Virtual Lodge

Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge Library #2

2010-07-09T17:16:00.014+01:00

In my previous post I detailed a brief synopsis of the project to implement a Masonic research library for Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge.

Since the original meeting I have spent a lot of time working with the initial Marc21 catalogue data and tinkering with implementing a discoverable catalogue with VUFind.

As our project team are new to implementing software solutions and with running and implementing a library I have proposed the following solution. As always, I have anonymised names of Brethren, except my own:

Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge

Masonic Research Library

Library Catalogue Proposals

Introduction

The library at Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge has recently been the focus of a project to catalogue all of the items in the cabinets, led by a small team of dedicated volunteers. Estimates are showing that there are somewhere between 2000 and 3000 individual works on the shelves. This project is now looking to embark on a second phase to build upon the outstanding work already achieved.

The aim of the project is to implement a reference library for WPGL; there is no desire to create a lending library and the scope of the project is bound by the pre-requisite that no items are to leave the library room. In order to implement a reference library the items need to be discoverable i.e. an individual looking for a work with a specific title, or by a known author, or pertaining to a specific subject matter should be able to rapidly discover if relevant items are in the library catalogue and moreover, where they are located on the shelves.

Items should be discoverable through various channels. The first priority is for catalogue items to be discoverable within the library room, however it should also be noted that other channels of access are also desirable in the longer term, such as via the WPGL Web Site and possibly via individual lodge web sites also. Therefore solutions in this area need to be flexible enough to work with various channels of access.

Although details of all of the items have now been catalogued, the details are currently captured in hand written logs, MS Word documents, MS Excel spreadsheets and MS Access databases: therefore there needs to be a single, consistent catalogue index of all works in the library. And moving forward there also needs to be a single, consistent, cataloguing approach to update item details and add new items when they are brought into the collection.

Furthermore items on the shelves are in no particular order and there is an aim to classify the stock so that the shelving represents a logical structure.

The proposal below can be thought of as being divided into two concepts:

1) It outlines a number of techniques and strategies employed as standard in both public and academic libraries for the discovery of items in the catalogue, with view of taking some of these concepts and applying them to the WPGL library catalogue and enable a reference library for Masonic research.

2) It also outlines how technology can be used to solve a number of the challenges the library is currently facing so that a high degree of automation can be achieved.

One final and important point of consideration to note is that budget for software, hardware and IT services is not available and that this project is a ‘labour of love’ managed by a dedicated team of volunteers and that software should be sourced from freely available packages and should any hardware be required that this is provided by way of donation to the library.

Background to some library management concepts

The following is a brief summary of some concepts used every day in public and academic libraries in order to manage the business of the library.

Please note, the concept of “circulation” is not considered here because the requirement is to have a reference library only and therefore there will be no borrowers with a library card loaning items. And that “acquisitions” is also not considered here as the library at WPGL is not looking to buy-in and refresh stock on a regular basis from book suppliers.

Cataloguing

Cataloguing is a learned skill of specialist librarians. Cataloguing is a subject that is taught as part of a Library degree and is a skill which is used in almost all libraries and also by book suppliers.

Cataloguing deals with the creation of the details which describe a work, such as the title, author, subject, date of publication etc. There are a vast number of rules which librarians adhere to in order to catalogue stock, these rules have been around since the 1960s and have been through various reviews. For those interested, the rules are currently known as AACR2 and are available from the Library of Congress. However in summary the principles of AACR2 are that when you are cataloguing:

· Describe an ‘item in hand’

· Call it what it calls itself

There are tomes of detail in AACR2 and it takes librarians years to really grasp all of the concepts and the fine grained detail, but in summary, the idea is to catalogue exactly what the book in your hand says about itself and capture as much detail as possible.

Another important concept of cataloguing is the data format which items are catalogued in. To give an example, the WPGL project to-date, has been cataloguing in Excel spreadsheets with defined columns for specific details. The library world goes one step further than this and has developed a data format specifically designed for bibliographic data. For those interested this data format is a standard known as Marc21, it has been around for years and has also gone through various reviews and updates, and the specification is available from the Library of Congress.

Many of the details of Marc21 are handled by library management software and there are a plethora of tools available, many from the Library of Congress, to deal with this data format.

Figure 1: A typical cataloguing tool as used by librarians (this one is biblios.net)

Cataloguing Librarians are all trained to understand Marc21 and are also very passionate about the quality of the records they create and which they share with other libraries. Often the quality of cataloguing done by a librarian is reflected in the Marc21 record they have created.

In order for library software to search and discover items from the catalogue, the records must be in Marc21 format. (For the data that the WPGL has already provided, this has already been converted to Marc21 by some bespoke software created by Andy Latham, for this project).

Moving forward, all data will need to be converted to Marc21 and further cataloguing will need to create Marc21 data automatically.

As the WPGL library is maintained by volunteers and not professional librarians a cataloguing tool will need to be created so that the details of Marc21 and AACR2 will not need to be known in specific detail.

Classification

Library classification is a system of coding and organizing library materials (books, serials, audiovisual materials, computer files, maps, manuscripts etc) according to their subject and allocating a call number to that information resource.

Classification is the true art of a librarian and requires a great deal of skill to open a book and workout what the subject matter is.

The call number is essentially the book’s address in the library. Different subjects are given different numerical codes based on their subject and are then shelved in numerical order of the call number. Often the call number will be stuck onto the binder of the book as a small sticker to aid with shelving (although modern libraries are now using more technical techniques).

A famous classification system is the Dewey Decimal system. In its simplest form this defines what subjects have which number. To give an example, in Dewey, religious books are in the “200” range and a book on “religious ethics” is sub divided into a “205” call number. So it is the role of the librarian to identify that the book in hand is on religious ethics in order to assign it the 205 call number.

The document “Museum and Library – Progress Report” by XXXX, details a “Library Referencing System” which has been “Adapted for use in this Province from the system compiled by A R Hewitt FLA, Librarian and Curator at The United Grand Lodge of England (Revised 1964)”.

This document sets out a classification system which is perfectly suitable to be implemented at WPGL. As WPGL is a specialist Masonic library it requires a classification system which provides specialist subject headings that would not be available in a more general purpose classification scheme such as Dewey Decimal.

So, to give another example, using this Masonic classification system, books which are on the subject of the Holy Royal arch are in the “300 – 450” range and a book on Supreme Grand Chapter history would be subdivided into a call number of “335”. Therefore to use this system the member of the library team would need to be able to open the book in hand and work out that it is about Supreme Grand Chapter history in order to assign it the “335” call number.

LMS and/or ILS

The abbreviation LMS stands for “Library Management System” and is a term commonly used in the UK. The US equivalent is an ILS, or “Integrated Library System”. These terms are often used interchangeably by librarians, but in principle they refer to the same thing.

