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BACK NEXT Spring 2000 Issue 12 Tobias Churton - Letter from the Editor Masons at Work Plumblines The Cornerstone Society A Virgin Islands Lodge The Order of Women Freemasons Mystery of the Acception A Night Out With The Boys The Gentle Giant Freemasonry and Natural Religion Early Theatrical Posters Review: Circles of Stone Review: The Secret Chamber Review: Uriel's Machine The Masonic Benefit Society It Could Only Happen in America Brother Lightfoote's Journal Rule Britannia? Stiletto Letters to the Editor Sincerity Copyright 1997-2010 Grand Lodge Publications Ltd Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint

FREEMASONRY TODAY Spring 2000 - Issue 12 - Index Tobias Churton - Letter from the Editor A letter arrived towards the end of February from Donald Davinson, Deputy Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Yorkshire North and East Ridings. He writes: “I am thoroughly enjoying Freemasonry Today. What bemuses is that I have been waving it at the assembled throng on all my official occasions and telling them that here is an answer to many of the questions and unpleasantnesses flung at us by the outside world. The result? Someone sidles up to me afterwards and asks me what it was I had waved, claiming that they had never heard of it before ... Masons at Work Grand Lodges of Moldova and Ukraine formed — French Grand Master speaks out — Aid to Indian Cyclone Appeal — Hong Kong children visit Tokyo Disneyland — US Grand Commander and Secrecy — Toys for Timor — Masons finance facelift — Brazilian and Croatian Grand Lodges recognised — Olympian’s boost to lifeboat — Chernobyl children’s lifeline — Beamish 2000 — Trollope’s links to Freemasonry — Northern Sole — Maltese crossover for Lodge — British Masons in Spain — Notable 200 years of Bank of England Lodge — Christmas present — Uxbridge support — Aid for Cancer Research — Springing a surprise — Web news Plumblines Off to a tee — A busy Lodge! — Logically speaking — Festival ambition — Angling for sponsors — Portuguese plans — Was this the first? — Hospice donations — Cheque from Province — Happy holidays — Lodge celebrates — Old Quintonians return — Divine Service — Grand Superintendent takes the Chair — Christmas cheer — Yorkshire tributes — Marquess was guest of honour — Old and new under same banner — Widows’ Brooch — Father and Son The Cornerstone Society More or less throughout the history of western civilisation there has been a general body of thought known as ‘the Mysteries’. In the ancient world, says W. Kirk MacNulty: ...the mysteries were a recognised public institution… based on a view of the world which is quite different from our contemporary scientific materialism. While our ‘universe’ is limited by physical phenomena, that of the ancient world contained, in addition, vast non-material realms which were not available to ordinary perception but were still considered to be part of the universe. Although the existence ... A Virgin Islands Lodge St Ursula Lodge No 8952 EC in the British Virgin Islands is probably the only lodge in the English Constitution to be named after a Mother Superior! In 1493, Christopher Columbus was on his way to Puerto Rico in the New World, when he was blown northwards off his course into a large group of small islands. Columbus was so impressed by the number of small islands – over thirty of them – that he named them ‘Las Once-Mil Virgines’, the 11,000 Virgins. This event took place on October 22nd, the day on which the Church commemorated ’11,000 Virgins Day’ ... The Order of Women Freemasons A grey January afternoon in Notting Hill, lately the setting for the Hollywood blockbuster of the same name. In it boy meets girl and they fall in love against the vivid backdrop of Notting Hill bohemia. When boy and girl are Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, then Notting Hill is bound to acquire the status of ‘cool’ in the collective psyche of Londoners.. Notting Hill however proves to be even more than already meets the eye, never mind its newly acquired fame ... Mystery of the Acception It is well known that the origins of modern Freemasonry are still shrouded in mystery. On the face of it, it would appear there is little early evidence of the movement before 1717, with the notable exception of the making of ... A Night Out With The Boys The highest-ranking Freemason in the judiciary has told FMT that, in his opinion, Grand lodge should have a register of Freemasons available for anyone who wished to inspect it, including journalists and MPs. Speaking from his office in the House of Lords, the Rt Hon the Lord Millett PC, who is a Royal Arch Grand Officer, also told how he did not take the ritual and the secrecy at all seriously, adding: “But then I don’t think anyone in the higher echelons ..." The Gentle Giant Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE, affectionately known as “The King” or sometimes “The Gentle Giant” is an unassuming, courteous and softly-spoken man who should have every good reason