I LOVE YOU

Join us for a romantic and unique evening with the Lodge and celebrate this Valentine’s Day.

This year our Valentine’s Party will be Saturday Feb. 18th at 5pm at the Melting Pot of Novi. Come join us for a four course meal, cooked by you at your table, in the fondue style.  This night will include a cheese fondue with a variety of breads, vegetables, and fruits to dip, a salad, beef, ravioli, and chicken for your entree, and a chocolate fondue desert. The cost for this event is $15 person/$25 couple.  Drinks will be available for purchase.  Due to the nature of this event RSVPs and payment must be received by the end of the February business meeting on Tuesday Feb. 7th.  If you would like to attend, but cannot make the business meeting, please call or text me, Jay Slauter at 313-310-8703 and I will be happy to make arrangements to meet with you before then.

After the foundation of the first Grand Lodge in England in 1717, a rival Grand Lodge arose less than two decades later, calling itself the Antients (or Ancients), whereby it intended to assert greater authenticity than the rival “modern” Grand Lodge. The Antients were also known as the Athol Masons, from their first Grand Master, the Duke of Athol. Some authors (e.g., Carl Claudy) say the Antients were schismatic–i.e., had split off from the “modern” Grand Lodge; others (e.g., Allen Roberts) of more recent vintage say that the Antients were founded independently by Lodges deriving from Scottish and Irish traditions who were excluded by the English “moderns.”

These competing English Grand Lodges, along with Grand Lodges established in Scotland and Ireland, issued charters for Lodges in the American colonies into the latter half of the 18th century, until the American Revolutionary War led to the ties between the colonies and the mother country being severed. Long after that event, in 1813 (when the two countries were again at war, in fact), the rival English Grand Lodges amalgamated to form the United Grand Lodge of England, which is the governing body of English Freemasonry to this day.

Meanwhile, in the new United States of America, Grand Lodges were organized separately in each state, some as offspring of Provincial Grand Lodges and some as self-declared independent Grand Lodges (e.g., Virginia). These Grand Lodges comprised Lodges whose charters had been issued by both the Antient and “modern” Grand Lodges in England (as well as a few Scottish and Irish constitution Lodges). The designation of whether a Grand Lodge was Free and Accepted or Ancient Free and Accepted was therefore almost an arbitrary choice, based perhaps on who had a bit more political power when the new Grand Lodge was formed.

In particular, one cannot conclude anything significant about the nature of the ritual used by a Grand Lodge as to its Antient or “modern” content, based only on the designation as F&AM or AF&AM. Many Grand Lodges use an amalgamation of the forms, and it would take detailed study (never having been done to my knowledge) to determine the precise provenance of each American Grand Lodge’s ritual contents. It does appear that Pennsylvania may adhere most closely to the work of the Antients, while a northern tier of states, running from Connecticut through Minnesota and perhaps farther west, preserves the “modern” ritual most closely. In those states where a ritual cipher is permitted, which seems to be more a characteristic of the “moderns,” the incorporation of changes to the ritual occur with much lower frequency (a fairly obvious observation). An example is the phrase “any be due,” which is synonymously rendered “aught be due” in the apparently “modern” jurisdictions: The substitution of a common word (“any”) for an archaic one (“aught”) is a natural evolution of an oral tradition, while the reverse substitution virtually never occurs in oral transmission. The states with a printed ritual cipher have maintained “aught,” while “any” has appeared in those states eschewing such written aids.

Incidentally, there are two jurisdictions which use neither F&AM nor AF&AM: The District of Columbia uses FAAM, and South Carolina uses AFM. Again, these are distinctions without any real difference.

Various suppositions are made about “four-letter” Lodges vs. “three-letter” Lodges and relationships to Prince Hall (PHA) Masonry and issues of recognition, but these are entirely unfounded.

by Bro.Roger M. Firestone

Your neck tie should work for you not against you.

Brothers, you all heard that the Worshipful Master Elect Don Harper has proclaimed all Brethren holding an office this coming year will adhere to a dress code.

As we must all be required to be in at least a shirt and tie I thought I would share some of my formal and business dress tips about ties.

