The Member Only Log-In Area is secure and provides you with special membership privileges.

Member Only Area Features:

• Membership contact information 
  
• review your name & address information
  
• Download forms (slate for degree work form, committee report form, etc.)  
  
• Participate in upcoming online forums and polls
• Sign up to volunteer on committees
• Sign up to receive email notices

Important: You must be a member in good standing of Lombard Lodge #1098 and have your username and password registered in order to participate in the Member Only Area. Once your current membership is confirmed and your username and password are registered, you will receive a confirmation email. Then, simply log on!

To register please email tdkleiner@aol.com the following information:

• Your Full Name:


• Your Preferred Username:


• Your Preferred Password:


• Your Email Address:

If you are unsure of your membership status and/or your username and password, or if you have other questions or concerns, please email tdkleiner@aol.com

The Trowel ...is an instrument made use of by operative masons to spread the cement which unites the building into one common mass: but we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorius purpose of spreading the cement of brotherly love and affection - that cement which unites us into one sacred band, or society of friends and brothers, among whom no contention should ever exist, but that noble contention, or rather emulation, of who best can work and best agree.

Best-selling author Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol, draws heavily on the lore and mystique of the Freemasons. A visit to one of the locations in the novel, a prominent Masonic building in Washington, D.C., serves as an introduction to the history of the once feared and even reviled secret society.

The House of the Temple, the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, is an impressive and dignified edifice on Washington's 16th Street. The design was inspired by the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, in Turkey. A couple of sphinxes on huge pedestals flank the steps.

In the center of the temple room is a large altar. Brent Morris, a mathematician by trade and editor of the Scottish Rite Journal, tells Robert Siegel that when a Masonic meeting is open, a volume of sacred law is open representing God's revelation to man.

"When a man becomes a member," Morris says, "he is asked to place his hand upon the book that he considers binding on his conscience." The temple has copies of the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Old Testament, the Zend-Avesta, the Sutras and the Quran.

"This, we figured, will cover 99.9 percent [of members]," Morris says. "And if it doesn't, we'll get whatever's needed."

Spiritual, But Not A Religion

The rites inside the temple are at some level spiritual, and though they are related to religion, Freemasonry is not a religion. Morris explains that when the group was organized from a stonemasons' guild in 1717, its members adopted the radical proposition that men of different faiths can agree on God's existence.

"They can agree that God compels them to do good in the community," Morris says. "And then they can stop talking about religion." There are an estimated 1.4 million Masons in the U.S. today.

Brown's novel The Lost Symbol includes scenes of secret initiation rites in which wine is drunk from a skull. Morris says that does not happen — anymore.

"There used to be another branch of Freemasonry in the United States, or another branch of Scottish Rite Masonry, in competition with us. ... It's been dead for over a century."

Still, Masonic secrecy often inspired opposition to the society. In the 19th century, the Vatican issued anti-Masonic encyclicals, one of them branding the Masons "the Synagogue of Satan." Hitler ranted against the Masons. But some Masons have had fun with the orders' secrets over the years.

Mozart was a mason, and his opera The Magic Flute is full of Masonic symbols. Rudyard Kipling was also a Mason. His story "The Man Who Would Be King" is a playful adventure story involving Masons.

Secrecy

Although there are secrets to being a Mason, the boundaries of secrecy of Masonry aren't very clear, says Jay Kinney, author of The Masonic Myth.

"A lot of Masons sort of assumed that everything about the organization is a secret, and they just sort of clammed up, and that gave them a real reputation for being close-mouthed," Kinney tells Siegel. "However, the actual secrets that are not supposed to be revealed tend to be just the modes of recognition, which boil down to a few handshakes and hand gestures and the specific wording of degree rituals."

He says Mason symbols can be found on aprons, certificates and coffee cups. "It's all out there, and it's all fair game to discuss," Kinney says.

Still, the organization has attracted suspicion, partly because of its roster of powerful members: more than a dozen U.S. presidents and many prominent businessmen were Masons. This, in part, has led to the belief that Masons run the world.

"There may have been a smidgen of truth to that suspicion at one time," Kinney says.

He says in smaller towns, at one time, leading members of the community were Masons, and membership provided a private venue to discuss things. Kinney says there may have been a time when members used Masonic connections, but that is no longer happening.

"It's largely, at this point, a social organization that people enjoy each other's company," he says. "But there isn't discussion of power politics or how we're going to run the universe."

---

 THE LOST SYMBOL
by Dan Brown

The Lost Symbol, available wherever books are sold on 9.15.09, once again features Dan Brown’s unforgettable protagonist, Robert Langdon. The book’s narrative takes place in a twelve-hour period, and from the first page, readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Langdon through a masterful and unexpected landscape. Dan Brown’s prodigious talent for storytelling, infused with history, codes and intrigue, is on full display in this riveting new novel.

 

More on The Lost Symbol

TheLostSymbol.com
Twitter | Facebook

Buy the Book

To buy the book, click HERE and type "The Lost Symbol" in the search box at the top.

From the Webmaster

Please set aside some time to make the new members feel welcome and help them by showing them the ropes.  Remember the first time you came to lodge and the feelings you had.  These new guys are the most important part of our Lodge.  They are the building blocks of our future – Not us old bricks. 

Throughout my travels as a Mason I have heard complaints whispered and aloud about how things are being run.  I guess we get in the habit of ridicule by watching our politicians.  For example, within the space of two minutes I recently heard one member complain that we are pushing candidates through and not enough time is taken to do it right.  This was followed immediately by someone arguing that we should have a second Blue Lightning in addition to the one on June 6th.  These are opposing arguments.   

