Masonas. Historia de la masonería femenina - New Book on Feminine Freemasonry

Masonas. Historia de la masonería femenina by Yolanda Alba (5 mar 2014)

Freemasonry, as a method of knowledge, claims ancient roots, but their societies were, with a few exceptions, predominantly male until 1770 when the Grand Lodge of the Grand Orient in France created the rite of adoption, allowing the participation of women. This crystallized one of the most important moments for society and may be viewed as an early development of a revolution that would upset the established social order: the emancipation of women. In this work, Yolanda Alba provides a fascinating journey through the historical process that led to women of differing social statures  to enlist in an influential organization which is still  poorly understood, often marked by prejudice and obscurantism.

Yolanda Alba is a journalist, translator and editor. She began publishing in Pueblo before graduating in Information Sciences at the Complutense. Afterwards she worked for El País, leaving there to work in the cabinet of Minister Alberdi. Since then, she has worked for UNESCO,  as the director of The Bulletin, a trilingual publication on women's rights in the Mediterranean. She was founder of the Forum of Women Journalists of the Mediterranean, vice president of the European Network of Female Journalists; has published poetry, essays and novels. In 1998 she received the UNESCO Marseille Literary Excellence Award.



EUR 16,15

Masonas-Historia-masonería-femenina on Amazon.es

Book Review: The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters by Lilith Mahmud

The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Gender, Secrecy, and Fraternity in Italian Masonic Lodges
by Lilith Mahmud

Other books, notably those of Karen Kidd, have dealt with the subject of Women in Freemasonry, mostly but not exclusively in the English speaking world. This work examines material not as widely known in the Anglophone world. Lilith Mahmud, a talented scholar, takes us into the world of female Freemasons in Italian Freemasonry. It is a title that will inform and challenge the reader.

From the publisher's comments:

From its traces in cryptic images on the dollar bill to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Freemasonry has long been one of the most romanticized secret societies in the world. But a simple fact escapes most depictions of this elite brotherhood: There are women Freemasons, too. In this groundbreaking ethnography, Lilith Mahmud takes readers inside Masonic lodges in contemporary Italy, where she observes the many ritualistic and fraternal bonds forged among women initiates of this elite and esoteric society.

Offering a tantalizing look behind lodge doors, The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters unveils a complex culture of discretion in which Freemasons simultaneously reveal some truths and hide others. Women—one of Freemasonry’s best-kept secrets—are often upper class and highly educated but paradoxically antifeminist, and their self-cultivation through the Masonic path is an effort to embrace the deeply gendered ideals of fraternity. Mahmud unravels this contradiction at the heart of Freemasonry: how it was at once responsible for many of the egalitarian concepts of the Enlightenment and yet has always been, and in Italy still remains, extremely exclusive.  The result is not only a thrilling look at an unfamiliar—and surprisingly influential—world, but a reevaluation altogether of the modern values and ideals that we now take for granted.

Publication: New Sources on Women and Freemasonry

New Sources on Women and Freemasonry

Vol. 1 No. 1 of Ritual Secrecy, and Civil Society

Edited and Introduced by Pierre Mollier

There has been a great lack in international scholarship concerned with ritual and secrecy because so much of the good work is being done in languages that the mono-lingual English-speaking world has no idea exist. The strength of the articles in this collection will come as a considerable surprise even to experts in the field, because the research in Europe is very advanced and frankly is of such high quality that those who are not linguists should look to their laurels. Much is being done in discovering un-mined material in archives and the selections for this volume are a feast of new bibliographical references.


http://westphaliapress.org/2013/07/15/new-sources-on-women-and-freemasonry/

Feminine Grand Lodge of Romania

Marea Lojă Feminină a României

On March 1st the Feminine Grand Lodge of Romania celebrated the 92nd anniversary of its founding. In 1922, Colonel John T. Ulica 33 ° 99 °, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Romania granted full autonomy to women to form a Grand Lodge of Feminine Freemasonry. The Feminine Grand Lodge of Romania thus became, an organization exclusively for women and was the first Feminine Grand Lodge anywhere to practice the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

Best wishes to the sisters for another 92!


http://www.mlfr.org.ro/


Thanks to FenixNews and

Venerable Sister Olga Vallejo Rueda
Suprema Comendadora at Sublime Consejo del Rito Moderno para el Ecuador

Grande Oriente Feminino do Brasil

Grande Oriente Feminino do Brasil

Lodges Exclusively for Women.

