The Tao of Masonry

We have nine Masonic Districts here in Connecticut, and the “guys who have been around” tell us that they were created according to the old rail road lines that ran in those areas. Back in the pre-automobile days, the District Deputies needed to take the trains (and then what, a horse cart?) to visit the various lodges. An amusing idea, although I have my doubts as to the veracity.

Several times a year, usually in a month with 5 weeks, the senior officers and other interested members of the lodges in a district will get together in order to keep abreast of what’s happening, to ask for (or offer) support for upcoming degree work, or to spread the news about some community activity. These meetings are called Blue Lodge Councils, and most lodges find them helpful. Our district has a little competition: the lodge with the most members that show up are awarded the “Traveling Gavel,” which entitles them to nothing except bragging rights. But it’s fun.

Friendship Lodge No. 33 is located at the southern end of the 5th District, and last night I drove up to Canada Collinsville to sit at the Blue Lodge Council meeting held at Village Lodge No. 29. As it happens, this was the Annual Meeting, which means a changing of the guard. Traditionally, the outgoing District Deputy for the district is arm-twisted elected to the position of BLC President, and his Associate Grand Marshal  is brow-beaten politely agrees to be Vice President or perhaps  is blackmailed into fills in Treasurer/Secretary position.

Last night, the previous  Associate Grand Marshall was in attendance, but the District Deputy was fishing and gambling away on an important business trip in Las Vegas. However, a fortuitous circumstance allowed a brother from Frederick Franklin Lodge No. 14 to contact RW. Bro. Larry over Skype using his iPad. The outgoing President, wanting to make sure RW Larry didn’t escape  seeing an opportunity for efficiency, was able to install his successor by placing the iPad in the East and swearing him in.

We rounded out the evening by playing Masonic Jeopardy, a trivia game in which teams (in this case, the A side of the district vs the B side) answer various questions on ritual, rules, and history.

And then I had to take the train back from Canada make the long drive back home.

A funny, yet eerie thing happens when you wander into the world of secret conspiracies; like  wandering the Cretan Labyrinth, it’s easy to lose sight of both your original starting point and your ultimate goal.

Our theory that early operative Freemasons became familiar with “revenants” (creatures that in folklore later became zombies and vampires), and codified the means of how to destroy them in certain ceremonies has been met with the expected amount of derision and skepticism. I think that many people simply fail to understand that Freemasons, being employed by the Catholic Church to work on their buildings, had a need to keep their activities on the downlow so as not to be accused of trafficking with the demonic by the less educated and more superstitious population.

We expected this when I volunteered to be the one to publish the ideas.

None of us believe that the revenants are supernatural creatures; those ideas didn’t come about until the Gothic period, when — ironically enough  – people began to be frightened by the idea of technology. No, we think that the historic records of the time will show that people were falling to an as-yet unnamed disease that caused the appearance of death, after which the victims became mindless eating machines (insert jokes about teen-aged boys here). Poor knowledge of medicine and other social factors contributed to the occasional outbreaks in the rural and wooded districts. Unfortunately, when people started moving to the cities in the early 1700s,  so did the outbreaks.

Initially, we theorized that high-level Masons were (although in league with the national and state governments) still keeping this quiet, so as not to alarm the general public, who have shown themselves to be more educated, but not really much less superstitious than they were in the Middle Ages. Naturally, this has met with a lot of skepticism from both Masons and non-Masons alike.

We expected this, too.

But what we did not expect was to be presented with an alternate theory: That the high-level Freemasons have been trying to educate the public by allowing them access to these rituals and ceremonies. Indeed, for the last several years, virtually every newspaper article, news show, or cable TV special has begun with “The once secretive Freemasons have begun to open their doors,” or “The secret mysteries of the Freemasons are being unveiled,” or “Freemasons, that once-secret society, have now begun to…”

The alternate theory, which we have found to be very compelling,  is that various Grand Lodges have been pressured by these higher-level Masons to show off a little, and to encourage non-Masons to look at our secret ceremonies, ostensibly to show that they are simply arcane rituals, but actually, so that the viewing public will understand what to do should there be a wide-spread outbreak of this unknown disease. Indeed, just the fact that we have come so far into the public eye in only a few short years suggests that the higher-level Masons may even expect that a wide-spread infection is about to happen.  Our rituals have been discussed in print by hundreds of authors, and in the last few years have been featured on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and several other cable TV specials. A generation ago — even ten years ago — this would have been unthinkable. Now we’re practically giddy when we think about it.

