The Chamber of Reflection in the French Rite

The following is the first installment in a very lengthy piece posted by my friend and brother Victor Guerra on one of his many blogs, in Spanish. Since I tend to post shorter pieces on my blog, and since I have to juggle many items, including other work I am translating, I will be posting this work in a serial form. I hope you all enjoy. 

Please feel free to offer comments and feedback. As part of my long term goal is to provide access to Continental materials which have long been absent in the American literature, feedback will be very helpful.


The Chamber of Reflection and its Symbolic Artifacts
A view from the French or Modern Rite and its contrasts with other rites 
By Victor Guerra.

 Introduction. -
To start it is necessary to indicate something that seems obvious, not all Rites contain the Chamber of Reflection, or at least it is not interpreted in the same way, and that chain as Philippe Langlet explains, is  "from the dark room of the Emulation Rite, the RER preparation chamber, through the Cabinet "type" of the AASR, or the French Rite ".

Its essence is constituted, as the respected Freemason Oswald Wirth explained - and based upon two sets of symbols, "one representing death and the other life ", combined to create the old mythic image of the cave - which at the end of the day " comes to represent a simplified summary of the message that comes from the macabre dances and art from the Middle Ages and plays an important role as an initiation rite. "

Despite being one of the quintessentially Masonic elements to have penetrated the popular consciousness in so-called "Masonic Mysteries", we find that as a symbolic subject, it has not been addressed much, much less within the Modern Rite.

Primarily within the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, we find paradoxically, the chamber has been magnified and so loaded with inks and colors and schools of thought, that the result could said to have ended up defining the "standard model" or image of the Chamber of Reflection, although the inheritance comes from the "modern", the "old" ended up modifying it to tailor it to the needs of the times and fashions.

Do not forget that in the Emulation Rite there is no such Chamber of Reflection, and that the rituals of this rite should "not make the mistake of subjecting the candidate to it". The layman must be placed in a dark and secluded space free of symbols or inscriptions, on the other hand in the York Rite there is provided instructions to create a preparation room, but no further details.

Therefore we can state without fear of contradiction that the Chamber of Reflection found its way to France through the development of the first settlement of Masonry with the creation of the French rite and then underwent a fuller development within the REAA.

This does not mean we can expect to find much information on the Chamber of Reflection in  REAA literature or even of the Masonic initiation ceremony, or on the form in which it develops in much of the popular literature on Masonry. Indeed, there are many references, but they tend to be circular, each referring back to the other. A demonstration of this intellectual scarcity, is that hardly more than a single reference work of any quality exists, that being G. Persigout:  Simbolique du Gabinet Reflection. It is out of print and when it can be found in bookstores can reach as much as 300 euros, although Beresniak has also written a book about it.

What evidence exists on the subject takes the form of many and varied small pieces of work generally intended for Masons to read in Lodge. These generally relate to the symbolic elements. Why do we find a such a large gap in terms of thinking about the presence and development of as significant and unique an element in Masonic ritual as this and silence on the presence of such unique elements as those found in the Chamber of Reflection?

This explains why when scholars and authors like Frau Abrines touch on the issue of the Chamber of Reflection, they do a juggling act. and move on to other topics without giving a precise explanation of the phenomenon, which shows the difficulty that  these authors encounter looking for a logical thread explaining why something that was not present in the primordial English Freemasonry,  and which still does not have a place there, develops through a complex but apparently unobserved process leading to the current Chamber of Reflection, a feature so important in the continental Masonic world.

Moreover, this calls attention to its becoming a major element in the early Mason initiation, yet it is paid so little attention to in the same rituals, and in many cases we are hardly offered more than a slight description or sketch, even though its symbolic forcefulness not otherwise mentioned in the work within the lodge, remains the first contact that the layman has the Masonic endeavor.

This lack at least from a historical point of view does not make much sense, as   Rene Le Moal notes in his introduction to the work of  "Le Cabinet of reflection. simboles Des pour toute une vie" , which was published in the prestigious journal  La Chaine d ' Union,  No. 6 - July-2012.

It was this article which has led me to investigate The Chamber of Reflection in the French Rite, because despite the anger of certain pseudo French brothers by the publication of our work, it seems that the French Masonic world wishes to claim as its own the French or Modern Rite and its different parts, and yet offers little on a topic as innocuous yet as significant as the Chamber of Reflection.

