"To preserve the reputation of the Fraternity unsullied must be your constant care."
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Showing posts with label Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journal. Show all posts

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Traveling Without Moving: Masonic Improvement During the COVID Panic

by Christopher Hodapp



The almost overnight shuttering of nearly all Masonic activity across the U.S. and around the world in response to the COVID 19 virus panic will immediately turn a vast number of Masons into Third-Stage Guild Navigators now. We're now stuck with cruising the Internet or something else for at least the next six weeks as this plays out, because we sure as hell aren't going to clean out the garage in March. 

 In the science fiction universe created by Frank Herbert for his Dune Trilogy, the Third-Stage Guild Navigators of the Spice Guild have mutated and mastered the technique of folding space in order to move instantly from one end of the galaxy to the other, permitting "traveling without moving." In various sections of the novels, they are described as "fat" and like a "fish in a strange sea." 

 Masons already were kind of like fish in a strange sea before this started. If we remain sedentary long enough, we'll soon fatten up like beached belugas on a hot day from being able to find nothing left at the grocery besides Cheetos, Miracle Whip and and pickles. Frank Herbert described the Guild Navigators as having tiny arms (Masons have deep pockets and short arms), and massive web-like hands (the better to practice our dodgy handshakes with). And since we're Traveling Men by the tenets of our profession, the Internet Mason has little choice left but to "travel without moving." 

 So for all of you who obsess over the line "the internal and not the external qualifications of a man are what Masonry regards," now's the perfect time to start polishing that interior surface of our ashlars.

 Think of it as having six weeks off. It's kind of like being suspended by an angry grand master until you both calm down, but without the mark of Cain besmirching your Masonic record for the rest of your life. While you wait to get reinstated, try reading, writing, or catch up on your listening and viewing.

 That's what I did...

If the motto of Masons of old was Audi, Vide, Tace (Hear, See, Be Silent), perhaps our updated one during this isolated period should be Legere, Scribere, Audi, Vigilate (Read, Write, Listen, Watch). 

Sit back, pour yourself another Quarantini, check the latest black market commodity prices on toilet paper, and consider the following suggestions. 

READ

You might start first by pushing away from the screen and actually reading a Masonic book or three. I realize that average Masons would rather gnaw off their foot than crack open a book. Albert Mackey opined in 1875 that, "The ultimate success of Masonry depends on the intelligence of her disciples." Sadly, he lamented:
"[N]othing is more common than to encounter Freemasons who are in utter darkness as to every thing that relates to Freemasonry. They are ignorant of its history - they know not whether it is a mushroom production of today, or whether it goes back to remote ages for its origin. They have no comprehension of the esoteric meaning of its symbols or its ceremonies, and are hardly at home in its modes of recognition. And yet nothing is more common than to find such socialists in the possession of high degrees and sometimes honored with elevated affairs in the Order, present at the meetings of lodges and chapters, intermeddling with the proceedings, taking an active part in all discussions and pertinaciously maintaining heterodox opinions in opposition to the judgment of brethren of far greater knowledge... [T]here are some Masons who think that the mere act of initiation is at once followed by an influx of all Masonic knowledge. They need no further study or research. All that they require to know has already been received by a sort of intuitive process."
I'm asked a LOT by Masons what my "favorite" Masonic books are, or to give them a suggested reading list. I hesitate to do that because my answer always has to be, "That depends." Freemasonry has existed as a social, cultural , philosophical, and practical movement for more than three hundred years, and its historical origins are at least twice as old – arguably older. Its literary origins from which our founders and ritualists shamelessly purloined countless phrases and ideas alone could fill a room with books (Art DeHoyos reigns over a whole Temple full of them). Its mythical and legendary origins reach to the pre-Christian era and Hebrew Biblical sources.

 Yet, if I tell a Mason seriously wanting to explore any of this at minimum to start with Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, the Bible (at least 1st Kings, Chronicles, Ecclesiastes, and Psalms), Isaac Newton's Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms and his other works about Solomon and his Temple, and Thomas More's Utopia, he'd run screaming from the room. And has. Tell a modern Mason to actually read any part of the King James Version of the Bible from which our ritual is largely derived, and he's just as likely to yawp something about it being un-Masonic.

 So my practical reading list for any Mason today, regardless of their avenue of interest, always starts with Albert Pike's Esoterika. Whether you are a new Mason or an old one, this brilliant book about the three Craft lodge degrees will make you actually think hard about the rituals we all know, the words we all say, and why we do and say it. Pike doesn't tell you what to think, he asks you to think differently.

