Your Shoes are My Shoes

June 17, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, Philosophy Tags: Brotherhood, Brotherhood of Man, Brothers, Co-Masonry, Compassion, Elvis Presley, Empathy, Mason, Masonic, Masonic Philosophical Society, Masonry, music, Shoes, Understanding Leave a comment

In a recent conversation, a colleague of mine began a tirade of a person who, in their estimation, had no compassion. “How can they hold something that happened a year ago against someone? How can they not see that they caused the problem, and they can let it go?” This was a person who had their own trials and tribulations over the past year, their own “issues” to deal with. The cycle of condemnation continued.

The first words on another friend’s lips was “compassion.” Hmmm, I thought. Compassion is an overused and overrated word in American culture. Let’s be clear, compassion is “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.” I’m not talking about this type of compassion. Well, I might be. The difficulty is that people confuse compassion with kindness. Pity is a cause for regret or disappointment, or it can be the same as compassion, “concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.” Kindness is “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.” I think that I’m not really discussing kindness, either, even if it is confused with compassion.

No one is above losing sensitivity for our fellow human beings. We all do it. All of us. Sometimes with ourselves; sometimes with others. A dear friend said to me, “aren’t Freemasons supposed to be these ones who are on the path to enlightenment? Why do they act so horrible at times?” Freemasons aren’t perfect. Freemasons know they aren’t perfect and are constantly striving to find what that perfection may mean – but no, they are not “enlightened” by virtue of being a Freemason.

Then… what is it that we need when criticism of ours sits in our mouths, waiting to be released? What builds up rather than tears down? And how do you show this to others? I’m not sure there is a word for it. There are times, though, I wish we all had more of it, whatever “it” is.

Joe South wrote a song called “Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” which Elvis made popular in the early 1970’s. The lyrics are here:

If I could be you, if you could be me
For just one hour, if we could find a way
To get inside each other’s mind
If you could see you through my eyes
Instead your own ego I believe you’d be
I believe you’d be surprised to see
That you’ve been blind

Now your whole world
You see around you
Is just a reflection
And the law of karma
Says you’re gonna reap
Just what you sow, yes you will
So unless
You’ve lived a life of
Total perfection
You’d better be careful
Of every stone
That you should throw, yeah

And yet we spend the day
Throwing stones
At one another
‘Cause I don’t think
Or wear my hair
The same way you do, mmm
Well I may be
Common people
But I’m your brother
And when you strike out
And try to hurt me
It’s a-hurtin’ you, lord have mercy

Walk a mile in my shoes
Walk a mile in my shoes
Hey, before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes

There are people
On reservations
And out in the ghettos
And brother there
But for the grace of God
Go you and I, yeah, yeah
If I only
Had the wings
Of a little angel
Don’t you know I’d fly
To the top of the mountain
And then I’d cry

Walk a mile in my shoes
Walk a mile in my shoes
Hey, before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Better walk a mile in my shoes

The song is a poignant reminder of how we actually get to compassion. This week I received several emails from people which were edging toward accusations and criticism. These are people who have known me for twenty years or more, and some for less time but not insignificant. These are people who know that I try to be responsive and kind, open to my own mistakes, and busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest, as a work colleague likes to say. I’m not idle. I am forgetful, struggling to not beat myself for not being perfect all the time, sometimes clumsy, and not the best organizer of my to-do list. I struggle balancing a checkbook and sometimes I struggle to get motivated to get on a plane or send an email. Sometimes, I just want to sleep. Sometimes, I get crabby. Downright crabby.

I am human. I am you. And this is you, too.

And as much as we strive for perfection, we need to remember that it is just that: striving – a journey and not the destination right around the corner. Well, I remember that key part most of the time. The times that are the most difficult to keep the “journey” in mind are when people criticize, abuse, condem, accuse, or even just get crabby with us. When this happens, we believe we have failed them, and ultimately, we have failed ourselves. Failure is a sad and hopeless feeling. The mind is a powerful demolition machine. And when we open our hearts to others, we offer it up to that possible shredding.

The journey toward making a better humanity stops every time any of us tear down another.

There is more to walking in one person’s shoes than walking in their shoes. It’s more than learning not to criticize or condemn. It’s more than keeping your mouth shut when something ugly is about to vomit on someone you love. It is truly about letting go of yourself. It’s about reverting into our minds and hearts, before we speak or write, and thinking about everything. Every thing. Thinking about the other person sitting at their desk, writing that email, what their day must be like, what it could be like, why did they write it like that, is it their tone or mine that is in that email, what words did they use… think about putting yourself at the keyboard and writing those same words. How do you feel thinking about them? Why? Do we really think they are attempting to hurt or abuse us? Really? And if we really believe that, why do we believe that?

Byron Katie, a speaker and teacher, has four questions that she calls the foundation for “The Work.” They are:

Is it True?
Can you absolutely know that it is True?
How do you react, what happens, when you think that thought?
Who would you be without that thought?

This takes practice, again and again, and even more after that. It’s a journey. I think we begin at the first question above and we’d like to think that we have the answers. We forget there are more steps in our process. Our ego speaks louder than Truth at times. But each time we take that step towards working on finding the truth, something inside of us shifts. It says “it’s okay that you’re not the most important thing in the room. You are still going to be you, you’re still worthwhile. You are still good and okay.” In fact, the more we seek the truth, the more we are able to let go of the baggage and be objective, observant, listening, and of service.

Freemasonry seems to teach the ultimate walking in someone else’s shoes. Every Freemason can be any office within a Lodge, and each has a different function, a different talent to explore, and a different set of challenges. No one does any office perfectly, and each office provides its holder with experiences to challenge and uplift. We might criticize the way someone performs a certain task but there will come a time when we too take up that mantle and are assigned the same task. We learn to forgive someone’s past because we’ve learned that it’s not as easy as we all think. To fail is to learn, and “cutting someone slack” doesn’t mean to ignore the mistakes and challenges. It means paying attention to what happens to another person because, someday, we are on the receiving end. As Joe South says,

If I could be you, if you could be me
For just one hour, if we could find a way
To get inside each other’s mind
If you could see you through my eyes
Instead your own ego I believe you’d be
I believe you’d be surprised to see
That you’ve been blind

An elder Freemason, a while ago, said that we humans are “closed loops.” When I asked what he meant, he said that our communications, our thoughts, have nowhere to go. They spin around inside of us, not able to build up anything tangible, or real. We can’t connect with reality, generally. He said there was only way, he believed, to break the loop really connect to another person and to break out of our negative feedback about our reality. When we clear out the garbage of these destructive natures, we can find the true nature of ourselves, and that is, wait for it…love. Ach! Yes, I used the L word! So, it seems as if this compassion, kindness, truth, questioning – it all comes down to what we ultimately call love. Love for ourself and love for the other, whomever the other is. What we want for ourselves is what we want for others and what we want back for ourselves. It is truly a loop. It has to start somewhere. With everything negative to lose, I choose to start with me.

What is love is another exploration all on its own; however, it seems key to perfecting humanity. It is the next map point on our journey.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. – The Dalai Lama

Dogma, Change, and Freemasonry

April 29, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, Esotericism, History, Theology Tags: Adapt, Adaptation, Ancient Mysteries, Bigotry, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Darwin, Dogma, Falsehood, Fanaticism, Flexible, Freemason, Freemasonry, Genetic Material, God, Greenland, Growth, Hatred, Humanity, Iceland, Inuit, Le Droit Humain, Malleable, Mason, Masonic, Masonry, Masons, Mysteries, Norse, Philosophy, Question, Questioning, Ritual, Ritual Adaptations, The Craft, Truth 2 Comments

When the Norse arrived in Greenland, in the mid 10^th Century, they found a land that was experiencing a global warming trend with green fields, retreating ice floes, and oceans teaming with fish and mammals. They built settlements, farms, and began hunting walrus for the ivory trade and beach-dwelling seals for food. They imported most of their day to day goods: iron, grains, wool, and livestock.

