Once again United Grand Lodge has hired a PR agency. This happens every few years and nothing ever changes.
From "PR Week"
The governing body of Freemasonry in the UK has called in external PR help in a drive to shrug off a 'secret society' image.
Since its inception in the 18th century, the practice of Freemasonry has been well known for allegedly using secret handshakes and other obscure rituals.
But the United Grand Lodge of England is keen to shed more light on its shadowy practices as the organisation approaches its 300th birthday in 2017.
The Lodge, which governs Freemasonry in England, Wales and the Channel Islands, has appointed Bondy Consulting as a retained consultancy to build greater awareness of Freemasonry and ensure the practice’s long-term future.
Grand secretary of the United Grand Lodge Nigel Brown said: ‘Freemasonry is now run as a modern business and it is important our communication reflects this. Freemasonry plays a unique role in society today and it is vital we encourage people to talk openly about it and dispel the many unfounded myths
associated with it.’
Freemasonry has 250,000 members, including 30,000 overseas. It is one of the world’s largest non-religious, non-political, fraternal and charitable organisations.
Bondy founder Jessica Bondy said: ‘We have been appointed to combat common misconceptions including those of secrecy. There are no secrets in Freemasonry and we need to encourage people to talk openly about it. Information is totally accessible for anyone that wants it and anyone can come into Freemasons’ Hall.’
Bondy, a former MD at Ketchum, also said: ‘There is no secret handshake – this is one of the myths.’
As part of the PR drive, the agency will also promote Freemasons’ Hall, which has featured in a number of Hollywood blockbuster movies.
Bondy was selected after a competitive agency pitch.
Ironically, both Bondy and the United Grand Lodge were tight-lipped about the Freemasons’ previous PR support.
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Friday, 18 June 2010
"Inside the Ministry of Funny Handshakes"
From The Times...
"Inside the Ministry of Funny Handshakes"
Everything you thought about the Masons is wrong, says the man out to change their image
The first thing you notice is the handshake — firm, dry and apparently, orthodox. No odd grips, sliding thumbs or other obvious digital manipulation. Nigel Brown laughs. “One of my jobs is to get rid of these misconceptions,” he says. He is the new public face of Freemasonry, since his appointment as Grand Secretary, United Grand Lodge of England, in 2007.
Indeed, he is probably its first public face — there have been prominent Masons in its near 300-year history, such as the Duke of Kent, Grand Master and overall head of the Lodge, with 43 years in the role. But no one before has been charged with explaining the inner workings of the movement to a largely uncomprehending world.
The Grand Lodge is at Freemasons’ Hall, off Kingsway, Central London. Millions of Londoners and tourists will have walked past the white walls of this gigantic Art Deco landmark, which contains 11.5 acres of corridors, with little idea of what happens within.
Brown has offered to show me around and debunk some of the misconceptions. For one, this is not some hermetic temple. “It’s always been open to the public — we have managed tours.”
Alternatively, you could catch it on screen. One of the top ten film locations in London, it has featured as the HQ in Spooks on TV, in the latest Sherlock Holmes film and as one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces in The Green Zone, which, it must be admitted, required only one of the less imposing meeting halls.
Among the other misconceptions: Masons do not collude with each other to gain advancement in business. They do not use hidden signs, the “grips” or “tokens”, as they are known, to do this. It is not inimical to women. It is not a religion or an order. But yes, women cannot join men’s lodges, and yes, they do wear the relevant clothing — “regalia” — for ceremonies.
For other, more outré theories, see the wilder fringes of the internet.Freemasonry has, in its three centuries, attracted the hatred of the Roman Catholic Church, Hitler and most communist regimes. It is still seen by some as a vast, multi-tentacled conspiracy aimed at world domination.
Brown, 62, is the 13th Grand Secretary since 1813, when the movement in England and Wales was reunited after a half century of schism. He was brought up the son of a district commissioner in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, educated in South Africa, went to Sandhurst and became a captain in the Grenadier Guards. He went into business and became a Mason in 1985 — his father was not one, but an uncle, an Army officer, was. “A good friend who was a Mason asked if I had thought about it,” Brown says. “I said, ‘No, but tell me more’. What he told me was absolutely aligned with my thinking — the camaraderie, the rest of it.”
He found he enjoyed the ritual, and the three evenings a year Masonic events took up. In 2007, as he was winding down his consultancy business and approaching 60, he went through a month of vetting and interviews at the Lodge for the Grand Secretary’s job, the organisation’s chief executive.
“They wanted somebody who would run it as a business and open Freemasonry up so that people would realise what it was all about rather than what they thought it would be about.”
"Inside the Ministry of Funny Handshakes"
Everything you thought about the Masons is wrong, says the man out to change their image
The first thing you notice is the handshake — firm, dry and apparently, orthodox. No odd grips, sliding thumbs or other obvious digital manipulation. Nigel Brown laughs. “One of my jobs is to get rid of these misconceptions,” he says. He is the new public face of Freemasonry, since his appointment as Grand Secretary, United Grand Lodge of England, in 2007.
