Masonic Education

given at Grand River Lodge #151

 

 

November 13, 2007 -The Ashlers

Given by V.W. Bro. Norman Bobier

 

In the Junior Warden's lecture we are told that “The immovable jewels are the tracing board, rough ashler and perfect ashler...they are called immovable jewels because they lie open in the lodge for the brethren to moralize on.”

 

Two questions come to mind In the first place, isn’t it nonsense to call these two huge stones “jewels”? and secondly, what moral lessons can we possibly draw from them?

 

The word “ashler” is part of our heritage from the “operative” stonemasons of long ago An ashler wall is one which is composed of rectangular blocks laid in courses. An ashler is a squared stone. A “rough ashler” is a stone as it comes from the quarry, rough hewn to its intended shape but not dressed smooth. A “perfect ashler” is “perfect” in its true sense of the meaning, that is, “brought to completion, finished.

 

We consider them “jewels” because of their great value - -a value that comes from the moral tendency they display. The rough ashler is the human mind in its original state, rude and uncultivated. The perfect ashler represents the mind improved by culture and civilization.

 

The two ashlers together represent an example of progress from darkness to light (from the NE to the SE), from ignorance to knowledge, from wickedness to virtue They remind us to keep building and improving on our own temples, to make a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge. They remind us of our duty to improve ourselves, and thereby improve the world in which we live.

 

October 23, 2007- The Deacons

Part of this presentation was given by R.W. Bro. David Cameron. The full presentation was given Oct. 29 in Hamilton District A

 

Deacons - derivation Greek diakonos meaning servant, helper or messenger[i]

 

Duties - we hear every opening

SD -“to carry the messages and commands of the W.M. to the S.W., and await the return of the J.D.”

JD - “to carry the messages and commands of the W.M. from the S. to the J.W., and see that the same are punctually obeyed”[ii]

 

“Three Distinct Knocks”, the 1760 expose of Antients’ practice - in the calling off, the WM whispers to the SD “ ‘tis my Will and Pleasure that this lodge is called off from Work to Refreshment during Pleasure” The SD carries it to the SW. The SW whispers to the JD who goes to the JW and the JW announces it in a loud voice to the lodge.[iii]

 

We have a remnant of this in the collection of the grips:

“Ds. Take possession of their wds. J.D. advances to the S.E. corner, Ds. cross in front of W.M., saluting. The S.D. commences at the S.E. corner, and J.D. at N.E. corner, meeting in front of the S.W.’s chair. J.D. gives P.G and P.W to the S.D., who gives same to S.W.”

“S.W. gives P.G. and P.W. to S.D. The Ds. cross in front of S.W., the J.D. going to his place, and the S.D. proceeding to the E., where he communicates the P.G. and P.W. to W.M.”[iv]

 

In the days when lodges performed their work while eating at table, the Deacons stood behind the WM and SW[v], and you can imagine it being useful during a noisy banquet to have someone to communicate messages down to the other end of the table.

 

Albert Mackey:

Their duties are a general superintendence over the security of the Lodge; the introduction of distinguished visitors and strangers. They assist in the ceremonies of the Order; carry messages about the Lodge, and see that proper accommodations are afforded to every member. The SD should be appointed by the Master, and the JD by the SW, as they are the special messengers of those two officers.[vi]  They are the proxies of the officer by whom they are appointed[vii]. - this is the key to remember why they do what they do.

 

Investiture: “It is your duty to attend to the Worshipful Master, and assist the Wardens in the active duties of the lodge, such as the reception of candidates in the different degrees, and in the immediate practice of our rites and ceremonies.” They are admonished to practice vigilance and attention.[viii]

 

History

The Schaw Statutes say that a Warden – who was to be chosen annually- should “have the charge over every lodge” This regulation was complied with by the Lodge of Edinburgh in 1598, but in the following year the Deacon sat as president, with the Warden as treasurer. This was in accordance with the ordinary usage which prevailed in the early Scottish lodges - that when there was a Deacon as well as a Warden, the Warden acted as treasurer or box-master. Frequently, however, both offices were held by the same person, who we find designated in the minutes of Mary’s Chapel as “Deacon of the Masons and Warden of the Lodge.”

 

We meet with the same titles – Deacon and Warden – in the records of the Kilwinning (1643), the Atcheson Haven (1700), and the Peebles (1716) lodges. In each of these instances the Deacon was the chief official. Such was also the case in the Hadddington Lodge in 1697, where, apparently there was no Warden.[ix]

 

…in Ireland they date as far back as 1726[x]

 

On the other hand, they were sometimes confused with Stewards, for instance the Lodge at Swalwell, now the Lodge of Industry No. 48, has listed in its minutes of 1733, Matt. Armstrong Senior Decon or Steward and Matt. Lee Junior Decon Deputy Steward. However in 1735 the office of Deacon disappeared and Matthew Lee was elected a Steward.[xi]

 

What was with that? Well, it had to do with the Antients and the Moderns. 1730 exposes 1751 Antients

 

The Antients, many deriving from Irish Freemasonry, had Deacons. The Moderns had Stewards. They did the same jobs.  And so one can distinguish which camp a lodge belonged to by whether it had Deacons or Stewards. - but nothing in English Freemasonry is without exception: there were lodges with both. If they were Antient the Deacons were the more senior, if Modern, the Stewarts were more senior.

