Forget-Me-Not

T.F.S.

Three, five, and seven

3 5 7

By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.

Number 127 – July 20, 2008

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

“The sweet forget-me-nots that grow for happy lovers.”

Lord Alfred Tennyson - The Brook

I recently heard about a government official who was taking the degrees of Freemasonry, the Brother who told me about it asked that this official’s name and where he hails from should be kept mum, for his Masonic membership was not to be publicized.

He’s not alone in wanting to keep his membership in the Craft to himself. We don’t need to look very far into the history of the world to see some of the reasons a Mason might want to keep is being a Mason on the private side. Masons have been shunned, ostracized, put on trial, incarcerated, and even put to death because of their Masonic affiliation by dictators and despots. Sadly these kinds of things were happening as recently as the mid 1900’s in Europe and in Spain: The Masons of Europe were persecuted, along with millions of other people, because of their being Freemasons. Fortunately in the free world Freemasons have not faced such persecution. However, there are some Masons who have been chastised and discriminated against, in various ways, because of their affiliation with the Sons of Light. Thankfully this kind of thing does not happen very often, and it is non-violent, (unlike the treatment of Mason by dictators throughout history,) but it is, nevertheless, hurtful to the Mason and detrimental to the Craft.

It is each individual Mason’s own decision whether or not he will reveal himself as being a Freemason, and every other Freemason should respect the decisions of our Brethren. Men petition a Lodge and take the degrees of Masonry for perfectly personal reasons; not for any publicity, but for personal growth and bonding with other, like minded, men.

In North America it seems many, if not most, Masons display their Masonic affiliation in some manner by wearing some Masonic jewelry, or placing an emblem on their car or home, but some prefer to refrain from that.

Displaying a Masonic emblem of some kind on our person, home, or automobile, is referred to, by our Brethren affiliated with Prince Hall Freemasonry, as ‘wearing light.’ When some of us ‘wear light’ we do so with the familiar Square and Compasses, while others might display an emblem that is less familiar to the general public, such as the an emblem depicting the name of a historic and Biblical character from Genesis 4:22, or a Scottish or York Rite emblem, maybe the 14^th or 32^nd degree S.R. Ring, or maybe a simple flower; the Forget-Me-Not. The Forget-Me-Not is worn and loved by Masons world wide as an emblem of their affiliation with the Fraternity. It is also a way to express the remembrance of the persecution many of our Masonic Brethren have suffered for being Freemasons.

The story of this very simple and pretty flower and how it became an emblem of Freemasonry is an interesting one: Briefly, during the Nazi Party’s rise to power in Germany many groups of people were eventually arrested and put into concentration camps where millions of them were murdered. Freemasons, being termed ‘political prisoners’ were also kept in concentration camps; political prisoners wore a inverted red triangle on their prison garments, in contrast to the Jews who were identified by a yellow Star of David on their garments.

The Forget-Me-Not was first used by one of the Grand Lodges operating in Germany in 1926 as a Masonic emblem. However, in 1938 a similar pin of the Forget-Me-Not was used by a Nazi ‘charitable group’ to raise funds that would permit other ‘state funds’ to be used for rearmament.

This “Coincidence” of the Blue Forget-Me-Not being used first by a Grand Lodge and later by the Nazi Government permitted the Masons to wear that pin, or the actual flower, as an emblem or sign understood by other Masons, as to their affiliation with the Sons of Light.

However, once the Freemasons who had been arrested and incarcerated were in prison garb it is highly unlikely that they were allowed to posses any jewelry at all - let alone to wear it on the clothes of a prisoner. If you have seen photos of the grounds of the concentration camps you might have noticed that it was unlikely there was much growing there, but being the ‘forget-me-not’ is a wild flower it is possible a Masonic political prisoner might have plucked one when available to put on his person if he could.

The name of the Forget-Me-Not in German is Vergessmein-nicht, and simply translated, as Worshipful Brother Roger Firestone was kind enough to do for me, means "forget mine not," which he commented is “not much difference from the name for the flower in English.”

That brings to mind something interesting about the flower’s ‘English’ name: One Encyclopedic Dictionary says that the flower was given its English name by the 19th century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his poem “The Keepsake.” The dictionary gives us this information: [Coleridge] gave this Eurasian and North American wildflower its common English name. In his poem 'the keepsake', published in 1802, he described it as “This is the common forget-me-not Myosotis arvensis.”

I looked for quite a while for this poem and I finally found it, so I thought I would reproduce it here, for your reading enjoyment. This poem is a bit over 200 years old now, and it could be called a part of the history of the flower, and lapel pin many of us wear as a sign of our being a Freemason.

The keepsake

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The tedded hay, the first fruits of the soil,

The tedded hay and corn sheaves in one field,

Show summer gone, ere come. The foxglove tall.

Sheds its loose purple bells, or in the gust,

Or when it bends beneath the uprising lark,

Or mountain-finch alighting. And the rose

(In vain the darling of successful love)

Stands, like some boasted beauty of past years;

The thorns remaining, and the flowers all gone.

Nor can I find, amid my lonely walk

By rivulet, or spring, or wet road-side,

That blue and bright-eyed floweret of the brook,

Hope’s gentle gem, the sweet forget-me-not!

So will not fade the flowers which Emmeline

With delicate fingers on the snow-white silk

Has worked, (the flowers which most she knew I loved,)

And more beloved than they, her auburn hair.

In the cool morning twilight, early walked

By her full bosom’s joyous restlessness,

Softly she rose, and lightly stole along,

Down the slope coppice to the woodbine bower,

Whose rich flowers, swinging in the morning breeze,

Over their dim fast-moving shadows hung,

Making a quiet time of disquiet

In a smooth scarcely moving river pool.

There, in that bower where she first she owned her love,

And let me kiss my own warm tear of joy

From off her glowing cheek, she sate and stretched

The silk upon the frame, and worked her name

Between the moss-rose and forget-me-not –

Her own dear name, with her own auburn hair!

That forced to wander till sweet spring returns,

I yet might ne’er forget her smile, her look,

Her voice, (that even in her mirthful mood

Has made me wish to steal away and weep,)

Nor yet the entrancement of that maiden kiss

With which she promised, that when spring returned,

She would resign one half of that dear name,

And own thenceforth no other name but mine!

“One of the names (and meriting to be the only one) of the Myosotis Scorpioides Palustris, a flower from six to twelve inches high, with blue blossom and bright yellow eye. It has the same name over the whole Empire of Germany (Vergissmein Nicht), and, I believe, in Denmark and Sweden.”

“A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you when forget-me-nots are withered. Carve your name on hearts, and not on marble.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon - 1834-1892, Baptist Minister

From the Great Light of Masonry: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV

Words to live by: Live your life so you don’t need to hide your diary.

Please remember: if you would like to participate in the latest Masonic Monday Question, please go to http://www.lodgebuilder.org and click on the Lodge Education forum. When you have an answer send it to masonicmonday@gmail.com the Masonic Monday Question for the week of 07/21/08 is: “Define each of the following and give its relationship to Freemasonry: a) Jacobean; b) Jacobin; c) Jacobite; d) Jacobian”

More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by Email at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to erhmasonic@gmail.com with Subscribe in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publications.

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With “Brotherly Love”,

Ed Halpaus

Grand Lodge Education Officer

“Always two there are, a master and an apprentice.” Yoda

Ahiman Rezon - August 20, 2007

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 105 – August 20, 2007

“May the favor of Heaven be upon this our happy meeting; may it be begun, carried on, and ended with order, harmony and brotherly love. Amen” - For opening Lodge from Ahiman Rezon, 1756

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

Ahiman Rezon

Recently while I was doing some research for the August 2007 issue of Masonic Matters, which had to do with the two rival Grand Lodges in England from 1751 to 1813, (the Antients and the Moderns,) I came across some information that was quite interesting. The information didn’t fit into the article being prepared, so I thought I would report on it here.

