the fault of photography discussed earlier. The impact of the symbols of the degrees would be brought to life in a combination of motion pictures and animated graphics where the tools, stones and workmen described in the rituals would come to life. The candidate would transform the physical temple into the heavenly abode which is alluded to in so many of the degrees.
Would using a Masonic VR cave violate the traditions of the Craft? Not really. The hoodwink would be replaced by the cave glasses (when in the darkened CAVE you can not see through them). The light and darkness would be controlled by either the Worshipful Master, the head technician or the Masonic computer run program. The clothing would remain unchanged. The symbols would remain as they are, just depicted in a new way. THIS JUST WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST CENTURY USING MODERN STAGING AND SCENERY. The only difference is that Masons would be having their candidates experience a VR world rather that costumes and sets they often see in the Scottish Rite and elsewhere. The greatest handicap Masonry would face is the variations in the rituals found in each of the different states (and sometimes even within a sing in the next century the creation of a Masonic VR world to be projected onto a lodge room 'cave' environment would still be costly. Most lodges could not afford the technology and the programming necessary to do it independently. However, if the rituals could be unified across the country a single mass produced program for all the lodge and paid for jointly by all the Grand Lodges the costs could be manageable (remember I'm talking about 25 years from now). This assumes the continued lowing cost of technology and the increase processing power of even portable computers. The laptop upon which this treatise was being written is more powerful than a mainframe computer of 25 years ago. The assumption is that the cost of VR and the creation of a VR environment will see a similar dropping of cost in the next century just as the camera price dropped dramatically in the past. If we ignore this new technology will the impact on the Craft be as negative as the camera and the photo was in the last half of the 20th Century?
Still producing the first Masonic cave prototype would be costly. But, by the time the Craft is ready for the change the talent may be available to us "inhouse." Already many of the younger Masons are involved with the creations and writing of computer programs. Surely we could tap some volunteer services of the Brethren to develop the basic programs. If not, once again we could contract it out as did the Scottish Rite Temples did in the creation of the huge screens and backdrops used in their ceremonies. Once the prototype was completed and tested the final product could be produced. When perfected, the program would be copied, mass produced and distributed to lodges at a reasonable cost. The size a the Masonic cave could fit most current lodge rooms provided that it retains approximately the same dimensions as the current Caves. This is assuming that the CAVE would be still the preferred choice and another better and cheaper technology doesn't come along (which is likely).
Think of towing the candidate to wall through King Solomon's Temple. To see the tools and symbols of the Craft float in front of him. Better still, through, VR world he could become a tool and put to proper use. The lessons of each degree would have a significantly greater impact. The positive experiences would stimulate and encourage everyone who experiences it to spread the word on the teachings and impact of Masonry. The York Rite and Scottish Rite could take similar approaches to their ceremonies and rituals. The impact of the Mark Degree or the Royal Arch would be significantly increased if the candidate were to discover the mysteries of the degree in a world unlike any that they have ever experienced before. It would be both a return to ages past while still being present in a VR world no one else, except his Brothers, has experienced.
Yet this will not happen without careful planning and forethought on behalf of current Masonic leaders. It also will require open minds and an eye to the future. If Masonry is to continue into the next century all possibilities must be explored. The Masons of the last century knew this. Have the Masons of today come to that realization yet? The technology is still being developed. We need to be ready for it when it is ready for us. The apple (pun deliberate) trees of modern technology introduced into the Craft by our Brethren a hundred years ago bore fruit that has lasted a century. We are still nourished by it today. But the tree is growing old. New trees need to be planted.
A seed of change has been proposed here. It is hoped that its future fruit will nourish the Craft in the 21st Century. Without such fruit can we even survive? Let us turn to the lessons of our own history and in so doing plan for the future. Masonry has done it in the past. New innovations were introduced before in ways that kept the meaning and traditions strong. VR may give us the way to do it again. That may seem silly now but not to those under 30 who are on the cutting edge of this technology. Are not those created, educated and enlightened individuals we want to attract into the Craft? Aren't those the very ones we need to keep the Craft alive in the 21st Century? The answer to both questions is a overwhelming YES! Now let's start planning the future of Masonry accordingly. Let's bring the Craft into the 21st Century!
