Aldo Reno, Author at - Page 10 of 11

Masonic Galateo

The Italian magazine of esoteric and Masonic studies – “Il Laboratorio” [1] published in 2012 an article entitled : “Masonic Galateo – or the manner to best behave in a Masonic lodge”.

The original Galateo is a treaty on the rules of polite behaviour, written by Giovanni della Casa [2] and first published two years after his death in 1556. Della Casa described it as being a collection of “pleasant manners that (…) do not annoy any of the senses, nor the desires or the imagination of those with whom we live”.

Nowadays, more than the “senses and desires” the Galateo is concerned with topics like dressing code, table manners, gestures and speech that avoid offending others, because that is the very basic bargain required to live peacefully in communities.

Although written four centuries ago there can be no doubt that that treaty on acceptable behaviour will continue to be adopted by Society at large. It will of course change , evolve and adapt but it will never fall in disuse. Who would have thought , for example, fifty or so years ago that we would now all be going about our daily life with a mobile phone in our pocket on which to depend for almost everything and that we might at times forget to switch that gadget off when inside a Masonic Lodge ?

I am sure you will concur with me in saying that our Order enlists some of the best minds around and that amongst us there are individuals who are gifted with the ability of memorising and reciting to perfection any of the three degrees, whichever office they may occupy on the day. And yet (!) some of them may be oblivious, forgetful or ignorant of how to behave without being considered disrespectful.

For example, whilst the cacophony of sounds sometimes heard in the Temple antechamber – where the Brethren meet and dress themselves with the aprons and collars of their respective offices – can be forgiven as being a display of joy at meeting old friends and lodge Brethren, those that are made inside the Temple infringe the holiness of the place and are difficult to dismiss. The Brethren must never be sitting with their legs fully stretched on the chequered carpet. They must not be sitting with their arms crossed or extended to rest on their neighbouring chair in a casual sort of posture. Instead, the sitting posture called “of the pharaoh” should be assumed and maintained throughout the ceremony. Mobile phone texting, chatting with your neighbour or nodding off are considered misbehaviour even in a common boardroom let alone the place of worship of the G.A.T.U.

Paolo Nardi , the author of the article in the “Il Laboratorio” magazine, tells us that not so long ago at the end of every meeting he would see the Worshipful Master of a lodge take an Initiate, Fellow Craft or even a Master Mason to one side and point out to him the sort of behaviour, gesture or verbal expression, that was not acceptable of him and suggested how to behave in the future. It was a wise, gentle manner to help the Brother grow and mature. EAF, FC and MM must learn to observe the formal requirements that govern the behaviour in a polite Society as well as in a Masonic lodge. But against those who do not comply how many Lodge Masters, Past Masters or Directors of Ceremony display their dissatisfaction ?

But to return to our subject and close this paper, I should note that most of the Masonic etiquette rules are already quoted in our Ritual book albeit veiled in a language that is initially difficult , particularly for the initiate, to grasp let alone to remember. The importance of mentoring the journey to occupying the chair of Solomon and beyond , is therefore all the more of paramount importance.

There are several books that cover this subject in depth and they can be bought from dedicated Masonic retailers like Allan Publishing Ltd or even found stacked on a shelf or two at the “Letchworth’s” shop inside Grand Lodge in Holborn, London. But for the impatient reader a good list of rules on Masonic etiquette is published here: http://www.masonic-lodge-of-education.com/masonic-etiquette.html

Have a good read.

I wish all of you Freemasons, a good Masonic new season !

Aldo Reno

[1] It translates: “The Laboratory” . Issue 2014 n. 1-2 – Grande Oriente d’Italia – Collegio Circoscrizionale dei Maestri Venerabili della Toscana

[2] 1503-1556 , Born in Borgo San Lorenzo, a small town north of Florence. He became the Archbishop of Benevento the Papal Nuncio to Venice

The address delivered in a Lodge at the Initiation of a Foreigner

Our present times being so remarked by international tensions , Brexit, the strive towards a United States of Europe and by citizens from most world Nations affording to travel freely and extensively – even from an early age in their life – the issue of a Foreigner joining our Order is very current.

