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In this issue:

Page 2, ‘Why we do we take this Road?’ This is a fascinating lecture and will certainly make the reader think. Where are we going and why do we take this road?

Page 7, ‘Fast Eddie Rickenbacker.’ A Famous Freemason.

Page 10, ‘The Knights of Pythias.’ Fraternal Societies throughout the World.

Page 13, ‘The Caledonian Lodge of Dundee No. 264.’

Another History of one of our Old Scottish Lodges.

Page 15, ‘Rays of Masonry.’ “Lodge Activities”, our Regular monthly feature.

Page 16, ‘The Old Tiler Talks.’ “Indictment”, the Forty-third in the series from Carl Claudy.

Page 18, ‘Tell It To The Bees.’ A look at this old emblem of Freemasonry.

Page 20, ‘The Masonic Menagerie.’ The symbolism of animals and Freemasonry.

Page 23, ‘The Cork Degree.’ An Old Poem.

Page 24, ‘Who’s Who in Freemasonry.’

The thoughts of Bro. Rabbi Raymond Apple.

Page 26, ‘The Masonic Dictionary.’ Token.

In the Lectures website The article for this month is ‘The Masonic Mystery of Bonnie Prince Charlie.’[link]

The front cover artwork of a road sign was sourced by the editor.

Why do we take this Road?

Several years ago on the same day I experienced these two situations. First, an attorney from Lebanon with multiple academic degrees was in my office. He wanted to become a Freemason because of how much he thought it meant to the world and how much influence it had. His mother was one of his major sources of information. He was so enthusiastic that it became the first time I found myself downplaying the power and influence of the Craft. That evening I spoke at a lodge meeting. Following the meeting a member talked with me and told me that he was considering resigning his membership because of his disappointment with what Freemasonry had become, and I found myself defending it. That day I found myself caught between the idealism and the realism that has become Freemasonry. The history of the world is replete with the names of men who have led in their country's struggles for freedom, liberty and equality. Some of these names may not be known to all of us, but they are household names in their respective countries and areas of the world. The names of Simon Bolivar in South America, Lajos Kossuth in Hungary, Benito Juarez in Mexico, Guiseppi Garibaldi in Italy and Theodore Kokolotronis in Greece are names that are etched upon the headstones of freedom in their respective countries. In the United States many of the names of our early patriots who led in its struggles for freedom are well known to us. Who amongst us does not know the names George Washington, Benjamin Franklin,

and Paul Revere to name but a few, or later Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, John (Blackjack) Pershing, Douglas Macarthur and Omar Bradley, who led after them, again to name but a few. Canada certainly has had its share of great government leaders who were also Masons, including six Prime Ministers. Your first, Sir John A. MacDonald, and more recently, Right Honorable John G. Diefenbaker, were also both very active members of the Craft. We can add to that list Brothers such as Joseph Brant, John Ross Robertson, and Most Rev. William Lockridge Wright as Masonic greats who helped shape Canada's development. These men all had at least one thing in common. They were all Freemasons. They were all nurtured in a Masonic Lodge where they were taught the precepts of freedom, liberty and equality. This is not to imply that it was the Craft alone that made them the great men they became, but nor can it be happenstance that those who led in struggles for freedom in so many countries of the world that has freedom were Freemasons. History is also replete with the names of other men who most will recognize. We all know the names of Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Francisco Franco, Marshall Tito and the Ayatollah Khomeini. They also had at least one thing in common. They all were enemies of Freemasonry, and these men all opposed the Craft for the same reasons the others embraced it, the Masonic precept of the right of men to be free and equal and the practice of tolerance of all men's right to believe in and worship their God as their conscience dictated. Freemasons died by the tens of thousands at the hands of these men's regimes simply because they were

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Freemasons. Much has changed over the ensuing years, but tyrants remain the enemies of our craft, and we should have no problem with that. We should wear their enmity as mantels of pride, for to oppose tyranny is to embrace freedom, and that is a structural character of the Masonic Fraternity. Historically we have always risen above their attacks. It may have taken considerable time in some cases, but we have risen. Where there has been tyranny, Freemasonry has survived only underground, but it has survived the onslaught of tyrants almost from its inception, even flourishing in spite of them. We need not fear this class of enemy long term. We continue today under attack by the despots of the world and again we need have no great fear of long-lasting effect by them. Of an even graver concern are those who have chosen to become our enemies and who quite possibly have benefited the most because of our existence. What makes this an even greater tragedy is that their opposition to the Craft is for the very same reasons as that of the tyrant. They desire to control the right of men to think and to live in accordance with the dictates of their own consciences under a moral code and within a legal system, the right to be truly free. It is almost incomprehensible that Freemasonry could have as opponents religious and government leaders of the free world when they might very well be in those positions because of the efforts of Freemasons. Make no doubt about it, my Brothers; were it not for Freemasonry this world would be markedly different. And yet, even as with the tyrants there have been men in these categories who must

rank with the Craft's greatest enemies. They also have had no long-lasting effect upon our survival in the past, even though they can be traced back almost to our inception. However, we, my Brothers, are today accomplishing what none of our enemies from without have been able to accomplish. I know that what I am about to say will be approaching heresy to some, but then fools rush in where angels fear to tread. We, my Brothers, are providing the environment for our own extinction. We have for the last 20 years aided in the gradual eroding of the quality of the membership, and it is this loss of quality that is the greatest threat to our survival as a significant institution. This loss of quality is already showing an impact on our quantity, and it is counterproductive to that very goal of increasing quantity that is causing it. Why do we take this road? Many of our decisions in recent years indicate a lack of interest in preserving the quality of the craft. We seem more intent is redefining and reshaping it for the simple reason that we do not want to be judged as failures because our numbers have decreased, and yet we acknowledge that this is a sociological phenomenon affecting almost all organizations. It is a phenomenon we cannot change, and it is one, which we must ride out. My Brothers, we cannot afford to continue to evaluate ourselves in terms of quantity instead of quality. To do so offers little hope for a future of an organization that changed this world, and we will shoulder the blame for future generations. Our willingness to admit into our ranks any single individual who not too many years

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ago could never have hoped to be a part of the Craft will cause us far more damage than any 10 good men can benefit us, for they will serve to keep away the good men in the future. I quote from the book Reflections of Masonic Values. "If we shall not be careful in the admission of candidates and improve the procedure of admission, we are then starting the composition of a funeral hymn for the death of our noble institution. As Freemasons, we should not allow this to happen. If we do, we are doomed for we have just hammered the last nail in the sarcophagus of Freemasonry." We all realize that the Craft has had its ups and downs, its increases and decreases in numbers during its entire history. Following the Morgan Affair in North America it almost became extinct in some areas, but it survived to flourish again. Nothing the world outside threw against it was able to hold it down for long. Freemasonry in Russia, although little known, is perhaps a classic example of the tenacity of this organization. It might also be used as a study as to what the result could be if our approach in North America continues along the pathway we have been following in recent years. Several years ago I made an observation at a Masonic conference that American Freemasons are the most ignorant Freemasons in the world. At that time I shocked a number of the leaders present by that statement. But my Brothers we are not only the most ignorant we are the most cheap. There is probably not a Masonic structure outside of North America today that permits Freemasonry to be sold a cheaply as we do. In most Grand jurisdictions the

financial cost to become and remain a Freemason is far beyond what we begin to comprehend, and they carry far greater respect in their society than do we. When an attempt to increase fees and dues in made in North America you would think that the attempt is to impoverish the member. The same Brother who will think nothing of spending $50.00 for a few bottles of alcohol or a few cartons of cigarettes will fight totally against a $5.00 increase in Lodge dues to support the greasiest organization ever conceived by the mind of man. My Brothers, how can we be so cheap? How can we justify permitting our Lodges and Grand Lodges to struggle for financial life? Why should an organization as great as Freemasonry be faced with taking in the unqualified because we the members fail to recognize the privilege of belonging to an organization, which made this world what it is? Why do we project this image to society? One of the lessons I learned in my travels throughout the world is that we in North America have lost the appreciation of the Craft simply because we do not even know the Craft. So little is required from the member that lack of knowledge has become the accepted norm. We continue to think that charity is the basic purpose of Freemasonry. My Brothers, is there a one of you here who thinks that Freemasonry could have impacted this world the way it has simply by raising money and giving it away? Is there a one of you who thinks that Freemasonry's prominence can be regained by the same practice? Do you honestly believe that by reducing requirements in time and cost to be a Freemason will improve our potential to impact the world in the future? Is there one of you here now

