March 2023

From the East

Mauro Lara - Worshipful Master

Hello Brethren, Family, and Friends.

It’s hard to imagine, but the first two months of the year are in our rearview already. They were indeed productive months. In addition to the normal Stated Meetings, we held our Annual Roll Call Dinner in January and our Annual Ladies' Luncheon in February. The luncheon was attended by over thirty guests and the included wine tasting proved to be quite popular. By the feedback received, the event was very well-liked and enjoyed by all. Thank you to Worshipful Scott Goode for preparing a wonderful meal, and thank you to his lovely bride, Lynne, who coordinated the event.

February also included our first Initiation Ceremony of the year. We welcomed Brothers Anthony Ibarra and Ivan Flowers to the Fraternity. This double ceremony was very well done with our Junior Warden, Brother Joseph Wallach, taking the East and delivering the Lecture. I thank the officers and Past Masters who participated in the ceremony. Not only was it well done, but their participation shows strong support for our Lodge and our outlook.

On March 23rd, our Lodge will hold the second Degree Ceremony of the year. Brothers Moises Gonzalez and Jonathon Brown are on the schedule to be Passed to the Degree of Fellow Craft Mason.

Also this month, we will hold our first Masonic Education Night of the year. The Masonic Education Committee has been hard at work in organizing this night. It is on the calendar for March 16th at the Sacramento Masonic Temple. Like with the other activities, I encourage you to attend. The committee is developing a series of quarterly events that will be most informative and enjoyable.

On one of those Nights, Thursday, June 22nd, we will have a guest lecturer. Worshipful Narbeh Bagdasarian, Past Grand Bible Bearer, Inspector of the 737th Masonic District, will give a talk on the “Forget-Me-Not Symbol of Freemasonry." This is a presentation on Nazi Germany’s treatment of Masons and Masonry before and during World War II. It promises to be very enlightening and one in which I hope we will all take pleasure in participating. More information to follow, but for now, please mark your calendars for that evening.

On April 13th, we have our Annual Bowling with Brothers night. Once again, we will be sharpening our bowling skills for that coveted trophy awarded to the top scorer. This is usually a very fun night and a great opportunity to invite the new Brethren as well as prospects and candidates. More information is forthcoming.

From a philanthropic perspective, plans are moving forward for a Blood Drive, a day at the River City Food Bank, our annual Operation Backpack, and more. We are also planning a fundraiser with the Sacramento River Cats. This is coordinated with our sister Lodge, Union-Tehama No. 3, and promises to assist with fundraising in order to support our charitable work.

Clearly, there are quite a few activities planned already. Enough to offer everyone the occasion to participate in a variety that includes traditional, philanthropic, and social endeavors. At the same time, we look forward to reviewing potential membership applications, enjoying additional initiations, and holding degree ceremonies.

All of the undertakings taken so far have been very well supported and enjoyed by all participating. I thank you once again for your strong support and commit to you to striving to have the same level of quality, devotion, and fun in all our programs.

And of course, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

As we go through the level of time, I think of an Irish quote from William Butler Yeats:

“There are no strangers here, only friends that have not yet met.”

From the West

Matthew Mason - Senior Warden

What is a Masonic Lodge?

It is commonly used as a term for the building in which a band of brethren meets. It has many doors (at least two), has a large open floor, and seats on the sides. It also has oft-raised chairs on three sides. It often has a roof.

But someone put up on Wikipedia (and if it’s on the Internet, it has to be true), that technically Freemasons meet as a lodge, not in a lodge. In this context, the word "lodge" refers to a local chapter of Freemasons, meeting as a body.

That’s exactly what we are. Washington 20 is not about the most awesome and awe-inspiring building in which we get to assemble in, but WE are the lodge ourselves. It is us brethren who make up the lodge.

Many grand buildings still stand with the Square and Compass or the words “Masonic Lodge” on the outside.

For example, the building on Del Paso Blvd and Forrest Street has the Square and Compass, but no one meets there; would you consider that a lodge? Of course not.

