(20221120) Canada: GL Manitoba: News

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(20221120) Canada: GL Manitoba: News

 

Volume 34 | 2022

 

 
 

 

eNews

 

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That’s a good question ?

 

What is Darkness?
Darkness has, in all the systems of initiation, been deemed a symbol of ignorance, and so opposed to light, which is the symbol of knowledge.

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Hence the rule, that the eye should not see until the heart has conceived the true nature of those beauties which constitute the mysteries of the Order. In the Ancient Mysteries, the aspirant was always shrouded in darkness as a preparatory step to the reception of the full light of knowledge.

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The time of this confinement in darkness and solitude varied in the different mysteries. Among the Druids of Britain the period was nine days and nights; in the Grecian Mysteries it was three times nine days, while among the Persians, according to Porphyry, it was extended to the almost incredible period of fifth, days of darkness, solitude, and fasting. Because, according to all the cosmogonies, accounts of the universe, darkness existed before light was created, darkness was originally worshiped as the firstborn, as the progenitor of day and the state of existence before creation. The apostrophe of Young to Night embodies the feelings which gave origin to this debasing worship of darkness:

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O majestic night!

Nature’s great ancestor! Day’s elder born!

And fated to survive the transient sun!

By morals and immortals seen with awe!

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Freemasonry has restored darkness to its proper place as a state of preparation; the symbol of that antemundane chaos from whence light issued at the Divine command; of the state of nonentity before birth, and of ignorance before the reception of knowledge. Hence, in the Ancient Mysteries, the release of the aspirant from solitude and darkness was called the act of regeneration, and he was said to be born again, or to be raised from the dead. And in Freemasonry, the darkness which envelops the mind of the uninitiated being removed by the bright effulgence of Masonic light, Freemasons are appropriately called the sons of light. In Doctor Oliver’s Signs and Symbols there is a lecture “On the Mysterious Darkness of the Third Degree.” This refers to the ceremony of enveloping the room in darkness when that Degree is conferred-a ceremony once always observed, but now, in this country at least, frequently but improperly omitted. The darkness here is a symbol of death, the lesson taught in the Degree, while the subsequent renewal of light refers to that other and subsequent lesson of eternal life. ~Mackey

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

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THE FOUNDATION STONE

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By Bro. N. Vallely; Published in SELECTED PAPERS – September 1962

Vol. 3; United Masters Lodge, No. 167 Auckland, New Zealand

It has been edited by V.W. Bro. Barry D. Thom, St. Clair Lodge # 577

Grand Lodge of Canada in the Prov. of ON 

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     While customs continue on, the original reasons behind them can and do evolve as society changes. The barbaric features of a custom may have been eliminated or molded into a ceremony more pleasing to civilized society. As well, one or more original reasons for it, may also have been modified or completely abandoned. Such a custom is the laying of a Foundation or Corner Stone. The original or main reason was certainly an operative one and still is. Today the earliest primitive motives no longer apply. The Foundation Stone ceremony recalls beliefs almost as old as man himself, and stems from the Foundation Sacrifice performed by primitive man.

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      Sacrifice itself has been defined essentially as a prayer, or an appeal by man, to a superior power. Man is willing to surrender something of value for the hopes of receiving something in return. Foundation Sacrifices, also known as Stability Rites, have varied in form from place to place and from time to time but their primary object has always been the same, namely to supply the structure with a soul to ensure its stability. Well into the 1800’s the primitive tribes of Borneo, when building a house, would first dig a deep hole to receive the first post. The post was then suspended over the hole and a slave girl was placed in the hole. The signal was given and the lashings were cut, the enormous timber fell crushing the girl to death.

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      The Mandalay Palace in Burma was literally built over dead men’s bones. Such an ancient rite is known to have been used throughout Europe, the British Isles, as well as Asia, and Africa. Man then had a strong belief that spirits resided in stones, trees or other objects. So, in the Foundation Sacrifice the primitive believed that the soul of the victim was rendered homeless when he or she was slaughtered. The soul then readily entered the new dwelling provided for it by the foundation post or stone, thus giving it protection and stability.

