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BACK NEXT Winter 2002 Issue 19 Letter from the Editor News Briefing News and Views On The Level International News Julian Rees The Knights Templar El Escorial "A Catastrophe has Occurred" Freemasonry in the Community "Week of Action" Covent Garden and Freemasonry The Mayo Clinic The Seven Liberal Arts The Visual Arts and Freemasonry The Constitutions of the Freemasons Brother Lightfoote's Journal Letters to the Editor Review: "Of Times Long Past" Review: I Just Didn't Know That Review: Light-Hearted Moments in Masonry Canon Richard Tydeman Copyright 1997-2008 Grand Lodge Publications Ltd Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Winter 2002 - Issue 19 - Index Michael Baigent - Letter from the Editor When a candidate is presented for initiation, the first question he is asked by the Master is, "are you a free man". Unless the Master and Brethren are satisfied on this point the initiation cannot proceed. What then is this freedom? It plainly requires that the candidate is not in thrall to any authority which might limit his actions. And it means more: in the context of the masonic degrees it refers to that freedom which allows him to progress on his own journey from darkness to light. But in the world beyond the Temple doors, what constitutes freedom? The appalling events of September 11th have, I believe, changed our world. We have seen, live on television, in tragic immediacy, proof ... News Briefing International Contacts of Grand Lodge — Masonic Help for Education — Grand Lodge for London Masons — New Grand Master for Warwickshire Freemasons News and Views Masonic Variety Show at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London — Cornerstone Society in Manchester — A ‘First’ for London’s Freemasons — Crowds at Open Day, Freemasons’ Hall — Masonic Initiation of an Amir of Afghanistan — Great Priory in Lincoln Cathedral — A Horse Named ‘Mason’ On The Level Chaplain Jumps; Claims Not Pushed — Comfortable in Carlisle — Essex Air Ambulance — Support for Lifeboat — Canonbury Masonic Research Centre — Centre for Research into Freemasonry — Quatuor Coronati Lodge Seminars — Masonic Exhibition in France International News Liberty Amidst the Destruction — Scottish Rite Bicentennial Celebrations in Charleston — Turkish Freemasons Build New School — New Masonic Hall in Tanzania — Mozart’s ‘Masonic’ Opera in Rome — Spanish Grand Lodge Merger Straight in the Strength of Spirit A relative of mine from Texas has the happy knack of defusing quarrels by saying "Now don’t y’all go gettin’ bent outta shape!" Like all the best sayings, this one is marvellously descriptive, and very effective. It makes me think about our shape, our attitude. It’s easy to lose the integrity of our real shape, to fall off our perch, to let the personal gyroscope tilt sideways, and part of our ‘real shape’ is, of course, our approach to those around us. There is a principle you might like to consider in so-called ‘reality TV’ (I actually prefer to call it ‘unreality TV’). Big Brother and Survivor invite and require the participants (and even the television audience) to choose the least-liked or least-able person ... The Knights Templar Passers-by who look in regalia shop windows and see a tailor's dummy rigged out as a Knight Templar, or even those brethren on a ladies' night sharing a masonic centre with a Preceptory meeting, must wonder what the Knights Templar is really about. Many outside the Order may be of the impression that it is simply about dressing-up. This clearly puts many off joining: "just what is my wife going to think when I come home with all that kit? A white cloak and ..." El Escorial High on a granite esplanade at the foot of Sierra de Guadarama outside Madrid, stands an imposing edifice - the monastery of San Lorenzo El Escorial. Intended simultaneously as a Palace, basilica, mausoleum and monastery, this impressive architectural mass was constructed at the behest of King Philip II, at the height of the Spanish Empire. It was from here that the doomed invasion of England was plotted - the Spanish Armada of 1588. However ... "A Catastrophe has Occurred" At Grand Lodge, in March 1878, Lord Carnarvon, the Pro Grand Master, rose to make an announcement. Describing the event as "a catastrophe", he reported that the banking house of Willis Percival & Co, which held the funds of Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter and the Masonic Charities, had failed. The Grand Lodge balance of £3,543 was at risk. The City of London, in the 1870s, was taking on the face of the modern City. Its residential population had declined as it had become easier to live outside