 

In preparation for Union in 1813, the Lodge of Promulgation recommended adoption of the office of Deacon, calling them “…not only Ancient but useful and necessary Officers…” Interestingly this same body referred to Stewards “not as Officers but as appendages” And so the Deacons became the officers we now know.[xii]

 

However, in some places and at some times they filled the role of IG. The IG has his place in Irish and Scottish lodges, but is unkown in most American lodges, in which the Junior Deacon, acting under the commands of the Junior Warden, admits Brethren, and has a special responsibility for Candidates and visitors[xiii]

 

In New Zealand the trowel is the jewel of the JD; in Irish lodges the trowel was the Inner Guard’s weapon, being the sharp instrument on which a candidate was received in the first degree. In the second it is sometimes extended to the candidate to receive his gift at the NE Angle.[xiv]

 

Wands/rods

Mackey says “The proper badge or ensign of office of a Deacon, which he should always carry when in the discharge of the duties of his office, is a blue rod surmounted by a pine-cone, in imitation of the caduceus, or rod of Mercury, who was the messenger of the gods as is the Deacon of the superior officers of the lodge.”[xv] [the Stewards’ are white]

 

In the beginning of the 19th cent. columns were prescribed…In Webb’s Monitor of 1797 and Orestons’s Ilustrations of 1804 in the installation of the Deacons, it is said “these columns, as badges of your office, I entrust to your care” A short time afterwards the columns were transferred to the Wardens and their appropriate badges and the Deacons were given rods.

In Ahiman Rezon of 1807 they were called staves

In the Masons Manual of 1822, wands

He says all subsequent references call them rods[xvi]

[However in Canada, we call them Wands.]

 

Why do they carry at 45 degrees? Grasp 1/3 from the top. The wand is carried so that the emblem is visible from the side, and the dove always flies forward.[xvii] In England carry the rods vertically.

 

Carrying a wand as a mark of power and authority - Moses’s staff, a king’s sceptre, a bishop’s staff, the mace of parliament and the black rod of the Senate, the caduceus, a white wand carried by the old Roman heralds, and more particularly the staff carried by Mercury or Hermes, the messenger of the gods - originally believed to have been an olive branch, and could have been an emblem of piece in the way a sword was an emblem of war - so we have the good cop/bad cop in the Deacon and Tyler.  Physicians of old carried wands, and the wand of Aesclepius, has become the symbol of the medical profession.

The Roman staff came to be known as a virga, which in French became virge or verge, and was the origin of the church officer called the verger, who carried a staff of office preceding a church dignitary. Bringing in the Master and Wardens in England, and here in Canada, bringing in the DDGM under the wands.

 

The wands allow the bearer to walk around the lodge at will. But they do tend to square the lodge anyway. Why? To avoid stepping on the tracing board drawn on the floor[xviii]

 

In the 18th century the Deacon’s jewel was often a figure of Mercury, with winged feet and helmet, his left foot on a globe and his left hand holding a caduceus.[xix]

 

After Union the emblem was changed to a dove bearing an olive branch in its mouth.

 

The Dove in ancient symbolism represented purity, innocence and peace, and has in many ways been regarded as a messenger. The first Dove sent forth by Noah, from the Ark, returned with its message that the waters had not subsided. The second Dove's message was that the waters were receding and the trees were showing. The third Dove did not return which revealed to Noah the implied message that the flood was ending enabling the bird to return to its natural habitat.[xx]

 

Doves are related to pigeons, and both pigeons and doves have been used to carry messages for ages.

 

Sinclair Bruce says that in the “Mark” degree, the Mercury is the emblem of the Deacon, not the Dove. I have no personal experience of this, but it makes sense, considering that the Mark Mason is a degree which comes from the Antients.[xxi]

 

Also, there are some lodges in the north-east of England, five in Durham and two in Yorkshire, which use a sun for the SD and a crescent moon for the JD[xxii]

 

Mackey says that since they are the proxies of the officer by whom they are appointed, their jewel, in allusion to the necessity of circumspection and justice is a square and compasses. In the center, the SD wears a sun, and the JD, a moon, which serve to distinguish their respective ranks.[xxiii]  So here we even have the Deacon wearing a S&Cs, like the DDGM!

 

Preparation of the Candidate

- responsibility of the Steward, but the Deacon should check the preparation before proceeding. Take some practice steps. In the 2nd and 3rd, inform him about saluting when passing the Master. Practice the winding steps and the grave steps.

