All things Shrine International on Masonic Central.

The song bring out the clowns starts to ring in my head when ever I start to think about the Shrine in a large way.  Not out of any misanthropy but because of their excellent work and commitment to the happiness and well being of so many children.

To say the name of the Shrine International and instantly the image of charity, children’s hospitals, and Red Fez’s comes to mind, but behind those iconic images is an organizational powerhouse that, some suggest, drives the future of the Masonic fraternity.

Missed the Live Program?  Listen Now!

or, Download the Mp3

Joining Masonic Central this week is Imperial Sir Jeff Sowder who is Imperial Outer Guard for Shriners International to talk about all things big and small as it relates to the Shrine.  Of particular interest:

  • The History of the Shrine – How it formed, why it formed, and how its original formation has evolved.
  • The Present Day Shrine International – The Hospitals, Conventions, the 1.8 million a day in Charity, The iconic Clowns, and some of the recent controversy.
  • The Future of the Hot Sands – Growth, Diversity, and Its lineage to the ancient fraternity.

So many questions have swirled about the connections of the Shrine and the blue lodge that its time to put them to task and ask them of the Shrine themselves, and Imperial Sir Jeff Sowder has graciously stepped up to explore these topics and more about the “world’s greatest philanthropy.”

You can join the live Masonic Central program on Blog Talk Radio Sunday May 2nd, at 6pm PST/9pm EST and join our live interactive chat room to send us your questions and talk about the program, or you can call in with your live questions to 347-677-0936 during the show.

It promises to be an interesting and entertaining evening to say the least and a great way to discover more about this charitable powerhouse of the Masonic family. on Blog Talk Rad

For more information on the Shrine, visit: Shrine International

To Be a Shriner Now, visit: Be A Shriner Now

Masonic Central Podcast

Social Capital and the era of Gate City Lodge

Join us in this episode, recorded on April 4, 2009, as Greg and Dean welcomes brothers Beaux Pettys and Mike Bjelajac of Gate City Lodge No 2. from the beautiful city of Atlanta, in the state of Georgia. In the episode, we dig into the antebellum origins of the lodge and its present-day revival in a city known for its diversity of population in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in America. In the show we talk about what makes a lodge successful?

What makes a lodge successful? Is it the energy behind the lodge, the people that create it? And, does that energy come at a cost? Is there a social capital that is bartered in an invisible exchange that at times reflects a huge value where at others it challenges its very existence.

One such lodge happens to be a nexus for this very question, and has had a year to barter and trade on its own social capital building a reputation amongst its community and amongst its peers. And this development has not been free of cost. Gate City Lodge in Atlanta Georgia has had a dynamic year, from a public forum on Catholicism and Masonry to a feature article about them in the New York Times. All in all, Gate city is not unaccustomed to controversy or at least some growing pains since its founding in 1887.

Since then, Gate City has suffered war, fire, growth and decline, all of which are no strangers to lodges of this age, yet Gate City has re-awoken as a cosmopolitan styled lodge, progressive in its ideas (even if they do not see themselves as such) and yet still as traditional as the day they fought to become the 4th lodges in the already crowded Georgian capital.

More on the Gate City Lodge saga:

on Blog Talk Radio

The Occult of Personality on Masonic Central

The Occult of Personality

Few places give you consistent discourse on the occult and the western mystery tradition. And even fewer present the thought leaders within that field. Masonic circles aside, few are the sources to find this type of conversation, and even fewer that produce it with the passion that Greg does.

Greg is the spirit, production, and host of the Occult of Personality podcast which has an ever increasing inventory of programs centered squarely on the idea of the occult and how it intersects with those of us who are interested in its practice and wisdom.

He could perhaps be called a techno mage, but In light of the conversation, I’d like to call him brother.

Joining us this week on Masonic Central is brother Greg Kaminsky, host of the Occult of Personality Podcast to talk all things esoterica and including some of the interesting spaces between Masonry and the broader esoteric/western mystery traditions. on Blog Talk Radio

Masonic Central Podcast

Traditional Observance Lodges & the MRF

Masonic Restoration Foundation and Traditional Observance Lodges.
Masonic Restoration

In this episode, recorded on March 7, 2010, Dean and Greg are joined by Mark Tabbert and Cliff Porter to talk about Traditional Observance Lodges and the Masonic Restoration Foundation. T.O. (Traditional Observance) Lodges seemed at one time to be a bright spot in the future of Freemasonry. Since this program, the was recorded, it seems the Traditional Lodge movement has slowed.