The GOF of Brazil's main work is in Brazil, because they are Brazilian, but they maintain Masonic ties of amity around the world including with lodges existing inPortugal, France, England, and Greece.

Their Flagship Lodge is located in the capital state of São Paulo, but they have lodges across the country, in cities where they originally founded Masonic Triangles that are meeting places of Masons.

Besides their established lodges they also have twelve Masonic triangles across the country which in the future will be exclusive lodges for women Freemasons.

Their secretary of chancery and inquiries for joining Freemasonry is located in the city of Campinas, SP.

The GOF of Brazil notes that Freemasonry is not a religion, cult, or anything like that, nor is it connected to such institutions or practices. They are a civic entity and they do nothing hidden if they keep secrets it is part of their organization free of corruption and selfishness. 

The secrets of Freemasonry are spoken as words at meetings; only those knowing the passwords may enter. Someone who might try to infiltrate or are without our principles of loyalty, honesty, and service to others will not be admitted to meetings.

Their Grand Mistress, the Serenissima Sr Collins Lu states,

"If I need to define what is a Freemason would say that someone is committed to honesty, so are we." — Lu Collins ஃ 

    

http://www.maconariafeminina.org.br/

Freemasons: Masters in Africa

It should come as no surprise that whether as a legacy of colonization or viewed as a return to it's birthplace, Freemasonry has spread throughout Africa.

Freemasonry has always fascinated Africans, particularly south of the Sahara, where initiation, esoteric worldviews akin to Hermeticism and rites of passage are the basis of community life. Although found in Anglophone Africa, in Francophone Africa the fraternity of "sons of light" has long been at the heart of what was called Françafrique. Whether leftist and right wing, many leaders of France's African policy were Freemasons. Diagne in the early 1920s until more recently Omar Bongo - who was the most famous African insiders have been active in the growth of the craft in Africa. A complex of mutual dependence where one can not distinguish what is lobbying, comprehensive insurance or pure spirituality, Freemasonry serves as many roles in the mother continent as it does elsewhere in the world.

This relative opacity that obscures rivalry as well as the amazing pageantry symbolic science of "three brothers" have led many fantasy wizards fan the flames of " Masonic conspiracy "that haunted Felix Houphouet-Boigny in the early 1960s. The high ranking involvement of Gabon's Omar Bongo, as with Côte d'Ivoire's Henri Konan Bedie, made it impossible to be influential in Libreville and Abidjan without being a mason. Freemasonry whether viewed as totem or taboo was absolutely essential to survival. What about today in the age of the Internet? The brotherhood of aprons, white gloves, squares and pillars of the temple is more than ever a path that works.

In the 1930s in Ghana, a Masonic lodge known as the Good templars was photographed by J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije. I have found no other information about them, but even in relative anonymity, they speak profoundly of the way in which Freemasonry, born out of Egyptian Hermeticism, and interpreted for centuries through the lens of European intellectualism and esotericism, was none the less evoked a strong sense of belonging to Africans across the continent.

Present but unobtrusive, in a "philosophical school" traditionally considered macho and on a continent where feminism is hardly viewed with respect, obediences which admit women have none the less found their space. Masonry where diversity is accepted - such as Le Droit Humain- but also in various lodges created by the Feminine Grand Lodge of France (GLFF), which opened lodges in seven African countries has grown. Madagascar even has a national obedience which is specifically feminine, the Great Malagasy Women's Rite. As their "sisters" of France, African Feminine masons are distinguished by their strong commitment to certain principles, such as defense of secularism and promoting women's rights, including the right to abortion.

Lodges of Ireland

It's been quite a while since the Hedgemason has last highlighted a piece of literal architecture.

My wife, who is Cuban, pointed out that I have given too much attention to Cuba on my blog even though I am Irish. As always, I bow to the wisdom of "She who must be obeyed" and went straight to work to provide a brief and admittedly incomplete entry on some random lodges in Ireland that happened to catch my fancy. I hope you all enjoy.