 I hope we are all smart enough to know that not everyone can be happy.  It seems to me that the founders of our organization were well aware of this.  This is why they insisted on the symbols and ritual that we have.  This always provides us with common ground.  And this is our way to conduct ourselves in harmony.   

 In addition, they knew that it would be best to have the core of officers change often.  Most of the time, we have a new Worshipful Master and a new set of officers every year.  This group of lodge brothers took it upon themselves to provide guidance for the Lodge.  I can assure you that no new Worshipful Master takes the position with the intent to bring the Lodge to decay and chaos.  Each and every one takes the gavel with a passionate desire to make the Lodge better.  Some even expect to have fun!  I ask in behalf of the Lodge for your empathy. Even if things do not go the way you feel they should, at least try to find something to support the Worshipful Master and the officer’s efforts.  

Please keep in mind we all want the Lodge and the members to thrive.  Maybe your way of doing things is better, but then maybe it isn’t.  Give the team a chance.  A new philosophy about the Lodge focus will come with a each new Worshipful Master.  And maybe when the day comes when you sit in the East the members will remember your cooperation and return the favor.   

 I wish you all health and prosperity.

As the early American pioneers began to move westward from the Eastern colonies, they crossed what is now Indiana and Illinois. When they reached the Mississippi River, they discovered an old Indian camp which we now call Kaskaskia. Soon a Jesuit missionary station began there and the settlement became an important French trading post. Trappers and traders came in increasing numbers and frontier villages replaced the old trading posts. The British captured the town in 1763, and nine years later, Kaskaskia became the British military headquarters for the Northwest Territory.

As Americans continued to move west, Masons took a prominent part in the exploration and settlings of the new lands. The outbreak of the Revolution had little effects on Illinois until July 1778, when Major George Rogers Clark, a Mason, and his small band of Kentucky volunteers captured Kaskaskia and the nearby settlements. This gave America control of the huge Northwest Territory for the rest of the war.

The history of organized Freemasonry in Illinois started on May 7, 1804; fourteen years before Illinois would be ratified for statehood. On that day, Brother James Edgar, of Kaskaskia, wrote to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania asking for a Dispensation to form Western Star Lodge located in Kaskaskia. The Dispensation was granted September 24, 1805, making Western Star Lodge #107 the first Masonic Lodge in the Indiana Territory.

The newly formed Lodge held their first meeting in a two-story brick building in Kaskaskia. The building would later be rented to the State of Illinois to serve as the first State Capital.

On April 30, 1733, this Provincial Grand Master Henry Price, who had received his appointment a short time before from Viscount Montague, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England convened a number of Brethren into a Provincial Grand Lodge, and then form and constituted a subordinate Lodge on Boston. This Lodge, later consolidated with two others, still functions in that city.

By 1816, several Masonic Lodges were operating in the Indiana Territory. They had been granted Charters by the Grand Lodges of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana. However, the great distances to, and the methods of travel, made it almost impossible to communicate or attend the Grand Lodge affairs. As a result, these Lodges in the territory were largely left upon their own for work.

A Masonic Convention on December 9, 1822 was held in the State Capital building at Vandalia. Several Lodges in the territory who had been granted Charters by Grand Lodges of other states decided that since the territory had become a state in 1818, to meet and form their own Grand Lodge. Two days later, they proceeded to organize and nominate officers. The nominations were then presented to the Lodges, approved and duly elected. The first elected Grand Master of Illinois was Shadrach Bond, who only a few days earlier had completed his term as the first governor of the State of Illinois.

The Grand Lodge of Illinois met in stated communication one year later. Several of the Lodges in Illinois, holding Charters from Grand Lodges of other states, squared themselves and received Charters from the Grand Lodge of Illinois. However, not all Lodges affiliated with the new Grand Lodge at that time. From 1805 to 1827, eighteen Lodges were formed in Illinois, sixteen of which affiliated with the new Grand Lodge.

For about four years after the organization of the Grand Lodge, Masonry in Illinois thrived. But in 1826, an anti-Masonic wave began in New York, following the disappearance and supposed murder of William Morgan, author of a book exposing the secrets of Masonry. When Masons in the New York court system seemed to be obstructing efforts to bring Morgan's alleged murderers to justice, a wave of anti-Masonic sentiment swept across New York and many other states. An Anti-Masonic political party was formed and an attempt was made to elect their presidential candidate in the 1832 election. Popular feeling was so strong against Masonry that many Masons terminated their membership, Lodges gave up their Charters and some Grand Lodges ceased to function. The effect of the anti-Masonic hysteria was disastrous in Illinois. The first Grand Lodge did not meet again after January 1827. From that date to 1835, a period of six years, organized Masonry in Illinois was non-existent.

 

What Is A Mason? Making Good Men Better A Freemason is a man who, in searching for life's ineffable questions, finds his way into the company of fellow seekers. Comprised of men from every nation, races, social and economic level, all hold similar ideals and beliefs. The uniting idea is a faith in the divine founded in the certitude in an afterlife. This "belief" is grounded by certain landmark tenants and virtues which ultimately lead in exploration of those invisible questions, leading ultimately to the betterment of all mankind. ›› Read More About What A Mason Is

If anyone wants to submit an article for Lodge and wants it put into the Temple Topics please submit it to Thomas Kleiner. Articles and photos must be in by the 10th of the month for the next issue. All photo submittions must be in jpeg format and on a seperate Word formatted page. Brother Kleiner can be emailed at: tdkleiner@aol.com