First, I would like to mention just a little about our Worshipful Brother Laurence Dermott: He was the second Grand Secretary of the Ancients Grand Lodge, and he was the one who wrote and published the Ahiman Rezon. Brother Dermott was born in Ireland; he took his degrees in Lodge #26 at Dublin in 1740, served as Secretary and as Warden in his Lodge and was elected and installed as the Master of his Lodge in 1746. In either 1747 or 48 he immigrated to England; at the time he was a journeyman painter, he affiliated with a Lodge under a charter from the Grand Lodge of England. However, he became dissatisfied and left that Lodge. He then joined ‘an ancients lodge,’ #9 and later left that lodge to join Lodge #10. It was when he made the move from Lodge #9 to #10 that he began to compile information and to write a book of by-laws for his Lodge, which eventually became the by-laws for the Antients Grand Lodge, which he named Ahiman Rezon.

Our Brother Laurence Dermott was a serious Bible Student; there is evidence he could read, write, and speak Hebrew, and Latin, in addition to English and his native language of Ireland; Gaelic. He could quote with accuracy verses from the Geneva Bible, which is the Bible he used, and he evidently also used the extensive concordance that was published for the Geneva Bible. The 1560 edition contained what could be called a ‘fruitful concordance’ but the 1589 edition had an index of 63 closely printed pages, which contained all the personal names appearing in the Bible along with their meanings; it also quoted the relevant chapters and the verses in which they appeared.

The Name Ahiman Rezon is a curious name. Brother Dermott never really said what it meant. However, the title page said: “Ahiman Rezon Or a help to a Brother; Showing the Excellency of Secrecy And the first Cause, or Motive, of the Institution of Freemasonry; the Principles of the Craft, and the benefits arising from a Strict Observance thereof; What Sort of Men ought to be Initiated into the Mystery, And What Sort of Masons are fit to govern Lodges, With their Behaviour in and out of the Lodge, Likewise the Prayers used in Jewish and Christian Lodges, The Antient Manner of Constituting New Lodges, with all the Charges, etc. Also the Old and New Regulations, The Manners of Chusing and Installing Grand Master and Officers, and other useful Particulars too numerous to mention. To which is added, the Greatest Collection of Masons songs ever presented to Public View, with many entertaining Prologues and Epilogues; Together with Solomon’s Temple and Oratio, as it was performed for the Benefit of Free-Masons. By Brother Laurence Dermott, Sec. London: Printed for the Editor and sold by Brother James Bedford, at the Crown in St. Paul’s Church-Yard. MDCCLVI”

That is quite a title, and it appears the title took up the entire title page of the book. From reading the title it seems easy to see why ‘A Help to a Brother’ was taken as the meaning of Ahiman Rezon. However, in the third edition of the Ahiman Rezon the title was changed to a much shorter one: “Ahiman Rezon: or a help to all that are, or would be Free and Accepted Masons, with many Additions.” So it appears, to me, that the words which appeared after “or” did not constitute a definition of the name Ahiman Rezon.

In his introduction to Ahiman Rezon Brother Dermott said that his book was designed ‘to shew the mistaken part of the world that the true principles of Free-Masonry are to love Mercy, do Justice, and walk humbly before God.’ For this he relied on Micah 6:8. The verse urges us to examine ourselves as to those areas mentioned, regularly: ‘Am I fair in my dealings with people? Do I show mercy to those who wrong me? Am I learning humility?’

In the 1992 edition of the proceedings of the Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle, (ARS Quatuor Coronatorum,) Volume #105 (AQC #105) there is a paper which was written and presented by Brother Walter Sharmon. In it he quoted an earlier paper written and presented by a Brother Rosenbaum in 1910 (AQC #23).

The word or name Ahiman comes from 1st Chronicles 9:17. This chapter of First Chronicles has to do with the re-built temple after the Jews returned from their exile in Babylon; the gatekeepers guarded the 4 main entrances to the temple, opening the gates each morning so those who wished to worship, could; they also did other day to day jobs to keep the temple running smoothly; the gatekeepers needed to be reliable, honest and trustworthy. Brother Rosenbaum said the meaning of “Ahiman” was a ‘Prepared [trained] Brother, and/or Brother of the right hand.’ He maintained that Brother Dermott used the explanation of “Brother of the Right hand” as found in Psalm 80:17.

The word or name Rezon, (pronounced Ree Zuhn,) can be found in 1st Kings 11:23. Rezon was a contemporary and a formidable adversary of King Solomon. 1st Kings 11:23-25 is known as ‘Rezon’s Revolt.’ Rezon, (who some Biblical Scholars say could also be Hezion, [pronounced He zee uhn,] who is mentioned in 1st Kings 15:18,) lived in 10 B.C.E. He is listed in different Bible commentaries as both a bandit chief, and the King of Damascus. In any event he was an enemy of David. When Solomon became King of Israel Rezon was able to establish an independent Syrian state at Damascus. As the Bible says in 1 Kings 11:25 “So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile towards Israel,” for as long as Solomon lived. According to Brother Rosenbaum Rezon has a meaning of; secret, small, secretaire, prince. Brother Rosenbaum’s opinion then is that Ahiman Rezon means ‘Faithful Brother Secretary.’ This follows Brother Dermott’s theme, which was ‘the excellence of secrecy.’

Brother Dermott never, in any of his writings, had said why he chose that name for his book, but Brother Sharmon, from his research, concludes that “He [Dermott] was very adept of making good use of whatever material he could find, and perhaps it should be left at that.”

“May the blessing of heaven be with us, and all regular Masons; to beautify and cement us with every moral and social virtue. Amen” – For closing of the lodge – Ahiman Rezon, 1756

From the Great Light of Masonry: This text had to do with Moses sending spies into Canaan. He told them to go up into the hill country and to see what the land was like etc. Numbers 13:22 tells us; “They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendents of Anak, lived.” NIV

Spectemur agendo = [Latin] = Let us be judged by our actions.

References:
Who’s who in the Bible
The Holy Bible
ARS Quatuor Coronatorum #105 - 1992
The Interpreter’s one-volume Commentary on the Bible
Mackey’s Revised History of Freemasonry by Robert Ingham Clegg Volume 4

Please remember: if you would like to participate in the latest Masonic Monday Question, please go to http://www.lodgebuilder.org and click on the Lodge Education forum. Past Masonic Monday Questions and the current one may also be read on the Web Site for the G.L. of MN at www.mn-masons.org under Masonic Monday Q&A When you have an answer send it to masonicmonday@gmail.com This weeks question is: The names the same: One a famous Mason; Governor and U.S. Senator, the other, not a Mason, was the head of a country with which the U.S. A. was once at war. What was their name?

More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.

To read this paper in PDF: http://www.halpaus.net/TFS105.pdf

With “Brotherly Love”,
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer

Robert Pershing Wadlow - March 01, 2006

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 70 – March 01, 2006

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

“Man is the artificer of his own happiness.” Henry David Thoreau

Have you ever taken the opportunity to peruse the four volumes of Brother William R. Denslow’s 10,000 Famous Freemasons? They are good books to read to learn about some fine and well known men from years ago who were Freemasons. The books were published in 1957 through 1960 by the Missouri Lodge of Research and the forward to the book was written by Most Worshipful Brother Harry S Truman, former President of the United States of America.