This led me to check its impact on the REAA of the GODF apart to see what its presence in the ritual texts was, and also what might be found in the various publications associated with the GODF, such as the magazine cited above: La Chaine d'Union,  number 6, July 2012 where you can check the weight and substance of the published work, which is mostly related to Escossism.

For that reason through this modest blog, I intend to further investigate the role of the Chamber of Reflection in the Modern French Rite as the French Brothers who practice this ritual do not seem interested in extending their examination and as history suggests  La Chaine d'Union , and apart from other minor works in the lodge collection logiales Paris, collected within the GODF between 1979 and 1989, that seek to patent it, or who seem to see its significance within the corpus of reflections GODF French Masons of the time, and so it will wither, René Le Moal, need not to worry now essentially the question is moot. TO BE CONTINUED...

To see the original in its entirety, in Spanish, click here: http://www.ritofrances.net/2012_07_29_archive.html

Plea for Assistance from Our Cuban Brethren

La ciudad de Santiago de Cuba, Palma Soriano, Contramaestre, Mayarí, Mella, Bagüanos, Sagua de Tánamo, San Luis, el Cristo, Banes y otros Municipios Orientales se encuentran como zonas que bien pueden ser declaradas Zonas de desastre, debiéndose enviárseles todo tipo de recursos para ayudarles a palear este desastroso daño ,material que moral y sicológicamente los afecta.

La Gran Logia de Cuba debe dejar momentáneamente  su odio a los masones que se han separado y unirse a ellos para solicitarles al Primer mandatario de la nación, que mediante un decreto especial se libere, las entradas de la aduana para hacerles llegar ayuda alimentaria, en materiales de construcción, en ropas y útiles para el hogar de los damnificados por este huracán Sandy.

AYUDEMNOS A NUESTROS HERMANOS CUBANOS QUE EN ESTOS MOMENTOS LO NECESITAN.

Demos demostración DE APRECIAR A NUESTROS HERMANOS CUBANOS.

Enviemos telegramas al Presidente  de Cuba y a la Gran Logia de Cuba desde cuba y desde el exterior, solicitando esta solidaridad.

(Tubalkain.- Abimelec Casard.-El Tejador.-Attaché.- Yucayo.-Tobías.- Mason Cubano)

Habana, Miami, Orlando,  vía telefónica- 2012-10-28- 06.00 am.    

The city of Santiago de Cuba, Palma Soriano, Petty, Mayari, Mella, Baguanos, Sagua de Tánamo, San Luis, the Christ, Eastern Townships Banes and other areas are as well have been declared disaster areas, please send to them any resources to help repair this disastrous damage, moral and material that affects them psychologically.

The Grand Lodge of Cuba must let go of their hatred momentarily for Masons who have split and join them to ask the president of the nation, by special decree to release permission for customs entries for them to get food aid in construction materials, clothing and other useful materials to the homes of the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

In our Cuban brothers We must assist those that currently are in need.

We must show support for our Cuban brothers.

Send telegrams to the President of Cuba and the Grand Lodge of Cuba from Cuba and from abroad, supporting this solidarity.

(Tubalkain. - Abimelech Casard.-The-Tejador. Attaché. - Tobias Yucayo.. - Mason Cuban)

Havana, Miami, Orlando, telephone-28.10.2012 - 06.00 am.

Dr. Bunseki Fu-Kiau: A Great Scholar and Spiritual Leader

Dr. Bunseki Fu-Kiau, of the Congo, a great figure in African Spiritual Traditions, a scholar, and one if not the last initiate into the Lemba, a great Bakongo Ngoma or healing cult that functioned from 1650–1930 is nearly his final passage from our world. Lemba was one of the major inspirations for many of the Afro-diasporic traditions, existing in a creole form by that name in Northern Haiti until today, the foundation of Lemba lineages in Cuban Congo traditions, and within Candomblé de Angola and Candomblé de Congo in Cuba. Dr. Fu-kiau, a much under-estimated scholar was an articulate voice seeking to share his understandings of Congo spirituality in the west. He has been given two-four weeks by the doctors. Please contribute to the effort to give him a proper send off and to return him to his homeland after his transition. Many thanks.
Please take time to read the poster reproduced here and visit the website set up at

http://www.kapipal.com/fu-kiau

The GLIF: from the ashes of the GLNF

The lengthy collapse of the French National Grand Lodge (GLNF) has brought a number of suitors, you know the story,  "The king is dead, long live the king."

