José Moreno, new Grand Master of GLLP/GLRP

According with the blog A Partir Pedra the M:.R:. Brother José Moreno collected the most votes casted in an electoral session that took place, yesterday, in Lisbon. Bro:. José Moreno is the six Grand Master of contemporary Portuguese regular freemasonry and an effective member of Lodge Mestre Affonso Domingues where he was initiated in 1992. He is a lawyer by profession, is fifty six years old and has a remarkable Masonic career, as High Priest of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter for Portugal (http://www.yorkportugal.com/capt/index.php) and recently Deputy-Grand Master of the M:.R:. G:.M:. Bro:. Mario Martin Guia, among several important functions. He will be the second jurist to occupy the chair of Solomon in our Craft. 

Grand Master

The Masonic Portuguese family elects this Saturday the 6th Grand Master of contemporary Portuguese freemasonry. It falls in the Solstice of Summer a time of enjoyment and gathering proper of the season of the year were the Sun prevails and enlights in all its full capacity and the fruits of Spring germinate in all its splendor. It is been called a transition of power to a new generation of traditional leadership. In harmony and brotherhood as it must. Tomorrow we will know in whose shoulders the future and the progress of the Craft will drop. Deus Meumque Jus.

R:.L:. Affonso Domingues

Lodge Affonso Domingues and its team of officers comemorate next week the 20th anniversay of one of the founding lodges of our Craft that is older than the Craft, itself. It was one of the three that formed the District of Portugal of the Grande Loge Nationale Française, the mother Grande Lodge of GLRP. It is a time of celebration and Masonic pride and from the East - were the Sun rises - the Portuguese Brethren of Luz do Oriente (Ex Orientis Lux) associate themselves, in spirit, with the happiness that crosses the Portuguese Masonic family. Affonso Domingues is the name of the architect that designed the Monastery of Batalha, one of the most beautiful in Portugal, a building that took 150 years to conclude.

A wonderful week of celebrations, a nice presentation of the book and a fine dinner of commemoration. L.A.D. reached maturity in its masonic path and that is always something to appreciate and cherish.

A Fraternal embrace. Gama, M:.I:. Ex Orientis Lux

Francs-maçons, toujours ? Jean-Luc Bigot (Éditions Baudelaire)

Freemasonry does not address the XXI century with confidence. In his essay just published, Jean-Luc Bigot directly raises the question of the fate of the honorable institution. Lozérien for over thirty years, historian by training and lecturer by profession, his testimony and his thoughts are a valuable contribution.
He finds this reflection more than ever necessary to clear an inventory of methods and purpose Masonic. The origins of Freemasonry date back to the former duties of the companions trained by the corporations of builders who erected great monuments, including the cathedrals.
In itself philosophical and philanthropic, the Craft is defined as an initiatory order based on a system of personal and social morality. Highly organized according to a secular tradition, the symbols and rituals are attached to a Masonic secrecy and to the art of building.
Structured in multiple Obediences, the Craft recruits its members by cooptation in the aim they help each other working on the spiritual and moral development of each other.
The interview with the author in French here by Midilibre.

Masonic congress in Spain (Andalucia)

In Isla de Leon (Andalucia) a masonic congress took place, last weekend, debating issues related to the history and principles of freemasonry. Francisco Lenzano García, a law expert and member of the board of Ateneo de Cádiz, made a talk about freemasonry under the point of view of a freemason. Lenzano located the origins of masonic lodges in the 16th century, a time of difficulties for the Catholic Church, as the dialogue with the divine and Man is not required to take place no more inside a cathedral or a church, but can happen in the inner-self of each individual. Lenzano mentioned "silence" and "secret" as organizational principles of freemasonry, referring the fact that Freemasons are members of a unique universal family, because the Brotherhood is just one as one are the Craft principles: tolerance being the first of the masonic duties. To be a Freemason, he said, "is no more then being a good man a man without preclusions, such as religious or political, a man not attached to any dogma that obscures intelligence and degraded feelings". The rest here.