The following address to a foreign Initiate can be found in the 1798 edition of the Book of Constitution and a similar passage was even present in the discourse made in Paris by the Chevalier de Ramsay in 1723. It so rings true now as it did then.

Being a foreigner myself – though I spent the greatest part of my life in England more than I lived in that noble Country of my birth – I comprehend and strongly share the meaning of such an address. I profoundly feel its teaching and just love to read it!

Here it is for your enjoyment and…meditation.

"You Brother, the native and subject of another Nation, by entering into our Order, have connected yourself by sacred and affectionate ties, with (hundreds of) thousands of Masons in this and other Countries.

Ever recollect that the Order you have entered into, bids you always to look upon the world as ONE GREAT REPUBLIC of which every Nation is a family and every particular person a child.

When therefore you return and settle in your own Country, take care that the progress of friendship be not confined to the narrow circle of national connections or particular Religions; but let it be universal and extend it to every branch of the human race.

At the same time, remember that besides the common ties of humanity, you have at this time entered into obligations which engage you to friendly and kind actions towards your Brother Mason, of whatever (social) station, Country or Religion (he might belong)"

L.M. (The Editor)

The Order of the Philalethes

Throughout the second half of the XVIII century a number of Masonic Congresses were held in Germany and France – including the two that the Philalethes[1] organised – which greatly influenced the process of assessment of Freemasonry. The more notable of those meetings was the Convent or Congress of Wilhelmsbad [2] started in 1782, which came about as a result of several others held in Jena, Altenburg, Kohlo, Brunswick and Wolfwenbuttel over a period of three years.

In general those Masonic assemblies can be categorised as :

Those that were held for the purpose of addressing administrative issues
Those that aimed at reasserting the dogma, reviewing the ritual and researching the history of the Order.

The scope of such an exercise was to put an end to the fights for the predominance of one current over another and instead encourage free discussions about the doctrine, the origins and development of the Order, the discovery and understanding of its symbols and words.

One of those currents battling for supremacy was the Neo Templarism which aimed at monopolising the Masonic Order for its political schemes. It had been imported in Europe from Scotland in 1737 by a character still now much talked about in the Masonic historiography : the Baron Andrew Michael de Ramsay[3], a presumed secret agent of the Great Pretender of the England throne – James Stuart. In contraposition to that current, were the mystical Philalethes who admirably mired to harmonically fuse the various schools of initiation around the Masonic Brotherhood.

There is much to write about the Masonic Congresses and their incidence in history and I intend to enlarge on the subject in a future paper. But for now suffice to say:

a) That the course of action planned at Wilhelmsbad changed the face of Europe by bringing down the old social order.

b) That the Philalethes Congress clipped the ambitions of Count Cagliostro, Grand Master of the Egyptian Rite, to unite all the Masonic Orders into a Universal Order: his own !

Continue reading The Order of the Philalethes

The Freemason’s Apron

In speculative Freemasonry the Apron represents the badge of innocence and the bond of friendship. But for our ancestors , the operatives masons, the apron was just a garment worn to protect their clothes while at work. To that purpose the flap of the Apron was positioned upwards particularly in the case of the Apprentice to whom we may suppose were given the dirtier jobs.

But let’s set aside the question of what caused this tradition from not being regularly followed anymore and concentrate, briefly , on what the Apron really signifies.

That the Apron is the badge of innocence is a clear reference to the story of Hiram Habiff’s death that is so colourfully and scenically illustrated in the 3^rd degree. The bond of friendship, instead, is a reminder of the oath of brotherly love and truth that the initiate undertakes when entering the Order.

But there are other and more in-depth interpretations of the Apron which span from the mathematical to the intellectual.

The explanation of the Apron that I am going to bring to your attention is one that is captivating and which I totally agree with. It was put forward in a bygone Masonic publication quite a long time ago and here it is again for your enjoyment and instruction.

Aldo Reno

Continue reading The Freemason’s Apron

Robert Burns: A poet and a Freemason

All men possess some real worth but Genius is a unique gift of God to man. The word “genius” signifies original, from the Latin of Gignor, to be born; or, older still, from the Greek of Gennao, to generate, to produce.

