Jan 2008 - Hawthorne-Fortitude Masonic Lodge No. 200

The Independent Masonic Magazine 

Bringing the best information to Mason’s worldwide. 

Issue 25, January 2008 

Happy Birthday 

We’re 2 years old this month 

1 ON THE WEB AT WWW.TWTMAG.COM 1

Contents 

• Masons in the News - Pg 9 

• Claudy - “Beautiful Adventure” – Pg.20 

• Reader Sub “Benefits of a Lodge Blood Program”– Pg.21 

• Reader Submission “Jacob’s Ladder”– Pg.23 

• Masonic Abbreviations– Pg.29 

• Bro. James Green- “Masonic Status”- Pg.34 

• New Masonic Movie “The Brotherhood” - Pg. 35 

• Reader Submission “center of Union”– Pg.38 

• STB– “Inn of Year’s End”- Pg.40 

• The Odd Fellows Pg. 43 

• Bro. Wyndell Ferguson- “Food and Fellowship”– Pg.45 

• Random Thoughts with Bro. Lance Ten Eyck– Pg.47 

• Charities- Masonic Angel Fund Pg.48 

• Blog Post of the Month — Pg. 51 

• York Rite of Freemasonry w/ Bro. Bill Price– Pg.53 

• You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up- Pg.55 

• Editor & Publisher– Cory Sigler 

The Working Tools is published monthly by Corsig Publishing & Cory Sigler, It is not affiliated with any Grand 

Lodge. Letters or inquiries should be directed to Cory Sigler, Editor, at E-mail: Corsig3@yahoo.com All letters 

become the property of the Working Tools. Photographs and articles should be sent to the attention of the Editor. 

Every effort will be made to return photographs but this cannot be guaranteed. Please include a self-addressed 

stamped envelope. The Editor reserves the right to edit all materials received. The deadline for the next issue is 

January 27, 2007. 

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Letter From the Editor 

Hello Brothers 

It’s been an awesome two years and I thank everyone who continue to 

support our little publication. We started out very small and the word 

of mouth grew, the resources came together and the momentum surpassed 

my wildest dreams. Talk about a grassroots campaign! 

Never did I think that we would have thousands of visitors each month who 

span the entire world nor could I have imagined the friendships I would find 

from doing this. 

Everyday I scan the web finding news and articles to bring to your attention. 

With each new month the magazine grows both cosmetically as I learn how 

to edit and work the software and educationally as I learn what is more important 

to the readers who give me feedback on the material they want to 

read. 

On the website we continue to add new features that will benefit you and 

make your stay more fun. We have added the “Lodge Finder” database with 

over 2,700 lodges nationwide where you can find search by location the 

name of the lodge and the address so when you travel you can met new 

brothers on the road. Last but not least the brand new Social website was 

opened up early December allowing Masons from all over the network and 

find each other in a new and exciting way. Each brother fully customizes 

their own page adding their own pictures, videos and blogs. No 2 pages will 

be alike. 

To the dismay of my wife this will continue to be brought to you for free for 

as long as I can humanly afford or until my credit card reaches the limit. 

Have a safe & happy holiday season!! 

Your Brother– Cory 

Cory Sigler 

Corsig3@yahoo.com 

Special thanks to Gary for creating the 

cover art for us. 

The Masonic Shop 

http://www.themasonicshop.com 


TWO NEW FEATURE’S FOR TWT READER’S 

The Guest Map 

The Lodge Finder Database 

With over 2,700 lodges listed 


Letter’s From The Readers 

Cory 

Happy Birthday. Thanks for keeping up with your magazine. I look forward to reading it every month. 

I’ve told all my lodge brothers that we should print it out and use it in our meetings as an educational resource. 

Fraternally 

David Desante 

Dear Bro David– That’s the whole idea for putting this together for you guys. Use it to learn from and 

share what you learned. Discuss with your fellow brothers about Masonry– CS 

My Dear Brother Sigler, 

I would like to respond to the Poll Question in the December 2007 issue of TWT. 

It is asked, "Does your WM ever open the lodge on a lower degree to allow an EA or FC to sit in lodge before being 

raised?" 

I answered "No" because, according to the Constitution and Laws of the GL of NJ, "A lodge must be opened upon 

the Master Mason degree before work is performed in a preceding degree." (42-02) 

This strikes me as a mandate that ALL lodges in New Jersey are to be opened upon the Master Mason degree. 

Additionally, unlike other Grand Jurisdictions, the GL of NJ does NOT have a separate opening ceremony for each 

degree. (Modification of the prescribed opening ceremony is a crude bastardization of said ceremony and provides 

no meaningful benefit to the Craft, IMO.) 

Now, I will "change over" to the EA at our Regular Communication in January, as WM of my Lodge, and intend to 

do so each month - provided there is something scheduled for the benefit of Masons of all grades. 

That stated, I believe that I may be in violation of 42-02, technically, as the caveat to "changing" to an inferior grade 

is "before work is performed in a preceding degree." I am not fully convinced that having an Open Forum on, for 

instance, regarding the EA degree - as planned for the January Communication - constitutes "work" in convebtional 

masonic parlance - most would take it to be, and perhaps correctly so, conferral of a "degree" or the 

exemplificatiion of proficiency in a degree. 

While I earnestly advocate the inclusion of Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts at a Regular Communication, I 

do believe that we should address this aspect of Masonic Life in a Lodge through the C & L. 

I also advocate the establishment of both an opening and a closing ceremony for the EA and the FC grades. 

S & F, 

Ron Brining, PGH 

Worshipful Master 2008 

Haddonfield - Cherry Hill Lodge No. 15, F & AM 

Haddonfield, NJ 


This Month in History 

January 

2-Jan - On this date in 1901, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt received 

his 1st degree in Matinecock Lodge. 

7-Jan 

On this date in 1808, the Grand Lodge of Ohio was established. 

On this date in 1785, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart received his 2nd degree. 

8-Jan On this date in 1844 or 1843, the Grand Lodge of Iowa was 

formed 

12-Jan On this date in 1886 Quatuor Coronati Lodge 

#2076 was consecrated and constituted in London. It 

is considered by many to be the premiere Masonic research 

lodge in the world. 

13-Jan On this date (or January 12) in 1818, the Grand Lodge of Indiana was formed 

17-Jan On this date (or January 16 or 26) in 1865, the Grand 

Lodge of Nevada was formed 

On this date in 1872, the Grand Lodge of Utah was formed 

26-Jan On this date in 1866, the Grand Lodge of Montana was 

formed 

On this date in 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle received his 1st 

degree. 


To help celebrate our 2nd year birthday, TWT & Cornerstone 

Book Publishers are offering “Our Stations and Places– Masonic 

Officer’s Handbook” to one (1) lucky reader. 

Special thanks to Brother Mike Poll for graciously donating the 

prize 

http://www.cornerstonepublishers.com 

And the winner is… 

Bro. John Wright 

Richmond, KY 

Congratulations from TWT!!! 


In the News 

Of Awards and Templars and Freemasons 

By MaltaMedia News 

Dec 4, 2007 

The novel Of Craft and Honour and a Templar’s Chronicles by Dr George G. Buttigieg 

and published by Miller Publications has been awarded the National Book 

Prize for 2006 in the foreign language literary prose category. Besides being a 

literary work which has been meticulously researched, the jury’s decision gave it 

the public merit it deserves. 

Their decision comes only a few weeks after the latest Templar flutter following 

the Vatican’s opening its archive door and revealing the Chinon document. This 

document has revived world interest in the Templars and corrected major misconceptions 

about the Order of the Temple. 

In turn, this has brought Of Craft and Honour to the fore. Buttigieg’s book is increasingly 

being read and discussed by various individuals and groups interested in 

chivalric history, and quoted by internet sites like Clerical Whispers and Templar 

Globe for its content of Templar lore. 

“Whether it is our new European roots or not, it is nice to see the nation acclaiming 

scholarly efforts of individuals in various fields. Far too often, in the past 

and even recent past, it has been various European sister countries that laud the 

productions of the sons and daughters of our Malta,” said Dr Buttigieg. 

The book’s own literary merits go further than its Templar subject as the modern 

Malta-based story it narrates, is fascinating as much as the 14th century saga. Buttigieg 

succeeded in weaving a plot involving the usurping of freemasonry for international 

crime purposes. Besides the main characters, there are also a number of 

fascinating secondary ones such the Maltese detective Pawlu Bonello and the 

saintly monk Fr Rafael Duca with his quoted mystic and spiritual poetry. 

© Copyright 2007 by MaltaMedia.com 

How can you help TWT 

Send me a page or two 

about your lodge and why 

you think it’s special. Describe 

what you are doing 

to make a difference , if 

there is any special history 

or brothers associated to 

it. Include some pictures 

and show the whole world 

why you are proud of your 

lodge 

• 

Have you recently gone 

through a degree and want 

to share your experience? 

• 

See an interesting news 

story regarding the craft– 

send it over. 

• 

Read a new book– send 

over a review. 

• 

Write an original article 

about anything you think 

the readers of TWT would 

enjoy 


A not so secret history 

By JIM GILCHRIST 

ROBERT COOPER and I step out of Freemason's Hall into Edinburgh's George Street, the central strand of James 

Craig's New Town grid plan of 1766. Cooper is curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and he starts pointing out a 

Freemasonic townscape. 

"Craig was a Mason," remarks Cooper, a 54-year-old former civil servant, "and the New Town is of course quite geometric 

compared to the Old Town, in fact some have suggested that the New Town Plan was designed according to Masonic 

geometry," - Freemasons traditionally regard geometry as 'the queen of sciences'. 

To the east, beyond St Andrew Square, rises Calton Hill with its National Monument - the unfinished Parthenon known 

as "Edinburgh's Disgrace", due to a shortfall in public subscriptions, which prevented its completion. The Grand Lodge 

of Scotland, says Cooper, was involved in fundraising for the scheme, and its foundation stone was laid in 1822 by the 

tenth Duke of Hamilton, Grand Master Mason of Scotland, amid much Freemasonic pageantry and cannon salutes. 

There won't be quite such panoply this weekend, when Freemasons' Hall hosts the first event of its kind, a major International 

Conference on the history of Freemasonry. Nevertheless it is a milestone event, which, despite early predictions to 

the contrary, has amazed its organizers by attracting more than 250 speakers and delegates from all over the world. And 

the majority of speakers are not Masons. Cooper, therefore, has his work cut out, but agrees that, in a very real sense, this 

is Freemasonry coming home. 

While the earliest origins of Freemasonry - whose members, in a nod to their roots among working stonemasons, refer to 

themselves as "The Craft" - remain obscure, the first records of anything resembling modern Freemasonry come from 

Scotland, as Cooper explains. "Freemasonry began here in the 16th century, if not earlier, and we're proud of the fact that 

here we've got the oldest lodge records in the world." Dating from 1599, these are the records of Aitcheson's Haven, a 

small stonemasons' lodge once based in East Lothian. 

"It was taken up later in England then spread across the world," says Cooper. He adds, in wearily defensive tones: "It's 

curious that we're continually accused of running a 'New World Order' and all this stuff. The reality is very different. 

There is no real co-ordination between countries, which makes them all interestingly different. But now they're coming 

back to their roots." 

So Cooper has much on his mind as we stroll west along George Street - named with North British fervour after a very 

eminent English Freemason, King George IV. We pass North Castle Street, where number 39 was once home to Sir Walter 

Scott, another Freemason, who orchestrated the riot of tartanry which greeted George IV when, in 1822, he became 

first reigning monarch to visit Scotland since 1641. George Meikle Kemp, who later designed the monument to Scott in 

Princes Street was another Mason. 

Scott, suggests Cooper, would have been involved in raising funds for the Calton Hill monument, designed to commemorate 

the dead of the Napoleonic wars. The charitable work continues, but Masonic processions are a thing of the 

past, he observes: "The Second World War put an end to that. Hitler claimed that it was the Jews and the Freemasons 

who had brought Germany to its knees. The Grand Lodge of Scotland was first on the hit list if the Nazis invaded the 

country... so you stopped telling people that you were a Mason." He grins: "I have no problem telling people - but then 

I'm a professional Freemason." 

Yet his organization has long labored under an unenviable image - which its critics would say has been well-earned - 

from the much-parodied spectacle of men in aprons to disquieting concerns about networking within the police and judiciary, 

and even bringing down governments, as in the case of the Italian P2 Lodge scandal of 1981. 

That irregular lodge was described by investigating Italian authorities as "a state within a state", its members including 

government ministers, members of parliament, secret-service heads, judges, defense chiefs and bankers - including 

(Continued on page 11) 


(Continued from page 10) 

Roberto Calvi, the former president of the Vatican's Banco Ambrosiano, who was found hanging from Blackfriar's 

Bridge, London, in 1982. Licio Gelli, the lodge's Grand Master, was eventually jailed in connection with the bank's 

fraudulent bankruptcy. 

So far as that affair is concerned, says Cooper, "people forget that P2 started out as a Masonic lodge, but when the Grand 

Lodge of Italy realized what was going on, they closed it down. It continued illegally." The secrecy issue is, he argues, 

more in the perception than in the fact. "Does the Mafia, for instance, have a public museum like Freemason's Hall here, 

where people can go and see their history? It's just silly." 

And he is dismissive about attempted moves, at Holyrood and Westminster, to make MPs, police and members of the 

judiciary declare Masonic membership: "This brought back horrible memories of what happened in Hitler's Germany 

when the Grand Lodge there was asked to provide a list of members and at least 80,000 of our members ended up in the 

gas chamber. So when we hear a liberal democracy asking people to reveal membership of a legal and legitimate organization, 

then we really have major concerns." 

By this time we're in Charlotte Square, its unified frontages designed in the 1790s by Robert Adam - another Mason, and 

Cooper points out recurring twin-pillar motifs. There were supposedly two pillars in the porch of Solomon's Temple, 

where, according to Masonic lore, the first Lodge met. 

Talking of squares, he lists some of the Masonic expressions derived from craftsmanship and long absorbed into everyday 

usage - "all square", "meet on the level and part on the square", not to mention "pillar of the community", "third degree" 

and "on the level". Our conversation turns to a group of buildings back on North Castle Street, opposite Scott's 

house. These, claims Cooper, were the last houses built in Scotland in the late 18th-century by stonemasons who were 

also Freemasons and who shortly afterwards left for America, to help construct Washington DC. George Washington 

was a member of a Scottish Lodge in Fredericksburg and, among other things, adds Cooper, these wandering Scots Masons 

helped construct the building which became known as the White House. 

The development of Freemasonry in America is one of many topics being aired this weekend (others consider Freemasonry's 

role in the Enlightenment, in promoting equality in 19th-century India, and even in the music hall). According to 

Cooper, the Scottish lodges in America tended to attract the radicals while the English lodges drew those loyal to the 

crown - "although that's probably oversimplification". Certainly, he says, Paul Revere was a member of the Lodge of St 

Andrew in Boston. He and another Mason, Joseph Warren, are recorded as meeting at Boston's venerable Green Dragon 

Tavern in November 1773, the minutes noting rather cryptically: "Consignees of Tea took up the Brethren's time..." 

Back at home, Cooper, who conducts walking tours of "Masonic Edinburgh", describes the Royal Mile as "the most Masonic 

street in the world". The oldest records of a lodge still in existence are held by the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's 

Chapel), No 1, which originally met in the now vanished Niddry's Wynd and are now based in Hill Street. Other locations 

include the High Kirk of St Giles, where Edinburgh stonemasons were officially granted the aisle to St John the 

Evangelist for their use, and Holyrood Palace, where two of the earliest Masonic documents were prepared. 

John Street meeting room, off the Canongate, was the location of Robert Burns's supposed inauguration as "poet Laureate" 

of Canongate Kilwinning No 2 - an event which seems to have little foundation but was enshrined in a well-known 

painting by Robert Watson. Other notable masons have included Sir Winston Churchill, authors Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

and Rudyard Kipling, and the polar explorers Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton. 

Back at Freemason's Hall, David Begg, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland hopes the conference might 

dispel some myths - such as enduring allegations of religious bias. While some people still confuse Masonic lodges with 

the Orange Lodge, and a belief in "the Great Architect of the Universe" is a prerequisite of membership, Freemasonry 

recognizes no distinction of religion, creed or colour, stresses Begg, who recalls having seen a Jew and a Muslim take 

their Masonic oaths side by side, one on the Torah, the other on the Koran. Mainstream Freemasonry remains "a society 

of gentlemen", although there are other Masonic organizations for women or for both sexes. At least one paper this 

weekend is likely to argue that they should open their doors to women, says Begg, "so it's not all self-congratulatory." 