It is us, the men of Washington 20 that make up our lodge. And it is in the strength of our commitment to each other that makes us strong. I look forward to seeing each of you in our lodge as you are able over the next few months to increase that strength and to increase that fellowship.

Photo Credit: WLN20 Social Media Committee

From the South

Joseph Wallach - Junior Warden

As we March forward into the third month of the year, I am filled with Joy as one of my Favorite Holidays is in view. Saint Patrick’s Day is a feast day, a day to be among family and friends and share the most valuable asset we have, our time.

We have 25 birthdays this month, including our newest Entered Apprentice Mason, Ivan Flowers, Lodge Officers Patrick Fischer, Bill Workman, and Past Master Juan Faranda. This month will be full of fellowship as we attend to the business and refreshment of our Lodge.

The Seven Liberal Arts

Kevin Hall - Masonic Education Committee

The phrase “The Seven Liberal Arts” was new to me when I joined Masonry. I do not recall any mention of them during my primary, high school, or college education (I did not attend Catholic schools or study Latin). While I studied each individual subject, the grouping was alien to me.

When I first began my Masonic journey, during the pandemic, Worshipful Francisco Marques, as Master of the Lodge, had some Zoom meetings where some brief discussions on them were held. This was my first encounter with this topic. Subsequently, as I went through the Blue Lodge degrees and was raised in late 2022, I continued to see references to them and the encouragement to study them in our ceremonies and literature.

This process led me to three questions:

What are they?
How did they come about?
Why should Masons be concerned with them?

As I began to investigate these questions, I encountered a mountain of literature on this subject from Masonic and non-Masonic sources. Plowing through them has been daunting. I owe a special thank you to Brother Denny Carlson, who provided me with a copy of a 2013 edition of California Freemason Magazine which devoted an entire issue to this topic, and from which I quote extensively. The following is my brief understanding and take on this subject:

WHAT ARE THEY?

There are seven, of course, divided into two groups: The Trivium – Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic and The Quadrivium – Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy. In Latin, the word “trivium” means “the place where three roads meet.” Also, in Latin the word “quadrivium” accordingly means a “place where four roads meet”. The word “liberal” comes from the Latin “liberalis” meaning “free”. See the next section for more on this.

The Trivium:

Grammar: The whole system of and structure of a language or languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax (the arrangement of words and phrases) and morphology (the study of forms of things) and sometimes also phonology (the system of sounds) and semantics (the study of meaning in grammar).
Rhetoric: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing.
Logic: Reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity.

The Quadrivium:

Arithmetic: It is an elementary part of mathematics concerned with the operations of numbers such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots.
Geometry: It is concerned with properties of space such as distance, size, and the relative position of things – and Free Masons are especially concerned with IT.
Music: Vocal or instrumental sounds, alone or together, combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.
Astronomy: The branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe.

HOW DID THEY COME ABOUT?

Plato’s “The Republic” is a Socratic dialogue, authored by Plato around 375 BCE, concerning justice, the order and character of a just city-state, and the just man. It is Plato’s best-known work and is very influential across the world. It also outlines the Seven Liberal Arts, which he argues are the essential skills and fields of knowledge required by a free, well-educated citizen. By free he meant non-slaves. Thankfully times have changed, to a certain degree.

By around 146 BCE the Romans had conquered the Greek city-states. The Romans adopted many aspects of Greek culture: the Hellenic gods and myths which they renamed, Greek architecture and artistic styling, Greek plays adapted to Roman theatre, as well as Greek philosophy such as Stoicism and Epicureanism, AND the writings of Plato which were translated from Greek to Latin.

Boethius (about 470 to 524 CE) was a Roman philosopher who expounded on the Seven Liberal Arts. By this time the Quadrivium of geometry, mathematics, music, and astronomy had been formulated.

The Seven Liberal Arts survived the fall of the Roman empire and found their way into medieval thought and education. By the 9th century, the three remaining liberal arts of grammar, rhetoric and logic had been combined into the Trivium. In medieval Western higher education, the Trivium was taught first, the idea being that the student had to learn to communicate and reason before studying the more scientific subjects in the Quadrivium.

