A Random Sampling of Some (Relatively) Recent Academic Articles on Freemasonry

For far too long, as far as scholarship was concerned, Freemasonry was left to its own devices. While this no doubt pleased some within Freemasonry for whom outside opinions were not welcome, it did Freemasonry a great disservice. Now and then, some farsighted academic would take an interest and write on the subject, but by and large academia considered it a subject not worth investigation.

The result of this neglect was that on the one hand, little objective research into the origins or the societal impact of Freemasonry existed of any professional calibre. On the other hand, it also allowed fable, myth, and too often, outright lies to take the place of knowledge. The truth of this can be seen that today, in that at least in Anglophone circles, what passes for scholarship, with a few worthy exceptions, remains the pseudo-scholarship of 19th century authors who were themselves Freemasons, and frequently invested in either establishing the status quo or maintaining it. 

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 

Today, we are on the verge of a monumental change. In the past couple of decades, some adventurous scholars have begun to turn their eyes toward the fraternity, and it is now the subject of a small but growing scholarly study, which is itself beginning to take on the shape of a discipline. It is to be hoped that before long we will see stable departments where such scholarship is a serious academic focus. Keep on eye on UCLA, for one. 

There are great benefits in this for Freemasonry, but as with all growth, there will be some inevitable discomfort. For one, Freemasons will have to recognize that myth will no longer be acceptable as an alternative to documentable fact. At least a few treasured beliefs about the history of Freemasonry will be jettisoned, to be replaced by hard, modern research. While this may be extremely uncomfortable for some, it results in more light. I have always, at least after becoming a reasoning adult, responded to emotional resistance to better understanding of a subject by pointing out that shedding light on historical reality is a worthy, even necessary thing, and it does not decrease the value of what we cherish, if we can also analyze it soberly.

With that in mind, I want to open a small window onto this scholarship by highlighting some relatively recent academic articles which touch on the subject of Freemasonry. They are very diverse, and some represent micro examinations of one or another aspect of Freemasonry. They were specifically chosen, not to touch necessary on topics that would revolutionize our thought on Freemasonry, although some may do exactly that, but rather to demonstrate the diversity of subjects that are coming out of this new scrutiny of fraternal organizations, their role and impact on society, and society's impact upon them. They also do not include some of the larger names in this field of study, as I wanted to highlight some things that might have escaped general attention. This sampling is also miniscule. It doesn't even represent the tip of the iceberg. The idea is to incite some curiosity rather than to serve as a guide to a broad picture of what current scholarship is producing.

As always, there are likely to be a variety of reactions and responses to such attention. While some will doubtlessly react negatively, it should be remembered that such a response will not slow down a process which is by now well underway. I think it wiser, and certainly healthier, to embrace what we cannot resist and enjoy this remarkable moment in time. We will emerge on the other side with a far better understanding of our own traditions and practices, and a renewed appreciation for the impact Freemasonry has had upon the world. 

If you're not afraid to face the eye of the storm, and want some small insight into what is bound to reach our Masonic shores before long, read on.

"Making Degenerates into Men" by Doing Shots, Breaking Plates, and Embracing Brothers in Eighteenth-Century Freemasonry
Heather Morrison
Journal of Social History
Vol. 46, No. 1 (Fall 2012) (pp. 48-65)
Oxford University Press
This article explores the significance behind ritual celebrations depicted in the published drinking songs and toasts that emanated from a freemasonic lodge active in the early 1780s in Vienna. Bacchanalian overindulgence within the exclusive association aimed to create a fraternity that would act together to bring progress to Habsburg lands. Publication of their celebrations aimed to bring the same benefits to the rest of the western world. By excluding women, by acting like apes, by singing and chanting formulaic verses while ritually eating and drinking, men became part of a community and found a new identity. Drunken homosocial celebration provided the antidote to the constructed problem of a contemporary society still dominated by aristocratic women or religious institutions. Masons believed their lodge provided them freedom from societal constraints and a social transparency necessary to uncovering a more natural self. The tension inherent in the form of masculinity in the Viennese lodge's songs and toasts, whereby what may be termed the "high" and the "low" mixed, was the basis of freemasonry's appeal and effectiveness. Belly laughter and base behavior were by no means oppositional to a rational program of societal reform. Through these drinking songs and ritual practices, the association emphasized self-improvement and moral development. Publication of their celebrations aimed to bring the same benefits to the rest of the western world. In a time of transformation in social practices and hierarchies, freemasonry taught brothers how to behave as men amongst fellow men and with women. The idealistic intellectual and bacchanalian sociable masculinities combined to allow members to articulate new measures of social worth.

The Bygmester, His Geamatron, and the Triumphs of the Craftygild: "Finnegans Wake" and the Art of Freemasonry
Laura Peterson
James Joyce Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 4, Finnegans Wake Issue (Summer, 1990), pp. 777-792
Published by: University of Tulsa

One of the most curious of the many claims made by some Masons about their Craft is that it, like the Hebrew Kabbalah to which it is united, harks back in human history to the creation of the world and the Garden of Eden (as does Finnegans Wake). Also like the Wake, Freemasonry is a compendium of personalities, history, religion, and lore, based on certain unifying principles more easily discernible than those of Joyce's last novel, but irrevocably allied to many of those same principles. Like the Wake, Masonry is cosmic; both the book's and Masonry's inner secrets are known only to persistent initiates. However, there is enough exoteric Masonic material readily available to allow the uninitiated inquirer to trace Joyce's journey through it.

Jayhawker Fraternities: Masons, Klansmen and Kansas in the 1920s
Kristofer Allerfeldt
Journal of American Studies, Vol. 46, No. 4 (November 2012), pp. 1035-1053
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Association for American Studies


In the 1920s, like most of the rest of the nation Kansas found itself the target of the attentions of the KKK. One of its main ways of recruiting was via existing fraternities. Using new archival material this article investigates the response of one of the leading fraternities of the times — the Masons. What emerges is a picture of mixed responses — ranging from mutual hostility to active Klan recruitment within Masonic lodges. In many ways Kansas can be seen as a microcosm of the nation, and as such this study can add to our understanding of what drove up to 10 million American men and women to join this mysterious and now hated body.

"That Grand Primeval and Fundamental Religion": The Transformation of Freemasonry into a British Imperial Cult
Vahid Fozdar
Journal of World History, Vol. 22, No. 3 (September 2011), pp. 493-525
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press


In light of recent research on the role of Protestant Christianity in the British Empire, this article explores the possibility that the British actually carried to India a "religion" besides Protestantism, something that mimicked a religion so closely that it could virtually serve as an alternative to Christianity for purposes of imperial consolidation— namely, Freemasonry. The article posits that British Freemasonry, although it emerged from a Christian environment, progressively de-Christianized itself in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and increasingly espoused a religious universalism, which in turn allowed it to serve as an institutionalized, quasi-official, and de facto "civil religion" for the British Empire in India.

