Thursday, December 31, 2015

End of the Year

Well, another year has come and gone. This year started with an adventure to Washington DC where I spent four months working as an Intern for the US Senate. My time in DC was amazing, full of experiences and lessons. I'm glad for the experience, but DC is too humid and too expensive (living on the wages of an intern). Coming home started a new adventure with Grad School and a trip up to Seattle for the Grand Assembly for the Red Cross of Constantine.

The fall brought more Grad school and the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Idaho where I gave my Grand Oration. The rest of the fall flew by in a whirlwind of Masonic meetings and tons of reading for Grad school. The winter break came with enjoyable news: I achieved a 4.0 for the semester. The rest of the time has been spending time with family and more reading for my Master's Thesis. 

Now, I'm again spending New Year's Eve with some of the guys I was in charge of in the Army National Guard. 2016 is going to be an exciting year for me.



















Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas

To all of my family, friends, and Brothers whithersoever dispersed around the globe:



Thursday, December 24, 2015

Kappa Sigma Bio: John Covert Boyd

The fourth of the Kappa Sigma founders was John Covert Boyd. The son of William Simms Boyd and Laura Nelson Covert, he was born on December 24, 1850, near Bradford Springs, South Carolina.

Boyd attended the University of Virginia from 1869 to 1871, during the fall semester he was a founder of the Kappa Sigma fraternity where he served as Grand Scribe. In the second year at UVA, Boyd followed in the footsteps of his father and entered into the medical program, but the next year transferred to the University of the City of New York. After attaining his Doctorate in Medicine in 1872, he became a surgeon and, later, medical director of the United States Navy Medical Corps.

In 1887, he married Katherine Dorr Willard who gave him a daughter, Alice, and a son, Walter (who would go on to join Kappa Sigma).

His naval career also included serving as Assistant to the Chief of the Naval Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and representative to the Association of Military Surgeons of the United StatesIn 1902 he became a professor for the Navy Medical College and also took charge of writing the book of instruction for medical officers. In 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt appointed him to the Board of Incorporators and Executive Committee of the American Red Cross.

He was also a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United State, member of the American Medical Association, member of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, member of the Archaeological Institution of America, and an honorary member of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia

John Covert Boyd died on July 7, 1927, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

References

1. Five Friends and Brothers. (n.d.). http://www.umich.edu/~kappasig/5Brothers.htm

2. John Covert Boyd. (n.d.). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Covert_Boyd

3. The Five Founders. (n.d.). https://quizlet.com/54353742/the-five-founders-flash-cards/

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Winter Solstice

Tonight at 9:49 PM (Mountain Standard Time) marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the longest night of the year. After the Winter Solstice, the days will start to get longer again and the nights shorter. As the Earth is slanted on its axis (23.5°), anything north of the Arctic Circle receives no direct sunlight during this time. This slant is what causes our seasons. Astronomical events such as this were used as guides for planting and harvesting crops as well as monitoring food reserves. Starvation was common so it was necessary to ensure there would be enough to last through to Spring. The Winter Solstice was often the last big feast before snuggling down for the wintertime. As a way to save food for humans, the cattle were slaughtered which provided a source of fresh meat.

The Winter Solstice plays an important in role several cultures and religions around the globe and has done so for more than 6,000 years. The Winter Solstice is one of the most important events in human history. While the traditions and faiths varied, the celebrations surrounded the celebration of the rebirth of the sun, the rebirth and victory of light over darkness, and often personified in the rebirth of a savior or messianic gods such as Attis for the Romans, Dionysus for the Greeks, Mithra for the Persians, Horus for the Egyptians, Tammuz for the Sumerians, and the list goes on.

In ancient Rome, there was held a week-long (December 17th to December 24th) held feast called Saturnalia in honor of the titan Saturn, father of the gods, who was considered a god of time and of the sun. During this time, work and business were stopped in lieu of feasting and frivolities; often turning into debauchery. As the Roman religion was an inclusive one they adopted more and more gods who shared the Winter Solstice as their birthday, so Emperor Aurelian established the 25th as  "Dies Natalis Invicti Solis" or rather "the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun."


The ancient Greeks held also held a festival similar to Saturnalia, but they called theirs "Lenaea" and served to honor Dionysus. Sources say that "Lenaea" translates into "the Festival of the Wild Women" where women would dance together without any male companionship. It was said that either a goat or a bull would be slaughtered during this celebration as a sacrifice to the gods.


The ancient Germanic and Nordic pagans would celebrate the Winter Solstice by honoring Jólner during their festival "Yule"; often spelled in a variety of different ways. Jólner was one of the many names of the Norse god Odin. During this festival, sacrifices were performed to gain the blessing of the gods on their crops during the next harvest. Yule Logs would be burned and could last 12-days, during which time the people could eat. The fires were not just lit for the food, but were also used to commemorate the light of the returning sun that was soon to come. Germanic practices have had an influence on modern Christmas lore such as Santa Claus, but that figure is influenced by a number of cultures and ancient practices to be discussed at another time.

