The Illumination Lecture Series

Transcription

1 290 Trestleboard April 2018 Volume #130 Issue #4 South Pasadena Masonic Lodge of F&AM The Illumination Lecture Series Year Five www southpasadena290 org

2 A P R I L MONDAY Illumination Lecture: MW John Heisner The Ancient Landmarks 7pm Open to All. WEDNESDAY Stated Dinner and Meeting 6:30pm Traditional Ham Dinner SUNDAY Masonic Service Bureau Breakfast The Hilton LAX 8:15am TUESDAY Officer Practice: 3rd Degree 6:30pm WEDNESDAY Candidate Study Night 7pm SATURDAY Masonic Meditation 10am WEDNESDAY Officer Practice: 3rd Degree 6:30pm WEDNESDAY SP & EG Hall Association 5:30pm OSI at South 7pm April Birthdays Dallas Munger (04/02), Theodore Rose (04/03), Vincent Creighton, John Martin (04/04), Arthur Martirosyan (04/05), James White (04/06), Michael Arnold, Nicholas Herr (04/08), Kenneth Wood (04/09), Robert Atkinson (04/11), James Hilton (04/12), Randall Black, Jeriel Smith (04/14), C.D. Russell (04/16), Emery Selley (04/22), George McNamara, William Wessling (04/24), Paul Porner, George Vieth (04/26), Benniw Seibold (04/29). SAVE THE DATE South Pasadena Masonic Lodge s 130th Anniversary Festive Board Saturday, June 26, 5pm EASTERN STAR DINNER and MEETING MONDAY APRIL 9th, :30pm 7:30pm LECTURE NIGHT Stephanie Doan Wills and Trusts MONDAY APRIL 23rd, 7pm SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESEARCH LODGE MEETING MONDAY APRIL 16th, 7pm April

3 From The East March 28, 2018: Wor. Jason Wilson with Bro. Adrian Howard at Bro. Howard s Second Degree. [Bro. Adrian Howard s] journey took four years from Entered Apprentice to Fellow Craft, so his degree was a real special night. Greetings Brethren! I hope all is well with each and every one of you. We have another great month here at lodge, but before I get into that I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the Illumination Lecture Series committee (meet them on page 9). These brothers have been putting in loads of hard work for our lodge. The lectures make our lodge look great, we have visitors coming from all over Los Angeles County and beyond. It is also a great opportunity to spend time with potential candidates. This lecture series is making our lodge a beacon of Masonic education in Southern California. You ll read more about it in the proceeding pages. We also had two great Fellow Craft degrees this past month: Brother Nelson Blanton, who delivered a near perfect standard form Proficiency, and Brother Adrian Howard, who has April been a staple of our lodge, always willing to help set up and break down at events and being present for his brothers. His journey took four years from Entered Apprentice to Fellow Craft, so his degree was a real special night. A brief update of the projects we have in the works at our lodge, the men s restroom make over is moving along and we should see some progress by mid month. Brother James Gips and I have been working with the hall association in updating the lighting in lodge room and dining area. Our woman s month charity is almost complete and you will see photos in the next issue. And yes, the pins are coming! They will feature art by brother Johnny Arias. I ll have details in the next issue on how to get your hands on these collectibles. Fraternally yours, Jason Wilson

4 Lodge News & Notes A Brief Look At the Events and News of the Past Month Past Masters Association February 24, 2018: South Pasadena brothers came out to support The 111th Annual Past Masters Association meeting and dinner. Sweet Heart s Brunch March 9, 2017: Bro. Phil Donlon cooked up at excellent brunch at our yearly Sweet Heart s event. The big hit were the honey chicken biscuits. 14 April

5 New Fellow Crafts Second Degree March 21, 2018: Congratulations to Bro. Nelson Blanton on being passed to the Second Degree of Masonry after delivering a near perfect First Degree proficiency. April Second Degree March 28, 2018: Bro. Adrian Howard finally being passed to the Second Degree of Masonry after being an E.A. since January 29, 2014.