If you were fortunate enough to get a set of these books years ago at a reasonable price you’ve been enjoying these books for a long time. Today they’re only available from used book dealers and they’re expensive. However, Brother Michael Poll at http://www.lostword.com/ has these volumes as an E-book for a very reasonable price, so now every Mason can read and enjoy the information in the four volumes of Brother Denslow’s 10,000 Famous Freemasons.

If you were to read in these volumes you would find an entry for a young man who took his degrees in 1939 and died unexpectedly about 9 months after receiving his Master Mason degree at the age of 22.

This Brother was one who is remembered today as a quiet young man who made the best of a unique handicap, and was an inspiration to many people throughout the United States. His name was Brother Robert Pershing Wadlow. It appears that part of his name was reminiscent of our Masonic Brother General John J. Pershing: commanding General of the European theater of the Great War, and who became General of the Armies on September 3, 1919.

Brother Wadlow had a disease of the pituitary gland that caused him to grow rapidly and to a great size. At the time of his death he was, and still is, regarded as the tallest human ever to live. Back in the 1920’s medicine didn’t have all the knowledge that is available today. Today, thankfully, a child with a pituitary gland problem can receive treatment to correct severe problems such as Brother Wadlow had to live with.

It wasn’t his height and weight that caused his death, at least not directly. As a young man he enjoyed pretty good health considering his rapid growth, but he always had trouble with his feet. The problem was he had very little feeling in them, so he couldn’t tell if and when he had chafing or irritation until a blister formed, and it was from this problem that a fatal infection resulted from a blister that developed during an Independence Day appearance in Manistee, Michigan.

When Robert Wadlow was being raised by his parents he had a normal and happy childhood. He was in Scouting, and DeMolay. He enjoyed stamp collecting and photography. He had two sisters and two brothers, who fortunately did not have the same growth problems Robert did. He grew up in a normal family during the tough times of the great depression with parents who loved their children.

Robert was always having problems with his growth: At age 6 months he weighed 30 pounds; at 18 months he weighed 62 pounds; by the age of eight he was six foot two and weighed 195 pounds, and at age 13 he was known as the worlds tallest Boy Scout at 7 feet 4 inches. He graduated from High School and entered College, but he dropped out of College in 1937 and began his only career as a good-will ambassador for the International Shoe Company. And it was in this capacity that he traveled over 300,000 miles and made many personal appearances in 41 states in over 800 communities around the U.S. He traveled in a car that had been modified by his Dad to accommodate him so that he could travel in relative comfort. His Father was his traveling companion and driver. His Father was also a Brother Mason.

A friend of Robert’s by the name of D. Heuer said he first met him in the mid 30’s when Robert came to Batesville, Arkansas for a promotion at the shoe store Heuer’s father owned. “Robert liked to come to our house for dinner. Our living room had a high arched ceiling he could stand up in. After dinner we played Chinese Checkers. Robert could read a book, play checkers and beat us most of the time. His dad watched his eating closely. ‘Ah dad, one more piece of pie’ he would say.”
”When he stayed overnight in Batesville the hotel put three double beds side by side so Robert could sleep cross-ways but not without problems. I have started a collection of posters, pictures and audio tapes of people that knew Robert and visited with him. Somehow I have been given a pair of his shoes, size 37 AAA. One shoe and the collection will be given to the museum being built here in Batesville.””Robert needs to be remembered. He was the world’s tallest man on record and a Very Easy Going Guy. D. Heuer.”

That’s what he is most remembered for by the people who knew him, not only from his travels but also in his home town; that he was such nice guy and a gentle man. He was known around his home town, by family and friends as a gentle giant. Thanks to the Guinness book of Records and other areas he will also be remembered as the world’s tallest man, which he was, but to me it seems better to remember him as a fine young man who had most, if not all of the wants and desires all young men have, and who had a severe handicap that limited him in many ways, although he was one who made the best of it, and didn’t let it stop him as it could have. To me he should, in addition to being remembered as the world’s tallest man, be remembered as a Scout, DeMolay, and a Freemason.

Brother Robert Pershing Wadlow took his degrees on October 19th, October 31st, and November 4th 1939 in Franklin Lodge #25 Alton, IL. He was born February 22, 1918 and died July 15, 1940 at only 22 years of age.

Upon the death of Brother Robert Wadlow his family had almost all of his belongings destroyed. They didn’t want collectors to purchase his clothing and other items to be displayed as any kind of ‘freak’ memorabilia, or to display anything about him as a ‘freak,’ which we wasn’t. He was a young man who had a disease for which there was no treatment or cure at the time, a young man who loved his family, and a young man who embraced the tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and truth.

He had a short life; he was for the most part a happy person even though he had his cross to bear which caused him some sadness in his life too. However, he was able to live part of his life as a Freemason, and because of that he knew the Brotherly Love of his Lodge Brothers, and he knew the friendly grip whereby one Mason will know another no matter where they meet.

“In the days of my youth I remembered my God!” Robert Southey

More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.

Deo duce ferro comitante = [Latin] = God my guide, my sword my companion.

From the Great Light of Masonry: “You came down from Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.” Nehemiah 9:13 NIV

With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer

Masonic Musings - February 20, 2006

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 69 – February 20, 2006

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

“Or if by chance our minds do muse on ought, it is some picture on the margin wrought.”
William Drummond 1585-1649: The World; flowers of Sion

Ed’s “Masonic” Musings

One day when I was in Hinckley Minnesota I happened to see a car with a bumper sticker that said: “A DeMolay did it!” The driver of the car was young guy and he was doing very well, but I thought; what if every Mason had a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said: ‘A Freemason did it!’ And what if we had that bumper sticker on our persons too? Would we be more courteous? Would we pay more attention to driving correctly and within the law? Would we be pleased to pass up a fellow motorist in distress? Would we smile more at those we meet on and off the road? Having a bumper sticker like that might put a little extra pressure on us Freemasons to do a little bit better: But then if we have the Square and Compass on our car, or on the coat or jacket we wear, we already have a sign that says a Freemason did it.

“No longer talk about what a good man ought to be, but be one.” Marcus Aurelius

While I was visiting a Lodge a Brother offered a suggestion for our Grand Lodge: That we should have a ‘Help Line’ a ‘Network of Masons’ to go to for help, advice and assistance, and to include E-mail addresses and phone numbers for these Brothers who would volunteer to help; a list of nice guys who are willing to help a brother Mason and his Lodge: Nice idea. In fact, we have such a group, and they are called Grand Lodge officers, which include the first Brothers to go to; these Brothers are the Grand Lodge District Representatives, and the Area Deputies. If a Brother, or a Lodge, has a question or needs help that a Grand Lodge officer can help with that officer can be contacted directly, or the District Representative can be asked to help in contacting the Grand Lodge officer that could help. If it has something to do with Lodge Education, as the Grand Lodge Education Officer, I am the one to contact.[i] If you want to contact a Grand Lodge officer and don’t know who it could be that can help, then contact your D.R., A.D., or the Grand Lodge Office[ii] and you’ll be on the way to getting the help you want.

"A committee can make a decision that is dumber than any of its members."
David B. Coblitz

One question that comes up from time to time among Masons is what is appropriate dress for a Lodge Communication? I came across some good information on this in “A Collection of St. Georges Banner” by Brother Kevan Van Herd; I thought you might like to see it:

“Dress implies appropriate appearance. When we appreciate ‘the fitness of things,’ we will come to our Masonic Lodge – erected to God – dressed in respectful attire, just as we would come to our church. If we do not think Freemasonry is important enough for us to wear a necktie and coat, we can hardly expect our candidates to respect and venerate our Fraternity.

