Double Eagle Vol. 51, Num. 1, Winter 2001

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Double Eagle Vol. 51, Num. 1, Winter 2001 Volume 51, Number 1 e-mail: [email protected] Web Page: www.aasr-indy.org Winter 2001 he call came in 1985 from Dick Muir -- a brother Five years ago we privatized our food service who has been in the fraternal trenches for years operation which stopped hemorrhaging of about TKingKinghelping to put ClearstheClears Masonic Home Foundation HisHis on $150,000 TTr ra yearestleboarestleboar to a healthy $250,000 positive cashdd solid footing. At the other end was a colleague in the flow. banking community. The need: financial controls and computer integration at the Indianapolis Valley. And, Fiscal responsibility was primary, but his real labor of so it began with Bob King and our fraternity some 15 love was the Cathedral building itself. His care and years ago. concern that the Cathedral should be the most beautiful fraternal edifice set Bob's expertise has served us well him on a solid course of maintenance over the years; but even he wouldn't and preservation. know how much creativity it would take to keep declining membership from he tower windows had buckled sinking the ship. and were repaired and replaced, T the outside of the building was During his tenure, membership thoroughly cleaned, new exterior dropped from 36,000 to 22,000 -- but lighting was added, the auditorium, we are in an even stronger financial library, main floor lounges, directors condition than when he first arrived due room, and banquet hall were restored. to his God-given abilities that he honed Finally, just this summer, the Cathedral over a career in the banking industry. was completely air-conditioned and the Bob's ability to network with leaders in auditorium stage was stripped and the community and in the Valley replaced with state-of-the-art equip- provided him with the skills to meet the ment. These final two pieces puts us in changing needs of society and our an enviable position of making our members yet keep us fiscally sound. Ill. Robert L King, 33º facility competitive for rental income to outside groups. uring those years, the Executive Committees have quadrupled the number of activities such Always taking brother's "temperatures", well-re- Das banquets, plays, dances, Halloween and spected by other Secretaries across the United States, Christmas parties for our children, besides enhancing and so, after 15 years, Bob King will be missed. He the Valley's already great reputation in the Northern was the right person at the right time to right our ship Masonic Jurisdiction for our outstanding lineup of of state. Now Bob, you have earned your place in the degree presentations during the April and November Valley and you have earned your retirement with your Convocations. beloved Ginny. Godspeed! Page 2 Double Eagle Winter 2001 CathedralBy MarkAvailable Sims for Public and Private Events Events Manager tish Rite members wishing to rent the building for their personal use. Room charges will be dis- any members may not realize that the counted by 15% for contracts written in the name Scottish Rite Cathedral is open to the of the member. Rates are based on a basic Mpublic for various events ranging from rental charge for each room used plus set-up weddings and receptions to business and social charge and charges for personnel required, such programs. Responsibility for scheduling and as Tilers, auditorium technical staff, etc. Rates executing rental contracts rests with the Events are graduated based on the size of the group but Manager. Arrangements for food and beverages an average weekend wedding reception for 100- are made directly with Indy Anna’s Cathedral 300 people would cost around $1,600 depending Catering. on length of time needed, size of crowd, set-up requirements, etc. If the wedding and reception The Cathedral has been host to several promi- are both in the Cathedral some discounted nent events over the last several years, including: combination pricing is available. n Indianapolis Ballet Ball With the building now fully air conditioned, summer dates are filling fast and most reserva- n International Violin Competition Finals tions are made 9-12 months in advance. If you n IHSAA Basketball Finalist luncheons would be interested in having an event at the Cathedral, please call Mark Sims at (317) 262- n IHSAA Volleyball Finalist dinner 3100, ext. 240. n U.S. State Department Meetings n Annual Law Review Classes n Indiana Commission on Community Service Seminars n Herron School of Art Janus Ball Classic Car Club of America n The Double Eagle (USPS 015-686) is published five times each year in January, March, June, Ben Davis Madrigal Dinners September, and November by the Ancient n Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Indianapolis