Masonic goblet

These goblets, including a Masonic one on the right, are going under the hammer at Bonhams in Oxford on January 29. The are estimated to sell for £500-£700.

The catalogue description reads:

An engraved Sunderland Bridge goblet and an engraved Masonic goblet, circa 1810 and 1830

The first with cup-shaped bowl engraved with view and title of the bridge, the reverse with initials 'NMC', on a square lemon-squeezer base, 13cm, the masonic goblet with oviform bowl engraved with masonic emblems including a King, a Devil, sun, moon and stars, on a square lemon-squeezer base, 13.8cm high (2)...

Freemasons and crime bosses unite - allegation

This from the Independent...

Secret networks of Freemasons have been used by organised crime gangs to corrupt the criminal justice system, according to a bombshell Metropolitan Police report leaked to The Independent.

Operation Tiberius, written in 2002, found underworld syndicates used their contacts in the controversial brotherhood to “recruit corrupted officers” inside Scotland Yard, and concluded it was one of “the most difficult aspects of organised crime corruption to proof against”.
The report – marked “Secret” – found serving officers in East Ham east London who were members of the Freemasons attempted to find out which detectives were suspected of links to organised crime from other police sources who were also members of the society.
Famous for its secret handshakes, Freemasonry has long been suspected of having members who work in the criminal justice system – notably the judiciary and the police.
The political establishment and much of the media often dismiss such ideas as the work of conspiracy theorists. However, Operation Tiberius is the second secret police report revealed by The Independent in the last six months to highlight the possible issue.
Project Riverside, a 2008 report on the rogue private investigations industry by the Serious Organised Crime Agency, also claimed criminals attempt to corrupt police officers through Freemason members in a bid to further their interests.
Concerns over the influence of freemasons on the criminal justice system in 1998 led former Home Secretary Jack Straw to order that all police officers and judges should declare membership of the organisation.
However, ten of Britain’s 43 police forces refused to take part and the policy was dropped under threat of legal action. In England and Wales, the Grand Master of the Freemasons is Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. The United Grand Lodge of England declined to comment last night.
The Independent revealed last week that Operation Tiberius found that organised crime syndicates such as the Adams family and the gang led by David Hunt were able to infiltrate the Met “at will”.
Asked to comment on the Tiberius report, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “The Metropolitan Police Service will not tolerate any behaviour by our officers and staff which could damage the trust placed in police by the public.
“We are determined to pursue corruption in all its forms and with all possible vigour.”

Is Freemasonry behind the latest internet puzzle?

From the Daily Telegraph

 

Cicada 3301 update: the baffling internet mystery is back

A third instalment of the infamous internet puzzle appeared over the weekend, this time featuring William Blake, Masonic stars and a promise of ‘enlightenment’

Cicada 3301: the baffling internet mystery is back 

Wanted: willing puzzle fans to help solve the internet’s most complicated and enduring mystery. Only those conversant in hexidecimal cryptology, medieval Welsh poetry and classical music theory – among many others – need apply.

After a 12 month hiatus, Cicada 3301 – a complex collection of anonymously-set puzzles, without apparent purpose, that have nevertheless held thousands of amateur web sleuths rapt – has made a reappearance.

When the Telegraph first reported on the underground phenomenon last November, global interest intensified in the shadowy organisation – and the elaborate series of cryptographic puzzles apparently aimed at recruiting expert programmers.

And the Cicada’s re-emergence is exactly on schedule, too. The first set of puzzles, identified by images of the insect, appeared on January 5th 2012.

A message left anonymously on notorious website 4Chan simply read: “We are looking for highly intelligent individuals. To find them, we have devised a test…”