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who truly believes that the greatness of Freemasonry is the result of having high quantity numbers rather than quality numbers? Margaret Jacob wrote in hiving the Enlightenment that Freemasonry passed out of serious scholarship in the late 1940s, and I would suggest that this was the time when we began to lose focus on what we were. It is interesting that it was also the time of our most rapid growth. Perhaps it was the beginning of our failure to guard the west gate. Even then however, quantity over quality was not promoted by our top leadership as it is today. In my first dozen years as Grand Secretary I never saw a resignation for religious reasons. Now we receive them almost weekly. Opposition by religious leaders is not new to Freemasonry, but it is becoming more pervasive and effectual. Why do you suppose that is? There was also the time when most of the prominent lay leaders of our churches were also the prominent community leaders, and they were also Freemasons. To attack Freemasonry was to attack the most supportive members of the church and the quality leaders of the community. We are now failing to attract these quality leaders. The church leadership has no longer reason to be concerned about our influence. We have admitted for years that only 10% of our membership is active (although I have often wondered where that statistic came from). This, of course, means that 90% is inactive, and yet they continue to pay their dues year after year knowing full well that they will never be active. There is only one logical reason for doing this. They have a perceived value in being able to say, "I am a Freemason." Take away that perceived value and we risk losing the

90%, and that is what we are starting to see today. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania last year had the highest number of suspensions for non-payment of dues it ever had, and I understand that many of the other Grand Lodges are experiencing the same thing. The willingness to be suspended for non-payment of dues or the submission of resignations is indicative of a loss of respect for the meaning of Freemasonry by our own members. We have made more changes in our structure and system in the preceding 20 years than have probably taken place in the last 200 years. This has all been done for one reason, to acquire numbers, and frankly, my Brothers, I don't know if we have even slowed the rate of loss. We may not have stemmed the decline of numbers, but we surely have decreased our influence in society and, with this decrease, our ability to accomplish our purpose. I read a quotation of Maureen Dowd in the New York Times several years ago, "The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for." Well, my Brothers, we have settled for less, and less is what we have received and that is less than we settled for. I find it difficult to comprehend why we are incapable of recognizing that most of these changes made have not only not benefited us but indeed many have caused considerable harm. I don't understand our attempts to emulate other organizations that are declining at least as rapidly as are we and with whom we cannot compete to begin with. Freemasonry has been the best; we were different, and we were unique. Why not build on that uniqueness instead of trying to convert into something we have never been nor never meant to be?

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There has never been any organization that could lay claim to being more significant to the world, outside of organized religion, than has Freemasonry. Why not look at Freemasonry in the world where it is succeeding, where it remains influential and try to emulate it? I am not in opposition to change when it is to our benefit, but we must recognize and distinguish what is beneficial and admit when we have failed. There is no question that the environment in which we exist has changed. Now we must determine whether we wish to retain our principles and values and lift others to meet our ideals or change to fit into the standards of present-day society. We must also acknowledge that present-day environment is undergoing a metamorphosis more rapidly than ever in our past. Changes are taking place today in our world that out of necessity must cause us to pause and analyze how we will fit in as part of that environment. Freemasonry could and may play a vital role as a stabilizing force in society throughout that metamorphosis. But we surely won't if we can't even stabilize ourselves. We must re-examine our purpose, our precepts, and our philosophy and be willing to make changes in our modes of operation when necessary, but we must be certain that those changes do nothing to damage or destroy the basic principles and precepts with which we were born and with which we flourished. I cannot believe that a philosophy that sustained us for almost 300 years is not applicable to today's world. Have we become an anachronism in present-day society? Have our principles and values actually had no place for the last quarter century? I think not. Why then do we continue to make a concentrated effort to

change into something we are not and fail to recognize that we are destroying the quality of the Craft that is necessary to support that philosophy? If we truly do believe that our philosophy and principles have a place in the modern world, then we must pull others up to meet with us, not climb down to meet with them. John Robinson made an astute observation concerning our Craft well before he became a member. He said that the problem with Freemasonry today is that it does not practice Freemasonry anymore. My Brothers, how can we when the vast majority of our members do not even know what to practice? We don't need more members. We need more Freemasons. Without the quality of Masonic membership our all that we do, all that we have done of a charitable nature will be for naught. We will be little more than an afterthought in the writings of some future historian, for we will not be here to support it. For the first time in our long and glorious history historians are finally writing about Freemasonry, but they are not writing about our quantity. They are writing about our quality. What they write in the future is now in our hands. We cannot let it become less than it was, nor less than it can be.

Sourced from the VICTORIA LODGE OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH – a lecture given by Bro. Tom Jackson who has spoken all over the world on what Freemasonry really is, and on how we might address some of its current problems. Bro. Jackson is the first Secretary of the World Conference of Masonic Grand lodges, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Academy of [Masonic] Knowledge, and Past Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania [1979-1999]. He has received honours from all over the world, including 24 Grand lodges, and has been named one of the top Freemasons of the past quarter century.

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Famous Freemasons

Fast Eddie Rickenbacker

Fighting the Flying Circus

He began his career as an auto racer, gaining international fame by competing in the Indianapolis 500 four times, earning the nickname “Fast Eddie.” When World War I started, he was sent to France in 1917, becoming the personal chauffeur driver of General and Br. John J. Pershing. His name was Edward Vernon “Eddie” Rickenbacker (Kilwinning Lodge #297 in Detroit, Michigan in 1922), born October 8, 1890. With Germany’s Red Baron dominating the skies, Br. Eddie requested transfer to the air service where he eventually became

commanding officer of the 94th Aero Pursuit Squadron, with its now famous “Hat-in-the-Ring” insignia. This Squadron was responsible for destroying 69 enemy aircraft, the highest number shot down by any American Squadron. Flying over 300 combat hours, Br. Eddie Rickenbacker was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour by President Herbert Hoover in 1931 for personally shooting down 26 enemy aircraft. He wrote his World War I experiences in the book, Fighting the Flying Circus, 1919, such as one story: “…three-quarters of an hour of gasoline remained…and no compass. Then I thought of the north star! Glory be! There she shines! I had been going west instead of south… Keeping the star behind my rudder I flew south for fifteen minutes, then…found myself above…the River Meuse…picked up our faithful searchlight and ten minutes later I landed… As I walked across the field to my bed I looked up…and repeated most fervently, ‘Thank God!'” Br. Rickenbacker wrote of the courage of fellow pilot Lt. Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President. “Quentin flew about alone for a while, then discovering, as he supposed, his own formation ahead of him he overtook them, dropped in behind… To his horror he discovered that he had been following an enemy patrol all the time! Every machine ahead of him wore a huge black Maltese cross on its wings and tail!.. Quentin fired one long burst…The airplane immediately preceding him dropped at once and within a second or two burst into flames. Quentin put down his nose and streaked it for home

