The Way of the West

[Torence]

In Masonry, direction to the membership often arrives by “The Way of
the West.” It is a phrase that appeals to us Americans, particularly
us fans of the movie western, as it works well for us adding dimension
to simple instruction. If the East represents progress and a new
beginning, and the West the culmination of knowledge, then by the time
that tuition reaches the general membership it should symbolize the
teamwork and the alpha and omega of Principle Officer thought.
Somewhere around 1730, the words “Wisdom, Strength and Beauty” were
attributed to the officers in Masonic Lodges. I have not ascertained
whether or not this was an English invention or one from our side of
the big pond. The Wisdom to invent, the Strength to sustain and the
Beauty to communicate well are attributes that should be emulated by
every man who stands for these roles. At work, in business, such a
triad of partners would achieve just about any goal.
What does the phrase “The Way of the West” mean to you? Has it an
application outside our little club?

Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary-Elect
Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois

[Harland T. Culford]

Correct me if I'm wrong brother, but the turn of phrase that your
referring to is used in referring to taking a path in King Solomons
temple is it not?


W. Bro. Harland T. Culford
Concord Lodge #79, GLBC&Y

[Torence]

Post by Harland T. Culford
Correct me if I'm wrong brother, but the turn of phrase that your
referring to is used in referring to taking a path in King Solomons
temple is it not?
W. Bro. Harland T. Culford
Concord Lodge #79, GLBC&Y

Yes. To fill out the phrase and stimulate discussion, I offer up these
three quotes, the first two from Gadicke, the last from Pike-
“To possess Masonic Wisdom it is not necessary to be very learned, or
to have the most penetrating genius; the man of good plain common
sense may be more Masonically wise than the most learned man in
existence.”
“He who assiduously goes through the difficult path of life-
courageously bears up against all its disappointments-manfully an
unflinchingly speaks the truth even before the thrones of Kings and
Princes- he possesses true strength.’
“Beauty, or the Infinite Divine Harmony, the eternal law, by virtue of
which the infinite myriads of suns and worlds flash ever onward in
their ceaseless revolutions, without clash or conflict, in the
Infinite of space, change and movement are the law of all created
experience.”

Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary-Elect
Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois
PM – Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 – Lansing, Illinois

[Doug Freyburger]

In Masonry, direction to the membership often arrives by The Way of
the West.

In that sentence "often" means "in Illinois". The part of the opening
and closing ceremonies where that appears in Illinois does not appear in
the California ritual that I learned initiall.y

It is a phrase that appeals to us Americans, particularly
us fans of the movie western, as it works well for us adding dimension
to simple instruction.

I like doing impromptu Masonic education speeches at Table Lodge and at
lodge meetings. Some of these end up as the articles I submit to the
regional Masonic newspaper that many Illinois lodges use as their
trestleboard.

What does the phrase The Way of the West mean to you? Has it an
application outside our little club?

Within lodge it reminds me of ritual instructors who stress commonly
missed details. A part is often said "communicated to me by way of the
West" but the official ritual is "communicated to me by the way of the
West". One of the "the"s gets extra stress so brothers learning the
ritual include that word.

A corny line of free association goes like this - The Way of The West
gets a lot of stress by ritual instructors in Illinois. It should mean
something but ritual instructors generally don't like to discuss
meanings. Why favorite cowboy movie that teaches The Way of The West is
"The Magnificent Seven" with Yul Bynner, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen
and so on. The way of the cowboy taught in that movie is to defend the
weak, to foster personal excellence, and to depend on your comrades.
When phrased that way it does indeed sound pretty Masonic so how far can
I take this free association? That movie was based on the Japanese
movie "The Seven Samurai" that taught the way of the ancient Japanese
warrior class. The name for the Samurai moral code is Bushido. Various
Japanese movies and comics such as Astru Boy and Speed Racer teach
Bushido.

Consider the novel War and Peace. Think of war and peace as sides of
the same coin of human experience. Bushido and Masonry are much the
same moral code, one mapped into the realm of the warrior and one mapped
into the realm of the peace-ior. War and Peace is a novel of Czarist
Russia before the Soviet Union. There were lodges in Czars Russia that
were closed by the Soviets after the Russian Revolution. Continuing to
move west there were also German lodges that were closed by the Nazis
just before WWII. The Germans fought the English in some world wars.
There were and still are lodges in the UK. Continuing west Masonry came
the the US from the UK.