 From there, I don't have a single, all-purpose favorite list. I have about ten, because "that depends."

 So have a look at what a few others have recommended. Your own grand lodge might have a recommended list, too.

And if you prefer to listen to audio books, there are countless Masonic titles, new and old, now available as audio books. Amazon is probably the best place to hunt audible Masonic titles. In case you are wondering, three audio versions of my own books are:

WRITE

If you ever had that idea, notion, field of study, object of obsession, or spark of great inspiration whack you in the head, now you've got time to actually get it down on paper or converted into onscreen pixels. Write a presentation for your lodge on any Masonic-related topic you have in mind. Or expand it, make it a little less conversational, lob in a footnoted reference or two, and submit it as an article to the literally scores of Masonic publications out there. I can tell you as a former editor, magazines and journals can only print what gets submitted to them. That means you need to start typing.

Your grand lodge probably has a monthly or quarterly magazine that is starving for articles beyond just "Muckenfuss Lodge Pins Medal On Aged Past Master" and photos of ten guys from across the room that look like badly dressed, out of focus thumbs in aprons. Now's your chance to submit something.

Your grand lodge might have its own lodge of research. Trust me, they are desperate for new articles, papers or live presentations from not just the same old faces. 

In case you aren't familiar with them, there are scores of national and international Masonic magazines and journals to which you can contribute:
If you think you have a book lurking on you that is Masonic related, bear in mind that Freemasonry is as but a sparrow-fart niche of a niche topic to the dwindling list of major book publishers left in the world. Please see Doug Preston's presentation, Why Is It So Goddamned Hard to Make a Living as a Writer Today? on the Author's Guild website, but only if you want your dreams to be the next James Michener or Albert Pike fully crushed. Hint: don't give up your Uber gig. Google and Amazon have teamed up with the "information must be free!" hacker mentality to all but destroy the publishing business, and the courts have let them. Put it another way - you should never buy another ebook again, Kindles included. 

Nevertheless, print-on-demand technology has been a great boon to the Masonic book publishers and to independent Masonic authors who want to go it alone. While you will find one-off "publishers" who are usually just a single author using a business entity for their books, the actual major Masonic publishers still interested in new works (in English) include:

LISTEN

Masonic podcasts have come and gone over the years, but there are some that have been around long enough to be established perennials. And while several excellent ones have faded away, new ones have stepped in to continue the conversations. Like blogs, podcasts often are creatures of the moment, discussing current events and timely topics, or interviewing Masonic authors, speakers, and our own brand of celebrities. But others look back at historical topics or enduring ones like symbolism, ritual or traditions. The best thing about them is you can while away a long commute or otherwise multitask and still get a healthy dose of Masonic education and conversation.

 Here are a few of the top ones (and forgive me if I've left off your favorite):

WATCH

In case you want visuals to go with your Masonic education. 

M.A.T.S.O.L. (Masonry At The Speed Of Light) hosts more than sixty different video lectures.  Masonic authors and researchers from all over the world back in 2011-12 recorded their talks on a huge range of topics, and you're bound to find at least several to interest you. What makes these very different is that the presenters are not just the same dozen or so Masonic "celebrities" you've seen or heard before, and there are some serious gems to be found here.

As for other videos that are not just talking heads and Power Point slides, here is a handful of programs available on DVD you might screen and then play at lodge when everything gets back to normal.
And if you just want to kick back and enjoy yourself with a movie, here's some topwater bait.





And finally, just as a closing thought, there's no reason to remain in total isolation. I actually have a friend who once said, "I hate waiting for my phone to finally stop ringing when somebody calls so I can send them a text and ask what the hell they wanted." 

We've all got phones in our pockets these days, so pick it up and actually telephone the members of your Lodge - whether you've ever spoken to them before or not. You've got plenty of time now, and your Secretary can probably email a list of their phone numbers. Connect or reconnect with your Brethren, with your own voice, not an email or text message for a change. Even if we can't meet face to face, maybe we can finally get back to what this fraternity was always supposed to be about - caring for and about each other, Brother to Brother. 

After a few days of isolation, a friendly voice on the other end of the line is a good way to start.

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Sunday, November 24, 2019

Universal League of Freemasons: How Masons and Esperanto Were Going to Save the World


The journal Ritual, Secrecy and Civil Society Volume 6/Spring 2019 included a fascinating paper by Denis LeFabvre about a group of starry-eyed Masons who created the 'Universal League of Freemasons' - a global association of lodges that began in 1905 to help affect the spread of Esperanto,  a newly-created, neutral and purportedly "universal" language. But their ultimate dreams were much greater than that. They hoped that a universal language combined with a universal fraternity would ultimately save the world.