Cuban freemasonry expels the Past-Grand Master

According with the Cuban press, Bro:. José Manuel Collera Vento, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Cuba, has admitted to a masonic session, at Lodge Luz y Constancia de Marianao, a Master, Gabriel Vieira Barceló, considered irregular, an member of  Lodge Victoria No. 22 (city Pinar del Rio), under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge Feminin of Chile. This was considered a direct violation of Masonic law. Last 5th June the Corte Suprema de Justicia Masónica has deliberated to sentence the defendant and expel him from the Order.
The development of the news here.

Ecology?

Our next session will debate the issue of pollution and clean environment on the outcome of the Golf of the Pacific ecological catastrophe. The speaker is sure that this is (also) a Masonic topic. Some eyebrows will rise. There is no Masonic symbolism present but the author argues that more then ever we face today, in the world, the always present debate on quantum salis. It this a political debate? Where passes the divide between urbe et orbe? And between earth and cosmos?

Masonic Humour

Freemasonry has a tendency to seriousness that we should balance (avoiding to be taken as dull people), adding insights that are adequate to a society which demands incresingly more openess and transparency. These are pictures taken from a French site; the first one exemplifying why we don't admit women as "maçonas"; the second why some works of architecture (pranchas) are some times so difficult to "digest". Both are things that "mark" the life of Freemasons but everything (as in life) needs to be taken in proportion. Like the Romans said quantum salis. Of course who wouldn't like to have some pretty faces around...  

Book of poems

Bro:. Mário Martin Guia, our MRGM, is going to present its most recent book of poems named "Antas, Menires e Druidas" next 17th June, 2010, by 18:00h, at Lisbon Municipality.

Lux Tenebrae (Jacques Ravenne)

Jacques Ravenne is an author with Éric Giacometti of a series of fiction books with great success in France, that have the character of Antoine Marcas - an officer of the police and freemason - as its center role. The forth book of the series is named "Lux Tenebrae" and has been presented to the public on the 10th June, in Paris. The magazine 20 Minutes France interviewed the author. These are some transcriptions of Jacques answers to the public.

 - Surfez vous sur la vague du "Da Vinci Code" de Dan Brown? Qu'en pensez-vous?Lora
Franchement, il aurait été difficile de publier, en France, un thriller ésotérique, si Dans Brown n'avait pas ouvert à la voie. En revanche, dans le Da Vinci Code, beaucoup de révélations présentées comme vraies sont de simples faux. Nous essayons, dans nos livres, de toujours distinguer le réel de la fiction pour éviter des amalgames discutables.
- Bonjour, en ce qui me concerne, la Franc-maçonnerie ne m'est pas un sujet d'intérêt particulier. J'y vois un objet de fantasmes pour beaucoup. Ne feriez-vous pas mieux de désacraliser la chose, en montrant que les Francs-Maçons sont des gens comme vous et moi, et en montrant également que leur pouvoir est très relatif (c'est d'ailleurs le cas, j'en connais plusieurs) ? Vigie

Quand on est maçon, comme moi et que l'on frequente des loges un peu partout en France.... on se rend bien compte que tout ce qui est dit sur la franc maçonnerie est pur fantasme... Bien sûr, nous avons des arrivistes et des frères alimentaires.... mais tellement moins que dans les partis politiques!!!!!
-A quoi sert la franc-maçonnerie si ce n'est à former des clubs d'entraide très fermés qui excluent ceux qui n'en font pas partie et qui occasionnent de multiples escroqueries, puisque nous avons des juges francs-maçons, des policiers, des politiciens etc...Tous ces petits clubs sectaires devraient être interdits car ils créent de l'exclusion et de la corruption. Pensez vous que la franc-maçonnerie est une secte? Lisez-vous David Icke? Votre franc
Il est facile de rentrer dans une secte, difficile d'en sortir. Il est difficile de rentrer en franc maçonnerie, facile d'en sortir, c'est là toute la différence, elle est essentielle.
-Bonjour, pourquoi existent ils plusieurs obédiences maçonniques ? Quelles en sont les principales différences ? Lapaillade
Lla différence est à la fois intellectuelle er spirituelle. certaines obédiences réclament une croyance en un Principe Supérieur pour être initié, d'autre non. Certaines placent la quête spirituelle au cœur de leur travail en loge, d'autres privilégient la réflexion sociale.
The rest here