Masonry regards no class distinctions, lower or upper, and we can impress this peculiar characteristic of Masonry on our candidates with the dignity and dress evidenced in the Lodge Room.

A Tux is not necessary, but neat, clean, and proper attire is. Dress according to directions in the Summons.”

“Men in great places are thrice servants: Servants of Sovereign or State, servants of fame, or servants of business.” Francis Bacon 1561 - 1626

My Dad & Mom used to take me to the Sportsman show in Downtown Minneapolis when I was a kid. That show is still going on but now it’s called the Boat, Sport and Travel Show. It always was about Hunting, Fishing and Camping, and I always had a great time there. Back when I was a kid it was always held right around Easter and there was always an Easter Parade at the show with the wives of many attendees in the parade to show off their new Easter outfits and Bonnets. It was always enjoyable to see all those ladies in their Sunday best in that Easter Parade. (That’s something you just don’t see any more, around here anyway.)

Well on a certain trip to the Sportsman Show in the 1940’s my Dad took me over to meet about 5 men all sitting in chairs along a wall. They all wore buckskins and headdresses, and they were all American Indians. My dad introduced me to them as I walked along and shook hands with each one, and each one had something very kind to say to me; they asked me questions about myself and my school. It was quite a thrill, and I began to realize what a special thing that was as the years went by. These were all old men, (at least they all seemed old to me at the time.) They were the Grandsons of some of the Famous Indian Chiefs of the Indian Wars throughout the west in the 1800’s. I can’t remember who they all were, but I do know they were Grandsons of famous Chiefs and it was quite a thrill for me to meet them.

I’m not sure if he was one of the men I met, but Chief Crazy Bull, the Great Grandson of Sitting Bull is listed in 10,000 Famous Freemasons and is said to have been a Mason and a member of Suffolk Lodge #60 of Port Jefferson, New York.

“Next to God, thy parents. William Penn

In our Lodge Communications we need to practice Freemasonry, not business. It’s true that there is a certain amount of business to take care of if a Lodge owns its own building or has some financial obligations, but I think we could also all agree that we didn’t want to become a Freemason to attend a business meeting. Therefore a Lodge ought to concentrate on things that are Masonic. Such as:

Contacting Brethren who for health or business reasons cannot attend Lodge to let them know they are not forgotten, and not remembered only at dues time.

The Lodge could have a regular program of Masonic education and information about the Fraternity we all love. It would be better to receive this kind of thing in a Masonic Lodge instead of from other sources. Many times Freemasons get more information on their fraternity from magazine articles, movies, popular books, TV, and church programs than they do from their Lodge. But it is from their Lodge, given by a well informed Brother, where they are most likely to get good accurate information.

The purpose of a Lodge is to teach and learn. This is done by Masonic Education programs and degree work. The degree work should be done well and the Brethren watching as well as participating should learn what the lessons are behind the allegory communicated in the degree. A well informed Brother can help his Brethren learn much in the same way a mentor will help his charge to learn.

“I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.”
Daniel Webster – July 17, 1850

More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.

Aureo piscari hamo = [Latin] = To fish with a golden hook; risk more than the game is worth

From the Great Light of Masonry: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
2 Corinthians 8-9 (NIV)

With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer

[i] ed@halpaus.net - 320-679-0264 H – 763-552-0466 H – 612-3901168 C
[ii] 651-222-6051 O – 800-245-6050 tool free in out state Minnesota – mailto:masoniclodges--@qwest.net

John Hancock - January 20, 2006

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 67 – January 20, 2006

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

“There, I guess King George will be able to read that.”
Brother John Hancock on signing the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

Brother Hancock was born January 12, 1737, (under the old calendar,) and died October 8, 1793 while he held the office of Governor of Massachusetts.

I like to read in Masonic Publications for information on our great fraternity and some of the men who became Freemasons over the centuries. I happened to be reading in the October 1948 copy of the New Age magazine; the then official magazine of the A.A.S.R. Southern Jurisdiction.

In it was a short article about Brother John Hancock being a citizen of Quebec. A citizen can mean an inhabitant of a city or town, or a townsman as distinguished from a countryman, so if Brother Hancock lived in Quebec, which he did for a time, he would be a citizen of Quebec.

After Brother Hancock graduated from Harvard University in 1754, he went to Canada to do business as the representative of his Uncle’s mercantile house of Boston, because of which Brother Hancock took up residence in Quebec. It was during his residence there in 1760, when he was 23 years of age, he was made a Mason. He was initiated in Merchants Lodge #1, which was the first civilian Lodge established in Canada after the Conquest.

[The Conquest, by the way, refers to the North American Theater of the Seven Years War. This theater is known in America as the French and Indian War. There was a decisive battle fought September 13, 1759 that became known as The Battle of the Plains of Abraham. This battle was fought on a plateau just outside the city walls of Quebec City in New France, on the land of Abraham Martin de L’Ecossais. The combat lasted only 30 minutes, but the fight ended a three-month siege of Quebec City. The battle was actually the culmination of a siege that began on June 26th when the British landed on Île d’ Orléans in the St. Lawrence River. During this Three-month siege the British landed with 49 ships and 140 small craft; 13,500 Sailors; and there were involved 8,640 Troops which included 1280 Americans. Quebec City was defended by 13,390 French Troops and Militia; 200 Cavalry; 300 Natives, (Indians); and 140 Acadian Volunteers. The French forces equaled about one-forth of the population of New France. The battle of Québec essentially opened up all of New France to British control, and in 1760 the British completed their conquest of Canada by capturing Montreal.[i]]

In 1762 Brother Hancock was recalled to Boston by his company, where he affiliated with St. Andrew’s Lodge in Boston on October 14th.[ii] St. Andrew’s Lodge was the Lodge that met at the Green Dragon Tavern. In 1754 this Lodge petitioned the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a Charter, which was received on September 4, 1760. In 1769 a petition was granted by the Grand Lodge of Scotland on May 30, 1769 to appoint M.W. Brother Joseph Warren to be Grand Master of Masons in Boston, New England, and the territory with 100 miles of Boston. At this time there were other older established Lodges of Freemasons, so there were two opposing Masonic organizations in Boston and Massachusetts. In the older Lodges were many who were Tory[iii] in sentiment, and in St. Andrew’s Lodge there were many American patriots who were members of this Lodge including Brother’s Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and many others.
Because this Lodge had as members so many patriots it has been surmised that the Masons of this Lodge were involved in what history calls The Boston Tea Party. But as there were some 2000 who were either participants or observers of the event, it is now thought that it would have been very unlikely that the membership of one Masonic Lodge with modest membership, or even a few Lodges with equally modest memberships, would have cut much of a figure in a raid with so many participants. It is also now believed that the minute book with the Large T in it for the communication of December 16, 1773 was not the entry of the Secretary at the time, but rather added at some later date.[iv]

An interesting fact is that Brother John Rowe, Grand Master of the opposing faction of Boston Freemasonry at the time, was in the shipping business, and it was his opinion that an uninterrupted and profitable continuance of this business was of more value than what he called Political Revolution. In his diary dated December 16, 1773 he wrote: “A number of people appearing in Indian Dresses went on board the three ships Hall Bruce & Coffin, they open’d the hatches, hoisted out the Tea & flung it overboard, this might I believe have been prevented. I am sincerely sorry for the event. Tis said near 2000 people wee present at this affair.”[v]

Brother John Hancock was quite an individual: He was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence; the First Governor of Massachusetts, (serving 9 terms in all,); he was chairman of the committee that protested the ‘Boston Massacre’ and demanded the removal of the British troops from Boston; he was one of the very few men who was excluded from an offer of general amnesty by the British, because he was “too flagitious a nature to admit of any other consideration”; He was a member of the Continental Congress, serving as its President from May 1775 to October 1777; a Major General in the American Army during the American Revolution; and finally for now; the reason General Gage sent the expedition to Lexington and Concord in April 1775 was – to capture John Hancock.[vi]

“If I were an American, as I am an Englishman; while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms, - never – never – never!”
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, on May 19, 1777

More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.