There are always candidates and the cake looks sweet because of the debris left by the collapse of the GLNF. Obedience after Oberdience emerge like mushrooms or fungi.... Hurrying into the symbolic blue fishing lake, but the question that is happening in the "red pond" or with all the scattered remnants after the collapse of the GLNF, I am referring to the high degrees and orders of Wisdom. That we are not hearing anything about, not a single mention. I wonder what is happening to the troops composing the High Grades that thick and interesting troop ..

Consideration should be given to what Jean-Laurent Turbet states, the "greedy" desire for recognition from the United Grand Lodge of England, whose umbrella all of them seek.

For the moment we must be content with the information you provide us Brother Jean-Laurent Turbet in Blog and Notes, and that is our guide when it comes to follow the evolution of "regular" French Freemasonry in this "affaire" of the GLNF

Victor Guerra

Wednesday October 24, 2012

The GLIF: a new French Masonic obedience arising from GLNF.

In addition to the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Alliance Française (GL-AMF) and the Grand Lodge Traditional French (GLTF) j a new obedience created by brothers from the French National Grand Lodge as arisen.

This new obedience, created in late September 2012, is being called the Independent Grand Lodge of France (GLIF).

This is the statement that the founders of this new obedience have published:

"Fearing the likely withdrawal of" recognition "of the obedience to which they belong,  recognized by the chain universal Masonic Grand Lodges, a group of Freemasons of this obedience have been meeting since 2011, in their status as regular Masons, in order to explore solutions that would restore as soon as possible, if it becomes necessary, "recognition".

If the proposed creation of a Grand Lodge, in response, was completed in the spring of 2012, the group of "Founding Fathers", with constant concern for the legitimacy and regularity of origin, and the refusal to participate in the fragmentation of French Freemasonry, would refrain from proclaiming himself as Grand Lodge endowed by default with a structure of government.

They waited, to declare the creation of this new Grand Lodge having feared that the withdrawal of recognition has been applied effectively, they have defined a working framework, which had been to officially invite to participate in this new context, the petitioners lodges in total freedom to create a Grand Lodge, and to seek the recognition of regular Grand Lodges of the world.

Welcoming the initiative of the European Grand Lodges to come to the aid of the French brothers to support the rebuilding of a regular, recognized Freemasonry in France, and in accordance with the work plan defined in the Declaration of Basel (Basel 10-06 - 2012), confirmed by the Bill of Berlin (28.07.2012), the creation of the Independent Grand Lodge of France (GLIF) is officially announced on September 25, 2012, affirming its full commitment to the process of restructuring.

The Independent Grand Lodge of France is a society of Masonic lodges and union of regular brothers under the rule of the 8 points of the "Basic Principles of 1929"
(Opening of the Glory of the Great Architect of the Universe, which is God, the Bible, square and compass open lodges, male membership, respecting the immemorial customs, etc.) common to all regular Masonic lodges in the world .

It is organized under the Law on Associations of 1901, which gathers lodges were constituted themselves into associations of the same type, their own financial resources.

These lodges are unified and form an integral part, for recognition by the universal Masonic Order belonging to the Grand Lodge Independent French, through letters waged by the Grand Master and his commitment to respect the Constitution, they are allowed to exercise the privileges granted by the recognition because of GLIF.

The GLIF is sovereign for the craft degrees (Craft) in ceremonial rites except the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

The objective now is to recover as quickly as possible for its brothers, the recognition of universal Masonic chain of Grand Lodges recognized as such and to arrange a timetable of meetings with national and international parties interested. "

These five Grand Lodges, in effect, had applied to the Grand Lodge of France in charge of organizing the restructuring under the direction of French Masonic landscape. It is in this context that the Independent Grand Lodge of France has been officially received by the Grand Lodge of France not long ago.

