2011 Masonic Society Semi-Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City 7/16

Plans for The Masonic Society Semi-Annual meeting are being finalized now. TMS will be complementing the already outstanding program put together by the Rocky Mountain Masonic Conference. Our events will take place Saturday afternoon, July 16 after the conferral of the Mark Master Degree in the Salt Lake Masonic Temple.

All Master Masons are welcome. Membership in TMS is not required.

Here is the schedule:

1:00 P.M. to 1:30 P.M. Registration

1:30 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. Presentations

Presenters:

• Pete Normand, FMS, former editor of American Masonic Review, and of The Plumbline, the newsletter of the Scottish Rite Research Society and noted Masonic writer and speaker. (Topic to be announced)
• Glen Cook, FMS, Past Grand Master, Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Utah (Topic to be announced)
• Dr. Jay Williams, TMS Member, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Williams has a Ph.D. in linguistics, and speaks the Navajo Indian language fluently. His presentation will be: Át’é jiní ‘It Was Said': The Transmission of Architectural Esoteric Knowledge in Navajo and Freemasonry

Symbols, along with the allegories in which they are embedded, provide means of reproducing sacred architecture with a high degree of accuracy without the aid of written forms, in that, such symbols are mnemonic aids or vehicles in the transmission of esoteric knowledge. Symbols within ceremonial Navajo (Diné) sandpaintings form a sacred allegorical template or iikááh which are required in building the hooghan or traditional Navajo home. Such means in reproducing sacred architecture parallels the universal construction of the Masonic Lodge. Such parallelism between Navajo and Masonic transmission of knowledge may be founding characteristics of traditionally oral-based societies.

• Dr. Kenneth Davis, author, Past Master of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 in Indianapolis, and member of TMS board of directors, Rio Rancho, New Mexico will speak on "Freemasonry and The Tarot"

Banquet

6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Cocktail Hour (Cash Bar, No Credit Cards Accepted)

7:00 P.M. Dinner

• After dinner remarks will be made by Most Worshipful Brother John C. Liley, Jr., Grand Master of Masons, Grand Lodge of Utah

The banquet will be held at the Alta Club located approximately midway between the Embassy Suites Hotel and the Salt Lake Masonic Temple. We are working on finalizing the menu and that information will be provided as soon as it becomes available. Please note the dress code on the website and come dressed in a jacket and tie.

Registration Fee (including banquet) $75.00 per person.

To obtain the discounted room rate of $109 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Salt Lake City, be sure to mention the RMMC. This applies even if you are only attending the TMS portion of the weekend. There will be no room discount available under the name of The Masonic Society. The number for the Embassy Suites is 801-359-7800.

Reservation information should be posted on the TMS website within days and will also appear in the Spring Issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society which will arrive in April.

Please be aware that while we are partnering with the RMMC to make the semi-annual meeting a broader experience for TMS members, these are two separate events and reservations must be made separately with the respective organizations. The RMMC will not accept reservations for the TMS portion of the weekend. The TMS event is not included in the $170 RMMC registration fee. TMS cannot accept reservations for the RMMC portion of the weekend.