Masonic Central

The song bring out the clowns starts to ring in my head when ever I start to think about the Shrine in a large way. Not out of any misanthropic meanness but because of their excellent work and commitment to the happiness and well being of so many children. . Say the name of the Shrine and instantly the image of charity, children's hospitals, and red fez's comes to mind, but behind those iconic images is an organizational powerhouse that, some suggest, drives the future of the Masonic fraternity. . Joining Masonic Central this week is Imperial Sir Jeff Sowder who is Imperial Outer Guard for Shriners International to talk about all things big and small as it relates to the Shrine.

What makes a lodge successful? Is it the energy behind the lodge, the people that create it? And, does that energy come at a cost? Is there a social capitol that is bartered in an invisible exchange that at times reflects a huge value where at others it challenges its very existence. One such lodge happens to be a nexus for this very question, and has had a year to barter and trade on its own social capitol building a reputation amongst its community and amongst its peers. And this development has not been free of cost. Gate City Lodge in Atlanta Georgia has had a dynamic year, from a public forum on Catholicism and Masonry to a feature article about them in the New York Times. All in all, Gate city is not unaccustomed to controversy or at least some growing pains since its founding in 1887. Since then, Gate City has suffered war, fire, growth and decline, all of which are no strangers to lodges of this age, yet Gate City has re-awoken as a cosmopolitan styled lodge, progressive in its ideas (even if they do not see themselves as such) and yet still as traditional as the day they fought to become the 4th lodges in the already crowded Georgian capital.

In the wake of the most turbulent period of American history, the story of the intersection of Freemasonry and the Civil War have been many and profound - fact and fiction have become impossibly merged until now. In an eloquent narrative story telling, Michael Halleran's new book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Freemasonry in the American Civil War separates the dime store novel and after dinner yarns from the real and verifiable stories of the American Civil War.

Madness, mayhem, mystery, and murder, these are but a few of the terms one could use to define the book, and later film, From HELL. Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Eddie Campbell (and Pete Mullins), the book is really at the for of recent fictional works in print and celluloid that featured the fraternity of Freemasonry in some diabolic aspect. One of its earlier for-bearers was more of a positive turn in the Return of the King, and so many years later, Moore and his work From Hell has transformed the benign fraternity into something malignant and nefarious. And, on its ascendancy to the cinema, the seductive spell of aristocracy and secret society takes center stage (pardon the pun) to position the fraternity at the very heart of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Few places give you consistent discourse on the occult and the western mystery tradition. And even fewer present the thought leaders within that field today. Masonic circles aside, few are the sources to find this type of conversation, and even fewer that produce it with the passion that Greg Kaminsky does. Greg is the spirit, production, and host of the Occult of Personality podcast which has an ever increasing inventory of programs centered squarely on the idea of the occult and how it intersects with those of us who are interested in its practice and wisdom. He could perhaps be called a techno mage, but In light of the conversation, I'd like to call him brother.

The MRF provides education and training to individuals, lodges and Grand Lodges on ways to establish quality programs, academic excellence and social relevance in their Masonic communities. As American Freemasonry faces some of the most important challenges in its history, the MRF stands to ensure a sense of purpose and identity for the Craft. Joining us this week on Masonic Central to talk about the MRF, Traditional Observance Lodges (TO), and the European Concept Lodge (EC) are Mark Allen Tabbert and Cliff Porter, both of whom are active Board members of the Masonic Restoration Foundation. What exactly is a EC lodge? Are TO lodges the wave of the future? How do I start the conversation on forming a TO lodge? Listen in and ask the questions with us as we explore the TO and EC lodge archetypes with the Board of the Masonic Restoration Foundation.

Brothers Michael Pearce and Bill Patterson launch their inaugural edition Masonic Central Asia with their guest Br. Jim Johnston, PhD., who is one of the foremost scholars on Masonry in Japan. Also, Br. Johnston is a Past Grand Master of the island nation, a 33º Brother of the Scottish Rite, and a founding member of the Lodge of research Japan. This episode was pre-recorded for the time difference but your questions and comments are very much welcome and encouraged!

Join us this Sunday on the Masonic Central pod cast as Karl Grube, who is the President of the Bonisteel Masonic Library in Ann Arbor Michigan and a member of the board of trustees for the Detroit Masonic Temple Library, talks to us about Michigan Masonry, the life and legacy of the Bonisteel Library, and the jewel of the American Masonic edifice, the Detroit Masonic Temple.