- biblical texts tend to show a similar prep for entering the Jewish Temple - Talmudic Baracoth insists “no man shall go into the Temple with his staff, nor with shoes on his feet, nor with his outer garment, nor with money tied up in his purse”

According to Jones, the special clothes are for three reasons

  1. to ensure the Candidate conceals no weapon of defence or offense, which may have had meaning hundreds of years ago
  2. by uncovering the heart, to reveal sex, but even more likely, in view of the wellnigh universal tradition that the heart is the seat of the soul, to suggest the Candidate’s fervency and sincerity, and lastly
  3. as evidence of the Candidate’s humility, perhaps the greatest of all the qualities that freemasonry sets out to teach.[xxiv]

 

Slipshod - Ruth 4:7

“Now in former times it was the custom in Israel… to confirm the transaction by one of the parties removing his sandal and giving it to the other. In Israel this was the form of ratification in the presence of witnesses”[xxv]

 

The JD then completes the preparation:

The Blindfold or hoodwink is an emblem not only of secrecy, but of darkness that vanishes in the light of initiation

The Cable Tow was the means by which the Candidate was led, symbolically in a state of bondage, through part of the ceremony. The wearing of the cable tow may be thought to be at variance with the fundamental tenet that the Candidate must be a free man. Although the halter in this case signifies only bondage to a state of ignorance, we feel that the Irish and Bristol workings offer an acceptable symbolism in this regard, the Candidate wearing the sign of servitude only until he is about to take the Obligation. Then it is removed and thrown contemptuously on the floor behind him, the Conductor, in the Irish working, informing him that naught but a free man may be made a freemason.[xxvi]

 

Circumambulation - walking around

Perambulation - walking through

Preambulation - walking before

Clockwise - the direction assumed to be taken by the sun. There are only two major occasions when we move counter-clockwise: the first is when ascending the winding stair in the second degree, uncertain of what we will find around that corner. The other time is approaching the casket to deposit a sprig of evergreen to dispel uncertainty.

 

The Romans closely observed the custom of a formal procession three times around a sacred place or object, and always sunwise - that is, with the devotee’s right side on the inner side of the procession; indeed, it was part of their ceremony of purification[xxvii]

 

In our degrees however, the Candidate’s right side is not nearest the altar at all times. Sometime the Deacon is between him and the altar and other times not. When he first enters the Deacon is on his right, protecting the altar from the uninitiated man. Once he has taken the obligation and received the secrets and proved he has the secrets, the Deacon moves to his left.

 

Similarly in the second degree, the Deacon is on the candidate’s right on entering the lodge. Once he proves himself in the former degree the Deacon moves to his left.  When supporting his arm in the angle of a square during the obligation, the Deacon is obviously on his left, and he stays on left, albeit a pace behind, during the floor work, stepping forward on his left to prompt. However, he then moves to the candidate’s right before he escorts him to the Wardens, perhaps to show that he is once again suspect until he has proved himself in that degree, after which the Deacon moves off to the left.

 

In the Third, of course, there are Deacons on either side, the Senior being on his right, protecting the altar.[xxviii]

 

Red Book p.11 “10. Do not place the wand in the holder until the candidate assents to take the obligation.”[xxix] Why?

 

saluting through the Deacon when passing the WM. - the SD when proceeding to the SE angle in the 2nd and the JD during the perambulations in the Third. Note that during this you should bring the wand to a vertical position.[xxx] Why?

 

W. L. WILMSHURST wrote in “The Ceremony of Passing”: The perambulations in the present Degree, therefore, signify the Candidate's willing forward motion towards perfection under the urge of his own heart's promptings. You remember the Pilgrims' March in Wagner's "Tannhauser," where the music so graphically suggests the resolute persistent plod-plod of weary but courageous feet, toiling through dangers and difficulties, up hill and down dale, but ever onwards to a distant but assured goal. It represents, and was meant to represent, the inward urge that impels all aspirants along the path of Light, and therefore may be thought of as admirably illustrating what is implied by these cere­monial perambulations of the Masonic pilgrim. Let us think of these mystical journeys about the Lodge as typifying his soul's continued forward movement to the goal of his desire; let us see in the deacon who companions and guides him, the impersonation of his own unerring enlightened conscience; let us discern in the salutes he makes to his superiors during his progress, his recogni­tion of spiritual powers higher than himself, and, in the examina­tions he has to undergo, the testings, the ordeals and titles to advancement which every soul experiences upon its upward way. There is, you see, a wealth of significance (usually wholly unper­ceived) concealed within these ceremonial details.[xxxi]

 

Just a few more points which you might not be aware of:

 

Q. How does the Deacon carry the box when collecting the ballot?

A. The Deacon carries the ballot box with the right hand, extending the box over the left arm, while averting the eyes to the right when the ballot is being deposited.[xxxii]

In some lodges, they ballot at the altar, and the Deacons control the entry to the balloting area with their wands. Why? For both, of course, simply the secrecy of the ballot.