Brief Note

In little more then two years the site of Luz do Oriente has reached fifteen thousand visits and counts now 22 Friends that receive, periodically, our news. This (event) is something that made the administrator very proud. Our visitors came from America to Asia, passing through Europe. Our site is registered in the prestigious digital review Pietre-Stone as an educational site and is kept in English, the franca language, by excellence. It was not always like this. Till the 18th Century, the Portuguese was the franca language in part of Europe (and probably readers would not know it) and in Asia. Any ship who travelled to the Orient would bring someone who speakss Portuguese as this was the language required to trade. The Jesuits were  important contributors of this. But everything change and the english has become the language of communication, namely in the Internet. The criteria for the updating of news has been comprehensive, including news from the Masonic world, texts from the Brethren of Luz do Oriente and lectures from Mason authors such as Equus Peregrinus. We will continue in this path as Freemasonry needs to be perceived by the public as something modern, relevant and that has nothing to hide. The opinions, here stated, only oblige the administrator of the blog. We expect you continue to visit us.

Grand Lodge Alpina (Switzerland)

Once every 32 years, Geneva hosts the annual meeting of the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina. Over 600 delegates were gathered (recently) at the Ramada Park transformed for the occasion in the Masonic Temple. The Alpina Grand Lodge with 83 lodges and 4,000 members is the most important Masonic District in Switzerland; she has thirteen lodges and 650 Brothers in Geneva.
"We are preparing the event for five years," said Michel Rollin, chairman of the organizing committee of the gathering at a press conference in the temple of the Rue de la Scie. "We welcome delegates from all over Switzerland, as well as representatives of international Grand Lodges."
The highlight of this Conference was reached with the election by secret ballot, of the new Grand Master of the Alpina. Elected for four years, it will be this time an original from Geneva. Delegates approved the choice of four members of his committee. "There were five candidates to start," said Jacques Butel, president of the Central Commission of Lodges (Geneva). "Two remained in contention after the first round. And we present one tomorrow”.
Saturday evening, after the election, the gala dinner. On Sunday morning, held a "facility" that is to say, a Masonic ceremony during which the Grand Master will be installed in his new role. The annual meeting will conclude with a closing dinner on Sunday night.

Temple in a hotel
Saturday evening, "We must reform a Masonic temple at a hotel," says Jean-Pierre Dousset, honorary member of the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina, "and bring various symbolic objects indispensable to our ritual." A little arrangement is not trivial!
When asked about the desire of Freemasons Geneva out of their usual reserve in giving a press conference, the organizers of the meeting were clear. Jacques Butel: "We have nothing to hide. We're a society of initiation and should therefore be initiated to attend our works. There is nothing extraordinary! I remind you that we have been persecuted by the Catholic Church by the Nazis, by communism. It is normal that we be cautious.
In addition, the Swiss Freemasonry is unique. It is characterized by discretion, transparency and a clear spiritual search for the meaning. It is intimate, so must be discreet. Unlike the French Freemasons, we have no public and political commitment as masons. That is even prohibited. If we undertake (these commitments) is individually."
The site of the Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland is located here

Legends of Freemasonry (Geoff Dobson)

Notwithstanding that it has been well-said that if a secret is known by more than one person, it is no longer a secret, the so-called “secret societies” go to great length to keep their proceedings secret. Secrecy begets rumors of plots and conspiracies. It is, in reality, a matter that the organizations are private and if they choose to do their business without spreading their business all over town that is their privilege.
Based, on alleged Masonic symbols, fanciful tales have arisen connecting Freemasonry, the lost Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, the Mystery Pit on Oak Island off of Nova Scotia, and Rosslyn Chapel. But those are tales for a later time.

