MOZART AND THE AUSTRIAN FREEMASONS by W.Bro. Martin I.McGregor

Mozart and Freemasonry

Born in Salzburg on 27th January 1756, he was baptized the following day at St. Ruperts Cathedral as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. Theophilus means ‘beloved of God’ and Mozart later used the Latin form Amadeus, -stylized sometimes as Amade or Amadeo- or the German form Gottlieb. His father, Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was born in Augsburg in Bavaria, where the Mozart family can be traced back to the 14thCentury

Some Biblical passages in Masonry by W.Bro. Ronald Paul Ng The Lodge of St. George No. 1152

Ashlar

When I first went through the 2nd degree and heard these words from the W. Master “..you are now permitted to extend your researches into the hidden mysteries of Nature and Science” I was struck by the absurdity of it. Here I am, a medical doctor, whose very profession required the study of the hidden mysteries of Nature and Science being told I am now permitted to do so

Kipling and the Craft

Image of Rudyard Kipling who wrote thhis Tylers Toast

The need for this further essay was first made apparent to me when—in my capacity as Secretary of the Lodge and Editor of the Transactions—I began to receive inquiries from Brethren as far away as Vancouver and Singapore, asking for materials and information which might help them to complete their own papers on Kipling, and I found, to my surprise, that while our library contains a great deal of relevant material, there has never been a paper on Kipling in our Transactions.

Freemasonry and Initiation

Square and compasses in Red

The concept of what constitutes a man is time honored and tested. The traditional role of men has been essential to the development and maintenance of society. Learning to think for ourselves, to form our own judgments, to trust our decisions, to comprehend, to expand our knowledge, to choose this course of action over that, to decide between good and bad, have through the millennia been recognized as the attributes that define a man.

Goose and Gridiron Ale House

Masonic Apron Grand Master

Four lodges, which had been associated with re-building of St. Paul’s Cathedral, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren met at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House, St Paul’s Churchyard, London in June 1717

THE MARK DEGREE

Mark degree

Those of my readers who have already studied the first three Handbooks of this series will realise that the true S..s of a M.M. are not restored to them. The real S.. which was lost was comprehension of the Nature of God, and our Third Degree quite clearly indicates that, despite popular beliefs, we shall not be able to comprehend God as soon as we are dead

HISTORICAL SURVEY – Higher Degrees

Square & Compass Door Knocker

The early history of the so-called “Higher Degrees” is even more obscure than that of the Craft, and in consequence a tendency has grown up to regard them as “Manufactured” during the 18th century.

In my opinion this is too hasty a conclusion, for some of these degrees at any rate bear every evidence of antiquity, and contain that wisdom which has been handed down from generation to generation.