By the end of the 13^th Century, the Norse had begun struggling with soil erosion and trade shortfalls. At this time, the Inuit had arrived, migrating from Canada through Nova Scotia to Greenland, as their drifting whale population and food supply moved through the melting ice. The Inuit enjoyed a thriving culture in Greenland yet had little positive contact with the Norse. The Norse viewed the Inuit as “skaelings” or “wretches.” The Inuit did perform some raids on the Norse and vice versa; however, for the most part they kept apart from each other.

Within a few decades, in the 14^th Century, a minor ice age began again, the globe cooled once more due to a volcanic eruption in the Philippines. Grass began to be harder to grow and the continued erosion of the land was impossible to abate. It was more difficult to raise livestock or farm the land and using soil for sod buildings became tougher to gather. The Black Plague had ravaged mainland Europe and while it didn’t hit Greenland, it decimated the population with whom the Greenland Norse traded, particularly Norway. Ivory prices also plummeted due to the more elephant ivory being imported from sub-Saharan Africa. With sources of income drying up, the Norse had no real way to continue to import the goods they felt they needed to survive, primarily iron and livestock.

By the end of the 14^th Century, the Greenland Norse had disappeared. The Inuit continued to thrive on the island and thrive there to this day.

What happened?

Dogma happened.

We typically hear dogma in relation to religion and religious teaching, but it is anything which limits our scope of possibilities. Dogma is some principle or set of principles which some authority has set as being unquestionably true. That is the key word: unquestioning. People who are enslaved by dogma rarely realize that they should question what they are doing. Dogma may, or as typical, may not depend on facts. Dogma is that which enslaves us to a belief, not a fact. It also crystallizes our world view and leaves us shut off from possibility.

The Norse could have adapted wholly to their new surroundings. They were not traditional hunters but the climate forced them to learn adapt or die. Yet, they could not bring themselves to become whalers and learn how to navigate the waters in kayaks, which were for the heathen Inuit. They found it impossible to move toward a very different society, one which could have helped them survive and thrive in the changing world conditions. Rather than learn from the Inuit, they chose to remain separate, slaves to their “old ways.”

hvalsey_church_greenland_-_creative_comons As we know, “growth and comfort cannot coexist (Ginni Rometty, CEO IBM).” Adaptation is dynamic and evolutionary. It involves shedding skin, ideas, thoughts, language, and sometime rules, mores, and laws. Adaptation and change require a flexible personal philosophy, agile thinking, and the ability to not take change personally. Had the Norse embraced the ways they felt as wretched, they might have created a new culture which encompassed the ideals of both the Inuit and Norse, thereby creating something greater than each was individually. The Roman Empire adapted and changed to the pulse of Christianity, thereby creating one of the most potent theological forces in history; by adaptation, the essence of both survived.

Our current times are rife with chaos and while the banners of Freemasonry proclaim, “Ordo ab Chao,” the final piece of this saying is “Chao ab Ordo.” Change and strife and chaos are necessary to be able to form new order and new ways of thought. A forest fire destroys the substantial, old trees but also brings life to new growth. Freemasonry as an institution requires both order and chaos to survive. There are those, especially in malecraft Freemasonry, who state that Freemasonry is a dying institution, membership is down, it’s difficult to get interest, or the education of Freemasonry is antiquated. Freemasonry as an entity isn’t and won’t be dying. What is dying is the Freemasonry as they knew of it. And this is good.

I was recently asked, “why do we need all this change? Why do we need a new ritual? Why should we think about how we change our world?” Someone commented recently on another article regarding Freemasonry in Africa, “why would we be in a place where there is so much corruption and hatred?” I say, who better to lead the way in change than those of us who should, could, or would be most able to do it? Isn’t it Freemasons, warriors of Truth, Freedom, and Knowledge, who should set the example?

This isn’t the first time Freemasonry, regardless of the Order or Obedience, has faced change.

During the Morgan Affair, membership in Freemasonry in America dwindled and nearly went extinct in the fires of the Anti-Masonic Political Party. In 1994, Le Droit Humain’s American Federation changed dramatically, with a new name, new structure, and new purpose. Even now, there are conspiracy theories about Freemasons taking over the world or specific governments.

“Over the centuries, masons have gathered in conclaves, meetings, lodges, and congresses–all to debate the changes they faced and the direction they should move. In an earlier period, a rough conglomeration of stand-alone lodges in England organized themselves in a tavern to become the United Grand Lodge of England and the progenitor of American Freemasonry,” states a 2018 malecraft Freemason’s article.

Change comes generally in an era of upheaval, of chaos, on the waves of a stormy ocean. This kind of change requires a different way of thinking than current paradigms. It requires the death of dogma.

Humanity in the 21^st Century is at this same cusp of dynamic evolution. In a technologically-vibrant era of #metoo, LGBTQ rights, globalization, world resource constraints, and materialism, humanity hungers for something more than holding fast to outdated and antiquated modes of thinking. Freemasonry must stand at the precipice of that change and be willing to jump. We cannot hold onto rigid words, thoughts, and actions without tolerance and service to the ever-changing needs of humanity. Freemasons are the Chaos and the Order. Freemasons understand that without one there is not the other. They need to understand what chaos and destruction are before they can form new paradigms and thought patterns, thus changing society.

Freemasons represent the totality of possibilities, not simply what we deem “the best” by our own personal standards. Freemasons embody adaptability as well as honor and tradition; they follow a framework of ideals that are the unchanging Truth of Nature as well as variation that is Nature. Changing for change’s sake is ridiculous; change to adapt to the needs of humanity is true evolution. Thoughtful and conscious change moves us all toward the goal of perfecting humanity.

Ordo Ab Chao What happens when you adapt? The Honorable Order of American Co-Masonry recently changed its name to The Honorable Order of Universal Co-Masonry, adding United Federation of Lodges. Inboxes and voicemails have overflowed with contacts from around the world, interested in Freemasonry – India, China, Hong Kong, Serbia, Sweden, Greece, Romania and the Congo to name but a few. Groups in England and Lebanon have sought out the Order. There is explosive activity in Costa Rica and interest is peaking all over Latin America. Study centers of the Masonic Philosophical Society, especially online, are full of seekers of knowledge and Truth. Change in technology and format made this happen. Changing the name opened up the possibilities to those who are seeking global comraderies and led them to the Order’s porch. Yet, many were not ready to face this change and raise themselves the possibilities Universal Freemasonry would find. The interaction of these new voices forces Freemasonry’s membership to adapt – to learn new languages, to travel to many places, to challenge their own beliefs about racism, globalism, gender issues, education, family, and morality. Meeting this challenge and change requires tolerance and introspection as well as brotherly love toward all of humanity. Freemasons learn that they are no different from others and that all are sprung from “the same stock.” The Freemason begins to see what the core of his ritual is and learns to exercise his own philosophy applied to that framework. That is growth. That is the shedding of dogma.

So too, ritual adaptations and reinstatements, not innovations, reinvigorate the ideals that Freemasonry preserves and puts them in tune with a modern mind. If Freemason’s primary care is to keep the mysteries, they need to be able to do that with a mindset of being present and current, not reenacting the dogma of what we’ve done in the past.

People leave Freemasonry for one main reason: disappointment. Freemasonry either doesn’t seem relevant, inviting, or current. Perhaps their expectations were not met. Perhaps their expectations were not properly set. While Freemasonry should not adapt to individual preferences and needs, it can and should adapt to the changes in humanity whilst never forgetting its true purpose: keeping the mysteries for the generations to come. What does our world need? What does humanity need? Can we, in keeping with our ideals, assist in that Work?

Freemasonry, and Freemasons, need to focus on the perfecting of all we do – ritual work, service, brotherly relief and agape, as well as maintaining the material aspects of Freemasonry – clothing, regalia, our temples. This doesn’t mean, however, that these outward trappings – clothing, ritual, regalia – will always be the same. It is in how Freemasons go about employing the Craft that should stand the test of time, while adapting to the change without. This adaptation keeps us all flexible and malleable, able to weather the strong tides of hatred, fanaticism, bigotry, and falsehood. It enables us to withstand the fear of chaos and the boredom of order.

darwinartistinresidence “Organisms that possess heritable traits that enable them to better adapt to their environment compared with other members of their species will be more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass more of their genes on to the next generation,” said Darwin. It should the the focus of Freemasons to be able to pass on that “genetic material” of Freemasonry to the next generation and the one after that by learning to adapt, to think differently and celebrate the change that undoubtedly will come to us all, willingly or not.