An LMS/ILS is an enormous (and expensive) collection of software and hardware components which is used by a library to manage all aspects of running the library service. They are provided by specialist IT companies and will deal with all possible aspects of running a library, from ordering new stock from suppliers to allowing borrowers to reserve items for collection and pay library fines etc

Figure 2: A Library Management System (Talis Alto)

It is worth noting that two ‘Open Source’ (free) Library Management Systems are available; one called Koha and another called Evergreen. Both are in use by large public and academic libraries in the US.

As the scope of the WPGL library project is to have a reference library only, then an LMS/ILS is not needed. Implementing an LMS/ILS would be overkill and would possibly complicate the project without any overall benefit.

OPAC

An OPAC, or Online Public Access Catalogue, is a tool which is used for search and discovery of library materials. An OPAC can be thought of as a Google equivalent for library stock. An OPAC is the tool a researcher would use to search the library catalogue for an item and discover if it is available and where it is shelved.

It is quite common for an LMS/ILS to provide an OPAC as part of its portfolio of software components and different companies provide different OPACs with slightly different features and capabilities:

Figure 3: A Library OPAC (Talis Prism at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama)

The United Grand Lodge of England has a library web site and a link to a Web OPAC which they use to search their library catalogue. It appears that their software is provided by a 3^rd party supplier (EOS International):

Figure 4: The Library OPAC at the United Grand Lodge of England

There are sophisticated Open Source (free) Web OPACs which are available. The most popular Open Source OPAC is called Vufind. And as part of this project it is proposed that WPGL implement Vufind as the search and discovery tool. Vufind is more sophisticated than the Web OPAC currently implemented by the UGLE.

The catalogue data provided by WPGL has already been converted into Marc21 and then indexed in Vufind, the following screenshot shows Vufind browsing the dataset that is currently available:

Figure 5: The Vufind OPAC browsing the WPGL catalogue (initial prototype as of May 2010)

Discussion of Proposals

The background covered so far in this paper has suggested some initial ideas and proposals for the library project at the WPGL based on current library concepts and technology that is available. Considering these in isolation:

Proposal 1: A single index of Marc21 bibliographic records

In order to deliver towards the aim of having full search and discovery of the WPGL catalogue, data from various hand written logs need to be digitised. Word documents and spreadsheets need to be converted into Marc21 and loaded into a single index. This data conversion can all be done by Andy Latham.

One of the benefits of storing data in this way is that it can be made available and or donated (should that be a requirement) to other library indexes – such as the one used by the UGLE.

Proposal 2: A cataloguing tool is needed

Once the current set of data is all converted, as per Proposal 1, there needs to be a consistent way to continue with cataloguing the data rather than individual members of the team needing to be concerned with the maintenance of word documents and spreadsheets etc.

An added benefit of having a tool such as this is that it would create Marc21 data automatically and not need to be converted and furthermore that it will automatically be added to the library index. In summary if a new book is catalogued or an existing book is updated then the changes will be immediately available in the catalogue without any delay.

This cataloguing tool needs to be “user friendly”. Most cataloguing tools that are available are designed for specialist librarians to use (as per the one shown in “Figure 1”). Therefore the tool will be intuitive for use by non-specialist librarians but will handle the Marc21 and library index ‘under the bonnet’. This tool can be engineered by Andy Latham.

Proposal 3: Items need to be classified and re-shelved

Although the items in the library have been catalogued, the shelving is still ad-hoc. That said, it is worth noting that items are discoverable in their current form – if you refer back to the Vufind screenshot in Figure 5, you can see that the “Shelf” label is followed up by a number, such as 11.4. This number refers to cabinet 11, shelf 4, in the current library room. Therefore even without a formal classification system there is a non-standard shelving system in place.

However, assuming this isn’t acceptable moving forward, all items will need to be classified according to the classification scheme documented by XXXX. This will be a labour intensive task and there may also be a cost implication for the labels needed for the spines of the books. It is recommended that a classification project has its own plan and objectives as certain things will need to be taken into consideration – such as moving items around and ensuring the catalogue index is kept up to date. Due to the latter it is recommended that this initiative isn’t undertaken until the cataloguing tool (Proposal 2) is available and ready to use.

Proposal 4: Implement the Vufind OPAC

As mentioned above a web OPAC is the standard way for search and discovery of library catalogue. The OPAC could be made available on a computer in the library room and moreover could be made available on-line so that it could be linked to and/or searched from other channels, such as the WPGL Web Site.

As Vufind is an enterprise strength OPAC which is also free of charge it is proposed that this is the tool which is implemented. Other options would be costly.

In order to implement this Andy Latham needs to get a better understanding of the IT infrastructure implemented at The Clarendon Suites, such as internet access points and/or WIFI or any 3^rd party suppliers of IT for the building. Considerations such as back-up and security need to be taken into account and local policies may apply here.

If existing IT infrastructure is limited and local security policies permit, Andy Latham would be happy to donate a DELL Server to WPGL to host the system (although it might be a few years old and out of support from DELL, but still fully functional).

Next Steps

In summary I would see the next steps as:

1. The WPGL library team to review these proposals and agree/disagree with this proposed way forward. Assuming they are agreed:

2. Andy L to begin engineering a cataloguing tool over the summer of 2010

3. Andy L to research the IT infrastructure at The Clarendon Suites

4. The WPGL library team to complete digitising of all catalogue records and supply to Andy L for Marc21 conversion

5. The WPGL library team and Andy L to soft launch the Vufind system and new cataloguing tool for internal use only

6. The WPGL library team to agree and kick-off a classification and re-shelving project using the system implemented in step 5

7. Plan a full launch of the system

Bro. A Latham

Vellum Lodge #5845

Disclaimer

Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge Library #1

2010-06-25T23:38:00.004+01:00

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being invited to assist with the Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge library project. WPGL has an impressive collection of items currently housed in the head quarters, however they are unfortunately largely inaccessible by fellow Bretheren because there currently lacks a system to discover what items are available.

It is a terrible shame that over 3000 Masonic books are sitting there, available for Warwickshire Masons to use, but by large nobody knows they are there.

It is testament therefore to a team of Bretheren of the WPGL who have spent the last couple of years taking charge of this special collection and have been going through the painstaking progress of recording what is actually there living in the cabinets.

However the job of making the collection open, discoverable and available to Warwickshire Freemasons for their own personal perusal and research, is now under way. And the use of IT and digitising the catalogue is the proposed way forward...

I have been invited to my most perfect labour of love, having been asked to help out with the above objective. To break it down, why I am so happy to be involved:

1. I'm a Freemason, I love Freemasonry and it is a very important part of my life

2. I'm a tecchie. I'm a Software Architect by trade, I love Software Engineering and it is both a hobby and a profession for me

3. I'm a closet Masonic historian and researcher. My primary area of reading and personal research, aside from my professional technical interests, is Masonic literature; with a particular emphasis on the historical and esoteric, philosophic and spiritual aspects of Masonry, rather than it's bureaucracy and administration.

