After
picking up one of my fellow brothers in Bryn Mawr, we slowly made our way
westbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and through the twisting and turning
roads of Lancaster County. Driving up to the impressive gates of the Masonic
Village in Elizabethtown, we couldn’t help but be impressed by its grandeur and
expanse. Fortunately, even though there were a few wrong and missed turns along
the way, we made it to the meeting just as registration was opening up.
It
didn’t take long before we ran into a few brothers we recognized and a couple
that we knew by name which filled the first hour of the event with catching up
and talking about our future plans both at the lodge, in freemasonry, and with
Scottish Rite (both of us are still within our first year). However, what
dominated the conversation was our excitement about the speakers that we were
about to hear. For many of us, this was our first experience with the Academy
of Masonic Knowledge and so we didn’t know what exactly to expect but, for me,
having been to numerous other presentations and readings in and out of the
masonic world I knew what we were in for and I was looking forward to it.
In
a bit of a switch in the schedule, Brother Arturo DeHoyos, PM,
was up first. While his original topic was going to be on Masonic Ritual, he decided to take advantage of the time of year
and speak about the images of mortality in Freemasonry. Keep in mind that
Brother Arturo is someone that, given his background and experience, you give
him your undivided attention regardless of the subject matter. Brother
Arturo DeHoyos, PM, is currently the Grand Archivist and Grand Historian of the
Supreme Council, 33°, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern
Jurisdiction of the U.S.A., a member of the Executive Staff of the
House of the Temple, and the Grand Archivist of the Grand College of Rites of
the U.S.A. He is America's foremost authority on the history and rituals of the
Scottish Rite, an author, editor, and translator of many books and articles on
Freemasonry.
Needless to say, we were
all left thinking about what we had seen and attempting to remember and process
all the information that was given to us in a matter of 45 minutes. Shortly
after his talk, we spent some time in a Q&A session that was, for lack of a
better
term, astounding. The amount of knowledge (and I am talking about pinpointing
exact dates, people, events, resources, etc.) is something that I don’t think I
have ever seen before and will never see again.
Appropriately,
following the lively discussion with audience members (I was too much in awe of
this man’s intellect to think of a question) we were given some time to digest
by adjourning for lunch. Masonic meals at larger events have always been a
great way to meet other Masons from all parts of the commonwealth. Doing so
allows for greater fellowship both during that particular event as well as
future events when you may run into them again.
With
our stomachs full and much left to process in our minds we were on our way back
upstairs to hear the second speaker of the day, Brother John Belton, PM,
who spoke on The English Masonic Union of 1813. This was a topic
of great interest to all in the room as we are a unique group of masons that
differs greatly in ritual as compared to all other parts of the United States
and much of the world the only exception being that of the Grand Lodge of
Ireland. Given my Irish ancestry, I was intrigued by what I might find out in
this presentation.
To give you some
background, Brother John Belton, PM has been a regular writer on topics of
current interest relating to the role of Freemasonry in society. In 1998 he
became the founding Senior Warden of Internet Lodge No. 9659 UGLE.
His research has focused on the decline of Freemasonic membership across the
English speaking world and has been published in AQC and Heredom. His
most recent book, The English Masonic Union of 1813,
was published in 2012.
It
is a fascinating discussion and one that I look forward to exploring further as
I read his book which I purchased at the meeting. I am also curious as to the
relationship between Irish and English ritual since the union in 1813 and
whether there are slight differences in the rituals of Northern Ireland given
their ties both to Ireland and Great Britain. While we discussed the lack of a noticeable
difference stemming from a question I posed in the second Q&A session it is
still something that I believe is worth exploring further.
Both of the presenters
left me with a great sense of uniqueness in the masonic world. Having heard my heritage
spoken about (both the Irish and German sides were explored in vastly different
ways) and the singular nature of Pennsylvania rituals in the United States, I
could help but feel uniquely privileged for being a part of something that
holds such a substantial role in the history of the brotherhood. It is this feeling
that I look forward to sharing with my fellow brothers at my lodge and
something that I look forward to exploring further both in my own reading and
research as well as at addition meeting of the academy.
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