After a series of increasingly complex riddles – ranging from cyberpunk literature to voicemail messages to posters affixed to streetlights around the globe – the mysterious organisation behind the tests went quiet. Only for another set of teasers to appear exactly one year later, on January 4th 2013.
Again, solvers were faced with another formidably eclectic range of subjects – from ancient Hebrew code tables to Anglo-Saxon runes to Victoria occultist Aleister Crowley. Within a few weeks the puzzles stopped, with only a select few allowed through to a hallowed “inner sanctum” of Cicada.
And, of course, no-one was left any the wiser as to the source or ultimate purpose of the puzzles. Were they part of an elaborate PR campaign for a new Alternate Reality Game? A recruitment drive by the CIA, NSA or MI6? Or just a bit of fun?
But while another set of posers was anticipated during the first week of 2014, this year was different. Such widespread coverage had led some commentators to wonder if, like the insect itself, the organisation might be scared back underground.
Worse, some feared it might lead to widespread “trolling” – hoaxers trying to pass off their own puzzles as legitimate Cicada tests, further muddying the water.
Indeed, the first week of January has seen dozens of messages appearing on messageboards purporting to be from Cicada – some of which were elaborate enough to be believable. And yet all of which have been proved fake.
Until, that is, just before 11pm on January 5th. A Twitter account previously used by the Cicada organisation released a message, bearing the faint image of a cicada, to its 700 followers.
"Hello," it read. "Epiphany is upon you. Your pilgrimage has begun. Enlightenment awaits. Good luck. 3301."
Enthusiasts have since confirmed the message has the necessary PGP signature – a common encryption method used for privacy – to prove it is legitimately from Cicada 3301.
And so the hunt is underway once more. Already, a debate has begun online into the relevance of “Epiphany”, as January 6 is the Christian feast day known as Epiphany.
But by examining the image for steganography – a technique used to hide data inside images, sometimes used by paedophiles or terrorist organisations – solvers have already revealed a quote: "The work of a private man/ who wished to transcend,/ He trusted himself, / to produce from within."
Further analysis with a program called Outguess has revealed a link to Self-Reliance, a treatise on transcendentalism by American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.
When run through a cipher, the excerpt reveals the phrase “For Every Thing That Lives Is Holy” and a new image – a collage of artworks from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, by the English poet and painter William Blake.
Specifically, it features a collage of his works Nebuchadnezzer, The Ancient Of Days and Newton – with a faint marking of a cicada tucked into the bottom of the picture.
But the images are arranged in such a way that some solvers are now debating whether the image is supposed to represent a Thelema star (a hexagram developed by Aleister Crowley) or an image of a Masonic Square.
Either way, the pursuit of a solution continues. Enthusiasts wishing to join in the debate can access an internet chat relay – while a Wiki is constantly updating and sharing progress, with helpful explanations.
And after three years, who knows – perhaps, in terms of determining the purpose and source of Cicada 3301, we may be finally getting closer to what that initial image promises: “enlightenment”.

Nine things you didn't know about Freemasonry

From CBS News

1.  When meeting, Masons do not discuss religion or politics.
"There are certain subjects which are prevented or we simply proscribe from discussing within the lodge," Piers Vaughan, master of St. John's Lodge #1 in New York, told Mo Rocca. "And religion is one.  Politics is another."
One of the world's leading experts on Freemasonry confirms.
"Do they discuss forms of politics and events that have happened? Yes, they do," said UCLA history professor Margaret Jacob. "Do they say, 'Well, I'm a Democrat and therefore I think …'  Or, 'I'm a Republican ... '  No, I don't think they do that."

2.  Freemasonry is not a religion.
"Freemasonry has the look of a religion," said Jacob. "You think of religion as ritual, there's also this ritual element.  But there are no priests, there are no ministers, there are no rabbis, there's no system of clergy of any sort.  Everybody's their own thinker."

3.  The Catholic Church condemns Freemasonry.
Jacob said the initial response to Freemasonry in continental Europe, particularly in Catholic Europe, was suspicion from seeing "all these men [from] different neighborhoods, different professions meeting in the cafe, breaking bread together, doing rituals, what could this be?  Political conspiracy or religion."
In 1738 the Catholic Church condemned Freemasonry, and has since issued about 20 decrees -- directly or indirectly -- against the fraternity. In 1983 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) re-affirmed this position.

4.  Atheists are not welcome.
Freemasonry is not a religion per se, but agnostics or atheists cannot belong, said Brent Morris, a Masonic historian, editor of the Scottish Rite Journal, and a 33rd degree Freemason.
"This is an organization of believers," he said. "When it was started on a formal basis in 1717, many historians believe that it was trying to bridge the gap between the religious civil wars that had been going on in England at the time.  The Catholics would get in power and beat up on the Protestants; the Protestants would get in power and beat up on the Catholics; and everyone was beating up on the Jews.
"So when the Freemasons were formed, [they] said, 'Here's a group of men that agree that God is central in their lives, they can even agree that God compels them to do good in the community, then they can shut up after that."  That was a radical concept -- that men could get together and agree on that fundamental level, and then get on with their lives."
So could an atheist join? No, said James Sullivan, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York: "The reason we, I think in the past, wanted somebody that had a belief in a supreme being is because we take certain obligation to be a good man, to support the fraternity.  And if you didn't have a belief in a supreme being, the obligation would mean nothing."

5.  Most of the Founding Fathers were NOT Freemasons.
Two of America's earliest presidents, George Washington and James Monroe, were Freemasons, as were Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock and Paul Revere.  But many leading figures in the American Revolution -- including John and Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Thomas Paine -- were not Masons.
Of the 56 figures who signed the Declaration of Independence, only nine were confirmed Masons, according to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania; and of the 39 delegates of the Continental Congress who signed the draft of the new nation's Constitution in 1787, only 13 (one-third) were Freemasons.

