The Voice of Freemasonry | Vol. 36 No. 4

VOLUME 36, NUMBER 4, 2019

IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL

Brother Mozart Visits Washington, D.C. Details on page 24

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF WASHINGTON, D.C. Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera. Photo by Scott Suchman.

THE VOICE OF FREEMASONRY VOLUME 36, NUMBER 4 2019 ISSUE Editors-In-Chief Charbel T. Fahed (Grand Master) Jeffrey D. Russell, PGM (Grand Secretary)

VOLUME 36, NUMBER 4, 2019

IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL

CONTENTS

Managing Editor Jason Van Dyke, PM (Director of Communications) Editor Mark Dreisonstok, PM Creative Director: Julie Palitto, Benesque Design www.benesquedesign.com

dcgrandlodge.org The Voice of Freemasonry is an officia publication of the Grand Lodge of Free And Accepted Masons (F.A.A.M.) of the District of Columbia. Unless otherwise noted, articles appearing in this publication express only the private opinion or assertions of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Grand Lodge. The jurisdiction speaks only through the Grand Master, and when attested to as official, in writing, by the Grand Secretary.

The editorial staff invites contributions in the form of informative articles, reports, news and other timely information (of about 500 to 1000 words in length) that broadly relate to Masonic law, lore, customs, history, symbolism, philosophy, responsibility of membership, etiquette, current events, and/or general public interest. When possible, photographs that illustrate these informative articles should accompany the submission. Pieces submitted should be typed, double-spaced and preferably accompanied by a computer disk in a neutral PC format or via e-mail to: grandlodge@dcgrandlodge.org.

Articles are subject to editing and, when published, become the property of the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M., of the District of Columbia. No compensation is allowed for any articles, photographs, or other materials submitted for publication.

Permission to reprint articles will be granted upon written request to the Editor from recognized Masonic publications and others. When reprinted, articles should note: “Reprinted with permission of The Voice of Freemasonry in the Nation’s Capital, (volume), (number), (year).”

Please direct all correspondence to: Managing Editor: The Voice of Freemasonry 5428 MacArthur Blvd., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016-2524 grandlodge@dcgrandlodge.org

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Grand Master’s Message From the Grand Secretary: A Summary of the Proceedings of the 2019 Annual Communication 6 The True “Gifts” of Freemasonry 7 Georgetown Masonic Hall Gets a Facelift 8 Thanksgiving and America 12 Beauty and Glory of the Dei 16 Music, the Art Behind the Five Senses 17 Official Toast to the Grand Lodge of Scotland 18 The Year in Pictures 20 Award Recipients 22 Grand Lodge of California

24 Brother Mozart Visits Washington, D.C. 26 Impressions of 1950’s New York 28 What’s Your Contribution?

29 Using an Outcome Oriented Philanthropy Model 32 The Legend of King Solomon 34 Years of Service Awards 35 Grand View New Phone App

Grand Master's Message

Grand Master’s Report at the Annual Communication Most Worshipful Brothers, Right Worshipful Brothers, Worshipful Brothers, and Brethren all!

My theme this year has been the Triple E (EEE) standing for Education, Ethics, and Empathy. This theme has been resonating not only in this jurisdiction, but also in other states and in many countries throughout the world. This motto has delivered effectively the strong message of the core purpose of our esoteric philosophy as men and Masons.

I have used the mathematical concepts of our ancient brother and friend the Great Pythagoras to point out the major constituents of the principles on which our distinguished fraternity is established. We should walk upright, squaring our actions by the square of virtue, and never step beyond the boundaries of our ancient landmarks.

The right Pythagorean triangle has a hypotenuse that is the diameter of the circle which represents education as the basis of our improvement in the art and sciences. The other legs or sides of the triangle always form an angle of ninety degrees no matter how we go round this circle and on the circumference line; they are referred to as “ethics” and “empathy,” which are essential applications of the base or diameter of the circle called “education.”

Shriners Installation of Officers. Indeed, a running theme of my term has been to demonstrate Grand Lodge support for the Appendent Bodies, which would continue in February with our support of the Installation of Officers at the District of Columbia Scottish Rite and being one of the few speakers to address the 2019 Biennial Session of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, at the Capital Hilton Hotel. In March, our Grand Lodge attended the Royal Arch Installation of Officers. Most recently, I rounded out my support of the appendent bodies by participating in the Cryptic Council Banquet celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Cryptic Masonry in Washington, D.C.

Our Grand Lodge is small in terms of territorial boundaries but large in influence, and thus travelling was an important aspect of my term in order to make our Grand Lodge and the Triple E known throughout the Masonic world. This began with a trip to Texas in mid-March and New Jersey in mid-April, to Ohio in the middle of the year, and most recently a trip to Delaware in October. It is no secret that our Grand Jurisdiction is diverse and international, and this was reflected in my official Masonic visits to Italy, the Republic of the Philippines, and then in May Quebec, celebrating in this year the sesquicentennial of Freemasonry in the Province.

Most Worshipful Brother Charbel T. Fahed I made sure this year, right from A trip to Armenia followed in the onset, to instill in the mind June. Perhaps most memorable for me was a Masonic trip to Lebaof our Craft the importance of rituals which inspired me to devise non, the land of my birth. I shall be visiting Scotland for a Masonic the Triple E in order to nourish our hearts and minds to improve trip late November. Needless to say, I also attended the Conference ourselves and help others improve themselves, that we and they of Grand Masters in the Midwest during the wintry weather of may become better men and Masons contributing to the welfare February and the Northeast Conference in May in the beautiful of their families, their friends, our beloved nation, and indeed the spring weather of May. whole world.

I would like to share with you, my Brethren, major activities of my term, each dedicated in some way to bringing about awareness of the Triple E. January got things off to a vigorous start balancing duties with fraternal conviviality in the executive meeting and furlough dinner. My officers and I also attended the the Almas

While international in outlook and scope, our illustrious Craft has deep roots in American history, boasting fifteen Masonic Presidents who held Masonic membership. In March, the Grand Lodge and I attended a wreath laying at Mt. Vernon in order to remember Brother George Washington, the First President and Father of (continued on next page) ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 3

Grand Master's Message

Grand Master’s Report at the Annual Communication (continued)

our Country. It is in this spirit honoring the august history of our country and her traditions we held the Masonic Service of Thanksgiving last month at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. It was a great privilege to remember our Veterans and their sacrifice in the Second World War during D-Day ceremonies at the World War II Memorial on the Sixth of June, in which we honored two Masonic Veterans from the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters.

In all of my travels and events, I emphasized the Triple E, such as in May’s Second Grand Lodge conference on education. Education in particular is a very important message in reaching out to youth – such as when I attended the DeMolay Banquet in July in Maryland and Montgomery Cornerstone Lodge’s Youth Night in September. I am so pleased that during my term DeMolay is being restored to the Nation’s Capital, and my son will be one of the first initiates.

Additional activities of my term include my support of the Deputy Grand Master’s September Leadership Conference, calling a Communication for Al-Sharq Lodge, UD, and attending the Halloween event here at Almas Temple.

It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve you, the officers and members of the Grand Lodge and our individual Lodges, for the year 2019! I look forward to actively supporting the Grand Lodge for many years to come, to participation in some of the appendent bodies, promoting and encouraging my love of ritual in all of Masonry’s institutions, and publishing a Masonic-themed book in the future! Best wishes to all of my successors in our enormously talented Grand Line, and my heart will always be with all of you, my Brethren, and with the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia. Godspeed!

Charbel T. Fahed, Grand Master of Masons of Washington, D.C. 

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The Grand Master, Charbel T. Fahed Image courtesy of The Supreme Council, 33rd, SJ

From the Grand Secretary A Summary of the Proceedings of the 2019 Annual Communication

BY JEFFREY D. RUSSELL, GRAND SECRETARY

Most Worshipful Grand Master, Charbel Fahed, opened and presided over the 209th Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M., of the District of Columbia held at the Almas Shrine in Washington, D.C., on November 16, 2019.

Attendance: All of the 44 constituent Lodges were represented: 25 Grand Lodge Offic s, 14 Past Grand Masters, 41 Past Masters, 35 Worshipful Masters or their Proxies, 31 Senior and Junior Wardens or their Proxies 16 non-voting Master Masons for a total attendance of 206.

Membership Statistics: During the 2019 Masonic year there were 81 Master Masons raised, 34 affiliated, and 11 reinstated, for a total gain of 126. Losses were: 14 withdrawn, 49 dropped for nonpayment of dues and 64 deceased for a total loss of 127, for a net loss of 1, leaving a net total membership of 4135, as of October 1, 2019.

Grand Lodge Offi ers Elected: The following brothers were elected to serve as Grand Lodge Officers for the year 2020, and will be installed at the Third Communication of the Grand Lodge on Saturday, December 14, 2020: Michael D. Nicholas, Sr. (19). . . . . . . . . . Grand Master Alan L. Gordon (32). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deputy Grand Master Daniel A. Huertas (33). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Senior Grand Warden Annas F. Kamara (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Junior Grand Warden Jeffrey D. Russell, PGM (5). . . . . . . . . . . Grand Secretary George J. Stoklas, Jr. (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grand Treasurer Christopher K. Mahaney (23). . . . . . . . . Grand Lecturer Morgan P. Corr (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Senior Grand Deacon Adam N. Tager (7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Junior Grand Deacon Chetin Durak (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Senior Grand Steward Jean-Paul Dongmo, Sr. (34). . . . . . . . . . . Junior Grand Steward

Awards and Presentations: Edward A. Berry (15) was elected by the Grand Lodge to receive the Distinguished Service Award of the Grand Lodge.

The Grand Master awarded the Valentine Reintzel Medal for Meritorious Service to WBro. Mark Dreisonstock (25), WBro. George E. Perez (5), and Bro. Andre Tia (34).

Jeffrey D. Russell Grand Secretary

The Grand Lodge voted to award the Medal of Freedom to Senator Chris Van Hollen.

Legislation:

Two (2) proposals, as published in the Call and distributed to the membership 60 days prior to the Communication, came before the Grand Lodge: • Proposal No. 1: To amend SEC. 1008.7, To more clearly defi e the parameters of use of the approved ritual, and the tradition of our Grand Lodge since its founding, of delivering the work from memory. (Adopted) • Proposal No. 2: To modify SEC. 1008.8, To clearly identify and outline the ritual texts that are approved for direct reading, and to clarify a confusing and often misquoted Code Section. (Adopted as amended) • Acting upon the recommendations of the Chairmen of Oversight Committees of Al-Sharq Lodge U.D. and Alba U.D., Grand Lodge voted to grant charters to these Lodges to be called Al-Sharq Lodge No. 2020, and Alba Lodge No. 222 respectively.

• Approved amendment to the 2020 Budget to permit funding for the Deputy Grand Master’s additional programs.

The Grand Lodge moved to receive the remainder of the reports printed in the Report Book, making them part of the proceedings.

A full report on the transactions of the 209th Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge will be printed in the 2019 Annual Proceedings. 

William F. Harvey, (7) was elected to serve as Grand Lodge Trustee for a three (3) year term (2020-2022).

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The True “Gifts” of Freemasonry

BY AKRAM R. ELIAS, PAST GRAND MASTER AND CHAIRMAN, GRAND LODGE COMMITTEE ON MASONIC EDUCATION

It is often said that “Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that offers different things to different people.” What does this really mean, and more importantly, what message is such a statement conveying to a newly made Mason?

Words can be much more than words; they can convey profound messages and reflect our way of thinking. The words we choose to use when we speak of our Fraternity reveal how we really view Freemasonry. So, is Freemasonry a fraternal “organization” or a fraternal “initiatic society?” And if it is the latter, who are the “takers” and givers” in our institution?

Fraternal Organization An “organization” is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as: • Something that has been organized or made into an ordered whole.

• Something made up of elements with varied functions that contribute to the whole and to collective functions; an organism.

• A group of persons organized for a particular purpose; an association: a benevolent organization.

A fraternal organization, sometimes also known as a “fraternity,” is an organization that represents the relationship between its members as akin to brotherhood.

There exist in the United States today more than two million civil society organizations that one can choose to join. Is Freemasonry among these organizations that a person can simply join? Of course not! What, then, is the nature of our Craft?

Fraternal Initiatic Society A “society” is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as: • A group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture.

• “Watching the west gate” – is that person worthy of being initiated into our society? Will that person “conform to the rules of the Order” or will he attempt to subvert our Sacred Art with the poisonous ways of the profane world?

• “Loving our ritual” – are we devoting time to learn the ritual, which distinguishes us Bro. Akram Elias, PM from the profane and helps each one of us build his internal temple?