4. For the last 5 - 6 years I have been working with Public and Academic libraries and implementing systems for them, therefore I have developed a firm grounding of the library domain

It is my pleasure therefore to embark on assisting the WPGL with the implementation of a system for the reference library and I hope my experience of the library domain, of software and moreover of my own personal desire to use the library for my own research and for the reseach of my fellow Brethren.

I aim to document this project in my blog and track each stage of the project therefore this is the 1st entry on the topic...

Disclaimer

Dan Brown: The Lost Symbol

2009-11-17T10:52:00.002Z

I read the Lost Symbol the day it was published having been waiting in anticipation for it for well over a year. Following on from the Da Vinci Code which caused a right old stir in Catholic circles, I was expecting a complete bashing of Freemasonry and for Dan Brown to stir up the old and ridiculous conspiracies about our ancient and noble order.

However, surprisingly, I found the Lost Symbol to be a 500 page love letter to freemasonry, explaining in excellent terms the real purpose and intentions of The Craft. Of course Dan Brown uses his artistic licence and embellishes upon a number of facts, getting a few things wrong, but all in all painting a nice picture of our order for the layman.

Following publication of the novel, John M Hamill, Director of Special Projects at the United Grand Lodge of England, was very quick to issue the following appraisal:

"Despite all the hype and scare stories circulating on the internet over the last few weeks Dan Brown's new novel far from attacking Freemasonry is actually supportive of it. As a result it is unlikely to start the sort of media frenzy which accompanied the launch of the Da Vinci Code, which was seen by many as a fundamental attack on the foundation of Christianity.

It is the usual Dan Brown formula: the hero, Robert Langdon, is searching for lost Masonic treasure and spends twelve hours being chased round Washington DC, usually in subterranean passages which may or may not exist, by the villain, the police and the "Office of Security" of the CIA. There are the usual bloody murders, explosions and narrow escapes. He is aided in his search by senior members of the Supreme Council 33rd Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the USA, which has its headquarters in a monumental building in Washington DC. The villain is a six foot three, self-castrated body builder whose body is covered with tattoos, most of which are Masonic symbols. He has infiltrated Freemasonry and reached the 33rd degree. He is seeking the "lost symbol" which when it is tattooed on the soft part of his skull will transform him into a powerful angel! Langdon is determined to stop him. Great hokum which Tom Hanks will no doubt enjoy turning into a Hollywood blockbuster!

Early in the novel there is a flashback to Langdon lecturing students on symbolism. One of the students makes disparaging remarks about Freemasonry which causes Langdon to point out to the group that contrary to the mythology Freemasonry is not an organisation to be feared; that Freemasons were much involved in the foundation of the United States; that it fails "the ABC test" and is not a religion; and that it is not exclusive but admits men of all faiths and ethnic and social backgrounds.

As in his previous books, there are facts, half-truths and misleading untruths presented as hard fact. The media picked up one Masonic "fact" which may upset some and certainly got the media going. In the prologue Brown claims that in the 33rd degree the candidate seals his obligation by drinking red wine out of a human skull. Absolute rubbish! His source for this "fact" is a very curious and highly inaccurate American exposure of the Ancient and Accepted Rite rituals published in 1887 by the Revd John Blanchard and given currency in Europe in the 1890s by the writings of the notorious French anti-Masonic writer who used the pen name Leo Taxil.

One major error which will be easily picked up by our American brethren is Brown's claim that the symbol of the 33rd degree - which Brown states is the most potent of Masonic symbols - is a double headed phoenix. Sadly, as all who are in the Rose Croix will know, it is a double headed eagle.

Yesterday (Wednesday, 16th September) the phone lines at Grand Lodge were pretty hot with the media wanting to know our reaction. You could feel the interest drop at the end of the phone line when I said that we had no problems with the book, that it was supportive of Freemasonry and that we would be fascinated to see what effect it had on the number of people contacting Freemasons' Hall and Provincial offices for more information about Freemasonry.

The book is quite a heavy read at times with the plot being held up from time to time by lengthy forays into deciphering symbols, cracking codes (which are relatively easy to break) and philosophising about the tensions between religion and science. There are the usual plot twists but as the reviewer in the Los Angeles Times wrote: ".. it's hard to imagine anyone after reading The Lost Symbol, debating about Freemasonry in Washington DC in the way that people did about Brown's radical vision of Jesus and Mary Magdalene in Da Vinci Code. That book hit a deep cultural nerve for obvious reasons. The Lost Symbol is more like the experience on any roller coaster - thrilling, entertaining and then it's over".

My only disappointment is that I fear that a number of Brethren who read this will not be aware of the deeper spiritual values of our symbols and ritual as correctly portrayed in the book, as the study of our Science (truth) is something which unfortunately takes a back seat to the social (brotherly love) and charitable (relief) aspects of Freemasonry. I find it sad that Brethren prefer to focus more on the colour of their apron as they climb the provincial and grand rank hierarchies rather than focus on the true meaning of the ritual we all spend so much time committing to memory.

I sincerely hope Brethren who were surprised by the esoteric and gnostic portrayal of The Craft in the book will take time to reflect on these more spiritual aspects; as a starter for ten I recommend The Meaning of Masonry, by Walter Wilmshurst which provides an excellent foundation of our philosophy.

Disclaimer

‘Barak Obama's a Freemason’ nonsense

2009-04-17T19:34:00.002+01:00

I see a lot of anti-Masonic goings-on on the web; there are more conspiracy theories out there than you can shake a stick at. Every one of them is the same; badly researched, speculative and downright ill-conceived. Many of them are done by quite intelligent people too, such as David Icke; who to be honest, I really like as a man - he is animated and passionate about his beliefs and research and puts his heart and soul into his life's work; and as an academic I have to admire that. I don't agree with him but I do enjoy his entertaining talks. But still, because Mr. Icke puts so much effort into his research he doesn't anger me. I disagree with his research as he takes tangential paths through his own desire lines of history to fulfil his own agenda and support his own conclusions; he doesn't try to disprove his theories as a serious academic would, but shapes his research in a way to support them.

However there are so many other anti-Masonic, Illuminati nut-jobs out there who have frankly just read the Dan Brown novels and are now convinced Freemasons are to blame for the world's problems. Take this video I spotted on YouTube for example:

This one made me cross, on so many levels.

Firstly, the Obama and Blair handshakes are not Masonic -absolutely no research done there at all. I'm not saying any more on that. They are just handshakes between two blokes! Besides if any of these intelligent men were Freemasons then they would know that the tokens of recognition are not to be used outside of the lodge. Average Jo's like me know that and pay attention to it, so I'm damn sure public figures such as those depicted would certainly make sure they do also.

Secondly, it is well-known that the Church has unfortunately condemned Freemasonry for centuries. To imply that the Pope is a Freemason is oxymoronic and almost laughable.

Thirdly, so what? So what if Blair, Obama, Mc Cain or the Pope were Freemasons? Aside from the latter I don't know whether they are or not. However this would show that they are good men of high moral values of good rapport and who care about their own lives and of the lives of others. Pretty good values for such powerful and influential men I would have thought.