Giving the perspective of a historian (and non-Mason) David Stevenson, Emeritus Professor of Scottish history at St Andrews 

University and a plenary speaker at the conference, argues that while historians in America and Europe have long 

accepted Freemasonry as an important social and cultural phenomenon, "by contrast academic historians in Britain have 

until recently acted as if it didn't exist". However, continues Stevenson, a course in the study of Freemasonry has opened 

at Sheffield. "In recent decades, acceptance has grown that the evolution of Freemasonry is too important to ignore 

through narrow-minded prejudice or, in the case of Masons themselves, an inward-looking emphasis on secrecy, even 

when there are no secrets." 

Stevenson's paper will stress how, in Scotland at least, freemasonry has remained "predominantly a social, moral and 

charitable organization of skilled working men". He also describes its role in promoting egalitarian thinking, and suggests 

that freemasonry's once very public presence has diminished, "partly because it came to be attacked by both fascists 

and communists - Masons tend to argue that an organization that was ruthlessly suppressed by both Hitler and Stalin 

can't be all bad. Only in the last decade or so have Masons come to accept that obsessive secrecy fostered suspicions 

and conspiracy theories. 

"This conference is an important example of Freemasonry coming out of the closet." 

• For further information visit www.ichfonline.org or www.grandlodgescotland.com 

FREEMASONY...THE MYTHS AND THE FACTS 

• FREEMASONS EMERGED FROM THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR 

DESPITE the claims of Dan Brown, legions of conspiracy theorists, and the mythology surrounding Rosslyn Chapel, 

Robert Cooper, who has written a book on the subject, says there was no link between the origins of the Freemasons and 

the Knights Templar. 

• MASONS EXCLUDE ROMAN CATHOLICS 

A COMMON belief in Scotland, possibly caused by the bigotry of individuals, or even individual lodges (this writer encountered 

an anti-Catholic stance on the part of one local lodge back in the 1970s), as well as confusion with the Orange 

Lodge. The official line is that Freemasonry recognizes no distinctions of race, religion, colour or creed, although it does 

require members to believe in a "great architect" or supreme being. Cooper says: "I was in Rome in February. How many 

Protestant Freemasons did I meet? None. I was in Penang last year. How Many Christian Freemasons did I meet? None - 

just Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs." 

• MASONS INVOKE OATHS ABOUT "HAVING MY THROAT CUT ACROSS, MY TONGUE TORN OUT BY ITS 

ROOTS, AND MY BODY BURIED IN THE ROUGH SANDS OF THE SEA AT LOW WATER MARK..." 

THAT OATH is no longer part of the mason's "obligation", but it is still referred to in a historical context and explained 

to members. The oath of obligation, says Cooper, "like our pinny (apron) and jewels (medals) are all symbolic". 

• THEY EXCLUDE WOMEN 

MASONIC organizations, such as the Grand Lodge of Scotland, remain men only, although there are other Masonic 

groups which admit women only, or both sexes. Cooper argues they are no 

t anti-women or anti-feminist, simply gender-specific, like a football team. "We have the slight burden of history in a 

sense that there were never any women members of early lodges and that's continued to this day, but there's nothing sinister 

about it." 

JIM GILCHRIST 


Women Apply for Masonic Rites 

By Patricia Grogg 

HAVANA, (IPS) - A group of women are looking forward to founding the 

first women’s Masonic Lodge in Cuba next year, and so put an end to their 

traditional exclusion from Freemasonry, an esoteric society which is based 

on the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. 

They are being helped in this endeavor by the Women’s Grand Lodge of 

Chile, which will send a delegation to Cuba in mid-2008 to initiate several 

dozen women in Havana and Pinar del Río, 157 kilometres west of the Cuban 

capital, the head of the Working Committee on Women’s Masonic Lodges in Cuba, Digna Gisela Medina, told IPS. 

According to Medina, women have been interested in Freemasonry for centuries, but it is only recently that women’s 

Lodges have come into being. 

"As women achieved their goals and their active participation in society grew, women’s Lodges started to be formed in 

many countries of the world," she said. 

This has already happened in France, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and other 

countries. "It seems to be an irreversible process, and we think that sooner rather than later, women Masons will be 

internationally accepted by the Regular Grand Lodges," she added. 

Masonry is self-described as a progressive, philanthropic institution made up of free-thinking persons of good character 

who seek self-improvement. People of different religious creeds and atheists coexist within it, as do Masons of different 

political and philosophical persuasions. 

But one of the ancient fundamental precepts of the United Grand Lodge of England, which sponsors Regular Lodges all 

over the world, is to exclude women from the brotherhood. Initiation of women Masons, therefore, would appear to 

be irregular and problematic. 

However, José Manuel Collera, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Cuba from 2000 to 2003, says that "like many 

other Masons," he thinks this rule is now outmoded and should be revoked. "Personally, I have always defended the 

inclusion of women in Freemasonry," he told IPS. 

In his view, excluding women has caused the order to lose its appeal in the modern world. "Women are the most important 

element in society; they constitute half of humanity, and they are mothers of the other half. There is no doctrinal, 

philosophical, esoteric or initiatory reason to prevent a woman from becoming a Mason," he argued. 

Collera acknowledged, however, that Cuban women have had to overcome several hurdles in their quest, especially 

among some of the most conservative male Masons. "But these are only conflicting currents of thought, not an official 

position of Freemasonry as a whole," he said. 

In any event, sponsorship by the Women’s Grand Lodge of Chile removes any risk of the male Grand Lodge of Cuba 

losing its regularity and the recognition of the other Grand Lodges it is in amity with, by transgressing the ancient 

boundaries and accepting women among its numbers. 

Women’s Masonry uses the Scottish rite, also practiced by the male Cuban Lodges, so the symbols, rituals and initiations 

will be the same for men and women, said Medina, 46, who is a specialist in maxillofacial surgery at the Calixto 

García teaching hospital in Havana. 

Among the groups of Masonic aspirants, aged 18 to 60, there are professional women and homemakers, Catholics and 

state employees. "The important qualities are that they should be virtuous, discreet, hardworking, and of course keen 




to join the Masons," said Medina, whose father and husband are Freemasons. 

Political activism or belonging to other social organizations are no bar to becoming a Mason, Collera and Medina said. 

The Working Committee led by Medina was formed two years ago in Havana, and is made up of about 30 women. In 

Pinar del Río there are 32 women aspirants, and interest has spread to Caibarién, a town on the north coast of the 

province of Villa Clara, 268 kilometres from Havana, where a new group of women is getting under way. 

There are plans for another Working Committee to be set up in Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second-largest city, 

which is 847 kilometres southeast of Havana. "We are not interested so much in quantity as in quality," Medina said. 

Statistics from 2004 indicate that there are 29,000 Masons in Cuba, organised in over 300 Lodges. The governing body 

of the order is the Grand Lodge of Cuba, and both the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, as well as the York Rite, 

are practiced. 

According to experts, throughout the history of Cuban Masonry women have always been associated with its activities, 

lending external support, but until now the felt need of women to enter the inner sanctum of its mysteries has gone 

unrecognized. 

Freemasonry, Eager to Step From Cultural Shadows 

By Daniela Deane and Kirstin Downey 

Washington Post Staff Writers 

When Hollywood comes knocking, that's probably a clue the time has come to 

open the door. And the secretive, centuries-old order of Freemasonry seems to be 

picking up its cue. 

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets," which opened in theaters this weekend, is 

the second film in the adventure-fantasy series to shine a light on the mysterious 

and little-known world of the Masonic order. 

And although the Masons play a much smaller part in the sequel than they did in 

the 2004 original, the first scene featuring the movie's three male leads -- Nicolas 

Cage, Jon Voight and Ed Harris -- was filmed in Alexandria's George Washington 

Masonic Memorial, one of the Masons' most visible shrines. 

Filmmakers and novelists have been mining the Masons recently, weaving their 

legends and symbols into such tales of conspiracies and secrets as the "National 

Treasure" films and Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code." And filmmakers' interest 

comes as the fraternal, often-controversial Freemasons pull back the curtain on 

themselves in an effort to update their antiquated image and replenish their dwindling 

ranks. 

Director Jon Turteltaub says, "The 'National Treasure' movies are all about things 

we think are forgotten but are actually pieces of history that are still percolating 

around us and have a role in our current lives -- a lot like the Masons." 

Alexandria's Masonic Temple has a role 

in "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." 

(By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post) 




Footage was shot at some of the grandest buildings in the Washington area -- the Library of Congress, the Lincoln Memorial 

and Mount Vernon -- for the sequel. (The Oval Office was a constructed set.) But filming also took place in the 

Masonic Memorial, known locally as the Masonic Temple, the Masons' majestic hilltop shrine to their most prominent 

member, George Washington. The top of the temple reaches to 400 feet above sea level, one of the highest points in the 

Washington area. 

Although the Masonic Temple is Alexandria's most visible landmark -- and one of Washington's most intriguing and 

grandiose shrines -- few Washingtonians know what goes on inside the ornate building or what the organization behind it 

is all about. For centuries, the all-male group's eerie symbols and the exotic costumes have provoked speculation about 

the possibly strange doings inside their temples. 

In the film, the Masonic Temple's grand auditorium acts as a stand-in for a lecture hall. Other than providing what the 

director called a "gorgeous, extraordinary" set, the Masons figure little in the sequel -- but their small part is significant. 

In a surprising twist, it turns out that the character Sadusky (Harvey Keitel), a Mason, is a better man than he seemed in 

the first film. 

"When people don't know an organization, they fear it," says George Seghers, executive director of the Masonic Memorial. 

"If people don't know what you're doing, they think the worst." 

But Seghers -- and other prominent Masons -- are determined to change that. And being in a Hollywood movie is just a 

small part of that effort. 

"We're really trying to bring the memorial back into the community, not just be a fortress on the hill," Seghers says. 

"We're nothing to be afraid of." 

Masons say their organization is dedicated to "making good men better." It donates about $2.5 million a day to medical 

research, health care, education and other causes, according to Richard Fletcher, a spokesman for the group. Masons are 

a staple of community parades, where they dress as clowns and ride in little cars to raise money for Shriners' hospitals. 

Fletcher says the Masons numbered 1.5 million in 2006, down from a peak of 4 million in 1959. He says the membership 

shrank rapidly as the World War II generation, which he described as a generation of joiners, has continued to age and 

die. 

But now there's a feeling in the group -- not yet backed up by statistics -- that the tide has turned and that a new generation 

is "looking for something beyond themselves, an anchor to stabilize their lives," Fletcher says. He says younger men 

nowadays are part of a "generation of volunteers," which he predicts will stabilize the downturn. 

Others aren't as optimistic. 

"The lodges are in deep decline," says UCLA historian Margaret Jacob, author of "The Origins of Freemasonry: Facts & 

Fictions" and an expert in Masonic history. "It's no longer a vital societal organization, so it has become the subject of 

myth and legend." 

One prominent local Mason today is Stephen Trachtenberg, former president of George Washington University. He says 

he initially joined out of deference to the group's generosity in funding dozens of student scholarships. Trachtenberg says 

his membership makes him feel he's experiencing something out of another era. 




"I'm 70, and I lower the average age when I enter the room," Trachtenberg says. He notes that it was like "being in a 

wonderful time machine, working with people who are transparently forthright. It's a 19th-century endeavor looking to 

redefine itself in the 21st century." 

Like so many things about the Masons, even the organization's origins are shrouded in mystery. Hundreds of books have 

been written about them, but little is certain, partly because the organization has been so secretive and partly because 

conspiracy theorists have spread a variety of tales about the Masons and their ceremonies. 

In the 1700s and 1800s, members tended to be intellectual free thinkers, associated with Protestantism and scientific inquiry. 

Freemasonry spread from England throughout Europe, and Masons were frequently involved with revolutionary 

movements. American Freemasons included Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, James Madison, James 

Monroe, Paul Revere and John Paul Jones. 

Members came to be viewed as dangerous rabble-rousers, particularly by those in positions of power. In 1738, Pope 

Clement XII declared that any group that operated in such secrecy was suspect, and that any Catholic who joined the 

group would be excommunicated. Adolf Hitler thought the Masons were engaged in a conspiracy with the Jews to dominate 

world affairs, and he persecuted European Masons and seized their libraries and archives. 

Masons today say the group is not anti-Catholic and that it welcomes any man who believes in God and demonstrates 

good character. Their ceremonies contain religious references but are nondenominational and apolitical, they say. 

The group is believed to have been started by medieval stonemasons working with softer material called freestone, hence 

the name. Since the group's beginnings, its members have shared an intense interest in construction, and their ceremonies 

are still filled with architecture-related terminology and stories associated with the wonders of the ancient world. The 

group owns some of the most grandiose real estate in the country. 

And the Masonic Temple in Alexandria isn't the Masons' only jaw-dropping Washington real estate. There's also the formidable 

Temple of the Scottish Rite on 16th Street NW, a massive neoclassical building -- flanked by two 17-ton 

sphinxes that can be puzzling to locals -- along with 36 other lodges. 

Local Masons spearheaded the effort to build the Masonic Temple in Alexandria to honor Washington and to house relics 

associated with his membership. It was completed in 1932, during the depths of the Great Depression. 

The temple's construction was an event of enormous regional importance. President Calvin Coolidge laid the cornerstone, 

and President Herbert Hoover attended the dedication. 

But the group now must overcome a long legacy of suspicion. Seghers says one of the main things he wants to do is update 

the exhibits at the Masonic Temple to tell a coherent story about his philanthropic organization. 

Touring the Masonic Temple's Cryptic Council and Grotto Rooms recently, Seghers pointed out Egyptian murals depicting 

scenes from the Old Testament, lotus and papyrus columns, alcoves filled with coins and artifacts, and rows of pictures 

of aging Masons wearing fezzes adorned with Arabic words written in glitter. 

"These rooms confuse people. They can even scare people, " Seghers says. "One woman asked us if she could leave. 

They don't understand it. They say, 'This is all very nice, but what is it?' We need to change that." 


Monthly Poll 

Last month I asked “Does your WM ever open the lodge on a lower degree to 

allow an EA or FC to sit in lodge before being raised ?” 

Here’s what some of the TWT readers had to say on the topic. 

• 

Not yet. 

We're going to vote on this at this year's GL communication though and I hope it passes. 

• 

Dear Brother Cory 

At the present time, even though I live in Wyoming, I am the WM of Solomon's Lodge #121, Savage, MD. I have the 

right to open the Lodge in any degree I deem necessary for the good of the Craft. If I have a Brother visiting from another 

Lodge, and he is not a Master Mason, if I can do so I will open in the lower degree so he can attend. If it works out 

that some business has to be handled in a higher degree, I would invite the visiting Brother to wait outside the Lodge 

until that business was finished, and then go back to the lower degree for our visitor. 

Sincerely and Fraternally 

Brother Roy M. White, WM, Pm 

Solomon's Lodge # 121 Savage, MD 

• 

A couple of times last year, our WM opened in the First Degree to accommodate our five new EAs. These new brothers 

were a significant addition to our Lodge, and keeping them interested is important. 

Steve Brettell, 

Birmingham #188 Maryland 

http://freemasonfromthefreestate.blogspot.com 




• 

Our lodges here all open in the First Degree and can open in no other.. we must move from the 1st to 2nd to 

third and then down sequentially in order to close the lodge. 

• 

In the Grand Lodge of NY F&AM we open on the MM Degree. The WM may then lower the Lodge to the FC 

or EA Degree to allow FCs or EAs to sit in Lodge respectively. 

Fraternally, 

W.·. Balvin Dunn, II All Seeing Eye #1181 Grand Lodge of NY F&AM 

• 

We open on the lower degrees to assist the candidates in being assimilated into the lodge as quickly as possible 

Fraternally, 

R\W\ Andre L. Gregoire, PM Secretary 

Lafayette Lodge #47 Cumberland, Rhode Island 

• 

Here in Ohio we are allowed to open in any of the 3 degrees to conduct business. We do it all the time to allow 

those progressing through the degrees to witness the workings of the lodge and partake in the educational 

programs we have at each meeting. It is most educational for the EC's and FC's. 

Paul A. Weglage Past Master 

Conservancy Lodge #661 (1984) and Millennium Lodge #779 (2004) 

Located in Dayton Ohio 

• 

In Texas it is now allowed to do this and at Lawn Lodge 1230 we feel that this is a very important step foward 

in makeing new Masons feel wanted. 

Gary Gallaway 

Sec. Lawn 1230 AF&AM 

POLL QUESTION FOR JANUARY: 

Do you wear your ring with the S&C facing you or facing outwards? 

