The gavel montezuma lodge no. 1 af & am

431 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501-1958 Just west of the Temple Phone: 505-982-0971 - Email: [email protected]

Volume 20 Issue 4 “The Oldest in the Rockies“ Organized May 8, 1851 April 2020 Dear Brethren of Montezuma Lodge No.1, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. As we continue through this public health crisis, we should take time to remember those who have been lost to COVID-19 and be grateful for those who have recovered. New Mexico has done a remarkable job in flattening the curve which has recently gotten national attention. As the state begins work on planning a reopening, it is very important that we follow the Public Health Orders and continue practicing social distancing. It is unclear when we will return to a place of normalcy and what that new norm will mean for Montezuma Lodge and . Some recent adaptations include the use of video conferencing platforms such as Skype, Zoom, GotoMeeting, MS Teams to name a few. Lodges are already using video conferencing to have untiled meetings and share presentations as allowed by the . Montezuma Lodge is planning to host our own meeting so keep a lookout for an email announcement. For those of you who do not have a strong internet connection or a camera, a call-in number will be provided. I imagine during the new normal, video conferencing will be more common. I would be happy to hear about your ideas on things we can do with video conferencing. Email ([email protected]) me or call (704-654-1270) me. Sincerely and Fraternally, Jee W. Hwang Worshipful Master

Montezuma Lodge, No.1 is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Montezuma Lodge, No.1 - Informal Gathering Time: May 4, 2020 7:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/98937184547?pwd=NEVRMlhrNHF2THRNb0hTcE55ZHJiQT09

Meeting ID: 989 3718 4547 Password: 589640 One tap mobile Regular Meetings RECURRENCE EVENT ORGANIZATION First Monday Regular Communication at 7:00 PM, Dinner at 6:00 PM Montezuma Lodge No. 1 Fourth Wednesday Property Management Board at 6:00 PM Montezuma Lodge No. 1 Second Tuesday Regular Communication at 7:30 PM Bodies Third Tuesday Regular Communication at 5:30 PM Santa Fez Shrine Club Second Wednesday Regular Communication at 7:30 PM, Dinner at 6:30 PM Cerrillos Lodge No. 19 First Thursday Regular Communication at 7:00 PM, Dinner at 5:30 PM Santa Fe No. 19 Eastern Star

We have been holding our Quest meetings every Saturday morning at 10:00 AM. Quest Club is a forum for everyone. Mason and non-Mason alike can voice ideas and discuss any topic. Special Notices And Events In This Issue Property Management Board From the East...... 1 Zoom Meeting Monday, May 4, 2020..... 1 The monthly meeting of the Property Management nd Special Notices and Events...... 2 Board is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 at 6:00 Property Management Board...... 2 PM in the library. The Property Management Board meeting was delayed From Southern California to a later date. SCRL - Cover Page...... 6 SCRL - Master’s Word...... 7 SCRL - Cover Story...... 8 SCRL - Fragments...... 10 SCRL - Q&A - Chuck Palahniuk...... 12 SCRL - Masonic POP Culture...... 14 SCRL - Masonry’s Path to the Masculine Male...... 16 SCRL - The Importance of Being a Role Model...... 17 SCRL - Esoterica...... 18 SCRL - Masonic Pioneer - Guy Mezger...... 19 SCRL - Symbology...... 19 SCRL - I am Jack’s Complete Lack of Surprise...... 20 SCRL - Equilibwrium in Freemasonry and Fight Club...... 21 SCRL - Final Word...... 23

Dinner Menu...... 24 Lodge Officers...... 24

Page 2 All Meetings of Montezuma Lodge As a result of the Convid-19 virus, ALL meetings of in the state of New Mexico are suspended until further notice by order of the Grand Master.

If any Brother or his family is in need as a result of the Covid-19 virus and/or social distancing, please contact secretary Don Helberg at (505) 982-0971. Brethren, we are all here for you.

Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Southern California Research Lodge Fraternal Review APRIL 2020

&FREEMASONRY ONLY AFTER DISASTER CAN WE BE RESURRECTED

Page 6 Master’s WORDI SCRL Fraternal Review

“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that APRIL 2020 we’re free to do anything.” Volume 61 Number 3 — Durden, Fight Club Secrecy. Mischief. Brotherhood. Mayhem. Initiation. PUBLICATION STAFF Is this Freemasonry or the misunderstood post-modernist Editor In Chief - C. Douglas Russell novel/film Fight Club? It’s actually both. At last summer’s SPML Masonic Con weekend in Los Angeles (see page 11), a Managing Editor - Dago Rodriguez, PM panel discussion was held celebrating the 20-year release of the Copy Editors - Brett Fisher, Jeriel Smith cult classic film Fight Club and the symbolic parallels it shares Events/Calendar Editor: Jeriel Smith with Freemasonry. The Masonic convention celebrated by

Image by Leticia Burgos screening the film and I was invited to be part of the discussion. Pop Culture Editor - Michael Laidlaw

The informative 45-minute discussion did not feel long enough, leaving a lot more to be Layouts: Dago Rodriguez, PM desired, proving that the film connects to our present-day Masonic culture strongly and positively. It was that notion which inspired this very issue you are holding. COVER IMAGE: “Fight Club” Curating the articles for this issue, at first, made the editors of Fraternal Review Poster Art nervous. Let’s face it: the post-modernist Fight Club is by no means a G-rated movie; and © 1999 20th Century Fox if you have not seen the film or read the novel you might be lost; but the more I searched, SCRL OFFICERS the more evident it became: there was plenty to compare and enough copy to fit into two Master - Dago Rodriguez, PM issues. So much so, that it gave me the confidence to even create a talk surrounding this Senior Warden - Daniel Rivera, PM very theme. Junior Warden - Michael Laidlaw The relevance of a study of this nature is pressing and important. Isolation. Social Secretary - Tom Sheehan disillusionment. Division. Consumerism. Masculine anxiety. All are topics many men who Asst. Secretaries - Roger Soriano come through our West Gate are grappling with. Ironically, Fight Club hits on all of them. & John Seletos There is an apparent urgency within men to explore these topics, possibly because our Treasurer - C. Douglas Russell fathers failed us as role models—not on purpose, but because they didn’t know better; or Chaplain - Charlie Fisher, PM possibly because our role models sadly come down to what the media decides to force Senior Deacon - Justin Colella down our throats. Junior Deacon - Geno Nadirov Now more than ever, Freemasonry can assist in answering the call to these issues by the Senior Steward - Kenneth Thomas virtues, principles, and tools it presents its seekers. If more new Masons entering our Junior Steward - Ian E. Laurelin lodges could be taught by seasoned Masons how to correctly apply these tools and Marshal - Johnny Arias principles, perhaps that inner fight toward growth and prosperity wouldn’t be as bloody as Tiler - Johnny Lebrilla the basement scenes in Fight Club. A true brotherhood of civility, confidence, and harmony can be created through the bonds men can form in these lodges. Text and images herein are used for educational and research My question then becomes, how does the dual nature of masculinity get defined within purposes only. Complete our Craft and how does the film’s existential and nihilistic approach parallel our present- attributions are provided for all day Masonic lodges? items where the source is known. The cultural parallels between the two are highlighted by: Robert G. Davis’ articles on VISIT US the meaning of manhood in today’s society (page 12); Michael Jarzabek’s analysis on www.TheReserachLodge.com The ofÞcial SCRL website. Read past regaining that which has been lost in our Craft, or really within ourselves (page 16); issues and renew your subscription. Podcaster Robert Johnson’s call to arms within the Fraternity (page 18); and Darin A. FOLLOW US Lhaners’ examples of role models and their growing need in our lodges (page13). As to an Instagram: Sneak peaks of upcoming issues: SoCalResearchLodge actual punch-throwing UFC fighter, that’s a Mason featured on page 15. All this is further LIKE US explored by a Q&A from the novelist himself, Chuck Palahniuk, who, among other things, Get up-to-date information on upcoming issues and lectures. reveals who he considers a role model today (page 8). Pop culture and our Fraternity https://www.facebook.com/Southern- collide in this unique and exciting study of Fight Club and Freemasonry. Enjoy! California-Research- Lodge-116782435016421/