Esperanto is mostly a strange curiosity these days (pre-Star Trek William Shatner starred in the first notable movie ever made in the language, Incubus in 1966, proving he could overact and chew scenery in any language), but it had its enthusiastic supporters in an earlier age. 

L.L. Zamenhoff
Esperanto was created in the 1870s and 80s by a linguist and Polish Jew named L.L. Zamenhoff using elements of Russian, German, English, French, Polish, Hebrew, plus Greek and Latin. His goal was to create an easy to learn and adopt second language that would transcend all national borders, tribal and cultural divisions. His ultimate hope was that Esperanto would be adopted as the new lingua franca for diplomacy, science, commerce and international understanding, and ultimately end, or at least defuse, the dangers of fervent nationalism that had so torn Europe apart for so long. His dream was born in reality, because those very divisions would plague Europe and kill millions for another 70 years. He himself had been raised in the Jewish ghetto and was surrounded on all sides by people who spoke numerous different languages and were in constant conflict. He saw the two issues linked together - that misunderstanding your neighbors' words often led to violent misunderstandings on a much larger scale. Rinse and repeat.


 Zamenhof initially called his language Lingvo internacia ('international language') and attempted to publish a book in Russia to introduce it to the public in the mid-1880s. When the Russian government prevented its initial publication, author Leo Tolstoy became a public supporter and the authorities at last relented. 

The book was published under the pseudonym of 'Doktoro Esperanto' ('Doctor Hopeful'), and the growing fan base for the language soon began to call it Esperanto instead. It had a slow but steady increase in popularity over the next three decades, and Zamenhof was even nominated for the Nobel Peace prize in 1910.

7th International Esperanto Congress in Antwerp, Belgium - 1907
Zamenhoff wasn't a lone dreamer, and the horrors of World War I between 1914-18 ushered in a new sense of commitment to find drastic ways to prevent such future devastations from ever happening again. 

Zamenhoff died while the war still raged, but after hostilities ended in 1918, an awful lot of people came to agree with his point of view – that if only stubborn nationalism and artificial divisions could be licked, countries would stop shooting at each other. Esperanto became a sensation. In fact, the newly established League of Nations came within one vote of adopting Esperanto as their official diplomatic language. 

At the same time, some Esperanto utopianists and other advocates sought ways to incorporate Freemasonry and its philosophy of universal brotherhood as one of several ways to unite the people of Europe and the world to prevent future wars. Originally formed in 1905 as 'Esperanto Masona,' ('Hopeful Masonry') the creators of the UFL - Universala Framasona Ligo (Universal League of Freemasons) believed Esperanto, combined with the universal brotherhood of Freemasonry, could ultimately unite the entire world in brotherhood and finally bring global peace. 

The first practical mission of the UFL was to break through Freemasonry's own artificially erected barriers of recognition and regularity and accusations of clandestinism so that Masons could enjoy fellowship with each another in a non­-tyled Masonic environment, all without breaking their respective obligations. The notion was that Freemasons could meet informally from all different jurisdictions and obediences and find that they shared much more in common with one another than what divided them. 


But the harsh realities of the 1930s and the rapid rise of fascism in Germany, Spain and Italy, the atrocities and deprivations of Communism in Soviet Russia, along with the brutal spread of the Japanese Empire in the East, briefly brought the UFL's lofty dreams to a halt. In Mein Kampf, Hitler had declared that 'Esperatism' was a tool of the dreaded world-wide 'Jewish-Masonic Conspiracy.' During the WWII, only the Swiss group of the UFL remained active and their headquarters remained in Geneva.

Bust of Zamenhoff in Budapest
Both the Nazis and Josef Stalin's Russia persecuted and killed advocates for Esperanto. Zamenhof himself died of a heart attack in 1917, but he and his wife Klara Silbernik raised three children, a son, Adam, and two daughters, Sofia and Lidia. All three children were murdered in the Holocaust.

Nevertheless, there are still some 2 million people around the world today who speak or read Esperanto, and it's commonly known enough in pop culture that it even appeared in a Simpsons episode. The Internet has breathed new life into the spread of the language, and some foreign language programs teach Esperanto first as a stepping stone for then teaching more difficult languages. It's a simple one to master with few basic grammar rules that have no irregular exceptions, and advocates say teaching it to toddlers makes mastering many other languages later in life much faster. They regard Esperanto almost as the next step after learning the basic alphabet.