 

Meeting the Challenge - Offer assistance to the D of C in escorting guests to the head table (see. Duties Mackey, p.2)

- be prepared to substitute at short notice for the other Deacon[xxxiii] (means the JD needs to learn the SD’s part) And the SD should be learning the work of the JW

 

Even more, the Deacons should be learning about the whole Craft. MW Bro. William Pellow, in the Proceedings of 1984, said of the correspondence course: “We would like to see every lodge officer involved in this course, especially the Junior Deacon. In four years, the Junior Deacon could complete all four phases of the course. By the time he is elected Worshipful Master, he would be extremely confident and competent to provide outstanding leadership for his lodge. Perhaps the individual lodges can see merit in recommending the Junior Deacon to commence his studies and perhaps even sponsor him toward that end.”[xxxiv]

I have applications here.

 

To sum up, as the Lodge of Promulgation said, the Deacons are “not only Ancient but useful and necessary Officers” And I might add, versatile: At various times and in various places they have filled the role of Warden, sat as president or Master of operative lodges, performed the duties of the IG, been called Stewards (even though considered as appendages), acted as proxies for the senior officers, worn jewels that look like the DDGMs, followed the path of the sun and are symbolically, “the impersonation of [the Candidate’s] own unerring enlightened conscience” Well done, Brother Deacons.

 

September 25, 2007

Given by R.W. Bro. David Cameron, from Wikepedia

 

The preserved records of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office) show the persecution of the Freemasons. While the number is not accurately known, it is estimated that between 80,000 and 200,000 Freemasons were exterminated under the Nazi regime.

 

In 1926, the little blue Forget Me Not was first used by the Grand Lodge Zur Sonne as a Masonic emblem at the Annual Convention in Bremen. Then in 1934, the Nazis introduced the Winterhilfswerk, a supposed charitable organization, which actually collected money used for rearmament. The contributors received a badge that changed each winter. In March 1938 the Forget Me Not badge - made by the same factory as the Masonic badge - was chosen, enabling Freemasons to wear it as a secret sign of membership.

 

After the Second World War, the Forget Me Not] flower was used again as a Masonic emblem at the first Annual Convention in 1948 of the United Grand Lodges of Germany, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons. The badge is now worn in the coat lapel by Freemasons around the world to remember all those that have suffered in the name of Freemasonry, and specifically those during the Nazi era.

 

 

September 11, 2007

Written by R. W. Bro. David Cameron for the Curriculum Group, Grand Lodge Masonic Education Committee

 

Know Thyself

by Bro. Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744)

member of the Lodge held at the Goat, Haymarket, London

 

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of mankind is Man.

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,

A being darkly wise and rudely great:

With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,

With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,

He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest,

In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast,

In doubt his mind or body to prefer;

Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;

Alike in ignorance, his reason such

Whether he thinks too little or too much:

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;

Still by himself abused, or disabused;

Created half to rise and half to fall;

Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:

The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

 

 

Centuries later, Neo is led into the kitchen of an apartment.  A woman is baking cookies.  He breaks a vase. Above the door is a sign that reads Temet Nosce.

 

“You know what that means?  It’s Latin. Means, Know Thyself”

 

So the Oracle in the movie “The Matrix” explains to the young hero the words which  can also be found in Masonic Temples around the world.  Sometimes written Nosce te ipsum, they are Latin translations of a Greek phrase inscribed on the Temple of Apollo, the god of Truth, at Delphi.

 

It is not known for sure who originated this maxim.  It has been attributed to Socrates, Pythagoras and at least three of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece: Chilon of Sparta, Thales of Miletes, and Solon of Athens.  And yet what better advice could be given the learner?

 

According to Thales of Miletes (c. 624 - 546 BCE) , a happy man is one “Who is healthy in body, resourceful in soul and of a readily teachable nature”

 

Solon of Athens (c. 638 - 558 BCE)  wished in his poems that he

"Each day grew older, and learnt something new".

 

Pythagoras of Samos (c. 580 - 500 BCE) who, although he wasn’t one of the famed seven sages did found a secret school of Mysteries in Crotone, in what is now Sicily, also placed a high value on the learner’s self: “Above the cloud with its shadow is the star with its light. Above all things reverence thyself.”

 

And thousands of miles away, also in the 6th century BCE, the Chinese sage Lao-tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching:

“He who knows others is learned;

He who knows himself is wise.”

 

The Seven Sages were professional teachers; they dispensed wisdom.  This was the standard way to teach until Socrates (c. 470 - 399 BCE) shattered it by his method in which the learner and teacher ask questions and discuss together.

 

However, even his pupil, Plato (427 - 347 BCE), echoes the Oracle:

“I must first know myself, as the Delphian inscription says; to be curious about that which is not my concern, while I am still in ignorance of my own self would be ridiculous.”

