My Experience with the Foundation of Universal Freemasonry

When I first hear of the Foundation of Universal Freemasonry it sounded like an intriguing idea. Anything that supports Masonic freedom would be something that would have my personal support. I decided to join their public Yahoo Group and that is where things quickly went down hill.

First, I was unable to read any of the topics on the group. When I asked why, the leaders of the Foundation informed me that they did not know how to run a Yahoo group so they where not in a position to help me. Strange, if someone can't run a basic Yahoo group how can they run a non-profit organization?

Whatever.

Not the end of the world but highly annoying. Then I began to notice than none of my posts where appearing on the group. I was being censored for no reason at all. When I asked if I was unwelcome, I was assured by the Foundation leader Stephen Quest that I was "indeed welcomed." Very strange.

After two weeks it was very clear to me. Despite what I was being told I was still not allowed to see current or past topics and was not allowed to post. By this point my patience had started to wear thin.

Then I was informed by Mr.Quest since Mr, Chris Hodapp (who to my knowledge is not a member of the Foundation, the Yahoo group and who has nothing to do with any of it) believes that I am not a real person (whatever) that I was demanded to "prove" my existence.

Funny, ultimatums are hardly the way to solve a customer service issue. As a result, it would be my educated guess that the Foundation of Universal Freemasonry IS NOT recommended for members of Lodge Hera to have any interaction with. Not only are they functionally inept, they seem to be waste of time at best and downright dishonest at worst. This is all based upon my own experience, YMMV and I really hope it would.

I have wasted my own time with this group , it is not a mistake I will make again. Let my experience be an example to my fellow Brethren when dealing with less than honorable groups on the Internet.

H.G.W.

Michelle Walker- SA
Lodge Hera

Spring Lodge Schedule

Brethren and Friends,
Lodge will be held every Saturday this spring. We are increasing the frequency of lodge as this is the time of year that offers the most leeway in member schedules. As per lodge custom, lodge will start at 10:00am sharp at our new location.

We are going to try to make sure every lodge is followed by our famous BBQ festive board. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

See you all in lodge.

H.G.W.

Joshua Walker- WM Lodge Hera

Reminder

Due to our recent developments involving lodge space we will be having lodge meetings the remaining Saturdays in March. These will be the last meetings where we will accept Masonic visitors outside of the 1613 Nation. When/if we acquire a permanent lodge location that does not require the strict privacy that our new location will require, we will again be open to outside visitation.

I have no idea the time frame for such a development even if one will occur. I would suggest those who are interested in attending a tyled meeting do so while the opportunity remains.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me any time.

joshua@1613nation.org

IN LVX,

Joshua Walker-WM Lodge Hera

02/12/11 & 02/26/11

Lodge Hera in conjunction with out local chapter of the Order of A-Ω will be having open Lodges of Instruction as well as agape BBQ's . The festivities will start at 6:00pm PST . If you plan on attending, please let us know as soon as possible so we can make sure all accommodations are satisfactory.

We have been doing these joint events for a while with great success. Please join us for a time of learning followed by fellowship and a fine meal.

H.G.W.

Michelle Walker- Senior Acolyte
Lodge Hera-1613 Nation

Important Announcement- change of lodge location

Brethren,
Do to events, the lease on Lodge Hera's current location in Pleasanton will run out on April 1st. Unless something else happens, the lodge will move to the Walker household at that time.

Unfortunately, this means we need to be extra vigilant in regards to my family security. We will only meet prospective members in public locations until adequate time has been established so mutual trust can be firmly established. We will not be accepting visitors outside the 1613 Nation.

Now for the good news. We will be initiating two new EA's in February and we have three more petitions to read in lodge this Saturday. We will do our best to accomplish the upcoming initiations in our current location so that we may be able to accommodate all visiting Brethren.

Thank you for all of your patience during this time of transition. We appreciate everyone's support and interest in Lodge Hera and the 1613 Nation.

IN LVX,
Joshua Walker-WM Lodge Hera

Monday

There is a lot of discussion these days regarding lodgerooms. I find that many need a physical building to go to every month. This can be for a few reasons.The first is status, they feel that owning or renting a substantial building give their own work validation. They feel that this is some sort of "stamp of approval" from the rest of society. It shows others, in their minds that they are a "legit" order and thus their work is improved.