Celtic druids celebrated "Alban Arthan" which translates to "Light of Arthur" and is supposedly the day when King Arthur was born. Some of the ancient Celtics believed the sun stood still for 12-days and to counter the darkness and shortening day, they light fires. These ancient people and others built megaliths such as Newgrange in Ireland or Stonehenge in England. Newgrange is located in the valley of the Boyne River (north of Dublin) and is said to be around 5200-years old (older than Giza and Stonehenge). This structure is perfectly aligned to the sunrise of the Winter Solstice. Some say that as the rays pierce through the window into the tomb of Newgrange is said to represent the rays of their sun god uniting with mother earth, thus bringing new life to the world. In addition to sacrifices, plants also served a purpose for the Celts as some like mistletoe were said to have magical and protective powers.

While it's not exactly known what type of religious ritual was used, but pyramids have been found in South America (like Peru and Brazil) that are aligned with the Winter Solstice.

In the Hebrew tradition, Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is practiced and commemorates the dedication of the Second Temple. This holiday lasts for 8-days, but the exact time when it occurs changes as the Jewish calendar doesn't coincide with the Gregorian calendar used today; it may occur at any time from late November to late December. Some argue that Hanukkah isn't a solstice festival as it based on a lunar calendar, but it has many characteristics of a solstice festival.


For those of us in the Christian faith, the Winter Solstice is a time for Christmas that doesn't rest on this day, but the 25th of December. In early Christianity, there was neither Christmas nor any correlation with Christ's birth to this time of year. During the 4th century, Rome was going through a conversion from the various pagan religions to Christianity and as such, to better ease the conversion, Pope Julius I chose December 25th as the birth of Christ as a replacement for "Dies Natalis Invicti Solis." It would take several centuries before most of Christendom would universally practice Christmas in some form. Many Biblical scholars believe that Jesus of Nazareth would have been born in the fall and some argue it was in the springtime. Many would criticize the Christian faith for such things, but I find the discrepancies to be irrelevant as we Christians are celebrating the birth of Christ, not the day itself so the exact date of his birth means very little.


In Freemasonry, the solstices are affiliated with the Holy Saints John, our patron saints. These two serve as a balance of the virtues every Mason should have and which lead to enlightenment. Some have pointed to the Point Within A Circle as a representation of the solstices and which one can see: the two saints standing on either side of a circle to represent the points in time that would equate to the summer and winter solstices which align closely to the Feast Days for each of the Saints John.

Whatever your faith may be, I hope you enjoy this day and Happy Holidays!

References

1. Celebrating Winter Solstice. (n.d.). Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/celsolstice.html

2. December Solstice. (n.d.). Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice.html

3. December Solstice Customs. (n.d.). Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice-customs.html

4. Fox, S. (n.d.). Celebrating Winter Solstice. Retrieved December 22, 2015, from https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/celebrating-the-seasons/celebrating-winter-solstice

5. Lund, K. (n.d.). How to Have a Solstice Celebration. Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://life.gaiam.com/article/how-have-solstice-celebration


6. Mintz, Z. (2014, December 19). Winter Solstice 2014: 3 Things To Know About Pagan Yule Celebrations. Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.ibtimes.com/winter-solstice-2014-3-things-know-about-pagan-yule-celebrations-1763756

7. Point Within A Circle. (n.d.). Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.masonic-lodge-of-education.com/point-within-a-circle.html

8. Robinson, B. (n.d.). Winter Solstice. Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice0.htm

9. Waskow, A. (n.d.). Hanukkah and the Winter Solstice. Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hanukkah-and-the-winter-solstice/

10. Winter Solstice. (n.d.). Retrieved December 22, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Appointed Sentinel

Today St. Michael's Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine held elections and Knight Companion Art Shoemaker, Junior Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Idaho, was elected and then installed as Puissant Sovereign. I was appointed by him to serve as Sentinel for the ensuing year which puts me into the progressive line of officers for my Conclave. For the last 3-years, I've served as Orator for my Conclave which position has a large part in the ritual of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine as he gives the historical lecture of the order.


Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Let There Be Light

From "Rosaecrucian Hymns", The American Rosae Crucis, March 1916:

God, whose Almighty word 
Chaos and darkness heard, 
     And took their flight; 
Hear us, we humbly pray; 
And, where the symbol of the day 
Sheds not its glorious ray, 
     Let there be Light!

Spirit of Truth and Love, 
Life-giving, holy Dove, 
     Speed forth thy flight! 
Move on the waters' face 
Bearing the lamp of Grace, 
And in earth's darkest place 
     Let there be Light!

Holy and blessed Three, 
           Glorious Trinity, 
     Truth, Love, Light! 
Boundless as ocean's tide 
Rolling in fullest pride, 
Through the Earth, far and wide, 
     Let there be Light!

Thursday, November 26, 2015

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.




Sunday, November 15, 2015

The Templar's Dream

by Virginia A. Edwards


A Templar Knight of noble deed 
was summoned by his holy creed, 
to fight for Christ and plant His seed, 
for those who pierced His heart to bleed.

The splendid Savior's name would rise, 
as rightful King in pagan eyes. 
Oh that would be his greatest prize, 
for that one man should gladly die!

His stallion white was armored well, 
the gallant night would vanquish hell. 
To conquer where his foes did dwell, 
he swore their pride would soon be felled. 

His Lord the victor of the world, 
the unbelievers would be hurled. 
So help him if he fought alone, 
to capture rightly Land and Home, 
for on that Knight God's Light had shown.