References
Benesch, Walter P.: The Thanatology of Masonry: Facing Death, and The Thanatology of Masonry: What to Expect Beyond the Gates, in The Philalethes, December 1990 & February 1991 respectively.
Berger, John, (1991). About Looking. Vintage International, Vintage Books, New York.
Bricken, M. & Byrne, C. M. (1993). Summer students in virtual reality. In Wexelblat, A. (Ed.), Virtual Reality: Applications and Exploration (pp. 199-218). New York: Academic Press, Inc.
Cruz-Neira, C., Sandin, D.J., and DeFanti, T.A., "Surround Screen Projection-Based Virtual Reality", SIGGRAPH 93 Proceedings, Aug. 1993.
Dede, C., Loftin, B., Salzman, M., Calhoun, C., Hoblit, J., and Regian, W. (1994). The Design of Artificial Realities to Improue Learning Newtonian Mechanics. In P. Brusilovsky, Ed., Proceedings of the East West International Conference on Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Virtual Reality, pp. 34-41. Moscow, Russia: International Centre for Scientific and Technical Information.
Erickson, T. (1993). Artificial realities as data visualization environments. In Wexelblat, A. (Ed.) Virtual Reality. Applications and Explorations (pp. 1-22). New York: Academic Press Professional .
Halloun, I. A., & Hestenes, D. (1985). Common sense concepts about motion. American Journal of Physics, 53, 1056-1065.
Malone, T. W., & Lepper, M. R. (1984). Making learning fun. a taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In Snow, R. E., & Farr, M. J. (Eds.) Aptitude, Learning and Instruction. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
McDermott, L. C. (1991). Millikan lecture 1990: what we teach and what is learned closing the gap. American Journal of Physics, 59, 301315.
Thomas, J. C., & Stuart, R. (1992). Virtual reality and human factors. In Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting 1992 (pp. 207-210). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors Society.
White, B. (1993). Thinkertools: Causal models, conceptual change, and science education. Cognition and Instruction, 10, 1-100.
Wickens, C (1992). Virtual Reality and Education. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybanetics, I, (pp . 842-47) New York: IEEE press.
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by Bob Dixon, MPS
I belong to a Freemasonry mailing list available over the Internet. There' s a wealth of available information and opinion on Masonic subjects, and I can't imagine being a Mason without access to this list.
On the list, a discussion went on over a period of days about a particular elementary school which refused the offer of a Masonic Cornerstone for their new building. Among their concerns was that Freemasonry discriminated against women and atheists, and they felt it inappropriate for a public school to be associated with such a group.
As a result of the discussion, I was forced to conclude, sadly, that Freemasonry "does" discriminate on the basis of sex and religion.
Because of this, I decided that I should leave Freemasonry, find an organization that "does not" practice any form of discrimination, and join it.
I first thought of the Girl Scouts. I was raised by my mother, and I appreciate women and the cultivation of domestic skills. But I am not a girl and I am too old.
Maybe the Boy Scouts. I was a Scout once, and I am sure they would take me back. I peaked out at First Class, and I would like to start over as a Tenderfoot and see if I can get my Eagle this time. Unfortunately, I am still too old.
Maybe one of the churches in my community. But, no, these churches will only allow me to be a member if I adhere to their particular doctrine and standards of behavior. This is clearly discriminating on the basis of religious belief.
Maybe I could go to college again and join a sorority. After all, I do feel more comfortable among women than men. But sororities don't accept men, and colleges don't accept those that are too stupid to pass the courses and too poor to pay the tuition.
Possibly the elementary school whose leaders felt that Masons discriminate. Surely they wouldn't discriminate, and I always did enjoy naps and coloring. Haven't had a good glass of chocolate milk in ages. But alas, I am still too old and have too much education.
Alter this, l resolved to go home to my sweet family and forget the whole thing. Except that my family discriminates against people who are not my blood relatives or friends of the existing members. Not just anyone off the street can join us at the dinner table, and this is clearly exclusionary.