The Masonic Family

March 9, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, Esotericism, History, Philosophy Tags: Auxiliary Bodies, Brother, Brotherhood, Co-Masonry, Craft, Different Paths, Eastern Star, Family, Fraternal Love, Fraternity, Freemasonry, God, Great Architect, Humanity, Improvement, Laughter, Lodge, Lodges, Loss, Love, Mason, Masonic, Masonry, Order, Road of Freemasonry, Self-Improvement, Service, Shriners, T.G.A.O.T.U., The Craft, White Shrine 4 Comments

Having been a Freemason for over twenty years, I have seen many people come and go in the Fraternity. There are people who were well-established when I first entered into the Order and are still by my side today. There are many members who have joined over the years and added to the sweetness and depth of this large family unit. Some people have come in for as little as one meeting, and others have stayed on and off over the years. The path of Freemasonry is an open road that may see many people branch off.

As a member of fifteen different Lodges of varying degrees, each one of them is, to me, a sacred family where I am safe, secure, and can be myself. I can breathe easily and feel the fraternity that comes with a real love and dedication to a common goal: the perfecting of humanity of which each of us is a part.

When we join, we join for different reasons. We join to find like-minded people, to find some sense of peace with the Architect of the Universe, to have that “A-ha!” moment, to have a group of people to converse with, to break bread and share hard work, or perhaps to share in aging and passing with authentic humans. The road of Freemasonry isn’t easy and many people fall off the track – some earlier, some later – but the journey towards the higher degrees becomes less crowded and in many ways, more intimate and sweeter for having shared the labors of self-improvement.

The act of accepting the different paths of different people is extremely difficult. These are people with whom you have shared life’s journey and striking moments. From marriage to the birth of children, the death of parents and friends, to their own old age and passing, it is in these moments of strife and hardship, joy and bearing that Freemasons are there with each other, supporting, sharing, and providing true fortitude.

These are not easy moments and they are intensified by the quickening that focused self-improvement provides. They are sticky and painful at times. I have had nights of tearful crying, angst over love and loss, and laughter until I got in trouble. Discipline does that. It breeds purer moments of real life.

It also creates the moments when we stop and think: what is a family?

The birth family has always been, to me, that group of people who take care of you from that early age and teach you how to move in the world. They teach you how to survive. They do the best they can, with the tools and experiences of their own lives, to provide that guidance to help the child thrive in a very unsure and chaotic world. We carry those lessons, for better or ill, with us into our own realms, creating new families from these seedlings of experience.

Like the leaf that drops into the still pond, the ripples of one family flow and collide with those of others, creating an intricate pattern of artful energies of creation. We create families, when we’re older, to find a sense of stability and continuance. We may have children, adopt children, foster children, foster animals, care for the aged, or create intimate ties with friends, neighbors, and community. We may pastor to a church where the family is quite large, or we may shepherd the town council, where our influence might be low. We all form a family of woven relationships in the creation of… something.

Masonic families, like all families, can be quite intense. My childhood father was not a Freemason but his father and mother were extremely active in not only Freemasonry but Eastern Star, The Shriners, the White Shrine, and other auxiliary bodies. For nearly forty years, they were caretakers of the temple building behind their house; their days were filled with card games, socials, dinners, and Lodge meetings, fancy affairs and day-to-day work of Freemasonry. They cleaned the Lodge room and scrubbed the bathrooms, repaired the kitchen equipment and planted flower beds. They only stopped when cancer and Parkinson’s slowed their activities.

When they passed, I took up the mantle of Freemasonry. While they lived, I had no idea a woman could be a Freemason and neither did they. Freemasonry was a hobby my grandparents did but never, ever discussed it with the larger family.

My father harbored a deep resentment toward Freemasonry; he felt that it took my grandfather from his side. It hardened my grandfather’s ideals in a way that he imposed on my father. Resentment and dislike were the crops my father harvested from that sowing. Even so, my father grew up a good man, hard working and shaped by the ideals my grandfather provided. He struggled though, with the idea of what it means to be a father and to provide that example for his children. It’s a shame because I think my father would have really found solace and inspiration and fraternity of brotherhood something to sustain him latter in life. Maybe even earlier in life.

It’s funny that my desire for like-minded people in my life, people striving to educate and improve themselves, was driven by the lack of that in my own blood family. I wanted more than blood connections; I wanted that connection that propels us to be better than we think we can be. I do not think it took me from my family; in truth, close friends and family members have joined because of the work they’ve seen me do, the joy I’ve found in being with intelligent, hard-working individuals. They have joined because of my self-improvement.

The cycle, I think, repeats. The Masonic family taught me how to live, how to be in the world, how to succeed, challenged me to think, to be better than I am, and to constantly work on being a better person. They took what blood started and propelled that into new realms.

There are some people who do not think it’s right that families should join Freemasonry together. This does not make sense to me. If you want good people in your life, people who you respect, want to spend time with, learn from and also teach, why would you not want to be on a similar journey?

Not everyone is cut out to be a Freemason, however, Not every family member has the capacity or wherewithal to step onto such an intense path. We need to assess each person independently and give credit where credit is due. The people who have joined Freemasonry with me, in my life, are all fantastic people and yes, some are family members. I get the double blessing of being able to speak about all sorts of subjects and delve into deep thought with people that I truly love and who have a head start on knowing me. It’s like perfect icing on a perfect cake. We’re trying to perfect humanity; that doesn’t mean everyone except the people you grew up with. Far from it.

Not everyone who comes to Freemasonry is looking for a family. We call each other Brother for a reason though. It’s not arbitrary. Whatever you goals in joining the Craft are, you will end up with a family – one that you’ve chosen with forethought and daring. Make it your own.

“Neither man nor woman is perfect or complete without the other. Thus, no marriage or family, no ward or stake is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, men and women work together in unity of purpose, respecting and relying upon each other’s strengths.” – Sheri L. Dew

The Dionysian Artificers – Part 1

March 9, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Esotericism, History, Literature, Philosophy Tags: Art, Bacchus, Builder, Co-Masonry, Craftsman, Dionysian Artificers, Dionysus, Divinity, Freemason, Freemasonry, God, Greek Mythology, Makes Art, Mason, Masonry, Mystery Schools Leave a comment

A wise and elder Freemason presented a talk long ago on creation, and the term “Dionysian Artificers” was noted in the essay. Ears perked up. I had never heard of this, them, whatever they were. As an occultist, writer and researcher, there is always something delectable in the unknown. Mystery schools and Greek Mythology. What gets better than that?

The first stop in exploration is the god of wine’s name, Dionysus. He is most famously known for being the god of wine, but he is also associated with fertility, the theater, madness, cultivation, and religious ecstasy. It is the latter part which is fairly intriguing. Dionysus, or Bacchus for the Romans, was the instigator of drunken festivals and debauchery. Or so Hollywood and sensationalists would have us all think. While is is generally accepted that Dionysian festivals were revelries of drink, they were, for true adherents, a special ritual in finding personal boundaries, learning the joys of freedom and free nature, and knowing the limits of the psyche. There is a reason he is known as the “god of the epiphany.” In addition, being the inventor of theatre, there is a certain drama that is associated with Dionysus; this is important as we explore the part that Greek Tragedy and Comedy played in the morality teachings of generations of Greeks.

The word artificer comes from the Latin artificium, or one who “makes art. A craftsman.” This is more than what modern ears would typically associate with one who makes art. The artificer was a master craftsman; skill in making shoes and bread was as much an art as one who paints or writes. When the goods of everyday life were crafted, they were built by hands to last lifetimes. This takes a great deal of skill, or art. Anyone who crafts goods with care, detail, and skill is an artificer.

Then, what is a Dionysian Artificer? Well, one would think it could be a craftsman of mystery, a builder of ecstasy or theatre, ritual madness or wine-soaked festivals. However, for our purposes here, we are speaking of a real society of people, Greeks, who perpetuated the ancient mysteries as found in Eleusis and Egypt at least according to one 19th century author.

