Temple Building

by Rudy Olano
15Mar05

History as we already know is documented events and agreed upon by historians. Because event(s) did not make it on the word processor, paper, papyrus or slab of stone doesn't mean that the said event(s) did not happen. Lomas and Knight's theory of the origin of our Craft is one of many that float around. Controversial to say the least but thought provoking to many including you and me. Born in Blood was written by medieval historian John J. Robinson who also wrote a detailed history of Templars in his Knights Templar and the Crusade book. Bro. Robinson's theory of origin of Freemasonry to me, is more convincing than Lomas and Knight. As an example, Robinson's explanation of ancient French words that was eventually translated/corrupted into English such as "frere" for brother became "free" thus freemason from original's brother mason.

There are hundreds of books authored by hundreds of convincing and not-so convincing writers. What book to read will depend on what may interest the readers. As a historian John J. Robinson's Born In Blood is akin to reading history book, Lomas and Knight's Hiram series has a good number of speculations, and Laurence Gardner's Shadow of Solomon's has more technical description. Chris Hodapp's Freemasonry for Dummies is easy to read, and then we have anti-masonic series like Stephen Knight’s The Brotherhood. Manly Hall's Lost Secret of Freemasonry was written before he became a Mason while Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma was his grand opus. John R. Heisner’s most recent Advanced Meditations on Masonic Symbolism is his interpretation of familiar symbols we heard and see inside the Lodge. Most readers find topics as the primary requirement and authors as secondary, some preferred the other way around. The bottom line is that the material should be interesting e.g. subject, author, etc., or else the book will be as good as a door stop.

Multitude of books were written about our Craft, from expose' to its ties to mysticism written by disgruntled born-again Christians to psychics. Some books gathered dust, some sells like hot cakes. Books like the Hiram Keys, Book of Hiram, Born in Blood, Brotherhood, and others were about Freemasonry, its origins, its past, present and future, those books is NOT about the Craft itself. Those books were written for outsiders who often times (after reading) thought they knew more than the members themselves. This is an interesting phenomenon within our Fraternity. A self perpetuating idea that most of our own Brothers tend believed to be true. I witnessed a Master of the Lodge delivered the 3rd degree lecture in long form and then commented at the closing about a non-mason who knew more about masonry than anybody in the Lodge! As a visiting Brother I just bite my tongue real hard.

Referring to the study of the Craft, Brother Jim Bantolo, PGM, recently wrote, “There is still so much to read, researched, and to be illumined. So much to digest. So much to understand. So much to feel and see what true Masonry. It is just too much more than simply being Monitorial.” Let us take heed of these words of wisdom. Freemasonry is more than a small group of elite beings who think they are some sort of special. The Craft is more than parroting of arcane ritual lines or participating in an amateurish drama play. It is also embarking on a journey that will take time and patience, of understanding that the travel not the destination is what will matter most. It is about explaining the spots on individual's lambskin apron.

We have heard the lectures in our degrees. The interest to know the meaning of symbols and the message(s) of allegories is a lifelong search. It is truly a search of that which was lost. Although, the study and application of our Craft is a lifetime quest, it has an eternal reward. It is often said that asking for the answer is much easier than knowing the question. So I would say to you to disregard the peripheral noise and concentrate on what is important--- build your own temple using your own tools and available materials in accordance to the drawing upon your Trestle Board. The Lessons or as we called it, Mysteries of Freemasonry are not about who we are but rather what are we, as speculative Masons are building. Unlike operative, we in speculative Masonry are in the trade of building a temple not made by hands but eternal in Heaven. This is the central issue of confusion in the Temple, the clear understanding of what is the raison d'être of Freemasonry. To be able to truly help brothers in building their own edifice, we must be capable of building our own temple--- a master of our own mental and corporeal lodge, our very own temple.

"Masonry is a progressive moral science, divided into different degrees; and as its principles and mystic ceremonies are regularly developed and illustrated, it is intended and hoped that it will leave deep and lasting impression upon your mind."

I commend the Brother for his interest and obvious hunger for furthering his Masonic Light. I am glad to find Brothers who understand that Freemasonry is beyond dues card and rings.

*** originally written in 15 March 2005, edited and updated 1 March 2009 in response to Brother Erick Calica's question about Masonic books.

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Immortality

by Rudy Olano
2Dec06

“…reading so much about the Craft makes me think so much, gives me new ideas, new questions!...the Craft a place where a good man can debate all this things?”– a question of a friend

First I want to congratulate you in accomplishments so far, I know you will go a long way, distinguished, and successful, just keep that spirit of doing the best you can, not for its intrinsic value but because that is the right thing to do. Romania will be grateful to your future contributions.

I can sense that you are reading Lomas and Knight Hiram books. Although both authors have such lengthy credentials, I have a real hard time of accepting that they found the mummy of Hiram Abif, of their conclusion of Grand Master DeMolay’s image on the Shroud of Turin concocted by Leonardo DaVinci and other things which some people commented as result of “fluffy logic.”

