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A topic of current interest is Chamber of Reflection. It has been banned in Texas this year. Why did that happen and what lesson is there to be learned? What should not be the cause is any concept that Chamber of Reflection is not a part of Masonry. It is and has been in some jurisdictions...

How about discussing PHA recognition? There are charts of states that have it and states that don't but the story does not stop there. Plenty of states have incomplete lists of jurisdictions they recognize. Since recognition has to be mutual to visit a tiled lodge meeting (Your jurisdiction...

Are you asking why lodges take they names they do? That's a story to be told by every lodge so you'd have to read their history to find out. Many are named for their location. Many are named for our virtues. Those tend to be obvious at a glance. Many are named for famous Masons. Those tend...

It is against the landmarks to bring discussion of sectarian religion into our tiled meetings. We tend to extend this rule more widely when we meet in other contexts. While it's not strictly forbidden to introduce such discussion in an open group, to do so in an acceptable manner requires far...

I, as a Mason who is not Catholic, don't need to be concerned about it. There are many of Catholic masons, though. Such statements by the Pope put their values in conflict. Self determination as a Masonic principle versus obedience to the hierarchy as a Catholic principle. A prior...

You generally need to complete your third degree before wearing any symbol of that degree. It's not common to split degrees. Were there several candidates cycled through that day to fill up the evening?

States that rotate locations have a tendency to settle on one city for a while. I suspect if you look over a long enough time scale it becomes a cycle of wandering, settling, then wandering again.

That looks Mithraic as if it were taken from near a Roman legion camp two millennia ago. Very cool.

Organist is a standard officer chair, though not many lodges are able to fill that chair in recent decades. Music is one of the seven liberal arts and sciences so it's clearly valued. Tables lodges can include shared songs. There are plenty of points in the ritual with floor work but no...

In general Freemasonry exists in countries with freedom of religion. The nearest countries to Yemen are Israel and Cyprus. There is a grand lodge in Egypt that is trying to get started.

That does sound like a translation issue to me. La Logia or similar in various languages. What I've learned of German, Spanish and bits of other languages is they often have gender and it often has no meaning even though there''s a tendency to keep the gender anyways when translating into a...

I have taken up finding Dr Who audios at the library. The BBC had (has?) a radio series is addition to the TV series. I find the script writing better on the audio episodes than the video episodes up to the point of the recent high budget reboot seasons. In this Dr Who goes against the...

I heard there's a study group at the San Antonio Scottish Rite that is going through this book? The younger generation hungers for that which the previous generation ignored. Ignored or paid attention the philosophy and mysticism are there for the looking. Most brothers who seek it need to...

A Pawn Star episode aired last night ended with the shop employees out back grilling burgers. The old man wore a cook's apron. Sure enough it had the the words "REAL MEN Wear Aprons" on it. Not a sure thing but I'd ask him what his lodge is if I saw him in that apron.

I have heard and I use the term "mother lodge". So far I have not yet heard lodges referred to as "she" but it would not surprise me for either linguistic reasons (English lacks gendered nouns) or having to do with the events of the third degree. To me my lodge is "we" and other lodges are...

I start out saying that it's a fraternity and therefore a men-only organization. There are plenty of organizations for women-only so it's only fair that men have their own. That handles the vast majority of inquiries. The next level is to point them at the Order of the Eastern Star. It's a...

Bro Vick, Thanks for the excellent plan of action. If you want additional presenters on Masonic Moment topics PM me with parking data. Of course even better than me doing the presentation is if some other brother does. I figure that works both ways so I'd like see some of yours. Rosicrucian...

When in Knoxville be sure to see the Parthenon. It's a full size model of the original Parthenon in Athens. The primary example in the world for the Doric order of architecture. Check out how the columns do not stay the same thickness as they get higher. They are shaped in a curve to create...

The answer to that question is likely to differ jurisdiction to jurisdiction so for a local real answer you'd need to go through the Masonic Code for that jurisdiction and check through the Grand Secretary's office. In California what counts is time served not time paid. Paying a portion of...

Grand lodges keep genealogy records, some in databases with rapid access. So far I don't know of any that are visible on-line. Membership records by name and lodge are available if you know what jurisdiction a man would have been a member in. I don't think GLs give out membership data about...