Worshipful Dago Rodriguez, PM, 32º The articles herein do not necessarily express the views of SCRL or the 2020 Southern California Research Lodge Master Grand Lodge of California. They are solely the writersÕ points of view. 2 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 7 COVER STORY “Only After Disaster Can We be Resurrected. It’s only I f you're a typical guy, then watching Fight Club gets you stirred up. As revolting as the After you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do senseless violence of it is, it makes you wonder what would, or could happen, if people really did Nothing is static, , do something to shake up their ordinary lives. anything. everything is evolving Maybe that’s one more reason why men all across the country are still becoming Freemasons. everything is falling apart.” It is a secret society. And it does promise real - Tyler DurdeN personal change to the individual. Why is that appealing? Sure we want change. Each of us wants to better ourselves. That’s a no-brainer. What we also want as Freemasons is to be a part of something bigger than ourselves that can make some real changes in the world. We all Fight Club read Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. “In Tyler We Trusted.” “The first indication that Freemasonry might Films such as become important Hall. And each of us has spent countless hours as public pedagogies because they play a have been related to the rebellion was the reading books and blogs and poring over powerful role in mobilizing, meeting, name of the leader, Walter the Tyler… information about Masonry on YouTube and pleasures, and identi9ications. They pro-duce Historians have suggested that his name Google. We know that Freemasonry, at least from and re9lect important considerations of how probably indicates that he was a roof tiler by our Lodges, isn’t really controlling the world. It’s human beings should live, engage with under fire out there and taking hits from religious trade, which, based on his obvious military others, and de9ine themselves, and they groups and those who are either uneducated about experience and leadership abilities, is not address how a society should take up the Craft, ignorant of its actualities, or just very probable. But if he had needed to adopt questions fundamental to its survival. At the a pseudonym, why would he call himself a Fight Club uninitiated. Still, as Masons, we want to stand for same time, if we are to read 9ilms such as “Tyler”? Freemasons reading this will something, take part in something. We want to as social and political allegories already see the point. The Tyler is sentry, matter. articulating deeply rooted fears, desires, and sergeant-at-arms, and enforcer of the Freemasons today are looking for their Boston visions, then these 9ilms must be understood Masonic Lodge. He screens visitors for within a broader network of cultural spheres Tea Party. At least many of the new Brothers are. credentials, secures the meeting place, and and institutional formations rather than as We’re not Ruffians in the dark sense of the word. then stands guard outside the door with a isolated texts. The pedagogical and political We’re Ruffians in the sense that we know we drawn sword in his hand. If the Great character of such 9ilms resides in the ways in have a lot to learn. We know we aren’t always Society was in any way connected with which they align with a broader social, patient enough. We do know the difference Freemasonry, “Tyler” would have been the sexual, economic, class, and institutional between right and wrong. We just want to DO only proper Masonic title for the military con9igurations.Private Satisfactions and Public something, stand FOR something and WITH Disorders: ‘Fight Club’, Patriarchy, and the Politics of leader who would wield a sword and enforce [Henry A. Giroux, others like ourselves. Masculine Violence JAC: A Journal of Composition discipline…” Theory ( [Anonymous Author(s) http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/ [John J. Robinson, Born in Blood (New York: M. Evans Vol. 21 No. 1, editor Lynn Worsham. University 2008/05/freemasonry-as-fight-club.html Published March Image: Actor Brad Pitt Fight Club 1999 20th Century Fox and Company, Inc., 1989), 55.] of South Florida: Association of Teachers of Advanced 2008.] Composition, 2001), 23.]

4 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020 April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 5

Page 8 COVER STORY “Only After Disaster Can We be Resurrected. It’s only I f you're a typical guy, then watching Fight Club gets you stirred up. As revolting as the After you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do senseless violence of it is, it makes you wonder what would, or could happen, if people really did Nothing is static, , do something to shake up their ordinary lives. anything. everything is evolving Maybe that’s one more reason why men all across the country are still becoming Freemasons. everything is falling apart.” It is a secret society. And it does promise real - Tyler DurdeN personal change to the individual. Why is that appealing? Sure we want change. Each of us wants to better ourselves. That’s a no-brainer. What we also want as Freemasons is to be a part of something bigger than ourselves that can make some real changes in the world. We all Fight Club read Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. “In Tyler We Trusted.” “The first indication that Freemasonry might Films such as become important Hall. And each of us has spent countless hours as public pedagogies because they play a have been related to the rebellion was the reading books and blogs and poring over powerful role in mobilizing, meeting, name of the leader, Walter the Tyler… information about Masonry on YouTube and pleasures, and identi9ications. They pro-duce Historians have suggested that his name Google. We know that Freemasonry, at least from and re9lect important considerations of how probably indicates that he was a roof tiler by our Lodges, isn’t really controlling the world. It’s human beings should live, engage with under fire out there and taking hits from religious trade, which, based on his obvious military others, and de9ine themselves, and they groups and those who are either uneducated about experience and leadership abilities, is not address how a society should take up the Craft, ignorant of its actualities, or just very probable. But if he had needed to adopt questions fundamental to its survival. At the a pseudonym, why would he call himself a Fight Club uninitiated. Still, as Masons, we want to stand for same time, if we are to read 9ilms such as “Tyler”? Freemasons reading this will something, take part in something. We want to as social and political allegories already see the point. The Tyler is sentry, matter. articulating deeply rooted fears, desires, and sergeant-at-arms, and enforcer of the Freemasons today are looking for their Boston visions, then these 9ilms must be understood Masonic Lodge. He screens visitors for within a broader network of cultural spheres Tea Party. At least many of the new Brothers are. credentials, secures the meeting place, and and institutional formations rather than as We’re not Ruffians in the dark sense of the word. then stands guard outside the door with a isolated texts. The pedagogical and political We’re Ruffians in the sense that we know we drawn sword in his hand. If the Great character of such 9ilms resides in the ways in have a lot to learn. We know we aren’t always Society was in any way connected with which they align with a broader social, patient enough. We do know the difference Freemasonry, “Tyler” would have been the sexual, economic, class, and institutional between right and wrong. We just want to DO only proper Masonic title for the military con9igurations.Private Satisfactions and Public something, stand FOR something and WITH Disorders: ‘Fight Club’, Patriarchy, and the Politics of leader who would wield a sword and enforce [Henry A. Giroux, others like ourselves. Masculine Violence JAC: A Journal of Composition discipline…” Theory ( [Anonymous Author(s) http://burningtaper.blogspot.com/ [John J. Robinson, Born in Blood (New York: M. Evans Vol. 21 No. 1, editor Lynn Worsham. University 2008/05/freemasonry-as-fight-club.html Published March Image: Actor Brad Pitt Fight Club 1999 20th Century Fox and Company, Inc., 1989), 55.] of South Florida: Association of Teachers of Advanced 2008.] Composition, 2001), 23.]

4 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020 April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 5

Page 9 Symbolic parallels: popular Fight Club quotes are set next Fragments to Masonic scholars’ similar observations—Ed. “The First Rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk Every Mason knows that a broken vow brings with it a terrible penalty. Let him also realize that failure to live mentally, spiritually, and morally up to “We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or one’s highest ideals constitutes the greatest of all broken oaths. When a place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Mason swears that he will devote his life to the building of his Father’s house and then he defiles his living temple through the perversion of Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression mental power, emotional force, and active energy, he is breaking a vow which imposes not hours but ages of misery. If he is worthy to is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to be a Mason, he must be great enough to restrain the lower side of his own nature which is daily murdering his Grand Master. He believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and must realize that a mis-directed life is a broken vow and that daily service, purification, and the constructive application of energy is movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t.” a living invocation which builds within and draws to him the power of the Creator. The true brother of the Craft is constantly striving to improve himself, [Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Richmond, VA: mentally, physically, and spiritually through the days of his life, and Macoy Publishing, 1976), 68.] never makes his own desires the goal for his works. He has a duty and that duty is to fit into the plans of another. He must be ready at “The Second Rule of Fight Club is: any hour of the day or night to drop his own ideals at the call of the Builder. The work must be done, and he has dedicated his life to You do not talk about Fight Club.” The notion of secrecy relates more to a separation from the service of those who know the bonds of neither time nor space. the outside world, a safe haven where men share certain He must be ready at any moment’s notice and his life should be information which is known only by the group and turned into preparing himself for the call which may come when which aids in creating and identifying for the he least expects it. The Master Mason knows that those most organization. Secrecy is important to the group because useful to the Plan are those who have gained the most from the it sets the organization apart from the rest of society. In practical experiences of life. It is not what goes on within the tiled Freemasonry, secrecy and ritual are the essence of the lodge which is the basis of his greatness, but rather the way in organization. Its rituals and secrets become the vehicles which he meets the problems of his daily life. The true Masonic for teaching its members moral and ethical principles, student is known by his brotherly actions and common sense. virtues, and values which distinguish it from other [Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Richmond, VA: Macoy educational or philosophical organizations. Publishing, 1976), 67.] [Robert G. Davis, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine (Lancaster, VA: Anchor Publishing, 2005), 28.] “You Are Not Special. You are Not a Unique and Beautiful Snowflake.” “The Things You Own, End Up Owning You.” The very essence of the Masonic doctrine is that all men in this world He is there divested of his clothing. That ceremony stands for are in search of something in their own nature which they have lost, but the removal of the things that hold him to the other to the outer that with proper instruction and by their own patience and industry they world, such as possessions and indications of station and rank. It may hope to find. Its philosophy implies that this temporal world is that means that he is separated from the past, so that he can enter on a antipode of another and more real world from which we originally came new course. When he is stripped it will appear that he is a man, not a and to which we may accelerate a return by such a course of self knowledge woman. A hoodwink or blind is put over his eyes, so that he feels he is and self discipline as our teachings inculcate. in darkness, without light, and cannot find his way. Then the thing he [W.L. Wilmshurst, The Meaning of Masonry (New York: Crown Publishing, Inc. 1980), 47.] most desires is light. [H.W. Percival, Masonry and Its Symbols (New York: The Word Publishing, 1952), 8.] 6 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020 April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 7