to boast about his prowess on the cricket field, his work for the United Nations, his endeavours for the under privileged sections of the community ... Freemasonry and Natural Religion This article is an attempt to discuss how Freemasonry in the English tradition gradually tended away from the Christianity of the operative masons to the ‘natural religion’ of the Enlightenment from the 14th century onwards. I will consider this by analysing the changes of the First Charge of a Freemason concerning God and religion in the light of their historical and philosophical contexts in three steps. First, I will examine the Christian characteristics ... Early Theatrical Posters The ritual text for a Master investing an organist states: “Freemasonry, from the earliest period of its history, has availed itself of the aid of music in the performance of its rites and ceremonies.” Indeed, when Freemasons’ Hall was built in 1775 special allocations were made for the accommodation not only of an organ but also a complete orchestra both of which, with a full voice choir, performed on the occasion of the dedication of the Hall on 23 May 1776. From the early 18th century the Freemasons supported the arts. This is best reflected in the colourful and detailed ... Review: Circles of Stone Review: The Secret Chamber Review: Uriel's Machine The Masonic Benefit Society From the earliest days of operative Masonry, there has been a tradition of ‘looking after one's own’. Operative masons who had fallen upon hard times could doubtless call upon their better-off colleagues for assistance in a brotherly spirit to help tide them over until their circumstances had improved, and Freemasons were no different. Although an integral part of a Freemason’s life, the first serious attempt to organise a charitable institution for all masons ... It Could Only Happen in America Freemasonry in America gives $1,500,000 a day to charities. That’s right. One and a half million dollars a day. It’s also particularly nice to report when the same organisation uses its efforts to remember religious minorities and bring them unobtrusively into their celebrations. This is about to happen in Charleston, South Carolina. In Charleston on May 31st 1801, eleven gentlemen founded the masonic organisation called the Scottish Rite. Consequently, on May 31st 2001, members of the Rite will be celebrating their bi-centenary. We know that four of the founding eleven were Jewish ... Brother Lightfoote's Journal I am only just returned, and only just intact, following a visit to Hereford: that lonely outpost on the wild, Welsh Marches, where I slept little but changed much. It was The Messiah that bade me go there. I refer not to a summons from the Lord but to one from an old school fellow, to attend a performance of the late Mr. Handel’s wonderful oratorio in the cathedral and a Third Degree ceremony in the Ethelbert Lodge, of which he is currently master: my old friend, that is, not the late Mr. Handel. The season of Lent is, appropriately, gloomy, but Lightfoote’s spirits ... Rule Britannia? When, last year, the French decided not to allow our excellent beef back into their country, I thought the time was ripe to have a look again at English wine. Now that so much good wine comes into Britain from the antipodes, America north and south, South Africa, as well as other countries in Europe, it is quite possible to boycott French wines without penalising oneself too much. This would be a mistake, however, since the French, when they get it right, make better wines than anyone else in the world. Unless your political views govern your gastronomic activity ... Stiletto Try to picture the scene, please. Old friend is draped over pink sofa with restorative glass of wine. She is in the throes of a sobering and maturing task, the clearing out and disposing of the contents of a house, her parents-in-laws’ house, who, after celebrating their diamond wedding, had died romantically within a week of each other. “You’ll never believe what we have found. There’s all this stuff. Masonic stuff. John’s brought it back here. I can’t think why. It’s filled half the spare room. What can we do with it? There are books, papers, er.. and an apron.. in a box… with a fur lining ... Letters to the Editor Masonry and Religion — Daylight Lodge — Greece — Wallers not Walkers — Change — Tradition — Masons and Biographers — Five Generations — Borneo Sincerity How often one has heard a visitor, struggling to find something complimentary to say about a rather poor ceremony, falling back on “..but it was so sincere…”, implying that we all knew it wasn’t perfect but the intention was there. Oddly enough, this is almost the exact opposite of what the word ‘sincere’ originally meant! The word came into use via the French ‘sincère’ in the 16th century, having started as the Latin sincerus, meaning clean, pure sound. This in its turn was actually a combination of two Latin words: sine, meaning ‘without, and cera, meaning ‘wax’ ...   Issue 12, Spring 2000 © Grand Lodge Publications Ltd 1997-2010