There is, however, one more recent claim which reflects on the actual history of Masonry, the story of the rescue of Grand Marshal Ney, Napoleon’s “Bravest of the Brave,” from the firing squad. It has been said that membership in Masonry should be used only as a shield, never as a sword and certainly the story of Ney is that of loyalty to one’s brothers and the necessity at one time of keeping a secret.
At the conclusion of the American Revolution, Florida was exchanged by the British for the Bahamas and the tacit recognition by Spain of British title to Gibraltar. Masonic lodges within the East and West Florida moved further north. One of the areas in which Florida Masons moved was to South Carolina. The first Masonic Lodge in South Carolina had already been formed in 1735 and the Grand Lodge of South Carolina was chartered in 1737.
With the end of the American Revolution, and the troubles in France, there also came an influx of French speaking immigrants. South Carolina was attractive to those leaving France. There was already a large French-speaking population as a result immigration by French Huguenots who began settlement in the Low Country about 1685.
Those original Huguenots spread over what is now the southeastern United States. Indeed several families in St. Augustine claim descent from those settlers. Although north of the City Gates is the “Huguenot Cemetery,” it is not related to those early settlers. Instead, in northern Flagler County lies a small cemetery in which are interred descendents of some of those early French settlers of South Carolina.
Additional influxes of French-speaking settlers to the Southeast occurred as a result of the expulsion of French settlers from Acadia. By 1799, there were two French-speaking Masonic Lodges in Charleston, Loge La Candeur formed primarily by Roman Catholics in 1795 and Loge La Reunion Francaise formed in 1799. Even today that part of Charleston between the Cooper River on the east, Meeting Street on the west, Broad Street on the south and Market Street on the north is referred to as the French Quarter.
The end of the Napoleonic Wars brought yet another wave of French settlers. Many of the supporters of Napoleon, including many of his generals and, indeed, his four brothers were Masons. Thus, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, South Carolina was well populated with French-speaking Masons.
Those fleeing from the wrath of the Bourbon royalists would fit in without being noticed. One of those who fled to South Carolina and thence to St. Augustine was Prince Achille Murat, a Mason, whose house still sits on South St. George Street.
In 1815, Napoleon had escaped from Elba and landed with a few men in the South of France. Louis XVIII, had been placed on the throne of France by the allies. King Louis, however, had to rely on the existing French army all of whom has previously served under Napoleon. Units of the French army, under the command of Grand Marshal Michel Ney were delegated the duty to stop Napoleon.

The entire command, including Marshal Ney, deserted over to Napoleon and King Louis fled to Belgium. At the end of 100 days, the Duke of Wellington again defeated Napoleon. By having surrendered to the Royal Navy, Napoleon escaped King Louis’ revenge.
Ney, however, left for the country estate of a relative and ultimately was arrested, tried for treason and sentenced to the firing squad. Several members, including Charles Talleyrand-Perigord, of the Nine Sisters Masonic Lodge of which Ney was a member approached Wellington, himself a Mason from an Irish lodge, and requested that he stop the execution.
Wellington approached King Louis with the request. The king figuratively and literally turned his royal derriere on Wellington. It was une grande insulte, the ultimate arrogance toward Wellington and to the British Empire and her allies. Wellington stormed out of the Palace telling some of the King’s aides, “You forget that I commanded the armies which put your king on his throne.”
In the early morning hours of December 7, 1815, Marshal Ney was taken from his dungeon cell, placed in a carriage to be taken to the place set for the execution, the Plain of Grenelle where thousands awaited the spectacle. Instead, the carriage stopped in a dark alley behind the Luxembourg Gardens where there were only several witnesses, one of whom, Quintin Dick, later served in the British House of Commons.
There were several things which were peculiar about the execution: all of the firing squad were former members of Ney’s command; the firing squad loaded their own weapons; Ney, after refusing a blindfold, gave the order to fire himself; he fell forward rather than backward against the alley wall as might have been expected; and no one inspected the body.
Contrary to the official report given to King Louis, according to Quintin Dick the body was immediately covered, placed on a stretcher and carried away in the carriage, rather than being left in place fifteen minutes as required by military practice. According to M. Claveau, Sr. of the Paris police, immediately after the execution, an English gentleman suddenly appeared, inspected the scene, gathered some items from the ground and then disappeared.
In late January, 1816, a mysterious gentleman going by the name of Peter Stuart Ney arrived in Charleston from Bordeaux. On the voyage, a fellow passenger recognized P. S. Ney as Marshal Ney. Ney denied the identification, telling the passenger that Marshal Ney had been executed two weeks before. P. S. Ney later proved to be well educated, fluent in classical languages, experienced at fencing, a well trained horseman, and upon learning of the death of Napoleon reduced to tears.
Peter Ney died on November 15, 1846. Allegedly on his death bed Peter Ney admitted to what most of those about him suspected; that he was Marshal Ney. Ney’s escape, however, generally remained a secret until 1895 and the publication of James A. Weston’s “Historic Doubts as to the Execution of Marshal Nay”.
In 1895, the world’s foremost handwriting expert, David N. Caravalho, provided confirmation that Peter Ney was in fact Marshal Ney. Caravlho later provided the proof that documents used to convict Alfred Dreyfus in L’Affaire Drefus were forged and that Dreyfus had been wrongfully convicted.
But, why, after Ney escaped, was the fact kept a secret? Because, Ney told a friend, there were those in France who would have faced severe penalties for helping in the escape. But nevertheless, Masonry and the Iron Duke protected their own and proved that they could keep a secret.
In Historic City