Page 10 Symbolic parallels: popular Fight Club quotes are set next Fragments to Masonic scholars’ similar observations—Ed. “The First Rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk Every Mason knows that a broken vow brings with it a terrible penalty. Let him also realize that failure to live mentally, spiritually, and morally up to “We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or one’s highest ideals constitutes the greatest of all broken oaths. When a place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Mason swears that he will devote his life to the building of his Father’s house and then he defiles his living temple through the perversion of Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression mental power, emotional force, and active energy, he is breaking a vow which imposes not hours but ages of misery. If he is worthy to is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to be a Mason, he must be great enough to restrain the lower side of his own nature which is daily murdering his Grand Master. He believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and must realize that a mis-directed life is a broken vow and that daily service, purification, and the constructive application of energy is movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t.” a living invocation which builds within and draws to him the power of the Creator. The true brother of the Craft is constantly striving to improve himself, [Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Richmond, VA: mentally, physically, and spiritually through the days of his life, and Macoy Publishing, 1976), 68.] never makes his own desires the goal for his works. He has a duty and that duty is to fit into the plans of another. He must be ready at “The Second Rule of Fight Club is: any hour of the day or night to drop his own ideals at the call of the Builder. The work must be done, and he has dedicated his life to You do not talk about Fight Club.” The notion of secrecy relates more to a separation from the service of those who know the bonds of neither time nor space. the outside world, a safe haven where men share certain He must be ready at any moment’s notice and his life should be information which is known only by the group and turned into preparing himself for the call which may come when which aids in creating and identifying for the he least expects it. The Master Mason knows that those most organization. Secrecy is important to the group because useful to the Plan are those who have gained the most from the it sets the organization apart from the rest of society. In practical experiences of life. It is not what goes on within the tiled Freemasonry, secrecy and ritual are the essence of the lodge which is the basis of his greatness, but rather the way in organization. Its rituals and secrets become the vehicles which he meets the problems of his daily life. The true Masonic for teaching its members moral and ethical principles, student is known by his brotherly actions and common sense. virtues, and values which distinguish it from other [Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Richmond, VA: Macoy educational or philosophical organizations. Publishing, 1976), 67.] [Robert G. Davis, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine (Lancaster, VA: Anchor Publishing, 2005), 28.] “You Are Not Special. You are Not a Unique and Beautiful Snowflake.” “The Things You Own, End Up Owning You.” The very essence of the Masonic doctrine is that all men in this world He is there divested of his clothing. That ceremony stands for are in search of something in their own nature which they have lost, but the removal of the things that hold him to the other to the outer that with proper instruction and by their own patience and industry they world, such as possessions and indications of station and rank. It may hope to find. Its philosophy implies that this temporal world is that means that he is separated from the past, so that he can enter on a antipode of another and more real world from which we originally came new course. When he is stripped it will appear that he is a man, not a and to which we may accelerate a return by such a course of self knowledge woman. A hoodwink or blind is put over his eyes, so that he feels he is and self discipline as our teachings inculcate. in darkness, without light, and cannot find his way. Then the thing he [W.L. Wilmshurst, The Meaning of Masonry (New York: Crown Publishing, Inc. 1980), 47.] most desires is light. [H.W. Percival, Masonry and Its Symbols (New York: The Word Publishing, 1952), 8.] 6 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020 April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 7

Page 11 Chuck Palahniuk Chuck Palahniuk, born in Pasco, Washington, is a journalist and award-winning author of Fight Club, amongst a dozen other novels. MEL magazine spoke with Palahniuk about the book’s influence on the toxic ideologies that have taken hold in our culture today. Read the complete interview at: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/a-conversation- with-chuck-palahniuk-the-author-of-fight-club-and-the-man-behind-tyler-durden-2 Q&A:INTERVIEW BY JOHN MCDERMOTT Q: A lot of the things you wrote about in Fight Club and revisit in Fight Club 2 seem even more pertinent today than when you originally wrote them more than 20 years ago. Specifically, the disillusionment of men who haven’t radicalized but have adopted radical ideologies and the infantilization of the modern workplace. You were able to see the seeds of what has now grown into these very toxic elements in our culture. A: In Slaughterhouse-Five, there’s a comment about how many people are being born every day. Someone else responds by saying, “And I suppose they’re all going to want dignity and respect.” This dovetails into a grueling dread that I felt as a younger person — that status and recognition would always be beyond my reach. I think subsequent generations, larger generations, are coming up against that same realization: That despite their expectations, they might never receive any kind of status. And they’re willing to do whatever it takes at this point to make their mark in the world.

Q: Have people come to you and said, “Fight Club helped me realize my potential”? A: In a lot of different ways. Many people decided to, as a permission through nihilism, to go ahead and do the thing that they’ve dreamt of doing. And a lot of fathers and sons were able to connect to this story and express their frustration about what little parenting they themselves got from their fathers.

Q: I ask because in Fight Club 2, we find that the narrator has successfully put his Tyler Durden alter ego to the side. He got married and had a kid and is living the American dream in his house in suburbia. But he’s deeply unfulfilled. He worries his wife doesn’t love him, and he’s worried his kid doesn’t respect him. So Tyler Durden starts popping back up. To me, that seemed to express that there’s a certain hollowness or lack of fulfillment in achieving what you want.

8 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 12

A: It’s funny, it isn’t the process of getting stuff, it’s the stuff Q: Let me take the opposite approach then: Who would itself that becomes the anchor. It’s buy the house, buy the car be the male role model in today’s culture? Is there and then what? It’s that isolated stasis that’s the unfulfilling somebody who young men have to look up to as the part you ultimately have to destroy. ideal man and is someone who I should aspire to be That’s the American pattern — you achieve a success that like? allows you isolation. Then you do something subconsciously A: Joseph Campbell said that beyond a person’s to destroy the circumstance because you can come down into biological father, people needed a secondary father — community after that. Maybe you’ve got this great career especially men. Typically that was a teacher, coach, where you can do whatever you want, but on the side, you’re military officer or priest. But it would be someone who sexually harassing and assaulting women. You’re doing isn’t the biological father but would take the adolescent something that’s going to force you out of the isolation of and coach him into manhood from that point. The success. It’s going to push you back into the community problem is that so many of these secondary fathers are with other people. We like to move between isolation and being brought down in recent history. Sports coaches community and back to isolation again. have become stigmatized. Priests have become pariahs. For whatever reason, men are leaving teaching. And so, Q: In the book, you also seem to portray suburbia as an many of these secondary fathers are disappearing affront to masculinity and manhood itself. Do you altogether. When that happens, what are we left with? personally feel that way? I know you’re an outdoorsman Are these children or young men ever going to grow up? and live in a rural area. Is that something that you seek out to maintain your edge? Q: Is that what you fear — that we’re going to have a A: That’s a tough one. Because I’m not so much talking generation of young men who have never been fully about suburbia as I am talking about this self-isolation that socialized? Who have never been fully taught, not just goes back to the whole snowflake metaphor where we’re how to be men, but how to be fully realized people? taught that we’re special and hyper-individualized by being A: I’m not afraid that it won’t happen, because it’s told that we’re unique and innately a treasure. It’s that idea gonna happen. One of the things that I loved about of ourselves as different that drives us apart from one Campbell is that he explained gangs by saying this is another. It was only once I realized, No, actually, all of us what happens when there’s no secondary father. These have far more in common than we have differences, and I’m gangs are taking young men and giving them impossible not a snowflake, that I recognized myself in other people. tasks, giving them praise and rewards and coaching them That’s when I started to write about myself as part of a larger to an adulthood. But it’s a negative adulthood. And so, as pattern of a larger experience. these secondary fathers disappear for everyone, there will be similar forms that will appear and fulfill that Q: “Snowflake” is an interesting word. It’s what Tyler function. But they will coach these young men to maybe Durden uses to tell men that they’re not unique or special. more negative manhoods. But now it’s been co-opted by the alt-right as their favorite epithet of liberals and people who have no toughness. Q: Not long ago, we were talking about male role Which gets back to what we were talking about before… models, but it just dawned on me that I never asked you A: You know, you want people to adopt the thing. You want who yours was when you were growing up. to put the book in the movie producer’s hand and have them A: Dr. Christiaan Barnard. He was a heart transplant adopt it like a baby, raise it and put a huge amount of energy surgeon in South Africa. There was an article about him into it. In doing so, the movie producer is going to change it in a magazine when I was a small child, and something so that it reflects the movie producer’s experience. And once about him just completely captivated my attention. that material passes on to an audience, the audience adopts it. It will become the child of the audience and will serve Q: Do you know what it was exactly? whatever purpose the audience has for it. It would be insane A: The idea that he had dedicated his life to heart to think that the author could control every iteration or every transplant research but that he had developed arthritis so interpretation of their work. severe that he could no longer do the work himself. That seemed like such a tragedy and made him infinitely more Q: You seem very soft and gentle over the phone. I’m appealing surprised that the man who wrote Fight Club seems so tender in his voice. The Portrait: On the opposite page, taken by A: I’m a much older man now too. Fight Club was 20 years talented artist David Mack, who also illustrated ago for me. the graphic novels for Fight Club 2 & 3 . https://www.facebook.com/David- Mack-21231086294/

April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 9

Page 13 Masonic Pop Culture Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s read IT Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine From the Back Cover: By Robert G. Davis Paperback 192 pages, Anchor Communications LLC, 2006 Two of the most important subjects that Davis discusses are those of marriage and fatherhood. The challenges and rewards of being a husband and a father are great. As Davis notes, too many of us had poor role models of what it means to be either a husband or a father. Rather than working on the issues that exist in these complex relationships, all too often men choose to simply walk away. Davis suggests this happens because these men are acting as they observed their fathers having acted. However, Davis is also quick to say that the modern man must rise above that if he is to grasp what it means to be a man. The road to the “mature mascu- line” is not the “easy road”; it is one of work, responsibility and perseverance.