So, to the producers of the video and the idiots who commented on it – firstly, just get a life, stop trying to find someone, or something to blame for the world's problems. There is no Masonic New World Order that you are not privy too. Masons do not meet in secret and discuss how we can create a global fascist state. We are not a secret society. There is no inner-circle that I'm not privy to. We are a bunch of just upright and free men of good rapport and high moral values who strive to better ourselves and help those around us.

And to Mr. Icke, nor do we transform into reptiles in the lodge! LOL.

If you truly want to know about Freemasonry and not speculate or take symbols and historical events out of context then just find a Freemason and ask him (or her) about it. They will be more than happy to tell you all about The Craft and that if you are looking for a conspiracy then you are totally barking up the wrong tree if you think it's hidden in Freemasonry.

The Masonic Ring

2009-04-08T12:28:00.000+01:00

Fabulous song, really brings our the essence of Freemasonry:

A lot going on this week

2009-03-30T12:44:00.002+01:00

I've got a lot going on this week in Masonry...

Tomorrow night I'm off to Warwickshire Installed Masters Lodge to see a demonstration of the Bristol Workings initiation ceremony. By all accounts this is an un-missable piece of masonic theatre, quite spectacular. The way I understand it, the Bristol Workings have remained traditional and not changed in centuries and so I'm really looking forward to a glimpse into the past and see how my brothers from times-past would work the First Degree.

On Friday, it's my big night. Something I've been yearning for for a long long time. I'm finally being raised to Master Mason after having now completed my apprentice and fellow-craft degrees. The Master Mason degree is the 3rd Degree of Craft Freemasonry and I'm delighted that my brothers at Vellum Lodge have deemed me worthy and ready to bestow me this honour. By all accounts it is a faboulous ceremony which i will remember for all of my life; I've done my best to avoid reading about it so as I don't ruin the suprise and can enjoy it in full on the night.

One thing which interests me a great deal is how Masonic traditions are used outside of Masonry. I mentioned before in my visitors speech how gavels are used in court rooms; but it goes beyond that, with phrases such as "on the level" which are purely Masonic, are in use in everyday English. of course the phrase "to be given the third degree" is used to describe 'close interrogation' but etymologically speaking, is a direct reference to the Third Degree of Freemasonry. I don't know whether I should be getting worried :-)

The biggest honour however is that my mentor, proposer, brother and friend, W. Bro Nigel Burton has kindly given me his Master Mason's apron into which I will be invested on the night. This was a lovely suprise and I'm quite honoured.

I'll aim to write up my experience and learnings from the week, both on the Bristol Initiation and my experience of the raising ceremony on Friday... What a great week lies ahead...

Just for fun (3)

2009-03-02T23:01:00.000Z

One last joke from Facebook that tickled me... :-)

A man convicted of murder is about to be executed. He stands in front of the electric chair and stares down at what will end his life. The state executioner asks him if he has any last words. The man thinks for a moment and then says, "Yes, I hate all Masons."

The state's executioner wasn't expecting something so simple and just has to ask, "Why do you hate all Masons?"

"Well, the man I killed was a Mason. The sheriff who arrested me was a Mason. The prosecutor who tried my case was a Mason. The jury who convicted me and sentenced me to die were all Masons. And the judge who passed the sentence was a Mason."

The state executioner nods. "That's a good enough reason, I guess. Are you finished?"

"I am."

The executioner gestures, "Then advance one step with your left foot..."

Just for fun (2)

2009-03-02T22:58:00.001Z

Another gag found over on Facebook :-)

It was a great tragedy when the Lodge burned to the ground. The brothers were having a new lodge built, but in the interim, they had no place to go for regular meetings or degree work. One of the brothers owned a hotel and figured they could use the conference room in his hotel for their meetings. They agreed and met there regularly. Four months pass and a traveling salesman is passing through town and decides to stay at the hotel. As luck would have it, he was checking in on one of the lodge meeting nights. He spied the men in white aprons filing into the conference room and asked the deskclerk, "I say, are those freemasons?" The clerk replied that they were and explained about the lodge burning down and the subsequent use of the hotel for meetings. "Well, said the salesman, "I've been thinking about joining. Do you think it's hard to do so?" The clerk shrugged, "I'd say it's pretty tough. You see that guy standing by the door with a sword? Well, he's been knocking on that door for four months now and they still won't let him in."

Just for fun (1)

2009-03-02T22:55:00.002Z

How many Masons does it take to change a lightbulb?

Three. One to change the bulb, one to read the minutes from the previous changing, and one to sit on the sidelines and complain that this wasn't how they used to change bulbs in his day.

Tee hee :-)

(found over on Facebook)

Inside a Freemasonic Lodge

2009-02-23T11:21:00.002Z

This is a lovely, well made video showing The Freemason Hall, Adelaide. It depicts a very beautiful lodge and is accompanied with a very beautiful sound track too. Hearty congratulations to the brothers who made it...

Masonry a cornerstone of life’s infrastructure

2009-02-20T10:07:00.001Z

The infrastructure of a country is something that as citizen's we rarely consider, holistically. It is fundamental to the stability of a nation, being a horizontal platform for our lives and our society, but it goes on in the background - and our government's role is to keep it all up and running so that we can live and build our vertices on top of it.

A national infrastructure is made up of many different cornerstones; such as the road network; the train lines, the water supply; the electricity grid, the sewerage; the telecommunications network; the economy; health care; homeland security etc etc… Take away any one of these components and the foundation wobbles, not only on a national scale, but on a global scale too. Take away more than one of these core components and you start to become a 3rd/4^th World County with poverty, complete social breakdown, depravity, ubiquitous disease, depression and crime. Each of these cornerstones act as stabilising components in the foundation which holds up the country…

Taking this as a metaphor for life, it can be observed that our own personal lives have an infrastructure too and as individuals I think we rarely consider it, holistically. Our personal infrastructure is a platform for our own stability and growth and it is our role to keep it up and running so that we can build on top of it as a platform. I've recently realised that the importance of taking responsibility for and maintaining my own personal infrastructure is and always should be my primary focus. I am the government of my own life.

A personal infrastructure is also made up of many different cornerstones; such as our families; our relationships; our jobs; our personal finances; our health; our homes and, for some, our spirituality. If you take away anyone of these components, your life wobbles and you are affected severely which unfortunately affects those around you too, who you love. As cornerstones of your life they support each other - and if one goes, they can all start to go as the foundation breaks down. This can lead to loneliness, poverty, depression and complete personal and mental breakdown.

Having recently had a small wobble to three of my personal cornerstones, at the same time, I've come out the other side a better person, having now learnt the hard way the importance of paying attention to, governing and taking responsibility for my own personal infrastructure. But at a time when my cornerstones were falling away I realised truly who my real friends are. Of course my family were supportive and my group of friends too but I realised I had some good friends at work but moreover the brothers from my lodge.

