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Healing Community

21 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by Wes Tapp in Uncategorized

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I was reading an online article published by My Jewish Learning called “One Small Step: Fulfilling the directive to repair the world begins in our own mouths and hearts” that made me think a little more about our Masonic responsibilities.

In the article the author describes the Jewish philosophy of Tikkun Olam or “world repair”.  The philosophy is based around the last words of Moses where he encourages the Hebrews to follow God’s command and contract and that they not only need to be responsible for their own sins, but also the sins of the community as a whole. [Deu 29 & 30]

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

This concept struck me and is different from what I have been taught in a Protestant Christian tradition about sin and its place in the world.  When most Protestants approach the topic of sin, we see that as a personal blocker between us and God and is on a personal level. (This is not a deep dive into the azazel and is certainly not a dissertation on hamartiology.)

In the concept presented in the One Small Step article the author noted that in reality, we take responsibility for the sin or wrongdoing of others, not in the sense that we are directly responsible for their sin, but rather, we are responsible to set an example of how not to sin.

My goal is not to argue the points of theological belief, but it is to recognize two points:  First, that when we do something wrong against someone else it is in effect breaking a relationship with that person (or deity).  Second, we as Freemasons have a responsibility to our fellow men to help them overcome and avoid the trap of sin and breaking relationships.

When we speak in our lectures of building “a house not made of hands, eternal in the heavens” [2Cor 5:1], or we speak of Living stones [1Pet 2:5], or cement of brotherly love and affection, we are talking about our place in community and setting examples for others.  

This boils down to a logical argument about us as Masons being part of “World Repair”.  We must first recognize that we are created beings.  Next we must understand that the GAOTU has placed us here for a purpose.  Then we must know that we as a collective of men (and women) have a responsibility to one another.  Next we must explicitly know that we can only be better as a society if we elevate one another. Finally, we as Masons must set that example to raise each other and then others so we can move from the point of darkness to light.

When we spread brotherly love and affection we are in fact spending time building up others and helping to guide them in right actions.

Links.

One Small Step
Tikkun Olam: Repairing the World
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Discussion Group: Freemasonry: A Journey Through Ritual and Symbol

28 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by Wes in Uncategorized

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Tags

discussion, Freemasonry

Over this past summer, our Lodge held a discussion group on the Kirk MacNulty title A Journey Through Ritual and Symbol, published in 1991.  I noted that there was a lack of questions geared toward this kind of discussion, so I did a little googling and looked for some questions to be prepared for the discussion.  To be fair, I did a pretty poor job of collecting the source of some questions in the General Section.  For that I apologize and will happily give credit where it is due.  Please feel free to let me know and I will add sources in footnotes if you desire specific credit.  Some questions

The discussion was broken into two parts, one on the text, the other on the art.  Unfortunately the art discussion was poorly attended and didn’t add much value.  The discussion on the text was lively and fairly well attended.  I am not including the second session art portion as there was a bit of art work that I am uncertain of its copyright status.

Some observations:

  1. Not everyone took time to read the material.  This led to quite a bit of discussion management.  Opinions, while interesting, really don’t add to the discussion without context.
  2. It seems that even casual students of Masonry really don’t have a good lexicon of symbolism to draw from.  Honing that skill in open Lodge has value.
  3. Widen the net.  Masons from other Lodges may not have this kind of discussion in their home Lodge.  Look for those people to extend the conversation.

This won’t be the last time we do this kind of study, but we will look for more opportunity to narrow the focus and look for members who will truly participate in the discussion in a meaningful way.

Feel free to use these questions in your discussion.  Let me know if you do so and keep me informed of anything interesting that arises.

31

Session 1 – Text

General

  • Was the title of the book appropriate for the content?
  • Do you feel that the theme of the book was adequately explored?  Are there more areas to consider?
  • Did anything in the writing surprise you?  What was the most pivotal revelation from the text?
  • What has resonated the most with you personally, either negatively or positively?
  • Is there anything in the text that you disagree with?
  • How would this text help others?