• “Speaking in symbols” – are we designing Lodge instruction programs which help us decipher the hidden meanings of our symbols, which are naturally invisible to the naked eye? Are we stressing to Entered Apprentices the importance of seeking the deeper (esoteric) meanings of the tools, symbols, and ceremonies, without which one cannot “improve himself ” in Freemasonry? Are we providing them with guidance as to how they would go about doing that?

• “Living our Freemasonry” – are we discussing in Lodge meaningful ways to internalize the teachings of Freemasonry in order to truly become better men and make a positive difference in our respective communities?

What about Ethics from the Masonic standpoint to guide our conduct?

The “Axiomatic” Gift of Freemasonry: Enlightened Freedom to Build Since our fraternity is indeed a Society of Freemasons, it hands out a most precious gift that no money or wealth in the world can ever buy – how to be truly free! We live in a profane world that is constantly talking, doing very little listening, filled with white noise, spitting out increasingly manipulated data, demanding instantaneous reactions/interactions, and often ruled by stress, fear, greed, anger, and retribution. How can I be free in such a profane world?

Freemasonry provides this inestimable gift.

Freemasonry indeed meets the definition of a fraternal “society” of men in the case of our Grand Lodge who distinguish themselves from others by mutual interests (to become better men), participation in characteristic relationships (ritualistic ceremonies), shared institutions (the Lodge), and a common culture (Masonic symbolism). Furthermore, one does not “join” Freemasonry so much as one is “initiated, taken, and accepted” into the Royal Art.

For the purpose of illustration, I will highlight the positions of the Tiler, Junior Warden, Senior Warden and Master in the “opening” and “closing” of a Lodge which are allergically designed to guide the Brother in achieving his freedom by learning when and how to “open” and “close’ his inner temple when operating in the profane world.

Our words have force; they are the tool that we use to communicate and create the events in our life. By stressing the fact that we are a fraternal initiatic society, we remind ourselves of the true mission of our Noble Craft and become more vigilant in:

The Tiler allegorically teaches me not to let any thought, word or deed go out of me nor come into me unless and until I, have designed a wise course of action (Master: Wisdom, Square) which is well founded and just (Senior Warden: Strength, Level), for the purpose of doing what is right while diffusing beauty (Junior War(continued on page 15)

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Georgetown Masonic Hall Gets a Facelift

BY MICHAEL BIDLER, PM AND PRESIDENT, GEORGETOWN MASONIC HALL ASSOCIATION

There has been a Masonic hall in Georgetown for well over 200 years, but the current iteration was built in 1965 after a fire destroyed the previous hall in 1963. After another recent fire in an adjacent building caused some damage to our space, we repaired and renovated much of our Lodge Room, but the refectory has remained largely untouched for many years, and its renovation and repair has been long overdue.

So, this summer as the hall went mostly dark, we began the process of renovating our refectory space to upgrade, modernize, and redecorate this important gathering area, with an operating budget of $50,000.00 approved by the Hall Association.

While assessing our current conditions, several priorities were identified. First, we addressed the lighting situation. Our archivist was limited to certain localized areas of wall space where he was able to display our Masonic artifacts due to light-islands created by long-ago installed wall sconce picture lights.

The institutional surfacemounted florescent light fixtures were expensive to maintain with the failing transformers, old long-florescent tubes which were phased out of production due to energy inefficiency.

As the extra work compiled, and in an effort to control costs and stay within budget, we made the decision to eliminate the planned vault ceiling and leave the fully functional HVAC ductwork and sprinklers in their current place while we worked around them. So, we removed all remnants of previous installations, re-insulated the entire ceiling-roof trusses, and installed a new fire rated gypsum ceiling.

Next, three types of lighting were installed to create the diversified range of lighting for the needs we identified. First, we hung three classically styled brass LED chandeliers in the center of the room to provide very low and elegant dining light for more contemplative uses of the Refectory. Second, we installed a full perimeter LED track lighting system to afford full and unencumbered flexibility to illuminate any art or archival work, anywhere around the perimeter of the room. Finally, we installed a robust series of recessed LED lights for bright light needs.

In addition to the extensive work in the refectory, the project further included needed incidental work: new lighting in the West Gate/dressing room of the main Lodge, new paint in the auxiliary spaces as needed, and a new commercial grade garbage disposal To address these issues, in the kitchen. All-in-all, we removed the pre-existincluding the initial scope New paint and lighting in the refectory ing tile ceiling, hoping to of design work and addireplace it with a new elliptical vault ceiling with modern, tional work implemented, we brought the entire project in under updated lighting and fixtures. However, we discovered that the budget and ahead of schedule. However, we are still actively funprevious renovation covered over and left a field of old industrial draising in an effort to re-pay the generous loan from Potomac recessed lighting along with assorted wires and debris. AddiLodge. We are 1/3 the way there, and if you’d like to help – please tionally, we discovered that over the many years of roof-leak contact Michael Bidler, President of the Georgetown Masonic repairs and duct work by the landlord, most of the ceiling-roof Hall Association. Your support is important and guarantees that insulation that may have once existed was either removed or so our Lodge hall continues to be a place where future generations badly deteriorated that it needed to be replaced. can learn, grow, and collaborate in Masonry. (continued on page 11) ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 7

Thanksgiving and America

BY MELANIE KIRKPATRICK, WRITER AND JOURNALIST, SENIOR FELLOW AT THE HUDSON INSTITUTE

Speech given on Grand Lodge Masonic Day of Thanksgiving and Remembrance October 11, 2019, George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Alexandria, Virginia My subject this evening is Thanksgiving and America. But let me begin with another American holiday: Independence Day. One Fourth of July in the 1980’s, when I was working for Th Asian Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, I read a tidbit in a local newspaper about the American Day of Independence. Across the United States today, the columnist declared, families are celebrating the birth of their nation by sitting down to turkey dinners with all the trimmings.

I had had a good laugh over the writer’s confusion about America’s national holidays. But it also set me to thinking. In some sense, this was a natural error. A non-American could be forgiven for conflating these two home-grown holidays. Both bind Americans to the larger history of our nation.

Thanksgiving isn’t a patriotic holiday per se, but it is full of patriotic feeling as we join together to give thanks for our shared blessings as a nation. The best expression of this aspect of Thanksgiving Day comes from a Freemason—Benjamin Franklin. Franklin called Thanksgiving a day “of public Felicity,” a time to express gratitude to God for the “full Enjoyment of Liberty, civil and religious.”

Thanksgiving is Americans’ oldest tradition, dating back 1621, when the Pilgrims joined together with Native Americans to celebrate the harvest.

The holiday has grown up with the country, and it says a lot about who we Americans are. It reflects our national identity as a grateful, generous, and inclusive people. No matter when our ancestors arrived in American, when we our place at the Thanksgiving table we is part of a continuum that dates back to that harvest feast 398 years ago. The friendly coexistence between the English settlers and the Native Americans would last only a short period before erupting in war. But that original Thanksgiving pointed the way to the diverse, multicultural people we have become.

My research into Thanksgiving covers many aspects of the holiday. I learned about Thanksgivings in Virginia, Texas, Maine and Florida that pre-dated the arrival of the Pilgrims. I traced the development of our charitable traditions of caring for the less fortunate on Thanksgiving Day. I looked at how football became part of Thanksgiving rituals. And of course, there’s dinner. I studied the history of Thanksgiving dinner and how it came to pass that on the fourth Thursday of November the vast majority of Americans sit down to the same meal of turkey, cranberries, potatoes and pie. I’d welcome questions on those topics, and more.

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This evening, though, I want to devote my remarks to the aspect of the holiday that Benjamin Franklin particularly admired. That is, Thanksgiving as a time for expressing gratitude for the “full Enjoyment of Liberty” I'll give illustrations from each of the centuries since the First Thanksgiving.

First, the Pilgrims. There are two eyewitness accounts of the First Thanksgiving, Yet the word “thanksgiving” doesn’t appear in either of them. If you could travel back in time to 1621, and ask a Pilgrim to define “Thanksgiving Day,” his answer might surprise you. For the Pilgrims, a “day of thanksgiving” wasn’t marked by feasting, family, and fellowship— the happy hallmarks of the holiday we now celebrate.

Rather, for the Pilgrims, days of thanksgiving were days of religious observance. The original Thanksgivings were called to express gratitude to God for specific beneficences such as a successful harvest, propitious weather, or a military victory. For the Pilgrims and other early European immigrants to our shores, a “thanksgiving day” was profoundly religious, set aside for prayer and worship.

From the Pilgrims’ perspective, their First Thanksgiving in the new world didn’t take place until two years after the event we know as the First Thanksgiving. It was July 1623, and the governor declared a day of thanksgiving in gratitude for a rainfall that ended a drought and saved their harvest. All of the 13 colonies observed religious days of Thanksgiving—and they were the most direct influence on the development of the Thanksgiving holiday.

At some point in the 1600’s, each New England colony began to designate annual Thanksgiving days, usually in the autumn around the time of the harvest. These celebrations were deemed “general” thanksgivings. That is, they weren't called for a specific event or blessing, as had previously been the case, but for ordinary, everyday blessings. Connecticut was the first to name a day of general Thanksgiving – in 1639 – and to make it an annual event. This was an important step toward the holiday we know today.

Connecticut's decision to call a day of thanksgiving for general blessings was controversial. Opponents argued that celebrating an annual thanksgiving for general blessings rather than for a specific reason would make people take God’s generosity for granted. How-

ever, the idea caught on and by the end of the 17th century general Thanksgivings were the norm. Thanksgiving morning was usually spent at church, with the afternoon and evening devoted to feasting with family and friends.

By the time of the American Revolution Thanksgiving was a wellestablished tradition, especially in New England. Then, in the fall of 1789, President George Washington, proclaimed America’s first Thanksgiving as a nation. This was the first presidential proclamation of any sort.

Believe it or not, the idea of a national Thanksgiving was controversial, and there was a vigorous debate in Congress about whether the President had the constitutional authority to designate a Thanksgiving Day. There were two objections: The first had to do with the separation of powers. Opponents argued that the authority to proclaim a national Thanksgiving rested with governors, not the President. The second objection concerned the separation of church and state. Thanksgiving, it was argued, was a religious holiday. It was therefore inappropriate for a president to involve himself.

Washington deftly addressed these objections. He sent his Thanksgiving proclamation to every governor requesting – not ordering – them to implement it.

In doing so, he was acknowledging that a presidential proclamation doesn’t have the force of law.

Second, his Thanksgiving proclamation was religiously inclusive.

In doing this, he set a valuable precedent—one that subsequent presidents have followed. I’m reminded here of what I understand to be the tradition of Freemasonry, which is open to men of every faith.

After Washington and into the first half of the 19th century, presidents mostly declined to call national Thanksgivings. Governors named Thanksgiving Days, but without coordinating with one another. The confusing result was that the date of Thanksgiving varied from state to state. Many states celebrated in November, but a few marked the holiday in October or even in early December.

Then, in 1863, Lincoln decided to call a national Thanksgiving.

What – or who? – motivated him to do so? The answer is a woman who is known as the godmother of Thanksgiving. Her name is Sarah Josepha Hale – and as I will explain, her life story has particular relevance to Masons. In a way, you could even say that Masons are indirectly responsible for our annual Thanksgiving holiday.

Sarah Josepha Hale was the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, one of the most influential periodicals of its day. This was an extraordinary achievement for a woman in the antebellum period. But

she wouldn’t have achieved such success without the help of the Masons in her hometown of Newport, New Hampshire, who helped launch her career as a writer and editor after the premature death of her husband. David Hale was a prominent Mason in Newport. When he died unexpectedly, leaving Mrs. Hale with four small children and a fifth on the way, his brother Masons sprang to support the family. The Masons underwrote the publication of Mrs. Hale’s first book, the success of which helped bring her to the attention of a clergyman in Boston – a man also believed to be a Mason – who was looking for a woman to edit a ladies’ magazine he was starting. Mrs. Hale got the job and built the new magazine into the first successful magazine for women. By the 1840’s, when she launched her editorial campaign for a national Thanksgiving, Mrs. Hale was one of the most famous women in America.

For years, Mrs. Hale used the pages of her powerful magazine to campaign for a national Thanksgiving. As the country moved toward Civil War, she believed that a national celebration of Thanksgiving would help preserve the union. Thanksgiving, she believed, had what she called a “deep moral influence” on the character of the nation. She also sent hundreds of personal letters to presidents, governors, congressmen and other influential Americans seeking their support for a national Thanksgiving. Presidents Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan all declined to do so.