Tout soldat Francias porte sa giberne le baton de marcéchal de France = [French] = Every French soldier carries in his cartridge-box the baton of a marshal of France.

From the Great Light of Masonry: Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Psalm 85:10 NIV

From the Minnesota Masonic Code: Section G13.34 “It shall be the duty of each Lodge through its Secretary to report the name and address of each candidate raised, within one (1) week from the date thereof. Forms for this purpose will be supplied by the Grand Secretary and the report returned to him.”

With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
[i] Wikpedia Encyclopedia
[ii] 10,000 Famous Freemasons by Brother William R. Denslow.
[iii] Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia 1995 Edition
[iv] ibid
[v] ibid
[vi] 10,000 famous Freemasons

The Goose and Gridiron - November 01, 2005

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 62 – November 01, 2005

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

“There was an old hen and she had a wooden leg, and every damned morning she laid another egg; she was the best damned Chicken on the whole damned farm, and another little drink wouldn’t do us any harm.” Early American Folksong.

I would say that almost all Masons know the four ‘old Lodges’ that gathered together to form the Premiere Grand Lodge in 1717, but just in case it has slipped your mind, they were the Lodges that met at the Goose and Gridiron Ale-House in St. Paul’s Church-yard; the Crown and Ale-house in Parker’s Lane near Drury Lane; the Apple-Tree Tavern in Charles Street, Covent Garden; and the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel-row, Westminster.

According to Coil’s Encyclopedia there is at times some confusion about the first two meetings of the Grand Lodge and where the first one was held. Some think the Grand Lodge was formed at the Apple Tree Tavern in 1716, but “Brother and Dr. Anderson tells us that only a Grand Lodge Pro Tempore was then formed, and since no Grand Master was then elected and no laws or regulations of any kind formulated, it amounted to only a group agreement to meet the following June 24th to form the Grand Lodge, which was done at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House.”
There were only three Quarterly Communications held and then the Annual Communication on June 24th. The Quarterly Communications were held on Michaelmas, (September 29th, the feast of St’s Michael, Gabriel and Raphael;) one at Christmas, (December 27th;) and one on Annunciation Day, (March 25.) So the Communication on June 24th would not have been a Quarterly Communication but the Annual Communication.

It was at the Lodge that met at the Goose and Gridiron Ale-House that the Premiere Grand Lodge was born and constituted to become what we know as the birthplace of modern Freemasonry.

The building known as the Goose and Gridiron Tavern is said to date back to an unknown year before the Great London Fire of 1666. Prior to that year there was a building on the site of the Goose and Gridiron that was a public house, called the Mitre, and the Mitre was said to be the first music house in London. The owner of the house, Robert Hubert, was a collector of curios and he kept them on display in his building, so the Mitre was a combination public house being a tavern, museum and music house. The Mitre was destroyed in the great fire in 1666 and soon after the fire another building was erected under the name of the Lyre, because a musical society held its meetings there. The coat of arms of the building was the Lyre of Apollo, having for its crest a Swan. [This is important as to why the name was changed to the Goose and Gridiron.]

It was later on with a new owner of the building that the name was changed to the Goose and Gridiron. This was because the new owner was no lover of music, and he decided on the coat of arms and sign with “a goose striking the bars of a gridiron with its foot.” The purpose of this sign, which was considered a curious device, was to cast ridicule upon musical societies, which were using the Swan and Harp as one of their principle signs.

By the way a gridiron is a utensil having parallel bars to broil meat over an open fire. In the game of Football the field is sometimes called a gridiron because of the parallel white lines crossing the field every five yards.

In 1897 Brother J. Ross Robertson, a Canadian Mason, visited the Goose and Gridiron Tavern just prior to it being demolished. In the ‘History of Freemasonry in Canada’ he gives this description of the historic Masonic meeting place: “It was four stories in height. The ground floor had a doorway and three windows to the west, while each of the upper stories had four windows each. The sign of the Goose and Gridiron was directly over the doorway. During the day the odd-looking figure whose form did not improve with age, was a curiosity to passers-by, and many a tourist patronized the bar, not so much as a longing to satisfy his thirst, but rather to have a word of explanation as to why a bird popular at Christmastide should grace the front of a London ‘pub.” The sign of the Goose and Gridiron is now on display in the museum of the United Grand Lodge of England.

The Goose and Gridiron had a paneled bar and a quite narrow winding stairway leading up to a dining room. “And in this room, where was held the Festival of St. John the Baptist in the third year of the first of the Georges, Mr. Anthony Sayer, Gentleman, was placed at the head of the craft as Grand Master. Standing in this room one can scarcely realize that in so ordinary a place, with such unpretentious surroundings an institution which has today its triumph, in a world of good accomplished, with members in every clime and under every sky, should have had its commencement.” (Brother Robertson.)

The Goose and Gridiron building was demolished not long after Brother Robertson visited the place. The Goose and Gridiron was so popular in the early 18th century that in 1713 a man named Ned Ward published a book called ‘A Vade Mecum for Malt Worms or a guide to Good Fellows, with a hint on the props and principal Customers of each House, in a method so plain that any thirsty person may easily find the nearest way from one house to another.” [Quite a title] That title seems to me to be like a ‘pub crawler map,’ which can be found in some cities. Well anyway, in that book was a poem about the Goose and Gridiron Tavern. I don’t have a copy of the poem, but in the book ‘History and Evolution of Freemasonry’ it says the poem touched on the old sign; the pillar which supports the chimney; the skittle-ground on top of the house; and a handsome maid named Hannah.

One more quick note, this time about the Rummer and Grapes: “It is presumed the tavern took its name from a drinking glass called ‘The Rummer,’ which was of large proportions.” A Rummer is a drinking glass “with a curved bowl and a short, thick stem, sometimes collared and supported by a square or round flat foot.” So unlike the Goose and Gridiron, which was a parody on the Swan and Lyre, the Rummer and Grapes was named after the drinking establishment that it was.

The Lodge which met at the Goose and Gridiron eventually gained the name of Lodge of antiquity and at the union of 1813 was assigned number 2; the Lodge which met at the Crown Ale-House was stricken from the rolls in 1740; the Lodge which met at the Apple-Tree Tavern in 1768 gained the name of Fortitude in 1818 it merged with Old Cumberland Lodge and is now known as Fortitude and Old Cumberland Lodge #12; (It is a point of interest that the First Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge was a member of the Lodge which met at the Apple-Tree Tavern.); finally the Lodge that met at the Rummer and Grapes still exists as Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge #4 under the United Grand Lodge of England.

“All excess is ill, but drunkenness is of the worst sort. It spoils health, dismounts the mind, and unmans men. It reveals secrets, is quarrelsome, lascivious, impudent, dangerous and bad.”
William Penn

More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.

Toga Virilis = [Latin] = The manly Toga; the garment of manhood.

