I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am thankful for my life and for my family some of whom I am spending the day with in Hawaii. I am thankful for the servicemen and women who keep the peace and country safe. I am thankful for all of my Masonic Brothers dispersed around the world. God bless.
Another High Council has come and gone. It was a pleasure to see old friends and make new ones. As is customary, a few of us flew in a day earlier so we could tour a distillery. This year we visited Angel's Envy in downtown Louisville. Thursday evening a group of us had an excellent dinner at the Repeal Oak Fired Steakhouse (one of the best places I've ever eaten at).
Friday morning I attended some training in the morning and then it was time for the Opening Processional. I got upstairs and placed myself near the door when I was informed that I was to be introduced as the Commander-General of the Bath. I hadn't registered as a dignitary so this caught me by surprise and I thank the Most Worthy Supreme Magus for honoring me. The various Masonic organizations were well represented including the Grand Master of Hawaii and Prince Hall Grand Master of Hawaii. It was also great to see representation from our sister Societies in England, Scotland, and Portugal present at the meeting. At the business session, the members of the High Council approved the chartering of a College in Manitoba and the formation of a new officer called the Director of Studies. That afternoon we had presentations by the Supreme Magus of Scotland, then by a Past Junior Deputy Supreme Magus (and our new Director of Studies), and a Texas Frater. Friday night, I again had the greatest honor of conferring with two good friends the VIII° of the Society upon several worthy Fratres. After some were elevated to the IX°, I spent most of the night in the hospitality suite hosted by Kentucky and Alabama Colleges.
Saturday morning, the Supreme Magus installed new Chief Adepts to include the new one for Idaho. That role is being filled by my best friend and constant traveling companion Jeremy. The rest of the day was filled with more educational presentations on various esoteric and occult topics. They were excellent, to say the least.
After a fun night in the hospitality suite with friends and Fratres, I am now at the airport awaiting my flight home. Including my trip to Massachusetts, I have not been home in 10 days and I am ready to relax for a few days.
To all of my Brothers and Sisters of the Armed Forces, past and present, I wish you all a Happy Veteran's Day. God bless all of you and God bless the United States.
This last weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to the Boston area for work. Thursday night I flew in and, after checking in to my hotel, I went into downtown Boston where I took part in the Ghost and Gravestone Tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and got into her role.
After finishing work on Friday, I traveled to Lexington to visit the Scottish Rite Northern Masonic Jurisdiction Museum. I then took a tour of Buckman Tavern where the Colonials were staying before fighting the British on April 19, 1775. I walked the Minuteman Trail to Concord before driving up to Salem where I bought a ticket for the Boos and Brews Tour.
I recovered Saturday night after work and got some needed rest. When I finished with work on Sunday I drove around Harvard, MIT, and Northeastern Universities before I walked around Boston and had dinner at Ye Old Union Oyster House then had a beer at the Bell in Hand Tavern and the Green Dragon Tavern.
On Monday I toured the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and then walked the Freedom Trail. I started at the State House then went to the Granary Burying Grounds, Kings Chapel and Burying Grounds, Ben Franklin Statue, Old South Meeting House, Old Statehouse, Boston Massacre Site, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copps Hill Burying Ground, USS Constitution, and Bunker Hill.
Now I'm off to Kentucky for the annual meeting of the High Council of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis.
The preliminary schedule of the 2024 Masonic Week has been released. It will be held from February 8-11, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City near the Reagan National Airport.
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Thursday, February 8, 2024
8:00 AM - Trinity Chapel No.2, Ye Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon
10:00 AM - Grand Master's Council, Ye Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon
Terry Plemons - Grand Master
John Elkinton - Grand PriorJeremy Vaughn - Grand Secretary
12:00 PM - St. Thomas of Acon Festive Board
1:15 PM - Sovereign Order of Knights Preceptor
D. Allen Surratt - Grand PreceptorLarry Tucker - Grand Recorder
1:30 PM - Order of Holy Wisdom, Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests
3:00 PM - Potomac Court No.107, Masonic Order of Athelstan
4:30 PM - Provincial Grand Court, Masonic Order of Athelstan
Bryce Hildreth - Provincial Grand Master
David Cashion - Provincial Grand Secretary
7:00 PM - Athelstan Banquet
9:00 PM Masonic Order of the Bath
Barry Newell - Commander-General
Bill Snyder - Keeper of the Bath Records
9:00 PM - Masonic Order of Pilgrim Preceptors
Jonathan Roberts - Grand Master
George Haynes - Regional Governor
Alan Beidel - Regional Secretary
Friday, February 9, 2024
7:00 AM - York Rite Sovereign College Breakfast