The First Degree Working Tools teach us that part of our lives should be spent "serving a Friend or Brother in time of need". I've learnt that this is not just words but is truly applied and that no matter how lonely you feel, once you are a Freemason, you'll never ever be alone again. When I started this blog one of the questions I asked was "why?". Why did I become a Freemason? I think maybe at the time this was a rhetorical question, but I'm now starting to see that there is an answer:

As I approach my first year anniversary of my time in The Craft so far, looking back, I was interested in Freemasonry, initially from an academic perspective – I still am. But there is so much more to Masonry than fuelling your intellectual prowess. I've learnt that early stone masons were highly skilled in using tools to shape and smooth stone and would take a rough ashlar and smooth it. In the same way I've learned to step back and analysis my own life, see where the rough edges are and put plans in place to smooth them over. Masonry gives you the tools to do this from a personal perspective and teaches you that you need to continue to build and maintain your own personal infrastructure but that you are not alone in doing this and if your cornerstones start to breakdown you are supported as you repair them.

I've now realised that Masonry is now a cornerstone of my own life and a core component of my personal infrastructure. I think my foundation is better and stronger for having Masonry in it and that it supports the other important areas of my life.

My talk has been postponed :-(

2009-02-06T12:15:00.003Z

Unfortunately, due to the appalling bad weather we are having at the moment, our Worshipful Master has regrettably made the decision to cancel the Festive Board this evening and our white table event.

We don't think many will be able to come tonight and our speaker from the RMBI has had to cancel too.

Unfortunately I won't have the opportunity to deliver my talk now, but hopefully at another white table event in the future I will be able to do it.

Well done Moonpig

2009-02-06T11:45:00.003Z

Ok - this isn't very Masonic, but in some ways it is. I'm so used to poor service delivery by companies, call centres, unfriendly staff, going through telephonic menu options for 10 minutes only to be put on hold for half an hour before being cut off...

Often in today's society we'd rather complain than sing someone's praises and I think that is a shame... So on that note...

I ordered a Valentines card for my girlfriend last week using Moonpig. A week later I still haven't had my card through the post so I just called their helpline.

I went straight through to a very friendly advisor. She found my order details in no time at all. She suspected that my card had been lost in the post or delayed due to the bad weather we have been having in England the last week.

Still, even though Moonpig had not done anything wrong she sent my order for re-printing without any argument and without any extra cost. It will be dispatched again this afternoon and I should receive it next Tuesday.

So - well done Moonpig for such excellent customer service. I for one will certainly recommend you to my friends. I wish others could take a leaf out of your book...

A visitors tour of the Masonic Temple

2009-02-02T10:23:00.012Z

I blogged previously that I had been asked to present a tour of the Masonic Temple to visitors and brethren during our next lodge meeting, which is a White Table evening. I am posting here my speech that I will be delivering, whilst walking around the lodge to the different offices. We have got a special dipensation from Grand Lodge to allow visitors to be present in the Temple whilst we are still in our offices and Masonic regalia. We will be closing the lodge in the traditional manner before the DC brings our visitors in. I have annonymised the names of the brethren in the blog posting with XXX but in the actual talk I will be relaying everyone's names and title. This talk is due to be delivered by yours truly on Friday 6th February 2009 at Vellum Lodge:

Ladies and gentlemen visitors and brethren I warmly welcome you to Solihull Masonic Temple and to Vellum lodge. For many of you this will be your first time in a Masonic lodge room and I'm sure at first glance it may appear somewhat strange and confusing as to what everything is here in the room, what all the symbols and artefacts are and moreover why the brethren are stationed at different locations around the perimeter. Over the next ten minutes or so I hope to give you some more insight into the layout of the room and into the different offices and along the way hopefully some more insight into Freemasonry and our customs.

I should say at this stage that nothing here in this room is here by accident; everything has a purpose and a meaning, be it of a practical or a symbolic nature because, after all, you are now sitting in a symbolic recreation of the middle chamber of King Solomon's Temple….!

If you do have any questions as I begin this brief walk around the Temple please feel free to ask or wait till the end or even ask one of the brethren afterwards during our meal.

Freemasonry bases many of its traditions on the practices of the medieval stone masons who build the churches and cathedrals which still stand today and some even say back as far as the great pyramid builders of Ancient Egypt. But in truth the origins of Freemasonry are quite clouded in the vaults of history. In the past stone masons guilds were formed so that only the most skilled workers could work on a construction project. Illiteracy was common and documents non-existent so stone masons would use special tokens and passwords in order to identify themselves as a craftsman.

We as Freemasons, or Free and Accepted Masons or speculative masons are not operative or working stone masons, but use lessons learned from the ancient craft guilds and apply them to moral teachings. We do this in a series of ritualised allegorical role plays for the moral and spiritual development of ourselves with the aim of providing a better contribution to society. The reason you are seated around the perimeter and not facing the front, is because on this chequered floor in front of you is where we go about our ritual and as such the temple is designed with this purpose in mind. You will see as you look around that many of the symbols and artefacts relate to ancient stone masonry.

The Temple is divided into the four main compass points. From east to west and from north to south. Kings Solomon's Temple faced due east in the direction of the rising sun and the lodge room is based upon the passing of the sun, where the Worshipful Master is placed from the east over to the west, where the Senior Warder is seated. There is a clue here why our clock, which you might have thought was broken, is always set to midday. I'll leave this one with you to work out or to ask one of the brethren to explain afterwards.

The officers of the lodge are all seated or standing in designated positions around the temple and all have a duty to perform in our lodge meetings and in our ritual. However outside of formal lodge meetings, officers also have a responsibility. Lodge officers are also the management team of the lodge. Each lodge is run independently, manages its own financial affairs, activities and plans each of the meetings.

As you entered into the Temple the first officer that you passed was XXX, our Tyler. The Tyler is the sword bearing outer guard and remains outside of the lodge when the doors are closed ensuring there is no eavesdropping on the private meeting inside and that only those qualified are allowed entry. The Tyler also prepares candidates for initiation. When Freemasonry first stared in the 1700's meetings we often held in ale houses and often the landlord would be appointed the position of outer guard. In addition XXX has a small business on the side selling polo mints, if you are interested…

When the doors are closed responsibility for guarding the door from the inside falls to XXX, our Inner Guard. This is a position which is shared with the Tyler and all communications from inside to outside of the lodge room during a meeting go between the Inner Guard and the Outer Guard.

The Worshipful Master presides over the meeting & rituals and to his right sits XXX, our Senior Deacon. The Senior Deacon formally assists the Worshipful Master in the meeting by passing messages over to the Senior Warden and also assists candidates around the lodge room during initiation ceremonies.

Our Junior Deacon is XXX and is placed to the right of the Senior Warden and is responsible for many things, including formally assisting the Senior Warden, relaying messages from the Senior Deacon, assisting candidates around the lodge room in certain ceremonies and ensuring only Masons are present.