The holidays are done and past, and the cold grip of winter is taking hold, but what better time to catch up with a warm conversation and some reminiscence of what was 2009. This week on Masonic Central, join us as we go over the highlights (and low lights) of Masonry in 2009 and look ahead at some of the trends that seem to be already charting the course of 2010. The show goes live promptly at 9pm EST/6pm PST and the phone lines will be open for your questions and comments. I know it will be a lively show, and I hope you can make it!

This is a special Masonic Central re-broadcast from August 2008 when brothers Paul Bessel and Jerry Samet, past Grand Master Washington DC, joined us on the program for an enlightening conversation about Paul's fantastic research and publication website, his book Masonic Questions and Answers. In the conversation we delve deeply into the Document of Exclusive Territorial Jurisdiction, the space between 'regular' Masonry and Prince Hall Freemasonry, and the success (and challenges) of one day classes. It was a great conversation and a fantastic program and one that I guarantee that you will get much from listening to, even if you heard on its original airing. These terrific brothers gave us some great discussion on how to make Masonry interesting and more enjoyable if we can keep it alive and relevant.

With the release of The Lost Symbol, many have had the opportunity to read though the work and see the results of Dan Brown's non-Masonic contribution to the mythology of the fraternity. Like his past work, Without a doubt The Lost Symbol is a layerd thiriller that can be analyzed on many different levels to find a variety of different meanings, not surprisingly, not unlike Freemasonry itself. This week we welcome Brother Mark Koltko-Rivera, author of the forthcoming book, Discovering The Lost Symbol to help us deconstruct some of the underlying ideas of Brown's book and to look at some of the things that Brown got wrong. Specificially we plan to look at evidence for an actual Masonic message encoded into Brumidi’s famous fresco, “The Apotheosis of Washington”, a message that it appears Dan Brown missed; the round about source of Brown's idea about apotheosis (humanity becoming gods), and the Masonic connection to that source; Further, we plan to talk about the psychological underpinnings for Dan Brown’s immense popularity, and the implications that has for both Freemasonry as a whole and individual Freemasons.

Ever stop to think for a few moments where some of your favorite Masonic books and imprints come from? Or how certain books get published (or don't end up in print)? What about e-books, or that really rare hard to find text that you heard mentioned once, but can't seem to find? This week on Masonic Central we step out side of the electronic publishing world and into the traditional publishing one as we host a very special guest in publisher and author Michael Poll, who is the owner of Cornerstone Book Publishers and its retail site Lost Word. Br. Michael's dedicated work to the Masonic community has included services such as: original content and reprint publisher, used book seller and search service, and gift item and ephemera supplier, all the while remaining a small family run store. In addition to his work in publishing Masonic books, he has published two of his own including Masonic Words and Phrases, and The Freemasons Key - A Study of Masonic Symbolism. In addition to several lodge memberships, Michael is also a Founding Fellow and 1st Vice-President of The Masonic Society, a Fellow of the Philalethes Society and a contributor to Heredom, the publication of the Scottish Rite Research Society.

Within in Freemasonry, there are many titles and attributes bestowed upon its members, but few come to the table with the appellation of Magus, with a large number of books from their pen and a many years of practice under their talismaned hand, and in that list none stand out more than Brother Lon Milo Duquette. A Mason for more than a decade, Br. Duquette has spent many more of his years studying the realms of the tarot, Qabalah, Thelema, and Enochian Vision magic. Capturing the essence of these studies in the quote from Alister Crowley in his saying that “Magic was defined as the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with WILL”, which has lead Br. Duquette to his position within the OTO. In this show, we will explore some of the magical connections that Masonry may (or may not have) and what lessons we can find within the sage wisdom and teaching of the Masonic patriarch King Solomon, beyond his mere wisdom through his reputation as a powerful magician. No mere parlor tricks here. It stands to be an excellent program of magical conversation, and delightful insight.

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, tonight's show is a detour from the norm with a duet of suprise mystery guests. It offers a unique glimpse into a little seen segment of Masonry that we know will delight and entertain you on this last Sunday before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Freemasons like to talk, a lot, and usually for good reason. Beyond the usual what time a dinner is being held or who has knocked at the temple door with interest, a great driving aspect of the fraternity is understanding why it is we do what we do, and to hear from others who may have gone down that road and can offer some insight to the journey. Thankfully, many groups exist in the fora, on a range of topics and with varying focus. Some are tiled, while others governed by subscription fees. But one that has stood out to us here at FmI has a specific focus on the esoteric, and a willingness to engage Masonic roots with its parallels of the distant past, and that site is The Sanctum Sanctorum.