Then in 1863, after receiving a persuasive letter from Mrs. Hale, Lincoln called a national Thanksgiving. It was the middle of the Civil War, and Lincoln used the opportunity to appeal to national unity, setting the tone for the day when the country would once again be united. He called on every American – North and South – to celebrate Thanksgiving “with one heart and one voice.” Following Washington's example, Lincoln set Thanksgiving Day for the last Thursday of November.

After Lincoln, Presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant – both Masons – issued Thanksgiving proclamation, as has done every subsequent president up to the present day. Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation is regarded as the beginning of our national Thanksgiving holiday.

But there remained a snag before Mrs. Hale's dream of a national Thanksgiving was fully realized. While the overwhelming majority of governors went along with the date that Lincoln and later presidents named for Thanksgiving, they were under no obligation to do so. Presidential proclamations don’t have the force of law. That would require an act of Congress. For that, the country would have to wait until the twentieth century. (continued on next page)

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Here again, a Mason played a key role in the history of Thanksgiving It was a Mason – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – who inadvertently goaded Congress into action. He had the temerity to change the date of Thanksgiving.

In August 1939, FDR announced that he had decided to move Thanksgiving forward by a week—that is, a week earlier than what had by then become the traditional last Thursday of the month.

The country was in the midst of the Great Depression, and the president’s stated reason was economic. There were five Thursdays in November that year, which meant that Thanksgiving Day, if celebrated on the last Thursday, would fall on the 30th of the month. That left just twenty shopping days till Christmas. Moving the holiday up a week to November 23 would allow shoppers more time to make their purchases and—so the president’s dubious theory went—spend more money, thus giving the economy a lift.

At his press conference, Roosevelt made the mistake of remarking that there was “nothing sacred” about the date of Thanksgiving. He might as well have commanded that roast beef henceforth replace turkey as the star of the holiday meal. The president badly misread public opinion. His announcement was front-page news the next day, and the public outcry was swift and vociferous.

tradition: “Has the president given any thought to abolishing winter?” he inquired.

Finally, in 1941, Roosevelt admitted defeat and said that Thanksgiving would return to its traditional date. Congress decided to take action and it passed legislation fixing the date of future Thanksgivings as the fourth Thursday of November. Roosevelt signed it into law.

Finally, here in the 21st century, I’d like to recount a personal story that, for me, gives special meaning to Benjamin Franklin's characterization of Thanksgiving as a time to give thanks for the “full Enjoyment of Liberty, civil and religious.”

Franklin’s words were hammered home at many points during in the course of my research into Thanksgiving, but no more so than by the teenagers I interviewed at in a New York City high school for immigrants.

Newcomers High School is located in Queens, New York and on the day I visited, about a week before Thanksgiving, the school was home to 850 students from more than 60 countries. They spoke 40 languages. I led discussions in three classes about the Thanksgiving holiday, which most of the teen-agers were about to celebrate for the first time.

These young newcomers had a very personal understanding of the earliCollege football coaches were particest story at the heart of the American ularly upset since most colleges ended experience. For them, the Pilgrim their football seasons on Thanksgivstory was their story, and the Pilgrim ing weekend. It was impossible to fathers and mothers were historical change the game schedule at such a reflections of themselves. The Pillate date.

Melanie Kirkpatrick speaks during the Grand Lodge's grims themselves had been divided Masonic Day of Thanksgiving on October 11th.

Roosevelt’s switch turned Thanksinto two groups: those who came to giving Day 1939 into a political hot the New World seeking religious freepotato. Now politicians had to read public opinion, examine the dom and those who came here seeking better lives for themselves local business climate, consider political loyalties, and then decide and their families. This was also the case for the students I met. which date to endorse as the official Thanksgiving. Do they stick A girl from Ivory Coast explained how her father had worked as a with tradition and celebrate the holiday on November 30, or follow houseboy in the old country. Now, she proudly told me, he has a FDR’s lead and change the date to November 23? good job with the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Other kids came The forty-eight states were nearly evenly divided on the question. to the United States in search of the freedom to worship as they Twenty-three decided to stick with November 30, while twentypleased. One boy told me he was from Tibet, a country that has not two adopted FDR’s date of November 23. The remaining three existed formally since China annexed it in 1950. He explained that – Texas, Mississippi, and Colorado – said they would celebrate on his Buddhist family couldn’t practice the religion of the Dalai Lama both days. in China. But here in America, he proudly told me, they could worship without fear. Then a girl spoke up. She was from Egypt, she It wasn’t long before people started referring to November 30 as said, and she was a Copt, which is an ancient form of Christianity. the “Republican Thanksgiving” and November 23 as the “DemoHer family had come to this country so that they could worship cratic Thanksgiving” or even “Franksgiving.” One Senator wasn’t their religion without fear. so polite. He sarcastically suggested that Roosevelt break another

10 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

For the students at Newcomers High, the Pilgrims' story mirrored their own experiences, and they exuberantly claimed Thanksgiving as their own. For them, Thanksgiving was a rite of passage on their journey to American citizenship. I was reminded of the words of the late historian, Samuel Eliot Morison, who famously wrote that the Pilgrims are the spiritual ancestors of all Americans whatever their stock, race or creed.

the “full enjoyment of Liberty, civil and religious.”

Like Franklin, Washington, Lincoln, Sarah Josepha Hale, and others have enriched our Thanksgiving tradition and helped to knit us together as a nation. This history, and more, is worthy of our remembrance, with grateful hearts, on every Thanksgiving Day. Thank you— and let me be the first to wish you Happy Thanksgiving!

This brings me to the present day and a closing thought about our coming Thanksgiving Day. This year, Thanksgiving Day takes place on November 28, amid a political season characterized by an exceptionally ugly political discourse.

Many Americans are asking, can't we do better. As we gather together on Thanksgiving Day next month, I pray it will be a healing moment for our nation, a time to take stock of our many shared blessings, a time to consider what unites us as a nation, not what divides us.

About the Author: Melanie Kirkpatrick Melanie Kirkpatrick is a writerjournalist based in Connecticut and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. She contributes reviews and commentary to various publications, including the opinion pages of Th Wall Street Journal, for which she worked from 1980 until mid-2009. Her books, Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience (2016) and Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad, are published by Encounter Books. 

Let us remember Benjamin Franklin’s description of Thanksgiving as a time to give thanks to God for The Grand Master and Melanie pose for the camera while Charbel holds a copy of her book, "Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience."

Georgetown Masonic Hall Gets a Facelift (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7)

We are still working on rehanging art and arranging museum displays, but after a couple of months of hard decisions and dusty construction work, we feel we have created a new, clean, energy efficient space in which we can all take a great sense of pride in and that will be a more ideal gallery to display our extraordinary archive of Masonic relics and history. But more importantly, we hope it is a place of pride for Brothers to meet and interact with old and new friends as they go about the important work of Masonry. 

New museum displays and artwork will soon be installed

ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 11

Beauty and Glory of the Dei

BY ADAM J. GOLDMAN, PM, HARMONY LODGE NO. 17

Have you ever wondered why the “column of the South” is named Beauty? What about the other two columns, Strength and Wisdom? How did they get their titles? And why are each of the columns associated with phases of the Sun? The answers may be found in the Jewish mystical system known as Kabbalah. In this article, we will look well to the South—and there, discover the “Beauty” of the hidden number 6—which is coded in the Junior Warden’s pillar.1 In the Beginning

cepts. Accordingly, we find the bridge between the opposing forces of Light and Dark, Good and Evil, Heavens and Earth. Each one of God’s acts of creation also begin with the word “and”—as in “And God said…” When the Old Testament is translated to other languages, like ours, the Master’s word is lost.

Appropriately, Vav is shaped like the Latin letter “I” or a column/pillar and has the esoteric meaning of “nail” or “peg.”

The letter Vav (on the right) is formed by “dragging” downward the letter Yod (left)—which is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, or a point.

The Old Testament starts with a passage familiar to all Masons, “In the beginning God created the heavens And from a point to a line, was created the just and and the earth.”2 Here we find our first “Secret 6.” Notably, upright letter Vav. In man, Vav is also associated esoteriGod takes 6 magickal days to complete his creation of the cally with the spine and erect phallus because of its shape. universe before resting on the 7th, the Sabbath. In Hebrew In God, Vav holds the 3rd position of Deity’s the word “in the beginning” is BRAShITh and, when sacred name, YHVH, commonly pronounced The Tree of Life viewed through the oculus of Jewish mysticism, we are as “Yod Hé Vav Hé” or “Jehovah.” Rememable to uncover the esoteric meaning beneath God’s very first act of bering that Vav is the connecting word “and,” we creation, manifesting the Secret 6. may now interpret the word “Jehovah” through anagrams of its constituKabbalah provides a system by which we may divide words ent parts—the male YH (Jah) and into smaller parts—or even into single letters or numfemale HVH (HeVe or Eve). bers to uncover their hidden, or “esoteric,” meanings.

Applying this lens to the word “in the beginning,” or Though Hebrew is generally/ BRAShITh, we find the constituent words BRA “he exoterically read from right to left, in Kabbalah, words created” and ShITh “six.”3 may be read in any direction. When YHVH is read up to down, we can see more easily that Vav is, indeed, In the Book of Genesis, God’s creation of the numthe human spine with its 33 vertebrae (or Yods) which ber 6 took the form of the 6th letter of the Hebrew correspond to the 33 degrees of the Scottish Rite. In alphabet, Vav.4 This process of assigning numeric value Gematria, the two 3s that make up 33 maybe be added to letters is called Gematria. Truly, the Book of Genesis together (3+3) to reveal another Secret 6. chapters 1-5 contain more sentences that commence with the 6th letter Vav than any other letter in the Hebrew In the hermetic teachings, we find that man is a “microcosmic” alphabet. For students of the ancient mysteries, this fact just begs reflection of the “macrocosmic” deeper study. Another clue is that the 6th day was the only day that Deity.6 Esoterically speaking, the God beheld as “very good”—all other days of creation were just macrocosm may be depicted as two plain “good.” interlocking triangles, or a 6-pointed hexagram/hexagon—also known as “ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our the “Star of David” and “Seal of likeness […] And God saw everything that he had made, Solomon.” Pentagrams/pentagons, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the on the other hand, are symbols of morning were the sixth day.”5 the microcosmic man. Together, they convey the hermetic axiom, “as In Hebrew, the letter Vav may be translated as the word “and” above, so below.” which makes it a connecting word, or bridge, between two con1 The number 6 was of particular importance to the Sumerians, Greeks, and Israelites.

2 Genesis 1:1 3 ShiTh s a Chaldean form of the Hebrew letter, ShSh; see Leonard Bosman’s (1932) The Meaning and Philosophy of Number .

4 The word “alphabet” comes from the first two Hebrew letters, A and B, or Aleph Bet. 5 Genesis 1:26-31 6 See the “Kybalion.”

12 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

cally portrays is known as the “Crown,” or Kether, in Hebrew—and is associated with the 1st letter of the tetragrammaton, Yod. The Master’s “crown” is his top hat, and we find similar royal headgear in the turbans of the Sikhs or kippahs9 of the Jews.

Beauty and Glory of the Dei In the Lodge room, we find two of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life’s pillars surrounding the West Gate and, with a candidate between them, all three become visible.

The three symbolic pillars also correspond to the three orders of Greek architecture in Masonry, the three principle officers of the Lodge and, more broadly, the heavenly layout of the Lodge room itself—South, East and West. Accordingly, “Wisdom,” “Strength” and “Beauty” are the names of three “emanations” of God, or “Sephira,” which may be found on the Kabbalistic Tree.

Wisdom,7 or “Chokmah,” in Hebrew, is located on the Tree’s male Pillar of Mercy and associated with the South in Freemasonry. Strength, or “Geburah,” may be found on the Tree’s female Pillar of Severity and associated with the Masonic North.8 Beauty, or “Tiphereth,” is a connecting Sephira located on the middle column, or Pillar of Equilibrium—to balance the male (solar/white) and female (lunar/ black) energies.

We also find the male/white and female/black energies of Tiphereth twisted together in the Taoist Yin-Yang symbol.

In the Lodge, the Pillar of Equilibrium runs due East and West. Kabbalistically, the Master represents the Sephira which is nearest to God in its “limitless” state (represented by the letter “G”) and, therefore, he sits atop the middle pillar in “the East.” That 1st emanation which the Master symboli-

Across the bridge (Vav) from the Master stands the Senior Warden in the West. As we travel from East to West then, at the midway or “midday” point, we pass the Sun at its meridian around the 6th sephira, Tiphereth.10 Tiphereth in Hebrew means “splendor” or “beauty” and is the hidden meaning behind the Junior Warden’s solar representation as the beauty and glory of the day (Dei, Deus, Deity = God).

