World Conference on Fraternalism, Freemasonry, and History: Research in Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society, Paris, May 29-30, 2015

The Policy Studies Organization is sponsoring the World Conference on Fraternalism, Freemasonry, and History: Research in Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, France, May 29-30, 2015. The conference will be held biennially in Paris, and hopes to open new doors while promoting multilingual and multicultural scholarship in areas such as, the relations between such Masonic-related subjects as the Companionnage, guilds, friendly societies, and Greek fraternities.

Convened by the journal Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society, in cooperation with the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, France, the first World Conference on Fraternalism, Freemasonry, and History: Research in Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society, focuses on the study of ritual, secrecy, and civil society vis-à-vis the dynamics of Masonic scholarship around the world. The conference explores how civil society, secrecy, and ritual have been important elements during different episodes of local and world histories, and indeed still are. The WCFFH 2015 is a part of the Policy Studies Organization's support of research into social capital, civility, and the role of non governmental organizations in democracy.

All papers accepted presented will be published by Westphalia Press in three collections: Vital Masonic Scholarship in the 21st Century, New Research in Secret Societies, and European Scholarship in Secrecy and Ritualism, and will be available in-print and electronically.

In order to make possible the attendance of all interested parties, the sponsors have agreed that there will be no registration fee for the 2015 conference and complimentary coffee and refreshments will be provided for those in attendance. This owes much to the great support of the Bibliothèque Nationale in being such a generous host. One of the world's extraordinary libraries with a remarkable Masonic collection, it is well worth exploring while you are in Paris. And although there is no registration fee, it is imperative that all attendees and participants still register, so that we may facilitate the proper arrangements and accommodations. Early inquiry is appreciated in regards to special requests for hearing enhancement, physically challenged access, child care, or other potential needs of our guests. 

Register Here

Click here for more details of the Conference.

Committee on the Francken Documents: All Day Sessions at the Museum of Freemasonry, rue Cadet

A workshop organized by invitation, to view and analyze developments with the Francken Manuscripts and other eighteenth century original documents, will be held at the Museum of Freemasonry, rue Cadet, directly preceding the conference.The workshop will present and discuss a special exhibit of materials not previously on public display. Click here for more information and to reserve a spot... 

4:00 PM Thursday 4pm- Viewing and reception for the Francken Documents at the Museum of Freemasonry (http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/Francken-Manuscript.html)

*Thursday 8:30 PM The French premiere of "Golem", Théâtre des Abbesses, tickets available here. See the discussion, Grand Lodge of British Columbia and the Yukon athttp://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/pentagram/golem.html

*All Day Attraction, Early arrivals might consider the several hundred antiquarian bookshops and the unusual flea markets with various manuscripts and books. The Seine-side booksellers with their familiar green metal display cases will be open in force.http://goparis.about.com/od/shopping/tp/Best-Bookshops-In-Paris.htm

Day One: Friday- May 29, 2015- Taking Stock

9:00AM Coffee in the Foyer

9:30 - 10:00 AM Welcome- Grand Auditorium 

Guillermo De los Reyes, (Conference Chair), Jean-Loup Graton, (Bibliothèque Nationale), Pierre Mollier, (Editor- Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society)

10:00 - 10:45 AM Keynote Address- Grand Auditorium 

Margaret C. Jacob, Distinguished Professor of History, University California of Los Angeles- Civil Society in an Uncivil Age: An Agenda for Freemasonry, Past and Present

Introduced by: Paul J. Rich, President, Policy Studies Organization

10:45 - 11:30 AM Special Instrumental Presentation- http://mvmm.org

Special session chaired by: Charles Bonaparte

400 Years of Masonic Music- Special Instrumental Presentation

Mozart actually wrote for a unique instrument called the basset horn, absent from recitals of Masonic music for 200 years. Music historian, Gille Thorne, has restored the proper place of the basset and will share his adventures.

11:30-11:45 AM Coffee in the Foyer

11:45AM - 1:00 PM Salon Breakout Sessions

Salon One: Unresolved Historical Inquiries

John Belton and Count Alessandro Cagliostro, Problems in Masonic Bibliography

Samuel Biagetti, Freemasonry - The Missing Link Between Jacobitism and the American Revolution?