at 650 N Meridian St, Indianapolis IN 46204-1294. Indianapolis Woman Magazine Bridal Periodicals postage paid at Indpls IN. n POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Showcase above address. Editor Jerry B Collins, 33° Several groups such as Sertoma, Optimist and Officers Thrice Potent Master J David Hollingsworth Kiwanis also regularly meet in the cafeteria. Sovereign Prince Thomas A Fallis Arrangements for luncheon meetings in the Most Wise Master Carl E Culmann Commander-in-Chief Robert E Hancock, III rooms on the mezzanine are scheduled directly Secretary Jeffrey K Saunders, 33° Treasurer Robert M Danielson, 33° with Indy Anna’s Cathedral Catering. Weddings Tiler Raymond L Schwartz and receptions are extremely popular in the Hospitaler John W Duncan, 33° Auditorium, Ballroom, and Banquet Hall and this Trustees year the Cathedral will host 28 weddings and/or William C Brandt, Jr, 33° Philip S Kappes, 33° receptions. Marvin C Maguire, 33° Recently, the Trustees approved a simplified price structure which provides benefits for Scot- Double Eagle Winter 2001 Page 3 The Column ByThe TheWilliam K. Bissey GrGreateatinvention LightLight of moveable typeofof and MasonryMasonryment. The meaning of furniture Editor Indiana Freemason the acceptance of the Holy as equipment is an archaic Bible as a fixture in the life of a meaning of the word with no s an Entered Apprentice Christian, the Bible became a disrespect intended toward any we learned that the first part of the ceremony of the Volume of Sacred Law. AGreat Light of Freema- Operative Masons. sonry is the Holy Bible. As we he Indiana Monitor con progressed This is clear from various mid- tinues its commentary on through the seventeenth century manu- Tthis Ancient Landmark by degrees of the scripts (Colne MS No. 1 that is stating that “In our jurisdiction it Symbolic dated to about 1685, the (the Volume of Sacred Law) is Lodge, we find Watson MS with a date of 1687, usually the Bible, but any the Holy Bible to and the Lodge MS that is dated candidate not a Christian may be constantly to about 1650) that the Opera- have substituted for it any other present and in tive Masons had the custom of volume he considers sacred…” the center of the the candidate swearing an ritual. obligation on the Holy Bible. This means that the Jewish candidate may be obligated on If we wished his practice of a candi the Tanakh (the Old Testa- further light in date swearing an obliga ment). Or the Islamic candidate Masonry, we petitioned the Ttion on the Holy Bible may be obligated on the Qur’ various Masonic appendant was carried over into Specula- an, the Volume of the Sacred of bodies. tive Freemasonry. With the the Islamic faith. Other candi- development of Speculative dates may request to be obli- So how did the first Great Freemasonry it became clear gated on the Vedas or the Laws Light become an essential part that enlightened men who were of Confucius. As the Indiana of Freemasonry and the Ma- not Christian were interested in Monitor states “The candidate sonic appendant bodies? becoming Freemasons. As …may be obligated on the book Speculative Freemasonry of his choice.” or the answer to that became more universal, the question, we need to Great Light became the Volume or most Indiana Masons, Fexamine the Old Charges of Sacred Law and one of the it is the King James or Gothic constitutions of the Ancient Landmarks of the Ftranslation of Holy Bible Operative Masons of the Middle fraternity. that is the first of the Great Ages. The earliest extant manu- Lights of our fraternity. The script of the operative craft is the This is evident from reading rituals of the Symbolic Lodge Regius Poem or the Haliwell the Indiana Monitor and and the Masonic appendant manuscript that is dated to Freemason’s Guide published bodies contain readings from about 1390 A. D. In that docu- by the Grand Lodge of Free this translation. And the read- ment there are many references and Accepted Masons of the ings also include verses from to the Holy Bible and a descrip- State of Indiana. “The Volume the books of Esdras and Tobit. tion of an obligation. It is not of the Sacred Law is an indis- If you search in the King James clear as to the position the Holy pensable part of the furniture of translation of the Holy Bible, you Bible, if any, may have occupied a Lodge.” It should be noted will search in vain for the books in the brief ceremony in the that the furniture used in this of Esdras and Tobit. But that is Regius Poem. However, with the sense means essential equip- the subject of another column. Page 4 Double Eagle Winter 2001 Deputy's Message MASONRY Has Demonstrated That It Can Attract Members -- It Must Now hat I haveDemonstrate to say applies to both Scottish That Rite It ¨ SomeCan are Keepseeking an opportunityThem to serve.