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before the astonished Huns had time to notice what had happened. “Quentin was shot down in a dogfight, July 14, 1918, as Br. Rickenbacker wrote: “Quentin Roosevelt’s death was a sad blow to the whole group.” When the Germans discovered Quentin was President and Br. Theodore Roosevelt’s son, they buried him with honours at the spot where he crashed. Some say he was identified by the love letter he carried in his pocket, from his fiancée Flora Payne Whitney, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s granddaughter. An honour guard of about a thousand Germans paid their respects. In recounting barely escaping death himself, Br. Eddie Rickenbacker wrote: “I want to make it clear that this escape and the others were not the result of any super ability or knowledge on my part. I wouldn’t be alive today if I had to depend on that. I realized then, as I headed for France on one wing, that there had to be something else. I had seen others die, brighter and more able than I. I knew there was a power. I believe in calling upon it for aid and for guidance. I am not such an egotist as to believe that God has spared me because I am I. I believe there is work for me to do and that I am spared to do it, just as you are.” After World War I, Br. Eddie Rickenbacker became owner of the Indianapolis Speedway which holds the annual 500 mile auto race. In 1925, Br. Rickenbacker supported General Billy Mitchell, who was court-marshalled for criticizing the military’s failure to upgrade their airplanes. Br. Rickenbacker worked for Eastern Airlines, eventually becoming

its president. He opposed President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies as socialism, which drew criticism from the liberal media. Roosevelt’s administration even ordered NBC Radio not to broadcast Br. Rickenbacker’s remarks. In 1942, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson asked Br. Rickenbacker to go on a special mission to the Pacific to inspect the military bases. Flying from Hawaii to New Guinea to meet with General Douglas MacArthur On a flight over the Pacific, the plane’s inadequate navigational equipment resulted in them being hundreds of miles off-course. Out of fuel, the plane ditched in the ocean, October 21, 1942. For twenty-four days, in almost hopeless conditions, Br. Eddie Rickenbacker and seven others drifted aimlessly on the open sea. Lt. James Whittaker described in his book, “We Thought We Heard The Angels Sing” (1943), that they shivered wet all night but baked in the burning sun all day, and fought off sharks: “Those giant swells hadn’t looked so bad from high in the air, but down among them they were mountainous…Rick maintained with a perfectly straight face that he was not in the least upset… A swift movement beside our raft caught my eye and I turned… The water about the raft fleet was alive with the triangular, dorsal fins of sharks…” The crew would have given up had not 52-year-old Br. Eddie Rickenbacker, the oldest person on the raft, continued to encourage them. Lt. James Whittaker wrote: “Col. James C. Adamson. suddenly raised himself over the side of the raft and slid

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into the water. Quick as a flash, Rick had him. We hurriedly pulled the rafts in close and helped push the Colonel back into his boat…Rick took over. I will not put down all the things he said in words that would scorch this paper. But from then on, woe betide the man who appeared about to turn quitter… That man Rickenbacker has got a rough tongue in his head.” Lt. James Whittaker continued: “At length Private Johnny Bartek got out his Testament and by common consent we pulled the rafts together for a prayer meeting. We said the Lord’s prayer… I didn’t have the least notion that this open-air hallelujah meeting was going to do any good… I observed that Rick seemed to encourage the suggestion and appeared inclined to take part… Col. Adamson was reading from the Testament. Suddenly Cherry stopped him. ‘What was that last, Colonel?’ he demanded. ‘Where is that from?’ ‘ It is from the Gospel According to Matthew,’ Col. Adamson replied. ‘Do you like it?’ ‘It’s the best thing I’ve heard yet. Read it again, Colonel.’ Col. Adamson then read from the 31st through the 34th verses of the sixth chapter of Matthew: ‘Therefore, take ye no thought, saying: What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For these are things the heathen seeketh. For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Lt. James Whittaker continued:

“I was somewhat impressed and said so. Then I was a little surprised at myself and added that the evil certainly had been sufficient unto the last two or three days… I thought of these words during the wet, dreary night that followed. I dismissed them finally with the decision I would believe when I saw the food and drink. I was destined to see something startlingly like proof the following night… ” Flight Engineer Private Johnny Bartek of Freehold, N.J., wrote in his book, Life Out There (1943) that on the 8th day, after reading from the Bible, Matthew 6:31-34, a sea gull landed on Br. Rickenbacker’s head: “…but as we went on we all began to believe in the Bible and God and prayer. We prayed and prayed for the sea gull to land so we could catch him… After reading the passage, about twenty minutes later, that’s when the sea gull landed on Eddie Rickenbacker’s head…” Br. Rickenbacker caught it and they used it for food and fish bait, with a fishhook made from a bent key ring. Succumbing to exposure and dehydration, Lt. James Whittaker wrote further in We Thought We Heard The Angels Sing (1943): “We said the Lord’s prayer again… While we rolled and wallowed over the crests and into the troughs I was thinking that this was God’s chance to make a believer of Jim Whittaker… Eventually I became aware something was tugging insistently at my consciousness. I looked over to the left. A cloud that had been fleecy and white a while ago now was darkening by the second. While I watched, a bluish curtain unrolled from the cloud to the sea. It was rain – and moving toward us! Now everyone saw the downpour, sweeping across the ocean and speckling

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the waves with giant drops. ‘Here she is!’ Cherry shouted. ‘Thanks, Old Master!’ Another minute and we were being deluged by sheets of cold water that splashed into our parched mouths and sluiced the caked salt off our burned and stinging bodies. We cupped our hands to guide the life-giving rivulets down our throats… We soaked and wrung out our shirts until all the salt was washed out of them. Then we saturated them again and wrung the water into our mouths…” Br. Eddie Rickenbacker described their survival in his book, Seven Came Through (1943). Regarding America, Br. Eddie Rickenbacker wrote: “I pray to God every night of my life to be given the strength and power to continue my efforts to inspire in others the interest, the obligation and the responsibilities that we owe to this land for the sake of future generations – for my boys and girls – so that we can always look back when the candle of life burns low and say, ‘Thank God I have contributed my best to the land that contributed so much to me.'” Br. Eddie Rickenbacker confided: “It was clear to me that God had a purpose in keeping me alive… I had been saved to serve.” Fast Eddie Rickenbacker. Sourced from the Educator website. The author of this piece is unknown! “Too often in Freemasonry, we forget the things we should remember, and remember the things we should forget !!!”

Fraternal Societies

Of the World

‘The Knights of Pythias’

The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864. The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been inspired by a play by the Irish poet John Banim about the legend of Damon and Pythias. This legend illustrates the ideals of loyalty, honor and friendship that are the center of the order. The order has over 2,000 lodges in the United States and around the world, with a total membership of over 50,000 in 2003. Some lodges meet in structures referred to as Pythian Castles.