According to Kabbalistic tradition, Tiphereth is the seat of the human soul/Sol, or Merkabah in Hebrew.11 Appropriately, the Sun/Sol is also the ancient “planet” associated with that emanation of God; therefore, Tiphereth is the esoteric Sun of God on the Tree of Life.12 When superimposed over the image of man, Tiphereth is also located above the Sol-ar plexus. Paintings by artists such as Diego Velázquez in 1632 are believed, by students of the mysteries, to have secreted the Tree of Life in their depictions of the crucifixion.13 Christ’s “Crown (Kether) of Thorns” and his 33 years on earth may also be understood for reasons already discussed. In Hebrew, the name Jesus is spelled by inserting the letter Shin to the middle of YHVH, or YH-Sh-VH, commonly pronounced as Yehoshua.

Kabbalistically, Shin is symbolic of fire and made up of three Yods which, again, are stretched into Vavs which correspond to the three pillars of the Tree of Life and Columns of the South, West and East. The fiery “word of God” is further symbolized by the Menorah and Moses’ burning bush on Mount Horeb.14 The letter “S” in South also corresponds to the “S” in Sulphur, or fire.

Likewise, the “W” in West is water and “E” is Earth.15 The Virgin Mother Virgo is the 6th astrological sign of the Zodiac and represented by a Virgin—a Virgin Weeping in Freemasonry.16 Of course, Virgo the Virgin may also be discovered in the persona of the Sun/Son’s mother, Mary. Like the chariot of the soul/Sol, or Mer-kabah, the

7 The word “wisdom” comes from vis (sight) and dom (power), or “power of sight.”

8 This duality is also represented in the trestleboard floor with its white (solar/male/South) and black (lunar/female/North) mosaic.

9 Kippahs are also known as yarmulkes from the Yiddish “skullcap.”

10 There is a hidden sephira between Tiphereth and Kether making it the 3rd of 5 sephira.

11 Merkabah may be divided, esoterically, into “mer” (sea) and “kabah” (cube).

12 See also Horus, Krishna and Mithras et al.

13 The word “cross” comes from the Latin “Crucis” which is the root of the word “crucifixion.”

14 Exodus 3:1 – 4:17.

15 Earth is also an anagram for Heart.

16 Washington, D.C. was designed by the founding fathers to align with Virgo.

(continued on next page)

ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 13

name Mar-y has its roots in the Latin word for sea, or “mare.” The Virgin Mother is also a title of one of the Tree of Life’s first three Sephira, called Binah, or “Understanding.”17 In this respect, the first three Sephira, or “Holy Trinity,” give birth to Tiphereth as one of the “Nephilim,” or the children of the Suns of God and the daughters of men.

Virgo is ruled by the planet Mer-cury which, appropriately, shares the same seafaring root word, mer/mar.

During our present astrological age of Pisces, symbols of the ocean, like Mar-y and Mer-cury, can be discovered throughout our religious texts. The word nun, for example, likely has its roots in the Hebrew letter nun which corresponds to the word “fish” in Kabbalah. Nun, pronounced “noon,” is also “high twelve,” or the Sun at its meridian height.18 Mercury was the Roman incarnation of the Greek god Hermes and Egyptian god Thoth. Kabbalistically, the planet Mercury is associated with the Tree of Life’s 8th Sephira “Hod” which means “Glory”—as in the “Beauty (Tiphereth) And (Vav) Glory (Hod) of The (Hé) Dei (Jehovah).”

means “desire and longing.”20 The “hero’s journey” personified has long been used by initiatic societies to teach the more important inner struggles of man. In the Craft, we find the same allegory veiled within the legend of the martyred Hiram Abif.

The 6th card of the Tarot’s major arcana, the Lovers, codifies the same archetypal trials.

The Lovers card could just as accurately be called “the Temptation” because the central figure (initiate or Christos) is torn between the Madonna and whore. Eros21 or cupid aims his phallic arrow (Vav) at Eve (HVH)—but Adam is tormented with indecision and his eyes remain focused on the harlot, Lilith. Cupid is also floating in front of Tiphereth which is symbolized as a 24-pointed sun (6x4). Astrologically, the Sun is symbolized as a point within a circle and, in the Craft, we use the same symbol for our teachings.22

Because Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun/Son, its movement/year is quicker than the others. This is one reason that Mercury became known, in antiquity, as the messenger of the father God, Jupiter.19 Like the Yin-Yang, Mercury carried in his hands the symbol of the twisted lunar and solar energies around a central letter Vav, or caduceus. His winged helmet and sandals were also emblems of his “travelling man” status among the other deified planets.

In imitation of Mercury, then, each of the Deacon’s duties is to carry messages throughout the Lodge and, prior to the union of the Ancient and Modern Grand Lodges in 1813, many of their jewels still highlighted the original messenger.

The Joy of Six Tiphereth is the lovechild of the male Sephira Mercy (Chesed) and female Severity (Geburah) and was symbolized, in the Arthurian legend, as Guinevere’s marriage to the King. Because Sephira have a dual nature, positive and negative, it was also symbolized as Guinevere’s weakness for Lancelot which led to their tragic downfall. The “lance” in Lance-lot conceals his lustful phallus and the Grail, or chalice, her tempting uterus. We find the same narrative surrounding Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis which, similarly, led to man’s fall from grace in that Camelot, the Garden of Eden. The word Camelot likely comes from the Sanskrit word Kama which

The Number of Man In the 47th problem of Euclid, we find that a triangle consisting of sides that are 3, 4 and 5 in length will have an area of 6. That is one reason why ancient initiatic societies, like the Pythagoreans, revered the theorem which conceals the Secret 6—and why their motto was “All is Number.”23 The question is, again, why is the Secret 6 also hidden in our gentle Craft?

In William Neil’s thought-provoking book How We Were Made, the author reveals to the reader that the number 6 was coded by God into the microcosmic man—what he terms the “paradigm human male.” To support his hypothesis, he notes that males are, on

17 See also Shiva in Hinduism.

18 The midday Sun is at noon on an equinox. The word “equinox,” comes from “equi” (equal) and “nox” (night).

19 Jupiter comes from the word Dyeus (God, or Greek “Zeus”) and Pater (Father, or Greek “Petros” or stone).

20 See for example the Kama Sutra.

21 The Greek Eros is the origin of the word “erotic.”

22 The point within a circle is also the alchemical symbol for gold.

23 The Pythagorean school was founded by the Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras ca. 580-500 B.C.

14 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

average, 6 feet tall with 216 (63) bones, of which, 24 (6x4) are ribs.

Neil also notes that man’s foot is, on average, 12 (6x2) inches long and the ear has 6 bones.

Following the Kabbalistic and hermetic doctrines, we may then infer certain things about our creator based on all of these Secret 6s. Namely, God created the number 6 and coded it in the very nature of our beings—which, as humans, are carbon-based. Carbon molecules contain precisely 6 electrons, 6 protons and 6 neutrons. In other words, as written in the Book of Revelations, 666 is truly the “number of man.”24 In the 6th degree of the Scottish Rite, we find a storyline related to the death of our Pillar of the South, the Beauty-ful Hiram, which is, again, symbolic of the internal struggles which prevent us from realizing our God-given potentials.25 In the New Testament, those

traitors of the Sun/Son of God (pride, lust, envy, etc.) were personified as Judas, Caiaphas and Pilate. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, they were Apopi, Hai and Nebt—and in Freemasonry, they are the Ruffians.

Appropriately, the 6th degree begins on page 216 (63) of the Scottish Rite Monitor. Using Gematria, in English this time, we find that substituting the name of the Grand Master with numbers, reveals something unexpected: A=1 B=2 I=9 F=6 Our ancient Grand Master had one last lesson to teach us—that of the Secret 6.The number of his name, 1,296, is 6x6x6x6, or 64.

Truly, the Secret 6 is the Beauty and Glory of the Dei—and we all profit thereby!

Know ye, O man, that all space is ordered.

Only by Order are ye One with the All.26 

24 Revelation 13:18.

25 Arturo deHoyos (2010) The Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor and Guid . Supreme Council 33°, Southern Jurisdiction.

26 Thoth.

The True “Gifts” of Freemasonry (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)

den: Plumb, Beauty) within myself and around me. How does this make me free? Simple. If I were to allow bad thoughts, words, and deeds to govern my conduct towards my Brother or fellow human being, I would build a chain reaction of ugly thoughts, words and deeds making me hostage to a destructive dynamic over which I have little if any control. By contrast, If I were to practice the first most important lesson in Freemasonry, the observance of Silence (the esoteric significance of “secrecy’ in the obligation of the First Degree) using the sword of my Tiler, I can then determine a course of conduct which is not contingent on others’ reactions nor expects anything in return. Welcome to the Strength and Beauty that make me act of my own free will and accord.

The “Corollary” Gift of Freemasonry: Disinterested Friendship In the Charge to the Brethren given at every installation of officers in our Grand Jurisdiction, there is a beautiful passage which says “…May you long enjoy every satisfaction and delight which disinterested friendship can afford. May kindness and brotherly affectio distinguish your conduct as men and as Masons.”

As we all know, we live in a profane world where selfish interest, disregard of others, exploitation for one’s advantages are quite rampant in our societies across the globe. Having true and disinterested friends is very rare, and therefore quite precious. In our Society of Freemasons, one may find many more such disinterested friends,

especially among those who are focused on the serious business of bettering themselves. What other institution can claim providing such an inestimable gift?

Givers and Takers in Freemasonry In any human institution, there exist egosits who join for the purpose of benefiting themselves, taking as much as they can, and givers who love and value the institution so much that they constantly give back to it.

Freemasonry is no different, except in one fundamental way which distinguishes it from all other institutions in the profane world: Masonic Ethics.

Firstly, a Brother of the Craft is expected to be a taker of the two precious gifts which help him become a Free Builder of better self and better communities, not a taker pursuing commercial contracts, salaried jobs, or material perks from Freemasonry. Secondly, a Brother is also expected to be a giver to Freemasonry not only by lending a helping hand, whispering good counsel, and warding off dangers when dealing with his Brothers, but of equal importance, by constantly endeavoring to practice in the profane world what he is taught in the Lodge.

In the end, it is through the application of this Masonic Ethical principle of Giver vs. Taker that we can realize the Sacred Band of Brothers which we claim to be. 

ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 15

Music, the Art Beyond the Five Senses

BY CHARBEL T. FAHED, GRAND MASTER OF MASONS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Beyond the Five Senses of Human Nature, there is what some call that Sixth Sense, which is beyond explanation or concrete evidence in real-life experience. A vast horizon of spiritual activities may be laid open to the inquisitive mind and to those who are seeking self-improvement in order to satisfy their thirst for knowledge in the Liberal Arts and Sciences. Here these seekers may quench their thirst from a well of infinite and voluptuous ecstasy. Here, perhaps, is the dwelling place, indeed the origin, of music.

feel that its treble is pounding on one’s heart and hugging one’s spirit? It is perhaps no accident that some of the world’s greatest composers – Haydn, Mozart, Liszt, Sibelius, and Sousa – were attracted to join the fraternity and, in many cases, write music for ceremonial Masonic purposes.

I recently had an opportunity to visit this autumn’s production of Mozart’s Masonic-influenced opera Th Magic Flute by the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. It was an impressive and beautiful performance which everywhere brought out the connection between music, mathematics, and Masonry! In her work Th Masonic Thread of Mozart, Katherine Thomson writes that “in spite of all of its varied elements – magic, pantomime, solemn ritual – The Magic Flute is a complete unity, and its unity is essentially due to the music.” I would argue that the unity is due to the “Triple M” – Music, Mathematics, and Masonry!

In Freemasonry, we are familiar with music as one of the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences. Pythagoras, our ancient Friend and Brother, is known for the Music of the Spheres. Albert Pike, writing in Morals and Dogma, notes in his mystical way that in “the Kabala [sic], the last Seven Sephiroth constituted ATIK YOMIN, the Ancient of Days; and these… correspond with… the Seven notes of the musical octave.” (“Knight of the Sun” Degree Lecture, p. 727, classic edition) There is a nexus between music and mathematics, and as a mathematician I know that the human ear responds logarithmically to sound in general. Yet music can resonate better in sub-layers of sound and integrate more smoothly with the components that relate these signals to the body.

Music motivates the dormant strings of the brain to bring forth energy to the entire system of the universe, as well as to the individual soul.

Perhaps for this reason, music is used in diverse applications in life as a balsamic treatment. It improves the health the patient and speeds his recovery in the hospital. It brings sleeps to those with insomnia and quiets the nerves from tension. It helps infants into a pleasant sleep and nice dreams. It spreads joy to the listener and relieves the burdened heart. It disseminates happiness and eliminates tension.