A man may be a good historian, a good soldier or politician but only a man of genius can be an inventor or a poet and original thinker. Whenever we find men of rare intellect working out their own destiny and showing themselves above their contemporaries, then we are in the presence of such persons. They have lived in all ages and have been found among all races of men. They belong to no particular class or faith and are usually deeply religious in their own way.

Robert Burns, Scotland’s greatest son, was indeed such a man. He taught the world through his poems the difference between religion and faith.

"The rank is but the guinea's stamp

The man's the gowd for all that."

THE MAN HE WAS

Possibly no poet ever lived who possessed that original style and uniqueness of composition as Robert Burns. He was the poet of the rights of the common people. His qualities were fire, tenderness, humour, simplicity and all so nicely and rarely blended together.

He touched with delicate and joyful hands the deep and noble feelings of old Scotland and the life, the faith, the genious and hope of his native land.

This is why we love Robert Burns, for it was he who taught us the brotherhood of man, that which lives in his songs and always will live while human nature is the same. He saw the nature with the eyes of a child, saw beauty in the fold of hills, in the trees, in the flowing waters and the sound of the wind filled him with a sad joy.

Such was Robert Burns! a man full of passion and pity.

If he could have its way with us, every injustice, every cruelty, every despotism would fall and every man would have a more fulfilled life and superior soul.

“Then let us pray, that come what may 

As come it will, for all that

That man to man, the world over 

Shall brothers be, for all that”

HIS LIFE

Continue reading Robert Burns: A poet and a Freemason

A statement on the importance of the Secrets of Freemasonry

A question is recurrent in the minds of the neophyte more than any other :

Why , if Freemasonry is abound with secrets which are advantageous to mankind, are those secrets not freely divulged for the good of society in general ?

It is because if the mysteries and privileges of free and ancient Freemasonry were to be indiscriminately handed out , our institution might be undermined. Becoming familiar with those mysteries would soon make them appear to lose value and fall into disregard. After all , one of the weakness in the nature of man is that he is in general more captivated by novelty than by the intrinsic value of things.

Whatever is new it readily captivates his imagination and whatever is familiar – or easily obtainable ! – is instead disregarded.

Our ceremonies are not superficial , they have their use. They inculcate instructions to the well attentive mason and they teach him to view our secrets through a proper medium , even showing him the circumstances that gave rise to them. If the mason ponders on the tenets conveyed to him , he will inevitably find them greatly constructive and precious and will thereafter guard them as sacred.

Our practices may appear frivolous and our ceremonies may seem as if they can be adopted , changed or abandoned at pleasure but only so in the eyes of the misguided. Unfortunately on the basis of that false assumption we may sometimes see the “deluded” being hurried through all the degrees , ignoring the properties of what they pursue or even possessing a single requisite for advancement. Passing through the usual formalities he may accept offices and take on the government of the Lodge by potentially being neither fully knowledgeable of the rules of the institution he has joined nor understanding the trust that is placed in him. But fortunately this situation represents the exception and not the rule because the consequences of such practice may soon become apparent and Anarchy and Confusion would ensue in the Lodge.

To begin with every Art has its mystery and requires a gradual progression of knowledge to return any degree of perfection. Similarly in Freemasonry , no brother can become sufficiently knowledgeable in its true value without proper instruction and exercise. This does not imply at all that a person of limited education or whose field of work takes much of his time and application, should be discouraged in his effort to gain knowledge of Freemasonry.

To qualify for admission in our institution and to share its privileges and ancient mysteries it is not necessary for a man to know all of the parts of our science. In a Lodge the Freemasons meet as one family and all privileges on account of Religion , Country and social position are removed! And although some brothers are more capable than others in their different spheres of work and life, everyone can prove a good Freemason and thus become advantageous to both our institution and to the community.

So mote it be !

The Transition from Templars into Freemasons

The article by De La Riviere of February 2017 referred to the claim that the Chevalier Ramsay made in his speech of 1736 to the Grand Lodge of France in Paris, that the Freemasons descended from the Knights Templar. Many eminent Freemasons share such perception and historians concur that the roots of Freemasonry date back to the Crusades.