You may of heard these questions tossed around in some of the more secluded or private conversations at a lodge meeting.  Or, perhaps in one of the many web forum discussions that  so often ask the meaningful questions about where Masonry has come from, where it resides today, and where its headed.  And all the while in those discussions, the term Traditional Observance Lodge or European Concept seems to be mentioned as one of the strongest possible paths of preserving the past and future of the American styled Gentleman’s Craft.

From the episode: “A Traditional Observance Lodge is a specific model under the Masonic Restoration Foundation that has implemented a series of best practices that have been studied and taken from Europe, South America and Colonial American Masonry from the US and returned the focus of the lodge to the initiatic experience.”

But, from a top down view, Traditional Observance Lodges work to preserve a “pure” form of Masonry, and something that necessitated a point of restoration. To get back to a point of origin. Ultimately in the middle of our modern day busy lives and hastened schedules, TO lodges strive to make better lackluster meetings and breathe a point of restoration of tradition in Freemasonry.  Which brings us to the Masonic Restoration Foundation. At its heart, the Masonic Restoration Foundation is about identifying solutions and ways to implement them. That goal is aimed at reinforcing and expanding positive trends at local, state and national levels in Freemasonry.

“Curious about how to bring Masonry into the Tradition it came from?”  “What’s this new Concept I’ve heard about called European Masonry?” This is the episode to listen to and find out.

From its website:

Masonic Restoration Foundation and Traditional Observance Lodges.

The MRF provides education and training to individuals, lodges and Grand Lodges on ways to establish quality programs, academic excellence and social relevance in their Masonic communities that will be a match with the needs of the new Mason.

As American Freemasonry faces some of the most important challenges in its history the MRF stands to ensure a sense of purpose and identity for the Craft.

Listen to this episode of Masonic Central as they talk about the Masonic Restoration Foundation, Traditional Observance Lodges (TO) and the European Concept Lodge (EC). Marc Conrad and Cliff Porter, both of whom  are active Board members of the Masonic Restoration Foundation join the show to discuss all things forward in Freemasonry.  What exactly is a EC lodge? Are TO lodges the wave of the future? How do I start the conversation on forming a TO lodge? Listen in and ask the questions with us as we explore the TO and EC lodge archetypes with the Board of the Masonic Restoration Foundation.

In the episode there’s a mention of Robert Davis who was a guest on Masonic Central in 2008.

on Blog Talk Radio

Masonic Central Podcast

From HELL: Masonic Central by Gas Light

Alan Moore Eddie Campbell From Hell panels

In this episode Greg, Dean and several special guests dig into the depths of the film adaption of the Alan Moore story, From Hell. Originally published on March 21, 2010. This show takes a number of twists and turns digging into European freemasonry and the nuances included in the film. If you haven’t seen the film, it’s well worth the time to see and then listen to the show.

Madness, mayhem, mystery, and murder, these are but a few of the terms one could use to define the book, and later film, From Hell.

How often do you get the opportunity to explore Freemasonry by gas light?  Its not Steampunk Masonry, but as close as you can get with the science part of the fiction.

“It’s Dark”…

“Hawksmoor cut stone to hold shadows; a Gothic trait, though Hawksmoor’s influences were somewhat…older.”

“The Dionysiac Artificers?”

“Unmistakably. A Secret fraternity of Dionysus cultists originating in 1,000 B.C., they worked on Solomon’s temple eventually becoming the Middle Ages traveling Masonic guilds. Their ingenious constructions merely symbolized their greater work: the Temple of civilization, chiseling human history into an edifice worthy of God, its Great Architect.”

“…What is the 4th dimension?”

-From Hell, the Graphic Novel

Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Eddie Campbell (and Pete Mullins), the book version of From Hell is at the for of recent fictional works in print and celluloid that feature the fraternity of Freemasonry in some aspect. From Hell has transformed the benign fraternity into something malignant and nefarious. And, on its ascendancy to the cinema, the seductive spell of aristocracy and secret society takes center stage (pardon the pun) to position the fraternity at the very heart of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Ian Holm from hell

This week on Masonic Central, we take some time to explore the two tellings of the From Hell tale, from the Graphic Novel for-bearer to the present day annotated From Hell (Two-Disc Special Edition) DVD staring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham.