Zhenya Gershman, Rembrandt's Secret

Jeffrey Kantor, In the Footsteps of Freemasonry in the Holy Land King Solomon, the First Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and Masonic Sites in the Holy Land

Salon Two: French Resources on Fraternalism

Panel Session

Sylvie Bourel, François Rognon, Francis Delon, Françoise Moreillon, Pierre Mollier- Masonic Archives in France  (presented in French with translation)

Salon Three: Issues of Gender and Universalism

Chair and Commentator: David Merchant

Aimee E. Newell, American Female Makers of Masonic and Fraternal Regalia

Ineke Huysman, L'Ordre de l'Union de la Joye- A Women's Order in the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age

Joachim Berger, 'Universal freemasonry' and Transnational Masonic Movements (c. 1870–1930)

László Vári, The Curious Case of Helene Hadik-Barkóczy with the Freemasons

1:00 - 2:15 PM Break for Lunch 

Screening of the BBC's Inspector Morse, Masonic Mysteries, Season 4, Episode 4 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0611646/)

Moderator: Guillermo Izabal

2:15 - 3:00 PM Plenary Address

John Cooper, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California, Past President of the North American Conference of Grand Masters- Into the Maelstrom: The Issue of Masonic Regularity, Past and Present

Chair: Guillermo De Los Reyes

Commentator: Alain Bauer

3:00 - 3:30 PM TBA

3:30 - 3:45 PM Coffee in the Foyer

3:45- 5:15 PM Salon Breakout Sessions

Salon One: Material Evidence of the Ethereal

Chair and Commentaor: Martin Kanter 

The Masonic Collections of the The Bibliothèque Nationale

François Gruson, The Masonic Temple Between Universal Model and Cultural Tropisms

Dominique Sappia and Herve Hoint-Lecoq, Jewels, Ornaments, Lights and Furnitures, a Historical and Statistical Study Through Time and Countries : Appearance of the Movable and Immovable Jewels (1696-1801)

Hilary Anderson Stelling, Commanding Elegance: The Decoration and Furnishing of Masonic Lodges in New England, 1790-1830

Salon Two: Ancient Ideas in the New World

Chair and Commentator: Terry McCammon

J. Scott Kenney, Contemporary Canadian Freemasonry: Social Dynamics and Possible Futures

Adam Kendall, Pilgrimage and Procession: The 1883 Knights Templar Triennial Conclave and the Dream of the American West

Olga Romero Mestas, Freemasonry, Secret Societies and Civil Society in Cuban Independence

Oscar Alleyne, A Contemporary Look at the Various Forms of Freemasonry among African-Americans in the United States

Salon Three: In Far Places

Emanuela Locci, The Impact of European Freemasonry on Turkish Civil Society

Demetrio Xoccato, A Masonic pretender to the Hungarian throne: François Claude Auguste de Crouy-Chanel

László Vári, Ferenc Pulszky's Masonic Periods

Martin Javor, Orpheus, Mährische Magazin and Prager Gelehrte Nachrichten – Masonry Magazines in Central Europe in the 18th Century

End Day One

*7:30 PM The Magic Flute, performed by the Paris Opera- Tickets with English notes available here 

Day Two: Saturday- May 30, 2015- Setting Agendas

9:00 AM Coffee in Foyer

9:30 - 10:15 AM Salon Breakout Sessions

Salon One: *Special Presentation 9:30- 11:15 AM* - Audutorium

Jean-Michel Mathonière,Savoirs et emblèmes du savoir chez les compagnons tailleurs de pierre à la fin de l'Ancien Régime / Compagnonnage: Knowledge and Symbols of Knowledge Among Stone Cutters at the End of the Ancien Régime

(Presented with English Translation) 

Chair: Margaret Jacobs

Salon Two: Lodge Quatour Coronati- Panel Session

Brent Morris, Gordon Davie, Yasha Beresiner, and John Belton- Masonic Research by Mason and Non-Masons: Can Ever the Twain Meet?

Salon Three: Roots and Branches

Marcus Patka, Austrian Freemasonry and Gunter Kodek

Joi Grieg, The Mystic Tie- Inclusionary and Exclusionary Language Usage in North America

Yasha Beresiner, Medieval Guilds of the City of London and their Later Influence on Freemasonry

Piroska Balogh, The Constitution and Operation of the Draskovics Observance

10:15 - 11: 15 AM Salon Breakout Sessions

Salon One: *Special Presenation 9:30- 11:15 AM* - Auditorium

Jean-Michel Mathonière, Savoirs et emblèmes du savoir chez les compagnons tailleurs de pierre à la fin de l'Ancien Régime / Compagnonnage: Knowledge and Symbols of Knowledge Among Stone Cutters at the End of the Ancien Régime
(Presented with English Translation)

Chair: Margaret Jacobs

Salon Two: Fraternalism Midst Hostility and Challenge

Chair and Commentator: Guillermo Izabal, Royal Arch No. 2

Neil Wynes Morse, Some Masonic Activities in the Australian Military During WWI

David H. Lewis, Freemasonry Under the Nazis

Adam Kendall, Writing History with Lightning: American Nativism, the Ku Klux Klan & the Fraternal Press in the 1920s