The Junior Deacon will also display the tracing board to the lodge depending on which degree we are opened in. The tracing boards are these boards which are facing away from you at each of the pedestals. These boards contain drawings of Masonic symbols and are used to describe Masonic allegorical stories teaching spirituality and morality. In the past new Masons would be taught how to draw the tracing boards in chalk on the floor, whilst relaying its description, after which the chalk would be rubbed away. It is considered a great honour and privilege to present a tracing board to a lodge and takes months of work to memorise the ritual for each board.

In the north of the Temple we have XXX who is our lodge secretary. The secretary is responsible for recording the minutes of the meeting and distributing this to the lodge members, for relaying all communications from the Provencal Grand Lodge in Edgbaston and also from Grand Lodge in London. The secretary will also issue all summons' to lodge members for the next meeting.

The secretary is an experienced Mason and a past-Master, however one interesting and famous historical exception to this rule was that of the author and poet Rudyard Kipling, was appointed lodge secretary when he was first made a Mason in India back in 1886, and even recorded the minutes of his own initiation!

In the south of the Temple we have XXX who is our Junior Warden. The Junior Warden is the third principal officer of the lodge and his position must always be filled. The Junior Warden has many responsibilities during the opening and closing of the lodge and also during our ritual ceremonies.

In the west of the Temple we have XXX who is our Senior Warden. The Junior Warden is the second principal officer of the lodge and the Worshipful Master's principal deputy. Again, the Senior Warden has many responsibilities during the opening and closing of the lodge and also during our ritual ceremonies.

And then of course in the east of the Temple, seated in the Chair of King Solomon is our Master XXX. The Master is the most senior officer of the lodge and is always referred to as Worshipful Master. The Worshipful Master directs all of the business of his lodge, both inside and outside of the formal meetings and is vested with considerable powers. He also presides over ritual and ceremonies. The office of Worshipful Master is the highest honour to which a lodge may appoint any of its members and the office is filled by election by a ballot done by the lodge. The term "in the chair" refers to being in the office of Worshipful Master and in the Chair of King Solomon.

It should be noted that the honorific "Worshipful" does not imply that the Master is worshiped. Rather, use of the word implies its original meaning, "to give respect", similar to calling a judge "Your Honour" or a mayor "Honourable". In fact, mayors and judges in parts of England are still called "Worshipful" or "Your Worship." You may have noticed the gavels on each of the pedestals which the principal officers use during the ceremony: the use of the gavel in court rooms today is one of many examples where Freemasonic traditions are used outside of Masonry.

To the left of the Worshipful Master we have XXX who is our Immediate Past Master, having been 'In the Char' as his previous office. The Immediate Past Master is responsible for installing the new Master in the chair and serves as an advisor and assistant to the new Master, providing assistance and advice when necessary from his experience.

Our other senior lodge officers are XXX, who is our Chaplain, XXX, who is our treasurer, XXX who is our Almoner and of course XXX who is our Director of Ceremonies. Over in the corner is XXX who is our Director of Music and organist.

You'll notice that we all wear similar but different regalia. The collars worn by each of the lodge Officers are specific to their office as are the jewels and cuffs worn by other officers. The aprons we wear are highly symbolic and are again based upon the craftsman aprons worn by the medieval stone masons, where they would keep their working tools. The Masonic apron is a very special piece of our attire and are all based on the plain white apron of the Entered Apprentice. As men grow in Masonry and move from Entered Apprentice through to Master Mason and then though the Chair and into Provincial and Grand Lodge offices, the aprons take on more symbols but are all built upon the same Apprentice apron, and is a reminder to all of us of the innocence and purity of the apprentice, and that we all started from this level ourselves.

Of course after all of this information you'll be interested to know who is in charge of the wine at the meal. This is myself and XXX. We are the lodge Stewards and assist in helping out with whatever needs to be done, but our main responsibility is ensuring your glasses are filled and that you thoroughly enjoy the festive board.

So on that note, I would like to thank you for your kind attention. I hope this has given you some insight into our lodge and our offices and l look forward to any questions either now or afterwards during the meal. Thank you.

-Bro. Andy Latham

January 2008

The Digital Freemason

2008-12-24T17:17:00.000Z

I just wanted to give a big shout out to one of my favourite Freemason sites on the web - The Digital Freemason! I found Bro. Scott Blasken’s site well before I became a Freemason and listened to his podcasts on my journey into deciding whether Freemasonry was for me. I’m still a regular subscriber and listen with interest and fascination to all of the wonderful podcasts he produces. My iPod is now filled with the Masonic lessons and teachings he had to offer us. So I just wanted to thank him for his efforts and to congratulate him on a wonderful dose of Freemasonic educational papers delivered in a wonderfully accessible format. I heartily recommend it to anyone who is interested.

Freemasonry Parts One & Two

2008-12-24T14:15:00.000Z

The following are the two parts of a documentary I like to watch once in a while on the history and some of the conspiracies against Freemasonry.

I should point out that no-one really knows the origins of The Craft, there are many theories out there ranging from good techical research (such as The Hiram Key book and the series which followed) to the utterly bizzare nonsence prescribed by David Icke.

I quite enjoy seeing how other people view The Craft and some of their preconceived ideas, of course I don't agree with all of this and over time aim to challenge the conpiracy theorists out there. But all in all these documentaries are good to watch and are interesting all the same.

Freemasonry Part One:

Freemasonry Part Two:

An opportunity...

2008-12-24T09:27:00.000Z

I was overjoyed to get a call from our Worshipful Master the other night asking me if I’d give a talk to some visitors at our next lodge meeting in February. As we spoke more I realised that it is a little bit more daunting than first impressions gave me. We are having a White Table evening and had planned to have a lady from the RMBI give us a talk on the charity. However she is unable to attend and we have a 15 minute slot in the agenda for the evening where we had planned to bring our non-Masonic friends and guests into the lodge room to hear the RMBI lady speak.

My WM’s idea then is that the officers and wardens stay in their positions and stations in the lodge room following our meeting and I invite the guests in to sit around the perimeter with the other brethren and spend 10 to 15 minutes explaining the layout of lodge room and who the different officers are and what their roles in the lodge are.

This is quite an opportunity for me as I’m the lowest ranking member of the lodge, having only been passed to Fellowcraft in November. I've also been chomping at the bit to do something like this for months and so I'm really pleased my WM thinks I'm ready and able.

Therefore, I’m going to put a lot of effort into preparing this talk. I think it would be a shame to explain fact after fact to our visitors about the lodge room and the offices without giving some insight into masonry and the background to the symbology. So it’s going to be a tough task, getting this speech written as I need to fulfil the objective the Worshipful Master has set me but I want to wrap the talk in a bow of enthusiasm for Masonry, throw in some history, some trivia, some interesting facts – make it entertaining for all present, Masons and the non-Masons.

I’ve got some time off work over Christmas an New Year and so I’m going to try to get down to the library to surround myself with all things Masonic to get me in the zone and hopefully prepare an exciting talk for the guests to our lodge.