John Marrant and the Meaning of Early Black Freemasonry
Peter P. Hinks
Source: The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 64, No. 1, Free to Enslave: Politics
and the Escalation of Britain's Translantic (Jan., 2007), pp. 105-116

ON June 24, 1789, at the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, one of the most important days in the Masonic calendar, the Reverend John Marrant, chaplain of Boston's African Lodge no. 459 of Freemasons, delivered a momentous sermon at Mr. Vinal's school in the South End before an audience of black and white Masons as well as non-Masons. Marrant's oration occupies a preeminent place in the history of Freemasonry among African Americans. It was the first printed formal address before the first African Lodge and among the first printed works by an African American in the late eighteenth century.
Marrant's oration broached racial prejudice and slavery in America and condemned them as the antithesis of the fellowship and benevolence Freemasons cherished. More significantly, the sermon identified and extolled the meaningfulness of the African Lodge's founding and the relationship it bore to the deepest virtues and origins of not only Freemasonry but also Christianity as well-virtues and origins that Marrant would clarify in novel contexts.

Other Rites: Parfait Maître Irlandais - Leçons

Leçons - Lectures

Q. Are you a Perfect Irish Master?
A. Interrogate me and my answers will make you recognize me.
Q. How have you been announced in lodge?
A. By four knocks.
Q. Whom did you meet at the door of the lodge?
A. The brother Junior-Warden, who awaited me in order to instruct me.
Q. What did he teach you?

A. He let me know the excellence of this degree and the duty which it requires.
Q. Who introduced you?
A. The Senior Warden.
Q. Where did he place you?
A. In the West of the lodge.
Q. What did he do with you?
A. He had me put the right knee on the floor and made me pronounce the word: Givi.
Q. What signifies this word?
A. Bend the knees.
Q. What did the Very Perfect Illustrious answer?
A. Ki.
Q. What does this word signify?
A. Rise.
Q. What did the Senior Warden then do?
A. He placed a drawn sword under my chin and made me perambulate four times around the lodge, which is the emblem of the temple of Solomon.
Q. Why did you have a drawn sword under the chin?
A. To recall my first obligation and to show that I had rather have my tongue cut out than reveal the secrets, which were confided to me.
Q. What do the four perambulations you have to make signify?
A. The four ages of Man: his birth, his adolescence, his old age and his death.
Q. How did you arrive at the base of the throne of the Very Perfect Illustrious?
A. By four measured steps, which brought me to the four parts of the temple.
Q. What does this step signify?
A. The entire inspection we have over all workmen and the works of the temple and the lodge.
Q. What did the Very Perfect Illustrious do with you?
A. Upon the testimony he received about my zeal, he received me Prevost and Judge over all workmen and then gave me possession of the heart of Hiram.
Q. What did he give to you after this?
A. A golden key, the attribute of my degree, a Sign, A Token, and two Words.
Q. What is the purpose of the key?
A. To open the case of ebony in order to take out the designs.
Q. How do the Perfect Irish Masters wear this key?
A. They wear it hanging on a ribbon of a fiery colour.
Q. What does it signify?
A. That only we know the place where the heart of Hiram reposes.
Q. Where does it repose?
A. In a golden urn, closed and placed under the secind step of the middle chanber when mounting.
Q. How do you have yourself made known as a Perfect Irish Master?
A. By my Sign, Words, and Token.
Q. Give them to me!
A. Here they are ... he gives them.
Q. What did you perceive on entering the lodge?
A. The knotted cord placed in the form of a canopy under which hung a case of ebony wood and a triangle surrounding a Gஃ and an Aஃ intertwined,
Q. What does the case contain?
A. All of the plans and designs of the lodge.
Q. What do the two letters Gஃ and Aஃ signify?
A. That God has been the Geometrist and the Architect of His temple bu the designs with which He inspired Solomon.
Q. What more did you see?
A. A key, a balance, and different letters of which the meaning is known to me.
Q. What does the balance signify?
A. The exactitude with which we have to fulfil our functions: being committed to ending the strife which may occur between the workmen.
Q. What do the letters JஃHஃSஃ signify?
A. The first is the initial of the Great Architect of the Universe, the second that of the Architect of the temple and the third that of the Master, who as the first discovered the corpse of Hiram.
Q. Where were you placed?
A. In the middle chamber.
Q. On what did you work?
A. On the tomb of Hiram.
Q. Where was he buried?
A. In the sanctuary of the temple.
Q. What is the purpose of the pouch you wear on your apron?
A. To contain the designs which the Masters have to take the proportions of, on the drawing-boards.
Q. What do the red, blue, and black rosettes signify?
A. The red represents the blood Hiram shed, the blue the fidelity of the Perfect Irish Masters and the black the mourning of the true Masters the death of our Worshipful Master Hiram.
Q. How many lights are there in the lodge of the Perfect Irish Masters?
A. Sixteen.
Q. How are they placed?
A. By fours, on the four cardinal points of the Tracing Board of the lodge.
Q. What is your age?
A. Sixty four years or the square number of four times four.
Q. What is the hour?
A. The night did already proceed.

After this answer the Very Perfect Illustrious gives four knocks as before with his mallet on the altar, which serve as a signal to all of the brethren to rise and to stand to order. After the wardens have repeated them on their own mallets, the Very Perfect Illustrious says to the whole assembly: My brethren, it is time to leave the work, the lodge of the Perfect Irish Masters is closed. Let us do our duty by four times four. The wardens repeat the same thing and all give together the Sign, clap sixteen times, by four times four as before, with their hands. When this is done they embrace each other. Then the alms-box for the poor circulates and after the usual banquet each retires in peace.

~Finis~

Other Rites: Le Parfait Maître Irlandais

Somewhere in the nineteenth century, a creeping  amnesia came across the Americas and it was known by the name of Preston-Webb. I will readily admit my bias in regards to ritual. Before I even began to wrestle with the myriad ethical and procedural disappointments which mainstream Freemasonry represents to me,  I found myself aesthetically disenchanted with its foundational ritual. In all fairness, there is nothing wrong with the Preston-Webb rituals. It is perhaps unfair to call them the "white bread" of Masonic rituals although I read or heard some mainstream mason describe them that way. I understand a bit of the history of the adoption of Preston-Webb rituals in North America and it is completely appropriate that a person sees the beauty in those traditions with which they are accustomed. My critique is simply based upon a personal aesthetic which values variety.

That there are a host of good reasons for people to be exposed to the rich and varied range of rituals which we all as masons can claim as our heritage. It is another reason why I view regularity and its raft of offensive descriptions of the "Masonic other" to be perhaps the most serious flaw in our society. It separates and robs people of their rightful heritage which should comprise all of Freemasonry. The issue of maintaining secrecy and restricting access to your own rituals is understandable and grounded in a variety of esoteric issues, despite some masons' desire to deny that there exists an esoteric component to freemasonry. However, apart from in North America, almost all rituals are readily available to Mason and Non-Mason alike. The important secrets do not lie in the words of the initiation, but rather its legitimate experience, and that, no administrative body or Grand Lodge controls.

The isolation which is typical of North American Freemasonry often includes a lack of even the most basic familiarity with other forms of ritual apart from the fairly homogenized Anglo-American forms. I hope this short presentation of an important 18th Century Higher Degree ritual translated from the French will serve to whet the appetite of those North Americans who have not included this aspect of masonic study in their own education to date. Apart from the fact that it is a glaring gap in their education, I believe that most who explore this subject will find it not only valuable but quite enjoyable.  Because of the length of this ritual, and its attendant lesson, it will be posted in two entries.