Let me know what you think– Why you think it’s happening and where are you located. 


Guest Speakers 

Chris Hodapp speaks to the GL of New Jersey 

By Bro Jay Hochberg via the Masoniclight yahoo board 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/masoniclight/ 

Enjoyed a lovely evening at New Jersey's Feast of St. John, with keynote 

speaker Chris Hodapp, Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge and 

Vitruvian Lodge in Indianapolis, and a longtime MLer too. (Far as I 

could tell, we had four MLers present.) 

Chris spoke in a very encouraging and too brief manner on Masonic 

renewal, explaining to the brethren that the Craft is not ritual, and 

that lodges should not just make Masons, and that meetings should not 

be empty 

experiences where the highlight of the night is the reading of the minutes 

of the previous pointless meeting that no one attended. 

His delivery is humorous, but it has to be for the message to resonate. 

I know a lot of the men in that room, and believe me, many of them 

Cory & Chris Hodapp at the Feast of St. John 

DO believe that Masonry is ritual, and that making more Masons is 

paramount, and that meetings are for business. I don't know if Chris 

swayed THEM, but the line of Masons waiting to purchase his books and have them autographed was astounding. 

The overall theme of his address is that lodges will only survive if they serve the needs of their members. Those needs will 

vary from place to place and from time to time, so it is unwise to force all lodges to be identical (which is basically the state 

of things in this jurisdiction). And forget about attracting and retaining new members if first you can't draw your existing 

members to their own meetings. 

When the public sees "Masonry in action, as opposed to Masonic inaction," they'll get curious about the fraternity, he added. 

It had to be said, and it had to be said by a visitor, because when homegrown Masons try to talk about these things, people 

get nervous and fidgety. 

Bro. Cory Sigler (of "The Working Tools" e-zine fame) deserves kudos for suggesting to grand lodge that Chris be the guest 

speaker. Although I think he'd give the credit to Bro. Steve Schilling, a fellow Knight of the North, who originally mentioned 

the idea. (Had three KOTNs in New Jersey. A first!) 

Even more enjoyable than hearing Chris' 25-minute talk was chatting for a few hours with his wife Alice, who co-authored 

"The Templar Code for Dummies" (which fortunately should be coming out again with a better title in '08). Her new book, 

titled (I think) "Heart's Blood" hopefully will be out soon. Chris' next book will be another "Dummies" title on conspiracies 

and secret societies. Evidently these books are helping a lot of Dummies. His first book has sold 60,000 copies, which is four 

times more than any other Dummies title. 

On Sunday they're off to New England to do some research, but I hope to get them back to New Jersey soon. 

To read more of Chris' prescription for today's ailing Masonic lodges, click on: 

http://www.knightsofthenorth.com/ and download yourself a copy of "Laudable Pursuit" at the bottom of the 

screen. 

C&F, 

Jay Hochberg 


Carl H. Claudy– “Old Tyler Talks” 

BEAUTIFUL ADVENTURE 

They are forming a study club in there!'' announced the New Brother, disgustedly, 

to the Old Tiler. "Get all I want of study in school. Can't see 

why men in lodge want to make a job out of Masonry!" 

"Maybe they want to learn something about it," suggested the Old Tiler. 

"Some people do like to know something about the religion they practice, 

the organization they belong to, the truths they embrace." 

"Is that a dirty dig?" demanded the New Brother. "It isn't deserved. I am 

not one of those careless Masons who wear the pin and pay dues and end 

their activity. I attend regularly. I do what I am called upon to do. I 

learned the work and learned it well. I even learned all the third degree, 

although it wasn't demanded of me. But to get together evenings in a 

study club and go all over it again and learn it some more-not for mine!'' 

''Well, no one is going to hog-tie you and throw you into a study club," 

answered the Old Tiler. "It's not only a free country, but a free lodge." 

"I am properly thankful for it," answered the New Brother. "But I can't understand the complex these fellows 

have." 

''Suppose you change the subject and give me a definition of the philosophy of Masonry," suggested the Old 

Tiler. 

"Why, the philosophy of Masonry is . . . it's er . . . why, I suppose it's . . . I don't know what it is." 

"Well, tell me then, what the religion of Freemasonry is?" 

"That's easy," laughed the New Brother. "Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man." 

"Brotherhood of man cannot be a religion," answered the Old Tiler, "because a religion is a system of belief 

and worship of Deity. And the Fatherhood of God is taught in a dozen different religions, including the Christian 

religion, the Jewish, the Mohammedan and most of the pagan religions. You'll have to dig deeper than that 

for the religion of Freemasonry. 

"As that sticks you, you might explain to me the real origin of the letter 'G' in Freemasonry; I don't mean the 

ritualistic reference to it, but its connection with the symbols of the first and second degrees.'' 

"I didn't know it had any other origin than what we give it in the Fellowcraft degree," answered the New 

Brother. 

''Seems to me there are several things you don't know about this craft the work of which you are so self- 




sufficiently proud to have learned," scoffed the Old Tiler. 

"Can you give a history of Freemasonry? Do you know anything about the first Grand Lodge?'' 

"You mean the one at Jerusalem?" 

''No, I mean London!" was the sharp answer. "Can you tell me anything about Ars Quatuor Cororiatorum? Do 

you know the story of Price and Coxe and Freemasonry in the United States? Who Morgan was? What Freemasonry 

had to do with Mormonism? What other patriots besides Washington, Warren, Lafayette and Paul 

Revere went to a Masonic lodge for help in the Revolutionary war? 

"Do you know anything of the Egyptian and Syriac origins of any of our ceremonies and symbols? Do you understand 

the connection of the myth of Isis and Osiris with our lion's paw and Lion of the Tribe of Judah? Do 

you know why clandestinism is mentioned in our ritual or anything about Cerneauism and other spurious Masonry? 

"I know you do not! And therefore, it seems to me that you are among the many to whom attendance in a study 

club would be of the greatest value. 

"Freemasonry is much more than a system of lodges. It is a system of living. It has many secrets to give you . . 

. you have learned only, the exoteric secrets; the secrets which all initiates are taught. You have nothing more 

from your Freemasonry than any of the rest. Yet the simple and few secrets given you in our degrees are keys 

with which to unlock doors behind which lie other secrets of untold value. They cannot be told to you. You 

wouldn't know how to understand them if you had them told to you. The only way a Mason can learn these, 

the inner, esoteric secrets of Freemasonry, is to use the keys we give him and unlock the doors and enter the 

holy of holies for himself. 

''A man can do this alone. Many men have. A man may study medicine or engineering or stenography or house 

building or anything else alone, if he has the wit and the determination so to do. But it's easier to study such 

things in the company of others and with a teacher. Teaching is an art and so is study. Not all of us know these 

arts. Hence, we have schools and colleges to help those who want to learn but don't know how. 

"A study club is a Masonic school. It makes Masonic study easier. Unfortunately, there are many to whom the 

word 'study' is anathema; it is connected in their minds with tiresome days in School, when some teacher 

taught an uninteresting subject uninterestingly. If I should form a club, I'd call it the Beautiful Adventure Club. 

I'd try to make its members feel that instead of hard, laborious hours studying something, they were setting out 

on a beautiful adventure to find the end of the Masonic rainbow, to look for the pot of hidden gold, to learn the 

secrets which may not be told, to get the knowledge that each man must find for himself. That's what the right 

kind of a study club is; a means of having ail adventure which the casual-minded man can never have. But, of 

course, it's only for the Masons who like adventure and who want to see behind the locked door to which they 

hold the keys - where are you going?" 

"You know perfectly well where I'm going!'' retorted the New Brother scornfully. ''I am going inside to join 

that club before they close the list of members! If there are any adventures to have in Freemasonry I want 

them, and if there are any locked doors I want to open them!" 

The Old Tiler smiled. He had been an Old Tiler for a long, long time. 


Reader Submission 

The Benefits of Lodge Blood Programs 

By: Bro. David R. Berger 

Vice-Chairman NJ Masonic Blood Program 

Blood donation is a gift of life - it is a gift that can be given regularly and 

without financial cost. We as Free and Accepted Masons, in keeping with 

our obligations, can make our donation for a higher and nobler cause – 

that of helping our fellow man. 

I frequently read in the pages of “The Working Tools” and other Masonic 

works how lodges are frequently looking for ways to reach out to the 

public to expose them to the truth about our noble craft. There are few 

better ways to make a charitable contribution to the community than to 

sponsor blood drives. 

While a number of Grand Lodges offer formal blood programs, with awards and organizational help to organize 

blood drives. Do not be deterred if your Grand Lodge does not have a formal program, one of the 

most beneficial things a lodge can offer to the community is a venue to provide Blood Drives. 

Frequently your local Red Cross or Community Blood Center will help you organize the event, providing 

you with materials to publicize the blood drive and even bring canteen supplies to offer the donors. 

The lodge needs to organize a marketing effort to let the public know about the blood drive – posters, signs, 

newspapers, radio and word of mouth are all valuable means of getting the word out into the community. If 

possible combine a blood drive with a pancake breakfast, local fair or other public event. 

The day of the drive it is important to provide each donor with a warm welcome and a welcoming environment 

for the donors, and always be ready with information about freemasonry within your jurisdiction. 

Perseverance is important; don’t become discouraged if the first few blood drives only get a limited number 

of donors. A person may donate blood every 56 days, so schedule frequent blood drives accordingly. 

As we enter a new year, and set out to establish an activity calendar for our lodges in 2008 – I encourage all 

lodges to consider the benefits of sponsoring a blood program this year. 

(Note: Brother Berger is available to answer questions from any U.S. lodge about organizing a blood program. He can 

be reached at medic0824@yahoo.com) 


Reader Submission– Jacob’s Ladder 

Jacob's Ladder 

By Bro. Bob Weed 

Kingman Lodge #22 

When I first started looking at the symbolism of Jacob's Ladder, I thought it would be an easy 

task. How hard could it be to reflect on the scriptural picture of a ladder with angels ascending 

and descending from earth to heaven, the three principal rounds of which are faith hope and 

charity. I found out quickly that this was not to be a simple exposition of the biblical reference. 

“The covering of a Lodge is no less than the Clouded canopy of heaven ...all good masons hope 

to arrive by aid of that theological ladder which Jacob saw...” 

How many rounds or staves are there in the ladder? Masonic scholars have argued that the 

number is either 3 , 5 , 7 or 15 to correspond with the number of stairs which supposedly led 

to the middle chamber of King Solomon's temple from the ground floor. Others say the ladder 

is composed of all of the many virtues like justice, honor and uprightness of character. 

The ladder is represented in Freemasonry not only in the Blue Lodge but also in the higher degrees. 

Depending on the degree the number of rounds are different. 

Dr. Mackey in his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry devotes almost 3 pages to its explanation. One 

quote is: “This ladder, so remarkable in the history of the Jewish people, finds an analogue in all 

ancient initiation ceremonies.” 

In some ceremonies, the ladder was composed of simple steps that had to be taken to get 

from a base to an ideal; for example in the mystical beliefs of the alchemists we start at lead 

(round 1) and end at Gold (round 7). Also in the ancient Romans the steps were from Saturn 

to the Sun ( all of the planets then known were in the steps) In the mysteries of Brahma we 

find the same reference to the 7 steps to Nirvana . The steps were emblematic of the 7 worlds 

of the Indian universe. They were : 

1 – Earth 

2 – World of preexistence 

3 - Heaven 

4 – Middle World 

5 – The world of births (or re-incarnation) 

6 – Mansion of the Blessed 

7 – Truth or the world of Brahma 

In ancient Persia, in the mysteries of Mithra, there was a ladder of 7 steps. It was symbolic of 

the souls approach to perfection. The steps were called gates and the candidate was led 

through the gates to seven caverns . This was called “the ascent of the ladder of perfection.” 

Each cavern was a representative of a world through which the soul had to pass in its journey 

to the world of truth or heaven. Each round of the ladder was said to be of metal of increasing 

23 ON THE WEB AT WWW.TWTMAG.COM 23 

(Continued on page 24)


purity and was dignified with the name of its protecting planet. An idea of the construction may be 

had from the following table: 

1 – Lead Saturn 

2 – Quicksilver (mercury) Mercury 

3 – Copper Venus 

4 – Tin Jupiter 

5 – Iron Mars 

6 – Silver Moon 

7 – Gold Sun 

Among the Kabbalists, the Ladder was represented by the 10 Sephiroths, which commencing from 

the lowest were: 

1- The Kingdom 

2 – Foundation 

3 – Splendor 

4 – Firmness 

5 – Beauty 

6 – Justice 

7 - Mercy 

8 – Intelligence 

9 – Wisdom 

10 – The crown by which we arrive at the EN SOPH (the Infinite) 

In the Scottish Rite we have the ladder of Kadosh, which consists of seven steps. The idea is of 

intellectual progress to perfection and is carried out by making the topmost rung represent Wisdom 

or Understanding. 

1- Justice 

2 – Equity 

3 – Kindness 

4 – Good Faith 

5 – Labor 

6 – Patience 

7 – Intelligence (True intelligence is connotated by wisdom or understanding) 

Prior to about 1776 , Jacob's Ladder was not a symbol used in the York Rites of Masonry , which 

our own blue lodges are derived from. In the original tracing board used in the 1776 ritual there 

are only three rounds. In the First Degree of Masonry the rungs are listed thus in the older rituals 

from the late 1700's and early 1800's. Preston in his explanation, added the other four rounds 

which were taken from the Royal Arch degree. The steps are: 

1- Faithfulness 

2- Hope 

3- Charity 




4 – Justice 

5 – Prudence 

6 – Fortitude 

7 – Temperance 

In the first degree of our modern ritual the last four steps are removed from the ladder and are given in the lecture 

as the four cardinal virtues with their own explanations. 

The ancient Jews equated the ladder to Mount Sinai (again with a tip to the Kabbalists. The Chassidic Jews (the 

ones responsible for the Talmud) used the numerology of the Torah to explain much of their interpretations of the 

Torah. In Hebrew the word for ladder and and the word for Sinai had the same number of letters). Therefore the 

ladder that Jacob saw was equated with Moses receiving the commandments on Mount Sinai. This gave a ladder 

with ten rungs. The rungs of the ladder were shortened versions of the laws that Came down from Mount Sinai. 

Dr. Mackey listed some 25 different faiths and religions that used the same basic symbol, usually a ladder or stairway. 

In Buddhism it was a “sevenfold path” to enlightenment. This was interpreted as a long journey towards 

enlightenment. After completion of the journey on the first path which was earthly knowledge, and having learned 

the pertinent lessons of the journey, the initiate could then journey on the next path. This was seen as a ongoing 

progression of journeys and not a simple series of steps to gain the ultimate enlightenment. A number of faiths and 

religions teach that it is a progression of lives that lead one to that ultimate enlightenment. 

I am going to use the works of Dr. Avrim Possman to illustrate the journey from a Masonic standpoint. Dr. A. 

Possman, in Freemasonry from the Talmud , states that in just considering the three primary rounds , namely faith , 

hope and charity, the symbolism is rich in the Talmud and in the Talmudic Masons. 

((The Talmud is the Torah expanded. By that I mean that the Rabbis or Rebbes have studied the Torah and have 

expounded on the lessons contained in it. Also they have argued for millennia over the meanings of each of the 

words contained in the Torah. Hebrew is an associative language. The best example is the word kill. As used in the 

commandments of Moses, it is used in association with the word for unrighteous. The meaning becomes more that 

one is forbidden to kill without righteous cause. The correct English translation is now believed to be “Thou shall 

not Murder”. If the word father (Ab) is used in one next to another word, its meaning is colored by the words 

around it. The word for Father is also the word for elder, leader and honored person. This of course has led to 

many errors in translation by Latin and English scholars who try to pin a single meaning on a word.)) 

The first round of the ladder is FAITH. In the Hebrew, the word Faith is called Aimonah (also in Arabic) which 

means more closely Believe. This has a deeper meaning to Jews than the English word Faith. There is more of belief 

than reason in the world. But according to Talmudic scholars, notably Rebbe Israel Baal Shem Tov, Faith does not 

denote Belief in a dogmatic sense, but a 'faithfulness' or a 'confidence and trust in God'. The references used by the 

Rabbi are Gen. XV verse 5 where “...The Just shall live by his Faith (Faithfulness)” and Isiah VIII verse 9 “...If ye shall 

not believe (have confidence and trust in God) surely ye shall not be established.” In this sense of perfect trust in 

God, the Talmudic scholars (and Talmudic Masons) loudly insist that Faith is highly meritorious; whereas those lacking 

in faith are to be scorned and blamed . The worlds decline is brought about by the disappearance of the “Man of 

Faith” ( Adam being expelled from Eden – or banished from the light of Faithfulness). 