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Early in the group's history, when a man was inducted into the Knights of Pythias he received a ceremonial sword. Such swords might be given to a Pythian by family members, business associates, or others as a token of esteem. In recent decades, rather than require each member to own a sword, the local chapter maintains a collection of swords for use by its members. Long, narrow swords are generally used in public during parades and drills, while short swords are used in displays. Markings on swords varied widely. Most swords were inscribed with the acronym "FCB," which stands for the Pythian motto ("Friendship, Charity, Benevolence"). Images on swords were also somewhat common, and included: A man, woman and child (symbolic of Pythias saying good-bye to his family); a man looking out of a building, with a group of people below (symbolic of Damon's pending execution); a man between some pillars, pulling them down (similar to Samson destroying his enemy's temple); or various types of weapons (swords, axes, hammers, etc.). A full Knight of the Pythian order often inscribed his sword with the image of a knight's helmet with a lion on the crest. Many also carried the image of a sprig of myrtle (the Pythian symbol of love) or a falcon (the Pythian symbol of vigilance). The structure of the Knights of Pythias is three tiered. The local units used to be called "Castles", but over time came to be called "Subordinate Lodges". State and provincial organizations are called "Grand Lodges" and the national structure is called the "Supreme Lodge" and meets in convention biennially. The officers of the Supreme Lodge include the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Prelate, Secretary,

Treasurer, Master at Arms, Inner Guard and Outer Guard. The order's auxiliaries are the Pythian Sisters, and two youth organizations: the Pythian Sunshine Girls and the Junior Order of Princes of Syracuse for boys. The Knights of Pythias also has a side degree, the Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan, which itself has a female auxiliary, the Nomads of Avrudaka. Finally, members who have obtained the Knight Degree may join the Uniformed Rank, which participated in parades and other processions. Swords owned by a member of the Uniformed Rank might be inscribed with the acronym, "UR," a dove, or a lily. (The Uniformed Rank was banned in the organization in the 1950s.) Membership has historically been open to males in good health, who believe in a Supreme Being. Maimed individuals were not admitted until 1875. Members are accepted by blackball ballot. In the early 1920s the Order had nearly a million members, however by 1979 this number had declined to less that 200,000. The degrees of Pythian Knighthood in a subordinate lodge (or "Castle") are: Page Esquire Knight In 1877 the Order adopted an optional fourth degree, called the Endowment Rank, which provided fraternal insurance benefits. In 1930 this department split from the Knights of Pythias and became a mutual life insurance company, later known as the American United Insurance Company.

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A member must be at least 18 years of age. He cannot be a professional gambler, or involved with illegal drugs or alcohol and he must have a belief in a Supreme Being. The oath taken by members: I declare upon honor that I believe in a Supreme Being, that I am not a professional gambler, or unlawfully engaged in the wholesale or retail sale of intoxicating liquors or narcotics; and that I believe in the maintenance of the order and the upholding of constituted authority in the government in which I live. Moreover, I declare upon honor that I am not a Communist or Fascist; that I do not advocate nor am I a member of any organization that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the Country of which I am a Citizen, by force or violence or other unlawful means; and that I do not seek by force or violence to deny to other persons their rights under the laws of such country. The Order provides for "worthy Pythians in distress" and has given aid to victims of national or sectional disasters. It runs camps for underprivileged youth and homes for aged members. It has sponsored scholarship funds, blood drives, highway safety programs and the Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation. Sourced from a variety of sources freely available on the internet

Did You Know? Can you explain, in modern terms, the words 'Succoth' and 'Zeradatha'? Answer: Our Masonic version of the casting of the Pillars of King Solomon's Temple follows the Bible story precisely. We say they were 'cast' in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeradatha and these are the exact words, perfectly translated from the original Hebrew, 2 Chron. IV, v. 17. The corresponding version in 1 Kings VII, v. 46 uses the same words, but gives the second place-name as Zarthan. 'Succoth' means 'booths' or 'tents'. This was the place where Jacob built 'booths' for his cattle on his return to Canaan, after wrestling with the angel. The River Jordan flows due north and south, and the River Jabbok flows into it from the north east. 'Succoth' was a village or town about four miles east of the River Jordan, in the V between the two Rivers. 'Zeradatha', 'Zarthan', 'Zereda'. The name appears to be derived from an Arabic root meaning 'to cool' or 'cooling'. It probably marked a ford of the Jordan in the same area. The key to the choice of this territory for the work of casting the Pillars, is the clay ground in this part of the Jordan valley. The use of a clay core was one of the earliest methods of casting in bronze. If there really was some-thing in the geographical situation of Zeradatha which helped in the cooling process, the area chosen for the casting was wholly suitable for the work. The above answer was given by W. Bro. Harry Carr, a former Secretary of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076.

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The Caledonian Lodge of Dundee

No.254

A Short History The origin of this our Mother Lodge, can be traced back as far as 4th February 1814, when it is recorded in the minute book of Lodge Operative No 47 "that the Caledonian Society of Dundee had resolved to form themselves as a regular Masonic Lodge and had requested assistance from Lodge Operative to do so" Accordingly, 9 members of the Caledonian Society were admitted to Lodge Operative these being the designated office bearers of the proposed new Lodge. (Minutes of Lodge Operative 47 regarding Caledonian members) From that date until the 2nd May 1814 when The Caledonian Lodge Dundee No 330 was chartered, no fewer than 42 new Masons were made and these were the founding members of the Lodge as we now know it. At this point, must therefore thank Lodge Operative for their immense efforts in bringing to fruition Lodge Caledonian from the ranks of the Caledonian Society. Also Lodge St David No 78 who recommended to Grand Lodge to grant and charter in favour of the proposed new lodge. Lodge Operative's fees for this excellent service amounted to the princely sum of £18 and 7 shillings. Also indicated that the rent being charged to the new lodge for the first year was four guineas.

Also recorded was the actual dedication of the new lodge on 24th June 1822 at which the following Lodges were present. St Regulus Lodge, Cupar Airly Lodge Kirriemuir Caledonian Lodge Dundee Lodge Tay Union, Wormit Lodge Forfar & Kincardine, Dundee Thistle Operative, Dundee St Davids Lodge Ancient, Dundee Lodge Operative, Dundee Lodge St Thomas Arbroath. A Collection was taken and realised the sum of £34.2.6 which was donated to the local Asylum (situated in the Stobswell Area of Dundee) A harmony was held in the Caledonian Hall at 8pm that evening. Also retrieved is a book of Rules and Regulations of The Caledonian Lodge dated 1815 which makes interesting reading. Rule 15 indicates "members speaking disorderly, swearing, or behaving in a turbulent and unruly manner, and who will not submit to being called to order, at any general or committee meeting, shall for the first offence pay sixpence fine, two shilling for the second, five shillings for the third, and if he still persists in that contumacious turbulent temper and behaviour, tending to sow discord and schism among the members, he shall be expelled the Lodge Given this rule, it might be that most of us would be skint or expelled if it was still in common use. However it is not recorded if this set of rules was ever rescinded, so as far as I know, they are still relevant. Interest grew out of discovery of a Master Masons certificate dated 12th February 1844 ... this was for Lodge Caledonian 258 and was signed by the then Right