Le Parfait Maître Irlandais or the Perfect Irish Master

In the early years of Freemasonry in France, the higher grades began to develop primarily under the influence of the Jacobite followers of the Stuart Kings in Exile who had been defeated by the Hanoverian pretenders to the throne in the Islands. While these grades eventually came to be identified primarily with the Scottish, before the rise in popularity of Scottish or Ecossais masonry, a number of Irish degrees had circulated in France. This is not surprising when one considers that there were many Irish and Scottish soldiers and aristocrats who had been forced into exile in France, Spain, and Italy. Over time, the Irish component became incorporated into developing systems which subsequently came to be called Scottish or Ecossais. One such degree is that which is called the Perfect Irish Master which follows. The version presented here comes from a translation of the Cayers Maçonniques: Rituals of the Lodge of Perfection by Gerry L. Prinsen. 

This degree was the 7th Degree in a system including the the first three degrees, which in essence is a version of that Rite most commonly known today as Morin's Lodge of the Royal Secret, the immediate predecessor to the Modern Scottish Rite.

Decoration of the lodge

The lodge shall be decorated in blue, as are the altar and the throne, with curtains in which hang cords, all spread with golden stars. Under the canopy must hang a case of ebony wood and a triangle next to it. It encloses the letter Gஃ and Aஃ intertwined. At the other side, the letters JஃHஃSஃ, also intertwined. It is lighted by sixteen lights placed in fours on the four corners of the tracing board, which represents the Temple of Hiram and the unfinished tomb of Hiram. With the title of Very Perfect Illustrious he holds in his right hand the royal baton and is, as are all brethren, decorated with a pair of gloves and an apron of white leather doubled and trimmed with red, the apron decorated in the centre with a small pouch of the same colour, accompanied by three rossettes placed in a triangle with the point raised: one red, one blue, and one black. In the center is the picture of a case of ebony wood. Besides this he and all the brethren are decorated with a large collar of a fiery colour to which hangs a golden key. The golden key of the Master should be enclosed by a triangle of the same metal and accompanied by the letter Gஃ and Aஃ at each side. Regarding his apron, his gloves and his collar, they are all trimmed with golden lace and fringes.

The Senior Warden us at the West and the Junior Warden outside the lodge in order to wait for and instruct the candidate on the excellence of the degree he is going to receive, as well as on the duties he is going to take. Everything thus arranged the lodge is opened as follows.

Opening of the Lodge

The Very Perfect Illustrious, having assured himself of the dorrs being tyled and of all brethren being masons, gives four knocks with his mallet on the altar in this manner: • • ... • •, which ser as a signal to all brethren to rise and to stand to order. The wardens having repeated same with their own mallets, the Very Perfect Illustrious asks some questions from the catechism to the senior warden and ends by saying
Q. What is the hour, my brother?
A. Six or seven o'clock.
Q Why do you so answer thus?
A. Because the truth of the Very Illustrious Prefect Irish Master has to be made known at all hours of the day.

After this answer the Very Perfect Illustrious says to the whole assembly: My brethren, let us set to work, we shall have the visit of our deacons. The lodge of Perfect Irish Masters is opened, let us do our duty. The Senior Warden repeats the same to the two columns, they all give the Sign, the claps each with sixteen knocks, by four times four as before, with their hands. Then each resumes his place and the proceed to the initiation as follow.

Initiation

When the lodge has been opened, the Brother Preparer, on the order of the Very Perfect Illustrious, leaves and goes to see the candidate in the chamber of preperation. There he takes from him his sword and all offensive and defensive weapons. Being disarmed he has him decorate himself with the attributes of the last degree he has acquired and then conducts him with free sight to the dorr of the lodge., where he finds the Junior Warden, who as was said before, instructs him about the excellence of this degree and also about the duties he is going to assume. When the candidate is instructed thus, the Junior Warden gives four knocks as before on the door of the lodge. The Senior Warden having heard them informs the Very Perfect Illustrious, who orders him to see who knocks thus.

This brother goes immediately to the door, where he gives four knocks and then opens the door and says to the Junior Warden:
Q. What do you demand, my brother?
A. It is a Master, who desires to be initiated as a Perfect Irish Master.
Q Is he worthy of this?
A. Yes.

Upon this answer he closes the door, returns to his place and gives the answer of the Junior Warden: A Very Perfect Illustrious, who has asked the candidate whether he be assured that he was worthy of it. Having heard that the answer is yes, the Very Perfect Illustrious says to him: let him enter. This brother goes to the door again, where he knocks as before, upon which he opens and receives the candidate from the hands of the Junior Warden. He introduces him into the West of the lodge, where he has him say: 'Givi', upon which he has him kneel on the right knee. In that posture the Very Perfect Illustrious takes the word and prounces: 'Ki'.

Upon that answer the Senior Warden has the candidate rise and then places a drawn sword across his throat and subsequently has him thus make four times the perambulation in the lodge. Upon his return to the West he has him advance by four great steps to the East, the right foot behind the left leg forming the figure 4. In that posture the Very Perfect Illustrious has him place his right hand on the Volume of the Sacred Law and says to him: It is with joy that I recompense your zeal for Freemasonry and your attachment to Masons by constituting you Prevost and Judge over all workmen of this illustrious lodge. Assured as we are of your discretion, we shall not make any difficulty in confiding to you our most interesting secrets. May the peaceful Genius, who presides over our order procure you, by the will of the Supreme Being, source of perfection,  the same fervour for the degree to which we are going to elevate you, that you had for those or have for them. You will partake in the possession of the heart of Hiram, which we preserve in a golden urn since we discovered him assassinated. Try to have sufficient firmness not to divulge what is going to be confided to you about this degree, even if you are forced by the most terrible torments. Please Answer.
A. I assure this on the same oaths I contracted on entering the order and promise to render justice to all my brethren.

After this answer the Very Perfect Illustrious has him rise and pass to his right side, where he gives him a knock with his royal baton on each shoulder, saying to him: By the authority I have received and the unanimous consent of this august assembly I receive you as a Perfect Irish Master. While saying these things he decorates him with gloves, apron, collar and jewel of which the description was given above. Having decorated him thus, he embraces him and gives him the Sign, Words and Token as will follow.

The Sign is given by forming with the thumb and index of the right hand a square and bringing it to the chin as if to support it.  The answer to this Sign is by supporting the nose with the two middle fingers of the right hand in the form of compasses.

The Token is given by knocking once with the end of the little finger on that of the examinator, who will answer by two and so on.

The Sacred Word is Tito and the password is Xinchen, which is spelled as that of an Apprentice.

After the Very Perfect Illustrious has given to the candidate the Sign, Words, and Token, he sends him out to have himself recognized as Perfect Irish Master to the whole lodge, which is done. Upon his return he has him take a seat among the brethren. When the initiation is concluded he proceeds to the lecture as follows.

The Lecture will follow in the next Posting. 

Happy Holidays!

"The Swedish Masonic Presence in the Caribbean and the Importance of New Academic Research" or "How Real Masonic Historical Research bypassed the Twentieth Century."