The Regius Poem or Halliwell Manuscript (very important in Masonic history) was possibly written by a Welsh monk around 1390. This poem celebrates the “Classical Seven.”

In 1723, when the Rev. James Anderson published the Grand Lodge of England’s Constitutions, the liberal arts were included as ideal accomplishments of Free and Accepted Masons.

And thus over to America and to today – where the Seven Liberal Arts are embedded in our rituals and literature.

WHY SHOULD MASONS BE CONCERNED WITH THEM?

Thousands (or millions) of words have been written on this question. For me, ultimately, it is a personal thing. Yes, we are directed to learn and study them in our ceremonies and rituals. But as I think about this list, I see how they can help me be a better man, and a better Mason.

One example from rhetoric and logic: We are bombarded every day with media. The stuff on our phones, on our computers, on TV, and on the radio. From across the political spectrum, many opinions are reported as facts and many facts are derided as nothing more than opinions. Sometimes we must deal with aggressive salespeople, friends who are having a bad day, or family members who have lost their way.

How to separate the valuable from the nonsense? Those that have studied rhetoric and logic (especially when started young) are much more prepared to deal with this.

All of the Seven Liberal Arts have value. Discussing the importance of each one is beyond the scope of this article. Perhaps future articles can go into more detail and thought.

Cheers and Happy March – Spring is coming!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

MARCH (Youth Orders Month)

• 02 Fellowship Dinner (Banquet Room) Thursday 06:00 PM

• 02 Monthly Stated Meeting (LR1) Thursday 07:30 PM

• 09 Second Degree Practice (LR1) Thursday 06:30 PM

• 15 OSI (Officers School of Instruction) (LR3) Wednesday 07:00 PM

• 16 Masonic Education Night (Club Room) Thursday 06:30 PM

• 23 Second Degree - Bro. Moises Gonzalez (LR1) Thursday

06:00 PM Dinner - Followed by Ceremonies

• 30 DARK

Officers' Checklist

APRIL

• 04 Monthly Executive Committee Meeting (Zoom) Tuesday 06:30 PM

• 06 Fellowship Dinner (Banquet Room) Thursday 06:00 PM

• 06 Monthly Stated Meeting (LR1) Thursday 07:30 PM

• 13 Annual Bowling with Brothers (Country Club Lanes) Thursday 06:00 PM-08:00 PM

• 19 OSI (Officers School of Instruction) Wednesday 07:00 PM

• 20 First Degree Practice (LR1) Thursday 06:30 PM

• 27 First Degree - Mr. Kelvin Kimball (LR1) Thursday 06:30 PM

Officers' Checklist

“Forget-Me-Not” Symbol of Freemasonry

Nazi Germany’s treatment of Masons and

Masonry before and during World War II

Special Guest Speaker:

Worshipful Narbeh Bagdasarian
Past Grand Bible Bearer

Past Master of Glendale Lodge No. 368

Master of La France Lodge No. 2056

Inspector of 737th Masonic District

Hitler and his officers’ opinion about Masonry
The three principal enemies of Freemasonry in the Third Reich
Anti-Masonic Propaganda by the Third Reich
Closure of Masonic Lodges
Imprisonment of Freemasons
Lodges operating in the German Concentration Camps
“Forget-Me-Not” flower as the symbol of Masonic Solidarity

Thursday, June 22nd

Dinner at 06:00 PM

Presentation at 07:00 PM

Washington Lodge No. 20

Sacramento Masonic Temple

1123 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

Map

Please RSVP at

https://forms.gle/B8vbP8EfdSQJkp1n6

by Friday, June 16, 2023

Family and non-Masons are welcome!