It is a myth to say that The Crusades were military expeditions aimed at defending the Catholic faith; greed was also a big incentive. The unwritten law of succession of the time seriously penalised the junior male offsprings from noble marriages; they could inherit neither the family title nor the family’s wealth. They needed to look outside their kingdom’s borders for richness , power and glory and saw the Crusades as a befitting façade to hide their desire for worldly gains.

The instigator of the first Crusade was Pope Urban II who had summoned the Council of Clermont, France, in 1095 and called for a war which had the intent of reclaiming the Holy Lands from the Muslims. Hundreds of minor princes, knights, vassals and tens of thousands of ordinary people took part in the Holy Wars, each with his own plan: the French knights wanted more land, the Italian merchants sought to add another good commercial opportunity to their portfolio, the common soldiers dreamed for glory and the peasants longed for freedom from the miserly life to which they had been doomed back home.

When after months of travel by sea, foot and horse, the Crusaders reached Jerusalem it was the year 1099. They put the city under siege and five weeks later entered it as the conquerors, plundering everything and massacring every one in their way. It is reported that in two days the Crusaders killed some 40,000 souls between Muslims and Jews. They then elected Jerusalem as their capital and founded a Kingdom that stretched from Palestine to Antioch.

The Crusaders then began to organise themselves in a way that would efficiently support the new States they had founded. They established military orders which have remained unique in history; among such Orders there was one that has fascinated people down the centuries: the Order of the Knights Templar.

THE WARRIOR MONKS

The full name of that Order was: “The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ and the Temple of Solomon” and it was founded by two French knights – Hugh de Payens and Godfrey de St Omer- some twenty years after Jerusalem had been ransacked.

Their connection with Solomon was the mount onto which the old King of Jerusalem’s temple once stood and which had became the Templars’s headquarters. King Baldwin I – a Frenchman from Boulogne and brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, the first Crusader ruler of Jerusalem – had bestowed the Knights a wing of his palace. And as such palace had been built right next to King Solomon Temple’s ruins, the Knights became known as the “Knights of the Temple” or Templars.

They Templars became bankers and lent money to merchants and Kings, exchanged currencies, bought land, built castles and churches and amassed a great deal of wealth. Having first established themselves as men of excellent military skill , they no longer needed to live on the rewards received for protecting the thousands of pilgrims and merchants who come to the Holy Lands from all parts of Europe. They therefore became the rightful and sole intermediaries in just about all things taking place between the West and the Orient.

Eventually in 1187 the Crusaders lost Jerusalem to the Muslims and were killed in reiteration for their earlier massacres; those who managed to escape death

fled to Europe where they continued silently to prosper financially and regain power. The majority settled in France and in particular in the southern region of Provence. But, decades later ,their activity of money lending to the Royal family led King Philip (le Bel) to become highly indebted. Fearful of losing control of his Kingdom, the monarch decided to arrest all the members of the Order with the aim of seizing their hidden fabulous treasure. But the raid of 1307 in Paris did not return the expected results : the underground city vaults in which the treasure was believed to have been stored were found almost empty!

It was now time for Pope Clement V to join in the arena and continue the purge King Philip had started. He accused the Knights of heretism and brought them in front of the Inquisition Tribunals.

The Grand Master of the Order – Jacques de Molay – was publicly burnt at the stake in Paris in 1314.

Thereafter , the Templars dispersed throughout Europe – perhaps even sailed the Atlantic! – and went underground.

Having been labelled “heretics” by Rome, the survivors of the suppression could only find shelter in Kingdoms which did not recognise the authority of the Catholic Church and under the ruling of King Robert the Bruce, Scotland was indeed one of those anticlerical states. When the knights arrived in Alba[1] , they schemed a convenient way to disguise themselves: they infiltrated the operative Lodges of the bricklayers and passed themselves for operative masons. This dualism of “knight-builder” is exactly what the Chevalier Ramsay was referring to in his speech when he said:

“(…) The word FM must not be taken in a literal (…) and material sense as if our founders had been simple workers in stone or merely curious geniuses who wanted to perfect the Arts. They were not only skilful architects (…) but also religious and warrior Princes who designed, edified and protected the living Temples of the Most High. And (…) whilst they handled the trowel and mortar with one hand, in the other they held the sword and the buckler.