Some of the greatest composers in the world have been Masons, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn Sketches by Cordelia Dreisonstok

Music is one of the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences which Masons are encouraged to use in order to develop their faculties and enhance their knowledge in practical life. Accordingly, music is highly encouraged to be played in Lodges and major ceremonial events in order to make them more successful and render their performances more solemn. Would one notice the difference between a march or procession with and then without music? Would one 16 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

Music is a subset of education, the natural education which emanates from the soul and requires careful incubation to mature and display its splendid power and magic. Mathematics in turn supports the idea of harmony and proportion in music, thus tempering a chaotic world of chaos and disruption – symbolized in Th Magic Flute by the Queen of the Night.

The high-frequency soprano sound of the Queen, full of rage, represents confusion in a world of darkness disguised by the pomp of mundane power and false glory. Sarastro’s Temple of Wisdom (a stand-in for Masonry which gives the opera its ethical dimension) triumphs and restores equilibrium. Finally, a sweet and pleasant music represents the hearts of young lovers, resulting in a pleasant conclusion – one which overcomes all trials and brings forth the shining light of truth and reason.

This production of The Magic Flute and the music of Masonic composers can lift the spirit and, like Masonic lectures in our various degrees, teach the sublime truths of Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty. Yet even the greatest music in the world – like our Gentle Craft itself – is but a gateway into the Eternal, a sublime intimation of that “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). 

Official Toast to the Grand Lodge of Scotland Delivered by the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother Charbel T. Fahed, on the occasion of the Feast of St Andrew on November 28, 2019

BY CHARBEL T. FAHED, GRAND MASTER OF MASONS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Most Worshipful Grand Master Mason, Brother McGhee, and Brethren of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, It is my honor to present to you this most illustrious toast to the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

This year marks the 270th Anniversary of the birth of Brother Robert Burns, recognized internationally as an icon for Scotland’s creative and literary tradition and revered among Freemasons worldwide.

How can we in America ever forget Burns’ patriotic piece Ode to Liberty and An Ode for General Washington’s Birthday?

No Spartan tu be, no Attic shell, No Lyre Aeolian I awake; ‘Tis Liberty’s bold note I swell, Thy harp, Columbia, let me take!

The “Columbia” which Brother Burns references is the goddess of America and stands for the new Wisdom in the new world. It is for that reason that our Nation’s Capital is called Washington, D.C. – District of Columbia – in reference to the place where the new Wisdom in Human Governance shall reside.

At the entrance of our National Archives in Washington, D.C., one finds immortalized in marble the words “The Past is a Prologue.”

“Whence came we” as Freemasons is of paramount importance. It is for this reason that, as Grand Master of Masons of Washington, D.C., I chose the triple “E” as my motto for this past year standing for Education, Ethics, and Empathy and are thus explained.

Masonic Education is the number one requirement without which a Freemason cannot truly improve himself. The deeper meanings of the symbols, tools and ceremonies of our Noble Craft help us better understand whence we came and how to build our individual inner temples so we may be better enabled to build better communities, better nations, and a better world.

Masonic Ethics teaches us to walk uprightly in our various stations in life, always squaring our actions towards one another and towards mankind, for without this Masonic conduct, true Justice cannot be pursued in our respective societies.

Finally, Empathy is a manifestation of divine Brotherly Love which distinguishes us as Masons and without which true Natural Justice cannot be realized.

The commitment to the pursuit of Masonic gnosis through the application of the triple “E” enables the Freemason to achieve his destiny and helps us all safeguard our inner temples and our physical Lodges against the poisonous ways of the profane. Then, and only then, can we truly build the Sacred Band of Brothers!

My Brethren of Scotland, my presence here amongst you is to affirm the renewal of the sacred fraternal bonds that have connected our two Grand Lodges since the birth of the United States of America. How can we in America ever forget the unique contribution of your Grand Lodge as you sent us stone Masons who were Freemasons to help our country’s founders build the people’s mansion we call she White House? This renewal has yet unique significance to me personally. As some of you may know, I am a proud American and a son of Lebanon, the Land of the Cedars which gave us two of the three original patrons of our Order, Hiram King of Tyre and Grand Master Hiram Abiff. Once again, we find that it is was the Grand Lodge of Scotland which honored the land of Lebanon by bringing to its modern shores the Light of Freemasonry nearly a century ago!

Over the past decade, Brethren of Lodges under the Grand Lodge of Scotland and those of Lodges under the Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C., have exemplified the spirit of fraternal cooperation in expanding the presence of Freemasonry in Lebanon. Masonic Education teaches us that our mission as Freemasons is not to be better than one another, but rather to be better than ourselves by competing with the inner self and not with others! Working together in a spirit of fraternal solidarity for the greater good of our Noble Society should always be our guiding principle.

Thus, it was a great pleasure and an honor for us to host in Washington, D.C., this past December the Most Worshipful Grand Master Mason, Brother Ramsay McGhee, the Right Worshipful Grand Secretary, Brother J. Euan Edment, the Right Worshipful District Grand Master of Lebanon, Brother Rabih Jamakani, and the Worshipful District Grand Secretary of Lebanon, Brother Mau(continued on page 28) ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 17

The Year in Pictures

The Grand Master is installed for 2019

Officers of the Grand Lodge at the George Washington National Masonic Memorial for the Masonic Day of Thanksgiving

The Grand Master and Grand Secretary sign a Lodge Twinning document during a meeting of the Grande Oriente d’Italia 18 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

The Grand Master begins his year with a visit to LaFrance Lodge No. 93

The Grand Master gives instruction to his Mother Lodge JusticeColumbia No. 3 at last Visitation of the year

Grand Lodge Offi ers and Maryann Nicholas pose in front of Mt. Rushmore during the Conference of Grand Masters of North America in February

The Grand Master greets the distinguished Brethren and Veterans of Samuel Gompers-Ben Franklin Lodge No. 45 at the WWII Memorial

The Grand Master visits Federal Lodge No. 1

The Grand Master lays a wreath at the tomb of WB George Washington with the Tall Cedars of Lebanon

The Grand Master and D.C. Brethren visit our Brothers in Lebanon

The Universal Lodge is open

The SGS speaks to the group at the second Education conference held at the D.C. Scottish Rite

The Grand Master (with the Deputy Grand Master to the left) presides over the Grand Lodge at its Annual Communication

The Grand Master stands with MWB Philip David, PGM, PHA (honorary PGM, D.C.) after the installation of his successor, Quincy G. Gant

A breakout Group listens to the SGD at the leadership Conference in September ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 19

Award Recipients

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL Centennial, and the Building committee. He has chaired or co-chaired the Masonic Education and Service committee and the Audit Committee on multiple occasions.

Edward “Ted” Berry The Awards Committee unanimously presents the following Brother for your consideration to receive the 2019 Grand Lodge Distinguished Service award.

He is also very active in both the York and Scottish Rite bodies and is a member of various Masonic research societies where he has attained several distinguished honors including playing the role of the Sovereign Grand Commander in the Supreme Council’s biennial 33rd Degree Conferral here in Washington.

Our nominee is a 1988 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida where he earned a BS in Marine Science. In 1995, he received his MBA with an International Finance concentration from the University of Hartford in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

In his early career, he led a national environmental and hazardous waste management firm, also holding various technical, managerial and sales positions, including that of General Manager of two treatment divisions. Currently, he is a Vice President and Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley where he works with associations and non-profits.

Masonically, our nominee was raised in 1991 in Eastern Star Lodge, Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Here in Washington, he served as Worshipful Master in three Lodges (one of which he was a founding member of) and is still an active participant in his Lodge’s education program and has earned a reputation for delivering some of the finest ritual work anywhere.

In the Grand Lodge, he has frequently served important roles on several committees, including Masonic Education and Service, Bi-

But our nominee’s jurisdictional light burns brightest in his commitment to education. He has served his Lodge as an Educational resource for decades, including the development of a formal school of education within that Lodge, and he has created and led Masonic Schools of Instruction. An active online Mason since the early days of the internet, he has participated in and created several chat groups, listservs, and websites focusing on his particular interests in Buddhism, poetry and recently Tango dancing.

But regardless of the topic or the venue, our nominee demonstrates his commitment and attention to his Craft by always offering himself as a teacher and a resource to those just beginning their journeys.

It is therefore our pleasure and honor to nominate Worshipful Brother Edward “Ted” Berry, Past Master of Benjamin B. French Lodge No. 15, Fiat Lux Lodge No. 1717, and (late) Pythagoras Lodge of Research, for the 2019 Grand Lodge Distinguished Service Award.

FREEDOM MEDAL Chris Van Hollen Chris Van Hollen is a graduate of Swarthmore College, the John F. Kennedy School of Public Policy at Harvard University, and Georgetown University Law Center where he attended night school.

He started his time in public service as a member of the Maryland State Legislature, where he became known as a tenacious advocate for everyday Marylanders. In 2002, he was elected to represent Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. In the House of Representatives, he served as a member of his party’s leadership and was elected by his colleagues to be the Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee and protect vital interests like Social Security and Medicare.

Most recently, he was elected to the United States Senate by the people of Maryland in November 2016.

A tireless fighter for the people of Maryland, Senator Van Hollen has also become known for working hard to find common sense solutions to difficult national issues. In January 2015, he released a comprehensive plan to address the problem of growing inequality in America and

20 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

provide a blueprint for building an economy that works for everyone, a goal that he is continuing to fight for in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Van Hollen is proud to have worked successfully with members of both parties to pass bipartisan legislation whenever possible on issues of common concern, including expanding medical research, protecting the Chesapeake Bay, fighting childhood cancer, and passing the ABLE Act to assist families with children with disabilities.

Senator Van Hollen spoke during the 75th Anniversary of D-Day at the WWII Memorial where he assisted the Grand Lodge of D.C. laying several wreaths in memory of our fallen Brethren and honored those Brethren who served our country and were still with us.

For outstanding service to his community and his commitment to bipartisan compromise and civil debate, The Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia, by vote of the assembled body, is pleased to honor Senator Chris Van Hollen with its Medal of Freedom, awarded for outstanding contributions to the furtherance of freedom for mankind in our cites, states, and/or nation.

Award Recipients VALENTINE REINTZEL MEDAL

André Tia Brother Tiacoh Sadia Aka André Tia was born in Ivory Coast, West Africa, where music was a part of his life from birth.

He was the third of nine children, and from an early age his father and uncle both accomplished musicians in Ivory Coast, encouraged him to pursue his passion for music. He is a jazz musician (Drummer) by profession, and a self-taught pianist who has become an avid composer of piano music.

André went on to tour the world with different renowned musicians like Miriam Makeba and Salif Keita. While working at Disney World in Florida as a live musician, he got introduced to Freemasonry and became very interested in the mysteries of the Craft.

George Perez Worshipful Brother George Perez was Initiated, Passed and Raised in 2012 at Potomac Lodge No. 5. It was MWB Jeffrey Russell, PGM who was his first contact within the Craft which made this a truly fortunate experience for his first exposure to Masonry. It was MWB Russell’s character, demeanor, and devotion to the Masonry which sealed and ensured his decision to pursue further enlightenment and petition for degrees. MWB Russell’s friendship and mentorship continues to be an inspiration to him.

He affiliated with Justice-Columbia Lodge No. 3 in the Fall of 2014, where he quickly found a home,joining the appointed line in 2015 as a Steward and serving as the Lodge’s Masonic and Eastern Star Home (MESH) representative. Together they began, and continue, to labor in the rebranding and regrowth of their beloved Lodge. WB Perez is the current Master of Justice-Columbia Lodge.

WB George continues his service to MESH as an elected member of its Board of Directors where he helps provide for the welfare and care of needy Sisters and Brothers of the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M., the Grand Chapter and the Order of the Eastern Star of the District of Columbia.

In the Spring of 2013, he joined the Scottish Rite Valley of Washington, Orient of the District of Columbia; and in July of the same year, became the General Assistant Almoner to Ill. William Lanham. There

After moving to Washington, D.C., he petitioned East Gate Lodge in 2013 and went through the degrees shortly thereafter. He was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on a March 15, 2014 at Washington Daylight No. 14, as courtesy from East Gate Lodge No. 34.

Brother Tia has since remained faithful to his Masonic obligations. He particularly likes Freemasonry and has pledged himself to work and study ritual. Brother Tia is a member of several Masonic appendant bodies.

His dedication and work ethic aren’t unnoticed. He was recently coronated 32nd Degree Knight Commander of the Court of Honor at the Scottish Rite. He is currently the High Priest of Mount Pleasant Chapter No. 13 Royal Arch Masons of D.C. and serves as the Grand Organist of the Royal Arch Grand Chapter, the Assistant Grand Organist of the Grand Lodge. This year, he is the incoming Worshipful Master of East Gate Lodge No. 34.

he joined the Knights of St. Andrew, and served as their Chieftain in 2016. In addition, he currently serves as the Venerable Master of Mithras Lodge of Perfection. In September of 2017, he was Invested to the Knights Commander Court of Honor (KCCH).