Pursuit of Knowledge

  • How do you feel about the the mission of “know thyself”?
  • How do you feel about the transmission of “mysteries” from one generation, society or culture, to another?  How do we do this today?
  • How do the degrees represent mystery?  Are they effective at communicating?  Are the effective as bonds?

Thread of Mysteries

  • Is it appropriate to use Greek polytheism to interpret the our own psyche?  Gods relating to individual emotions or psychological phenomena.
  • How do you feel about the assertion that Vitruvius translated those parts into architecture?
  • Do we effectively teach our lessons through the mysteries?  Are there better ways to communicate or make light available?
  • Has the “illiterate” population lost the ability to understand symbols?
  • How do “illiterate” people use symbolism today?
  • How do you think the Reformation or Anti-reformation reshaped Freemasonry?

A New Look at the Renaissance

  • Was it appropriate for the early Christian church to nurture intellectual growth?
  • How did Humanism impact or change the church’s role in spreading knowledge?
  • How did the Medici really influence the growth or spread of reformation?
  • What was the result of misunderstanding where the Hermetica came from?  How does that impact us today?
  • Why did the Muslims allow large exchanges of knowledge during their rule in the late 1400’s.
  • Why did the Roman church adopt the Kabbalistic/Hermetic texts?
  • Is it appropriate to treat the Physical, Psyche, Spirit and Divinity as separate entities?
  • Why did the Church reverse its decisions in the 17th century?  Did that cause or help influence the creation of Lodges?
  • How do you feel about the assertion of influential and intellectual men infiltrating a declining group like the operative Builders Guild?

Freemasonry as a Psychology

  • What is our Masonic Psychology?
  • How would you define Masonic Metaphysics to a new member? (being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, space)
  • Why is the superficies associated with the psyche?
  • Is it appropriate to associate the three levels of the Temple of Solomon to the three Degrees and also the Jungian psychology of personal consciousness, personal unconsciousness and collective consciousness?
  • What is the collective consciousness of Masonry?
  • What is the Masonic Model of the psyche? (19)
  • Are we responsible for leading a man to “know thyself”, or are we to just give him the tools?
  • How are we best disposed to help train the EA, FC or new MM?
  • How can we help new Masons understand the secrets of Masonry without unlawfully revealing them?
  • Is it unlawful to “connect the dots” for a Brother?
  • What did you find the most enlightening about the tracing boards?

The First Degree – EA

  • What is implied in the difference between “humanity” being the Temple of God vs. “man” being a temple?
  • Ego vs. Self – How does a man best accomplish this task?
  • How can we best use the “self” exposed through the Path of Honesty? (21)
  • How does the phrase “To Lean, subdue my passions and improve myself in Freemasonry.” relate to the external world?
  • What are the capacities of the working tools (24 inch gauge, gavel and chisel [european])?
  • What is the view of the tracing board of this degree? (external, looking up)

The Second Degree – FC

  • How can we be sure that a FC candidate has made sufficient proficiency in the proceeding degree?  What is “sufficient” in this context?
  • Why do we use a ladder in the first and stairway in the second?
  • What is the view of the tracing board of this degree? (internal, looking up)
  • Why can’t consciousness be described?
  • Can we store unconscious lessons of the craft?  How do we retrieve them?
  • How can the fraternities circumscription of our behavior become harmful? (25)
  • Can we evaluate or use the unconsciousness of others to extend our lessons?
  • Who determines morality?  Is there a norm that society can agree upon?
  • How does morality balance with free will?
  • To pay the craft their wages, if any be there due.  How does this phrase mesh with the concept of the middle chamber being the place of receiving wages? (JW/Self/experience)

The Third Degree – MM

  • How does death convert to life in the context of the legend?
  • Why are the three principle officers, in balance, said to lose the secrets of a Master Mason? (29)
  • What is the distinction between recognize and believe?
  • Why do we fear death?  Why do we fear death of self?
  • Why does the author make distinctions between active and passive tools?
  • Is the MM degree really the culmination of learning?
  • In what other ways does the Master facing West show charity and compassion?