The Templars were thus able to survive, maintain alive their rituals and perpetrate their philosophy through the foundation of the Masonic Scottish Rite. It is interesting to note that the name of the leader of those Templars who had taken refuge in Scotland was Mabeignac and that his name was later changed to the more Scottish sounding “Mac Benach” , probably to more easily obtain access into the builders’ Craft. The speculative Freemasons are familiar with this name as it is mentioned in the Ritual.

WHY DID THE TEMPLARS ABANDONED CHRISTIANITY ?

During their time in Jerusalem the Templars are said to have adopted a number of strange and mystical doctrines. It would seem that the Order was influenced by some “secrets” it had discovered , resulting in the Knights abandoning Christianity.

What could those secrets be?

Were they the stolen ancient Egyptian teachings included in the Kabala, whose rituals are often associated with Magic? Was it the occult information that only Pharaohs possessed? It may be possible given that the Temple of King Solomon itself contains some of the mathematical secrets also known to the Ancient Egyptians!

The authors of the book “The Hiram Key” [2] state that there is definitely proof of a great deal of excavation been made under King Solomon’s Temple which predates any investigation undertaken in recent history. The “Hiram Key” authors put forward the theory that the Templars must have discovered something under the Temple that completely changed their view of the world and of history.

This theory appears to have been accepted even by the famous Italian novelist and past Worshipful Master of the Order Umberto Eco[3] , author of “The Name of the Rose” and other similar bestsellers. In his book “Foucault’s Pendulum”, he hints that some prominent Jews had learnt those secrets during their permanence in Egypt, had stolen them and included them in the Old Testament. He wrote: “(…) The secret (of the Temple) is known only by a small group of Rabbis who remained in Palestine (…) and from them the Templars learnt it”.

The authors of the “Hiram Key” explain that the Egyptians never believed in the miracle of the creation; they thought that the Universe had originated from Chaos which began to evolve only by accident. And that what we witness in our daily life is simply a war between the forces of Chaos and of Order.

By learning and adopting that Egyptian-Kabalist doctrine, shared by the Jews, the Templars clearly embarked on an irreversible conflict with the Catholic Church. They sealed their own fate!

THE BIRTH OF THE SCOTTISH RITE

The Scottish King who had welcome the Templars on his land allowed them to freely continue exercise their doctrine and to greatly influence the future Masonic Lodges of his Realm.

Many years later, some of the Scottish Templars and their brethren returned to France and established there “The Masonic Scottish Rite” , recognised by all as the oldest Rite in Freemasonry.

by Aldo Reno

The author forbids any reproduction or publication of this article, in full or in part, without his explicit authorisation.

[1] Gaelic word for Scotland

[2] Christopher Knights and Robert Lomas

[3] Umberto Eco: This eminent Freemason and University Lecturer , in 2016 passed to the Grand Lodge above

Sources: Global Freemasonry by H. Yahya ; The Hiram Key by Christopher Knights and Robert Lomas ; Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

The Chevalier Ramsay

The discourse the Chevalier Ramsay made in Paris in 1736 could have just been a speech of circumstance which, as it is the fate of many speeches of a circumstantial nature, would have then fallen into oblivion. Instead it has been held in high regard ever since, been translated and successfully published in many foreign languages. But more importantly, it still provides the fundaments on which French Freemasonry rests.

WHO WAS THE CHEVALIER RAMSAY?

Destined to become one of the most romantic figures in the history of Freemasonry, Andrew Michael Ramsay was born in Ayr, Scotland, on June 9^th 1686. He entered Edinburgh University at the age of 14 and studied classics, maths, theology and on finishing his studies he took up the position of tutor in the Earl of Wemyss’[1] household. In 1706 Ramsay left England for the Flanders where he joined the army of the Duke of Marlborough who was engaged in the war of the Spanish succession, essentially a war between France and Spain against England and Austria. In 1710 he met the Archbishop of Cambrai, Fenelon, and became his companion until Fenelon’s death in 1715. Born a Calvinist[2] Ramsay converted to the Roman Catholic faith under the teaching of his Church Official friend. Ramsay then moved to Paris where he worked for the Duc de Chateau-Tierry who introduced him to the Regent, Philippe d’Orleans, brother of King Louis XIV. The Prince was also the Grand Master of the Order of Lazarus[3] so that through that acquaintance Ramsay was able to be admitted in his Order which henceforth qualified him to be known as the Chevalier de Ramsay and to receive a pension from the Abbey of Signy.