Perhaps I could live in a vacant lot, not bothering anyone. But, again, my community discriminates against those who can't afford housing. People are just not allowed to live in the open. Stores refuse to serve those who can't pay. Certainly an intolerable situation.
Still, I resolved to give up "all" organizations who discriminate, no matter how difficult this is. A matter of principle, after all. I will live in the woods, by myself, where my pure standards can be best appreciated. But, alas, "even nature" discriminates, against the sick and the weak. When I get old or sick I will quickly be eaten by some animal stronger than I am.
Oh my! Maybe the Masons aren't so bad after all . . . the suppers are pretty good and they don't eat you when you get old.
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What Does the All-seeing Eye See ?
by E. Scott Ryan, MPS
As one looks at the all-seeing eye on America's dollar bill, in attempting to answer the question as to "What Does the All-Seeing Eye See?," one first has to question any one's answer, even one's own, that tries to own one's answer as the one and only answer. In trying to answer the most visible question of all, that of the most visible symbol of the all-seeing eye on the dollar, I've encountered two very different kinds of answers, both of which share something in common...in sharing the hidden perspective of the occult .
The first answer is one that hides from itself in referring to the all-seeing eye as somehow symbolizing a hidden Godlike power that looks out and sees an all that is nothing in the fear of seeing any spiritual or metaphysical reality
The second answer, one that is far more widespread and not afraid to speak out, sees an occult symbol, a Masonic symbol in particular, that symbolizes all that is sinister to the extent of identifying the all-seeing eye as the eye of Lucifer. One of the ways in which it supports its claim is to assert that the Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, translates to "He has favored our undertakings, " and that He cannot refer to God, which would read in Latin DEUS COEPTIS, so, therefore, it must refer to that other well known spiritual counterpart. . . Satan.
I'm trying to get to the core of any question, particularly one that appears to hide its own answer from itself, or one whose hidden meaning is answered by others who are quick to provide their own answers to questions that evoke different answers, one has to try to be as objective as possible. That objectivity, however, is easier said than done, when the object to be examined is not a scientific one requiring an exacting measurement that limits intervening variables, but, rather, a symbolic one requiring an intervening scrutiny that exacts unlimiting metaphysical variables. Some may dismiss any idea of metaphysical symbolism as being unreal; but one cannot dismiss the symbol of the all-seeing eye as being quite real in the millions of daily currency transactions, wherein the all-seeing eye is both seen and unseen in seeing what remains hidden.
The occult meaning, therefore, the hidden meaning of this most visible of American symbols needs further scrutiny in order to bring something of the essence of what's meant by America out of hiding. In so doing, in attempting to become a metaphysical detective as to the hidden meaning of an important American symbol, I hesitate in applying the analytic method in which I've been trained as a researcher. According to the scientific research method, one must not only clear one's mind of any preconceptions, described in Latin as "tabula rasa," in mentally assuming a blank slate, but one must also keep oneself, one's personal self, out of the picture, lest one's disputatious person get in the way of an indisputable finding of one truth for all persons.
While these analytic caveats are fine in general, there are specific exceptions, specifically the metaphysical, wherein keeping one's self out of the question and answer can be disputed. Accordingly, I've resolved that dispute by allowing me to introduce myself to you, in the hope that my personal motivation can contribute to rather than interfere with the metaphysical investigation.
Since the all-seeing eye is purported to be a Masonic symbol, by both friends and foes of Freemasonry alike, I decided to join the Freemasons in order to find out more about them. In this respect, I should mention that I was not only raised outside of Masonry as a Catholic but, also, educated by Jesuits who have a long history of providing superior education along with that of countering the Protestant Reformation and occasionally attacking Freemasonry.
In the course of investigating Freemasonry, I've encountered a majority of very fine individuals with only a very few that I'd describe as less than fine, just as one will find good and bad people in just about any church, synagogue, or temple. What I found that was most distinct, however, was an aversion to political and religious dogmatism under the all-seeing eye of a God of spiritual freedom.
That distinction was one that, in my personal opinion, motivated those Masons who, along with like-minded others, were instrumental in affixing the symbol of the all-seeing eye on the American dollar. They introduced a non-absolutist system of constitutional government based upon checks and balances that allowed for an evolving sense of freedom based upon a higher spiritual conception of man.