Without solid contemporary scholarship, our knowledge of Masonic history is limited to myths, legends, and the fairytales representing what one Grand Lodge or another wants us to think. Without critical analysis and access to original sources, there is and can be no credible Masonic history. Gould, Pike, and McClennen may have served in the relatively benighted 19th Century, but they are woefully outdated and their flaws are all too obvious to anyone familiar with modern scholarly disciplines.

Fortunately, a new day is dawning. Indeed it has dawned, and there are studious and serious scholars looking under all the rough ashlars of what passed for Masonic history until recently.

One source of solid and absolutely fascinating information is REHMLAC - Revista de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería. REHMLAC casts a wide net, publishing articles in several languages, although with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, English, French, and Spanish predominate.  One fascinating article included in their inaugural issue (2009) was notable for several reasons. The first was that the topic is one most would not expect to find in relation to the Caribbean, that of Swedish Freemasonry. The other was the high standard it marked at the outset, the article being written by none other than Andreas Önnerfors.  The article is entited "Swedish Freemasonry in the Caribbean: How St. Barthélemy turned into an Island of the IXth Province." The article focuses on the establishment of freemasonry on St. Barthélemy, its connections to the Swedish Grand Lodge, its membership structure and activities mainly between 1797 and 1807. The author notes that there are plenty of documents which describe ritual work, organisation and ideology. These connections have hitherto never been analysed and the paper presented for the first time source material from the Archive of the Swedish Order of Freemasons on the lodge La Sudermanie in the capital of the island, Gustavia.

This periodical covers many other topics, some of which are perhaps less surprising, but all of which shed real light upon what really was happening in the Masonic world of the past two to three hundred years. It definitely sheds light on what Grandpa didn't say about Freemasonry. 

Articles include subjects such as "The Caribbean space: a key to power in the French Freemasonry," "Masonic Symbolism in the Cemetery of Colon" (in Cuba), as well as topics covering Mexico, Central and South America, and the influence of these forces on the Freemasonry of the United States, which wasn't in as much of a vacuum as it appears to be today.

REHMLAC is just one of a number of sources for new, solid academic research which is clearing the dust off of our conceptions of what Freemasonic history really comprises, of what the truths of the past were and how they sometimes look very different from what we were led to believe. Dare to explore!

An introduction to REHMLAC may be had through their website, http://rehmlac.com/  and they are sponsored by La Universidad de Costa Rica. 

Go have a look, Grandpa probably never had a clue...

The International Academy of the V º Order of the Modern Rite: On the claims of a Dutch Chapter of the Modern French Rite named De Roos

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY of the    V º ORDER of the MODERN RITE: The Dutch Chapter of the Modern French Rite: De Roos

We are happy to offer this innovative work by Brother Jean van Win on the degree of continuity within the Orders of Wisdom of the French Rite, that is the first to be translated into Castilian (and now English) in an thoughtful manner, and it is appropriate to examine some theories that argue, for example from the article by Paul Leblanc and others, defending the continuity of the Orders of Wisdom through the Chapter of the Roos patent.

This is a question that the Brother and member of the International Academy Of Modern Rite V° Union of Universal Masonic Modern Rite, addresses directly in his work including correspondence with the leaders of the French Rite in France.

We will let you dear readers, draw your own conclusions: ...

Victor Guerra. Director of the Academy.

Several authors have claimed in numerous places that the awakening of the Orders of Wisdom of the French Rite, occurred in Europe through the Channel in the Netherlands.

This beautiful, romantic and seductive story was summarized by the Most Illustrious Brother Pierre Petitjean on July 37th 2006 issue of La Chaine d 'Union [1], page 79 et seq, and the content will analyze and comment during the this study.

I. History and Legend

The standard account.

"By the mid-nineteenth century, Chapters working in the French Rite, disappeared ... The reawakening will take place one hundred years later, thanks to the tenacity of fifteen brothers belonging to the Grand Orient of France ... Who joined the Chapter De Roos in The Hague (Netherlands), the last French Chapter in Europe, and requested a Letter Patent to establish in Paris on November 30, 1963, a new chapter to be called Jean-Théophile Desaguliers... "

Here are the most significant excerpts of the column recorded taken in opening this chapter:

"In the year 1963, the 30th of the eighth month of the True Light 5963, on the feast of St. Andrew of Scotland (30 November of the Christian era) fifteen Eagle Knights,Freemasons Perfect and Perfect Sovereign Princes of the Rose Croix, met in the Valley of Paris, Oriente de Heredom , which corresponds to the Zenith, in a very strong, very remote, well covered in which Faith, Hope and Charity reigned (13 villa des Acacias, 9 Bd Jean Mermoz in Neuilly-sur-Seine, at 10 am in the morning).

"These fifteen Knights, members of the Sovereign Chapter De Roos, Valley of The Hague, are, in alphabetical order of their names the Brothers Paul A., Edouard F., Serge D., Pierre F., Jean F.; Jacques G., Pierre M., Vincent P., Pierre R, Albert R., Hartmut S., Christian V., all initiated within that Chapter, Rene and Jacques M. Guilly, regular members within this Chapter; Henri van Praag, Perfect Master Founder [2] and support of this Chapter. Also present are the H. CJR, visiting fellow at the Sovereign Chapter De Roos, Valle de la Hague. The Throne of Wisdom is occupied by the Most Illustrious Brother van Praag, the oldest [3]. "

"The Most Wise and Perfect Master Henri van Praag states that it has received a formal request emanating from the fifteen knights present that day, and members of the Sovereign Chapter of Roos in the Valley of The Hague, expressing their desire to practice in the Valley of Paris and within a Sovereign French Chapter, under the distinctive title of Jean-Théophile Desaguliers, four degrees which were dear to them: the Elus, Scottish Knight of the East, and Sovereign Prince Rose Croix ....

The Most Wise and Perfect Master, under the ancient privileges of the Sovereign Princes of the Rose Croix, Knight of the Eagle, Perfect Freemasons, then declares formed in the Valley of Paris, the day of Saint Andrew of Scotland, the Sovereign Chapter Jean Théophile Desaguliers'.

"The importance of this creation can only be understood by placing it in the context of the long history of the French Rite. As he said later, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of this Chapter, the BAF [4] Roger Dachez: "What may seem like the beginning of an adventure is really the termination of a long journey" That adventure- it was, and we expect it will be forever, lasted for about ten years, and originated, it is obvious, within the so-called historical cradle of the French Rite, ie in the Grand Orient of France "[...].

"For the Brothers of the Restored French Rite Modern, with its beginnings in the sixties, many of whom had reached the 18 degree ∞ of the AASR, and would only be satisfied with similar titles through any available source through the awakening of the High Grades of the French Rite regardless of their place of origin. For the GODF, that seemed difficult to accept Masonically speaking."

The imaginary myth

It appears then that Providence, of which Chamfort said there was nothing more than the baptismal name of chance ... The contacts were incidental to it [5] with the Most Wise and Perfect Master of a Chapter, which we can only call a "Masonic fossil" the Chapter De Roos, which the French had established under the first Empire annexed in Holland, when The Hague was the capitol of the department of Bouches-de-la-Meuse, unaware of the authority of the Grand Masonic Orient of France.

