Friday, March 26, 2021

Freemasonry and Polity

I am currently working on a research paper looking at whether there is a causal relationship between a nation's polity (freedom) score, the establishment of Freemasonry, and the growth, or decline, of Masonic membership within that nation. 

I am currently in the stage of collecting data to see what type of equations are available. I'd like to thank my former Professors at Boise State University for assisting me in finding potential data sources.

In addition to the quantitative analysis, I'll be doing case studies on Brazil, Russia, India, and China. I'm looking at these countries because of their unique histories, the dramatic changes in their polity scores, and the history of Freemasonry within each country.

I do not know when this paper will be completed, but it should be within the year. I won't post the entire paper here as it will be published in a magazine or journal, but I will publish the Introduction and Conclusion here.



Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The Master's Craft

Any Mason involved with ordering Masonic regalia, jewelry, pins, coins, and so on knows that there are a lot of sites and vendors out there. While there are many worthy Brothers running them, I want to highlight one and that is The Master's Craft ran by Bro. John Bridegroom out of Indiana. From the website:

The Masters Craft creates unique Masonic items for the Fraternity at large, when quality, artistry and longevity are desired. The Masters Craft is owned and operated by W. Bro. John Bridegroom, Past Most Illustrious Grand Master of Indiana. Being deeply impressed by the artistry of items in the Masonic Fraternity’s history, we desire to continue that tradition in The Masters Craft. With no intention of being the average retail store, or supplying the mundane artifacts of regular Masonic operations, the focus has been placed more on projects that require a special touch, and an approach that fuses the visual standard of today with the depth and power of the designs of our past. We hope you will our work to be fitting representations of the honors they represent!

Due to the number of Masonic organizations that I am in, I am in possession of a lot of Masonic jewelry and pins...a lot. Quality isn't always the best and sometimes Masonic groups don't always purchase items of the best quality. When I started attending Masonic Week I was introduced to The Master's Craft and Bro. John Bridegroom. John is a very dedicated Brother and has an impressive Masonic curriculum vitae which gives him an insight into the world of Masonic regalia and jewelry. A few years ago, I purchased some Allied Masonic Degree jewels from him and compared them to some others I bought from another vendor. The first thing I noticed was the difference in quality and durability. From that experience, I've started purchasing jewels and pins from him for a few other groups that I'm involved with to include the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.

He has jewels, pins, and coins for the Blue Lodge, Allied Masonic Degrees, Royal Arch, Mark Masonry, Holy Royal Arch Knights Templar Priests, Red Cross of Constantine, the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis, Royal Order of Jesters, the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, York Rite College, and can even do custom jobs. I encourage all Masons to check out this website if you are interested in quality.