Masonic Works Compiled Volume 2 By Bro. Dustin A Thomas The works contained within are merely a compilation of Masonic works found from various sources. These works do not claim to be authored by or created from Bro. Dustin A Thomas [compiler/researcher] unless so noted. Any copyrights held by respective authors are still intact and should be regarded as legally binding. This document is intended for personal research and gain and is not intended for mass printing. Page 1 Table Of Contents Chapter Title Pg FORWARD 5 1 A LODGE AT WORK 7 2 ALBERT PIKE 10 3 ANTI-MASONIC PROPAGANDA 16 4 ASHLARS - ROUGH, SMOOTH - THE STORY OF A STONE 22 5 BAPHOMENT REVISITED 25 6 CORN, WINE, AND OIL 29 7 CRADLE AND THE LODGE 33 8 DEAR SON 36 9 DUE FORM 39 10 FREE AND ACCEPTED 42 11 FREEMASONRY DURING WARTIME 46 12 FREEMASONRY IN CANADA 50 13 FREEMASONRY IN SOCIETY 63 14 GREEN DRAGON TAVERN 69 15 GUIDELINES FOR INVESTIGATING COMMITTEES 84 16 HAVING A SUCCESSFUL LODGE 86 17 HONORS FROM THE CRAFT 89 18 IN WHOM DO YOU PUT YOUR TRUST 94 19 LEARN ABOUT EACH LODGE OFFICERS 97 20 LETTER PERFECT RITUAL 105 21 MASONIC BLUE 109 22 MASONIC MYTHS 114 23 MASONIC PHILOSOPHY 137 24 MASONS AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 141 25 MILITARY AND FREEMASONRY 146 26 PLAIN TALK ABOUT MASONRY 149 27 PYTHAGOREAN TRADITION IN FREEMASONRY 151 28 RITUAL EFFECTIVE DELIVERY 160 29 SPIRIT OF MASONRY 162 30 ST JOHN DAYS 168 31 THE 47TH PROBLEM 175 32 THE BLACK CUBE 180 33 THE COMPASSES 184 34 THE DEMOLAY RELATIONSHIP TO FREEMASONRY 188 35 THE LAMBSKIN APRON 192 36 THE LEVEL 196 37 THE LEVEL AND THE PLUMB 200 Page 2 Chapter Title Pg 38 THE MASTER AS MANAGER 204 39 THE MORAL TEACHINGS OF FREEMASONRY 208 40 THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS OF FREEMASONRY 226 41 THE SQUARE 229 42 THE TWELVE ORIGINAL POINTS OF MASONRY 234 43 THE VISITING BROTHER 236 44 THE WARDENS 240 45 THE WINDING STAIRS 244 46 THEY LIED ON THEIR KNEES 249 47 UNAFFILIATED 254 48 VALUE OF MASONIC LIBRARIES 258 49 WHY I BECAME A MASON 262 50 WILLIAM PRESTON 267 Page 3 Page 4 FORWARD By Bro. Dustin A Thomas Paw Paw – Lawton Lodge 25 Paw Paw, Michigan Being a new minted Master Mason, the world of Masonic education is as vast and sprawling before me just as a new born baby falls unto this world wide of wonderment. Fascinating is the only adjective that comes to mind as I ponder all that has been written on the subject of the world’s oldest and most popular fraternity. There is such a wealth of knowledge out there to be digested, some good – some bad, but the fact remains that one could spend the better part of his educational career pursuing all that is Freemasonry. What exactly would one be pursuing in that cause? Is there some great secret to be learned? Is it for personal or professional gains? I can only ascertain the motives of hundreds, possible thousands of Masonic scholars before me. In my mind only one thing is certain, why I choose to further my own knowledge of the craft and its workings. Being a part of such an old and prestigious organization, I feel an almost collective bond to those people who have come before me and studied it to the core. The symbols fascinate yet elude me, it’s etiquette and rituals impress me, and it’s teaches and lessons humble me. For Freemasonry is as much an introverted journey of betterment, that speculative turning of rough ashlars to perfect ones, inasmuch as the external - one of fraternal spirit. For this reason I turn to those scholarly alumni and their works as a jumping point for Masonic education. I have compiled these works to help myself and others in search of more light - create a primer, if you will, for the newly raised and knowledge parched. I do not claim for this collection to be complete – just as no one man speaks for all of Freemasonry, no one collection of works can claim to be Freemasonry in it’s entirety. The articles contained within no doubt contain opinions, some right some wrong, but all well founded in meaning. Lastly, please enjoy this collection. Please share it with brethren and other friends that have traveled east. This collection is one that includes some of the best articles written on the subject by some of the best authors to wear the apron. I have spent much of my time and resources to help create this in print and in electronic form. My only method of payment is to see a real benefit in someone other than myself. May it bring you closer to that light, the light we all seek in our lives of moral and fraternal excellence. Fraternally Yours, Bro. Dustin