What’s in Your Library? - From the Archives

By Midnight Freemason Contributor

W.B. Gregory J. Knott

Many new Masons are eager to learn all they can about the craft when they are first raised.  You hear many unfamiliar terms during the ritual and lectures that require further study to understand their meaning within the entirety of the ritual. One of the duties of a Freemason, is to educate yourself further on the craft by studying the history, meaning, and philosophy of this ancient and honorable fraternity.  Engaging in this course of study can be done in several ways and achieved through a large variety of available resources.   

I wanted to establish my own home library of Masonic resources.  I’ve always loved books, so this was an easy excuse for me to expand my personal book holdings.  But I really didn’t have any idea where to start.  I visited my local Barnes & Nobel bookstore and perused their offerings and bought a few titles and used Google Books to discover many older books that were available digitally.  I later found Masonic book publishers such as Macoy and Michael Poll’s excellent Cornerstone Book Publishers.

So the question comes down to, what are the basics to place in your home library?  I asked several people including some of my fellow Midnight Freemasons and here are some starting suggestions:

• Short Talk Bulletins by the Masonic Service Association
• Famous American Freemasons Volume I and II by Todd E. Creason
• Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike
• Hidden Keys to Freemasonry by Manley P. Hall
• Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manley P. Hall
• The Book of Words – Lawrence Kushner
• Royal Masonic Encyclopedia
• History of Freemasonry by Albert Mackey
• Ancient Freemasonry by Amblain
• Freemasons for Dummies by Christopher Hodapp – especially valuable to loan new members
• Mackey’s Encyclopedia Pre 1911 edition
• Your Grand Lodge Proceedings - Illinois Grand Lodge Proceedings
• Egyptian Mythology
• Books of the Sacred Law – Holy Bible, Koran, 
• Roberts Rules the Masonic Edition by Michael Poll
• A Bridge to Light by Rex R. Hutchens
• Born in Blood by John J. Robinson
• A Pilgrim’s Path by John J. Robinson
• Dungeon, Fire & Sword - by John J. Robinson
• Laudable Pursuit – Knights of the North
• Observing the Craft – Andrew Hammer
  
  

What’s in your Masonic Library?

~GJK

WB Gregory J. Knott is the Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star and is the Charter Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign-Urbana. He is also a member of ANSAR Shrine (IL) and the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. Greg serves on the Board of Directors of The Masonic Society and is a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society and The Philathes Society. Greg is very involved in Boy Scouts—an Eagle Scout himself, he is a member of the National Association of Masonic Scouters.

Welcome To The Brickyard: A Practical Freemasonry Primer by Matt Gallagher - A Book Review

by Midnight Freemason Emeritus Contributor

Adam Thayer

One of the few positives that has come from quarantine is having more time to read (67 books so far in 2020, not counting comic books and audiobooks), and I’ve been trying to mix in at least one Masonic book a month. This month, I was asked to read Welcome To The Brickyard for review, and I’m always excited to read new Masonic material (sorry Pike!) so I jumped right in.

I should start by explaining that this book really isn’t meant for Freemasons, it’s meant for people who are considering becoming a Freemason, which makes it really tough for me to say how useful it is for the target audience. If you’ve been around the quarries for a few years, most everything in here is going to be old knowledge to you, but it may still be worth having around to give to a potential candidate.

The book starts by discussing what Freemasonry is, if you should consider joining or not, and a basic explanation of some of the rules and requirements for candidates. It then discusses how to research a lodge, including some very helpful information on clandestine lodges, and finishes by walking through the process of petitioning, being interviewed, and how a lodge vote works. This is a very short book (roughly 1 hour long total), which is perfect for new candidates who can easily become overwhelmed.

There are many books that cover the same material as this; it’s very likely your Grand Lodge even offers one. This book does distinguish itself slightly by being funny, which is sorely lacking in a lot of Masonic literature, and depending on the candidate that may reach them better than the normal dry, stodgy pamphlets for candidates. Having said that, some of the jokes are really only understandable after you have taken the degrees, so I imagine they’ll fly over the head of the target audience.

There is some great information in here that isn’t generally covered by this type of book, such as signs to help recognize a clandestine lodge, and what happens if the vote doesn’t go positive for you, and I congratulate the author on including information such as this. It is also written in a conversational style, whereas most candidate books are designed more as lectures or textbooks, and I think that alone makes it useful. Having said that, depending on the individual reading it, that style may be very off-putting, especially when the first two pages cite Star Wars, The Lord Of The Rings, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.

So far, this sounds rather negative, which is a shame because this really is a good book to give to a candidate, and I intend to purchase a handful of copies to give out to individuals who show a high enough interest in Freemasonry to be a petitioner. If you’re a lodge secretary, I would recommend getting a copy to check out for yourself, and see if it would be useful for your lodge to hand out as well.