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Worshipful Master Bro Wm Paterson, WSW J. Morrison , WJW W Gibson and the Secretary Bro A.C.Ogilvie. This document was in favour of Bro John McNiel Allied to this discovery was a M. M's., certificate of 1869 for Bro James or Jacobus Farquharson and the Lodge number in this case was as now.. 254 The original number allocated by Grand Lodge was in 1814 No. 330. Stemming from this Grand Lodge was approached but as records at that period were not kept as they are now they could not furnish me with a list of Caledonian Past Masters, indeed in a letter from Grand Secretary to me dated 19th July I was informed that until 1869 no records of Installed Masters was kept and even then the list was incomplete as late as 1875. Neither could they throw little light as to why the number was 258 as late as 1844 but he was able to tell me that in 1816, only two years after being formed, we were allocated Number 247. Further numbering took place in the year 1822 and although this appears to have been an unofficial number for administrative purposes we then became 258. In 1826 the last enumeration took place in 1826 and we were allotted the number we have to-day No 254. It seems likely that the seal with 258 upon it was commissioned sometime after 1816 when the Lodge was numbered 258 but before 1826 when we became 254. Because of costs involved when Lodges had to pay for their own Certificates being printed and sealed it is not unreasonable to believe that Caledonian continued to us

these seals and certificates even after 254 became the official Number for the Lodge. The records of Grand Lodge for the earlier period leave much to be desired and, as I have said, they could shed little light upon who our Past Masters could be. Over to Provincial Grand Lodge of Forfarshire. Iain McIntosh Sub PG Master, himself an interested party in history, very kindly looked up the minute books of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Forfarshire and came up with almost all of the Missing Masters, - no pun intended. Unfortunately there are no minutes available for the period 1823 to 1854 but by a process of elimination and supposition we are fairly confident that the list we have is accurate. I had to do some research for the period 1899 to 1910 and as we have no minute books for this period I was able to pick up the names from a Petition Book which the Masters had to sign at that time. We know that the Master in 1823 was William Sturrock, we know that the Master in 1844 was William Patterson, we also know that the Master in 1854 was R.D. Pryde and from then on the records are complete. A short History by Bro's Rev. David Taylor PM and Andy Angus PM This History of The Caledonian Lodge of Dundee No. 254 was recommended to the editor by one of our reader. This can be viewed by clicking here. Our thanks go to the Lodge No .254 whom the editor and the newsletter acknowledge to be the copyright owners.

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Rays of Masonry “Lodge Activities”

We do not underestimate the importance of degree work. If there are candidates, there must be degree work. However, it seems that we often are willing to sacrifice something that is vital in our zeal to confer degrees. To do so is unfair to the candidate and to the lodge. It requires time between degrees for the candidates to contemplate the seriousness of a Masonic degree and to grasp even a small part of the ceremonies. He not only should learn the words of the catechism, but he should also learn the meaning of the catechism. To a large extent we determine the future usefulness of a candidate by the impression we make upon him during his days as a "candidate." But what of the progress of the lodge in the interest of the brethren when there is no degree work? These meetings should be carefully planned by the Master and officers of the lodge, and should result in the advancement and study of Masonry. It may be symbolism, history or some other study of Masonry, but it will prove of great interest to the brothers. Also many fine meetings may be held when our older members are given an opportunity to tell to what extent Masonry has influenced their lives. There are many leaders of Masonry who have made a study of Masonic philosophy and symbolism. They are always willing to visit a lodge and give the brethren the benefit of their years of study. Let us not feel that nothing of value can be done when there is no degree work.

Perhaps that can be done which is of equal or greater value to the lodge. But, let us bear in mind, that our programs must always be in keeping with the dignity of the high calling of Masons and the sacred principals of our Institution.

Dewey Wollstein 1953

Ask! Seek! Knock! The individual who seeks membership in a Masonic Lodge becomes thereby the heir to a rich tradition; that to which initiation gives him access is not something put together in a day, and it will profit him little if he makes no attempt to enter his patrimony. There is no authorised interpretation of Freemasonry. The newly initiated brother does not find waiting for him a ready-made Masonic creed, or a ready-made explanation of the ritual, he must think Masonry out for himself. He must learn something of the history of Masonry; of its achievement in the great nations; of its outstanding teachers, and what they have taught; of its ideas, principles and spirit. Initiation alone does not confer this knowledge (and could not); the member must himself strive to make the inexhaustible riches of the Order his own. He must discover the larger purposes of the fraternity to which he belongs. The ceremony of initiation is two-fold. To the Freemason the 7th verse of the 7th Chapter of Matthew is deeply significant: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

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Indictment. Why don't men practice what they preach?" demanded the New Brother of the Old Tiler, walking up and down in the anteroom. "I dunno, why don't they?" The Old Tiler hooked a chair nearer to his own. "Sit down, son, you remind me of a Marathon. ''I don't want to sit down! I want to know why men profess brotherhood and act like selfish beasts. I want to know why Masons agree to uphold each other in trouble and forget they have any brethren when trouble comes. I want to know why we preach charity and practice personal isolation from the other fellow’s woes. I want to know . ." "Don't you also want to know why Masons preach toleration and broad-mindedness and then walk up and down the anteroom like caged lions, spouting intolerance and

narrow-mindedness?'' inquired the Old Tiler, mildly. ''That was right pat, for you,'' laughed the New Brother, "but we do prate a lot of charity and while we give money enough, we don't do enough personal work!" "Vague indictment," countered the Old Tiler. ''You have something on your chest beside your vest. Suppose you unload?" "I was put on a sick, committee last week," began the New Brother. ''And among our sick was a chap named Brown. We found him in Mercy hospital. In a ward, he was, with a dozen or so other patients. He was so pleased to see us and so appreciative of our visit, it was pathetic. Said if it wasn’t for the visits of his brethren he’d go crazy. Said some of us had been to see him every two weeks for several months. Then he pulled me down over his bed and said, 'Look here, brother, you look like a regular guy; lemme tell you I am not the only Mason here. There are seven brethren in this ward, all from foreign jurisdictions, and no one visits them!’ "I hunted these chaps out, and I conferred with the committee, and we bought fruit and flowers and took them to all these seven, and five of them cried! And, damn it, I cried, too! Here they were, four of them hardly more than boys, in a strange town, in a strange place, and not a single Mason had hunted them up or said a word to them until we did it. I say we are pikers not to go and see them, and I'm going every week, and the lodge can pay the bills, or I will, but those chaps are going to think at least one brother believes in charity and . . . I don't mean it as charity, I mean brotherhood and common decency. We preach such a lot and do so little and

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we ought to be ashamed of ourselves and . . ." "Whoa!'' the Old Tiler grinned. "Back up, son! Your sentiments do you credit. It is true Masonic spirit to comfort the sick, but don't be too hard on the lodge. A lodge is not omniscient, you know. Neither the Master nor the committee on the sick can know of every sick Mason in town. If those seven Masons had written to their own lodges and told the facts, those lodges would have written to us here, and we would have been on the job. Nine times out of ten when a strange brother, in a strange town is sick and no Masons visit him, it's because they don't know he is there. "Now You have discovered these brethren, you need not keep a monopoly of their care. Tell your story in lodge and you’ll start a whole procession of Masons toward Mercy Hospital. We are often apparently careless because we don't know, but that we preach charity and practice its neglect I will not agree. Are you a better Mason than any in our lodge?'' "Why, of course not!" "Well, are you a better man than any in our lodge?'' "I don't think so!" "You certainly do talk so!" responded the Old Tiler. You have been to Mercy Hospital. Your feelings have been touched by visible evidence of suffering and the need for Masonic visits. You are going to give what is needed. But you never did, before you went there. If you took the lodge out there wouldn't they all feel the same way?"