The illegalization of Portuguese Freemasonry: 65 years ago

In the political climate lived in Portugal after the installation of Estado Novo, the M.P. Jose Cabral, then director-general of the prisoner service, monarchist and former national-syndicalist presented in January 19, 1935, in the National Assembly (the rubber-stamp parliament) the draft law no. 2, seeking the dissolution of secret associations. The project adopted a definition of “secret association” that sought to include Freemasonry and Carbonaria; the latter probably would not exist in that time.
The draft law on secret associations also enforced sanctions to those who belonged to any sort of "secret association" regardless of the purposes of the organization. In his speech at the National Assembly on April 5, 1935, arguing in favor of outlawing Freemasonry, José Cabral said in a given step: I know of States that do not tolerate it. States similar to ours: strong States, authoritarian, guided only by the firm grasp of the common good and thus I know that Freemasonry was exterminated by the fascist State that declared it incompatible with their own existence. We have a doctrine and we are a force, said Salazar, and the same boundaries, with the doctrine and force of Freemasonry ".
The reactions were swift. On January 31 that year Norton de Matos, then Grand Master of the Grand Orient Lusitano wrote an open letter to José Alberto dos Reis, then president of the National Assembly and a former Mason, protesting against the project of bill presented by José Cabral.
On April 4 next, Norton de Matos presented its resignation of Grand Master and renew through an work of architecture the order of triangulation of all Lodges. Mauricio Costa succeeded him as Grand Master ad interim, until May 19, 1937, when he died.
On March 27, 1935, the Câmara Corporativa, the council body of the dictatorship, gave its agreement to the approval of the bill, in an extensive commentary signed by Domingos Fezas Vital, Afonso de Melo, Gustavo Cordeiro Ramos, José Pinto Coelho and Gabriel Abel Andrade, its rapporteur. It is considered that part of the evidence carried to the legal text was given by António Vicente Ferreira, a supporter of Salazar, a Freemason since 1911 and four times, Minister during the First Republic.
On April 6, 1935, the National Assembly approved unanimously the bill, which is to be published in January in the 1st Series of the Government Gazette at May 21, 1935 as Law No. 1901. The four legislators who missed the session in the following sessions of the National Assembly vote on statements that explicitly stated that if present they would vote in favor of the law.
In the outcome of the repression, the Masonic Palace was closed, the archives confiscated and the officials of the Order put under surveillance. Portuguese freemasonry followed a path common to other European Crafts under fascism, Nazism and communism: vanished or get clandestine.
The Portuguese craft lay down columns for thirty-nine years and was restated in all its privileges, premises and goods on April 1974, following the success of the Carnation Revolution.

