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BACK NEXT Autumn 2004 Issue 30 Letter from the Editor News and Views On The Level International news Julian Rees Band of Brothers Guests of Egypt The Masonic Rebellion in Liverpool Freemasonry and the Spanish Civil War In the Middle Chamber Masonic History at "The Knole" Brother Lightfoote's Journal Letters to the Editor Review: The Magic Flute Review: The A to Z of Victorian London Review: The History of the Knights of Malta Lodge No. 50 Review: Fahrenheit 9/11 Canon Richard Tydeman Copyright 1997-2008 FREEMASONRY TODAY Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Autumn 2004 - Issue 30 - Index Michael Baigent - Letter from the Editor Children are not combatants. Every child has a right to life, to love, to a future which allows them to choose their path. Seeing the images of the traumatised children and parents of Beslan desperately escaping from that wrecked school gymnasium brought tears to my eyes. In a daily diet of media revelations exposing the pitiless inhumanity of humanity this reached yet another level of horror. Sadly, we have seen it all before: in the Balkans, Rwanda, the indiscriminate horrors of Northern Ireland, Israel, Iraq, and who knows what is happening in southern Sudan? ... News and Views Suffolk Provincial Grand Master Installed — New Provincial Grand Master for Worcestershire — Library Awarded Second Grant — Police Freemasons Under Scrutiny — New Minibus for RMBI Home — East Lancashire Hits £4 Million Plus — Berkshire Freemasons Multi-Faith Initiative — West Lancs Masonic Clay Pigeon Shooting — Warwickshire Freemasons Walk to Church — Charitable Hampshire — Rochester Cathedral Masonic Fresco — Freemasons Run for Crisis ... On the Level Provincial Canine Officer for Devon — Berks Air Ambulance — Herts Wanderers — Kidderminster Bell — Canonbury Masonic Research Centre — Centre for Research into Freemasonry, Sheffield University — The Cornerstone Society — Quatuor Coronati ... International news Michigan Masons Donate to Beautification Project — Ghana Regalia Appeal — Grand Master of Droit Humain Honoured by France — Lodge Archives Survive Great Fire of Chicago — Recognition of Grand Lodge of Bulgaria — 200 Years Ancient and Accepted Rite in France ... Julian Rees A year ago I wrote an article on wisdom, strength and beauty, the three pillars which support a Freemason’s lodge. As we know, they are emblematically present in our lodges in the form of the three lesser lights. The Master’s words: ‘You are now enabled to discover the three lesser lights: they are situated east, south and west, and are meant to represent the sun, moon and Master of the lodge; the sun to rule the day,’ (but point to the south), ‘the moon to govern the night,’ (but point to the west), ‘and the Master to rule and direct his lodge’ (indicate the Master’s column). By doing it this way, the candidate is less confused than he might be! ... Band of Brothers I was privileged to be in Normandy for the sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day landings. I trust that the vast majority of readers will be well acquainted with what happened on 6 June 1944. The operation was, quite simply, the greatest feat of arms in history. The logistics are almost incomprehensible: an armada of five thousand ships, eleven thousand aircraft and, most importantly, a hundred and thirty-three thousand men delivered to ... Guests of Egypt It takes about forty minutes to walk through the desert at Dahshur from the Red Pyramid to the Bent Pyramid. Few attempt it, but it is a journey charged with a strong sense of the immediate presence of the past. The wind blows. Ahead stretches desert and, in the distance, a pyramid with its distinctive change of angle half-way up its sides. Behind you stands another. Both loom out of the dunes. And as you walk, you are passing over ... The Masonic Rebellion in Liverpool On 22 December 1823 at the Shakespeare Tavern in Williamson Square, Liverpool, a gathering of masonic rebels took place. The door to the lodge room was closed and guarded by the Grand Tyler, the masons present settled and watched as Brother Michael Alexander Gage took the chair. The lodge was opened in the third degree, and the minutes of the previous meeting were read. That last meeting on 21 July had been adjourned, but now ... Freemasonry and the Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War was really a foretaste of a much larger conflict to come, but in many respects was no less savage, as terrible atrocities were committed on both sides. As so often happens in times of violent flux the situation polarized, the moderates were pushed aside, and the extremists gained the upper hand. On 15 May 1937 Largo Caballero (a Freemason) resigned as Prime Minister, and Dr Juan Negrin (a non-mason) ... In the Middle Chamber Without individual initiation, Freemasonry is nothing. Each candidate for the mysteries of Freemasonry needs to be taken on that journey which the rituals provide in order that he might finally stand on the frontier where this world links with the next: a frontier brilliantly symbolized by the illustration of Jacob’s Ladder which stands at the heart of the tracing board displayed whenever any Lodge is first opened. The Cornerstone Society exists to provide some insights by which masons might continue their journey towards a deeper understanding of our ritual ... Masonic History at "The Knole" Entering from the north, it is not easy to immediately appreciate the size and beauty of the one time Victorian gentlemen’s residence, The Knole, now the Freemasons Hall in Boscombe, Bournemouth. After its completion in 1873 for Edmund Christie, the imposing Mansion was inhabited by a number of famous people including Sir Henry Page Croft, the first MP for Bournemouth. In 1957 it was purchased by the combined effort of the two Masonic centres ... Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo He who is tired of London is tired of life. So says Doctor Samuel ‘See what a Big Dictionary I’ve got’ Johnson. If one might suggest the first addition to the second edition, let it be: According to Johnson, Lightfoote is suicidal, yet it is not myself that I am desirous of doing away with, rather the legion of louts and low life who currently make living in the metropolis unbearable. Until recently, our capital city was a capital place to be. Now, suddenly, London is full to bursting with a plethora of pultrons, pantaloons, pimps and pigwidgeons ... Letters to the Editor Royal Arch Changes — Enhance What We Have — One-Day Classes — The Secret Monitor — Music in Lodges — Chelsea Lodge Centenary — Unknown Jewel — What's for Afters? ... Review: The Magic Flute Review: The A to Z of Victorian London Review: The History of the Knights of Malta Lodge No. 50 Review: Fahrenheit 9/11 Who Were Moses, Aholiab and Bezaleel? These three men get a mention in the Royal Arch but it is a very brief mention and little more is said about them afterwards. So what is their claim to fame? At the beginning of the book Exodus in the Bible the Hebrews had been in Egypt for several generations and had increased in number to such an extent that the Egyptian Pharaoh determined to reduce their population by a species of genocide: male Hebrew babies were to be destroyed at birth. A couple named Amram and Jochabed, who already had a teenage daughter, Miriam, and a three-year-old son, Aaron, now produced a new son and did their best to keep him alive. After three months in hiding, Jochabed ...   Issue 30, Autumn 2004 © FreemasonryToday 1997-2008