 

And so by the sheer weight of ancient advice, the Mason is enjoined to “Know Thyself”

 

But how does one start? M.W. Bro. Benjamin Franklin summed it up in 1740 in Poor Richard’s Almanac: “Observe all men; thy self most.”

 

Bro. Philip D. Stanhope, Lord Chesterfield,  advised his son in a letter of June 6, 1751 “Study the heart and the mind of man, and begin with your own. Meditation and reflection must lay the foundation of that knowledge, but experience and practice must, and alone can, complete it.”

 

R.W. Bro. W. L. Wilmshurst (1867 - 1939) elaborates in “Masonic Initiation”:

 

“It has already been shown that the structure and appointments of the Lodge are symbolic; that the Lodge is a representation both of the Universe and of man himself as a Microcosm or the Universe in miniature; that it is an image of his own complex constitution, his heavens and his earth (his spirituality and materiality) and all that therein is.”

“By contemplating that image, therefore, the Mason learns to visualize himself; he is given a first lesson in that self-knowledge in the full attainment of which is promised the understanding of all things. "Know thyself," we have said, was written over the portals of the ancient temples of Initiation, self-knowledge being the aim of their intention and the goal of their purpose.  Masonry perpetuates this maxim by recommending self-knowledge as "the most interesting of all human studies."  It is the tersest, wisest of instructions, yet little heeded nowadays, and it is incapable of fulfillment unless undertaken in accordance with the ancient science and with a concentration of one's whole energies upon the task.”

“It involves the deepest introspection into oneself and perfect discrimination between what is real and permanent, and what is unreal and evanescent in ourselves. As aspirants to the Mysteries could not learn the secrets of the Temple without entering it, learning its lessons, undergoing its disciplines, and receiving its graduated initiations, so no one can attain self-knowledge save by entering into himself, distinguishing the false from the true, the unreal from the real, the base metal from the fine gold, sublimating the former into the latter, and ignoring what is negligible or superfluous.”

 

“Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.”

Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658)

 

 

May 8, 2005

By Curriculum Group, Committee on Masonic Education

Presented by V.W. Bro. Norm Bobier

 

As MEN and as MASONS

 

The distinguishing characteristics of every Free and Accepted Mason are

Virtue, Honour and Mercy.

 

The writers of history identify certain events as defining points, crucial episodes upon which the future depends and from which the future evolves.  One such landmark in Canadian military history and milestone in our political history is the Battle of Vimy, the heavily-fortified ridge in north-eastern France, that began at dawn on Easter Monday morning, 9 April 1917.  It was the first time that all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were brought together.   27,000 Canadian soldiers advanced through driving rain, sleet and snow.  Volunteers all, they came from all nine Provinces in the Dominion and Newfoundland.  Within two hours, three of the four Canadian divisions had taken their objective, but it would take three days of deadly combat by the Fourth Division to take Hill 145, the highest point of the ridge.  3,598 men were killed, and 7,104 were wounded.  Four Canadian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour “For Valour.“

 

The Birthplace of a Nation

 

“In Canada’s history, one of the great days, a day of glory to furnish inspiration to her sons for generations.”

New York Times, 1917

           

            Donald Creighton: “In a battle which was more generally successful than any which the British armies had yet fought in the west, the capture of the Vimy Ridge was at once the most dramatic and the most important episode.” (Dominion of the North, 1957)

 

Military historians agree that innovative tactics, careful planning, meticulous attention to detail, and constant practice under the command of General Sir Arthur Currie, led to the unexpected triumph and brilliant conquest of Vimy Ridge - universally hailed as the first Allied success of the war.

 

            W. L. Morton: “… the storming of Vimy Ridge on Easter Day, 1917, a landmark in the course of Canadian history because it was the first major victory of the war was won by Canadians alone,” (The Kingdom of Canada, 1963)

 

“In those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.”

Brigadier-General Alexander E. Ross - Commander 28th Battalion at Vimy

 

“The fierce fighting on this French hill enabled a young Canada to emerge from the British shadow.”

Canadian War Museum

 

“The events here 90 years ago were for our country, a coming of age.“

Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister - 9 April 2007

 

Before the Great War began in 1914, Canada was an overseas colony in the shadow of Mother England.  When the war ended in 1918, Canada was a nation.  The limestone ridge of Vimy was ‘the anvil on which the country’s identity as a nation was forged.’

 

“Those who seek the foundation of Canada‘s distinction would do well to begin here at Vimy.”

H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, 9 April 2007

 

The Heroes of Vimy

 

            Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1882) reminds us that, “There is properly no History; only Biography.  All history resolves itself very easily into the biography of a few stout and earnest persons.”

 

Many of the men in command were Freemasons, and countless brethren served in the rank and file.  There is documented evidence of lodge meetings held behind the lines.