That valiant knight soon from his quest, 
his tired bones then sought some rest. 
He knew his sleep would thus be blessed, 
for safe was he in battle dressed.
With sword in sheath, and shield aside 
he laid to rest his Christian pride. 

Beneath an Olive tree he knelt, 
and in God's name he freed his cry: 
"My Lord I simply can not go 
by weariness and fear, 
I think it best to close my eyes 
until my strength is here."

Now madness settled rather fast, 
imbuing him with dream. 
Upon a city oe'r the hills, 
the Lord shown down His Beam.

The knight could see from distance great, 
in darkness oe'r the land, 
A brilliant cross that burnished bright, 
and holding it a hand.

How small it was beneath the stars 
that lit the cobalt skies. 
He strained to focus on its shape, 
and it vanished from his eyes. 

With that our brave knight shook his head, 
and nodded from his dream. 
He splashed upon his sweating brow, 
some water from a stream.

Inspired evermore was he 
to crush the infidel, 
who cursed the precious Land of Christ 
with foreign tongue and spell.

He reached the mighty City gate, 
and galloped in with storm. 
The unbelievers froze in place, 
by his swiftly iron form.

"I've come here in the name of Christ, 
to save His sacred Land!",
and from his breast plate pulled a cross 
that glistened in his hand.

Then by his solo fighting band, 
he swung his sword in efforts grand. 
But the flashing blade was soon oppressed, 
and our valiant Knight in chain mail dressed 
met his Sainthood by his actions blessed. 
For he died with arrows in his chest.

No cry of anguish fled his lips, 
nor gasp of rasping breath. 
For the cross of Christ that won his life, 
had saved him from true Death.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Veteran's Day 2015

To all of my Brother and Sister Veterans and all of those who are still serving today, I thank you for your service.


Sunday, November 8, 2015

The Swedish Rite of Freemasonry

One of the things I love about Freemasonry is traveling and visiting Lodges around the world. On my list of places to still visit is a Lodge in Sweden (or any of the northern European countries really) as they practice a variation of Freemasonry called the Swedish Rite. It differs from the rest of Grand Lodge systems in that to even petition an aspirant must be of the Christian faith, but they do not dictate the denomination or exact practice. This rite is composed of the following 10 degrees and 2 honorary degrees:
St John's Lodge:
1. Entered Apprentice
 2. Fellowcraft
 3. Master Mason
St Andrew's Lodge:
4. Scottish Apprentice
5. Scottish Fellow 
6. Scottish Master 
Chapter:
7. Knight of the East
8. Knight of the West
9. Knight of the South
10. Confident of St. Andrew 
The High Council:
11. Knight Companion of the Red Cross 
12. Vicar of Solomon
The Swedish Rite is practiced commonly in Nordic countries, but each country has its Grand Lodge that governs its own jurisdiction; there's no supreme authority over the entire Swedish Rite, but these Grand Lodges work together to keep the uniformity with the ritual. A slight variation of the Swedish Rite is practiced by the Grosse Landesloge der Freimaurer von Deutschland (one of five recognized by the United Grand Lodges of Germany). The Swedish Rite is a peculiar system that was influenced by the English Freemasonry, French Freemasonry, German Freemasonry and the Rite of Strict Observance, Gnosticism, and Rosicrucianism. You also see similarities with the York Rite and a couple degrees from the Scottish Rite, but this may be due to the fact that they were influenced by the same sources. It is also interesting to see that with the Swedish Rite, you don't see any other appendant bodies in existence in that jurisdiction.

Freemasonry was introduced to Sweden by Count Axel Wrede-Sparre who had gone to France serving as a Cavalry officer and while there became a Freemason. Once back in Sweden, he started a Lodge composed of those who also had joined Freemasonry abroad; many of them were of high nobility. In 1735, he initiated his brother-in-law, Count Carl Gustaf Tessin, in Stockholm. This Lodge was short-lived and ceased to exist around 1748. In 1752, Count Knut Posse founded the Lodge St. Jean Auxiliaire, receiving a charter from the Grand Master from Paris, and many of the Masons living in Sweden, including Count Axel Wrede-Sparre, joined this Lodge. This Lodge would become known as the ”Mother-Lodge of Sweden” (a pseudo-Grand Lodge) and who began issuing charters to Lodges through Sweden and Finland. To expand Freemasonry, the Swedish Lodges opened their Lodges to Christian men of other classes outside the nobility.

