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BACK NEXT Summer 1998 Issue 05 The Eye Newsbites A Marriage in Heaven Rosslyn, Chapel of the Century Methodism and Freemasonry Openness, The Dilemma All Distinctions Save Those of Goodness and Virtue Where Masons Meet: Leeds Bill Clinton's Big Inspiration Grand Library, Grand Museum On The Pentagram Freemasonry in Trinidad & Tobago Cruising is for Everyone Review: Cimelia Rhodostaurotica Review: Symbols of Freemasonry Review: The Secret Language of Symbols Review: Sacred Britain Review: The Hermetica Old Fireglass What's in a Name? Letters to the Editor Copyright 1997-2008 FREEMASONRY TODAY Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Summer 1998 - Issue 05 - Index The Eye Hiram Lodge Consecrated in Odessa — Happy Hertfordshire Heralds £5.9m RMBI Bonanza — Bombay and North India District Grand Lodge — Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rosettes! — Sally Army Boost from Sussex Masons — North Wales Masonic Choir Ready for Action — Masonic Widows’ Association Helps Baby Care — New Zealand Celebrates 150th Anniversary — Brothers in Law Luncheon Club gives Hope and Help — Small is beautiful — Internet Lodge 9659 Newsbites The Province of Warwickshire — £86,000 to some 160 non-masonic local and regional charities — Bristol Ritual in the Third Degree — W Bro Wilf Wallworth’s 60th year in the Craft — Calling all masonic collectors and curators! — International Masonic Poetry Society — Surbiton Masonic Hall Open Day — Quatuor Coronati Lodge (of Research) 2076 Correspondence Circle A Marriage in Heaven With the coming of the Millennium, there is evidence of a growing angst about the future role of humanity, exemplified by a disillusionment with science and technology, so that some writers are even wondering if human intelligence is not a regrettable accident. In short, people are wondering whether science has robbed us of former religious certainties and comforts, leading to our extinction. From this it would appear that evolution or creation is actually pointless. If evolution is merely about the survival of DNA, then so it would seem to be, as such could have been achieved by unicellular Pre-Cambrian Age life. However, the last 100 million years show that just as Life ... Rosslyn, Chapel of the Century Roslin (current spelling for the village) is an old mining centre south of Edinburgh, lying half-way between Penicuik and Lasswade. The chapel stands at the end of a small lane, where the land rises to greet the Pentland Hills. The foundation stone was laid in 1446 by William Sinclair, the third and last Prince of Orkney. The construction work continued for forty years. William Sinclair appears to have acted as the Master of Works himself ... Methodism and Freemasonry Following the Methodist Conference Report on Freemasonry, an Association of concerned Methodist Freemasons was formed to review the Report at the earliest opportunity. While awaiting such a review, the Association held a number of successful Grand Lodge Exhibitions and Open Days adjacent to the Conference venue which were open to delegates and the public. It also dealt with cases of discrimination arising within the Church as a result of the 1985 strictures. It was not until June 1993 that the Faith and Order Committee of the Methodist Church accepted the Memorials (Resolutions) prepared by Circuits (groups of churches) with the help of Grand Lodge ... Openness, The Dilemma While I would like to see the day when Grand Lodge ensures that every member will disclose membership when requested, I realise there is a present problem for some employees where disclosure could adversely affect their jobs, in circumstances where advisors on staff selection and promotion are bigoted against the Craft. Freemasonry must continue to work on a change in its public perception from an institution seen as existing to further members’ interests, to an institution which we all know exists for good, alone. For this, members must be fully aware of the nature of Freemasonry so that they’re proud and happy to discuss it. It would be helpful I think if ... All Distinctions Save Those of Goodness and Virtue A brother was recently awarded a rather lowly grand rank. He was very pleased with the award. He would have been pleased with any award, but one of his friends expressed disappointment saying 'Oh, we should have done better for you than that'. It made me think about the whole complex business of rank, seniority, precedence and honours in the masonic system, and I have to tell you I am not sure I like what I see. We hear quite a lot about so-called senior chaps being there to encourage and motivate the more recently-joined