W. Bro. Srikanta Wadiyar called to the Grand Lodge above today

W. Bro Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Bahadur, was called to the Grand Lodge above today. 

W. Bro Wodeyar, 60, had the heart attack at his Bangalore home. He was the prince of Mysore Kingdom and head of the Wadiyar dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore between 1399 and 1950. 

"And to so high an eminence has its credit been advanced that in every age monarchs themselves have been promoters of the art, have not thought it derogatory to their dignity to exchange the sceptre for the trowel, have patronised our mysteries and joined in our assemblies." 

He was a Founder Member and Past Master of Lodge Jayachamaraja No.308, Mysore and also a member of Lodge Mysore No.34

During October 2013 he gave an audience to M W the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India, M W Bro. Vasudev J Masurekar OSM, R W the Regional Grand Master of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India, R W Bro. R Sushil Raj and W Bro. Ujjval M Joshi, Assistant Regional Grand Master of the Bangalore Area. Attached herewith is a Photo marking this meeting. R W Bro. G K Balakrishnan facilitated this meeting.

Masonic Orders in England and Wales

Although the Master Mason's degree or the third degree is the highest degree in Freemasonry, there are additional degrees that a Master Mason can join if he so inclined.

Here is a list of the Masonic Orders in England and Wales

You can download a pdf of this same picture if you go to this website:

http://merseylodge5434.org/info/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/masonic-pathways-English.pdf

Rev Dr John Theophilus Desaguiler's Visit to Edinburgh - What actually happened by Bro Trevor Stewart

This talk was given at a Research Lodge under the ANZ Masonic Research Council.
In it Bro. Dr. Trevor Stewart gives a detailed talk using the Minute Books of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No 1, on the actual evidence of what happened when Rev Dr John Theophilus Desaguilers – A Past Grand Master of England – visited the Lodge of Edinburgh in the Summer of 1721.

Was this when the third degree was introduced in Scotland?





Presentation: The Reverend Dr John Theophilus Desaguilers’ Visit to Edinburgh - Bro Trevor Stewart from Lostock Films on Vimeo.

Official Trailer of the 2013 movie - "The Freemason"

The Freemason - Movie Synopsis

A wealthy banker lies ritualistically and brutally murdered.

The banker's daughter and only heir, Rana (Alex McKenna), calls upon Cyrus Rothwell (Randy Wayne), a brilliant but eccentric freelance writer, to assist in the investigation.

Teaming up with veteran homicide detective Leon Weed (Sean Astin), they suddenly find themselves thrust into the cryptic world of Freemasonry- pitted against a killer searching for a legendary relic, shrouded by hundreds of years of myth and mystery. Freemasons Sheldon Lombard (Richard Dutcher) and Jericho Beck (Joseph James) decide to help Cyrus while teaching him about Masonic history, Rothwell's troubles multiply as he deduces the killer is one of the banker's close inner circle. With an inheritance of millions hanging in the balance, everyone is a suspect and every action perceived as motive. Rothwell's path becomes even more cloudy as his relationship with the beautiful heiress dances on the edge of charm and collusion. Cyrus begins to realize that if he does not solve the case soon he might be the next victim.

Cyrus is forced to come to grips with powers beyond his natural senses as well as his own mysterious past ties to Freemasonry in order to unmask the killer before they strike again.

Here is the trailer:

Charity extends beyond the grave

"Faith may be lost in sight; Hope ends in fruition; but Charity extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realms of eternity."

A Funeral for a Masonic Lodge

A new Worshipful Master in a small town spent the first four days making personal visits to each of the members, inviting them to come to his first Lodge meeting.

The following Thursday the Lodge was all but empty.
Accordingly, the Worshipful Master placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that, because the Lodge was dead, it was everyone's duty to give it a decent Masonic burial. The funeral would be held the following Monday afternoon, the notice said.

Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the "funeral." In front of the Altar, they saw a closed coffin, smothered in flowers.
After the Chaplain delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin
and invited his Brethren to come forward and pay their final
respects to their dead Lodge.
Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a "dead Lodge," all the Brethren eagerly lined up to look in the coffin. Each "mourner" peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a guilty, sheepish look.

In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror.
Remember the obligation we all took my brethren attend and
support your Lodge!!!!    

----- Author Unknown

The 47th Problem of Euclid

Euclid's 47th problem or the Pythagorean theorem is a relationship between the three sides of a right triangle. 

In terms of areas, it states:

In any right-angled triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle).
The theorem can be written as an equation relating the lengths of the sides a, b and c, often called the Pythagorean equation:

Where c represents the length of the hypotenuse, and a and b represent the lengths of the other two sides.

a² + b² = c²

Side note:
Incidentally we may wonder why pythagoras's theorm is known as Euclid's problem?

Well the answer to that is that Euclid wrote a set of thirteen books, which were called “Elements”. Each book contained many geometric propositions and explanations, and in total Euclid published 465 problems. 
The 47th problem was set out in Book 1. Now, although Euclid published the proposition, it was Pythagoras who discovered it.

Coming back to our main topic: 
A right triangle therefore will always have sides of a certain proportion known as a pythagorean triple some examples are as follows, 
( 3, 4, 5 ) (5, 12, 13) (8, 15, 17) (7, 24, 25) e.t.c.

How do we arrive at a pythagorean triple?

By calculating the difference of the squares of any two consecutive numbers which is always an odd number and it is based on such a pythagorean triple (the lowest four consecutive numbers) we arrive at 3, 5 and 7 which is masonically significant!!

To demonstrate,
take the 1st four numbers,

1, 2, 3, 4 
Calculate the squares of those numbers,
1, 4, 9, 16 

Now subtract the smaller from the larger of the squares,

4-1 =3

9-4 = 5

16-9 = 7

Masonically the significance of 3, 5 and 7 is as follows:

They are 

• The steps in the Winding Staircase which leads to the Middle Chamber of King Solomon's Temple.
• It also alludes to the number of Freemasons in each degree of Freemasonry. "Three rule a Lodge, five hold a Lodge, seven or more make it perfect. The three who rule a Lodge are the Master and his two Wardens; the five who hold a Lodge are the Master, two Wardens and two Fellow Crafts; the seven who make it perfect are two Entered Apprentices added to the former five."
• The Three Grand Masters who bore sway at the building of the first Temple at Jerusalem. Five hold a Lodge in allusion to the five noble orders of architecture. Seven or more make a perfect Lodge and have a further allusion to the seven liberal Arts and Sciences.