From these words it can be easily seen why the question is asked of every candidate when entering a Lodge for the 

1 st time “in all times of difficulty or danger, in whom do you put your trust (or Faithfulness in a Jewish Lodge)?” Every 

mason knows the prompt answer which has to be given. Hence, Faith becomes the free exercise of the mind, relying 

only on the understanding and perception of truth of the individual. No man can believe in submission to an author- 




ity which he does not believe to be true. Faith is a deep feeling of security for the present and the future rising from 

a firm trust in an infinite, almighty and incomprehensible Being. 

The second round is HOPE. This is the only one which all of the different Lodges agree upon. The Hebrew term is 

Tikwah meaning Hope, which is necessary in every condition of life. Man's dearest possession is Hope. Now the test 

is this: is the hope mercenary or is it the true devoted friend of man? 

Mercenary hopes are the whimsical expectations of a covetous heart. This is not to be confused with the honest 

labor that brings money and status to a person in the support of his family. This mercenary hope is more like the 

person who goes to the Casino to make his fortune. The desires for Money, things or worldly honors are the mercenary 

hopes. They never satisfy, and are never to be satisfied. Money or honors are transitory and leave one hoping 

for more and greater amounts of each. 

Genuine hope is the child of Faith and always proves faithful. It does not make its promises on vague uncertainties 

that may or may not come to pass. ( I hope to win the lottery or that new car at the dealer). It relies on the unfailing 

wisdom and mercy of Providence, and therefore it never fails. Let's look at an illustration from the VSL. 

Jacob sends his favorite child on a short errand . The beloved son never returns. All that is left of him is a bloody 

coat brought before the father with the cold question : Is this the coat of your son or not? Jacob mourns his son for 

a long time. His hope is to again meet his son in that land from which there is no parting ( that country from who's 

bourn there is no return). He patiently bides his time until his Maker shall call him. Twenty-two years later he prepares 

for his imminent death, when he exclaims, I must go down unto my son, mourning unto the grave. Then, after 

all these years like cold water to a fainting soul comes the news “Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the 

lands of Egypt. The hope that is the second round teaches us to spiritualize the hopes and that will bring a never failing 

fulfillment to the expectations. 

The third round is Charity and strange as it may seem, there is no word in Hebrew for Charity. The closest word in 

meaning and the one that is most often used is 'Tzedakah' which means righteousness. 

The concept of Charity for its own sake is unknown in Hebrew and in fact is despised. The show of giving alms at 

the temple is considered false and unrighteous. The righteousness that the Talmudic masons believe in is the Charity 

to help because it is the right or righteous thing to do. As all are children of the one god, all should be assisted in 

their journey towards the concepts of Faith and Hope. This is the true Charity of the Talmudic Mason. Money is 

transitory but the lessons are forever. 

Dr. Mackey states : We must not fall into the too common error that charity is only that sentiment of commiseration 

which leads us to assist the poor with monetary donations. Its Masonic, as well as its Christian application is 

more noble and more extensive. In I Corinth. XIII,1 ,1 the apostle gives the long statement about “Though I speak 

with the tongues of man and of angels and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.....and 

though I have all Faith , so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity , I am nothing. 

The word used by the apostle in the original Greek is agape or love ( fellowship). It is the more general love for all 

mankind instead of the love one has for family. It means more that kindly state of mind which renders a person full 

of good will and affectionate regard towards others. 

John Wesley stated in his writings that it was a shame the Greek had not been translated correctly. He felt the Apostolic 

virtues should have been Faith, Hope and Love which would have made the comparison by St. Paul read : 




“Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it 

profiteth me nothing.” Guided by this sentiment, the true mason will “suffer long and be kind”. Then he will be slow 

to anger and easy to forgive. Then his counsel towards a brother will be more considered. 

In the German Lodges the word Liebe (love) is used instead of Charity. The explanation used is that charity is an off 

shoot of love and without love, it is just an empty gesture. 

Lets us consider that Charity is the greatest of the three rounds as Faith and hope center ultimately in us (selfish) 

and Charity or Love is a more disinterested principle (selfless) . It carries us out of ourselves into desires and endeavors 

to prompt the interests of other beings. In the German Lodges (and the German Jewish Lodges which are 

Talmudic) the word Liebe has a much more profound meaning than simple charity. It was love that caused the Masons 

of the 1940's to sacrifice everything they had including their lives to aid and assist the fleeing masses from the 

Third Reich. It was and is much more important to have that love for mankind than the simple charity of the alms 

asked for inside the church. 

Since we as Masons consider Charity the greatest of the three virtues celebrated in Jacob's Ladder, I feel it is only 

right to expand a little more on the concept of Charity. 

Our society defines charity as giving money or goods away in large quantities. This becomes very impersonal and 

actually becomes more like 'welfare' than charity. Welfare is defined as being in a state where your life and comfort 

are completely controlled by another. When a government does this (pay out a welfare ration), it fosters a belief 

that it is a right and and an entitlement. This is not the way I understand charity. Charity is that assistance and aid 

that a righteous person will give to help his fellow being to regain their station and self respect. 

The story is told of a rebbe who comes home after his annual “Moat Chittim” speech. 

(In the weeks prior to Passover, it is the custom in all Jewish communities to raise “Moat Chittim' or wheat money 

with which to provide the poor with matzah, wine and other requirements of the festival of the Passover) 

The rebbe makes a joke of how he has convinced the poor to receive the charity and now only has to convince the 

rich to give it. Well, the Rebbe had it wrong. As we all know, giving is the easy part. “It is only money” after all. 

We are used to giving when the almoners box is passed or the box of fraternal assistance. We also give willingly 

when we hear of a brother or a family in need. It is after all only money. A problem arises because we do not consider 

the effect it has on the people we give to. Do you have a problem with receiving charity? I know that I do. It 

is hard to admit that you are in need. Somehow that is an indication that you have failed in your job to provide for 

your family. When I was a much younger man, I was in the military stationed in Memphis Tennessee. We were 

struggling to keep things together as I was an E-5 making about $700 a month. We had a new baby and of course all 

of the other things that are needed to keep a household. I was told that I qualified for food stamps. I absolutely refused 

to take the food stamps, as I would have been ashamed to admit I could not provide for my family. Instead, I 

found a second job through a friend. That enabled me to provide and still keep my self respect. The friend who provided 

that second job was giving me Charity. He enabled me to get back on my feet without the shame of taking 

welfare. 

Giving is easy. We are told that Man was created in the image of the creator. Giving comes naturally to the source 

of all. Created in the divine image, man is a natural giver. But, how can one who lacks for nothing receive? It requires 

a great effort on our part to genuinely receive, to hollow the self into a receptive vessel for a bestowal of 

love. 

The hardest thing about receiving is that it places an obligation on the receiver. The true act of charity places a bur- 




den on the recipient. It demands a pledge of reciprocity. The idea is that when a person is no longer at a point 

where charity is needed, the demand will be made that the recipient now has to fulfill the obligation of Charity by 

helping the next person who comes along. The Person will be obliged to help or mentor someone else. Thus it becomes 

a thing that is greater than the original gift or aid. That is the true meaning of the first degree lecture where it 

is said that “Charity extends beyond the grave through the boundless reaches of time.” 

An even greater challenge is the endeavor to be a true recipient in the very act of giving. To convey to the recipient 

of our gift – as God conveys to us – how deeply we desire to give, and how grateful we are for having been granted 

the opportunity to do so. We are closing the circle of Charity when we give. All of us have benefited from the charity 

of others. It becomes our obligation to continue the cycle. 

We are all familiar with the Charles Dickens story about Scrooge and how he was unfulfilled until he was shown the 

beauty and wonder of giving. He then validated all of the help he had received as a young man and was happier than 

he had been for decades. Simplistic but an obvious illustration of the concept. 

Dr. Mackey and others also allude to the fact that all of the many virtues we hold dear are in Jacob's Ladder after the 

first three of Faith, Hope and Charity. The understanding is that after you have gained the first three, the others like 

prudence, justice, temperance, honesty, and all of the other things which a Mason tries hard to practice and hold in 

his heart will come easier. For with Faithfulness, Hope and Charity all things are possible. 

As to the Modern Masonic usage of the symbol of Jacob's Ladder, it is a symbol of progress. Its three principal 

rounds Faith., Hope and Charity, present us with the means of advancing from Earth to Heaven, from death to life – 

or from the mortal to the immortal. Hence the bottom rung is placed on the floor of the Lodge, indicating the 

World of man, and its top rests on the covering of the Lodge, which is symbolic of Heaven. 

Lastly from the Prestonian lecture; 

“By the doctrines contained in the Holy Bible we are taught to believe in the divine dispensation of Providence, 

which belief strengthens our FAITH, and enables us to ascend the first step. 

That FAITH naturally creates in us a HOPE of becoming partakers of some of the blessed promises therein recorded, 

which HOPE enables us to ascend the second step. 

But the third and last being CHARITY comprehends the whole, and he who is possessed of this virtue in its ample 

sense, is said to have arrived at the summit of his profession, or, more metaphorically, into an ethereal mansion 

veiled from the mortal eye by the starry firmament.” 

As usual, I found more stuff than I could use. 

The basic premise is that each of the Rounds of Jacob's Ladder are more complex than just a single step on a stairway 

or ladder. Each of the mysteries that I quoted including the modern Masonic mysteries considers each of the 

rounds a journey that is only completed when the searcher after knowledge has a firm understanding of each round 

and its significance. The interdependence of each of the virtues taught by Masonry is made more manifest each time 

we encounter them. 


Masonic Abbreviations 

MASONIC ABBREVIATIONS 

Another list of abbreviations is given in Frederick Smyth, A Reference Book for Freemasons (London: Q.C. Correspondence 

Circle, 1998), Appendix A, which has provided an indispensable base for the compilation of the present 

list. For greater clarity in defining the abbreviations, Smyth's practice of retaining full points in the abbreviations 

has been followed, but, as Smyth points out, it is nowadays usual for the points to be omitted. 

1st G.P.: First Grand Principal (Royal Arch). 

2nd G.P.: Second Grand Principal (Royal Arch). 

3rd G.P.: Third Grand Principal (Royal Arch). 

A.: Answer. 

A.A.O.N.M.S.: Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (U.S.A.) 

A. & A. R.: Ancient and Accepted Rite. 

A. & A. S. R.: Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Smyth, op. cit., p. 321, notes that 'in the Northern Jurisdiction of the 

United States, A.A.S.R. is customary'. 

A. & P. R.: Antient and Primitive Rite. 

A.F.& A.M.: Antient Free and Accepted Masons. 

A. B.: Anno Beneficio. 

A. Dep.: Anno depositionis. System of chronology used by Royal and Select Masters, calculating dates from the completion 

of Solomon's temple, 1000 B.C. 

A.Inv.: Anno inventionis. System of chronology used in the Royal Arch, where dates are calculated from the commencement 

of the Second Temple in 530 B.C. 

A.H.: Anno hebraico. System of chronology used by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, calculating years from the 

date of the creation, taken as 3760 years before the Christian era. 

A.L.: Anno lucis. The system of chronology used in craft freemasonry which numbers years from the date of the creation, 

taken as being 4,000 B.C. 

A.O.: Anno ordinis. System of chronology used by the masonic Knights Templar, in which years are dated from the 

founding of the medieval Order of the Temple, A.D. 1118. 

AQC: Ars Quatuor Coronatorum: transactions of the English masonic research lodge, Quatuor Coronati No. 2076. 

ADC: Assistant Director of Ceremonies. 

B.: Boaz. One of the sacred pillars of Solomon's temple. 

B.G.P.: Board of General Purposes. 

B. of C.: Book of Constitutions. 

Brn.: Brethren. 




Bro.: Brother 

CMRC: Canonbury Masonic Research Centre. 

D.C.: Director of Ceremonies. 

D.G.: Due Guard. 

D.G.M.: Deputy Grand Master. 

Dep.: Deputy 

Dist. G.M.: District Grand Master. 

D.O.: Dedicating Officer. 

E.: the Scribe Ezra.Royal Arch equivalent of a lodge secretary. 

E.A.: Entered Apprentice: The first degree of craft masonry. 

E.C.: English Constitution. 

E.Comp.: Excellent Companion [Royal Arch]. 

Ex.Comp.: Excellent Companion [Royal Arch]. 

F.: Fellowship. 

F. & A.M.: Free and Accepted Masons. 

F.C.: Fellow Craft. The second degree of craft masonry. 

F.F.F.: Fidelity, fidelity, fidelity. Term used in the closing ceremony. 

F.P.O.F.:The Five Points of Fellowship. 

G.D.C.: Grand Director of Ceremonies. 

G.Chap.: Grand Chaplain. 

G.I.G: Grand Inner Guard 

G. Hist. Grand Historiographer, Grand Imperial Council (R.C.C) 

G.L.: Grand Lodge. 

G.M.: Grand Master. 

G.Org.: Grand Organist. 

G.P.: Grand Principal (Royal Arch) 

G. Purs.: Grand Pursuivant. 

G. Reg.: Grand Registrar. 

G.Sec.: Grand Secretary. 

G St B: Grand Standard Bearer, Grand Senate (R.C.C) 

G. Swd. B.: Grand Sword Bearer. 

G. Treas.: Grand Treasurer. 




H.: Haggai, the Prophet. One of the three Grand Principals of the Royal Arch. 

H.A.: Hiram Abif. The master mason who, according to masonic legend, built Solomon's 

temple. The story of his murder is reenacted in the ritual for the degree of Master Mason. 

I.C.: Irish Constitution. 

I.G.: Inner Guard. 

I.M.: Installed Master. 

I.T.N.O.T.G.A.O.T.U.: In the Name of the Great Architect of the Universe. 

J.: Jachin. One of the sacred pillars of Solomon's temple. 

J: Joshua, the High Priest. One of the three Grand Principals of the Royal Arch. 

J.D.: Junior Deacon. 

J.G.W.: Junior Grand Warden. 

J.W.: Junior Warden. 

K.S.T.: King Solomon's Temple. 

K. T.: Knight(s) Templar 

L.: Light. 

L.G.R.: London Grand Rank. A distinction for meritorious office conferred in London lodges. 

L.G.C.R.: London Grand Chapter Rank. 

L.G.R.A.: London Grand Rank Association. 

L.M.C.T.: Library and Museum Charitable Trust. 

L.of I.: Lodge of Instruction. 

M.: Master. 

M.E.: Most Excellent (Royal Arch). 

M.M.: Master Mason. The third degree of craft masonry. 

M.M.M.: Mark Master Mason 

M.W.: Most Worshipful. Used for Grand Master, Pro Grand Master, Past Grand Master, Past Pro Grand Master. 

N.: Nehemiah. Officer of a Royal Arch Chapter. 

N.Y.C.: New York Constitution. 

Ob.: Obligation. 

Obs.: Obligations. 

Oxf.: Oxford Ritual. 

P.A.: Past Assistant 

P.A.G.C.: Past Assistant Grand Chaplain. 




P.A.G. Chap.: Past Assistant Grand Chaplain. 

P.A.G.D.C.: Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies. 

P.A.G.Reg.: Past Assistant Grand Registrar. 

P.A.G.Sojr.: Past Assistant Grand Sojourner (Royal Arch). 

P.C.: Perfect Ceremonies (standard English ritual handbook) 

P.D.G.C.: Past Deputy Grand Chaplain. 

P. Dep.G.Reg.: Past Deputy Grand Registrar. 

P.Dist. G.M.: Past District Grand Master. 

P.G.: Past Grand. 

P.G. Overseer: Past Grand Overseer 

P.G.D.: Past Grand Deacon 

P.G.M.: Past Grand Master 

P.G.Org.: Past Grand Organist 

P.M.: Past Master. 

P.G.St.Br.: Past Grand Standard Bearer. 

P.G.Swd.B.: Past Grand Sword Bearer. 

P.G.W.: Past Grand Warden. 

P.J.G.W.: Past Junior Grand Warden. 

P.P.G.C.: Past Provincial Grand Chaplain. 

P.S.G.D.: Past Senior Grand Deacon. 

Pr.: Provincial 

Prov. G.M.: Provincial Grand Master. 

P.T.: Pro tempore. 

p.w.: password. 

Q.C.: Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076. The oldest English lodge devoted to scholarly research into freemasonry. 

Q.C.C.C.: Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle. 

R.A.: Royal Arch. An order which apparently developed in the eighteenth century open only to masons and whose rituals 

purport to be the completion and culmination of the spiritual journey of the degrees of craft masonry. 

R.A.M.: Royal Ark Mariner. 