Welcome To The Brickyard can be purchased at www.practicalfreemasonry.com

~AT

What An Opportunity!

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason

As the Coronavirus sweeps the nation and events are canceled, and many of us are working from home, we have to see this as an opportunity—especially for Masons. Sometimes we forget that being a Mason isn’t just about doing things—going to degrees, and meetings, and putting on events, and raising money for this pet project and that. There’s a personal growth aspect to the fraternity that many of us neglect. We’re so busy doing all the time, we never really get the chance to work on ourselves. We hear those words over and over again, but we never have the opportunity to actually think about them—how might I apply those concepts to my life?

So while we are at home, and the cabin fever begins to settle in (it has for me already and it’s day 3), instead of looking out the window longing to go to a meeting, take this opportunity to work on yourself. There’s a Japanese word “tsundoku” that I think has special meaning for me right now. Tsundoku is Japanese slang, and it refers to the practice of letting books pile up without reading them. It’s the combination of two Japanese characters—the one for “pile-up” and the one for “read.” I don’t know many Masons that don’t have a huge read pile they’ve been meaning to get to.

Why don’t you read them? What Masons seem focused on right now is figuring out how we can do virtual meetings. We can’t go a month without listening to our Secretary read the mail? What I did is I sat down last night and made a “Sanity List.” On that list, I wrote down a long list of books I have that I haven’t read—both on my library shelf, and books that have been sitting on my Kindle for a long, long time. I’ve started a list of article titles—I’ve been neglecting my writing for a long, long time. I put on that list household projects that I’ve ignored for a long time—Tuesday I finally took ten minutes and got the bugs out of the kitchen light. Whatever that list is for you, don’t waste the time watching Netflix or whatever. Here are a few ideas for you.

Start clearing that Tsundoku from your shelves. If you have time now and don’t read them, you never really wanted to read them to begin with. Give them to somebody that will read them.

Start a daily devotion. Whatever your beliefs, start your day over coffee and scripture. Think about those areas that you need to work on, and begin improving those areas.

Learn some ritual. Has there ever been a better time to sit down and begin learning that lecture you’ve always meant to get to, or that part you’ve always wanted to do?

Seriously look at your schedule. Over the last few days, I’ve realized there are way too many unnecessary meetings—meetings that we are quickly finding out could have been an email. Look at where you’re spending your time and your energy and ask yourself if there are things you’re expending energy on that would be better used elsewhere.

Those are just a few off the top of my head. But make use of this time—don’t squander it away. Don’t look back at this season as a missed opportunity. Make the best possible use of it. This could be a turning point in your life. This could be your reset button. This could be an unprecedented opportunity to look at yourself, look at your life, look at where you’ve been and where you want to go. An opportunity to work on yourself, learn some new skills, chip a few chunks off that rough ashlar. Many of us don’t know how long this will last—maybe a short time, or perhaps a very long time. It doesn’t really matter how much time it is before we return to normalcy—what’s important is to use it to its full advantage.

 ~TEC

Todd E. Creason is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog.

The Value of Old Books

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RW Robert H. Johnson

With the NMJ (Northern Masonic Jurisdiction) Scottish Rite releasing their new 700+ page edition of the Francken Manuscript, it's time to talk about the value of these kinds of books. First of all, if you would like to read about this full color facsimile rendition, with essays etc., please visit HERE. It's a bit pricey, but I am sure it's worth the money. My only gripe is that not everyone involved in its production is a Mason. I don't think it detracts from the quality, just my opinion.

The main point I would like to cover in this short piece is the value of reprints, facsimile or otherwise. I personally own several facsimile reprints. Of course some do not like them because the quality can sometimes be not as great, but when it comes to being able to access rare prints etc. these are perfect. A great company is Kessinger's  Books. They offer a multitude of amazing books which are insanely hard to find for a reasonable cost.

Case in point, a copy of "The Masters Word - A Short Treatise on the Word, the Light and the Self" can run the gamut in price like this one which is over $1000.00 for an original in "good" condition. This is a lot to spend on a book that is about 116 pages. Forgotten Books Series from Kessinger's on Amazon gives you a wonderful reprint of this text for $11.00. Also, in the back of many of these facsimile reprints, the company will put a page at the end of the book, listing other books like the one you're reading which you can purchase through them at similar cost.

Hope this aids you all in your search for more light! Keep reading.

~RHJ

RWB, Robert Johnson is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Waukegan Lodge No. 78 where he is a Past Master. He also serves as the District Deputy for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focus on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry and is also an avid home brewer. He is currently working on a book of Masonic essays and one on Occult Anatomy to be released soon.