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BACK NEXT Winter 1998/99 Issue 07 Tobias Churton - Letter from the Editor The Eye Newsbites Are You One of Us? The Future That Everybody Wanted The Importance of Recognition Roman Catholic Attitudes, Yesterday and Today The Word 'Brother' Among Masons Ancient Egypt and Freemasonry Medieval Monks, Masons and Mystical Architecture In Search of the Wisdom of Solomon The Secret of the 47th Proposition Review: Behind the Wire Review: Ancient Traces Review: Freemasonry: A Celebration of the Craft Review: John Lennon Anthology Old Fireglass Two Cautionary Tales Letters to the Editor The Country Stewards Lodge Copyright 1997-2008 FREEMASONRY TODAY Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Winter 1998/99 - Issue 07 - Index Tobias Churton - Editor's Letter There is a revolution going on in Freemasonry. All over the country, in lodge forums and in intimate conversation, the focus of discussion is shifting from internal obsession with rank and entrenched and stultifying attitudes, towards a simple question, expressed in many different ways: What are we doing being Freemasons? What does the Craft mean today? What have we to offer the 21st century? How can we grow? ... The Eye Masons in the Broadsheets — Grand Charity steps up public relations — Durham Masonic Millennium Project — District Grand Lodge of East Africa — New society for young Freemasons in Indiana — Formation of the Districts of Moldova and the Ukraine — Black Country Masons’ Vision Approaches Reality — Grand Charity helps Hurricane Mitch victims — 18th century lodge ceremony — The Mail and Freemasonry — New Masonic Research Centre — Regional PR meeting held at Darlington — Masonic Service in Westcliff-on-Sea Synagogue Newsbites East Kent — Essex — Merseyside — Northumbria — Staffordshire — Warwickshire — West Lancashire — Worcestershire Are You One of Us? I have always been fascinated by the manner in which Freemasons identify themselves when meeting for the first time. This fascination started several years ago after reading an article in a Sunday paper where the author suggested that the first question a true Freemason would ask was: “Can you tie a bow?” The response, if the person was a Freemason, would be “As good as you can!” A BBC2 television programme once claimed that when dining, a Freemason will refer to his cutlery as ‘working tools’ and await any appropriate response, while The Sun suggested ... The Future That Everybody Wanted Few families can trace their lineage back forty generations. From Scotland’s medieval hero king, Robert the Bruce, to the 7th Earl who gave his name to the famous ‘marbles’, Lord Elgin’s illustrious line is further illuminated by figures from Britain’s past imperial élite : a governor general of Canada, two viceroys of India, a founding father of the Royal Society, and the famous African explorer, James Bruce. The present Earl, Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin, is the 37th chief of the family house, a status easily forgotten in his jovial presence. Lord Elgin ... The Importance of Recognition In September, the United Grand Lodge of England adopted the resolution to recognise the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Indiana, bringing the total now recognised to 136. This may sound just like high-level masonic diplomacy, but in fact it can make a very real difference to our members if they travel abroad. When another Grand Lodge is recognised it means that United Grand Lodge of England members can visit its lodges and their members can visit ours. Freemasonry over the centuries has had plenty of imitators and splinter groups which have established their own ... Roman Catholic Attitudes, Yesterday and Today Unwavering hostility to Freemasonry has characterised the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. The Papal Bull In Eminenti Apostolatus Specula, promulgated by Pope Clement XII in 1738, condemned and prohibited any masonic assembly and forbade any involvement whatever in Masonry on pain of excommunication. Article 1240 of the Canon Law went so far as to prohibit Catholic burial for “suicides, heretics, freemasons, and people who have been killed in duels.” There was no such hostility on the part of Freemasonry. In England, Roman Catholics were admitted ... The Word 'Brother' Among Masons is Something More Than a Name I was reminded recently that twists of fate can work in many and curious ways. Young Erwin (name changed) came from Germany in the 1930s to study medicine at Cambridge and so survived the Holocaust in which most of his family perished. Erwin graduated and was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps, later becoming a prominent member of the medical profession in this country. He was also initiated into Freemasonry and in time became a member of a German-speaking lodge in London. This lodge, because of its international status, made and received ... Ancient Egypt and Freemasonry The explanation continues: “Their philosophers…couched their systems of learning…under signs and hieroglyphical figures, which were communicated to their chief priests or Magi alone, who were bound by solemn oath to conceal them.” (William Preston. Illustrations of Masonry. 1804. Reprint: Wellingborough, 1986. p.42) This does not reveal the full story. There are residues from ancient Egypt in Freemasonry, carried through the millennia by the mystical philosophy attributed to the legendary Hermes Trismegistus ... Medieval Monks, Masons and Mystical Architecture Following the great passions of the Crusades came the explosion of the construction of religious edifices throughout Europe. The religious links between the Universal Architect who is God and the architects who imagined and created these churches and cathedrals are extremely ancient. Every stone, every arch, every soaring spire, was designed to remind man of the striving to rise beyond the earthly, and it is this synthesis of allegory and stone, this material representation of elevated religious feeling which makes the architecture truly mystical and its creators mystics ... In Search of the Wisdom of Solomon Why ‘Solomonic Degrees’? I call them so because it is the actions of Solomon, King of Israel, Hiram King of Tyre and Hiram Abif – as well as their successors – which form the allegorical and symbolic basis for the journey undertaken within them; the candidate searches for the masonic light in his quest for the Lost Word. Brethren should recall the exchange between Master and Wardens at the Third Degree opening : What is that which was lost? The genuine secrets of a Master Mason. How came they lost? By the untimely death of our Master ... The Secret of the 47th Proposition One of the origins of modern Freemasonry is so-called ‘operative masonry’. Anyone who has seen a cathedral knows what I am referring to and to whom: the master masons of freestone. Documents which have survived these original lodges reveal the one secret which is the ultimate trade secret. For example, the Regensburg Document of 1459 describes the unification of nearly all German lodges, including those of Switzerland and Alsace, and was confirmed by the Emperor Maximilian I in 1498. This document contains the instruction that “..no workman, nor master ... Review: Behind the Wire Review: Ancient Traces Review: Freemasonry: A Celebration of the Craft Review: John Lennon Anthology Old Fireglass Your old fat friend has been frolicking fiendishly in the beautiful City of Lichfield once again. I headed for this wonderful oasis where there are no less than 34 watering holes, but on this occasion favoured a new venue called the Hog’s Head. This is a Whitbread house ... Two Cautionary Tales Any reader who can do me the compliment of remembering the first piece I wrote for this publication will also realise that by encouraging champagne lovers to go out to Champagne itself and buy there, I was biting the hand that fed me, so to speak. Most penny-conscious drinkers ... Letters to the Editor The Conundrum Solved — Iniquitous Measures — Grand Canyon: the Solution — Rosslyn Again — Jermyn — Masonic Hospital — Act Now — Above Us the Waves — Communicate The Country Stewards Lodge Since masonic records began, never has a single lodge caused such disruption in Grand Lodge as the Country Stewards. The story begins with the Grand Feast, held in London for many years and presided over by the Grand Master. It was thought that a Country Feast might also be held, both to honour the Deputy Grand Master and to provide an enjoyable day-out of fund raising for masonic charities. The first was held in 1735 and its success might have led one to imagine it would continue forever, but for the events which I shall now relate ...   Issue 07, Winter 1998/99 © FreemasonryToday 1997-2008