In 1756, Carl Fredrik Eckleff with six Brothers formed the Scottish Lodge L’Innocente in Stockholm which worked the so-called Scottish St Andrew´s degrees. By 1759, Eckleff was able to found a Grand Chapter in Stockholm and was said to be authorized by a foreign patent, but it's not known where this patent originated. An official Grand Lodge of Sweden would be founded the following year, but would not have authority over the Scottish St Andrew´s degreesEckleff was instrumental in starting to mold a system of Freemasonry that had a Christian basis. The Swedish Rite was further developed by Charles XIII, who would eventually become King of Sweden and King of Norway, and became Grand Master of Sweden. Over the years he would create a system of degrees that were not just progressive, but seen as continuous. Charles XIII would eventually head both the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter, and which would lead to the unification of Freemasonry under one authority. According to Bro. Burton E. Bennett in the paper "The Swedish Rite of Freemasonry" the following Templar legend is used by this rite: 
The story is that Jesus told secrets to some of his apostles that he did not tell to others, and, also, told secrets to the Essenes, of whom he was one; that these secrets were handed down as a mystery through the Essenes, and that at the time of the Crusades they were greatly oppressed by the Saracens, and while seven of them, Syric Christians, were fleeing from the Saracens they were rescued by the Knights Templars.
They stayed with them in Jerusalem and imparted to the Templar priests their secrets. These were handed down in this Order till it was abolished and the priests dispersed. They were not molested to the extent that the seculars were, and with their secret knowledge they kept their secret writings. Some of them fled to Scotland, where they founded a priory, and from there their secrets gradually spread to the continent of Europe, and finally reached Sweden.
There are many theories of Templar continuation and its association to the Masonic fraternity, but many of them are made up to increase or enhance the pedigree of a new Masonic knighthood. Brother and Sir Knight Stephen Dafoe, Past Grand Historian of the Great Priory of Canada, wrote a book called "Compasses and the Cross" where he goes through the various myths and legends to see which ones are based on fact and which ones are not.

In 1776 Charles XIII was elected as Grand Master of the Rite of Strict Observance. The Rite of Strict Observance was founded in Germany. In the 1740s a few German Lodges started giving their Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts the names of French Knights. Most of these Lodges were in Dresden, but Baron von Hund founded one of these Lodges on his estates East of Dresden around 1751. It was from the close ties of these Lodges that the Rite of Strict Observance was created. It was said that the Rite originated with C.G. Marschall von Bieberstein, who had founded two of the Lodges in Germany; one in Dresden and one in Naumber called “Lodge of the Three Hammers”. Von Hund is said to have taken over after von Bieberstein died in 1750. Under von Hund’s watch, the Rites degrees consisted of: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, Master Mason, Scottish Master, Novice, and Knights Templar. The Scottish Master's degree concerned itself with the preservation of the lost word of Freemasonry which had been cut on a plate of pure metal, placed in a secure location, and centuries later discovered. This was not an exclusive belief as the Ecossais degrees used this, which had sprung up after Ramsey’s Oration. One of the strangest aspects of the Rite of Strict Observance was that the adherence had to swear an oath to blindly follow the directives of "Unknown Superiors" who ruled the order. This invisible leader was said to have possibly been Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender. This was the same man whom Ramsey had tried to tutor some year prior. There is a lack of evidence that supports this idea, but nonetheless, the invisible rulers are said to have communicated through Baron von Hund. After von Hund’s death on 28 October 1776, the Rite began to go downhill. Charles XIII only served for 2-years as Grand Master and it is believed he resigned for political reasons. The 1782 Congress of Wilhelmsbad was held and as a result, it was resolved by the Freemasons to present that Freemasonry were not descendants of the Templars, that there were no “unknown superiors” to hand out instruction, and soon after the Rite came to an end, but as a result, the Rectified Scottish Rite emerged.

Influenced by his time as Grand Master of the Rite of Strict Observance and using the foundations by Eckleff, Charles XIII created the degree system used by the Swedish Rite that is still seen today. Aside from being the driving force of the Swedish Rite, Charles XIII also set precedence. After his tenure as Grand Master, all Kings of Sweden served as Grand Master of Sweden until King Gustaf VI Adolf died in 1973; after Gustaf died, King Carl XVI Gustaf (the new Swedish king) didn't want to become a Freemason although he is considered the "High Protector of the Swedish Order of Freemasons." Since the death of Gustaf, other members of the Royal House, often titled "Prince," have served as Grand Master and, have in past, also filled the positions of Pro Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master. The current Grand Master is Anders Strömberg.


As stated above, the Swedish Rite is a continuous system and is best described as a ladder reaching from the bottom of a deep well. At the bottom, an aspirant looms in darkness, but upon being initiated an Entered Apprentice Mason he steps upon the first rung of the ladder, striving for the light. In the Swedish Rite, the climb is slow and one is only allowed to pass to the next rung if he has proven himself worthy; it can take up to 2-years for one to become a Master Mason and another 15-20 years to be elevated to the 10th degree. Only a select few reach the uppermost rung of the ladder. The first three degrees are those of any other Grand Lodge, those of Craft Masonry, or the degrees of a St. John's Lodge:

The first three degrees are similar, but have noticeable differences. One such example is that the Fellowcraft degree does not include the 7 Liberal Arts & Sciences and is more concerned with fraternalism and setting the stage for the story of the degree of Master Mason.


The three "Scottish" degrees of St. Andrew's Lodge (4° - 6°) are similar to other "Ecossais" degrees which deal with the preservation and recovery of the Master's Word. These degrees can be compared to the Royal Arch and Select Master in the York Rite as well as Scotch Master in the French Rite.


