Masonic History

Some say that history is written by the victors.  That triumphs are in fact triumphant, and the losses are only momentary set backs in a progressive path to the eventual story that yu read in the history books.

But at times some histories run concurrently with others, and that there isn’t really a victor or vanquished, but instead parallel paths that points merge and blend together.  Freemasonry, it would seem, is just one of these histories where its various paths of existence seem to weave in and out of society and with other branches of itself.

For many years the fraternity has sprouted its own cadre of story tellers, its own historians.  From Anderson’s early mythologies of its existence, toYarker and Pike to name only a few, none have ever really stepped out of the box to understand the intricate workings as it relates to society.  Robinson has done some justice, as has Ridley in his work, but neither brought the study of the Freemasons out of the realm of the speculative and in to academia, at least not in any meaningful way.

It wasn’t until about a decade or so ago that the study of Freemasonry took on a more meaningful study, where today the craft stands at a turning point in the broader study of civil society.  And, at the helm of that ship is the scholarship of Dr. Margaret Jacob.

Masonry still has its arm chair and library historians, but Dr. Jacob has elevated the speculative history of our gentle craft to the hallowed halls of the university, and its from this study that our understanding of the fraternity today has far exceeding beyond what our understanding was of it before.

This Sunday, Masonic Central will be the gracious host of Dr. Jacob and explore with her how she has become the eminent Masonic scholar that she is today.  And in that conversation we plan to look behind the drapes of time to hear about her ideas on the past, present, and future of Freemasonry.  This is a unique opportunity to hear from the top American scholar on the subject, and a program I strongly recommend that you listen to.

That show is tomorrow night, Sunday, March 15^th at 6PM PST / 9PM EST right here on FreemasonInformation.com.  To read more details on the show, just click on the Masonic Central tab and join the show live, or broadcast it right from our show widget here on the site.  I know you’ll find every word of interest.

No Scheduling Troubles for You!

Has your lodge, rite, or side body ever spent time trying to figure out when they can meet for a special meeting or event? We have all been there, and we have all wished we were somewhere else or that the Master would just pick a time.

Fret no more brothers, I have an easy and free solution. TimeBridge is a personal scheduling assistant that allows the head of the organization to propose multiple times for the meeting by quickly sending an invitation with a single email. TimeBridge then automatically collects the responses of those people invited, and who responds, and selects the best meeting time based on the options set by the scheduler. After the meeting time has been set it then notifies all of the participants.

To make scheduling even easier, TimeBridge supports the integration of a persons Outlook, Google or iCal calendar if they use one. Although a person needs not to sync with an outside calendar, the service provides the full experience without using one of the calendars, it is a great way to confidently select the time best for you by being able to see all the events to which you are committed on the selection screen without “bouncing” from website-to-website or window-to-window.

Unfortunately, to use the full services, such as Google calendar integration, the member must be registered with TimeBridge. However, registration is easy and provides simple instructions, with a link, to integrate your outside calendar. Literally TimeBridge asks you to enter your Google id and password and hit submit. That’s it! Your account will now automatically sync with Google, which means anytime you create a new event on your Google calendar it will show up on your TimeBridge account when using it to select a meeting time.

Let us look at a simple example of TimeBridge’s usage. The Master needs to schedule a special meeting to confer a degree on a candidate, so he logs into TimeBridge and selects a few days and times that fit his personal schedule after speaking to the candidate. He then emails an invitation (a simple fill-in box) to all of his officers through his account asking them when a good time to meet would be for them. When the treasurer receives the email he follows the link provided in the email, and while conveniently viewing his Google calendar selects the day and times that work for him. After all the officers have made their selections, TimeBridge analyzes the results and emails them the time and day that is best based upon the collective group response. Now when the lodge meets the next time, the Master can announce the day and time of the degree work without taking time away from other business or extending the meeting.

As easily recognizable, TimeBridge could be used in the Lodge for any, and all, of it’s scheduling needs.

The overall rating for TimeBridge — 4 out of 5 stars

• 4 out of 5 stars for Masonic usefulness
• 4 out of 5 stars for ease of use for those brothers with less technology experience but willing to try

The Chronicles of Philosophus

At that time in the land of Gebal, the builders would gather at high twelve on the day before the sabbath. They would meet in the temple to discuss the work of the craftsmen and to study the ancient arts. The master builders filled the higher offices, with the craftsmen joining them on the floor. The quarrymen were to witness the deliberations from the audience gallery.

In the year of the reign of the Venerable Master Enoch, a man was accepted among their number by the name of Philosophus. He was a man from the eastern lands who claimed to be among the ranks of the builders. His work was inspected and he was found to be proficient in his craft and was accepted amongst the Brethren of Gebal. He had distinguished himself as a man of the utmost skill in the operative profession of construction as well as particularly knowledgeable in the ancient speculative arts.

At the rap of the gavel, the Brethren would come to order and at that time it was the custom to take up the pass from the several divisions of builders in order to ascertain their rank. The masters would elect from their number nine to take up the pass. Five were to collect the pass from the quarrymen, three to collect it from the craftsmen, and one to collect it from the masters. The elected officials would pass through the ranks of men and request of them the pass, which was whispered into the official’s ear.

While one of the officials was collecting the pass from the masters, he came upon a particularly well known Brother. He was an elderly man who had long served to build the magnificent edifices of the kingdom. However, on that day he was unable to properly communicate the password and the official announced to the assembly that there was a Brother without the pass. The Brethren were shocked and began to cast insults at the elderly master. The masters of the higher offices gathered to determine the fate of the Brother. To have a well known master without the pass was unprecedented and the outrage of the assembly pressured them to pass judgment on the man. The Master agreed that he must be removed from the Chapter. The Venerable Master Enoch spoke saying “Due to the lack of proper knowledge by this Brother, we must remove him from our Chapter in order to maintain our established regulations.” At that time, there were no regulations to deal with such an event. In order to make the judgment more fair, Enoch asked of the assembly “Does any Brother present at this assembly have anything to say in defense of this fellow?”

The Brethren were silent and refused to talk, even amongst themselves. The foreigner, Philosophus, stood to address the craft.

“Do not disparage this man for succumbing to the difficulties of old age. He has served his Lord, his masters, and his kingdom well for many years. There has never been a time when a fellow builder in need did not receive a contribution from his boundless charity. Yet, while he has been known unto you and you have benefited from his brotherly love, you are willing to remove him from this Chapter because of the unwillingness of his tongue. I say unto you, the pass of a master is found not upon the tongue, but upon the heart.”

The Brethren waited for the response of the Venerable Master. He spoke after a period of silence, “Our Brother from the east is correct, for the arts of a builder are revealed by his hands. We have no reason to expel a Brother who has used his hands in a manner so befitting of his title.”

And the Brethren were amazed at this chain of events and said amongst themselves, “Who is this man that calls himself Philosophus?”

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