SEE it Hear IT YouTube: The Art of Manliness Podcast Joe Rogan Experience: Episode 20: Freemasonry and Episode 1158: Chuck Palahniuk American Manhood with Interview Robert G. Davis 2 hours 7 minutes/ August 2018 Published: April 2010, 39 minutes Chuck Palahniuk is a novelist and freelance journalist, In this episode we talk to Robert Davis about his book, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring who describes his work as "transgressional" fiction. He Path to the Mature Masculine. Our conversation focuses on the is the author of the award-winning novel Fight Club, history of American masculinity and Freemasonry’s influence in Choke, Lullaby, and many others. shaping manliness in the United States. We end the podcast discussing whether Freemasonry is still relevant to men in the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8ZCX0eywXw 21st century. https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/freemasonry-and- american-manhood/ 10 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 14 TRAVELS

July 2019: SPML’s MasonicCon Fight Club panel. A New Approach To Masonic Education - Masonic Cons By SCRL s Junior Deacon Geno Nadirov ’ This past summer a Masonic Con weekend in Los Angeles, California A Masonic Con Near You was hosted by SPML—South Pasadena Masonic Lodge No. 290 F&AM. It was the first Masonic Con weekend on the West Coast, after having its start in Attleboro, Massachusetts in 2016. Many of these creative and forward-thinking Masonic educational symposiums have since burst all Attleboro, over the country to much success. What made this one different was the Massachusetts addition of film screenings. Most of the films screened, five in all, were Established: April 2016 created by brother Masons or had Masonic themes tied to them. One was Fight Club (1999, 20th Century Fox), which the lodge licensed to screen and had a notable panel discussion moderated by Brother Adrian Fulle, PM with Past Junior Grand Warden of Massachusetts Michael Jarzabek, Forth Worth PM; Whence Came You? Podcast creator Robert Johnson, PM; and Texas Fraternal Review Managing Editor Dago Rodriguez, PM. It was the 20th Established: Sept. 2018 anniversary of the film’s release and the panel discussed its lasting impression on our culture and the various connections it shares with our South Pasadena, California Craft. Not that the film is a blatant representation of Freemasonry, but Established: July 2019 the connections the panel made were about its handling of the duality of the self; our culture’s obsession with material wealth and its dissemination; and why secrecy is the cornerstone of our upright nature that defines a man’s character. These were the topics freely discussed among the panel, who were obvious fans of the film. The panel was able Chicago, to capture the broad reach Masonic symbolism has across many areas Illinois including film. The same film language used in cinematic arts Established: Sept. 2020 (metaphors, symbols, and allegories) also connect to the esoteric symbolism in our Craft. It was a great way to combine the everlasting power of cinema to Freemasonry. SPML Masonic Con administrators Cooperstown, plan a return of the event in the mid-summer of 2021, with the promise New York Established: Oct. 2020 of more film screenings, and panel discussions like this one.