Recommended publications
  • June 2020 No
    Grand Lodge Office: 478-742-1475 Please send changes of address to the Grand Secretary MASONIC MESSENGER at 811 Mulberry Street, Macon, GA 31201 Vol. 116 June 2020 No. 1 on your lodge secretary’s monthly report. The editor does NOT keep the list of addresses. Table of Contents Grand Lodge Officers Grand Lodge Notices and Events From the Desk of the Grand Secretary....................................3 Grand Master Johnie M. Garmon (114) Freemasonry Around Georgia.................................................4 Deputy Grand Master Jan M. Giddens (33) Grand York Rite News...........................................................5 Grand Orient of Georgia News..............................................6 Senior Grand Warden Donald C. Combs (46) Articles Junior Grand Warden Michael A. Kessler (216) “History of Dallas Lodge No. 182”......................................7-9 “Operative, Speculative, and Oline”..................................10-11 Grand Treasurer Larry W. Nichols (59) “Crypta Podcast Interview”..............................................12-14 “The 50 Year Mason: A Cut Above”.................................15-17 Grand Secretary Van S. McGee (26, 70) “The Freemasons & the Catholic P...”...............................18-20 “Pakistan’s Freemasons”........................................................21 Review of Georgia Grand Masters and their Tokens.............22 Grand Chaplain James R. Harris (205, 758) “Relevancy to the Community”............................................23 From the Archives “Consolidation (1931)..............................24
    [Show full text]
  • Masters of Truth Fathers of Lies
    MASTERS OF TRUTH FATHERS OF LIES 1 This book is dedicated to all those brave folk who made the ultimate sacrifice to maintain justice, truth and freedom in a world riddled with corruption, and to those equally brave people who continue the fight no matter what the cost - they are indeed few in number. Unless justice, truth and freedom are maintained, the world will not survive the onslaught of the corruption and greed of mankind. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8 v 44. “The first wrote, ‘Wine is the strongest.’ The second wrote, ‘The king is strongest’ The third wrote ‘Women are strongest: but above all things Truth beareth away the victory’.” 1 Esdras 3 v 10.. For every book sold, £1 will be contributed to the funds of “FAME’97” 2 NOW AVAILABLE ON MULTI-MEDIA INTERACTIVE CD “THE TRUTH” A REVELATION IN VIDEO, SOUND, GRAPHICS AND TEXT - HOW AND WHY THE HISTORY OF THE 20TH CENTURY WAS PLANNED AND BY WHO. WHY TWO WORLD WARS? WHY THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION? WHY THE COLD WAR - WAS IT REALLY COLD? WHY INJUSTICE, DEBT AND INFLATION? WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN THE DEATHS OF JFK AND DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES? WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN ANCIENT BABYLON AND WASHINGTON D.C.? WAS PEARL HARBOUR ALLOWED TO BE ATTACKED? WHY STALIN WAS NEVER PORTRAYED TO BE A WORSE TYRANT THAN ADOLPH HITLER? WHY THE BRITISH TAXPAYER WAS DUPED INTO SUBSIDISING EVERY TON OF WHEAT SOLD TO THE USSR BY £100? THESE AND MANY OTHER FACTS REVEALED FOR YOU TO JUDGE THE TRUE TYRANTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
    [Show full text]
  • Reasoning-Masons.Lwp
    Book Review: Ron Rhodes: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons A Review by David S. Julian © 2004 David S. Julian DAY JEWEL PUBLICATIONS 16052 - 46th Ave S Seattle, WA 98188 (206) 246-6460 www.dayjewel.com 1 Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons The author of the book On the book’s back cover, Ron Rhodes, Th.D., correctly states that “Masons establish and maintain Children’s Hospitals, provide free medical treatment to needy children, work actively in their communities, and promote high moral standards.” The author is identified as the President of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries, whose own website describes itself as a “nonprofit corporation.” But nothing on the RSM website even remotely resembles the generosity of Freemasonry quoted above. The website actually appears to be nothing more than an online bookstore for Rhodes’ books and newsletter, run out of a P.O. Box in Frisco, TX, a north Dallas suburb. According to the book, however, RSM is run out of a P.O. Box in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, a south Los Angeles suburb near Mission Viejo. The book’s cover also identifies Rhodes as a “noted researcher and Bible scholar” but most of his premises turn out to be just another recycling of the same anti-everybody-but-us phoney-baloney from Harvest House, the publishing arm of the John Ankerberg Show. To get the potential book-buyer’s attention, the back cover displays the usual “secret name for God”, “Baal and Osiris”, “occultic”, and “hidden rituals” buzzwords. The back cover also claims there is an “easy to follow guide ..