From the Great Light of Masonry: “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! Isaiah 5:11 KJV

“Water is the only drink for the wise man.” Henry David Thoreau

With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer

Washington & Lee - October 20, 2005

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 61 – October 20, 2005

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

“Where once we dwelt our name is here no more, children not mine have trod my nursery floor; and where the gard’ner Robin, day by day, drew me to school along the public way, delighted with my bauble coach, and wrapt in scarlet mantle warm, and velvet capt, ‘tis now become a history little known.” William Cowper in ‘To Mary.’

I recently bought a used school book, printed in 1929, that had some information I was interested in. In it there were a couple of letters reproduced that General Robert E. Lee had sent to two of his children; one to one of his daughters and one to his oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee. I put the letter to his son into the October 10th issue of my publication ‘More Light or Mehr Licht’ you may remember seeing it there, but for those who do not get that publication sent directly to them I will attach it to this publication along with the normal attachments.

I had plans to write something in T.F.S. about George Washington for one of the November issues, because Brother Washington was made a Mason in November, and since most of the articles about him are written for February releases I thought November would be fine month to write something about him.

A while ago, I was asked to give a talk at a Lodge here in Minnesota, for their Washington’s Birthday Dinner. It was a fine evening, and I don’t say that because I was there to speak. They had it in the town’s new civic center building and the School Choir was there to sing for entertainment. The room was full of some of the nicest people in the area; the Masons of the Lodge and their wives. Well anyway when I was preparing my talk for that event, I put together a talk that was more about Brother Washington’s personal life than his military life. There has been more written about George Washington than any other American, so while it isn’t too difficult to learn something about him it sometimes is hard to put together some information about him that is not so well known, and this is what I was trying to do.

Well, in the talk I mentioned how when George Washington was about 15 in 1747 & 48 he wrote in his diary about a girl he called his ‘lowland beauty,’ this young lady’s name was Lucy Grymes. It shouldn’t surprise many men to know that as a young man our Brother Washington was fond of the ladies.

Well, his childhood romances, like many of ours, did not last or bloom into anything of a lasting nature. Brother Washington grew up and eventually Married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widowed lady who had a couple of children. And as almost always happens old girlfriends usually find the love of their lives too and wind up marrying and raising families, and that’s what Miss Lucy Grymes did. She married Henry Lee II, (believed to be a Mason, but no proof found,) and this couple had two children named Henry Lee III, (a Mason,) and Richard Bland Lee, (Bland being the maiden name of Henry’s mother.) Now Henry Lee III became a trusted officer and friend of General George Washington during the Revolutionary War; he is known in history as Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee. So the son of one of the girls Brother Washington was keen on in his youth became a most capable officer and trusted friend of our Brother. In fact, it was Light Horse Harry who, when asked to deliver a tribute to his beloved General and Friend, described him for posterity. The first part of this quote from him is well remembered, but it also has an important second line: “First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen … second to none in the humble and enduring scenes of private life.” Brother Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee was a member of Hiram Lodge #59 of Westmoreland County, Virginia. You may already know this, but one of Light Horse Harry’s sons was Robert Edward Lee; he actually had five children and Robert E. Lee was the youngest.
George and Martha Washington raised her two children, John and Martha Custis. John Custis was called ‘Jack’ and Marta Custis was called ‘Patsy.’ From all accounts they had a happy childhood provided by George and Martha. Jack married Nellie Calvert on February 3, 1774. Jack and his wife had a son and they named him George Washington Park Custis, in honor of George Washington. When George Washington Parke Custis’ father died he went to live with his Grandparents who raised him as their own son. He and his Grandfather, our Brother Washington, were very close. Young George Washington Parke Custis was and is known as the adopted son of George Washington, and he certainly considered himself as his adopted son. He was called Washington, or “Wash” for short.

George Washington Parke Custis became a Colonel in the U.S. Army and fought in the war of 1812 later he became a playwright and a historian on Washington. He also was the heir to all of Washington’s property and papers, and he housed them in Arlington House which he built in 1804. George Washington Parke Custis married Mary Fitzhugh, and to this marriage was born a daughter named Mary Anna Custis, who grew up to marry Robert Edward Lee, son of Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee. So, in this way the family of Robert E. Lee and George Washington became linked. From all evidence George Washington Parke Custis was a fine man and a great father and grandfather, in addition he and his Son-in-law Robert E. Lee got along famously, which is evidenced by the fact that Robert E. Lee named his eldest son after his Father-in-law. After the death of his wife’s father Lee said: "[He] has been for me all a father could, and whom I never cease fondly to regard and love as such."

George Washington Custis Lee, the son Robert E. Lee wrote the letter to, was born in 1832 and while growing up was called at times “Boo” or “Bunny.” It appears that the Lees and the Washington’s were big on nicknames for their kids. George Washing Custis Lee was a cut-up and a trouble maker as a child but he became a serious and capable man; he graduated at the top of his class from the United States Military Academy in 1854, and after graduation he pursued a military career. He was a fine horseman, but not as good as his younger brother “Rooney,” (William Fitzhugh Lee.) George Washing Custis Lee never married. In May 1861 he resigned his commission in the U.S. Army and joined the army of the C.S.A. serving as aide-de-camp to President Jefferson Davis. During his service in the Civil War he attained the rank of Brigadier General. In 1863 he volunteered to take his brother “Rooney’s’ place as a prisoner of war so that Rooney could come home to be with his dying wife.

After the war ended he was a Professor of Military Science and Engineering at the Virginia Military Institute. And in 1871, after the death of his father, he succeeded his father as president of Washington College, which is now Washington and Lee University. He died in 1913.

Arlington House, which was built by George Washington Parke Custis was where the Lee family lived prior to and after the Civil War. It was at Arlington House that George Washington Parke Custis housed the artifacts and papers from his Washington inheritance. Arlington House was completed in 1818, and Custis intended it to not only be a home but also to serve as a memorial to his adopted father. After his daughter Mary Anna married Lieutenant Robert E. Lee the young couple eventually came to live at Arlington House and where George Washington Parke Custis continued to live in his apartments in the north wing of the mansion. Because of this, George Washington Parke Custis was a prominent figure and a positive influence on the seven Lee children. At his death in 1857 Arlington House was inherited by his only living child Mary Anna Lee, and at her death in 1873 ownership passed to George Washington Custis Lee. Robert E. and Mary Lee are buried on the campus of Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

“No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.”
Thomas Carlyle

George Washington through his adopted son through his daughter’s marriage to Robert E. Lee will always remind me of the connection of our Brother to our more modern times. While it is said there are no descendents of George Washington, through the Lee family there are.

Our Brother George Washington was made a Mason November 4, 1752 in Fredericksburg Lodge, which later became Fredericksburg Lodge #4 in the Grand Lodge of Virginia. On March 3, 1753


he was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft. On August 4, 1753 when Brother Washington was Raised to the Sublime Degree there was also another degree that night when candidate Thomas James was initiated.

“From the minutes of the Lodge at Fredericksburg” the following is quoted:

“ 4th November Charles Lewis & George Washington entered an Apprentice. 3rd March George Washington passed to Fellow Craft

4th August 5753 [1753], which day the Lodge being assembled present, Right Worshipful Daniel Campbell, [Master], I. Neilson, S.W. Robert Halkerson, J.W., George Washington, James Strakan, Alexander Wodrow, Secretary Pro Tem, Thomas Robertson, William McWilliams, Treasurer. Transactions of the evening are – George Washington Raised Master Mason, Thomas James, Entered Apprentice.

It is thanks to the Secretary of his Lodge we have a record of his degree nights. The Secretary is important to a Lodge, and who knows but something a Secretary of your Lodge may have recorded will someday be of historic importance in the future.

I would like to suggest two things that might be something special to do to remember our Brother George Washington; use the prayer that follows in Lodge, and give a special thanks to your Lodge secretary for all he does, reminding him that what he records may be historically important sometime in the future.