MARCH 2023

BIRTHDAYS

07 Ronald Forsberg (Master Mason)
11 Jared Bishop (Entered Apprentice)
12 James Keehner (Master Mason)
12 Peter Petersen (Master Mason)
13 Heath Hamm (Master Mason)
16 Alex Chompff (Master Mason)
17 Patrick Fischer (Junior Steward)
17 Melvin Pinsler (Master Mason)
18 Daniel Mosier (FellowCraft)
18 Jeffrey Hardiman (Master Mason)
20 Ko Chang (Master Mason)
23 Bill Workman (Senior Deacon)
24 George Morrow (Master Mason)
24 Ivan Flowers (Entered Apprentice)
25 Michael Mc Glone (Master Mason)
26 Fred Bloom (Master Mason)
26 Paul Evans (Master Mason)
28 John Petersen (Past Master)
28 Max Schell (Past Master)
28 Gerald Singer (Master Mason)
30 Juan Faranda (Past Master)
30 Eric Van Houten (Master Mason)
30 Christian Wheeler (Master Mason)

MASTER MASON ANNIVERSARIES

08 John Knox (Past Master) (33 Years)
10 Edward Hardiman (35 Years)
14 Lucas Zeiher (10 Years)
15 James Ramey (26 Years)
16 Russell Tomas (Past Master) (6 Years)
17 Robert Cole (72 Years)
20 Christopher Boothe (9 Years)
20 Allen Kramer (20 Years)
20 John Petersen (Past Master) (43 Years)
21 Kyle Campbell (4 Years)
22 Kelvin Mark (16 Years)
22 John Otten (61 Years)
23 Marcus Bole (17 Years)
23 Arthur Henrikson (45 Years)
27 Scott Germer (43 Years)
28 Matthew Mason (Senior Warden) (4 Years)
28 Bradley Mitchell (27 Years)
29 Derek Waterman (11 Years)
31 Ryan Gooch (5 Years)
31 Christopher Hamilton (5 Years)

Washington Lodge No. 20

Mission Statement

To practice and promote a way of life that binds like-minded men in a worldwide
brotherhood that transcends all religious, ethnic, cultural, social and educational differences.

Through Masonic principles and tradition, and by the outward expression of these
through its fellowship and compassion, Washington Lodge No.20 Free & Accepted Masons provides ways in which to serve God, family, country, neighbors, and self in an environment that contributes to the enrichment and betterment of its members, mankind, and its communities.

The Porch and the Middle Chamber

Book of the Lodge

By Albert Pike

The Scottish Rite Research Society has recently published a special reprint of Albert Pike's The Porch and the Middle Chamber, The Book of the Lodge. Compiled by Illustrious Brother Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, G.C., K.Y.C.H., in 2021, this edition is a complete reprinting of Pike's original work which he wrote for the Craft, and it includes the ritual, liturgy, and the "secret work."

In a note on the contents of the book, de Hoyos tells us that a Craft ritual for the Scottish Rite was created by French Masons in 1804. Albert Pike would later undertake a "great labor of love" for the Craft, which included producing his own version of the Blue Lodge rituals, which he published in 1872. These were intended to be studied by Scottish Rite Masons, not practiced or actively conferred. Twenty years later, after Pike's death, the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction learned that these degrees had been exemplified without its permission and subsequently recalled all the copies of this work.

The Supreme Council maintains that the right to confer the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry lies solely with the Grand Lodges. However, the historical significance and philosophical weight of the work itself is difficult to dispute. Today, even though it has been published for study by Scottish Rite Masons, the tome may be nevertheless intriguing to Masons of any degree. We must remember, after all, that there is no higher degree than that of Master Mason; yet there may be deeper degrees that provide further elucidation regarding the path of a good Mason.

The Porch and the Middle Chamber includes a 100-page introduction by de Hoyos, which gives an overview of the history of "Freemasonry" in all its permutations throughout the ages proceeding from the eleventh century. Facsimiles most expressive assist the reader in understanding the morphology of "mysteries" as they were called by guildsman and the transition from operative to speculative masonry. Indeed the introduction is a work of scholarship in itself, and a fitting opening to such a magnificent literary accomplishment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Albert Pike (December 29, 1809 – April 2, 1891) was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist, and Confederate general who served as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in exile from 1864 to 1865.

He had previously served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army, commanding the District of Indian Territory in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.

A prominent Freemason, Pike served as the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA) from 1859 to 1889.

ISBN-10 : 1169782930

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1169782938

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