R.C.C.: Red Cross of Constantine. 

R.M.B.I.: Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution. 

R.M.H.: Royal Masonic Hospital. 




R.M.I.B.: Royal Masonic Institution for Boys. 

R.M.I.G.: Royal Masonic Institution for Girls. 

R.W.: Right Worshipful. Used for Present and Past Deputy Grand Master; Assistant Grand Master; Provincial and District 

Grand Masters. 

S.C.: Scottish Constitution. 

S.D: Senior Deacon. 

S.G.D.: Senior Grand Deacon. 

S.G.W.: Senior Grand Warden. 

S.L.G.R.: Senior London Grand Rank. 

S.L.G.C.R.: Senior London Grand Chapter Rank. (Royal Arch). 

Sn.: Sign. 

Sns.: Signs 

Sojr.: Sojourner (Royal Arch). 

S.W.: Senior Warden. 

Swd.: Sword. 

T.B.: Tracing Board. 

T.G.A.O.T.U.: The Great Architect of the Universe: the Supreme Being; God. 

U.G.L.E.: United Grand Lodge of England. 

V.S.L.: Volume of the Sacred Law. 'All initiates shall take their Obligation on or in full view of the open Volume of the 

Sacred Law, by which is meant the revelation from above which is binding on the conscience of the particular individual 

who is being initiated' (Basic Principals for Grand Lodge Recognition, 1929). 

V.W.: Very Worshipful. Used for Present and Past Grand Chaplains; Grand Registrars; Grand Secretaries; Presidents of 

Grand Charity, Masonic Foundation, Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys, Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution, New Masonic 

Samaritan Fund; Grand Director of Ceremonies; Grand Sword Bearers; Grand Superintendent of Works; Grand 

Inspectors. 

W.: Worshipful. Used for all present and past grand officers, and present and past masters of lodges not entitled to the 

prefix M.W., R.W., or V.W. 

W.M.: Worshipful Master. 

W.T.: Working tool. 

Z.: Zerubabel, Prince of Jerusalem. One of the three Grand Principals of the Royal Arch. 


Masonic Status w/ Bro. James Green 

Brothers, we are in a very serious situation. There are some who think we should 

advertise to get more members, but do we really want to destroy the allure of secrecy. 

I read not too long ago about the Woodman and Odd Fellows. It is without 

a doubt, one of the attractions our Brothers of the past used to attract new members. 

The recent books written about our craft has increased the curiosity about 

the Fraternity. But, as one of our Brothers has pointed out, a potential member 

stated he wanted to join, so that if a situation occurred, he would have friends to 

rescue him. It was then pointed out to him we are not seeking those that would 

need "rescuing", but men who want us to help society combat those ‘situations’. 

We are all responsible for our own actions in this life. 

Responsibility is something that has been swept under the rug lately. Take a look at the ‘entertainment’ we are 

subjected to these days; at movie theaters; on TV; and even sports. Money is the object, not morality or responsibility. 

The actors and authoress we pay to see and listen to are alcoholics or drug uses. I know this also 

happened in the past but it so much more these days. In Montana we have University teams that are ranked 

high in National polls. We also have University team members who have been arrested for drug trafficking, 

members who have been arrested for assault. Now I ask who is responsible for these guys, who create a big 

impression our youth. Yes, it is you and me, because we have allowed this kind behavior to exist by patronizing 

the sponsors of such ‘entertainment’. If we would all ban together and not let these companies tell us what 

to watch by now on TV half hour programs are only twenty minutes. 

If the fraternity would be the community leader that spoke up against such things maybe we would get our 

reputation back as leaders of the community, so men would join for that reason and not for the reason stated 

above. We need to get back to being the leaders in our communities, as well as in politics. We are not to talk 

on politics or religion in our meetings, but that does not prevent us from participating outside the Lodge. When 

doing that we need to let me people know we belong to the Masonic Fraternity and not hide it as so many politicians 

do now. Who knows all the brothers who are in the US Congress, or your State legislature? How many 

on the current political train right now are brothers. How many were the square and compass pin on there coat 

lapel. You will find some wearing a Shrine pin, but I never have seen the square and compass pin on a politician’s 

coat, or a ring. 

In one Montana City there are many young service men that have joined a Lodge and then went on to join the 

York Rite. They are the leaders of the Lodge and York Rite. We have a service man that is joining us and 

wants to get more of his buddies to become Brothers, which is what is needed. Good men with the knowledge 

what is happening in this world where they have served and knowing something about our Fraternity and what 

it stands for. This fellow does not believe in the one day classes as he wants to get fulfilled with all the information 

he can as he wants his children to live in a society that believes in each other. 

James C. Green 


New Masonic Themed Movie 

“The Brotherhood” 

http://brotherswar.info 

About the movie 

The story is set in the latter days of World War 2, against the backdrop 

of fierce combat on the eastern front. Brother's War is based on real 

events. 

The latter days of World War II, Fierce combat on the eastern front as 

the Western Allies and Red Army fight their way towards Berlin. A 

British Army attached to the Red Army discovers a secret that can shatter 

the unity of the ALLIES and is seized by Stalin's dreaded intelligence service. He finds unexpected help 

from an enemy and fellow prisoner, a German Captain. They discover a common bond in freemasonry and are 

bound by honor, oath and secrets. They are joined by Anna, a beautiful Polish nurse cast adrift on the tides of 

war. The three are pursued by carrying a secret that can change the outcome of the war and the fate of millions. 

Brother’s War was produced with strict attention to historic accuracy and military detail and portrays the horrors 

and heroism of desperate battles. The film also opens the door into the ancient order of the freemasons and 

presents unmatched insight on the real histories of these men, brothers all, who have fought in every war for 

hundreds of years. 

The Polish story 

During the latter years of World War two the polish government who had fled to England in 1939 as Germany 

invaded Poland. As the tides of war turned and the Red ARMY approached the Polish borders, negotiations 

began between Stalin’s government and the Polish government in exile in order to determine who was to lead 

Poland after the war. 

There was a great deal of animosity between the Poles and the Russians especially since it had been discovered 

in 1943 that 22000 Polish officers and soldiers were executed by the Russians. A team of the Polish negotiators 

were sent to negotiate with Stalin and Molotov; these were arrested and later executed in Moscow. After 

the war Stalin set up a Russian backed government in Warsaw and kept control over most of the territories 

they had liberated from the Germans including all of Eastern Germany. 

The freemasons during the War 

Freemasons is the largest fraternity in the world and the oldest dating back to 1717 and possibly older. 

When the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933 they outlawed all organizations like unions and there after 

social societies like the freemasons. The German freemasons went underground and abandoned the lodges. 




They started wearing “a forget me not” flower or 

flower pin in their lapel so they thereby could recognize 

each other. Many German freemasons joined the 

German ARMY and blended in waiting for better 

times where they again could meet at heir lodges. As 

Germany soldiers invaded the countries around them 

during the war the SS raided the various lodges and 

sent all the Masonic regalia to the SS Masonic museum 

in Berlin. An interesting note is that before Adolph 

Eichmann went on in the SS to Jewish affairs he 

was the secretary at the SS museum. Freemasons were 

rounded up along side with the Jews and confined to 

work and labor camps only to later perish in concentration camps. All authoritarian regimes have gone out of 

their way to persecute all secret societies to present day, despite it is well known that in all Masonic charters it 

is clearly stated that they newer discuss religion or politics. One of the reasons the Nazis gave for this persecution 

was that the Masons were helping the Jews of Germany in their alleged “world conspiracy” this was supposedly 

proven by the book “the protocols of the elders of Zion” witch describes this alleged world conspiracy. 

The book was alleged to be authored by a 32 degree mason. The book was proven a fraud made by the 

Soviet intelligence agency to discredit the Jews around the turn of the century. 

It was said that many of the top leaders in Germany during the war had been Freemasons, Heinrich Himmler 

took a great interest in the organization and it was said Göring was a mason as well. When the was ended and 

the Red ARMY occupied Berlin they took possession of all the Masonic regalia in the museum and send it to 

Moscow where it was stored until the 1990ties where it was returned to the European loges from where it had 

been raided by the SS during the War. 

The freemasons faired little better during communist rule where they were also persecuted and banned as an 

organization. 

Freemasonry 

The origins of Freemasonry are shrouded in the mists of antiquity. We know that the Craft existed prior to the 

formation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717. Legend informs us that Athelstan, King of England, established 

York Right Masonry in 926 A.D, by gathering together many skilled stonemasons and allowing them to 

meet in assembly once annually. There are even those who suggest that Freemasonry may have developed 

from Megalithic Tribes who discovered science and astronomy. These tribes constructed megaliths and observatories 

such as Stonehenge, which enabled them to chart the seasons and years by observation of the Sun and 

stars. 

Whatever the origins of the Craft, Freemasonry flourished; particularly in England during the height of the 

British Empire. Many regiments of the British Army had their own “military lodges”, conferring the degrees 

on those who were deemed worthy. With the British Empire at its height during this time, the British Military 

Lodges spread the teachings of Freemasonry around the globe. 




Men among the ranks of the military have always been attracted to the Craft of Freemasonry for a variety of 

reasons. The Craft stresses the need to support and benefit society, which is attractive to those who are civicminded. 

In Masonry’s rituals and ceremonies, soldiers found the welcome pomp and circumstance of military 

parades. Freemasonry’s offer of creating brotherly bonds that transcends political divide seemed to hint at a 

nobler calling. Whatever the reason be, men from the enlisted ranks up to the highest of Officers, from George 

Washington to Douglas McArthur, from Alfred von Tirpitz to Frederick the Great, all eagerly enlisted as Masons, 

received their degrees and pledged their lives to the betterment of society, the relief of poverty and suffering, 

and a doctrine of tolerance. 

While wars divide men, brotherhood unites. This spirit has often been observed during times of conflict; 

whether it be a house divided as in the Civil War, or nation against nation as in World War II, stories of Freemasonry 

uniting those on different sides of conflict are common. 

United States President William McKinley recounted the following tale: "After the battle of Opequam, I went 

with the surgeon of our Ohio regiment to the field where 5,000 confederate prisoners were under guard. As 

soon as we passed the guard, the doctor shook hands with a number of prisoners and began passing out his roll 

of bills. On the way back to camp I asked him, 'Did you know those men?' 'No' 'But you gave them a lot of 

money, do you expect to get it back?' 'If they are able to pay me back, they will. It makes no difference to me; 

they are brother Masons in trouble and I am only doing my duty.'” McKinley was so moved by what he witnessed 

that he also became a member of the Masonic fraternity. 

During the Second World War, Masonry was outlawed in all countries under control of Nazi Germany. Writing 

in “Mein Kampf”, Adolph Hitler claimed that Freemasonry had "succumbed" to the Jews and had become 

an "excellent instrument" to fight for their aims and to use their "strings" to pull the upper strata of society into 

their alleged designs. Hitler continued, "The general pacifistic paralysis of the national instinct of selfpreservation 

begun by Freemasonry" is then transmitted to the masses of society by the press. 

Once Hitler succeeded in gaining power, he quickly ordered that all Masonic lodges be dissolved. Masons 

working in civil service careers or as members of the armed services were removed from their positions. All 

Masonic documents were seized, along with any Masonic items such as jewels or furniture. Many Masons 

were murdered or imprisoned, others were sent to concentration camps. 

There is every reason to believe that those sympathetic to Freemasonry continued, even under these difficult 

conditions, to practice the high moral lessons of the Craft, although in secret. Masonic rituals were taught 

among prisoners of the concentration camps to raise morale and keep the teachings of the craft alive. 

Following the war, many Masonic items were returned to their various lodges. Most Masonic lodges remained 

intact during the war, or suffered comparatively little damage. Freemasonry again flourished throughout 

Europe. 

Today, Freemasonry is still a valid social and moral organization for many. The Craft still teaches lessons 

which go back millennia. Some of the brightest and best of our communities continue to seek within Masonic 

lodges that which defines the good in man. The fraternity still renews its vows to assist all of mankind, in particular 

a distressed worthy brother, in times of hardship. Freemasons continue to search for the philosophical 

and moral light of truth, while respecting all men as brothers regardless of race, religion or politics, be it in 

time of war or in peace. 

By Michael Wamback 


Reader Submission 

Center of Union... 

By BRO. DR. RASHIED K. SHARRIEFF AL BEY 

Brethren All, 

We are in an era wherein men of good will see the handwriting of annihilation on 

the wall, written in the blood of both terrorists and their victims, on both the Islamic 

and Christian sides of the conflict. Men of good will, however, are attempting 

to overcome generations-old conflicts (centuries old, in some cases) and come 

to terms with their human Brotherhood, reconcile themselves to one another, 

and enjoy the fellowship of spiritually-inclined men. 

We feel virtually assured of seeing such unity in North Carolina (between 

"mainstream" and Prince Hall Masons) in relatively short order, and other jurisdictions are already seeing 

joint degree work, community service, Divine services, and momentous and historic events in which there 

are at last seats at the world table for Prince Hall Brethren to have a presence and to offer input, as wellinformed 

Masons ought to do. 

AS 

.,, we.1 know that we do not follow closely the Masonic ideal of a level field when it comes to Brethren 

whose traditions of faith and practice do not reflect those of the majority. Masons should be at the forefront 

of all such efforts, but some of us are stuck in the La Brea tar pits of narrow perspective and shallow depth 

of perception, and unless we are willing to make sufficient effort to transform ourselves into the model that 

Masonry is intended to make of us, we will become the doomed dinosaurs of future conversations, when our 

progeny will ask, "What was wrong with them? Didn't they get Masonry?" 

This past October, the Muslim world observed the 'Eid-ul-Fitr, or Feast of Purity, which follows a month of 

daily, sunrise-to-sunset fasting, and the current season is the occasion of the 'Eid-ul-Adha, which occurs concurrently 

this year with Chanukah, and commemorates the sacrifice of Abraham, in which he demonstrated 

his willingness to surrender totally to the Divine Will as he understood it 

In that surrender, he learned that it was not the sacrifice of his son that was desired, but the sacrifice one 

makes in order to serve the great Humanity and uplift it; to minister to it and serve the needs of its least 

powerful. 

On the occasion of this year's 'Eid-ul-Fitr, the signatures of over 100 Muslim leaders from around the world 

subscribed a document written a year ago, called A Common Word Between Us and You, which expressed with 

clarity that Muslims do not regard Christians and Jews as their enemies, but as holding common ground in 

terms of the two most basic tenets in the faiths of each; i.e., reverence to Deity and love to neighbors, and 

with this document, reached out with the Right Hand of Fellowship to their Christian and Jewish Brethren, to 

work together to end the madness of this world's downward spiral toward mutual destruction. I urge you to 

read the summary and abridgement of this statement of love from the world's Muslims at 

http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/cip/documents/COMMONWORDFINAL091007.pdf . Please save the document 

to review again later, Brethren. 




Worldwide Christian leadership from many lands, and many denominations, responded with their authorization 

of the scholars of the Yale University Divinity School to compose a letter written by said scholars on 

behalf of world Christendom, which response was then published in the November 18th issue of the New 

York Times. 

For the first time, the Christian leadership of the world acknowledged its sins (their language) against the 

world's Muslims, from the atrocities of the Crusades of ages past (in the initial march into Jerusalem, not one 

Muslim, Jew, or Syrian Christian man, woman, or child was spared) right up to the "war on terror" being perpetrated 

on grounds of fears, false beliefs, wrong ideas, and at times, outright lies, that scapegoats the world's 

Muslims even now. I urge you equally as strongly to read this document written by the Christian scholars, at 

http://www.yale.edu/divinity/notes/index.shtml . Follow the link in the article to be taken to the full story of 

the Christian response. 

Shouldn't we, as Masons, be at the forefront of this kind of ecumenical solidarity? Although an institutional 

movement is the method used in some places and by some Grand bodies, such as the Grand Orient of 

France, what I'm asking is, by and large, aimed more at what we think our individual roles can and should be. I 

welcome anyone's comments or responses to this recent development. 

Your Brother, 

.·. Rashied ~ 

Cornerstone #37 

MWPHGL-NY 

Editor note: I have asked Bro. Rashied to consider joining TWT as a contributor if and when he 

has the time. His vast Masonic knowledge would be a splendid addition to help give us a voice 

for the Prince Hall community. Hopefully he accepts and you will see more of his writings soon. 

S&F Cory. 


Short Talk Bulletin 

INN OF YEAR'S END 

Vol.II January, 1924 No.1 

Our Ancient Brethren were Pilgrims as well as Builders; and so are we. 

