Freemasons For Dummies: Piers A. Vaughan Announced As 2019 Blue Friar

Sunday, February 03, 2019

Piers A. Vaughan Announced As 2019 Blue Friar

The Society of Blue Friars was founded in 1932 for the express purpose of recognizing outstanding Masonic authors. Authors like Arthur E. Waite, Harold V.B. Voorhis, Arturo de Hoyos, Thomas Jackson, Mark Tabbert, Robert G. Davis, Alton Roundtree, Michael R. Poll and Josef Wäges are just a few prior Blue Friar honorees. They even inducted this Dummy as Friar No. 101 back in 2012. Since 2004, the Grand Abbot of the Society has been Dr. S.Brent Morris, Masonic author, and editor of the Scottish Rite Journal and the Scottish Rite Research Society's annual Heredom collection.

Breaking with prior, longstanding tradition of announcing the Blue Friar at their annual meeting during Masonic Week, the Grand Abbott has announced the 2019 Blue Friar ahead of time as Piers A. Vaughan.

Worshipful Brother Piers Vaughan has one of the most diverse and fascinating backgrounds for the study and understanding (and explanation) of Masonic, appendant, and other esoteric orders you will ever encounter. Originally, he is from England, and he belongs to lodges in England, Canada, and the U.S. Throughout his life he has lived in several European countries, Canada, and now resides in New York. He has a Master's degree in Divinity and another in Experimental Psychology; experience in both the Anglican and Catholic denominations and traditions; an MBA in Business Studies; a teaching diploma in Music; and much, much more.

Piers has made extensive studies in history, alchemy, language (he has translated many texts from French to English), symbolism, cultures—truly what anyone would acknowledge to be a "Renaissance Man." Appropriately, one of his most recent books is 2017's outstanding Renaissance Man & Mason.

He is also is the proprietor of Rose Circle Publications that is a source of other fascinating books along similar explorations of esoteric thought that mirror his eclectic mind and interests.

Upon being named a new Friar, each inductee is expected to present a short paper at the Masonic Week gathering. Piers' topic will be "Did St. Martin Influence the RER Rituals?"

If you are at Masonic Week on Friday February 22, 2019 be sure to stop in for 10:30 AM-11:45 AM - All are welcome to attend.

For info on Masonic Week go to: Masonic Week 2019

2 comments:

UnknownSun Feb 03, 11:53:00 AM 2019
Thanks for the shout-out, Chris! I look forward to seeing all of you at Masonic Week in a few days' time.
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Thomas JohnsonSun Feb 03, 07:01:00 PM 2019
Great choice! Congratulations to WBro. Vaughan. Piers is a thoughtful, engaging author and speaker who treats his subject matter with the utmost respect. I know his presentation will be fascinating and not to be missed.

Tom-proud former Traditional Martinist Order member (AMORC).
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Legendary brotherhood
With a mythic past
And a visionary future.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those Biblical stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men, using Solomon as our ideal example of wisdom, justice and faith.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

It's not for everybody. It never has been, and was never meant to be. That's the point.

Maybe it's for you.

Christopher L. Hodapp is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the international, best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity; and Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C..

Prior to joining the Masons and becoming an author, Chris spent 23 years as a commercial filmmaker with Dean Crow Productions in Indianapolis.

Since 2009 he has been on the Board of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, and serves as its Associate Director and Treasurer. In 2021, Chris was named as Public Relations and Marketing Director for the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana.

As a Freemason, Chris is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge No. 643 and of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 under the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana; he is a member of Indiana's Schofield Lodge 1818 U.D.; and of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. Most recently, he served as the Worshipful Master of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. in Indiana for 2019-21.

In 2018 he was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris is a 33° Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a Past Sovereign Master of Imhotep Council No. 434 of the Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and he is an officer of the Indiana College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis. He belongs to numerous other Masonic appendant organizations.

As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris was a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society, and was the founding Editor in Chief of The Journal of The Masonic Society. He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith" by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focusing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Heredom, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

His most recent Masonic book, Heritage Endures, was published in January 2018 as part of the 200th anniversary of Indiana's Grand Lodge.

Chris is also the co-author with his wife Alice VonKannon of The Templar Code For Dummies and Conspiracy Theories And Secret Societies For Dummies. Together they developed scripts for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in the 2024 episode of America's Book of Secrets - The Freemason Factor for History and Prometheus Productions.

Chris and Alice reside in Indianapolis with their canine companions , Sophie the Flying Poodle and Maxwell, the Idiot Circus Doodle, who have them both answering to basic commands. They can frequently be found alarming the wildlife and dazzling the rustiks in their Airstream trailer as they crisscross the country. Appropriately, their newest books together are RVs and Campers For Dummies, released in June 2021; and RV Vacations For Dummies - 7th Edition, released in June 2023.

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Contact Chris directly to enquire about speaking at your event.

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