Ultimately, I expect that we’ll discover that our original conception was closer to the mark. But the idea remains: is it possible that an unknown disease — perhaps a new “superflu” is about to bring us culturally back to the Middle Ages?

I can’t believe that this is my fourth time blogging about Friendship Lodge at the Southington Apple Harvest Festival. My first time was in 2006 when I was Master of the lodge, and really, not all that much has changed. Local businesses and street vendors still cross their fingers about the weather (apparently, those weather-changing HAARP beams aren’t supposed to be used frivolously), and the same members of Friendship still show up for the entire weekend to keep the food going. This year, however, we decided not to sell the “Philly” steak & cheese sandwiches that Friendship has sold for the last 15 years or so., and to concentrate just on selling the fried apple wedges that we’ve been perfecting for the last eight or nine years.

This was not an easy decision to make. Although it became clear that the sandwiches actually lost money during the last few years, the sheer amount of work involved to make them created a camaraderie that certainly added to the harmony of the members. How can you be upset with somebody who stood next to you, slicing the onions that you were peeling? And few things help develop common trust like knowing that somebody will show up for the important, but oft-overlooked cleanup work.

Our initial weekend was marred by cloudy, drizzly weather that became a downpour by Saturday afternoon. But Sunday was warm and sunny, and the crowds were out in droves to taste the typical fair fare, to browse some of the craft booths, and to enjoy the weather.

This being the lodge’s largest (and essentially only) fund raiser, we count on good weather and healthy appetites for the two weekends that the festival takes place. The first weekend ended up doing fairly well, allowing us to cover our initial expenses. We’re hoping that next weekend will be even more successful.

Maybe we’ll see you there?

I am so tired of the hype about the new Dan Brown book “The Lost Symbol,” that I have declared a “Brownout” at The Tao of Masonry this month. That’s right, I’m not going to be writing about Dan Brown or his new book for the rest of the month.

Admittedly, I didn’t write anything all summer long, but still — I’m upholding a principle.

The hype actually started back in 2006 when “The DaVinci Code” movie was released, and the rumors abounded that Brown would soon — perhaps as early as that fall — be publishing a follow-up book called “The Solomon Key.” Frankly, back then I was pretty excited. Freemasonry was getting some very public PR, and not from Freemasons themselves, nor because of some scandal. “National Treasure” was still talked about and it was looking like that dusty, old club that your grandfather used to visit a few times a month was getting a much-needed makeover. Most Freemasons waited for the next Brown book, hoping that it would continue to add to the mystique — and to draw in a few members.

Three years later, Brown is set to release the most long-awaited sequel since Thomas Harris’ “Hannibal Rising.” I’m going to avoid the temptation to compare the intriguing and complex character of Hannibal Lecter with the cardboard cutout of Robert Lang. You know why?

Because this is a No Dan Brown month at The Tao of Masonry, remember?

For weeks, Freemason bloggers and other members of the e-Mason community have been offering suggestions that our fraternity be ready for the huge tide of public interest. What are we going to tell people who ask us about Masonry? What kinds of responses will we have if Brown writes something unflattering? What will we have to offer if Brown writes something that sparks interest? Essentially, we are being told that we should turn on the porch light and bake a batch of cookies for the potential visitors — except for those who are saying that we should batten down the hatches for the potential storm.

Please.

How many movies in the last ten years had some slight reference to Freemasonry? Let’s see: Two National Treasure movies, The DaVinci Code, From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Magnolia. So, a film every couple of years, with the more recent ones are the most referential. In fact, National Treasure has more Masonic references, and arguably a much more favorable perspective than the other movies combined.

Our Grand Lodge website has been tracking the numbers of those interested enough in the Craft to ask to be contacted. If I recall correctly (and I’m sure somebody will correct me if I’m wrong), the numbers amounted to approximately one person per day.

I think that we can handle the influx of inquiries.

Look, it’s great that some groups are printing up material that brothers can use in case somebody decides to ask them about Freemasonry. But it occurred to me after last night’s Masonic Central podcast that we are expecting people to ask questions such as “What is Freemasonry” and “Why do you have those symbols?” and “Where can I get a petition?”

As if.

In my own experience as a student of human nature, I think that the questions are going to be more along the lines of “Do you really drink blood out of a human skull?” or “What’s with the goat? Do you really have some kind of demon worship?” or “Don’t you feel silly dressing in those old-fashioned costumes?” or “What’s with the secrecy? Do you guys really stick together to fix parking tickets and stuff?” or “What’s the deal with the Holy Grail, the lost Templar Treasure, and the Denver Airport?” and of course, “Why is it that when Masons turn up in books and movies, there’s always a secret plot, and people end up getting killed?”

I’m just saying that maybe some of us might be over-preparing for the wrong questions.

Driving to work this morning, I was thinking about the Masonic Central show, and about some of the questions that co-host Greg Stewart posed, which he believed would be important for Masons to think about in the face of the possible public relations stories that might come of this. He asked things like “What is Freemasonry? What do you get out of it? How does it make you a better person? What about the fraternity has kept your interest? What good things do you see it providing?”

Fellow guest Tim Bryce had a great explanation of our fraternity, almost elegant in its simplicity:

“Freemasonry is a Brotherhood of men who share common values, and who are interested in improving themselves, their community, and the world at large.”

After hearing this, it made me think that perhaps it’s more important for us, as Freemasons, to answer these questions for ourselves. Only when we know the answers to our own questions will we be able to answer — in the most positive light — the questions of the interested and curious.

Those of you following my Twitter or my Facebook accounts know that I’ve spent a lot of time working over the summer. Either I’m working at my business, trying to keep things running in this economy (and I’m fortunate to have a few excellent and dedicated people with me); working around the house, taking care of repairs and maintenance that I hadn’t gotten around to during the spring (and how the hell can I have so many trees and bushes to be cut down? Where do those things come from?); and working on myself, not in the esoteric sense, but physically, by exercising my butt off — or more correctly, trying to exercise that last 15 pounds of middle-aged gut that has taken up residence and refuses to leave.

Really, for the last couple of months I’ve put most thoughts about the fraternity out of my head; not for any particular reason, except that, as A.C. points out:

“The Masonic summer break restores that sense of renewal that we all used to enjoy as students… when we go out into the real world, life often turns into a 365-day-a-year grind.While you still don’t get a summer break from your day job (unless you happen to be a teacher,) taking a couple of months away from the Lodge gives you a nice opportunity to reflect on the proceedings of the preceding year, and contemplate the upcoming one.”

So, on Tuesday, I reminded my wife (who had been enjoying my summer hiatus) that the lodge meetings were going to be starting up again. On Wednesday — the first Wednesday of the month — I happened to glance at my Google calendar and saw that the space for Wednesday evening was blank. Dang, I must have accidentally deleted the items for the rest of the year, instead of just the summer. I re-entered the deleted items, and set a reminder to leave work early; a reminder to which I actually paid attention. No, really.

I made it home, and decided to forgo the Ice Cream Vendor Grand Lodge uniform, and changed into business casual. I grabbed my keys and noted the time — only 7:01, plenty of time to socialize beforehand — and as I walked to to my car, I contemplated the probability of a parking space in the middle of the week.

No, wait. Something’s wrong. There haven’t been any parking issues all spring. Why was I thinking about that now? With Southington’s Music on the Green, and the new restaurants on the block, why didn’t I have any trouble parking a few months ago? What changed? Why…

Oh dang! I’d put all thoughts so far out of my mind that I’d completely forgotten that back in January we changed our meeting nights to the 1st and 3rd Mondays.

Well, it wasn’t a total loss. I spent some extra time with my lovely wife (we went grocery shopping), and had some time to think about some of the things I need to do for the upcoming year.

Hopefully, I’ll remember what they are when the time comes.

Internet Masonry is not new; in fact, even seven years ago when I first started researching the fraternity, it was easy to find websites with papers, articles, and reprints on subjects ranging from rules and regulations to the esoteric. More importantly for me, however, were the various discussion groups. Yahoo had several groups, as did MSN. I also discovered that some of the hard-core BBS guys had taken the old Compuserv/Prodigy board and opened up a Usenet group. According to legend, within an hour after the group’s initial posting, a troll posted an Anti-Masonic message to the group.