Book of Poems

Bro:. Mário Martin Guia, our MRGM, will present its most recent book of poems named "Antas, Menires e Druidas" in the solemn room of Lisbon Municipality, at centre Lisbon, on the 17th June, 2010, by 18:00h. He direct an invitation to all Brethren and Families. Brother Martin Guia is a reputed poet with a large collection of works published in different Portuguese publishing houses. This will be, we may presume, the seven book of originals after "Pedra Angular", "Pedro que és Pedra", "Sátira Lusitana", "Rocha Castanha das Algas e Lapas", "Fios Invisíveis em Canteiros de Pedra" and "As Pedras do Vau".

Freemasonry in Argentina: a concert of constituencies

By Ian F. Thurn, For the Herald, here.
Freemasonry in Buenos Aires was started with the consecration of a “Logia Independencia” in 1795 consisting of young intellectuals mostly with higher European degrees. Some of the most prominent members were Juan José Castelli, his cousin Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Paso, Feliciano Chiclana, Matías Irigoyen, Nicolás Rodríguez Peña, Hipólito Vieytes, Juan Larrea, Domingo Matheu and Antonio Luis Berutti.
Going forward in time and leading up to May 25, in 1808, Don José de San Martín joined his first lodge, the “Logia Integridad” in Cadiz, where the Worshipful Master of the lodge was General Francisco Solano, Captain General of Andalucia. It was at this time that San Martin, who was only a junior Mason at the time, met Lord Mac Duff, a noble Scotsman, who was plotting the liberation of South America.
San Martín travelled to England where he was put into contact with Alvear, Zapiola, Berro and Guido who formed part of the Lodge Lautaro created by Francisco de Miranda, who along with Bolívar, were already fighting in Venezuela for its liberation.
On March 9, 1812 San Martín arrived in Buenos Aires on board the Royal Navy Frigate George Canning direct from London, accompanied by a group of high ranking military personnel such as Chilavert, Zapiola, Carlos de Alvear, Arellano and Baron Olambert.
It is interesting to note that the First Triumvirate in 1811, the Second in 1812, the Declaration of Independence in Tucumán in 1816, the Constituent Assembly in 1853 and the Assembly of 1860 were mostly formed by Masons.
By this time there had already been a large immigration from the British Isles and Europe in general and it was on 10 June 1853 (58 years after the creation of the Argentinian Lodge) in Buenos Aires, that the first English Lodge working under English rule was consecrated. This was “Excelsior Lodge” under the Mastership of Samuel Hesse.
To this day, Excelsior Lodge No. 617 continues to meet regularly in Buenos Aires.
On 5 December 1861 and thanks to the intervention of Excelsior Lodge a Treaty was signed between the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Orient of the Argentine Republic whereby the United Grand Lodge of England recognises and acknowledges the Sovereignty and Independence of the Grand Orient of the Argentine Republic as a true Masonic Power located in Buenos Aires.
In 1861 Silver River Lodge No. 876 in Montevideo opened, in 1864 Star of the South Lodge No. 1025 and in 1872 Lodge of Harmony No. 1411 in Valparaíso followed, all three lodges are operative to this day.
Shortly after about 27 other English lodges were consecrated and started to operate in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mendoza, Tucumán, Córdoba, Bahía Blanca, Campana, Quilmes, Villa Devoto, Hurlingham, Lomas de Zamora and Tigre.
English Masonry continues to this day working in Montevideo, Valparaíso, Buenos Aires, Córdoba city, Lomas de Zamora and Tigre, all under the District Grand Lodge of South America, Southern Division. This District covers Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.
Freemasonry is not a secret society but rather a society with secrets and is one of the world’s oldest secular fraternal societies practised under the United Grand Lodge of England, which administers Lodges of Freemasons in England, Wales and in many places overseas including our District in Buenos Aires.
Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its precepts (moral lessons and self-knowledge) by a series of ritual dramas — a progression of allegorical two-part plays which are learnt by heart and performed within each Lodge — which follow ancient forms, and use stonemasons’ customs and tools as allegorical guides.
Freemasonry instils in its members a moral and ethical approach to life: it seeks to reinforce thoughtfulness for others, kindness in the community, honesty in business, courtesy in society and fairness in all things. Members are urged to regard the interests of the family as paramount but, importantly, Freemasonry also teaches and practises concern for people, care for the less fortunate and help for those in need.