"I suppose they would!" "Then why damn them because they haven't had your opportunity? You didn't have to wait until you were drawn on a sick committee to go to Mercy Hospital. You just never thought of it. Now you have seen for yourself, you are moved to action. So would any of the rest of the Masons in this lodge be. Be charitable to them, too, as well as to the boys in the hospital. Go inside and tell your story; you'll have plenty of company when you go to the hospital next time." "How do you know?" ''I visit Mount Alban Hospital every week," said the Old Tiler, a little shyly, "and tell the boys, and I know what they do." "There are times," answered the New Brother, "when I think you should be framed and put on a wall! You are too perfect to be real.'' "Oh, don't say that!" cried the Old Tiler, "or I'll think you are trying to borrow a cigar instead of just about to give me one!" This is the Forty-third article in this regular feature, ‘The Old Tiler Talks,’ each month we publish in the newsletter one of these interesting and informative pieces by Carl Claudy.

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TELL IT TO THE BEES. The beehive is not often seen today among the symbols which adorn a Masonic Lodge, in the past it had its place as an emblem, and this fascinating emblem, with its bees flying round a hive, which disappeared as the result of the Jacobites adopting the bee and a beehive as its emblem of immortality and resurrection was on old jewels, tracing boards, lodge furniture banners and summonses. In a recent issue of The Freemason, Brother J. Marsengill traces the origin of the beehive as a symbol far back in time before there was ever a thought of speculative masonry and indeed even before the operative Masons had ever begun to build. We must, he says, of necessity, look toward ancient Egypt, which many Masonic scholars believe to be the cradle of many of our Masonic teachings and there we find that on the tomb of Seti I, a Pharaoh who lived, reigned, and died before the time of the Exodus, the soul is represented issuing from the skin of victims under the form of a bee. (Lefebure L'office des morts a Abydos, 1889.) In the Egyptian religion we find many more such references, and indeed these peoples worshipped a god called Apis. Though this god was worshipped under the guise of a bull yet the name can be literally translated "bee". Through the centuries the bee has been used as an emblem of immortality by many of the world's great religions. "The bee was used as a symbol of immortality by the Mithraic cult, so popular in the time of the Caesars, and by the early Christians, as the catacomb pictures still witness". (The

Emblems: H. L. Haywood, The Builder January 1921.) In the Georgics we find that Virgil gives to the bee breeders a recipe for spontaneous generation of a swarm of bees. By the action of magic rites a swarm can be brought into existence within the hides of sacrificed bulls. (Kings and Gods of Egypt, Alexandre Moret: G P. Putnam and Sons 1912.) Jesus of Nazareth, whom many revere as the son of God, was often called the "aethereal bee" and Vishnu was also so honoured. Krishna has been seen represented in wall paintings with a blue bee circling over his head to symbolize the spiritual part of man. Many of the Christian kings of the earlier centuries, had small golden bees buried in the tombs as an emblem of immortality. Strange beliefs grew up around the bee and even about its honey. At one time honey was supposed to have great embalming powers and Alexander the Great was said to have been embalmed and buried in this way. The kings of France have always borne three bees upon their banners, although they later disguised them and referred to them as "fleur-de-lis". When Napoleon usurped the throne of France, he adopted a bee as his emblem not only to symbolize the initial of his last name "Bonaparte" but to give to his upstart regime a certain air of respectability. Other beliefs have been prevalent at other times about the bee. For example in the Greek myths we find Venus informing her son Cupid that he was like a bee, that which stings and at the same time brings sweetness.

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The honey of the bee was supposed to have a certain curative power for afflictions of speech so that Pindar, whose name has been immortalized in the "Pindarian Odes" was supposed to have had his lips touched with honey. This legend has been passed down to us in our phrase of "honeyed words" etc. "There is a curious incident in the Kalevala, the national epic of Finland. The mother of Lemmirikainen rakes the fragments of her son from the river bed and by her spells she pieces him together. But he remains dumb and lifeless until she anoints him with the honey bought to her from the heavenly pastures by the bee. This honey completely restores him to life and speech." (The Symbolism of the Beehive: The Iowa Grand Lodge Bulletin Geo. W. Bullamore, February 1930.) Looking further back, even before the time of the Egyptians, to the era of the cult of Cybele, "thou art black but comely", we find that even before there was the slightest conception of the sun god "RA". the old earth-mother Cybele was worshipped throughout the known world. Many of her cults worshipped her under the guise of the Queen bee, the mother of the hive. Thus considering the hive as an emblem of the world, and the queen of it as the mother goddess we may assume that this might be one of the concepts which the ancient progenitors of our order wished to portray. In this religion, the god had a very inferior role. He was merely the consort of the mother and having violated her, was immediately mutilated and slain by her. This is the same way in which the queen-bee serves the drone as soon as she is fertilized. During their relation the organs of the drone are ripped from him and he is left to fall to the earth and die.

Bees as a symbol of immortality are found in the pages of the Bible. In the book of Judges we read that Samson, alter slaying the lion, observed a swarm of bees inhabiting the carcass and taking some of the honey there from ate of it. Could this not he a survival of the old Egyptian religion, from which so much of our Judeo- Christian theology is borrowed, in that the bee is meant to symbolize the soul coming forth from the body as does the bee from the body of the lion? There is a great possibility that this story, in itself, is not an historical narrative but an allegory intending to teach a lesson of resurrection. Thus looking at the story of Samson and the lion as an allegory we are able again to use the bee to typify the concept of immortality. Death and the bee have always been inseparably connected. In most folk-lore we find that the bees must be told of a death in the family. Let us then, rather than looking at the beehive as a Lodge full of industrious Freemasons, or operative Masons as the case may be, cheerfully building their cells and storing their honey, look at this same beehive as an emblem of the world and the bees as the souls contained within that world, and take hope in the symbolism that as these bees shall wing their way toward greener and more fertile fields, so shall the soul of man take wing and ascend to a glorious immortality. In this manner we can bring the emblem of the beehive into a closer relation with the other monitorial emblems of the Master's lecture and as Master Masons enjoy the happy reflections consequent on a well spent life and die in the hope of a glorious immortality Reprinted from the Masonic Record, July. 1969

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The Menagerie of Masonry

Animals have played an important part in symbolism from its very beginning; perhaps because man preferred to symbolize life by the living; perhaps because he found such strong analogies between the characteristics of, or the virtues he ascribed to animals, birds and other forms of life and the truths he desired to express in symbols. A lamb is actually no more “innocent” than a lion or a dog. “Innocence” is defined as the state of being free of evil, or from that which corrupts or taints; purity. One animal is on par with another in these respects; neither lion nor lamb, jackal nor wolf is “corrupted” or “tainted.” But the quality of innocence is often associated in our minds with ignorance; often it means a weakness to resist, as when we speak of an “innocent child.” The lamb is weak; the lamb is meek; the lamb is white and white is spotless, without soil or blemish; the lamb requires care and guardianship, as does the child or the young girl - therefore it is the weak lamb, and not the strong, predatory, courageous and snarling lion which “in all ages” has been the symbol of innocence. “In all ages” is a pleasant figure of speech which makes up in roundness what it lacks in definiteness. Throughout the Old Testament are references to lambs, often in connection with sacrifices, frequently used in a sense symbolic of innocence, purity, gentleness and weakness. It is probably from both the Old and New Testaments use of a lamb that “in all ages” it has been a symbol for innocence, a matter aided by

the color, which we unconsciously associate with purity, probably because of the hue of snow. It is not a universal association though; the Chinese, for instance, so often diametrically opposite the Occidentals in their thinking, associate white with death. The lion is one of Freemasonry’s most powerful and potent symbols; “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah” is so prominent in the ritual as to be most familiar and the Masonic world needs no instruction as to the significance of the paw of the lion. Yet both are often less fully comprehended than their importance warrants. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has had various interpretations, some of them rather unfair in their attempt to prove a point. No well-informed Freemason thinks that Freemasonry is a Christian organization, any more than it is Jewish or Mohammedan; albeit there are more Christian Masons than Jewish or Mohammedan Masons. To deny that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah refers to Christ, that it means “only” a probable redeemer who would spring from the Tribe of Judah; to try to read into the expression “only” a reference to King Solomon, is to disregard the undoubted fact that in its early stages in England, Freemasonry was not only Christian, but allied to the Church. The First of the Old Charges makes this very plain: “But though in Ancient Times Masons were charged in every Country to be of the religion of that Country or Nation, whatever it was, yet `tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all Men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves; that it, to be good men and true, or Men of Honour and Honesty by whatever Denominations or persuasions