The idea of life as a journey runs all through the symbolism of Freemasonry, 

and to forget that truth is to lose half its beauty. Initiation itself 

is a journey from the west to the east in quest of that which was lost. The reason why a man becomes 

a Master Mason is that he may travel in foreign countries, work and receive the wages of a Master. 

What is symbolism with us was the actual life of Masons in days of old. An Apprentice presented his 

Masterpiece, and if it was approved, he was made a Master and Fellow. He could then take his kit of 

tools and journey wherever his work called him, a Freemason - free, that is, as distinguished from a 

Guild Mason, who was not allowed to work beyond the limits of his city. Thus he journeyed from 

Lodge to Lodge, from Land to Land, alone, or in company with his fellows, stopping at Inns betimes 

to rest and refresh himself. Sometimes, a Hope describes in his "Essay On Architecture," a whole 

Lodge traveled together, a band of Pilgrim Builders. 

Like our Brethren in the olden times, we too are pilgrims - life a journey, man a traveler - and each of 

the Seven Ages is neighbors to the rest; and so the poets of all peoples have read the meaning of life, 

as far back as we can go. It is a long road we journey together, but there are inns along the way, kept 

by Father Time, in which we may take lodging for the night to rest and reflect - like the Inn of Year's 

End, at which we arrive this month, in which there is goodly company, and much talk of the meaning 

of the journey, and the incidents of the road. 

Yes, the winding road is a symbol of the life of man true to fact. Once we are aware of ourselves as 

pilgrims on a journey, then the people and the scenes about us reveal their meaning and charm. If we 

forget that life is a Pilgrim's Progress, we have no clue at all to an understanding of it. Strangely 

enough, when we settle down to be citizens of this world, the world itself become a riddle and a puzzle. 

By the same token, the greatest leaders of the race are the men in whom the sense of being pilgrims 

and sojourners on the earth is the most vivid. It is the strangers in the world, the manifest 

travelers to a Better Country, who get the most out of life, because they do not try to build houses of 

granite when they only have time to pitch a tent, or turn in at an inn. In the friendly air if the Inn of 

the Year's End, where we make merry for tonight, there is much congratulation upon so much of the 

journey safely done, and much well-wishing for the that way lies ahead. Also, there is no end of complaint 

at the aches and ills, the upsets and downfalls, of the road. All kinds of faiths and philosophies 

mingle, and there is no agreement as to the meaning or goal of the journey. Some think life is a great 

adventure, others hold it to be a nuisance. Many agree with the epitaph of the poet Gay in Westminster 

Abbey: 

"Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, and now I know it." 




But a Mason, if he has learned the secret of his Craft, knows that life is not a jest, but a great gift, "a 

little holding lent to do a mighty labor." He agrees with a greater and braver poet, who said: 

"Away with funeral music - set The pipe to powerful lips - The cup of life's for him that drinks, And 

not for him that sips." 

At the end of an old year and the beginning of a new, we can see that it simplifies life to know that we 

are pilgrims in a pilgrim world. When a man starts on a journey he does not take everything with 

him, but only such things as he really needs. It is largely a matter of discrimination and transportation. 

To know what to take and what to leave is one of the finest of arts. It asks for insight, judgment, 

and a sense of values. One reason why the race moves so slowly is that it tries to take too much with 

it, weighing itself down with useless rubbish which ought to be thrown aside. Much worthless luggage 

is carted over the hills and valleys of history, hindering the advance of humanity. It is so in our 

own lives. Men stagger along the road with acres of land on their backs, and houses and bags of 

money. Others carry old hates, old grudges, old envies and disappointments, which wear down their 

strength for nothing. At the end of the year it is wise to unpack our bundle and sort out the things we 

do not need - throwing the useless litter out the window or into the fire. How much does a man really 

need for his journey? If the wisdom of the ages is to be believed, the things we actually need are few, 

but they are very great. "There abideth Faith, Hope, and Love, these three; and the greatest of these 

is Love." Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth, to which let us add courage, which is the root of every virtue 

and the only security - what more do we need? In a world where the way is often dim, the road 

rough and the weather stormy, we have time only to love and do good. Hate is the worst folly. After 

all, what do we ask of life, here or hereafter, but leave to love, to serve, to commune with our fellows, 

with ourselves, with the wonderful world in which we live, and from the lap of earth to look up into 

the face of God? Neither wealth nor fame can add anything worth while. 

The human procession is endlessly interesting, made up of all kinds of folk - quaint, fantastic, heroic, 

ignoble, joyous, sorrowful, ridiculous and pathetic - some marching, some straggling through the 

world. There are Greathearts who patrol the road, and angels who walk with us in disguise - angels 

we know them to be because they believe in us when we do not believe in ourselves, and thus make 

us do our best. And there skulkers who shirk every danger and wander to no purpose, like the tramp 

in a western village who, when asked if he was a traveler, replied: 

"Yep, headed south this trip; Memphis maybe, if I don't lay off sooner. I suppose I'm what you call 

a bum partner; but I ain't as bad as some of 'em. I've been hitting the road for quite a spell, nigh on 

forty years; but I hold a feller has a right to live the way he wants to as long as lets other folks 

alone. Anyway, I've had a heap of fun. Oh yes, I might have settled down and got married, and 

raised a lot of kids I couldn't a- took care of, same as a lot of fellers. But I didn't. They say kids come 

from heaven, so I jest thought I'd leave mine stay there. It keeps me a- hustlin' to look after myself, 

and handin' out a bit now and then to some poor devil down on his luck. Well, so long, partner." 

There is the shirk, the loafer, idle and adrift, living without aim or obligation - trying to slip through 

and get by. But there are spiritual loafers and moral tramps almost as bad, though they do not flip 

trains or ask for a "Hand- out" at the back door. Any man is a loafer who takes more out of life than 




he puts into it, leaving the world poorer than he found it. He only has lived who, coming to the All 

Men's Inn called death, has made it easier for others to see the truth and do the right. 

When we know we are journeymen Masons, seeking a lodge, we can better interpret the ills that 

overtake us. One must put up with much on a journey which would be intolerable at home Our misfortunes, 

our griefs are but incidents of the road. Our duties, too, are near at hand. The Good Samaritan 

had never met the man whom he befriended on the road to Jerico. He did not know his 

name. He may have had difficulty in understanding his language. None the less, he took him to the 

next inn, and paid for his keep. Finding his duty by the roadside, he did it, and went on his way. Such 

is the chivalry of the road, and if a man walks faithfully he will come to the House of God. 

Since we pass this way but once, we must do all the good we can, in all ways we can, to all the people 

we can There come thoughts of those who walked with us in other days, and have vanished. They 

were noble and true. Their friendship was sweet, and the old road has been lonely since they went 

away. Toward the end life is like a street of graves, as one by one those who journey with us fall 

asleep. But if we walk "the Road of the Loving Heart," and make friends with the Great Companion. 

we shall not lose our way, nor be left alone when we come at last, as come we must, like all Brothers 

and Fellows before us, to where the old road dips down into the Valley of Shadows. 

It is strange; the soul too is a pilgrim, and must pass on. Walking for a brief time in this vesture of 

clay, it betakes itself on an unknown journey. A door opens, and the pilgrim spirit, set free, makes 

the Great Adventure where no path is. But he who made us Brothers and Pilgrims here will lead us 

there, and the way He Knoweth. No blind and aimless way our spirit goeth, but to Him who hath set 

eternity in our hearts. Such thoughts visit us, such faiths and hopes cheer us, gathered in the Inn of 

Year's End, thinking of the meaning of the way. 

"I go mine, thou goest thine; Many ways we wend, 

Many ways and many days, Ending in one end. 

Many a wrong and its crowning song, 

Many a road and many an Inn; 

Far to roam but only one home For all the world to win." 

Masonic Service Association of North America 


Masonic research Paper 

THE ODD FELLOWS 

by Wor.Bro. MARK A. TABBERT 33° 

“There’s Nothing Odd about these Fellows” 

“What’s so Odd about the Odd Fellows?--- nothing” 

What was the largest fraternal organization during the so-called “Golden 

Age of Fraternalism” (1870-1910)? You may be surprised to know it was 

not Freemasonry but the Odd Fellows. In 1890 Freemasonry had 609,000 

brothers while the Odd Fellows had over 672,000. You may also be surprised 

to know the Scottish Rite Masonic National Heritage Museum probably 

holds the largest public collection of Odd Fellows artifacts, and materials 

in the county; some 700 items. Just as many men joined both the Craft and 

the Odd Fellows, so our museum collections both Masonic and other American 

fraternal history. Indeed the relationship between the Freemasonry and 

Odd Fellowship was quite similar and often truly fraternal. 

As with Freemasonry, the Odd Fellows is a British institution. They 

began in England in the late 1700s as a “friendly society” for working class 

men and artisans. Meeting in taverns to socialize they also pooled their recourses 

to help each other in times of need and for burial fees. That such an 

“odd” assortment of men would organize for such benevolent purposes was 

considered “odd” for the times and from which perhaps their name sprang. That they also practiced such broad 

charity may have also caused these fellows to be considered “odd.” Whatever the origin of the name the first lodge 

proudly adopted the title and have continued to care for each other for well over 200 years. 

Like Freemasonry there were individual Odd Fellows in the United States prior to the first lodge forming in 1819. 

The revered founder and first “Grand Sire” of the American Odd Fellows is Thomas Wildey (1782-1861). A coach 

-spring maker, he became an Odd Fellow in London before immigrating to America in 1817. Through his efforts he 

organized the first lodge in Baltimore and received a charter from the English Grand Lodge to spread the fraternity 

in the United States. Blessed by boundless energy and a dedication to help those in distress between 1819 and 1840 

he started 155 lodges in 14 states that initiated over 11,000 brothers. Its great national Grand Secretary Thomas 

Ridgely who served the fraternity from 1833 to 1880 further supported Wildey’s fledgling order. 

So successful was American Odd Fellowship that it came in conflict with the Odd Fellow’s “world headquarters” 

or the Grand Lodge of England. After the separation in 1843 they changed their name to the Independent 

Order of Odd Fellows and within ten years the number of lodges leaped to 2,941 in 33 states and a total of 193,000 

brothers. 

Similar to Prince Hall Freemasonry, African Americans have their own Odd Fellows lodges. In 1842 the 

English Odd Fellow Grand Lodges issued a warrant to black sailor named Peter Ogden from New York City. 

Unlike Wildey however, Ogden never separated his lodges from England and to this day it remains part of the 

Grand United Order of Odd Fellows. When Ogden died in 1852 there were 32 lodges, by 1863 there were 50 and 

by 1900 2,253 with 70,000 members. The GUOOF continues to this day and are headquartered in Philadelphia. 

Although heavily influenced by Freemasonry’s rituals, symbols and tenets, a large measure of the Odd Fellows’ 

success came from its dedication to serve its members. Its three secret ritual initiations taught the “three 




links” of fraternity as “Friendship, Love and Truth” and commanded its brothers to “Visit the Sick, Relieve the Distressed, 

Bury the Dead, Care for the Widow, and Educate the Orphan.” In the forty years between the founding of 

Wildey’s first American lodge and his death in 1861, Odd Fellow’s paid out nearly $9,000,000 in relief. After the 

Civil War State grand Lodges began building homes for widows and orphans. With the first opening in Meadville, 

PA in 1872 by 1927 there were 62 home in the United States. Between 1830 and 1936 the fraternity had paid out 

over $247 million in relief. 

In other ways the Odd Fellows innovated before Freemasonry. Before the Order of the Eastern Star for 

female relatives of Masons the Odd Fellows started the first women’s auxiliary. Call the Daughters of Rebekah it 

was begun by future Vice President of the United States (and Freemason) Schuley Colfax in 1851. The Rebekahs 

have one initiation degree based on wife of the Hebrew patriarch Isaac. Within 50 years of its founding it had over 

340,000 daughters and it membership peaked in 1925 at just over one million. In 1932 Rebekahs formed their girls’ 

youth group called Theta Rho. 

Similar to the Masonic Royal Arch Degrees of the York Rite, the Odd Fellows established “higher” degrees 

in the Encampment. Containing three degrees, the Patriarchal, the Golden Rule and the Royal Purple they originated 

in England and were first performed in the United States in the 1820s. Like the Royal Arch the Encampment 

had its own state and national hierarchy but ultimately remain subordinate to state and national grand lodges. 

Building upon the success of the Encampment, in the 1870s and 80s the Odd Fellows established their own 

Masonic Knights Templar-like order. Call the Patriarch Militant it officially became part of the Order in 1886. 

Rather than commanderies, the Patriarch militants met in Cantons. Individual members were titled chevaliers and 

within three years of its organization it had over 12,073 members in 356 cantons. The Militants' mottos are “Justitia 

Universalis” (Universal Justice) and “Pax aut Bellum” (Peace or War) and its insignia is the crossed crock and 

sword with crown. Several factors led to the Militants success; a love of marching and military music after the Civil 

War, a fear of labor unrest and riots after 1877 and a huge war surplus of uniforms and swords. 

The Odd Fellows even created their own Shriner’s in the early 1900s. Several different groups were attempted, 

called the Order of Muscovites, Prophets of Bagdad and the Knights of Oriental Splendor. The successor 

of these and most successful were the Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans or AMOS who wore red fezs with the 

motto “We Never Sleep.” 

The Odd Fellows membership peaked in 1920 at 1.7 million brothers. While still strong during the Roaring ’20 the 

Great Depression nearly bankrupted the fraternity. The Stock market crash caused families to drop their membership, 

lodges to fail to meet their mortgages and homes to lose donations. The advent of social security, welfare, 

private health insurance and other forms of relief made most of the Odd Fellows’ charity obsolete. The popularity 

of radio, movies, and later TV and other forms of leisure all help to erode Odd Fellow, and most other fraternal orders’ 

membership. By 1960 the Odd fellows had half the members they did in 1920. Today there are still many 

active Odd Fellow lodges across the country, mostly in small town and rural communities, yet firmly linked by 

“Friendship, Love and Truth.” 

Sources: 

- Theodore A. Ross, The History and Manual of Odd Fellowship. M.W. Hazen Co. 

1900. 

- Album of Odd Fellow Homes. Ida F. Wolfe, editor. Minneapolis, MN: the Joseph 

M. Wolfe Co., 12 th edt., 1927. 

- Schmidt, Alvin J. Fraternal Organizations. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1966. 


Food and Fellowship 

By Bro. Wyndell Ferguson 

Food and Fellowship 

I would like to offer “The Working Tools” and my Friend and Brother 

Cory Sigler a hearty and sincere congratulations on the 2nd Anniversary 

of “The Working Tools”! More importantly, I wish to say THANK YOU! 

When I was first seriously looking into becoming a Freemason I researched as much as I could 

about the Craft, and read everything I could get my hands on. In the wilderness of the Internet 

The Working Tools has always been one of the best resources for information that I have found. 

Thank you for providing a great source of information and light! 

Reflecting upon the journey that Bro Cory and “The Working Tools” has made over the 

last 2 years, I'm forced to remember my own journey in Masonry... 

I referred to myself in the April 2007 issue of The Working Tools as a Masonic Virgin since, as far as I know 

there are no other Masons hanging off my family tree. Coming from that point of view it appeared to my young (at 

least in Masonry terms) eyes that Freemasonry was likened to that of a layered dip *: three distinct layers, each with 

its own flavor and appeal, but when mixed together you had the full experience and pleasure. 

It wasn't until after Id spent hours with my coach, mentor, brother and friend that I learned Freemasonry is 

more like an onion **. Just when you think you've discovered the core of Masonry you realize that you have just 

scratched the surface and that there is another layer you need to discover and peel back. The more I learn, the more I 

read and the more I discover the more I realize there is more to learn. More importantly I realize I'm lacking more 

than first imagined in my Light and Knowledge! 

The beauty of Masonry lies in the fact that every Brother can find meaning and enjoyment with each layer, and 

only has to peel back as many layers as he is ready for or desires. There is nothing more refreshing than to get away 

from the trials and tribulations of the world by going to the lodge and partaking in the Fellowship of Freemasonry! 

* Three-Layer Deck-The-Halls Dip 

8 oz guacamole 

8 oz sour cream 

8 oz pace picante sauce or salsa 

In a shallow, clear glass bowl (straight sides are best), layer 

guacamole, sour cream and Pace. Place the bowl on a tray and surround it with 

chips or colorful vegetable dippers. 




** Sweet Onion Soup 

4 medium sweet onions, sliced 

1 stick butter 

2 cans beef broth 

2 can water 

salt and pepper to taste 

shredded mozzarella cheese 

slices Italian or French bread 

Saute onions in margarine for 20 minutes, add broths and water and let simmer another 20-30 minutes. Put one slice of 

bread in a bowl, ladle soup over the bread. Add 2-3 tablespoons of cheese over the top and put in the broiler until the 

cheese melts and starts to brown. 