Indeed, he is probably its first public face — there have been prominent Masons in its near 300-year history, such as the Duke of Kent, Grand Master and overall head of the Lodge, with 43 years in the role. But no one before has been charged with explaining the inner workings of the movement to a largely uncomprehending world.
The Grand Lodge is at Freemasons’ Hall, off Kingsway, Central London. Millions of Londoners and tourists will have walked past the white walls of this gigantic Art Deco landmark, which contains 11.5 acres of corridors, with little idea of what happens within.
Brown has offered to show me around and debunk some of the misconceptions. For one, this is not some hermetic temple. “It’s always been open to the public — we have managed tours.”
Alternatively, you could catch it on screen. One of the top ten film locations in London, it has featured as the HQ in Spooks on TV, in the latest Sherlock Holmes film and as one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces in The Green Zone, which, it must be admitted, required only one of the less imposing meeting halls.
Among the other misconceptions: Masons do not collude with each other to gain advancement in business. They do not use hidden signs, the “grips” or “tokens”, as they are known, to do this. It is not inimical to women. It is not a religion or an order. But yes, women cannot join men’s lodges, and yes, they do wear the relevant clothing — “regalia” — for ceremonies.
For other, more outré theories, see the wilder fringes of the internet.Freemasonry has, in its three centuries, attracted the hatred of the Roman Catholic Church, Hitler and most communist regimes. It is still seen by some as a vast, multi-tentacled conspiracy aimed at world domination.
Brown, 62, is the 13th Grand Secretary since 1813, when the movement in England and Wales was reunited after a half century of schism. He was brought up the son of a district commissioner in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, educated in South Africa, went to Sandhurst and became a captain in the Grenadier Guards. He went into business and became a Mason in 1985 — his father was not one, but an uncle, an Army officer, was. “A good friend who was a Mason asked if I had thought about it,” Brown says. “I said, ‘No, but tell me more’. What he told me was absolutely aligned with my thinking — the camaraderie, the rest of it.”
He found he enjoyed the ritual, and the three evenings a year Masonic events took up. In 2007, as he was winding down his consultancy business and approaching 60, he went through a month of vetting and interviews at the Lodge for the Grand Secretary’s job, the organisation’s chief executive.
“They wanted somebody who would run it as a business and open Freemasonry up so that people would realise what it was all about rather than what they thought it would be about.”
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Masonic clue to murder
After the murder of Barry George Rubery, Avon and Somerset Police, UK, have released details of property missing from his home.
On April 28, Mr Rubery returned to Crossing Cottage on Latteridge Road in Iron Acton, near Bristol, following a night out with friends, but the following day he was found with fatal head injuries. Among a number of items taken from the property was a gold Masonic pocket watch, similar to the one pictured here.
A £10,000 reward has been offered by Crimestoppers.
If you have any information as to the whereabouts of the watch, you can provide any information anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via the secure online form on the Crimestoppers website,
Argentinian Freemasonry
This from "Buenos Aires Today"
Freemasonry in Buenos Aires was started with the consecration of a “Logia Independencia” in 1795 consisting of young intellectuals mostly with higher European degrees. Some of the most prominent members were Juan José Castelli, his cousin Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Paso, Feliciano Chiclana, Matías Irigoyen, Nicolás Rodríguez Peña, Hipólito Vieytes, Juan Larrea, Domingo Matheu and Antonio Luis Berutti.
Going forward in time and leading up to May 25, in 1808 Don José de San Martín joined his first lodge, the “Logia Integridad” in Cadiz, where the Worshipful Master of the lodge was General Francisco Solano, Captain General of Andalucia. It was at this time that San Martin, who was only a junior Mason at the time, met Lord Mac Duff, a noble Scotsman, who was plotting the liberation of South America.
San Martín travelled to England where he was put into contact with Alvear, Zapiola, Berro and Guido who formed part of the Lodge Lautaro created by Francisco de Miranda, who along with Bolívar, were already fighting in Venezuela for its liberation.
On March 9, 1812 San Martín arrived in Buenos Aires on board the Royal Navy Frigate George Canning direct from London, accompanied by a group of high ranking military personnel such as Chilavert, Zapiola, Carlos de Alvear, Arellano and Baron Olambert.
It is interesting to note that the First Triumvirate in 1811, the Second in 1812, the Declaration of Independence in Tucumán in 1816, the Constituent Assembly in 1853 and the Assembly of 1860 were mostly formed by Masons.
By this time there had already been a large immigration from the British Isles and Europe in general and it was on 10 June 1853 in Buenos Aires, that the first English Lodge working under English rule was consecrated. This was “Excelsior Lodge” under the Mastership of Samuel Hesse.
To this day, Excelsior Lodge No. 617 continues to meet regularly in Buenos Aires.
On 5 December 1861 and thanks to the intervention of Excelsior Lodge a Treaty was signed between the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Orient of the Argentine Republic whereby the United Grand Lodge of England recognises and acknowledges the Sovereignty and Independence of the Grand Orient of the Argentine Republic as a true Masonic Power located in Buenos Aires.