   

General Sir Arthur William Currie (1875-1933), Commander of the Canadian Corps.  Prior to the war, Currie had been a teacher and an insurance broker and real estate agent.  Born in Strathroy, Ontario, he moved to British Columbia in 1894.  He was initiated in Vancouver & Quadra Lodge No. 2, Victoria, in1898 and served as Worshipful Master in 1904.  He subsequently served as District Deputy Grand Master for Victoria District.  Bro. Currie affiliated with Zetland Lodge No. 326, Toronto.  His Masonic regalia is deposited in the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.  He was knighted by King George V in 1917, and in 1920 Sir Arthur Currie was appointed Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University, Montreal, a position held until his death in 1933.

 

Major-General Sir David Watson (1871-1922), Commander of the Fourth Division that took Hill 145, was a Freemason.

 

Sir Robert L. Borden (1854-1937), the Conservative Prime Minister (1911-1920), was a member of St. Andrew’s Lodge No. 1, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

Sir Sam Hughes (1853-1921), the Minister of Militia and Defence in Borden‘s Cabinet, was initiated in St. Andrew’s Lodge No. 16, Toronto, in 1883.

 

TWIN PYLONS ~ TWO GREAT PILLARS

France and Canada

‘A gate leading to a better world’

 

“The Great War for Civilization” - The War to end War

 

Canadian sculptor, Walter Seymour Allward (1876-1955) created the spectacular Monument unveiled in 1936 by M.W. Bro. King Edward VIII (Household Brigade Lodge No. 2614, Grand Master UGLE 1936).  The King said: “We raise this memorial to Canadian warriors.  It is an inspired expression in stone, chiselled by a skilful Canadian hand.  It marks the scene of feats of arms which history will long remember and Canada will never forget.”

 

Twenty sculptured allegorical figures represent the universal virtues: Faith, Justice, Peace, Honour, Charity, Truth, Knowledge, and Hope.  The largest figure represents Canada, mourning her fallen sons, depicted as a woman, draped, eyes cast downward - an attitude of overwhelming sorrow and inconsolable grief.  A standing figure entitled ‘The Spirit of Sacrifice’ holds a burning torch.  Allward wrote: “I have tried to show in the monument to Canada‘s fallen, what we owed them and we will forever owe them.”

 

The rich allegory of this greatest of all Canadian War Memorials resonates with Masonic symbolism.  We are tempted to wonder if this brilliant artist in stone was influenced by Freemasonry?

 

“A place made sacred by sacrifice”

 

The names of 11,285 young Canadian men who died in the war, missing in action with no known graves, are engraved in stone on the base of the memorial.

 

“There is no place on earth that makes us feel more Canadian.

Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister - 9 April 2007

 

Comrades in Arms ~ Brothers in Freemasonry

 

Every Mason is charged to ‘fulfill the duties of a good citizen.’  The Canadian Maple Leaf Flag is displayed in every Masonic Lodge in Ontario as a symbol of Patriotism.  It may be noted in passing that our distinguished Bro. Colonel the Honourable John Ross Matheson, a decorated veteran of the Second World War, was the prime mover in the parliamentary process that led to the adoption of the Maple Leaf Flag in 1965.

 

In every conflict in which Canadian troops have been involved, up to and including the present day, our Brethren have voluntarily answered that call of duty - fought and died for liberty - for family, for comrades, and for country.  Memorial plaques recording the names of the fallen Brethren are often found on the walls of lodge anterooms.  Services of Remembrance are regularly held during the November meeting in most lodges.

 

Today, among the men serving under fire in Afghanistan, are many Freemasons.  Again, as in 1917, lodges are being held behind the lines where soldiers meet together as Comrades and Brothers.  As the toll of Canadians killed increases, the words of R.W. Bro. Sir Arthur Currie delivered in an Address to the Canadian Corps, March 1918, express our thoughts: “To those who fall I say: You will not die but step into immortality.  Your mothers will not lament your fate but will be proud to have borne such sons.  Your names will be revered forever and ever by your grateful country, and God will take you unto himself.”

__________________________

 

We gratefully acknowledge as the inspiration for this Bulletin the research done by W. Bro. Daniel Glenney, PM, Hazeldean Lodge No. 517, Kanata, former Director of Special Projects at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.  He is a Member of the Library, Museum and Archives Committee of Grand Lodge.  W. Bro. Glenney recently presented a paper to Heritage Lodge No. 730 documenting the involvement of Masonic Brethren in World War I that will be published in the Proceedings of the lodge.

 

FURTHER READING …

 

Barris, Ted.  Victory At Vimy: Canada Comes of Age, April 9 - 12, 1917.  Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2007.

 

La Giorgia, Giancarlo.  Canadian War Heroes: Ten Profiles in Courage.  (Great Canadian Stories)  Folklore Publishing, 2005. 