In the all-seeing eye, one can see an age old symbolism and new age ecumenism wherein " my God is better than your God" is seen quite otherwise . . .in seeing more wisely as to the other. It sees that my God and your God is our God. . .in seeing that God is not only one but that God's oneness includes rather than excludes. . .such that one God is never one's God, alone, over others, but, always and in all ways, one God with others. . .in the universal spiritual insight of including any other as one another in the sight of God.
Beyond that of the watchful eye of Jahweh, the Hebrew God, and the open eye of Osiris, the chief Egyptian deity, both of whom are represented and both of whom, I believe, are meant to be one and the same, it presents a living God of interactive can be chosen by everyone in one's choosing and being chosen by one God.
The original intent of that godly choice, however, that of universal spiritual chosenness, in the unity of all men choosing one God soon became an ethnocentric and religiocentric intent. In that self-serving intent in choosing one God for oneself, one God became one's God, only, in one group being chosen over and above others. The universal spiritual choice inherent in one God for all men, in seeing the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man, became a very different kind of choice, one that I describe as chosinness a sinful choice in seeing one God as one's God in order to exclude, in the name of God, rather than to include...as one God for all mankind is intended to include all kinds of men and women.
The metastasis of chosenness into chosinness explains not only much religious criminality, which I describe as the Theology of Crime, among Christians, Muslims and Jews from the Inquisitions (Protestant and Catholic) to the Islamic Jihad, to the Nazi-like Kachups who settled their godly dispute with Prime Minister Rabin with the godless point of an assassin's gun . . . in catching up to Nazi-like hate in word and deed; but it applies to much secular criminality, as well, in turning good into evil.
Nazi criminality, in particular, as the prototype of ethnic cleansing was based upon a "chosin" distortion of chosenness in criminally choosing themselves as a chosen Master Race. Their secular belief system was based upon a belief of their own in their own transcendence in their adaptation of chosenness into their own chosinness. . .in one group transcendence without the Transcendent. of one God. While there are many examples of what's been commonly referred to as neo-Nazi criminality in skinhead, farrightist Ku Klux Klan, Christian Identity and militia violence, these various manifestations of mindless violence should not be mistaken for the quite mindful criminality of the essential Nazi ideology. Even recent so-called neo-Nazi violence against foreigners, not only in Germany, but in many countries to include the United States, should not be equated with the ideological utilization of chosenness for the purpose of the ideology of chosinness that constitutes the real ideological core of Nazi and Nazi-like criminality.
Obviousiy, some neo-Nazis may indeed be NAZIS, but most of them think they're something that they haven't even thought about. The overwhelming majority of neo-Nazis are quite unreal NAZIS,-ideologically, in most of them not really knowing much about Nazism. . .or much about anything else that's real. . .in thinking that they know something about what they know nothing about.
There are real NAZIS, however, in almost every country, and while they are rarely if ever seen among neo-Nazis the all-seeing eye sees that there are many more of them than others can or would like to see. Unlike the mindless neoNazi, whose mindlessness is seen by all, the real Nazi is of a quite different mind, in minding well how to behave. He knows quite well that whether he' s a well settled banker in Frankfurt, London, Paris or New York or a Settler on the West Bank, his eventual success in undermining his respective governments in Germany, England, France, the United States, or in Israel, will be in minding well how to behave, in knowing quite well that his real criminal cause will fare less than well in being seen among the mindless ne'er do wells of the criminal neo-Nazis.
It's significant to note that while the Hitlerian Nazi criminality regarded anyone who wasn't like them in blood and culture as inferior, it regarded the Jew as the special enemy, the Chosen People who had to be finally destroyed in a Final Solution. Therefore, while it's quite true that the Nazis killed untold millions of people, to include three million non-Jewish Poles along with three million Jewish Poles, it's also quite true that the Jews were special victims in a very special kind of Holocaust.
