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.
Observations on the esoteric from author Greg Stewart (Masonic Traveler) about the fraternity of Freemasonry, its impact on civil society and contributions to the material culture.
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!
On February 7, 1981, the MW Grand Lodge of F. & A.M. of Alaska opened its First Special Communication, its lodges having formerly been under the Grand Lodge of Washington. Alaska Grand Lodge History
Vision statement:
Alaska Freemasons are a respected fraternity comprised of men with high moral character who make a positive difference in their community and the lives of their fellow man.
Mission statement:
The mission of the Grand Lodge of Alaska is to encourage and support the advancement of Freemasonry in Alaska by developing Masons who are assets in their communities
Alaska does not have a listing on Wikipedia.
One thing I do want to make note of is that Alaska is probably the youngest of Grand Lodges in the United States.
Some of what I found on my excursion there:
Opening the website, the user is met with a very clean two column layout. The top has an image of the Alaskan landscape with the sun at the horizon (which has an interesting symbolic aspect perhaps implying the sunrise in the east). Immediately on the page is a message from the Grand Master for 2009 about Unity. This site itself is built with an HTML architecture, where the navigation is straight forward on the left and the content resides in the larger well on the right. This is a frequently used architecture, because it is often the most straight-forward as clicking on the left side navigation the new content populates the right.
The Grand Lodge of Alaska Website
The navigation is text based which makes change easy to do on the fly, and it does employ a roll over change, so you know when the button is clickable. The only aspect that I found problematic at first was the differentiation between the heading for the site navigation and the links themselves, as both employed similar styled text. Also, several of the off links point directly to very large PDF and Word Docs, which when clicked proceed directly to be opened. This can be invasive as it is not giving the user the option of downloading it vs. it just opening on your browser. Also, not every user may have the program necessary to see the native document, creating additional confusion or loss of interest by the visitor.
From a navigation stand point, it seems that a missed opportunity here is to make each of the main areas: Home, Learn about Masonry, About the GL, Events, etc… into their own pages. That way, the content of the PDF could be laid into the page as text rather than a force to open/download file.
Informational Content:
When looking at the site from an informational stand point, I found that it was very robust, and all right at the top level of the navigation. It included aspects of Freemasonry and Religion, the Grand Lodge history, the Grand Officer line (including elected, affiliated, appointed, honorary, and past officer), and a list of “Masons of the Year”, and double list of state lodges by alpha and lodge number. It really covered its bases.
Also, it answers the 2be1ask1 question of how to become a Mason. Rather than employing the 2be1ask1 moniker, they come straight forward and have a link “How to Become a Mason”. Following the link sends you to a page with a link to a contact page; lodge connect page, and a “more info” link. As the prospect of the page started strong, it does lose the conversion appeal of the call to action (for more info!) immediately from that page rather it sends them out to another page with address, email and phone. This can be hard to change as it presumes that there is a mechanism in place to take in those contacts and manage them as they are received. This speaks to the broader organization (the back end of the site management) that necessitates some form of infrastructure to address any inquiries.
Look and Feel.
The Alaska Grand Lodge site is definitely informational driven and not based on art, which is fine. There were some good inclusions of artwork that highlight the state of Masonry in Alaska including the masthead, the state seal, the leadership, and the Grand Masters Trowel on the front page. Besides those hits, there was little use of art in the site. Where I did find the artwork was in the newsletter, which included a very generous application of fun images. I think that this was a great way to show off what the state of Alaskan Masonry was about. My only recommendation is to move the newsletter content out of the PDF, and into the website which makes it more accessible and user friendly. Why hide the photos of Masons on trips, in boats (or the goat with the saddle for that matter) when they show off what’s going on.
Overall:
The site is everything that a Grand Lodge website should be. The links work, and the content is spot on for what an interested Alaskan would want to know. Besides some off links to PDF’s and Word Doc’s, it tells the story that it needs to. My only real recommendation is to move the newsletter content out from the PDF and into the content of the site, because it would really go far to tell visitors what they are up to and what being an Alaskan Mason includes. I really like that the Grand masters message is on the front page right for the visitor to read as soon as they land, but it seems more crafted to the membership rather than the first time visitor, or non Mason who may have stumbled in from a Google search. There is information to be found, but it is mixed with who the message is meant for: the member vs. non member.