I have lots of ties, hell I have lots of dress clothes. I have an entire closet that is just formal wear. I’m not yet wealthy and have had my bouts with the empty wallet, but that doesn’t stop the well dressed man. It takes some skill to dress sharp on zero or small budgets but anybody can do it.

My tie rack is full and I’m always looking for more ties. I found most of my ties not at expensive department stores or suit stores but in resale shops. Used dress clothes are usually well taken care of, especially an item like a tie suffers little wear and tear in what time it is in actual use. Terrific finds from different decades and styles past can be found in resale shops. From skinny ties from the 50′s/80′s to shorter fatter ties from the 40′s, whatever taste you have you can find it. (Just wash them, it takes that “eau de old man” out.)

While nothing admittedly looks quite like a crisp new suit or tie, you can find such items made from superior materials in resale shops for a fraction of the value at original purchase.  If you are like me and piece together looks from different time periods you know you cannot just walk into any department store and find vintage color schemes and patterns.

Now maybe dress clothes aren’t your thing and you are not sure of what your taste in ties (or suits or shoes) even is. That’s fine, you will only start to hone in on what you like by shopping around. Suit stores like the Mens Wearhouse have tables full of ties arranged by color gradient. It’s like a color palette of ties. Suit stores and department stores also sell shirts and ties as a set. This little trick guarantees that you look sharp with matching shirt, ties and handkerchief.

You have some of my advice, put it to good use now that you have no excuse to not dress sharp and remember real men wear pink. Go forth and look deadly Brethren.

Brothers,

After we conduct a degree it is common for us to give a pat on the back and say good job to those who participated and to welcome the new brothers with a hearty hand shake. This last degree has sparked a different feeling in me that I thought I would share.

Our ancient craft is possibly as old as the ages. All this time a lesson has been handed down generation to generation. There are many different facets to this lesson; the part that resonated most with me on this occasion was the masters’ word. This word can only be handed down by an experienced master at close proximity and in a particular fashion.  By this I am reminded how grateful we are and should be to the tried and true brothers who have carried this with them and have pulled each of us up with the strong grip and with the help of the lodge.

It occurred to me that during this degree it is not merely done physically but I believe this allegory is in some way alluding to the degree itself. This is our craft.  The production of this degree is not easy, nor should it be. No one man can raise another without the help of his brothers and no one can without knowing the proper grip that only truly traveled men possess.

Remember this grip and remember that it can only be shared in this way and the degree is no longer some long laborious process we have to go through before dinner. It is then replaced with reverence and admiration for the craft itself and a great respect for those brothers who have held this word so close and for so long. There is truly something sublime in witnessing it and in participating. It goes almost without saying that this is not the only lesson handed down, every time we do it another will be there, perhaps one that has been long lost and that we must name as the new brother utters it for the first time as he is raised.

I offer my sincerest thanks to Worshipful Brother Bill Betz and to Worshipful Brother Max Schneider for raising these new brothers and for their stewardship of this lesson. The masters’ word is not lost.  I also challenge all of us to perform this degree with the reverence and dignity it deserves every time.  This ensures it will not be lost on our watch.

I have been reading the classic “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. If anyone is unfamiliar with this book, it is considered one of the first “self-help” books and it concerns itself with the power of belief and positive thought to achieve stated objectives in business and in personal life.

It was published in 1937 after the depression. It is basically a cataloging by the author of the personal paradigms and habits of successful men, researched and written at the behest of Andrew Carnegie. As a Brother, I almost immediately started drawing parallels between much of the book’s content and the subtle lessons revealed by Craft study.

The list of studied individuals reads like a whos-who of American industry and politics. Henry Ford, Carnegie, Wanamaker, Roosevelt, Rockefeller, Edison, Bell… the list is impressive.

After drawing the parallel between the book’s basic tenets and that of FreeMasonry, I started to wonder if it was directly masonic (without being named) and tried to look online to determine how many of the listed men were Masons.

The only list I could find was from an anti-masonic site:
http://www.illuminati-news.com/famous-freemasons.htm

This list contains many of the listed names from the book and marks them as Brothers, albeit the source being suspect.

So my question is this, is there a way for me to determine if the listed individuals were indeed Brothers? Even the author himself? I guess its largely semantic, as I’m going to continue reading the book through a Masonic filter regardless, I was just wondering if there was any validity to my assumption.