April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 11

Page 15 Masonry’s Path to the Masculine Male The Importance Of Being a Role Model by Robert G. Davis By Darin A. Lhaners Here are a few quotes I was lucky to have from one of my favorite some male role-models in A s we begin a new century, American men face enormous challenges with identity. books (and later, movie): “I see Scouting. They made me want They know the traditional models of masculinity have been lost to their culture and can in the fight club the strongest and to be a volunteer soccer coach neither be reclaimed, nor understood within the context of a culture which thrives on smartest men who’ve ever lived. I for my son’s teams, and to be a popular opinion. The old mandates of manhood cannot be enforced in a culture that is lost see all this potential and I see Scout Leader. It was through in a maze of masculine prescriptions and cloudy definition. The idea that men must be squandering. God damn it, an entire Scouting that I met fellow Midnight self-reliant is, at best, confused by attitudes which promote co-dependence and rigid ideas generation pumping gas, waiting tables, Freemason Greg Knott. Greg often jokes of social appropriateness. The charge that men should be competitive in all endeavors slaves with white collars, advertising has us about giving me “structure.” But he's not offers little room for meaningful man-to-man conversation and connection. The tenacious chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate half wrong. Freemasonry came along for me paradigm that men should not reveal their fears is a generational roadblock to male so we can buy shit we don't need. We’re the middle when I was at cross-roads. I was one of those intimacy and feeling. The canon which avers that men must be in control at all times children of the history man, no purpose or place, we selfish grown children. Greg saw something offers little hope for discovering the child within. The stubborn belief that men should not have no Great war, no Great depression, our great untapped in me that I didn’t recognize. He saw get too close to anyone wreaks havoc for the guy who sincerely wants to feel deeply for war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our potential. He reached out to me. He told me others. The incessant attitude that manliness should be equated to power or success is lives, we’ve been all raised by television to believe about how Freemasonry promotes many of literally killing men and relationships with others. The age-old idea that men can fix any that one day we’d all be millionaires and movie Scouting’s ideals. He helped to set me on a path problem through their own action creates an unrealistic expectation stereotype. The gods and rock stars, but we won’t and we’re slowly that has changed my life forever. … foolish attitude that men should always know where they stand relative to others provides learning that fact and we’re very very pissed off. … There has long been a notion within little hope for meaningful association. The even more foolish notion that men should see We’re a generation of men raised by women. I’m Freemasonry that “We make good men better!” I themselves as superior to women and not be compelled to depend on them has proven time and again to be damaging to wondering if another woman is really the answer we would argue that this is false. … We hardly go relationships, at home, in the family and at work. Finally, the old mandate that men should never allow themselves to be need.” (Chuck Palahniuk in Fight Club) out of our way to make men better. How many weak, or to appear feminine, prevents access to emotions essential to a well-balanced life. Our role models have been TV stars, movie stars, times do we bring in a candidate only to have Men are now beginning to realize that these old beliefs and attitudes influence our lives in harmful ways. They rock stars and sports stars. We’ve been raised him attend lodge a few times, and then never damage our personal happiness and affect the welfare of our families. We also know that new images of manhood must through television. I was what was called a latch key return? Some of this is on the individual brother, include feelings, must bring about awareness, must make us feel alive, must connect with nature, must include kid. Mom and Dad both worked, so I’d get off the but most of it is on us. You see, we are failing understanding and caring for our own bodies, and provide for the nurturance and mentoring of our children. We want school bus, walk home, turn on the television. It was each other even in lodge. The idea of making healthy, positive, and meaningful relationships with women, and with other men. my babysitter. With the advent of cable television in someone better implies that someone is doing [Robert G. Davis, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine (Lancaster, VA: Anchor Publishing, 2005), 104.] the early to mid-1980’s, I would watch MTV. I the teaching. would see images of rock stars behaving like Like I stated, I was lucky. I had a Masonic children. There were videos with drinking, partying role model to emulate when I joined the lodge. T he bottom line is that we live in a time when men and, more importantly, fathers, or distracted, to excess. The sexual exploitation of both women But not everyone is as lucky. Now I’m sure that overworked, harassed, exhausted, disinterested, chemically dependent, divorced, or simply not and men was rampant. I was lucky enough to a Mason reading this article can probably think around. It is any wonder that men no longer have a firm grasp on what it means to be a man? understand at a young age that it was just immediately who he considers a Masonic Moreover, in the absence of adult male role modeling in the family structure, is it any wonder that fantasy, but still I wonder what type of an Mentor or role-model. If you’re like me, you children are also unclear about the purpose and meaning of manhood in America? effect it had. … have several. But are you a mentor or role Defining and understanding manhood is arguably the most significant sociological dilemma in our My generation has been bombarded with model to someone else? Are you going out of society. years of targeted advertising that teaches your way to make new brothers feel welcomed, But it wasn’t always that way. And it doesn’t have to continue to be that way. It is easier to be a happiness equals stuff. We are conditioned to are you helping them with ritual, are you man then we may think. As men, we don’t have to formulate our masculine identity out of thin air. believe that success is a measurement of what you answering their questions as they come up? You see, Neither do we have to except someone’s definition of appropriateness in manhood. Nor do we need to own, not who you are. We’ve been taught to consume, we have an untapped market of men that we can adhere to outdated and archaic models of masculinity. We are not obligated to be the men our fathers consume, consume. As Fight Club asks: “Do you know reach. There are now a few generations of men that and grandfathers were. We need only to rearrange our gender assignments, reclaim our appropriate what a duvet is? It’s a blanket. Just a blanket. Now why would benefit from having a Role Model. We need roles as men, take on responsibilities of manhood with our own eyes, and pass what it means to be a do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is this essential to step up to the task. man to each succeeding generation of men. Every man needs a picture, or metaphor, of what he is to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. doing and what it means to be a man. Our role as American men is to maintain the stability of our What are we then? We are consumers. We’re the byproducts of [Excerpted and paraphrased from Darin A. Lhaners, The country. It is up to us to stay the course of what constitutes the best ideals in masculinity. a lifestyle obsession.” Couple this with many of us not having a Importance of Being a Role Model (Midnight Freemasons [Robert G. Davis, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine Website, 2018) http://www.midnightfreemasons.org/ real male role-model growing up. Is it any wonder we’re all 2018/02/the-importance-of-being-role-model.html.] (Lancaster, VA: Anchor Publishing, 2005), 14] angry and selfish children? April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 13 12 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 16 Masonry’s Path to the Masculine Male The Importance Of Being a Role Model by Robert G. Davis By Darin A. Lhaners Here are a few quotes I was lucky to have from one of my favorite some male role-models in A s we begin a new century, American men face enormous challenges with identity. books (and later, movie): “I see Scouting. They made me want They know the traditional models of masculinity have been lost to their culture and can in the fight club the strongest and to be a volunteer soccer coach neither be reclaimed, nor understood within the context of a culture which thrives on smartest men who’ve ever lived. I for my son’s teams, and to be a popular opinion. The old mandates of manhood cannot be enforced in a culture that is lost see all this potential and I see Scout Leader. It was through in a maze of masculine prescriptions and cloudy definition. The idea that men must be squandering. God damn it, an entire Scouting that I met fellow Midnight self-reliant is, at best, confused by attitudes which promote co-dependence and rigid ideas generation pumping gas, waiting tables, Freemason Greg Knott. Greg often jokes of social appropriateness. The charge that men should be competitive in all endeavors slaves with white collars, advertising has us about giving me “structure.” But he's not offers little room for meaningful man-to-man conversation and connection. The tenacious chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate half wrong. Freemasonry came along for me paradigm that men should not reveal their fears is a generational roadblock to male so we can buy shit we don't need. We’re the middle when I was at cross-roads. I was one of those intimacy and feeling. The canon which avers that men must be in control at all times children of the history man, no purpose or place, we selfish grown children. Greg saw something offers little hope for discovering the child within. The stubborn belief that men should not have no Great war, no Great depression, our great untapped in me that I didn’t recognize. He saw get too close to anyone wreaks havoc for the guy who sincerely wants to feel deeply for war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our potential. He reached out to me. He told me others. The incessant attitude that manliness should be equated to power or success is lives, we’ve been all raised by television to believe about how Freemasonry promotes many of literally killing men and relationships with others. The age-old idea that men can fix any that one day we’d all be millionaires and movie Scouting’s ideals. He helped to set me on a path problem through their own action creates an unrealistic expectation stereotype. The gods and rock stars, but we won’t and we’re slowly that has changed my life forever. … foolish attitude that men should always know where they stand relative to others provides learning that fact and we’re very very pissed off. … There has long been a notion within little hope for meaningful association. The even more foolish notion that men should see We’re a generation of men raised by women. I’m Freemasonry that “We make good men better!” I themselves as superior to women and not be compelled to depend on them has proven time and again to be damaging to wondering if another woman is really the answer we would argue that this is false. … We hardly go relationships, at home, in the family and at work. Finally, the old mandate that men should never allow themselves to be need.” (Chuck Palahniuk in Fight Club) out of our way to make men better. How many weak, or to appear feminine, prevents access to emotions essential to a well-balanced life. Our role models have been TV stars, movie stars, times do we bring in a candidate only to have Men are now beginning to realize that these old beliefs and attitudes influence our lives in harmful ways. They rock stars and sports stars. We’ve been raised him attend lodge a few times, and then never damage our personal happiness and affect the welfare of our families. We also know that new images of manhood must through television. I was what was called a latch key return? Some of this is on the individual brother, include feelings, must bring about awareness, must make us feel alive, must connect with nature, must include kid. Mom and Dad both worked, so I’d get off the but most of it is on us. You see, we are failing understanding and caring for our own bodies, and provide for the nurturance and mentoring of our children. We want school bus, walk home, turn on the television. It was each other even in lodge. The idea of making healthy, positive, and meaningful relationships with women, and with other men. my babysitter. With the advent of cable television in someone better implies that someone is doing [Robert G. Davis, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine (Lancaster, VA: Anchor Publishing, 2005), 104.] the early to mid-1980’s, I would watch MTV. I the teaching. would see images of rock stars behaving like Like I stated, I was lucky. I had a Masonic children. There were videos with drinking, partying role model to emulate when I joined the lodge. T he bottom line is that we live in a time when men and, more importantly, fathers, or distracted, to excess. The sexual exploitation of both women But not everyone is as lucky. Now I’m sure that overworked, harassed, exhausted, disinterested, chemically dependent, divorced, or simply not and men was rampant. I was lucky enough to a Mason reading this article can probably think around. It is any wonder that men no longer have a firm grasp on what it means to be a man? understand at a young age that it was just immediately who he considers a Masonic Moreover, in the absence of adult male role modeling in the family structure, is it any wonder that fantasy, but still I wonder what type of an Mentor or role-model. If you’re like me, you children are also unclear about the purpose and meaning of manhood in America? effect it had. … have several. But are you a mentor or role Defining and understanding manhood is arguably the most significant sociological dilemma in our My generation has been bombarded with model to someone else? Are you going out of society. years of targeted advertising that teaches your way to make new brothers feel welcomed, But it wasn’t always that way. And it doesn’t have to continue to be that way. It is easier to be a happiness equals stuff. We are conditioned to are you helping them with ritual, are you man then we may think. As men, we don’t have to formulate our masculine identity out of thin air. believe that success is a measurement of what you answering their questions as they come up? You see, Neither do we have to except someone’s definition of appropriateness in manhood. Nor do we need to own, not who you are. We’ve been taught to consume, we have an untapped market of men that we can adhere to outdated and archaic models of masculinity. We are not obligated to be the men our fathers consume, consume. As Fight Club asks: “Do you know reach. There are now a few generations of men that and grandfathers were. We need only to rearrange our gender assignments, reclaim our appropriate what a duvet is? It’s a blanket. Just a blanket. Now why would benefit from having a Role Model. We need roles as men, take on responsibilities of manhood with our own eyes, and pass what it means to be a do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is this essential to step up to the task. man to each succeeding generation of men. Every man needs a picture, or metaphor, of what he is to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. doing and what it means to be a man. Our role as American men is to maintain the stability of our What are we then? We are consumers. We’re the byproducts of [Excerpted and paraphrased from Darin A. Lhaners, The country. It is up to us to stay the course of what constitutes the best ideals in masculinity. a lifestyle obsession.” Couple this with many of us not having a Importance of Being a Role Model (Midnight Freemasons Website, 2018) http://www.midnightfreemasons.org/ [Robert G. Davis, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine real male role-model growing up. Is it any wonder we’re all 2018/02/the-importance-of-being-role-model.html.] (Lancaster, VA: Anchor Publishing, 2005), 14] angry and selfish children? April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 13 12 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 17 ESOTERICA Masonic Pioneer SYMBOLogy Hermetically speaking, Fight Club itself is a masculine and sacred feminine, sun and moon, the Masonic styled esoteric order. Its members work in alchemical citrinitas and albedo, or what the Brother Guy “The The Masonic Ashlars and Fight Club secret and carry out monkeyshines that undermine Rosicrucians describe in the treatise The Chymical Sandman” Mezger BY Dago Rodriguez balances family, lodge The Masonic symbolism of the rough and perfect society and its mores. In order to gain admission one Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz which was and professional ashlars is as tried and true as the square and compass. must stand outside the Fight Club temple or dojo for composed by the Rosicrucian Johannes Valentine fighting. He was a The ashlars represent the condition in which a man three days without food, shelter, or encouragement. Andre (1586-1654). This treatise is an allegoric superstar of Ultimate enters Masonry (rough) and as he progresses through his The candidate is consistently berated and harassed by romance divided into Seven Days, or Seven Fighting degrees and truly applies the principles of Freemasonry, Championship’s Tyler Durden to go away. The three days one must Journeys, like Genesis, and tell us about the way slowly chipping away at his “rough edges,” he evolves embryonic days. In toward becoming a more complete and harmonious wait outside parallels the first three degrees of Blue Christian Rosenkreuz was invited to go to a 1997 brother Mezger Lodge Freemasonry, once inside the neophyte or wonderful castle full of miracles in order to assist defeated two (perfect) man. Of course, “perfection” is an ideal that is never reached—not in the material world at least; but it “Space Monkey”, representing the Masonic the Chymical Wedding of the king and the queen, opponents in one night, including is what we work toward achieving that makes the candidate, is initiated into the mysteries of Fight that is, the husband and the bride, the sun and the submitting Tito Ortiz journey worthwhile. Club. Interestingly the name “Tyler Durden” mirrors moon. to a guillotine choke, In Chuck Palahniuk’s controversial novel Fight Club, Guy Mezger a titled Tyler (or Tiler) whose At Fight Club’s conclusion, Marla and Tyler (or to win the UFC Light this symbol of the rough and perfect man is put to the duty is to guard the entrance of the lodge from outside the Narrator) observe financial buildings Heavyweight Tournament. He was also a star of Japan’s test between the two main characters, the Narrator (Jack) PRIDE , and crowned the King of and Tyler Durden. We come to realize they are the same intrusion. Hence Tyler Durden serves as both Fight collapsing around them allegorizing the , a two time world bare knuckle Karate Club’s gatekeeper and the guardian of its mystical destruction of the material world. They witness person. In a culminating scene, the Narrator says,“Fight champion, and a two time boxing champion. club isn’t about winning or losing fights. Fight club isn’t secrets and modus operandi. this from an upper level of a skyscraper Bro. Mezger was raised in 2008 and is a member of about words. You see a guy come to fight club for the Similarly to Masonic oaths, tokens, and symbolizing their Gnostic ascensio. They are now Willard Sylvan Grove Lodge No. 250 in Texas. He believes Masonry has helped him become a better man. “I first time, and his ass is a loaf of white bread. You see passwords, one does not talk about Fight Club. fully conscious having experienced self- feel that Masonry allows you to test yourself and create a this same guy here six months later, and he looks carved Members of Fight Club, and only members, can awakening and epiphany; Marla and Tyler are now better you. This creative process isn’t selfish though. It out of wood. This guy trusts himself to handle anything.” receive the true gnosis paralleling the Gnostic free of the bane of societal materialism. They have has allowed me to become a better man in order to serve Here we see the symbolism of self-perfecting applied philosophies of Valentinus (ca. 100-160 C.E.). embraced their Jungian shadow and have been my family, friends, my community and my fellow man in in much the same way that it’s applied in Freemasonry. general. Whether I am working in conjunction with my Valentinus philosophized that there were three kinds reborn as Manichaean Gnostic masters. The “guy” comes to fight club, just like the new Masonic brothers in a charity project or motivating my (martial brother, who enters lodge as a “rough” ashlar. By his of people: the spiritual, physical, and material; and Fight Club’s rendering of the Narrator’s arts) students, I feel it’s my Masonic roots that keeps me actions in the Fraternity he begins to chip away the that only those of a spiritual nature (his own concluding epiphany imitates the psychology of focused.” superfluous parts that have made up his profane life. In One of the greatest privileges of Bro. Mezger’s followers) received the gnosis that allow them to Valentinus that the illusion of matter or material is Fight Club this happens by throwing punches and getting Masonic career was having the opportunity to attend the return to the divine Pleroma, while those of a psychic all in the mind. It is a focus on the Narrator or punched; in Freemasonry, by applying the strict lodge of one of his heroes, President Theodore Roosevelt, implements of the Craft to erect internally a more moral nature (ordinary Christians) would attain a lesser Jack’s pre-Tyler Durden melancholy, or “the shit Matinecock Lodge No. 806 in Oyster Bay, New York. form of salvation and that those of a material nature job, fuckin’ condo world, watching sitcoms,” that “President Roosevelt was one of the reasons why I wanted and Masonic edifice. In either scenario, each man comes from the same rock, but not until he measures and (pagans and Jews) were doomed to perish. Valentinus’ gestures towards the tragic dualism of Mani. The to become a Mason. His mother lodge still has a lot of historical flair to it. Walking in there, I felt like a kid sculpts his outer and inner stone does he become “better philosophy is part of the mysteries of Fight Club Narrator has been aided on his spiritual yet seeing Disneyland for the first time.” fit for the builders’ use” – meaning to better serve since its members are considered enlightened “Space nihilistic journey by Hermes Trismegistus, only A father of two, Bro. Mezger is keen for his son, society. Monkeys” while the conformist and adherents of Hermes or Tyler was part of his persona the entire Logan, to follow in his Masonic footsteps. “I am The sculpting of our own lives is left to our own social materialism are doomed to nothingness. time. definitely going to encourage Logan to participate in accord, but what Fight Club and Freemasonry illustrate Masonry. There is a certain amount of responsibility and The Narrator or Tyler Durden finds his Sophia [Robert W. Sullivan IV, Esq., Cinema Symbolism: A Guide is the need for a support structure—or brotherhood—that to Esoteric Imagery In Popular Movies (Virginia: Rocket accountability that comes with being a true Masonic can assist in educating and inspiring a man out of who incarnates in the form of the highly eccentric Science Production, 2013). 317-320.] brother. I want that for my son.” isolation, and to call on him to act on behalf of his own Marla Singer played by Helena Bonham Carter. The [Gabrielle Forman, Ed., Freemasonry Victoria Magazine (Square One Publishing: The Official Magazine of the United Grand Lodge of good. Using the symbolic working tools, a man can Narrator/Tyler Durden dualistically unites with Marla; Victoria), Issue 144, Spring 2015, 20–21.] begin his journey towards a more harmonious life.

