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BACK NEXT Summer 2008 Issue 45 Letter from the Editor Grand Lodge News News and Views On The Level International News Beyond the Craft Perambulating the Lodge Masonic Dining and Celebration Interview: The Grand Chancellor The Orator Walking the Way of Saint James Abd el-Kader: Algerian Nationalist and Freemason Province of Cambridgeshire Library & Museum Brother Lightfoote's Journal Review: Committed to the Flames Review: The Mythology of Secret Societies Review: The Dawn of Astrology Letters to the Editor Internet Library & Museum of Freemasonry Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter RMBI Masonic Samaritan Fund Grand Charity RMTGB Canon Richard Tydeman: Looking unto the Rock Copyright 1997-2008 Grand Lodge Publications Ltd Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Development of Masonry Our Future's Debt to the Past When you enter the office of the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England, you feel the palpable weight of the history of Freemasonry over nearly three hundred years, and the way in which Grand Secretaries have influenced affairs in that time. Yet Robert Morrow, in the first few words we exchanged, proved himself to be the most approachable of Grand Secretaries. ‘Where does that easy contact with people stem from?’ ... A New Mason's Impressions There are some points I was aware of before making enquiries into Freemasonry about five years ago. It was a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. It was ‘a most happy association of friends which provides interest, a discipline of life, many social activities and has a long history of charitable support’. It was not a secret society, nor a religion, although its members are required to have a belief in God and its principles are common to many of the world’s great religions. It was fun and provided a wonderfully happy social life ... Giving our Past a Future... The power of communication is no longer restricted to the ‘mighty pen’ or the ‘powerful word’ or even the interpretation of the stories that a picture can tell. In fact ever since the early visionaries saw the potential value of sharing information via a network of computers way back in the early 1960s, we have seen the skills of the pen, the word and, to a lesser degree, the picture become far less important when interacting with our fellow man. The serious researcher cannot deny the power that the Internet can offer, nor can we ignore the cost and time saving benefits that accompany this medium. Interestingly, the internet started its journey under the name ARPANET ... A Temple which never sleeps: E-Masonry It was so pleasing when the Editor of Freemasonry Today kindly invited me to travel to Pennsylvania to meet a person - Josh Heller - with whom I had been in communication for over seven years: also, to meet and be royally entertained by his lovely family and other members of the E-group. Josh began by explaining how he had first become interested in Freemasonry. ‘It was in 1998, travelling to work I daily passed by a large masonic Centre and a Scottish Rite Cathedral. It was curiosity: what was it all about, where did these people come from and why ... Masonic Traditions for the Twenty-First Century Reports and comments critical of mass initations in the United States have been regularly carried in the pages of Freemasonry Today. The large majority of the American Brethren who responded have given their wholehearted support to our stand. Partly as a result of the spread of mass initiations, but also as a result of other evidence of a decline in masonic practice in the United States, the Masonic Restoration Foundation has ... "We Should Square Corners, Not Cut Them" My father was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in 1950, two years before I was born. He also became a member of the Scottish Rite and the Shrine, and cherished his memberships. ‘When you turn 21, I hope you’ll become a mason’, said he to me one day when I was about nine, and these words, coming from this very laconic gentleman made a lasting impression on me. They were steeped in time and forged in a sense of loyalty. They were part of a masonic process. As a result of this exchange, and watching my father proceed through life as a man who ... United States Grand Master's One-Day Classes There is a growing practice in the United States of so-called ‘Grand Master One-Day Classes’. Each State has its own Grand Lodge, and in many jurisdictions a composite initiation, passing and raising is being practised in which all three degrees are conferred in one day on many candidates, in some cases thousands of them. One unhappy lodge in Connecticut which declined to participate in this bizarre routine had its Warrant summarily withdrawn. The practice is one whereby the Grand Master of a masonic jurisdiction in the United States requests ... Sir Alfred Robbins's Greatest Defeat The inauguration on 1 October 2003 of a Metropolitan Grand Lodge will mark the end of over 