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BACK NEXT Spring 2008 Issue 44 Letter from the Editor Grand Lodge News News and Views On The Level International News Beyond the Craft A Fresh Eye European Grand Master's Conference Secrecy and Suppression What is the Central Purpose? Mysteries of the Standing Stones Texas and the Alamo The Potters' Art Brother Lightfoote's Journal Review: Masonic Networks and Connections Review: Seeing the Light Review: Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation Review: Masonically Speaking Letters to the Editor Internet Library & Museum of Freemasonry Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication Masonic Charities Canon Richard Tydeman: Without Detriment Copyright 1997-2008 FREEMASONRY TODAY Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Spring 2008 - Issue 44 - Index Letter from the Editor We can be forgiven, I think, for assuming that we live in a world where what passes for normal behaviour encourages lying, cheating, and deceiving as a matter of course. Why, even our leaders seem to indulge in it from time to time as though it comes with the job. It might: part of some unspoken job-description passed from office-holder to office-holder like a chromosome abnormality; but common practice does not make it right. I find myself reminded of the Louisiana politician who had been elected on extravagant promises of building more bridges allowing easier access for farmers to their lands. Of course, none of them were built. When the frustration of farmers spilled ... Grand Lodge Grand Secretary's Column Address of Pro Grand Master, Lord Northampton, to Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge Major Benefits from Charities’ Move News and Views: The Toast is the Gavel and Staff Lodge — Appeal Raises £40,000 for Families of Tragic Fire Heroes — Norfolk Raises £12,000 for Afghan Veterans — Prestonian International Connection — Initiate, 93, Follows in Father's Footsteps — Ladies Group is Keeping Faith — Neptune is 250 Years Old — Seeing Double for Charity — Sheffield Appoints New Director — Masonic MA Course — Universities Scheme is Expanding On The Level: New Grand Superintendent for Yorkshire NE Riding — 60th Anniversary — Welsh Appointment — Caravan Rally — Safety First Kids — Lodge Milestone — On Guard! — Initiate's Guide — Canonbury Masonic Research Centre — Cornerstone Society — Quatuor Coronati International News: Icelandic Visitors Attend a London Initiation — District Grand Lodge Cares for Jamaican Children — Masonic Conference in Cuba — Lady Mason Wins Major Award — Edinburgh to Host 2009 Event Beyond the Craft: Order of the Secret Monitor has a Busy Time — Hertfordshire KT Consecrate New Preceptory — Washington Signing by Knights Templar Priests A Fresh Eye I am an old, young, Mason. I was initiated in 2002, past retirement age, although still at work as an architect. I was initiated by my son Andrew, who at the time claimed that this was the first time since Mozart, but that claim was authoritatively dismissed on the evening. However, although thus quite recently initiated, one of the older members of my lodge (older than I am, that is) remarked to me that he thought I must have been born a Mason! I am at present ascending the ladder of my lodge, to the Chair this year. I bring to Masonry many years of study and experience of the wisdom traditions of the world. It all started from an impulse in childhood to get at what is beneath the surface of things ... European Grand Master's Conference A few years ago British Telecom mounted a massive advertising campaign using the slogan “It’s good to talk”. That slogan encapsulates the reasons for holding the major meeting of European Grand Masters in London last November. For the first time ever, senior representatives of the forty-four regular Grand Lodges in Europe came together to talk. The Pro Grand Master invited me to chair the formal sessions to enable him to be free to make the opening address and take part in the comments and discussions. I am not an expert in international Masonic relations and the ... Secrecy and Suppression The closing years of the eighteenth century were enveloped in a climate of fear, with the Tory government of William Pitt the younger suffering the anxiety of revolution, rebellion and riot. The French Revolution in 1789, the subsequent Bloody Terror and the rise of Napoleon had cast a shadow of dread over Great Britain. This had been compounded by rebellion in Ireland in 1798 and frequent riots and protests by the working classes, with groups of ... What is the Central Purpose? It is clear that there is a wide and diverse opinion of what Freemasonry actually is, and what could or should be done to arrest a membership that is slowly leaking away. It is probable that the two issues are linked. Outside my Masonic activities I am actively involved in working with organizations that are struggling to understand how they arrived at their current position and to help them devise actions which will create their desired future ... Mysteries of the Standing Stones For untold generations, prehistoric people venerated natural sites, but from around 6,000 B.C., when settled agriculture and animal husbandry began to supplant nomadic hunter-gatherer ways of life around the globe, many cultures started to build monuments of stone or earth. Key among these were standing stones. These were placed in groups, such as circles or rows, or erected as solitary pillars, ‘monoliths’ or ‘menhirs’. Some stones ... Texas and the Alamo An intrepid movie magazine reporter once asked Hollywood cowboy star, Freemason, and director of The Alamo, John Wayne: ‘Was that really the way it was?’ . John Wayne replied, ‘Hell No, but that’s the way it ought to have been!’ And so it was that legend became firmly entwined with history. Tensions had arisen as settlers flooded into the territory that had previously been Mexican. The attraction to Americans was obvious; land, and plenty of it ... The Potters' Art There was a sense of excitement as we walked through the doors of the Kent Museum of Freemasonry in the very heart of Canterbury. Applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of £250,000 have received positive responses and the Museum trust, under the Chairmanship of Assistant Provincial Grand Master Charles Boxer and Secretary Roger O’Brien, are intent on preparing themselves. On our visit to the Museum we decided ... Brother Lightfoote's Journal Simon was a simple fisherman, known to his friends as Peter, from the Greek, Petros – a rock. He was obviously a sturdy fellow. Our Lord, punning on his nom-de-poisson, as it were, declared, ‘Upon this rock I shall build my church,’ and so it came to pass, for Peter, as we are all aware, became the first Pope. I recently directed my course to the West, to Cornwall, to be more exact, to Helston to be perfectly precise, to witness the ancient custom of the Furry Dance (Furry, pronounced to rhyme with hurry, from the Latin feriae – a festival) ... Review: Masonic Networks and Connections Review: Seeing the Light, Freemasonry and the Initiatic Tradition Review: Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation Review: Masonically Speaking Letters to the Editor Mentoring and Retrieval — Truth, Honour and Justice — India — Confusing Time — Lodge Almoners — Hearing Loops Internet Where’s he going with this I hear you ask? – All Freemasons are aware of the recommend procedure for taking a prospective candidate through from ‘I would like to become a Freemason’ to ‘I would be honoured to propose you as a member of my lodge’. Sounds simple doesn’t it? For the first time in many years there is a general feeling that membership of our wonderful Craft is growing. That’s great news, but were we not taught to be cautious? Is the standard of membership of the same ilk as, let’s say, one hundred years ago? Of course not, times have changed and so have people too. Having been involved in home visits where enquiries are made as to the prospective candidate’s ... Library & Museum of Freemasonry Researching the exhibition to mark the centenary of London Grand Rank, which is at the Library and Museum in Great Queen Street until early May, it was a surprise to find that the Library and Museum had very few photographs of Freemasons wearing London Grand Rank regalia. One particularly good image was finally selected, but there was a problem: we didn’t know the identity of the man in the photo. Obviously he was a holder of London Rank, which narrowed the field somewhat, and an examination of a distinctive lodge jewel he was wearing allowed us to identify him as a member of Leyton Lodge No. 2626. Furthermore, comparing that jewel to one in the collections, his was a ... Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication Re-election of Grand Master — Grand Lodge Register — Commission for Appeals Courts — Panel for Clemency — Charges for Warrants — Grand Orator — Electronic Transmission of Forms — Amalgamations — Erasure of Lodges — Recognition of Foreign Grand Lodges — Expulsions — Mentoring — New Lodge — Grand Lodge Meetings — Grand Chapter Meetings ... Masonic Charities Ride My Bike in Brighton 2008 — Holiday Home for RMBI Residents — Record Support from Samaritan Fund — Standing Tall — Wife's Life and Sanity Saved — The Freemasons' Grand Charity — All Change at the RMTGB Without Detriment A curious word – ‘detriment’. The Dictionary says it comes from the Latin ‘deterere’ meaning ‘to wear away’ and therefore ‘to cause damage, harm or loss’. What, then, can it possibly have to do with Freemasonry which prides itself on being founded on the practice of every moral and social virtue? In several places in our ritual, notably in the first degree working tools and in the third obligation, we use such words as ‘serving a brother in time of need without detriment to myself or connections’, or ‘to relieve his necessities so far as may fairly be done without detriment…’. Is there really anything in Freemasonry that can cause damage, harm or loss to me or my connections? Look at it first ...   Issue 44, Spring 2008 © FreemasonryToday 1997-2008