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they may be Distinguished; whereby Masonry becomes a Centre of Union and the Means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance.” Prior to this broad-minded inclusion of men of all religions in Freemasonry, operative Masons were “of the religion of the country, whatever it was.” This was predominately Christian, in England, France and Germany. Judah was symbolized as a lion in his father’s death bed blessing. The lion was upon the standard of the large and powerful tribe of Judah. “Lion of the Tribe of Judah” was one of Solomon’s titles. But Christian interpretation of the phrase springs from Revelations (V. 5), “Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.” The idea of a resurrection is curiously interwoven with the lion “in all ages” to quote the familiar phrase. In the twelfth century one Philip de Thaun states: “Know that the lioness, if she bring forth a dead cub, she holds her cub and the lion arrives; he goes about and cries, till it revives on the third day.” The rest of the quotation ascribes a wholly Christian interpretation to the ancient legend. Another writer of the middle ages has it: Thus the strong lion of Judah The gates of cruel death being broken Arose on the third day At the loud sounding voice of the father. The lion was connected with resurrection long before the Man of Galilee walked upon the earth. In ancient Egypt, as we learn from the stone carvings on the ruins of Temples, a lion raised Osiris from a dead level to a living perpendicular by a grip of his paw; the carvings show a figure

standing behind the Altar, observing the raising of the dead, with its left arm raised, forming the angle of a square. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, considered as signifying a coming redeemer who would spring from the tribe, or meaning the King of Israel who built the Temple, or symbolizing the Christ, must not be confused with the mode of recognition so inextricably mingled with the Sublime Degree, teaching of a resurrection and a future life. A curious inversion of the idea of the lion’s paw as a symbol of life is found in I Samuel, XVII 34:37. David tells Saul of rescuing a lamb from a lion and a bear, and slaying both. Then (37) “David said moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion . . . he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Unquestionably the Israelites absorbed much of Egyptian beliefs during the captivity, which may account both for the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and our own use of the paw.But read the symbolism how we will, or by whatever light we please, the lion has a Masonic significance of tremendous importance and hoary antiquity; one which bears deep study without revealing all its secrets. To the world at large the best known animal in the Masonic Menagerie is the goat! Alas, that goat! What harm has he not done to our gentle Fraternity! Could the brother who jokes to the prospective initiate about the terrors of “riding the goat” and the severe treatment he may expect when the aprochryphal animal is let loose upon him, but learn how the idea originated, he would never more soil the most magnificent symbol of the mightiest of man’s hopes with so shocking and debasing an idea.

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The great God Pan has been sung and storied since the birth of mythology. Originally he was anything but terrifying; a gentle, rather whimsical God with a sense of humour. He was that Arcadian God of the shepherds, chief of the inferior deities, generally considered to be the child of Mercury and Penelope. Pan possessed long ears and horns; the lower half of his body was that of a goat. He invented Pan’s Pipes, or “syrinx.” From him we have the word “panic,” the state into which the Gauls were thrown on invading ancient Greece and seeing Pan! Myths and legends undergo strange transformations. When the early Christian drew upon mythology they modified and changed it; gentle Pan became Satan! To the common mind, Satan, or the devil, was a he-goat. Thus the devil came into possession of horns and a tail, and the familiar cloven hoof. Later, in the Middle Ages, the devil took a more dignified form, in keeping with his supposed power. But the people would not wholly give up the goat, therefore their devil was supposed to appear riding on a goat. Witches were credited with performing fearful ceremonies in which they raised the devil in order to do homage to him and his goat. In the early days of Masonry in London, the enemies of the Fraternity employed the weapon of ridicule; processions of Mock Masons, the Gormogons and or other organizations made all manner of fun of the secrecy and the ceremonies of Freemasonry. Some of this fun was a bitter and venomous jest; jealousy and ill-will of the excluded circulated stories that Freemasons and witchcraft were allied. that Freemasons were accustomed to raise the devil in their lodges - and, of course, he appeared riding

on his goat! Gradually in common minds the belief came into being that Freemasons “rode the goat.” We still have the expression, though not the belief. Yet the coarse-minded and the unthinking still torment the petitioner with tales of riding and being butted by the goat. They pretend - or perhaps the just pretend to pretend - that the initiative ceremonies are terrifying. Brethren who thus regularly - albeit often innocently - tell tales of the Masonic goat to initiates or the profane, carry forward a ridicule and enmity of the Order begun more than two hundred years ago. In peopling our lodge rooms with goats they perpetuate am ignorant superstition and slander the fair fame of the Institution by indicating that its practices are anti-religious and blasphemous. Let him who has the good of the order in his heart cast from his mind and eliminate from his speech all references to a Masonic goat, which came from ridicule, which descended from the idea of the devil, which in its turn came from the frolicsome half-goat, half-man God Pan. No Masonic Menagerie would be complete which did not include the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; here the influence of the Old Testament is strongly felt. In I Samuel (XVII 41) we read: “And the Philistine said unto David, Come to me and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field.” “Beasts of the field” is an expression which denotes more than one variety of animal. In the Old Testament the term beasts denotes any brute, as distinguished from man; a quadruped as distinguished from other living creatures; a wild animal as distinguished from a domesticated one, and the apocalyptic symbol of brute force as the opposite of Divine power.

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Obviously it is not the domesticated cattle, the asses and goats and the sheep, from the attacks of which human infant is unable to guard himself, as in the phrases from the explanation of the Bee Hive. Nor did the Philistine imagine, if he gave David’s flesh to cattle, that they would eat it! His “Beasts of the Field” are the wild beasts - the beasts of Leviticus (XXVI 22): “I will also send wild beasts among you,” etc. These wild beasts are bears, wild bulls, hyenas. jackals, leopards and wolves; all Old Testament animals. It is these which must be visualized when Freemasons use the word, not horses, cows, dogs, sheep and asses. The vultures of the Old Testament are typified by those spoken of in Isaiah XXXIV, in which the desolation of the enemies of God are described. The land is to be burned and to lie waste and “none shall pass through it for ever and ever.” Thorns and nettles and brambles are to grow upon it; the wild beasts shall inhabit it and (15) “There shall the great owl make her nest and lay and hatch and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.” It is unnecessary more than to mention the symbolism of the bees in the hive. As an emblem of industry they are sufficiently explained in the ritual; moreover, bees are hardly to be considered as parts of a menagerie! If small, the Masonic Menagerie is select and exclusive; its symbols are plain for all to read; yet they have deeper and more spiritual meanings for those who are willing to look below the surface and see in lion and lamb - and even goat - as well as the beasts of the field and birds of the air, a gentle teaching of man’s hope of immortality, at once touching and comforting.