In 1723 Ramsay became tutor in Rome to the two young sons of the Old Pretender, the catholic James Francis Edward Stuart (James III), who had fled England after losing the crown to the protestant Prince William of Orange. From 1725 to 1728, Ramsay stayed as an invited guest of the Duc de Sully and it was during this period he wrote the famous novel The Travels of Cyrus which was published in 1727. It was a best seller in its day and served to establish the Chevalier’s reputation in England as well as on the Continent.

Continue reading The Chevalier Ramsay

The Egyptian Rite of Count Cagliostro

In 1737[1] at the Grand Lodge of France in Paris its Grand Orator the Chevalier Ramsay , enunciated that the Masonic Order descended from the Knights Templar and was therefore of an exclusively aristocratic nature. Soon after that speech, numerous Masonic High Degrees were founded all over Europe, each one of them claiming to be the rightful guardians of some superior secrets that came in the form of privileged expression of Spiritualism or Esoterism.

The Egyptian Masonic Order was one of those Higher Degrees and it was founded in France by the self-styled Count Alessandro Cagliostro, akas Giuseppe Balsamo[2] from Palermo, who has remained one of the most enigmatic characters in history. Considered to be a great magician, alchemist and healer in some circles or a rogue and a charlatan in others, Cagliostro was accused to be part of the famous plot of “L’affaire du collier de la Reine “(Marie Antoinette)[3] in 1785 at the Court of King Louis XVI. After years of drifting in Europe, the Count ultimately died in 1795 in the gaols of the fortress of San Leo[4] having been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Church Inquisition. Yet with the foundation of the High Degree of The Egyptian Freemasonry, Cagliostro had created something in life that, at least for a while, gave him fame and respect although later it will also cause his downfall and imprisonment.

Cagliostro had joined the London Lodge “Esperance” on 12^th April 1777. However the speed with which he reached the highest degree when he was in England suggests that he had already been initiated elsewhere, probably in Malta in 1776. In 1784 he travelled to Lyon and took lodgings at the Hotel de la Reine . There he registered himself under the assumed name of Count Fenice [5] and asked the most illustrious Freemason in town to come and meet him. That individual was Jean-Baptiste Willermoz , who later wrote: “I went to see him two days after his arrival and I went there suspiciously expecting to meet a person called Count Fenice but from his mannerism I soon realised I was in front of Cagliostro. He spontaneously admitted his real identity and told me that he had renounced the practice of medicine – which made enemies for him wherever he went – and now wanted to occupy himself exclusively into instructing selected Freemasons to the truest Freemasonry of all , that of the Egyptian Rite which teaches to work for the glory of God and the happiness of mankind “.

Continue reading The Egyptian Rite of Count Cagliostro

Was Mozart murdered?

In Vienna’s graveyard, next to the funerary monuments of Schubert and Beethoven, there is also a Memorial dedicated to one of the most distinguished composers of classical music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The visitors keep coming regularly and in large numbers to pay their respect to the music genius, but they do not realize they are victims of a deception: nobody knows precisely where Mozart was actually buried , not even his next of kin.

Mozart was interred with so many others in a common grave with the result that q few days later his corpse ceased to be identifiable with some degree of certainty. His wife Constanze did everything to throw some light onto the enigma that enveloped the composer’s death, but finding herself hampered at every step, she eventually left both Vienna and Austria. When in later life she married Baron Georg Nikolaus von Nissen, she again set off on her fact finding quest and came to the conclusion that Mozart had been murdered.

Indeed, for an unusual long time the Italian composer Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) had been suspected of poisoning Mozart. But although Salieri in more than one occasion acted against the interest of our composer, he surely never killed him.

Continue reading Was Mozart murdered?