6 The Illumination Lecture Series First Speaker of The Year By Bro. Jeriel Smith February 5th, 2018 On It s Fifth Successful Year The Illumination Lecture Series is well underway and its begun with an exhilarating start a record number of guests at our first two lectures thanks to speakers Timothy Hogan and Greg Kaminsky, who set the tone for what will become a very illuminating lecture year. All our guest speakers have one important thing in common they love Freemasonry. They are published authors, well known Masonic podcasters, or have had their studies published. The lecture nights will continue to be on their traditional first Monday of every month (dark in January, July, and September) at 7pm. Please read the following pages for a detailed list of this year s confirmed guest speakers and the past two we have already hosted. April (L - R): Charlie Fisher, PM, Ramiro Montes De Oca, Michael Laidlaw, Jeriel Smith, Marco Garcia, PM, Timothy Hogan, Dago Rodriguez, PM, Worshipful Jason Wilson, Johnny Arias. Our lodge s 2018 Illumination Lecture series got off to a spectacular start on February 5, as a large audience of 68 Masons and guests heard Worshipful Brother Tim Hogan present, for the first time anywhere, his new talk, the full title of which is First Nation American Indian Indigenous Tribal Similarities to Freemasonry. As this year we are asking our speakers to make their talks open to all, Brother Tim chose not to directly address elements of Masonic ritual, but to describe a wide variety of Native American Indian imagery, symbolism and ritual and allow the audience to make the connections to Freemasonry. His presentation was illustrated with many images, and enriched by his personal travel to many of the sites mentioned and even his own observations of tribal rituals still in use today. He also noted, at the outset, that he had chosen representative examples from the hundreds of tribes with such connections to Masonry. Indeed, the number of such similarities argues strongly against them being merely coincidental. At the dinner following the lecture, Brother Tim sold out of copies of several of his books and signed copies of Novo Clavis Esoterika, which will take their place in the library alongside those of prior Illumination speakers. April

7 The Illumination Lecture Series First Speaker of The Year By Bro. Jeriel Smith February 5th, 2018 On It s Fifth Successful Year The Illumination Lecture Series is well underway and its begun with an exhilarating start a record number of guests at our first two lectures thanks to speakers Timothy Hogan and Greg Kaminsky, who set the tone for what will become a very illuminating lecture year. All our guest speakers have one important thing in common they love Freemasonry. They are published authors, well known Masonic podcasters, or have had their studies published. The lecture nights will continue to be on their traditional first Monday of every month (dark in January, July, and September) at 7pm. Please read the following pages for a detailed list of this year s confirmed guest speakers and the past two we have already hosted. April (L - R): Charlie Fisher, PM, Ramiro Montes De Oca, Michael Laidlaw, Jeriel Smith, Marco Garcia, PM, Timothy Hogan, Dago Rodriguez, PM, Worshipful Jason Wilson, Johnny Arias. Our lodge s 2018 Illumination Lecture series got off to a spectacular start on February 5, as a large audience of 68 Masons and guests heard Worshipful Brother Tim Hogan present, for the first time anywhere, his new talk, the full title of which is First Nation American Indian Indigenous Tribal Similarities to Freemasonry. As this year we are asking our speakers to make their talks open to all, Brother Tim chose not to directly address elements of Masonic ritual, but to describe a wide variety of Native American Indian imagery, symbolism and ritual and allow the audience to make the connections to Freemasonry. His presentation was illustrated with many images, and enriched by his personal travel to many of the sites mentioned and even his own observations of tribal rituals still in use today. He also noted, at the outset, that he had chosen representative examples from the hundreds of tribes with such connections to Masonry. Indeed, the number of such similarities argues strongly against them being merely coincidental. At the dinner following the lecture, Brother Tim sold out of copies of several of his books and signed copies of Novo Clavis Esoterika, which will take their place in the library alongside those of prior Illumination speakers. April

8 The Illumination Lecture Series 2018 Guest Speakers The First Monday of Most Months. Almost all lectures are open to the public. Please check back for more information. February 5th Timothy Hogan Lecture: Masonic Symbols in Ancient America March 5th Greg Kaminsky Lecture: Pico della Mirandola, Christian Cabala, Angelic Hierarchy and Spiritual Ascent April 2nd Most Worshipful John Heisner Lecture: The Ancient Landmarks - A Grand Masters Working Tools May 7th Robert Davis, PM Lecture: Manhood and Freemasonry June 4th Bryan Godwin Lecture: TBD April