I tend to side with the Templar theory even before I petitioned to York Rite. This idea was borne of personal readings, amateurish research, and own deductive reasoning buttressed by my own version of “fluffy logic.” I know this revelation could draw some comments from a law student reader from Serbia. As mentioned before, people will see what their eyes want to see. We will put filters of our own choosing thereby seeing different colors from the same source.

If you remember a year ago when you gave me an advice which I truly cherished, I responded by saying that I am so proud of the fact that we came into full circle. It’s now you giving wisdom to someone who seems like losing his way. I am grateful and pleased that all the time we corresponded were not to idle our time away but resulted of having my padewan to come up with fortitude to offer an advice to the little green guy. Possessing wisdom is not directly related to the age, it is directly proportional to the number of same experience and accepted results. I don’t have to cite an example as you will noticed that fools comes in all ages, genders, and statutes however, sages also appears in the same fashion.

Our ancient and honorable Fraternity used many symbols to convey messages. In 1888, Albert Pike wrote in response to Albert Mackey’s Landmarks or Unwritten Law, “It (Freemasonry) is a system of morality, veiled in allegories and illustrated by symbols.” There are many symbols of Freemasonry; most are plainly displayed to public who generally don’t pay attention to its origin. As an example, the States of Utah and Pennsylvania used beehive and keystone respectively for their highway signs. Beehive is Utah’s official State Seal while Pennsylvania is also known as “Keystone State.” Although beehive is a known Masonic symbol to a Master Mason, the keystone is a familiar sight for York Rite Masons while to the public those are the State signs for industry and for key role in holding the Nation’s unity. It is no coincidence that the men who were pivotal to the creation and existence of both States were members of the Craft.

The line of thinking relative to true origin of the Craft and its unpleasant by-product is again clouding your thought. Hundreds if not thousand of books had been written and being written by distinguished and undistinguished authors which at the end of the day, all will be classified as speculations. No one in our lifetime will ever answer your question, the lapse of time and physical milieu works against us---mortals who seek the real “truth.” Somebody asked you this questions before, would it really makes a difference if you found out the question you been seeking? Would the exposure of origin of the Craft make you change your decorum during the course of human experience called living? Finally, let us take for granted that after superhuman effort and tremendous time and resources expended for research and analysis that you personally found the answer, my question is that what you will do with it--- keep it for yourself or share it to the world who either don’t care or treat it as trivia? The Craft will go on as long as there are good men willing to learn how to be a better man. How the Order originated will be a subject of folklores, speculations and hypothesis for as long as there are people interested in the subject. If this is your fire breathing dragon then my friend, I bade you good hunting and send my regards to the Don.

There are intriguing ideas in your series of questions. What is time, after life, relationship of time and space. A very fascinating lady from Canada informed me sometime ago of her years of study in quantum physics and asked my thought of the same subjects. Since no one came back from the other side, and yours truly is lacking of first hand understanding on the subject, the issue is still open. Immortality is another status coveted by those who want to be remembered. The basic fact is that as mortals, the human experience is terminated at the grave --- it is over. Leaving a legacy whether it’s a physical object such as monument, bridge, or a gravestone, maybe books, painting, an ideal or a Nation, as long a those who were left behind remembers -— that is immortality. Good as well as bad deeds could make one an immortal. The choice depends on those cares to be remembered or being immortal.

Is there a place in the Craft where you can talk about the subject you termed as “crazy ideas?” I am sure that you will find Brethren who are interested with the same issues. Let me however remind you that the Craft is composed of multitude of good men with different agenda, from sharing grill cooking techniques, quail hunting, to meaning of life. The Craft per se is not a place to debate your interest but it is an organization where you can expect civility and decorum. Within the confines of the Brotherhood you will eventually find those who wear the same lens, looking at the same light from the same source.

Once I exchanged conversation with a truly worthy Brother in his driveway up until 2 o’clock in the morning. Despite of my concern of overstaying, he was genuinely glad every time I dropped in and talk with him for hours at the time. It’s been a year since he dropped his working tools but I can still felt the warmth of his hug when my daughter and I said goodbye the day we left California for a cross country drive here in Connecticut. I can still remember his chuckle, his humming of an old western song while driving us to visit other Lodges, and that early morning hours chat in his driveway. You even took time to write a sentence thanking the Worshipful Brother Bryan you never met or heard before --- that my friend, is immortality.