The Universal League of Freemasons didn't die after WWII, but very few Masons know about it these days. While you may never have heard of it, this was not some insignificant little discussion club — at their peak, the Universal League of Freemasons was spread into 72 countries with upwards of 12,000 members worldwide. 

Back in the 1960’s and 70’s the UFL generated an uproar in mainstream U.S. grand lodges who condemned the organization as clandestine because its members associated with irregular and unrecognized, clandestine Masons. There was an American group of the UFL founded by Harvey Newton Brown, who was also a major force behind bringing awareness to mainstream Masons about Prince Hall Freemasonry. Harvey Brown was a powerful advocate for broaching the artificial divisions of regularity and recognition among the world's Freemasons, so naturally he was treated by many American Masons like he had horns and a forked tail sprouting from his body. 

Interestingly, California's own Past Grand Secretary and 2014 PGM, John L. Cooper III (photo) was the last official Secretary for the American wing of the UFL in the 1980s when he was forced by the GL of California to drop out of it. 

The U.S group died soon afterwards, but John wrote his own paper about them. 

See 'The Universal .League of Freemasons: A Twentieth Century Experiment in Masonic Dialogue.'

Although they were pretty free-wheeling in their makeup, the UFL nevertheless restricted their membership to male Masons for a variety of practical reasons — not the least of which being that they knew accepting female Masons into the group would kill it in the cradle among even the most progressive-minded jurisdictions throughout the 20th century. At their World Congress in Berlin in 1992, the UFL voted to also include female and co-Masons for the first time. But they were already diminishing in popularity.

After the UFL faded, the international research group The Philalethes Society took on this same sort of role in the 1980s and 90s after the UFL disappeared, and they frequently invited "irregular and unrecognized" Masons to participate in their conferences and contribute to its magazine. PSOC presidents and editors Allen E. Roberts and later, Nelson King were both strong advocates of encouraging these types of cooperation, participation, education and understanding. It was this sort of informal Masonic interaction that both promoted Prince Hall recognition and stirred up a major brouhaha in the early 2000s in Minnesota over recognizing multiple French grand lodges.

In truth, the Internet did what the UFL couldn't do by the end of the 20th century. Masons from every jurisdiction — regular, recognized or not — began to communicate through online BBS systems, instant messages, chat rooms and forums, much to the chagrin and frustration of grand masters everywhere. 

 Those freewheeling years of the CompuServe Masonry Forum and the later PSOC (Philalethes Society) Mailing List did more to advance international communication, understanding and scholarship between mutually unrecognized Masons all over the world than anything in the previous 275 years. Issues like Prince Hall recognition, almost the entire basis for so-called 'traditional observance' and 'European concept' lodges and practices, 'Chambers of Reflection,' and much more that are commonplace topics today would not exist had it not been for those early resources.



If you believe Internet websites, the Universal League of Freemasons still hangs on today. Last updated in 2011, there appear to be groups in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Canada.

Meanwhile, Denis LeFabvre's paper in Ritual, Secrecy and Civil Society is a fascinating snapshot of these early UFL Masons who gallantly – albeit naively – attempted to use their fraternalism to achieve what politics, religion and traditional avenues of diplomacy could not. And it helps to explain some of the differing attitudes about Freemasonry's role in society between what we in the U.S. and the wider "regular, recognized" Masonic world practice, versus the very politically- and policy-minded attitudes in unrecognized obediences like the Grand Orient de France that developed in Europe. Those differences in philosophies about Freemasonry's proper role in the world and society didn't grow out of a vacuum, and this paper goes a long way in putting that into its proper perspective.
It's just one of the many fascinating papers you will find in the journals of  Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society

As I said, John Cooper's paper on the ULF is also well worth reading. He poignantly ended it with a quotation from Socrates to Meno in about 400 B.C., that appeared in the December, 1972, issue of the U.S. Group of the ULF's Newsletter, La Heroldo:
“That we shall be better and braver and less helpless if we think that we ought to enquire, than we should have been if we indulged in the idle fancy that there was no knowing and no use in seeking to know what we do not know; ­­ that is a theme upon which I am ready to fight, in word and deed, to the utmost of my power.”



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Saturday, November 23, 2019

Fall 2019 Issue of 'Ritual, Secrecy and Civil Society'



The Fall 2019 journal Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society has just been released. It is published by the Policy Studies Organization (PSO), which supports research into associations, civility, and the role of non-governmental organizations within democracy.

