Liberty Amidst the Destruction

On September 11 as the world watched the calamitous events unfold in New York, a great plume of grey smoke obscured one of the world’s most famous skylines. It was perhaps fitting paradox, that the only remaining visible landmark was the Statue of Liberty. It has generally been forgotten that this famous statue was actually masonically-inspired. It’s full title was Liberty Enlightening the World, which was designed and created by the French sculptor and Freemason, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904). Bartholdi was initiated on 14 October 1875 in the lodge L’Alsace-Lorraine, Grand Orient of France. He was encouraged in the project by a mason, Henri Martin; the inner steel skeleton of the statue was supplied by another mason, the engineer Gustav Eiffel. Funding came ostensibly from the efforts of Freemasons in France and America, including the future President Theodore Roosevelt, a keen mason. When the statue was virtually complete, Bartholdi convened the Brethren of his mother lodge in order that they might review his work, even before it was shown to the United States committee. The finished piece was finally presented to the American Ambassador in Paris, 4 July 1884, and a month later, on 5 August, the Grand Master of New York, William A. Brodie, laid the cornerstone of the pedestal in a full masonic ceremony. In an address delivered to hundreds of assembled masons and visiting dignitaries, he stated that "No other organisation has ever done more to promote Liberty and to liberate men from their chains of ignorance and tyranny than Freemasonry". Today Liberty’s pedestal bears a plaque adorned with the square and compasses, reminding the millions of visitors to Liberty Island of Freemasonry’s desire to spread light, liberty and tolerance to all mankind.

Scottish Rite Bicentennial Celebrations in Charleston

From the 2-5 October, the United States Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, marked its 200th anniversary in Charleston, South Carolina. The celebrations were attended by more than four thousand men and women representing forty Supreme Councils, eleven allied masonic organisations and twenty-five Grand Lodges from all over the world. For the first time in 200 years masons who were not members of the Scottish Rite attended the opening of the Supreme Council. This was also the largest convention ever held in Charleston. The opening session began with a speech by Walter Boomer, 33º, a retired General, United States Marine Corps, who led the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force during the 1991 Gulf War. The Keynote speaker for the major banquet was Michael Richards, 33º, the well-known actor who plays "Kramer" in the popular sitcom, Seinfeld. The precise origins of the Scottish Rite, known elsewhere as the Ancient and Accepted Rite, are still unclear, although historians can trace its earliest roots to eighteenth-century France. The Rite soon travelled to the West Indies before eventually finding its way to the United States where it was developed into the current system of thirty-three degrees. In 1801 a Supreme Council was constituted in Charleston, from which all other Supreme Councils of the world derive. Despite the Duke of Sussex being offered a patent to establish the Rite in England and Wales in 1819, a Supreme Council was not established in England until 1845.

Turkish Freemasons Build New School

Following a disastrous earthquake the Grand Lodge of Turkey sought to build a new school for students at Derince in the devastated region of Izmit. The ground was offered free of charge by the Government and after tests showed that it was suitable, given the earthquakes in the area, the cornerstone of the school was laid in September 2000. Building proceeded in record time and the completed school, of seventeen classrooms, five laboratories and a kindergarten, was handed over to the Turkish Ministry of Education in April 2001. It will be used by 1200 students attending in two shifts. A separate sports building is due for completion January 2002. The financing of the school was arranged by the Grand Lodge of Turkey through its own funds together with donations by Brethren and lodges. The kindergarten was financed by The White Gloves Society of Freemason’s wives. This society also provides clothing and books for needy students while the Grand Lodge offers bursaries to aid the cost of education. English lodges too contributed: Mandate Lodge, No. 4258, gave £2000 and the Internet Lodge, No. 9659, gave £700. The United Grand Lodge of England gave the sum of £25,000 towards earthquake relief which, via the Red Cross, was delivered to the Red Crescent organisation but its use was not under the control of the Grand Lodge of Turkey.

New Masonic Hall in Tanzania

A new masonic hall is being built in a suburb of Arusha, in Northern Tanzania. The foundation stone of the two-storied building was laid by the District Grand Master J. K. Chande on 14 July 2001 and will, with its meeting, dining and refreshment facilities, cater for the meetings of Mount Meru Lodge, No. 7504 (E.C.) and other masonic Orders. The ceremony was conducted in the presence of three Grand Officers, thirty District Officers, and twenty-nine other Brethren. The existing masonic Temple recently suffered substantial damage and loss of the Warrant and historical records as a result of a fire. The Warrant of Confirmation from the United Grand Lodge of England which enabled the lodge to resume its masonic activities was handed to the members in September 1999. The first Mount Meru Lodge, No.5363, was warranted in 1932 but erased in 1942 as the membership fell during the Second World War. The present Mount Meru Lodge, No. 7504, was consecrated in 1957 and meetings were first held in a building owned by Kilimanjaro Lodge, No. 5111, in Moshi, near Mount Kilimanjaro.

Mozart’s ‘Masonic’ Opera in Rome

During, summer 2001, the Rome Opera staged a performance of Mozart’s "Magic Flute", considered by many as the composer’s "masonic" opera. It was the first time the opera had been performed in Rome for over twenty-two years. The performance was conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti, who defined the piece as the "most mysterious, enigmatic and complex opera of all time". Speakers included opera Director, Francesco Ernani and the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy, Gustavo Raffi. In the foyer of the theatre the company presented an exhibition in collaboration with the Grand Orient of Italy. Composed in 1791, the year of Mozart’s mysterious death, the “Magic Flute” is rich in symbolism, and echoes the mysterious journey undertaken by the initiate in the various Rites of Freemasonry. Since its first performance academics have debated the opera’s contents, but most musicologists are now agreed that Mozart wrote it as an expression of his own masonic affiliations. The magic flute itself is reputed to miraculously change reality in an instant; symbolising the intervention of higher forces that can transform a mundane existence into a world of enchantment. The piece concerns the classic trials of the initiate as he traverses the four elements and, according to Grand Master Raffi, the opera’s theme of initiation and rebirth clearly parallel the teachings of Freemasonry which, he said, offers the initiate the opportunity to find a new existence through regeneration. "Mozart’s music", he added, "expresses an ancient idea taught originally by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras and is a magnificent attempt to try and encapsulate the harmony of the spheres". The Grand Orient of Italy is not recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England.

Spanish Grand Lodge Merger

On 3 March 2001, the Grand Orient of Spain officially merged with the regular Grand Lodge, the country’s largest masonic body. The agreement was the result of years of negotiation undertaken by the organisations respective Grand Masters, Tomas Sarobe (G.L.) and Miguel Angel de Foruria (G.O.), and effectively incorporates Spanish Freemasonry into one body. According to Tomas Sarobe, the merger would allow individuals rather than lodges to be incorporated into the Grand Lodge and members would be received with "fraternal love and in the quest to build a better world". Freemasonry first arrived in Spain in 1728 when the Duke of Wharton opened a lodge in Madrid but in the wake of the Vatican’s prohibition in 1738, members were arrested and the Order’s fortunes fluctuated for the remainder of the century. When French forces invaded in 1807, the movement experienced a climate of tolerance under Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who was not only King of Spain but also Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France. During the nineteenth century Freemasons championed liberalism in Spain and seven Prime Ministers were masons. The Grand Orient of Spain was the most important institution to survive the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s when Freemasons were persecuted, and often deliberately slaughtered. Freemasonry returned to Spain soon after the death of Franco in 1975 and in 1987 the Grand Lodge of Spain was recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England.