Bevan Jones
Registered User
Greetings Brethren all,
I was initiated, passed and raised in Surrey in the UK in 2003. Having returned to the land of my birth and infant nurture, I have most recently joined Zetland Lodge 608 EC, the 3rd oldest lodge in South Africa. It is located in a small town called Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape province of SA, the same town that Nelson Mandela received his high school education, at Healdtown College.
I live as an off-grid homesteader in the nearby mountain village known as Hogsback, supposedly the inspiration for JR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The whole area was known as the Frontier, and is where the 1820 British Settlers clashed with the local tribes of Xhosa inhabitants. Zetland (named after the GM of UGLE at the time) was originally a military lodge, as many early lodges were of course. I believe it was Lord Carnarvon who believed in sending in the Freemasons after the military, in order to setup social structures etc.
I have studied widely across the esoteric and historical aspects of the Craft and have written a book "Ordo Ab Chao" which documents ancestral links between Flemish Templars fleeing to Scotland and meeting the Lords of the Isles and Robert de Brus. Initially the St. Clairs were pro-English and testified against the excommunicated Scottish Templars in 1307/08, but they came around to de Brus' side by the time of Bannockburn in 1314. It then shows how the Catholic Setons and St. Clairs carried the torch for Templarism in Scotland, up until the emergence of the Protestant Murrays (Moray) and Hamiltons. Of course we all then know how Robert Moray went on to help found Gresham College and the Royal Society, and how influential the Dukes of Atholl were in the Antient Lodge. Then everyone moves to London, being the centre of all the action at the time, and from 1717 the rest as they say is history.
It's also fascinating (to me at least) that George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt (my personal hero) are also directly descended from the same prominent Flemish Templar families as I am (and probably you are too), as are most of the Royal family today, via the 1st Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt. HM The Queen is of course the current Duke of Lancaster. Rumours are going around that Sussex (Prince Harry) may eventually become the next GM of English Freemasonry. That would indeed keep the proud tradition of military involvement flying high.
Having recently undergone my 30th degree, I am now also researching into the more speculative philosophical aspects of the craft. I can't definitively link the Egyptian Hermetic legends yet but the aspects around Pythagorus are particularly interesting and I'm drawn to Thales as well. Both were definitely onto something...
Apologies for the long winded introduction. I would be very happy to send anyone a pdf copy of my book for half the Amazon price if you message me your details. I hope this doesn't come across as spam, but more an offer of daily Masonic light.
Finally, as I abhor the bureaucracy and obsession with rank that has crept into our Ancient Craft, I leave you with the words of my favourite verse from Bro. Robbie Burns' Final Toast, ....
"We Masons prize that noble truth, the Scottish peasant told,
That rank is but a guinea stamp: The man himself the gold.
We meet the rich and poor alike, the equal rights maintain,
Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again."
Yours, fraternally
Bevan
I was initiated, passed and raised in Surrey in the UK in 2003. Having returned to the land of my birth and infant nurture, I have most recently joined Zetland Lodge 608 EC, the 3rd oldest lodge in South Africa. It is located in a small town called Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape province of SA, the same town that Nelson Mandela received his high school education, at Healdtown College.
I live as an off-grid homesteader in the nearby mountain village known as Hogsback, supposedly the inspiration for JR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The whole area was known as the Frontier, and is where the 1820 British Settlers clashed with the local tribes of Xhosa inhabitants. Zetland (named after the GM of UGLE at the time) was originally a military lodge, as many early lodges were of course. I believe it was Lord Carnarvon who believed in sending in the Freemasons after the military, in order to setup social structures etc.
I have studied widely across the esoteric and historical aspects of the Craft and have written a book "Ordo Ab Chao" which documents ancestral links between Flemish Templars fleeing to Scotland and meeting the Lords of the Isles and Robert de Brus. Initially the St. Clairs were pro-English and testified against the excommunicated Scottish Templars in 1307/08, but they came around to de Brus' side by the time of Bannockburn in 1314. It then shows how the Catholic Setons and St. Clairs carried the torch for Templarism in Scotland, up until the emergence of the Protestant Murrays (Moray) and Hamiltons. Of course we all then know how Robert Moray went on to help found Gresham College and the Royal Society, and how influential the Dukes of Atholl were in the Antient Lodge. Then everyone moves to London, being the centre of all the action at the time, and from 1717 the rest as they say is history.
It's also fascinating (to me at least) that George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt (my personal hero) are also directly descended from the same prominent Flemish Templar families as I am (and probably you are too), as are most of the Royal family today, via the 1st Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt. HM The Queen is of course the current Duke of Lancaster. Rumours are going around that Sussex (Prince Harry) may eventually become the next GM of English Freemasonry. That would indeed keep the proud tradition of military involvement flying high.
Having recently undergone my 30th degree, I am now also researching into the more speculative philosophical aspects of the craft. I can't definitively link the Egyptian Hermetic legends yet but the aspects around Pythagorus are particularly interesting and I'm drawn to Thales as well. Both were definitely onto something...
Apologies for the long winded introduction. I would be very happy to send anyone a pdf copy of my book for half the Amazon price if you message me your details. I hope this doesn't come across as spam, but more an offer of daily Masonic light.
Finally, as I abhor the bureaucracy and obsession with rank that has crept into our Ancient Craft, I leave you with the words of my favourite verse from Bro. Robbie Burns' Final Toast, ....
"We Masons prize that noble truth, the Scottish peasant told,
That rank is but a guinea stamp: The man himself the gold.
We meet the rich and poor alike, the equal rights maintain,
Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again."
Yours, fraternally
Bevan
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