The Knight of the East is the 7th degree of the Swedish Rite and depicts the erection of the Second Temple after the Jews were released from Babylonian captivity. This degree is comparable to the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross in the York Rite as well as the degrees of the Order of Knight Masons and 15° of the Scottish Rite. To sit as Warden of a St. John's Lodge (1° - 3°), one must possess this degree. The 8th degree, or Knight of the West, is the first Templar order conferred in this system which is based upon the Templar legend explained above; that the Templars fled to Scotland where they founded the Masonic fraternity and through England and then France led to the establishment of Freemasonry in Sweden. To be elected as Master of a St. John's Lodge, one must possess this degree. The 9th degree, or Knight of the South, is a Hermetic degree and has influence from Rosicrucianism which had flourished towards the end of the 18th century. The Confident of St. Andrew is the 10th degree and is described as a "mythical crusading" degree and is comparable to the 29° of the Scottish Rite. 


The 11th degree, or Knight Companion of the Red Cross, is a degree reserved for past and present Grand Lodge officers and has a membership limit of 33. The 12th degree is called the "Vicar of Solomon" and the only one who holds this degree is the Grand Master.


In American Freemasonry, the various offices are sought after, but in the Swedish Rite, the degrees are the focus of the members. From research, a Master of a St. John's Lodge will serve in that position for 4-years and is supported by Deputies and Wardens. In comparison to other Grand Lodges, the Swedish Rite is considered an autocratic system where most of the power lies with the Grand Master. This came about as a result of the times. In the 18th century, Freemasonry was decentralized with very few Grand Lodges formed in Europe which was causing conflicts to arise everywhere. To ensure no strife would arise within the emerging Swedish Rite, it was seen as necessary that it be built upon a strong central authority, the Grand Master.

Due to the Swedish Rite's very secretive nature, there isn't as much information out there in comparison to other Masonic rites, but it is a fascinating rite to study nonetheless. I recommend watching "Episode 44 - Swedish Rite" by the Masonic Roundtable for more information.

References

1. Bennett, Burton E. The Degrees of the Swedish Rite. September 1924. http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/the_builder_1924_september.htm. 


2. Bennett, Burton E. The Swedish Rite of Freemasonry. January 1926. http://www.themasonictrowel.com/Articles/General/other_files/the_swedish_rite_of_freemasonry.htm. 

3. Davidson, Alex G. The Swedish Constitution. 2005. http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/swedish_constitution.html. 

4. Swedish Rite. n.d. http://www.worldlibrary.org/articles/swedish_rite. 


5. Swedish Rite. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Rite.

6. Swedish Rite FAQ. March 18, 1998. http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/swedish_faq.html. 

7. The Grand Lodge of Sweden. n.d. https://www.frimurarorden.se/information-in-english/the-grand-lodge-of-sweden/.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. I just got back from a meeting of Salish Court No.96 of the Masonic Order of Athelstan. Now it's time to get dressed into my costume and head to a Halloween Party a friend is throwing.


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Masonic Week 2016

The 2016 Masonic Week schedule has been published. Masonic Week originated with the Allied Masonic Degrees in 1938 and over time, more and more groups have jumped on board and expanded the program. The 2016 Masonic Week will be from February 11th to February 14th, and includes the following groups: the Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon, Masonic Order of Athelstan, Rectified Scottish Rite (or CBCS), Order of Knight Masons, Society of Blue Friars, Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest, Allied Masonic Degrees, Sovereign Order of Knights Preceptor, Ye Antiente Order of Corks, Grand College of Rites, the Philalethes Society, The Royal Order Masonic Knights of the Scarlet Cord of the United States of America, The Masonic Society, Masonic Order of the Bath, and the Operatives.

Official Program

Thursday, February 11th, 2016
8:00 AM - Trinity Chapel No.12, St. Thomas of Acon
10:00 AM - Grand Master’s Council Meeting
12:00 PM - Festive Board (Acon Members and the Ladies only)
1:30 PM - Potomac Court No.107, Order of Athelstan
3:00 PM - Provincial Grand Court of the United States of America for the Masonic Order of Athelstan
6:30 - The Great Priory of America, Chevaliers Bienfasants de la Cite Sainte

Friday, February 12th, 2016
7:30 AM - Breakfast sponsored by Convent General KYCH
8:30 AM - Grand Council Knight Masons, USA
11:00 AM - Society of Blue Friars
12:00 PM - Luncheon sponsored by the Knight Masons
1:00 PM - Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest, Grand College of America
4:30 - Allied Masonic Degrees
5:00 - Sovereign Order of Knights Preceptor
6:00 PM - Social Hour
7:00 PM - All Masonic Banquet
9:00 PM - Ye Antiente Order of Corks

Saturday, February 13th, 2016
7:00 AM - Breakfast sponsored by York Rite Sovereign College 
8:00 AM - Grand College of Rites of the USA 
9:30 AM - Nine Muses Council No.13, AMD
12:00 PM - Luncheon sponsored by The Philalethes Society
1:30 PM - Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees, USA
4:00 PM - Installation of the 2016-2017 Grand Council officers
4:30 PM - The Royal Order Masonic Knights of the Scarlet Cord of the United States of America 
7:00 PM - 7th Annual Banquet of the Masonic Society
9:00 PM - Masonic Order of the Bath

Sunday, February 14th, 2016
8:30 AM - Washington Monument Assemblage of the Operatives, United States of America Region
9:00 AM - Lodge of Menatzchim V°
10:30 AM - Lodge of Harodim VI°
12:00 - Washington Monument Assemblage
12:30 PM - Operatives Brunch 
I plan on attending again and look forward to seeing the Brethren from around the world.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Free Copy of "Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry?"