*** posted during 20Dec08 snow storm @ CT.

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To a Brother Templar

by Rudy Olano
Hanford Lodge No. 279
08Apr05

One of the reasons why our Craft was/still persecuted by the Romans (not by the Greeks) is because of our respect to other people beliefs---religious tolerance. Whether in the Lodge, Chapter, Council or Asylum, we promote the concept of agreeing to disagree. Having said that, the glaring mistake that the Brother eloquently pointed out relative to Tranformations and Reflection article is a matter of opinion since no one is certain if we are even taking about the same individual. The Brethren sources might be correct regarding Yeshua bar Yusuf Ansaret and my sources could be also correct regarding Yesu bin Yusef/ Jesus son of Joseph husband of Mary or the Jesus the Nasorian. Certainly the Jewish historian, Josephus in his writings did not even mentioned an event of Biblical proportion and its ancillary effects but did noted a beheading of a fellow known as the Baptist. We all know that history is an event agreed upon by the historians. Because such events did not get written in papyrus, stone, paper or word processor, meant the said event did not occurred. Therefore, let me disagree with the Brother's conclusion and leave it at that.

The passing away of the Bishop of Rome is a poignant history to the faithful all over the Catholic world. He was a man of many accomplishments, truly a man of Peace. Among few of the unprecedented actions he made was the apology to the victims of Inquisitions. A nice gesture to those already dead who really cares for the word—I’m sorry we killed you because we don’t believe in religious tolerance. Ironic, since the Vatican also did not rescind the Bull regarding excommunication to all Catholic males who joined the Fraternity. Instead they took the easy way out and let the individual parish priest to make the determination as to the eligibility based on the individual activity related to the security and well being of the Church. I am preaching to the choir here. Anyway, this writer hoped that the new Pope will also reconsider and extend the apology to the Knights Templar. But then again, it could be another wishful thinking on my part.

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*** reposted on occassion of Pope Benedict today's arrival for a visit to NewYork. (15Apr08)

Veiled in Allegories and Symbols

Letters and Figures
by RmOlano
15April05

Freemasonry is a system of morality veiled in allegories and illustrated in symbols. To better understand this definition we could break the sentence into bitable pieces. System is a group or assembly of parts forming a complete, perfect whole acting together in accordance to an establish phenomena or law. Morality is an attitude of being able to distinguish from right or wrong or a behavior based on principle of right conduct rather than law or customs. Veil is a transparent covering materials use to hide face for concealment or enhancement. Allegories are representations of abstract meanings through actions of fictional characters that serve as symbols. Symbol is something that is used as a representation of something else such as emblem or sign.

Taken together, we can infer Freemasonry as a collection of thoughts acting in unison to live in a righteous conduct rather than law or customs though the use of partly concealed or decorated representation of models usually seen as signs. We could also express Freemasonry as system of attitude based on ethics partly hidden through actions which indirectly convey its meaning by the use of symbols. Note the two major parts of the definition, an accepted principle based on ethics and partly concealment or enhancement of such ideals by using symbols as clues.

Masonic traditional lectures inform us of the origins of our Fraternity. It is being unnecessary as you have been already informed that our ancient brothers were responsible for erecting King Solomon Temple and other stellar edifices. Allegory-fictional characters that serves as symbols. Historical and archeological facts do not support this story and anybody who would think other wise will be hard pressed to defend this notion. The Craft developed and illustrated this ceremony to “make deep and lasting impression upon” the mind of the novitiates. A product of a fertile mind and imaginary event. So be it, what important is the theoretical meanings of the multitude symbols it represents.

The word “free” in Freemasonry and/or Freemason was explained in numerous Masonic writings as a condition of one doing something without restrictions. The use of the word somehow alluded that there were slave masons or forced masonry. No self respecting history student will ignore the use of captured soldiers or citizens as slave labors by the victors. Chances are there were more slave masons than “free” masons. So if anybody will form a group for their own mutual support, it would be the slaves. The main stream thinking that Freemasonry evolves from stone workers guild and taken over by the non-operatives would not support the theory of slave/captures masons. The absence of stone masons guild in England also does not hold water in regards to the main stream pitch.

In the book Born in Blood by the late John J. Robinson, a medieval historian who wrote that “free” was the corruption of the French word “frere” meaning brother. His book is about a close knit group of men who were on the run from religious fanatics. They hide in the plain sight by concealing their true identity and beliefs, developed a means of recognizing one another using symbols. The unjust persecution of the Knights Templar is a matter of record. There are no written records that will prove this Templar theory but then again there are equally no written records that will prove conclusively other than circumstantial evidence of the free stone-masons theory.

Allegory based on fictional characters that serves a representation of something else. Freemason could mean an unrestricted, no string attached stone mason who follows rules to build cathedrals and somehow develop an elaborate course of study called Freemasonry. On the other hand, it could also means---Brother Mason, a cover for a man on the run who lives by the principle of righteousness not by law or customs.

The study of our Craft tells us to be extra curious for what we see or hear because there are meanings behind those least letters, figures, or characters.

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Read in Hanford Commandery meeting and printed May 2005 Trestleboard Hanford Lodge No. 279.