PS – If anti-masonic sites want to list Brothers with the intention of “exposing” some evilness within Masonry, it’d probably be smarter to NOT attempt that aim with a list of some of the most respected, intelligent, effective, world-changing people I’ve ever seen.

Hello Brothers!
Masonry is a Craft of personal, internal development through allegorical symbols. Symbols are just another form of communication, akin to language, with the primary difference being the flexibility of interpretation that non-language symbolism allows for.

Words, have always been, and increasingly seem to be “dumbed” to a very specific context or diluted. I liken this effect to the “newspeak” of 1984. As time marches across the written word, the depth and context of their meanings can dull or morph. Words like “faith” and “belief” and even “God” become vague and amorphous concepts against such a march, concepts which can easily be skewed to allow for any interpretation no matter how simple or overly complex.

I think a base precept of Masonry is the internal, personal revelation of the nature of self and one’s ability to “captain his own ship” through the power of one’s own will and in the face of any perceived odds or obstacles. Because this revelation is only possible from the inside out, allegorical symbols serve as the perfect conduits to illicit personal introspection by the individual Brother without spoon-feeding him answers that, if not realized internally and personally, are weak and trite concepts.

Symbols cannot easily take on superficial meanings because their mere nature warrants interactive interpretation by the beholder of the symbol. People are required to ask themselves “what does this picture represent?”. All too often with matters of Belief and Faith, the words used are pre-loaded with meaning and assumption and they fail to illicit the personal introspection and revelation they were intended to induce.

One major hitching point that many anti-masons or uninformed non-Brethren use to pigeonhole Masonry is the required belief in a higher structure or order to existence a Brother must profess before entry is allowed. This pushes Masonry into the realm of religion. A Grand Architecture must be accepted by the incoming Brother, because the tenet of BELIEF must be present within him to further himself in the Craft.

Belief cannot be installed in a man by any brotherhood, no matter how profound their teachings. He must possess it innately or develop it intentionally.
Could it be that here is language again showing up to bung up the work of allegory and interpretive symbolism? I offer up that it’s the physical-emotional mental state of “BELIEF” and “FAITH” that is being solicited by this prerequisite, not the semantic details of what those mental states are specifically geared towards in that individual at that present moment.

The Beliefs and Faith of an individual are obviously a result of their personal upbringing and cultural attachments. They’re also, if the individual is indeed introspective, under constant revision, alteration and clarification as a result of the individual going through life and being confronted with decisions and events. What’s uniform is the existence and application of those forces, regardless of the specific Deities to which they are directed.

The individual is the key. Belief allows the creation of mental images by the imagination and the power of Faith fuels those mental conjurings to manifest in the physical for the individual drawing them down through intent and concerted, planned effort.

Imagination, in modern times, carries with it the connotations of childishness, non-reality, non-productivity. Outside of a handful of creative fields, imagination is usually referred to in a derogatory way. At least until it’s implementation benefits directly the naysayer in question!

But I disagree with this assessment of the most vital faculty possessed by man. When one hires an architect to build them a home, they are actually hiring a person to imagine a non-existent structure and then manifest the building from the ephemeral using whatever elements are physically available to the builder.

If you accept and internalize this simple realization, your eyes begin to open wider and you begin to realize that there is NOTHING ON EARTH MADE BY THE HANDS OF MAN THAT HAS NOT MANIFESTED IN THIS SAME WAY.

To the simple man, it’s easy to dismiss such an obvious statement, but it’s when that reality is fully internalized by the individual that he can begin to CRAFT his own world.

What do you think?

“Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge…” – Albert Einstein, Brother

Morals & Dogma is a book that’s often referenced in regards to masonic philosophy. I’ve heard it called “the daily masonic reference manual”. Many masons have never even heard of this book, few people own it and fewer have read it. Some references indicate the book is difficult to understand. A fellow Brother of the Big Bad Deuce (Thanks Stokes) lent me his copy and as I digest small chunks of it, I will explain them here.

It’s basically a crib sheet for the first three degrees (the Blue Lodge) and then the degrees 4-32 of the Scottish Rite. I’ve already read the first chapter, The Entered Apprentice degree. I personally find the book very relevant and readable.