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      These pagan horrors were slow to die out. St. Columba, the Irish saint, is said to have buried another saint alive under the foundations of a Monastery to appease the spirits of the soil. It was said that the spirits were demolishing, at night, what Columba was building in the daytime. It is interesting to contemplate the conflicting pagan influence, on the one hand, and Christianity on the other.

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     Bathing the Foundation Stones with human blood was a variant of the Foundation Sacrifice. Among those who did this were the Picts. They were a group of people who lived in Scotland and Ireland. They believed that the large stones of their bell-shaped towers would endure, if the lime mixture contained the souls of their human victims, whose blood had wetted the foundation stone. At some point in time there developed also the Completion Sacrifice. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, when at the building of a house in England when a workman fell from a beam and was killed. His fellow workers said that the accident was “luck for the house and would ensure its stability.” Many similar stories illustrate a second victim as the Completion Sacrifice.

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      It has been suggested that the Completion Sacrifice forms a basis for the Hiramic Legend, When the Foundation Sacrifice was performed to provide a soul for the structure, thus endowing it with stability, the Completion Sacrifice was intended to provide a protector, or guardian spirit. There was a time when a house or building had not only a skeleton and thereby a soul, but also its protective family ghost. In the first century B.C. there was found in the roof of a Temple in Greece the body of a warrior that had been embalmed, after having been killed. He was then clad in full armour. The Completion Sacrifice can be said to have survived today in the form of a Consecration or Dedication ceremony. Every race, however, has sooner or later rejected human sacrifice and has replaced it first with animal, then vegetable offerings and finally with a more symbolic sacrifice. But the incantations relative to the ceremony indicate the stability of the building. Thus, we find a lamb buried under Danish altars so that the churches might stand solid. There are many stories of allowing the blood of an animal to flow upon the foundation stone. 

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      First then, the Foundation Sacrifice, later the Completion Sacrifice and finally there is the desire of people to preserve a period of time in their life by putting articles in a time capsule to be opened by future generations. This practice has caused many people to refer to the Foundation Stone, as the Memorial Stone, particularly in Scotland. What we call a “time capsule” is not new, such a practice existed at least 5,000 years ago. In the foundations of a Temple built around 3,000 B.C. in Babylonia, there were found terra-cotta cylinders. The inscription on them listed the acts leading to the building of the Temple and including the symbol of the Storm Bird.

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      There is another feature of the age-old ceremony that has endured. The ancient Assyrian Foundation Stones were first made firm and then anointed with beer, wine, oil, and honey, a procedure similar to the anointing of the Foundation Stone in the present Masonic Ceremony. There is no set size for the Foundation Stone and it varies with the views of the architect. The inscription cut into its outer side nowadays gives little more than the date, as well as the name and title of the dignitary laying the stone. Formerly it was often lengthy and sometimes in Latin. 

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      The placing of the Foundation Stone at the northeast corner, and the veneration of this as the starting point of the building, arose not only from architectural and operative necessity but also from Solar worship. Stonehenge, in England, was a sacred site of worship and sacrifice dating from around 4,500 years ago. Orientation was obtained when the sun’s first rays cast a shadow from an upright rod. The perpendicular was obtained by using a plumb rule. Then the right angle was determined by a line drawn to the south from the line of the shadow. This was done in accordance with their belief that sun-wise or what we call clockwise motions were auspicious and anti-sunwise were evil. The First or Foundation Stone placed in this right angle had indeed to be proved as a right-angled stone and to be well and truly laid, for it was the starting point from which the rest of the structure would be assembled. 

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      In London England, on the 14th day of July, 1927, the Foundation Stone of Freemasons’ Hall was laid. The procedure was as follows:

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    1.  The Grand Master is requested to lay the stone.

    2. The stone is raised.

    3. The phial containing the roll of information and coins is placed in the cavity.

    4  The inscription upon the stone is read.

    5.  The Grand Master receives the trowel and spreads the cement upon the lower stone.

    6.  The upper stone is lowered by three movements.

    7.  The maul is handed to the Grand Master who strikes the stone at four corners, marking, “Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice.”

