Research Projects: Future and Ongoing

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Scholarship and ResearchI’ve been receiving quite a few emails asking me about the research projects with which I’m involved.  Most of the projects that interest me are related to the details of the early history of Freemasonry. Things like Tracing Boards and obscure symbols. I also enjoy reading the personal journals of brothers from the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Sometimes they contain information not to be found anywhere else.

This summer I’m working with other scholars from the University of Georgia, University of North Carolina and Yale University on a unique project to document what is commonly referred to as the Voodoo Village. It’s a folk-art village just south of Memphis, Tennessee that contains many objects with, what appears to be, direct connections to the Scottish Rite. The project will photograph and document the village and then offer an academic interpretation of its history and symbolism. Continue reading →

Symbolic Imperfections in Freemasonry

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The Preston-Webb Rituals

Webb's Masonic MonitorEvery American Freemason will be will acquainted with the Perfect Ashlar, a Masonic symbol used in the Preston-Webb ritual. Most Masons believe that this ritual is the original used by the fraternity all the way back to 1717, when in fact it was created by Thomas Smith Webb in 1797. Another example of an American innovation to Freemasonry is the virgin weeping over the broken column. This symbol was invented by Jeremy Ladd Cross, and first propagated in his book The True Masonic Chart: Or Hieroglyphic Monitor; Containing All the Emblems Explained in the Degrees.

According to James Fenton, Past Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Michigan: “Brother Webb, a printer, got into touch with freemasonry quite early. In 1797 he attracted attention through a book titled “Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry”. In 1813 he became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island. He is the real founder of the so-called American Ritus which he developed in that form like it is cultivated in America even today.” (circa 1865) Continue reading →

Julian Rees: A Real Freemason

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Freemason Julian ReesMany of you will wonder why I have chosen to write about Bro. Julian Rees. I don’t know him personally, and our philosophical views of Freemasonry are poles apart, yet I find myself watching his videos and reading his essays. To me he is a real Freemason because he knows what he believes and expresses his views openly for all to either agree or disagree. He’s been treated poorly by some and hailed as a visionary by others. Regardless of what you think of Bro. Julian’s ideas about Freemasonry, you must acknowledge that he is both a good man, and true to his beliefs. How many men can you say that about?

Julian Rees was initiated in the Kirby Lodge No. 2818 in London, was Master in 1976/77 and again at the centenary of the Lodge in 1999/2000, and was Master of the German-speaking Pilgrim Lodge No. 238 in 1978/79. He was a regular contributor to the quarterly magazine Freemasonry Today. He is the author of Making Light—A Handbook for Freemasons and The Stairway of Freemasonry. Continue reading →

Freemasonry: Veiled and Illustrated

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Freemasonry: Veiled in AllegoryI want to expand upon a portion of my essay Freemasonry: A Peculiar System of Morality. Freemasonry by definition is “A Peculiar system of Morality, Veiled in Allegory and Illustrated by Symbols.” Looking back I should have spent more time discussing “Veiled” and “Illustrated” because an understanding of these two terms and their implications is essential to the deeper esoteric secrets of the Craft.

Before I begin I believe it is necessary to define the terms with which we will be working, so as to avoid any confusion.

Esoteric: understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest.

Occult: (in early science) not apparent on mere inspection but discoverable by experimentation or observation.

And

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke Continue reading →

Brother Eugenius Philalethes sendeth greeting

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Freemasonry and the RosicruciansRobert Samber (1682-1745) was an English Freemason, author and prolific translator.

He is perhaps best known for his 1729 translations from the French of Charles Perrault’s Histories and Tales of Long Ago, with Morals, which later became known as Tales of Mother Goose, though Mother Goose does not appear in the book. Rather, the book is a compilation of fairy tales and fables we know today as “Sleeping Beauty,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “Puss in Boots,” and other “children’s” stories. Artwork of an old crone, or witch, appeared on the frontispiece of the book, and became known as Mother Goose. (The rhymes we today call Mother Goose rhymes were of later English derivation, and then attributed to the now well-known Mother Goose.)