 

 

April 24, 2007

Recited from memory by W. Bro. Bill Graham, Tuscan Lodge No. 437, Sarnia

 

The apron with which you have been invested not only denotes your rank as a Master Mason, but it is intended to illustrate the symbolic teachings of the various ceremonies through which you have passed. The apron is made of lambskin. The lamb, from time immemorial, has been the universal emblem of purity and innocence, so that this apron should ever remind us of that blameless purity of life and conduct which should at all times, characterize Free Masonry.

 

The border is of cerulean blue, representing the heavens, which appear to us as a vaulted canopy containing the sun, the moon, the planets, and the innumerable constellations whose orbits are fixed and determined by the G.A.O.T.U. with such accuracy and precision that perfect harmony prevails as they circle the centre of the universe, and in the words of the poet, "Forever singing as they shine, the hand that made us is divine."

 

The nap or fall is in the form of a square; pointing out that we should square our lives upon the principles of truth and justice. The three rosettes emphasize the importance of the number three, one of the great and symbolic numbers used in Masonry. They represent the Great Lights, namely: the V.S.L., the S. & C; they also represent the three lesser lights, namely: the S., M., and M. of the Lodge. There were also three G.M. who presided at Jerusalem, S, K of I, H, K of T, and H.A. represented in our Lodges by the three chief officers, the M. and the S. and J.Ws.

 

The two ribbons pendant to the right and left sides of the apron represent the two great pillars which stood at the P.W. or E. to K.S. T. Appended to these two ribbons are two tassels, each of which has seven strands. Thus we have depicted on our aprons the three Masonic numbers, 3, 5, and 7, which run like a silver cord through all our ceremonies forming the very warp & woof of our M. ritual. The three, represented by the 3 rosettes, the five by the 3 rosettes and the 2 ribbons, and the seven by the 3 rosettes, the 2 ribbons, and the 2 tassels, and also by the 7 strands in each tassel. To appreciate the importance of these numbers we should study the rules that govern our lodges and the ceremonies of the various degrees. Thus three rule a Lodge, five hold a Lodge and seven make it perfect. No meeting of any lodge may be held without the three presiding officers, no lodge may retain its charter unless there are five members, three M.M. and two F.C., and no degree may be conferred unless there are seven present, three M.M., two F.C., and two E.A.

 

You will recall the S. you took in approaching the A., three in the F.D., five in the S.D., and seven in the T.D. There are also three great pillars which support a lodge, W., S., and B., five noble orders of architecture, T.D.I.C.and C., and the seven liberal arts and sciences, G.R.L.A.G.M.and A.

The cord which binds this apron to your body is of a threefold nature, representing the threefold cord of B.L., R., and T. which binds all M. together in perfect love and harmony as long as time shall last.

 

In conclusion I would like to re-iterate what was said to you by the S.W. when he presented you with your first apron, "If you never disgrace that badge it will never disgrace you." Let me congratulate you on receiving this beautiful M.M. apron, and may the symbolic teachings embodied in it be carried out by you, so that you may always live and exemplify the doctrines of a true M.

 

 

April 10, 2007

Given by Bro. Bogdan Marin, from Masonic Initiation by W. L. Wilmshurst

 

The work of the Ancient Mysteries was, therefore, a "perfecting" work, or a work of initiation introducing men to a new order of life, since it was designed to make imperfect beings whole and perfect by completing their evolutionary possibilities. The Greek word for this (teleios) has the twofold meaning, "to make perfect" and "to initiate." It occurs constantly in the Scriptures, the greatest text-book of Initiation-science that exists. They speak of "the just made perfect”; "be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect " ; "we speak wisdom (initiation science) to such as are perfect (or initiated)." And this perfecting work was for all men alike, of whatever race, language or religion, as Masonry is to-day. For all are brethren, and upon an equal footing in respect of this work, though not all men are necessarily ready to undertake it at the same moment; all their religions are but so many radii of one circle, designed to lead them from the circumference and surface of life to the one Light at its centre. The qualifications of a candidate for the Mysteries were precisely those provided for Masonic candidates to-day. The one dominant wish of his heart in asking for admission had to be a yearning desire to pass from his natural blindness to the innermost Light, and to have his old imperfect nature revolutionized and transformed. Let me quote one of the oldest prayers in the world, still used in the East by those seeking real Initiation. In its original Sanskrit it consists of but six words, which may be Englished thus:

From the unreal, lead me to the Real !
From darkness, lead me to Light !
From the mortal, bring me to Immortality

