Welcome to the Winter/New Year Issue of Freemasonry Today: a bright spot in a cold hemisphere. In the darkness of winter, the fire enlightens us. The alchemists of old who sought a living, spiritual fire, hidden within all things, knew that nothing is brought to light which has not first passed through the blackened night. Likewise, beneath the cold skin of winter, the seed lives: the Craft is alive.
    The theme of emergence is strong in this issue. Our lead article on the mystery of the Royston Cave asks us to consider symbols long hidden in a cave beneath a busy market-place. We go inside Mark Masons' Hall in order to bring to light its littleknown work. Julian Rees gets into the heart of his craft, while Christopher McIntosh tells us about a startling visit to Prague wherein he saw ancient shoots at last beginning to bear fruit, even in the hardness of the modem world. Beneath the surface of what many are disposed to call 'the real world', Doug Pickford finds a "typical mason" from the Midlands who seeks a re-awakening in the Craft. We also cast a beam of light upon the vital work of the New Masonic Samaritan Fund, bringing hope and relief to afflicted brethren and their families.
    1998 promises to be a transformative year for the Craft: its long winter slowly ending in what all masons must surely hope will see a burst of new fruitfulness and a new light to warm the cold spirit of humankind. Everyone at Freemasonry Today wishes you a happy and enlightened New Year!
    Tobias Churton