The wife-killing Turk called “Bluebeard” also made his English debut in this book translated by Samber, in a story titled “Blue Beard, or the Effects of Female Curiosity.” The character of Bluebeard later appears in the works of Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackaray. Continue reading →

A New Masonic interpretation of Euclid’s 47th Problem

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47th Problem of Euclid

The 47th Problem of Euclid has always been of great importance to speculative Freemasons. It is so important that it appears on the frontispiece of Anderson’s Constitution of 1723. The engraving shows two Grand Masters looking down at a drawing of the 47th Problem on the floor of a great hall. Hermes flies above them in a chariot. It is the Past Master’s Jewel in many jurisdictions and it is a symbol in the Master’s Degree.

Many Masons have speculated that this symbol has an obvious interpretation, but if Freemasonry has taught me anything it is to look past the obvious for something hidden within. Continue reading →

Who Made Who?: Lodges vs. Grand Lodges

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Worshipful Master's ChairWhen was your lodge Charted by the Grand Lodge of your jurisdiction? It may have been relatively recently or it could have been hundreds of years ago. Masons petition a Grand Lodge to Charter new lodges, and that’s the way it’s always been –or is it?

In the days of the operative Masons lodges were formed in the towns and cities for the purpose of managing the trade guild and negotiating wages. In a sense lodges were similar to the present day union hall. Sometimes lodges would be established at large construction sites such as cathedrals and forts for similar purposes. Their “union card” was the secret modes of recognition.

Lodges were self-creating business entities that represented the craftsman and were Charted by state and/or local officials. Continue reading →

The Lost Fellow-Craft

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Fellowcraft Tracing BoardThe degrees, and the rituals of which they consist, have become more or less a curiosity to modern Freemasons. At best they only help to establish a sense of “Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.” Some modern Masons even go so far as to say that there is nothing of significance in the rituals, and that the true value of Freemasonry lies in its sense of fraternity. These beliefs are not consigned wholly to the ignorant and well-meaning brethren, but exist throughout the Craft, in some cases to the highest pinnacles of Masonic leadership. Then there is the so-called esoteric view, which purports that Freemasonry has within it the secrets of some lost arcane knowledge, and that the majority of Freemasons are simply unable to fathom the depths of the knowledge they possess. These two points of view have been at odds with one another for some 200 years, with neither side being able to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that their point of view is absolutely correct. Continue reading →

Freemasonry: A Peculiar System of Morality

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Freemasons Regalia“This gets right to the heart of the secrets of Freemasonry and why they were kept a secret. Common moral lessons are taught to school children, but Freemasonry was teaching a Peculiar System of Morality, a system altogether different from what would be considered common. Unfortunately, most modern Masons are never exposed to this Peculiar System of Morality because it has been removed from the rituals and teachings of Freemasonry. Surely you didn’t become a Freemason to learn that it is wrong to lie, steal and murder, did you?  Albert Pike, in chapter 20 of his monumental Masonic tome Morals & Dogma offers some insight into what a Freemason was truly meant to be.”  Continue reading →

Life Cycles of Masonic Lodges

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Masonic LodgeI’ve been studying Freemasonry and its history for over twenty-five years, and have notice a series of trends that indicate organizational life cycles, especially in the individual lodges. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the creation of new Masonic lodges continued at a rapid pace, but so did the closure of older ones. This constant state of evolutionary change seems to have come to an abrupt halt sometime around 1920. After 1920 Freemasonry entered into what I would describe as the era of mega lodges. Any lodge that has a membership exceeding 500 I consider to be a mega lodge.

During the period following 1920 there are a multitude of lodges that have over 500 members, some with membership rolls exceeding 3,000. How is it possible that 500 men, not to mention 3,000, could actively participate in the same lodge meeting? Did these men actually know one another, or were they merely going through a fraternal exercise in order to wear a Masonic ring? Continue reading →