    [Show full text]
  • Faith Hope and Charity
    "FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY" In the Entered Apprentice lecture we learn that the covering of a lodge is a clouded canopy, or starry-decked heavens, where every good Mason hopes at last to arrive. We learn about that spiritual ladder Jacob saw in his vision, from Genesis Chapter 28: "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." Masonic tradition informs us the three principal rungs are labelled Faith, Hope and Charity. But interestingly, those words do not appear in Genesis, but rather 1 Corinthians Chapter 13: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." The men who crafted our ritual saw fit to unite these ideas, and they work together well, if separated a bit biblically. Let us expand on these virtues, how they relate to Freemasonry, and how to pursue them in our daily lives. FAITH Faith and religion are often confused; religion has been defined as: 1 "The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods." While faith is defined in Hebrews 11: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." You might say, faith is trusting in something you cannot explicitly prove. You must have faith in God to be a Mason. But how you exercise that faith, the doctrine you follow, the means of expressing it, may rightly be called your religion, and that decision is left to the individual Mason.
    [Show full text]
  • Hiram's Lighthouse-June 1, 2015 Page 1 of 32
    Hiram’s Lighthouse PROVIDING MASONIC LIGHT FROM TORONTO EAST DISTRICT SINCE 2003 Grand Lodge Merit Award Winner for District Newsletter - 2008 D.D.G.M.: R.W. Bro. Peter J. Sialtsis Email: - [email protected] District Secretary: W. Bro. Charles E. Frankland Email: - [email protected] Toronto East District Website: - www.torontoeastdistrict.com This Week in Toronto East (TWiTE): - 289.482.1294 Grand Lodge Website: - www.grandlodge.on.ca June 1 2015 Contents Page We can no longer have our survival depend upon the Events Calendar 3 claims of how great we were and point with pride to Around and About 5 the greatness of our past brothers. Freemasonry (News & Notices) needs an age of Renaissance in America today to lift Grand Lodge Communication 27 the veil of ignorance of our membership. ... by the Lighthouse Beam 30 - Bro. Thomas W. Jackson, speech to GL of Canada in the Province of Ontario-2011 Administration 32 (It‟s all about US!) From the desk of the D.D.G.M. Greetings Brethren of Toronto East District, As we head into the month of June we can finally embrace the slowly warming weather, the blooming of the flowers and our gardens; and we look forward to the end of what I feel has been a wonderful and productive year of brotherhood in the Toronto East District. As our Masonic year draws to a close, please remember that our labours are nowhere near an end. First and foremost, I want to encourage all of our brethren to attend the upcoming 4th annual Black & White District Gala & Awards Night to be held on June 13, 2015 at the Ajax Convention Centre.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to a Mason's Actions Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Pennsylvania
    A Guide to a Mason’s Actions Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Pennsylvania A Guide to a Mason’s Actions Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Pennsylvania by William A. Carpenter Right Worshipful Grand Master Copyright 1985, 2019 by the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 85-62079 Printed in the United States of America Reprint November 1995 Edited and updated 2019 DEDICATED TO Dorothy (Wally) Roberts Carpenter My First Wife and A Masonic Widow Par Excellence Contents Title page Copyright page Contents Dedication Foreword 1 Preface 2-5 Chapter I Masonic Manners 6-22 Ahiman Rezon 8-10 … to govern ourselves accordingly 11-18 What Do Masonic Manners Mean to Masons? 20-23 Chapter II Glossary 24-61 Chapter III Masonic Symbols 62-81 Appendix What is the Grand Lodge? 82-89 Bibliography 90 Illustrations Frontispiece of the 1783 edition of the Ahiman Rezon 6 Point Within a Circle 19 A.S.K. 24 Trestle Board 62 Approved and authorized by the Right Worshipful Grand Master Original Foreword I am flattered to have been asked to write the foreword to this volume authored To My by the Right Worshipful Grand Master, Brother William A. Carpenter, because Brethren in I know it represents his legacy to the Craft in Pennsylvania.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume XLIX (49) Part 3
