Miscellany

• Poems and Verse

  • Just For Me: a lodge welcomes a new brother
  • Around the Corner: about friendship.
  • Internet Lodge #9659 goes to Florida
  • Poems from R.W. Bro. Earl W. Owens
    • The First Line: about learning the ritual work.
    • "Side-Liners: the most important men in any lodge.
  • Perishing "on the rise": about an old lodge with a strange tradition
  • Bro. Kipling's poetic description of his Mother Lodge

• My letter (pdf) to the Philalethes Society regarding the founding of Internet Lodge No. 9659, UGLE.
• A closing prayer, suitable for use in lodge.
• In December 2004, Trevor Stewart gave an original and thought-provoking presentation on the origins of Freemasonry at the Scottish Rite's National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts.
• On August 3, 2001, Freemasonry was the featured topic on The Connection a call-in radio program on NPR. Listen to the program. (RealPlayer required)
• Which "regular" Grand Lodges in the USA and elsewhere have announced fraternal recognition of Prince Hall Masonry or at least one PHA Grand Lodge?
• Roger Firstone's excellent FAQ Information on Judaism for Masonic writers
• Pages of Masonic pictures and emblems.
• The earliest appearances of The Letter G within the Square and Compasses.
• Masonic thoughts and filler for lodge notices.
• Aphorisms from The Book of the Lodge by Masonic author George Oliver.
• Some history of the Emulation Ritual and the preface to the eighth edition.
• A summary, listing, history, and context of the many pronouncements about and against Freemasonry by the Roman Catholic Church. AND... the Church's most recent statement about its relations with Freemasonry.
• A list of historical Masonic exposures.
• A few interesting questions and answers about Masons in the early USA.

  Hey, wouldn't you love to see a picture of the last Ocean Lodge line in 1993-94, Wor. Jeff Arnold, presiding Master. (Ocean Lodge, in Winthrop Mass., merged with Hammatt Lodge the following September, to form Hammatt-Ocean Lodge, in Saugus, Mass. We meet on 2nd Mondays, September through June.)

• An enormous catalog of books on Freemasonry and related subjects.
• You can subscribe to Masonry Universal..., an e-mail magazine about Masons and Masonry.
• Wor. Ron Graves sent a new Memorial Service for departed brethren.
• A variety of masonic clip art.
• A list of various Grand officers in the UGLE.
• A thoughtful observation about One-Day Masons.
• A collector who's found an unusual Masonic coin.
• Download a Masonic funeral service (an edited version, based on one in use under the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts). Also available in PDF format
• How many Masons does it take, anyway?
• There are various mystical orders which are NOT Masonic, yet were founded or modified by Masons, or by those familiar with Masonic ritual. Since most Masonic web-sites get frequent questions about these non-Masonic organizations, here is some information about the O.T.O., one of the most well-known of these groups.
• A selection from a little-known version of the ritual.
• Does a criminal conviction lead to automatic expulsion from Masonry? A list by Grand Lodges.

   

  Masonic symbols decorate this chess/checkerboard, a re-creation of an antique by Cathy Aldrich of Shoreline, Washington.

  Do you recognize this picture postcard or its slogan?

Some Famous Masons

• The author Rudyard Kipling was a Mason, and he wrote several poems and stories based on the Craft, including The Mother Lodge, "In the Interests of the Brethren" and "The Man Who Would Be King" -- which was made into a terrific adventure film.
• Dr. Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (USA) was also a Mason, and was master of MIT's Richard C. Maclaurin Lodge. He published this article As We May Think in July of 1945.
• An essay about some unusual Masons.

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