History is replete with examples of group massacres, to include recent examples in Africa and Bosnia, but the Nazi Holocaust -employed--an--especially powerful -primeval dimension of transcendent evil. . . in choosing the original transcendent power of chosenness for themselves...over others rather than with others. In so choosing chosenness for themselves alone, they choose to use virtue to produce vice...in choosing the good as bad and the bad as good. . .in choosing evil. . .which is literally defined in itself by inverting the spelling of the word live to EVIL.
They choose a transcendent spiritual dimension in and of and for themselves that was other than that of one transcendent God. . . in order to transcend themselves in a secular Godlike Master Race...in choosing transcendence without the Transcendent. . .God. They choose their own group good for themselves in place of any divine universal good in a process that has been theologically defined as Satanic...when man puts himself in God's place in destroying man in a way that mankind had never been destroyed before.
It's right to say Never Again, but it's also easy, too easy, to say it, when that never again is a recurrent Ever Again in recurring ethnic cleansings.
The Hitlerism refrain of "Ein yolk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuehrer" (one people, one realm, one leader) was the ultimate secular version of ethnic cleansing that proceeded from their secular version of chosenness: it was a transcendent secular cleansing wherein the transcendent religious concept of a Chosen People became that of a "Chosin People a People of Sin, " when a new Chosen People, the Master Race, appropriated chosenness to themselves in eliminating Jews, in particular. as "chosin."
I've spent many years observing the Nazi mind, and, always, while it's rarely stated it's always there...chosenness . There' s a special regard for chosenness for one's self in one's group, with a general disregard for others, but with a special disregard for the Jew not for being Semitic, as Arabs are also Semitic, or non-Aryan, or foreign, or cosmopolitan, communist, or capitaling either an internationalist or an Israeli nationalist, or for any other typical stereotype, but above and beyond all else.. .for being atypically CHOSEN.
Any stereotype is any one type that blends two different perspectives into one image, in a stereo process, into something new...one that either changes a substance for the better, as in a better stereo sound, for example, or else it changes it for the worse...as in any group stereotype that distorts or denigrates individual reality.
The stereotypic Pole, for example, is typically regarded by one who thinks he's a member of the Master Race as inferior to a true Aryan; but a Jew is atypically disregarded for representing to others what one wants to present to oneself. . .Chosenness. That concept, that internalization of chosenness for oneself in one's group and the externalization of chosinness for some other self in some other group, is central to all that's wrong. . .not only criminally but spiritually. . .in the ancient and modern history of the group dogmatism of religious and secular chosenness.
I can see in this chosenness chosinness dynamic what can be seen with the insight of the one all-seeing eye of one God for all mankind. That insight is one that sees inside the very special evil dimension of Nazi and Nazi-like criminality. . .in its chosenness/chosinness. . .in not only the nature and extent of their crimes against humanity, but in their special method of application. . .the Holocaust. . .that was like no other criminality.
One can see even further with the allseeing eye in warning all of us to be aware of not only what we see as bad in others but, also, to be wary of what we see as good in ourselves. Even the ultimate good of our freedom, as good as it was originally intended to be, can become metastasized into something else . . just as the good intent of the original virtuous choice of chosenness was metastasized into an evil—choice the sinful choice of chosinness.
While the choice of freedom can be seen as simple enough, its implication is beyond the simple mindedness of the traditional thinking that freedom makes you free. Freedom, whether in America or elsewhere, was born as a result of struggle, in choosing to struggle against absolute power. The repertoire of my freedom is better than your freedom, or that my country is the freest country in the world, as many Americans are fond of saying, is seen by the all-seeing eye as being blind to the real meaning of freedom. . .for freedom is not free to choose to stay the same, in having to continually choose to evolve in its "chosen" freedom or devolve into a "chosin" freedom that sins against itself.
Everyone and anyone can fight for or against freedom, and even those heavy fought for freedom can fight against freedom. . .in fighting against their own and others freedom in what I describe as "The Lutheran Dilemma. " That dilemma is one represented by Martin Luther, and one that applies to everyone, as one who fought for Lutheran freedom in fighting against the Papacy, but, also, as one who fought against his own Lutheran freedom, in fighting for the German landowning establishment against those German peasants who fought to establish more Lutheran-like freedom for themselves.