Our Brother George Washington repeated his obligation in the degrees on a Bible printed by John Field, of Cambridge England, in 1668. That Bible is still in the Lodge Room of Fredericksburg Lodge # 4 of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. Written on the fly -leaf of that Bible is a Prayer that most likely was given by the Lodge Chaplain in 1752 & 1753 when Washington became a member of that Lodge. Here is the Prayer:

“O God, Divine Architect of the Universe,
We bow with gratitude to thy Omnipotence.
We acknowledge Thee as the Creator and
Preserver of all things. We thank Thee
For Thy daily blessings conferred on us
In all our undertakings, more particularly,
O God, we crave Thy presence at this meeting.
Do Thou preside over us in the spirit of
Peace, Love and Charity, and to Thy Holy
Name be power and Dominion, forever, Amen.”


More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the title of the publication you want, or ‘all 3’, in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.

Please note: My new E-mail Address is – ed@halpaus.net If you wish please add this to your address book, since I will be phasing out my old E-mail address.

Stat magni nominis umbra = [Latin] = There remains the shadow of a great name.

From the Great Light of Masonry: “God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge to vast to be measured.” 1 Kings 4:29 NLT

With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer

Cataract Lodge #2-Campbell - September 01, 2005

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 58 – September 01, 2005

This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

Dear Brethren and friends: Our hearts and prayers go out to the people who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina from Florida to Louisiana. The rescue efforts, by the Coast Guard and others, have been heroic. Please keep the people of New Orleans and the other affected areas in your thoughts as you do what you can to help them out. Thank you, Ed Halpaus

“The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre observe degree, priority, and place, insisture, course, proportion, season, form, office and custom, in all line of order. Shakespeare.

Our Good Friend and Brother Mark Campbell, who is the Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, this past spring, spoke at an open installation of officers for his Lodge. Worshipful Brother Mark was kind enough to send his talk to me, so that it could be shared with Masons where-so-ever disbursed. When you read Brother Mark’s talk you will see that it can be adapted to include the history of whatever Lodge the talk may be given at.

When Brother Mark sent his talk to me he suggested that I could delete the information that concerned the history of his Lodge, however, I like his talk and the history he included about his Lodge, so I thought you might too. As you read this talk you will see how it could be adapted by any brother for a Lodge he would be speaking at, for almost any occasion where guests are present.

Brother Mark is a very good speaker: I will listen to a talk given by him anytime. Our Grand Master, Andrew J. Rice, made a wise choice in asking Brother Mark to be our Grand Orator. He was Grand Orator a few years ago, and his oration is on the Grand Lodge Web Site on the LEO Resources page at http://www.mn-masons.org/gleo. If you have the time read his oration, it is good and enjoyable to read.

Here is Brother Mark’s talk at the Installation of Officers.

Cataract Lodge #2
153rd Installation of Officers
May 15, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brethren, friends and family of Cataract Lodge #2 – welcome to our 153rd annual installation of officers. I am Mark Campbell Grand Orator and a member of Cataract Lodge.

Cataract Lodge of St. Anthony was chartered under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Illinois to conduct Masonic activities in the Minnesota Territory on October 5, 1852. Their original charter was as Lodge #121 of Illinois. When the Grand Lodge of Minnesota was formed in 1853, Cataract Lodge of St. Anthony took lodge number 2 under the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

Cataract Lodge was originally located on the banks of the Mississippi River near the cataract, or waterfall that provided early Minneapolis with power and industry. The first meetings took place in the Ard Godfrey house which was then located at Main Street and Second Avenue Southeast in St. Anthony – a location now occupied by the St. Anthony Main complex. After several homes over the years, in several communities, Cataract returned to Minneapolis in 2001 and now calls the Minnehaha Lodge building home. We are confident that these two lodges, named after water features, will continue “high and dry” for many years to come.

Freemasonry traces its written origins to the creation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717 in London. Since that time, all Grand Lodges have followed the format established by the Grand Lodge of England. Masonry is believed to have descended from the stone masons guilds of medieval Europe. The Mason’s guilds had originally been formed to protect the mason’s family in the event of a workers injury or death. They also provided a vehicle for recognition of each other to establish that a worker was indeed qualified to work.

Modern Freemasonry incorporates ancient traditions and modern life to work for the betterment of society. Our membership is united by only one thread: each member must profess a belief in God. We do not stipulate how he is to worship or what he is to believe, but no atheist can be made a Mason. Our fraternity accepts as equals Christians and Jews, Hindu and Moslem, Catholic and Protestant.

Brother Dr. James Anderson, the principal author of our original constitutions wrote in 1723; “The persons made Masons or admitted members of a Lodge must be good and true men, freeborn and of mature and discreet age and sound judgment.” He also admonished that our members should be of “good report”.

According to the Southern California Research Lodge, There are about six million Masons in the world today, and their membership is spread over thirty thousand lodges. These all come under the control of over 100 Grand Lodges. There is no single authority controlling these Grand Lodges, but there is a system of mutual fraternal recognition among them. With proper introduction and identification a Mason can visit his brethren in lodges in many countries.

We find evidence of Masons as early as the 13th century. At York Minster in 1370, an elaborate code of ordinance was drawn regulating times of labor and refreshment and new men were sworn to observe and obey the regulations as a condition of their employment. The structure where they met for instruction or meals or stored their tools was called a Lodge – a practice we continue to this day. This practice was documented in the Priors account of activity at Canterbury in 1429 when he elaborates the lists of workers and refers to it as the “Masons of the Lodge.”

Our lodges are structured with old English titles and honors. Our lodge is lead by the Worshipful Master. Worshipful is a term of respect having nothing to do with religion – in the manner of addressing a judge as “Your Honor” or “Your Worship.” A Mason, who has attained the office of Master, retains the title “Worshipful” after he leaves office just like politicians are known by their highest office long after they leave office. Thus I am addressed as Worshipful Brother by my fellows in recognition of my service as Master of the Lodge in 1993.

The Master of the lodge is assisted in the administration of our activities by a corps of officers with similar traditional titles: the Senior Warden is in the west; the Junior Warden is in the South; they are assisted by the Senior Deacon at the right of the Worshipful Master in the east and the Junior Deacon who is on the right of the Senior Warden in the west. While their titles are odd to the un-initiated, they equate to the customary corporate or club officers where you find a President, perhaps a Senior Vice President or Executive Vice President, a vice President of lesser status, and all of these assisted by an Assistant Vice President. To these we add stewards who keep the festive tables well stocked and the Tyler who is our chief of security and guards the door when we are in lodge assembled.

We have several ways that are different as well. Non-members need not follow our methods, but to explain: when called to prayer, Masons assume what we call an attitude of prayer like this (Demonstrate). This is a practice similar to what many of us were taught as youngsters when saying our nightly prayers or a table blessing. When Masons move about the lodge, we walk “on the square,” making square corners – generally moving north to south or east to west, but never upon the diagonal. We also avoid passing between the Worshipful Master in the East and the altar which contains the Holy Bible – to permit the Master to always have the Holy Writings in view.
These are some of our ways. They are based upon centuries old ritual and all Masons will recognize them, wherever they travel in the world. Any of you who wish to know more about Masonry need only ask any Mason. He may not feel comfortable in discussing some things, but will find a more knowledgeable brother to assist.

And now: without further adieu, our installing officers for this afternoon are: Worshipful Brother __________, Installing Master. Assisted by: Worshipful Brother ___________, Installing Marshal

“We should generally find that the triangular person has got into the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, and the square person has squeezed himself into the round hole. The officer and the office, the doer and the thing done, seldom fit so exactly that we can say they were almost made for each other.” Reverend Sydney Smith 1771-1845

More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.

Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit = [Latin] = He has won universal approval who has combined the useful with the agreeable.

From the Great Light of Masonry: “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’ The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14

With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer

Euphemisms

T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 30 – July 01, 2004

This publication is issued with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge A.F. and A.M. of Minnesota.

“A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation’s flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself.”
Henry Ward Beecher

Here is an interesting and enjoyable opportunity for the Masons in and around Minnesota to be a part of. I received the following information from Worshipful Brother Jason Berger, asking if I would pass this on to you, the reader of T.F.S. Of course, I’m very pleased to include this information, and encourage you to partake of it.

Lake Harriet Lodge's statewide event for 2004 is the outdoor 3rd Degree at Lakewood Cemetery on August 30th.

The First Section and dinner will be at the Lake Harriet Lodge Building. “We will adjourn and move the charter to Lakewood at 8 p.m. All other persons will be removed from the site by Lakewood security. The staging area is in a low dale around the reflecting pool in front of the Mausoleum that is obscured from view. This is the public area of the cemetery, where churches and other organizations have services and meetings in the summertime. Seating is limited to the first 75 persons, and it will fill up fast. Those who have seen the site have come away very eager to attend and help out. You could attend Masonic degrees for the rest of your life and probably not see one as unique as this will be. Send your check for $15 into the lodge today! (Lake Harriet Lodge, 4519 France Av So, Minneapolis 55410).”

Brothers, this is being referred to as an unforgettable evening, and I believe it will be. I look forward to seeing you there. If you are there please come by and say hello. I’m convinced this event will be worth a long road trip to attend.

“The mysteries of Masonry cannot be told
In rituals, rites, or legends old.
But down on the level where the master trod,
It points out the way that leads to God.”
Brother Robert E. French
(Known as “Uncle Bob” to the Brethren of the GL of Nebraska - 1926)

I came across this idea not to long ago. It’s a good exercise to read as well as to write. Please read each of the following lines aloud.

Where is there a Masonic Lodge in this area?
Well, there are a lot of Lodges around here, in fact
There are many Lodges in this area but,
It’s a ways to all but one of them.
The way to the nearest Lodge, however, is easy to follow
If you keep heading in an easterly direction
It is a friendly little Lodge.
A Master Mason would be welcome there, and
They are busy keeping Masonry alive around here.
They look for ways to serve their members and the community.
There are sixty or so Masons who make up this friendly little Lodge
And in seconds they will make you feel glad you decided to visit their Lodge.

O.K. good, now for a hidden message go back and read the Third word in each line, starting at the top.

“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.”
Samuel Johnson

Euphemisms are a great way of speaking about something you want to say by not really saying it. Using a word as a euphemism for a word you might not like to use in certain company seems to be becoming a usual way of speech these days. I think most Masons would refrain from using a cuss word in a Masonic setting, whether in Lodge itself, or in a gathering of masons outside of a Lodge Communication.

Possibly you have noticed, as I have, that a custom seems to have begun in our society to use euphemisms for what we used to think were dirty words. Now we all know we shouldn’t be using dirty words, but being human we sometimes do, however, being Masons we try our best to refrain from the tendency.

A Euphemism is sometimes the substitution of a mild or indirect word or expression for an unpleasant or offensive though more accurate word; we use the euphemism “to pass away” for “to die” and that’s not bad at all, but we use other euphemisms too. Sometimes we will hear a word that makes no sense for what it is a euphemism for, but over time we come to recognize it and accept it. A person who is “Euphemistic” is one who is given to the use of Euphemisms.

We all use euphemisms on a fairly regular basis. My question though, or even quandary, is when we use a euphemism does the euphemism become the word we’re trying to avoid? In other words if we use another word for a vulgar word that we would not usually use in mixed company does the word we substitute also become vulgar and offensive?

In particular I’m wondering about the word “freaking,” you hear it all over the place as freaking or freakin. I would think that many people know what that word is the euphemism for; but I have heard it used in a Masonic Lodge as well as at Masonic functions where women were present. The word freaking seems to be so common and accepted that it is now not only used in TV programs as a way of skirting around the sensors but a car company is using it in one of their commercials. So is “freaking” a word that is acceptable in to-days society? How would we feel if we heard a young child such as our child or grandchild using that word?

It is my opinion that words we use as euphemisms take on the same meaning as the words they replace, especially if they are used often enough. If someone writes to us telling us an acquaintance, friend, or relative has “passed away” we know he died and we feel sad, just as sad as if we were told he died. To me those terms mean the same thing.

Sometimes I think we, as people, are too quick to accept what we see on the television, and in movies, as something that is O.K. for us to do in our own lives. And I think we ought to think before we use some words in Lodge, euphemisms or not.

Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The Mysteries of Freemasonry come from various places. I have a book called “Jewels of Masonic Eloquence and Stories,” and in it is a blurb about President U.S. Grant. In Denslow’s “10,000 Famous Freemasons there is a piece about him too, and they are both interesting. If the blurb in “Jewels” is right, it would be extremely interesting and valuable information. “Jewels” was printed in 1915 here is what is reported in the book from a Brother Lamberton of California: “We might add also that General Ulysses S. Grant was initiated an Entered Apprentice Mason in a Missouri Lodge, but through stress of public duties which crowded upon him immediately after his initiation, he was never able to complete his purpose concerning the remaining degrees.”

10,000 Famous Freemasons says he never was made a Mason, although his Father and Father-in-Law were both Masons. And in the 10,000 is this interesting and little known fact; President U.S. Grant was baptized with the name Hiram Ulysses Grant. But when Thomas L. Hamer, (former U.S. Congressman and Mason from Cincinnati Ohio,) nominated Grant for appointment to West Point he was unaware that Grant was known by his middle name. Totally unaware of Grant’s first name he presumed his middle name to be his mother’s maiden name “Simpson,” so his official appointment was in the name of Ulysses S. Grant. “When Grant called it to the attention of the West Point officials, they did not feel authorized to correct it, and it became the name by which he was known.”

“As Freemasons we are instructed in the interpretation of symbols; to us the flag is not merely the ever victorious ensign of the Republic; it incarnates for us, in one luminous image, the glory and honor of our beloved country, its government, its institutions, its laws, its history, the divine idea of duty, of daring and heroic self-sacrifice. It speaks with simple eloquence the language of all our hearts.”
M.W. Brother Orestes Mitchell, PGM of Missouri.

Yes! Here in Minnesota there are more than a few Masonic Lodges, Churches, and other groups that have major fund raisers in the form of Lutefisk Suppers, and I have never heard of a Lutefisk Supper not making money for the organization. I have been asked if there was a simple easy recipe for lutefisk. Well luckily there was one published in that “Love that Scandinavian Cooking” column of a local newspaper, here it is:
Take one Lutefisk
Get rid of it.

“The character and efficiency of Freemasonry is determined by the character and efficiency of the individual Master Mason. To be a Mason is a privilege that carries a corresponding responsibility.” M.W. Brother Albert B. Funhouse, PGM of Indiana

T.F.S. is sent out without charge to everyone who would like to receive it by e-mail. If you enjoy T.F.S. please share it with others. To subscribe or to unsubscribe to T.F.S. just send an e-mail to erhmasonic@ncis.com with TFS or 3, 5, & 7 in the subject line and that will do the trick.

“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” Sylvester Newel

Odi memorem compotorem – [Latin] = I hate a drinking companion with a memory.

With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer