The Influence of Freemasonry on Wicca and Paganism

The Square and the Circle: The Influences of Freemasonry on Wicca and Paganism by Payam Nabarz.

I am not in the habit of posting about a book I have not read cover to cover. Further, I am doing so admitting that I have some issues with it thus far. In total fairness and in the desire to meet the demands of full and fair disclosure, this has much more to do with the issues I have with the religious movement(s) of Neopaganism and Wicca. These go back to the time in my youth, from my teens through my 30s, when I was involved in those religions.

While I grew beyond those movements and into others, I fully acknowledge that that is a matter of my own path and not a critique of those religions.

Having said all this, and noting there are approaches in this text that I disagree with, I have to say that I am very pleased to see this text and want to encourage anyone remotely interested in this subject to read this title. I cannot excuse myself for allowing this to go unnoticed by me for nearly a decade. My only excuse is that it has been a hectic decade.

My objections are mostly subjective and will most likely evaporate by the time I finish the book. So, why mention them at all? In part because I have seen masonic authorities behave in very unmasonic ways toward pagans in their midst. This is inexcusable. I want to point out that even when we may have differences, they do not outweigh our need for tolerance and acceptance.

The author clearly has close familiarity with both camps and delves into a detailed and informed comparison of the structural and ritual similarities of the two rites as well as a thoughtful history of their interaction.

While I believe there is room for more work relating to this, I am pleased that Payam Nabarz has offered such a careful introduction to a topic which deserves better understanding. I am certain this book will advance that cause. If I can draw even a couple of new readers to the book or encourage further research, I will be pleased.

A book on the Saints John

I realize it has become traditional to raise the subject of the two Saints John on their feast days, but as much as I love tradition, I also enjoy flaunting it. That may make me a bad mason in some people's eyes, but if it also makes me an interesting one, I'll be content. Regardless, I recently came across this fascinating title and wanted to share a few words about it.

I know it may be trying to push a boulder uphill, but even though they may not be in English, I hope that by exposing an Anglophone Masonic audience to at least a notice about publications in other languages, a taste for exploration may be encouraged.

In any case, here goes.

The Initiatory Festivals of the Two Saint Johns: The ritual doors of the Masonic year

By Jean-Patrick Dubrun

The Masonic tradition has fortunately preserved the commemoration of the festivals of the two Saint Johns. Celebrated during the winter and summer solstices, they punctuate the year and the ritual work of the lodges. The reference to two Christian saints, the Baptist and the Evangelist, should not make us forget what these two festivals owe to the older initiatory traditions, marked by the transmission of the Light and the formulation of the Word. To understand why and how these two special moments of the year that are the two solstices must be ritualized, it is necessary to go back to the thread of the initiatory tradition, which leads in particular to the Roman god Janus, the astrological signs of Cancer and Capricorn, and the principle of the sacralization of time by the rite. The  possession of these traditional keys sheds light on the symbolic figure of the two Johns and makes it clear why their feast consecrates the opening of the ritual doors of the Masonic year.