I learned quite a bit about Masonry from hanging out at those various discussion groups. It’s one thing to read about the Craft and it’s workings; it’s quite another to discuss it with experienced Masons from various jurisdictions. Before I joined, I learned about things that most members of the fraternity rarely even hear about. I learned about recognition and regularity, about Prince Hall, that there are women Masons, and most importantly, that the impression that you have of Masonry from your lodge is only an impression – that rituals, ceremonies, even signs and tokens are not the same around the world, yet the essence of brotherhood somehow manages to shine through from everywhere you find a square and compasses.

Blogging is a great pastime for those of us who are egomaniacs inclined to write, but the medium does not lend itself well to discussion. Yes, one can leave comments on an article, but the narrow column format of web logs makes following a discussion difficult, especially lengthy ones. Even worse are side discussions that inevitably grow out of lengthy discussions – it often seems “rude” to hijack a comment discussion on a blog belonging to someone else. So, as much as I enjoy popping in on my new blogging friends, I often prefer to hang out at several of the various web-based Masonic discussion forums.

But before I mention those forums, I should first give a nod to the Usenet groups – the grandfathers of Internet Masonry. Although Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Forte Agent are probably the most common clients for accessing Usenet groups, I suspect that most people only stumble across newsgroups using Google Groups now. Usenet groups – a widely propagated text-only medium (think: message board) – are devoid of the flash, graphics, Java, and even HTML. Text-only messages are sent out and distributed by various news servers where they are picked up by the various Usenet service providers. Several years ago, AOL dropped their own coverage of Usenet groups, and most people simply found web-based groups. Many Usenet groups have been overrun with spammers and trolls. However, a few die-hards still frequent news://alt.freemasonry (the oldest Masonic Usenet group, now caught in a flaming cross-posting war between trolls on other groups) and news://soc.org.freemasonry ( a “Moderated” group which relies on human moderators to keep the spammers and trolls out, and to make sure that members don’t allow their passions on certain subjects to go out of bounds). Both can be accessed via Google groups: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.freemasonry/topic and http://groups.google.com/group/soc.org.freemasonry/topics

Yahoo members have a lot of choices: a quick search turned up well over 300 groups having something to do with Freemasonry, many of which are moderated and some of which will only allow verified Freemasons to join the group. I subscribe to about a dozen Masonic Yahoo groups; I find it convenient because I can read the messages at the website, or have them delivered via email. Admittedly, though, I rarely frequent any of them since I began blogging. But anyone with a yen for Masonic discussion should register for a Yahoo ID and join some of the very good groups that have been active for years. I even set up my own group a few years ago, just to test the email capabilities for Friendship Lodge.

I have long lost count of the various web-based groups, sometimes called “bulletin boards.” Several hosting companies now offer up great group discussion software, making a discussion board fairly easy to set up and maintain, even for newbies, which is probably why there are any number of small web forums, and a growing number of larger ones. The better forums have several moderators who generally try to maintain order, keep out spammers and trolls, and encourage harmony when brothers begin to get a bit heated over certain subjects. At times, some moderators will “lock” the discussion threads, which prevents any more people from posting to them while tempers cool. A Google search for Masonic web forums turns up several hundred potential hits, and thousands of references to them. I subscribe to about a dozen of them, although – as with the Yahoo groups – I haven’t been active in any since I started blogging.

But lately I’ve been in the mood to have some discussion, so I’ve been looking at the some of the more well-known forums. My new favorite hangout has been The Three Pillars; I find the groups to be fairly young-minded and the regulars seem open to discussing controversial subjects. The forum also has men and women Masons from jurisdictions that are unrecognized by the mainstream GLs, and I find that my own understanding of Masonry is enhanced by their perspectives. Having run across a number of forums that do not allow members of non-mainstream Masonry, I find their inclusion to be an asset.

A few other forums of note are The Masonic Forum of Light, The Trestleboard, and The Lodgeroom International, (with a separate forum for our British brethren) and a newer forum, Novus Ordo Saeculorum which was just started last year. All forums are active with plenty of side discussions on a wide enough range of subjects to keep any Mason informed and entertained.

Sometimes I want to have a discussion with people from Connecticut, and instead of getting my butt off the chair and going to lodge, I can surf over to www.friendshiplodge33.org, where the l33t web team at Friendship Lodge set up a great website while the GL sites were under construction. They put up a forum page, although the only people who use it are Friendship members. Similarly, I sometimes head to my own Grand Lodge website and log into the GL-CT forums. They really aren’t active (I suspect that I’m the most active member aside from the moderator), but I’m hoping that more people will discover them.