I’ll post it up here when I’ve got it written and rehearsed…

Disclaimer

2008-12-23T16:17:00.000Z

I should point out that all views on this blog are personal and by no means a reflection of the views of The United Grand Lodge of England, The Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire or any of my brothers in my lodge in Solihull or any other Masons for that matter.

I've been a Freemason for a very short period of time and am certainly not as experienced in The Craft as the other members of my lodge, but see Masonry as a learning experience. I'm sure to get things wrong once in a while as I continue to research and experience Freemasonry, so if I do say something which isn't copybook correct and in accordance with the UGLE then that is a failure on my part and should not be taken as a view upheld by the UGLE. However I am using this blog as an aid in my own research into The Craft, so in the words of the great Albert Einstien:

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? "

Women and Freemasonry

2008-12-23T10:59:00.003Z

So, I thought I’d tackle this one head on and attempt to clear up some myths and rumours about women and Freemasonry. Since becoming a Freemason I’ve certainly experienced a lot of deep intakes of breath, head shaking, disapproving looks and discontent from female friends about my involvement with The Craft. My girlfriend on the other hand doesn’t appear to mind (even though she thinks it’s a bit weird and that we wear wizard hats for some reason ;-) ) So I’m going to be brave and look at this subject in a tad more depth. Does being a Freemason make me a male chauvinist, does it make me a sexist? I honesty do not believe it does, as in my heart I am neither of these and I come from a generation of young men where male & female equality is accepted.

Firstly, I’ll clear up the first myth – WOMEN CAN BE FREEMASONS. If a lady would like to become a Freemason then there is no stopping her and she can join the order and experience the same Masonic experiences and life as a male Freemason.

Freemasonry is not just one order. There are a few different Freemasonic orders around the globe with different Grand Lodges, different charters and different constitutions. Traditional Freemasonry, of which I am a member, is the largest Masonic order in the world and is a male only society. However the Order of Women Freemasons was founded in 1908 and is still going strong today and is a female only society. There is another order, called co-freemasonry, or to give it it’s full title, the International Order of Co-Freemasonry Le Droit Humain and was founded in France in the mid-nineteenth century. Co-freemasonry admits both men and women together.

There are other Freemasonic orders spotted around the globe which have different Grand Lodges, some which are male only too. However not all lodges are recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England, the OWF and Le Droit Humain being just two of them. This means that I am not allowed to visit their lodges and they are not allowed to visit mine. However I know brethren who are married to lady Freemasons, and so rules aside it still works out practically and male and female Freemasons can live in harmony with each other.

So why don’t we recognise these orders? Freemasonry is very very traditional, which I will come back to later on. Many Grand Lodges believe that certain other orders break the Masonic Landmarks, or the ‘ancient and unchangeable precepts of Masonry’. And so before I visit a lodge in another country, for example, I need to go and check with the Provincial Grand Secretary to see if I’m visiting a recognised lodge. The point I’m making is that it is not just women’s lodges we are not allowed to visit, there are other male and mixed lodges around the globe which I can’t officially visit too – and of course, visa versa.

Freemasonry is not the only single sex organisation out there either, there are male only clubs like The Rotary and The Buffaloes and of course women-only societies exist too, such as Women’s Institute. All of these have a good place in society and allow men and women to socialise and do fund raising etc in a healthy environment.

Back on the subject of tradition, one of the reasons I enjoy The Craft is because of its traditional values. We live in a world with dummed-down media, political correctness coming out of our ears, a nanny state government that tries to wrap us up in cotton wool, gangs of chavs & pikeys on every urban corner armed and ready to gauge war on each other for breaching their ill-defined turf postcodes; child pregnancy, low education standards, binge drinking & drug use, all on the rise… . As David Cameron puts it, we live in a “broken society”, which needs fixing. It is quite a remarkable breath of fresh air for me to, once or twice a month to step off the streets, out of modern society for a few hours to surround myself in a traditional and somewhat ‘old-fashioned’ setting, away from computers, mobile phones, traffic jams & the general hullabaloo and pressures of modern life. Where I enter into a world where we make an effort to dress smartly for each other, to be cleanly shaved, to have polite and intellectual conversations, to adhere to good manners in all respects, to avoid using bad language, to raise toasts to one another and above all to be at harmony with a bunch of guys, with strong moral values who don’t have fixed agendas and just want everyone to do well and support each other when times are good or when times are bad, with no back stabbing or bitterness. So I make no apologies for Freemasonry being traditional and I actively encourage it as it is a welcome relief from our broken society – maybe society could learn from our traditional values? (but that is a whole different subject to tackle).

So taking this notion of tradition and applying it to the topic of women and freemasonry, we can see that when Freemasonry was started, women certainly had a different place in society and moreover traditional stonemasons (upon whom us speculative Masons base our practices) for the same reasons, were all male. Please see the official “Your Questions Answered” paper from the United Grand Lodge of England, which states:

“Traditionally, Freemasonry under the United Grand Lodge of England has been restricted to men. The early stonemasons were all male, and when Freemasonry was organising, the position of women in society was different from today. If women wish to join Freemasonry,there are two separate Grand Lodges in England restricted to women only. “

I should point out that I am a strong supporter of male and female equality and am appalled at the way women were treated over the years when I look back at the history books, especially by The Church, but also in public society and in the home – unfortunately there are still cultures in the world today where women are still treated as second class citizens, which I find abhorrent. I applaud the great feminists who over the years and especially in the 1960’s have repositioned women as equal to men in society (I’m not being naïve and assuming full equality exists, as I still see sexism today, especially in business when some men are threatened by intelligent women).

So, the difficult question this has been leading up to, “If I believe in male & female equality, why do I not want women admitted to my lodge?”

I personally do not see this as a political correctness contradiction. I do not want the traditional aspects of my lodge to be changed as I celebrate and enjoy the tradition. Unfortunately the male only tradition was started on a foundation of a different society when women had a different position - and I can’t do anything about that. However, society has moved on in this respect. Freemasonry has also made progress, seeing the creation of the OWF and Le Droit Humain. I personally enjoy the male only company and socialising with my male peers. I also believe it is healthy for my relationship to have some ‘bloke time’ away from my girlfriend in the same way she needs her ‘girl time’ with her friends. To give another example, I’m personally not a massive football fan and many of my friends enjoy doing their male bonding by going to see a match every Saturday together, I personally just go to the lodge. We as Freemasons ensure that women are not excluded from the lodge either and upon joining the lodge Past Masters will endeavour to ensure that your wife or partner is supportive of you joining and a few times a year we have social events where ladies are welcomed with open arms and are treated to a good dose of old fashioned chivalry and respect from a bunch of gentlemen who take their coats, pull their chairs out for them, open doors for them, stand when they stand from the table, fill their glasses first etc etc – and from my experience to date, the ladies thoroughly enjoy and welcome this gentry attention. There is nothing misogynistic about Freemasonry.

So to summarise - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I don't see this aspect of Freemasonry as being broken, so I don't see any need for us to make radical steps to change our traditions and begin allowing ladies to join our lodge as Freemasons.