The Grand Lodge of France, indeed, reminded all members in a circular of 14 September 2012:
"The Grand Lodge of France recalled that proceeding as voted in the Convent, any relationship to hold in France should be exclusively between French obediences brothers.
In that perspective, the Grand Lodge of France invites now all registered obediences in respect to landmarks, to explore with her the possible evolutionary pathways.

The Grand Lodge of France also invited and without exception, the structures already created or to be created and the brothers coming from the GLNF to participate in this new work. "

It is exactly in this way and with that perspective, which is the current Independent Grand Lodge of France in accordance with the Grand Lodge of France, since the GLIF is "sovereign for grades craft (craft)" in all except ceremonial rites the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite ..."

Welcome GLIF then the landscape in full Masonic French recomposition.

Gracias a Victor Guerra y sus innumerables blogs para este noticia.

GLBTS Masonic Obedience Established in Brazil

North Americans are known for liking their Freemasonry antiquated and perhaps a bit stodgy. They still object to Obediences they define by that chimeric and impossible to define term "irregular." They have no idea what is coming over the horizon! Most object to women and people of color in their lodges. Oh, that which is born this month in Brazil is slumping like a Yeats' poem to a Masonic Lodge near you. It is a Brave New World. I am not offering any personal opinions here. I am merely reporting the next big change in the world of Freemasonry. I'm certain it will turn heads, and the crowd who find denial the most comfortable lifestyle will object, but it is the logical conclusion of the universal equality preached and so rarely practiced in our craft. I summarize below an article by Eduardo Carvalho, dated October 18, 2012, found on the Brazilian uhnews website. The link to the Portuguese original is listed at the bottom of this post along with the video associated with the article on the original site.

New world order: New Power Masonic aimed at Shemales, Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and Evangelicals  and Afro-Brazilian Religious, will be inaugurated in Campo Grande, signs of modernity and democracy.

After a tumultuous meeting last week, members of dissidents GLUMS (United Grand Lodge South American)  decided to abandon their obedience, merely for not agreeing with the undemocratic process employed by some of its members. In a heroic act insurgents abandoned the Lodge called Light Workers No. 18, where about thirty workers performed the Masonic work, and united with one purpose, are founding a new Obedience.
The new order will approve innovations  in membership eligibility to permit female lodges, mixed lodges and more innovative yet,  to create a lodge geared primarily to gays, lesbians, and supporters, and even one for Transvestites.
These lodges will work AASR rituals. According to one of the founders, the Honorable Brother João Rafael Florindo, was emphatic that this joint effort will follow the laws of Universal Freemasonry.
'' The proceedings of initiation is the same, the rules of good living, and all that exists in other powers of masonry for new members."
"A unique and vital difference is that through all being brothers, we must strictly follow our Constitution, and extend it to all others as entitled under the law. Why would a woman, a gay, a transvestite, a or a lesbian not be entitled to become a Freemason?
"We should be egalitarian in our way of acting and in our treatment of our fellow human beings, regardless of their choices of live style.  Another important point is that with this opening, gay evangelicals, evangelical lesbians as well as other religious followers such as Babalorixás are welcome."

Click here Full Article by Eduardo Carvalho in Portuguese

Yon apèl nan aksyon ESPIRITYÈL!

Istwa se yon seri de konekte evènman ki lakòz yo moman sengilye ak siyifikativman enpòtan nan tan. Libète Ayiti a se vre rezilta a nan yon seri de konekte evènman, kèk plis remakab pase lòt moun.

Si memwa sèvi yo kòrèkteman, li te "seremoni Bois kaiman a" ki finalman ak byen fèm te plante grenn yo pou libète tou de nan tanporèl a kòm byen ke espirityèl sans. Men, li se ironik ke anpil panse a Vodou kòm yon "relijyon desantralize ak organize."

Malgre ke nou pa ka rejte lit yo ki te pran plas anvan ak apre Bois kaiman, li te nan Bois kaiman ki ayisyen frè ak sè yo te jwenn objektif nan inite, bi nan konfyans ak nan realizasyon nan ultim nan pwomès la pou libète pa konekte ak move lespri Zansèt.Nou nou an.