Another reason is reassurance. To show to themselves that what they are doing doesn't just take place on a world that intangible to us, but by having that same chair in that same space that it gives them the sense of something "real."

Now, to each their own. I don't make it a habit to be overly critical of any one's opinion, even if I passionately disagree. I do find both of these reasoning's though very sincere to be very exoterically focused and I wonder if such a mindset is actually of benefit to what we, esoteric and occult Freemasons are working to accomplish.

For many, Freemasonry is simply a social and philanthropic society. meant to do good deeds in the community and to offer a place of camaraderie and social bonding away from the stress of work and home. That's fine, but obviously not at all on the same page where we are coming from.

For us, Freemasonry, the Craft of the Wise, the Royal Art, the Divine Path is a system of high ceremonial magic, used to enable us to communicate with our divine selves. Under perfect circumstances and in perfect situations it will serve as a conduit for direct communication with divinity. This is a very powerful and real science.

this leads me to ask, to what real purpose the physical lodgeroom? How does it really enhance our work? Aren't both the desires for status and external validations nothing more than manifestations of personal inner profanity? Work that old building though impressive to look at and even more to stand in just lead us away from our inner work and into a state of stasis that is about the lineal here and now?

I really don't know the answers to these question, or even if there are answers. The more on I work on my own ashlar, the more I am finding the value is within the questions themselves. This is a journey of miracles, and even though it is at sometimes an arduous task that seems to lack in reward, the reward is there. Locked within the work we all find ourselves. What is important will be revealed by the G.A.O.T.U. in due time.

Are you ready?

IN LVX,
Joshua Walker-WM Lodge Hera- 1613 Nation

It's Our Thing

This is a post based upon my personal position, not on official lodge policy. Now, when I was in the East it was lodge policy but now that I am in "retirement" mode I have to fight my desire for total control and trust in our capable leadership. This is a post about reflection as well as the future of our lodge.

Worshipful Walker is doing a tremendous job since he assumed the role of Worshipful Master. It's a huge responsibility and he has embraced every last bit of it. Now, it was the original motivation of this lodge to be something different within Post-Modern Freemasonry. The idea was to be a "specialty lodge" that would focus on the aspects of the sacred feminine within the Craft and well as the creation and working of a brand new Masonic Rite, the Hellenic Rite of Freemasonry.

We didn't really want to be a lodge where membership was even a consideration. We had our original three officers and that was fine with us. Of course, I knew that there would be a time when this had to change, I just didn't want it to.

I have been a Mason for quite some time. A member of many Masonic orders. I have grown tired over the years of the bullshit and frankly, it has made me somewhat cynical and guarded. Lodge Hera was my project, I was not about to let it devolve into a "typical" Masonic lodge.

I realize now that this was my own "headtrash" that I needed to overcome. I wasn't doing anyone else a favor by being withdrawn and isolationist. The Hellenic Rite went from idea , to rough form, to working ritual, to a full Rite capable of divine transmutation. It's time for it to be known.

From the beginning we had a lodge motto, It's Our Thing. It still is but I'll have to admit, now that we are taking on new members and are a working and growing lodge, it's a lot of fun. Not to mention deeply fulfilling. Taking on our first initiate and then growing that initiate to a raise in wage to the Fellowcraft degree did something I didn't expect, it caused my own further remanifestation.

In closing, I'm so proud of Lodge Hera. As it stands today as a beautiful, growing and thriving lodge of true Brethren. It's place in the Nation, and in the worldwide current is firmly established. Far from typical, exceptional.

It may be our thing, but it's time for the world to know about it.

IN LVX,
P.D. Black- Lodge Hera PM

Some Thoughts from a Pagan Mason

There was a discussion that got rather heated on another Masonic board here on FB. Is Freemasonry Monotheist? I would assume that they are talking about mainstream Masonry, as in general most talk of Freemasonry (falsely) as an organization, as opposed to what it is, an initiatic path of divine remanifestation.

Now, this topic gave me pause. I am not a monotheist, and to my knowledge I never have been as I grew up in a very secular household. I came into my religion of Hellenic Reconstructionism while in college. ironically enough it was the joining of my college fraternity ΣΦΕ that got me really interested in the Greek alphabet, from there into Greek gematria, and from there what I believe the unlocking of divine truth.

