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THE EDITOR, FREEMASONRY TODAY, FREEMASONS’ HALL, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON WC2B 5AZ

FREEMASONRY IN CUBA

Sir,
     I have just read the article in the spring Freemasonry Today magazine regarding the Masonic conference in Cuba. In this article the author poses the question as to why Masonry is tolerated in Cuba.
     The answer stems from prerevolution time, when Fidel Castro was imprisoned by the Batista regime. In the next cell was a prominent local Freemason, who over the period of mutual incarceration explained to Castro all about the masonic ethos, brotherly love, relief and truth etc, along with the charitable tendencies and works of its members.
     Castro eventually came to the conclusion that freemasons had only good in their hearts and represented no threat to his communist beliefs whatsoever, therefore upon the success of the revolution he avowed to allow Freemasonry to continue unmolested by his regime.
     It is also true that Jose Marti, author of the revolution, a prominent lawyer and hero of the cause was a mason, and his tomb in the cemetery in Santiago, the old capital of Cuba is in a masonic part of the cemetery, surrounded by other prominent local Freemasons. Trusting this to be of some interest,
     S.E. Mitchell
     Sussex Services Lodge No 5906
     Province of Sussex.

WHY THREE GATES?

Sir,
     Please accept my sincere thanks for continuing with this thoroughly enjoyable magazine from which I derive much knowledge and pleasure.
     In order to extend my knowledge further, I wonder if you could please help me. Having been in masonry some 25 yrs now a question was asked of me the other day for which I had no firm answer other than a guess. Yet it was a simple question! The question; ‘Why were there what appears only three gateways or entrances at the temple and the building site or quarry?’ i.e. East North and South. It does at first appear strange for a building site of such size to have but three entrances. Yet the Senior Warden is placed in the West. However we are informed in the ceremony of ‘three of a determined and atrocious character...’ So could it be that the three could only cover three entrances? Also in the Mark degree we are informed about the east gate being shut... which for all intent and purposes leaves but two entrances for general use. I would appreciate opinions regarding this matter so that I may return to the enquirer with a correct answer rather than a guess!
     N.P.Davies
     St David's & Glyn Ebbw Lodges
     Province of Monmouthshire

THE UNLAWFUL SOCIETIES ACT

Sir,
     David Harrison’s article concerning the Unlawful Societies Act mentioning the requirement to file particulars of lodge members with the local Magistrate. A Secretary of my Lodge in the mid-60’s I used to file this form at Bow Street Magistrate’s Court London which, being close to Freemasons’ Hall naturally dealt with a large number of Lodges.
     I remember on one occasion I took the form rather than posting it. I asked the Clerk what they did with the forms.
     He replied ‘Nothing’. ‘No one has even told us what to do and no one looks at them. We put them in a filing drawer and when it gets full, we throw them away’.
     The Act was, I am glad to say, repealed soon after I took office.
     Henry Miller
     Peace and Friendship Lodge No 7414
     London

WHAT IS THE CENTRAL PURPOSE

Sir,
     May I congratulate Bro. Derek Bain upon his excellent article ‘What is the central purpose’ in the Spring issue. This deserves careful study by the rulers of the Craft. To take an analogy, the sole purpose of a cricket club is cricket. People join and remain as members to play cricket. Of course, now and then, clubs have purely social and charitable events; but they are very clearly incidental and no one pretends that they somehow justify the playing of the game. Cricket flourishes.
     So should it be for Lodges. Too often we hear Freemasons and even Rulers in the Craft placing greater emphasis on corporate charity, than upon the Craft’s central purpose so well described by Bro Bain.
     Thus, Freemasonry becomes confused in the public mind with organisations such as Rotary, Round Table, Lions etc and we lose our ‘unique selling point’.
     It is also all too easy to conclude, when one sees newspaper photographs of a Provincial Grand Master handing a six feet cheque to a local charity, that the Craft is seeking to curry favour in the public mind for some slightly dubious cause. Freemasons become tired of hearing that their personal charity budget should be concentrated on an upcoming Provincial Festival. The Charge in the North East is about individual charity in the wider world not an exclusive masonic public relations campaign. As Bro. Bain says, boldness is required in giving the central purpose of the Craft its proper place.
     David Wyatt
     Gloucestershire

17TH CENTURY RITUAL

Sir,
     I wonder if any of your readers can help with some research that I am just beginning into Masonic ritual in the 17th century. I am a member of Ashmole Lodge No. 5128 which meets in Warrington. The lodge is named after Elias Ashmole whose initiation into Freemasonry in Warrington in 1646 is the earliest recorded in England.
     Tobias Churton’s excellent DVD about his initiation sparked my interest and a suggestion was made and approved by several of the brethren that a re-enactment of the ceremony by the lodge at some time in the future may prove to be an interesting and enjoyable occasion.
     With this in mind I have already contacted several organizations engaged in Masonic research, as well as one or two lodges similarly involved, with a view to obtaining as much information about 17th century ritual as possible with particular regard to the first degree. However, if anyone has any such information or advice I would be grateful for their help please. I can be contacted either by e-mail on segarfamily2003@yahoo.co.uk, or by post to 35 Howard Ave., Lymm, Cheshire WA13 9EH.
     David A. Segar
     Ashmole Lodge 5128
     West Lancashire

BARQUE OR BARK OF LIFE

Sir,
     I have just received my Freemasonry Today, No. 2, Spring 2008. As usual I find it difficult to put down until I have read every word - and advert’!
     At the end of the ‘Letter from the Editor’, reference is made to the long version of the Second Degree Working Tools and repeats the Emulation Ritual spelling of BARK. Asomewhat arboricultural term?
     After over 30 years of Taylor's Ritual, I have got used to, ‘To steer the BARQUE of life etc’. This appears to me to be more appropriate in the ‘nautical’ context of this sentence, especially as ‘helm’ comes later in the same sentence. Happily, they both sound the same. But in our attempts to understand the meaning, I like the boaty bit. Is it me?
     John Swift
     Boston Park Lodge 4576

ANCIENT STONES MISPLACED

Sir,
     On a quick browse through Freemasonry Today which arrived this morning I noticed a photograph of the Tregaseal Stone Circle which is within my Parish of St. Just-in-Penwith, at the extreme West of Cornwall; it is nowhere near to Bodmin Moor, which is at the East of the County.
     I just thought that I would let you know for the sake of accuracy.
     The Revd. Stephen W. Leach
     Secretary, Sir Humphry Davy Lodge, No. 9327
     Cornwall

SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE

Sir,
     In conjunction with my Masonic ties I am also currently a second year student at the University of Salford studying for my Bachelors Degree in Contemporary Military and International History.
     I am contacting you because I have elected to write my final third year dissertation piece on a Masonic subject, 'To what Extent did Freemasonry affect the activities of the SOE during the Second World War in Occupied France?'
     For this I need to interview Freemasons who were involved with SOE - The Secret Operations Executive during the War.
     Should any Brethren have information regarding Freemasonry and the activities of the SOE then I should be grateful if they could contact me via Freemasonry Today.
     Thomas Little
     Calley Lodge, No. 7525
     Wiltshire