Rough Ashlar No.26: I'm Just Saying!

When Masons begin to concern themselves with how well they themselves are mastering the lessons of the Craft and stop judging Masons of other Obediences, the decline in membership will end. Then, and only then, will Freemasonry prosper.

The sectarian bickering which has become the mainstay of Modern Freemasonry is its own demise. There is an old saying which all who know anything of American history should be familiar, which states "Together we stand, divided we fall." If we cannot learn to ignore minor differences of protocol, nobody has reason to call us anything but old fools.

We are in the 21st Century, folks. When will we begin to wake up and smell the coffee? I'm just saying!

More Visionary Art from Jens Rusch

If you are at all connected to contempory Freemasonry, you are certain to have seen the artwork of Jens Rusch. It has justifiably gained much attention and praise, and he continues to be the most visionary and skilled artists to focus on Masonic themes.

 It's hard to get enough of Jens Rusches art, and and harder still too tear your eyes away from it when you start looking.

So when he contacted me the other day about some of his art that graces the blog page, I asked if I could do a post to highlight his work. He graciously sent me some samples to post. So, I am happily posting some of his wonderful Masonic Art.

I also took the opportunity to visit his website again today. I should note that for those brethren who are unaware of it, Jens also has some amazing non-masonic art.

Do yourself a favor, go check it out. I know he has some good opportunities available for you to own one of his pieces! You should!

Jens was born on April 26, 1950 in the fishing village of Neufeld/Dithmarschen, in Germany. He pursued craft vocational training from 1964 to 1967, and  studied under  the tutorship of Norman Rockwell and Robert Fawcett.

http://www.jens-rusch.de/index.php/Hauptseite

Unrequited Hope: Freemasonry & Spiritualism in Reconstructionist New Orleans

In the Caribbean world and in Brazil, at the least, the encounter between Freemasonry and African Diasporic spiritual traditions and practices sparked interesting and profound exchanges. These took different forms in different places.

 In Hispaniola, after the revolution had transformed Saint Domingue into Haiti, some Masonic rituals found room to invoke the Loa or spirits of Vodou within the lodge. In Cuba, significant elements of Masonic ritual found their way into Palo Congo initiations, and others incorporated African divination into fraternal orders. To this day, the top leadership in Masonic organization are often the leaders of Afro-Cuban religions. In Brazil, there have been close connections between Candomblé and especially Umbanda and Freemasonry.

The connection between Spiritualism (or Spiritism) and Freemasonry is often a bit more subtle. Since Spiritualism is less inclined to iconographic representation than African traditions, (with a few exceptions) the fusion of these traditions tended to be less expressed through ritual merges than in the overlap of memberships and community, which emphasized mutual social and political concerns.

This was especially the case in pre-revolutionary Saint Domingue and in French speaking New Orleans, most notably in the latter during the unfortunately shortlived Reconstructionist period after the US Civil War, when government and the social efforts of the Creole free people of color strived to develop an unprecidented egalitarian society.

Remarkably detailed records of Spiritualist sessions in New Orleans survive, especially from the Cercle Harmonique, an Afro-Creole Spiritualist Circle led by Henri Louis Rey, François "Petit" Dubluclet and J.B. Valmour. Just as before the Civil War French Masons and Spiritualists were often at the forefront of Abolitionism, during Reconstruction they made strong efforts to create a truly egalitarian society. 

These men were both mason and spiritualist and saw both as paths toward individual and collective perfection.

It was unfortunately, the destruction of Reconstruction policies, that undid the efforts of these French-Creole Masons, bringing along with that the supremacy of English language Freemasonry and Jim Crow racial supression.

A few titles may help uncover some of the most interesting Spiritualist and Masonic history in the United States:

Bell, Caryn Cossé. 2004. Revolution, romanticism, and the Afro-Creole protest tradition in Louisiana 1718-1868. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Clark, Emily Suzanne. 2018. Luminous Brotherhood: afro-creole spiritualism in nineteenth-century new orleans. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Daggett, Melissa. 2018. Spiritualism in Nineteenth Century New Orleans: the life and times of henry louis rey. Jackson: Univeristy Press of Mississippi.