For Scottish Rite Masons of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction USA, you can receive a free electronic copy of “Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry?” by Bros. Arturo de Hoyos and Brent Morris. All you need to do is go to the Supreme Council's website, log in or create an account, go to “My Information,” update your information (if necessary), and click “Save Changes.” The PDF book will be emailed to your registered email address.

This book is written in response to the anti-Masonic misinformation that exists today about Freemasonry. Both authors provide extensive and detailed information to refute charges made by many anti-Masons and former Masons like Jim Shaw, who claimed he was a 33° Scottish Rite Mason but wasn'tIt's far more than just picking apart a couple of folks. It's a hard-hitting and evidence-based rebuttal of many claims made by those who would destroy Freemasonry.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Absence

The last several days have been a whirlwind of events. Two Thursdays ago (the 8th) I had a Commandery meeting, the next day was Past Master's Night at my Lodge, then on Saturday, I had to race up to Grandview (WA) for Knight Masons meeting where I was installed as Director of Ceremonies. I had a day off before going to the Fall Communication of the 7th Masonic District of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Idaho on Monday. Then this last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I had my hands full with attending the Northwest York Rite Conference. Once the conference was done by midday on Saturday I headed up to Idaho City to attend a meeting of an assembly of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls held in the historic Lodge. Now I'm catching up on some homework and have some time off to catch my breath. Next on my Masonic plate is more Lodge, York Rite stated meeting, Scottish Rite Reunion (I'm on a few degree teams), Masonic Order of Athelstan meeting in Issaquah (WA), and attending the Official Visit for my mother's Eastern Star Chapter.

With all of these events, the traveling, and working on my Master's degree, I will not be posting much over the next month, but I have some articles slowly being worked on and should be posted in November or December.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Howl

By Allen Ginsberg

I

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, 
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, 
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night, 
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz, 
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated, 
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war, 
who were expelled from the academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull, 
who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear, burning their money in wastebaskets and listening to the Terror through the wall, 
who got busted in their pubic beards returning through Laredo with a belt of marijuana for New York, 
who ate fire in paint hotels or drank turpentine in Paradise Alley, death, or purgatoried their torsos night after night 
with dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares, alcohol and cock and endless balls, 
incomparable blind streets of shuddering cloud and lightning in the mind leaping toward poles of Canada & Paterson, illuminating all the motionless world of Time between, 
Peyote solidities of halls, backyard green tree cemetery dawns, wine drunkenness over the rooftops, storefront boroughs of teahead joyride neon blinking traffic light, sun and moon and tree vibrations in the roaring winter dusks of Brooklyn, ashcan rantings and kind king light of mind, 
who chained themselves to subways for the endless ride from Battery to holy Bronx on benzedrine until the noise of wheels and children brought them down shuddering mouth-wracked and battered bleak of brain all drained of brilliance in the drear light of Zoo, 
who sank all night in submarine light of Bickford’s floated out and sat through the stale beer afternoon in desolate Fugazzi’s, listening to the crack of doom on the hydrogen jukebox, 
who talked continuously seventy hours from park to pad to bar to Bellevue to museum to the Brooklyn Bridge, 
a lost battalion of platonic conversationalists jumping down the stoops off fire escapes off windowsills off Empire State out of the moon, 
yacketayakking screaming vomiting whispering facts and memories and anecdotes and eyeball kicks and shocks of hospitals and jails and wars, 
whole intellects disgorged in total recall for seven days and nights with brilliant eyes, meat for the Synagogue cast on the pavement, 
who vanished into nowhere Zen New Jersey leaving a trail of ambiguous picture postcards of Atlantic City Hall, 
suffering Eastern sweats and Tangerian bone-grindings and migraines of China under junk-withdrawal in Newark’s bleak furnished room, 
who wandered around and around at midnight in the railroad yard wondering where to go, and went, leaving no broken hearts, 
who lit cigarettes in boxcars boxcars boxcars racketing through snow toward lonesome farms in grandfather night, 
who studied Plotinus Poe St. John of the Cross telepathy and bop kabbalah because the cosmos instinctively vibrated at their feet in Kansas, 
who loned it through the streets of Idaho seeking visionary indian angels who were visionary indian angels, 
who thought they were only mad when Baltimore gleamed in supernatural ecstasy, 
who jumped in limousines with the Chinaman of Oklahoma on the impulse of winter midnight streetlight smalltown rain, 
who lounged hungry and lonesome through Houston seeking jazz or sex or soup, and followed the brilliant Spaniard to converse about America and Eternity, a hopeless task, and so took ship to Africa, 
who disappeared into the volcanoes of Mexico leaving behind nothing but the shadow of dungarees and the lava and ash of poetry scattered in fireplace Chicago, 
who reappeared on the West Coast investigating the FBI in beards and shorts with big pacifist eyes sexy in their dark skin passing out incomprehensible leaflets, 
who burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism, 
who distributed Supercommunist pamphlets in Union Square weeping and undressing while the sirens of Los Alamos wailed them down, and wailed down Wall, and the Staten Island ferry also wailed, 
who broke down crying in white gymnasiums naked and trembling before the machinery of other skeletons, 
who bit detectives in the neck and shrieked with delight in policecars for committing no crime but their own wild cooking pederasty and intoxication, 
who howled on their knees in the subway and were dragged off the roof waving genitals and manuscripts, 
who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy, who blew and were blown by those human seraphim, the sailors, caresses of Atlantic and Caribbean love, 
who balled in the morning in the evenings in rosegardens and the grass of public parks and cemeteries scattering their semen freely to whomever come who may, 
who hiccuped endlessly trying to giggle but wound up with a sob behind a partition in a Turkish Bath when the blond & naked angel came to pierce them with a sword, 
who lost their loveboys to the three old shrews of fate the one eyed shrew of the heterosexual dollar the one eyed shrew that winks out of the womb and the one eyed shrew that does nothing but sit on her ass and snip the intellectual golden threads of the craftsman’s loom, 
who copulated ecstatic and insatiate with a bottle of beer a sweetheart a package of cigarettes a candle and fell off the bed, and continued along the floor and down the hall and ended fainting on the wall with a vision of ultimate cunt and come eluding the last gyzym of consciousness, 
who sweetened the snatches of a million girls trembling in the sunset, and were red eyed in the morning but prepared to sweeten the snatch of the sunrise, flashing buttocks under barns and naked in the lake, 
who went out whoring through Colorado in myriad stolen night-cars, N.C., secret hero of these poems, cocksman and Adonis of Denver—joy to the memory of his innumerable lays of girls in empty lots & diner backyards, moviehouses’ rickety rows, on mountaintops in caves or with gaunt waitresses in familiar roadside lonely petticoat upliftings & especially secret gas-station solipsisms of johns, & hometown alleys too, 
who faded out in vast sordid movies, were shifted in dreams, woke on a sudden Manhattan, and picked themselves up out of basements hung-over with heartless Tokay and horrors of Third Avenue iron dreams & stumbled to unemployment offices, 
who walked all night with their shoes full of blood on the snowbank docks waiting for a door in the East River to open to a room full of steam-heat and opium, 
who created great suicidal dramas on the apartment cliff-banks of the Hudson under the wartime blur floodlight of the moon & their heads shall be crowned with laurel in oblivion, 
who ate the lamb stew of the imagination or digested the crab at the muddy bottom of the rivers of Bowery, 
who wept at the romance of the streets with their pushcarts full of onions and bad music, 
who sat in boxes breathing in the darkness under the bridge, and rose up to build harpsichords in their lofts, 
who coughed on the sixth floor of Harlem crowned with flame under the tubercular sky surrounded by orange crates of theology, 
who scribbled all night rocking and rolling over lofty incantations which in the yellow morning were stanzas of gibberish, 
who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet tail borsht & tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom, 
who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg, 
who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade, 
who cut their wrists three times successively unsuccessfully, gave up and were forced to open antique stores where they thought they were growing old and cried, 
who were burned alive in their innocent flannel suits on Madison Avenue amid blasts of leaden verse & the tanked-up clatter of the iron regiments of fashion & the nitroglycerine shrieks of the fairies of advertising & the mustard gas of sinister intelligent editors, or were run down by the drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality, 
who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge this actually happened and walked away unknown and forgotten into the ghostly daze of Chinatown soup alleyways & firetrucks, not even one free beer, 
who sang out of their windows in despair, fell out of the subway window, jumped in the filthy Passaic, leaped on negroes, cried all over the street, danced on broken wineglasses barefoot smashed phonograph records of nostalgic European 1930s German jazz finished the whiskey and threw up groaning into the bloody toilet, moans in their ears and the blast of colossal steamwhistles, 
who barreled down the highways of the past journeying to each other’s hotrod-Golgotha jail-solitude watch or Birmingham jazz incarnation, 
who drove crosscountry seventytwo hours to find out if I had a vision or you had a vision or he had a vision to find out Eternity, 
who journeyed to Denver, who died in Denver, who came back to Denver & waited in vain, who watched over Denver & brooded & loned in Denver and finally went away to find out the Time, & now Denver is lonesome for her heroes, 
who fell on their knees in hopeless cathedrals praying for each other’s salvation and light and breasts, until the soul illuminated its hair for a second, 
who crashed through their minds in jail waiting for impossible criminals with golden heads and the charm of reality in their hearts who sang sweet blues to Alcatraz, 
who retired to Mexico to cultivate a habit, or Rocky Mount to tender Buddha or Tangiers to boys or Southern Pacific to the black locomotive or Harvard to Narcissus to Woodlawn to the daisychain or grave, 
who demanded sanity trials accusing the radio of hypnotism & were left with their insanity & their hands & a hung jury, 
who threw potato salad at CCNY lecturers on Dadaism and subsequently presented themselves on the granite steps of the madhouse with shaven heads and harlequin speech of suicide, demanding instantaneous lobotomy, 
and who were given instead the concrete void of insulin Metrazol electricity hydrotherapy psychotherapy occupational therapy pingpong & amnesia, 
who in humorless protest overturned only one symbolic pingpong table, resting briefly in catatonia, 
returning years later truly bald except for a wig of blood, and tears and fingers, to the visible madman doom of the wards of the madtowns of the East, 
Pilgrim State’s Rockland’s and Greystone’s foetid halls, bickering with the echoes of the soul, rocking and rolling in the midnight solitude-bench dolmen-realms of love, dream of life a nightmare, bodies turned to stone as heavy as the moon, 
with mother finally ******, and the last fantastic book flung out of the tenement window, and the last door closed at 4 A.M. and the last telephone slammed at the wall in reply and the last furnished room emptied down to the last piece of mental furniture, a yellow paper rose twisted on a wire hanger in the closet, and even that imaginary, nothing but a hopeful little bit of hallucination— 
ah, Carl, while you are not safe I am not safe, and now you’re really in the total animal soup of time— 
and who therefore ran through the icy streets obsessed with a sudden flash of the alchemy of the use of the ellipsis catalogue a variable measure and the vibrating plane, 
who dreamt and made incarnate gaps in Time & Space through images juxtaposed, and trapped the archangel of the soul between 2 visual images and joined the elemental verbs and set the noun and dash of consciousness together jumping with sensation of Pater Omnipotens Aeterna Deus 
to recreate the syntax and measure of poor human prose and stand before you speechless and intelligent and shaking with shame, rejected yet confessing out the soul to conform to the rhythm of thought in his naked and endless head, 
the madman bum and angel beat in Time, unknown, yet putting down here what might be left to say in time come after death, 
and rose reincarnate in the ghostly clothes of jazz in the goldhorn shadow of the band and blew the suffering of America’s naked mind for love into an eli eli lamma lamma sabacthani saxophone cry that shivered the cities down to the last radio 
with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies good to eat a thousand years.

II

What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination? 
Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping in the parks! 
Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men! 
Moloch the incomprehensible prison! Moloch the crossbone soulless jailhouse and Congress of sorrows! Moloch whose buildings are judgment! Moloch the vast stone of war! Moloch the stunned governments! 
Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb! 
Moloch whose eyes are a thousand blind windows! Moloch whose skyscrapers stand in the long streets like endless Jehovahs! Moloch whose factories dream and croak in the fog! Moloch whose smoke-stacks and antennae crown the cities! 
Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose poverty is the specter of genius! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen! Moloch whose name is the Mind! 
Moloch in whom I sit lonely! Moloch in whom I dream Angels! Crazy in Moloch! Cocksucker in Moloch! Lacklove and manless in Moloch! 
Moloch who entered my soul early! Moloch in whom I am a consciousness without a body! Moloch who frightened me out of my natural ecstasy! Moloch whom I abandon! Wake up in Moloch! Light streaming out of the sky! 
Moloch! Moloch! Robot apartments! invisible suburbs! skeleton treasuries! blind capitals! demonic industries! spectral nations! invincible madhouses! granite cocks! monstrous bombs! 
They broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pavements, trees, radios, tons! lifting the city to Heaven which exists and is everywhere about us! 
Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies! gone down the American river! 
Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit! 
Breakthroughs! over the river! flips and crucifixions! gone down the flood! Highs! Epiphanies! Despairs! Ten years’ animal screams and suicides! Minds! New loves! Mad generation! down on the rocks of Time! 
Real holy laughter in the river! They saw it all! the wild eyes! the holy yells! They bade farewell! They jumped off the roof! to solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! into the street!

III

Carl Solomon! I’m with you in Rockland where you’re madder than I am 
I’m with you in Rockland where you must feel very strange 
I’m with you in Rockland where you imitate the shade of my mother 
I’m with you in Rockland where you’ve murdered your twelve secretaries 
I’m with you in Rockland where you laugh at this invisible humor 
I’m with you in Rockland where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter 
I’m with you in Rockland where your condition has become serious and is reported on the radio 
I’m with you in Rockland where the faculties of the skull no longer admit the worms of the senses 
I'm with you in Rockland where you drink the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica 
I’m with you in Rockland where you pun on the bodies of your nurses the harpies of the Bronx 
I’m with you in Rockland where you scream in a straightjacket that you’re losing the game of the actual pingpong of the abyss 
I’m with you in Rockland where you bang on the catatonic piano the soul is innocent and immortal it should never die ungodly in an armed madhouse 
I’m with you in Rockland where fifty more shocks will never return your soul to its body again from its pilgrimage to a cross in the void 
I’m with you in Rockland where you accuse your doctors of insanity and plot the Hebrew socialist revolution against the fascist national Golgotha 
I’m with you in Rockland where you will split the heavens of Long Island and resurrect your living human Jesus from the superhuman tomb 
I’m with you in Rockland where there are twentyfive thousand mad comrades all together singing the final stanzas of the Internationale 
I’m with you in Rockland where we hug and kiss the United States under our bedsheets the United States that coughs all night and won’t let us sleep 
I’m with you in Rockland where we wake up electrified out of the coma by our own souls’ airplanes roaring over the roof they’ve come to drop angelic bombs the hospital illuminates itself imaginary walls collapse O skinny legions run outside O starry-spangled shock of mercy the eternal war is here O victory forget your underwear we’re free 
I’m with you in Rockland in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America in tears to the door of my cottage in the Western night 

San Francisco, 1955—1956