I have been a faithful servant of the Hellenic path ever since. Now, I joined Freemasonry right after graduation. It was the reading of Madame Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine that led me in the path of the Craft. I joined a liberal lodge as I felt that the balance of male and female energy was ideal. To be honest , since I came from no family background in Freemasonry i never considered an all male or "mainstream" lodge.

My lodge was filled with every faith you could imagine. We had no less than four sacred texts on the alter at any one time. Since my faith is not "book based" I asked my WM to take my obligation on what I feel would be the closest thing to a Holy book, The Illiad. They obliged.

So when I read a question like "is Freemasonry monotheistic" I am a bit dumbfounded. I have never know Freemasonry to be literal. The point (as I have always understood it) is like other divine paths, the truth is obscured through the symbolism of the ritual, not just splayed out in front of you by it. Like in gematria, the numbers actual conceal and force the brain and soul to reveal the value.

In Masonic ritual, it is up to the seeker to find the meaning for themselves. I have found when done correctly, it is a sort of "soul language" that communicates to the divine self. This may be more than out profane or human self can easily describe but it makes it no less real. It is what we in the 1613 describe as remanifestation.

In my Masonic Rite, the Hellenic Ritual, we call among Pagan God forms to teach our souls what are minds and body are incapable of understanding by themselves. To awaken the divine fire to burn away our profane existence, and leave behind the stone once rough made smooth.

This is not to say that monotheistic based ritual would not have the same effect. Regardless of weather it is known or concealed, God forms of all kinds are found within the middle chamber. In between the pillars of Hercules (B&J) we leave behind out former self, to be reborn as men and women of divine light.

This has just as much meaning and effect on the aspirant regardless of their personal spiritual belief. I do not subscribe to any form of exclusivity of thought. I am not about to say that Hebrew symbolism is lost on the Hindu, or Helline. I would also not demand that one be a "believer" in order for this sacred algorithm to access the vast database that is our mind and soul.

IN LVX,
Joshua Walker-WM Lodge Hera

On the Eve of Destiny

On the eve of this, the first Passing of a Hellenic Rite candidate I am filled with much joy. I am proud of what we have accomplished and very excited in what we have yet ahead of us. This journey that we have taken together, that seemed like only a fantasy not to long ago is not entering deep into phase two. A new realm of existence, what a huge responsibility that is for all of us, and especially for myself as Worshipful Master of this single little lodge dedicated to the masters of Heaven and Earth.

Brethren, we all have responsibilities. When we made the decision of our own free will to enter into a Masonic chamber we where not simply signing up to be a member of some exclusive club. All membership really means is that somewhere along the line you paid someone for the right to associate with a certain group of people. I did this when I joined my college fraternity.

Our responsibility goes much deeper than this. It is not only to stand beside your fellow man, through the good times and the bad but it is a direct responsibility to work hard, to do your very best to become proficient in divine work.

Not everyone is suited for what we do. Our road is rugged in more ways than one. the forces against the Gods are many, the temptations to become a lesser man ever surrounding. This is our test, but also through that test comes responsibility.

The responsibility of being a guide and mentor to those who have come after you. They rely on you for safety, comfort and general well being. They rely on you for education, for without knowing the basics and then some how will the temple ever be raised. They rely on you to have a gentle hand but a firm backbone. In the face of all opposition, you must carry the shield not only for yourself, but your lodge, your community and your Nation.

The light of G.A.O.T.U. is all around us. Sometimes it is so bright that we fail to recognize it, or mistake it for something else. Other times we feel it overwhelm us, as we are members of a smaller community who have to navigate dangerous waters. But, my Brothers, do not let you be discouraged for know that it is the divine work that is our purpose. We are not here to please the vanity of man, nor the ego of the inner child. We are here to erect that temple to him.

Can you handle the responsibility? I promise that you'll not be alone.

IN LVX,
Joshua Walker-WM Lodge Hera-1613 Nation

The Chequred Pavement Forum

Places where 1613 members and friends to such find places to congregate on the web few and far in between. That is why it is extra special when we find a place to be ourselves, discuss serious Freemasonry without the interference of trolls and general miscreants.

Brother Steve Foley, an unaffiliated Freemason from England has done just that. Provided a real community forum free from all the bullshit hassles of haters and other worthless interactions.

You'll find a link to Bro. Foley's forum linked to the left of this post. Please feel free to stop on buy and say hello.

IN LVX,
P.D. Black-PM Lodge Hera