 

Megalithic Masonry

30 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by Wes in Uncategorized

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Background

Some of the earliest building techniques included what we term today as Megalithic Masonry.  This technique enabled the builder to construct crude structures by the use of rough cut stones and joining was done without the aid of mortar or cement.  Stones, or more appropriately, boulders, would be irregular in shape and rely on the aid of gravity, friction or partial burial to keep them in place.

Megalithic construction is also sometimes referred to as Monolithic but that term often refers to singular stone structures such as menhirs, carnac stones and general columns.

A sub form of this masonry is referred to as Cyclopean masonry, which is specific to Mycenaean architecture where limestone boulders are rough-cut and stacked to form walls, often with a shallow foundation.  Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, southwest of current day Athens.  During the period from 1600 BC to 1100 BC Mycenae was the center of Greek civilization and dominated the area.  The Mycenaean builders realized that enormous, thick walls created the best defensive structure and relied on them heavily in the creation of their citadel to protect and defend the city.

We derive the name Cyclopean masonry from this building style and a bit of Greek literature and mythology.   We know the Cyclops as a child of the marriage of Uranus and Gaia.  Known as brothers to the Titans, three Cyclopes are noted by Hesiod, those being Brontes (thunder), Steropes(lightning) and Arges (brightness, as from lightning).  These three were locked in Tartarus, a dungeon of torment, by their father, as he feared they would overthrow him.  Subsequently they were released by Zeus to craft lightning bolts for him as Zeus sought to overthrow Cronus.  According to the hymn of Callimachus the Cyclopes were helpers at Hephaestus’ forge (they god of blacksmiths) and as such the Cyclopes were giants well versed in crafting with metal and built the weapons of the gods in their quest to defeat the Titans.  As Hephaestus is the Greek counterpart of Vulcan they are tied to the ability to craft with brass and iron.  Often depicted as one-eyed beasts in modern portrayal, they were thought of quite differently by ancients.  In point of fact, it was a custom by ancient blacksmiths to wear an eyepatch to protect them from flying sparks and potentially being blinded in both eyes.  It is assumed that only the Cyclops, with his brutish nature, could possibly have constructed the structures at Mycenae, Tiryns or Cyprus.

Other Cyclopean buildings can be found elsewhere in the world such as Italy and South America.  The people of Machu Picchu built enormous structures from found and quarried rock.  The layering of their work shows actual intricate detail in the methods of joining stone, but most of this work requires little skill other than cutting and laying.  Structural integrity in these cases requires simple balancing and weight to keep things in place.

An alternate form of structure found even in early Northeastern America up to 4000 BC includes the building of cairns, which are intentionally piled stones into formal structures, again not using mortar.  These are simple buildings or structures, sometimes used as homes, storage, grave markers or even ovens.  These small structures are crude and require little skill to construct, other than a creative mind and ability to stack or pile stones.

Historical Megaliths

There are a number of extreme forms of megaliths found throughout the world, some of these include Stonehenge , Giza, Carnac, Ollantaytambo and Teotihuacan.  Each of these megalithic sites required moving large amounts of material over vast distances.  Stonehenge in Britian required the ancients to transport over 80 bluestones from the mountains in Wales, some 250 miles to the current location.  The ancients constructed the site in many phases.

