Saturday, October 31, 2020

Friday, October 23, 2020

Update on Masonic Week 2021

Well, with the unease still remaining about COVID-19, there are a number of changes to 2021 Masonic Week. Most of the meetings will be held virtually, but some have postponed until a later date while a few are still deciding what is to be done. It should be noted that the following degree conferrals have been canceled until the Masonic Week 2022 or conferred locally: the Royal Order of the Masonic Knights of the Scarlet Cord, the Royal Order of the Red Branch of Eri, the Worshipful Commander Noah, the Installed Supreme Ruler, and Ye Antiente Order of Corks


Thursday, February 11th, 2021

  

08:00am - Trinity Chapel No.2, Ye Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon (TBD if going virtual)

10:00am - Grand Master's Council, Ye Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon (TBD if going virtual)

12:00pm - Festive Board, Ye Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon (TBD if going virtual)

12:00pm - Grand Officer and Grand Superintendent meeting for the Grand Council of the AMD USA (Virtual meeting)

2:45pm - Potomac Court No. 107, Masonic Order of Athelstan (Virtual meeting)

4:30pm - Provincial Grand Court of the United States of America for the Masonic Order of Athelstan (Virtual meeting)


Friday, February 12th, 2021

 

  

9:00am - Grand Council of Knight Masons of the USA (Virtual meeting) 

1:30pm - Grand College of Rites of the USA (Virtual meeting)

3:15pm - Council of the Nine Muses No.13, AMD (Virtual meeting)

7:00pm - The Masonic Society Annual Meeting (Virtual meeting)

9:00pm - Masonic Order of the Bath (Virtual meeting)


Saturday, February 13th, 2021

 

11:00am - Philalethes Society (TBD if going virtual)

12:00pm - Philalethes Society Luncheon (TBD if going virtual)

1:30pm - Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees of the USA (Virtual meeting)


Postponed Events

 

Grand College of America, Holy Royal Arch Knights Templar Priests - postponed until May

Washington Monument Assemblage - Postponed until Regional meetings

Lodge of Menatzchim V° - Postponed until Regional meetings

Lodge of Harodim VI° - Postponed until Regional meetings


Unknown Changed Events

   

Masonic Order of Pilgrim Preceptors

Grand Chapter, Sovereign Order of Knights Preceptor

Society of Blue Friars

Great Priory of America of the Chevaliers Bienfasants de la Cite Sainte (CBCS)

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Visit to Ohio

For the last week, I've been in the Buckeye State (Ohio) for work near Lake Eerie. I was fortunate to be in the area when the Sandusky City Council of Royal & Select Masters of Ohio met. At this meeting, they presented one member with a 25-year pin and two with their 50-year pin. In attendance was also the Grand Conductor of the Council (and also the 4th Arch Inspector) for the Grand Council of Ohio and the newly installed Most Illustrious Grand Master of Ohio. It was my first official in-person activity as Most Illustrious Grand Master of Idaho and it was in another state. After a quick meeting, we adjourned for some coffee and snacks where my Ohio counterpart and I chatted for a bit. I'd like to thank the Companions of Ohio for their hospitality.

Since it was being conducted electronically this year, I also attended the Northwest York Rite Conference while I was still in Ohio. For the Cryptic Masons session, I was on only briefly due to the workday and timezone differences. By the time the afternoon session kicked off with Royal Arch Masons, I was off of work and was able to attend. Among several other notable items, it was announced that I would serve as the 2020-2023 Northwest Regional Deputy General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, International. The following day was devoted completely to Knights Templar where, among other things, it was announced that one of my best friends will serve as the 2021-2024 Northwest Department Commander for the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, USA. The next 3-years will be very exciting for me in the York Rite of Freemasonry.

Now I'm back home working on my next work trip.

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Words & Phrases: Council

The next article in the Words & Phrases series is on the word "Council." This term is used in several concordant and appendant bodies within the Masonic family. The term in Freemasonry often indicates a basic organizational unit, but can also be used within a degree or as a name of a national/international governing body.

The word "council" is defined as an assembly or meeting of individuals for the purpose of consultation, administration, governance, discussion, or advice. "Council" is rooted in the Latin word "concilium" which translates as "a gathering of people." Councils can take the form of a permanent legislative group such as a "city council" or a temporary convention such as with ecclesiastical councils (i.e. Vatican Council).