9 2018 Illumination Lecture Committee (L - R): Jeriel Smith, Ramiro Montes De Oca, Marco Garcia, PM, Johnny Arias, Dago Rodriguez, PM, Michael Laidlaw August 6th Chuck Dunning Lecture: Masonries Contemplative Work and Wages October 1st Kieth Deighton, PM Lecture: Sacred Geometry and The Flower of Life November 5th Moe Bernard Lecture:The First Freemasons December 3rd Charlie Fisher, PM Lecture: Masonic Conspiracy: Leo Taxil April

10 The Illumination Lecture Series By Bro. Jeriel Smith March 5th, 2018 The 2018 Lecture Committee Welcomes Bro. Greg Kaminsky On March 5, a near capacity crowd of over 80 guests attended our second Illumination lecture of 2018, given by Brother Greg Kaminsky on Celestial Intelligences and based on his graduate thesis. Titled The Syncretic Angelology of Renaissance Philosopher Pico Della Mirandola, his talk placed the man he calls Pico in the vanguard of the Western Esoteric Tradition, even labeling him as the Father of Renaissance Humanism. Born in 1463 into an aristocratic family of Modena, Mirandola was a prodigy who spoke several languages and graduated from the University of Paris at age 21. An Aristotelian who sought to show that philosopher s thought to be in accord with Plato s, his Oration On The Dignity of Man is the best known philosophical text of the 15 th Century. His early tutors included converted Jewish scholars, with whom he learned Hebrew and studied Kabbalah, which he understood to be a model of creation, and the path to knowing Jesus and thus a means for reunion with God. He believed that human intellect was a mere starting point and held religious doctrine to be a form of clothing, an essence below the universal. In 1486, Pico assembled his 900 Theses from a wide variety of sources ancient and medieval, pagan and Christian, Moslem and Jewish. This work sought to demonstrate that all of humanity s spiritual traditions could be reconciled with one another thus Brother Greg s use of the term syncretic (from the same root as synchronize) in his title April

11 reflects the fact that this theme runs through all of Mirandola s writings. In particular, synchronization of Christianity with Kabbalah was a salient insight of his philosophy and his most lasting legacy. Publishing these theses as his Conclusions (with his Oration as an introduction), he intended to journey to Rome to present them to the Vatican for what he expected to be a reasoned conference. That journey and its purpose were cut short when the conference cancelled by the Holy See. Pope Innocent VIII then rejected his Apologia and Mirandola was excommunicated for heresy. He then fled Rome, taking refuge in Florence where Lorenzo de Medici took personal responsibility for him. [He was later pardoned by another Pope, Alexander VI, in 1493.] Brother Greg then focused in Mirandola s creation of a hierarchy of intelligences consisting of nine Orders of Angels. Pico described these Angels as thoughts no two of which are the same, as any that were identical would be united into one. He believed that man can exceed the Angels and connect directly to God by acting like the Angels, thus purifying himself enough to connect with the Divine. Thus, Mirandola reintroduced mysticism to the Middle Ages. Brother Greg finished by sharing with us his own personal practices of primordial purity based upon the concept that God is not separate from His Creation, and informed by his study of Pico Della Mirandola and his teachings. Though Brother Kaminsky has not published a book of his own, he has for sale other books, principally by David Chaim Smith (the creator of teachings. Though Brother Kaminsky has not published a book of his own, he has for sale other books, principally by David Chaim Smith (the creator of the podcast Occult of Personality ) including Bath of Bright Silence: A Handbook of Contemplative Mysticism. April

12 South Pasadena Masonic Lodge 2018 Line of Officers Contact Information MASTER Jason Wilson com SENIOR WARDEN Dago Rodriguez, PM net JUNIOR WARDEN Sergio Gomez com SECRETARY Mimo Akkari, PM com TREASURER Bob Arnold, PM net SENIOR DEACON Isaac Taylor JUNIOR DEACON Ramiro Montes De Oca CHAPLAIN Charlie Fisher,PM com com com SENIOR STEWARD Gene Mac Isaac com JUNIOR STEARD Rafael Kochar com MARSHAL Pascal Davayat com ORGANIST James Gips com TILER Ed Gudino com TB EDITOR Dago Rodriguez, PM net DISTRICT INSPECTOR Paul Bazakarian,PM 2 OFFICER S COACH Marco Garcia,PM marcoag1975@gmail com South Pasadena Masonic Lodge No. 290 Meets On the First Wednesday of Every Month At 6:30pm. Please make a reservation at the number above if you wish to visit our Lodge. April