As Providence would decree, in the 2013 Class, Bro. George would meet Brothers Robert Seltzer, Larry Villegas-Perez, and Darren Moore. All men who had, or would, affiliate with JC3, and are all like-minded men with a shared purpose.

In June of 2016, WM. George was accepted as a Nobel of Almas Shriners in Washington, D.C. He currently is the Chief Rabban. He is a proud member of the Mini-Motors Unit. In an effort to raise awareness to the mission of the Shrine, he has participated in numerous parades and events throughout the D.C. Metro area.

In June of 2017, WM. George was accepted as a Companion of Columbia Chapter No. 1 of the Royal Arch. He has received the Mark Master, Past Master Degrees, Most Excellent Master, and the Royal Arch degrees.

WM. George Perez has proudly served as an appointed Aide to the Grand Master Charbel T. Fahed this past Masonic year.

George Perez holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and is in the Cyber Security field with the US Federal Government. He and his wife, Lesly Sierra, reside in Northern Virginia.

(continued on page 35) ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 21

Grand Lodge of California

BY ALAN L. GORDON, SENIOR GRAND WARDEN

Alan Gordon stands with the Worshipful Master and officers of California Lodge No. 1

On October 18 and 19, I had the honor of representing our Grand Lodge at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of California. For those of you unaware, the Grand Lodge of California has a special bond with our Grand Jurisdiction as it was founded, in part, by the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia.

While I had met some of the officers of the Grand Lodge of California when traveling to the Conference of Grand Masters over the past couple of years, this was my first visit to the Grand Lodge in San Francisco, where they greeted me warmly and showed much appreciation that D.C. had made the effort to travel to San Francisco.

dark wood with marble pedestals in the pillar stations and alter. It is altogether beautiful in its construction.

The charter of California Lodge No. 13 is on display in a two-sided glass frame. In 1848, the Grand Lodge of D.C. chartered California Lodge No. 13. That charter was then taken by boat to San Francisco (Ed. Note: That’s a really long trip!) and then to Sacramento, where in 1850, it was joined by 4 other lodges. California Lodge No. 13 thus became California Lodge No. 1 of the Grand Lodge of California. In fact, the back of the charter shows where the Grand Secretary and the Grand Master of California changed the charter so that it would be a California lodge.

Display showing the cover of the program The Grand Lodge in San Francisco is a for their Grand Lodge Session building with a full auditorium, museum, and library. While generally modern in design, there are two Once I saw the charter, this sent me on a quest. free-standing pillars on the front porch of the building, one on I first went the registration desk to see if there was anyone from the right-hand side and one on the left (you can guess what they California Lodge at the Communication. The Master of the lodge, symbolize), and the lobby has one wall which is entirely stained it turns out, is the president of the California Masonic Foundation glass, depicting all the emblems of Freemasonry, as well as the and has an office on the third floor of the building. history of California up to the time of the building’s construction.

There is a just-completed lodge room on the lower level which can be accessed by going through a library lounge and bar. The lodge room, called Freemason’s Hall, is constructed of rough stone and

22 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

On reaching the third floor, I was first surprised by the size and openness of the space, all glass and chrome. I presented my card to the receptionist and was allowed to walk back to see the Worship-

ful Master. He was just concluding a meeting with some of his line officers, so we were able to get a picture in the Grand Master’s office with the Seal of the Grand Lodge of California in the background.

The next day, I found the sessions themselves also to be very interesting. While their annual meeting was similar to ours with reports from various foundations and committees, there were 1,522 registrants! Also, their Legislation was presented in a summary form, debate was formal and limited to three persons for and three persons against, each with three minutes to talk. When the debate opened, it was announced when the proponent of the legislation would speak, either first or last. No one spoke to their time limit.

Although there was a lot of legislation, I was told that this was a light legislative year.

Stained Glass Window showing the history of California and Freemasonry there

The front side of the charter of California Lodge No. 1 (Originally No. 13)

On Friday night there was a VIP banquet and then a larger banquet on Saturday night. The Saturday banquet was held in the Grand Ballroom of the famous Fairmont Hotel (one of the few buildings that survived the Great Quake in 1906) and had about 850 people in attendance. There was a wonderful soprano who entertained us for about 40 minutes with songs from the 40’s and 50’s, some show tunes, and two arias. What a wonderful voice.

They say there are no strangers in Masonry, only friends we haven’t met yet. I met many friends and had a wonderful time. Many thanks to the Grand Master Charbel T. Fahed for allowing me the opportunity to represent him and this Grand Lodge. I hope to one day see the officers of the Grand Lodge of California gracing our meetings in the not too distant future. 

The Grand Senior Warden and Alan Gordon

The right column in front of the main entrance to the Grand Lodge building

The back of the charter showing the change to Lodge No. 1 ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 23

Brother Mozart Visits Washington, D.C.

BY MARK DREISONSTOK, PM, EDITOR

Alexandria Shiner (1st Lady), Deborah Nansteel (2nd Lady), Meredith Arwady (3rd Lady), Michael Adams (Papageno), David Portillo (Tamino) in the Washington National Opera’s The Magic Flute

Brother Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has made a “November Surprise” visit to Washington, D.C., in the form of two productions replete with visual images and references to Freemasonry on key stages in our city!

The first of these is the Washington National Opera’s production of The Magic Flute at the Kennedy Center. The production took an unusual tack in that the scenes representing man’s benighted condition were represented by a Maurice Sendak staging reminiscent of his children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are,” with comically dark scenes of the forest. On the other hand, enlightenment was represented by symbols of Freemasonry. This superb production, directed by Christopher Mattaliano, presented hourglass, trowel, the sun and moon, as well as square and compasses as symbols of light. Acolytes and devotees at Sarastro’s temple even wore Masonic aprons. All of this, of course, is in homage to the Masonic content of this last opera of Bro. Mozart. The new initiates, Tamino and Papageno, made their way through trials on a long, rough, and rugged road, during which they were sworn to practice the Masonic virtue of silence.

Most Worshipful Bro. Charbel T. Fahed, our esteemed Grand Master, saw this production and commented: “The mystical scenes in the Magic Flute were quite a sublime experience compared to what our eyes are accustomed to see in the everyday world. The production evoked esoteric symbols to illustrate special messages to the Masonically-trained mind. Tools of Masonry were displayed on the stage in images to awaken the mind’s dormant faculties, reminding us we need to take up these implements symbolically in order to construct a better way of life in body and soul. The role of silence was strongly emphasized by Mozart as well as in this production to demonstrate what the spirit may offer to control the outer body and ensure its inner safety.”

24 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

Sydney Mancasola (Pamina), David Portillo (Tamino) in the Washington National Opera’s The Magic Flute

Appearing simultaneous with this excellent Magic Flute production was a staging of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus at Washington’s Folger Theatre. Those who know this work from its Oscar-winning film version may be surprised that the play version offers something which the 1984 movie does not: detailed conversations and references to Freemasonry in Mozart’s life!

For those new to Amadeus: The Austrian Court Kapellmeister Antonio Salieri, a talented but not particularly gifted rival to Mozart, destroys the latter’s career out of envy of his genius. This work portrays Mozart as a naturally gifted prodigy composing great works effortlessly, but in terms of his personality exhibiting a silly and careless attitude towards the social norms around him. Salieri, on the other hand, is a hardworking, respected composer who fears being overshadowed by Mozart. All this strikes Salieri as unjust, so he takes matters into his own hands and meticulously plots against Mozart’s health and ultimately his life, resulting in Mozart’s death as a tragically young age.

Ian Merrill Peakes, who plays Antonio Salieri, is nothing short of outstanding in a challenging role as the character dominates the play, both in middle age and his advanced years. Samuel Adams is equally deft in his portrayal of Mozart, at the carefree and callow version of Mozart delineated by playwright Shaffer. Our interest here is not to challenge the historical veracity of the play, although the depiction of a murderous Salieri and a frivolous Mozart has often come under challenge. Instead, we will examine the Masonic content of this fascinating play.

Unlike the Washington National Opera’s Magic Flute, the Folger production makes no use of visible Masonic symbolism, though the written play includes stage directions that one scene is set in a Masonic Lodge with highly visible Masonic symbols. The choice not to present Masonic trappings on stage is likely owing to the austere yet elegant staging at the Folger, in which a set of large strings

Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Kathryn Lewek (Queen of the Night), David Portillo (Tamino) in the Washington National Opera’s The Magic Flute

Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera. Photo by Scott Suchman.

suggesting harps, harpsichords, and violins is used in lieu of a realistic staging.

bins Landon posits the intriguing notion that, in composing his opera The Magic Flute, Mozart may have had as his purpose nothing less than the preservation of Free-Masonry in Austria by way of the popularizing of Masonic lore and the Lodge ideals of tolerance and humanism as anti-Masonic forces were gathering momentum at Court to ban the Fraternity.

None of this has historical basis. Indeed, in 1791: Mozart’s Last Year, H.C. Rob-

Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera. Photo by Scott Suchman.

The Masonic scenes survive in the dialogue, however, and we are surprised to learn that both Mozart and Salieri are invited to “join our Brotherhood of Masons.” Salieri correctly states the popularity of Masonry in Vienna of the Enlightenment era, noting that “in those days almost every man of influence While using conjecture for Silence (l-r): Meredith Arwady (3rd Lady), Deborah Nansteel (2nd Lady), Alexandria Shiner (1st Lady), Michael Adams (Papageno) in the Washington in Vienna was a Mason…” The dramatic effect, Amadeus is recNational Opera’s The Magic Flute play correctly acknowledges the ommended on its own excellent philanthropy of Freemasonry in that “the Masons [are] there to dramatic merits and as a production which brings to the fore help” Mozart through his financial difficulties – difficulties caused Mozart’s interest in Freemasonry, indeed affirming the Masonic

by Salieri. The production then acknowledges the indebtedness of content of The Magic Flute. While Mozart’s “November Surprise” The Magic Flute to Freemasonry. visit in the Kennedy Center’s Magic Flute has passed, Masons might avail themselves of an opportunity to see Amadeus with its Masonic What is questionable is how the Masonic influence in The Magic content at the Folger Theatre through December 22, 2019.  Flute comes about, as the fictional Salieri here presented suggests, “put the Masons into it,” as a way to alienate the Masons and cause them to deny Mozart financial support.

Mozart takes this advice and includes in his opera “Initiation ceremonies. Ceremonies with blindfolds. All rituals copied from the Masons…”

Baron Gottfriend Van Swieten, Mozart’s Masonic sponsor into the Craft, is incensed: “You have put our rituals into a vulgar show!

A scene from the Washington National Opera’s The Magic Flute Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera.

Photo by Scott Suchman.

Courtesy of the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera.

Photo by Scott Suchman.

David Cangelosi (Monostatos), Sydney Mancasola (Pamina), Michael Adams (Papageno) in the Washington National Opera’s The Magic Flute

Sydney Mancasola (Pamina), Michael Adams (Papageno) in the Washington National Opera’s The Magic Flute

ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 25

Impressions of 1950’s New York

BY MARK DREISONSTOK, PM, EDITOR

Preface to A Washingtonian in 1950’s New York City “ …fugacious as time itself is a certain vast bulk of the population of the red brick district of the lower West Side… transients in abode, transients in heart and mind.”

– O. Henry, “The Furnished Room” (1904) My father Erwin M. Dreisonstok was a lifelong resident of the Washington, D.C., area, though he travelled widely in his life, living in Hawaii, Korea, Japan, Bolivia, and Guatemala. Earl, as he was known, joined Bethesda Masonic Lodge #204 (Maryland) in 1943 at 21 years of age. America was then in the midst of World War II, and he had already enlisted in the United States Navy. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 94. He spent 74 years Labouring in the quarries of our Gentle Craft. A lifetime Washingtonian and a graduate with a B.A. from the District’s George Washington University on the GI Bill, he always aspired to become a professional writer. He felt that studying English and Psychology were the perfect preparation to be a writer, as he found strong links between psychology and literature in works such as his favorite novel, Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.

My father spent most of his career in a government position in the Washington area, which rendered him unable to publish during his lifetime. Only in his 90’s did he publish remembrances of and humorous poems about Masonry in Masonic publications.

at the heart of the teachings of Freemasonry. Photographs he took while in 1953 New York writing this piece as well as postcards sent to my mother in 1943 (which lay beside these pictures) accompany the following article. The recreation of the scultpure/relief at Rockefeller Center suggesting the Grand Architect of the Universe with Compasses measuring his creation was painted by his granddaughter, Cordelia Dreisonstok.

