Freemasonry is a post-collegiate mostly-all male fraternity dedicated to the social development of the member to form a broader sense of the self and their community.
In this episode, we speak with Br. Peter Millheiser, who is the editor of the Hibiscus Masonic Review Journal, which is a publication of Hibiscus Masonic Lodge N. 275, in Coral Gables, under the Grand Lodge of Florida.
In the conversation, we will talk about the journal, how it came to be published, why it was necessary, and what makes its content so unique.
As the editor, Peter is the Masonic Education Chairman of the Hibiscus Shrine Fellowship Club, that publishes the quarterly journal. But once you delve further below the surface of this printed book is a solid design of education, fraternity, and an insight for the future of Freemasonry.
The goal of the work, and the discussion, is to bring the spiritual feeling back into the lodge, back into our education, and talk about that in the program.
Listen to the LIVE program and join the conversation from our new new home of Masonic Central at Blog Talk Radio, or from the player widget on FreemasonInformation.com. Or, to participate live, dial into the show to listen and interact with the guests. You can join our interactive show chat at Masonic Central on BTR!
This Sunday, March 29th, we are jumping the pond again to welcome our special guest from the Netherlands composer and Producer Harm Timmerman from Free Stone Music, the creator of the Masonicly inspired CD “The Temple of Humanity“.
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The CD is self-described as The “Music of Freemasonry” and having listened to it several times already I would tend to agree. But this isn’t the usual high-pitched organ grind or the occulted “Magic Flute” of past generations, no, this music reaches out and becomes part of the spirit of the tiled Masonic lodge room and carries the listener into the sublime meditative state that we each strive to inhabit when contemplating the degrees.
This is just a sampling of the stunning Music on this album.
Look for us this Sundays, March 29th, at 6PM PST/9PM EST.
Listen to the program live stream player widget on Freemason Information, or dial into the show to listen and interact with the hosts. Join our interactive show chat from our application site on talkshoe. To join the conversation live, dial the number 724-444-7444 and enter the show I.D. 19162, fifteen minutes prior to, or during the program.
And, check back soon as some of the details of the program may change preceding the on-air portion.
In this episode of Masonic Central, recorded on March 15, 2009, UCLA Professor Margaret C. Jacob explors with us how she became the eminent scholar of Freemasonry that she is today. In that conversation, we look behind the veil of time to learn from her about the early origins of the craft, its present, and future of Freemasonry. This was a unique opportunity to hear from the top American scholar on the subject, and a program I strongly recommend that you listen to. Give a listen to this 2009 interview with Dr. Jacob and decide for yourself how far Freemasonry has stretched from the armchair historian into scholarly academia.
Some say that history is written by the victors. That triumphs are in fact triumphant, and the losses are only momentary set backs in a progressive path to the eventual story that you read in the history books.
But at times some histories run concurrently with others, and that there isn’t really a victor or vanquished, but instead parallel paths where points merge and blend together. Freemasonry, it would seem, is just one of these histories where its various paths of existence seem to weave in and out of society and with other branches of itself.
Dr. Margaret C. Jacob
For many years the fraternity has sprouted its own cadre of story tellers, its own historians. From Anderson’s early mythologies of its existence, to Yarker and Pike to name only a few, none have ever really stepped out of the box to understand the intricate workings as it relates to society. Robinson tried to do some justice, as did Ridley in his historical work, but neither brought the study of the Freemasons out of the realm of the speculative and in to academia, at least not in any meaningful way.
It wasn’t until the last decade or two that the study of Freemasonry took on a more meaningful study where today the craft stands at a turning point in the broader study of civil society. At the helm of that change is the scholarship of UCLA professor, Dr. Margaret C. Jacob.
Jacob, at the time of the interview, was one of the eminent scholars of Freemasonry, studying the role of the fraternity looking for its context within the world it inhabited. One of the interesting subjects covered was the Masonic ephemera horde amassed by the Nazis in WWII, and confiscated by Russian allied troops and taken back to Moscow and recovered in the post Cold War era, a topic Jaconb covers in her book Strangers Nowhere in the World.
Masonry still has its arm chair and library historians, but Dr. Jacob has elevated the speculative history of our gentle craft to the hallowed halls of the university, and its from this study that our understanding of the fraternity today has far exceeding beyond what our understanding was of it before.
Some say that history is written by the victors. Triumphs are in fact triumphant, and losses are only momentary set backs in a progressive path to the eventual story that you read in the history books.
But at times some histories run concurrently with others, and that there isn’t really a victor or vanquished, but instead parallel paths that points merge and blend together. Freemasonry, it would seem, is just one of these histories where its various paths of existence seem to weave in and out of society and with other branches of itself.
For many years the fraternity has sprouted its own cadre of story tellers, its own historians. From Anderson’s early mythologies of Freemasonry’s existence, to Yarker and Pike to name but a few, none have ever really stepped out of the box to understand the intricate workings as it relates to society. Robinson has done some justice, as has Ridley in his work, but neither brought the study of the Freemasons out of the realm of the speculative and in to academia, at least not in any meaningful way.
It wasn’t until about a decade or so ago that the study of Freemasonry took on a more meaningful study, where today the craft stands at a turning point in the broader study of civil society. And, at the helm of that ship is the scholarship of Dr. Margaret Jacob.
Masonry still has its arm chair and library historians, but Dr. Jacob has elevated the speculative history of our gentle craft to the hallowed halls of the university, and its from this study that our understanding of the fraternity today has far exceeding beyond what our understanding was of it before.
Additional topics to include: the Paradox of Masonic Secrecy in the 18th Century, Freemasonry in academia, and the role that Freemasonry occupies in the broader study of Civil Society.
It was a very interesting evening of discussion with the pre-eminent scholar of American and European Freemasonry.