Banquet Night, by Brother Rudyard Kipling

2008-11-01T09:14:00.000Z

I visited Faith and Hope Lodge on Tuesday evening at the kind invitation of Worshipful Brother John to attend a lecture called "Beyond The Craft". However, more of that in a later post. Following the lecture we were given an excellent rendition of "Banquet Night" by Brother Ruyard Kipling, which I've reproduced here without permission:

"Once in so often," King Solomon said,

Watching his quarrymen drill the stone,

"We will curb our garlic and wine and bread

And banquet together beneath my Throne,

And all Brethren shall come to that mess

As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."

"Send a swift shallop to Hiram of Tyre,

Felling and floating our beautiful trees,

Say that the Brethren and I desire

Talk with our Brethren who use the seas.

And we shall be happy to meet them at mess

As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."

"Carry this message to Hiram Abif-

Excellent master of forge and mine :-

I and the Brethren would like it if

He and the Brethren will come to dine

(Garments from Bozrah or morning-dress)

As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."

"God gave the Cedar their place-

Also the Bramble, the Fig and the Thorn-

But that is no reason to black a man's face

Because he is not what he hasn't been born.

And, as touching the Temple, I hold and profess

We are Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."

So it was ordered and so it was done,

And the hewers of wood and the Masons of Mark,

With foc'sle hands of Sidon run

And Navy Lords from the ROYAL ARK,

Came and sat down and were merry at mess

As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less.

The Quarries are hotter than Hiram's forge,

No one is safe from the dog-whip's reach.

It's mostly snowing up Lebanon gorge,

And it's always blowing off Joppa beach;

But once in so often, the messenger brings

Solomon's mandate : "Forget these things!

Brother to Beggars and Fellow to Kings,

Companion of Princes-forget these things!

Fellow-Craftsmen, forget these things!"

Virtual Lodge, TODO list...

2008-11-01T08:51:00.000Z

I've got so many ideas for posts that I thought I begin by creating myself a random TODO list so I can track what I'm thinking of blogging about. In my head at the moment I have:

Freemasonry and younger brethren- why in this day and age would a young man become a Freemason?
Freemasonry and religion
Freemasonry and women
Conspiracies about Freemasonry
The Library at Warwickshire PGL
My advancements in the Craft
Log of experiences and lessons learned in different meetings, visits & rehearsals
Other masonic orders and non-masonic organisations and societies
Interesting videos, pictures and articles I've spotted around the web
The spiritual aspects of masonry
Learning ritual
Masonic history
Freemasonry and science
Masonic writings and poems
Freemasonry and the so called "secrets"
Lessons learned from different lodge offices
Masonic books and reviews
Anti-masonic writings, talks, videos and opinions
Freemasonry and charity

That'll do for now... hopefully that should help me keep on track and focus my thoughts and efforts...

Lodge Number One, The North Pole

2008-11-01T08:50:00.002Z

I love this Masonic festive poem, which I'm hoping to perform at this years Christmas lunch at my mother lodge (Vellum 5845), should our Worshipful Master afford me the privilege.

I found it on one of my favourite Masonic sites, The Digital Freemason. It was written by an unknown Brother. Therefore I'm reproducing it here without permission:

'Twas the Night before Christmas, and down at the

lodge not a gavel was stirring, and in the hodge-podge.

Of aprons and jewels and chairs East and West

You could savour the silence, most gladly divest

All metal and mineral, it mattered not,

Since Christmas was nigh and the coals were still hot.

In the hearth of your homeplace, all Masons abed,

As visions of trestleboards danced in their head;

When up on the roof there arose such a clatter

Our Tyler jumped up to see what was the matter!

He picked up his sword and ran fast to the door,

Three knocks shook the panels - he wondered 'What for?'

He answered the knocking with raps of his own,

And once the door opened he saw, with a moan

Of delight it was Santa, all jolly and red

Except for one notable feature instead!

Upon his large finger he wore what we knew

Was compass and square on a background of blue!

'Why Santa!' he shouted and lowered his blade,

'I see you're a Mason!' the Tiler relayed.

He looked toward the Master's most dignified chair

And said, voice near trembling, 'Most Worshipful there

Is a Gentleman properly clothed at the gate!'

The Master replied, 'Let's allow him - but wait!

You tell me a Gentleman, but I don't see

His Apron beneath that red suit, can it be

Our visitor hasn't been properly raised?

Must we offer a test that is suitably phrased?

'I do beg your pardon,' ol' Santa said quick

As he pulled up his coat and displayed not a stick

But a cane with engraving, two balls did appear

And oh, what an apron, he wore and held dear!

Adorned like the Master's, complete with a sign

Of "Lodge Number One, the North Pole" on one line!

"Now let this man enter," the Master declared,

And once in the Lodge room, the Brethren all stared,

For Santa was wearing a jewel not seen

For many a century - there in between

The fur of his coat and the splendid red collar

Gleamed two golden reindeer that shone line a dollar!

"It's Donner and Blitzen, who I must confess

"Are actually images brought from the West

By my Warden, a craftsman like none in the world!"

And with a great laugh from his bag he unfurled

An ear of fine corn, and some oil from the East,

"My friend I have plenty, tonight we will feast

On all that is good! We are Masons, kind sir!"

A murmur went throughout the Lodge, quite a stir,

As presents and promises flew from his sack!

This Santa, a Mason, showed he had a knack

For making this Christmas the best you could glean,

And soon even Deacons were laughing, they'd seen

On this very night only happiness reigned!

This jolly Saint Nicholas quickly explained

That only a Mason could be so inclined

To make all kids happy, make all people find

A Christmas so special, yes, Santa was right!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Let me Initiate you into the Mysteries of Freemasonry

2008-10-16T21:01:00.000+01:00

At 6.00pm on Friday 7th March 2008, I stood poor and penniless facing a closed door. My sole companion was a sword bearing, apron wearing gentleman who was doing his utmost to make me feel at ease and comfortable with my unnatural circumstances:

At 6.00pm on Friday 7th March 2008, I was wearing only my plain black shoes and socks, my black beltless trousers, my best white business shirt; no watch; no wallet and no glasses.

My sword bearing brother, Peter The Tyler, had divested me of all metal, had instructed me to expose my right arm, the left hand side of my chest and my left knee. I had removed my right shoe and had adorned a simple black slipper in it's place; a black blindfold delved me into darkness and I felt my mysterious companion put something around my neck.

Three knocks shook the panels of the door; I felt the it open in front of me and was aware of an open space and a many onlookers; a sharp point pushed against my exposed chest. Seeking light, I voluntary entered

Soon after 6.00pm on Friday 7th March 2008, my heart pounding in my chest, I was made a Freemason.

Why?

I've created this blog to ponder upon this question and morover to explore, muse, log my experiences, research and more than anything express my zeal and passion for the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, of which I am now a proud member.

Welcome to Virtual Lodge.

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