THE CORK DEGREE

You may climb the Mason’s Ladder till you reach the highest point And in toiling slowly upwards rack yourself in every joint But I venture to inform you - if you’ve reached to thirty-three The best of all the bunch is what is called the Cork Degree. You ask me what it means? Well, Sirs, it means just what it says You can booze yourself to blazes through a hundred happy days You may stop your dinner or your tea and sell your knife and fork But you mus’nt venture out of doors without your Mason’s Cork. It’s a circle and the centre that it holds is Fellowship There are many signs and tokens which you may well give the slip So long as you do not forget that the Cork, to have its due, Must have safely in its centre what it seldom lacks - a screw. For that means the bottle’s open, and the drinks are going round And the Corkites are delighted with the whiskeys gurgling sound As it cluck clucks in Friendship’s name and flows right merrily And thus maintains the glories of the Almighty Cork Degree. Then when heads are getting muzzy and when eyes are getting faint And you’re free to fight you’re damndest with a devil or a Saint If some kindly Christian Soul enquires how many moons you see You may bet your empty tumbler he’s got the Cork Degree.

From William Harvey’s – Masonic Readings and Recitations.

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Who’s Who In Freemasonry

Brother “Brother” is the most common word in Freemasonry (the plural is “Brethren”, using an archaic grammatical form like the plural “children” for “child”). While it echoes the Biblical ideal, “How good and pleasant it is for brothers to sit together” (Psalm 133:1), the practice of calling a fellow-Mason “Brother” is one of a series of borrowings from technical ecclesiastical terminology. “Brother” denoted a member of a male religious order, and when speculative Freemasonry began, admission to the craft was known as “Brothering”. The entrance fee was known as payment for one’s “Brothering”. Reflecting the fact that there are two means of joining a family – birth or adoption – a Mason who belongs to another Lodge and now joins a new one is said to “affiliate”, i.e. become a brother, from the Latin “filius”. The inherent democracy of Freemasonry, suggestive of Micah’s affirmation in the Bible that all men are brothers, children of the one Father (Mic. 2:10), calls every Mason “Brother”, but at the same time sometimes creates a problem. Do we add titles reflecting outside rank or status, such as “Doctor”? Is it permissible to refer to “Brother Doctor X?” There is no definitive ruling; it probably all depends on which Masonic jurisdiction is involved. There is also the question of whether in introducing a candidate we should even call him “Mr”. Some prefer to omit all titles and merely use first name and surname, e.g. “John

Brown”. Terms such as “The Honourable” or “The Right Honourable” should presumably be totally omitted. In Britain a peer of the realm might possibly be referred to as “John Brown, Earl of …” Worshipful Brother A Mason who is or has been Master of his Lodge is called “Worshipful Brother”. In some jurisdictions there are higher titles, again deriving from ecclesiastical usage, such as “Very Worshipful”, “Right Worshipful”, and “Most Worshipful”. “Worshipful” has nothing to do with worship in the sense of adoration; it comes from “worth”, and indicates that the person concerned is highly regarded, i.e. full of worth. Mayors and magistrates are often called “Your Worship” for the same reason. Presumably because the terminology is difficult, one hears even veteran Freemasons make mistakes like “Worshipful Mother” when they address the Master of a Lodge. Master The fully trained Freemason is a Master Mason; the head of the Lodge is the Master. An analogy is the academic practice of awarding a master’s degree, which in some universities was the first, i.e. undergraduate, degree. In operative of Freemasonry the employer or chief artisan was the Master. There is some confusion between the name for a graduate of the Third Degree – a Master Mason – and the Lodge Master. It was even more difficult before the Third Degree emerged, when the term “Master” applied to a Mason who carried no higher rank than fellow-craft: see “Education by Degrees”. The Latin “magis”, more, “magister”, a head, gave rise to the English words “master” or

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“mister” (with the feminine “mistress”), “magistrate”, etc. Grand Master The local Lodge is normally part of the overall structure of a Grand Lodge headed by the Grand Master. (In the 18th century the term was sometimes used loosely and meant no more than a Worshipful Master). His team includes an array of Grand Officers such as Grand Chaplain, Grand Director of Ceremonies, etc. In some jurisdictions distinguished Masons may be awarded Conferred Grand Rank, e.g. a Past Grand Chaplain who never actually held office as a Grand Chaplain. The ritual accords the title Grand Master to ancient personages who totally pre-dated Freemasonry, such as Adam, Moses, Hiram Abif, Solomon, etc. Mason An expert involved in the building trade is a mason; his work entails dealing with masonry. The term may come from the Old French “macon”, a builder or worker in stone, or Old Gothic “maitan”, to hew or cut (or “macian”, to make”). Warden Another name deriving from ecclesiastical tradition, the warden (from Anglo-Saxon “weard”, watchman, guard or custodian), superintends a section of the Lodge – the Senior Warden in the west and the Junior Warden in the south. (In the Middle Ages the workmen’s lodgings were probably in the south of the building site, probably so that the sun would warm the huts during the day: hence the idea that when the Mason breaks for refreshment he moves to

the south). Both Wardens display their status by means of pillars which symbolise the two pillars, Yachin and Bo’az, which stood at the entrance of King Solomon’s Temple (see my article on Pillars of the Temple). Deacon Religion also gave the craft the term “deacon”, from Greek “diakonos”, a servant or messenger. In the ecclesiastical context the Deacon is a lesser-rung church officer; in Freemasonry he is a messenger. Presumably operative Freemasonry used a system of messengers to convey messages from one part of the building site to another. Steward From Anglo-Saxon “stig”, sty, and “weard”, guard, the steward also derived his name from ecclesiastical usage. Originally holding an agricultural function, the steward became a property manager, in the church an officer handling funds and refreshments, and in Freemasonry the organiser of refreshments. Tyler Originally the artisan who covered the roof with tiles. A more usual spelling is “tiler” (note the use of Tyler as a surname, eg Wat Tyler). His role in the Lodge is to keep the roof (and other parts) of the building safe from intrusion. In 18th century Freemasonry, the tyler carried out other tasks such as preparing the Lodge room for meetings. By Rt. Wor. Bro. Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple, AO RFD, Past Deputy Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales & the Australian Capital Territory. Click the name to go to his website.

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THE MASONIC DICTIONARY

Token

The word token is derived from the Anglo-Saxon tacen, which means a sign, presage, type, or representation, that which points out something; and this is traced to taecan, to teach, show, or instruct, because by a token we show or instruct others as to what we are. Bailey, whose Dictionary was published soon after the Revival, defines it as "a sign or mark"; but it is singular that the word is not found in either of the dictionaries of Phillips or Blount, which were the most popular glossaries in the beginning of the eighteenth century. The word was, however, well known to the Fraternity, and was in use at the time of the Revival with precisely the same meaning that is now given to it as a mode of recognition. The Hebrew word oth, is frequently used in Scripture to signify a sign or memorial of something past, some covenant made or promise given. thus God says to Noah, of the rainbow, "it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth"; and to Abraham he says of circumcision, " it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you." In Freemasonry, the grip of recognition is called a token, because it is an outward sign of the covenant of friendship and fellowship entered into between the members of the Fraternity, and is to be considered as a memorial of that covenant which was made, when it was first received by the candidate, between him and the Order into which he was then initiated. Neither the French nor the German Freemasons have a word precisely equivalent to token. Krause translates it by merkmale, a sign or representation, but which has no technical Masonic Signification.. The French have only attachment, which means the act of touching or clasping hands; and the Germans, griff, which is the same as the English grip. In the technical use of the word token, the English-speaking Freemasons have an advantage not possessed by those of any other country.

Until next month, Keep the faith!

The Editor.

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