Freedom, therefore, can never be assumed to be free, in an assumption of freedom that's based more on ass than umption, in the paradox of the Lutheran Dilemma for Lutherans and non-Lutherans alike. . . in taking one's freedom in taking others freedom away.
In seeing ahead into the 21st Century with the far sight as well as the insight of the all-seeing eye, we can see that freedom cannot be divorced from economics. While China assumes that it can trade in freedom for free trade economics, America assumes that its freedom can be as free as its economics in the free trade-in of its freedoms.
If one cannot control one' s own economics, than one cannot see one's freedom, in any way other than in being owned. . .in being bought and sold by others. Further, and this can be seen most of all in America, if one cannot control crime, than one's freedom can only be seen as that of being free to be victimized. . .which is no freedom at all.
The reality of freedom in the changing reality of a one world freedom is that the world's more one, but not more free. . .is more one world economics, everywhere, and less of one's freedom, anywhere. Everyone knows that Communism has failed, but not everyone knows that the failures of capitalism could also fail freedom.
The all-seeing eye can see the effect of one-world processes on the substance of everyone's freedom. . .in one's freedom to be unfree in one freedom. . . one economic freedom for those with capital.
The all-seeing eye can also see that we're leaving our valuable heritage of freedom behind in conformity to any one and all conformity. . .most particularly that of a supposedly correct allAmerican correctness for correcting all Americans...in correcting freedom with correctness .
The Orwellian prospect of thought crimes of a modern Big Brother and postmodern Big Brotherhood correcting our thoughts to the extent of what we love or hate has become a reality in hate crimes. According to our hate-haters, who love to hate in hating every hate except their own, criminal offenders are to be punished not only for bad behavior (which they should be) but for bad thoughts (which they shouldn't be).
These hateful hate laws that legally protect a growing assortment of sensibilities are just one odious example of a foreboding process for freedom . . . one that freely unfrees us in supposedly protecting our freedom by correcting our freedom, by correcting our freedom to think in any way other than in the corrected way of correctness.
The all-seeing eye sees that our freedom is becoming more victimized and the correct rather than the correctness response is to see what to stand against as incorrect, so that our freedom will not be victimized in freely victimizing ourselves. If we do not see how to stand up for our independence, in allowing our freedom to depend on one-world economics or any one correctness . . .be it political, racial, sexual religious or secular. . . our freedom will declare itself to be dependent on something other than the Declaration of Independence.
The all-seeing eye sees all of what allAmerican freedom can be, in continuing to evolve away from any absolute, even absolute freedom, in seeing how one can continue to remain free of any old or new denial of the fact that freedom is never free.
It sees that one's freedom has to be continually chosen by and for everyone or else that choice can disappear in one freedom...wherein everyone is unfree in one freedom to conform to everyone else's freedom.
One can choose, incorrectly, in choosing correctness, in choosing to be free to be unfree in one freedom, in losing one's freedom to be correct or incorrect to the contrary. One can also choose correctly, however, in choosing to see what the one all-seeing eye sees...in seeing the one choice of Never Again choosing the Ever Again of any one chosinness over everyone's chosenness. . .in freedom.
----o----
INVENTORY REDUCTION
Back issues of The Philalethes $3.00 each
(some issues must be photocopies)
Multiple copies of back issues (suppliers selection) $1.00 each
(use for membership promotion)
Seekers of Truth (over 60 year history of the Society) $7.00 each
60 Year index (1928-1988) $20.00 each
(8-1/2" x 11" unbound pages)
Membership brochures free
Order from:
Harold Davidson, FPS - Librarian
1903 - 10th Street W. - Billings, MT 59102 USA
All items postpaid in U.S. Allow 1-3 weeks for delivery.
Now is the ideal time to fill voids in your collection. All issues are available, though the first issues (and some few others) must be photocopies. If Xerox copies are not desired, please do indicate.
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The Eminent Arrival of The Masonic Internet
Rick Kasparek, MPS
"If Hiram Abif had better tools, would it make him less a craftsman?"