6.  There are NO secret Masonic symbols on the U.S. dollar bill.
The back of the collar bill features an incomplete pyramid with an eye on top of it. Many people -- including some Freemasons - say it's a Masonic symbol, but that's not the case. UCLA's Margaret Jacob says these symbols have been used by many different groups, including Masons, throughout history.
"I'm sure there are a lot of Freemasons who want to believe [they're Masonic symbols] and who will tell it to you, because it makes the Lodges seem important," Jacob said. "I mean, if you have a symbol on the dollar bill, that's a big deal!"
Brent Morris said there are two types of people who want to promote the idea that the symbols are Masonic: "The pro-Masons and the anti-Masons -- and that pretty well covers the universe.
"The Eye of God is a common icon for God looking over the affairs of man," Morris said. "It's an icon that appears in cultures across the centuries. The uncompleted pyramid [which also appeared on a 50-pound Colonial note] represented that our country was not yet completed, that we were continuing to grow."

7.  The Shriners are Freemasons.
The Shriners (known formally as the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine), the charity organization best known in the popular mind for driving tiny cars in parades, are an off-shoot of the Masons. They run 22 children's hospitals where patients don't pay a cent.
"You must be a Mason to become a Shriner," said Morris.

8.  The secret Masonic password originated as a job tool
Masonry began as a guild for stone masons who built the castles and cathedrals of Medieval Europe. "If you were a baker, a miller, a brewer, you could spend your entire life in one village practicing your trade," said Morris. "If you are a mason, after they repair the church or build the town hall, there might not be any mason work in that town for decades, so you had to move to another jobsite.
"Now, you're illiterate; the officers of the lodge are probably illiterate. So that's why they believe the Masons' word came into effect.  It allowed the craftspeople to move from one jobsite to another and identify themselves as being part of the trade union.
"We have evidence in Scotland going back to the early 1600s that the Masons' word existed, and [that] was how you as a Mason in Edinburgh could identify yourself to a Mason in Lancashire that you were a member of the guild and could have work."
"Are there secret handshakes?" asked Rocca.
"Oh, secret handshakes, of course," replied Morris. "I mean, what's the point of having a password if you don't have a handshake?"

9.  There is no hidden Masonic code on Rolling Rock beer bottles.
Introduced in 1939, the Rolling Rock brand of beer, from the Latrobe Brewing Company of Pennsylvania, ends a statement on its label with the cryptic "33."  Over the years it has been suggested that it refers to the 33rd degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.
According to "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry" (Alpha), Latrobe insists the "33" refers to 1933, the year Prohibition ended. 
In 1986, Cecil Adams' "The Straight Dope" column investigated this urban legend and found that "33" actually was scribbled under the statement, indicating how many words it contained, and the printer mistakenly added it to the label. [You see, it's always printing errors.]

Malcolm Campbell masonic letter for sale

This wonderful letter from Malcolm Campbell - the racer who gained various land and water speed records through the 1920s and 1930s - shows that he was guilty about being seen as a bad Freemason.

The letter is being sold by International Autograph Auctions and has an estimate of £100 - £120.

It is dated January 8, 1926, and is addressed to Brother Beachcroft at 21, Great Queen's Street, London.

In it Campbell thanks his correspondent for his letter and adds 'I am very glad that you have not formed the opinion that I am a “bad mason” ', continuing 'Things seem to be getting worse instead of better, as every night I seem to be leaving business later than ever.'

Campbell further encloses a cheque (no longer present) for £10.10.0 made payable to the Masonic Hospital and Nursing Home, remarking 'I am pleased to note that even this small subscription will be a welcome contribution. I sincerely hope that this will enable W. M. How to bring the total to 100 gns. If he is unable to do this I will be prepared to assist still further, as I feel that I have so far done nothing in this connection since I have been a mason.'

Campbell's son Donald was also a Mason and an article about them and masonry can be seen here.

George III mahogany box for sale

Donnington Priory Salerooms in Newbury is selling this chest, which sounds like it is designed to hold tracing boards.

The description reads:  "A George III mahogany chest on stand, circa 1780, of Masonic interest, the hinged lid with an inset open plaque titled ‘There is Love Honour and Justice in the ancient LODGE of FIDELITY no 275’ HOLINESS TO THE LORD’, opening to a small section of three drawers, flanked by brass side carrying handles and supported by bracket feet, 79cm high, 108cm wide, 53cm deep"

It is estimated to sell for £800-1,200.

The Man Who Would be King

 

 

This animal skin waistcoat was the one worn By Michael Caine in the 1975 film The Man Who Would be King, and is being sold by Bonhams in London.

 

Caine played the character Peachy Carneham. It is estimated to sell for £300-£400.

 

On the website of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon it records the film as: "Based on a Rudyard Kipling story. Mercenary soldiers convince Kafiristan tribespeople that they are gods after discovering masonic symbols on religious artifacts. Sean Connery, Michael Caine. Directed by John Huston. 129 min. UK/USA, English, Colour. (Drama/Action)"