14 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020 April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 15

Page 18 ESOTERICA Masonic Pioneer SYMBOLogy Hermetically speaking, Fight Club itself is a masculine and sacred feminine, sun and moon, the Masonic styled esoteric order. Its members work in alchemical citrinitas and albedo, or what the The Masonic Ashlars and Fight Club Brother Guy “The BY Dago Rodriguez secret and carry out monkeyshines that undermine Rosicrucians describe in the treatise The Chymical Sandman” Mezger society and its mores. In order to gain admission one Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz which was balances family, lodge The Masonic symbolism of the rough and perfect ashlars is as tried and true as the square and compass. must stand outside the Fight Club temple or dojo for composed by the Rosicrucian Johannes Valentine and professional fighting. He was a The ashlars represent the condition in which a man three days without food, shelter, or encouragement. Andre (1586-1654). This treatise is an allegoric superstar of Ultimate enters Masonry (rough) and as he progresses through his The candidate is consistently berated and harassed by romance divided into Seven Days, or Seven Fighting degrees and truly applies the principles of Freemasonry, Tyler Durden to go away. The three days one must Journeys, like Genesis, and tell us about the way Championship’s slowly chipping away at his “rough edges,” he evolves wait outside parallels the first three degrees of Blue Christian Rosenkreuz was invited to go to a embryonic days. In toward becoming a more complete and harmonious 1997 brother Mezger Lodge Freemasonry, once inside the neophyte or wonderful castle full of miracles in order to assist (perfect) man. Of course, “perfection” is an ideal that is defeated two never reached—not in the material world at least; but it “Space Monkey”, representing the Masonic the Chymical Wedding of the king and the queen, opponents in one is what we work toward achieving that makes the night, including candidate, is initiated into the mysteries of Fight that is, the husband and the bride, the sun and the journey worthwhile. submitting Tito Ortiz Club. Interestingly the name “Tyler Durden” mirrors moon. In Chuck Palahniuk’s controversial novel Fight Club, Guy Mezger to a guillotine choke, a Masonic lodge officer titled Tyler (or Tiler) whose At Fight Club’s conclusion, Marla and Tyler (or to win the UFC Light this symbol of the rough and perfect man is put to the duty is to guard the entrance of the lodge from outside the Narrator) observe financial buildings Heavyweight Tournament. He was also a star of Japan’s test between the two main characters, the Narrator (Jack) intrusion. Hence Tyler Durden serves as both Fight collapsing around them allegorizing the PRIDE Mixed Martial Arts, and crowned the King of and Tyler Durden. We come to realize they are the same Club’s gatekeeper and the guardian of its mystical destruction of the material world. They witness Pancrase, a two time world bare knuckle Karate person. In a culminating scene, the Narrator says,“Fight champion, and a two time kick boxing champion. club isn’t about winning or losing fights. Fight club isn’t secrets and modus operandi. this from an upper level of a skyscraper Bro. Mezger was raised in 2008 and is a member of about words. You see a guy come to fight club for the Similarly to Masonic oaths, tokens, and symbolizing their Gnostic ascensio. They are now Willard Sylvan Grove Lodge No. 250 in Texas. He first time, and his ass is a loaf of white bread. You see passwords, one does not talk about Fight Club. fully conscious having experienced self- believes Masonry has helped him become a better man. “I this same guy here six months later, and he looks carved Members of Fight Club, and only members, can awakening and epiphany; Marla and Tyler are now feel that Masonry allows you to test yourself and create a out of wood. This guy trusts himself to handle anything.” better you. This creative process isn’t selfish though. It receive the true gnosis paralleling the Gnostic free of the bane of societal materialism. They have Here we see the symbolism of self-perfecting applied has allowed me to become a better man in order to serve in much the same way that it’s applied in Freemasonry. philosophies of Valentinus (ca. 100-160 C.E.). embraced their Jungian shadow and have been my family, friends, my community and my fellow man in Valentinus philosophized that there were three kinds reborn as Manichaean Gnostic masters. general. Whether I am working in conjunction with my The “guy” comes to fight club, just like the new Masonic brother, who enters lodge as a “rough” ashlar. By his of people: the spiritual, physical, and material; and Fight Club’s rendering of the Narrator’s brothers in a charity project or motivating my (martial arts) students, I feel it’s my Masonic roots that keeps me actions in the Fraternity he begins to chip away the that only those of a spiritual nature (his own concluding epiphany imitates the psychology of focused.” superfluous parts that have made up his profane life. In followers) received the gnosis that allow them to Valentinus that the illusion of matter or material is One of the greatest privileges of Bro. Mezger’s Fight Club this happens by throwing punches and getting return to the divine Pleroma, while those of a psychic all in the mind. It is a focus on the Narrator or Masonic career was having the opportunity to attend the punched; in Freemasonry, by applying the strict nature (ordinary Christians) would attain a lesser Jack’s pre-Tyler Durden melancholy, or “the shit lodge of one of his heroes, President Theodore Roosevelt, implements of the Craft to erect internally a more moral Matinecock Lodge No. 806 in Oyster Bay, New York. form of salvation and that those of a material nature job, fuckin’ condo world, watching sitcoms,” that and Masonic edifice. In either scenario, each man comes “President Roosevelt was one of the reasons why I wanted from the same rock, but not until he measures and (pagans and Jews) were doomed to perish. Valentinus’ gestures towards the tragic dualism of Mani. The to become a Mason. His mother lodge still has a lot of sculpts his outer and inner stone does he become “better historical flair to it. Walking in there, I felt like a kid philosophy is part of the mysteries of Fight Club Narrator has been aided on his spiritual yet fit for the builders’ use” – meaning to better serve seeing Disneyland for the first time.” since its members are considered enlightened “Space nihilistic journey by Hermes Trismegistus, only society. A father of two, Bro. Mezger is keen for his son, Monkeys” while the conformist and adherents of Hermes or Tyler was part of his persona the entire Logan, to follow in his Masonic footsteps. “I am The sculpting of our own lives is left to our own social materialism are doomed to nothingness. time. definitely going to encourage Logan to participate in accord, but what Fight Club and Freemasonry illustrate The Narrator or Tyler Durden finds his Sophia [Robert W. Sullivan IV, Esq., Cinema Symbolism: A Guide Masonry. There is a certain amount of responsibility and is the need for a support structure—or brotherhood—that to Esoteric Imagery In Popular Movies (Virginia: Rocket accountability that comes with being a true Masonic can assist in educating and inspiring a man out of who incarnates in the form of the highly eccentric Science Production, 2013). 317-320.] brother. I want that for my son.” isolation, and to call on him to act on behalf of his own Marla Singer played by Helena Bonham Carter. The [Gabrielle Forman, Ed., Freemasonry Victoria Magazine (Square One good. Using the symbolic working tools, a man can Narrator/Tyler Durden dualistically unites with Marla; Publishing: The Official Magazine of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria), Issue 144, Spring 2015, 20–21.] begin his journey towards a more harmonious life.