W Bro. Dreisonstok (PhD)

A Washingtonian in 1950’s New York City

by Erwin M. Dreisonstok Behold! how swiftly the sands of the Hour-Glass run…

New York on New Year’s Weekend was more than the narrow confines of a few streets in Manhattan usually seen by tourists. New York was more than a play; a trip to Rockefeller Center; a visit to Radio City Music Hall; a sight of fabulous Times Square.

On Sunday, New York was Unreality. A tremendous fog hovered over the boroughs, and the grisly outlines of skyscrapers seemed spectral in appearance. There was an ineffable quality that produced fascination and awe.

After Erwin M. Dreisonstok died in 2016, I found New York was McSorin his papers a sketch he ley’s Old Ale House on wrote of New York City East Seventh—McSorwhich he wrote during a ley’s wonderful saloon visit in the early 1950’s. where in bold letters on My father had shown this a large stain over the bar piece to me a few years Photograph of 42nd Street by Erwin Dreisonstok. 1953 is proudly proclaimed: before his passing. At the “Good ale, raw onions, no time, I thought what a fine writer he was and what a shame it was he ladies.” An elderly man plays on an accordion such tunes as “My did not write and publish until the end of his lifetime. It was also of Wild Irish Rose” and “East Side West Side.” It is the atmosphere interest to me, as professor of English, I regularly teach a course on of Duffy’s Tavern1, with sawdust on the floor, corned beef and cabthe presentation of the city and the rôle of cities in literature. bage cooking in the kitchen, and the bartender giving free advice to argumentative costumers. The customers are a heterogeneous group Only after his passing did I realize the full meaning of what my composed of Bowery derelicts, displaced persons of several counfather had written and that it relates very closely to his life as a tries, a small share of tourists, and people of the working class. And Mason. In his description of life in 1950’s New York, my late father is a glass of ale is still ten cents. aware of the transience of life (a lesson realized in the Third Degree in the Emblem of the Hour-Glass). I first comprehended the poignancy of this after the passing of the writer himself. There is also a focus here on the common thread of humanity within the diversity of New York, that diverse yet common human experience so much

New York at another bar sees an intellectual bartender translating French for uninformed customers. In a hotel further on, a white and a black soldier from the same outfit are seen walking from a room

1Duffy’s Taver – radio show of the 1940’s and early 1950’s set in a tavern in Manhattan. For many listeners, the show epitomized life in New York City

26 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

Photograph of Rockefeller Center by Erwin Dreisonstok. 1953

Postcard of Harold Square, New York City. 1940’s

Letterhead upon which the above article was written

arm in arm with alcohol on their breaths, and good fellowship in their hearts.

At the Village Barn, the master of ceremonies asks for volunteers from customers who engage in inane contests for the entertainment of the tourists. One feels that the fun is contrived and unnatural. Once the village must have been natural. In the men’s room, a man waits with towel in hand to serve those who heed the call of nature. Operating under the assumption that turning on faucets and securing of towels is difficult, this company employee altruistically performs these services for a slight monetary fee. Across the street from the Barn, two youths lie face down on the sidewalk.

Passers-by look at them just long enough to avoid steeping on them, then move on.

Cordelia Dreisonstok, recreation in oil of sculpture/relief at Rockefeller Center entrance portal to the RCA building. Below the Masonic-like Divine figu e holding the Compasses is the inscription “Wisdom and Knowledge shall be the stability of thy times.”

New York is an Eighth Avenue Subway at three o’clock in the morning where sweethearts make love unabashedly; where hobos stretch out on seats and sleep noisily; where night workers and late cavorters sit and read The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other periodicals. Wherever one looks, the ones who are not making love or sleeping are reading…reading…reading.

For some, New York is loveliness; for others loneliness, but no one appears bored. All hurry as though they were grasping frantically for the remnants of sand that slip away in the Hour-Glass of life.

Earl Dreisonstok, Passed, Raised, and Initiated in Bethesda Lodge No. 204 (Maryland) in 1943, was called to the Eternal East in June of 2016.

This unpublished essay, written in 1950’s New York City and typed on Hotel Sanford stationery, was located among his private writings. 

Erwin M. Dreisonstok, a student at GW, late 1940’s

Postcard of Empire State Building.

1940’s

ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 27

What’s your Contribution?

BY J.D. WALKER, MASTER, LAFAYETTE-DUPONT LODGE NO. 19

Is your Masonic organization doing something that you don’t like?

If so, you need to ask yourself some questions: When was the last time you attended a meeting? What do you contribute, besides dues, to your Masonic organization? These are important questions, because it is sadly too often the case that a small cohort of Brothers are the ones to attend regularly and contribute their time and effort to the activities of the Lodge.

My mother Lodge has 90 members on paper, but we’re lucky to get 15 on a regular basis at our Stated Communications. My second Lodge has 35 members on paper, but we’re lucky to get 7 members on a regular basis at our Stated Communications. Nevertheless, in both cases, when we took actions that members did not like, we heard negative feedback from members we had not seen in Lodge in years. One Brother of my mother Lodge has not been back since he and I were raised.

In my Council, there is active opposition to things we are trying to do for the betterment of our Council. That opposition, however, comes from those who are not members of our Council, and it also comes from members who do not attend our meetings and do not help in our activities.

Our organization subsists on the triad: dues, dedication, and direct attendance. Our Bodies need members who are not only going to pay dues, but will show up and help with programs and activities. When this does not happen, the members who do show up will quickly get burnt out and stop coming. This is how a Lodge (or other organization) dies. Everyone thinks someone else will step up, and no one does.

One may correctly point out that the oaths we all take as Masons mean that God, family, and our

profession come first before Freemasonry. This much is correct, but if your Masonic commitments are not even going to have a seat at the table, why are you a member? Yes, God, family, and your profession come first, but that doesn’t mean that Masonry comes never. If that is truly the case, then what are you hoping to get out of Freemasonry? Why did you join in the first place?

J.D. Walker

President John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” In the same light, I would say, “Ask not what your Lodge can do for you, ask what you can do for your Lodge.” Take on an assignment for a Brother who may be feeling overwhelmed, and do it to the best of your ability. A small handful of Brothers cannot do everything. If all you can do is sit back and criticize, but you do not attend meetings (or worse yet, do not pay dues), then it is better if you are silent, because you are not supporting your Lodge, and you are definitely not supporting your Brothers.

Being a Mason doesn’t make the man; it’s the Man that makes the Mason. Part of that means that Freemasonry is not about what profit you can get out of it, but rather it is about what you can put into it. Your “wages” are not tangible. They come in the appreciation and fellowship you receive from your brothers. If you are on the sidelines, step up, before we lose more Brothers to burnout because they are trying to do too much. Let an active Brother say “no” once in a while.

Step up. 

Official Toast to the Grand Lodge of Scotland (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17)

rice Feghali, along with a large number of Scottish Brethren.

To reciprocate this honor and to further affirm our continued commitment to working together, I have asked the Most Worshipful Past Grand Master, Brother Akram Elias, who is also the Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of Scotland near the Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C., and the Most Worshipful Grand Master-Elect, Brother Michael Nicholas Sr., to accompany me on this historic visit to symbolize the steady trusteeship and future architecture of the special relationship we have forged between our two Grand Lodges.

28 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

Brethren of the Mystic Tie, on this 283rd Anniversary of your Grand Lodge, I lift my cup of friendship and brotherly love and kindly ask you to join me in delivering this special toast to the perpetual health and eternal prosperity of the Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland.

TO THE PERPUTUAL HEALTH AND ETRNAL PROSPERITY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ANTIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF SCOTLAND! 

Using an Outcome Oriented Philanthropy Model

BY PETER BRUSOE, MASTER OF THE EAGLE LODGE AND TREASURER OF WILLIAM R. SINGLETON-HOPE-LEBANON LODGE NO. 7

Volunteerism and philanthropic-based work is a core part of our American society and American identity. In fact, one-third of American adults actively volunteer in some way. In 2018, those volunteer efforts contributed work worth $167B into the American economy.1 And it’s not just the time, but also financial support. One out of two Americans contribute to worthy charitable causes every year. When the cathedral of Notre Dame caught on fire and money needed to be raised to repair it, 90% of the donations came from Americans, many in small amounts ranging from $25 to $50.2 Social scientists know from the social capital literature of sociologists like Robert Putnam that people who belong to fraternal organizations are even more likely to be engaged volunteers and charitably minded than their non-fraternal counterparts.3 So, when we survey our Grand Jurisdiction, it is no surprise that we see philanthropy here very much engaged and active.

The lodge knew we could do better and we looked at what organizations like the Gates Foundation were doing. They used a model called “Outcome Oriented Philanthropy.” Simply put, you look at problems that need to be solved and determine how you can be helpful. It is like that old adage if you give a person a fish, he eats for a day, you teach him how to fish you feed him for life.

A lot of charitable giving is based on donor intent and not necessarily need. A donor decides what they think is important and they provide funding. The charity, eager for the money or not wanting to insult the donor, says “yes” and implements it regardless of mission alignment. This is how schools wind up with scholarships for red haired young men from Herkimer County who can play tuba and want to study 17th Century Baroque Literature. Alexander Justice Moore writing in The Food Fighters suggests that in some cases the charitable work being done is about the donor and not the recipient, and that for this to work people need to be in relationship with one another.4

Some lodges volunteer monthly at a soup kitchen, some go out and support their local D.C. public school, The Singleton Lodge snocone booth at the 17th Street Festival and still others host an How can your Lodge or annual fundraiser to support a charity of their choice. A few years other organization implement problem based philanthropy? The ago, William R. Singleton-Hope-Lebanon Lodge No. 7 shifted following are ten key steps to think about. the way we thought of our philanthropic work. Traditionally in September, the Lodge would go through and allocate $32,000 in 1. F igure out what area of volunteerism your donations. (Literally it would be this organization would get $1,000, membership is passionate about. this would get $500, this organization would get $1,500 and so on We all have different areas of concern that we care about. For and so forth.) I remember one of our brothers stood up and asked, some of us it is education, the arts, animals, sports, housing, food “What does this charity do?” and the response was “We always give insecurity, or any number of things. We have seen in some organithem money.” There is no doubt we did good and we helped several zations where the presiding officer really cares about libraries and causes. Yet, this was not really a great experience for us or for the tries to make his members care about libraries, only to have the organizations we were supporting. Their only contact with us was guy next year say we are working on diabetes, and the guy after the check, which they were grateful for, and a nice thank you note. that says arts. It may be that there are two areas that you really We would repeat this process each year. care about and your lodge may be looking at helping with literacy and animal shelters.

1 https://www.nationalservice.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/volunteering-us-hits-record-high-worth-167-billion 2 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-14/us-donors-not-french-tycoons-foot-notre-dame-works-bills 3 See Bowling Alone http://bowlingalone.com/ 4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0792JZ76P/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

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2. Talk to the experts and ask questions.

Expertise is an interesting thing. Most of us would not perform open heart surgery or fly a plane unless we were either a surgeon or a pilot. Yet, in other parts of our lives we tend not to ask experts and just rely on what we think we know. People who work in the various fields know the problems, know the issues, and in many cases have a solution in mind. We should also ask questions, and if something does not feel right or make sense, follow up.

We also need to be thinking about the off seasons for charitable activities. In August, everyone buys school supplies. But, by January all those once-new crayons are worn down and the paper is exhausted. You may want to do a mid-year school supply drive. Or the hardest month for most foodbanks is in July, because school is out for the summer and the families have a greater need for food.

Again, if you want to know where the opportunities are and when the off-seasons are, ask an expert.

4. W ork to have a clearly defined solvable problem and a solution.

Too often we set about to do something and we have no idea how to measure if we achieved our goal. For example, if the goal is “reduce hunger in D.C.,” you have no idea on how to quantify if that is actually done. Yet, it could be something like, “100 families receiving services from a charity do not have Thanksgiving meals.” Your lodge goal could be to provide 30 families Thanksgiving baskets. (Or if you are Samuel Gompers Lodge, feed every family that needs one! Seriously, go check them out.)

5. F ind a reliable partner and do due diligence.

For most of the work that we engage in, we need to rely on outside partners. We all have day jobs and Master of Singleton Lodge Jason Lebowitz and Peter Brusoe, Treasurer, cannot make a philanthropic project for our lodge meet with DC Central Kitchen be our day job. In doing your due diligence you want to make sure that your partner has a good track record, good interSingleton Lodge knew it wanted to do something major in the nal controls, and that they are safe stewards of resources. community around education. Our thought at first was to endow a scholarship at a college. However, when we started to doing some Each non-profit has a 990 IRS tax document which gives you an research and talking to people, we found one of the greatest areas idea of where they are spending their money and resources. In of need was not for undergraduate education, but for vocational recent years, a lot of focus and concerns have been on salaries for education and training skills. organizations. While this should be an area of discussion, we need Another surprise for us was around our food drives. We used to have a bucket out before our meetings for people to bring canned food to the meeting. In talking with several foodbanks we learned they have bulk purchasing power. So, while I could go to the store and spend $50 to buy canned goods to feed one person for a week, if I had given the money directly to the foodbank, they could have feed 5 people for a week with their superior purchasing power.