"That French Chapter French survived, time had not destroyed it and it still existed in the mid-twentieth century, never having ceased to exist, unaware that he had become the latest conservatory of the High Grades of the French Rite."

"As was said at that time, the educated elite of the Netherlands, was very fond of talking and cultivate the French language. The Very Wise himself served as professorto the chapter. The link was established easily[6] and the rest continued without difficulty, and the brothers were received in the fourth order in The Hague a few months later. The Sovereign Jean Théophile Desaguliers French Chapter was founded in Neuilly, immediately assuming the natural function as a 'Metropolitan Chapter for France "and from that time took the tough task of bearing for many years, the flame and flag of the Orders of the Chapter of the French Rite. "

"Chapter De Roos, for a long time haD not worked more than on the Fourth Order, giving the first three orders by communication, which the Brothers of the Sovereign Jean-ThÈophile Desaguliers Chapter evidently did not want to do."

This story, totally mythical as we will endeavor to demonstrate, is inconsistent with the version recounted by the two main protagonists at the time: Rene Jacques Martin [7] and RenÈ Guilly. In particular, the contacts made by chance, and the link made easily, ans we have outlined above, indicate the establishment of a recent relationship.

I've had the good fortune of having known and visited with the two authors, and have exchanged with each of them extensive correspondence which allows us to see beyond the myth, and establish the historical reality of the these important events and to clarify the actual facts concerning the Renaissance of the Modern French Rite in Europe.

Note first of all, a significant gap in the story of Brother Roger Dachez. Nothing has been said about the existence of a Chapter De Roos founded in Medan, in the Dutch East Indies, in which Henri van Praag was a member, and of the Rose Croix degree.

We will reeturn to this matter in some detail below.

Additionally, nothing is said of the case of the uncertain identity of "the Frenchman" who founded De Roos under the French empire in the Netherlands. Most of the lodges in that country proudly wore distinctive titles in French, or Latin, and it is surprising that, under the Empire and although the chapters were part of a symbolic lodge, the French would have preferred to give it such a distinctively Dutch title!

We have here some examples, and you will see that in many lodges and chapters in that time spoke French like today, because the author of these lines was in 1995 an official Dutch Chapter of the Rite in Leyden, Netherlands, working in French.

Examples of distinctive titles, in French, of Dutch lodges of the eighteenth and nineteenth include Les Amis Réunis, L'Aurore, La Charité, La Bien-Aimee, Concordia Vincit Animos; La Constance; Credentes Vivent ab Illo, L'Espérance ; Mutua Fides, Frédéric Royale, Guillaume aux Dix-Sept Flèches Dix-Sept, La Paix, La Parfaite Union; La Philanthrope; Le Profond Silence; Ultrajectina; L'Union Frédéric, L'Union Provinciale, L'Union Royale.

The Vertu; vicit Vim Virtus [8].

Finally, databases of various Masonic Dutch institutions that were consulted do not indicate the existence of any Lodge or Chapter carrying the name of De Roos, with the exception of a Chapter not working in Medan recognized in the Dutch East Indies, and without a lower initiation constitution, as I will show in the course of this work.

Sometimes a military lodge was created by a French regiment of occupation, which has left its mark in France or Holland, which never had any documentary evidence whatsoever to support or sustain the various claims made about it.

Let us now examine how a masonry of Higher Degrees developed in the Netherlands. We will give the floor to the main protagonists of the Modern French Rite Renaissance in Europe.

Birth and Development of the High Grades Modern French in the Netherlands.

Extract from an A4 sheet, three parts, two sides folded, published in Dutch by the Supreme Council of the Order of Freemasons under the Chapter of the High Grades of the Netherlands. (Literal translation by Jean van Win).

"After the appearance of Freemasonry in the Netherlands, around 1730, other forms of Masonic works quickly arrived, mostly from France.

Shortly after the establishment of Blue Masonic lodges in our country, there arrived the practice of what later would be known as the High Grades.

In the traces left of the five founding Lodges that participated in the creation of the Order of Freemasons, it is mentioned that the September 12, 1756, the lodge worked in the course of one afternoon, "in the Scottish" ( this qualifier has nothing to do with Scotland or the Scottish Rite, its origin must be sought in Stuart (Jacobite) groups which had emigrated to France), as that booklet indicated.

"A Scottish lodge bearing the same name as his mother lodge and consisted of the same members as before. There was no uniformity in the work or the organization of the Scottish lodges. Since 1774, various efforts were made to locate the Scottish lodges under the authority of a senior management (hoofdbestuur). [9] At that time there were 24 Scottish lodges in our country. Some days after the meeting of the Grand Lodge of symbolic lodges, these 'workshops' were convened on May 20, 1776 another meeting in The Hague.

The purpose of this meeting was the establishment of a Scottish Grand Lodge, which should help to "sustain and revive blue Freemasonry, which every day became more and more weakened and debilitated." The meeting concluded with the creation of a regulation (Wetboek: Volume of law) which spoke of both Elus and Scots.

The second meeting of the Scottish Grand Lodge was held on May 19, 1777, the first records make reference to the "chapters Scots." The third meeting of the Grand Lodge of Scotland is May 18, 1778, and the fourth and final is June 5, 1786.

"The constituent assembly was to erect the Grand Chapter of the High Grades (Hoge der Hoodfkapittel Graden) met on October 15, 1803. That jurisdiction, regardless of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, received the sovereignty over the following degrees:

Master Elect-Elect or

-Knight of St. Andrew (formed by the degrees of Scottish Apprentice, Scottish-Fellow and Scottish Master)

-Knight of the Sword or of the East

-Sovereign Prince of Rose Croix.

At first there were more than three degrees, and the degree of Rose Croix was conferred by communication. This degree, however, was taking its content a growing importance, so much so, that the work of Chapter were limited to that level while the other three were conferred by communication (1854).

The ritual of the degree of Rose Croix designed in 1803 expressed in the opinion of many brothers, some dogmatic Christian halo in which some brothers could not be very comfortable. Over the years, this ritual was questioned by many other chapters who came sometimes to suppress it.

During revision of the ritual in 1937, the revisionists departed from the idea which considered that the religious character of the Rose Croix degree would be acceptable to the religious sentiment of the time and that it was universal in nature and did not referred to any cult in particular.

The historic High Grades. Dutch roots of our ritual.

[...] "It is by analogy with the series of 7 degrees of the French or Modern Rite, the Grand Chapter of the High Grades at the time of its formation in 1803, that its structure was formed around seven degrees."

"Because of the reformer plan of 1786, resulting from the work of the ad hoc committee of the Grand Orient of France, the French or Modern Rite Rite in direct relation to the three symbolic degrees was composed as follows:

First Order: Master Elect

Second Order: Scottish Master

Third Order: Knight of the East

Fourth Order: Knight Rose Croix

[...]

These three orders were called, since 1854, "Historical High Grades." Intermediaries were the three degrees of the Order of Freemasons under the Grand Chapter of High Levels of the Netherlands.

The fourth order is that which comes from the degree of Sovereign Prince of Rose Croix (Prins van het Soeverein Rozekruis) ".