brethren. But do they really? In individual cases I know that they do, and I have seen good instances of this. But sadly, all too often they do not ... Where Masons Met: Leeds The people are warm and friendly, the food is good, the beer is excellent and the place is as bright as a button, but Leeds in a thunderstorm might not be top of everyone’s priorities. However, on the day I met proud Yorkshireman Jim Reddyhoff, the world, in spite of the drenching, became a brighter place. A Past Master of the Leeds and District Lodge of Installed Masters, Past Master of Leeds’ Fidelity Lodge, Honorary Librarian of the Yorkshire West Riding Province, and a member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge of Research, Jim celebrated 52 years ... Bill Clinton's Big Inspiration In 1961, when President Kennedy was in his Camelot and the Cold War got colder as the Berlin Wall was erected, a 15 year old boy walked into the Masonic Temple at 311 West Grand Hot Springs, Arkansas. There, he was inducted into a youth organisation which had formulated its principles on the life and death of the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, roasted alive in Paris in 1314. This teenager had been born William Jefferson Blythe on 19 August 1946, in the small town of Hope, Arkansas. He was named after his father ... Grand Library, Grand Museum The Grand Lodge Library and Museum has just become a Charitable Trust. I asked the Librarian and Curator, John Hamill, what the Library and Museum does, and why it has become a Charity. THE EDITOR: The Grand Lodge Library and Museum is one of England’s hidden treasures. What’s the background to it? John Hamill: We were formed in 1837 from a small collection of books and artefacts found in a cupboard in the Grand Secretary’s office. We were fortunate to have Henry Sadler appointed as Librarian in 1887. Over the next 20 years he built the solid foundation ... On The Pentagram Now mostly recognised through the mythology of witchcraft movies, graffiti and gutter-press Satanist exposés, the pentagram has almost everywhere become disembodied from its roots in geometry - everywhere, that is, except in Freemasonry. There we see it on the doorstep to London’s Freemasons’ Hall, for example, and we see its radiant stellar properties in the Royal Arch Degree ritual. Fully developed only in the 19th century, the ritual is in part based on the Platonic system wherein five solid geometrical bodies embody the principles on which ... Freemasonry in Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island state located at the southern end of the string of Caribbean Islands. Christopher Columbus visited Trinidad in 1498, but found that others were there before him - namely, the Arawaks and the Caribs from the other Caribbean Islands and from the South American mainland. His reports back to the King of Spain make no reference to Lodges, Chapters or Priories, so we can safely assume that there was no masonic activity on the islands. What he did find was a society of people whose morality was rather peculiar ... Cruising is for Everyone Cruising used to be almost exclusively for the elderly and the very rich. The exceptions used to be the one-way emigration journeys such as the eight week voyage to Australia which was very class orientated. The émigrés were not only kept separate from the First Class at all times but in some cases they were even rationed as to how much daylight they could enjoy on deck. This has all changed very dramatically during the last thirty years and most especially during the last decade, with many of the major cruise companies commissioning large new cruise ships ... Review: Cimelia Rhodostaurotica Review: Symbols of Freemasonry Review: The Secret Language of Symbols Review: Sacred Britain Review: The Hermetica Old Fireglass Old Fireglass has been up in Yorkshire, frolicking with the finest fermentations imaginable. Excellent vittles and ales can be found in abundance; combine this with the beauty of the Dales and the wealth of history in its bustling industrial towns, and you have a destination fit for a kingly ramble ... What's in a Name? It is fascinating to observe the development of wine labels. Over the thirty-plus years that I have been buying, selling and drinking wines and spirits, I cannot but help notice the lengths to which producers, or their marketing advisers, will go to make their products more appealing ... Letters to the Editor The Inquisitor v Magistrates — Guilty by Suspicion — Secrecy — Mentors — 340,000 Ambassadors — Magic House — Misogyny — Not Amused — Masonic Music — Disillusionment — Chinese Wisdom   Issue 05, Summer 1998 © FreemasonryToday 1997-2008