It’s also profoundly obvious why so many milestones of civilization have been attributed to Masonic Brethren if they share like minds with Bro. Pike. One thing I have so far found refreshing in Morals & Dogma is that it is totally naked and unapologetic. Statements such as…

“The nations are not bodies politic alone, but also souls-politic; and woe to that people which, seeking the material only, forgets that it has a soul. Then we have a race, petrified in dogma, which presupposes the absence of a soul and the presence only of memory and instinct, or demoralized by lucre. Such a nature can never lead civilization. Genuflexion before the idol or the dollar atrophies the muscle which walks and the will which moves.”
(Chapter 1, Morals & Dogma)

… charge something deep in my core that has lay dormant through much of life in this neutered, politically correct world. It feels like truth.
The Freemasons have been under assault since inception by those who consider the Craft as suppressive, subversive or exclusive. I find it suprising that Masonic quotes like “Free Government, Free Thought, Free Conscience, Free Speech!” can be just as easily used against the Craft, without the slightest inkling that the core of Masonic philosophy may well be the light the detractor is seeking through his attacks on Masonry!

Either way, Morals & Dogma is a profound work worthy of study. For any interested parties, I found an online copy of the text in its entirety at Pieter Stone’s Review of Freemasonry.

“Free Government, Free Thought, Free Conscience, Free Speech!” – Bro. Albert Pike

“The world today requires spiritual and moral regeneration. I have no doubt, after many years as a member of our Order, that Freemasonry can play a part in this vital need”.   –

There is much excitement about the motion picture “The King’s Speech.”  Most of what one hears surrounding this period film has to do with personal attainment and effectuation such as acting and writing or that peculiar blend of art and technicality which is directing and producing.  What one won’t find much discourse about is that previous to being King George the Sixth, he was Prince Albert, and he was a busy member of Navy Lodge No. 2612, among others.  His Grandfather had been the founding Master.  He was initiated by the Pro Grand Master, Lord Ampthill, on December 2, 1919. King George VI was many things to his country.  He was also many things in Freemasonry and feverishly active in his pursuits in the Craft.  His Masonic story is fascinating.

I cannot reproduce the article here, but I implore you to follow the link that follows below and read the full article titled ‘The King and the Craft’ from the Masonic Quarterly Magazine, the official publication of the United Grand Lodge of England.  Whether you have seen this motion picture yet or not when you see him on the screen, consider you know him not only as a character but you know your bond to the real man is much closer.

http://www.mqmagazine.co.uk/issue-14/p-07.php

Click Here to Read The Full Article.

Bro. Bruhns addressed public concerns that the Detroit Masonic Temple was not in use, and defended it’s viability as not only a fraternal meeting place for metro-Detroit Masonic bodies, but commercially as well. He also fielded questions from Craig Fahle on an assortment of other relevant issues including the Olympia Entertainment deal.

You can hear his interview in it’s entirety on the WDET website. Follow the given link and select from the dropdown menu ‘The Craig Fahle Show.’ Then in the field next to it select the program date 11-10-10. Click the “Listen to Show” button to the right of these fields and you’re set.

Bro. Bruhns interview takes place just over an hour into the program after the break so advance to that point.

CLICK HERE http://www.wdetfm.org/rss/

Oh yeah, there is this website. I can always post my thoughts here for anyone to see. It may not change the world or even our Temple but it will make me feel better. So, here it is.

I will start by emphasizing that anything you see here is simply my opinion or the results of my research and does not reflect the opinions of any particular lodge or associated bodies.

Let’s start with ownership. Who owns the Temple?

The Masonic Temple Association of Detroit commonly known as the MTA owns the temple. This is a corporation who owns and manages the property under the authority of Michigan Public Act No 1 of 1895 and The Grand Lodge of Michigan. The original articles of organization indicate that this is a non-profit corporation; however a search of the IRS charities list does not show 501 c3 status. This is of little practical significance however because of the Detroit Masonic Temple Foundation who’s articles of organization also indicate non-profit status and who holds 501 c3 status. This foundation can perform the charitable and not for profit functions on the Temple’s behalf.

Now let’s move on to historical status. While the National Register for Historic Places shows that the temple is registered, it is not listed as a National Historic Landmark, although if the MTA were so inclined that application could be made by following these steps. Some nearby similar structures have already done this, such as the Fischer Building and the General Motors Building. Their successful filing in conjunction with the rich Masonic history in this country and our Temple being the largest in the world indicates that The Detroit Masonic Temple has a good shot!