    IMPORTANT NOTE While the cover of this volume shows it to be Volume XXXXXI (Ostensibly 51) Part 3 - 2007 It SHOULD HAVE BEEN LABELLED AS Volume XLIX (49) Part 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If citing this volume, please be sure to use the Volume 49, Part 3 ONLY THE COVER WAS INCORRECT ALL INTERNAL INFORMATION IS OK! Ed King, Grand Librarian – 3/2015 THE ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL COMMUNICATION Grand Lodge XXXXXI 2007 Part III of Maine HELD AT PORTLAND, MAY 1 & 2, 2007 One copy of this Book of Proceedings and one cd-rom are mailed to the Secretary of every Lodge in the Jurisdiction. They are the property of the Lodge for the use of the Brethren. One copy should be handed to the Worshipful Master of the Lodge as soon as received and the Worshipful Master should arrange for all portions of the address of the Grand Master relating to the procedure, or conduct of the brethren, to be read in open Lodge at an early date. He should delegate a member of the Lodge to study the report of the various committees and other reports and have him bring in a detailed study for discussion in Open Lodge. One copy should be on the Secretary's desk at every meeting. Additional copies will be sent upon request GERALD S. LEIGHTON GRAND MASTER 2007-2008 ELECTED GRAND OFFICERS 2007-2008 APPOINTED GRAND OFFICERS 2007-2008 580 Proceedings of the [May GRAND LODGE OF MAINE, A.F. & A.M. SPECIAL COMMUNICATION A Special Communication of the Grand Lodge of Maine, A.F & A.M., was held on Friday, June 30, 2006, for the purpose of conducting a Cornerstone Ceremony at the new Calais Hospital.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Answers to Commonly Asked Questions on Freemasonry
    Answers to commonly asked questions on Freemasonry Hiram Abif--is the story true? When did he live? If by true is meant "factual", the answer is no. If by "true" is meant "containing a great truth" then the answer is yes; it is true as is the story of Santa Claus which tells a truth to children in words they can understand. The Legend of Hiram as told in the Master Mason degree is one of the oldest legends in the world but Freemasonry's legend is peculiarly her own. The three who encountered Hiram at the gates of the Temple are themselves symbols of error, evil, and sin; and the story as a whole is of the ultimate weakness of such forces against the power of the Great Architect. The word Abif is translated both "his father" and "my father" with "father" used in these senses as a patriarch, a teacher, a source of wisdom, and not as the actual father of a family. "Hiram, my father" is thus a title of honor and respect. (See Quest Book No. 5) [Some say that "avihu," meaning "my father is he," and rendered in Masonic usage as Abif or Abiff, was the Hebrew equivalent of "jr.," meaning that "Hiram Abif" was the son of a man also named Hiram.] When did Santa Claus start to manufacture Christmas toys? Myth and legend are alike silent on early Masonic dates. As the Temple was begun by Solomon in the fourth year of his reign, legend, if there was such, would have to place the death later.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trestleboard
    The Trestleboard A publication of Sun City Lodge # 72 F&AM Remember...You Can “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can.” - anonymous June 2018 june 2018 Calendar of Events Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Nile Club: 10:30A DeMolay Dance 4P-7A LOP: 1230P Job’s 8A-3P Boy Scouts: 6-8P 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lodge Trustee10A St. Andrew SC-OES: 730P SCL#72: CMDY: 9A Officers 7P SCL#72: 7P Church MSCRICF 1- 10A-12P Hi-12 8am LOP 12:30P 6PM DeMolay 4-7PM Boy Scouts: 6- Job’s 1-8P 8P 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Church Trust-Trustee 4P Past Mast: 830A Peoria OES SCL#72: 7P Oasis #15 6:30p Private Rental 7:30P 10A-12P Amaranth: 6P Job’s Daughter’s Boy Scouts: 7PM 6-8P Peoria #59 1-3 Amaranth 4-6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Church Peoria OES Boy Scouts: Skull & Bones Peoria OES 7:30p 6-8P 7P 10A-12P All Day DeMolay 4-7PM #72 Awards 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Job’s 7P Peoria OES Church Stewart Council SC#72 3rd 5P 6:30p Lg Dining Rm 10A-12P Boy Scouts: 6-8P 11-4 SUN CITY # 72 LODGE Your Lodge at a Glance Worshipful Master Craig Montgomery 623-521-5580 [email protected] Senior Warden Mark Nelson 480-253-0969 [email protected] Junior Warden Kevin Baver PM 602-793-4584 [email protected] Secretary Richard Flinton PM 623.972.2217 [email protected] Treasurer Michael Kennedy 623.972.2217 [email protected] Chaplain Arizona Milke Senior Deacon Michael Rial Junior Deacon Corey Chavez Senior Steward Ed Tannheimer Junior Steward Brian Arrowood Marshal Matthew Link Tyler Charles Hardy PM Lodge Trustees - Chairman, Pat Hayes PM Members Steve Wieters PM, Earl Paasch PM, Jan Lilly PM, James Almrud Building Manager Jack Daniel PM 623.972.2217 [email protected] Audit Committee Doug Robertson, George Coxey Banquet / Event Committee, Frank Visceglie Candidate Mentoring Pat Hayes PM, Steve Wieters PM Trust Fund Trustees Chairman Randy Sturdevant Members David Miller, PM, Doug Robertson, Bryan Cooper-Keeble PM.