200 years of debate about the organisation of London Freemasonry. It will also, after nearly 90 years, bring to fruition a project close to the heart of Sir Alfred Robbins (1856-1931), who as President of the Board of General Purposes from 1913 until his death, was described as ‘the Prime Minister of English Freemasonry’, and who suffered one of the few reverses of his Masonic career in his attempt to reorganise London Freemasonry ... Off the Record From 1983 to 1999 , I served on the Board of General Purposes of the United Grand Lodge of England; during the latter years I was Chairman of its Information Committee. That Committee was set up in the 1980s in an early attempt to promote the public relations of the Craft, at a time when, despite the Grand Master’s call for openness, that concept was still unfashionable and a majority of Lodge members were nervous about countenancing it. The first Chairman of the Information Committee was Jim Davis and I was a founder member. One of our first projects was to commission the making of a Video about the Craft and, after massive opposition and scepticism from ... Freemasons Make Music Music used to play a great part in Freemasonry, as witnessed by the vast amount of old masonic music which exists. As far back as 1723, Anderson’s Constitutions contained sixteen pages of songs and music. But by 1875 the United Grand Lodge of England was becoming concerned about the hymns being sung in lodges. Grand Lodge declared that "hymns form no part of the Masonic Ritual, and the singing of hymns in Lodge is an innovation..." Off the Record Freemasonry, for all its appearance of being a conservative part of the civil establishment, is at its heart a radical institution. What we do not realize today is that the ideas espoused by Freemasonry in the 18th and early 19th centuries, while sounding common-place to us, were truly revolutionary in their own day. The heart of Freemasonry is its ritual. If we truly listen to the music of the words and understand that ideas have consequences, we will come to see the revolutionary implications for our own day of the great masonic virtues: Brotherly Love, Relief, Truth, Equality, Temperance, Friendship, and, above all, Justice. The face and promise of Freemasonry has changed greatly ... From Role-Play to Ritual Not long ago the Chapter of York Minster, the governing body of the Cathedral, decided that the time had come to replace the stone-work around the arch over the main West doorway. The figures that were originally carved there had slowly worn away. The scenes to be newly carved included the Garden of Eden, the story of Cain and Abel, the dramas of Noah and Jonah, as well as three scenes of our Lord and St. Peter. To achieve this end ... Off the Record I have read with interest the many examples of articles arguing for change in Freemasonry. Some have discussed removing the festive board or changing the meeting times. All focus upon the recruitment and retention of candidates, especially those in the younger age categories. Having only been initiated in October 1997 at the age of twenty-nine, I believe that I fall into this socio-economic group. Not that I knew it at the time. Certainly, the pressures on the ‘younger professional’ in terms of time are, I believe, as great now as ever before. The need to work longer days, devote additional time to train, retrain, appraise, be appraised, or study for further qualifications, has become ... The Constitutions of the Freemasons Our Constitutions are a natural evolution of the ancient charges of the operative Freemasons. These ancient or old charges and regulations, as they are referred to, are far from being exclusive to freemasonry. Many of the London Guilds, the medieval equivalent of the modern Trade Unions, had ancient charges to guide the moral comportment of their members. By 1987 a total of some 128 such documents had been discovered or identified. They are all true rarities and museum pieces. They are often in the form of 6 foot, or longer, parchment rolls, some 9 inches in width ... Is It All Daydreaming? There has been much comment about daylight lodges in Freemasonry Today recently which prompts me to offer some observations based on experience, having been a member of Golden Harvest Lodge No 9234 in South Africa for 11 years and secretary for the last eight. Golden Harvest draws its 40 members not only from the 46 lodges in the Johannesburg municipal area, but local Scottish, Irish and Grand Lodge of South Africa lodges as well. We meet on the odd months of the year at 10.30am, with a committee meeting at a local country club on the even months. Recruitment is unexpectedly difficult. Our membership has been almost static for years. Why do we have ... Strength in Unity In September Grand Lodge approved an amendment to the Book of Constitutions giving power to the Grand Master to grant a Certificate of Amalgamation when two Lodges desire to amalgamate into a single Lodge. Throughout the history of organised Freemasonry, Lodges have come and