On a different scale are the Social Networking sites. These are sites in which members can participate in forum discussions, post simple blog articles, and more importantly, form groups based upon common interests. You can search a database of interests and when you find someone who matches up with your own, you can “friend” them, or add them to your group. LiveJournal is one of the oldest of these, and I’ve had my own LJ account for a while, although I don’t really use it. LJ has a small Masonic community, which does not attract the kind of traffic that a web forum would do.

Last year I started a MySpace account because I had a number of family members who had them and we thought it would be great to communicate that way. It turns out that MySpace is a great way to waste a lot of time, look at ads for things you don’t want, and to be flooded with emails from people you don’t know, most of whom want you to subscribe to a porn site, a dating site, or to buy what can euphemistically be termed “male enhancement drugs.” MySpace has a number of Masons, though, and the list keeps growing.

Recently, I joined a social networking site developed strictly for Freemasons: The Working Tools, hosted on the site of the online magazine of the same name. While similar to MySpace and LiveJournal, TWT was started by Cory Sigler, a moderator at The Three Pillars. In his words,

I started it to give Masons a place to meet each other in a fun comfortable manner without the hassle of having anti’s bother us with nonsense.

I noticed a huge gathering of Brothers on Myspace & Facebook so I figured [I would] give them a place to go for just us.

I rather liked the idea of having a Social Network that was already composed of Masons; presumably it would be ideal for discussions and questions. I joined right before Christmas and copied my favorite blog posts from the past year over to the TWT blogging area. There is a forum area, however it’s a bit sparse at the moment; I’m sure it’s because TWT is only a few weeks old and despite having over 400 members, not everyone has discovered all of the features yet. The Working Tools magazine is an excellent read itself, and because January issue picked one of my articles as the Blog Post of the Month simply enhances my opinion, in addition to making me ever so much more humble and modest than I already am. Here’s hoping for the success of this venture.

I can’t imagine anything now replacing the fascination I had for the Usenet groups seven years ago, but I still enjoy finding new Masonic web groups. Even when I don’t participate, I find that I learn something new about the Craft just from reading the discussions. I recommend these and other groups to new Masons as a way to increase your knowledge, and to more seasoned brothers who might be interested in learning how things are done elsewhere.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Several brothers have now asked me pointedly why I haven’t written anything about the recent split of Halcyon Lodge from the Grand Lodge of Ohio. First of all, I haven’t written anything in almost over a month; even some of my online friends have noticed that I’ve hardly even left any comments lately. This is because I’m getting into the year-end crush at work, and also the year-end rush in Connecticut Freemasonry. In the last month I’ve been to (or have been in) four degrees, three rehearsals, two Grand Lodge meetings, one District meeting, and several regular and special meetings at several different lodges. Somewhere in there I managed to make some family time, get a Christmas tree, do some household projects, do the single parent thing while my wife was on a business trip, and I’m sure I frittered away some spare moments as well; which means that just about every time I sat down to write something, I ended up reading the backlog of messages and then – more than once – dozing off at the keyboard.

The other reason I haven’t written anything about Halcyon, (and now, Euclid and, um, the other one, wherever it is) or the American “Grand Orient” thingie though, is because while the subject has generated enormous quantities of heat in several venues, there has been disproportionately very little light. And frankly, when I step back from the subject matter a little bit, there isn’t much worth writing about.

No, really.

A small group of Freemasons worked very hard at revitalizing an older lodge. During the course of this, they ran into some Grand Lodge regulations that they believed complicated their designs. Unable to work out an amicable compromise with their Grand Lodge, they chose to turn in their charter and go it alone.

Yeah, yeah, I’ve read all about the other stuff. Allegations of financial chicanery, hot-headedness, stubborn Grand Lodge officers, politics, breaking of obligations, revolution against the established order, and disturbing the peace and littering.

Big, fat, hairy deal.

The first Grand Lodge was formed in 1717, and within twenty years lodges began splitting off, which means that it took less than a generation for lodges to develop issues with their overseeing Grand Lodge. Even a quick perusal of the literature shows that schisms in Freemasonry are surprisingly common; and although that latter half of the 20th century has been fairly quiet in that respect in the US and UK, splits and schisms in other countries have made recognition of various Grand Lodges throughout the world a mish-mash. However, it’s interesting to note that even Paul Bessel’s slightly out-of-date website on the various Grand Lodges operating within the US shows well over 200 non-mainstream (i.e., not AF&AM or Prince Hall) Grand Lodges extant. This averages to roughly six unrecognized jurisdictions per state in the US.