This same text is found in full in the booklet Dutch entitled 'Rituaal go Graad will Soeverein Prins van het R +, 1937 ", reprinted in 1992 by the Order of Freemasons under the Grand Chapter of Higher Degrees in the Netherlands, which contains a foreword by the Most Worshipful Brother J A Veening, Grand Master of the Order.

Conclusion: 

It is clear from these official documents that the High Grades of the Netherlands never worked the Modern French Rite, although they were made by analogy to that system. But it also shows that there was never a patent much less that it was adopted by the Grand Orient of France. According to the highest Masonic authorities of Batavia, as Professor Dr. Jan Snoek noted, the Netherlands has always practiced these Dutch High Grades according to their specific needs and with total independence.

The stories published in France on the issue of Dutch Freemasonry are contradictory, dark and unreliable. They are also partial and incomplete. The existence of a "fossil Chapter " of the French Rite, has never been proven and unless identifiable, obviously the rest of their claims do not have any basis.

It is time now to give a voice to those who lived through these events and have left an authoritative and definitive record.

II. List of events as the main witnesses and actors.

Autograph letter from Most Worshipful Brother to Brother Jean Jacques Martin will Win, dated February 5, 1989 (excerpts):

"The secularization of the rituals of the Grand Orient of France was back in the 60's, some Brothers to interrogate about the past of his beloved ritual and thus on its future. The rite was called "Modern French Rite Restored." The formulation should be scrupulously respected. Modern: to indicate affiliation with the Grand Lodge of Modern London (1717), French: French to highlight the contributions further as the fellowship and the four higher orders: First Order: Chosen Secret, the Second Order: Grand Elect Scottish, the Third Order: Knight of the Sword, the Fourth Order: Sovereign Prince Rose-Croix. Restored: to take account symbols "disappeared".

The first lodge was the distinctive title "Du Devoir et de la Raison" (From Duty and Reason), East of Paris, GODF. Encountered some difficulties with those found in the bosom of his obedience, the Brothers of GODF migrated to a lodge of the GLNF-Opera "Les Forgeron du Temple." Transformed the distinctive title became "Jean Theophile Desaguliers." A second lodge to the east of Lille, founded by me, entitled "James Anderson" and installed on May 10, 1964 by Pierre Guilly Ribaucourt and Rene, who was then the VM Desaguliers.

Rene did receive Guilly Sovereign Princes Rose Croix of Paris some Brothers through the heading 'De Roos' (The Rose), working in the Rite Dutch. Indeed, it is the same rite.

Chapter Rose Croix 'De Roos' was chaired by a professor at the University of Djakarta who had been imprisoned by the Japanese which kept the worst memory: Hendrik (Henri) van Praag. This brother had a [10] elderly in 1963 (1)

On November 30, 1963, the heading 'De Roos' Very Wise made his van Praag, two brothers Dutch and French members, regularly opened the work installing the Most Wise RenÈ Guilly and officers and consecrated the new chapter under the title distinctive 'Jean ThÈophile Desaguliers' in the temple town of Acacias to the east of Neuilly-sur-Seine. French Brothers joined the Rosicrucians and, like myself (I had been received by the Chapter Rose Croix "La Lumiere du Nord" Lillem Valley under the obedience of the Grand College of Rites).

That day was initiated Rosicrucian Brothers Ribaucourt Pierre, the notary Pierre Mariel, Bob Royaut, Vincent Planque, Hartmut Stein (...). Brother forgot Fano, future Grand Master of the GLNF-Opera. The Sovereign Grand Commander of the College of Rites, Francis Viaud, because of its functions could not attend to the taken, but appeared a little later when the meal.

In 1968, the workshops 'French' left the Opera GLNF monitoring the case, Louis Pauwels [11], but that's another story. They founded a federation that was named after French National Lodge (LNF), installed their shops primarily in Paris and Lille.

The LNF is split in 1975 into two trunks: Paris and Lille. Then an old Venerable J.T. Desaguliers, journalist Roger d'Almeras, separated from RenÈ Guilly and make the French chapter entitled, if my memory does not betray me, "La Chaine Dunion." In 1976 I created my own French Rite chapter entitled "La Rose et le Lys' practicing the four Orders. Also contacted the rite to the Brothers of the South, especially to Brother Jean Abeille is now the Regent of the Rectified Scottish Rite Grand College of Rites. "

Shortly after receiving that letter I was encouraged to enter the relationship with RenÈ Guilly, he exchanged correspondence with me one of the highest interest, among which is this letter in particular that is most relevant for this case:

Autograph letter of October 26, 1991, Jean Rene van Guilly Win. (Document that we can not doubt the accuracy and fidelity, as it were 8 months old).

"Through a personal friend [12], the brother Hendrik van Praag, a professor of French, Very Wise in 1940 of chapter" De Roos "in Medan (unknown location) [13], Rose-Croix since 1932 in the Sovereign Chapter Srogol (Java), grade 33 of the Supreme Council of the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies (Batavia), initiations to the degree of Rose-Cross took place in The Hague under the heading 'De Roos' [14] revived Table of the Supreme Council and the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands, formed by the Onderdenwijngaard brother after the incident with the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, the issue of LUFM (4) (date to be specified, by 1960 ?).

Hendrik van Praag, profoundly Francophile in the best sense of the term, disagreed at that time the Dutch government's guidance.

I held several interviews with him about it. The year 1956 should be the date of retirement and return to the Netherlands. Having lived the Japanese occupation of the Netherlands East Indies, not without great suffering.

These initiations, six in number, took place in The Hague on 31 March to 27 October 1963. I can testify to its highest level.

Furthermore, in a chapter taken exceptional "De Roos" in the Valley of Paris, six brothers were initiated on 30 November 1963. The twelve Rosicrucians to which were joined by two more original Rosicrucian Grand College of Rites, Brother Hendrik van Praag himself, were (in a total of fifteen) members founders November 30, 1963 the Sovereign Chapter French Jean-ThÈophile Desaguliers No.1.

It is true that the French Rite in four orders, rightfully belongs to the Dutch tradition [15] and we had been reported in The Hague and Paris when they made those initiations. But as you can see the continuation of this letter is no longer exclusively a matter for us. What seems equally important is the undeniable presence of three Rosicrucian Grand College of Rites and the Supreme Council of the Netherlands. So is the initiation, which could not be more regular, twelve other brothers to the degree of Rose Croix.

Indeed, if we start in 1963 with the idea of  

 

the French Rite of GODF 1786, our thinking has evolved considerably since more than thirty years of ritual and archival research.

(Here follows a detailed justification Traditional French Rite, whose elements are now well known and have been published on several occasions).

And RenÈ Guilly instructive concludes this long letter, while writing about his intentions and the spirit of his work of "restoration":

"The restoration of the Traditional French Rite, above the third grade, must rest on these simple principles:

(1) The authority and the privileges of the Sovereign Princes Rose Croix, and the double descent of the French Rite and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish for that grade (the French Rite, 1786, especially in the first and last order, not may represent for him a sufficient affiliation).

(2) A truly scientific scholarly work, which consists of detecting and implement for each grade, the older versions and the most authentic.