It expresses the desire that should be not only upon the lips but burning in the heart of every candidate the world over, under whatever system of Initiation he may come. Without that desire as the deepest urge of his heart no real Initiation is possible, nor is any candidate properly prepared to ask for it. No one can expect to come to the revelation of the supernatural Light or to be raised to the sublime degree of a Master-soul, who is content with his present life as it is, who regards himself as not in darkness but as already enlightened, or supposes his present mortal existence to constitute real life. Only by perceiving the unreality and impermanency of the present world and its interests can one really begin to detach himself from it and divest himself, in thought and desire, of its "money and metals ." So long as one carries these with him or remains in any sense "in worldly possessions," so long he darkens his own light and automatically defers his own initiation into it. They mean not merely one's cash and temporal belongings. They include all that clogs and clings to us from our immersion in the outer world ; our intellectual possessions, our stores of notions, beliefs and preconceptions about truth, and the mental habits and self-will we have acquired, even with the best motives, in our state of darkness . All these constitute our "worldly possessions," and they are not our real wealth but our limitations. It is a paradox, but a true one, that we can only gain by giving them up. Their attraction must cease if that high Light we profess to seek is ever to be found, and the aspirant for it must stand at the door of the Mysteries in the deepest sense a poor candidate in a state of darkness, content to be as a child and surrender himself to an entirely new order and rule of life . Few are prepared for this task of self divestment of all that, as experienced men of the world, they have clung to and built into their mental fabric. How many of those who ceremonially profess to do so would be ready or content to do it really? On being told of this pre-requisite to Initiation they would go away sorrowful, for they have great possessions, and are not yet prepared to give them up for something intangible.

 

 

March 27, 2007- Specie

By V. W. Bro. David Cameron, PAGC

 

When on vacation in Rome recently I needed coins to leave a tip at a restaurant.  I approached the cashier with paper money, but my Italian being quite poor, I could not make him understand. Finally my waiter came up, knowing what I wanted.  He said  … “specie”  (For you Italian scholars, the word is speci and is usually pronounced “spechee”. However, my waiter was from Naples where they pronounce ci as “shee”)

 

 

February 27, 2007 - The Five Points of Fellowship

W. Brother George Duke, Assistant Regional Grand Master of the Regional Grand Lodge of Western India, a regular visitor to Grand River Lodge, talked to the brethren raised that night about the Five Points of Fellowship.  He pointed out that they occurred five times during the degree.

 

 

February 13, 2007 - Lodge of Discussion

The DDGM , as is his wont, led a Lodge of Discussion on his Official Visit.  His topic was “Do We Think Masonry Should Change?”

 

January 23, 2007 - Bible Presentation

Presented by V. W. Bro. Norman Bobier, PGSB

 

At your Initiation, this Bible, or Volume of the Sacred Law as we like to call it, was open on the altar at Ruth IV: 7, where we read of Boaz and Ruth. On being passed, the Volume of the Sacred Law was open at Judges XII: 6, where the story of Jephthah and the passages of the river Jordan are told. Tonight the Volume was open at Ecclesiastes XII, where we are extorted to “Remember now thy Creator in the days of your youth.” Therefore it has played a very important role in your Masonic life. Hopefully, it has been, and will continue to be, important in your personal life as well.

 

This Book reveals the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are Holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practise it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveller’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here, too, heaven is opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be open at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labour, and condemn all who trifle with its contents. Owned, it is riches; studied, it is wisdom; trusted, it is character; and obeyed, it is power.

 

I am very pleased on behalf of the Master, Officers and members of the Lodge to present this Volume of the Sacred Law to you this evening. I trust that you will always keep it handy as a remembrance of your progress in Masonry and as a guide in your life. Congratulations.

 

 

January 9, 2007 - Travel Broadens The Mind

Presented by V. W. Bro. Norman Bobier

Written by V. W. Bro. David Cameron for the Curriculum Group, Grand Lodge Masonic Education Committee

 

Masonry is a system of education based on the medieval guilds.  They had Apprentices, Journeymen and Masters.  And so we have Entered Apprentices, Fellowcrafts and Master Masons.

 

When the apprentice was taken on, a contract was made between him and the master masons at the site.  He was to do the work assigned and the master masons were to teach him.  All of the master masons.  Imagine the many apprentices working on a cathedral.  Did they all follow the chief architect around all day?  Of course not.  They were spread among all the master masons working on the site.  And most likely rotated among them so they could be exposed to all the various facets of the craft. So too in Freemasonry.  The education of an Entered Apprentice is not the job of the Worshipful Master alone, nor of one specific mentor, but of all the Master Masons of the lodge.

 

And what of the Fellowcraft?  A Fellow.  To me that evokes visions of academics in black gowns scurrying around an ancient university.  The fellows had completed their basic degree and were hired by the university to stay on and teach, while at the same time continuing their own studies.  We have an echo of that in the Fellow of the College of Freemasonry.  But Freemasonry is not based on academics, but rather craftsmen. They use the term “journeyman”.

 

Last summer there was an article in the British newspaper “The Guardian” about a revival of an old practice in England and Europe.  (July 15, 2006)

 

“Blacksmith Julian Coode was returning to work after a short tea break. It was a late winter afternoon and the light had faded outside his workshop in Littlebourne, Kent. He and his assistant had been discussing plans for some railings they were commissioned to make, and the forge, unusually, was quiet.”