    [Show full text]
  • District Education Officer's Manual for Training of Subordinate Lodge Officers
    DISTRICT EDUCATION OFFICER’S MANUAL FOR TRAINING OF SUBORDINATE LODGE OFFICERS Authorized by Most Worshipful James Dean Cole Grand Master of Masons in Virginia Published by The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Committee on Masonic Education and Publications 4115 Nine Mile Road, Richmond, Virginia 23223-4926 1 March 2001 1 2 Chapter 1 Introduction This manual has been developed for District Education Officers to use in the training of subordinate Lodge officers. The success of Freemasonry in the Commonwealth of Virginia is rooted in the success of the three hundred and thirty Lodges located in every part of the state. While this manual is a living draft, intended to be a compilation of educational ideas from many sources, its overall purpose is to serve as an arsenal of educational materials which can be used, in whole or in part, by the DEO as he serves Freemasonry by educating our local Lodge officers and members. Freemasonry over the centuries has been an institution whose members continually sought further education. This manual represents but one source, one step, on the long road of Masonic education. May every Virginia Mason begin to grow in knowledge by stepping forward on the path of education. JAMES D. COLE Grand Master March 1, 2001 3 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. 4 MESSAGE FROM THE GRAND PROVOST 1. Dedication The Officers of the Grand Lodge of Virginia recognize that without the dedicated service to and support of the elected and appointed Officers of the Craft Lodges, the Craft Lodges and the Grand Lodge of Virginia could not continue to exist.
    [Show full text]
  • The Volume of Sacred Law (VSL)
    VSL Three Small Letters, One Big Concept The VSL, or Volume of Sacred Law, one of our Three Great Lights, has not always been a part of Freemasonry. The term seems to have been adopted around 1723. There was no edict or instruction from the first Grand Lodge of England, but like much of what we now consider established Freemasonry, it probably came from James Andersons’ “The Constitutions of the Free-Masons” written in that year. Before then, in England and all other Christian countries, it was the Holy Bible. But even that book only takes us back less than two hundred years as the Bible, especially an English language one was not even published until 1526, by William Tyndale, and then it was only the New Testament. The use of this book in a Masonic Lodge would have been hazardous as, and I quote, “One risked death by burning if caught in mere possession of Tyndale's forbidden books.” The earliest manuscripts that relate to Masonry and contain references to ritual simply refer to it as “the book” or “a book”, and that was probably their book of Constitutions and Charges. Why the change to Volume of Sacred Law rather than just saying The Holy Bible, after all, that’s what is on all of our altars today isn’t it? One of the great changes that came into Speculative Masonry with the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge and Anderson’s Constitutions was the removal of religion from the Craft. In part it reads “… though in ancient times Masons were charg'd in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet 'tis now thought more expedient to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves …” Masons were no longer required to be of the one religion of their country, but rather to share a belief in a Grand Architect of the Universe or a Supreme Entity, by whatever name you wished to use.
    [Show full text]
  • Enigma of Freemasonry by Ralph Omholt
    Enigma of Freemasonry by Ralph Omholt http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/enigma_of_freemasonry/text.htm Dedicated to W. Bro. Richard Roberts 1 of 132 11/30/13 10:43 AM Enigma of Freemasonry by Ralph Omholt http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/enigma_of_freemasonry/text.htm Warrior, Brother, Friend and Mentor Freemasonry is a topic which is encompassed by literally tens of thousands of books and hundreds of years of tradition. Thus, it is naïve to expect the entirety of the “Craft” to be expressed between two covers. Freemasonry evolved from a time when such a society would attract inquisitors, dungeon masters and executioners. Whether one cares to cite simple obscurity or true secrecy, Freemasonry emerged from a bizarre set of shadows; it is NOT a secret society. What you read here is an effort to concisely present not only the essence of Freemasonry, but also an understanding as to the function of Freemasonry in its role of a social enigma, as well as a functioning social and charitable unit in the world’s cultures. Freemasonry maintains a low profile, for a variety of reasons, primarily to evade the power lust of obsessive-compulsive detractors. In the United States, at the time of this writing, the various units of Freemasonry contribute approximately two million dollars per day to charities, which are characterized by their direct application to the needy, versus an income source for the charity managers. Beyond being a social outlet, Freemasonry maintains a standard of morality in time. So often the world witnesses a set of rationalizations which attempt to subvert morality for various reasons from raw emotionalism to the seizure of money and power.
    [Show full text]