Aslak Postad, Anti-masonic trends in Norway 1869 - 2015

Salon Three: Origins of Fraternal Wisdom

Chair and Commentator: Goncalo Amaral

Josef Wäges and Reinhard Markner, The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati

Philip Carter, That Which Was Lost- The Third Pillar

Karen Kidd, Evolution of Co-Masonic Blue Lodge Ritual

David Merchant, A 19th Century Mexican Masonic Novel as a Vehicle of Liberalism

11:15 AM - 1:00 PM Salon Breakout Sessions 

Salon One: TBA

Salon Two: Brothers Abroad

Chair and Commentator: Guillermo De Los Reyes

Naama Klar, Freemasonry and the Roots of Liberal International Trade: The Enlightenment and the Transatlantic Network in the 18th Century

Brian Rountree, Prairie Charity: Masonic Benevolence in late Nineteenth Century Manitoba

Ralf Bernd Herden, The Grand-Duchy of Baden 1780-1820: State, Politics and Masonry

Lori Lee Oates, Edward Bulwer‐Lytton and the Globalization of Fringe Masonic Philosophies in the Nineteenth Century

Salon Three: 

Philip Ice, Wallace Boston, Karan Powell, Daniel Gutierrez-Sandoval, Paul Rich, Margaret Jacob and Count Alessandro Cagliostro- Taking the Conference to the World: Our Work and Teaching, Publishing, and Surviving the Internet Revolution: New Realities for Fraternal Studies

1:00 - 2:30 PM Break for Lunch Screening, the 1943 Nazi anti-Masonic movie, Forces Occultes (Hidden Froces), original uncut version, with English subtitles (http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/fiction/cinema.html)

Moderator: Guillermo Izabal

2:30 - 4:00 PM Salon Breakout Sessions

Salon One: Evolution of the Fraternal Metaphors

Chair and Commentator: Rex Kallembach

John Acaster, The Voyage from Corruption to Harmony: Fresh Insights Into the Inspiration of Noah and 'the primitive' Within Freemasonry

Klaus-Jürgen Grün, Development of Humanitarian Freemasonry since Anderson's Constitutions

Giulia Delogu, Reshaping Virtue: the Case of Eighteenth-Century French and Italian Masonic Poetry

Andreas Önnerfors, Unveiling the Copiale-manuscript: layers of fraternalism, ritual and politics in eighteenth century Germany

Salon Two: The Bordeaux Vintage

Panel Session

Roger Dachez, Louis Trébuchet, Jacques Simon, Pierre Mollier, The French Sources of the"Scottish" Degrees 

Salon Three: Masonic Biography

Chair and Commentator: Luis-Jose Meja

Simon Mayers, Dudley Wright: His Early 'Truth-Seeking' Years (1906-1916)

Casey D. Stanislaw, Santa Anna, the Mason

Maria Danova, The Master's Mask: Richard Wagner & Freemasonry

4:00 PM Closing Plenary Session

Brent Morris, Emperors, Princes, and the Francken Mysteries: What Paris Has Revealed- Report on the Conference Special Committee on the Francken Documents

End Day Two

6:00 PM Farewell Reception at the Museum of Freemasonry

7:30 PM Les Enfants du Paradis (Ballet l'Opera de national de Paris) exploring illusion and reality in the provocative production by Jose Martinez https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/saison-2014-2015/ballet/les-enfants-du-paradis-jose-martinez?genre=2

8:30 PM Music Festival, the famous music festival in the quarter Saint Germain will be at its height on Saturday evening: http://festivaljazzsaintgermainparis.com/the-festival/

Sunday- May 31, 2015

~~Informal walking tour of local Masonic sites and architecture led by François Gruson (details forthcoming)~~

A Sunday brunch will be hosted by Professors Guillermo de los Reyes and Paul Rich, for discussion and suggestions about the May 2017 World Conference on Fraternalism, Freemasonry, and History.  Contact Whitney Shepard if interested.

A self-guided tour of locations and curiosities from Dan Bown's novel, The Da Vinci Code is easily put together using the site http://www.da-vinci-code-paris.com

The Catacombs extend for more than 150 miles under Paris with much of fraternal and ritualistic interest. For the museum and tours see: http://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/homepage-catacombs-official-website

Fortuitously, an antiquarian book and manuscript flea market, Le Marche du Livre Ancien, convenes Sundays at the Parc Georges Brassens, rue Brancion, 15th arr, Porte de Vanves metro, 9-6 pm. The adjacent park include interesting sculpture, a marionette theatre and a beekeeping school.