September-October 2011

Centennial of the Laying of the House of the Temple Cornerstone – October 18, 1911. House of the Temple Centennial Cornerstone Celebration, October 16-18, 2011, will commemorate this historic milestone.

Cover credits: Page 1, Archives of the Supreme Council, 33°, SJ, USA; Page 2, Affinity Marketing Assoc., Devon, Penn.; page 3, Scottish Rite Online Store; Page 4, Office of Development.

All I Really Need to Know

By Ronald A. Seale, Sovereign Grand Commander As I write this message, the staff at the House of the Temple is in the midst of preparations for the 2011 Biennial Session (and 210th anniversary of our Supreme Council). I have just finished my allocution and have a little time to ponder upcoming events. In a [...]

Membership Services & Technology

Stan Dodd, 33° Associate Director of Membership Services We used to have lodges that met only on full moons so the horses could find their way in the dark. That has changed to high powered cars and trucks and lodges meeting every night of the week. We connected to our neighbors by walking down the [...]

2011 Scottish Rite Photo Contest Winners

Heather Calloway, Director of Special Programs Click here to see the 2011 Photo Contest Winners Congratulations to the winners of the Second Annual Scottish Rite Photography Contest! We asked to see portraits of fraternal life, and in return we received an impressive array of over 200 submissions documenting life in the fraternity. Photos featuring the [...]

To the Soldiers of the Light

Richard Dreyfuss, 32° On the night of my initiation into Freemasonry, I said that I’d been a Mason since I was twelve. It was not a joke, but a statement of fact. For as long as I can remember; I had hoped that one day I would become a member of this fellowship. I knew [...]

The King’s Freemasonry

Paul Hooley, 18° The King’s Speech has been critically acclaimed as one of the finest motion pictures of recent years and has renewed the public’s interest in, and affection for, King George VI who reigned over Great Britain from 1936 to 1952. The film, which chronicles the constitutional crisis created by Edward VIII’s abdication and [...]

Studying Masonic Philosophy through Memorizing Degree Ritual

Richard E. James, EdD, PhD, 32° The study of Masonic philosophy through our ritual is a comprehensive quest for a better understanding of God, the nature of our world, human existence, and the relationship between those things. As such, the objective of our rituals is to reinforce ancient wisdom that centers around the fatherhood of [...]

Current Interest: Keith Lundy, 33°, Appointed Deputy in Mississippi

SGC Ronald A. Seale, 33°, has appointed Ill. Keith Lundy, 33°, as Deputy of the Supreme Council in the Orient of Mississippi replacing Ill. Howard E. Kerce, 33°, SGIG in Mississippi, who has retired. Ill. Lundy was born on November 29, 1959, in Prentiss, Mississippi, and after high school attended the Dallas Institute of Mortuary [...]

Current Interest: Master Craftsman Program in the Philippines

The interest in further light in Masonry knows no political boundary. The Supreme Council’s Master Craftsman Program (MCP) has attracted a class of students in the Supreme Council of the Philippines. Bro. Manuel Liam C. Garcia, KCCH, an SRRS member, finished his first MCP course, and then introduced it to the members of the Valley [...]

Current Interest: Valley of Joplin Opens Doors and Kitchen to First Responders and Victims

The Joplin Scottish Rite Masonic Center in downtown Joplin, Missouri, was spared damage from the tornado in late May. This deadliest storm in 60 years was almost a mile wide and tore a six-mile path through the city on Sunday, May 22; over 100 people were killed. Even though some of Scottish Rite Masons suffered [...]

Current Interest: SRBA Welcomes Two New Members

The Scottish Rite Business Alliance (SRBA) allows Scottish Rite members and friends to purchase quality products and services at competitive prices while helping raise funds for our House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc. The items offered by the Alliance vary from premium food items to Masonic regalia. The SRBA is pleased to welcome [...]

Current Interest: Freemasonry Q & A

How long has a gold ring been given to 14° Masons? Since at least 1783 when Henry Andrew Francken wrote one of his manuscript rituals of the Order of the Royal Secret, the 25-degree predecessor of the Scottish Rite. In its 14° the Thrice Potent Master present the candidate with a ring and says, “Receive [...]

Current Interest: Internet Lodge No. 9659 of England visits Sir Winston Churchill Lodge No. 351 of Minn. at the Brotherhood Summit

From June 2 to 5, 2011, several members of Internet Lodge No. 9659 of England made a special Masonic visit to Sir Winston Churchill Lodge No 351 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The purpose was to demonstrate the Master Mason degree in the English emulation ritual with the permission of the United Grand Lodge of England, which [...]

Notes from the Northern Light: Spetember – October 2011

GRAND OPENING — New Dyslexia Center Opens In April, the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Upper Wisconsin was dedicated. Since the establishment of the centers program in 1994, the members of the Valley of Eau Claire have dedicated countless hours in pursuit of creating a safe, clean and worthwhile after-school program to educate the children of [...]

The Scottish Rite & Plato’s Republic

John L Rogitz, 32° I went down yesterday to the Piraeus with Glaucon, son of Ariston, to make my offerings to the goddess, and to see in what manner they might be celebrating the festival, which was new. —Plato, The Republic Among the many absorbing lessons I just learned in the Scottish Rite degrees, three [...]

Laying the Cornerstone

Jeri E. Walker, Scottish Rite Journal Office We are approaching the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone that began the massive undertaking to build the House of the Temple. From its foundation to the thirty-three massive columns that support it’s pyramidal roof, the House of the Temple symbolizes the ideals of Scottish Rite [...]

Celebrate the Centennial Anniversay of the Laying of the Cornerstone

On October 16–18, 2011, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Council will commemorate the centennial of laying the cornerstone of the House of the Temple with guided tours, a symposium, and a reenactment of the cornerstone ceremony. The special guided tours will begin at 2:00 pm on Sunday, October 16, [...]

Cameron Gales: Football, Freemasonry, and Fatherhood

Micah I. Evans, 32°, KCCH Growing up in Tyler, Texas, Freemasonry was all around Cameron Gales. He just didn’t know it. Cameron’s interest in history and the aura and mystique of Freemasonry began at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, Texas, with his college fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma. Phi Beta Sigma—an African-American fraternity whose founding members [...]

Preserving Our Legacy: Why I Am Contributing

Bernard L. Blackwell, 33° In the 55 years I have been a member of Scottish Rite, I have made many friends, met hundreds of wonderful people whom I would not have met otherwise, and have been honored to be a contributor to the charitable works we provide children across the United States of America. But [...]

Book Reviews: Something Old, Something New

James T. Tresner, II, 33°, Grand Cross I didn’t realize it until Dr. Brent Morris, 33°, Grand Cross, Editor of the Journal told me, but this issue marks my 15th Anniversary as Book Review Editor. “Thank you!” to all the Brethren for your patience! It is a great deal of fun, and beside that, they [...]

The Scottish Rite Journal (ISSN 1076-8572) is published bimonthly by the Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, 1733 Sixteenth St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-3103.