As similar as the two works may seem on their covers, there is a surprising amount of difference between the two works, from the perspectives of the characters, the focus of the story, to the psychology and outcome of the leading villain (a Masonic Knight of the East), as played by Ian Holm.

Two sides of the same creative coin.

on Blog Talk Radio

Masonic Central Japan with guest Br. Jim Johnston

Masonic Central Japan!

Introducing Masonic Central japan

Brothers Michael Pearce and Bill Patterson launch their inaugural edition Masonic Central Asia with their guest Br. Jim Johnston, PhD., who is one of the foremost scholars on Masonry in Japan.  Also, Br. Johnston is a Past Grand Master of the island nation, a 33º Brother of the Scottish Rite, and a founding member of the Lodge of research Japan.

Listen to the program now!

This episode was pre-recorded for the time difference but your questions and comments are very much welcome and encouraged!

Or listen on our home at Blog Talk Radio.

Michigan Freemasonry

Karl Grube from the Bonisteel Masonic Library

Michigan Freemasonry

Michigan Freemasonry

Motor City Masonry has quite a tale to tell.  In the shadow of the automotive decline the memories of a Masonic heyday still stand as testament of the fraternities grandeur in the not so distant past.

Memories tend to be short when the immediate effect of the past is spread out over decades worth of events.  But if your in Minnesota, its hard to forget the legacy of the past that reminds you of what once was and what could be again, especially in the physical being of the temple and the spiritual investiture of it.  Truly, at some point, the heavens touched the earth in the creation of the Detroit Masonic Temple and in the will expressed through Br. Roscoe Bonisteel and his endeavors to endow the state of Michigan with an enduring Masonic legacy.

Roscoe Osmond Bonisteel

Roscoe Osmond Bonisteel

Br. Bonisteel, in his day, was an advocate for civil rights, a developer of commercial properties, a philanthropist of libraries and museums, a war veteran, and a believer in the enduring quality of Freemasonry.  He was raised in 1914, served as Worshipful Master in 1920, and, following regular advancement, became the Grand Master of Michigan in 1929. Outside of his Masonic career, Br. Bonisteel was an active philanthropist contributing much to higher education, the construction of their libraries, and their book collections.  What makes this resume stand out in such relief are the enduring monuments to which he dedicated so much of his energy to.  Truly, a testament of what each of us is capable of.

Today Bonisteel is remembered through many buildings named in his honor including the Bonisteel Masonic Library.

Detroit Masonic Temple

Detroit Masonic Temple

Of equal measure, and just down the highway, is a silent jewel of American Masonry.  If ever there were a head office, the Detroit Masonic Temple could not only house it, but would have ample room to do what it does today, which is engage relevantly and intelligently with the local community.  At its height it could provision 50 Masonic bodies, included drilling halls. auditoriums with capacity of 1600, and a main theater with room for 5000+.  It was truly an American Cathedral to the Fraternity.  Today, it is where you can catch the latest rock show, watch a few rounds of roller derby, and get married, all within the confines of the city and all under the roof of one of the largest Masonic lodges in the world?

What links these two venues is the passion fueled by Br. Bonisteel and kept alive through the works of brothers like him to keep these silent treasures relevant and active in both the Masonic and public community.

In this podcast, Karl Grube, President of the Bonisteel Masonic Library in Ann Arbor Michigan and a member of the board of trustees for the Detroit Masonic Temple Library, talks to Masonic Central about Michigan Masonry, the life and legacy of the Bonisteel Library, and the jewel of the American Masonic edifice, the Detroit Masonic Temple.

Table Talk – post holiday catch up on 2009

Update, leave your comment on this post to enter to win a signed edition of the book Crown of Serpents!

I know, its been a few weeks since the holiday… now that the christmas trees down, the bits of wrapping paper out of the nooks and the couch, and all the returns of unwanted gifts made, its time to catch up.   With the holidays past and the cold embrace of winter upon us, what better time to catch up with a warm conversation and some reminiscence of what was the Masonic year 2009.