In 1861 Silver River Lodge No. 876 in Montevideo opened, in 1864 Star of the South Lodge No. 1025 and in 1872 Lodge of Harmony No. 1411 in Valparaíso followed, all three lodges are operative to this day.
Shortly after about 27 other English lodges were consecrated and started to operate in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mendoza, Tucumán, Córdoba, Bahía Blanca, Campana, Quilmes, Villa Devoto, Hurlingham, Lomas de Zamora and Tigre.
English Masonry continues to this day working in Montevideo, Valparaíso, Buenos Aires, Córdoba city, Lomas de Zamora and Tigre, all under the District Grand Lodge of South America, Southern Division. This District covers Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.
Freemasonry is not a secret society but rather a society with secrets and is one of the world’s oldest secular fraternal societies practised under the United Grand Lodge of England, which administers Lodges of Freemasons in England, Wales and in many places overseas including our District in Buenos Aires.
Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its precepts (moral lessons and self-knowledge) by a series of ritual dramas — a progression of allegorical two-part plays which are learnt by heart and performed within each Lodge — which follow ancient forms, and use stonemasons’ customs and tools as allegorical guides.
Freemasonry instils in its members a moral and ethical approach to life: it seeks to reinforce thoughtfulness for others, kindness in the community, honesty in business, courtesy in society and fairness in all things. Members are urged to regard the interests of the family as paramount but, importantly, Freemasonry also teaches and practises concern for people, care for the less fortunate and help for those in need.
Freemasonry in Buenos Aires was started with the consecration of a “Logia Independencia” in 1795 consisting of young intellectuals mostly with higher European degrees. Some of the most prominent members were Juan José Castelli, his cousin Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Paso, Feliciano Chiclana, Matías Irigoyen, Nicolás Rodríguez Peña, Hipólito Vieytes, Juan Larrea, Domingo Matheu and Antonio Luis Berutti.
Going forward in time and leading up to May 25, in 1808 Don José de San Martín joined his first lodge, the “Logia Integridad” in Cadiz, where the Worshipful Master of the lodge was General Francisco Solano, Captain General of Andalucia. It was at this time that San Martin, who was only a junior Mason at the time, met Lord Mac Duff, a noble Scotsman, who was plotting the liberation of South America.
San Martín travelled to England where he was put into contact with Alvear, Zapiola, Berro and Guido who formed part of the Lodge Lautaro created by Francisco de Miranda, who along with Bolívar, were already fighting in Venezuela for its liberation.
On March 9, 1812 San Martín arrived in Buenos Aires on board the Royal Navy Frigate George Canning direct from London, accompanied by a group of high ranking military personnel such as Chilavert, Zapiola, Carlos de Alvear, Arellano and Baron Olambert.
It is interesting to note that the First Triumvirate in 1811, the Second in 1812, the Declaration of Independence in Tucumán in 1816, the Constituent Assembly in 1853 and the Assembly of 1860 were mostly formed by Masons.
By this time there had already been a large immigration from the British Isles and Europe in general and it was on 10 June 1853 in Buenos Aires, that the first English Lodge working under English rule was consecrated. This was “Excelsior Lodge” under the Mastership of Samuel Hesse.
To this day, Excelsior Lodge No. 617 continues to meet regularly in Buenos Aires.
On 5 December 1861 and thanks to the intervention of Excelsior Lodge a Treaty was signed between the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Orient of the Argentine Republic whereby the United Grand Lodge of England recognises and acknowledges the Sovereignty and Independence of the Grand Orient of the Argentine Republic as a true Masonic Power located in Buenos Aires.
In 1861 Silver River Lodge No. 876 in Montevideo opened, in 1864 Star of the South Lodge No. 1025 and in 1872 Lodge of Harmony No. 1411 in Valparaíso followed, all three lodges are operative to this day.
Shortly after about 27 other English lodges were consecrated and started to operate in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mendoza, Tucumán, Córdoba, Bahía Blanca, Campana, Quilmes, Villa Devoto, Hurlingham, Lomas de Zamora and Tigre.
English Masonry continues to this day working in Montevideo, Valparaíso, Buenos Aires, Córdoba city, Lomas de Zamora and Tigre, all under the District Grand Lodge of South America, Southern Division. This District covers Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.
Freemasonry is not a secret society but rather a society with secrets and is one of the world’s oldest secular fraternal societies practised under the United Grand Lodge of England, which administers Lodges of Freemasons in England, Wales and in many places overseas including our District in Buenos Aires.
Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its precepts (moral lessons and self-knowledge) by a series of ritual dramas — a progression of allegorical two-part plays which are learnt by heart and performed within each Lodge — which follow ancient forms, and use stonemasons’ customs and tools as allegorical guides.
Freemasonry instils in its members a moral and ethical approach to life: it seeks to reinforce thoughtfulness for others, kindness in the community, honesty in business, courtesy in society and fairness in all things. Members are urged to regard the interests of the family as paramount but, importantly, Freemasonry also teaches and practises concern for people, care for the less fortunate and help for those in need.
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