14 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020 April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 15

Page 19 “I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.” Fight Club, Patriarchy, and the Politics By Michael Jarzabek of Masculine Violence I was born into a generation represented by the sex toy As Masons, we must find what was lost (our masculinity, in Fight Club character Marla Singer’s apartment. My our potency), but our Mommies and our wives can’t find it It is against the growing preponderance of a free market generation whimpered to the world, “Don’t worry… [we’ for us. Our masculinity is directly tied to our free-will. economy, and a corporate culture that turns everything it touches re]… not a threat to you.” We were given a world Fight Club’s Tyler Durden and Marla Singer are aspects sterilized of meaning. Castration is a common theme in of the Narrator’s self. They collectively represent his soul into an object of consumption, that David Fincher’s 1999 film, mythology. One generation, usually the younger, removes and his will, and her apartment is a type of womb. Fight Club, must be critically engaged. Ostensibly, Fight Club the power of creation from their elders. It is a cycle that Remember Marla saying, “Prepare to evacuate soul” and appears to offer a critique of late capitalist society and the endlessly repeats. Our parents pre-emptively emasculated beginning to countdown as Tyler arrives at her apartment. misfortunes it generates out of its obsessive concern with profits, us. The Narrator can’t find his manhood, but he/Tyler finds a For many of us, the irony was that we couldn’t replacement on Marla’s bedroom dresser. Marla becomes consumption, and the commercial values that underlie its market- possibly be a threat to our Fathers since we didn’t know both his Mother and his lover as she assures us that this driven ethos. However, Fight Club is less interested in attacking the them. The danger we posed was to our Mothers. The inauthentic replacement for our manhood is not a threat. broader material relations of power and strategies of domination threat was that we would become our Fathers, that we After this scene, Tyler and Marla escape the security of and exploitation associated with neoliberal capitalism than it is in would become their greatest fear. Motivated by that fear, the womb, down a flight of winding stairs past a Corinthian they robbed us of our power by making us impotent. pillar, the archetype of beauty. They leave behind the rebelling against a consumerist culture that dissolves the bonds of We had to be protected from everything. We were kept harmony of opposites. They descend into rebirth, otherness, male sociality and puts into place an enervating notion of male in a perpetual childhood, kept from becoming men. We and flesh. As they do, Marla can be heard saying, “She’s identity and agency. Contrary to the reviews accompanying the were raised on a literature of multi-color warning labels lost faith in herself. She’s a monster. She’s infectious human film’s premiere that celebrated it as a daring social critique, Fight and blacked out album covers. waste, good luck trying to save her.” Could this be the first Freemasonry was no exception. The ritual had to be of many physical deaths and rebirths in the movie? Club has nothing to say about the structural violence of cleansed of anything that might be deemed offensive. Empowered by this stage of rebirth, Tyler finally escapes unemployment, job insecurity, cuts in public spending, or the Skulls are scary… get rid of them. Ancient penalties… the security of society. He quits his job after which he also destruction of institutions capable of defending social provisions also scary, take them out. There are no secrets. descends a set of stairs saying as he reaches the bottom, and the public good. On the contrary, the film finds the violence of This is the world that Palahniuk and Fincher illustrate “I’m enlightened.” He has found his masculinity, he has in Fight Club. It is about purification. It’s about burning reclaimed his power, or at least, so he thinks. What he capitalism almost exclusively in terms of an attack on traditional away the physical to reveal the spiritual. It’s about doesn’t realize is that it’s just one more flight on the stairs. (if not to say regressive) notions of masculinity, and in doing so, maturity. It’s about regaining our potential. It is only by annihilation of the self that he stops the reinscribes white heterosexuality within a dominant logic of Edward Norton’s character in Fight Club gives up downward cycle and can begin the long ascent. We never stylized brutality and male bonding that appears to be predicated safety and security to find true meaning. We need to do see that ascent. The movie ends in annihilation. the same thing as Masons. We need to stop playing it This may seem like a Masonic lesson, and it necessarily on the need to denigrate, and to wage war against, all that is safe. I can’t even write this article without the fear of shares some of our symbols, but it isn’t. It speaks to the feminine. In this instance, the crisis of capitalism is reduced to the offending someone, not because of the editor, but because same needs. It uses some of the same tools, and it even crisis of masculinity, and the nature of the crisis lies less in the of my own internal critic. I can’t embrace true growth hopes for a similar outcome, but Freemasonry is an economic, political, and social conditions of capitalism itself than in within the confines of the system. I can’t be completely accumulation of ancient knowledge, inspiring us to embrace honest with you as the reader or with myself. I am an the good. Fight Club is a postmodern epic. Postmodernism the rise of a culture of consumption in which men are allegedly unreliable Narrator. I am Jack’s inflamed sense of attempts to illustrate a lack of meaning and the absence of domesticated, rendered passive, soft, and emasculated. rejection. truth. If anything, it’s anti-masonic. The two philosophies are diametrically opposed. The Narrator is a libertine, [Henry A. Giroux, “Private Satisfactions and Public Disorders: ‘Fight Club’, madman, and fool all rolled into one. In fact, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Masculine Violence.” (JAC: A Journal of Composition ironically, the consumerism that the movie Theory, Vol. 21, No.1, editor Lynn Worsham. University of South Florida: villainizes is a result of the damaging effect Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition, 2001), 5]. that postmodern philosophy has had on man’s soul. That doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from this brilliant piece of cinema. On the contrary, we should. We should understand its message and truly contemplate it. Is that not what we, as Masons, came here to do?

16 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020 April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 17

