Templar Edification

  Martinmas Most folks with an aptitude for history know that Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day, commemorating the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918, when the armistice ending major hostilities in World War I took effect. Far fewer recall the reason why that specific date, 11 November, had been chosen to close out the most destructive conflict in human history up to that point. For this we must look to an older holiday, and to one soldier in particular. St Martin of Tours, also known as Martin the Merciful, was born in Pannonia, a central European province of the Roman Empire, in the early fourth century. His father was a tribune in the Legions, awarded the status of veteran and the 160 acres of Italian land that came with it. At the age of 10, Martin became a Christian catechumen against his parents’ wishes. Christianity had only recently been legalized, and remained far from accepted amongst the upper echelons of Western Roman soc...

  A Royal Christian Shield E. John Erfourth, (from) 04 AUG 2019 Figure 1  Observation 1 – 18 th Century   Art taken from “Ovason’s Secret  Architecture”, late 18 th Century.  Citing Edward Kohout,  “Mundane Astrology”, 2002:  “The progression of the signs is  from left to right with the sign of  Cancer upon the keystone.  A reason that the signs appear to  be going in the wrong direction is  that we are looking into the  “temple” from the outside.  A heraldic shield that depicts an  ox , an eagle , a lion and a man are  direct references to the fixed signs  of the zodiac, namely Taurus,  Scorpio, Leo and Aquarius.”  What else might these mean? Anything else? Like what? 1   Figure 2  Observation 2 – Present Day   Citing the Grand Lodge of   Washington State online:  “Royal Arch Masonry tradition teaches us that the symbols on the shield are representative of the ...

 Gothic Bible Fragment from “Parallel Pronouncing Bible”, John Williams & Co., N. Y., 1890 “Father our thou in heaven, blessed name, thy come kingdom, thine become, will thy as in heaven so on earth. Loaf our this daily, give us this day, and forgive us, that sinful are just as also we forgive those sinful to us. And not bring us into temptation, but lead us from this evil, for thine is kingdom and might and glory into eternity. Amen.” A 19th Century Gothic Bible facsimile of the Lord’s Prayer found within the Minneapolis Scottish Rite Center is reminiscent of versus, signs, tokens & ideals observed in York Rite Masonry. Kudos to Dawson College for translating select passages into English a few decades ago, that is greatly appreciated and perhaps even more so for those of us who regularly recite the Lord’s Prayer when an Asylum or Conclave of Knights Templar is opened in due form. It is rare to happen upon art or written word that predates its 6th Century origins, which is ...