8:00 AM - Allied Masonic Degrees: Installed Sovereign Master
8:45 AM - Royal Order of the Red Branch of Eri: Knight Commander
9:00 AM - Ladies Breakfast
9:00 AM - Grand Council of Knights Masons of the United States of America
James Winzenreid - Great ChiefDavid Cashion - Grand Scribe
12:00 PM - Knights Masons Luncheon
1:00 PM - Grand College of America, Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests
Bill Riggs - Grand Preceptor
Larry Tucker - Grand Registrar
3:00 PM - Grand College of Rites
Russell Bridges - Grand ChancellorChris Gamblin - Grand Registrar
4:30 PM Society of Blue Friars
Arturo de Hoyos - Grand AbbotMark Tabbert - Deputy Grand Abbot
Richard Fletcher - Secretary-General
5:30 PM - Allied Masonic Degrees: Worshipful Commander Noah
6:00 PM - Allied Masonic Degrees: Installed Supreme Ruler
7:00 PM - The Masonic Society Dinner
7:00 PM - CBCS Dinner
9:00 PM - Ye Antiente Order of Corks
Marion Humphreys - Grand Bung of the Americas
Saturday, February 10, 2024
7:00 AM - All Masonic Breakfast
8:00 AM - Royal Order of the Masonic Knights of the Scarlet Cord: First, Second, and Third Grades
9:45 AM - Royal Order of the Masonic Knights of the Scarlet Cord: Fourth Grade
10:30 AM - Philalethes Society
12:00 PM - Philalethes Society Luncheon
1:15 PM - Council of the Nine Muses No. 13, AMD
2:30 PM - Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees
W. Berry Rigdon - Sovereign Grand Master
Seth Anthony - Grand Secretary
2:00 PM - Ladies Tea
6:00 PM - All Masonic Social Hour
7:00 PM - All Masonic Banquet
Sunday, February 11
8:30 AM - Washington Monument Assemblage
9:00 AM - Lodge of Menatzchim, V
10:30 AM - Lodge of Harodim, VI
12:30 PM - The Operatives Brunch
In the 12 years that I've been a Scottish Rite Mason, I had never attended the Honors Weekend so I learned a few things that I did not know before. The Knight Commander of the Court of Honor, or KCCH, was not a part of the Scottish Rite originally, but was instituted on May 5, 1870, during the governance of Albert Pike when he was the Sovereign Grand Commander. Like any honor should be, the KCCH is by invitation only and a recipient must have been a 32° for 46 months to be eligible for nomination. The nomination must be sent by the Orient's Sovereign Grand Inspector General or Deputy to the Supreme Council where they must cast a unanimous ballot.
It was established not as an additional degree, but as an honor for those 32° Brothers who had served the Scottish Rite well. The KCCH also serves as a pool for those to be selected for the 33° Honorary, but receiving the KCCH is by no means a guarantee that a Brother will receive the 33°.
The jewel of a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour is a 'Cross Patee Fitched' or a passion cross with fitched ends (see picture). The cross rests on a circle of gold laurel leaves. On the cross is a raised gold circular plate, with gold beads around the circumference. The plate is enameled in white. On the white plate is a green trefoil (a shape like a shamrock). Around the trefoil, in letters of gold are "KT:. COMM:. COURT OF HONOUR."
After being knighted by the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Idaho, the recipients were all given their red cap which is meant to "symbolize that nobility of soul which is the parent of all knightly virtues."
I enjoyed the Friday session with Chapter and Council where one presentation on membership was given by the Assistant Grand Secretary of California who is also the Deputy Grand Commander of Knights Templar of California. Saturday was all for the Knights Templar and presentations given by the Grand Encampment.
It was a pleasure to see old friends and make new ones.
William was involved with his community and served in many capacities and appointments such as Factory Surgeon, Public Vaccinator, Medical Officer of Health, and Quartermaster to a Battalion of Volunteers.
On February 18, 1873, he was married to Elizabeth Burnett. Together they had four children and moved back to London in 1879. From 1879 to 1881, he seemed to have taken a sabbatical where he studied Kabalistic, Hermetic, Alchemical, and Rosicrucian philosophy and teachings.
In 1881, he was appointed Deputy Coroner for Central Middlesex and Central London. In 1894, he was appointed Coroner for Northeast London; he served in this position until 1918. In 1918, he moved to South Africa.
William Wynn Westcott was initiated into Parret and Axe Lodge No. 814 in Crewkerne (England) on October 24, 1871. Little is known about his advancement, but he served as the Lodge's Master in 1877. He was also a member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, the premier Lodge of Research in the world, and served as its Worshipful Master in 1893. He would also serve as Provincial Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in Somerset and be awarded the rank of Past Junior Grand Deacon by the United Grand Lodge of England.
In Capitular Masonry, he was exalted into the Chapter of Brotherly Love No. 329 on April 30, 1873, and served as the First Principal (equivalent to Excellent High Priest in the United States) in 1889. He would go on to be a Past Grand Standard Bearer of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England.
Unlike the US, Mark Masonry is a separate body in England. Westcott was advanced to Mark Masonry in William de Irwin Lodge No. 162 and served as its Master in 1887. He would serve as the Provincial Grand Senior Warden of the Mark Province of Somerset.