The Light (Humour)

Reaching the light is a difficult task and a Masonic endeavour. Freemasonry is a serious Order but not a dull one. There is space for humour among us. Here an example of this fresh spirit from our French Brethren. The first title says "18th century, the century of Enlightnment"; the other "21st century, the century of.... (*ops)" 

O Maçom (The Freemason)

O Maçom

conta consigo

e com os seus Irmãos

Sente,

e pratica a fraternidade,

dentro,

e fora da Loja.

Nunca está só,

embora,

possa querer estar

sózinho,

consigo mesmo.

**

O Maçom é Maçom

em todo o Mundo,

e sempre.

Nasceu maçom,

foi reconhecido como tal,

e merecendo-o,

passará ao Oriente Eterno,

como Maçom,

para ser relembrado.

**

O Macom,

obra do Criador.

é crente.

Acredita em si,

e nos seus Irmãos,

porque crê no Criador.

E porque sabe,

que o Criador

cria do caos,

ainda, o Universo.

Luis Nandin de Carvalho, Como Ser Maçom

June

1. This month of June inaugurates a new cycle in the life of our Grand Lodge and the Brethren in general. The Grand Lodge will recognize its six Grand Master and the time will come for the rejuvenation of the Craft. June is a month of exaltation as marks the beginning of summer, the most beautiful spectacle of Nature in all its radiance. The month symbolizes also a time of relax for the majority of our citizens, in a time of financial difficulties and economic restrictions. Freemasonry does not make politics but if we allow ourselves to recover the original sense of the term (Greek) it is for politikos to make its job, in the sense that we are, at the different levels of society, responsible for the fate of the polis (the city), and nobody should be divorced from that testimony of citizenship. We share what we cultivate, sound or bad.

2. June is also a time to prepare the elections for the Worshipful Masters of the Lodges and for the current ones to leave the chair. It is a healthy example of freshness that Freemasonry gives to the profane world, showing that we are not stinky to power, that being a leader is just a provisional role performed for the benefit of all. If we look at Corporations and corporate associations this is something rare to assist and exemplifies the degradation of the social tissue and the aging of our society. The Craft will rush the preparative for the Masonic meetings that will be held in Portugal at late September, an opportunity to high profile visitors from fraternal Grand Lodges to watch the reinforcing of the columns of Portuguese freemasonry and to the expansion of Lodges. We may be around 1500 members in our Craft, probably.

3. It is a time to relax and must be a time to reflect about the role Freemasonry occupies in the 21st Century. In older and larger Obediences the time arrived to open to society and unfasten the doors to the public, showing that the conspirational theories about what we do are fairytales. In some constituencies, a day is dedicated to lecture the public about the Craft, its values, its history and rich symbolism. It would be appealing, if the next Grand Master consider doing the same. It is commonly said that Freemasonry loose, somehow, its character because the values that embodied are now part of the patrimony of free and open societies guided by liberty and the rule of law. It is also said that Freemasonry should select new banners and ribbons of combat in the pursuit of happiness and perfection. Without question this is accurate and the time came to show us out. Freemasonry needs new blood and to attract the finest people around, as it did in the past.

4. In this clarification, the battleground between Regular Freemasonry and Irregular Freemasonry needs to be pacified as between Freemasonry, religions and spiritual creeds. Freemasonry respects the political alternation in society and has no intention to substitute the political parties and govern the world as our enemies like to insinuate. We don’t challenge the religious believes or look to occupy its space; we are a Brotherhood of Men, not spiritual leaders of anyone. We respect those who pursue that path but we never forget that some of most dreadful atrocities were done in the name of religion.

Freemasonry looks for a new era of Aquarius, of peace, tolerance, liberty and mutual understanding. This is our endeavor.

Conference in Lisbon (5.06.2010). Prof. Ferrer Benimeli.