3. L ook for areas that others may not be working in or off-seasons.

There are some issues that everyone cares about and they crowd out other areas of concern.

Backpacks with school supplies have quickly become the latest trend for organizations So while that’s an undoubtably important need, you may want to find a different area to focus on as it has so much attention already.

30 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

Members of Gompers-Franklin No. 45 unload Thanksgiving baskets for their big yearly charity project

The Grand Lodge Scottish Rite and MESH presenting a check for new computers at HD Cooke Elementary

to be comfortable with paying people to do the work. Volunteer programs run by volunteer staffs often suffer from a lack of prioritization, because it will come second or third to the person’s main work and family.

6. B e comfortable with the amount of money you want to spend.

There are problems out there for any size budget. One of the easiest things that Singleton Lodge did was to be the cupcake provider for the Macomb Recreation Center Halloween Party. The Department of Parks and Recreation did not have money for cupcakes, and they were going to have 75 hungry 4 to 10-year-olds coming for their Halloween Party. Only $135 later, we solved that problem. On the larger end, we also recently committed to a $75,000 pledge for D.C. Central Kitchen over three years, which required us to adjust other budget priorities.

7. Be comfortable with the amount of time you want to spend.

Masons are some of the busiest people in the world, and at times our cable tows are not long enough. We need to be pretty cognizant of how much time something may take. It is one thing to volunteer once a year, it’s another to volunteer once a week. You need to make sure that the time commitment is doable. A few years ago, Janney Elementary School needed help building garden beds. They needed some strong backs for about three hours on a Saturday. It was an easy one-time, short commitment. We went, we built, we had

mimosas after. This is generally the desirable outcome!

8. Celebrate Success.

When you achieve your goal, or reach milestones, make sure you celebrate the success that you are achieving. It’s important to recognize when that happens and who made it happen. (See the mimosas from our successful planter build.)

9. Be Accepting of Failure.

A lot of charitable work is based on social and human conditions.

Failure may happen. A project might not work out, the program participants might have a relapse. Just because one thing does not work, does not mean you should not try again. Though if you keep doing the same thing time and time again, maybe you need to revisit the problem.

10. Find the next thing.

Your lodge changes over time as do the members’ interests. Many lodges have annual projects, keep those, but also look at adding something new to the mix and looking for new problems. Variety can be the spice of life, and it can keep your volunteers/members engaged and active, as well.

Have an idea on the next great philanthropy project? Want help in doing a focus for your lodge? Feel free to drop me a note at PWBrusoe@gmail.com. 

ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 31

The Legend of King Solomon

BY MARCUS TRELAIN, PM OF SINGLETON NO. 7, CINCINNATUS NO. 76; AND DOUGLAS COHEN, PM OF HIRAM-TAKOMA LODGE NO. 10

To most, the name of King Solomon is synonymous with wisdom recounted in the Bible in 1 King 3:15-28, the Judgment of Solomon, in which the verses describe when two women who approached King Solomon claiming the same baby as their own. “And the king said, ‘Bring me a sword.’ And they brought a sword before the king.

And the king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.’” (I Kings 3: 25-26) The woman who would deceive the king agreed with the plan while the true mother immediately withdrew her claim believing it better for her child to be raised by the other woman than see her baby severed in two by sword. King Solomon instantly granted the baby to the women speaking the truth, recognizing that the rightful mother would suffer the greater loss to herself that her offspring might survive.

Yet there is far more to King Solomon than this single story.

According to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scripture, he was a man of considerable force of character. It is said he was learned of philosophy and poetry, possessed esoteric knowledge of nature and metaphysical powers, was consumed by immense political ambitions and great personal desires in his life, and was guided by divine inspiration to weld his people into a strong and respected kingdom. To these ends, he built the First Temple in Jerusalem as the center of the religious worship of his people and a symbol of their national unity which continues to this day.

12:25, the name given by God to Solomon in the Bible is Jedidiah, meaning “loved by God.” Some scholars have conjectured that Solomon is only a “title name” taken upon his ascent to the throne or at his death.

Much philosophy and poetry is attributed to Solomon by rabbinical tradition comprising more than 3,000 proverbs and 1,000 songs. According to Jewish tradition, Solomon wrote three Biblical books, corresponding to the three states of a man’s life. The Shir ha-Shirim or Song of Songs expresses the lustful vigor of youth and chronicles erotic love. The Mishlei or Book of Proverbs is a collection of moral and philosophical maxims which express the wisdom of maturity. (These reflect the first five proverbs in Chapter 1 of 31 total chapters. The Kohelet or Ecclesiastes articulates the cynicism of old age and contemplates the sense of absurdity of man’s feeble accomplishments as written, in the first of 12 chapters. Another book of wisdom and poetry credited to Solomon and is the deuterocanonical “Wisdom of Solomon,” which portrays him as an astronomer, but was likely written much later near the second-century, BCE, while the “Odes of Solomon” and the “Psalms of Solomon” are possibly Gnostic Christian in authorship.

Legend has it that the philosophy of Solomon was also exemplified in the form of riddles exchanged between King There is some historical eviSolomon with King Hiram dence for the reality of King of Tyre and the “tests” of the Solomon, but the legend of this Queen of Sheba. The impresking is literally a treasure trove sion he made on the Queen for Masons. Rich in allegory of Sheeba during her visit is and filled with as many secrets well known: “Thy wisdom and caption as the long-lost chambers of his prosperity exceedeth the fame temple. Even the name of Solowhich I heard,” she exclaims in mon is surrounded in mystery. The name “Solomon” or “Shlomo” I Kings 10: 7. His prayer for wisdom and understanding are equally in the Old Testament means “peaceful,” or “complete”, from the famous. Exactly what kind of wisdom was granted?

Hebrew Shelomoh and Sulaiman in Arabic. However, in 2 Samuel

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Perhaps some of the most overlooked aspects of Solomon’s life were his endeavors as a philosopher, occultist, kabbalist, and astrologer. Indeed, Solomon has been declared the greatest magician who could not only penetrate the Laws of the Universe, but conquer the devil himself.

According to the Kabbalah, which literally means “receiving”, man may become spiritually closer to God and as a result become empowered with higher insight into the inner workings of God’s creation. An intimate understanding and mastery of the Kabbalah can then effectively enable prophecy and allow control over one’s surroundings and one’s inner self. Appearing in the text as Sulayman, the Qur’an refers to Solomon not only as the son of David, but as a prophet and great ruler imparted by God with tremendous wisdom, favor, and mystical powers: “And before Sulayman were marshaled his hosts of Jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks.” [Quran 27:17] Solomon was said to have under his rule not only people, but also the obedience of invisible beings and control over the elements, such as the wind. “And to Sulayman he made the Wind obedient.

Its early morning stride was a month’s journey, and its evening stride was a month’s journey; and We made a Font of molten brass to flow for him; and there were Jinns that worked in front of him, by the leave of his Lord, and if any of them turned aside from his command, he made them taste of the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.”

[Quran 34:12] In the Sutra XXVII, it is reported that Solomon was taught the “Language of the Birds,” acquired by his father King David in his early days as a shepherd and a “man of nature.” In receiving this training, it is conjectured Solomon entered into esoteric knowledge of nature and all its complexity. He could see through a veil into a hidden glory in the world which was not accessible to common human understanding. Thereby, he was able to see the earth in idealized and supernal form. Even the Roman-Jewish historical writer Flavius Josephus mentioned many of these interesting details, while further ascribing to Solomon a number of books about magic rituals.

Solomon’s mastery of demons is a common element in later Jewish and Arabic legends, as well. According to rabbinical literature, a magical ring called the “Seal of Solomon” was supposedly presented to Solomon, and gave him power over Asmodeus, king of demons and his minion hordes. Through the power of the seal, and with the sanction of the Lord, Solomon was able to enlist demons help with the building of the first temple at Jerusalem. The Seal of Solomon itself is an esoteric symbol, for it is a figure of two equilateral and

caption

interlocking triangles – one representing man and the other his goal of striving towards the divine. Today of course, the magical symbol and Seal of Solomon is better known as the Star of David, serving as symbol for all of Israel.

This seal was an attempt to reunite the everyday world in which man lives and the divine. The Rabbinic sages expanded on a phrase used by mystics from Isaiah 6:3, “The whole world is filled with His glory,” leading to a less classical view of the world and the universe than is commonly supposed in the passage. Such associations between Solomon and the esoteric world have led to assumptions that Solomon was involved in idolatry. This raises a concern: Was Solomon an idolater?

This must remain a mystery for each of us to decide, based on our wisdom and faith outside of Freemasonry, whether Solomon abandoned faith in God by being swayed towards other religions, or whether his faith might have been enhanced with an esoteric wisdom beyond our ken. What is certain, however, is that with the unification of the tribes of Israel by King David, Solomon fulfilled the wishes of his father David and glorified the dream of building a house dedicated to the God of Abraham, of Moses, and all the people of Israel.

The First Temple at Jerusalem, the crowning achievement of Solomon’s reign, was monumental in design and exceedingly magnificent. Sadly, as all Masons know, even the Temple of Solomon, so spacious and magnificent, and constructed by so many celebrated artists, escaped not the unsparing ravages of barbarous force. How it would add to the legend of Solomon to see the original Temple fully intact and discern the esoteric meanings it might have once held! 

ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 33

5�, 6� and �� Year Members of the Craft

The Grand Lodge recognizes and congratulates these Brethren who have received, or will receive, a 50-year, 60-year, or 70-year service emblem during 2019

50 Year Recipients Joseph J. Brooks, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Ernesto Glorioso. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 James Brown, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Thomas E. Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 William A. Simmons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Harold D. Thomas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Gordon L. Jernigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Fred W. Evans, PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Lewis A. Schmidt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 James P. Hodges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Richard L. Lester, III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Kenneth A. Tillett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Peter V. Aliferis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 George F. Baker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 John W. Freeze, PM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Charles R. Weaver, PM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Donald V. Colvin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Henry Gegenbauer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Thomas R. Buckingham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Oscar R. Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Thomas F. Zsakany, PM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Paul W. Ludwig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Hayes G. Robinson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Carlos A. Landazuri, PM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Martin Surabian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Merion F. Ireton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1775 Ariyomi A. Macauley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1798

34 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019

60 Year Recipients Webley J. Simpkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Perry Varoutsos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 William R. Baucom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Richard C. Brooke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Edmund W. Rupert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Stuart H. Gelber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Edison M. Amos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Harold Grainger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Warren N. Minami. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Ralph W. Stewart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Robert H. Merritt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Rupert G. Daniels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Robert H. Plante . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

70 Year Recipients Raymond B. Rankin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Richard S. Rankin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 David C. Pratt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ray C. Pratt, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Allen L. Minnigh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 John C. Held. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 George William Abraham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 William G. Farran. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Alvin M. Garfinkle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 David Applestein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Jerrold Gordon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Award Recipients VALENTINE REINTZEL MEDAL

Since 2018, he has been arts reviewer for the historic Sentinel Newspapers in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, Maryland. In 2019, he joined the Voice of Freemasonry as an editor as well as The Scottish Rite Journal as a staff writer and editor. In addition, he has published in eight other Masonic periodicals, co-authored a book, and is preparing for the publication of his dissertation on the theme of light and its connection to wealth in the Old English Beowulf and the Saxon epic The Heliand.

Mark Dreisonstok Mark Dreisonstok holds an M.A. Degree from the University of Freiburg in Germany as well as a Ph.D. from Georgetown University. He has served as lecturer at Georgetown University, The George Washington University, and George Mason University, among others, teaching English, German, ethics, and art history. He is experienced in coordinating English and foreign-language programs at colleges and universities and has also served as a translator for various language translation agencies in the Washington, D.C., area. He has lived, worked, and studied in Japan and Hong Kong.

Worshipful Brother Dreisonstok is a Past Master of Arminius Lodge No. 25, and 2019 marks 100 years of continuous membership of his family in District of Columbia Masonic organizations. He received the Scottish Rite’s Knight Commander of the Court of Honour earlier this year. 

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ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 35

The Voice of Freemasonry Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M. of D.C. 5428 MacArthur Blvd., NW Washington, D.C. 20016-2524

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