With Freemasonry, a Council indicates a local chapter or basic organizational unit for a variety of concordant and appendant bodies such as a Council of Cryptic Masons in the York Rite, a Council Thrice Illustrious Masters (or Order of the Silver Trowel), a Council of the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross (a degree within the Commandery of Knights Templar), a Council of Kadosh in the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, a Council of Knight Masons, a Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees, and the High Council within the Swedish Rite. There are some degrees within groups like the Scottish Rite, Ancient Toltec Rite, Holy Royal Arch Knights Templar Priests, and the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis that use "Council" to describe their assembly. There are also some governing bodies that use the term "Council" in Freemasonry such as with the Supreme Council of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, High Council of the Masonic Order of the Bath, and High Council of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.

References

1. Council. (n.d.). Retrieved from Etymology Online: https://www.etymonline.com/word/council 

2. Council. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council 

3. Council. (n.d.). Retrieved from Merriam-Webster Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/council 

4. Cryptic. (n.d.). Retrieved from Masonic Dictionary: http://www.masonicdictionary.com/cryptic.html 

5. Mackey, A. G. (1897). Manual of the Council. New York: Maynard, Merrill, and Co.

Thursday, October 1, 2020

John Dee

While there is no record that he was a Freemason, I find John Dee to be a fascinating character. Born amidst the political and religious turmoil of 16th century England, Dee would be known as a mathematician, alchemist, astrologer, geographer, occultist, possible Rosicrucian, and adviser as well as likely spymaster for Queen Elizabeth I. It is said that "Dee straddled the worlds of science and magic just as they were becoming distinguishable."

John Dee was born on July 13, 1527, in the Tower Ward of London, the only child of Rowland Dee, a minor courtier to King Henry VIII, and Jane (or Johanna) Wild. In 1535, he was educated at the Chelmsford Chantry School (now one of the locations of King Edward VI Grammar School) before he attended St. John's College (Cambridge) in 1542; he would go onto earn a Bachelors and Masters.

In 1546, he was one of the founding Fellows of Trinity College located in Cambridge. In 1548, he traveled to Continental Europe and studied at the University of Louvain. By 1550, he was in Paris giving lectures on Euclid and mathematics. He became friends with several scholars to include famed cartographer Gerardus Mercator. 

In 1551, Dee traveled back to England where he devoted his studies to alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. In 1553, King Edward VI granted him the rectory of Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire. The next year he was offered a readership in mathematics at the University of Oxford, but turned it down. He also worked training navigators and promoted British imperialism through naval power; some believe he was the first to coin the term "British Empire."

In 1555, Dee became a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers. For those unfamiliar, a mercer is defined as "a dealer in textile fabrics, especially silks, velvets, and other fine materials."

Later that year he was arrested on charges of casting spells against Queen Mary I. These charges would be expanded and included treason against the British Crown. He represented himself and was exonerated, but still had to meet with the Catholic Archbishop Bonner for his examination. Whatever was involved with this examination, Bonner and Dee became close associates.

After the death of Queen Mary in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth ascended to the throne of England. She sent for John Dee and asked for his advice to calculate the best time for her coronation which occurred on January 15, 1559.

Dee would continue to serve as an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I and own a riverside house at Mortlake near London. At this residence he amassed the largest library in England for the time; he had over 4,000 books and manuscripts while the Oxford library only had less than 400 in its collection and Cambridge's 451 in theirs. While it was a private library, he made it accessible to scholars. He also built an alchemical laboratory to further his studies on the subject. His library was so impressive that the Queen herself traveled to Mortlake simply to see the library. Queen Elizabeth and other nobility would give their patronage to Dee, but he never achieved financial independence so it is assumed that his library was built through gifts from patrons.

In 1564, Dee wrote Monas Hieroglyphica (The Hieroglyphic Monad), an exhaustive Cabalistic and Hermetic tome on the interpretation of a glyph of his own design, meant to express the mystical unity of all creation. He dedicated the book to the Holy Roman Emperor in an effort to gain more patronage, but it didn't work.

In 1570, Dee wrote a new mathematical preface to Henry Billingsley's translation of Euclid. This preface introduced the public to the signs of addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (x), and division (÷).

In 1577, Dee published General and Rare Memorials which were about navigation and Dee's vision of a maritime empire. He believed that England could become an empire through this naval supremacy and advocated that they needed to colonize the lands of the New World. Some argue that Dee saw Elizabeth as a new Arthur with him as her Merlin and that a British Empire would be a new Atlantis as it colonized the New World. Some believe that Dee influenced Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe.

Maybe it was the frustration with limited patronage as well as seeing the religious turmoil ripping through Europe, but Dee started seeking ways to communicate with angels. He wanted to find a way to heal the rift between Catholic and Protestant Christianity.

He hired a number of scryers and crystal-gazers to serve as an intermediary between Dee and the angels, but was unsuccessful or unsatisfactory. Then, in 1582, he met Edward Kelley (also known as Edward Talbot), a medium who was around 28-years his junior. Through Kelley, Dee had several conversations with angels and which resulted in the discovery of the Enochian or angelic language.


It was also around August 1582 that John Dee is said to have met Francis Bacon, who would be a philosopher, statesman, a possible Rosicrucian, and an accomplished author.

Starting in Fall 1583, in search of another royal patronage, Dee and Kelley traveled to Continental Europe. They first met with a Polish nobleman named Albert Laski who was the Count Palatine of Siradz. This endeavor failed as Laski was poor and out of favor with the Polish court. They traveled throughout Europe meeting with King Stefan of Poland and Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. While in Prague, Dee was made a Doctore of Medicine.

If it was not for his affiliation with Queen Elizabeth, he may have been given patronage by the Emperor, but they mistrusted him as they believed that he was a spy for England. It is said that he signed his letters 007 which inspired the James Bond books by Ian Fleming who used 007 as Bond's codename.

By 1586, Dee lost favor in the Holy Roman Empire and was banished due to condemnation by the Roman Catholic Church, but he took refuge with the Count of Bohemia where he resided for nearly 2-years. In 1587, the relationship between Kelley and Dee degraded after Kelley said that angels had ordered them to share their wives. Kelley would go on to serve as an alchemist for the Emperor, but would later be arrested for failing to make good on his promises. Kelley would die in February 1593 during an attempt to escape from prison.

In 1589, he returned to England and found his Mortlake home vandalized and looted. That year also saw a plague spread through London which took the life of his wife, Jane, and five of their children. He started back up his alchemical studies and experiments, but he never attained the Philosopher's Stone.

Around 1595/96, Dee was appointed by the Queen as Warden of Christ's College in Manchester. With the decline of Catholicism in England, this college had bee re-organized as a Protestant institution with a Royal charter in 1578. This turned out not to be good for Dee as he was constantly at odds with the other Fellows of the College who despised him. While he didn't resign from this position, he returned to London in 1605. By this time, Elizabeth had died and James I had taken the throne of England and Scotland who didn't give any support or protection to John Dee.

John Dee spent the final years of his life in poverty, even after he sold off many of his possessions to support him and his daughter, Katherine, who took care of him in the end. He died sometime between December 1608 and March 1609 in Mortlake. He is said to have been buried at the local Anglican church, but both the record and gravestone are missing today. Dee was survived by two of his sons and one daughter; he had been married three times and had eight children.

References

1. A Hermetic & Rosicrucian Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: http://www.golden-dawn.com/eu/displaycontent.aspx?pageid=71- 

2. Cooper, D. W., & Gerald, L. (n.d.). A Bond for All the Ages. Retrieved from Sir Francis Bacon's New Advancement of Learning: http://www.sirbacon.org/links/dblohseven.html 

3. Dee, John (1527-1608). (2020). Retrieved from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/John_Dee.aspx 

4. Feingold, M. (n.d.). John Dee. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155467/John-Dee 

5. Harrison, D. (2016, August 20). John Dee and Edward Kelley; Conversing with the Angels. Retrieved from Dr. David Harrison: https://dr-david-harrison.com/freemasonry/john-dee-edward-kelley-conversing-angels/ 

6. John Dee. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee 

7. John Dee - Astrologer to the Queen. (n.d.). Retrieved from Biblioteca: https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/bb/john_dee.htm 

8. John Dee. (2015, March 01). Retrieved from Under the Tudor Rose: https://engelskhistoria.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/john-dee/ 

9. John Dee was the 16th century's real-life Gandalf. (2015, February 19). Retrieved from bOINGbOING: http://boingboing.net/2015/02/19/john-dee-was-the-real-life-mer.html 

10. Lee, P. (1996). About Dr. John Dee. Retrieved from The John Dee Society: http://www.johndee.org/DEE.html 

11. Westfall, R. S. (1995). Dee, John. Retrieved from The Galileo Project: http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/dee.html