At that time we reject the patent Ondernwijngaard offered us, considering that the privileges of the Sovereign Princes Rose Croix could not be subordinated to a document that nature. It was about a certain purity, from the standpoint of historical information, but could be wrong. However the French Rite must be assumed and define itself, to be clear, without any other Masonic body that help or sponsorship contribution. It's better that way. "

Jean van Win

[1] Journal of Masonic studies, philosophical and symbolic-run quarterly and published under the auspices of the Masonic Institute of France, chaired by Roger Dachez, and as such journal is the Grand Orient of France.

[2] Underlined by us

[3] Born in 1893, the H. van Praag was therefore 70 years.

[4] Beloved Brother in French: "Frere Bien Aimé"

[5] Emphasis added

[6] Emphasis added.

[7] A personal friend and "partner" of RenÈ Guilly at the time. After a dispute is withdrawn to the north of France where it will become Grand Master of the GLISRU (Grand Lodge Initiatory Rites and Symbolic States). Case in Lille, Boulevard de la Liberté, a Rose Croix Chapter mixed Modern French Rite, where the author of these lines was part around 1990.

[8] Geschiedenis van het Hoofdkapittel Hoge der Graden in Nederland, door PJ van Loo, 1953, p. 117 (Histoire du Grand Chapitre des Hauts Grades aux Pays Bas).

[9] means: Central.

[10] was about 70 years.

[11]

[12] is not a chance encounter "since the links were established" as Roger says Dachez: Guilly van Praag and undoubtedly were known because of their common interest in LUFM (Universal League of Freemasons).

[13] Medan is the capital of the province of North Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies. The city is today the center of rubber cultivation and the Delhi region, famous for his snuff.

[14] After Guilly can be seen that there were two chapters De Roos, an irregular and posthumous in Medan, and a revived, irregular in The Hague.

[15] Universal League of Freemasons.

Gracias a Victor Guerra.

Masonic Literary Festival in Brazil

As part of what the Hedge Mason will make an ongoing effort to cover, this post notes an upcoming event in Brazil concerning new research and scholarship on Freemasonry: The First Masonic Literary Festival. The festival is one day only, Saturday, July 7th from 7am - 7pm at the Masonic Palace of the Grand Orient of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.


The highlighted presentation features William Almeida de Carvalho who will speak on "The Rise and Fall of Freemasonry in Brazil" which will be restricted to members of the craft. 


William Almeida de Carvalho is a former Director of the Library of the Grand Orient of Brazil, former Secretary of Education and Culture of the GODF-GOB, the author of several books on Freemasonry in Brazil, member of the Research Lodge Quatuor Coronati of London, and of the Scottish Rite Research Society. Currently he is President of the Masonic Academy of Arts of the FD, Treasurer of the Masonic Academy of Brazil and Masonic Academy of Arts of Paraiba, and has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Panthéon-Sorbonne.


His most recent published book demonstrates that masons in Brazil are engaged in research going far beyond that with which the fraternity in North America is familiar. It is entitled "Freemasonry, the Slave Trade and the Bank of Brazil" (São Paulo: Editora Madras, 2010).


For further information, if just curious or if you want to take a quick flight to Rio next weekend, contact         NOVOSECULO3022@yahoogrupos.com.br


Muito obrigado a Paulo Antonio de Freitas Lobo. 
 

Conference on Second Sight and Prophecy in Aberdeen

Call for Papers - with apologies for cross posting

'Second Sight and Prophecy'

University of Aberdeen on 14-16 June 2013

Conference organised by the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, and the Elphinstone Institute at the University of Aberdeen; sponsored by the Folklore Society

This interdisciplinary conference welcomes participants from a range of academic disciplines including History, Folklore, Anthropology, Divinity and Sociology whose research interests cover a wide range of topics exploring varying methods used by different cultures (both now and in the past) to look into the future and the rationale for so doing. The future has always held a fascination for humankind especially in times of tribulation and this is worthy of academic discussion in light of the changes affecting so many of us in our current global context. The role in culture of seers and prophets, by whatever name they are known, and the use of rituals, drugs and sacred sites, etc. will be examined.

Abstracts of 300 words are invited on any of the following or related topics. These should be submitted by 15 November 2012 to the conference convenor, Dr Alex Sutherland, History Department, University of Aberdeen; a.m.sutherland@abdn.ac.uk               

Papers might address:

Astrology and its rationale(s) for predicting the future.

Biblical prophecy as depicted in the arts.

Divination in any form.

English attitudes to second sight.

Healing wells.

How modern scientists have appropriated the persona of the prophet or visionary seer.

Landscape and prophecy in art.

Old Norse and later Scandinavian sources on prophecy.

Popular Catholic belief in prophecy before and after the Reformation.

Prophecy in Native American tribes.

Prophetic utterances by the courts, commoners, and the church.

Reading the future in the landscape of settlements.

Renaissance science and astrology.

Sami shamanism.

Second sight and prophecy in Scottish Gaeldom.

Second sight and prophecy in the Viking world.

Second sight in Gaelic traditions as they survived and evolved in Nova Scotian communities.

Seers and seeresses in medieval Icelandic saga literature.

The early Islamic world & its connections with astrology.

The role of prophecies, visions and dreams in poetry and allegorical tales.

The role of prophecy in the origins of Islam, in the pre-Islamic Arabian environment

The use of sites, dreams and ancestors for prophecies by indigenous peoples.

Visual and verbal imagery of natural objects as coded language for the use of entheogens to attain divine / prophetic knowledge.

Welsh prophetic poetry.

When prophecy fails.

Dr Alex Sutherland

School of Divinity, History and Philosophy

History Department

Crombie Annexe

Meston Walk

Aberdeen AB24 3FX

Tel: 01224 273051

Email: a.m.sutherland@abdn.ac.uk

The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.

international interdisciplinary conference to honour Professor Lauri Honko (1932–2002)

Call for Panels and Papers – 1st Announcement

The Departments of Folkloristics and Comparative Religion at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, together with the Donner Institute, are organizing an international interdisciplinary conference to honour the work of Professor Lauri Honko (1932–2002)

THE ROLE OF THEORY IN FOLKLORISTICS AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION

21–23 August 2013

University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

Lauri Honko’s research interests covered a vast area, both theoretically and methodologically. He elaborated methods in the tradition-ecological perspective, applied sociological role theory to folklore research, guided the debate on theories of genre, fostered research on cultural identity, and developed methods of folkloristic fieldwork and data archiving. The aim of this conference is to bring together and discuss the new developments, tendencies and theoretical innovations within the areas Honko contributed to.

Suggestions for possible approaches include:

Genre theory

- Genre as a tool of research in the study of religions

- Comparative research on epics

- Genre from the point of view of communication and performance

- The development of genre and the new genres

Functions and ecology of tradition today

- Meanings and uses of folk religion and folklore

- Ecological viewpoints on tradition

- The rite theory

- Variation and context

Tradition processes

- Tradition and cultural identity

- Safeguarding and cultural heritage

- Research ethics

- Epics and their use

The plenary speakers of the conference are:  Regina Bendix, Göttingen University; Marion Bowman, The Open University; Matti Kamppinen, University of Turku;  Håkan Rydving, University of Bergen; Joseph Mbele, St Olaf College; Viveka Rai, University of Würzburg.

The language of the conference is English.