This week on Masonic Central, join us as we go over the highlights (and low lights) of Masonry in 2009 and look ahead at some of the trends that seem to be already charting the course of 2010.

Missed the live show?  Listen now.

Download the podcast.

The show goes live promptly at 9pm EST/6pm PST Sunday evening January 24 and the phone lines will be open for your questions and comments.  I know it will be a lively show, and I hope you can make it!

Call-in Number for the show is (347) 677-0936 – we have a new high capacity for your call-ins, so don’t be shy and call in!

Listen to the show:

Listen to Masonic Central on Blog Talk Radio

Mark Koltko-Rivera on Masonic Central

lostsymbol

Author Mark Koltko-Rivera joined Masonic Central on Sunday, September 27, 2009, to talk about Dan Brown’s book The Lost Symbol.

With the release of The Lost Symbol, many have had the opportunity to read though the work and see the results of Dan Brown’s non-Masonic contribution to the mythology of the fraternity.  Like his past work, Without a doubt The Lost Symbol is a layered thriller that can be analyzed on many different levels to find a variety of different meanings, not surprisingly, not unlike Freemasonry itself.

This week we welcome Brother Mark Koltko-Rivera, author of the forthcoming book, Discovering The Lost Symbol to help us deconstruct some of the underlying ideas of Brown’s book and to look at some of the things that Brown got wrong.  Specifically we plan to look at evidence for an actual Masonic message encoded into Brumidi’s famous fresco, “The Apotheosis of Washington”, a message that it appears Dan Brown missed; the round about source of Brown’s idea about apotheosis (humanity becoming gods), and the Masonic connection to that source; Further, we plan to talk about the psychological underpinnings for Dan Brown’s immense popularity, and the implications that has for both Freemasonry as a whole and individual Freemasons.

The Apotheosis of Washington
The Apotheosis of Washington

Br. Mark Koltko-Rivera is the author of the forthcoming book, Discovering The Lost Symbol: Masons, Magic, Mystery Religions, and the Thought that We Could Become Gods. He holds a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from New York University. He is an elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and has been recognized for his scholarship regarding the psychology of world-views, humanistic psychology, and the psychology of religion. Within Freemasonry, Brother Koltko-Rivera is an active member of the Blue Lodge, the Scottish Rite, and the York Rite. His papers on Freemasonry have appeared in The Philalethes, the Scottish Rite Journal, and Heredom. He provided the Masonic content (and the conspiracy fiction) for the recent Wiley publication, Cracking Codes and Cryptograms For Dummies.

A second edition of his Freemasonry: An Introduction should also appear in 2010. He also writes the blogs “Freemasonry: Reality, Myth, and Legend” and “Freemasonry 101.”

Looking for more on The Lost Symbol?

The Lost Symbol – a review
The Lost Symbol – it’s the symbol of the symbolism. – The Masonic Perspective
The Lost Symbol – The Road Best Not Traveled

Publisher and Br. Michael Poll of Cornerstone Publishing on Masonic Central

studyEver stop to think for a few moments where some of your favorite Masonic books and imprints come from?  Or how certain books get published (or don’t end up in print)?  What about e-books, or that really rare hard to find text that you heard mentioned once, but can’t seem to find?

This week on Masonic Central we step out side of the electronic publishing world and into the traditional publishing one as we host a very special guest in publisher and author Michael Poll, who is the owner of Cornerstone Book Publishers and its retail site Lost Word.

Missed the live show?  Listen Now!

Br. Michael’s dedicated work to the Masonic community has included services such as: original content and reprint publisher, used book seller and search service, and gift item and ephemera supplier, all the while remaining a small family run store.  In addition to his work in publishing Masonic books, he has published two of his own including Masonic Words and Phrases, and The Freemasons Key – A Study of Masonic Symbolism.

In addition to several lodge memberships, Michael is also a Founding Fellow and 1st Vice-President of The Masonic Society, a Fellow of the Philalethes Society and a contributor to Heredom, the publication of the Scottish Rite Research Society.

Join us as we meet and talk to Br. Michael Poll this Sunday, December 6th, starting at 6pm PDT / 9pm EST. We encourage your questions and comments to the show by calling (347) 677-0936 during the program.

The show goes live promptly at the hour. On Blog Talk Radio at 6pm PST/9pm EST.

Download the program.

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