This is fast and easy to make and is great with some garlic bread and salad! 

On a final note: Congratulations to the Freemasons Riding Club on being recognized by the Grand Lodge of 

Texas! For information about the Freemasons Riding Club check out http://www.freemasonsrc.com/ 

I hope everyone had a wonderful and refreshing Holiday and a Glorious New Year. As always, if you have any 

questions, comments, feedback etc. please contact me either through The Working Tools or at wyndell.ferguson@sbcglobal.net. 

The lessons come from the journey... So Mote It Be! 

If you have any questions, comments, feedback etc. please contact me either through The Working Tools or 

at wyndell.ferguson@sbcglobal.net. 


What Comes To Mind w/ Lansing V. Ten Eyck, III 

A Wish for the New Year 

During these combined Holidays our lodges are dark as we share 

Christmas and New Years with family and friends. Though I find 

that I to am taking time in sharing myself with my family and 

friends, that I’m offering a small article this month but, will be 

back in full force in February. 

However, I did not want to let this issue go by without a short word or so to you all. 

I want so much to thank Cory for his vision and stubbornness, yes; I said stubbornness, in turning out a 

class piece of reading matter. I also, want to thank you out there in your support of this publication. For 

without you and your input, this could never have survived. 

I am not, as you might have surmised, a writer by trade, far from it but, I write on subjects of a questioning 

nature. Maybe a subject you and I might have, in the past, wondered about and was keen to find 

out more about. Well, that’s me in a nut shell. 

If I’ve been of any help in answering or informing you, well my job has found its home. However, if I’ve 

left you wanting to know about something still unanswered, please, please let me know and I shall endeavor 

to fill any void you may feel I’ve left open. 

It has been my deepest pleasure to have shared my ramblings with you all and it is my hope that you 

will continue to enjoy future articles. I know I’ve said this before but, I feel I must repeat 

myself, when I say that if there is a subject or question about something and you feel that I 

might be able to aid you in the quest for that knowledge please feel free to contact me with 

a request. From that request I shall do my best to see it answered. 

In closing I want to wish you, my Brothers, a safe, healthy and a Happy 2008! 


Charities 

The Masonic Angel Fund is the fastest-growing Masonic 

charity anywhere. Founded in 1998 by the members 

of Universal Lodge A.F. & A.M. in Orleans, Massachusetts, 

the "MAF" has spread to 122 Lodges in 12 

states since it first offered sponsorship of affiliate Masonic 

Angel Funds in the summer of 2000. The Masonic 

Angel Fund is changing kids' lives - one community at 

a time, one child at a time. 

One of the fundamental principles of the Masonic Angel 

Fund program is that 100% of the money raised by a 

local Lodge's Masonic Angel Fund stays in that community 

and goes to the kids. All overhead of the local 

MAF is covered by the sponsoring Lodge from its operating budget. There are few charity programs anywhere 

that can make such a claim. 

The Fund provides modest assistance to children in need who do not fit the criteria for the usual socialservice 

programs. Such assistance might be to provide a pair of glasses, a coat, shoes, field trip fees or 

minor health services. MAF benevolences can cover almost any need that will enhance a child's learning 

experience - some Masonic Angel Funds even provide scholarships for music and fine arts instruction. Applications 

for assistance will be fulfilled via confidential requests from local school principals, counselors 

and school nurses. 

For example, if the nurse discovers a child who needs a winter coat she simply makes a request to the 

Trustees of the Angel Fund who will issue a check to the principal or nurse in an appropriate amount. 

In cases where professional services are required (i.e. medical, dental, optical…etc.) the local MAF works 

with the school to make available our numerous sources for services of this nature. Some of our Masonic 

Brothers are health care professionals, so there is an excellent chance we may be able to arrange the 

donation of products or services. 

A cornerstone of the Masonic Angel Fund program is the close relationship that develops between the 

local school system and the sponsoring Lodge. Because MAF standards require that all screening of requests 

be performed by the school's professional staff, the Masons are cast in a purely supportive role 

rather than in one that requires them to screen and qualify every application. This means that those who 

operate the local Fund can respond very quickly once they are contacted by the school. This quick response 

contrasts strongly with many "institutional" relief services where days or weeks can elapse between 

the time of a request and an answer being received. Our ability to serve the school professionals 

in a rapid, efficient manner underscores the image of Masons as the "can do" people in the community. 

Not only is the Masonic Angel Fund an excellent program for the community - it is also a positive force 

to create enthusiasm amongst the Craft by providing opportunities to do generous things for children. 

The Angel Fund is a successful vehicle for presenting Freemasonry to the community as a socially relevant, 

beneficial body of normal, everyday people and for helping to dispel our aura of mystery. 

Best of all, each Masonic Angel Fund is managed by members of your local Masonic Lodge. Each local 

MAF agrees to maintain standards set forth by the Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc. Within the scope of 

the "Ten Standards" observed by every MAF - all decision-making is done by local Trustees who are selected 

by their own Lodge. 

The Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc. was established by members of Universal Lodge on July 1, 2000. Its 




mission is to facilitate the adoption of Masonic Angel Funds by other Masonic Lodges around the nation. 

In addition to propagating local MAF's, the Foundation offers grant funding opportunities to schools 

served by a Masonic Angel Fund and the Lodges that adopt an Angel Fund. Almost any Masonic body 

from any Jurisdiction is welcome to adopt a Masonic Angel Fund for its community. 

Please be sure to subscribe to our "Angel Mail" news broadcast list (on home page) so that we can keep 

you up to date on new developments in the Masonic Angel Fund program. 

The need for the services provided by the Masonic Angel Fund is far greater than we anticipated at the 

outset. Thus, the Foundation and each constituent MAF operates an ongoing campaign to fund this vital 

community service project. 

Why Should Your Lodge Adopt The Masonic Angel Fund? 

he Masonic Angel Fund is far and away the single best Masonic Awareness and community service program 

anywhere. 

Any Lodge can offer a Masonic Angel Fund - even one with the 

most meager manpower and financial resources. The MAF is an excellent 

program for your community. It is also a positive force to 

create enthusiasm in your Lodge by creating opportunities for the 

Brethren to work together doing generous things for children. The 

Masonic Angel Fund is a program that can energize even your 

least active Brothers. Better still, because of the way MAF presents 

the Craft to your community it should make men want to join your 

Lodge 

If you are a Mason or have friends who are Masons and have would 

like to learn more about the Masonic Angel Fund, please contact 

the Foundation office at 508-255-8812 or send an email message 

to info@masonicangelfund.org or download our information package. 

To make a donation to the Masonic Angel Fund click here or send your contribution to the Masonic Angel 

Foundation, Inc, Box 1389, Orleans, MA 02653. Checks should be made payable to the Masonic Angel 

Foundation. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Adopting a Masonic Angel Fund 

What are the benefits to my Lodge if it sponsors a Masonic Angel Fund? 

The primary benefit to your Lodge is an increase in community awareness as you provide significant services 

to local children. Secondary benefits include unification of your Brethren and attraction of new 

members to work for a common purpose in the community. The Masonic Angel Fund is an excellent program 

to re-vitalize and grow your Lodge. 

Who will provide financial support to our local Masonic Angel Fund? 

The experience of the Universal Lodge Masonic Angel Fund was that most of our financial support came 

from the Brethren themselves. Our "typical" Masonic donor is a Brother who does not usually attend 

Lodge but wishes to support our child-oriented community programs. We also received significant memorial 

donations when one of our more popular members passed away. A very significant portion of our 

funding came from the local York Rite bodies. In 1998 and 1999 the York Rite offered their annual Com- 




mandery Christmas observance as a fund-raiser for the Masonic Angel Fund. These two events raised approximately 

$5,000 for the local Fund. 

How does the Foundation interact with my Lodge if we sponsor a Masonic Angel Fund? 

The Foundation functions as a facilitator and advisory group for local Masonic Angel Funds. Once a Masonic 

Angel Fund is licensed to your Lodge you are responsible for maintaining the Ten Standards and for 

filing periodic reports with the Foundation. Other than that, the program is your local program. The Foundation 

staff is available to answer your questions as you begin to receive requests for assistance from 

your local schools. We also work with state and national charities and corporations to develop grant funding 

opportunities for schools served by Masonic Angel Funds. 

For more info contact the MAF at: 

Mailing Address 

Post Office Box 1389 

Orleans, Massachusetts 02653 

Office 

Surfside Building 

49 South Orleans Road · Orleans 02653 

Phone 508-255-8812 

Email info@masonicangelfund.org 


Blog Post of the Month 

Blog owner– Bro Tom Accuosti 

Legislating (Masonic) Morality 

At the time of this writing, there are a dozen US states in which the AF&AM Grand Lodges do not recognize, 

or extend amity to the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodges located within those same states. All of 

those states are in the part of the US that is generally called “the South,” as they correspond to the states that 

seceded from the Union during our Civil War back in the 1800s. It seems that every week I read a diatribe 

from a (usually anonymous) commenter on a blog or web group that the Grand Lodges in those Southern states 

are “racist” for not recognizing their Prince Hall counterparts, and that they should move with the times, and 

come into the 21st Century. 

And truly, while there is no room for racism in our Craft, it certainly seems that there must be a lot of room for 

intolerance, impatience, and arrogance; because I see those characteristics displayed quite frequently by the 

brethren who demand that these Grand Lodges fall in line with the other 38 states. More recently, I’ve even 

seen a new blogger who has drafted legislation - purely as a thought experiment or conversation point (I hope) 

- calling for the other states to drop recognition of at least one of these recalcitrant Grand Lodges. I must say 

that while I applaud the spirit of my brothers who would like to see recognition across all the Grand Lodges in 

the US, I am astounded and appalled at the behavior that I’ve seen them display toward that end. 

Personally, I have no knowledge as to why the last dozen Grand Lodges have not yet extended recognition, nor 

do I know if indeed, talks are already in the works. I do know that recognition is a highly politically charged 

issue, not only for the AF&AM Grand Lodges, but also for the MWPH Grand Lodges as well; and it occurs to 

me that the demands and threats from the sidelines can’t possibly make things happen more smoothly. I’m going 

to leave aside the ethical considerations of threatening our sister Grand Lodges with the withdrawal of recognition, 

and focus on a point that I have not seen discussed elsewhere. 

If the Grand Lodge of any of those states suddenly recognized the MWPH Grand Lodge of that state, what, I 

ask you, would actually happen? Would Prince Hall Masons - assuming, of course, that they reciprocate the 

recognition - suddenly stampede to sit in AF&AM lodges? That seems unlikely to me, and why would they? 

For the benefit of watching an AF&AM lodge pay some bills and plan the next fish fry? Perhaps for all of you 

to pat each other on the back after a speech about how great it is to sit in lodge together… and then to perhaps 

do it all over again in six months or a year? What’s the point of that? Most Masons don’t want to sit in their 

own lodges if all they’re going to do is argue about the phone bill and have some coffee and donuts afterward. 

I’m going to be blunt here: the underlying issue isn’t the recognition itself; there are dozens of unrecognized 

jurisdictions around the US, mainly groups that have splintered off from a mainstream Grand Lodge. The underlying 

issue is that the people on the sidelines see the recognition issue as a factor of racism and discrimination. 

Prince Hall Grand Lodges tend to have mainly (but not exclusively) black members, while AF&AM tend 

to have mainly (but not exclusively) white members. 




Without some insight into the politics and workings of these Grand Lodges, it’s impossible to determine if this 

is true, even in part. But even so, what do those clamoring from the sidelines expect that immediate recognition 

of the MWPH Grand Lodges would accomplish? Do they think that a stroke of a pen will end racism in 

their states? Isn’t that akin to legislating morality? 

The real issue is that we sometimes expect our Grand Lodges to “fix” some problem that in actuality should be 

dealt with at the Blue lodge level - or sometimes even at the individual level. 

For the brothers who have been demanding recognition, how many of you have had joint fellowship nights 

with your Prince Hall brethren? Obviously you can’t sit in lodge together, but that shouldn’t stop you from 

having dinner together. How many of you have planned a joint event, like a picnic, or a friendly barbecue and 

horseshoe match? And why stop at dinner? Masonry being about working, how many of you have held joint 

community service events in your area? Perhaps a joint Child ID event, or a blood drive hosted by two lodges? 

Here’s an idea: a Masonic weekend in which handy members of the local PH and AF&AM lodges lend their 

talents and energy to a Habitat for Humanity project? 

Any of those have got to be better for jurisdictional relations than sitting in a stuffy lodge room. 

The bonds of trust and friendship are not forged by the signatures of Grand Masters on some pile of papers; 

they are formed by getting together, face to face, side by side, and working at something useful. They are 

formed by meeting on the level, and by doing things that you both have an interest in doing. 

Too often, when faced with a problem in the Fraternity we look at our Grand Lodge as if it were an adversarial 

organization. We demand that “they” should do something - when we aren’t demanding that “they” should 

stop doing something. We forget that we, ourselves, are the Grand Lodge, and that the Grand Lodge officers 

take their cues from what the members of the Craft say and do. If your Grand Lodge officers don’t hear or see 

any interest at the Blue lodge level, they certainly aren’t going to have any motivation to move the issue along 

at the Grand Lodge level. 

This doesn’t mean that I think those clamoring from the sidelines should stop raising the issue; change moves 

with the glacial speed in Masonry, and sometimes we need people to help us keep track of our progress (or 

lack thereof). But instead of expending so much energy in anonymous rantings, perhaps we would all be better 

served if they put those energies toward promoting true brotherhood in a more constructive manner. 

http://masonictao.blogspot.com/ 


The York Rite Of Freemasonry w/ William Price 

The York Rite of Freemasonry 

MEC William “Bill” W. Price, KYGCH 

PGHP of California, 1993-1994 

January 2008 

Part VI- General Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons – The Beginning 

The development of the Royal Arch system in the United States required more than a century from the first conferring 

of the degree here until the General Grand Chapter of the United States was firmly seated in authority. It is impossible 

to trace the development in a connected manner for records are obscure or lacking. The Royal Arch Degree was at first 

conferred without any specific authorization, but in accordance with a general understanding that wherever a sufficient 

number of Royal Arch Masons belonged to a Lodge, they could proceed at their discretion to confer the degree. Later, 

a meeting called for that purpose was called a chapter, which was appendant to the lodge. The degree seemed not to 

have been “side degree,” so-called and was not vagrant or out of control, but belonged to the lodge working. Warrants 

for lodges, as such, came only with the erection of the Grand Chapters and the General Grand Chapters. 

The first known record of the working of the Royal Arch Degree anywhere was in Fredericksburg Lodge, VA., Dec 22, 

1753. By 1760, the degree had appeared in New York, for the Provincial Grand Master of New York in that year warranted 

Independent Royal Arch Lodge in the City of New York. In 1767, the Ancient Grand Lodge of England warranted 

Royal Arch Lodge No. 3, Philadelphia, PA. 

The minutes of St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Lodge or Chapter at Boston for Aug 28, 1769, affords the first wording of the 

degree in a warranted lodge in this country and the second record of any kind of lodge in this country. The latter minutes 

read, as follows: “Bro. William Davis came before the lodge, begging to have and receive the parts belonging to 

the Royal Arch Masons, which being read was received, and he was unanimously voted in, and was accordingly made by 

receiving the four steps, that of Excellent, Super-excellent, Royal Arch and Knight Templar.” This Lodge had been chartered 

from Scotland, Sep 4, 1760. Its minutes for Sep 26, 1793 recite: “This evening after unanimous vote in favor of ye 

Petitioner Brother Rumney Past ye Chair & Grades of Excellent, Super-Excellent, Royal Arch and Night [sic] Templar 

Mason & admitted as a Member.” 

In 1775, the Grand Lodge of Scotland chartered Cabin Point Royal Arch Lodge in Virginia, which probably conferred the 

Royal Arch Degree. In 1789, Lodge No. 3 at Philadelphia adopted a bylaw providing; “No Brother can be exalted until he 

has been at least three years a Master Mason, and has presided six months as Master of some regular warranted lodge, 

or has passed the chair by dispensation.” This was an early use of the term, exalted, and was the first time that term, 

chapter, had been used in that lodge. 

The first chartered chapter in Connecticut was Hiram No. 1 at Newton. Apr 29, 1791 followed by four others all chartered 

by Washington “Mother Chapter” in New York (origin unknown), so-called because of its practice of chartering 

other chapters, which it began in 1791. In the same year, it chartered a chapter in Providence RI. 