A Thomas Page 5 Page 6 A LODGE AT WORK Walter M. Macdougall Bro. Walter M. Macdougall is a member of Piscataquis Lodge # 44, Milo, ME and a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maine. Bro. Macdougall is a faculty member at the College of Education, University of Maine where he teaches philosophy. Bro. Macdougall also authored the 6-95 STB, Surprised By Joy. A Lodge is a certain number of Masons duly assembled, with the Holy Bible, Square, and Compasses, with a charter or warrant empowering them to work. Ask a brother how his lodge is doing, and his answer is very apt to be either that things are going well because there has been a lot of work to do or that the life of the lodge is at a low ebb because there hasn’t been much work lately. Ten to one, he is talking about degree work. There is no doubt that performing degrees is a vital part of the work of a lodge, but it is a common short circuit in our Masonic thinking to conclude that exemplifying our degrees constitutes the work of our lodge. Degree work is a means not an end. Another possible and closely related short circuit lurks in the word jurisdiction. In our everyday Masonic usage, this term signifies the geographic area from which a lodge draws its candidates. Just as the work of a living lodge embraces much more than doing degrees so there is more to the concept of a lodge’s jurisdiction than the place a lodge draws its candidates. The working of a lodge of Freemasons is a many faceted business which takes place, not just within a lodge hall or just among its members, but within the lodge’s jurisdiction of compassion and service. Suppose we find ourselves standing outside “Builders Lodge” in a place called “Needsville, “ Here, according to our ritual, gathers a certain number of masons duly assembled, inspired by the Sacred Book and guided by the compasses and the square. They are, by a charter, empowered to work-that is they have the honor of laboring as Freemasons. On reflection, we realize that Builders’ Lodge, like all Masonic lodges, exists even when there are no masons meeting in the building. It exists in the shared belief system of the brethren and in their united endeavor to give concrete evidence of their beliefs through their service to others. Every Mason who has received his training in Builder’s Lodge should know that the dimensions of his lodge spread symbolically to the ends of the earth and that nothing short of universal compassion is the aim of the Fraternity. In more immediate terms, the dimensions of Builder’s Lodge spread across Needsville to the borders of the lodge’s jurisdiction. Jurisdiction defines a certain community of lodge members and wayfaring brethren alike. It is a community within the community at large, a community of the Craft, alive and operative. As in the case of the Masonic terms work and jurisdiction, the word “lodge” with its varied meanings may cause confusion. Your wife asks you if you will be at home this Page 7 evening. “No” you answer, “I am going to lodge. “ In this response “lodge” means a place and an event. You are signifying a communication of the officers and brethren at the lodge hall. Such usage indicates a partial manifestation of the lodge, but, in this last instance, “lodge” identifies an entity neither limited to a particular place or to a special event. Put simply, lodge meetings represent a vital and special function of the larger lodge which is the local community of Masons. The lodge hall houses the operating and training center for this larger lodge. It houses the nerve center, if you will. From this place of focus, the leadership of the Master, assisted by his officers and his committees, radiates outward and assumes the responsibility for “putting the Craft to labor” within the lodge’s jurisdiction of compassion and caring. [These officers are the future masters in training. It is in leadership training, instruction on how to build an administrative team, and in schooling Masonic educators that our Grand Lodges play their most essential role.] Consider the extensive dimensions of the lodge’s mission! This labor falls into three categories all of which are interrelated and partake of the vision of the Craft. (a) Care for the Masonic family (b) Serving the needy and building a better community (c) Training the builders “Take care of the widows and the orphans’ “ this is the great charitable charge we have received from our operative predecessors. This noble charge still stands, but it has been expanded to the entire MasonicFamily.