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“.
Missed the live show? Listen to it Now!
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.
Alabama Masonic membership: 30,952 – 2006 29,775 – 2007 gain/loss – 1,177 data from MSANA
State population – 4,627,851 as of 2007,
About the Grand Lodge:
Founded June 11, 1821, previous charters in the state had been issued by the grand Lodges of Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Alabama is one of a few states to have a Wikipedia entry with this information.
The website is very straight forward in that most of the active links live right on its front page. The site is built on a simple HTML architecture which allows some flexibility in the overall structure and content. The plus is that if there is a desire to add something, it just needs to be hand coded in, the down side is that it needs to be hand coded in which can be time consuming for the coder. I tip my hat to the person maintaining the site, as I know the monumental challenges that it can be to manage just such a project.
Some of what I found on my excursion there:
At the time of my visit on March 18th, there were three updated messages, two of which were from January 2009, and one from December of 08.
From the main page, there is a wide selection of links and content to spend some time on. I did find the “how do I” link an interesting addition to help those not familiar with how to navigate a web site to find what they be interested in finding. Some may overlook this or trivialize it as unnecessary, but with an older member base unfamiliar with the web this could be an excellent tool to guide users through the operation. The “how do I” list covers everything from reporting a members passing to finding lodge events. This latter item is an excellent feature and precursors to a state calendar, but it keeps those interested in knowing what is going on informed.
The only draw back to some of this deeper site navigation was the inconsistency of the page layout from the sites original style and layout navigation. This is purely a cosmetic function though as the content is pertinent. I mention this as these aspects are important when visitors are perusing the site and want to jump around to various locations.
From the top level site, another inconsistency I found is the diversity of file types being linked to. What I noticed were links to PDF’s, text files, word files, and other off site links for information. In some situations this practice is ok, but unless the originating site has consistency, it interjects another random element into an experience. An option may be to translate the various file types right into text and drop it into the HTML. That way all the info is searchable and simple to pull.
One thing I will say about the site is that it contains a lot of information and that it has a site map. So if you are really looking for something, you can go right to the map to find it.
My only disappointment in the site is that it doesn’t say much about Masonry’s relationship to the state or to its members. This is more of an aesthetic opinion about the site rather than a functional one, when looking at it through the eyes of a first time visitor, especially in a state as vibrant and beautiful as Alabama. There isn’t much visually to say “this is Alabama Masonry” which misses the opportunity to hammer home the first impression from the digital enquirer.
Another area of concern, to me, is the degree of personal information posted on some of the pages. Again, this a personal call but it leaves open the opportunity for spam or unwanted correspondence.
One question that the site does not seem to readily address is a strong answer to the 2be1ask1 invitation. In the event that a young Alabamian man ventures into the site, there is not an immediate means to get more information, or to have the question of “who to ask” in the 2be1 proposition.
Overall, the site is sound and communicates what it needs to communicate. What seems to be missing is just the flavor Alabama Masonry.
I got my first piece of Anti-Masonic fan mail today, and what made it all the better, it came in a plain white envelope, wrapped in a plain piece of white notebook paper, with only a three initials, and a P.O. Box from Northern California.
The intiails were J.S.W.
Thanks J.S.W., I appreciate the anonymous envelope addressed to Freemason Information with the notebook paper wrapped gift. In a weird way, its a gift that I’ve wanted fro some time but never knew how to find, short of ordering it from the manufacturer. although, I have to admit, I was hoping for another gift by the same author that I wrote about in 2006 on Why Freemasonry is Satanic, but I don’t think it’s in print anymore.
What was the gift you may ask?
It was my very own Jack Chick comic, The Long Trip
Seriously, if your going to send me something like this, make it less creepy and send a note with it. Say hello, tell me I’m loved, tell me you think I’m wrong, tell me anything, just say something. Because the only way to find the sites address is to dig into the site registration, and J.S.W., that starts to stink of stalking…
On a separate note, I also found that a few of the bits originally published on the Masonic Traveler blog and on Freemason Information on several anti Masonic sites as bits of their arguments for what ever point it is they are trying to make. And, in the case of one of the bigger anti masonic sites (it ends with Watch and starts with Freemasonry) whole original articles have been copied. At least he gave me name credit but the link is, ahem, out of date.