A Grand Chapter seemed to have existed in Pennsylvania from Nov 23, 1795, which was under the Grand Lodge. It has 

been claimed that a Grand Chapter existed in Maryland in 1797 on the strength of a dispensation issued by the “Grand 

Scribe,” but it appears that David Kerr, who acted as “Grand High Priest,” was Grand Master of Maryland and merely 

assumed the Royal Arch titles, because the Royal Arch was subordinate to the Grand Lodge. 




Then, important developments ensued in quick succession. On Oct 24, 1797, delegates from St. Andrew’s Chapter, Boston; 

King Cyrus Chapter at Newburyport, MA; and Temple Chapter, Albany, NY, met at Boston and called on all Chapters 

to meet at Hartford, CN, on Jan 24, 1798. That meeting also declared; “No Grand Lodge of Master Masons, nor 

can any chapter, although of standing immemorial, exercise any authority of a Grand Chapter.” 

To the Hartford Convention there were nine chapters represented. The convention adopted the constitution of the 

Grand Chapter Royal Arch Mason of the Northern States of America 

asserting jurisdiction over Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire and New York. It 

appears that the 6-state body slightly preceded the formation of the state Grand Chapters. 

The first four Grand Chapters were formed as follows: Rhode Island, Mar 12, 1798; Massachusetts, Mar 13, 1798; New 

York, Mar 14, 1798; and Connecticut, May 17, 1798. The first meeting of the 6-state body was held Oct 19, 1798. At 

its second meeting, it changed its name to General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons for the Six Northern States of America. 

The Grand Chapter of New York chartered Carolina Chapter, Charleston SC., Feb 1, 1803, and apparently, the General 

Grand Chapter chartered Georgia Chapter in Georgia, Dec 1, 1804. On Dec 20, 1804, the Grand Chapter of Vermont 

was formed, but was not recognized by the General Grand Chapter until 1806. At the third meeting of the General Grand 

Chapter, Jan 9, 1806, requests being received for charters in South Carolina and Georgia, general jurisdiction was assumed 

and the name was again changed, this time to General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Mason of the United States of 

America. That body was being composed of its own officers and all Grand High Priests and Past Grand High Priests of 

the subordinate Grand Chapters. 

However, some Grand Lodges looked with distrust on the new Capitular establishments, for the Grand Lodge of Tennessee 

held in 1816 that its lodges had a right to make Masons in the higher degrees. It authorized Cumberland Chapter 

R. A. M. to confer the chapter degrees under sanction of the Grand Lodge. 

Thomas Smith Webb was elected Grand High Priest in 1816, but declined, and DeWitt Clinton was selected, Webb 

becoming Deputy. In 1826, some 15 Grand Chapters were represented and considerable dissatisfaction was displayed 

from several quarters. The Grand Chapter of Kentucky proposed that the General Grand Chapter be dissolved and 

Maryland and Ohio supported it. The measure was lost by a vote of 49 - 2. Several Grand Lodges continued to claim 

jurisdiction over the higher degrees. To make matters worse, the anti-Masonic excitement began about 1830 and was 

responsible for the expiration of the Grand Chapters of Georgia, District of Columbia, New Jersey, South Carolina and 

Vermont. 

At the meeting of 1829, eleven Grand Chapters were represented and a revised constitution was adopted. Councils of 

Royal and Selected Masters were requested to relinquish their degrees to chapters and Grand Chapters were authorized 

to take jurisdiction. There appeared to be more than one problem facing the American York Rite. The very powers 

of the General Grand Chapter were under attack and being challenged. In addition, the independence and future of 

the Royal and Select Masters was in jeopardy. 

Indeed, there was confusion in the Temple. How could these major obstacles be overcome? Could the General Grand 

Chapter and the Royal and Select Masters survive this threat to their existence? We will discuss those questions in the 

next edition. 

May You Always Travel Well. 

Reference: Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia by Henry Wilson Coil, 33 rd Degree, A&ASR, Revised Edition 1995, Published by 

Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc, Richmond VA. 


File under– “You just can’t make this stuff up” 

Brother’s , I don’t make this stuff up I only find it and present it to you for the purpose of knowing what is found for 

anyone to freely read. What bothers me is that anyone can say whatever they want and nothing will happen or be 

done to them. (Freedom of speech is a good thing in most cases). 

For the record I do not put anything in TWT to intentionally upset or to spew anti propaganda of a group or religion 

however if I see something from said group I feel it is in my right to show you what they are saying. 

Again the title of this page is “File Under– You just can’t make this stuff up” 

The following is an account by a British individual who travels the internet posting his hatred of the Masons wherever 

he can as often as he can. I have found his posts dealing with the “Evil Craft” all over the place by doing a Google 

search on his name. It appears he will post an Anti message hoping to find someone who may also feel victimized. 

To be fair I really think he believes this is happening and often worry about his mental health. I’m not publishing this to 

make fun of him but to show another example of what is being said on the open internet frontier. Some of our British 

readers nay recognize his writing but I declined publishing his name because I don’t want to give him any credit or another 

chance to show up on a search engine. 

This is his writing I didn’t change a thing or correct any spelling except to abbreviate the name of his organization 

Here is part 2 of the original post 

Title: Victim's True Story of the Criminal Freemasons (part 3b) 

327 - There’s a lot of Scots in the English parliament. Haven’t you guys sussed it out yet ? Scotland is totally FM infested 

and they are the FM place-men. Everyone should question authority to ask if any of them are a Masons (this is 

your right, thats why you pay tax) whether barrister, prime minister, police, military, lawyer, social work, NHS, 

roadsweeper, etc, all jobs for the boys and no proper qualifications. Do not believe the crap in the Media. Even their 

journalists can’t come out with the truth otherwise the FMs will pick on them. That’s why you never read anything bad 

about the evil FMs. I don’t believe in boundaries, all elite invented. 

328 - I spent fifteen years taking my two sons (now aged 27 and 30) fishing and camping. We used to take of their pals. 

Some are FMs (didn’t know at that time). I kept diaries. Our house had the best New Year parties and brilliant outdoor 

weekends. Treated them like our own, you should see the photo’s/videos. Didn’t know about the ulterior motives. We’re 

working on stories and as we get stronger as a group, we get more results. Modern technology is excellent and is as good 

for us as it is for the Masons. 

329 - We all seem to think people care, nobody cares. That’s why we are in this mess together. YOU had better start to 

care about what’s happening, or we all go down together. I love the great outdoors and I seriously can’t tell the differ- 




ence between the sheep and the people. FMs are above the law. How come the FMs have a phone number to ring if they 

get into trouble? Not for sheople. 

330 - The Masons within the Police Force are the purveyors of extreme evil. They can and do control all of our communications, 

our emails, our phones and our snail-mail (royal mail). I have done dozens of tests to confirm this practice. I 

must have been the poorest emergency plumber (registered with the IPHE and good at my job) in the UK. I was spending 

£8k with Sellow Pages (FM company) and the phones were strangely quiet. I can prove that the FMs controlled 90% 

of my jobs and enquiries. The FMs within the authorities can divert your calls to anonymous answerphones (using your 

answerphone message) or the call will just ring out, even though your answerphone was on (check online for Malcolm 

Kennedy). My house is bugged, my car, van is bugged. They even track me while I am out with my dog, they use GPS 

on my dogs microchip (dozens of tests done). I wrote to Strathclyde Police HQ to ask if they had been tracing me or my 

families calls/mobiles/landline/vehicles/electronic images, etc. They wrote back to say they could not confirm or deny ? I 

am not a criminal or a terrorist. But I am a victim of a legal gang called The Criminal Freemasons. I can go nowhere 

without their company, test me, anytime. Don’t worry they will not hurt you, the last thing Freemasonry needs is more 

negative press. But, they will try a car accident ? or beware of the NHS. This is Freemasons territory. 

331 - Freemasons will ostracise (isolate) you. They were your pretend friend anyway. They do it to their victims and 

other Masons who have left this bunch of crooks. They make you a prisoner in your own home, just like me. We badly 

need protection. 

332 - We have affiliated our group to some similar groups in the USA. Unfortunately the Americans think it’s all sorts of 

agencies and government departments thats doing the persecution. Yes, they’re right, but it’s the Masons within these 

departments. A lot of Americans have been hypnotised into thinking the FMs are good. That’s what evil hides behind, 

"good". To understand Freemasonry you have to understand there is the Outer Organisation (which is perceived to be 

good) and the Inner Organisation which is undiluted evil. Lower Masons believe there is nothing above the Third Degree 

Masons. Checkout online for Bill Schnoebelen, he’s an American/Canadian ex - Mason who reached the 90th degree. 

Also checkout Mike Restivo’s story (USA). 

333 - I have an idea. Let’s start a secret society called "GOODEEZ" and work just like the Masons. The only difference 

is that GOODEEZ is transparent and has no ulterior motives. It will be run by victims of this corrupt society so that we 

can use our expertise to stop any wrong doing. We will add this group to our already established Second Family victims 

group. It’s free. 

Anyone want to join/help/support us ? Or you can look back in history when you had your last chance of FR33DOM. 

(serious) 

334 - We at SF have already revealed the FMs favourite/symbolic numbers (online) that they use in their Vehicle reg’s, 

phone numbers and house numbers. We kinda wondered how many crooked FMs have changed their numbers since this 

expose ? 

335 - I recently attemped suicide. My statement "Not because of family domestics/paranoia/depression or cry for help" I 

done it because I know the truth and nobody was listening. I also know that if nobody listens then there is no one to help. 

I’m stuck with this FM persecution for life (wish I knew who or why these FM freaks put me on their revenge register). 

Anyway, I decided to try to bring a bit of FM exposure by tying the knife to two balloons. I knew the balloons would get 

carried away with the tide (no evidence)and they would find my body with a slit throat. The Doctor said I was half a centimeter 

away from my aorta. Just to rub salt into my wound, we were stopped by the FM Police on the way back from 

the hospital. Evil bastard gave me a half smile. Do you think the suicide and blame was wrong ? I am already risking my 

life (so are other activists, some lost) for the ignorant masses. 

336 - This is October 2007 and I’m still getting 24/7 FM persecution, I hope to live long enough to get this massive story 

out. Society needs this story badly. You can bring down Freemasonry just by investigating this and other victims stories. 

I will not write about the things I can’t prove. Ideally, it would be better to try these crooks in front of an independent 




court/audience. (+cameras) 

337 - Charity. Here’s another Freemason’s Myth. Their Masonic media say they give lots to charity ???? Yes, to Masonic 

charities. It is a self perpetuating money spinner. You see, the Illuminati own the Media and everything you see, 

read or hear comes from their point of view. So, when they tell you they are a wonderful charitable fraternity of men 

(Yes mate, was that a rasperry or flatulence ? still stinks). Have you got it yet ? Incidentally, I’m entitled to feel angry, 

35 years of persecution and still counting. 

When is the penny going to drop for you ? You just don’t get it, do you ? Your comfort zone cannot last. You have to be 

an idiot to think this problem will go away. You’d better start fighting today or sit and wait for the remote controlled 

planes, too late ? 9/11 

337 - Local guy in professional job meets up with me (off duty ?) and befriends me. I had recocnised him as a FM perp. 

This is what the FMs do, they try to make out everything is normal. We walked the dogs up to where he hadn’t been 

since he was a kid. You wouldn’t have a clue that this evil was wanting close to my conversation and feelings so that he 

could run back to the lodge. This guy also watched some of his accomplices who double park on a bend (stick with me) 

to dish out more FM persecution. 

This person would use the works vehicle and fellow Masons to further psychologically persecute me. I’d love to ask this 

freak about how confident he was, knowing his pretend brothers were there to be his witness, should anything go wrong. 

More 

338 - Another young FM terrorist within the community. Sent to persecute me in summer 200? Got all the info here, 

dates times reg’s and description or was it a photo? Needs further investigation, he’s young and will spend a lifetime doing 

the same to FM victims. Remember that when we produce the evidence, we don’t have to prove nothing, we just locate 

and film/follow him doing his persecution to other FM victims. Also track his future missions/lodge/accomplices/ 

coordinator, etc. (Petrie & Co, See part 11) 

339 - Evil FM professional called me. Price was quoted and agreed. A good job done and this guy just refused to pay me. 

I could not afford to sue him. Another FM lawyer confident of the crooked gang behind him. These bastards abuse their 

power willy nilly. 

340 - We are all over the internet asking for the top Masons to come forward to talk to us in front of live cameras and an 

independent audience. We contacted UGLE (United Grand Lodge Of England) GLOS (Grand Lodge Of Scotland) and 

the top Masons at Rosslyn Chapel, without reply ? This offer is still available. Are there any good Masons out there ? 

Hello ? 

341 - Guy calls me and said his boss (MP) likes what I have put online and could I come to Manchester to pick up some 

cash for our victims group ? He said I could recognise him in a denim jacket with a white carnation on the lapel. So I 

checked online for "Masonic white carnation" and it came up as to be worn only in the lodge. I called him back to say I 

didn’t want Masonic egg on my face. He denied it and started getting a bit ... It’s OK Michael (that’s what he called himself) 

I recorded it for you. Lot’s more 

342 - I recently found out my best mate of 35 years is an evil Mason (another horrible story). That got me right in the pit 

of the gut. 

343 - I meet a guy who runs an injustice group who I think is a fellow victim. So like a fool I trust this guy and find out 

some months later he was a Mason and so was the injustice group This is how the Masons operate, to protect their plunder. 

Lots more 

344 - My teeth were fine and no problems. I left my local dentist to register with a dentist who I thought was OK. He 

gave me three fillings and said I needed three more. Before I had the next three fillings done, I went straight back to my 




old dentist for a check up and they said everything’s fine, we’ll see you in six months ? I later found out this guy is a 

Crooked Freemason. He is still practicing. This evil should be investigated, there must be hundreds of his victims. Plus 

more being done every day. 

345 - My eldest son suffers from Autism and we had a really bad time from social work and had no idea at that time 

about Freemasonry. These crooks played a major part in our family’s persecution. Large story of outrageous corruption. 

This evil uses those closest to you to persecute you. When it comes to money and following orders, Freemasonry knows 

no boundaries. 

346 - The crooked FMs have a profile on everybody. You gave them this information through trust, ie doctors, police, 

councils DWP, etc. These crooks have placemen everywhere in every department you can think of. They know who to 

shaft and when. 

347 - Dave ?effrey. This was the last person I trusted. This is pure evil. I spent two hours in my van telling this guy my 

story of Masonic persecution and we were both in tears. When we got out of the van, he gave me a long hug. This is a 

religious man who always talks about the (Big Man Upstairs) referring to God who will sort this evil out. Guess what, 

this bastard turned out to be a Freemason/Round Table member. Everything I told him went straight back to the lodge. I 

can still hear the Masons laughing. 

349 - We lived in a Masonic Cul De Sac (called Watt Place, very symbolic to FMs) and can tell you hundreds of stories 

with back up (diaries +) including things stolen (this place is safe, you can leave your car doors open all the time) Also 

high number of slow punctures. My immediate neighbour was the brother of the top policeman in Strathclyde, both FMs. 

The Masons know when your house is empty, they have eyes n’ ears everywhere and they track our car and mobile 

phones (each of our phones). I can now clarify hundreds of incidents. I couldn’t understand how I got FM company as 

soon as I took my dogs out. (Peregrine Joe) 

350 - Remember Gollum in (Lord Of The Rings) where he covers his ears and says "not listening, not listening" As long 

as the public keep covering their ears when you mention Freemasons, we’ve got no chance. Listen to us as a group of 

Masonic victims. You had better waken up, this will not go away and it’s going to get seriously worse. The Masons are 

the brainwashed foot-soldiers for The Illuminati (or call them Oil Barons, Bankers or world’s richest families) they are 

Mason’s puppet masters and they have a plan. It’s called the New World Order (or Global Government) and these brainwashed 

Masons WILL follow orders. If you know a Mason and you think they are lovely, wonderul people. Just ask 

yourself where you think their loyalties lie ? To you, the planet or the Brotherhood ? Stop reading this now and join/help/ 

support SF. Do something or the evil FMs win. 

351 - If you do not believe me or you think any of this story is fabricated, then I don’t have a problem to speak the truth 

to any videocam, lie detector or even truth drug (even though the truth drug has serious side effects). I can back up everything 

here and with evidence. Then we will present the next Second Family victim’s story. This is a tiny, tiny fraction 

of my story. Read online. 



The Independent Masonic Magazine – Bringing the best 

information to Mason’s worldwide. 

Keep on Traveling

Jan 2008 - Hawthorne-Fortitude Masonic Lodge No. 200

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