The point is that schisms within Freemasonry, and indeed, within almost any organization are fairly typical. To me, though, the more interesting aspect is not the schism itself, but the reaction to the split. In reading the responses on the several blogs and websites that have been carrying such discussions, I’m reminded of the old Emo Phillips joke. I posted this back in August, but under the circumstances, it bears repeating:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said “Stop! Don’t do it!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” he said.
I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!”
“Like what?”
“Well … are you religious or atheist?”
“Religious.”
“Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?”
“Christian.”
“Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
“Protestant.”
“Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist.”
“Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”
“Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!”
To which I said, “Then die, heretic scum!” and pushed him off.

The thing that makes this joke so funny is that we all recognize that some perversity of human nature makes us less tolerant of a group that is almost like us than, than we are of some group that is very different. But we also recognize that any group that splits off from us becomes a them; this implies some kind of rejection of us; we get defensive and wonder – demand – that they explain themselves in order to make things more consistent with our own world view. This is difficult enough, but we then add to this volatile mix that they have their own reasons for splitting off, and have probably endured a long time – years, maybe decades – in harboring frustration. In order to justify splitting off, they develop a psychological or sociological rationale, which often takes to form of blaming us for actions or situations which they believe to be unfair. The result is generally a situation in which the groups, despite being very close on many other issues, harbor some animosity toward the other for some narrow range of wants or desires.

Certainly a number of my brethren have been reading the web boards and the several blogs – notably Burning Taper – and wondering why there is so much arguing. And frankly, I’ve long since stopped reading the threads on Burning Taper because I’m embarrassed, even mortified by the displays of vitriol from all sides. Personally, I’m of the mind that if you belong to an organization in which you don’t like the management, then make an attempt at trying to change things. If it doesn’t work, and if you can see that it’s going to cause some hard feelings, then get out and go to Plan B while everyone still has the opportunity to make things work.

But I also understand that we hate for people to split off from whatever groups we belong to because that implies that they weren’t happy; people who aren’t satisfied tend to break away out of anger, and others in the original group tend to see it as a rejection of established ways. This prompts the question “What was wrong with the established way?” and from that, any answer is bound to cause some kind of defensive reaction. Perhaps a Martian, unschooled in human nature, might wonder why such splits can’t be amicable affairs, but I think that most of us can well imagine that once we start to develop the “us vs them” mindset, then it’s only a matter of time before the rioting starts.

At some point, one has to take a step back and ask “Is there any evidence that would convince me that the other side is correct?” If the answer is “No,” then chances are that the people of the opposite opinion feel the same way, and the argument is at a stalemate. Go home. Sit down with a book and have a quiet scotch by the fire. Rebuild that old PC in the corner of the basement that you were going to give to your niece. Clean out the garage. Do something constructive… or not. But stop wasting your breath – or your bandwidth – once you understand that nothing is going to change, be it the situatio
n or your mind.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Most US states have a Masonic publication, like a magazine or a newsletter. A few years ago, we went from a 4 color mag (The Square & Compasses) published quarterly to a monthly newspaper (The Connecticut Freemason). It’s more timely and gives more opportunity for the various lodges to get smaller articles in. It costs as much as the old magazine, but I think it’s worth the expense, if only for the sheer amount of information that we can pass along to the brothers – especially to those who don’t have the opportunity to get out to lodge anymore.

Like the publications from other states, though, it’s generally filled with the usual array of “shake and smile” or “grip and grin” photos that are the hallmark of in-house communication organs all over the known universe. You can’t help it; most articles and photos are supplied by the lodge members themselves, and invariably the only time someone thinks of taking a picture is when the Master of a lodge happens to shake hands with the latest award recipient.

Fortunately, the latest guy to be stuck with in charge of the newspaper is a creative sort, and between he and the other poor guy who got stuck with camera duty photo and layout expert, they’ve managed to snatch creativity from the very jaws of the mundane.

Since I only have a handful of readers in Connecticut, I thought that the rest of the Masonic world might enjoy seeing the latest cover. A number of us have had a good chuckle over it, but even so, it’s interesting to see how good graphic design doesn’t necessarily become outdated.

This link to the November CT Freemason will open a large PDF file of the entire newspaper, with the front cover prominently displayed.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry