April 2015
NEW BOOKS FEBRUARY – APRIL 2015
ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM – THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE QUATUOR CORONATI LODGE NO 2076 UGLE
MONCKTON CHAPTER OF SOVEREIGN PRINCES ROSE CROIX HRDM NO 315 CONSECRATED 3rd APRIL 1937 – 75 YEARS 1937-2012 by W.F Doreen
A history of the Chapter and Rose Croix events in both New Zealand and the Southern areas of the North Island which have impacted on the Chapter.
CONYERS LODGE No 1916 EC – CENTENARY 11879 – 1979. AN HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS
A history of the Chapter and Rose Croix events in both New Zealand and the Southern areas of the North Island which have impacted on the Chapter.
THE SECRET SCHOOL OF WISDOM – THE AUTHENTIC RITUALS AND DOCTRINES OF THE ILLUMINATI by Jeva Singh-Anand, Joseph Wages, Reinhard Markner
The Secret School of Wisdom – The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati is a pioneering text, a full working manual of the Order, and an astounding insight into the world’s most intriguing secret society.
For more than two hundred years, the world has held a prejudiced view of the Illuminati. Much has been claimed for and against the Order – its name synonymous with secrecy, intrigue, and mystery in the modern context, despite a poverty of concrete evidence in the English language. Little has been said about the factual structure and development through its life cycle. The Secret School of Wisdom – The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati, is a ground-breaking text. It marks the first time that a comprehensive ritual book for the society has been re-assembled. Every degree, its instruction and associated texts, has been included and assembled in chronological order of progression. The reader is guided along the same path as many of Germany’s most enlightened men, as they were in the years immediately prior to the French Revolution.
Much of this material has never been published – let alone translated into English. Supplemental texts are included to gain further historical insight into the Order and all documents have been checked for accuracy with the original archival texts.
“Although some of the rituals and documents have remained available in both libraries and digital archives, no English-language work has succeeded in presenting the magnificent treasure trove of original material as successfully as the book you are now holding in your hands. It is the first work of its kind to offer-for the first time-the full and complete system of the Illuminati under a single cover. Using original source materials, it succeeds in presenting a coherent and intelligible resource to students of Masonic rituals, secret societies, Enlightenment thinking, and little known aspects of world history. You may now read and study the authentic secret rituals and lectures which gave birth to the great conspiracies of today. As preparation of this book progressed I was thrilled to receive each new section, which I hungrily consumed, and compared with documents and manuscripts in my possession. I am happy to report that this book is everything I hoped it would be, and I am likewise happy to commend it to you.”
Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, Grand Cross, Grand Archivist and Grand Historian, Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jurisdiction, USA
TRACING BOARDS, THEIR DEVELOPMENT & THEIR DESIGNERS by T.O. HAUNCH
In Masonic lodges throughout the world, beautiful paintings or prints known as Tracing boards are used as a tool of Masonic contemplation.
But it wasn’t always so. In fact, the Masonic Tracing Board evolved over many decades. In the early years of the Craft, chalk drawings were made on a table or floor in the centre of the tavern room or private home where a Masonic Lodge met. This design was then removed with a mop and bucket at the end of the meeting by the new member as a demonstration of his obligation of secrecy.
But how did these works of art evolve from this practice in a society generally hostile to the creation of any physical representations of the Ritual?
In this unmissable text, the author describes in detail the journey from chalk floor to permanent depiction; from marble slabs and wooden etchings to beautiful floor cloths and finally to the tracing boards we know today.
A TRADITIONAL OBSERVANCE LODGE: ONE MASON’S JOURNEY TO FULFILLMENT by Cliff Porter
The author’s home lodge is different. They suffer from higher than 100% attendance, men wait periods of longer than a year to get initiated, they have never lost a single Entered Apprentice, they have nobody on the roles who is NPD or has been dropped for NPD. Men arrive on lodge days at 8:00 a.m. and are often reluctantly leaving for home near midnight or 2:00 a.m. Their dues are high by American standards, the background check is rigorous, and the initiations are solemn and serious. Every lodge meeting is treated as an event and celebrated as such. Dinner is treated as a feast with all its positive connotations. Freemasonry is celebrated in every aspect of the lodge. From the artwork, the furnishings, the set up and the atmosphere; all aspects of the lodge meeting are intentional and meant to create an experience. The Lodge is a Traditional Observance Lodge or T.O. Lodge as it is called by some. Like all labels, the Traditional Observance label has caused fear and fright, anger and frustration, confusion, and edicts. It has also helped to define the practices that make the author’s lodge one of the most successful lodges in the United States by any standard one might choose to measure it. This book does not claim to provide a Masonic magic pill for the ailing lodges of the world. Nor does it claim in any fashion or form that the way this author’s lodge operates is the only way or the best way to operate. What this book does is explain the Traditional Observance model and encourages ideas in the area of increasing the lodge experience and allowing quality to become the watchword over every aspect of Freemasonry. The writings contains a mixture of personal experiences, practical advice, and real life examples for creating a Traditional Observance lodge or increasing your lodges fulfilment.
LODGE EREWHON 200 CENTENNIAL 1914 – 2014 by Noel S Lowe
The story of a back country South Island Lodge.
ENGLISH FREEMASONRY AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR by The Library and Museum of Freemasonry , United grand lodge of England
When Britain declared war on 4th August 1914, English Freemasonry faced ‘unprecedented circumstances’.
The Library and Museum of Freemasonry is located in Freemasons’ Hall in Great Queen Street in London, a building dedicated to the Freemasons who died in that war. This book, written by staff at the Library and Museum and drawing on its extensive collections, looks at the impact of the First World War and its aftermath on English Freemasonry.
How did lodges cope with their members being called up to fight?
What was the experience of the fighting freemason- and the freemason in captivity?
When it became clear that casualties were on a large scale, the Grand Lodge organised a Roll of Honour and individual lodges produced their own memorials and after the war the Grand Lodge faced new challenges at home and abroad.
This fascinating, informative and richly illustrated book covers:
· The Masonic World in 1914
· Men at War – the serving Brethren and volunteers
· Prisoners of War
· Roll of Honour and Memorials
· Trench Art
· Charity
· Post War World
OBSERVING THE CRAFT: THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE IN MASONIC LABOUR AND OBSERVANCE by Andrew Hammer
Observing the Craft is a manifesto of sorts for the observant Mason, who seeks quality over quantity in every aspect of Masonry.
It is a stringent argument for the Symbolic (Blue) Lodge as the ne plus ultra of the Craft, asking that Masons put actions behind their statements that ‘nothing is higher than the third degree.’
It is a book that calls for nothing but the utmost personal effort and commitment to be put into the operation of a Masonic Lodge, and the experience of a Masonic meeting, in search of the transformational experience which Masons define as ‘making good men better’.