Lodges have gone; that is the nature of life and things in general. Sometimes a Lodge has simply died, its Warrant has been returned to the Grand Master (whose property every Lodge Warrant is) and has been erased from the register of Grand Lodge ... Capital Developments in London London is the largest single masonic group within the international family of Freemasons. With more than 55,000 Craft members and some 2,300 Lodges and Chapters, it has been difficult to steer. Its biggest boost was when the Assistant Grand Master, RW Bro the Marquess of Northampton, now Pro Grand Master-designate, became chairman of London Management, the new structure for the capital’s Freemasons. The need for structural change was glaringly obvious, particular as London, because of its size, did not have the local feel about it ... Developing a Brand Image Journalists are driven people. They are required to fill vast areas of newspapers even if there is nothing worth writing about. In the event of a slow news day, they must fall back on inventiveness. Freemasonry is good stuff to ginger up a slow news day. Sadly, the problems with the media often come from within. Attempts to feed "good news" stories about Masonry to the media are often frustrated because senior members of Lodges refuse to speak with journalists who will, they say, "twist everything". Image is less about reality than about perception ... Making of a Cyberspace Mason I was surprised, to say the least, when only a week or two after my initiation into the Craft in July 2000, I received an e-mail from freemason.com, asking if I would write about the part played by the Internet in my introduction to Freemasonry. At 34, I am from that generation that left school as pocket calculators became a luxury item, yet have had to rapidly adopt technology in all its guises to survive in the work environment. Having had a long-standing interest in Freemasonry, I was a confirmed "fence-sitter" on all aspects of the fraternity until the summer of 1997, when I began to read ... We Must Change Our Ways Whilst I would not wish to criticise or denigrate the efforts of those who have gone before us, we are suffering as a result of excessive secrecy since the days of the Second World War. When I became a Mason in the 1950s I was told that under no circumstances must I ever discuss Masonry with non-masons, and never let it be known that I was a Mason. This probably happened because of the war and the fact that our continental brethren suffered because they were Freemasons. We are almost in a catch 22 situation. If we tell everyone that we are Freemasons ... Scrap the Festive Board Whenever friends bemoan the falling membership and current unfashionable image of Freemasonry, I attempt to cheer them. But the Order has been going 300 years, seen bad times before and will still be here in another 300 years. English Freemasonry must address the shortage of good candidates in many lodges. There are many different answers, but one simple practical measure for some Lodges would be to scrap the festive board. This is not a new or revolutionary idea. Struggling Lodges in London were advised in this way some years ago. Many English lodges abroad ... Brainstorming The following conversation took place recently between Bro. Dieter Stephan, a Hamburg businessman and member of the city’s Roland Lodge, and Bro. Christopher McIntosh, a British citizen and member of the Pilgrim Lodge, London, who lives in Hamburg. CM: Brother Dieter, what masonic event have you attended during the past year that you found particularly significant? DS: Without hesitation I can name the evening when two actors appeared in the roles of Ernst and Falk in the famous masonic dialogue written by the 18th-century dramatist and mason ... The Importance of Recognition In September, the United Grand Lodge of England adopted the resolution to recognise the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Indiana, bringing the total now recognised to 136. This may sound just like high-level masonic diplomacy, but in fact it can make a very real difference to our members if they travel abroad. When another Grand Lodge is recognised it means that United Grand Lodge of England members can visit its lodges and their members can visit ours. Freemasonry over the centuries has had plenty of imitators and splinter groups which have established their own ... Some Personal Thoughts on Freemasonry The move towards openness in Freemasonry which began in the eighties and continues to this day is to be welcomed. There are, however, some members who feel apprehension about this new direction and whether it is desirable or not. Openness may seem to be a recent trend in Freemasonry, but openness of the heart is now, and always has been, the goal of a master mason. We need to be more open because our reticence to answer questions about ourselves has led to a difficult situation where the public’s perception of us, fuelled by media speculation ...   Development of Masonry © Grand Lodge Publications Ltd 1997-2008