Page 20 change our mind forever. What happens within Fight All this is mystical and psychological of course. Club can be described as a visualization of the What makes Fight Club so great however, is that in ensuing internal struggle of self. the end, we’re left with what seems to be a broken EquilibriumEquilibrium man, who is in reality, more complete than anyone Freemasonry alludes to an esoteric art of else. A man with an objective view, who frees the contemplation of its symbols. Through meditations world from the modern chains of bondage. In Fight or thoughts, we can reflect on our own existence, our Club, a story of internal struggle, of perseverance, lives and our place in this reality. The result is self-awareness and action is laid before us. There’s inin FreemasonryFreemasonry oftentimes an ego death and from this, an emergence no good or evil. We have a man who descends into of an objective consciousness—if done properly. the realm of chaos only to be reborn, and by a Once the sight is gained, or even during the struggle victory over the mind, is raised to a new level of process, the mind is called to the welfare of his consciousness. Given all of this, how is Fight Club andand fellow creatures—the superego’s call to altruism. not Masonic? If you don’t see it...you’re nuts. What happens in Fight Club is no different. Our main character (the Narrator) decides to take on what You’ve no doubt heard the most tired platitude in FightFight ClubClub could be considered the slavery of the modern age Freemasonry, “...that a Mason gets out of the when he blows up multiple buildings that hold Fraternity what he puts into it”; and this is true. You financial and credit records for millions of people— must contemplate the tools and concepts, to battle by Robert Johnson an act of domestic terrorism, had he not ensured the your “self” in order to come out a better man. buildings were empty. Ultimately this creates Simply going to lodge won’t make you better. Of financial equilibrium. “It's only after we’ve lost everything that we're floor from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the course, you may not find it completely necessary to free to do anything.” climax of the film. As buildings collapse and a start your own Fight Club, sell soap made from This act is seen as one of “civic responsibility,” not human fat, get fired from your job, blow up your visible shockwave hits and bends the glass in a unlike those actions which led to the formation of the Fight Club – What does it have to do with high-rise, a man is left standing who is a whole new apartment, and destroy the world’s financial records Freemasonry? It’s gritty and vulgar, certainly two United States of America. Men who were preeminent to achieve this. You could simply start by sitting character in the film. It’s the Narrator less his alter in their stations in life, members of our Craft who descriptors of what Freemasonry is inherently not. ego. It’s a man in an equilibrium of sorts. quietly and thinking about what the level really Fight Club is on the surface, a testosterone filled decided that the time was right to gather, to become a means. Maybe follow it up with some real life new Nation whose basic foundation of principal was cinematic experience that puts on a pedestal, those Until that last word, “equilibrium,” you may have actions… the equality of men. No longer would we be slaves to ideas of power, masculinity and sexual prowess. been on the fence about this concept—Freemasonry “It's only after we've lost everything that we're free the crown. But of course, the scales of justice took and Fight Club. Through a series of expertly filmed to do anything.” another 89 years to balance with the introduction of Behind the curtain however lays a deeper story. We sequences, Fight Club dissects the psycho-spiritual the Emancipation Proclamation. When the can only see it if we’re willing to cut through our journey and the fallout of the same. People claim to ------Proclamation was given in 1863 there were two years own dissonance and idiocy and for God’s sake— have their spiritual awakenings through their of chaos. From that Chaos, Order; and still, 155 years look in the mirror. Fight Club is a narrative of a Saturday morning Yoga ritual, their tea, hitting some Note to the Reader: Many times during this short later, we’re still going. “I am Jack’s cold sweat.” man who actively engages his own animal-based DMT, or reading a Manly P. Hall book—but that’s essay, I was tempted to dive into the Bhagavad Gita masculinity in order to “let it out” in a world that just bullshit. A real awakening is scary, unwanted, when relating to symbolism of internal struggles. If has largely constrained its very existence—a Looking at the central characters of Fight Club, the the reader chooses to do a comparison on their not peaceful and sure doesn’t involve the cherry- obvious connotations regarding masculine and commercialized word beset with surface level picked cultural appropriation of Hindu or South own, they will no doubt find a correlation. comforts and prescription drugs to sooth the inner feminine forces are present. A duality of man is American Shamanistic practices. From time exposed: Tyler Durden and the Narrator. One is a distresses. As the central character allows this immemorial, we have the existence of schools of version of himself to take control, his mind begins titan among men, the other, arguably so meek, his wisdom which convey allegories, plays, name is never even given. The film evokes thoughts to formulate the internal struggle that’s taking dramatizations and rites of passage which are all place. Ultimately, what is achieved is a wholesale relative to the id, ego and superego—the Rebis, the designed to accomplish a singular goal, not unlike balanced being, laying somewhere between the ego destruction of the gritty toxic masculine form of what happens to the Narrator in Fight Club. This is Tyler Durden—his brains and blood decorating the (preservation of the self and knowledge of others) a transformation which should, when done properly, and the superego (capitular altruism). April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 19 18 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 21 change our mind forever. What happens within Fight All this is mystical and psychological of course. Club can be described as a visualization of the What makes Fight Club so great however, is that in ensuing internal struggle of self. the end, we’re left with what seems to be a broken EquilibriumEquilibrium man, who is in reality, more complete than anyone Freemasonry alludes to an esoteric art of else. A man with an objective view, who frees the contemplation of its symbols. Through meditations world from the modern chains of bondage. In Fight or thoughts, we can reflect on our own existence, our Club, a story of internal struggle, of perseverance, lives and our place in this reality. The result is self-awareness and action is laid before us. There’s inin FreemasonryFreemasonry oftentimes an ego death and from this, an emergence no good or evil. We have a man who descends into of an objective consciousness—if done properly. the realm of chaos only to be reborn, and by a Once the sight is gained, or even during the struggle victory over the mind, is raised to a new level of process, the mind is called to the welfare of his consciousness. Given all of this, how is Fight Club andand fellow creatures—the superego’s call to altruism. not Masonic? If you don’t see it...you’re nuts. What happens in Fight Club is no different. Our main character (the Narrator) decides to take on what You’ve no doubt heard the most tired platitude in FightFight ClubClub could be considered the slavery of the modern age Freemasonry, “...that a Mason gets out of the when he blows up multiple buildings that hold Fraternity what he puts into it”; and this is true. You financial and credit records for millions of people— must contemplate the tools and concepts, to battle by Robert Johnson an act of domestic terrorism, had he not ensured the your “self” in order to come out a better man. buildings were empty. Ultimately this creates Simply going to lodge won’t make you better. Of “It's only after we’ve lost everything that we're floor from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the financial equilibrium. course, you may not find it completely necessary to free to do anything.” climax of the film. As buildings collapse and a start your own Fight Club, sell soap made from This act is seen as one of “civic responsibility,” not visible shockwave hits and bends the glass in a human fat, get fired from your job, blow up your unlike those actions which led to the formation of the Fight Club – What does it have to do with high-rise, a man is left standing who is a whole new apartment, and destroy the world’s financial records United States of America. Men who were preeminent Freemasonry? It’s gritty and vulgar, certainly two character in the film. It’s the Narrator less his alter to achieve this. You could simply start by sitting in their stations in life, members of our Craft who descriptors of what Freemasonry is inherently not. ego. It’s a man in an equilibrium of sorts. quietly and thinking about what the level really Fight Club is on the surface, a testosterone filled decided that the time was right to gather, to become a means. Maybe follow it up with some real life cinematic experience that puts on a pedestal, those Until that last word, “equilibrium,” you may have new Nation whose basic foundation of principal was actions… ideas of power, masculinity and sexual prowess. been on the fence about this concept—Freemasonry the equality of men. No longer would we be slaves to “It's only after we've lost everything that we're free and Fight Club. Through a series of expertly filmed the crown. But of course, the scales of justice took to do anything.” Behind the curtain however lays a deeper story. We sequences, Fight Club dissects the psycho-spiritual another 89 years to balance with the introduction of can only see it if we’re willing to cut through our journey and the fallout of the same. People claim to the Emancipation Proclamation. When the ------own dissonance and idiocy and for God’s sake— have their spiritual awakenings through their Proclamation was given in 1863 there were two years look in the mirror. Fight Club is a narrative of a Saturday morning Yoga ritual, their tea, hitting some of chaos. From that Chaos, Order; and still, 155 years Note to the Reader: Many times during this short man who actively engages his own animal-based DMT, or reading a Manly P. Hall book—but that’s later, we’re still going. “I am Jack’s cold sweat.” essay, I was tempted to dive into the Bhagavad Gita masculinity in order to “let it out” in a world that just bullshit. A real awakening is scary, unwanted, when relating to symbolism of internal struggles. If Looking at the central characters of Fight Club, the has largely constrained its very existence—a not peaceful and sure doesn’t involve the cherry- the reader chooses to do a comparison on their obvious connotations regarding masculine and commercialized word beset with surface level picked cultural appropriation of Hindu or South own, they will no doubt find a correlation. feminine forces are present. A duality of man is comforts and prescription drugs to sooth the inner American Shamanistic practices. From time exposed: Tyler Durden and the Narrator. One is a distresses. As the central character allows this immemorial, we have the existence of schools of titan among men, the other, arguably so meek, his version of himself to take control, his mind begins wisdom which convey allegories, plays, name is never even given. The film evokes thoughts to formulate the internal struggle that’s taking dramatizations and rites of passage which are all relative to the id, ego and superego—the Rebis, the place. Ultimately, what is achieved is a wholesale designed to accomplish a singular goal, not unlike balanced being, laying somewhere between the ego destruction of the gritty toxic masculine form of what happens to the Narrator in Fight Club. This is (preservation of the self and knowledge of others) Tyler Durden—his brains and blood decorating the a transformation which should, when done properly, and the superego (capitular altruism). April 2020 ~ TheResearchLodge.com ~ 19 18 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 22 Southern California Research Lodge NON PROFIT P.O. Box 3487 U.S. POSTAGE South Pasadena, CA 91031 PAID PASADENA, CA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED PERMIT 562

FINAL WORDI

The American Experience of manhood is a story of vast triumph, courage, creativity, strength, and progress. The history of America is largely a collage of the actions of men. But manhood, for all its achievement, is also a story of intensely private uncertainty, of feelings of desperation and inadequacy, of competition and change, of unrealistic role modeling and expectations; of misguided cultural perceptions. Manhood is constantly under siege by feminism, religious fundamentalism, media and gender stereotyping, ethnic diversity, political correctness, consumerism, and legislative and judicial bias. Men are losing their inherent status in a world where the duties and responsibilities of gender must balance each other.

[Robert G. Davis, Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine (Lancaster, VA: Anchor Publishing, 2005), back cover.] Robert G. Davis

20 ~ SCRL Fraternal Review ~ April 2020

Page 23 Non-Profit Organization US Postage PAID Santa Fe, N.M. Permit No. 62 Montezuma Lodge #1 AF&AM Return Service Requested 431 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501-1958 Just west of the Scottish Rite Temple

Secretary Don Helberg, PM Lodge Office: 505-982-0971 Home: 505-471-0168 email: [email protected]

Editor Robert H. Sherman, PM email: [email protected]

May Dinner Menu

2020 Officers Worshipful Master: - Jee W. Hwang (C): (704) 654-1270 What is the purpose of Freemasonry? Senior Warden - Michael J. Mulligan “To admit, make and pass Freemasons (C): (505) 660-1672 according to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Grand Lodge. To advance the moral and Junior Warden - Charles A. Hannaford social interests of its membership; to foster (H): (505) 466-2732 good citizenship, honest industry and upright Treasurer - Dan A. Esquibel, PM living; to cultivate the exercise of charity in its (C) (505) 660-7395 best and broadest sense; to assist the widows Secretary - Don L. Helberg, PDDGM and orphans of its deceased members; to (H): (505) 471-0168 stimulate friendship, harmony and Brotherly love and generally to promote, in its own way, Lodge Office: (505) 982-0971 the happiness of mankind — it is a fraternity Email: [email protected] of good men, linked together by honorable and Chaplain - Robert H. Sherman, PDDGM indissoluble bonds, to accomplish these noble (H): (505) 983-9508 purposes, eschewing all interests in factional Senior Deacon - Christopher J. Williams politics and sectarian religion and free from the (C) (208) 995-6922 dictation of both.”

Junior Deacon - John G. Feins For more information about Masonry: (C) (505) 603-6369 □ Call the Lodge at 982-0971 Senior Steward - John A. Brady (H) (805) 748-9000 □ Stop by the Lodge Junior Steward - □ Visit our website @ Marshal: - Alfonso J. Rodriguez www.montezumalodge.org (C) 505–501-0078 □ Ask any Mason Tyler: - Jerry Noedel, PM