 

Resources

Lost Civilzations of the Andes http://davidpratt.info/andes2.htm

Hidden Italy: The Forbidden Cyclopean Ruins (Of Giants from Atlantis) http://www.richardcassaro.com/hidden-italy-the-forbidden-cyclopean-ruins-of-giants-from-atlantis

Stone Masonry and Engineering at Machu Picchu, No Aliens Needed http://michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/2009/07/stone-masonry-and-engineering-at-machu-picchu-no-aliens-needed/

Who Taught the Inca Stonemasons Their Skills, A Compariosn of Tiahuanaco and Inca Stone Masonry http://www.michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/Who%20Taught%20the%20Inca%20Stonemasons%20Their%20Skills%20A%20Comparison%20of%20Tiahuanaco%20and%20Inca%20Cut-Stone%20Masonry.pdf

Cyclopean Masonry  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopean_masonry

Mycenae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenae

Lions Gate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Gate

Hephaestus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus

 

Stone Cairns http://www.stonestructures.org/html/cairns.html

Extreme Masonry http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/extremasonry.htm

 

Shibboleth

09 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by Wes in Uncategorized

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Tags

lodge presentation, Symbols

Shibboleth

03.14.2011

key-298819_1280

We often use strange sounding words in our Masonic lore.  Sometimes they are fugitives from a previous generation and are linguistic anachronisms.  From our great Masonic lectures we are told that Shibboleth is a password used by the ancient men from Gilead to distinguish themselves from the Ephramites.  In Judges 12:5-6, the Gileadites used the word as a linguistic pass-code to separate themselves from their enemy.

“Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No,” they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan.” (Judges 5-6, HCSB http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+12&version=HCSB)

The Ephramites could not form the words correctly and instead of being able to articulate a “Sh” sound they could only make an “S” sound.  This gave them away and the fugitive would easily be apprehended.  The aspirate sound is missing – and is a key.

We are told that the word, in Hebrew, means “Ear of Corn”.  In reality it means the part of a plan that bears grain, like corn or wheat.  What we are not told is that this word can also mean “stream” or “torrent” of water or place where you cross the water.  In the time of Solomon the ear of corn represented plenty and was often used to pay laborers wages.  Entemologically the word derives from the Hebrew Sihlet-Shabioth, which is derived from the root word Shabal, meaning “to go”, “to go up”, or “to grow”.  There has been much discussion about what the word really means but to a Mason it should mean “plenty”.

Albert Mackey and others take some stab at including the concept of watershed or waterfall as part of this definition and it is found in some regional US ritual.  I would argue that it really doesn’t add or detract value but ignores the real purpose for freemasons as being the concept of plenty.

Mankind has adopted this word Shibboleth to mean word or practice that is indicative of someones origin.  For example jargon or modern bonding jokes may mean something to one group of people but seem totally foreign to someone else.  During battles American soldiers often use baseball or other sports terms to tell if someone is an American or not (Battle of the Bulge).  Also consider that there are many regional dialects that have specific sounds “House vs. Haus”, “Pop vs. soda”, etc.  You may also find the term Shibboleth used in a variety of technical applications and products as there is a high sensitivity to security and electronics.

Of particular interest to me in the study of this word is the relative usefulness to modern Masons.  We are known as a secret society and often times found to have particular modes of recognition, but how exactly does this word apply to us?  Why didn’t operatives pick something else, say block or tackle or any number of useful tools in the trade?

I wonder if maybe this term was chosen to remind us of two basic elements of communication: there must be a speaker and a listener.  Someone must convey the message and another must interpret the message.

Resources:

Shibboleth, http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html (03.13.2011)

Shibboleth, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibboleth (03.13.2011)

Jephthah, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jephthah (03.13.2011)

Masonic Sheaf of Corn, http://www.masonic-lodge-of-education.com/masonic-sheaf-of-corn.html (3.13.2011)

Masonic Symbolosm, Charles Clyde Hunt, http://books.google.com/books?id=f62CKhtfC2kC&pg=PA420&lpg=PA420&dq=shibboleth+masonic+meaning&source=bl&ots=93mh8rFraS&sig=yg4LKarNMukLBOz5BVrUQVoH2fs&hl=en&ei=DX5-TYmzMsyKrQG7t4XcBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=shibboleth%20masonic%20meaning&f=false pp 420-430. (03.13.2011)

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