Mere Freemasonry

The Hindu newspaper recently published an article about India’s Masonic heritage.  From the article:

Under the Regional Grand Master of Southern India for Freemasons, R.Sushil Raj, the organisation is going to hold its first ever public event.

MADURAI, June 27, 2013 –

Freemasons has been a society shrouded in mystery. For long, there had been many speculations of its history, members and their practices. But some of the world’s well-known personalities have also been freemasons.

An interesting revelation is that Swami Vivekananda was also a Freemason. He is said to have joined Masonry during his early life, as a youth. Though the fact is not a new discovery, it has not been much talked about either. However, an interesting event two months from now is going to celebrate for the first time the Swami’s connection with Freemasonry.

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Michael Baigent, best-selling author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, former Freemasonry Today editor, and speculative theorist passed away last night.

Brother Christopher Hodapp, author of one of the best books on Freemasonry – Freemasons for Dummies, wrote that “Brother Baigent’s books literally changed the way the world thought, and was arguably responsible for Dan Brown’s success with the Da Vinci Code. His thought provoking works will be missed.”

Brother Baigent (February 27, 1948 – June 17, 2013) authored and co-authored a ton of of books that questioned the generally accepted perception we have of religion and history.  One of his best known works is as co-author with Richard Leigh of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

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NORTH HOLLYWOOD – The Masonic Temple in North Hollywood is up for consideration as the city’s newest cultural monument after Councilmember Paul Krekorian introduced a motion last week calling on officials to include the 64-year-old building in the city’s list of Historic-Cultural Monuments.

From the Motion received June 11:

The Masonic Temple, built in 1949 at 5122 Tujunga Ave., is “one of the few remaining examples of Exotic Revival architecture with elements of Mayan Revival and exhibits high quality of design.”

You can read the entire motion HERE.

If you support including the Masonic Temple on the city’s registry of historic buildings, email Councilmember Paul Krekorian here: councilmember.krekorian@lacity.org

An exhibit at the Carlisle Museum’s Tullie House sheds some light on Freemasonry.

From The Guardian:

The origins of freemasonry are obscure. Although a 1730 book traced the organisation back to ancient Egypt, it is now thought most likely that it derives from 17th century guilds of master masons, which later became open to all professions.

The symbolism of the stonemason is still widespread in freemasonry, with set square and compasses frequently appearing on aprons and other ornaments, often with the addition of an “all-seeing” eye.

There are some 250,000 members of lodges affiliated to the United Grand Lodge of England. In Carlisle alone there are 14 lodges, typically with around 50 members.

The exhibit runs through July 7.

You can read the whole article HERE.