May          Jun              Jul               Aug               Sep              Oct            Nov           Dec

6- OES #8     3 - OES #8                                            2 - OES #8   7 - OES #8   4 - OES #8   2 - OES #8

8 – WM #3   12 - WM #3   10 - WM #3   14 - WM #3   11 - WM #3    9 - WM #3   13 - WM #3  11- WM #3

Master's Corner

Among those who helped design the Great Seal of the United States the following are known to have been Masons: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, William Churchill Houston, and William Barton.  Whether they drew heavily upon Freemasonry in this work it is impossible to assert but when an informed Mason examines the Great Seal here is what he sees.

On the obverse is an eagle whose dexter wing has thirty-two feathers, the number of ordinary degrees in Scottish Rite Freemasonry.  The sinister wing has thirty-three feathers, the additional feather corresponding to the Thirty-Third Degree of the same Rite conferred for outstanding Masonic service.  The tail feathers number nine, the number of degrees in the Chapter, Council, and Commandery of the York Rite Freemasonry.  Scottish Rite Masonry had its origin in France, the York Rite is sometimes called the American Rite, and the eagle thus clothed represents the union of French and American Masons in the struggle for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.  The total number of feathers in the two wings is sixty-five which, by gem atria, is the value of the Hebrew phrase YAM YAWCHOD (together in unity).  This phrase appears in Psalm 133 as follows: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,” and is used in the ritual of the first degree of Freemasonry.  The glory above the eagle’s head is divided into twenty-four equal parts and reminds the observer of the Masonic gauge which is also divided into twenty-four equal parts and is emblematic of the service he is obligated to perform.  The five pointed stars remind him of the Masonic Blazing Star and the five points of fellowship.  The arrangements of the stars in the constellation to form overlapping equilateral triangles and the Star of David calls to the Mason’s mind King David’s dream of building a Temple, to his God, the Companions who rebuilt a desecrated Temple, and the finding of the Word that was lost.  The gold, silver and azure colors represent the sun, moon, and Worshipful Master, the first that rules the day, the second, the night, and the third, the lodge.  While silver, connected with the letter Gimel or G and being surrounded on an azure ground by a golden glory, reminds the Mason of the letter G, a most conspicuous furnishing of a proper lodge room.  The shield on the eagle’s breast affirms by its colors, valor (red), purity (white), and justice (blue), and reminds the Mason of the cardinal virtues.  The value of these colors, by gem atria, is 103, the value of the phrase EHBEN HA-ADAM (the stone of Adam) and suggests the perfect ashlar, or squared stone, of Freemasonry.  One hundred and three is also the value of the noun BONAIM, a rabbinical word signifying “builders, Masons.”  Thus the national colors spell our, by gem atria, the name of the fraternity.  The scroll is the eagle’s beak, bearing the words E PLURIBUS UNUM (of many one) reminds him also of the unity, which has made brothers of many.

On the reverse, is the all-Seeing Eye within a triangle surrounded by a golden glory.  Besides the obvious Masonic significance of this design, it has a cabalistic value of seventy plus three plus two hundred, equaling two hundred and seventy-three which is the value of the phrase EHBEN MOSU HABONIM (the stone which the builders refused) familiar to all Royal Arch Masons. It is also the value of the Hebrew proper noun HIRAM ABILL, the architect of Solom9n’s Temple and the principal character of the legend used in the Master Mason degree. The triangle is isosceles, formed by two right triangles having sides of five, twelve and thirteen units in length, illustrating the 47^th Problem of Euclid.  The triangle also represents the capstone of the unfinished pyramid and reminds the Mason of the immortality of the soul and that in eternity he will complete the capstone of his earthly labors according to the designs on the trestle-board of the Supreme Architect of the Universe.  The unfinished pyramid cannot fail to remind him of the unfinished condition of the Temple when tragedy struck down its Master architect.

The blaze of glory found on either side of the Great Seal cannot fail to remind the Mason of the Great Light in Masonry, which is the rule and guide to faith and practice and without which no Masonic Lodge can exist.  It reminds him that only more light can dispel the pall of ignorance in which he stumbles until he enters the Celestial Lodge where all light is given.

White Mountain Lodge 1954

May

Brother Jasper L Lindsey was restored to membership.

Brother Gerald I Craig was recently elected Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Arizona

WM Sidney Fix conferred the Fellowcraft degree on Brother Silas L McGinness.

Funeral services were conducted for Brother Lon E Walters.

DORIC LODGE #26 1954

May

A courtesy funeral service was conducted for brother Claude Willard, a resident of Miami, and member of Wood River Lodge #1062 AF&AM Illinois.

A communication was received informing us that brother Mahlon Dawson had passed away in Tacoma, Washington and they held Masonic services for us.

Brother Frank Robertson from Doric Lodge was re-elected Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of Arizona, at the annual communication held in Douglas, Arizona.

On May 31^st, a vote was held in regards to the purchase of the Miami Townsite Building, which resulted in a vote of 12 favoring and 15 against.

May 31st

Memorial Day 2004

Remember those who have given the supreme sacrifice for our freedom!