And so there's the rambling path all the way around the world, with at
least some Masonic reference at each hop. It's a best too carefully
planned to be real free association by the time it's over but it had a
fun free association beginning.

So now you know, the rest of the story ...

[unknown]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Torence" <***@aol.com>
Newsgroups: soc.org.freemasonry
Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2009 2:45 PM
Subject: The Way of the West

In Masonry, direction to the membership often arrives by "The Way of
the West."

However - learning originated in the East, and that is where the WM sits.

<...snipped...>

Somewhere around 1730, the words "Wisdom, Strength and Beauty" were
attributed to the officers in Masonic Lodges. I have not ascertained
whether or not this was an English invention or one from our side of
the big pond.

Whether or not English, certainly from this side ..... by 1730 the colonies
in North America were just receiving their first ProvGM - who was appointed
in advance of lodges.

The Wisdom to invent, the Strength to sustain and the
Beauty to communicate well ......

An interesting allegorical combination .....

<...snipped...>

What does the phrase "The Way of the West" mean to you? Has it an
application outside our little club?

Mostly it gives the impression derived from that brief era when "cowboys"
went round shooting each other (either in duels. or more commonly in the
back), and people such as Custer who enjoyed using the superiority of guns
over bows and arrows to slaughter large numbers of the indigenous population
so that they could force the survivors into "reservations" etc....

This isn't an "anti-American" sentiment or interpretation ..... but just
what it means to me as someone who is not American and therefore is likely
to focus on different aspects of the "The Way of the West" from those
aspects that Americans may relate to.




======================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
MODERATOR: I *almost* held this back as inflammitory, Richard, but I sense a lesson lurking in the background, waiting to be taught... Let's see how this plays out. -DV

[Torence]

Post by unknown
Whether or not English, certainly from this side ..... by 1730 the colonies
in North America were just receiving their first ProvGM - who was appointed
in advance of lodges.

I do wonder if we have a “what came first, the chicken or the egg
situation?” But I agree with you that the Premier Grand Lodge sent
Provincial Grand Masters out first before lodges were established in
the various colonies. Gibraltar and Fort William, Calcutta were up and
running in 1728; but was there a Provincial Grand Master involved in
those places first? Or were these start-ups via traveling warrants or
some other method? Various scholars, motivated of course by promoting
one jurisdiction or another in North America as the birthplace of
American Freemasonry, have quibbled over this point.

Post by unknown
Mostly it gives the impression derived from that brief era when "cowboys"
went round shooting each other (either in duels. or more commonly in the
back),

Or the foot…

Post by unknown
…and people such as Custer who enjoyed using the superiority of guns
over bows and arrows to slaughter large numbers of the indigenous population
so that they could force the survivors into "reservations" etc....

Yeah, that strategy did not work out too well for him did it?
Here in Illinois, we have as part of our legacy a couple of notable
men who were on the right side of things then. Eli S. Parker was the
son of Red Jacket and a Seneca Indian. He was our Grand Orator in 1860
the year that our first Grand Orator, Stephen Douglas, lost his
election to Abraham Lincoln. Eli S. Parker was a close companion to
Ulysses S. Grant and drafted the articles of surrender for the
Confederates at Appomattox. Another notable Brother was John R.
Thomas. He was a US Congressman at the time of his Grand Mastership in
1884. A friend to the First People here, after the turn of the new
century he worked diligently to for Statehood for Indian Territory, a/
k/a Oklahoma. Curiously, many Illinois Masons do not know that he died
in a jail break in 1914. Though officially retired, he had gone to the
McAlester Oklahoma Penitentiary to take testimony from one of his
clients, a Native American, work he was doing pro bono, and three
desperate men took a pistol off a guard, killed three deputies and PGM
Thomas, They then held his stenographer hostage until the last of them
were gunned down in a buggy just outside the prison gate.
I always wonder why the public think the Nicolas Cage movies to be
more interesting than the truth.

MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
I *almost* held this back as inflammitory, Richard, but I sense a
lesson lurking in the background, waiting to be taught... Let's see
how this plays out. –DV

I think the lesson is that when Richard is right, he is right.

Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary
Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois
PM – Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 – Lansing, Illinois