I've been meaning to spotlight these fascinating collections of new Masonic education and scholarship for quite some time because few Masons seem to be aware of them as a resource. These journals deserve a much wider audience than they are getting.


The PSO is the longstanding brainchild of Brother Paul Rich, and that organization has a very broad range of topics in which it fosters research and discussion. Of greatest interest to Masons, the PSO sponsors an international academic conference about Freemasonry and fraternalism every year, alternating between the U.S. and France. 

Paul is also the proprietor of Westphalia Press, which offers a large selection of unique Masonic books you won't encounter anywhere else. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, Paul is quite probably one of the most dedicated supporters and active participants in all types of fraternalism all over the world you will ever encounter – on top of his other amazing achievements over the years.

The most recent journal Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society Vol. 7/Fall 2019 is unusual this time because it features just two papers. The first, The Role of Freemasonry in Early Washington by Paul Rich, is an examination of the authentic part that Freemasonry played in the the formation of Washington, D.C., as opposed to the hoary claims of the fabulists who see 'Masonic' zodiacs and spookiness in every surveyor's mark and cornice. It was a subject I examined in my own book, Solomon's Builders back in 2006, and Paul brings fresh insights into the honest Masonic history within the District.

The second paper is a massive new work by 2018's Blue Friar, Josef Wäges: De Grasse Tilly and the Early Supreme Council: 1786-1802. Brother Wäges has spent several years translating and examining foreign language Masonic texts. This latest paper delves into the records of the French-speaking Lodge de Candeur in Charleston, South Carolina in the late 1700s, and the development of what became the Order of the Royal Secret and ultimately, the Scottish Rite. If you ever wondered how this very different branch of Freemasonry—named after Scotland, percolated in France, carried across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and finally established in South Carolina of all places – this paper fills in a very large piece of the puzzle.


The journal of Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society is offered free online HERE, and back issues are also available. It is usually published twice a year, and a printed version and Kindle are also available through Amazon. The papers generally come from the PSO's conferences in the U.S. or France, and there's usually a wide variety of topics you've likely never encountered before. They are well worth exploring.


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Friday, July 24, 2009

'The Journal of the Masonic Society' Issue #5 On Its Way



Issue No. 5, Summer 2009, of The Journal of the Masonic Society will arrive in our members' mailboxes in the next two weeks.

The Journal is a quarterly magazine containing Masonic information written by authors from all over the world. Speculative papers, news stories, fiction, poetry, great photography, insightful opinion and other editorial elements reviving the golden age of Masonic publishing.


Features in the new issue include:

• 'The Two Confessions of John Whitney: an examination of the conflicting theories as to the fate of William Morgan' by Stephen Dafoe.

• 'Brother Bloom, The Most Influential Mason Who Never Lived' by Kenneth W. Davis.

• 'Debunking Reality: Solomon's Temple and the Power of Allegory' by Randy Williams.

• 'Multiple Dimensions of Silence in Freemasonry' by Shawn Eyer.

• 'The Orders of the Secret Monitor and the Scarlet Cord' By Richard L. Gan.

• 'International Conference on the History of Freemasonry 2009' by Christopher Hodapp.

• 'Masonic Treasures: The Washingtons of Donald De Lue' by Marc Conrad.

• 'The Dan Brown Effect' by Christopher Hodapp.


Plus news of current events, info on upcoming Masonic events, and other news from around the Masonic world. And the Journal accepts advertising from businesses of interest to Masons. It is a high quality, full color publication that is unlike any other magazine in the marketplace for Freemasons.

Since beginning in May 2008, membership in the Masonic Society has grown to nearly 850 members. A subscription to the Journal is only one of the benefits of membership. Our members-only on-line discussion forum has 541 members discussing 2,496 topics. And we're getting ready for our "First Circle Semi-Annual Gathering and Banquet," in Indianapolis on October 24th. The Masonic Society also provides special members-only offers discounts and premiums on books, and even gentlemen's clothing: we have just added a discount card for members at Brooks Brothers.

In addition to a lapel pin and membership card, each member receives an 11x14 patent, on parchment, with a hand-stamped wax seal. It is easily one of the most impressive membership documents in Masonry.

Membership in the Society is just $39, and is open to regular Master Masons in good standing of regular, recognized grand lodges in good standing with the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America (CGMMNA), or a grand lodge in amity with a member grand lodge of CGMMNA.

Non-Masons, libraries, lodges, and members of other obediences may also subscribe to the Journal at the $39 annual rate.
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