He is said to have joined the Order of the Temple or Knights Templar, but the dates are not known nor what offices he held, if any. This claim is disputed.
He joined the Ancient & Accepted Rite in 1875 and was promoted to the 30° in 1878.
He was a member of Rose and Lily Conclave No. 10 of the Red Cross of Constantine.
He was a member of the Royal Order of the Red Branch of Eri where he was instrumental in reviving and reorganizing the order, and served as its Grand Master and its senior Knight Grand Cross.
He was admitted to the Swedenborg Rite in 1876 where he served as Worshipful Master of Emanuel Lodge No. 1 and Junior Warden of Hermes Lodge No. 8 in 1886, District Senior Grand Warden and Supreme Grand Senior Deacon in 1877, Worshipful Master of Pythagorean Lodge of Instruction in 1887, and Supreme Grand Junior Warden and Supreme Grand Secretary in 1891.
Westcott joined the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA) on April 15, 1880, at Metropolitan College. He was admitted to the Grades of the Second Order on December 12, 1881. In 1883 he served as Secretary General of the Society. In 1889, he served as Celebrant of Metropolitan College, and in 1891 he was enthroned as Most Worthy Supreme Magus of the SRIA.
Westcott was targeted by anti-Masons of the age. In 1896, he was listed as the “Chief of English Luciferians” in a French anti-Mason publication called “Mémoires d'une Ex-Palladiste”. This was supposedly written by Ms. Diana Vaughan which of course was a pseudonym used by the hoaxer Leo Taxil.
Westcott was also a member of several non-Masonic esoteric societies like the Hermetic Society and Theosophical Society. The latter organization he advanced to the “inner circle.” But it was with another group that Westcott is highly remembered, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
In 1887 Westcott acquired a ciphered manuscript that proved to be a series of initiatory rituals. In working with his fellow Rosicrucian Frater, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers worked the rituals into a workable form. He, Mathers, and Dr. William Robert Woodman (the then Supreme Magus of the SRIA) established the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in February 1888.
Being a public official (the Coroner), he was pressured into retiring from his public life as a member of the Golden Dawn and stepped down from his officer roles. There also seems to have been an internal dispute between him and Mathers who accused Westcott of being a forger and liar. Some speculate that it was Mathers who had informed Westcott's superiors of his involvement in the Golden Dawn to force him out of power. Mathers accuses Westcott of fabricating the documents authenticating the origins of the Golden Dawn.
William Westcott died of Brights Disease (a kidney disease) on July 30, 1925, in Durban, South Africa. He was predeceased by his wife in 1921, both of his sons (1906 and 1907), and both of his daughters (1918 and 1924). While some of his life may be left in controversy, he was clearly a revered and respected Mason in his time and left a legacy with the Golden Dawn as well. While unknown to most Masons in the US, he was a contemporary of men like AE Waite, John Yarker, Theodore Reuss, and Albert Pike.
References
1. Dr. William Wynn Westcott. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: https://hermeticgoldendawn.org/biography-dr-william-wynn-westcott/
2. Gilbert, R. A. (1987, February 19). William Wynn Westcott and the Esoteric School of Masonic Research. Retrieved from ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM: https://freemasonry.bcy.ca/aqc/westcott/westcott.html
3. Parsell, H. V. (n.d.). Dr. William Wynn Westcott: An Appreciation. Retrieved from Societas Rosicruciana in America: https://sria.org/dr-william-wynn-westcott-an-appreciation/
4. Westcott, William Wynn. (n.d.). Retrieved from Occult World: https://occult-world.com/westcott-william-wynn/
5. William Wynn Westcott. (2016, August 14). Retrieved from Geni: https://www.geni.com/people/William-Westcott/6000000009428109687
6. William Wynn Westcott and the Esoteric School of Masonic Research: Appendix A. (n.d.). Retrieved from MasterMason: http://www.mastermason.com/luxocculta/appendix4.htm
Well, September is done. For most of the US, September means the resumption of Masonic activity since most go dark for the summer (and hot) months. For me, September started with attending the Convent General of the Knights of the York Cross of Honor. This month had two Blue Lodge meetings, including celebrating the 113th Anniversary of my home Lodge, Oriental Lodge No.60 in Boise, and conferring two Third Degrees where I conferred one of them and gave the Third Degree Lecture to both. I also attended a Commandery of Knights Templar, the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Idaho, and the Masonic Order of Athelstan.
I have been a member of the Masonic Order of Athelstan since 2015, but due to work and Masonic obligations, I haven't been able to attend a meeting in some time so it was nice to make it. The one I belong to is in Issaquah, WA, so I flew up as it would be over 9 hours of driving. The Court instructed (or initiated) 4 candidates and we voted on more. The installation of officers for the 2023-2024 year happened and I was appointed as the Captain of the Guard.
Now, I'm back home getting ready for a busy last quarter of the year.