How about revenue? Well this part as you can imagine is tricky and probably the area that sparks the most debate. I will again remind the reader this article is this brother’s opinion. The MTA has managed the temple for a long time and will continue to; this brother is merely a spectator. The Detroit Masonic Temple has considerable resources available to this end. The immense and grand theaters the beautiful ballrooms, cathedral and lodge rooms can be rented out to generate the revenue needed to keep the building running and to make repairs, maintain and modernize where appropriate. Currently Olympia Entertainment is in agreement with the MTA to manage the revenue generation. They have done a great job bringing weddings and other events and using some of the resources the Temple offers. Olympia manages many properties in the Detroit area whose function is similar to the Detroit Masonic Temple which at first seems like a good match for management. This author makes the following observation: A local company with considerable resources in a declining market tasked to manage a competing property has little financial incentive to use that property for any purpose organic resources can accomplish. In practical terms: what incentive does Olympia have to use the Temple’s Theater when they manage two of comparable size in close proximity? The answer is none. This is not the fault of Olympia Entertainment; it just doesn’t make business sense. This leads to the Temple’s greatest resource going unused. It’s like having a FOX in your hen house. Without incentive or a turnaround in the Detroit market this arrangement can and will eventually lead to revenue neutrality or worse. This is not the first time the Detroit Masonic Temple has been managed in this way. How can we expect the same arrangement to end with a different result?

Is there a solution? Risk is inherent to any business, and to say that a definite solution is possible is mere speculation. That being said here is a speculation: a firm outside of the Detroit market such as SMG who has some interests in Detroit but with significantly different resources or one more accustomed to theater management such as TMA could be enticed to manage our revenue generation. How? Capital for such a venture is available to fund historic preservation. In addition, given historical status specific types of loans or investment firms become available to those companies. That capital could be used to make improvements to the Detroit Masonic Temple making it highly competitive and profitable. In addition those companies would have access to tax credits designed for this kind of venture. In this kind of arrangement the fiscal incentive is to use all available resources at the Temple as often as possible. Olympia could also take advantage of the same opportunities and create a large entertainment hub downtown mitigating the competition by increasing the size of the market.

These are just some observations and ideas regarding preserving the Detroit Masonic Temple, there are many brothers working diligently to do the same and I thank them for their efforts. In addition I thank those companies with whom we have worked and those who currently work to keep the Temple going. So long as our will and determination is strong and our fiscal sensibilities keen, our community can enjoy the Detroit Masonic Temple for generations to come.

Hello Brothers!

Over the weekend I spend some time working on a project that’s been near and dear to me for several months. As Masons, we are all aware of the sheer volume of profound written work that has been recorded by our fellow Masons throughout the many long years of the Craft. I’ve always considered it unfortunate that the works of these great men have fallen into relative obscurity for one reason or another.

Most of these works are now also in the public domain, making them (ironically) more available than they were at the time the were written. For this reason, I’ve decided to begin taking these old works and re-releasing them in accessible electronic formats (PDF) for use in modern devices like Kindles and iPads.

There is light in the works of our fore Brothers and I’d like to see them kept alive. I’ve opted to release these eBook editions as the Detroit No. 2 Library. The first volume I’m releasing is the Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, a man I have been long impressed by.

This edition was generated with the same software used in the professional publishing field and the file is capable of full color on-demand publishing if anyone desires to have a printed volume of the book.

I hope you enjoy it and look forward to the next volume, which will be the Life of Brother Henry Ford.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ANDREW CARNEGIE

I received an email today from one of the subscribers to detroitno2.com, Lux Gnosis with some links to some interesting articles that may shed some light on the final resting place of one of Masonry’s primaries, St. John the Baptist. There have been other claims to his remains by other countries around the Mediterranean, so this isn’t yet conclusive, though there seems to be many indicators that the find is indeed authentic. It was located on a Bulgarian island in the Black Sea.

Read More At:

• St. John the Baptist’s Bones Found In Bulgarian Monastery
• John The Baptist’s Bones Found
• Euphoria over St. John the Baptist Archaeology Find