Old Records From Cataract Lodge #2

From the Masonic Museum and History Center

I've missed a few Mondays at the History center, busy with firings...

Scottish Rite Online Store

Scottish Rite Online Store: Albert Pike`s Masonic Formulas and Rituals

• By Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, G.C., Grand Archivist and Grand Historian; Foreword by Ronald A. Seale, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander.
• The source of Albert Pike`s ritual revisions, transcribed from the original copy in the archives vault of the Supreme Council.
• This never-before-published work includes the complete collection of rituals which Albert Pike received when he joined the Scottish Rite in 1853. After receiving the degrees, Pike borrowed the manuscript rituals, and over the next two years he transcribed his own copies. He later used these texts to create his revision of the Scottish Rite rituals. This book answers the question: "What was the Scottish Rite like before Albert Pike?"
• Contents include the three Craft Degrees (from an early French source); all Scottish Rite rituals; the Adoniramite Rite; the Degrees of Knighthood; the True Masonry of Adoption (the androgynous `Adoptive Rite`); and much more.
• Includes Pike`s original drawings and Masonic ciphers.
• An introduction by Ill. Bro. de Hoyos provides insight into these rituals, and the ritual development of the Scottish Rite.
• Hardbound (10" x 6 3/4") with decorative cover which resembles Pike`s original bound manuscript; illustrated, indexed; 693 pages.

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Knights of St. Andrew

I picked up a petition last night.
Knights of St. Andrew Home

A Brief History of the Order

Tradition informs us that the medieval Order of the Knights of Saint Andrew was formed in 1314, by King Robert the Bruce of Scotland, to honor sixty-three Knights who, at the Battle of Bannockburn, with no prior notice appeared on the field of battle as a mounted unit, quickly turning the tide and defeating the English. The modern Order was fashioned on the noble example of those sixty-three Knights who came to the service of Scotland when she was in dire need. Ill. Weldon J. Good, 33°, of the Valley of Tulsa, Oklahoma, developed the first Chapter of the Knights of Saint Andrew in 1993 as a service organization comprised of "Black Hat" Scottish Rite Masons. Any member who receives the honor of KCCH subsequent to joining the KSA could no longer hold an office or vote but they could still work and assist. Its goal is to help them become more active in the Consistory as a whole and to provide selfless dedication to and the promotion of our Masonic Fraternity within the Scottish Rite, our community, our Jurisdiction, and the Orient. Each Chapter is attached to a Valley within the Scottish Rite and is subordinate to that Valley; its purpose being a service organization to its Mother Consistory. There is no other higher governing body. Each Chapter adopts its own by-laws and determines its own membership requirements. The Knights of St. Andrew is open to all 32° "Black Hat" Scottish Rite Masons who are members in good standing of the Scottish Rite. Knights pledge to be active members in the Valley and to be of service to her as her need may require.

Degrees of the Scottish Rite

Tonight's Degrees:

Council of Kadosh

The word "Kadosh" is a Hebrew word meaning Holy. Although Pike identifies the Degrees of the Council of Kadosh as chivalric and philosophical, they are all intensely mystical with respect to the lessons conveyed and symbols employed. "Faith in moral principles, in virtue and in God is as necessary for the guidance of a man as instinct is for the guidance of an animal." - Albert Pike

Degrees of the Scottish Rite: "
19° - Grand Pontiff We learn from the past and how it affects the present and the influence we live in the future in this degree. We as mortals strive to endure, produce and improve the world as it surrounds us. There is no apron, but the jewel is a gold parallelogram with a Greek Alpha on one side and an Omega on the other. The duties are to be content to labor for the future; to serve the cause of truth with patience and industry; and to destroy error, falsehood and intolerance with truth, honesty, honour and charity.

20° - Master of the Symbolic Lodge This degree demonstrates liberty, fraternity and equality. These truths teach morals, religious and philosophical understandings. This degree helps one to comprehend Deity, the forces of nature and good and evil. The apron is yellow bordered in blue, with three concentric point-down triangles, with the Tetragrammaton (horizontal) and Fiat Lux (vertical) at the center forming a cross. Its triangular shape relates to the "fourth great light, which reminds us of the Deity and his attributes". The jewel is made of gold with the same three concentric triangles. The duties are to dispense light and knowledge and to practice Masonic virtues."

'via Blog this'

A Secret Society Goes Public to Lure a New Generation of Freemasons - WSJ.com

A Secret Society Goes Public to Lure a New Generation of Freemasons - WSJ.com:

By BARRY NEWMAN

ST. PAUL, Minn.—No self-respecting secret society can get by without a Facebook fan page anymore.

That's transparently true of the Freemasons, renowned for their medieval blood oaths, their often-alleged plot to create a New World Order, their locked-door conclaves of U.S. presidents and power brokers and their boring pancake breakfasts.

The spiritual side of Steve Jobs - CNN.com

I just read on my iPod that Kobun Chino Roshi, presided over Steve's wedding to Laurene Powell. I once attended a retreat with the late Chino Roshi. I asked him if I could study Kyuudo with him in Colorado.. He said, "I am not a teacher, but you can come and see me and we will shoot the bow together.   I did not know Jobs was a Buddhist.  "The spiritual side of Steve Jobs - CNN.com