Avèk chanjman yo ki Lwa ayisyen, Vodou se anba atak ankò! Nou te wè rapò sa yo, te tande nan manifestasyon yo ak gen menm yon petisyon yo te sikile sou entènèt la, ki se yon inisyativ gwo pa frè ak sè nou. Sa a se yon apèl nan yon "ekleraj" inivèsèl sou li a, 1 NOVANM 2012 ant 7-8 AM EST pou pwoteksyon an nan Vodou an Ayiti.

Entansyon an se pa, epi pa janm yo pral, yo pote mal nan moun ki ta vle retire dwa nou an, men yo mennen yo nan limyè a epi enspire yo nan pwoteje libète relijyon nou an.

Sa a rele ale soti nan tout Vodouisant atravè glòb lan. Moun sa yo ki nan nou fèt soti nan Ayiti, ki moun ki menm yo pa moun zansèt ayisyen, kite l ap li te ye ke jodi a ou yo! Lè ou reponn apèl la nan move lespri yo li pase bra Vodou, ou pa sèlman eritye move lespri yo, men ou intrinsèquement te vin fè pati istwa ayisyen ak chanpyon nan prezèvasyon nan kilti nou yo ak pratik zansèt.

Se konsa, soti isit la tout kwen nan planèt sa a, tanpri, rantre nan nou sou 1ye novanm. Se pou nou rele sou zansèt nou epi sonje Bois kaiman! Gaye pawòl la nan chak kay, chak blog, chak manbo, Ougan, ak tout moun ki ap sèvi yo. Rele sou moun ki te resamman te pase! Se pou nou tout y'ap rele nan pye AYIBOBO sou 1ye novanm, ak nan mitan lannwit .... kite nou vle di li.

Siyen - La Fanmi Zanset

Dry or Rye? Masons and libations

We all know we do it. Masons drink. Most likely, few drink to excess. I doubt that any have a reputation for drunkenness, unless they're members of the Sh... no, we won't go there. I do think we need to address the topic with a bit of rye humor, though (pun intended).

After all, the earliest records we have of Freemasonry, masons held their meetings in pubs. Well, they were no fools. We all know why the North American Freemasons, who so devoutly cling to the moniker of regularity while being so much the exception to masonic practice in the rest of the world, by and large host dry lodges. It's not as if the treasurer's reports were not dry enough, and these days so full of bad news. That bizarre experiment that the United States attempted in the earlier years of the previous century, called prohibition, must have had something to do with this peculiar twist of fate.


I'm not posting today with any intention of serious comment, and so I hope all of the above can be taken in the good humidor with which it is intended. As I was saying, before I so rudely interrupted myself, Masons are known to like their scotch, their cigars, and their beer, myself included. So, I thought it might be nice to take a look at some peraphernalia associated with both libations and masonry. No, we're not going to discuss the unique institution known as the wet lodge, not to be confused with the sweat lodge, but we are going to take a brief glance at some lovely examples of beer, scotch, a cigarbox label, bottles, etc. with no redeeming educational value beyond nostalgic aesthetics. It's well earned.

Why now? For no other reason than that a friend posted a label of a new Brazilian beer that caught my attention. It had obvious Masonic symbolism in it, and ironically, I doubt the person who sent it to me even realized this.





I believe it entertaining as well as informative, although I will leave drawing conclusions to the reader, to examine how the symbols of Freemasonry have been sometimes quite liberally applied to commercial products. I am passing no judgement here. I quite frankly enjoy them, and while I suspect the collection of rings, patches, car stickers, lighters, bottle openers and the like are more a North American obsession than a European one, I have to a very small degree, indulged in this vice myself. But then, symbolism and art are a very significant part of what drew me to Freemasonry in the first place. So I make no apology for this habit. It has not gotten so consuming that my wife complains. She saves her complaints for when she sees a new book arrive for the 10th time in a month.

This is a decidedly random collection of images, and I may follow up at some point with a more organized look at the subject to atone for the careless way in which I approached this fascinating topic. I am in the midst of a number of other projects and really wanted to indulge in some entertaining shuffling through images while putting off much more serious responsibilities for this afternoon. I hope this is enjoyable and makes people think about the impact of Freemasonry on all the arts, from the high and serious to the low and frivolous. This peek was unquestionably more the later than the former.  So, here were are. I have no more to say on this topic today, which deserves serious artistic and historical commentary, beyond saying, "It's the weekend, bottoms up!" Huzza Huzza Huzza.