In the past few issues of The Philalethes I have read the articles by Brothers Edward Struble, MPS; Edward L. King, MPS; and William H Yarnall, Sr., MPS regarding the "Craft and the Computer" with great interest. They each discuss valid points which should be taken into consideration. However, I hope we don't get so distracted by the discussion that we let opportunity pass us by. The simple fact is that whether you oppose, or favor the use of computers and the Internet by our Fraternity, the dawn of this new technology has long since passed and we are in-fact, behind the curve on applying it to our benefit. Several Grand Lodges, Craft Lodges, Masonic Research Organizations, Masonic Youth Organizations, and Masonry-related commercial organizations and individuals from around the world have already established their sites on the Internet's World Wide Web, to make their messages available to "cyber-surfing" masons or as we call ourselves, " e-Masons."
FACT: There are more than 200 Masonic sites on the web. There are 37 Grand Lodges; 89 Craft Lodges; 8 sites concerned with Masonic Research; more than 15 sites which deal with Prince Hall, specific Rites and Co-masonry; more than 40 Masonic Youth sites; 6 commercial sites and more than 60 sites by individual Masons. A quick search of the Internet reveals that there are more than 8400 files, which mention Freemasonry.
I agree with Brothers Struble and Yarnall that "we must take care with whom we communicate " so that we may keep inviolate those things which were given to us as such, and so that we do not afford ammunition to those who would seek to discredit us or do us harm. However, open discussions regarding the general nature of Freemasonry should be offered and shared between Freemasons, e-Masons and nonmasons throughout the world via this highly accessible medium.
I feel that we should emulate our Masonic forefathers, those pioneering spirits who have preceded us. This is OUR "Brave New World." Although some pioneers have traveled here before us, it is time for Freemasonry to establish a strong foothold in this New World and show our spirit of Truth, Relief and Brotherly Love to those who are already here, as well as those who will follow. We can bring our "Gentle Craft" into the 21st century, and ensure its survival by utilizing new methods and technology, or let its future slip quietly from our grasp and fade into history.
This New World also affords us a wonderful opportunity to communicate with the non-masonic community. Recently, a Masonic WebSite won an award as one of the top 500 sites on the World Wide Web. This site is featured in a printed version of I-Way Magazine (which will soon be on news stands) as well as at the heavily visited I-Way WebSite. Our Fraternity will be represented at one of 500 sites being described to the average computer-literate consumer. I should remind the reader that the demographics of the average Internet user are a VERY close match for some of the qualifications of a Masonic candidate. It is important for us to make our Internet presence one which will appeal to these people.
As others before me have stated, there are indeed issues to be dealt with, the one which is most discussed is how one knows he is really talking to a Mason. There are several methods of "Authenticating" or providing proof of valid Masonic membership. Most of these start with an off-line method of verifying membership and then issuing a user name and password which could be used to enter online "Masons only" WebSite, discussion groups, chat areas, mailing lists or news groups. A central repository could also be created where these users' information could be stored and updated. This could also provide the basis for creating a worldwide Email directory of Freemasons. Possibilities for the future of Masonry are limited only by those first few precious steps we take. I hope that those steps set us on the path of possibilities wherein we can use the available technologies to provide a place for us in the future of mankind.
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The Masonic Leadership Center
George Washington Masonic National Memorial
101 Callahan Drive - Alexandria, VA USA 22301
Presents a
10 part Masonic Leadership Course
on the Internet. - Cost $25.00 US
On registering with the Masonic Leadership Center, you will be given
a password which will allow you entry into Part One of the Leader
ship Course. Each of the 10 sections will contain the following: Text,
Questions on the Text and an optional assignment.
After the 10 part course is completed you will be sent
- Allen E. Roberts' Book "Masonic Lifeline: Leadership"
- A Certificate of Accomplishment suitable for framing.
The course can be found at
http://www.freemasonry.org/mlc
----o----
by Allen E. Roberts, FPS
Concerning Masonic education, Ralph A. Herbold, FPS, records the importance of putting the principles of Freemasonry into practice. He speaks of a Lodge that hadn't Raised a candidate in 12 years, and couldn't have done the work anyway! Now it can. Why? Its leadership found it should put the principles of the Craft to work, get involved in the community and the Lodge, and teach its members constructively. On another front, the Grand Master in Minnesota ordered his Lodges to make quality improvements in their meetings. They were no longer to meet, pay the bills, and close; they must put Masonic education to work. Importantly, the Grand Lodge budgeted enough money for this education. More Lodges are successfully providing lectures on some phase of Freemasonry at every meeting. We must remember dedication is all important, and no one can be dedicated to something they know nothing about!