Inch Island in Donegal is a remarkable place. In addition to having been home to both Catholic and Protestant communities since the 1700s, it has played a role in Irish political and cultural history, and still does. Today, the Inch House Irish Studies Centre, a center for visiting University programs from around the world, inhabits a home built in the late 1600s for a local landlord. Here we see a photo of the old Inch Masonic Lodge.

The lodge looks quite forlorn; being overgrown with furze bushes and ivy overtaking its slate roof shingles. Rest assured that the masons in Inch have more comfortable if not quite so picaresque accommodations in a newer and more ample lodge building. The Lodge itself was founded in 1781 and as some residents of the area played not insubstantial roles in the Fenian uprising of the period, it stands to reason that the local masons most likely played a part in that sadly failed attempt at gaining liberty for Ireland.

Although the old lodge does not look like much today, we can catch a hint of its former beauty from this stained glass window which was formerly a part of the lodge.
It is important to consider, when we look at Lodges in Ireland, especially those from this period, that our conceptions about political and religious divisions in contemporary Ireland are not as accurate as we believe. The Society of United Irishmen (Cumann na hÉireannaigh Aontaithe) was founded as a liberal political organisation in eighteenth century Ireland that sought Parliamentary reform. However, it evolved into a revolutionary republican organisation, inspired by the American Revolution and allied with Revolutionary France. It launched the Irish Rebellion of 1798 (The Fenian Uprising) with the objective of ending British monarchical rule over Ireland and founding an independent Irish republic. The leader of this movement was Theobald Wolfe Tone, a Belfast Protestant, and as recent research has amply demonstrated, the Freemasons quite often supported efforts at achieving the goal of an independent Ireland. One result of this failed revolution was the institution of a national school system throughout Ireland dividing its youth by religious affiliation and teaching separate histories of Ireland to Protest and Catholic in a rather successful attempt at creating internal strife. This belies the real history, especially of Ulster. For example, in 1865, the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Ulster (now Northern Ireland) recommended that the students in the Presbyterian Seminary be instructed in the Irish language as the majority of its members in the rural areas spoke only Irish Gaelic and knew little or no English. In 1911, the census for Ireland documented that one hundred years ago there were as many Irish speakers on the Shankill Road as there were on the Falls Road. Shankhill was a stronghold of the Protestant community while the Falls Road was Catholic.

In keeping with this contradiction of the modern fault lines in Irish society, we find a grave stone from the old cemetery of Kildemock, Co. Louth. County Louth is one of the counties of the Province of Ulster which became part of the Irish Free State when the Island was divided early in the last century. This ancient stone, shows masonic and catholic symbols side by side on one stone. The Gravestone bears the name of Morgan, a mason who died in 1791. The Archaeologist, Robert M. Chapple, speculates that he may have been either a warden or the master of the local lodge. Someone should see if any lodge records can shed light on this.

Moving to the beauty of County Down, St. Patrick's Masonic Lodge No. 77 founded in 1737 in Newry, Co. Down has been meeting in this building since 1887. The Hall is shared with 5 other Craft Lodges as well as various other branches of Freemasonry. It is also home to Newry Masonic Social Club which is open to members 6 nights a week and hosts many functions throughout the year.
One of the more impressive lodge buildings in Ulster is that of Harmony Lodge 586 Enniskillen
Irish Constitution. Antient Free and Accepted Masons in the Provence of Tyrone & Fermanagh.

Here we see it on a day that is remarkably clear skied for Enniskillen. I do not wish to demean the fair city of Enniskillen, but I have never been there when it wasn't raining cats and dogs. Of course, I've only been there in November or December, so I shouldn't be surprised. The welcome which the residents offer more than makes up for the weather, though. Masonic Lodges in Enniskillen date back to 19th June 1733, when Warrant No. 17 was issued. There are currently 12 Lodges working in Co. Fermanagh, 6 of which are in Enniskillen. In the Province of Tyrone & Fermanagh there are currently 41 Lodges working.