If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by Professor Jacob, or have heard said that you should, this is the program for you. Dr. Jacob has a unique unbiased insight to our Masonic institution as her academic endeavors come from outside of the fraternity, rather than the inside.
Join us for this episode from March 8, 2009, as Greg and Dean are joined W. Kirk MacNulty, who is an exceptional Freemason and author of several books on the fraternity. A longtime Freemason, MacNulty brings a special understanding of Freemasonry delving into the esoteric and deeper “mystical” underpinnings of the craft. In this conversation we go deep about finding the divine presence through Freemasonry.
Br. Kirk has been an inspiration for many on the mystical ideas of Freemasonry and its deep rooted ties to the Renaissance and scientific revolution that followed. But interestingly, his take on Masonic Mysticism does did not originate from the familiar sources that we associate with it today. Also, we plan to explore the meaning and need of allegory and myth, as it pertains to the fraternity.
I do think generally speaking, that there is probably a greater interest now in the in the mystical or metaphysical dimension than there used to be.
W. Kirk MacNulty
With perhaps in a more poignant tone, this episode talks about the reawakening of the new age idea and philosophy of the the development of the inner Temple and how that act is shaping the face of Freemasonry in the 21st Century.
Join us this Sunday, February 15th, as we speak with James Wasserman, the author of “The Secrets of Masonic Washington” and compiler of the book “The Mystery Traditions – Secret Symbols and Sacred Art”. James is the author , editor, designer and producer of a number of acclaimed works in the fields of religion, esoteric philosophy, art, symbolism, and history.
It will be an interesting conversation about symbolism, the esoteric, and the mystery traditions that carry these ideas forward, including Freemasonry.
Join us on Masonic Central this Sunday, February 8th, as we speak to Maja D’Aoust who is the Librarian of the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, California.
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Our program will cover a range of topics including Hermetics, Freemasonry, the occult , astrology, religious and scientific disciplines and her unique role as caretaker of the libraries massive collection of more than 30,000 items collected by the society and its founder Manly P. Hall.
The Philosophical Research Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1934 by for the purpose of providing thoughtful persons rare access to the depth and breadth of the world’s wisdom literature.
This will be an excellent program and one not to miss as we delve into the esoteric of yesterday and the role of the philosophic in the future.
For more information on the Philosophical Research Society visit www.prs.org
The program will record live Sunday, 6pm PST / 9pm EST on the only radio program for Freemasons by Freemasons, Masonic Central.
Join our live in “virtual” studio to ask your questions on the digital dominion by logging in to our program on talkshoe!
Masonic Central Tech Talk with guest Mark Menard and Tim Bryce.
I know were up against the Super Bowl but this will be a great show to sneak away from the TV for a bit and give it a listen to. Were talking Masonic data management 2.0.
We have as our guest Br. Mark Menard who was raised in 1995, and has since held a variety of positions in lodge as well as become the go to IT man for a variety of lodge and Grand Lodge projects.
Missed the live Podcast? Listen to the show now!
Two key projects that we plan to discuss are the Masonic MORI application, which is a web-based full suite Lodge and Grand Lodge tool to administration tool presently in use by in 5 states in north America. And, his Masonic Wiki project Masonicapedia which is a combined wiki and member database to include membership information and and other general data on the fraternity. One interesting idea behind the application is its database of past Masons compiling data from every state back to the beginnings of the fraternity in America.
Both of these subjects will be great discussion points, as well of as our usual collection of cool new apps tales from the digital wonderland.
The program will record live Sunday, 6pm PST / 9pm EST on the only radio program for Freemasons by Freemasons, Masonic Central.
Join our live in “virtual” studio to ask your questions on the digital dominion by logging in to our program on talkshoe!
We’ve all heard the saying “Music calms the savage beast,” but it can also warm the Freemasons heart. This interview goes all the way back to January of 2009 where Dean and I had the pleasure of interviewing Howie Damron. A decade on and his name might not resonate the way it did then, but if you’re a mason I would bet you’ve probably heard one of his tunes. And just like his songs, his stories are engrossing. And even though this story is recording is several years old, Howie’s stories still have the power to hypnotize.
Join Dean and Greg in this Episode from Sunday, January 25, 2009, as we host singer/song writer and musician Howie Damron to talk about his moving musical contribution to the spirit of Freemasonry, his work with the Masonic Pride Team, and the Masonic anthem “Hiram’s Call” and “The Masonic Ring!”
If you haven’t heard this music before, you won’t soon forget it after this program.
From his website (now offline):
“He is of little ambition that chooses to do no good that will last beyond his own life.”
Words that Howie Damron has allowed to guide his entire life and career. Since he received his first guitar at the early age of eight music has not just been part of his life but has been his life. His travels and adventures has reached areas that are unreachable for most and where many others have quit his determination and perseverance has lead him on a life that most only dream of. He’s worked with over 100 major Nashville Artists and has performed on just about every stage there is across the country and ended up with his own show in Las Vegas.
Once named National/ International Ambassador of Scottish Rite and Blue Lodge Freemasonry and his albums “Hiram’s Call” and “The Masonic Touch” being shipped worldwide.
Join us as we talk to the authors and editors from Stone Guild Publishing about their recent release of the the book Morals & Dogma for the 21st Century which is the only edition that is not abridged, a digest, or an editorial commentary of the original book.
The program starts at 6pm PST on Masonic Central! Be a part of our special in studio audience and participate with the LIVE program on talkshoe!
In this episode, we speak with Br. Peter Millheiser, who is the editor of the Hibiscus Masonic Review Journal, which is a publication of Hibiscus Masonic Lodge N. 275, in Coral Gables, under the Grand Lodge of Florida.
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