* * *
Connecticut, and several others Grand Lodges, are placing, or asking their Lodges to donate, Masonic books in public libraries. They are aware that public librarians seldom purchase these books. They want the general populace to learn the truth about Freemasonry. The constructive Masonic leadership realizes that the Craft must become more visible. The fear of secrecy is far too prevalent, and there's really nothing secret about Masonry. Why not take the "mystery" out of what Freemasonry does?
* * *
To build its library, the titles of Masonic books and their price are placed on slips of paper in a box. Members grab a slip and give it, along with the cost, to the Secretary, who then places an order for the books selected. We hear that another Lodge does this, then donates the books to local public and school libraries. An interesting way to advance the cause of Masonic education in the Lodge and to the public.
* * *
Norman G. Lincoln, MPS, informs us that a United States postal stamp was issued for Jimmie Rogers, the "singing brakeman," in 1978. He asks us to promote other Freemasons. Among them Burl Ives, Wallace Beery, and Charles Coburn. Or the great directors who were Freemason-s.: William Wyler and Cecil B. DeMille.
* * *
Kudos to Nelson King, FPS, Editor of The Philalethes. He has been conducting a 10-part Masonic Leadership Course on the internet. It's a project of the Masonic Leadership Center, of which The Philalethes Society is one of the sponsors. Several have now graduated, and praised the course. There are those who have put the leadership concepts advocated to work in the business world. Should we ask Nelson to do the same thing through The Philalethes?
* * *
Roger Van Gordon, MPS, is now the Editor of The Indiana Freemason. Many remember a former Editor of this prestigious periodical, Dwight L. Smith, FPS who did an outstanding job for many years. No less will be expected from Roger. We congratulate him, and his Grand Lodge for an excellent choice.
* * *
In the "Emessay Notes" of The Masonic Service Association, Richard E. Fletcher, FPS, tells us that Robert J. Dole is a member of Russell Lodge No. 177, Kansas, and Jack Kemp is a member of Fraternal Lodge No. 625, Hamburg, New York. In Freemasonry in American History you can read about the good work Dole did for a Lodge in Panama when the Canal Zone was given away.
* * *
"Notes" also commends the founder of the Navy "SeaBees," Lewis B. Combes, a member of Hendrick Hudson Lodge No.. 875, Red Hook, New York. My admiration for the SeaBees is endless. When other military outfits said a "hopeless" job would take months, the SeaBees did it in days and at times, hours!
* * *
Men of goodwill are cooperating at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as they should everywhere, regardless of their profession of faith. The annual Affirmation Sunday celebration of the Royal Arch Masons on Cape Cod was held on October 27,1996, with the full cooperation and blessing of the Parish Priest of St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church. Excellent!
* * *
Two Lodges in Ireland aided Alzheimer victims. Two of them (342 and 728) joined hands to present an evening of music in Dublin. Proceeds from the sale of tickets went to the Alzheimer Society. Earlier, one of them, Rathgar Lodge No. 342 had a "Gourmet Cheese and Wine evening" to aid this society and other charities. Brotherhood in action in the community.
* * *
John W. Boettjer, MPS, Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal, wrote an excellent account about the Burl Ives Monument. He rightly called it "a tribute to a great man and Mason. " Brother Ives entertained all of us with masterful renditions of folk songs, and as a stage, motion picture and television actor. His career began in 1938 until his death in 1995. He was a member of Magnolia-LaCumbre Lodge No. 242 of Santa Barbara, California. A room in the House of the Temple will house a collection of its 33d Illustrious Brother.
Brother Boettjer also expanded greatly on the note we included in the last issue of The Philalethes about the foul work of would-be "Christians" of the Westwood Hills Baptist Church in Virginia. He titled his article "Garden of Evil?" It's well worth reading. You will find many members, most of them not Freemasons, left the church because of the un Christian acts of its "leaders. "