Hippolyto da Costa was a Brazilian journalist, author, and Freemason who, in 1820, published an essay entitled “The Sketch for the History of the Dionysian Artificers.” This essay was an attempt to prove that modern Freemasonry derived from ancient Greek philosophical and religious ideas. Da Costa (1774-1823) was imprisoned for being a Freemason by the Inquisition in Portugal in 1802; he escaped in 1805. “The Sketch” is a relatively short book, 104 pages, and no where in it does he specifically talk about Freemasonry. In fact, he never really discusses who the Dionysian Artificers really are. What I deduce is that they aren’t a single, unified “group.” The book starts off thus:

“When men were deprived of the light of revelation, those who formed systems of morality to guide their fellow creatures, according to the dictates of approved reason, deserved the thanks of mankind, however deficient those systems might be, or time may have altered them; respect, not derision, out to attend the efforts of those good men; though their labors might have proved unavailing. In this point of view must be considered an association, traced to the most remote antiquity, and preserved through numberless vicissitudes, yet retaining the original marks of its foundation, scope, and tenants.

It appears, that, at the very early period, some contemplative men were desirous of deducting from the observation of nature, moral rules for the conduct of mankind. Astronomy was the science selected for this purpose; architecture was afterwards called in aid of this system; and its followers formed a society or sect, which will be the object of this enquiry.”

In general, Da Costa states that the community that formed these rules created, via the vehicles of the local mythology, morality plays, symbolism, and a code of ethics that was transmitted to wider humanity via the mystery schools which worshiped the sun, most notably Eleusinian, Dionysus, Bacchus, Osiris, Adonis, Thamuz, and Apollo – again, in their forms as representing the sun. He goes on to explain his theory and where he derives his sources, which are numerous and intriguing. It’s almost difficult to track the speed at which he ties it all together, neatly discussing the death and resurrection experienced by the sun is to teach us all about the death and resurrection of all living things, and humans in particular. He talks in detail about philosophical ties to the mysteries and how, over time, these teachings have morphed. Of interest is his discussion of the procession of the equinoxes and the ties all these mysteries seem to have with Persia and its teachings.

“The emerging of the sun into the lower hemisphere, and its returning, was contemplated either as proof of or as a symbol of the immortality of the soul; one of the most important, as well as the most sublime tenets of the Platonic Philosophy.

The doctrines of the spirituality and immortality of the soul, explained by those symbols, were very little understood, even by the initiated; thus, we find some of them took those types to signify merely the present body, by their descriptions of the infernal abodes; whereas, the true meaning of these mysteries inculcated the doctrine of a future state of the soul, and future rewards and punishments; and that such were the doctrines of those philosophers show by many and indisputable authorities.

The union of the soul with the body was considered as the death of the soul; its separate as the resurrection of the soul; and such ceremonies and types were intended to impress the doctrine of the immersion of the soul into matter, as is well attested. “

Remember, this was written 1820. The Inquisition was still in full force in the Catholic Church and Da Costa was a Catholic, and knew full well the touch of the Inquisition’s force for the presumed crime of being a “Free-Mason” in Lisbon. Other than writing about his time in the Inquisition’s grip, and “The Sketch,” Da Costa is known mostly for his influence on Brazilian journalism. The worldcat.org website does have some references on him for anyone wanting to know more about him. Mackey, in his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, briefly mentions him. He published several books in Portuguese about Freemasonry.

“The Sketch of the Dionysian Artificers” is a fascinating book for anyone interested in knowing about Freemasonry’s origins and it lays out, for Freemasons, a clear indication of the origins of many of the symbols and symbolic activities contained in its rituals. A copy of the essay can be had from http://sacred-texts.com – here. There is also an edition wherein Manly Palmer Hall wrote an essay about the Myth of Dionysis, which has some continued insights from a modern perspective. Even more fascinating is following the links to the primary texts and sources whence Da Costa draws his conclusions. In the next part, we’ll explore the text itself and encapsulate what Da Costa was proposing regarding the origins of Freemasonry.

Why Alchemy Failed But Didn’t

February 28, 2019 By KatieCumsille in Esotericism, History, Natural Science Tags: Alchemy, Atoms, Chemistry, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Evolution, Failure, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Isaac Newton, Laboratory, Man, Mason, Masonic Philosophical Society, Masonry, Masons, Nuclear Chemistry, Periodic Table, Philosophers Stone, Prima Materia, Protons, Robert Boyle, Symbol, The Alchemist, Trouble Comes to the Alchemist 3 Comments

The study of the changing of base metals into gold seems to reach the top favorite of occult topics for many. Steeped in a rich history, all who study it have their various reasons for loving Alchemy and why not? What’s not to like? The idea that one can start out with an imperfect substance and through labor and effort transform it into one of the most precious and perfect metals desired is to be desired itself.

Alchemy has a long history that modern science has reduced into one sentence of otherwise large and heavy textbooks — Alchemy failed.

This statement hardly gives any indication that there were brilliant minds involved in this once noble science. Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton were no sycophants or charlatans and they were deeply respected (and still are) for their enormous and varied contributions to science. Why, then, did Alchemy not make the cut? The answer is quite simple — well kind of — Alchemists were playing with the wrong stuff.

Fundamentally and generally speaking Alchemy is based on transformation. This is the process of taking a metal, like lead, and changing it into another metal, such as gold. In order to do this, an alchemist would need to reach into the center of an atom, into its nucleus (or essence if you would like to call it), and add or take away one of its major components: protons.

Protons at the Center of a Nucleus

This is no easy task. Atoms tend to really like their protons right where they are – at their center. This is because the number of protons provides the atom with a level of stability while giving them their identity. For example, hydrogen has one proton, helium has two, lithium has three, and so on. You can imagine how very important protons are. So much so, that atoms protect their nucleus with layers of small but really powerful particles called electrons.

These super tiny subatomic particles are what alchemists were working with back in the day instead of the needed protons. To put it metaphorically, alchemists were working on the peel of an avocado rather than inside the seed. At the height of Alchemy, in the High Renaissance, the existence of protons wasn’t known so alchemists weren’t able to change their tactics to get things right. This is the reason transmutation continually evaded them… and why Alchemy eventually failed. Or did it?

Modern science owes much to Alchemy. If Newton’s statement holds true that he saw further only because he stood on the shoulders of giants, then Chemistry today stands on the shoulders of Alchemy. It is because of Alchemy that advancements in the periodic table took place, that the nature of metals is more thoroughly understood, and the development of the atomic theory progressed from its proto-theories into our current quantum understanding.

Can it be called coincidence that the Father of Chemistry is none other than the beloved alchemist Robert Boyle? I do not believe so. What the alchemists gave us, among other things, is better knowledge of chemical behavior. So did Alchemy fail in its purpose of transmutation? Yes, it did. But it didn’t fail us all together.

An Alchemist in His Laboratory

Imagine an old laboratory room full of musty and sour scents with bubbling concoctions of a variety about it. Sitting at his workbench is a hunched-over bearded man, deep in contemplation as he stares intensely at the flask in front of him. It isn’t a difficult scene to picture but what is harder to imagine are the silent and mysterious thoughts of this unknown man. Why is he looking at the blackened substance with such complexity? With such expectation?

It is because that mass of material represents his very essence, and he doesn’t understand it. Not one bit. You see Alchemy isn’t just about transformations of materials like its successor Nuclear Chemistry. It is about tying one’s personal evolution and transformation to that lump in the flask. This prima materia, as it is called, is the proxy of the alchemist and he will make it undergo numerous experiments. The constant subjecting of the substrate to fire, acid, and time is emblematic of the alchemist unlocking the conditions and behaviors that block him from reaching perfection or the Philosopher’s Stone.

This stone is achieved only through the agony of self-scrutiny and long hours at the workbench. It represents gold or the perfected material and is the ultimate achievement of any alchemist, if accomplished. There is something profound and beautiful about this intense exploration and application. Alchemy is the very symbol of Man realizing that he, at his most basic level, is no more understood than the substrate he has captured in his round bottom flask. And that he can become more than this undefined mound if he truly works for it.

The Alchemist by Sir William Fettes Douglas

Alchemy failed on one level but it has found supremacy on another. There is more than value in trying to understand our human nature through the nature of other things. That value is purpose and we find it through personification. Personification of our universe has been our means of communication with it. The laboratory has been and can be another way we personify our hidden nature. It enlivens our senses like no textbook can. And our senses are the gateway to experience and authentic knowledge.

We should look to Alchemy as a spiritual method of self-discovery and actualization and not a valid empirical science of transmutation. The latter holds no future in its outdated form, but the former holds the potential of all of our greatness.

The Merovingians

February 24, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Esotericism, History Tags: Architecture, Christopher Knight, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Dan Brown, Foundation Stones, Freemasonry, Freemasons, History, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Jesus Christ, Knights Templar, Mary Magdalene, Mason, Masonry, Masons, Merovingians, Pierre Plantard, Robert Lomas, The Cathars, The Cathars and Reincarnation, The DaVinci Code 1 Comment

This is the third of a rambling three-part exploration of Middle and Dark Age Europe, birthplace of much myth concerning Western religious and esoteric teachings. Never was myth and make believe more true than with the Merovingians. There is a pain over my left eye when people talk about how the Merovingians were the descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. It begins as somewhat of a sinus headache, moving into full blown brain burn as the person goes on about how it was possible and descendants of Christ are alive and well and are French. They go about this by tying the fish symbology of the early Christians to the name Merovech, assumed founder of the Merovingian dynasty.

Thanks, Dan Brown, And Christopher Knight. And Robert Lomas.

clovis-i In my younger days, I too went down this path of how-history-gets-corrupted-by-pop-culture and fell down a deep rabbit hole researching the Knights Templar. Inevitably, this lead me to the Cathars and Merovingians, Lomas and Knight, and yes, I was a swirling mess of mythology masquerading as fiction masquerading as fact. Of course it could have happened. Of course. It’s right here on the Internet.

I finally grew up, after a few smackings from real historians, and got on the bandwagon of facts. Like a reformed smoker, I went whole hog into finding out “true” history. My library is a testament to finding a glimmering moment of fact amongst the ashes of primary sources. Primary sources and logical research are the keywords everyone who wants to know about history should revere. The sensational is fun but it certainly isn’t always, maybe usually, true. Another historian and researcher taught me early on that “real history is generally way more interesting than what people make up.” He was right.

With the Merovingians, the history is nowhere near as exciting as most people think. The founder of the dynasty was Merovech, whence the name Merovingians emerges. Merovech was the first to unite the barbarian Franks into a kingdom commonly known as Francia, later France. The Franks were, up until this time, a loose confederation of different tribes, warring as the Roman Empire fell apart. Around 458, Merovech’s son Childric I successfully won ground against the Visigoths, Saxons, and Germanic tribes to unite the Franks into common cause. However, it was his son Clovis I who united most of the northern Franks into a single kingdom to battle against the remaining Romans and Germanic tribes to form Francia. The dynasty continued for three hundred years, when they finally succumbed to inter-kingdom strife, the influence of the Christian Pope, and personal feuds. It wasn’t a particularly glorious end to a long-ruling empire; it was more a very human one.

frenchkings Many people believe that the beginning of the country of France began with Clovis uniting all of the different Frankish tribes under his rule, and he set the tone for how the future of France would evolve. Hence, the Merovingian dynasty has a place in the heart of the modern French psyche. It’s no wonder that a strong, late 20th century mythology built on a hoax would stir the French as well as the rest of the world.

Pierre Plantard, in the mid-20th Century C.E., created a hoax which involved forged documents, a “secret” of regal lineage, and co-conspirators that would make even the best con man proud. Over the course of thirty plus years, Plantard promoted an organization named the Priory of Sion, purported to have created the Templars, discovered hidden documents found in Rennes-le-Château proving the bloodline of Christ was really Merovingian, amongst other things. The entire setup was an elaborate hoax that perpetuated until the late 1990’s when the entire fraud was brought to light. Not before, however, several “historians,” fiction writers, and even “60 Minutes” were dragged into strengthening this mythology.

Books like “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” and “The DaVinci Code” have perpetuated and sensationalized the stories until the claims have become a little insane. Rennes-le-Château was in the heart of Cathar territory and claims about the Church of Mary Magdalene increased the myth. As we discussed previously, the Cathars revered Mary Magdalene, so it is no surprise that there is a church in her honor in the Cathar “homeland.” By tying the mythology of the Merovingian fish, an elaborate birth tale of Merovech’s parents being part woman and part sea God, the idea was this must be a secret message that the Merovingians were tied to the lineage of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, who brought herself and the Christ’s unborn child to France when Jesus was killed. You add to this the spice that Mary must have carried the Holy Grail, or that she was the Holy Grail, sprinkle it with a few false documents and true biblical references, and you have the makings of a great feast of fiction and conspiracy theory.

Killjoy, I hear you say.

Let’s just say, I think the facts make a much better story. We don’t need to sensationalize to get a good dose of interesting intrigue and human strife, tragedy, and hope. The Merovingians were an interesting story unto themselves, having been really the first rulers of a modern France. They established cultural identity that lives to this day and can be seen in the remnants of laws, mores, architecture, and language. They established a rule that was the precursor to feudalism and were strong supporters of the early and medieval Catholic Church. Dozens of Merovingians were prominent church leaders and/saints. The Merovingians were the seeds of a long and deep nationalism that affects world thought today. This is why they are really to be remembered and discussed.

Meister_des_Sakramentarium_Gelasianum_001 Freemasons search for truth and in their own origins, I would think they would search hardest. There are elements of the Knights Templar, the Cathars, and even the Merovingians in the foundation stones of Freemasonry. How could there not be? These were groups whose ideas and ideals were radical for their time; groups of people who formed new ways of being and thinking in their time periods, from the early 5th Century all the way through the late Middle Ages. Rebels. Mold breakers. Liberators. For people who are themselves trying to change the world for better, I can’t really think of better icons.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” – Colton

Who Were the Cathars?

February 21, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Esotericism, History, Theology Tags: Armenia, Arthur Guirdham, Bacchus, Bernard of Clarvaux, Bogomilism, Cathars, Catholic, Catholic Church, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Council of Nicaea, Father, France, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Gnosticism, Gnostics, God, Holy Spirit, Italy, Jesus, Malcom Barber, Mason, Masonry, Masons, Mithra, Mithras, Mystery Schools, Paulicianism, Pure Ones, Son, Templars, The Cathars and Reincarnation, The Good Christians, The Holy Roman Empire, Travelers, Trinity Leave a comment

Whenever the Templars are mentioned, the Cathars are generally not far behind. Tied together with some interesting data and facts, they tend to be the focus of intense esoteric and mystical knowledge. Taking a look at them with the facts we have may answer questions, or create deeper ones.

The Cathars were the followers of a 12th to 14th C.E. Gnostic movement in Southern France and Italy. This movement, Catharism, comes from the Greek word katharoi, or “Pure Ones.” Scholars agree that the people who practiced this religion did not call themselves by this name; in all honesty, it seems unclear what they did call themselves except “The Good Christians.” The movement first took hold in the small town of Albi, in France, and the followers were also known as the Albigensians, especially to the Catholics. The ideas of Catharism were around for centuries before this larger movement took place, and possibly has its roots in what is called Paulicianism.

In the Paulicianism belief system, the adherents do not believe in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and in fact believe that Jesus was “adopted” by God to be his “son” and endure the necessary trials. Paulicianism was vibrant around the 7th to 9th centuries C.E., particularly in Armenia. Cathars, like the Paulicians, primarily believed in a dualistic Christian system, wherein the were two “Gods,” one good, one evil, as well as deeper Gnostic concepts. The basic tenants of the Cathar religion seem to have come from a single priest, Bogomil, during the First Bulgarian Empire in the 10th century C.E. as a response to the rise of feudalism. In other words, the oppression and slavery of Feudalistic ideas spurred this priest and his followers toward a mindset of individual freewill and worth. Like later Cathars, Bogomilism did not believe in the ecclesiastical hierarchy nor did they believe in the need for church buildings. In a sense, Bogomils, and then Cathars, were an itinerant religion, spread by men and women of the church elite – Travelers.

Most of their beliefs were radical to a still-struggling Catholic Church, and in a time prior to Luther, Catholic ideas were the only “Christian” meal to be had. The church had struggled for over a thousand years to get itself “right,” and it did not need yet one more renegade group to get in its way. Cathars believed in reincarnation of humans and animals, and did not eat the flesh of animals for this reason. They had a vibrant tradition in their troubadours, and were traveling craftsmen of many trades. Men and women were mainly seen as equals, although it is thought that their last incarnation needed to be male in order to be “close to God.” Their Good God was the creator of all that was spiritual, ethereal and thought, while the Evil God was the creator all that was material. They did not believe in hell, it being the earth in which we currently live, but heaven was populated by angels and spirits performing the will of the Good God. By living their aesthetic life, they believed themselves to be the truest Christians, where the Catholic Church was a corruption of all of the Christian teachings.

Cathars had two levels of knowledge, for lack of a better term, to distinguish the teachers from the lay follower. Know as “Perfects,” or “Parfaits,” both men and women could be come one of the elites and were both known to travel and spread the doctrine. This seems to mimic some of the early Christian sects, who also adopted from the Cult of Mithras, Bacchus, and a few other mystery schools.

What is important to note as that for the first 500 to 700 years of its life, Christianity was nowhere near the juggernaut that it became in the 14th to 19th centuries. Out of the remains of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church rose to reinvent itself to be that empire once again, using religion instead of soldiers to find its way. There was not just one Council of Nicaea but seven over the course of 400 years.

The doctrine of the church was not set in stone – more like several tributaries that were flowing to a single great river. It took hundreds of years and thousands of theological discussions to get to where it is today – still fragmented but fairly solid. It is in the period of the Bogomils and Cathars that we see the Catholic Church coming into its own power, and asserting its right as the divine authority over layman and royalty alike all through Western Europe. It is also important to remember that this was a time before Luther – before the idea that the human could come to God in other ways and not via their connection to a priest. At this time, the spiritual afterlife of every person lay in the hands of the Catholic Church.

Clearly, the Catholic Church had money. And royalty. There was not much that was going to get in the way of it becoming the dominant force in Western Europe. In fact, many new ideas of suppression were tried on the Cathars, tools the Catholic Church would further expand as it moved through Europe imposing its will. The Catholic Church did see the Cathars as a heretical sect; yet, they debated whether they were even Christians. Either way, they could not survive.

In 1208, Pope Innocent III declared a crusade on the Albigensian region of Languedoc, which was not part of France at the time but its own kingdom. Known as the Albigensian Crusade, or later by the name of Cathar Wars, the killing of human beings was indiscriminate. Many Catholics, Jews, and Cathars died in these wars. This genocide bred the first use of the now-common phrase, “Kill them all. God will know his own.” This was the first time a crusade had been waged within the confines of conventional Western Europe, and by all accounts the Catholic Church called it a success. This was followed by what would be called the first Inquisition, whereupon torture and death were used to force conversation back to the true religion, Catholicism. The Crusade itself was ended in 1244, the date when the castle at Montsegur fell to the crusaders. The Inquisition continued well into the 14th century. The last known Cathar elite (called Perfect, as was their custom) was burned there in 1321 C.E..

Cathars did continue to exist in hiding and by all accounts, had eventually died off as a continuing sect. There are some who believe that that elements of the Cathar religion rose with Luther and Protestantism but there are no real supporting documents or links to this supposition.

Additionally, there was and is a supposition that the Cathars held a secret “treasure” which was spirited away prior to the fall of Montsegur; no evidence has been found of this treasure, although some believe it is knowledge rather than an actual treasure. There is also an idea that this treasure went to the Knights Templar, who were just being formed. Indeed, the one link between the Templars and the Cathars was Bernard of Clarvaux, later St. Bernard. Bernard is seen to have held some of the same ideas of the Cathars, even if he did see them as heretics to be eradicated. He had continued correspondence with a bishop of the Cathars and indeed visited. Bernard was also prominent in bringing the worship of the Virgin Mary to popularity, which was in keeping with Cathar beliefs.

The Cathars were and are an interesting off-shoot of the Christian religion from its earliest days, and it is a shame that not more of its own writings exists. Many have speculated if the Cathars still exist and if so, in what form. It may just be a single, dead branch of a tree that has its roots in far older and mysterious teachings. There are a few books about the Cathars; the one by Malcom Barber, who also wrote about the Templars, is interesting and factual. There is also another book about a woman who remembers her past life as a Cathar, in the 13th century C.E., titled “The Cathars and Reincarnation,” by Arthur Guirdham. It is relatively short with some descriptions of places and drawings associated with them. It is an entertaining read, and will leave it up to the reader to validate their own beliefs about the teller’s story. There is also a very thorough website, which has a lot of great references for anyone who wants to know more.

With Passion

February 2, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, History, Philosophy Tags: Action, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Mason, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Compassion, Discussion, Empathy, Eric Schliesser, Fraternal Love, Fraternity, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Kindness, Manners, Mason, Masonic Philosophical Society, Masonry, Masons, Passion, Sympathy, Sympathy: A History, The Chopra Center, Work Leave a comment

I recently attended a Masonic Philosophical Society discussion about compassion – what was it, what is it, and how did it get from there to here. In the course of the discussion, many people discussed kindness and manners but little discussion about compassion took place.

The word comes from the roots of ‘with’ and ‘passion.’ The modern, Webster’s version of the word means, “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.” As language evolves, and many of the things that philosophers study are dusty with age and wear, it was important to see where the word began. From its Latin beginnings through Old French, the word actually meant “suffer with.” From the 14th Century C.E. backward, the word is associated with suffering. To look at meanings, suffering and sympathy/concern are two wholly different experiences. What is interesting is the the word “suffer” also comes from the Old French, in about the same time period as compassion, and the word originally meant “the be under the burden of something, to ensure, to hold up.” The word sympathy shows up much later in vocabulary, around 1570, and is of two Greek roots – “together” (sym) and feeling (pathos).

compassionrock In his book, “Sympathy: A History,” author Eric Schliesser puts the confusion between sympathy and compassion to rest. He breaks down, right in the introduction, the differences between sympathy, empathy, and compassion. Sympathy and empathy, which are often confused for one another, are different breeds. Empathy, a word from the 12th century C.E., was created, the author states, to describe the German concept of Einfuhlung, or the state of entering into someone else’s feelings. That is, in empathy, the person is actually “in” the emotions of others, whereas with sympathy, the person experiencing it is recreating what their imagination can create, from the building blocks of society, family, and learned experience. The person in sympathy is not actually feeling the same emotions as the person conveying the experience.

So, the question bears asking: are compassion and empathy related? How can one suffer without actually feeling the suffering?

The Chopra Center has an interesting distinction for the word compassion. They state:

“When you’re compassionate, you’re not running away from suffering, you’re not feeling overwhelmed by suffering, and you’re not pretending the suffering doesn’t exist. When you are practicing compassion, you can stay present with suffering.”

In other words, you need to have both empathy and sympathy to be able to motivate yourself to compassion. Compassion is also action; it is the desire to relieve the suffering of the other person with real and meaningful work.

pair The interesting difference between kindness and compassion is in the suffering. It is kind to hold the door open for people. It is compassionate to bring someone into your home and away from the cold. Kindness involves a gentle mindset and may be necessary for compassion; however, compassion demands more. It demands action that is substantial enough to relieve true suffering, a true burden. It’s not taking the burden off someone’s shoulders, or living the pain with the person. That achieves nothing. It is not only lifting the burden with someone but working on ways to bring the cause of the suffering to an end. The compassionate person has distance from the emotional weight and can therefore see more clearly what may be accomplished. In conjunction with the other, that clear-headed person can provide a guide through the suffering.

Compassion requires a higher thought, a higher attention to the greater good. It also seems to require an integrated person – someone who can truly see the person in all their different forms and deliver what is required. Compassion isn’t kindness.

Kindness is a quality of being gentle and generous. Empathy is the ability to actually feel the suffering of another, while sympathy is the ability to imagine that suffering. Compassion takes all of those facets and creates an action plan. We might equate kindness with the physical, empathy with the emotional, sympathy with the mental, and compassion with the spirit, if we were breaking this down in the sense of human experience. The highest emotion, in this human drama, then, is compassion. It requires the most energy, delivering the most gain. In other words, sometimes the kindest, and toughest act of compassion may appear to be harsh of difficult for the person to achieve. Saying “no” to the alcoholic is compassionate, as is saying “no” to the person who always wants the answer. Telling the intelligent person that their poor work is the result of laziness is kindness, empathy, and sympathy rolled up into a greater purpose – it is compassion. Enablement is not compassion: it is destruction. aroundcompassion

Freemasonry teaches you how to act but not how to think or feel. Freemasons are regularly taught to be kind and compassionate, yet subdue strong emotions in favor of thoughtful discourse.

Freemasonry also teaches you to act instead of standing on the sidelines and watching and simply thinking about a thing. Freemasonry provides opportunities for its adherents to be able to speak openly and view themselves authentically. Everyone requires a second set of eyes and experiences to become better, and it is in the bonds of fraternal love that compassion can be delivered. It requires different thought than the general society. It expects the Mason to not only learn to be compassionate but also to be able to receive that compassion. It becomes a true bond of fraternity, when honesty is the cement that not only binds us but supports us.

Are Freemasons perfect? Not by a long shot. It is in the compassion found in fraternal bonds that Masons can become better human beings and thereby better members and examples in the larger society.

The Templar Fate: A Primer

January 21, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in History Tags: Chivalric code of honor, Chivalry, Christianity, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Crusades, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, History, Jacques de Molay, Knight, Knighthood, Knights, Knights Templar, Malcolm Barber, Mason, Masonry, Masons, Order of the Knights Templar, Pope, Processes Against the Templars, Processus Contra Templarios, Rule of the Order, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Templars, The Da Vinci Code, The Vatican, Trial of the Templars 4 Comments

On Friday, October 13, 1307, the French King, Philip (Philip IV) the Fair, arrested and charged with heresy the various knights, monks, and households of the Knights Templar, in defiance of the then-current Pope Boniface VIII’s authority. Thus begins the most famous or infamous, depending on your belief, trial of Medieval times: the trial of the Knights Templar, or the Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Jesus Christ.

The Order of the Knights Templar was beholden only to the Pope as was set out in their formal inception as a military-sacred order in 1129 C.E. at the Council of Troyes. The Knights had a strict Rule of Order, written by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, emphasizing chastity, obedience, and poverty. Originally charged with guarding the pilgrims who came to a newly-won Christian Jerusalem, the knights performed further duties over the course of their approximately 190 years of existence: they fought in the Crusades, took in younger sons of nobles and trained them in monastic and chivalric duties, and acted as monetary brokers to the pilgrims. Due to the interest in securing the Holy Land for pure Christian purposes, many European nobles and royalty gave large sums of money, younger sons, and land to the Order, who also acted as bankers for several members of royalty.

jacques At the time of their arrest, the Templars were one of the richest organizations in Christendom. They were money changers and deposit bankers, one of the largest religiously sanctioned banking functions in the Middle Ages. Being beholden to the Pope, and only the Pope, did not hurt their lofty status; they were answerable to no King or Duke, ostensibly working for all of the Christian faith. That is, they had little temporal control over their comings and goings. This apparent secrecy hurt them, in the end, as false charges were difficult to disprove. Yet, their status as protectors of pilgrims never wavered, even when the Crusades were beginning to fail. As Christians lost control of the Holy Land to other religions, the Templars pulled back their protection efforts yet still retained their status as bankers and pious warrior monks.

This was a group that did not know how to reinvent itself. Indeed, their last Grandmaster, Jacques de Molay, was seen as both pious and inefficient. Lacking vision, the Grandmaster pushed for a new crusade as their original charter dictated, perhaps to the Order’s detriment. There was tremendous political upheaval within the Catholic church, and this entered the period of the French papacy, puppets of the French royalty. There are some scholars who believe the Knights Templar lost their humility and shifted the way of the powerfully rich, feeling that money and their connection to the Pope would save them from all political or temporal concerns.

placa_en_el_lugar_de_ejecución_de_jacques_de_molay In the end, we have to rely on contemporary reviews of medieval writings, from everyone but the Templars, on their motivations and defense. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of contemporary writings about the Knights Templar, with nearly as many theories of “why” and “what.” Grand schemes involving treasures and magic have surfaced with little substantiation behind them. The truth can be found, we hope, in the primary resources and period writings. At least in part.

From his book, “Trial of the Templars,” Malcolm Barber seeks to lay out how the Templars met their downfall. From the introductory material, we read:

The Templars fought against Islam in the Crusader East for nearly two centuries. During that time the original small band grew into a formidable army, backed by an extensive network of preceptories in the Latin West. In October 1307, the members of this seemingly invulnerable and respected Order were arrested on the orders of Philip IV, King of France, and charged with serious heresies, including the denial of Christ, homosexuality and idol worship. The ensuing proceedings lasted for almost five years and culminated in the suppression of the Order. The motivations of the participants and the long-term repercussions of the trial have been the subject of intense and unresolved controversy, which still has resonances in our own time.

Barber first published this book in 1978, with a second edition in 2006, one year before the Vatican released the official documents they had on the Templar trials. More on this below. Barber endeavors to explain in clear terms what was going through the minds of the main players of the story. For those who are interested in a scholarly rather than sensational approach to the story, this is the goto accessible book. You can download a copy from Academia.edu Much of the downfall of the Templars, their “secrets,” are very fanciful ideas with no supporting evidence. Sensationalized by “The Da Vinci Code,” among other media, the facts regarding who the Templars were, what they achieved, and what ultimately led to their downfall have been somewhat lost.

philippe_iv_le_bel As to the reason for the arrests and trial, two theories reign. The first is that the Templars were arrested on the charge of Heresy as that is the only charge that could force the organization to deliver all its material wealth to the regional authorities: in this case, Philip IV in France. Philip was broke, after having seized monies from all his available sources and this source, the Knights Templar, were the last richest group he could possibly tap. Having some control over the Pope afforded Philip the ability to take the step of arrest without the Pope’s approval. The Pope attempted to control the situation by issuing the arrest warrants for all Templars throughout Christendom, and force the trials to be run by the Papacy rather than the regional monarchs. This did little to help the Order survive as the defaming, true or not, caused a general apathy towards the original goal of the Knights Templar.

The second theory for the arrest is slightly less supported, although also possible. In this second theory, Philip was being fed information about the Templar’s heresy by French members of the Order. Philip was known as a devoted Catholic and husband, and when his wife died, he turned his bitterness into hate for the Templars’ supposed heresy. In this single-minded desire to rid France of all things un-Christian, he issued the arrest for what he deemed to be a heretical group living in his domain, a reason for God to punish his household and kingdom. Whether money factored into this decision or not is not known.

Ultimately, we only have the few written documents of the time to try to suss out what really happened. Barber’s conclusion is that whatever the reason for the arrests and subsequent trial, the forces which brought down the Knights Templar were external, not a glaring internal insufficiency.

saint-bernard-of-clairvaux-10 For people who are really interested in how the Templars began, a copy of the work of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Rule of the Knights Templar, can be had from your bookseller. St. Bernard was a leading theologian of his time, attending popes and royalty alike. His rule came out of the work he did in the Council of Troyes, and became the ideal of the chivalric orders. The book is a dry read but it does outline what it meant to be a warrior and a monk, a new professional and religious vocation in medieval society. Another book written by Bernard and edited by historian Malcolm Barber, is “In Praise of The New Knighthood: A Treatise on the Knights Templar and the Places of the Holy Land.” In this second book, St. Bernard gives us an expose on the ideals of the warrior-monk life and how this new medieval knight serves the greater good.