    8.  The plumb rule is handed to the Grand Master who proves the stone plumb.

    9.  The level is handed to the Grand Master who proves the stone level.

    10. The square is handed to the Grand Master who proves the stone square.

    11. The maul is handed to the Grand Master who strikes the stone three times and declares the stone well and truly laid.

    12. The stone is consecrated with corn, wine, oil, and salt.

    13. The ceremony concludes with the Consecration Ceremony and a Benediction.

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In the United States a Grand Lodge performs the ceremony with the Lodge opened in the First Degree. In the United Kingdom the laying is considered to be essentially linked to the Second Degree.

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     The Foundation Stone ceremony is still carried out by the Masonic fraternity today. Perhaps most often in North America, but wherever it is performed it is considered a compliment. Not only to our speculative Brethren, but also as a gentle reminder of when the Foundation Stone was more important architecturally. At that time it was part of our operative brethren’s trade skills that gave them the right to place the stone in position.

 

 
 

 

Thought for Today

By Brother Sandy MacMillan

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‘Freemasonry is anxious to give of her secrets to worthy men fit to receive them, but not all are worthy, and not all the worthy, seek’.

 

 

 

A Famous Freemason

 

Donald Baxter MacMillan was an American explorer born on November 10th, 1874 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. In 1886 he moved to Freeport, Maine after the passing of his father in 1883, his father was killed while captaining a Grand Banks fishing schooner. Then the passing of his mother suddenly in 1886. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine where he graduated in 1898 with a geology degree. From 1903 to 1908 he taught at the Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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In 1908 MacMillan was recruited by fellow Bowdoin College Alumni, naval officer and explorer, Robert E. Peary. Peary reached out to MacMillan after MacMillan had saved nine shipwrecked people over the course of two nights. MacMillan joined Peary’s expedition to the North Pole in 1908. MacMillan only reached 84° 29′ when his heels froze and he was forced to turn back. Peary allegedly reached the North Pole 26 days later.

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Over the next two years, MacMillan traveled around Labrador, Canada doing ethnological studies among the Innu and Inuit. In 1913, he commanded the ill-fated Crocker Land Expedition to Northern Greenland. Crocker Land was spotted by the Peary Expedition and was believed to be a land mass near Greenland. The land turned out to be a mirage. The expedition became stranded and were not rescued until 1917.

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In 1918, MacMillan was made an Ensign in the Naval Reserve Flying Corps. Immediately MacMillan began raising money for another Arctic Expedition. In 1921, a ship was commissioned, the schooner Bowdoin, named after MacMillan’s alma mater. After it’s launch, MacMillan and his team sailed to Baffin island, which is part of Canada and the fifth largest island in the World. MacMillan and his team spent the winter on Baffin.

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In 1923, there were fears of a new Ice Age. MacMillan and his team were sponsored by the National Geographical Society to study advancing glaciers. The same year he was commissioned a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve.

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In 1926, MacMillan led a group of explorers to Sydney, Nova Scotia. The group included three women and five scientists. The team spent several months collecting flora and fauna specimens in Labrador and Greenland.

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They also explored the ancient ruins of Sculpin Island which MacMillan believed were the ruins of a 1,000 year old Norse Village. MacMillan found what he believed were the remains of ten to twelve houses. He estimated the houses were hundreds of years old based on the lichen, a composite organism arising from algae and fungi growing together in a symbiotic relationship. MacMillan could not say for certain the structures were created by the Vikings, a local Inuit legend lends some credence to his theory. The local legend states the “stone igloos” were built by men who came from the sea in ships. The Inuit called the site Tunitvik, which means place of the Norseman. The structures also resembled structures found the year before in Greenland.

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MacMillan was put on the retired list for the Naval Reserve in 1938. When World War II started, despite being past retirement age, MacMillan was allowed back into the service. He gave the Bowdoin to the Navy and was made it’s first military captain. Shortly after, he was transferred to the Hydrographic Office in Washington, DC.