Timetable:

Call for papers, deadline 31 March 2013

Registration, deadline 31 May 2013

For more information, please visit the conference website at: <http://www.honko_conference.utu.fi/> (this will open soon)

Additional information: <honko-conference@utu.fi>

Organisers:

Department of Folkloristics, University of Turku

Department of Comparative Religion, University of Turku

Department of Folkloristics, Åbo Akademi University

Department of Comparative Religion, Åbo Akademi University

The Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History

In collaboration with:

Kalevala Institute

Folklore Fellows Communications

Temenos. Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion

The Finnish Society for the Study of Religion

The Organising Committee:

Prof. Pekka Hakamies, University of Turku, Chairman

Editorial Secretary Maria Vasenkari, Kalevala Institute, Conference Secretary

Dr Pasi Enges, University of Turku

Prof. Ulrika Wolf-Knuts, Åbo Akademi University

Prof. Peter Nynäs, Åbo Akademi University

Docent Tore Ahlbäck, Donner Institute

Docent Tiina Mahlamäki, University of Turku

University lector Dr Jan Svanberg, Åbo Akademi University

Researcher Dr Sofie Strandén-Backa, Åbo Akademi University

Researcher Merja Leppälahti, University of Turku

Researcher Tuomas Hovi, University of Turku

Researcher Jaana Kouri, University of Turku

Researcher Dr Kirsi Hänninen, University of Turku

Conference: The Source of Masonic Symbols: The Western Esoteric Tradition.

Aux sources des symboles maçonniques : la tradition ésotérique occidentale

A Conference to be delivered by Jan Snoek this Tuesday, February 28 as part of Gremme will be devoted to exploring the sources of Masonic symbols, shedding new light on specific elements of the symbolic construction of and naming of different degrees.

Conference Summary: The study of "Western esotericism" as a scientific discipline, including astrology, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, alchemy, Kabbalah, hermeticism, the cult of Astrea, Rosicrucianism, or the occult in the nineteenth century. Freemasonry is also included. Although all these currents are distinct, their founders were still scholars familiar with the literature produced by earlier movements. Thus, we find many traces in Freemasonry. In this lecture, Professor. Snoek will give examples of symbols and methods characteristic of Freemasonry, whose sources are probably to be found in the movements discussed above as the perfection of oneself (Neoplatonism), the cubic stone (alchemy), the how to spell sacred words (Christian Cabala), or the revival of the golden age under the reign of Astraea (Astraea worship).

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 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.

When: Tuesday, February 28 at 18h
Where: at CIERL, 17 av. F. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels
Admission: Free admission, no reservations
Information: Anna Maria Vileno avileno@ulb.ac.be

Jan Snoek studied Religious Studies at Leiden (Netherlands). After his PhD he was devoted to the history and development of Masonic rituals. It is in this context that he published some eighty articles. In 1996, the ULB conferred on Prof. Snoek The Chair of Théodore Verhaegen. Since 2000 he is professor at the Institute of Religious Sciences at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). In 2009 he was appointed Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Wales, Lampeter. Recently, he published: Einführung in die Westliche Esoterik, für Freimaurer (Introduction to Western Esotericism, for Freemasons), Zürich 2001. Soon appear on his book "Rite of Adoption" (in English by Brill in January 2012 and French in Dervy in September 2012).

http://gremmenews.blogspot.com/

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.

A text for any serious Hermeticist and Esoteric Freemason

Turning up the heat on Masonic understandings of Hermeticism and their own esoteric history

One of my pet obsessions is encouraging the Fraternity, of whatever flavor, to intensify the level and quality of research and study. Mainstream, and indeed even some non-mainstream Freemasons, are still functioning on a grade school level when it comes to the history and philosophy of the Craft. Some efforts to correct this issue have begun with the rise of interest in academia for the subject of fraternalism and Freemasonry in particular. This trend will hopefully bring about an awareness among Freemasons that they can no longer afford to be amateurish when it comes to education, nor provincial and sectarian.

With this in mind, The Hedge Mason will, from time to time, highlight texts, programs, and other activities intended to shed a stronger light on various important aspects of the Craft. This blog has already provided announcements on conferences in the US and elsewhere. In this post, The Hedge Mason is highlighting an academic text which is of profound significance to Freemasons who have an understanding of the Hermetic underpinnings of our fraternity.

This text is not new. It has been on the market for several years now. However, being aimed at serious scholars of Egyptology, and bearing a not insubstantial price tag, most masons who might not balk at spending $250 on a box of real Cuban cigars but would never think of spending that much on a book, might unsurprisingly be unaware of the content of this title. In fairness, it's specialized audience has likely allowed it to elude even the scholars of Esoteric Freemasonry.

A quick perusal of the structure of the demotic texts which make up the subject of
Richard Jasnow and Karl Zauzich's 2 volume study entitled The Ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth A Demotic Discourse on Knowledge and Pendant to the Classical Hermetica, will alert the reader familiar with European Hermetica that we are looking at a much earlier Egyptian version of that body of literature which has informed Masonic esotericism for centuries.

For those who do not have deep pockets, I recommend trying Interlibrary Loan from your University. Even some local libraries offer such services. Perhaps you might want to urge your lodge to ante up to make the purchase for the library. At the very least, any good research lodge should be interested.


http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/dzo/artikel/201/a/2894_201.pdf?t=1131462970

Hermesphilus: An Eclectic Hermetic Blog

The author of this blog has done very well at hiding his identity, or I have been blinded by the subject matter and simply missed the obvious. Either way, I recommend everyone I know read this newly discovered jewel. well, it was new to me. The author says of himself

"I was first introduced to Hermetics as a teenager, through Regardies Golden Dawn teachings, in my early twenties I was actively seeking out Hermetic schools. The first contact with a group claiming roots in European schools, was in 1990. In 2001 I was accepted into an international esoteric Freemasonry group with several lodges in South Africa.

This is the place I like to share ideas and discoveries, subject matter includes Hermetics and any other related topic of interest to me."

Visit this blog; it has something for everyone. It is diverse, fascinating, intelligently presented and gorgeous!

http://hermesphilus.wordpress.com

Gibraltar, Cadiz, America y la Masoneria Constitucionalismo y Libertad de Prense 1812-2012, CEHME, Gibraltar.

Gibraltar, Cadiz, America y la Masoneria Constitucionalismo y Libertad de Prense 1812-2012, CEHME, Gibraltar.

XIII International Symposium on the History of Spanish Freemasonry. Gibraltar, 11 to October 13, 2012.

Organized by the CEHME with the assistance of the Government of Gibralta, The Government of Aragon, Andalusia, University of Zaragoza, University of Cadiz, University of Glasgow and the Canonbury Centre.

Since 1983 the Centre for Historical Studies of Spanish Masonry has regularly convened scientific meetings in which many national and international researchers in the disciplines of history, sociology, philosophy, education, literature, musicology, information science, art, anthropology, etc. have participated.

The Prominent role of Gibralta in the development of Spanish Freemasonry, its place as a refuge during times of persecution, and the presence of Spanish speaking lodges in the English colony since the early 19th century as well as Freemasonry’s impact upon Freedom of the Press will be explored.

Info: masoneria.gibraltar@gmail.com.