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Mountain of Skulls

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Years ago, I read a Buddhist parable—as recounted in Lafcadio Hearn’s famous collection Kwaidan—wherein a Bodhisattva leads a young man up a mighty misty mountain, that he might have a vision of the sacred at the peak. The way is rough and rude, the vapors thick, such that he cannot see the ground beneath his feet. He treads upon round and rolling stones, which cause him to stumble, sometimes bursting underfoot. Drawing near the summit as the dawn begins to break, with the fog now burning away, the young man realizes, to his horror, that the mountain upon which he stands is in fact an unfathomably vast heap of human skulls. “Do not fear,” the Bodhisattva cries, “for all of them are your own!” This grisly image understandably stuck with me. In context, it refers to the Buddhist belief in reincarnation, a nigh-endless series of lifetimes culminating at long last in Enlightenment. The young man has lived countless lives, that he might now glimpse a vision of divine eternal Truth. Christia...
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History and Traditions of a New Year

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Let me first start out this article by wishing everyone a Happy New Year! As you are all aware we are early in January of the year 2026. It is typically a time for doing reflections on the previous year, what we did right, what we did wrong, things that worked as well as things that may not have gone according to plan and reflecting upon all the good times that we had with loved ones, friends, brothers and companions. The start of the New Year is when the majority of individuals look forward to turning the page and creating new ideas, plans or resolutions to improve their lives or achieve specific goals. The tradition of observing and celebrating the New Year goes back well over four thousand years originating with the Babylonians. Their new year (Akitu) began with the new moon after the vernal equinox (1) . Other cultures celebrated the New Year at various times throughout the solar cycle. For Egyptians and the Phoenicians, the New Year began with the autumnal equinox (September 21) (...
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The History of Festivities around the Winter Solstice

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The Winter Solstice is that period in the year when the Sun is in the farthest position south to those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. We usually associate the Winter Solstice with December 21st ; however the dates of the Winter Solstice occur from between December 20th and December 22nd , depending on the year. The Winter Solstice marks the beginning of meteorological winter which lasts until the vernal equinox. The sun is positioned at 23 ½ degrees south of the equator or the Tropic of Capricorn. The North Pole is therefore positioned 23 ½ degrees away from the sun. The Winter Solstice has historically been considered a period of rebirth. The term solstice derives from the word “solstitium” [Sun, Dec 21, 2025, 9:03 AM cst) which translates into “sun stands still.” The Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere was historically a time when animals were slaughtered for fresh meat and the time when fermented beer and wine were ready for consumption. In Stonehenge one can catch the run...
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The Anti-Holiday

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One of my favorite subgenres of historical holidays is “holidays that tried to replace other holidays and failed.” The Anglican Church, for example, instituted the festival of Harvest Home at the autumnal equinox in order to displace Michaelmas, the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, because they considered the latter to be too Catholic. This effort failed. The people still celebrated Michaelmas on 29 September. But they didn’t reject Harvest Home either. Instead, they simply welcomed both. I consider this a win-win scenario. Growing up in Pennsylvania, Harvest Home wasn’t a huge deal, but our congregation faithfully observed it, and I rather enjoyed that we did. Another example would be Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, celebrated in the UK. Initially the Protestant hierarchy suppressed the Allhallowtide (Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls) again because it reeked a bit of Rome. Bonfire Night, on 5 November, commemorated the collapse of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament. I...
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Ahishar and Adoniram

In the Royal and Select Masters Degrees we are introduced to Ahishar and Adoniram and their roles in teaching us the lessons that these two degrees have to offer. In the Royal Master degree we are introduced to Adoniram and the role he plays in teaching us about the death of Hiram Abiff and the Master’s word being lost. It is believed among individuals who are not Masons that Adoniram and Hiram Abiff are one in the same. Adoniram was a high ranking official in King Solomon’s court. He was responsible for overseeing the collection of taxes throughout Israel, a portion of which went into the building of King Solomon’s Temple. He was also responsible for and oversaw the labor force in the construction of the Temple. Adoniram was also responsible for acquiring and getting the resources needed for the Creation of the Temple to the Temple Mount. Adoniram is described in the Talmud as having great wisdom and dedication. He was the principal tax collector of Israel under King Solomon. He was a...
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Cherubim

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In York Rite Masonry, we are introduced to the presence of Cherubim and their importance to our Masonic Ritual. The part of Masonic Ritual where the presence of Cherubim is most prominent is when we do the circumambulations in the Royal Master Degree where the Cherubim (if enough members are present) greet the candidate and the Conductor of the Council as they make their way around the Council. The first mention of Cherubim in York Rite Masonry is during the Super Excellent Master Degree during the dedication of the Temple after the Keystone is lowered into place. The Ark is placed into the completed Temple and upon the Ark are Cherubim indicating the presence of God. When we do the opening of the Royal Arch Degree, the Captain of the Host mentions the Masters of the Veils are guards of the Veils. He mentions that on the veils are representative of the four tribes of Israel, Judah, Ephraim, Ruben and Dan an on each banner is delineated a lion, an ox, a man and an eagle. This is the are...
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Two Knights on One Horse

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Two Knights on One Horse; A secret hidden in plain sight. By SK Ray Hayward REPGC, KCT. If you’ve read any books on the Knights Templar, you probably come across the image of two knights riding on the same horse. To the casual observer, it’s odd that two fully armored knights would ride the same horse, unless it was in an extreme case. According to legend,  Hugues de Payens  (the first Grand-Master of the Templars) and Godfrey were so poor that between the two of them they had only one horse, and this gave rise to the famous image on  the seal of the Templars , of two men riding a single horse.  In Templar history, we find that that image is the seal of the 6 th Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Bertrand de Blanquefort. The grandmasters and officers all had seals to affix to documents in addition to their signature. The seals were tied with ribbon to the bottom of a document, probably vellum, and then a ball of hot wax was poured on the ribbon, and the seal would ...
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