After the war, MacMillan continued his trips to the arctic. He supported a school he helped start called the MacMillan-Moravian School. In 1954, MacMillan was promoted to the rank of rear admiral on the Naval Reserve retired list.

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MacMillan passed away on September 7th, 1970 at the age of 95, he was the last surviving member of Peary’s expedition to the North Pole.

 

MacMillan was a member of Freeport Lodge No. 23 in Freeport, Maine. He was an honorary member of Kane Lodge No. 454, New York City (the Explorer’s Lodge). He was a member of New Jerusalem Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons Wiscassett, Maine, St. Albans Commandery No. 8, Knights Templar in Portland, Maine and a member of Aleppo Shrine Temple, Boston, Massachusetts.

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Source: MasonryToday

 
 

 

 
 
RW Bro. Brian Rountree receiving his 50yr Jewel

on Nov. 10th at Keystone Lodge

 

 

 

A Presentation at the October meeting of Capital Lodge 

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IONIC LODGE # 25     

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MY NAME IS W BRO. DONALD BENSON. I WAS THE LAST MASTER OF IONIC LODGE # 25, NOW KNOWN AS BEAVER IONIC LODGE# 25. 

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IONIC LODGE #25 WAS CHARTERED ON JUNE 1, 1883 A SHORT EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MANITOBA WHICH TOOK PLACE ON MAY 12, 1875.

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IONIC LODGE HAS A GLORIOUS HISTORY WHICH INCLUDES MANY MEMBERS THAT HAVE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF WINNIPEG AND THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA. PERHAPS MOST NOTABLY IS OUR PAST MASTER, W BRO. CHARLES DUFFERIN “DUFF” ROBLIN, THE PREMIER OF MANITOBA, BETWEEN 1958 AND 1967. W. BRO. ROBLIN WAS IN 1978 APPOINTED TO THE SENATE BY PRIME MINISTER PIERRE ELLIOT TRUDEAU

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I AM DELIGHTED TO BE IN YOUR MIDST TODAY AS I AM GOING TO BE UNABLE TO BE AT YOUR 100TH ANNIVERSARY GATHERING ON NOVEMBER 12 AS THE DATE CONFLICTS WITH OUR ANNUAL WIDOWS DINNER.

 

IONIC LODGE I BELIEVE HOLDS THE DISTINCTION OF HAVING THE GREATEST NUMBER OF DAUGHTER AND GRANDDAUGHTER LODGES OF ANY LODGE IN THE HISTORY OF MANITOBA.

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THE LIST OF LODGES CONSISTS OF:

KING EDWARD #93          THE ASSINIBOINE #114    EMPIRE # 127

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MERIDIAN # 140               MOUNT SINAI # 143          MENORAH # 167

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ST JAMES # 121                 LORD SELKIRK #137         FORT GARRY # 130

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GATEWAY # 171                CHARLESWOOD # 163    STURGEON CREEK # 145

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BUT MOST NOTABLE IS THE MEMORY OF THE FACT THAT 100 YEARS AGO OUR DAUGHTER LODGE CAPITAL LODGE # 136 WAS CHARTERED. 

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I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH THE CURRENT VIBRANCE AND VITALITY OF CAPITAL LODGE AND ON THE BEHALF OF THE WORSHIPFUL MASTER OF BEAVER IONIC LODGE # 25 AND ITS BRETHREN WE WISH CAPITAL LODGE THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF SUCCESS AS YOU BEGIN YOUR SECOND CENTURY.

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THANK YOU   

W. BRO. DONALD BENSON

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

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Articles published in this newsletter are not necessarily the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba or any of its officers or members, but are solely those of the writer…

Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest fraternity. It is comprised of adult men (18+) of good character from every country, religion, race, age, income, education, and opinion. Its body of knowledge and system of ethics is based on the belief that each man has a responsibility to improve himself while being devoted to his family, his faith, his country, and his fraternity.

 

Submissions welcome, please submit your Lodge events, photos, & etc.

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 Grand Lodge of Manitoba |  204.453.7410 | reception@grandlodge.mb.ca

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