In early 2007, the Vatican announced that the papers regarding the trial of the Templars had been found, and in October of that same year, they published 799 copies of “Processus Contra Templarios” or the Processes Against the Templars. In this book are contained copies of original manuscripts and papal bulls, decrees, and transcripts of everything the Church would allow published of the Templar trial. It can still be found for sale, at prohibitive sums; it would be a good solid read for any true scholar of the chinon_parchment Templars if it could be found available to the public. One can hope that the Vatican, someday, releases it to a far wider audience. Some scholars on academia.edu’s reference site have placed papers about the Templars, some of them referencing this Vatican book, including one treatise on the Chinon Parchment, the written conclusion of absolution of the charges of heresy against the Order written by the then-pope, Clement V and the college of cardinals. “The document contains the absolution Pope Clement V gave to the Grand Master of the Temple, friar Jacques de Molay and to the other heads of the Order, after they had shown to be repented and asked to be forgiven by the Church; after the formal abjuration, which is compelling for all those who were even only suspected of heretical crimes, the leading members of the Templar Order are reinstated in the Catholic Communion and readmitted to receive the sacraments.”

What began in glory ended in sadness and death. The Rule of the Order, and many of the moral tenants live on today in Freemasonry, if perhaps a shadow of what they were. Freemasons endeavor to lead a nobly simple life, focusing on Service rather than reward. Additionally, there are groups of Freemasons who participate in rituals dedicated to the Knights Templar and continue to work toward the ideals of the original Templars.

For hundreds of years, the Knights Templar seemed to be a shamed group, shrouded in mystery and falsehood. Now, after seven hundred years, the Order of the Templars are absolved of their heresy and can rest an eternal, peaceful sleep of justice.

Egregore and Freemasonry

January 6, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, Esotericism, Theology Tags: Book of Jubilees, Book of Lamentations, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Egregore, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Gnosis Magazine, Holy Bible, Mason, Masonry, Masons, The Book of Enoch, Victor Hugo, Watchers 1 Comment

Egregore (also egregor) is a collection of thoughts put forth from a group mind. That is a simplistic explanation of a complex concept – at least to me. Psychologically speaking, an egregore is that “atmosphere” or “personality” that develops among groups independent of any of its members. It is the feeling or impression you get when walking into a restaurant, store, or neighborhood that something feels… different. It’s not wrong or odd, just… different. Whatever that feeling is, it is the entity’s “egregore.”

“The word “egregore” derives from the Greek word egrégoroi meaning “watchers.” The word appears in the Septuagint translation of the Book of Lamentations, as well as the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Enoch. Gaetan Delaforge, in Gnosis Magazine in 1987, defines an egregore as a kind of group mind which is created when people consciously come together for a common purpose.” Think of groups coming together to build something, like Habitat for Humanity, or like the feeling of a synagogue that prays together for a common cause. Even those examples might not be quite right. It’s more of the feeling that comes from doing the work in a group, of like-minded people. Being in the midst of the common mind working for a specific purpose, which feels powerful. Transformative, even. Egregore implies, by its definition, spending time and energy to create something.

Beehive This word, egregore, came up recently in a conversation with a fellow Mason, and I wondered at its true meaning. It isn’t a word in my everyday vocabulary and not one I had heard or used more than maybe once. It was time to brush up. I found an astounding number of occult meanings and, to be frank, made up ones as well. The word was first used by Victor Hugo, and the root is noted above. But, the idea of egregore is, I think, difficult to put into exact words. It’s kind of like other concepts of “good” and “bad” – you may not have the adequate words but you know it when you see it. Egregore is similar: We might “know” what it means and we have seen it, and felt it, in action. Yet, saying the meaning of the word, as a feeling, feels, frankly, a little “woo-woo.” A little fluffy, new-agey, and weird. Yet, all of us knows that it does exist.

There are some who feel that an egregore is an entity unto itself; the being is a collection of spiritual, emotional, and mental energies put forth by a group of people with a single purpose in mind. We don’t know that it has a consciousness of its own; rather, it could be that it ebbs and flows as the group “moves” through its work. In well-done ritual, the egregore can be felt moving among the members of whatever group is working toward the goal.

In Freemasonry, we might think of egregore, as the pinnacle of a Freemasonic ritual: all members working together to achieve the goal of promoting the best welfare of humanity, combating ignorance and hate, and striving to bring beauty and wisdom into the light. Think of any ritual, religious or otherwise, that felt incredible and think of what made it feel that way – THAT is egregore. I think that Leadbeater alluded to it in “The Science of the Sacraments” in his discussions about censing the Church space.

A Masonic blogger, E.C. Ballard, wrote the following, “So, what does any of this have to do with Freemasonry? The symbols, rituals and meetings of a group, when repeated over time, develop an egregore or group mind which binds the members together, harmonizes, motivates and stimulates them to realize the aims of the group, and enables the individual members to make more spiritual progress than if they worked alone.” This is why, perhaps, all symbols have meaning – more than the one we discern from their location or use in Lodge, church, or temple. We smell the ritual incense and this brings our hippocampus to a place of Order and Structure – the temple or church room. It’s the shivers we all get up our spines during any initiatory ceremony, when certain names or elements or musical sounds are invoked. The Freemason’s ritual, by its very nature, followed correctly creates this egregore.

ocsmpgfuiyogwpwowghu This is really what I mean about being able to identify a Masonic egregore. I once wrote, in a personal essay, “I don’t know exactly how Freemasonry works, but it does work. I am a far better person today than I was before, by applying Masonic principles and being open to learning. Had those two things not come together, Freemasonry would not have worked.” So, for me, egregore is the “work” achieved by a group mind, coupled with the willingness to receive that work. Sounds remotely like discipline, doesn’t it?

Interestingly enough, both group mind and willingness are addressed by the structure of Freemasonry. First, the willingness to work, well, that’s a given. Members come to the group of their own free will, and they can leave of their own free will. Freedom of choice is the purest example of a willingness to work. If we don’t want to do the work, learn the lessons, or put in time, why do we stay? We shouldn’t. Freemasonry doesn’t or shouldn’t bend to our will. It’s not about us. It’s about us conforming to the rules and regulations and more than that, being willing to be honest with ourselves about being there. If we’re not willing to submit to Masonic discipline, why the heck are we there? Why spend the money, time, and effort to attend? It’s far better for the individual and the group if the person chooses one way or the other and then just does it.

masonicsymbols The second item suggesting egregore, creating the group mind, is far more difficult to qualify. In contemporary articles on leadership, there is a concept called emotional intelligence. “Emotional intelligence (EI) or emotional quotient (EQ) is the capability of individuals to recognize their own, and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and to manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt environments or achieve one’s goal(s).” The term has been thrown around psychologists for fifty years but it has only recently (1990s) been the subject of business and leadership roles. The basic premise is this: in order to build effective teams, everyone must be working at their highest level of emotional intelligence, which develops trust, and eventually creates a team that is able to do anything towards which they put their minds and efforts.

Emotional intelligence develops “corporate culture”, which is like Masonic egregore. The ritual brings a physical demand in our lives; study and philosophical discussions bring mental stimulation. Many forget the emotional component to Freemasonry and that is emotional intelligence – how we dispense justice, how we reprehend, our voices when speaking with people – things the ritual instructs us in on how to live. By combining the first two, physical discipline with study and mental exertion, with the third, well-regulated emotions, we get Freemasonic egregore. At least, it appears that way. Maybe the concept of the “Lodge” or maybe even “Freemasonry” is itself an egregore.

I think we have to test this Masonic egregore theory for ourselves. How does Lodge make us feel? How does well-rehearsed ritual sound and express itself? Do we feel satisfied when the pieces work well together? How do we feel when they don’t? How does it feel to stand in a Lodge room alone? What about with other members? What happens when there are three people attending a meeting versus fifteen? What happens to the Lodge when one or two members are not “hooked in” and trusting the Lodge, the Master, or the Order?

egregore-group With Freemasonry, it feels as if one needs to be “all in” in order to even start to build a true Masonic Lodge: a curated collection of people coming together in a thriving and growing group that finds, eventually, its own brilliant egregore. Perhaps that is what we are searching for and why Freemasonry appeals to us human beings. The mystical experience that some members hope to find is really this egregore that, in some ways, we are all hoping to find. We all want to make a place in the world – leave our mark or our legacy. As Freemasons, that is a better humanity. Masons seem to be searching for that community that brings us hope, trust, and peace. Finding it takes a lot of work, it seems. Touching the egregore for a moment provides perhaps a brief insight into what the Divine really is like.

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