So, I’d like to accept my badge of Anti-Masonic honor and step up to the plate of other brothers who have been bestowed this award.
But I have to say, sending the Chick comic has taken it to a whole new level.
This came in as a post in the series I published on the Kybalion in the previous Masonic Traveler Blog.
What was posted was an announcement to visit the website and upcoming pod cast for Dover lodge #489 under the Grand Lodge of Ohio. The pod cast is in its 8th episode, and on its 5th installment of lodge education on the reading of the Kyablion.
First, I think that it is fantastic that the Kyablion is being studied in a lodge education. And I won’t go into details here on the Kybalion, but I thought that the work coming out of Dover is OUTSTANDING and the reading (with audio overlay) is an excellent way to work through this sacred text.
If you have the time, or the space on the Ipod or Mp3 player, I STRONGLY recommend downloading the pod casts and listening to the book being read.
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.
There has yet to be a significant analysis from a Mormon practitioner on the links between Freemasonry and and the Latter Day Saints. I’m hoping one is soon to come, but as with any research, its a long road.
Brigham Young and Joseph Smith (as well as Lorenzo Snow, John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff) not withstanding were both Freemasons and much of what they learned in lodge was re purposed into the Mormon practice. You start to see these links as you dig deeper under the skin and look at some of the ritual mechanics and ideas.
One idea stands out in this video from the Mormon church. Sure, the idea of temple building is common in many faiths, but its the practice of a certain temple that concerns us here. And, where Freemasonry concentrates on an internal temple, here we can see the work on the external temple manifestation.
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.
I never know where I’ll end up in my meandering on the web. At times (most times in fact) its a journey down a labyrinthine path to no where, the proverbial Alice through the looking glass, only to end up behind the mirror.
But today, in only a short time, I stumbled across two sites that seemed to be the flip side of the same coin, the yin to the yang, the mercury and salt to the philosophers stone.
You get the picture, opposites to the same idea.
Their paring may seem like strange bedfellows, but in the end, what they both represent are studies into the mechanics of the fraternity. Essentially two non-Masonic groups that at some level study Freemasonry, or its practice.
The OVN journal is a clearing house for all things Masonic in an academic standing, from paper calls, to forum and symposia. This is a bit different from what most American Masons are accustomed to, as Freemasonry in Europe has percolated into academia as a path of study as it relates to civil society. As they say of our European neighbors, they do things a little “different” than what we here in the states are familiar with, which is this case is a good thing. So, if you have an interest in the academic approach to Freemasonry, or have been considering a Master or PhD program, perhaps this is an area of study that you would want to explore here in the U.S., and the OVN Journal woudl be a good place to start.
On the other side of that looking glass, I stumbled onto the blog Mysterious Societies which was an all things conspiracy, secret, occult, and, well, mysterious. It is not an academic approach, more like a gad-fly sensational version with images of the pope making devil horns, Nazi occult New World Order fear, lost tomb of Jesus Masonic connections, and invisibility with Masonic symbols. I think you get the point.
Now, you may be saying that this is far from a Masonic research site, but as with anything written and published, it enters into our consciousness and exists, whether we agree with it or not. So, by its existence, it becomes a parallel line of research. The point for consideration is that just as the OVN exists, so to does its obverse exist in the Mysterious Societies. And at times, both can lead you down interesting paths.
And, like Alice, once you start down these paths, you never know where you’ll end up.
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.
Thanks J.S.W., I appreciate the anonymous envelope addressed to Freemason Information with the notebook paper wrapped gift. In a weird way, its a gift that I’ve wanted fro some time but never knew how to find, short of ordering it from the manufacturer. although, I have to admit, I was hoping for another gift by the same author that I wrote about in 2006 on 
.
– 1991
– 2005
– 2006
, 
, and 
.
