FROM THE PILLAR OF WISDOM

Brethren  & Ladies:

This month I’ve decided to inform you of some of the happenings and minutiae before and after our April Stated Meeting.  We had a very good turnout and for those able to attend dinner was at no cost to the attendees.  A few years back at the passing of a Brother, he left our Lodge a parting bequest to pay for meals , which the Lodge has invested and the accrued interest makes it possible to have three such events so far each year.

As most of the attendees are aware, Bro. James Garrett, our Jr. Deacon, is recovering from a brush with appendicitis in the hospital, but, as of the writing of this article he should be returning to work at Cal. Fire on a light duty basis.

I am sad to report that Bro. Sam Marinelli, Jr., serving as one of our Stewards in 2008 and unable to continue this year due to his deployment to the Horn of Africa while serving in the Navy.  He is back in town and it was very good to see this very cheerful Brother, but, sadly, he is awaiting orders for assignment to the East Coast.

PM John Gamache, Secretary, has also been busy.  As you may know PM Gamache frequently gives the Master Mason Lecture in long form and for the past few years displays a number of the hieroglyphical emblems during his Lecture.  PM John recently commissioned, at his expense, a picture of a sword pointing to a naked heart and the all seeing eye.  Make a point to attend the next MM Degree and catch this great Lecture.

Sincerely and Fraternally,
Clinton R. Black, PM, Master

FROM THE PILLAR OF STRENGTH

Brethren,

FROM THE PILLAR OF BEAUTY

Brethren,

Was John the Baptist an Essene?

As we spend much time contemplating the Holy Saints John I thought I would share some of the research I have dug up on John the Baptist.  Some is controversial speculation but interesting non-the-less…

John the Baptist was the son of Zachary, a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Elizabeth, a kinwoman of Mary who visited her.

Probably born at Ain-Karim southwest of Jerusalem after the Angel Gabriel had told Zachary that his wife would bear a child even though she was an old woman.  Lived as a hermit in the desert of Judea until about A.D. 27.  At 30 he began to preach on the banks of the Jordan against the evils of the time and called men to penance and baptism “for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand”.

Albert Pike, in Morals and Dogma Knight of the East and West, says St. John the Baptist was likely a member of the Esssene sect as he followed their ascetic doctrine.  Pike further says that his teachings like those of the Essenes were truths gathered from India, Persia and elsewhere from the east as well as from Pythagoras and other Greek thinkers.  Thus Masons carry on with these truths taught by John the Baptist, the Essenes and others now gone.

“….and the old faiths have faded into oblivion.  But Masonry still survives, vigorous and strong, as when philosophy was taught in the schools of Alexandria and under the Portico; teaching the same old truths as the Essenes taught by the shores of the Dead Sea, and as John the Baptist preached in the desert; truths imperishable as the Deity, and undeniable as Light.  Those truths were gathered by the Essenes from the doctrines of the Orient and the Occident, from the Zend-Avesta and the Vedas, from Plato and Pythagoras, from India, Persia, Phoenicia, and Syria, from Greece and Egypt, and from the Holy Books to the Jews.  Hence we are called Knights of the East and West, because their doctrines came from both.”

Edmond Szekely, an eminent scholar who gained access to Aramic documents in the Vatican and corroborated them with other ancient Greek and Hebrew documents (confirmed by the writings later discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls) surmised that both lived and studied at Qum Rum, that this is where Jesus “lost years” were spent, at the monastery of the Essenes by the Dead Sea where the Scrolls were undoubtedly written, then sealed up and buried for eons.

The finding of these long lost Essene documents have created a problem as they mirror the story of the Passion in the Gospels of the Bible.  They follow the ministries of one called only “Master” in the Scrolls, but who also speaks the Sermon on the Mount and ends with the Master being crucified before Passover.  Szekely states that the problem for the Orthodox churches lies in carbon dating of these Scrolls, which dates them 100 years prior to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  At any rate, Jesus and John were cousins.  Mary, Mother of Jesus, was the sister of Elizabeth, mother of John, and Mary and Elizabeth have been tied to the Essene sect by scholars.  That John and Jesus were preaching different doctrines is unlikely.  In fact it was probably orchestrated, as the Church of Rome teaches that John the Baptist was to lead the way for Christ.

This account from Catholic.org: “He attracted large crowds, and when Christ came to him, John recognized Him as the Messiah and baptized Him, saying, “It is I who need Baptism from You”.  When Christ left to preach in Galilee, John continued preaching in the Jordan valley.  Fearful of his great power with the people, Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Perea and Galilee, had him arrested and imprisoned at Machaerus Fortress on the Dead Sea when John denounced his adulterous and incestuous marriage with Herodias, wife of his half brother Philip.

John was beheaded at Salome’s request, who asked for his head at the request of her mother Herodias.  John the Baptist Feast Day is June 24^th. And the Feast Day of his beheading is August 29^th.

Sincerely and Fraternally,
Steven Laurvick, Jr. Warden

LADIES CORNER

Hi Ladies;