Now we will move on, as I do not wish to give the impression either that I am biased or that there are only Masonic Lodges in Ulster. So, our next image is of Freemason's Hall at 17 Molesworth Street, in the capital city of Dublin. Situated in the heart of Old Dublin. Home of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, it was designed by the architect Edward Holmes of Birmingham and completed in 1866 on the site of the townhouse of the first grandmaster, the Earl of Rosse. The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as the oldest reference to Grand Lodge of Ireland comes from the Dublin Weekly Journal of 26 June 1725. This describes a meeting of the Grand Lodge to install the new Grand Master, the 1st Earl of Rosse, on June 24. The Grand Lodge has jurisdiction over 13 Provincial Grand Lodges covering all the Freemasons of the island of Ireland, and another 12 provinces worldwide.

There is considerable evidence of Masonic Lodges meeting in Ireland prior to the 18th century. The story of the Lady Freemason, Elizabeth St Leger, dates to a time prior to the existence of the Grand Lodge, also there are references to Lodge meetings across Dublin in a speech given in Trinity College, Dublin as far back as 1688. The oldest artifact of Fraternal Masonry in Ireland, and one of the oldest masonic artifacts in the world is the Baal's Bridge Square, which dates from 1507. Here, we see the preserved apron which belonged to Elizabeth St. Leger. A fascinating account of her life and entrance into the craft is provided by Karen Kidd in her book entitled "Haunted Chambers: The Lives of Early Women Freemasons." Elizabeth St. Leger was recognized throughout her life as a Freemason, and when she died the Square and Compass were engraved on her tombstone. History does not record that there were any objections.

Lest we be accused of ignoring the Province of Munster, I've included a photo of a Masonic Hall in the city of Cork. This building has been the headquarters for Freemasonry in the province of Munster since 1844. It was built c. 1770, in the then recently developed Tuckey's Street (1761) and is shown on a city map of 1771. In 1844, the First Lodge of Ireland purchased the entire building for its use, and that of the quarterly general meeting of the province. In 1925, when all other city lodges came together at this premises, the top floor was added to provide additional capacity. The stalls and panelling in the Lodge Room were taken from St. Fin Barre's Cathedral in 1866 and are about 300 years old.

Initiating Women in Freemasonry: The Adoption Rite

Initiating Women in Freemasonry: The Adoption Rite
By Jan A.M. Snoek

Freemasonry is generally regarded a male phenomenon. Yet, both before 1723 and since 1744, women were initiated as well. This book is about the rituals, used for the initiation of women in the Adoption Lodges, since the middle of the 18th century. It describes their contents, roots and creation before reviewing and conceptualising their development in the past three centuries. It analyses the different families of rituals within the Adoption Rite, and gives an overview of specific developments, showing how the rituals were adapted to their changing contexts. Apart from its relevance for the history of Freemasonry in general and the Adoption Rite in particular, the book also writes a hitherto unknown chapter of women’s history. Of particular interest for the history of feminism is the chapter about the 20th century, which could only be written now that the documents concerning it, which had been moved to Moscow in 1945, had been returned in 2000.

Dr. Jan Snoek, Ph.D. (1987) in the Sciences of Religions, University of Leiden (The Netherlands), is attached to the Institute for the Sciences of Religions at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), and has published widely about the development of masonic rituals. With Jens Kreinath and Michael Stausberg he published Theorizing Rituals (two volumes), Brill 2006 & 2007, and with Alexandra Heidle Women’s Agency and Rituals in Mixed and Female Masonic Orders, Brill 2008.

What can we say about Brill as a publisher? They amaze us constantly for the unique subjects of the material they select, the quality of their authors, and their outrageously steep prices, even for academic publishers. The SRP for this title is $237.00, a bargain at $2.30 per page.

Conference: History of Feminine Freemasonry

La Gran Logia Feminina de España is hosting a conference on Thursday, Feb. 16th, 2012, at Club La Provincia c/Leon y Castillo, 39, Las Palmas, under the direction of Ana María Lorente Madina, Gran Maestra de la Gran Logia Feminina de España with a special presentation by Carmen Morales Camino.

The Hedge Mason endeavors to help make North American Freemasons aware of what is happening in other parts of the Masonic world. That is an exposure which is sorely wanting, and we try to serve this need to whatever small degree we may.