the metropolis and travel in by train and road. Old town houses were demolished ... Freemasonry in the Community "Week of Action" The masonic "Week of Action" next summer which will highlight the benefits Freemasonry brings to the community, is drawing ever closer. Provincial organising committees have been formed, ideas for events are being compiled, masonic websites around the country are flagging local events, and a central "Command Centre" at Freemasons’ Hall in London has been set up to coordinate efforts, answer queries, send out information, compile a database, and deal with the Press. Remember the date: 26th June to 2nd July 2002 ... Covent Garden and Freemasonry Covent Garden is said to be a corruption of Convent Garden, an enclosure belonging to the Abbots of Westminster in the thirteenth century and used for "burying their dead out of sight". This was confirmed in 1829 when builders digging the foundations of a new market exhumed human bones on the north side of the area. In addition, the Benedictine monks of St Peter at Westminster appear to have used it partly as their kitchen garden, supplying the needs ... The Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic is undoubtedly one of the most famous medical establishments in the world. Since its inception in Rochester, Minnesota, during the 1880s from the medical practice of Dr. William Worrall Mayo and his two sons, Dr. William James Mayo and Dr. Charles Horace Mayo, it has become the largest group practice in the world and is renowned for its comprehensive medical care. During their lives, the Mayos influenced the medical community ... The Seven Liberal Arts Liberal Arts was a term coined in the Middle Ages: ‘liberal’ from the Latin liber, meaning ‘free’. The name is apt; these arts are intended to bring freedom to the mind. We need to be reminded of the source of freedom now, with the world threatened by the grossest forms of mental oppression and spiritual intolerance. The Liberal Arts go back over 2,500 years, to classical times. They were practised over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, being disseminated through the empires of Alexander and Rome; they are part of our heritage ... The Visual Arts and Freemasonry In 1982 my study was bombed", Professor José Antonio Ferrer Benimeli, an urbane Spanish scholar, suddenly had everybody’s attention; he paused as a memory shadow slipped quickly across him, "and I lost fifteen years of work". Masonic research in Spain, even after the death of Franco, still had its dangers. Professor Ferrer Benimeli, President of CEHMI (Centre for Historical Studies of Spanish Freemasonry) and Professor of Modern History at Zaragoza University, is the author of countless books on Spanish masonic history and he has had his problems ... 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 ... Brother Lightfoote's Journal There is great consternation in the Lightfoote household this day. A neighbour of mine, close both to my house and to my heart, has suffered a grievous attack. He is a man of substance, a wealthy merchant, an importer of tobacco and a pillar of the community. I regard him as a brother, even though he isn’t, either by blood or by bond. The point is this: early today two great storehouses that he owns, down by the Tower, were set alight and razed to the ground. As if his precious leaf was not sufficient loss, a number, as yet unknown, of his workers perished in the conflagration, together with some of the volunteers who had turned out to fight the blaze which had been started ... Letters to the Editor Religious Tolerance in Freemasonry — Obscure, or Meaningful? — Masonic Rank — Rank; Better than No System At All — Defibrillators (Easy Use Of) — Essex Police Review: "Of Times Long Past" Review: I Just Didn't Know That Review: Light-Hearted Moments in Masonry 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 ... Grand Lodge Certificates Every Freemason, after he has qualified in all three degrees, is issued with a Certificate from Grand Lodge confirming that the Brother whose name appears below has been duly accepted and registered in the books of the Grand Lodge of England. The Certificate is usually presented during a meeting of the Lodge, with an explanation of its contents and its uses. The design of this Certificate, we are told, has been unchanged since 1819. That is true of the general design, but of course there are little details that have to be changed from time to time: of these the most prominent is the title and coat of arms of the Grand Master at the top. Our present Grand Master, H.R.H. the Duke of Kent ...   Issue 19, Winter 2002 © Grand Lodge Publications Ltd 1997-2008